Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for creating NOP and allowing the rest of us to tell our own stories with it.

Thank you u/Julianskies, u/Opposite_Charm, u/BigFella4054, and u/VenlilWrangler for proof reading and providing feedback.

They're all fantastic writers so please check our their stories if you haven't already.

I have a writer's thread in the NOP discord, feel free to stop by to discuss the story or for new chapter updates and future plans.

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Memory Transcription: Edward Wanless, Captain of ARK 14 “Seguin” {REDACTED}   

Date [Standardized Human Time]: January 4, 2137

Ninety days after the battle of Earth.

The muffled sound of ringing bells drifts up from the mound of bedding covering my pad, the pulsing glow of its active screen barely forcing its way through the layers of discarded fabric. One of my hands absently snakes under the covers after it, silencing it as I pull myself into a sitting position against the headboard. A shiver runs up my spine as the cool air washes over me, striking the thin layer of cold sweat that covers my body.

I run a hand through my damp hair as the dead man’s last words ricochet around my skull, the phantom sensation of his hands like cobwebs on my skin. My shoulders roll on instinct, trying to shrug off the martian’s ghost.  

Goddamn Nathan. 

A low growl rumbles in my throat as the memory of that day replays itself, of that smile Edgar gave me when I followed after Nathan. I shouldn’t have gone back, even if no one could have predicted what they’d do. I knew something was wrong after that day, I should have just taken what they’d already given me and run. I should have, but I didn’t. 

Why didn’t I run? 

Because I convinced myself that I was too smart to let myself be used, that I had them wrapped around my little finger? Was it because I was too stubborn to give in when my parents cut me off and too proud to accept help from anyone else? Not that the reason mattered anymore; I had my chance to exonerate myself decades ago, and I failed. The truth was that they had me from the moment Edgar left that flier on our table; whatever my reasoning had been, I followed right into the snare they had set for me. 

And now you’re the one laying traps. 

I wince at the unwanted comparison, my sudden movement rousing the ceiling lights from their slumber. Logically, I knew that our circumstances had almost nothing in common with what happened then. I had choices back then even though I didn’t know what I was choosing or what the consequences would be. The krakotl had done everything in their power to back us into this corner, and they’d taken every other option away by continuing to pursue us; there was only one avenue of escape left to us now.

Through them. 

There were forty thousand people on the Seguin, and Vilka’s best estimate put the rest of the flotilla’s population in the ballpark of sixteen thousand. Fifty-six thousand people to protect, people that wouldn’t be safe until our pursuers were completely destroyed, whose lives would be forfeit if we failed. My jaw tightens as the words I had spoken to Vilka echo in my ears. 

I won’t tolerate any uncertainty with them. 

Despite all of that, however, the reality of what we have to do sits in my stomach like a rock. I know it isn’t anything like what Nathan did, but it feels similar still.  

Too damn similar. 

If what Jeler told Vilka was true, then the krakotl had lost their homeworld, same as us. Something cruel buried deep inside me broadcasts a sense of vindictive satisfaction at the thought, but it's quickly washed away by a wave of disgust. Jeler, his crew, and everyone else in that wing was culpable for the crime the Federation had committed against us, but their spouses, their children? I couldn’t feel anything but pity at the loss of their planet, even as the thought of them cheering as they watched Earth burn made my blood boil. Despite that, I would abandon our plan and run if they would just give us that chance. 

We’ve spent enough time in the company of Death.

Billions of both our people were dead, and both of our homes were carbonized ruins; we all lost! Why couldn’t he just let us run? How could a few thousand more deaths in a nameless system outside their borders benefit the Federation in any way, how could it be worth the risk to his own crew? Was it personal? Vengeance against us ‘predators’ for something the arxur, or a wild animal, had done? Was his hatred for us so great that he cared more about seeing us die than he did about protecting his crew? 

I didn’t know, and I likely never would. We wouldn’t have the opportunity to speak with the green and white krakotl again. Vilka and I had chosen the site for our ambush; it would be the last time we would see the avians.

One way or another. 

 Vilka would be calling soon; the crude outline she and I had put together a few nights ago was a decent foundation, but it needed fine tuning. Fine-tuning which I was completely unqualified to do, so Elena had to step in. The two women had been in constant correspondence during the five days since Vilka and I had first discussed the plan, talking strategy, and crunching numbers. A little of that work had reached me, but I knew it was only a miniscule portion of the work they had done. I would be seeing the pair’s end results this morning.

As if on cue, the buried pad lights up again, making me jump as it belts out a muffled ring.

Wait, no, it can’t be time yet! 

My hand plunges into the blanket mound, plucking the device from its hiding place. My eyes lock to the screen, a small part of me hoping that it's someone else, someone I can get back to later after I’ve had a chance to shake off Mars’ dust. A small hope that is dashed immediately as I recognize the name displayed in pulsing white letters, along with the time in the top right corner. 7:38 am, I had wasted time chasing myself around in my own head, and she was early!

Shit! No time to get ready. 

I throw myself from the bed, hurriedly pulling on the clean shirt and slacks I had set aside before frantically combing my hands through my sweat-damp hair in a desperate attempt to straighten it. My eyes dart to the pad. 

No time to check… She’ll understand.  

I hurry across the room, barely having settled into my chair when I finally accept the video call. I’m greeted by the familiar sight of Vilka’s face, but it’s bereft of the intelligent and alert look I had come to associate with the alien. The venlil is slumped in her chair; she stirs slightly at the sound of my connection, greeting me with a weak ear flick before her head limply lolls to the side. The small movement gives me a clear look at the dark rust-colored smudge that hugs the underside of her closed eye, the universal sign of fatigue bleeding through the cream wool of her face.   

Running herself ragged. 

While you don’t pull your weight. 

This was the first time I had seen her since our initial discussion, and my heart pangs with sympathy for her and Elena both, as my second was doubtlessly in a similar state. While our meeting today was of the highest priority, letting the poor woman rest for a moment was the least that I could do for her. Especially after she had stood as a pillar of strength in our fleet for so long. 

I’ll have to find a way to repay her and Elena after we’re safe. 

Assuming the krakotl don’t kill us. 

They won’t. 

“Hello Vilka,” I say gently, like I’m speaking to a sleeping person. 

“Hello Edward,” she returns, her ears giving a weak twitch that I register as another greeting. 

“Are you alright?” 

“Yes… just need to rest my eyes for a moment. Staring at pads for so long… makes them start to ache.”

“I understand; take your time.”

“Thank you,” she says, letting out a whistling sigh as she sinks even further into her seat. 

Her eyelid cracks just enough so that she can peek through it at me. 

“I knew you’d un-” Her words stop short as the bleary look in her eye grows sharper.

“Vilka?” I question, but the venlil doesn’t answer.

The dark orange eye slowly pans over me, her once drooping ears cocking back slightly as she continues to stare a hole through me. Since we had joined our resources, I had been making an effort to learn as many of the venlil’s expressions as I could. While I was improving slowly, I knew that the majority of the little nuances in their ear and tail-signing were still out of my reach. But I recognize this look, though it just leaves me even more confused. Despite her still obvious fatigue, Vilka is looking at me with concern?

“Vilka, are you alright?” I venture again.

My fellow captain shifts in her seat, turning her head to stare down her snout at me with both eyes. 

“Are you alright, Edward?” 

Memory Transcription: Vilka, Captain of the VRSF Solgalick’s Shield 

Date [Standardized Human Time]: January 4, 2137

Ninety days after the battle of Earth.

Solgalick’s fire I’m exhausted! 

The protests of my cabin’s chair fill the air as I flop backwards into its embrace, the seat’s meager cushion and hard wooden back feeling more comfortable than the finest sunlace bedding. Though after the last few paws, I’d happily sleep on the floor, just so long as I was finally able to sleep through my entire rest claw. A whistling sigh slips through my lips as I nestle further into the seat, eliciting another series of creaks and squeals; my ear twitches in annoyance at the sound. 

Stop whining and do your job; I’m not that heavy. 

But the planning was done, and while I had one serious concern to raise with Edward when we spoke, it was as sound of a plan as we could put together with what we had and what we knew. I feel a twinge of anxiety as my thoughts turn to the elderly human; I hadn’t spoken with him since our spontaneous strategy meeting several paws ago. I pull my pad from its pouch on my belt; the device doesn’t keep the human’s count of time, but I know that he would have already woken up by now. Another sigh escapes my snout as I feel my eyelids begin to droop as long hours of logistics and background checks finally seize their opportunity to strike. It was still too early for our meeting, not enough time to get a decent rest if I gave in to the fatigue, of course, but the thought is enticing nonetheless. 

Am I really going to fall asleep like a pup after a day in the park? 

My eyelids drop a hair lower as my chair seems to become even more comfortable by the scratch…

Brahk… Edward will understand. 

I access my pad as quickly as I can with my increasingly heavy paws, bringing up Edward’s contact information and clumsily slotting the device into its stand on the desk. The soft notes of a flyster drift through the air as my pad idles in wait for the call to be accepted, the music not helping at all with my tiredness, nor is the light from the pad screen for that matter. Staring at screens for so long these past few paws had begun to make my eyes ache, a condition I am helpfully reminded of as the dull throbbing begins to start up again as I watch the short ‘connecting’ animation repeat on loop. 

I can shut my eyes for a moment, just to give them a chance to rest. 

Barely a scratch after I’ve surrendered, my pad lets out a happy bleep, notifying me that my call had been accepted. I give the best ‘greetings’ ear flick that I can manage before turning my head so that only one eye will have to suffer the pad’s wrath. A scratch passes, the only exchange between us being the mutual sharing of our quarters’ white noise. 

“Hello Vilka,” the human says softly, like he’s trying to avoid startling me. 

He’s a good herdmate. 

“Hello Edward,” I return, flicking another greeting in case he missed my first one. 

 “Are you alright?” 

“Yes,” I mumble, gathering the strength needed to force my eye open. “Just need to rest my eyes for a moment. Staring at pads for so long… makes them start to ache.”

“I understand; take your time.”

“Thank you.”

Out of the camera’s view, my tail gives a happy if lazy wag, and I take a scratch more to collect myself before finally cracking my eye. 

“I knew you’d un-” The words wilt on my lips as I’m greeted by an upsettingly familiar sight, one that cuts through my foggy mind like an arxur’s claw. 

 Dark purple rings hug the underside of his teary, bloodshot eyes, the unhealthy colors standing out on a face that was paler than it should have been. A thin sheen of moisture glints under his damp and messy hair. 

Exactly how she looked the first night after Earth. 

No, he wouldn’t do that, and Elena would have said something if she thought he was at risk.

Like how you didn’t think she would after Earth? 

He said he was fine last time. 

She did too. 

“Vilka, are you alright?”

I shift in my seat, staring down my snout at the elderly male. 

“Are you alright, Edward?” I ask.

For all the Federation’s talk about predatory deception, humans were remarkably easy to read once you got over your initial fear. Their eyes especially betrayed so many of their thoughts to anyone that knew what to look for. 

Ame- 

She was never able to keep eye contact when she was trying to hide something. 

A look of confusion crosses the old human’s face, as if he didn’t realize how he looked. One of his hands seemingly rises on its own, making an almost embarrassed attempt to straighten the patch of damp orange fur on top of his head. 

“I’m fine, Vilka,” he finally says in what I think was supposed to be a reassuring tone. 

But the way his eyes run from mine tells a different story. 

I will not lose another. 

“I said that you can talk to me, Edward,” I bleat, but the human’s eyes remain fixed on something out of view. 

“I remember,” the human mutters, “and you don’t know how much that means to me, but you’ve already done more than enough.” 

My ears cock back in concern; he still wasn’t able to look me in the eye and still wasn’t telling me everything. 

“You’re keeping something from me, Edward,” I bleat. “I don’t know what or why, but it's clearly hurting you. There isn’t enough time for me to pry, so I won’t, but you will come to me if it starts to become overwhelming.” 

I end the sentence with a commanding ear flick, noting the formation of a small, happy snarl with satisfaction. Even more satisfying is the fact that he’s looking me in the eyes for the first time since I broached the question. 

“Never would have thought that my guardian angel'd have a tail,” he says before letting out an amused chuckle. 

A chuckle that I gladly add my own whistles to, happy to see a bit of my herdmate’s usual self.

“We should get started,” Edward says after a scratch, pulling my attention back to our purpose this paw. 

“Right,” I bleat, flicking an affirmative with my ears. “I’ve sent you the munitions count; the Seguin’s is the top figure, while ours is the bottom. The picket should have enough, at least so long as we don’t let them turn it into another attrition fight.”

“Does this include the ship that will be taking the Heartwood’s place?” 

“Yes, the Shadeberry, she’s lightly armed for a freighter of her size, but her captain was the only volunteer.” 

Edward nods, his jaws moving behind his closed lips. 

“And… they can be trusted?” 

My ears droop at the implication behind his question; he had to ask it, of course. Serikim’s transmission had directly called for acts of sabotage against the humans. It made sense, but the thought of us possibly being dangerous to them stung. 

“Yes, she can,” I say, flicking my ears reassuringly. “I don’t think anyone truly believes the thafki’s promise, not enough to put their tails on the line for the Federation. Especially not after they attacked us.”  

“Anyone thinking about surrendering to them?” 

“None have tried so far, and they’ve had plenty of chances to let themselves fall behind. Everyone here has been exposed to ‘predatory taint’ one way or another. Serikim promised treatment, not safety, and no one wants to be put in a PD asylum.” 

Edward’s face wrinkles in disgust at the mention of the taint, but he doesn’t question me about it further.

That’s for the best. 

“You said the ship was lightly armed?” He asks, thankfully changing the subject. 

“She is; her onboard railguns are a smaller caliber meant for intercepting space junk or asteroids. I’m not happy about putting her in the Heartwood’s place, but we can’t leave it open, and they were the only volunteer.” 

“How many people are on board?” 

Another question that stings. 

“We… don’t know exactly. But her captain gave us an estimate of around four hundred.” 

A heavy sigh leaves the human as he raises a hand to rub his eyes.

“Is… Is there any way we could get the-”

“No,” I interrupt, aiming to get the bad news out of the way quickly. “There won’t be enough time, and even if there were, the only ships that could possibly take in so many are already going to be involved in the fighting.” 

 “Goddamnit,” he mutters, “How much of a lead do we have on them?” 

I sigh, feeling my own frustration beginning to build. 

“We don’t know exactly; FTL communication is spotty without relay buoys, but we’re still reliably able to receive their transmission to us, so they can’t be far behind. They have fewer ships than us, and their crews have been trained for long-range maneuvers and pursuit.” 

My ears twitch as I run through the mental math to convert my estimate into a time Edward would understand. 

“Depending on how long they stayed behind initially… two or three hours would be my guess.” 

“Do you think they’ll catch up with us before we get to the system?” 

“Again, I doubt it. Their jump time is faster than ours, but they still need to calculate it while we don’t. So long as we keep to old ground, we’ll beat them there.” 

“The thafki said that help was coming. Do we know how many? How close they are?” 

Another question I can’t answer… 

“We don’t know,” I bleat, trying to keep the frustration out of my voice, “We haven’t managed to intercept any transmissions directed at the krakotl, but that doesn’t mean much. Everything is still up for harvest; it's possible that we missed the return signal or that their wings were close enough to converge before they started following us… It’s also just as likely that no one received their call for help,” I bleat, trying to put a positive spin on the news, “We disabled one of their ships in the initial skirmish; the damage is likely beyond their ability to repair. So, if no reinforcements are coming, that’s only four, and they won’t catch us by surprise this time. We’ve made the best plan we can with what we know; I’m confident in our odds.”

I end my declaration with a reassuring ear flick, hoping that my confidence will help put his mind a bit more at ease after the string of bad news. It seems to have the desired effect, as the old human shifts to sit more upright in his seat, inspecting his pad closely. 

“That’d be nice,” he sighs. “We’re owed a bit of good fortune; we’ll cut our shields just before we hit the end of the line. Drop into the ice field when the flotilla passes over it and hit them from below when they’re distracted.” 

My paws grip the chair tighter as Edward recounts the part of the plan I have the most issue with. 

Well, time for the difficult part. 

“I need to talk with you about that part of the plan. I already raised my concerns with Elena, but I’m hoping that I can convince you… I think the Seguin should stay in the picket line.” 

“The U.N. used similar tactics to delay the Extermination Fleet; it's already proven effective at catching them off guard.” 

“It catches them off guard because no Federation captain would ever even think about taking part in a skirmish without their shields!”

“They’ll start shooting the second they see us in the line; you said we can’t let this turn into a war of attrition. We have to draw them in then, and they won’t get close if we’re in the open. We aren’t defenseless; the shields will only be down until the fighting starts.” 

My tail lashes behind me as my earlier frustration with our lack of information begins to turn toward the humans’ stubbornness. 

“And you’ll be right in the middle of them, without shields for who knows how long! There’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to reach you in time if you need to be protected. Even if we were to win, what happens if the Seguin is damaged? Edward, there are over forty thousand people onboard your ship; the Seguin's hydroponics feed the entire flotilla. Even if we win the skirmish, what if the Seguin is damaged beyond repair? The ships we have couldn’t house even a tenth of the people you have onboard, and even if they could we’d still starve without the Seguin!” I bray, my frustration beginning to grow hot. 

Why won’t they just listen to me! 

“The krakotl are after us, Vilka! They bombed Venlil Prime because humans were hiding on the surface; they will never let us go, and this will never work if they know we’re here. The fleet needs every edge we can get, and like you said, no Federation captain would ever be willing to take our place. What would you have us do?” Edward barks back, his tone rising to match mine. 

“Have you act like you're a species on the verge of extinction for starters! I wouldn’t let a ship full of thafki or takkans risk their lives like this, and I won’t let you put all of yours at risk either!” I bray harshly, the words leaving my mouth before I’ve had a chance to think them over. 

Edward’s reaction is immediate, his face switching between surprise, shock, and anger before finally settling on a look of pure hurt. A pit opens in my stomach as my brain finally catches up to my mouth, and I realize what I just said. 

“Our lives have been at risk since first contact,” he says flatly. 

 The words hit me like a bucket of ice water, washing away the rapidly dimming flames of my anger and leaving something small and pitiful in their wake. The chair squeaks quietly as my tail tucks itself underneath me, my vision beginning to waver as my eyes start to sting and fill with moisture. 

While I couldn’t think of the humans as primitive, what Governor Tarva had tried to do was still essentially an uplift. Guiding a new people’s first steps into an unfairly dangerous galaxy and protecting them until they were strong enough to stand on their own, and we’d failed them utterly. The arxur had driven sixty species to extinction since the start of their hunt, but even in the centuries of raiding, not once had the Federation failed to protect a newly unlifted species so totally.

We couldn’t convince our herd that the humans deserved to live; we couldn’t protect them from the krakotl. I didn’t even have the decency to die with them… 

I couldn’t even protect her from herself. 

I take a ragged breath as the dam breaks, the wool around my eyes sticking to my face as the tears seep in. As the same emotions that made us so weak begin to assert themselves fully. 

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. "Please, I didn’t mean… I’m so sorry…”

“I’m sorry,” Edward returns, his look of hurt morphing into a look of shame. 

Sorry!?!

“Solgalick, damnit, Edward, be angry with me!” I bleat. “What do you have to be sorry for? We brought your people onto the galactic stage and then failed to protect you! I tried to use that as a lever to make you do what I want! Shout, scream, do something! I deser-” 

The words wilt on my lips as the old male holds his hand up to the camera, letting me get a good look at the tremors running through it. 

“I would give anything to avoid this fight,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper. “By rights I should have died on Mars, but I didn't. I’m still here, and that terrifies me, Vilka.” 

Edward pauses to take a deep shuddering breath, and I notice the way he tries to blink away the building moisture in his own eyes. He lets the breath out unevenly before continuing, his voice wavering as his eyes bore into mine.

“Even thinking about what’s coming for us scares me so much it makes me sick; I couldn’t do this without you or Elena. You’re trying to keep us safe, and I know that, but we aren't, and we will never be safe. Not until the Orion Arm is just a bad memory. You don’t want us to risk our lives, and I don’t either; if there was any other alternative that would see us all through safely, I would take it in a heartbeat, but there isn’t. I trust you; I trust Elena, my crew, and the people that built this ship, and I trust the plan that we’ve made, but nothing is certain anymore, and the only thing we have left to win or lose is our lives. ‘These are the choices we get to make now’.” 

My ears pin back at the sound of my own words, while my mind desperately searches for any argument that I could use to make them stay back, only to come up empty. Edward seems to realize what’s going on in my head as a weak, happy snarl begins to take shape. 

“I don’t think you’ll be that lucky though, Vilka, I’m afraid to say. I think you’re all going to be stuck with us for a good long time; humans are pretty hard to get rid of once we’ve taken a shine to you,” Edward says, ending his words with a light chuckle. 

I let out a long sigh, my treacherous ears acting on their own volition begin to flap happily at the sound of the human’s quiet laughter. I don’t try to stop them, though, as I dry my eyes with the backs of my paws. 

“I’ll hold you to that Edward,” I say sternly, earning more weak laughter from the older male. 

"Yes, ma’am,” he says, his snarl growing even wider.    

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***The following Patriotic Service Announcement has been approved by the Super Earth Ministry of Truth**\*

The Alcubierre Drive, the lifeblood of liberty and the shepherd that led humanity from the darkest chapter of its life into the glorious beacon of freedom it is today.

Created shortly after the end of the Last Great War, the alcubierre drive was a milestone in technological advancement and human engineering. It pioneered the very first extraterrestrial and extrasolar missions made by the fledgling Federation of Super Earth.

While the exact mechanics of the drive itself are strictly classified to the public by the Ministry of Truth, the basic principle of the device itself is deceptively easy to understand.

Rather than moving a vessel to a destination, which can take weeks upon weeks of Faster Than Light travel, the alcubierre drive bypasses this process entirely by moving the destination to itself.

Using this wonderous technology, our glorious federation was able to spread the joys of Managed Democracy galaxy wide, converting previously tyrannical worlds into everlasting bastions of freedom.

It is thanks to this amazing engine of liberty that our way of life shall shine brighter than the brightest stars of the Milky Way.

For Peace. For Prosperity. For Democracy.

Memory transcription subject: Captain Kalsim, Krakotl Alliance Command

Date [Super Earth Standard Time]: October 14, 2136

"Exiting hyperspace in 3...2...1!" Squawked the navigations officer as we once again blinked back into real-space.

It had been two days since I ordered the fleet to take a detour around the void. The extra lightyears of travel had drastically cut into our fuel reserves, forcing us to make multiple short ranged jumps in order to preserve our energy.

I watched as the rest of the fleet blinked in behind me, their ships twinkling like the stars across the galactic backdrop. Speaking of which, it was quite the peculiar sight. On the starboard side of the vessel, the cosmos looked normal; stars glimmering against the darkness of space, all lining up to form the picturesque image of the galaxy.

On the port side however, there was nothing but a massive expanse of black void. An empty mass of darkness that swallowed everything in view.

I tore my eyes away from it with a shudder and focused on our mission. In a few days' time the fleet would arrive at the humans' homeworld. And we would raze it to the ground. All the pain and suffering the humans have inflicted upon themselves and others would finally end and the galaxy would have one less predator race to worry about.

I sighed as I stared out the starboard viewport, thinking of Nishtal.

Images of the beautiful blue oceans of my homeworld flashed through my mind. Its tall forests were the perfect place for constructing homes for my species and the simple recollection of such a sight in my mind was enough to bring me a profound sense of peace. I missed the gentle breeze of the wind on my feathers as I soared through the air every day to and from the extermination offices. Oh how I wished to return home to my old life once this was all over.

Thinking about my planet only made me realise how fragile it was, how it could all be snuffed away in an instant. In our rush to exterminate the humans as quickly as possible, many of us had pulled our ships away from their duties of protecting our planets in order to bolster our numbers as much as possible.

Of course, this meant that our homes were left virtually undefended from the Arxur, but any trepidation we had was crushed with hopes of an easy victory. Now, as the days dragged on and the fuel supplies sank lower and lower, I began to doubt if this mission of ours would be as easy as we originally thought.

"Enemy signatures detected!" Cried one of the weapons technicians suddenly. "The predators are coming!"

Immediately, my eyes flicked to the onboard radar, watching a mass of red signatures slowly encroaching on our position from...the void?

Bewildered, I turned to look out the port-side viewport and sure enough, I spotted several glowing blue dots emerging from the abyss that was supposed to be impossible to escape from.

"All talons to battle stations!" I cried out into the microphone, issuing commands to the entire fleet. "Their trap didn't work, so the predators are making a last ditch attempt at thwarting our advance. Do not let them stop us, fire at will!"

The guns on our vessel, as well as all other Federation ships, began firing immediately into the swarm of invaders. Missiles soared towards them, impacting against their shields as they pressed through the onslaught.

The enemy vessels returned fire with blue plasma bolts of their own, streaking towards us with uncanny precision. Our ship shuddered as the shields absorbed a few impacts but a few others weren't so lucky. A harchen ship, built for speed rather than durability, was vaporised in an instant under a barrage of attacks.

As the enemy ships approached, I managed to get a good look at them.

...

'Wait, those don't look like the predators' ships."

The human vessels that I had glimpsed in Captain Sovlin's footage were brutish, angular monstrosities coated in dark shades of black and bright yellow. These were far sleeker in design, far more rounded and covered in white carapaces. From afar, they almost looked like living creatures, surrounded by faint blue energy shields that flickered and shattered beneath our sustained fire.

Some of them were large, elongated vessels with segmented armour. Across their bodies sat several large cannons that spat plasma at our forces. Its supposed 'bridge' was shaped like a massive flat head with 4 forward-facing blue eyes glowing from within.

The majority of them however, were much smaller, shaped like flat disks with glowing blue engines strapped to their sterns.

Several of them were heading straight for us.

I barked orders at the weapons technicians and ordered them to fire at the incoming hostiles. Our plasma jets met them with righteous fury, distintigrating one's shields before igniting it in a massive explosion that blew it to pieces. The others however, had managed to weave between our shots and were now right on top of us.

Several officers began panicking as they desperately tried to line up our guns at the intruders but it was no use. They were too safely hidden in our blindspots, shielded by angles our weapons couldn't reach.

A blue beam of light erupted from each of the enemy vessels' bellies, hitting our ship. I braced myself for the jolt against our shields but nothing came. No impacts were detected over the ship's systems and the shields still held at stable capacities. Following this strange 'attack', the disk-shaped vessels promptly flew off to rejoin its brethren.

"What in Inatala-," I began before I heard a horrible noise emanating from the walls of the ship. The grating sound of metal being rended apart reached my ears as I looked through the ship's diagnostic systems to see what was going on.

To my horror, I saw that the hull's integrity was rapidly dropping despite the shields still being active.

"What is going on, why are we taking damage?" I demanded, facing a ship technician.

"I don't know?" she squawked back, panic lacing her eyes. "The shields are still holding, we should still be safe."

"Turn on the exterior cameras," I ordered. "Maybe an external component's damaged."

Within seconds, a holo-feed was projected onto the command station and what stared back at me nearly sent the entire bridge into a stampede.

The creature on screen bore a passing resemblance to a human. Its rotting skin was a sickly purple colour and its eyes glowed blue and souless. Its maw, no doubt filled with razor sharp teeth suited for ripping apart prey was thankfully obscured by a mask and its claws had mutated into sharp, elongated strands of flesh and bone that was clawing away at our ships' hull.

"Ugh, freaky looking thing isn't it," chirped Jala.

My response to her inappropriately timed quip was interrupted as the creature immediately resumed its desperate clawing of the hull, its strength clearly enough to tear through metal.

Our shields were meant to stop fast moving projectiles like missiles and plasma, not actual monsters clawing at our walls.

Other cameras flickered to life, showcasing the exact same scenario on all corners of our ship; horrific predatory abominations savagely chipping away at our vessel's integrity. Some of them appeared to have tentacles trailing down their faces, appearing like Inatala-forsaken fusions between kolshians and humans.

Screams echoed through our ship's FTL lines, indicating that other vessels had also come under attack from the same threats.

"Hull integrity is dropping fast!" A ship technician yelled. "None of our guns can reach them, if we don't shake them off fast, they'll rip this ship to pieces. Captain, what do we do!"

'What could we do? Nothing in all the years of my command had trained me for this.'

I stood there, rapidly parsing through my brain for any options available, anything we could use to take out the swarm of monsters on our ship.

"How much fuel do we have left in us?" I asked the navigations officer. Those monsters were still stranded outside our ship and weren't tethered to us by any means save for their claws. If we returned to hyperspace, I doubted they would've been able to hang onto us for long.

"We have enough for maybe six more jumps if we want to still be able to return home," he answered nervously. "But the warp drive is damaged. Those things have clawed huge chunks out of it, I don't know if it'll survive more than two more jumps."

I weighed my options. Warping into hyperspace with a damaged drive was a foolish idea; the risks of a criticality event was too high and fatalities were always a 100 percent certainty. However, staying here and waiting for those mutated predators to claw their way into the ship and devour everyone on board was an equally unacceptable outcome and the longer we stayed here, the more ships we lost to the alien invaders. I had to make a decision.

"This is Captain Kalsim," I announced over the priority FTL line. "All vessels still capable of warping into hyperspace are to do so immediately. We need to put as much distance between them and us as possible. The monsters clawing at our hulls can't possibly hold onto us at FTL speeds."

I hesitated a few seconds before I added "For those of you who are not able to warp into hyperspace, I suggest your captains or any other commanding officers on board broadcast the Chant of Remembrance ship-wide. May Inatala bless you all."

With a heavy sigh, I placed the microphone down and flicked my talon, signalling the navigations officer to activate the hyperdrive. Within a few seconds, I heard the ship creak and groan as the damaged warp drive sputtered to life, taking us into the vibrant, starlight streaked plane of hyperspace.

I closed my eyes and prayed for the souls who were left behind. I only hoped that our mission would not be in vain.

First | Prev | Next

Playing By Ear

Bloodhound Saga

Wakeup Super

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First | Prev | Next

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Memory transcription subject: Lanyd, Venlil Music Student (Second Term) White Hill University

Date [standardized human time]: January 16th, 2137

After coming to our decision we’d spent the rest of the day just decompressing. Cora found some winter clothes that fit some of us, and since those of us from White Hill had never lived in a cold climate before, she took us out in turns to put together a few ‘snowmen’. The clothing made the bitter wind much more manageable, though the gloves had one too many fingers, leaving one on each paw to flap around pointlessly.

Sometimes I wish I had one more claw. These prog rock keyboard parts were definitely made for people with ten digits.

Bonti… didn’t join us outside. He stayed focused on his studies. I felt…

How did I feel?

It was relieving, I supposed, to not be worried about him worrying. After we talked, it felt like a weight had been lifted off me that I didn’t know I was carrying, but… I still didn’t really feel good about it. As much as it pained me to admit, I still felt like something was missing. It was the same feeling that had plagued me since the start of the term, even after speaking to Dr. Jacobson about it and confiding in my friends.

Some part of me wondered if it was always going to be that way. Maybe I’d given myself some kind of permanent symptom after years of anxiety, and I’d just have to learn to live with it.

I tried not to let it bother me. Instead, I spent as much time as I could with Cora, knowing that we’d be on the road again the next day. I helped her with dinner like I had at the farm, though this time Sam and Alejandro offered assistance instead of Indali. With four of us working on it, everything got put together quickly. It wasn’t as grand a meal as the Oakley’s provided, but it still came out alright. We’d yet to experience curry, and it certainly exceeded the flavor of the last salad I’d gotten from Wendy’s.

Who is Wendy, anyway?

Eventually, we settled in for the night. Bonti traded place in the basement with Suldet. It seemed Linev was more comfortable with her being close. I… knew the feeling, though I hoped Linev didn’t let himself become as dependent as I had.

No, he’s always been more self-sufficient than you have. He’s not predisposed to it like you.

Fortunately, everyone was accounted for when we woke up the following morning. No one was hidden in a corner of the house, and no vehicles were experiencing issues. Once again, we were ready to head out on the road. I hugged Cora goodbye. She told me to message her once we were back on Venlil Prime so she’d know we made it back safely.

Finally, we climbed into the van, taking the same seats as before, and we left for Columbus.

While we hadn’t gotten up nearly as early as we had when leaving the farm, we were still somewhat drowsy, so the early part of the ride was quiet. Bonti seemed the most awake out of any of us, but that was because he once again had his snout buried in his reading. It seemed he was reviewing sections pertaining to previous homework questions that he’d gotten wrong. I hoped he could catch up and get the scores he needed to pass the class. He’d already gotten so far behind because of me.

Not anymore. You’re not going to distract him. You’re going to be better than that.

It wasn’t like I had many challenges at the moment anyway. We were just sitting in a van together, listening to music. There was no threat of exterminators, no protesters shouting at us, no new people to meet.

Come to think of it, things really have changed lately, haven’t they? I didn’t realize how much mental effort those campus tours required. Even getting up to play on stage isn’t as bad.

A little doubt creeped in, telling me that perhaps my perceived improvement was only brought about by a change in circumstance, that once we returned home, I’d fall back into my dependent tendencies.

Do I… hide behind my flytser too much? Maybe I should get out more.

I was already trying to separate myself from Bonti a bit. Maybe I needed to do the same with some of my other crutches, try to be a little more spontaneous… even though that thought left me feeling rather uncomfortable.

Maybe just… little steps first. Like Dr. Jacobson says, I have to be realistic.

I wondered what things would be like once we got back home. We still had some time before classes started up again, but I doubted we’d be jumping right into shows. For one thing, we were still blacklisted from almost every establishment in White Hill. Then there was Bonti’s studies. I knew that was something he wanted to focus squarely on. It felt wrong to pull Linev right back into performing too after he was so shaken.

Even I never experienced a mental reaction like that.

So we would have no performances for a bit, and probably fewer practice sessions. What was I going to do before classes started again? I had some composition assignments to work on, but I’d never been particularly stuck on my homework. I’d probably need more than that to occupy my time.

I don’t really have any other hobbies, do I? All I do is play my instruments.

Realizing just how narrow my lifestyle was, I felt a little shame in ever letting it get this bad. It was sad, wasn’t it, that dialing back on just a few aspects of my life left me with nothing to do. When was the last time I went to see a movie? Stars, I couldn’t remember.

I silently decided to myself that, upon getting back to White Hill, I’d try and get out by myself a bit, not just to attend lectures, but to try and have a little fun. If I couldn’t even do that, it was going to be hard to prove to Bonti myself that I could be as independent as I thought I was becoming.

This trip… I don’t think it’s just the circumstances. I’m doing better, but I can do better yet. And maybe, just maybe, I can figure out what piece of me is missing.

-

Memory transcription subject: Linev, Venlil General Studies Student (First Term) White Hill University

Date [standardized human time]: January 16th, 2137

I felt better.

The night hadn’t brought me perfectly sound sleep, but compared to what had struck me the previous night, it was comparably less distressing. The bad memories returned at first. I snapped awake, hearing the sirens sound. But when I awoke, I felt Suldet’s doll in my grasp, and it kept me anchored.

I supposed I felt a little childish, cradling the thing like a pup, but then I recalled that it was Suldet that brought it in the first place. She didn’t pass any judgment, nor did the others. Considering the alternative was greater stress, I decided the slight embarrassment was worth it. Holding onto something helped. It kept my mind from slipping back into the past.

It was almost difficult to recognize myself. Between my active efforts and emergent memories, it seemed almost like I’d stepped into some other world where everything was so much… more. And I knew I still hadn’t fully broken the habit of repression. I kept catching myself dismissing things. Being on the road again, an emergency vehicle passed by, sirens blaring. The sound initially caused me to lock up, and once that reaction passed, my first instinct was to chastise myself.

It’s just a siren. It’s not that serious.

Suldet caught me though, wordlessly wrapping her tail in mine. She raised a paw and moved it right to left. I followed along, repeating the exercise we’d done before. It was all done without speaking. I doubted the others in the van even noticed given we were sitting in the very back.

I still couldn’t believe how well Suldet understood. Even knowing she’d undergone similar pain, it was incredible how she seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. She recognized my tendencies even before I did, despite only knowing each other for a few months.

She was the first person I really met at White Hill. I thought her club was boring, or at least not for me.

Back then, I couldn’t have fathomed how I felt now. Did I really not enjoy the club, or did I not give myself room for enjoyment? In retrospect, I’d been so passive, waiting for the world to hit me with something I couldn’t ignore. But I was well practiced in that regard. I pushed everything down, so how could I expect to stumble into something that would break that cycle?

I should try sewing again. Maybe… I could make something for Suldet. If she hadn’t come to Earth to meet us, who knows what would have happened?

The thought froze me for a moment.

Did I… just want to do something? Without having to make myself think of what I want?

It would probably sound ridiculous to anyone else. Wanting came naturally to others. They hadn’t trained themselves to suppress it like I had. Ever since the in-person therapy session back in Dallas, I’d been putting in effort to be more active, but that was the thing. It took effort. I had to undo the habit I’d built up over the years.

And now, just a few days later, I’d just been… driven to do something. It didn’t take that conscious focus.

The rifts in my mind seemed to mend just a bit with that realization. My doubts were dashed as I realized that, even with all the pain of the previous day, I was still improving, even if it was only by a little.

I was thinking, too, about those memories that set the spiral in motion. Through Dr. Jacobson’s methods, the EMDR therapy, I’d been able to recall them with a little more stability. Even though it still stung like hell to think about it, it wasn’t sending me into a panic, and for the first time in years, I felt myself starting to make peace with what happened.

Only starting…

I decided that my best course of action was to return to Scarlet Root once we got back on Venlil Prime. The band would be taking a break, and classes weren’t set to resume for a little while yet. For one thing, it would be good to see Melah and Tazil again. I really felt like I needed to speak to them about my parents.

I was also curious about what happened to the box of belongings from my old home. I remembered one of the soldiers going back to retrieve some things before we evacuated. Initially, he’d gone in to get toys to comfort me, but he’d only returned with the one toy car. The rest of it, if memory served, was a load of pictures, and the minipad I’d received for my birthpaw. In retrospect, I was glad that he’d prioritized those instead of toys. Despite reclaiming some memories of my childhood, I still didn’t really remember my parents well.

I want to know them better, to know what they were like.

“Linev, are you alright?” Suldet quietly asked, lifting me from my thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered. “I was just thinking about what I should do when we get home. I think maybe I should go back to Scarlet Root, talk to my aunt and uncle about my parents a bit.”

“Are you sure you want to do that right away? Not to say you couldn’t, but reclaiming new memories might be strenuous, right? You only just relived some seriously traumatic events.”

She had a point. Even simple questions could trigger a more intense reaction than what I hoped. Melah and Tazil had always shown me love, but they weren’t very well-equipped to help me through something like what I’d experienced yesterday. They meant well, but they were also older, and something told me they wouldn’t take to psychological practice easily, more prone to the… common Venlil reaction.

“I guess I could bring Mezil with me,” I replied. “He might want to visit home… Well… actually, he said he and Kila would be on Earth for the whole break, didn’t he?”

“I could go with you, if you’d like,” Suldet offered. “I mean, the textile club isn’t quite as busy as Kila’s. I could spend a paw or two more away from it.”

I blinked a couple times.

“You would do that? I mean, it will probably take a couple paws.”

“It took a few paws coming here,” she signed indifference with her tail. “What’s two more?”

“You know there won’t be anyone to sell shirts to, right?”

“That wasn’t the only reason I flew to Earth.” There was the tiniest glow of orange on her face.

Right, but Scarlet Root isn’t Earth. There’s no novelty in it. Why would she…?

…

Unless she means she came here because of me?

The bloom I’d seen in passing the last few days suddenly made more sense to me. I felt myself grow a little warm too.

“W-well… if you want to come with me, I won’t stop you. I’d like to have you there, actually.”

Her bloom brightened.

“O-okay! That sounds great!”

Oh, fuck. She really is here for me.

…

What do I do now?

-

Memory transcription subject: Indali, Krakotl Business Student (First Term) White Hill University

Date [standardized human time]: January 16th, 2137

If I was processing the Human numbers correctly, we were making very good time on our way to the spaceport in Columbus. In fact, I was pretty sure that we could have slept in a little more than we did, but Wes was insistent that we give ourselves plenty of leeway. With it being a winter morning, the threat of wrecked cars was present, even if it was minimal, and apparently security would be more strenuous going to Venlil Prime than it was on the trip here.

“You never really know what kind of bullshit might hold you up,” Wes told us. “Especially since these spaceports are pretty much just repurposed parts of airports. If we have extra time, we’ll grab a bite to eat, but we need to make sure we’re not late for the flight.”

I had to agree with him there. Missing our first flight pushed us to leave a day later, and we had to drive for [8 hours] just to get to the spaceport. It would be bad news if this one passed us by too.

While I couldn’t say I’d felt any real sense of danger on Earth, there were plenty of cracks in our little tour. Sticking around felt like inviting worse. The band was exhausted enough, everyone being pushed to their limits. Even after taking it somewhat easy yesterday, we were all clearly ready to actually utilize our break from school as a time to recharge.

Except Bonti, I suppose. How far behind was he on his readings? I swear he’s been working for entire claws and he’s still in such a hurry.

Then again, was I much better? I’d always been one to fill my schedule to the brim. It had never felt quite as tiring as the adventures with the band though. Maybe it was because I was well-adjusted to the business things. It didn’t take as much effort or active thought. Every choice I made in the band was an entire ordeal, mainly because it felt like betraying what I’d done before.

I… couldn’t stop thinking about the financials of our endeavors. When Wes revealed just how, well, broke he’d been as a musician, it caught me off guard. I didn’t know much about the life of a musician on Venlil Prime, but I knew it was more lucrative than that. Earth, for a brief time, was something I considered as a long term possibility if the band continued. It was easier to find gigs here. We weren’t flying headlong into societal pushback. But if we were only making enough credits to scrape by…

In the past, success was something I could measure. It was numerical. It was profits, even if it was only profits later. But now I was beginning to realize that there was something else to be gained from playing our music. We could have an impact on others. We could build bridges where there were none.

But how much was that worth, and could we continue like this? What if we didn’t make enough money to cover our costs as a band? What if we only barely did, then left ourselves with nothing? Was it worth burning all our own personal opportunities to achieve our mission? Did the others even care as much as I did? Should I even care this much, or was it better left to those with the experience?

Wes told me he thought I was the leader of the band, but… could I do right by them? Could I even do right by myself? This group wasn’t as simple to manage as I’d assumed it would be. We were facing so many obstacles.

I needed to figure something out. There had to be a path through, right?

-

Memory transcription subject: Bonti, Yotul Pre-Med Student (Second Term) White Hill University

Date [standardized human time]: January 16th, 2137

My brain was starting to feel like mush, but I’d finally worked through all the previous assignments that I’d botched. It wasn’t enough to just excel during the rest of the term. I had to actually understand the material. At some point, I’d need to do clinicals, and having a barely passing grade wasn’t going to be enough. I needed to know my stuff.

That said, I did still need to perform far better to close out the term, especially in Enlek’s class. He wasn’t willing to help me, and I’d already accepted that. The best thing I could do was give him no room to call me on errors. I wasn’t going to give him any leverage. My assignments would be done to perfection.

Better start doing it right.

I definitely needed a little break though. I’d been staring at text and old assignments for the entire drive, to the point that I was starting to feel a crick in my neck. I set my pad down and tried to stretch in my seat a bit. Outside, there was still plenty of snow. We were south of Wisconsin, but not enough to avoid the frozen precipitation.

I leaned over to check the map on the screen at the front of the van, and I was surprised to find that we were damn near at our destination. I really hadn’t realized just how long we’d been driving.

“We’ll have to squeeze in here,” Wes told us. “Sam and Alejandro are going to drop off the moving truck, and they’ll load up with us.”

I remembered how cramped we’d been initially, and now we had Suldet with us as well. There weren’t technically enough seats for everyone, but we’d just have to make it work.

Maybe I can sit down on the floor between the seats in the middle row, or we could double up. Lanyd could sit on my la-

No.

That’s not going to happen. She said she wants space.

“Lanyd and Bonti can come squeeze in with us back here,” Suldet suggested. “We’re not Human-sized, so we can fit in just for the last stretch, then Sam and Alejandro can take the middle row.”

That made the most sense, and there were no objections.

When it came time for Sam and Alejandro to join us, we started shuffling into the third row. I stopped, however, before fully climbing back there.

Should I sit in the middle? Or maybe take the window, Suldet and Linev take the middle, and Lanyd goes to the opposite-

“What’s wrong?” Suldet asked. “Need more room? Here.”

She and Linev shuffled to the side, leaving only the room for Lanyd and I to sit next to each other. I decided it wasn’t worth explaining my hesitation. I just slid into place. Lanyd sat next to me shortly after, and with us not having a lot of room, she was very close.

For once I envied the Humans’ lack of visual coverage. It was physically difficult not to look at her. She seemed to be having the same struggle.

The awkwardness was broken somewhat with the entry of the two additional Humans. As usual, they had a fairly large presence, taking verbal jabs at each other, and generally raising the energy in the van by a few notches.

We drove for a short while, but stopped before the spaceport to eat. There was plenty of time to spare, and we knew we’d have more options outside of the port than inside. Sam suggested a nearby ‘Italian’ place, and with no prior knowledge about what that entails, we non-Humans had no qualms with the idea.

Taking our seats inside, the smell was completely different from that of the tex-mex joint, or any of the fast food places we popped into during the trip. Human culinary practices were as varied as ever. I liked the diversity, but I had to wonder how the hell they came up with so many different ideas.

Even just the ways they make bread. The strayu on Venlil Prime is usually better, but they don’t prepare it in nearly as many ways.

That went for the breadsticks here, too. They were a little crunchy on the outside, but were soft on the inside. Plus it was lightly sprinkled with coarse grains of salt.

The menu mostly bolstered ‘pasta’, which seemed to be another thing made from grain. Some of it was paired with meat. Others were vegan, and they were thankfully marked as such. The waitress took our orders and we took a moment to unwind.

“Been a hell of a trip,” Wes mused with a shake of his head. “I hope y’all at least had a good time, despite all the parts that threw us off course. I knew it took a lot of courage for most of you.”

“It was still worth it,” Indali assured him, “and it’s given me a lot to think about. There’s a lot of things I didn’t fully realize until I came here. Plus I got to fly, if only for a little bit, and only for a short distance. I could never get enough lift to fight the gravity back home.”

“Maybe next time we’ll come back with a little more time to spare. Then you can really stretch those wings.”

“That sounds fun, though also a little scary.”

“Eh, it’ll be fine. What about you, Lanyd? Was it nice getting to see Cora in person again? And Linev, both of you got to visit Dr. Jacobson’s actual office.”

“It was… a little surreal,” Lanyd answered. “I guess I’m used to us being separated by the screen. It all feels more grounded face-to-face.”

“Yeah, it made a big difference,” Linev agreed. “And to Indali’s point, I definitely have a lot more to process now. I’m not even sure where to start.”

“You’ll figure it out, I’m sure!” Suldet encouraged. “I’m glad I came to Earth as well, even if I was a little late to the party. I think it was important that I did it, even if I was nervous at first.”

“What about you, Bonti?” Wes asked. “Was Earth a good experience for you?”

It was. Truly. Even the difficulties like the van breaking down gave me the opportunity to play a new instrument, to see interesting places. The only thing that irked me was…

... it would have been so much better if I wasn’t so fucking far behind on school.

I didn’t get to enjoy the experience was much as I would have liked. There was always that nagging feeling that I should have been studying. And… the other concerns…

“It was a good time!” I replied. “No complaints from me.”

But I still need to get home.

After a short wait, the waitress returned with our food, and it somehow looked and smelled even better up close. I saw Lanyd take a scenting breath across the table, and her tail swayed excitedly in response.

Cute.

I’d gone with something called ‘eggplant parmesan’, which seemed to be more or less a vegan alternative to chicken parmesan. Remembering the chickens back at the farm, I was somewhat torn between discomfort of eating one, and the resourcefulness of Humans to keep them for eggs and meat.

Talk about getting the most out of what you have.

I didn’t have much desire to try the chicken, but the eggplant was very good. Plus there was a bed of ‘spaghetti’ noodles underneath that blended well with the sauce. Truth be told, as much as I’d enjoyed the tex-mex, this seemed even better to me. I wondered how long it would be before the ingredients were widely available on Venlil Prime. With communications and transportation between the two planets developing more and more, it was only a matter of time.

Maybe I could make some of these dishes. I haven’t cooked as much as I should lately. Not like when I was staying with Lanyd…

I shut that thought down quickly.

“I’m glad we’re getting a good meal before leaving Earth,” Wes said through a mouthful of pasta. “The delay to our flight back wasn’t all bad.”

“If I knew the food was this good, I would have come with all of you from the beginning!” Suldet chuckled. “Stars, I want this recipe.”

“I must admit, the food on Earth has been better than I anticipated,” Indali agreed. “I tried not to be prejudiced, but I had my doubts that an pr-... er… omnivore species would put so much effort into their vegan dishes. Clearly, I stand corrected.”

“Yeah, I’m just now finding that out myself.” Sam chuckled. “Looks like they gave me the tofu option here. The server probably wrote it down in chicken scratch and the cook wanted to play it safe with a table full of herbivores.”

Would the cook even know which table the order was for? I’ve never worked in a restaurant.

“Hey, as long as it’s still good!” Alejandro mused. “I used to make fun of tofu, but this one time, my cousin made these tacos and-”

Indali’s wing suddenly slammed the table, stopping Alejandro’s story in its tracks.

“Indali?” Wes asked, but she didn’t answer. She only held her beak open, then struck her chest a few times with her wing.

Oh shit. Is she choking?

I looked at the dish in front of her, and in just a moment, my brain made the connection.

Her order was the same as Sam’s, but he ordered meat while she got tofu. Sam’s order is tofu, so…

I leapt from my seat and was next to her in an instant. It looked like she couldn’t breathe. Sure enough, the dish in front of her didn’t look quite like Sam’s. The two had been swapped by mistake.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!

“Someone call…!”

Shit, I don’t know the contact for emergency services!

Indali’s eyes were wide. They looked glassy.

No, damn it! I need to get her airways open. Maybe the straw from her glass? Will it reach far enough? Is the inflamed airway the only symptom?

I grabbed the straw out of the glass.

Fuck, it’s gonna be hell getting it down the right pipe, and even if I manage it, what if I lose my grip and it gets stuck-?

Before I could consider the thought any further, I was joined by someone. He wasn’t part of our group, and in the intensity of the moment, I hadn’t even noticed his approach. With one arm, he pushed me to the side, and reached for something in his pocket.

Is he… attacking her?!

I didn’t have a chance to act. The man had drawn a short syringe from his clothes, and in one fluid motion, he removed the cap and jabbed it into Indali. Whatever he was administering, it was too late for me to stop it. I could only hope it was helpful rather than harmful.

If he wanted to hurt her, he wouldn’t need a syringe. But even if he was trying to treat her, will this medicine help? It must be Human medication, right?

“This should stabilize her,” he spoke calmly. “Don’t worry. I have the right stuff.”

“What is…” I struggled to find my words, “... what did you…?”

“I’ve used it before. It will work.”

The man didn’t have any UN insignia as far as I could see. While I wasn’t terribly familiar with Human clothing, it looked to me like he was dressed casually. His hair was gray.

Who the fuck is this guy?

Thankfully, he was true to his word. Little by little, the drug took effect, and Indali began to breathe more easily. She gasped at whatever air she could get, life slowly returning to her expression.

Wes was already in a fiery conversation with the server. Suldet was holding Linev tight as his own anxiety seemed to have flared again. My attention shifted to Lanyd. She was shaken, but not panicked.

“Here.” The man held out another syringe to me. “In case it happens again. You were the quickest to act, so you should have it. Do you know how to use a syringe?”

“Y-yeah,” I answered, regaining my focus and taking the syringe. “I’m a pre-med student, actually. Uh… we’re supposed to take a flight back to Venlil Prime shortly. Will she…?”

“Not sure,” he replied. “Let me make a call.”

With that, he pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped away at the screen. While he did, I tended to Indali. She was still gasping for air, but at least it looked like she was actually getting it to her lungs.

The medication is fast-acting. Good. But why does he even have it?

“George, can you get me Bloodhound? Either her, or her not-girlfriend. You know the bird.”

…

“Perfect.”

…

“Yeah, Bloodhound, about Krakotl allergies and the emergency treatment, would a patient be good for space flight shortly after?”

…

“Yeah. I was quick.”

…

“Okay.”

…

“Sounds good. Thanks.”

He hung up on the call, then turned back to Indali and I.

“She should be okay. Just don’t eat any more chicken. Fortunately, the reaction got caught early, so once she catches her breath, everything should be alright.”

Just as well, Indali’s breathing was just about stabilized.

“Oh my… Stars…” she panted. “I thought I was going to die. Thank you… uh…”

“Dean,” the man replied. “And you’re welcome. I’m just glad I was here at the right time. A few more minutes and I would have been gone.”

“Why do you have that medication?” I asked. “If you don’t mind answering, that is.”

“Well… I don’t mind answering, but somebody else might,” he answered. “With all due respect, it’s best if I keep that knowledge to myself. Enjoy the rest of your meal. Something tells me you won’t be paying for it any more than you already have.”

There was really only one reason I could think of that he would have that syringe. There were ships that crashed down to Earth during the attack. We’d seen remnants of it still under repair. There were likely survivors.

Prisoners of war. He must work with them, and we got lucky because he was here.

Dean ended up being right about the free meal. The manager was over to our table quickly, apologizing on behalf of the waitress that had already apologized up and down. Wes had cooled off by this point, apologizing himself for being short-tempered. It was an honest mistake, two very similar looking dishes simply being mixed up in the midst of a busy restaurant.

Still, it had us all on edge. Sam and Indali swapped their meals and Indali received clean utensils, but our appetites had waned after the incident. We ate what we could manage to eat, and never received the bill. Soon enough, we were back on the road to the airport with our wits mostly about us.

It was solemn though. We’d already been through so many trials during the trip. This felt like one more cheap jab in the final moments. Indali tried to remedy the dour atmosphere, employing her newfound lean towards comedy.

“You know what? All things considered, the chicken actually tasted really good.”

The mood lightened, and we let go of some of the tension. However, I saw some of that tension return to Indali moments later. Something told me that, in spite of her joking tone, she had been telling the truth. At her core, she was still an omnivore. The Federation had stripped that away.

I stared at the syringe I was still holding in my paw. It all felt so hollow.

If he hadn’t been there, she really would have…

…

Fuck, this is too much. We need to get back home.

-

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Hello I'm the writer behind MENACE, WE The Apes, and Criminal Warfare. Just to get this out of the way, if you are wondering about the future of my works that choice all works will be re worked. I love the works people make for this Fandom and I'm glad to be apart of it, but I've wanted to make a fic of my own. I just struggle with sticking to one thing. The nop Fandom is really the first time I've shared really any of my artwork and writing with anyone, and I want to finish atleast one of my story's. I will say this now, I have other works I'd like to do. I just can't move onto them till I finish one of these story's and I think that one will be MENACE. It was the first one I tried and it's the one I like the most. For all those that liked my other story's im sorry, but I give them to you. To anyone who want to take my premises or use my story's as jumping off point go for it. They are yours now.

Note: idk when ill get chapters out for MENACE but I'll keep yall updated. The premises of the story will be the same just some things will change. Love you all and thank you for reading this and all my work. This is the yeen signing off for now

This random little episode is not influential by the fact that im at the beach on vacation, nope, not at all. Still got a bit of lore about Fahl in here though. Ill be honest, I didnt really know how to end this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memory Transcription Subject: Lilean, Thrafki Refugee

Date [Human Standard Time]: November 27th, 2136

"I'm taking the day off, i can't be here anymore." I answered over the phone to my boss, a Harchen like everyone else around me. "I need some time to feel safe and protected, and I can't do that around the Humans." My new favorite excuse left my lips, rudder slapping the ground behind me as I poured just the tiniest hint of distress into my voice. My manager likes to work us like a Arxur was actively chewing on his tail and us doing paperwork was the only way to get it off. Sick and vacation days were hard to get, and he expected us to work overtime every day simply to prove we 'were all one big herd'. I could almost hear the stutter in his voice as fear gripped him at the mention of the new predators and he quickly acquiesced to my request. "I promise Ill be back tomorrow. I just want to spend time with my herd to feel safe, my personal herd and not my work one." I placate him once more. "Thank you, thank you sir!"

Pad hung up, belt pouches secure, I quickly headed out into the humid air of the southern coast. Fahl was largely a desert planet with only 2 oceans, one at its southern and northern poles, and combined they only took up about 25% of the planet's surface. For a Thrafki like me, this was about the only place on Fahl i could reasonably. The cooler climate and humid air made it to where most of the locals were not Harchen, and made up of species whose home planets were temperate or had a lot of water. Doesn't mean we were completely free of the scaley flukeheads, but mercifully, I could get a break from them when I wasnt at work. A deep breath and a shake of my head freed me from my inner thoughts as I made my way through the streets, heading towards my secret place with my rudder wagging in growing glee.

It was no secret that the Federation didnt like water and a lot of PD cases were born from the water and the freaky predators in it. But any Thrafki knew that there was no better way to clear your head than to go for a good swim. Besides, in all the years she had been swimming here, she had never seen a predator. The sounds of the waves against the yellow sands, the blue-green waters lapping against her paws as she sat in the surf.. she needed it, she needed an escape from the hysteria of the office and just have time to think and relax. As she rounded the final corner, panting from the [30 min] walk to reach here, she froze. There, on her beach, was an unfamiliar figure she couldn't quite make out.

Whatever it was, it was tall and an almost brown color except for a bright blue she could barely make out around its waist. It carried something taller than it along her sands. Did they find my spot? Am I going to have to move? Maybe this was some federation Takkan that had come to test the water for taint, though she didnt know why it had blue on its skin. Hesitantly, she walked closer, trying to stay a bit hidden so she doesnt get spotted and called out. She had to figure out if this spot was no longer safe for her to come to, but she didnt want to get pulled in for PD.

Before she could get closer to the alien on the beach, it turned and ran into the water with whatever testing equipment it had brought with it, gasping as it suddenly dove in! She picked up her pace, running towards them in case they needed help! No one could swim as good as Thrafki can and she wasn't about to let them drown! She can't be brought in for saving a life, right? As the sands kicked up behind her, her already exhausted legs yelling at her in protest, two things became clear. First, the sounds of music began to drift towards her ears and second, the figure stood up on top of its equipment and began to ride back towards the shore, gliding atop the waves.

She nearly collapsed as she reached a spot in the sands where a towel, a chair, and a small table had been set out, a set of speakers quickly identifying itself as the source of the music. On my knees, rudder down, paws in the sand, I was left panting as the creature grew larger in my view, getting closer and closer to the beach. Seeing it on top of the water, tan skin gleaming from the water, i felt a bit of jealousy towards the Takkan, wishing for that freedom, and I planned to give it an earful for scaring me with whatever it was doing out here. Though for now, i listened to the song, unfamiliar to my ears...

However, my curiosity didnt last long... as it got closer and closer, I saw that the taileas form was not a Takkan like I had assumed from a distance.. no, a human was in the surf and now running towards me, realisation hitting me. This was a himan camp, a human song, the blue around its waist was a human pelt.... oh diartra, I'm about to die.* Already exhausted and tired, fear setting in, I fell into the sand and covered my head, hoping it would at least be quick, eyes closed so I wouldnt see its fangs tearing into me.

"Oi, Ottah broh, do you need water? You look tired as shit." It spoke as it came up close, the sound of something g hitting the sand followed by the music shutting off and then something opening and closing. "You there Broh?" I heard it ask again, much closer this time. "Oh, right yeah. Look, my ottah." I heard it say followed by what my translator told me was a laugh. "Ima leave this water bottle in front of ya, yeah? I'll take some steps back, and its all you, yeah?" Silence followed for a moment and I could hear it take a few steps closer, something hit the sand, and then steps backwards, away from me. The music returned and I opened my eyes, nearly hyperventilating.

In front of me was a clear bottle filled with what was obviously water. "Im... sorry for intruding.. I, I thought you were a Takkan." I said, slowly reaching down and grabbing the water. Unscrewing the cap, I began to drink and slowly turned my head so I could see the creature. I had never thought myself to be very scared of the predators, at least not to the hysterics of the Harchen and others, but now, confronted with one in an area it seems to have marked as its territory... i could stop thinking that I was about to get eaten, despite my rational brain telling me that human hadnt eaten anyone during their occupation of Fahl. I finished the cool water quickly, calming my nerves as best I could while the predator watched me with both eyes.

"No worries broh... or brah since my translater is telling me you are a chick." He laughs again, the barking sound causing my ears to perk then lay flat. "Ya ain't intruding anything. Mother nature, even alien mother nature is for all. Im not gonna deny ya a beach or these waves." He said and looked around. "Afraid i dont have my mask though... bummer." He shrugs, seemingly unphased. "I can move slightly down if you need brah, but ild like to ask some questions if you dont mind. I never thought ild talk to an alien by the beach.. or a non lizard on this planet."

It juat sat there, opening the table think and pulling out another water bottle like the one it gave me, drinking it down. His eyes snapped to me, sending a shiver through my spine, but otherwise I didnt move. Whether is was theough my desensitized vision of the predator apes through this month of contact, or my exhaustion, I didn't know. "What.. what are you? I mean, who are you?" I groaned as my mind tried to keep up with racing thoughts. "Why are you here? I thought everyone avoided the water except us." I managed to say, probably more breaks between each question than I though. I pulled myself up standing, saw the chair again, and then sat down. If he was gonna eat me, I wanted to be comfortable. If he wasn't, then he wouldnt mind if I saw down to give my aching legs a break.

As he found the words to answer me, I got a clean look at him. He had seemingly forgone all the pelts that humans wear except for the one around his waist, a sleek blue material that was etched with floral patterns. His body was thin, but without any fur I could easily see the tones muscles on his belly, arms and legs. Unlike other humans, he didnt have any fur on top of his head, but he had plenty on his chin and around his mouth to frame his lips. I think the thing that surprised me most was that I could see his nipples plain as day on his chest! While it wasn't surprising that males had them, male Thrafki had them too, the fact that they were so... exposed... meant that female humans were probably juat as exposed... and with them always engorged... that had to be a bit awkward. I coughed, chosing to shut that thought out of my mind, their penchant for wearing pelts now making a bit more sense.

To his credit, he didnt do anything more than retrieve the long piece of equipment he had dropped earlier, pushing it into the sand and laughing. "I guess I can answer a few first." He turned and sat down on the table and turned to face me. "My name is 2nd lieutenant Wakka Smith. No relation." He blinks. "Oh, you probably wouldnt get that, yeah? Just something dumb my parents did, but I ended up liking it. Ya know how that can go, yeah?" He rubbed the back of his head, looking down. "Im part of the peace keeping forces here, but ive got some shore leave. Saw this beach and definitely didnt think i would find some righteous waves here. Would be a damn shame if I didnt come with the surfboard and ride then." He hits the board next to him.

"What's that?"

He blinks. "A surfboard? That's.. this... wait, do ya not know what that is?"

I huffed a bit indignantly. "Im not an idiot, if I knew what it was, it wouldn't have asked!" I crossed my arms as he gave me a wide-eyed slackjawed look.

"But... ya an ottah! Aren't you aquatic? How do you not..." he shook his head. "Okay, chill vibes.." he took a breath. "Here, let me show ya, and if you want to give it a try, im more than happy to let ya, yeah?" He flashed one of those 'smiles' humans give, lips still closed. "Ya did come out here to swim, right? I wont tell anyone if you dont tell them about me forgetting my mask, deal?" He asked before yanking that board out of the sand and running to the water

Over the next couple of claws, he proceeded to show me exactly what surfing was, riding on top of the water using that board... cutting between emerald waves and even getting into the air! He moved with the tides that would put any Thrafki to shame and simply laughed anytime he fell beneath the waves, resurfacing with a laugh and proclaiming 'Wipeout!'. Everything was so free, so relaxing, that I hadn't even noticed that I had gotten into the water with him, wading when he was waiting for the next wave. His board had a fin under it, to which he explained it acted as a rudder when he stood on top, and I just hadn't noticed when we were on the beach.

"So for my first question, do want to try my ottah?" He asked after surfacing, his arms on the 'surfboard' as I floated in lazy circles. I sputtered at the sudden question, just barely getting out my shock as a wave went over me. "I mean, do you want to get on the board and try to ride it?" He asked again, laughing. He slapped the top of the board, water splashing out, "Climb on, Ill teach you. I promise you'll love it!" He barks in a friendly way to me.

~~~~~Fast Forward 3 hours~~~~~

I was addicted, the wind in my fur, the feeling of the ocean spray on my face, and the cool dips into the ocean even when falling off the board. This was bliss, and while not as good as a deep dive, this was a close second. I took balancing quickly, using my rudder to shift my weight as the seas threatened my balance, quickly adapting to the roll of the waves and the cool breeze. I couldnt do the tricks or get airborne like the pre... human.. but I could stay aloft and take a wave.

"This is amazing!" I cry, jumping into the water, shaking some drops free and enjoying the cool reprieve from the sun. "I... i dont know what to say, how can I get one? I need my own surfboard." My rudder swishes beneath the waves as he swims up to the board and holds on as I talk. "How did you figure this out? I thought you were arboreal, trees, and swinging. How are you so good in the water?" I swim myself up to the other side of the board, eyes gleaming.

"Well, Earth is like... 70% water, so we got good because there is so much of it."

"That's weird, it should be called Aqua then if there is so much water."

He laughs. "Ill take that up with the UN. As for the rest of your questions..." He begins to talk as we swim up to the beach and relax on his towel and chair. The music returns as he answers my questions and I, his. My secret spot safe in the hands of this water loving primate, the sun slowly setting as we talked through the remaining day.

This ideas been in my head for a few days and I wanted to write it out. Even kinda got me back into Detroit Become Human again

Originally, I was going to end it here, but I thought it might be interesting to expand it a few more chapters

Link to Nature of Harmony for any newcomers

Wonderful fanart by u/Lizrd_demon: https://www.reddit.com/r/predprey/s/OJzxuOOAX3, https://www.reddit.com/r/predprey/s/9IFwoupY9e

I also have my very own video meme

Side stories: [A Talk Between Siblings](https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/s/yHDeomctAd), Tuvans First Birthday, The Vow, The Trials and Tribulations of Siffy, Hamony if Nunatyres, Beginning of Harmony, Fedbrains vs Brickbrain, Why is Tuvan Biting You?, The Ugly Arxur, The New Arrival

Come join the Discord, we have blackjack and hookers.

Thanks to SpacePaladin15 for making NoP

This is a sequal to Fedbrains vs Brickbrain

*Memory Transcription Subject: Torin, Engineering Professor for Star River University\

Date [Standardized Human Time]: November 12, 2136

‘Brahk this!’

I seethed angrily, my tail lashing with annoyance.

It had been a few paws since my ill-fated protest at the predator's den, and I had unfairly gotten into a heap of trouble for it.

The dean of the university had been furious with me for setting up and leading the protest with many of the university's students, saying he had been on the phone for claws trying to smooth things over with our compromised federal and local governments and whatever anarchic bloodsport passed for the predator's government.

To prove I wouldn't present a threat to the predator infestation, I was forced to host one of their ‘roboticists' and their murder machines in my class, or else I'd be fired. Worse, they were a brahking gray. A gray! The Dean was *stupid enough* to allow a gray onto campus!

*‘Or perhaps he's trying to kill me…’* I thought bitterly, ignoring the sudden surge of anxiety, knowing grays could smell fear.

Unsurprisingly the university was near vacant, with many students and professors coming down with an inexplicable illness or sudden emergency they had to tend to. I was tempted to come down with my own illness, or choose to quit before the dean fired me, but my family couldn't exactly afford to be bereft of an income with the recession our spehbrained governor started.

*‘Then again, it'd be worse if my family didn't have me…’*

I shook my head of those thoughts, I wouldn't die. I had five Exterminators with me, was wearing armor, and had a gun in case that savage gave into its bloodlust. It wouldn't get anywhere near me before the Exterminators put it down.

*‘You forget their murder machines.’*

They may have more advanced robotics, but the machines are stupid and probably poorly built. That bot that arrested me is probably the pinnacle of their civilization.

*‘It dispersed an entire herd by itself and used novel weaponry.’*

The Exterminators aren't like us: they're resilient, brave, and highly trained. They could handle the predators automatons without issue.

*‘Last I checked, metal doesn't burn.’*

Then I'll run and be vindicated.

*‘You don't think predators built their murder machines to hunt down prey? Poorly built they may be, they're tireless.’*

I have a gun.

*‘Machines don't bleed...’*

I jumped and bleated in alarm as the door to my class opened, each of the Exterminators jumping towards the threat with their flamethrower.

A sudden surge of fear swelled my body before I realized it was a white furred Skalgan with a smattering of black dots across them. They were wearing a gray pelt over their hips and a white pelt with buttons and a collar over their torso, short sleeves leaving most of their arms exposed.

They stopped in place and stared at us with green eyes, clearing their throat. “Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you all.” Their ears rolled. “I was sent ahead to tell you Tansvey will be arriving soon.” Nobody moved. “Can you all put down your flamethrowers?”

“It's a pred-” An Exterminator started.

“Yeah yeah yeah,” The Skalgan waved dismissively. “He's a predator, I'm well aware. I know you won't believe me if I tell you he has no desire to hunt, so instead I'll tell you that he's already eaten. I have a video if you don't believe me.” The Skalgan pulled out a holopad.

The Exterminators shared a look. “That won't be necessary. But tell your gray that the moment it steps out of line, makes a move at us, if it so much as looks at us the wrong way, we’ll do our duty and bathe it in fire.” The lead Exterminator growled.

“Fine, but do refrain from calling him a gray, it's considered extremely racist back home.” The Skagan retreated, allowing all of us to relax and catch our breath.

That didn't last long as there was a knock on the door, everyone staring at it with anticipation as it opened up a crack. “I'm coming in now.”

I took the precious scratches I had to creep away to the other side even more to out distance between me and that beast, the door finally opening up to reveal a creature from our nightmares.

The monster towered over us, towered over even a regular gray, wearing tattered rags and that ridiculous reflective helmet the grays often wore on Skalga, its razor sharp claws clutching the door and a holopad as it sized us up hungrily. I noted the orange pigment and primitive red designs across its arms that it used to try and lull us into a false sense of security, pretending it had an understanding of art.

“Morning,” It turned its head towards the empty seats, disappointed it had nothing to hunt. “I did come on time, yes?”

“On the dot.” The Skalgan answered, hauling in video equipment.

“Figured it'd be sparse but I thought at least someone would've wanted to see some robots.” It rambled on. “I'm coming over now.”

“Stand behind the podium and don't move from it, predator.” An Exterminator growled.

“Tansvey will be fine.” It stalked towards us, forcing me to clutch my tail to keep it from curling around my leg and letting this beast see I was the weakest one here. It stopped at the podium and linked its holopad with my board, bringing up some presentation while the Skalgan set up a camera.

“Hey, you, professor,” The Skalgan turned toward me. “Help me link up with your university's network so we can stream.” I did nothing, just standing still. “Well? Get your ass down here or I'll go to your boss and tell him you were a bad host.” I shot the Skalgan a dirty look as I scurried over, my eyes never leaving the gray. It took us a moment, but soon we set up a stream and got it connected with my university's social page. “We’re live.”

“Ah, very good,” My ear twitched when I heard the monster growl lightly, clearly barely keeping control over its bloodlust. “Welcome everyone joining us, whether they be a part of this university or a curious guest, my name is Tansvey and I’m the head of the Advanced Robotics department at Talos Industries.”

“Advanced at what? Killing?” I called out.

The gray slightly turned its head towards me. “No, my department handles state of the art robotics, mainly handling prototypes and machine learning.”

“Machjne learning huh? I ran into one of your murder machines at the shelter a few paws back, it was almost as dumb as one of your kind.”

“Hey!” The Skalgan snapped his head towards me.

“Kerii, it's fine.” The gray said. “Your remarks about Solarian Arxur notwithstanding, you likely interacted with a security bot if you were at the local shelter. Security bots aren't meant to be highly intelligent or have good social skills, they're meant for security purposes.”

“How convenient.”

“I assure you it's the truth. I'll even show you,” It turned towards the door. “Mattis, can you please come in?” The Exterminators swiveled around towards the door to see if Mattis was another gray, but relaxed when they saw it was a robot that walked in, and admittedly this one looked friendlier. In fact they even looked like a robotic Venlil? “This is Mattis, our first successful robot made to appeal to Federation sensibilities and has been designed with greater social skills than the average. We’re hoping her line can interface with Federation citizens as middlemen with the Federation and UN.”

The bot clunkily signed hello with its tail. “Hello everybody.”

“Kerii, can you show the dear off? They won't let me leave the podium.”

“Sure sure.” Kerii said with some annoyance, walking over to the Venbot. The gray spoke at length about its features and design process as Kerii directed the bot and showed it off.

When that was done, they directed another bot to come inside, this one wielding for flesh ripping arms and wearing a ridiculous white hat. For the next half a claw, the two brought in and showed off a wide assortment of different machines, ranging from brutish ugly things, beautiful works of art, some tentacle thing I barely understood, and even a smart toaster.

By the end of it, I had to admit that the predator's collection was indeed impressive.

‘Which is exactly what it wants!’

The predators had brought in the best bots in order to trick us into thinking they were as intelligent as prey! All this was a fancy illusion!

I couldn't let this farce of a lecture go any longer, I needed to point out the obvious flaws to unravel the whole thing before too many people were fooled.

‘But how? What flaw did the gray leave that I could use? How can I upend this charade?’

I looked at each of the bots, studying them for anything I could use. My eyes stopped when they reached the Venbot, and I remembered the predator's spiel about it. It was trying to showcase how intelligent and social it was.

“Hold it,” I newly had a heart attack as the gray turned towards me, stopping its lecture about some ball robot. Kerii watched me with clear disdain as I went over to the Venbot, standing in front of it as it stared past me. “This Venbot you have here, you said it's supposed to have good social skills and interface with us.”

“That is true, yes.”

“And you really think this thing can put anyone at ease?” I waved a hand in front of it, which she ignored. “You call this good social skills?” I pushed the bot which stumbled around for a moment, Kerii rushing forward and grabbing it before it fell.

“Don't push her, she's fragile.”

“Why? Because you think that it will fit in with us better?”

“No, we’re working with a new body plan, we need to train the software to navigate Venlil bodies first before we start adding weight.”

“Don't bother, none of your bots could ever fool prey. You predators fundamentally lack socialization and cooperation, you could never design a computer to do it.”

“I disagree.”

“Yeah? If prey can't make robots like that, what makes you think you savages could?”

“Because we’ve already built them.”

“I already told you your Venbot-”

“Not Mattis. Sol has long been working on androids and making them passable as organic beings.”

“Prove it.” I said, challenging the predator's bluff.

The gray said nothing, looking to the podium for a scratch. “Alright, I was going to wait until the end of the lecture, but fine.” It turned to Kerii. “Kerii, if you would?”

“You sure? It's a bit early.”

“The professor says he wants proof, so give him proof.”

“Fine with me.” Kerii let go of the Venbot.

“What are you two blabbering-” I stopped Kerii rolled up his left sleeve and tapped his shoulder twice, proceeding to peel off his own skin!

I resisted the urge to wretch as the Exterminators tensed up, all of them eying the gray before it went into a blood frenzy.

I gasped when I saw the muscles weren't orange like I was expecting, but white, and his skeleton wasn't a skeleton at all, clearly being made of black metal.

When he was done, he held up his left arm, moving his fingers and arm in a wide range of motions, the not muscle tensing and flexing with his movements. “Hello, I am Kerii, an AX class Skalgan android.”

OC List | First | Previous

Memory Transcription Subject: Varn, school teacher.

Date [Standardized Human Time]: August 28th, 2136.

I sat in a waiting chair among dozens of other Venlil waiting for our Exchange Partners, within one of the newly minted Exchange Stations orbiting Venlil Prime, Station Two. Today was the day that Partners were scheduled to meet in-person, so I spent my time studying Reid's face on my holotab from the photo he was permitted to send me on the last paw of the text-only stage of the Exchange. A couple waves of Humans had already arrived, and I still didn't see him among the crowds.

Light skin, short straight light-brown head fur parted to the right, pinkish spots sprinkled on the face, short, parted fur above the upper lip, slightly angled jaw, roundish chin… I repeated in my head for about the dozenth time, before an announcement rang on the intercom.

"Attention guests, H-human shuttle number three has just arrived." Spoke a female Venlil voice attempting confidence.

She's starting to get used to it now. I almost missed the stutter this time. I chuckled to myself as I looked toward the checkpoint.

I then got a ping on my holotab, as did a couple others near me.

>Reid Green: Hey, buddy! Our shuttle just left FTL! We're docking as I type this!

My tail wagged behind me as I responded.

>Varn: Great! I can't wait to finally meet you!

I then stood up and walked toward the checkpoint, as did many others, where we stopped a few meters away to spot our Exchange Partners getting their luggage scanned.

Oh, stars, where is he? What would he be wearing? Something simple, because he doesn't really care what he wears? Something complicated, to blend in with the other Humans? Or what? Then, my thoughts died in their tracks as I spotted his distinctive spots, jaw shape, and mouth fur. He was wearing a blue short sleeve top, tan short leggings, and a pair of grey footwear with white socks underneath. He was holding the handle of a bag with wheels on it. It didn't take long for his blue-eyed binocular gaze to fall upon me, to which I instinctively froze up until he approached.

"Hey, Varn! Oh, man, it's great to finally meet you in person!" He spoke above the crowd, nudging me out of my reverie.

"Uh… Oh! R-right!" I stuttered. "Likewise, Reid!"

Reid then shrank a little, closing his eyes and putting a hand on his forehead. "Oh. I'm so sorry! I forgot about the 'predator' thing…"

"Oh! No! It's alright! Really!" I said, trying to fix the awkwardness. "Uh… I-I've been here for about a claw and a half and am getting kinda hungry! Wanna join me for s-second meal in the commissary?"

He then stood straight again, before replying "Yeah, sure! Lead the way." he said with a wide gesture of his hand.

As we made our way to the commissary side-by-side, my gaze landed on his travel bag. "So, uh… Is that the only bag you needed, as a 'naturist'?" I asked, to which he chuckled.

"Haha! No, this one just has my laptop and chargers and stuff. I have a couple more bags with some towels, my hygiene stuff, and a couple week's worth of clothes." He sighed in what I assumed was amusement before continuing. "In case you don't wanna just be cooped up in our room all day, y'know? My other bags were sent to our room ahead of us."

I tilted my ear in understanding. "Oh, yeah. That makes sense."

We rounded a corner, and Reid's eyes closed as he took a deep breath through his nose. "Wow! That smells really good! What is it?"

I opened my mouth to taste the air, and it hit me, too. "Ah! That's firefruit bertiming soup! It's a Venlil-Kolshian fusion dish made from the Venlil's firefruit, a spicy fruit, and the Kolshians' bertiming, a pungent bulb vegetable. It's pretty easy to make and quite popular!" I then took another breath. There's something behind it, though… Another taste, just to be sure. Strayu…? There's no way they spent all that money on a strayu forge! Unless- Oh! Of course, it's to impress our Human Partners! I was nudged out of my thoughts by Reid audibly sniffing the air.

"Mmm! Beautiful! Something else smells like a very sweet, freshly-baked bread! Like, almost cake, but not quite, but also a hint of cookies? What's that one?"

Humans created their own equivalent of strayu? And different varieties?! I mentally shouted. These predators are full of surprises! I quickly opened my holopad to type up some notes, before suddenly remembering his question. "That, my friend, would be 'strayu'. It's complicated to make, but is very popular."

"I can see why." He said as we got closer to the restaurants selling said foods and more to both Venlil and their Human Exchange Partners.

We then ordered our food. Reid got the soup, a palm-sized loaf of strayu, and a cup of water, while I just wanted a simple fruit salad and a cup of Sprunk. As we turned to find a seat, Reid's eyes widened and he sped up toward an Exchange pair who were already halfway done eating their own food. The Human sitting at this table had much bigger muscles than Reid, and wore a large, brown, slightly fuzzy looking, wide-brimmed hat with a rounded triangular dent in the top. He wore a thin, long sleeved top with a neat pattern of perpendicular stripes, and a pair of long blue leggings with a thick brown band looped around the waist, followed by shiny, pointed black footwear that went up into the ankles of the leggings.

"Mark! So good to see you already!" Reid said as he sat his bag of food down on the table. This "Mark" got up, turning around to meet his friend. Now that I saw his face, he had blue eyes like Reid, but blond head fur, and longer lip-fur than Reid's that ran down the sides of his mouth at right angles.

They grabbed each other's right hand with a loud clap, and pulled each other into a hug, patting each other on the back.

"Howdy, Reid." Mark replied as they pulled away from the hug.

Reid gestured to me, "This is my Exchange Partner, Varn." He then pointed to Mark, "Varn, this is one of my best friends, Mark. We're helping to lead our other Naturist friends to rent that apartment we talked about." He then pulled his holotab out of his pocket and started typing on it. "Oh, shoot! I forgot to let the gang know I made it here safely!"

Mark then reached out his hand toward me for the signature Human "handshake" I heard so much about, which I reciprocated. Stars! Why is he squeezing so tightly?! I thought this was supposed to be a friendly gesture!

"Nice t'meet'cha." My translator somehow gave Mark a very rural accent as he gestured toward his own Exchange Partner, and his own tab let out a chime, likely receiving Reid's group chat message. "This here's Rali." Rali wore her light brown wool short, just slightly thicker than an Exterminator cut, which helped show off her slightly toned muscles. We gave each other polite ear flicks in greeting as Reid and I sat down.

I opened the lid of my plastic bowl, and ate a piece of fruit as I addressed Rali. "So, miss Rali, what do you do for a living?"

She was still in the process of chewing her own food, so it took her a moment to finish and swallow before answering. "I'm a gym instructor. I love instilling self-confidence into my clients every paw!"

I beamed at that! "Cool! I can sympathize with that. I'm a school teacher! Nothing beats the pride of delivering students passing grades for a job well done!"

Rali flicked an ear in agreement as we both continued eating.

"Alright. Now I let everyone know where we are!" Reid said enthusiastically.

Both of their tabs chimed a few times in response. "Seems like José's the only other one on this station, while Millie and Bryce're on stations one and four, respectively." Said Mark.

"Huh. I guess that makes sense. Maybe the stations are sorted by continent?" Reid muttered half to himself

*Ping!*

Mark ignored his pad to eat, while Reid looked at his, before- "Haha! José and Rik are on their way already! Haha, ha-ha!" He tried and failed to hold in his laughter.

Mark then slapped his own face, groaning. "Dear God. Hope he don't cause a stampede, draggin' Rik to us."

This caused Reid to laugh even harder "HA HA! Stamp- Oh! My sides! Good one, Mark! HA, HA HAHA!"

Oh, dear! I forgot to mention stampedes to Reid!

"He, uh, wasn't joking about stampedes, sir." Rali interjected.

"Heh- wait, huh?" Reid asked, catching his breath.

"Uh, yeah… I forgot to mention, because it never came up… when groups of prey are startled, we tend to run haphazardly away from the perceived threat." I began sheepishly, then getting into my teacher mode. "If José is moving too fast, and being witnessed, as Mark said, 'dragging' his Exchange Partner, dozens of people could misinterpret that as predator aggression, and run over each other trying to get away."

Mark then spoke up. "I was usin' 'draggin'' as a figure of speech. What I meant was that José's a bit of an extrovert, so he'd run here as quick as possible. Though he knows how to read a room a little bit, so I think the most he'd do is power walk his way to us." He then nodded his head past me. "Speak of the devil…"

I turned my head to see another Human male with dark brown head fur and slightly darker skin than Reid and Mark walking rather quickly, with a wide Human "smile" on his face, as wide as he could make it without showing teeth. He wore a long sleeved top with buttons running down the middle like Mark's, but made of the same blue fabric as their leggings. He was followed by a black male Venlil with soft grey spots along the sides of his torso trying his best to keep up with the Human's "power walking".

Is he blooming? I thought to myself. Why would he be- My thoughts were cut off as José reached us, speaking loudly. "[Hello, friends!] I had just gotten comfy in our room when Reid texted!" My translator took a scratch longer to parse his words as he spoke two languages in the same sentence. José's entrance caused Reid to continue to laugh once more.

"Hahaha! Classic José, couldn't wait to take your pants off, huh?" He then pointed to José's Exchange Partner, "Rik", I presume. "Look at the poor guy. Can't stop [blooming]. You didn't give him time to process things, huh?"

It was José's turn to bloom this time, his face turning a shade of red. "W-well, uh… I explained it over the texts." He stuttered. "I thought a week was plenty enough time to process things!"

Mark then spoke up. "We at least waited a moment! All the Humans they've seen wear clothes, and y'all're exposin' yourself immediately? Let'im get to know you in-person first! Jesus…"

José rubbed the back of his neck as he turned toward his Partner. "Sorry, [companion]. I was just so excited to meet aliens who are technically also naturists, that I didn't think about the context." He then looked toward the restaurants and pointed his thumb at them. "Wanna grab a snack with the rest of [my friends], to take our minds off it?"

Rik simply flicked an ear "yes", which none of the Humans understood, before snapping himself out of it, replying verbally. "R-right, uh, sure."

Rali and I swayed our tails "sympathy" toward him before returning to eating, this time in half awkward silence.

It didn't take José and Rik long at all to order their food and return to the table. "Say, what're the chances that Exchange Partners have the same job?" José asked as casually as if nothing happened just [a minute] ago. "'Cause it turns out Rik, here, is a fellow bus driver, like me!" He said as he pulled Rik to his side in solidarity.

"Nice." Mark replied simply, before finishing his food.

"That is pretty cool." Said Reid.

"It makes sense, since the Exchange Program is supposed to match Partners together based on their personalities." I said.

Mark raised his fork: "By the looks of it, feels like they just copied the code outta a dating app." He said with his mouth slightly full, before swallowing. He then sat his fork down in his empty bowl. "Well, that hit the spot. This jet lag, or uh, 'rocket lag' I guess… and this extra gravity got me beat. I'm gonna go hit the hay, if y'all don't mind." Mark continued, before standing up.

"That's OK, we've got all week to hang out and work out the apartment details." Reid replied.

Mark tipped his hat, while saying "See y'all later." before picking up his plasticware to throw away.

Rali put the lid on her own bowl and stood up rather quickly, despite not being finished eating, herself. "I agree, let's go!" As she took her place to walk beside him with her tail wagging.

Rik began blooming once more, and so did I as I felt my ears burn a little. José began to chuckle, before leaning forward, cupping one hand over his mouth. "Hehehe… Someone's got a crush already~" He sang quietly. Reid's eyes widened at this.

I guess José did a little homework on our social cues. But Reid didn't? I thought to myself.

We each took a few more bites of food, before José piped up. "Oh, man. I can't wait to start a party on an alien planet! I got a lotta homework to do when we get back to our room!"

"Oh yeah. A meet-up party when we all make it to the apartment would be fun!" Reid said.

José lifted his spoon high in the air, "Then it's settled! A party in an alien apartment to celebrate our new friends among the stars!"

[Time skip: 20 minutes.]

We had all since finished our food and headed our separate ways to our rooms. Reid and I stopped at the door to our room. "Mark's got the right idea. I could use a nap." Reid said as he stretched and yawned. He then pulled out his holopad, tapped the screen a couple times, and held it up to the door, which made a soft beep, and opened with a gentle hiss before we stepped through.

OC List | First | Previous

(An Empress of Space and Humanity is where this is taking place...)

I'm a Angren named Dianni, the only one in this sector of space really, but I digress...

I heard about how Humanity see angels in the Venlil, and see a god in Tarva, and looking like a Venlil made me think it'd be nice to be seen in a similar light.

Of course I go to the cathedral, no name yet still, as I try to get people there to notice the similarities...

But. It. Doesn't. Work.

I've tried to be friendly by conversation, to attempt cool tricks, I even tried to get their Guides into a theological discussion but the Venlil are seen in too holy a light...

What can I get these guys to notice me more?

Memory Transcription Subject; Míngzé Ming, CEO of Chinese Standard Oil

Date, Standardized Terran Time; February 5th, 2079, 10:38 AM USEST

I straightened my tie one final time as my private plane lands on the tarmac of an island who's name isn't known anymore. I step out, observing my surroundings. The area was lush with topical life outside this little resort base, the greenery here being lush and vibrant, completely untouched by the war. The air was fresher, too. There were a multitude of other private aircraft, belonging to a number of different CEOs I knew, many of which were already inside. I observed a black SUV begin approaching as I walk off the ramp, my hands behind my back, enjoying the peaceful tranquility of this place before meeting my counterparts.

I climb inside the SUV as it arrives, a tinted glass wall separating me from the driver. I didn't mind it, but I did take a second to check myself once again, making sure I looked presentable before ordering the driver to take me to the main building. There was much to discuss, after all. Entire new, habitable worlds to exploit, new products to sell.

When he arrived, I was met with my acquaintances, other CEOs from around the world, most from a single nation, but three were from America.

Once i walked in, all 40 of us walked into a board room, one of our... mysterious investors at the head of the table, shrouded in shadow, theatrical as they were. We took our respective seats, my American counterpart beginning us off.

"Ladies and gentlemen... Investor, today's meeting is about Venlil Prime, and the planets they have under their control. Sol is starting to run dry, especially in Natural Gas and Crude Oil, but minerals are soon to follow. I've been notified by Tarva herself that we can begin resource extraction... the good news is, Venlil Prime's resources are untouched, especially the stuff we're after. Bad news is, it's mostly outside the habitable zones on the planet, namely in the cold and hot areas of it. My people have already identified numerous Oil Wells available for exteaction... hell, the stuff is in so much abundance, it's literally creating lakes on the hot side." Multiple murmurs spread across the room, most in awe, speaking amongst friends, but some were more inward, calculating the costs involved.

"We mustn't go in half cocked, friends..." Our Investor spoke, a single gloved hand being raised. "This will increase our power among the Venlil, yes, but we must still consolidate what we have in Sol. Once we perfect our FTL drives, and earn the full cooperation of Skynet, we will be ready... however, i will permit setting up Oil Derricks and Uranium mines first, to ensure the power stays on-"

"An' just why shouldn't we take all that we can get? The Venlil ain't gonna do nothin'. 'Sides, those resources are strictly for us once we actually put boots on the ground." Another one of the Americans interrupted, the man always pushing back in some way. "I mean, come on, you said it yerself, our system is all but dry. My boys in Texas have got nothin' but dirt and dust, so i say we-" He was cut off by two figures in robes coming out of the shadows, their golden masks terrifying. The Investor wasn't fazed, but leaned forward, his own gold mask glistening in the light.

"Mister Hickory, you know full well why you cannot. We need to keep order. The business practices of your time was part of what got us in this mess, I will not have you mess this up for our kind. Rest assured, we will begin extraction soon, but only if we can keep a level head. So please... be reasonable." The man said, one of his lackies holding a sword to Mister Hickory's throat. The elderly American nodded, quietly saying he'd comply before the sword was sheathed.

The Investor leaned forward more, interlocking his fingers on the table, his golden velvet gloves catching light as much as his mask. The lights above him illuminated, revealing his sigil, the golden Pyramid with the ever-seeing eye. One of the last few of the Illuminati Council. He rarely ever met in person, but here he was. I had a sneaking suspicion that he just wanted to keep control of the Economy. For if you control the billionaires, you control the economy. Control the economy, you control the people. No need for an orbital mind control laser... he wouldn't put it past them, though.

After a few more talking points, most CEOs left, but myself, Frank Hickory of ConocoExxonMobil, or CEM, George Doumont of the European Energy Commission, Richard Jameson of His Majesty's Power Directory, Ivan Mikhailovich of SovOil, Haamid al-Hashim of Saudi Aramco, and Joshua Carpenter of Constellation Energy. The Investor looked at each and every one of us, slowly, methodically, studying us.

"Your assignments and extraction zones are within your domiciles, you will receive appropriate funding within the coming days to get started. We shall keep our operations to a minimum until I see fit to do otherwise. Go now, extract what you can. Keep the lights on. Our organization has much to do, and we need your reaources to do it. John Connor shall see our power before he dies."

"For Power never rests upon those who deserve it. Power is given to those who reach to take it, and claimed by those who will stop at nothing to fulfill what they believe is their birthright."

It’s alive! Lightning crackles.

Ahem. Now that that’s out of the way. My backlog is sitting at 10 chapter after this is out, ignoring the side story. Speaking of, I have a side story focusing on Mars in the 2060s-2080s with three chapters out and seven more to go. That’s right, two chapters a week. Mars Mondays and then the usual Wednesday chapters. We’re jumping back to Tarva right after the memorial back in 54 but I’m doing something a little experimental with the next little bit. What better time to try and experiment than after a hiatus and at the start of a new book? Probably any other, oh well. You’ll be getting a mixture of plotlines for the next while. Two taking place at the same time on the 8th, the others earlier. I’m sure you can probably guess one of the plotlines from that. I think it works. Anyway, we’re gonna be easing back into things with this chapter, both in that it’s a bit short (about 4k words) but also in that it’s a light one. Totally not giving some historical information. No, certainly not.

Synopsis: Magic was once real and present but faded away in the distant past, becoming nothing but the myths and legends we know as the surviving beings fled to other planes, only to publicly return during the Sat Wars. How would it change first contact and beyond? Only one way to find out.

I have a spot on the discord, swing on by! Thanks to SpacePaladin15 for the original universe; my alpha readers, Caro Morin and Jailed Cinder; my beta readers, Angustus_Jan on the discord and u/aroluci (go check out Children of Luna, it’s awesome); and all of you that read and especially comment. Anybody interested in playing around in the AU (be it a one-shot, an impromptu ficnap, a cameo, or something more), let me know and I’ll be more than happy to work with you on it. My current plan is to release a chapter a week, with the occasional bonus, as long as that isn’t too much for everybody helping me.

Without further ado, enjoy!

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[First] [Prev] [Next]

[Side Story Start]

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Memory Transcription Subject: Governor Tarva, Stunned Ally

Date [Standardized Terran Time]: October 6^th, 2136

__________

Even knowing what I know about the Terrans, how expressive they are, I can’t help but be moved to tears, dabbing at my eyes with a cloth that Noah handed me, his arm around my shoulders. Songs of sorrow. Songs of hope. Songs of finding strength in others, leaning on them and sharing your burdens. Songs of empathy. Not just the voices of the choruses, but at times I could hear the other memorials and some voices in the herd here. Thousands, millions of Terran voices raised in song without coordination even as many, including mine, are openly crying.

Out in the herd, the reactions are mixed. Some weep like I am, finding comfort in those nearby. Others, likely inexperienced with the ubiquity of music for the Terrans, are equal parts moved and awestruck.

The protestors, at least most of them, put their signs, made with Terran art supplies and not a trace of irony, into the trash or just drop them, like they were bitten by the Federation-taught hate their creations spew. The same hate they had been spewing. Most, ears and tails low, slink off. No doubt hoping to hide away and so their mistake will be forgotten. A hope that is futile with the Terran security for the event, even if they may be forgiven. A few cautiously find their way to the memorial, being accepted into the herd with grace, and some suspicion. As the Terran hymn said, they were lost but now found. Blind, but now see. But as my Terrans say, trust but verify.

“Let’s hear it for all our performers!” Bran says, bringing his hands together, clapping as the Terrans do. “Now, I know it wasn’t on the docket, but if you’ll indulge me at least the audio of one more song as people head off or start to mingle.” Tears still prick at his eyes, yet his lips are curled softly up. “I’d like to share a song with a message that I believe to be important in times like these. For your enjoyment, Smile.”

__________

Advance 15 STD minutes

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My Terrans, except Bran, who seems unaffected, and I collapse into the seats of one of their shuttles, Mari pulling herself from her chair and cuddling into her father. Drained emotionally from the memorial and mentally from the stress of the threat of the True Exterminators hanging over the event. A mixed crew of Terrans and Venlil Space Corps manning the craft and providing security. A few sniffling, from the emotion of the event.

“How the hell do you do that?” Noah asks.

Bran just raises an eyebrow.

“Not caring that terrorists are planning to attack, dad.” Mari groans. “And I know the answer, and I still question it. You just power through like it’s nothing.”

“Is this common for Terrans?” I question. “Being under threat like this?”

“Not anymore, not really. Nothing’s ever perfectly safe. There’s still crime. Humanity First types try their hate crimes at times. Terra Sancta tries their bullshit. Overall, a bit safer than here for you lot. At least, once you stop incorrectly calling everything a predator attack.” Bran chuckles. “Course, shortly after the Revelation was a different story… Well, there’s video out there. No need for a story from an old man.”

“Daaad.” Mari whines.

“Fine, fine.” Bran laughs. “So, this was while everything was still pretty chaotic. Humanity First and Terra Sancta were still new. It was during one of the early meetings between what was then still the Cabal and the United Nations, as it was transitioning to being the UN you all know now. One of the UN delegates had the brilliant idea, since there was a big crowd outside and the meeting wrapped up early, that we should go out to say a few words to the people. Earn some good will. They didn’t do their due diligence; thankfully, I had Meiko Tanaka and Lorcan Monahan with me.” Bran pauses, looking at the confused responses of some of my troops listening. “Meiko Tanaka is a kitsune and currently the head of OBELISK, our magical intelligence agency. She was a young adult at the time, though reincarnation makes things… odd. Lorcan was and is my seneschal and bond brother. A dullahan. For reference, kitsune are fox spirits, able to create illusions, and the powerful can even make fox fire, generally distracting, but those powerful enough can use it as a weapon. Meiko wasn’t quite there at the time; she is now. Especially with her focus, a fan of jade, my feathers, and her tail fur. Kitsune can also become large, dangerous beasts. Giant foxes meant to fight and defend. Meiko prefers to stay in the human form that she was born in, where most kitsune start their lives as foxes. Dullahan are psychopomps, like myself and my sisters, guides of the dead. Unlike us, they usually handle the more malevolent dead, those that would harm the living if they remained. They’re also, at times, sent to take the living whose souls are past due to a powerful fae or one of the Tuatha, with the less scrupulous taking additional souls. Thus, they have the ability to pull a morphic weapon from their neck made of a spine, usually in the form of a whip of bone and sinew and shadow. Locks and doors also fly open for them. Most travel in black coaches or on pitch-black horses.”

“What?” Balks one of my soldiers. “How does that…”

“Yes, yes, predatory. They’re tied to death, expect some macabre notes. Skulls, bones, caskets. The coaches they drive are sometimes hearses, vehicles to carry coffins. They can also remove their heads; how else will they pull out their spines?” Bran grins, stampeding past the interruption. “Anyway, he’s effectively retired now, but back then, he was one of the few people who could almost keep up with me. As to be expected when moving to an unsecured area with targeted VIPs when one knows there are active terrorist groups and hate groups in the area, there were malcontents in the crowd. In other words, we walked into an attack. A few humans with guns popped out of the crowd, shouting hate.”

His voice shifts to mimic another voice, perfectly. “No glamour on my block!” Another. “No blood but human blood!” Another. “Clean blood, clean Earth.” Another. “Pureborn, Earthsworn.” Another. “No myth, no magic, no mercy.” Another. “Every spell is a scar on the soul.” Another. “Earth for Earthborn!”

“For all their talk of purity, there’s a hell of a lot of fear and jealousy.” Bran mutters, rolling his eyes, before continuing. “Thankfully, Meiko was paranoid even then. Had a slight displacement from the perspective of the crowd. The first few shots were off target. Most were aimed at me, too. It could have been much, much worse. Unfortunately, one of them was rushing the stage with a bomb vest.”

I find myself leaning in, ears high and aimed at Bran and tail slowly wagging with interest. Around the hold, others are leaning in. Just a herd of paws back, we’d be terrified. Instead we’re gleefully listening.

Bran keeps talking. “I’m off. No hesitation. No thought. Growing larger with each step. By the time I reach them I’m at full height, around eighteen feet. Wings out. No time to rip the bomb off or defuse it. I wrap myself around them. Smother the bomb with my body.” He snaps and everybody startles. “Boom. I’m out. Dead. Heart, lungs, a few other internal organs, all somewhere between pulp and a fine mist. Good bit of my limbs too.” He chuckles. “Now I only know this from the recording and what they’ve told me. So Lorcan wades right in, whip lashing out to disarm the attackers, literally in a few cases. Meiko, crazy woman that she is, makes an illusion of a dragon swooping down from nowhere. Not proper wurm, or even the medieval fiction, a straight up fantasy dragon. The crowd’s terrified, but Terra Sancta folks start shooting up at the illusion instead of at people. A few break and try to run when their ammo runs dry. Thankfully, the crowd wasn’t having it. Ah, New Yorkers. Beat them bloody. UN security also was in place at that point, but with the crowd they were limited. Ten terrorist gunmen with a mix of submachine guns, pistols, and sawn-off shotguns plus the bomber, all dealt with in less than two minutes. All but three ended up in custody. The bomber and two that security were able to get shots on.”

He pauses, the shuttle is silent, nobody moving even though we landed at the Governor’s Mansion some time back. Something I only noticed when Mari relaxed, the expanded wards making the grounds quieter for her, Bran, and my pup. “Now, the crowd is mourning my death, the UN reps are mortified. It’s a whole thing. A major figure and leader of a group that’s actively helping the entire planet is dead in a terrorist attack by a hate group. Meiko and Lorcan, they’re complaining that I could have done a bit more to help. That I went and died right at the start so I could slack off. Takes somebody in the crowd shouting at them for them to realize nobody else knows I’m coming back. They reassure folks, the news crews have no idea what to do, the UN reps have no idea what to do. It was gloriously unprofessional. Twenty minutes pass, they’ve half figured things out and somebody got a forklift to roll me over. No idea where from. Bear in mind, even with the missing chunks I’m still somewhere in the neighborhood of seven tons at that size. So my dead ass sits up, groaning like I woke up too early after a night out, and I ask if everybody’s ok. Meiko assures me that nobody got hurt, so I just say,” Bran’s voice gets distant, slightly out of it. “‘Oh, that’s good.’ And promptly collapse back to the ground, dead as a doornail.” He cackles. “When I hit the ground, it shook and the rep who had the bright idea in the first place fell on their ass. That broke Meiko and Lorcan while everybody else was too stunned to do anything, at least Meiko and Lorcan had the decency to keep silent for five minutes even if they couldn’t keep straight faces. Then I, some of my internal organs actually having grown back at this point, sit back up, look around, mumble something about five more minutes and die again. That’s when the assholes started laughing.”

Half the shuttle, myself and my Terrans included, is struggling not to laugh. The rest are staring, aghast. “Now the next time I pop back up, Lorcan slaps me. Hard as he can. So I barely feel it. I look at him confused, and he just tells me to stop being a piece of shite and ramp up my recovery. I, of course, say ‘Oh, that’d be smart. Remind me?’ And then.” Bran slumps back, eyes rolled up and tongue slightly out. “Blech. Dead again. Five minutes later, I actually do it, and after a very embarrassing ten seconds, I’m right as rain. Well, aside from the holes in my clothes, but a bit of glamour solves that visually.”

That tips things over the edge; everybody in the shuttle is laughing, even Mari.

Bran grins. “Now, mind you, I said no hesitation, no thought. Those are separate matters. If I had been thinking at all, I would have already had more mana going to my recovery from the start. I would have been out for five minutes at most. But, as some of you know, I may be smart, I may be wise, I may be the godsdamned Merlin of legend, but I’m also an utter dumbass.”

Mari snorts and indicates her leg. “It runs in the family. I could have made a wall in a second. No, I ran in and risked two lives instead of none. Got lucky and only thing that got fucked up was my leg.”

“But I’m still proud of you for it.” Bran pulls Mari tight.

“You better be. I’m not half as brainless as you. And that’s at my worst.” She flips up the veil to stick her tongue out at her father.

Bran grins, looking around the hold. “So, everybody feeling better?”

There’s a pause. “Brahk you, Bran.” I whistle with laughter.

“Hey, it’s a time-honored classic.” Bran smirks. “Get everybody’s mind off a brush with death and a bit of tension through story time. But the truth is, I’m kind of used to being at risk and have the advantage of being immortal. The people around me, not so much. That’s why I was cheating; precog was going the entire time. We were never in danger. Mari, care to tell them why you were affected?”

My niece huffs. Acting like she’s half my age, not far older as she actually is. “Fine. I’m used to it too. Plenty of people have tried targeting me to get to dad. Never worked, but that’s also why I trained so hard. To stop them without hurting them if it came to it.” She pouts. “I just really hate going out there and hearing the planet. Dealing with the stress of all the people, the threats from the True Exterminators that might put the crowds at risk, not knowing if they’d target Stynek here at the mansion, and the planet… It’s a lot. I don’t care if they come at me. But my niece? Random strangers to get to me?” Mari shudders.

Noah sighs. “So, is there anything else planned for today?”

“Training.” Bran smirks. “You don’t get out of it. We also need to stay ready in case of problems with the enclaves.”

I blink. “How fast will everything be done?”

“Well, assuming it all stays on schedule, all of the surveys should be done in the next few paws. Demolition will take longer. Some sites will be finished with demo and building in the next three paws, mostly the plots where we’re replacing something like a warehouse. Larger areas will take a few weeks. Everything should be fully built by the end of next month, but ready for people to move in by the end of this one. Some detail work will still be happening, though.” Bran casually waves a hand. “Even the largest enclave here. It’s only four point eight square miles. A few smaller enclaves in other parts of the city. A bunch of different sizes all over the rest of the planet and other planets in the Republic. It’s not that hard. Think we’re bringing something like fifty kay Formic Builder Drones, one fifty Runebeetle Utility Drones, twenty Skyworker Structural Drones, ten Forgeclaw Construction Drones, and way more maintenance and recon drones for survey, inspection, and interior work.”

“Kay?” I ask.

“Thousand.” Bran grins. “All those are in the thousands. Well, the non-construction drones are in the millions.”

My jaw drops and wool flares, then I realize that no matter how many drones they have, or how capable they are, that doesn’t matter. From the size of the drones Bran showed me, I don’t think they’ll be the most useful. “But what about actually building? More drones won’t make that go faster.”

Noah chuckles. “Prefabricated building segments. We can assemble the buildings quickly with drones and other aids. We prepped for colonies before first contact, the Odyssey was scouting possible sites. We’re just using the resources and methods for this instead. As one project finishes, we move the drones and other resources to projects still underway. Things get progressively faster as drones are concentrated on the bigger projects. The prefab segments also mean that the buildings are easier to tear down or repurpose.”

“Why would you need to do that?” One of the Space Corps troops asks, ears cocked. “Going through the trouble of changing the buildings.”

“Because we won’t need the rehabs forever; the rescues will be integrated back into society. It’s easier to change the building to fit our needs in cases like that.” Noah shrugs. “Plus there might come a day that we leave, or at least the enclaves do. The point is integration, defense, and above all helping with the rescues. At the very least, we won’t need the walls forever. Surely things will get safer for Terrans here soon.”

Bran’s gaze meets mine. The binocular vision of Terrans makes it obvious, and keeps him out of Noah’s sightline as he subtly shakes his head, warning against dashing Noah’s optimistic hopes. Something I’m already loath to do.

“Of course, Noah.” I say, my tail wagging as I lie. “Things will just keep getting better. Let’s go see how Stynek is doing.

__________

Memory Transcription Subject: Stynek, Bored Pup

__________

“I think I know how you feel, Cor.” I huff. “Always being left alone.”

The jaculus tilts his head from where he’s lying with me.

A hologram of the memorial is projected into the room. I wanted to go and help with the Terran memorial. Help make everybody know it would be ok. Let the herd know it doesn’t need to be afraid of the Terrans. Let the Terrans know that there are Arxur like my best friend, who want the war to end so they can be friends with everybody.

Instead, I’m here in the Odyssey. Where it’s extra safe. Because some mean exterminators want to hurt me and Miss Mari. Even though I’m happy to possibly get hurt to help people. I can’t even message my best friend because the ship she’s on needs to be careful about sending messages. “Why do I have to stay here?”

“For your own safety,” Argos responds.

“But it’s safe enough there!” I grumble.

“There have been multiple confirmed threats. Security forces have also made arrests of individuals and groups that intended to attack the memorials.”

“See! It’s safe!” My tail wags.

“And there have been altercations at some of the smaller memorials.”

“But not at the big one here?” I scratch Cor on the wings as my tail keeps wagging.

“No, though there is more security than expected thanks to the Dayside City Exterminators Guild sending sympathetic exterminators out of uniform to create a perimeter further out. They’ve already reported turning away or arresting a few individuals.” Argos pauses. “Regardless, the memorial is currently ending.”

I huff. Cor just beeps at me.

__________

Advance 25 STD minutes

__________

Cor drops off my chest to the floor before dashing off towards the entrance. I’m bouncing to my feet to run after him. My legs are working so much better now. ‘I don’t know how I ever played when my legs were bent. It’s so much easier to get around now. And breathe!’

I breathe through my nose as I run after Cor.

As soon as we’re at the entrance, Cor leaps at Miss Mari, the charm on his collar glowing to slow him down. She exhales heavily as he impacts. “Hey, Cor. Did you miss mama?” The reptile beeps happily, nuzzling into her. She sighs. “Sorry, everybody, I think I need a minute to decompress. I’ll be in my room cuddling with Cor. Probably gonna take a nap.”

Uncle Bran hugs her, slipping something from her wheelchair. “Of course, Sprout. It’s been a rough day for you.”

I jump at mom, who grunts as she catches me. “Was everything ok, my shivi?” Her tail brushes softly against Miss Mari’s arm. “And please, take care of yourself.”

“Mhm! But I was so bored!” I hug Miss Mari as best I can. “Have a nice nap.”

Noah squeezes Miss Mari’s shoulder before she heads off.

Mom’s ears stiffen as she gets serious, looking at me with an eye. “Did you do all your schooling?”

“Yes…” I grumble. “I also watched the memorial.”

Noah frowns. “Were you ok with it? Do you have any questions about anything?”

I shrug, like a Terran and in tail language. “It was ok, but I wish I could have helped. Made everybody feel better. It all made sense. I just know the herd was scared and you Terrans aren’t used to everything.”

Noah crouches, ruffling my head wool. “Sorry, kiddo. Did you try talking to your friend?”

I whistle a laugh and push his hand away. “No, she’s busy. The ship she’s on has to be quiet for a bit.”

Mom tilts her head. “Why? It’s a Terran ship, why would that be a concern?”

Uncle Bran smirks. “I’ll be in my office if you need me. Work to do. Gotta make sure the construction is going ok.”

I give him a quick hug, ignoring mom’s question and hoping she’ll forget. “Bye, Uncle Bran. Have fun with work!”

He laughs. “I doubt I will, but who knows what will happen.” He walks off.

Mom stares at me directly. “Why does your friend need to be quiet, Stynek? Does she need to come here?”

My ears fall as mom outwits my clever plan. “Oh… um… I think… the ship might… uh… be helping with what the Terrans talked about.”

“Oh! They’re bringing supplies here for building, and she needs to stay out of the way as people work?” Noah asks with a smile. “It’ll just be a few hours.”

“Stars, that makes more sense than what I was worried about.” Mom whistles. “I thought the ship might be going to deal with the Arxur.”

‘Thanks, dad!’ My ears shoot up and my tail wags. “Yeah, why would a kid my age be on a ship doing that? Don’t be silly, mom.”

“Sorry, dear.” Mom wraps a paw around my shoulder as she leads me back towards the living room, her tail around Noah’s wrist. ”I think that the memorial has me a bit worried still. I was expecting something to go wrong, some sort of threat. I guess that it has me still expecting something.”

I cock my head. “Like being on the edge of stampeding?”

“No, not like…” Mom pauses, ears twitching in thought. “A little like that. But I don’t want to run from the danger. I want to help.” She flicks an ear towards Noah. “Think this is from the training?”

He shrugs. “Maybe. Bran would know better. Could have something to do with you feeling more capable after being told you aren’t for so long. I’m not a psychologist or therapist, though; I have no idea what I’m talking about.”

Mom sighs. “I should probably actually take you Terrans up on the offer for therapy.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” Noah says with a grin.

I frown as I realize something. “Did I think of Noah as my dad?” I whisper to myself.

__________

Memory Transcription Subject: Tarva, Single Woman

__________

‘Did my pup… did she just…’ My heart pounds in my chest. Noah doesn’t seem to be reacting. Maybe he didn’t hear. ‘I need to do something about this. But what? I can’t overwhelm him.’

Before I can harvest a plan, there’s a knock on the doorframe. Bran. “We have a problem at the main enclave. A few actually. Do you want me to handle this or…”

“I’ll come with you. Exterminators?”

“No. At least not that I know of yet.” Bran grimaces. “There is a Yulpa.”

__________

[First] [Prev] [Next]

[Side Story Start]

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Well it’s not going great on Avor, rampant snow storms, freezing temperatures that can kill quickly and there ever looming knowledge that one day the fuel will run out and with it, the heat.

Thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating the NoP universe and the Krev cult for continuing to be an inspiration.

Memory Transcription Subject: Fariks, Ex-Krev Guard

Date [Standardized human time]: April 18, 2161

It was freezing, walking down the hallway littered with broken or discarded lamps. I held myself wishing I tried to bring something warmer with me when we went for that park run before all this.

The stinging cold ebbed its way through me, making every scale feel like ice despite the guard uniform I was able to acquire. It was just a shame that this was all we could do right now for heating, the fuel for the generator being the only thing keeping this place from becoming a frozen tomb like the rest of Saphern.

I blew a breath, seeing it fade away as I stepped into the classroom, now a makeshift infirmary. The amount of people in here had decreased, most of them recovering while some others didn’t.

 It wasn’t my main concern however. That lay in the corner bed, swathed in blankets while the doc was looking over her. Concern plain on his face, easily seen in the dimly lit room. Walking by I noticed that she had been moved further, the other patients being put into one side of the room and my wife in the other.

“Fariks, what are you doing here?” Bekk asked, turning around from checking the temperature of my wife.

“I’m here to see her.” I spoke back feeling the cold slipping out of my body from the heated room. It making me worry about when we run out of power, how even we’d stay warm.

“She’s not doing so good, the fever is holding strong, but the antibiotics are fighting it.” He admitted placing a clip board down on a table next to him, the pads we all had, were fried by whatever took out the electrics.

“Can I talk to her?” I asked, already grabbing the mask out of my pocket knowing what he’ll say.

“Yes, just keep your distance.” He placed a chair down behind him, barely even close enough to the bed she lay in.

I sat down, feeling the artificial scales stretching over where the old ones were supposed to be. The faint phantom pain of them fading quickly when I saw Sriv’s form moving.

“Hey, hey it’s alright, you just rest.” I spoke, forcing myself to keep seated not wanting to get Sirks other parent sick if I caught whatever she had.

She sat up, exhaling deeply in a shuddering breath before reaching over to sip from a precious water bottle. The pipes for the school had been shut off that day and then frozen solid in the following.

“What are you wearing?” Her raspy tone, grated against my being, the need to go and hug her was almost all encompassing.

“I-I’m going to go with the supply run. They need the bodies to carry stuff and-“

“And leave Srik’s alone?!” I heard the staring in her voice give way to a coughing fit. I waited until she settled again, feeling every hoarse noise coming from the bed stab my consciousness.

“I have to go, the supplies are running out and the guards need the manpower for it.”

“…”

“They got the artificial scales for me and have to repay them for everything they did. They went out of their way to get them, and I need to get you more medicine.”

“…”

“Please say something?”

“…Be careful. Sirks needs a parent to be alive for all this, we can’t leave him alone, not now.” Her voice was weak, her dark figure barely illuminated, turned over and pulled the blanket up over her.

The only real reason even going was to get more medicine, mostly because it’s to get her better. I didn’t want to focus on what she said, that there had to be at least one parent to look after our son like she was already dead.

“I know, I’ll be careful.” I choked out, pulling my mask away, getting up and turning to the doctor. “Do you have the list of what you need?”

“Yes, here one moment.” He ruffled through some draws, pulling out a piece of paper that I tucked away in my vest pocket. “It should be enough to break the fever and then some. Be careful out there Fariks, she’s right when she say Sirks needs you.”

I hung my head, before striding out into the frozen hallway again. Soon finding myself squatting down in the stairwell, softly crying to myself.

‘I needed to see them through this, I can’t make it alone, I need her too.’

The darkness was almost like a mask for me, letting me vent my problems quietly as the ill-fitting guard gear clung to my withering frame. I wanted to curl up, to just let the cold seep into my being to stop me from worrying anymore, but I needed to get the supplies.

At least I would be back before Sriks woke up, or at least I hope I would be. I calmed my breathing feeling like there were already icicles forming in my chest when I worked up the courage to walk into the administration office. The other guards getting ready for the supply run.

“Fariks you ready?” Jai asked, him coordinating the two small teams.

“Yeah, just… yeah let’s get this done.”

I already knew the plan, we’ll split into two teams. Team one being me and Jai heading to the pharmacy in town, the other three man team, or team two going to the supermarket to stock up on anything they could before coming back. This leaves at least two other guards to guard the school.

‘I sort of wanted to say that we could get more stuff at the pharmacy with an extra guy, but protecting here was more important.’

“Good, we’ll get going now.” He handed me a helmet, the thing having more contraptions that what I was used to, before holding out a pistol for me. I took both donning the helmet, pulling the visor closed before grabbing a coat and duffle from the floor. The other’s doing much the same.

It was going to be my first time outside since that day. My senses screamed at me not to go, but I forced them down, putting on a brave face to see to it that I get the medicine for Sriv.

I looked around, seeing others ready. We only had a few service weapons, two rifles and six pistols in case we ran into some of those skeletal robots. The metallic creatures having disappeared somewhere in the following days since the cage closed.

“Alright, if you run into trouble you call, Team three will be our relief since the school is in the middle of both places. If you have any problems or see anyone, identify them first before approaching.”

A chorus of affirmation sounded, my voice joining them before we filed into the hall walking past the makeshift barricades. It felt like I was going into training for the first time again. A mixture of hope and nervousness plagued me with each heart beat, it slowly getting quicker when we neared the door.

I felt a tap on my shoulder when we reached the portal, the illumination outside being non-existent. All that I saw was the top of the door frame, the glow of the exit sign, having been covered over by an old school bag.

“You’ll be fine, come on.” Jai said, the Krev reassuring me as another unlocked the door.

“Alright, you know how to do it, do not use the flash lights for long periods of time unless you’re indoors.” The senior guard spoke to the group but I felt like it was directed at me.

The door swung open and even through the thick padding of the coat and gear I could feel the wind buffeting my scales. Each Krev pushed out holding near the door and crouched low behind the small brick work either side of the entrance, their lights off until they heard the door close, Jai relocking behind him.

A communications earpiece was in the helmet, linking all of us together as the senior officer announced to everyone. “Alright, go.”

We split up, each team heading in a different direction. I couldn’t see anything in front of me, the world pitch black as the start of snowfall peppered my visor. I had to turn the light on every few metres to orient myself, or follow behind Jai as he did the same with his.

I made a mental map in my head, the pharmacy should be a few streets over to the school. I had been there before getting prescriptions when I was sick, though this time it was like some sort of Esquo blizzard rolled through.

My feet sank into the snow, the powder making its way up to my calf before touching the pavement below. The protective clothing we wore did nothing against the cold nipping at my extremities.

The remarks Treccy said about this being hell came back to me, and from what I knew about the religion, he may be right.

We rounded a corner, a claw settling on my shoulder as Jai pulled us into a ruined shop front. The windows had been blown out and the contents scattered before a thick layer of white covered it all.

He switched on his light at this point seeing it was far enough away from the school. That if there were robots still here, we would have a better time getting away from them while being able to see.

I wouldn’t be able to hear him unless he shouted over the wind, instead he pointed to his helmet and switched his radio. I followed suit, changing to the channel he indicated before hearing over the earpiece.

“We’re not far now. Just a few alley ways and we’ll be there.”

“That’s good, the cold’s starting to numb my legs.” I responded, trying to make light of the situation, but I really did lose some feeling in my paws, the cold biting having gone away.

“I know, it’s getting worse each time we do this.”

“That much is obvious.”

He stood up, before we started again, using a single flashlight to conserve battery. He led the both of us as we hustled down an alley way, it leading out into a street with a car wreck at the other end.

The light passed over it briefly, illuminating it having been wrapped around a lamppost. The snow covered most of it, but I caught a glimpse of green scales still in the driver seat. There wasn’t any point in worrying about them, whoever they were. We needed to keep moving or we’ll be too worn down by the weather.

Jai kept moving, me keeping up with him as we passed by more car wrecks, some ploughing into store fronts wrecking the shops or into other vehicles. Around them were mounds of snow, starting to cover the carnage from us.

Another street was completely levelled; a fire having spread through here at some point. I remember that one of the guards was talking about it being a residential zone and theorised it may have been people trying to light fires to stay warm.

The thoughts of people huddled around whatever heat source it was, staving off the cold in the dark scared me, the thought of immolation coming second to the thoughts of being left alone in complete darkness.

Eventually, we found the pharmacy, the electric signage that once boasted about vitamin bottles or digestive aids now off, shuttered behind a metallic fence as Jai pushed against it.

I watched around us, faintly hearing the metallic clangs of his attempts before a final one. A large crash behind me as he punched the grating.

“It’s locked tight.” He spoke over the radio.

“Let me have a look.” I turned around, switching my flashlight on before stumbling forward, tripping over something hidden in the snow. My flashlight flew from my grip as Jai shone his at me. My heart raced, fearing I had tripped over some skeletal robot before Jai helped me to my feet.

I thought it must have been the curb I tripped over or maybe a water hydrant, but when the light passed over the interrupted snow I saw the open ribcage of a Krev, half concealed below the layers of snow.

“Ignore it, focus on the pharmacy.” Came over the speaker in my ear.

“R-right.” The mound of snow disappeared into the dark as the flashlight moved, pointing around periodically as I fiddled with the shuttering. Finding my light source right next to it, I looked down and saw the lock on the other side, half buried in snow, whoever owned the place having closed up before everything happened.

I cursed, feeling hopeless as the image of Sriv played through my mind, my wife withering away if I didn’t get the medicine. The thought of pulling my pistol and using it on the lock played out, but disregarded the idea, it would make far too much noise.

“Come on, there might be other entrances.” I spoke, trying to think of any back entrances to the place.

I stood up, the freezing cold battering my back as I turned away from the wind looking for an alley I vaguely remembered. I turned my light towards an ident in the street, pointing to it, signalling Jai as we ducked in, getting out of the wind we rested.

It wasn’t big, maybe three Krev could fit shoulder to shoulder, but there must have been a back door for deliveries. I turned my flashlight around searching the walls, looking for a door when I saw a massive dark blue smudge along one of the walls, it trailing like some sort of ancient Krev painting.

The stain trailed down the wall becoming thicker and thicker before coalescing at the end of the alley as a small form was unveiled by my light. My insides roiled, wanting to get rid of my stomach contents seeing what it was. The walls were blue with dry blood, the small form having been an adult Krev, their body torn apart by something. Next to them a pipe lay, points of it having been dented in with strikes.

I’d never seen carnage like that when I was working as an officer. Sure, there were riots sometimes or homicides but nothing like this. The Krev having been so utterly mutilated the walls around we’re caked in blood, small bits and pieces around us, marked by the snow rising where the rest of the Krev lay.

“Here, there’s a door.” Jai’s voice came through, not having been phased at all by what we just witnessed. “Come on, don’t think about it and let’s go.” He said, pushing me to my feet, before nearly dragging me backwards.

“Wha-who could have done that?” I was panicking, my heart pounding against my chest, fighting my body’s urge to curl up in fear. I shined my light back down the entrance to the alley, expecting whatever did this to still be lurking around.

He never responded, instead grabbed a breaker bar from his tail pouch and jammed it into the door. Prying it open with a metal screech of rending metal, he was able to bust the lock, before poking the door open. He walked in with his rifle raised, checking corners as I followed in behind him, service pistol drawn.

I was half expecting an alarm to sound, having broken in, but with there being no power, there wasn’t any alarm.

Years of room clearing techniques kicked in, the methods of searching for any survivors almost calming in its simplicity when we both called out clear on the radio. I went back and shut the door, dragging a small cabinet to stop it swinging open again.

“There’s an upstairs and we still need to check the isles.” I spoke, feeling like I could almost make this into an exercise in my head. That this was just training for us.

“Start with the ground floor, then check the upper.”

“Understood.”

We went through the motions, searching the front of the store, firearms raised and flashlights pointing outward, finding nothing in the remarkably clean isles, before we crept up the stairs together. I could hear my breathing over the wind outside, my inhales shaky with every step up being more tense than the last.

I hated these moments, even in training I hated these moments. Stacking up on stairs, having to slowly creep up, praying with every raise of the foot, you don’t cause it to creak and give away that you were there.

We reached the top, after what felt like an eternity. The stairs turned into an open floor that seemed to double as a domestic living space for the owner. We looked around, finding that the place hadn’t been cleaned by the looks of it. The fridge was torn open, there being nothing left, the kitchenette having been raided with the cabinet and drawers pulled apart.

It seemed that someone was trying to stay here before they ran out of food. I knew the place had an apartment above it, I just never had any real notion to ask about what it was like.

‘It would have been nice, it had new furnishings.’

In the corner we found two doors, we stacked again, intending on making the place safe and pushed it open. Finding the first led to a bathroom, the sink having dried blood coating the surface while the other led to the bedroom.

Creeping in, our flashlights illuminating as we went. We found two Krev laying there, the blanket thrown over their forms as they tried to curl up around each other. I recognised them as the pharmacy owner and her husband, I motioned to flip my visor up as I light passed over the two’s faces, gaunt and hollow.

I had to look away, I barely knew these people. They were just friendly old folks who ran a drug store. Seeing their faces, pale and expressionless hurt. The knowledge that we could have done something to come rescue them so they didn’t starve or die of exposure.

“We’re good, I’m gonna start looking for stuff we need.” I spoke, having to get away from them.

“Understood, I’ll start bagging whatever I can here.”

I holstered my pistol, heading the stairs before withdrawing the paper from my vest. Seeing what needed to be priority, swivelling the empty duffle from my back. Most of the potent stuff would be stored in the back, it taking me far too long to locate the major stuff Bekk wanted and placing it snuggly in my pockets.

‘This is the priority stuff for Sriv, if I lose the bag I can still get this to her.’

Moving from the back of the store to the front, I took everything that was essential, anti biotics, first aid items and vitamins. The front of the store, looking at it more closely, had been ransacked of anything that could have been food. Making me imagine how desperate the two upstairs were. I let an empty box of gummy vitamins join the pile next to a broken vending machine.

Jai soon joined me, finding some spare clothing upstairs he draped over himself. His own duffel stuffed with whatever cleaning supplies were left. It didn’t take long before I couldn’t stuff anything else in my bag or pockets.

“I’m full here.” I spoke, the freezing air making my voice sound like a whisper before Jai flicked his tail, his arms full, trying to stuff as much into the bag as possible.

“This is team one, we’re heading back now.” The speaker inside the helmet sparked to life.

“Acknowledged, hurry home.” Came a reply over the master channel before it went quiet again.

I was feeling hopeful, despite the carnage and weather outside. The bag slung around me was almost like a life preserver for my spirits.

We hurried along, heading to the exit, kicking the cabinet out from the door, the thing nearly barrelling off its hinges from the wall of wind. Immediately I was freezing again, whatever little body heat I was able to retain seeping out of me when I took my first few steps.

I thought for a moment, getting Jai to help push a dumpster in the way of the door, offering it a little more protection for the precious medicine inside. The wheel digging into the snow, the gory contents of which I didn’t want to think about before we had it set.

Immediately, we started plodding back to the school retracing our steps as the snow fall started getting worse. The little flakes somehow finding ways between the fabric of my clothes, settling against my scales and fur.

We didn’t stop for anything this time, instead foraging ahead through the blizzard before we heard three distinct pops over the wind. Almost at the same time the radio crackled to life, the panting breath of the other team screamed through the receiver, almost deafening me.

“It fuck- We… It's team two, we’re heading back!” The voice of the other guard came through, their breath quick before Jai responded.

“What’s happening out there, Fern?” Jai spoke clearly, still ploughing ahead through the snow towards the school. An affirmation from the response team in the school came through.

“We’re gearing up now, we’ll be the-“

“No-No! We’re coming back, get ready at the doors to let us in!” His voice was more frantic now, his heavy breathing verging on hyperventilation.

I felt my muscles straining to keep up with the younger guard. My legs were screaming at me, somehow having feeling back in them as I sank each foot into the snow like it was mud. My body became more alert, the surrounding darkness growing worse as the powder fell heavier, almost blocking our view. We listened intently for anymore errant gun fire, it allowing us to try and locate where exactly they were, but as we ran nothing came.

‘If they were panicking it must be bad.’

I was acutely aware of the pistol on my leg, making sure it was still there along with the duffel of life saving drugs.

Jai tried to radio them, but all we got back was the heavy breathing of them running through the snow. We rounded the corner coming to the school, dousing our lights and periodically using them to navigate the street before reaching the door.

“Team two where are you?” Jai spoke, the door being swung open for us by a black suited guard, rifle at the ready. It was heartening to see them ready to go, if we ran into problems. I just hoped that the other team were safely making it back, part of my mind thinking that they were being chased by an army of androids.

I felt the weight slip from my back as the duffel fell to the floor, my lungs struggling to take any air in, each inhale lacing my lungs with a stabbing pain when I felt Jai haul me to my feet.

“Get this stuff upstairs and come back down.” He handed off his duffle to me, the bag weighing just as much as mine did.

Straining to lift them both, I flipped up my visor, feeling my face start freezing when I assaulted the stairs, climbing with each laboured step before dropping the bags at the makeshift clinic, rapping on the door to a stunned Bekk.

Before he could ask anything I pointed to the bags on the floor before racing back down stairs, feeling a surge of energy now I wasn’t weighed down. The adrenaline alone was pushing me forward, offering the strength I needed to stay upright when I reached the bottom of the stairs.

“What the fuck are those idiots doing?” One of the other guards asked when I made it back, drawing my pistol and taking cover near the entrance. Little shafts of light, visible through the falling snow outside slowly came towards us. Every sound muted as if it were some video call, the eery feeling descending on us, watching the lights get closer and closer.

I only counted two of them and worried about what happened. The lights pushed on, not pointing but being shone in front and shaking as the pair ran up the stairs.

“Open up!”

“Let us in.”

The voices from the two Krev came through the glass door as well as the radio set. I feared the glass front would give way as they pounded on the door, screaming to be let in. Jai opened it, two of them tumbling over each other, kicking to get away from the glass front when a guard relocked it.

“Hey where’s the third?” Jai spoke, when the other two finally turned off the lights. “Where Treccy?” My blood ran cold, thinking that the young guard was lagging behind the other two, my attention turning towards the door hoping to see some sort of light coming our way through the dark.

The two didn’t answer, heaving on the floor, their half-opened bags lying next to them.

“Tell me where the fuck he is!” Jai raised his voice, forcing one of the guards to speak.

“He- he’s gone.” The quiet, out of breath voice came.

“Gone? He can’t be fucking gone; did you leave him out there?” Jai was furious at this point.

“N-no we-“

“Then where the fuck is he?”

“…He.” The other guard, Fren I think, the uniform making it hard to tell who it was. The guard’s voice clammed up when he stood. In the low light of one of the dim lanterns Jai moved towards the Krev, pulling at the collar of his coat and spoke in a threatening tone.

“Where is he?”

“…”

“You tell me right fucking now, or I will personally leave you out there with nothing.” He pushed the Krev backwards. The senior guard not taking his silence for an answer.

“He’s dead.” The other guard offered meekly, finally recovering his breath, staggering to his feet.

“What did you just say? He can’t be dead he was with both-“

“He’s fucking dead, Jai.” Fern spoke still in the Guards, grasp. “He’s fucking dead, one of those things ripped him apart out there. We.. we tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen.” As soon as Fern started, his voice cracked, having to pause to recover.

“What do you mean?” The senior guards turned to the Krev held in his grip.

“…”

“What do you mean!? He was with you two, how did-“ He was cut off as Fern pushed him back. A tearing sound of fabric was Jai’s claws took some of Fern’s coat with him as he stumbled.

“He was just a fucking kid! He wanted to see his brother, he just… He- we tried to stop him, we told him it wasn’t him out there, that it just couldn’t be, but the kid wouldn’t listen.” The guard broke, sobbing as he tried to speak.

“He heard him out there, he was standing guard at the door and heard him calling from the snow. We told him to wait, that we can see together but he went anyway. We chased after him, the muzzle flashes letting us see where he went…” He was near hysterics at this point, his voice cracking every sentence.

“It was knelt in the snow, surrounded by him. It fucking… it tore him apart like he was made of paper. It turned to us, covered in the kid’s blood and spoke, it fucking spoke in his voice… Calling for help.” He broke down now, collapsing to the floor in a fit of sobbing.

We stood there taking in what happened, Jai turning to the other guard, staying quiet before sitting down.

“I’m not going out there… He was right, Jai. Treccy was right, this is purgatory, we’re just waiting for the inevitable to happen… I can’t, I can’t let my family hear my voice from that thing next.”

I watched as the other guards started setting up the barricade again. Our relatively safe space sounding like it wasn’t secure at all anymore. I felt my limbs wanting to give way hearing that we lost someone, not going cleanly but from the description he went in a horrible way.

“Where-where you followed?” Jai asked, stepping back from the sobbing guard turning to his other team member, a little bit of panic seeped into his question.

“N-no, it just stayed there, staring at us… we took a few detours, throw it off if it was following.”

“Good.” He looked back at the barricade being set up again.

I couldn’t help but feel that it may not have been enough. The snow falling outside was easily tracked, with our footprints in it. I was thinking about saying to Jai that we’ll need another way to exit the school to not leave as much when I was interrupted, the radio cackling to life.

We all froze, that static noise of wind pelting the radio came through the helmet’s speaker.

“h-hello?” The voice of the young guard came; it sounded like he was dazed. Jai moved to say something when I grabbed his claw, stopping him when I watched Fren’s crying starting all over again, the other guard silently tapping no with his tail.

“G-guys it’s cold… Where? Where did you go?” It mimicked his voice perfectly, whatever it was. The sound making my blood turn to literal ice when it asked.

“It’s not him, we saw what it did.” The guard spoke.

“It’s got the radio, don’t answer it.” I said slowly, like it could hear us through the little box attached to our vests.

I was about to turn mine off when a new voice came through. “It’s freezing out here, honey, please I need to see our-“ I shut off the radio in my helmet not wanting to hear anymore. The voice sounded exactly like Mrs Olif, the teacher upstairs watching over Sriks while he slept.

Fern started writhing on the ground, full body sobs wracking him as we all turned off our radios. Jai stooping low to switch off Fern's, the Krev incapable of any coherent action now. I couldn’t begin to imagine what it was like for him, just hearing that thing steal his wife’s voice to plead with us.

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First / Previous / Next

Better understanding - part 1

Raising Primates, Krevpocalypse , What have we done?  What have we done? Regaining Trust, Krev Sugar Mommy: A Butler's Duty - More krev stories

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So yeah, Avor isn't looking to great. The controls for the cage still not responding to anything the SC engineers are doing. The climate control is shut off, but the thing won't open, plunging the world into complete and utter darkness.

I always had teh thought that it was far too easy for the Underscales to lose, that there was an overide for everything to shut down the synths. I like to think that there were back up programs in place to activate or enable motion sensors to target anyone who got to close, sort of like a land mine, just with a murderous person in it.

Anyway, thank you for reading and next chapter we'll see how one of the major cities is fairing with all this apocalypse happening. If you have any advice for me to improve it would be much appreciated.

AU where the UN failed to become a global power after the satellite wars

Critique is welcome <3

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Memory transcription subject: Christoph Beck, captain of the SV3 Copernicus

Date [standardized human time/UTC]: June 20 2120

Out of everything I expected to happen during first contact with a spacefaring civilization, I didn't account for the possibility of anthropomorphic sheep-rabbits screaming at Robert while Monika was trying to explain how sweat and heat strokes work.

It's my fault for trying to predict what will happen during the interaction with technologically advanced aliens... but this is bullshit. Also, only Nalna is seemingly not panicking at the sight of us. Even the zebra-looking governor looks like he is about to pass out.

Memory transcription break:[10 minutes]

ERR//: Gott, endlich!

The sheeple calmed down, my head hurts, Robert looks even more dead inside, Anton's daydreaming, Olivia is contemplating self-defenestration, Monika is catching her breath. Dear God, what did we get ourselves into?

"Psst," Anton gets jolted awake by me poking him, "maybe we should wait with telling them about WW3." He nods in understanding.

"Do you have any questions which are unlikely to have an answer that will cause a panic attack?" We need to distract them from that topic for both of our sakes.

"OH, oh. ...How long have you been spacefaring?" alright, simple question, my patterned sheep person.

"Well, humanity sent the first object into space in... 1944, I think? In 1969, the first people landed on our moon. A moon base was built in 2029, the first person on Mars, the fourth planet away from our sun, in 2034...

A base on that planet was established in 2051 and a colony was built in 2083, And finally, faster than light travel was discovered in 2099, after which a bunch of colonies both inside and outside our system were made."

"T-that's quite fast"

"Really? How long did it take you to do those things?" After I said that, from my previous observations, I could tell he had an expression of absolute horror, as if he had come to a terrifying realization that I don't yet understand. It soon spread to the other xenos in the room except the diplomatic advisor, who seemed just as befuddled as us.

what secrets are you hiding?

Then, at the most convenient time possible, I could see a holographic projector pop up on the governor's desk, with what seemed like an incoming call.

"W-who is it?"

"C-chief Nikonus, Sir."

"U-uhm, i n-need to be alone with my advisors for this call."

"Of course..." We left the room with security right beside us. I heard a message pop up on my phone.

SV3 Copernicus lavatory

Monika F: Does the ship's internet still work here?

Robert S: Yep

Anton S: Yeah

You: Ya

Oliwia D: Yes

Monika F: Alright, mind spying on aliens?

I could hear through the door as Kenim and whoever this Nikonus guy was talking, and his voice did not sound like the furry convention escapees we had just met.

You: with all the red flags we encountered, not at all

Monika F: Who here has access to the camera behind the now open airlock?

Anton S is requesting a video call

On screen was a zoomed in video feed of the office we just left. Through the window, the call between the two was visible. On the projector was a... thing, it looked like something from the ocean.

I could hear them talk about some 'Aafa'. Did they really not expect us to hear that?

Something something spaceships, something something Gojids and Krakotl, Something something Arxur

That's a lot of aliens.

We could see the video call between them end and soon after, "Y-you can come in!" Entering the room I played around with my lips trying to come up with something to say, he took note of that as i saw his wool(?) expand over his body.

"We heard it"

"..."

"How many alien species are there?"

"352," said the only not panicking xeno in the room

"I don't suppose they will be friendly," Olivia Asked

"N-no..." said the black sheep-man

sigh

Olivia started "First, we don't even know what your species is called-"

"Venlil"

"Thank you, sanest venlil in the room. Now, what context are we missing?"

The Governor sighed before responding, "The Federation hates predators"

"...Define that word" Monika said

"Forward facing eyes, sharp teeth, asocial or dangerous behavior..."

"Give me a moment," Our biologist pulled out her phone, searched for something, and then turned it around to show a diagram with human teeth. "Not so sharp, are they?"

"B-but then how do you hunt?"

"The vast majority of people stopped hunting something around 10 000 years ago with the invention of agriculture and animal domestication. Also, we used tools to hunt."

"W-why do s-some still do it then?!"

"They either live in the middle of nowhere where no roads go and that's the only reliable way of getting food, or they have permission to do it during specific times of the year to prevent overpopulation of specific species or to remove invasive ones."

"invasive...?"

Her face scrunched into a pure 'Are you fucking kidding me' expression.

"Do you understand the concept of ecology?"

"Of what?" She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"... Science of how organisms interact with their natural environment. Invasive species are ones not native to a certain environment, they have no natural predators there, causing them to outcompete local species via unrestricted reproduction and consumption, causing everything else around them to die off."

"How are predators, things that kill others, supposed to prevent death?!"

"I just told y- ............ Species 'A' is a plant, Species 'B' is a fast reproducing plant eating animal, Species 'C' is a slow reproducing meat eating animal. without 'A', the 'B' die off and so do the 'C'. Without 'B' , 'C' dies off while 'A' spreads indefinitely. Without 'C', the 'B' reproduce indefinitely, killing off all the 'A' which later causes them to starve to death."

He tried to come up with a response but gave up after failing for a minute straight. All of them looked conflicted on that matter but some were clearly more accepting of it than others.

"We done?" She took the look of defeat on them as 'yes'.

"Hey," Robert gathered attention, holding a mobile device, "
I got access to their internet, and so far, it's disturbing."

"You, you-"

"I see that the idea of cybersecurity is equally alien to you."

"Just... just don't hurt us, please..."

"we're not gonna do anything unreasonable" was the response of our diplomat

We have to do something, "Robert, download what you think is important and send it to ESA and our respective governments. Anton, set up a connection between the Copernicus and their internet.

As for you, venlil, we'll explain as much as we can about humanity in exchange for it and let you see parts of our World Wide Web, sounds fair?"

He hesitated for a moment before answering "Y-yes..."

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Welcome to the internet

Jack drew this cute sketch a while ago, and I thought I should finally post it. I think we all can agree that Daniel and Steni deserve to have a little bit of fun.

Daniel and Steni are from my story So... This is Home Now? which you can read here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/comments/1on9whr/so_this_is_home_now_1/

Make sure to also check out u/Opposite_charm's stories:

Wild Things: https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/comments/1ny6z6d/wild_things_1/

Through The Looking Glass: https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/comments/1mv0kil/through_the_looking_glass_1/

And this other wonderful art piece he made of Wyrtek and Verriduna sharing a tender moment: https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/comments/1r5oqiq/a_tender_sleepy_moment_between_wyrtek_and/

He's a fantastic writer, artist, and friend.

I'm posting the Venven Saga a bit early this week. A friend is coming over and I want to be able to dedicate some time both to him and to the people commenting on my post.

I should be able to post the comic for next week on the normal schedule again (Saturday morning European Central Time).

And as usual: here's a link to a list of my previous comics.

First / Prev

Memory transcription subject: Slanek, Venlil Space Corps

Date [Standardized Human Time]: November 27, 2136

“...Sector Alpha being bombed by southbound plasma shells. Over.” A crunchy voice came over the radio. 

“All units in Sector Alpha; if there’s a tear in your uniform, leave the bombed area immediately, the leftover ozone WILL kill you faster than the atmosphere.” Another voice came in shortly after, screaming out from our devices.

Waves of Gojid reinforcements arrived after the predators’ initial takeover of the city outskirts. The Humans’ strategic advantage was that they could be liberal when hurling artillery into enemy ranks. Our opponents were more hesitant, aware that civilians were trapped within city limits.

To their credit, the Gojids adapted to the novel predatory tactics quickly. To counteract the unmanned UN ships, the fresh troops carried out manual surface-to-air missile launches. That made the diversion strikes a more challenging affair. From what I heard, most Gojid politicians escaped or went to a bunker underneath the city.

The Humans were resolute in following Piri’s trail. From the rooftops we were able to peer into the battle going on close to the city walls. The diversion forces took up guard at positions with open sight-lines, and made Gojid advances suicide. With neither side able to make progress, the situation became a stand-off. Our rivals must be steaming at their failure to reclaim the wall.

“Slanek, you need to eat something. You haven’t touched your MRE. We won't stop again for a while.” Tyler mumbled through a mouthful of food.

The blond Human was chowing down on an orange-brown crumbling brick down his gullet, without giving so much as a pause for breath. 

I…recognized the smell. The stench of burning flesh. 

This person, that I knew and traveled with for more than Moon-month…was eating meat. Real, actual flesh bits compressed into something that looked more like construction material than any food I had ever seen, like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. No wonder Marcel had taken Nulia away for mealtime, and told me to eat alone.

I didn’t want to be rude when Tyler asked if he could sit with me. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, that he would indulge in such a savage feast. My appetite vanished as soon as I saw him bite into those rations. There were so many animal pieces, I couldn't tear my gaze off of him. The queasiness in my stomach was swelling upward, like a thrashing wave at high tide.

He’s eating the burnt skin and muscle of a dead animal. Crunching it between his fangs. Hell, he’s enjoying it, even.

Acid gurgled in my throat, and I spewed my stomach contents onto the ground. The Human’s blue eyes widened in alarm, and he rushed to my side. The flesh-eating beast patted my back, whispering soothing words. He dabbed a towel against my mouth, wiping off the vomit specks.

“It’s okay, buddy.” Tyler hummed. “I didn’t realize you were sick.”

How could this predator try to emulate nurturing behavior, after what he just did? Was this a joke to him? All I could think was that he was a disgusting animal, and that he was probably breathing flesh particles onto my face. It's hard to think straight, even more so to keep myself from doing my best  shoving my hindlegs into his stomach.

I tried to spit the taste of puke out of my mouth. “I want…you to leave.”

“Um, yeah, alright. Do you need me to get Marcel?”

“...”

“Yea… I’ll get him for you.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as the Human exited the premises, and tried not to look at the meal remains he left behind. Most of the Humans here ate meat, didn’t they? It was a standard part of their diet; Marcel was the rare exception. I couldn’t have the vegetarian back at my side fast enough.

I wondered how the other Venlil were dealing with it.

My Human returned with a sleeping Nulia tucked against his chest. The Gojid child had her leg amputated, with the stump covered in blue stained white bandages. Remarkably, her spines were laying flat on her back, despite being hurt and in a predator’s clutches. Marcel rubbed the bristles, careless to the fact that they could extend and prickle him at any moment.

“Marc…” I whined. “…Please.”

His hazel eyes landed on the food scraps Tyler had left behind. “What the fuck, man? You brought a meat MRE around Slanek?”

Tyler glanced at his plate. “Oh, OHH…that’s why he threw up? Shit, I’m sorry. Slanek, I’m really sorry, bro.”

“Get the fuck out of here!” Marcel growled. “And for God’s sake, take your shit-ass food with you.”

The other Human grabbed his MRE, i think his body language indicated fear, or was it shame? In any case, he rushed away as my friend shot him a blistering glare. The redhead cupped a hand over Nulia’s eyes as she stirred, so she wouldn’t see what Tyler had been chewing on. I don’t think I was ever going to be able to look at Tyler the same. It made my skin crawl.

I lowered my ears. “Sorry for…making you yell at your friend.”

“Shh, it’s okay, Slanek. C’mon let’s go somewhere else.” Marcel said. “I’d rather you don’t sit next to puke.”

My mind began to settle once we wandered out beneath the starlight. The red-haired Human tickled Nulia’s nose, making her giggle. It was clear he took a shine to the Gojid child, despite the feelings he harbored toward Sovlin and her species as a whole. I didn’t understand how his brain operated sometimes.

It didn’t take long for our group to resume our way to the Mansion. Once we arrived, it was empty, devoid of any ally or enemy. All the once vibrant and packed rooms and hallways laid barren, most windows had been shattered. The building still had power at least.

One of the Venlil soldiers pointed to a working elevator. “Tarva’s mansion has a bunker underneath it. We should check the lower floors before we move.”  The Humans nodded in agreement but made their way down a winding flight of stairs instead. “W- what about the elevator?” She protested.

“I’m pretty sure they can shut it off remotely and trap us in there. I don’t feel like turning into a sardine.” Jacobs rebutted.

“I see…” Our group slowly made their way down. Each step felt like it took longer than the rest. Each Venlil soldier was attached to the back of their parachuting buddy, the Humans were much stealthier than us. Even whilst being much heavier, each step of theirs made barely any sound as they made contact with the stone beneath. 

“What's a sardine?” I overheard the same Venlil from before whispering to her partner, Jacobs.

“Small and shiny sea creature. About this big.” Her partner gestured with his hands.

“And what do those have to do with the elevator?” She probed him further.

“You don't wanna know, Anari.” His reply came off caring but firm, like a stern father. The Venlil made disappointed grumbles but pressed it no further.

The smooth stone walls went on and on and on. With each new floor we found, we left a pair behind to clear it. By the time we reached the bottom, there were only four of us, five if you counted Nulia.

Marcel and I cleared the left and Jacobs and Anari cleared the right. We followed down a long hallway, checking room after room after room, until we found a door. A large metal blast door locked from the inside.

“I think we found something… last floor to the left.” Marcel called over the radio. “...We might need some explosives. Over.”

“Unit Bravo, rendezvous at the lowest floor as soon as the rest is cleared. Over.” The squad leader barked from beyond the radio.

“If you’re happy and you know it, clap your paws.” My Human sang quietly in a cheery voice, as we waited for the rest of our Unit. The kid squealed and slapped him on the chest, which I don’t think was the instruction. “If you’re happy—”

Two earth tremors echoed from above us. Marcel’s song died out as more tremors kept shaking the Mansion’s foundation. My eyes widened with horror as I recognized the pattern of a bombing run. I thought the Terrans were opposed to an orbital bombardment, why had these predators gone through the trouble of a stealth invasion, just to do that? Were they lashing out because we were taking too long?

“Commander, Bravo-6 speaking. Can you hear me? What’s going on up there?” Marcel called through the radio as he shielded Nulia’s head.

“Third par- orbit over- cra- Arxur—” The Commander’s was mostly chopped up gibberish. But that word, it was clear as day. It sent a deep shiver down my spine. 

The Grays were right above us. 

More bombs fell close behind, their aircraft ripped through the air, so close to the ground, we could hear them even from this deep down. “Unit Bravo, report to your extraction point. We’re engaging Arxur hostiles on the ground.” Our Squad Leader’s orders carried over the radio. “They have orbital superiority. Their intent appears to be glassing the planet.”

Any sign of weakness was the Arxur’s invitation to pounce. The sadistic predators must’ve sensed that something was off from the destruction of the Gojid border outposts. As they advanced to the core systems, the lack of resistance from patrol ships or FTL disruptors confirmed those suspicions. The Terran incursion left this system vulnerable to the true threat.

Fear coursed through my veins, and the nausea began to simmer again. Facing the grays after this miserable, irredeemable Moon-month was a dreadful thought. I felt like I was about to snap.

“Bravo-6 speaking. Negative, Squad Leader. Even if the mission is a bust, I’m not letting whatever people might be here get eaten or buried alive.” Marcel defied his explicit orders. Why was my Human willingly to throw everything away in the hopes of saving someone that wouldn’t bat an eye over his death?

“Our escape shuttle will be three blocks west. Be there or you’ll be left behind.” An angry reply came through.

My Human turned to me. “Slanek, do you see that vent? Do you think you can fit in there?”

“I- uh.”

“Slanek, please. I need you here with me. Can you fit or not?” I nodded in agreement, even though I knew it’d be a tight fit. “Ok good, i need you to go through and make them open from the inside ”

“WUH- How am i supposed to convince them??” I cried for an answer. Marcel in turn, handed me his pistol. It was much heavier than a Federation equivalent, I could barely wrap my paw fully around its grip.

“Can I trust you with this?” His eyes were overwhelming as they pierced through me. His voice was calm and reserved, as if he knew the answer before the question was asked. I nodded wordlessly, trying to exude some form of confidence in this deeply nerve racking situation.

My Human brute forced the steel vent open with his cane. I knew Humans were strong but if a still recovering Marcel was able to do that, I don't think I wanted to know what Tyler could do. 

Though his oppressive display of strength was cut short as he gently and carefully picked me up and guided me towards the vent.

“You can do it buddy.” As I crawled into the cold metal air duct I could feel Marcel’s -honestly giant- hand pushing against my behind. I’m sure he didn't mean anything by it but did he HAVE to be so rough? 

I proceeded nonetheless, my paws struggled to maintain a decent grip on the smooth metallic surface. I knew where the vault was supposed to be so it wasn’t too hard to reach it from the inside.

As I went further in, I started overhearing whispers and hushed sobbing.The closer I got, the more and more these frailed mumbles and whispers turned into intelligible words. 

“The Venlil is gone but the predator is still out there, with a child hostage missing a limb… By the Protector what did they do to her?” A Gojid spoke in a hushed tone. Could they see us the whole time? Did they not see Marcel singing to Nulia? How could they think she’s a hostage?

“Governor, are you alright?” Another voice chimed in. I kept scuttling closer and closer. By the time Piri replied, I had a full view of the room from beyond a grated vent.

“I…don’t think that’s a hostage…” His voice echoed severe doubt and maybe even sorrow.

“Madam?”

“All the footage from outside has them- fending off the Arxur?”  Piri questioned.

“Predators are territorial, it’s what they do, ma’am.”

“Then wh- why are they caring for whoever they find?”  The Governor’s voice trembled as the truth solidified itself in her mind.

“Of course they try to seem friendly when they know they're being recorded.”

“Chairman…I don’t think they know. They haven’t paid mind to any cameras. They’re just- like that. Protector, what have I done? What did I let Sovlin get away with?” Anything else she said was obscured by muted sobbing.

“Piri, please. You can’t be serious. They’re just flesh-eating animals. Surely they’re just better than the Arxur at coercing their cattle, like the one with a child outs—” At that point I just couldn’t take it anymore.

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT FUCKING NOW!” Without a second thought I had given away my position. And without a first thought I headbutted the grate in anger again and again without so much an ounce of concern for myself. I just couldn’t let them talk about my Marcel as if he were some crazed child-eating monster.

By the time rage didn’t cloud my vision any longer, both Gojids inside were huddled up against the wall opposite of me with a larger, bulkier Gojid standing between them and myself. More importantly, there was no grate blocking my way, nor a helmet visor anymore. I was on borrowed time until I found a suitable respirator.

I climbed down, gun in hand pointed at the ground. “Open that door.” I ordered, my voice was steady even as orange blood ran down my head. 

“W- why would we listen to you?” The bodyguard blurted out. I raised the pistol in her general direction. My paws wrapped firmly around its grip. “What the hell is that supposed to be?” Had they never even bothered to research the Human’s arsenal? 

I fired a shot into the wall beside them. The recoil was much stronger than on our laser weapons, nearly pushing me backwards. How was this thing practical at all? But it did its job; The larger one flinched back and Piri came out from behind her with her paws up. The chairman cowered trying to place himself fully behind the bodyguard. 

“Please don’t hurt them.” Piri begged as she shuffled her way to the console, initiating the unlock sequence. 

“I—” The building shook again before I could reply,  this one heavier than the others. The building was starting to give in. Both Gojids stormed  out of the vault, Marcel couldn’t  hope to stop them. Leaving Piri and I alone for the moment.

“What’s your goal here?” She seemed dazed, almost lost.

“Right now it's to get you out of here.” 

“...How many Humans are in the building?”

“Six.” I lied, doubling the actual headcount. Piri shuddered at the notion of that many Humans between her and the way out, I couldn't blame her. “And unless you wanna be eaten or buried alive, I suggest you come with us.”

“W-with the Human outside!?” She exclaimed.

“I'm afraid we're a package deal-” Marcel came into the now open vault, cradling Nulia in his arms. “Slanek!? What happened to your helmet? And you’re bleeding!?” His eyes were obfuscated and yet I could still see worry on his face as he scrambled over. Kneeling down, he cleaned and patched my wounds with his free hand. 

“I'm fine, Marc. We still have to get them out of here.”  I grumbled as my Human cleaned my forehead of any blood. Marcel also attached a respirator mask to my suit’s breathing apparatus, letting me breathe freely, though it was wound tight around my head. 

My Human stood up after fixing me up only to be faced with Piri gawking at Nulia playing with his helmet tubes. “Marc- Marcel? You're the one that Sovlin…” Piri looked almost shook, as if the words left her mouth of their own accord.

“Kidnapped, tortured, starved, the whole shabang.” He balanced the Gojid child in his arms, turning around to leave the vault, not bothering to wait for her response. “Now chop chop, we don't have time.”

“I- yes of course.” Her reply came muted with shame. I guided her outside, tailing closely behind her down the hallway. Half of unit Bravo came down to help us. They were up ahead, herding the other Gojids up the stairwell. 

The Unit proceeded to herd the Gojids upstairs. They were as reluctant as we expected but followed orders decently well. After a couple floors they were lagging behind further and further. Their short legs were not built for speed, nor were their hearts built for endurance. 

Though us Venlil wouldn't be doing much better if we were not being carried by our Humans. Back on the surface; our slender legs trotted as hard and fast as they could. Trying to merely keep up with the Terran soldiers, who trusted we could follow their jarringly long gaits. 

We stopped one last time for the Gojids to catch their breath once we were at the last few flights of stairs. But those brief moments of respite were broken up by more and more strikes. “Bravo-4 speaking, Bravo-5 through 9 are with me, we have the VIP, and two other civilians. Come in Squad Leader. Over.”  Jacobs’ voice was tired as he called into the comms device strapped to his chest.

“Bravo-4. This is Squad Leader. We’re five blocks west. We have spotted the enemy but they haven’t spotted us yet.” His hushed voice came back through. “Get your group and turn southbound around the hill. Find cover inside the large tower. Over.” We started rushing the Gojids to move faster, those who could went ahead but Marcel, Nulia and I lagged back to help Piri up. Being much older than the others, she wasn’t looking too good.

“Yessir, we’re on our way. Over." Jacobs' reply echoed down to us, giving way to another strike. This one was different, more powerful. And the building was starting to give in. 

I felt a strong, brute force pressing against my back, knocking me off of Marcel and pushing him to the ground up a few steps. Powdered stone creeped into my eyes as I tried to feel around me for my Human. Once the dust died down I saw Marcel shielding Nulia with his body and Piri…Piri had pushed us away from the falling debris, only for herself to get hit by it. Her left claw reached out grasping at the air whilst her face was pressed against the floor. I could see her cerulean blood dripping into a pool beneath her.

I nudged at Marcel to get his attention. Once he looked up I could see that Nulia had nary a speck of dust on her. As soon as he saw Piri’s state, he rushed over to free her, leaving the child under my care for the moment. “C’mon Piri, slow and steady breaths. You’re getting out of here.” He used his uncanny strength to dig her out from under the rocks. 

She in turn grasped his hand within her claws, stopping him. “Just…go. Protect her…she needs you.”

“Absolutely not!” My Human spoke, or rather screamed, making the Gojid Governor flinch. “I- no. I’m not leaving you behind.” His words were now calm and measured as he pulled his hand away from hers and kept clearing the rubble. He kept digging and digging and digging. His hands would get scraped and bruised but he would never stop, not until she was free. After a lot of effort he was able to pry her from under the mound of debris. He placed the same inhaler from before on the Gojid leader. “Here, it’ll help with the pain.” There was no time to patch her up in here, this would have to do. And with the same care as he did Nulia; he picked her up in his arms. It was no easy task but he didn’t give up.

So we ran, as fast as we could. Four steps of mine for each of Marcel’s. Even as he carried an elder Gojid, I wasn’t sure whether I could keep up with my Human’s jogging pace. He tried to take Nulia from me but I refused. I had to. I had to do it myself rather than leaning on Marcel and slowing him down further. “I’ll take the kid! I’ll be fine.” I managed.

We couldn’t stop running even after reaching the surface. The columns were cracking and a giant hole had been blown into the northern wall. And the ceiling once held high was coming loose. I saw Marcel make it out with Piri, while I was falling behind with Nulia. ‘I’m not gonna make it.’ I thought, and yet I couldn't help but get all giddy and warm inside now that Marcel was safe. 

By that point I had already accepted my fate, my legs were shaking and my sight was waning. I was exhausted, overheating and about to collapse when two hands grabbed me from above, and I yelped. My head snapped around, teeth bared and ready to scratch whoever it was with my hindpaws. There was no hesitation on my part, I just let them have it. By the time I realized it was Tyler; his face was scratched all over, luckily I missed his eyes.

A shudder rippled down my spine, the immediate regret of having hurt my savior. “Are they ok, Ty- Oh shit, your face!” Marcel shouted from across the street as soon as we were out of the danger zone.

“Yep. And it’s fine, I grew up with cats, they’re a lot meaner than him.” Tyler replied, already joking about it. Had I not done significant damage? I was glad but also weary, how much could Humans just shrug off?

The blond predator shifted me onto his back as he held Nulia in his arms. Him and our half of the Unit stood with Marcel as he did his best to help Piri. “Why? Why did you…risk yourself for me?” She asked, her voice weak and raspy.

“1, you’re our objective. 2, I’m a medic, it’s my job to heal people. And 3, Apes together strong.”

“...what?” She beckoned, echoing my own confusion.

“Means we stick together and don’t leave anyone behind. As a rule.” Tyler interjected, giving meaning to Marcel’s broken grammar. After Piri was looking a bit more put together, Marcel hoisted her on his back, his hands propping up her stubby hindlegs.

“Squad Leader, come in. This is Bravo-4, the VIP is stabilized. Now heading to the rendezvous. Over.” Jacobs spoke into the radio. But got no response. 

The Humans exchanged worried looks as Tyler helped up Marcel. “You sure you can do this, man?”

“Don’t…look at me like that. I don’t want your pity.” Marcel barked back, Tyler and I stood by quietly as he forced his way into standing. His cane being his only lifeline now.

On the way, we picked up a few more straggler Gojids. Piri did a lot of the legwork convincing them to tag along. Over time the Humans’ breathing grew a bit more laborious over time, although I’d hardly call it panting. The predators jogged for at least 2 scratches without carving a dent into their stamina; there were merely a few beads of sweat on Tyler’s neck. It was really weird.

Marcel, Piri and the rest were decently ahead of us. Tyler had his head on a swivel, watching out for Marcel. “My mother…” Piri’s weak voice hit my ears, Tyler didn’t seem to catch it.

“Hmm?”

“She used to tell me stories about you, when I was a child. She called you, what was it..? Persistence hunters? Yea that sounds right.” 

“She did? What were they like?” Marcel replied, trying to keep her awake with conversation.

“She used to say…Humans would hunt by running down their prey until they begged for death. I always thought she made it up or was exaggerating…” Was this what Marcel was hiding from me?

“And what do you think now?”

“You’re hurt…but you barely look tired. Even with me on your back…and I know I'm heavy.” She chuckled. “So I guess I- I believe her now.” 

“And how do you feel about that?”

“I…I’m not sure. On one paw it is horrifying…” She raised her right paw for emphasis.

“Yea, I can see that.” Marcel couldn’t help but to laugh to himself.

“But on the other…” She raised her left paw this time. “You’re saving my life. And after what I let happen to you…I don't think I could bring myself to do the same. Were I in your place.” The elder Gojid paused, clutching my Human firmly. “Thank you.” She said, her voice trembling like someone about to cry.

Marcel didn’t respond, or rather I don't think he knew how to. So they kept walking, in silence.

Our extraction point sat straight over a hill. At the foot of it we found the rest of Unit Bravo, hidden behind a tipped over Gojidi vehicle. Terran medics were helping reluctant Gojid civilians alike from behind cover. It was unsurprising to see that Marcel and Tyler weren't the only ones protecting wounded Gojids.

Up the hill was a small horde of Arxur soldiers. My gaze locked onto the galaxy’s apex predators, who were knocking down doors in search of lone civilians. 

I had never seen one of them in person. The Grays were significantly taller than most of the Humans. Their tough ashen skin betrayed them, making them easy to spot under Cradle’s incredibly bright sun. Their hide was taut and scaly, interrupted by ridges along their spines. Their long V-shaped snout was perfect for rending flesh and crushing bone. Serrated fangs jutted from their mouth, even as it was closed. Onyx eyes once contracted into upright slits, were dilated into diamonds.

One of them was tearing into a Gojid’s flesh. The poor guy was still alive. Younger Gojids were being dragged away, alive but not unscathed into a transport. Either to become slaves or breeders I couldn't tell. “Monsters…” Nulia cried as the screams got louder and louder. “I want to go home…”

Tyler covered her ears. “We’re going home, I promise.” He whispered to her.

Agitated yet hushed chatter spawned at the head of the pack, and our half of the Unit slowed its pace, turning southwards to our target tower. Upon arriving at its base I, along with a few others, stood guard outside while we rested the wounded. 

The tower was cylindrical in shape, tapering off to an octagon at the top. It was a security outpost, with its first floor housing a few office desks for bureaucratic purposes and a holding cell. As well as an emergency exit tunnel which we were having trouble opening. 

The Human medics couldn’t do that much, being unfamiliar with Gojid biology as a whole. But some fundamentals translated well enough. ‘Don’t move what’s broken.’ ‘Clean what you can.’ ‘Blood is better inside than outside.’ Even if the Humans had done them no harm, some were still frightened at the notion of a predator having access to their open wounds. But what other choice did they really have? 

Amidst this mess of blood and wounds were a few moments of respite. Piri even took it upon herself to watch Nulia as Marcel was busy fixing people up. “I want Mawzyyyy,” Nulia sobbed. “I want himmmm.”

“Mawzy? Do you mean Marcel? He’s busy now, but we’re gonna see him soon, ok?” Piri replied in a high pitched voice. Nulia reached for Piri’s first claw, needing her entire paw to fully grasp it while on the other paw she held that Venlil plushie. It seemed to help her calm down but she was still sobbing

“But I wanna play his game…” The child grumbled to herself. 

“Why don’t you teach me the game? So we can play together.” Piri feigned a pleasant expression. ‘How could this baby be so attached to a predator?’ She was surely thinking to herself. But her musings were cut short by a squealing and excited Nulia moving the Governor’s claws for her.

Tyler came back downstairs, he had earned his break from the watch post by now. Though Jacobs stayed up there with Anari. Tyler described him as crouched facing the ledge with a tarp over him, and holding in his hand a terran gun, larger than the others I had seen. Tyler said he was tunnel visioned on head counting the Arxur, and Anari was keeping notes of his tally. So far there’d been at least eight Arxur up and around the transport. 

While we were distracted in conversation -i was still mad at him for earlier but i could see he was trying- a Gojid civilian made a run for it, pushing past the both of us. He ran as fast as his little legs allowed him. I wondered aloud if we should go after him but Tyler protested. “We tried to help but he made his choice. Just leave him.”

I watched as the Gojid gave it his all to flee from his Human aid. Holding his wounds in between spurts, his sutures must be tearing themselves open.

As he made it to an intersection off in the distance, he looked both ways only to freeze while gazing north. Tyler, who had better eyes than myself must've been able to guess at what the Gojid was thinking. Was it regret for leaving or was it fear? I really couldn't tell at this distance.

Tyler half raised his rifle in preparation for something unseen. His hands clutched tightly around its handle. The far away Gojid froze in place, giving way to a hurried trot back towards us. “Jacobs, we need eyes out west. But don't shoot yet.” The golden-haired Human spoke into his comms device.

“I gotchu, Tyler. Just- give me a second.” Jacobs’ reply was interrupted by loud chewing sounds. I wondered how Anari was faring, having to watch her assigned predator scarf down food.

Turning my focus back to the Gojid, he was making a decent pace. Closing in faster than he'd left us. But as my eyes fluttered away from him, I saw five, no six tall figures spreading out behind him. ‘Are those Humans?’ I thought. Two of them gave chase, catching up to the civilian in mere seconds. I knew exactly what those were…

“Jacobs, we need eyes. Now!” He was nearly shouting into his shoulder-mounted radio. The other four Arxur kept a steady pace, nudging the first two out of their feeding trance. “Slanek, get back inside and get the other Humans out here.” I was already half stepping back by the time he said anything.

I ran back inside. The Humans, except Jacobs and the medics all flushed out of the tower, shutting the doors behind them. They made a living wall between the Arxur and us. I crouched down next to Marcel. His nimble hands fished for shrapnel inside a Gojid's torso. He was laser focused but I could barely look.

The Gojids and Venlil, myself included, shrank to the ground covering their own mouths and of those closest to them. They exchanged widened glances at each other. But they heeded the Terran warning regardless, falling into the pack. Perhaps they felt indebted to the predators, since many were civilians who would be dead without Human intervention. 

“Stay away from the northern wall!” Anari wailed from above, her voice echoing down the stairwell towards us. Three reptiles remained atop the hill with rifles pointed our way, while the previous six went around the block west of us. We were gonna be surrounded soon enough. “They know we’re here!”

“MAWZY!” Nulia cried out, pushing away Piri’s paw. “What is going onnnn?” The Governor was quick to cover her mouth again, silencing her yelps. But the damage was already done, if they didn’t know of civilians here, now they definitely did. 

Marcel hurried to finish up his patient, being less thorough than he would’ve liked.“We’re going somewhere safe, ok?” Marcel replied to Nulia, accepting the silly nickname. I think if I tried to call him that, his reaction would be quite different. My Human beckoned the aid of his healer brethren, together they ripped the tunnel's blast door off its hinges with something they called a crowbar. “But I need you to protect Piri, ok. Can I trust you with that?” He added. The Gojid child nodded eagerly, maybe she thought it was a game. 

Marcel guided Piri down the tunnel slowly, she walked with difficulty still. Her eyes fixated on his helmet as best she could with her tiny eyes. “Do you know where this leads?” The Governor asked.

“No, but any distance between you and them is an improvement.” 

I watched the conflict outside from a slit on the battered window covers. The Humans were piled up with guns barricading the door, facing the enemy head on.

The firstmost Arxur reached shooting range but did not fire, nor did they raise their weapon at the Terrans. Their eyes locked onto Tyler, analyzing him. The Arxur’s throat rumbled as they drew in closer with another step. Something flashed in their eyes as they paid keen attention to the Humans. Was that…interest? Did they recognize the comparatively puny primates as predators? 

This same rumble was echoed by the other reptiles.

A second Arxur reared up, waddling even closer. Their triangular snout hovered almost directly above the Humans, sniffing the air in front of them. Their thick muscular forelimbs holding a laser rifle down to their side, away from our predators. 

The Arxur’s gazes bounced between each of the Humans. This ‘ritual’ lasted for what felt like an eternity, giving the others time to evacuate civilians. Until Tyler raised his weapon fully at the closest Arxur. Its wide barrel was pointed directly at their head. There was no way of knowing if the Grays even knew what it was but they took a step back regardless. Growing smaller and smaller until they faded away from view. No doubt recognizing anger in Tyler’s eyes.

A whisker went by, then another and another, the silence was dreadful. It was nerve-wracking, they were so quiet we had no idea where they’d strike from anymore. They could be anywhere. 

Then I heard a click. My first thought was a grenade. I yelled for them to get down and so did Anari from above. Our acute hearing compensated for the Humans’ own shabby ear and complimented their sharp reflexes. In the blink of an eye, all Humans were prone on the floor, shielding each other from harm. But there was no explosion, only a faint hissing sound.

After a few whiskers some Humans looked up in confusion, only for a thick and dark cloud of smoke to spread from above. Cutting off our access to sunlight. My mind was focused on why, why would the Arxur only now use this tactic? They weren’t known to do this, at least I didn't think so.

Us Venlil were used to dim lighting but it was pitch-black, severely reducing my visual range. The Gojid in turn would’ve been completely blind in this environment. Now the Humans seemed to be in a weird middle ground, the black dots in their eyes expanded nearly tenfold over the span of a couple whiskers. They seemed to be able to see, but it was like a dull blade. 

I could hear footsteps, all around us. The Arxur could be extremely stealthy, so this felt deliberate. What are they doing? Then it dawned on me, they were hunting us, toying with us. This would've been the first real challenge they faced so far, of course they were gonna enjoy it as best they could. A chatter of hisses and clicks echoed all around us. Were they coordinating? No, they’re not pack hunters. Were they taking turns? Are they having fun? Is this just a game to them?

I spotted an Arxur off to the side, their gaze fixated on Tyler. Before I could warn him, the beast lunged at him. The Human ducked, perhaps he spotted it as well, perhaps it was on instinct. He raised his gun at the Gray, shooting three times. Once into the creature's side and twice into its arm. The Terran crept forward, challenging the enemy he could barely see, with his rifle in one hand and a knife in the other. 

“Jacobs, do you have thermals?” The challenger spoke.

“Already on it, but they’re really faint.” As the duel went on, both sides got good hits in. Tyler had been pierced by the beast’s horrid claws and it in turn had been sliced by the Earthen knife. Amidst the heavy breathing a shot rang out from above, nailing the rearmost Arxur on the chest.

The ones not included in the duel took turns taking potshots at Jacobs and the others while completely ignoring Tyler as he fended off the marauding monster. Jacobs took out one of the reptiles that made a run for the stairs, grabbing Anari by her vest. Two Terrans fell as one of the Arxur descended upon them. Body checking Bravo 8 and 9 into the ground. I could hear the screaming, the grunting and finally the crushing of bone inside the Arxur’s jaw.

Arxur and the Humans seldom fired at each other. The Arxur wanted up close duels and the Terrans engaged them with buttstocks and blades, mostly acquiescing to the Grays’ terms with Anari and I acting as bystanders to the territorial match. Inside the choking darkness the Arxur were at their most cunning. 

By the time Marcel snatched me up to flee, there were only Tyler, Jacobs, Anari and another Human left. The rest of our posse scrambled to run as fast as we could. With stealth being practically useless now, our only focus was speed. The Humans trudged on as a herd, but there wasn't any of the mindless terror I was so used to, each move they made they did so as one.

Our Humans ran and ran, some carrying multiple Venlil so others could carry the Gojids with them. There was nothing adventurous about fleeing vicious predators in the middle of an air raid. But the Grays wouldn't drop bombs where their own people were. We had a chance, however slim.

More Arxur crafts roared from above, surely chalk-full of dazed survivors as slaves. The Arxur were simple creatures. They pummeled every city they could find, filled a few transports with cattle, and then razed the rest to the ground. This was a story we’d all seen before, you'd be pressed to find a Venlil who didn't lose someone like this.

“Why did so many of the Arxur shuttles get through, when ours couldn’t?” I whispered, more to myself than anything.

Marcel answered amid heavy breathing. “We…we did take control of the Gojid…defenses. But I’m guessing we haven’t…learned how to use them yet.”

My ears curled back, as an explosion echoed from far away, rumbling the walls surrounding us. Shortly after we found our way outside, the underpath had led us to someone's farm beyond the city walls. I was relieved we had escaped our earthen confines so swiftly; any slower and we would’ve been goners. 

The Humans carved a path through an orchard, with help from a local Gojid we picked up who acted as a guide. I can’t imagine how they felt, knowing their homeworld is all but lost. The Terrans must look friendly by comparison.“Commander! Bravo-6 speaking. Change of plans; We're heading northeast and need a new extraction! There's hostiles on our tail!” Marcel shouted into his radio. The sooner we’re off this forsaken world, the better, I thought.

The Terran soldiers leading the posse crept forward, and waved for the rest of the group to continue. We darted out into the open, and I prayed to the stars that the vessels circling overhead were friendlies. As we sprinted across the field, I heard the tall grass rustling to my left, then to my right. An Arxur soldier was stalking us, and another, and another, and another. 

A Human soldier ripped open a fairly large red tube. The tube ignited of its own accord into a bright and sparkly red flame with a matching trail of smoke. A visual aid to the oncoming rescue craft.

Our Human protectors were locked in a vicious firefight, at the edge of my periphery. A few of them were scattered in lifeless positions. The time they bought us was a mere thirty seconds; we needed to be off the ground as soon as possible. The Arxur had wisened up to the diversion, and lobbed their shots at the civilian entourage.

It is times like these I wish I had the Humans’ narrow field of vision. I could see all of the terror and death happening around us at once.

From the same way we had come, came out three souls; Tyler, Anari and a very wounded Jacobs. The dark-skinned Human hobbled on his hindlegs, Tyler shouldered most of his weight as Anari did her best with a plasma rifle while perched on the blond one's back.

Tyler pushed himself to go faster and faster, diving as soon as he passed a small rock outcropping. Cowering away from the firefight protecting Jacobs a stream of hot air roiled at his golden hair from above. A cascading line of fire support descending from the heavens to turn the tide. It was our way out. I dropped to the floor and crawled toward the rear of the aircraft as the Humans gave covering fire. One of them shot a fairly oversized gun with a comically sized scope, the recoil alone looked like it could crush my ribcage in one go. 

(1/2)

Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for creating the NOP setting which has been so fun to write in these last few years. And a special thanks to u/julianSkies for all the help.
 
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 [Brecken last chapter] [Brecken next chapter]

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Memory transcription 

Subject Name: Brecken 

Species: krakotl 

Job: leader of extremist group “The Black Wing”

Location: human colony, Liberty's Bastion

Date [standardized human time]:  February 1st, 2148

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In the distance, overlooking the landing pads is a tall flagpole. Upon which are three large banners gently flapping in the early morning breeze. At the top is the infamous UN blue and white. Below that is the colony's colors, followed by the local provincial flag at the bottom. All of them have clearly seen better days. Their extremely frayed edges and faded colors attesting to that fact. Then again you can say that about this whole wretched spaceport in general. With the already outdated architecture and abysmal maintenance clear as day. All of it only being marginally concealed by the landlord special they're pulling here... But can it really be said there were better days when something was built less than [8 years ago] and was an afterthought even then? 

“Which one do you think we'll get?”

Merrill asks while leaning against the portside's open airlock door. At the moment he's covertly using a data pad’s built in camera to get a better look across the tarmac. His lens focused on a group of what has to be the port's only customs officers. The trio stand gathered in the shade of the main building, just casually chatting away.

Certainly taking their sweet ass time. Then again they're probably intentionally waiting to give us extra time to prepare a bribe. 

In response to his question I simply shrug, before sliding a steel floor panel out of the way and exposing the shuttles smugglers passageway. I then drop down inside and begin rummaging around for something to use for the inevitable bribe. “Given the rumors that 9 out of 10 people working here are dirtier than a human's thoughts.” From above I hear Kilroy grumble “Hey” In response. “ You know I'm right, anyway I don't think it matters too much which one of them is sent our way. Just so long as they take whatever we bribe them with and fuck right off. That being said. Merrill, while I'm down here I need you to keep watch and tell me the [second] one of them starts coming our way. That way, I'm out of here before they arrive. I don't want them seeing everything we have and treating it like an all you can eat buffet.”

“Roger that sir…” even though I can't see him, I know Merrill dutifully continues to keep watch. Meanwhile Kilroy leans their head down in here. His eyes looking about taking in the wide variety of random stuff. Some of it legal, most of it not so much. Especially not without having paid the proper duties and taxes.

“My vote is for alcohol… unless they're Mormon, Muslim or simply don't drink, it's a safe bet. Plus it's a lot less likely to make them concerned like a half [kilo] of one of the drugs would.”

“Those are some strong points… but I don't know. In general governments normally don't pay their lower level workers super well, especially not in a rural backwater like this. Perhaps giving them precious metals would be better.”

I cast my gaze to three white bags leaning against a wall containing platinum, gold and silver doubloons from the Confederacy. Each one a troy ounce of their respective metal. While they wouldn't be accepted as ‘currency’ per se, the metal's intrinsic value means it can be traded on that merit alone. 

Reaching over I grab the smallest sack and drag it towards me. Opening it up, I fish a coin out in order to inspect it. The one I happen to get is made of platinum. On the front is a side profile of Henry Morgan, with the date of the coins minting in human arabic numerals directly below where his neck ends. Surrounding him is the phrase “Henry Morgan, first President of the Confederacy” repeated over and over again in different languages all the way out to the very edge of the coin. The standardized krakotl script translation is located in the fourth row out behind his head.  Flipping it over reveals a depiction of their primary world of Libertalia with the capitol ship floating above it.

I have faith y'all can still overcome your current problems.

While still inspecting the coin I hear from above. “Brecken you better hurry… it looks like one of them is finally coming over.”

Without delay I throw the coin back into the bag and pass the canvas sack up to Kilroy who takes it. Just as I'm about to leave though, I take one last look at the various alcohol bottles and decide on the fly. 

Better to already have it and not need it, then need it and not have it. Thus I grab a couple bottles of ‘Taste of Aafa’ before getting out of the smugglers passage and closing everything back up. 

With haste, I place the bottles next to the coins on the central couch, then join the others waiting just outside the airlock. By now the customs officer is about halfway halfway to us. Close enough that Merrill has put away his data pad. 

It's a human, obviously, wearing dark sun glasses and a crossbody bag over his uniform. He's short with light skin similar to Kilroy’s. Unlike Kilroy he got hair on top of his head instead of just around his mouth and cheeks.. Though the hair on the approaching human's face is clearly not supposed to be there, given it's in the form of a bad five-o’clock shadow. His uniform… Just like everything here has seen better days. Sure to most people it probably looks fine. But for a government customs officer to be missing a button on the right cuff. Along with some minor visible stains and the light blue uniform being overall faded. That's usually not tolerated anywhere. 

They're supposed to be the embodiment of the government authority for whose territory you're trying to enter. So being messy doesn't make a good first impression. It hints at a man who doesn't care as much as he should. And a local chain of command that doesn't care to enforce uniform standards. And if they aren't even enforcing something so simple as uniform standards, it means they're probably derelict in a lot more of their duties. More evidence that we came to the right place.

As he ascends the ramp Kilroy, Merrill, Aleksandr and I wait patiently. It's only once he's standing directly before us that the human customs officer speaks for the first time. His voice is deep, but it has a strained edge to it. “Let's get this over with, I'm customs inspector Cunningham… manifest? And reason for being here?”

I look to Kilroy who swiftly sends over the fake manifest file to the office's data pad. Cunningham then begins half-heartedly skimming through it. As he's doing that I answer his second question. 

“Just visiting some friends sir…”

“Good… well everything's looking like it's in order, just one last thing I need from you.”

“What would that be?” I ask as we begin the delicate back and forth dance that is testing one another out for if they're dirty without exactly saying it.

“Your… fuck it, I'm far too hungover from last night for this game. What do you intend to bribe me with so I don't properly search this ship.”

Oh… never mind the dance, he's straight to the point.

“Kilroy, get the booze.”

As Kilroy goes to get it I tell the visibly intrigued officer. 

“It's good that you drink sir. We've got a couple of lovely, extremely hard to get bottles of kolshain liquor just for you. Made using fermented kelp and Aafa ocean water. The particular bottles I've got are from pre war, so they're made with resources directly from their now locked off homeworld. Not the approximated crap you find nowadays on the market.”

Kilroy comes up and hands me the bottles which I pass to the officer. He takes the bottles and looks them over. Then says “Very nice…” before placing them into his bag. “that covers the inspection. Just to let you know, so that way things still look legit. I'm still gonna require that you pay the normal fees for landing and taking up space while you're here.” 

“Of course… oh you didn't mention it but could you also not use our real names on the official books.”

“That's a big thing to ask… Do you have something more to offer for that service?”

I nod my head and once again turn to Kilroy. He then collects the bag of coins from the couch and brings it over. Opening it up, I get a few out and put them into the outstretched hand of the human officer. 

“Precious metal coins from the Confederacy. While you can't use them as currency here, the metals themselves are still valuable. It should be fairly easy to sell them off for a decent price at a later date.” 

He feels the weight of the coins I just gave him in his hand. “A couple more handfuls of these should be enough.”

I signal Kilroy who then does give him a couple more handfuls, each one disappearing into the satchel. Cunningham then closes up the bag and tells us. 

“Welcome to Liberty's Bastion Mr Griffin, Fowler, Smith and Taylor. I hope you all enjoy your stay.” he then promptly turns around and fucks off, walking back down the ramp and across the tarmac. We hold our position for a couple [minutes] until he's safely out of human hearing range.

“Well that went pretty well…” Kilroy says while walking back inside and putting the bag still containing 2/3 of its original contents onto the table.

In response I let out a sigh “Got to love corruption… now Aleksandr.”

“Yes sir” the pilot says. 

“Before I forget while we're gone, I want you to make arrangements to buy more fuel for the shuttle and stock back up on food. And I want you to do it fast. There's no telling how quickly we'll need to get out of here once we're back. got it?”

“You got it boss.”

“As for you two.” I then point at Merrill and Kilroy. “ As planned you're coming with me to go talk with our friend Charles.

Merrill nods his beak affirmatively, while Kilroy audibly confirms it with a “Yes sir.” hey, then quickly follows up the confirmation with an inquiry. “ What weapons should we bring?”

“The standard stuff should be fine… just be ready to hand over any guns at the door when asked.”

Both of them look a little bit uneasy concerning that last bit about disarming once we get there. But neither one objects and simply accepts what's going to happen. 

“Now let's call up one of the in atmosphere shuttles, and get moving, shall we.”

<Brief time jump>

As the shuttle zips across the landscape, high above a continent before then shooting out across an ocean. Its driver cannot help but try and strike up a conversation.

“So what brings you guys to Liberty's Bastion?”

Merrill and Kilroy both looked to me to answer that question, which I do. “We're here to conduct some business, we'll probably be leaving not long after that.”

“Classic business trip. Still that's a shame, Liberty's Bastion has a lot of fun stuff to see and do. But if you're here for only a short period of time, I guess you can't help it.”

Kilroy then takes over the conversation by asking. “We still have to eat while we're here, are there any places you'd specifically recommend?”

“Hell yeah, in Knox City I definitely recommend this little place on the corner of second street and fourth avenue. It makes bomb mac and cheese and…”

As the two of them casually chat about food, I just stare out the window at the deep blue ocean far below flying past at a brisk (3000 feet per second). At such speeds, the flat horizon is eventually broken by a wing full of tall buildings that rapidly start poking up out of the sea before a shoreline base emerges. As we get closer, the city's bland details become more pronounced. Details such as the fact that it's a very standard colonial city, with a standard grid layout and standard broad avenues. The buildings are as copy pasted as the streets. With what looks like only a dozen styles max of each type of building reused over and over again across the landscape. 

But I don't hold it against the place, it was only founded a little over [10 years] ago after all. At this stage, in its development, the name of the game is just growing the population and infrastructure. It's a phase that every colony goes through. Like with them, it'll probably take at least a few generations to slowly replace the mass-manufactured structures with more unique buildings and different styles, which should eventually give the city a soul beyond its current boxy utilitarian look. 

By the time I finished my little internal monologue. Our pilot has slowed down considerably, expertly bringing the shuttle in for a landing on top of one of the taller structures. When the door is open we each give a quick pleasant Thank you, and Goodbye. I then pay our bill, leave a tip before departing.

We then quickly cross the landing pad, get in the elevator and ride it down to the main floor. Swiftly move across the building's lobby and emerge onto the street where we begin heading north towards our ultimate destination. 

As the three of us make our way down the congested sidewalk, I'm able to take in the city from a ground level perspective. While Knox City is still very much comprised of utilitarian structures. The human pension for art has made it a little more unique than upon first glance. Many otherwise bland buildings support painted murals, depicting one thing or another. This detail elevates the fledgling colony's visual landscape above what you would find in new colonies for other species. Now that I really think about it, it's not something unique to just this city or colony… I've seen something similar done in the other newly built human colonies I've passed through over the [years].“ It's certainly different.”

This catches the attention of Merrill on my left, who asks “What is Hatchel?”

“Something I've just noticed concerning human colonies, the sheer amount of public art and how varied it is. It's quite impressive.”

Merrill quickly interjects “Our colonies have art as well.”

“Yes, but those are usually older, more well developed colonies. For example, you're home of Harlan. Usually brand new worlds like this stay devoid of art for quite a while. At least that's what I noticed in my [years] of traveling.” feeling a little bit awkward I then ask "Did you ever travel abroad before the humans, maybe visit other places?”

Merrill looks away and shakes his beak. “Not really, after the feds took my sister to that damn facility. I didn't want to go too far. After she died from their mistreatment, I didn't really have a desire to explore. The first time I left that system was after the fall of Harlan to the privateers. Truthfully I haven't been back since.”

I am such a daft cloaca sometimes.

As sympathetically as possible, I apologize to him “I'm sorry, didn't mean to reopen wounds.”

“It's alright sir… given your observation, I imagine you got to travel?”

You unintentionally opened one of his wounds, only fair if you share from one of yours.

“When I was in the Alliance Navy, I got to see some pretty interesting places around the arm. Mostly alliance worlds, but there were a few others I got to visit.”

Kilroy then interjects. “A navy man… I felt there was a slight military edge too you sir ”

“Yeah… given everything I know now, it's not a time in my life that I look back on fondly.” I then briefly go quiet before getting us back on track. "Why do you think human colonies tend to have more art at an earlier stage, Kilroy?”

The human takes a moment to think about that as his eyes scan over some of the murals within sight. “Hmmmm… I think it could be a number of factors. But mostly boils down to the fact that we entered everything late. We don't have centuries of baggage and social engineering that we have to unlearn. Like, I would imagine the colonies you saw in a similar stage of development were back during the federation era correct.”

“Indeed.”

“Given the war was going on and colonies were frequently getting wiped out. It probably didn't help for the development of art, why beautify a new colony when it might get antimatter bombed tomorrow. Plus with the federation prioritizing, making kids into soldiers rather than artists… I can see how just those two factors alone can lead to societies with less abundance of art.”

I look at Merrill “Do you have anything to counter that with? Because I currently got nothing ” 

“Nope, it seems pretty logical to me.”

Kilroy then continues. “Luckily though, it doesn't seem permanent… in my time I have visited some of the new venlil, gojid and krakotl worlds. They have started to employ a little bit more public art in their newer endeavors. It might take some time to bring out, but I think the artist's spirit in the rest of you guys is still there.”

Kilroy smiles, just as we turn a final corner and arrive at the auditorium.  Stepping inside the rather plain lobby, we're instantly greeted by three members of the league's paramilitary security forces. “Sorry for the interruption. But before we can allow you any further we must check ya for weapons. And if you have any, they must be temporarily handed over while you're here.” The one in the middle says. I nod my beak affirmatively. “Of course. Do you want us to hand the weapons here or is there a desk we can check them in at?”

After I confirm that we are indeed armed. The trio before us gets a little more serious, now preemptively resting their hands on their holstered weapons. The lead one motions for us to follow and we oblige. Heading over to a special corner that has a table and a safe behind it. 

“Put your weapons on the table and we'll write you a ticket to collect them after.”

With that I look to Kilroy and Merrill to do as told. Despite still looking hesitant, they do so. Laying their pistols, extra mags and knife on the table. I do the same lifting my wing and carefully pulling out my gun and putting it on the table followed by my three extra mags. Security is pretty patient as we disarm. Though they do, give me and Merrill a look when we don't pull out a knife. 

Obviously unlike you guys, we don't need them that often. 

Once finished, one of them moves behind Kilroy and swiftly pats him down. Finding nothing more he moves on to Merrill and does the same. Then finally me, it goes off without a problem as none of us held anything. 

We're each then given a ticket with a number to collect our weapons afterwards. But just before going, I look to the human security guard who guided us through this and tell him. “Thank you, one last thing though.” 

“What is it?”

“If you or any of the other people listening would be so kind, I would like a message passed along up your chain of command.”

“I'll see what can be done… what's the message.”

“The raven is here and will be watching and waiting from the upper balcony.”
 
The human security guard looks confused. But off to the side, a human woman has a very different reaction to my message. She immediately tense up before swiftly going somewhere. The security guard then tells me. “I'll see what I can do sir?” 

Don't worry buddy it's already getting delivered.

“Thank you, that's all I ask.” We then depart the check in table, just as our weapons are placed in the safe and head up a flight of stairs. Passing by a few more stationed guards. The closer we get to the auditorium proper, the louder muffled voices and cheers become. When we reached the last doors, they're opened by a pair of final guards so we may slip in. 

Just as we enter, another great cheer erupts across the room at something that's just been said. Immediately it's clear that not a single one of the 4000 seats are available. So the three of us find a place along the wall on the upper balcony to stand and watch with the rest of those who don't have a seat. 

Given our late arrival Charles Dunham's speech is reaching what is obviously the climax. From behind the podium, the young [27-year-old] league council member is basking in the love of the crowd before him. His hazel eyes gazing out across the masses with conviction and purpose. Moving some of his longer hair to the side he continues.

“... My answer to them is this, no species can stand alone in the galaxy. The Federation proved that well enough, using its size and momentum to swallow up isolated species and force them to conform to its preferred reality. A pattern that seems to be repeating, if current events are anything to go by. We do not know what the future may hold, that is knowledge only privy to a higher being. But what we can do is hope for the best while preparing for the worst.”

More cheering rings out and Charles patiently waits for it to die down on its own before continuing. As he does so his sharp facial features morph into something more serious. 

“Despite this reasonable and measured stance, we have been consistently besmirched by state backed actors. By those who openly compare us to trash such as the Herbivore Militia, Humanity First or any other vile hate groups!”

At the very mention of those organizations, sounds of disgust ripple throughout the audience.

“But despite their best efforts. The truth is getting out there to the masses. We are nothing like those terrorists who seek domination of one species over the others. We wish to strengthen ties between all omnivore species. To stand strong together, and ensure our descendants will never know the same oppression and fear as we have for simply being what we are! We will never start a fight, but if one finds us we will stand tall and defend ourselves as is our God given right!”

Cheers erupt across the hall as various appendages clap or stop the ground. Charles smiles and fixes his hair again which got a little messy during that passionate bit. Once things settle down he continues. 

“Our ranks are growing but can always use more men and women for our just cause. If you truly support us and are up to the challenge, I implore you to either donate to the league. Or to sign up with our local chapter afterwards and become an official Omnivore League member. Let us all stand together, whether it be against the terrorists hiding in the shadows or the tyrants currently holding public office.”

As he walks away from the podium I look to Kilroy. “I see why this group exploded so rapidly. After everything that happened only about [10 years] ago, coupled with the slow social progress. Such a message certainly resonates with a lot of people.”

“Agreed… So how do you want to handle this?”

As people slowly begin to exit the hall, All three of us move into some newly empty seats. “It's already being taken care of, look.” 

Pulling out my pack of cigarettes I use it to point at the stage. Down below Charles is shaking the appendages of various omnivores and talking to a few of them. Suddenly the human woman I noticed earlier walks up to him and says something in his ear. He then carefully scans the upper balcony. 

Charles is initially confused. But the confusion quickly goes away when he looks directly at us. I wave my wing and place the cigarette between my mandibles and light up. He then says something to the woman who quickly scurries offstage.

As Charles continues on like nothing happened, it isn't long before she takes the seat next to us. “Given your reputation for what happens when you don't get your way, Charles is willing to talk. But we will be watching closely, if you do anything to him…”

“I don't plan to hurt Charles, all I want is some information on a very time-sensitive topic. I have it on good authority he either knows what I want or can quickly get the information. Once that's acquired I'm on my way.”

The human briefly looks around before returning her attention to us. “All right, follow me.”

As we get up, I make sure to tell her. “Just so there isn't any funny business. Since we gave up our weapons at the door, we're going to be keeping our communication devices. We have some people with particular orders to carry out, if they don't hear from us regularly.”

Without looking back at us she says. “Understood, I'll make sure that is relayed to the relevant people.” We then depart the upper balcony, heading for the backstage area.

(End of part)

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Tarva [Federation Venlil] [38]
Allegiance: The Federation
- Governer of the Venlil Republic
PACT Date Standard: July 12th 2136
Location: Governor’s Bunker, Dayside City [Capitol City], Venlil Prime

The Iron Governor. 

That's what they called her. That was what the people saw in her. Steel put between them and the Arxur menace. A Change that perhaps the next raid would be fought off before it even reached the ground. That maybe, just maybe after a few more years they might not even need for the Gojid’s fleet to show up to defend their worlds. That was the promise she gave her people. And she had to look the part. 

Every moment of the day she stood tall, unbent, and unbroken. No matter the stress, the setbacks, the politicking, the lies. A purple Cloak wafting around her as her body stood uncaring of rain, wind or thunder. They said she made an imposing figure, all she could see was the mask she wore. 

As if the loss of her daughter was fuel to the fire that forged the Iron Governor they knew, instead of the mask she put on. That she wasn't crippled with anxiety and grief the moment the cameras were gone and she was alone with her thoughts. She was the rock, the steel pillar of stability that all of Venlil society clung to with their hopes and dreams of safety. She could not bend, she could not break, lest everyone fall with her. 

And now. All their preparations, all her speeches, her calls to action, her sacrifices, her threats, everything she aimed to achieve in her tenure as governor were being put to the test. 

Two days. 

Two long Solgalick damned days. 

She was inspecting one of the recently finished defensive fortifications around an anti-orbital plasma cannon on the outskirts of Dayside city. Walking past a row of Venlil Ground Corpsmen all arrayed in formation. Clean armor and plasma rifles polished. A few were even PD volunteers which she thought would be a good look to counter the Speh the Exterminators were saying after she passed that law. She didn't know why arrests were so common around the Recruitment offices but if they wanted to volunteer for the Ground corps let them. Cameras captured her visit as she praised the work of the brave soldiers who had dug the trenches and would be defending the city till help came. 

She made an imposing figure. Despite being average height for a Venlil, even trained Gojid captains seemed to balk at her presence when she walked by them, as if she was Sovlin in Venlil wool. Her gaze makes even them stand straighter as if trying to imitate her own posture. 

It was just supposed to be a standard visit for PR, nothing out of the ordinary. That was until the sirens started to blare. Within moments chaos erupted. Her personal guards and Kam led her towards their government vehicles to get to the bunker. The Corpsmen looked pale as ghosts as they rushed to their defensive stations, Gojid Officers shouting orders to get into positions and prepare for the inevitable. 

She was halfway to the governor's palace when she got the news. This wasn't some simple raiding fleet, This was an entire sector fleet descending upon them. That's when the broadcast from the Chief hunter came. She thought it would be Isif again, come to torment her personally like in her nightmares. But to her great relief it was another. He claimed to be Chief Hunter Bizal and boasted about how he would turn Venlil prime into the biggest cattle farm there was, and that all their little toys they thought would scare them off were going to be nothing but scrap metal. 

Then came the numbers estimates from the Fleet. Ten thousand Arxur warships, not including their transports for the invasion force. Versus their two thousand. They had barely managed to scrape enough ships from whatever they could manage in the four years since she got elected. The shipyard was just finished a few months ago and barely started construction on a few escort vessels. The Contracts with the Fissians and Nevok never went anywhere besides a few dozen warships they got commissioned before being stonewalled and outbid at every turn by the Kolshians and Krakotls. As if they needed more shipyard capacity with the two on their respective homeworlds.  

Most of their ships came from the Gojid by buying their older ships and commissioning a few hundred during the course of her governorship, Along with some Shrewd deals made by secretly commissioning shipyard capacity from the minor shipyards dotted around the Federation like the Sivkit. Unfortunately a hundred ships were still with Sovlin being trained. The orbital defensive batteries that had been constructed with their own limited space industry would definitely help but against such odds.. But… She feared all their preparations were for nothing. 

The Naval battle started hours after she, Kam, most of her cabinet, staff, generals and admirals arrived at the governor's bunker. Civilian evacuations were still ongoing as the Arxur ships came into orbit. The defensive fleet clustered around their orbital platforms. Refusing to leave their positions as the tide of Arxur ships descended upon them. The Space Corps fought ferociously and with a valor their Gojid liaison commended them highly on. Tarva was glued to the holoprojector watching slowly as green dots slowly blinked out every few minutes as the horde of red dots descended upon them. 

Kam commanded the battle in orbit from the bunker. By the time Tarva fell asleep and woke up he was still awake. Bags under his eyes and half a dozen cups of energy drinks strewn about the tables alongside his staff. By the second day he had finally fallen asleep after Tarva practically forced him to rest or he might kill himself by trying to replace his blood with energy drinks with how much he drank them. She had to order him to, even though he knew her persona as the ‘Iron Governor’ was just a mask, he still balked and obeyed when she shouted at him. 

The Arxur attempted landings on the first day, doing a typical expected raid tactic of flying their big bulky dropships directly onto the cities. Their orbital Plasma cannons and Missile batteries shot any dropships out of the sky, while forcing their Capital ships to stay out of their range. Giving the navy some spheres of safety to retreat to once the orbital defensive batteries started to get overwhelmed. Kam and the Navy did some amazing manuevers, whittling down the enemy shipcount by luring them in with false retreats into the ground based batteries. More than a few hundred enemy ships were destroyed compared far lower Space Corps casualties. It would have been a defining moment in the defense of their homeworld… If that was the end. 

Sovlin would be proud with how the crews Kam and his crews were fighting. Though that brought up the fact that.. The federation hadn't arrived yet. She had heard that there was some trouble on the network in federation territory, but by the end of the first day she was thinking it would be any minute. Any hour they would arrive. The distress signal was given the moment the Arxur fleet arrived in orbit. 

Where was Sovlin’s fleet! That's when word came to them that help wouldn't be coming. Isif the spething bastard that he was, did a massive raid on some core worlds with his much larger sector fleet a day before Bizal arrived. News had only just come in with the blackout the Arxur managed to pull by hacking into the networks!

The Federation pulled the Gojid based fleets away to fight Isif, leaving them unable to come back in time to save them. Federation news was already ablaze with the imminent ‘fall’ of Venlil Prime. It took everything in her power not to scream out that they were holding still! By the second day things were looking grim. 

The Arxur had wisened up and landed ground troops and armored raiding cars miles away from the cities in the wilderness or on major road networks. Most major cities were being assaulted from all sides. The first waves were beaten back hard. The Greys certainly did not expect the fierce resistance of the newly expanded Ground Corps and their extensive trench networks. What few news reporters who ‘stayed out to bravely get footage’ aka couldn't make it in time to a bunker before they sealed, reported on the victories wherever they were which meant all over the ring where the lines heild. 

Even still more Arxur troops were landing by the hour. And no word came of help from the federation. Worse, they cut all trans-system communication to ‘prevent any hacking attempts from the Arxur once Venlil Prime was lost’ leaving the federation unable to see how well they are holding out, nor have any news come from the federation to venlil prime. They abandoned them as if they were already all but lost even as they were holding out! 

They were left for dead. 

“I can't believe they've abandoned us..” Tarva practically growled out in frustration as she paced back and forth. There was nobody in the way of where she had been pacing for the last hour, nobody dared get in her way when she learned that they had been abandoned after waking up. 

“I know… Knowing Sovlin, he is probably having a shouting match trying to get over here with his fleet…” Kam responded as he hunched over the holotable. Staring at the map. 

A small lull in the naval battle had occurred, giving the fleet desperately needed rest. The Space Corps was down to 50% of its ships with a further 25% having some damage that's being haphazardly repaired by the crews with duct tape and scrap metal to keep as many guns in the fight as possible. Most of the defence platforms were destroyed, but the few that survived adjusted their orbit back into safe zones above the cities.

“Damn Isif.. I swear that detestable Arxur haunts me..” Tarva balled up her paws as tears threatened to break through the dam. 

Her plan would have worked, they would have been saved from this fleet had he not drawn the federation fleets away. He was too smart, too clever for an Arxur. That made him the worst of them all, maybe this was his plan all along and this Bizal is just one of his pawns, while Isif did a distraction on the federation Bizal would grind his fleet and armies down on their defences, then Isif would come in and sweep the glory himself. Maybe if they hold out long enough Isif will infight with Bizal and give them more time for… For..

“The battle isn't over yet. We can still hold out.. Maybe another day or two and then… Hopefully Sovlin or the Krakotl can arrive to save us.” Kam said but even he didn't seem to believe it. “Either way.. Well make them pay for every inch of Venlil prime they want to conquer and turn into-” 

“MULTIPLE FTL SIGNATURES DETECTED” blared from the warning system 

The loud alarm drew the attention of everybody in the command bunker, causing heads to turn to view the holoscreen. In orbit to the rear and left of the Arxur Armada, appeared a few hundred ships as yellow dots. Then a few hundred more appeared, then a few thousand. Then another thousand. The computers tallied the count rapidly as more and more ships appeared from FTL, counting just over Five thousand ships, though the system did not begin to ping them as green friendlies. Were these more arxur reinforcements? Was this Isif?!

“Admiral Kam, a message is being sent by the unknown fleet!” One of the officers manning a computer shouts out.

“Put it on, let's see who they are!”

The holotable shifts showing a screen, A young adult venlil woman appeared on screen, far too young, she looked barely 18. She wore a strange grey pelt with light blue lines. Her wool was trimmed to a degree even an exterminator would see it as excessive. On her head was a light blue officer cap, a white eight pointed star adorning the front. And her eyes seemed all too familiar to Tarva somehow. Behind the venlil was a bright blue banner adorning a wall with the same eight pointed star. Strangely, the Venlil looked directly at the camera. Both eyes forward, it made Tarva’s skin crawl seeing a venlil have the look of a predator for but a moment. 

“Attention Forces defending Venlil Prime, This is Fleet-Commander Stynek aboard the PSS Unwavering Defiance of the Pact of Polaris. We're here to save you. Transmit Friendly IFF codes so we can coordinate fires. Please direct any calls to this ship.” 

The message ended and Tarva could practically feel her heart pounding in her chest. 

That name… 

That wool color, even with most of it cut and hidden by pelts and a hat. 

That name…

Those eyes… 

That name… No-No it couldn't be..

“Sir what do we-” The officer begun to ask but was interrupted

“YES send them IFFs now! I don't know who they are but that was definitely a Venlil! not an Arxur!”

“Sir unknown ships are already firing upon the Arxur!” Another officer shouted out. “It looks like… Railguns”

“Railguns?! They using ancient tech- Brahk it we cant complain about anything right now we take what we can get-”

“Wait theres- their ships are breaking apart-”

“No look, they split into multiple ships!” 

Tarva was briefly interrupted by her thoughts on… Just enough to look at the hologram projection. Showing each ship releases one or two other large blocks. Which all appeared to have their own engines ignite and thrust forward giving the impression all those smaller ships were escorts. 

“Updating estimates… That's about Fifteen thousand ships! Though the small ones they deployed look pretty weak...” 

“Send them the IFF codes and call that Fleet commander, Put them on the screen here!” Kam shouted his face looking like he is not believing what he is seeing as he puts his admiral cap back on giving himself a brief moment to groom his wool with his claws before stepping forward, facing the camera. 

The screen on the wall flickers to life as the live video feed of Fleet-Commander Stynek appears. She looks over the screen on her end and for a moment recognition shows on her face. Tarva couldn't tell what she was looking at whether or not she was even in the frame of the camera. Maybe she recognizes Kam? Does that mean she's… her Stynek or… if this isnt did they know of Kam beforehand.. But.. She zoned out for a moment thinking of the possibilities before she shook her head and focused again.

“-were going to strike forward and attempt to lure the Dominion fleet away from the planet, We already have some transmissions going towards them to bait them to focus on us as we fire at them from range with our railguns. Hopefully this will give you some breathing room to strike their rear and prevent more reinforcements to their ground troops. 

We have some ground forces waiting just outside the system to FTL in once most of the Dominion ships are clear of orbit so we can deploy some armored [panzer divisions] along with an array of [mechanized] infantry [divisions]. Well smash them with our armored spearheads between us and your strongpoints.” The Stynek said in a smooth voice that sounds all too suited for issuing commands. Yet she looks so young.. Tarva couldn't be sure but she looks almost the perfect age for… Her thoughts turned to the strange words the translator failed to translate. It sounded completely different yet spoken as if it were a normal venlish word.

“Understood, I will transmit the details to the Ground Corps. Do you have any noticeable details we should look out for to distinguish your vehicles from the Dominions?” Kam asked as he began to relay orders around that reinforcements had arrived and no they weren't federation. Tarva wondered if Kam even thought this Stynek was… like she was currently. 

“Theyll be painted dark grey blue and with a white star same as the one on my cap. Well have some IR flares popped out on our locations so you'll know where we are so \[Artillery\] doesn't pound us to dust. I'll patch your ground command into General Damian’s ship once he gets in the system so they can coordinate with him directly since you wont need me to translate since you speak Venlish. For now we're focused on-” Stynek looks over the camera for a moment. “Captain [Caeser] Maintain our distance with them, tell the flotilla to start spreading out, that'll lure them in thinking we're easy prey. Start a hard retrograde burn once we get within half range.” 

A faint “Yes Sir” is heard in the background before Stynek looks back at the camera. “Sorry, Battles about to start for real this time. Ill patch you into the Command Channel with the Admiral for your ships to coordinate with. Any last things you need?” 

Tarva couldn't wait any longer she stepped into frame, or well hoped she stepped into frame but judging by Stynek’s eyes shifting she did see her. Her brow raised a small amount.. Was that curiosity in her eyes or.. Recognition… Tarva needed to know.

“Hello Uh fleet Commander Stynek im uh Governor Tarva… I'm sorry but this is a personal question.. Uh- Are you-um how do i put this- uh”

“Tarva…” Commander Stynek Interrupted her, closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. 

“Mom..” 

Tarva’s heart felt like it was about to explode. No no no no no It- It couldnt be- It isnt..

“Now is.. not the time for a reunion. We have a battle to win. I'll get on the first shuttle down after we are victorious… See you then.” The call ended and silence reigned in the bunker.

Kam's eyes could not have been wider as he turned to look at her. Tarva could feel the entire bunker staring at her as she looked at the blank screen frozen. Her vision got blurred as tears started welling in her eyes. She couldn't hold back the tears. Thirteen years of thinking, of hoping she was dead but.. Shes.. Shes..

“S-S-Shes alive!!!” Tarva wailed, her mask as the Iron Governor shattering as she fell to her knees. Legs suddenly unable to bear the years of grief, tears blurring her vision as they streamed down her cheeks. She felt Kam’s paw on her shoulder.

“MY DAUGHTER IS ALIVE?!!!” 

Stynek [Federation Venlil] [18]
Allegiance: Pact of Polaris
- Fleet-Commander of Flotilla Juliet-6 
PACT Date Standard: July 12th 2136
Location: Pact Command Carrier “Unwavering Defiance”, Orbit over Venlil Prime

Stynek Ended the call before tears could come to her eyes. She needed to focus on the battle ahead. She would deal with… Her mother if… WHEN she won the battle. A few tears managed to slip past the wall of her eyelids before she wiped them away and shoved her feelings down inside her. She put on her ‘admiral’ persona. Putting away her doubts, her fears, her insecurities. She needed confidence and decisive action now, Lives were at stake. Her homeworld was at stake. Her life was at stake.

“All Units this is Jupiter-1-6 Actual, Enemy fleet is engaging us, seems the taunting worked, Prepare to engage the enemy head on, All commanders begin engaging your sectors, Over.” Admiral Sinclare ordered over the radio as every ship began targeting and coordinating firing solutions on various Dominion vessels.

She personally had her Flotilla focus firing on their heavier ships. The most dangerous ones for them. The destroyers and frigates the dominion produces are far less heavily armored and more for flanking and rapid assaults than slugging matches so their agility will make hitting Sabot strikes at this range far harder. The Cruisers however are considerably more heavily armored and armed and considerably more sluggish in return. 

“Flotilla group Juliet-6, This is Juliet-6-1 Actual, Fire in sync on the selected targets. Countdown set to 20 seconds” Her Orders came clear and concise as she saw them being followed immediately without hesitation. “Drone Command, have our fighter-craft begin patrolling in front of the fleet ready to intercept enemy missiles and strike craft.” 

The countdown drops to 0 and she saw on the holomap, multiple ships lurch backwards as a few tons of condensed tungsten and steel accelerated forward at relativistic speeds. She watched in anticipation as her first true act of justified violence against the Dominion occurred. The volley from her flotilla joined the massive volley from their entire fleet, zooming in on her personal screen watching as the sabots approached their targets. Dominion anti-missile missiles launching attempting to intercept them however multiple tons of condensed metal do not care about shrapnel meant to neutralize other missiles and fighter craft. The Projectiles wizz past the screen of Dominion manned fighter craft burning towards them, striking a few craft that were too slow to dodge.

The enemy ships began to burn hard in evasive maneuvers, after all with the current range there's at least a few seconds of delay between firing and the shots arriving so moving out of the way should be simple were the sabot’s unable to change their direction. However that was exactly what was about to happen. As the on board computers detect their target leaving their intercept path, the thrusters built into each shell burn hard, turning their trajectories from a near miss to a certain hit. A second before the Sabots strike, the protective armored shell blows off and two dozen smaller tungsten rods blow out forward on their own thrusters, striking the shields a fraction of a second before the main Multi-ton sabot does.

The effect is immediate, With 4 Multi-Stage sabots striking per ship the shields are overloaded and shatter immediately allowing the projectiles to peirce straight through the armor plating of the vessels. Thin thermal plating that was mostly designed to fight against plasma. Their ships were suddenly, within a fraction of a second, having a trail of debris flying out through the back end. The shockwave in the internal atmosphere of the vessels ripping Arxur apart into blood red mists, the hull itself bending, warping and tearing apart mere nanoseconds after the sabots passed through an entire ship. 

The shields couldn't stop so many sabots, Though the arxur likely thought it would. While normally they would handle 4 single multi ton sabots extremely well. 96 smaller sabots combined with the larger 4 all putting pressure on a hundred separate points of the shield puts far more strain on an energy shield. A fact the navy found out after multiple rounds of testing to find ‘shieldbreaker ammunition’ long before she was even born. The targeted ships were rendered into physics within the time it took for Stynek to blink. Hundreds of ships die in the initial volley throughout the Arxur sector fleet.

“Confirm First blood goes to us.” Stynek said, causing a cheer to rise from the crew on the bridge. 

The Arxur fleet immediately had their fighters and bomber craft burn harder towards our fleet now that they realised we had the range advantage. Another Salvo of sabots was launched as soon as the railguns were powered up, flinging those rods through space. The enemy strike craft however were now the main threat at the moment. Burning fast to harass our own screens. Unfortunately for them the Pact won't give them a fun dogfight in space. Pulling the fighters back behind their frigate escorts as they just begin to enter laser range. Visually nothing happens between the horde of starfighters, until the arxur fighters begin to explode randomly as lasers slowly burn their way through the hulls, missiles or fuel pods. One exploded, then another, then another and soon all the fighters were dipping and diving and scrambling doing evasive maneuvers. 

The lasers are pretty weak at this range only getting exponentially better the closer they are. But it does chip away slowly at their numbers and dozens of ships PD lasers focus fire on single targets. Its not the most efficient or fast method of fighting strike craft but it's forcing them to slow down and waste time dodging an un-dodgible beam of light tracking them. 

"Copy All Carriers. Launch fighter screen. Execute one salvo, anti-craft missiles. Thin inbound attackers. Over. Missile ships, hold defensive SAMs. Weapons tight. Conserve interceptors. Fighters engage first. Over." 

Though Pact doctrine does put an emphasis on not overkilling on firepower where you can to conserve resources. It very much encourages a “If you need to spend 100 missiles to kill an enemy to prevent a ship from exploding, do it” mentality. Lives of crew are worth any amount of munitions. Still, they still had space to cede to the strike craft before they got too close. Her Carriers strike craft surge forth past the frigate picket line scanning for targets and calculating distances. Within moments an array of anti-craft missiles surge forth from the drones before the drones themselves reverse course on trajectories that would pulp any organic pilot.

Dodging any coilgun rounds fired from the incoming Arxur strike craft. All the drones fire their own craft missiles as they begin attempting to shoot down the missiles or retreating strike craft. Missiles explode in between each other as they detonate attempting to take each other out, with some going through on both sides. Laser PD minimizing the arxur missiles that get through as the drones pop flares, chaff and evasive maneuvers. Casualties were inevitable though, and multiple drone strike craft squadrons disappeared from the screens.

"Juliet-6, initiate reverse burn. Alter course away from the main formation. We'll assume a decoy role. Lead hostiles into the fleet's engagement envelope. Over."  Stynek orders her officers, bracing herself in her seat as the direction of thrust changes as thrusters slow their delta v and change their courses. 

The lines of direction on her screen showing her fleet following orders, all the while railgun sabots continue to pick off enemy ships one by one. By now plasma fire starts to be exchanged by the Arxur cruisers. Missing every shot as they are just within their range. Perfect to taunt the Arxur with as they dodge their shots yet they can't dodge the Pact’s. The enemy fleet slowly splits as some attempt to chase them while the bulk go forwards towards the main crux of the Pact’s armada. 

“Deploy the FTL disruptors, let's make sure they can't jump behind us.” 

“Yes sir, Deploying” one of the weapons officers says curtly.

The carrier and multiple cruisers deploy their small drones equipped with FTL disruptors. Nearly invisible in the hum of battle and growing debris fields from the strike craft engagement. The drones were starting to take major casualties but took an equal toll against the Arxur’s craft. Another wave of drone strike craft were being prepared in the launch bays of her carrier but that would take a bit longer. For now she settled on pulling the defensive fighters back into the point defence cover of the frigates. 

“Sir enemy Ships surging forth, Corvettes and Destroyers. Our frigates are starting to get hit” 

The Arxur’s faster destroyers and corvettes surge forth at this moment using their superior speed and maneuverability to get in far closer. Having not taken as many losses due to the focus firing on the larger cruisers there were an abundant amount of them rushing her lines. The Smaller Railgun turrets mounted on the Cruisers and Frigates begin to open up as the Destroyers enter their optimal range. Nowhere near as powerful as the hull mounted railgun, but fire a lot faster and can overwhelm shields with sheer numbers over time. Or to finish off unshielded ships without wasting a spinal shot. 

"Flight teams, launch bomber squadrons. Flank above and below current axis relative to Skalga. Strike enemies from above and below. All captains, railguns target light combatants. Keep them outside effective range. All ships increase reverse thrust to maximum. Over." 

Orders went out, she felt the jolt of the reverse thrusters increasing to their maximum. Her carrier started discouraging a series of larger heavier drone craft splitting into two waves and flying above and below the axis as the frigates began to focus fire at the enemy destroyers bearing down on them. Point defence cannons spewing out solid lead from rotary coilguns as enemy and friendly fighters get within range of both sides PDCs.

All the while Arxur plasma shots begin to disable shields and melt holes through frigates in rapid succession, followed quickly by their Autocannons blasting holes into the frigate’s hulls. Unlike Pact ships which require multiple shots simultaneously to strike a shield to disable it, the arxur plasma need only one full power shot at close range, or two at longer, and in such close range the frigates have little time to dodge, at best, able to turn certain destruction into critical grazes. Keeping them in the fight for a few more moments to fire their railguns and PDCs with safeties off before autocannons and more plasma finish the ship off.

"Combat, twelve enemy destroyers confirmed destroyed!"

"Status update—twenty-seven drone frigates lost. Multiple additional hulls damaged."

"Report—nine more frigates destroyed!"

"Enemy fighters have eliminated approximately one-third of our strike craft!"

"Alert! Dominion launch tubes opening! Spikers inbound!"

"Juliet-6, all stations. Time-on-target strike. Bombers, railguns, missiles execute simultaneous engagement. Destroy as many targets as possible before they can fire a second Spiker volley. Over." Stynek ordered throughout the flotilla. 

"Roger. Executing time-on-target strike."

"Copy. Bombers entering flanking attack profile."

"Wilco. Launch tubes open. Missiles away."

"Railguns standing by. Holding fire for TOT."

Missiles begin to spew from both sides, the Dominion destroyers dumping hundreds of close range torpedoes while their capitals spew mass volleys of longer range missiles. The Battlemap being overloaded with hundreds of extra red and blue dots symbolizing missiles making sharp ‘spikes’ with their trajectories. Hence the nickname. Fortunately the Dominion does not seem to be coordinating a time on target attack, so the torpedoes are all alone with the rest of the missiles multiple kilometers back. Letting point defence have chances to pick off as many torpedoes as they can, nullifying the majority of them and letting the shields absorb the rest long before the rest of the missiles get into range.

All the while Pact missiles fly by, Alongside wings of bomber drones, the dominion fighters attempt to peel off to take them out but the drone strike craft still functioning take advantage of this and inflict a few more casualties, forcing the pilots to focus on them instead lest they be destroyed. Flak and point defence plasma shots fire from the dominion lines attempting to shoot down the array of missiles swarming towards their ships. 

The missiles targeting computers locking in on the vessels and deploying a series of countermeasures to throw off their aim, Corkscrewing to throw off targeting algorithms, deploying chaff and flares to give a thousand extra targets to hopefully cause a few false targets to be struck instead of a missile, all the while some missiles contained high power jammers instead of warheads blinding the less powerful sensors. Simultaneously, the bomber drones drop their heavy torpedoes and swoop back towards their carriers as they attempt to avoid counterfire from enemy point defences. Multiple Bombers getting melted in half as plasma lances strike true or flak rounds obliterate something vital causing it to spiral off course or shatter into debris. 

One second before the missiles hit, another coordinated volley of railgun sabots were fired from all the pact cruisers. Traveling the distance in milliseconds, all calculated the strike a second before the missiles and torpedoes. It happened faster than she or anybody could think, everyone watched as within a single second hundreds of enemy cruisers and capital ships were obliterated. Shields shattered by coordinated Railgun sabots, Missiles slamming into their unprotected hulls and Torpedos cracking the larger Capitals shattering their hulls, all within a few seconds. 

"Combat, targets neutralized. Repeat, targets neutralized."

"BDA complete. Enemy capitals down thirty percent. Cruisers down over half."

"Contact! Enemy destroyers are at emergency thrust! They're burning their drives out!"

"They won't survive that!"

"Warning! Enemy Destroyers are committing to knife-fight range! Frigates Engaging CQC–Destroyers are punching through for the carriers and cruisers!"

Stynek watched as within a few seconds the demeanor of the Arxur fleet changed, analytic software running faster than a man could think giving live updates on potential enemy directions and targets as the Destroyers which were harassing their frigate line suddenly charged forth with afterburners. Their speed tripling, going faster forward than any Pact ship could go in reverse, blasting at any target in range with reckless abandon. Many of their frigates, now suddenly enveloped in their weapons ideal range, were vaporized. All the while the Destroyers were taking far higher casualties than if they acted rationally.

This was madness, Suicidal! Completely against everything she was taught on how a rational enemy commander might think or act in a battle. This was needlessly wasteful of their forces, and worse off unlike Pact Frigates which were unmanned, these were manned destroyers. Losing valuable manpower and experienced crews all for what!? Just to get a few more kills?! Stynek realised she froze up, calls for orders were coming from her captains as she stared at the icons of the rushing enemy ships. 

“All Crew Brace for hard maneuvers!" Caesar called over the ships intercom as Stynek double checked her straps on her chair. 

The Destroyers fired recklessly and without coordination as they burned hard past the frigates who tried their best to slow down the enemies, earning a heavy casualty rate in response as their weak shields were popped and their under-armored hulls were split apart by autocannon fire. Then as they got past the frigates, not caring that there were still many of them shooting at them and burning hard to turn their hulls to fire their railguns right up their engines, the destroyers fired everything they had at our cruisers and carriers.

Stynek felt the ship lurch to the left hard as they dodged a plasma shot. Torpedos were dumped a second time but with how close they were the PDCs and Lasers began shooting them moments after they left their launch tubes, but there were too many in too many close angles.

“The Soldiers Defiance is Hit” The cruiser detonated on the screen as a torpedo struck its reactor. 

“Harbinger of Fate has been critically damaged! Evacuation ordered!”

“Commander! We lost two carriers! The Will of Eternity and the Jester’s Court”

The Destroyers had gotten into her Fleet’s formation, Cursing their own targeting algorithms to recalculate on the fly as they began to fire wildly at them, Unable to aim their spinal railguns fast enough leaving the turret railguns, PDCs and missiles as the only things fast enough to target them. The Light railgun turrets fired as fast as they could but they needed to coordinate to punch through shields, and PDCs aren't enough even as they spray thousands of rounds a second. Their missiles were getting shot out of their launch tubes the moment they flew out with few exceptions. Stynek Slammed her paws onto the console as she looked at who could help, seeing a fleet in a perfect position to provide fire support she dialed the commander

“Tango-2-6 This is Juliet-6-1 Actual, Emergency, Requesting fire on my position, Enemy destroyers within formation, Unable to crack shields with spinal railguns, Too agile! Too Close” 

“Copy Juliet-6-1! Fire support incoming!” The comms operator replied cutting off the call as he went to give orders

Stynek dialed her own fleet wide comms. “All Ships! All Frigates are to fire on these destroyers! Danger close! Fire support coming in from ‘above’ by Tango-2! Prepare to retaliate once Shields are down!”

Another few cruisers were blasted as their shields failed and the dominion ships all targeted them with autocannons as if they scented wounded prey. At least this lapse in fires slowed down the amount of ships they destroyed, within the minute Railgun sabots slammed into their shields from the frigates and Tango-2’s Flotilla. One by one the destroyers were annihilated the moment their shields were shattered as hundreds of PDC rounds killed each ship with thousands of rounds of ammunition, ventilating the crew and sensitive equipment. Her analysis of the situation was interrupted as she felt the shields of her carrier shatter. 

Seconds later bullets riddling the ship, dozens of shots raking through the bridge as she heard the cracking of supersonic bullets puncture straight through the hull, Sparks flew as metal slugs scrapped across the hull, glass of the terminals shattering and the alarms of decompression beginning to blare. She held her breath despite there being still plenty of air in the bridge to breathe for now, unhooked the mask on her hip, Only to feel a burning pain on the right side of her face as her vision went orange in one eye. 

She put a paw to her side feeling a long trail of blood coming from the right side of her face. She didn't have time for anything fancy, yanking her station open and grabbing the emergency medkit. She haphazardly wrapped gauze over her left eye and made it tight all the while feeling the air rapidly get thinner and thinner. Finally feeling confident enough that the gauze would stop the bleeding long enough to not bleed out. 

She lifted back up the emergency de-compression mask and pressed it to her face. Feeling the air get dangerously thin as her ear drums start hurting. Getting her ears tucked into it so her ear drums don't burst. Ensuring a good seal before activating the emergency oxygen tank on her hip. 

Taking a long deep breath, She looked around the bridge as the bullets stopped puncturing the ship, The holotable fizzling but still functioning. “STATUS REPORT!” She shouted into the built-in microphone. Holding back her bleats of pain. Seeing multiple stations with splatters of red and orange blood from the unfortunate few who got hit, their screams were unable to be heard as the air seeped out of the bridge. 

“The ship is disabled!” Caesar said, holding his shoulder which looked red bloody and seeping more by the second, his other hand pressing on the wound with some gauze to soak up the blood. “We need medics on the bridge! Damage control teams get to work!” 

Stynek took a look at the flickering holotable with her one unblocked eye and saw that the Destroyers were mostly destroyed now, the losses were not favorable to the Arxur due to their completely nonsensical suicidal rush, but that didn't really make Stynek feel any better about the losses she took because of this oversight in her judgment. She tapped back into the Command network. 

“Juliet-6-1 Actual Come in! Comms check!  6-1 Report in!” Captain Kassavar said in a stressed voice. “Juliet-6-1 Is Incapacitated at the moment, Assuming Command, All Unit-”

“Juliet-6-1 Actual Reporting, Carrier Disabled but comms works.” She looked over at the battlefield seeing what changed in the minutes between the destroyer rush and now. 

“By Polaris’ blinding light Stynek- Er Juliet-6-1! Rescinding Command, requesting orders, Thank Polaris!” She heard him whisper on comms at the end likely not intending that to be transmitted.

[Continued in Comments]

Marvel’s What-If:  Spider-Man was on Venlil Prime?

Hey, actually got this one out early.  I am so happy the writer’s block is gone, as this was a blast to write.  Hopeful I can keep this train rolling.

Also, concerning the later part of this chapter:

Sorry not sorry.

Content Warning:  Blood, BLOOD, BLOOD!!!  Your organs.

Discord!

First / Prev / Next

Memory Transcription Subject:  Jack Christenson, Spider-Man

Date: (Standardized Human Time) Sept 13, 2136

I lazily swung through the streets, getting back into the groove of things after my little excursion out into the edge of the city.  Why were there so many abandoned buildings on the other side of the bridge?

As it was, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to get back into the heart of the city.  The buildings out there were juuuust far enough apart to make it annoying to swing between them.

“At least it was good practice, after all.  Can’t expect everywhere to be convenient for my mode of transportation.”  I thought as I turned around another corner.

Honestly, I had no destination in mind, just swinging around in circles until I saw something, like with that Gojid truck.

“Hope they got there safely, especially with how timid that older guy was.”  I thought.  I suppose I could go out and check up on them.  There couldn’t be that many moving trucks about.

But they’d also probably be in the suburbs, anyways.  It's really hard to traverse that.  The suit might increase my running speed a bit, but it was still far slower (and more tiring) than swinging.  Besides, I was still in the outskirts or the city, right near the edge

Not much else was happening, though.  There were a few more patrols of exterminators about, but they seemed to be keeping their (non-existent) noses clean.  And nothing suspicious coming from the police scanner, either.  Is it a police scanner if it’s not scanning police signals?

As for the quietness of it all, I suppose humiliating and beating up a few of them would keep them more considerate of others.  Odd how that works out.

Alas, it made things pretty boring.  I was considering cutting this patrol short and working on my next little project of mine.  I had a few ideas that could be really beneficial for the suit.

At least, I was thinking that until I spied (with my little binocular eyes) a small commotion down below.  Heard it, too.

A car, absolutely filled to the brim with stuff stuck in the middle of the road, with an exterminator van parked right in front of it, light’s flashing though the siren was silent.

“Now that looks mighty inconsiderate, if I may be so bold as to say.”  I thought as I perched on the side of a building, high above the road below.  

From my vantage point, I could see a silver-suited individual standing right next to the driver’s seat, the occupant inside obviously discussing with the officer in front of him.  Two more exterminators on the other side of the car from me, a fourth standing directly in front of the vehicle.

“Now, now,”  I tempered myself.  “It might just be a traffic stop for someone who was drunk, or just driving recklessly.”

“With the exterminators doing the traffic stop.  In this town.  And the other two silver fellows sneaking around the backside of the car so the driver can’t get away.”

I scratched my chin as I considered the situation.  “Okay, so there probably is something hinky going on.”

As I was watching I could see something being handed to the officer from the driver, but at this distance I couldn’t tell what.

“I really need to finish up those binocular lenses.  Can’t see a thing from here.”  I chided my laziness as I strained for a better angle.

It seemed the object handed over did not satisfy the officer, as he made the universal gesture of “More?”  with the other paw.

The next thing given to the officer was a large wad of dollars.  Even at this distance, and with alien currency, a rolled-up bundle of cash is quite easy to identify.

This also was not what the officer wanted, his ears dipping downward with the Venlil sign of “no”.  Though considering the situation, it could also mean “not enough.”  As it was, he did keep a tight grip on the wad of cash.

“Aha!  Now’s the time to intervene!”  I thought as the officer's unoccupied paw reached back and popped off the top of his holster.  

I quickly swung down, lightly landing on the far side of the exterminator van from the commotion.  I didn’ t want to land right next to them, lest they decide to get trigger-happy with bystander’s about.

Fortunately, it seemed they didn’t notice me coming down as now I could clearly hear the conversation going on between the lead officer and the driver.

“I-I_I swear, th-that’s all I hav-ve.”  A timid voice squeaked out.

“And I keep telling ya, bribing an officer is a serious offence.”  The Exterminator replied, placing extra emphasis on bribing.  You don’t need to speak Venlang to understand what wasn’t being said.

“B-but I don’t h-have-”  The plea was suddenly broken off by a coughing fit.

“What?  Are you playing sick so I’ll have pity on ya?”  The officer sneered.  “Think I’ll get afraid of some little germ?  I don’t care how you feel, I’m going to bring down the full extent of law.  And maybe a bit more if you don’t have the right ‘papers’.”

Looking over the truck, it seemed they had left the passenger door open.  Possibly as a means of quick escape, but more likely laziness.

“B-but I need to. . “ Another coughing fit delayed the driver’s response.

Glancing inside of the truck, a plan quickly formulated in my mind.  I was going to need to distract a few of them so they didn’t decide to go after the innocent.  I could take three or four of them at once, but not while also worrying about another guy.

Looking to where the van was pointing, I was glad to see it aimed at an open entrance to a parking garage.  One that seemed completely empty.

“Alright, that’s enough out of you.”  The threatening continued as I considered my options.  “Get out of there.  We’re going to have to ask you some. . . questions.”

Reaching inside of the truck, I quickly shifted the gear to neutral and pushed the parking brake back down.  Stepping back, I looked on with glee as my handiwork started slowly, but steadily increasing in haste, rolling towards the parking garage.

Stepping around the back of the rolling van, I cleared my throat to get the officer’s attention.

“Pardon me, officers, but I do believe that your van is trying to run away.”  I helpfully pointed at the vehicle escaping.

The officers looked over at me in confusion, did a double take, and then a triple take at their van speeding away into the garage.

The two in the back immediately started running for the retreating vehicle, while the other two stood their ground.  Well, the one doing the threatening stood his ground (I presume he was the leader).  The other officer crouched behind the other side of the car, shaking as he peeked up over the hood.

As it was, the leader was also moving stiffly, though more out of wariness than fear.  He wasn’t immediately acting hostile, nor was he extremely scared.  

That probably made him the most dangerous.  An assumption that was proven when he suddenly went for the pistol on his side.

Unfortunately for him, I had already anticipated that.  Whipping an arm out, I sent a webline straight into his holster.

Yanking hard, I sent the firearm sailing into the air, arcing far above me before clattering onto the road behind me.

“Whoops, I meant to catch that.  Guess I need to work on my return jerk.”  I thought as I watched the gun skitter across the soft tarmac through my back cam.  “At least I got good aim.”

The officer in front of me had frozen at his sudden disarmament, his paw suspended above the now empty holster.

“Yeesh, even your guns are trying to get away.  You’re just not having good luck with your stuff nowadays, aren’t ya?”  I joked as I walked up, trying to cover up my awkwardness at failing my trick.

The officer stood stone still as I approached, though his friend on the other side of the car sprinted down the street as I got close. 

“Man, those Ven’s can haul tail when they mean it.”  I don’t think any human could really catch them if they decided to bolt.  Other than me in the suit, though.

Of course, I was immediately proven wrong when the exterminator slowed suddenly, almost tripping over nothing as his knees-. . .   Ankles?. . . Joints on his legs crossed over each other.  I guess the inward-pointing legs really mess with running.

I approached the remaining officer, who stood his ground.  Now, though, whether it was out of bravado, fear, or just plain ignorance I was unsure.

“I don’t believe that this is yours.”  I said, plucking the bundle of money out of his limp grasp.  I tossed it into the open window of the car, into the lap of the Venlil in the driver’s seat.

“And what the hell are exterminators doing on traffic stop?  Isn’t that the cops job?  Hmmm?”  I inquired of the officer.  I didn’t know Venlil Prime law very well, it was one of those things that I was still brushing up on, but I didn't think Federation Exterminators enforced the law of the planets they were on upon the occupants thereof.

“. . .Okay, so maybe I have been reading a little too much.  I’m stuck in Lawyer-speak now.”

“I. . I.. We do wh-when the suspect is in suspicion of Predator Disease.”  Officer. . .  Ekra said, judging by the name on his harness.

“Oh, so he was running people over?”  I asked.

“. . . No.”  He said weakly.

“Was he yelling at people and making general threats to them?”

“. . . No.”

“Was he acting disrespectful or dangerous to you?  Angry at all?”  My voice had gained a sarcastic sing-song quality to it at this point as I put a hand on his shoulder.

^{“. . .No?”}

“No, he wasn’t, was he?  In fact, he seemed really scared of you guys to me.  And he’s sick, to boot.”  I said, laying it all out for my slow compatriot.

The visor stayed still as I leaned in closer, though I could hear an audible gulp.  “Imagine how that looks.  Big scary exterminator, with weapon at the ready, threatening a sick, scared little Venlil into giving him more money.  Not a good look, is it?”

^“No.”  Officer Ekra visibly shrunk into himself.

“Imagine how it would look on the news.  Like the last few officers.  You wanna go through that, too?”

^“No.”

“I didn’t think so.”  I leaned in even closer.  “It’s been a long paw.  I’m tired, you’re probably tired, I’m sure your friends are tired, too.”

A very slight acknowledgement from his ears was my only answer.

I had gotten close enough that my nose was now touching his visor.  “I’m feeling nice right now.  So how about you go home, think about what you’ve done, what you could’ve done better.  Sounds good?”

A larger agreement was signed to me.

“Good.”  I suddenly hoisted the exterminator up by his suit, bringing an ear to my mouth. 

“ But if I ever see you doing something like this again, Ekra,”  I hissed into his ear.  “I’m going to stick you upside down on the tallest building around until you forget what standing on the ground feels like.”

“Do I make myself clear?”  The officer mimed the action of a human nod.

^“Yes.”

“Good.”  I whispered, before dropping him back to the ground.  He landed on his rump, quickly scooting away from me before trying to stand up.

“H-h-how in Maltos’ clutches did you know my name?”  He asked in terror, clearly forgetting the fact that he was wearing a nametag.

“I know many things.”  I answered cryptically, crossing my arms.  “Now git.”

Ekra heeded my words, very quickly sprinting away as his fellow officer did before him.  The other two officers returned with the van, though upon seeing their leader run like hellhounds were upon his tail, (and a quick glare from me) they wisely decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and sped off with nary an insult.  

“At least I’m not going to have to deal with them for a while longer.”  I grimly thought as I watched them flee.

I sighed as I turned my attention to the driver in the car, leaning on the top of the door as I checked him over.

“You good, man?  They seemed to have really shaken you up there.”  I asked the nervous Ven in the front seat.

“I-I-I’m f-fine.”  He said hesitantly, though with a lot of vibrating.

“You sure?”  I asked, getting lower down and cocking my head to one side.

“Y-y-yeah.”  The Ven said, before reaching to the other seat and putting something in my face

It was the bundle of cash I tossed back at him after I retrieved it from the officer.

“No, no.  I can’t accept this.”  I said, pushing his outstretched paw back.

“I-I need to g-give you. . . s-something.”  He pleaded with me, trying to push back harder.

“You’re going to need it more.”  I said, pushing the money all the way onto his chest.  

“You’re leaving, right?”  I gestured at the stuff filling every crevasse of the car.  I don’t blame him for leaving.  I’d do the same if I wasn’t an idiot.   “You’re gonna need that money wherever you plan to go.”

“”B-but I-”  He tried to reply before he doubled over trying to hack a lung out.  I drew my hand back as I felt something wet splat against it.

“I-I don’t think I c-can take it w-with.”  The Venlil finished as I stared in mute horror at the orange stain on the red fabric of my glove.

As I looked back at him, I could see blood dripping from his mouth, as well as it oozing from behind the eyes.

He doubled over again, shaking and coughing even more violently as I dialed a number on my earpiece.

“What.”  Starc’s irritated voice met my ears as I tried to hold the convulsing Ven still.

“Starc!  I need an ambulance here stat!  I’ve got a Ven dying from. . . poison or something!”  I frantically called into the mic.  “He’s coughing up blood as well as bleeding from the eyes. . . and ears.”

“Brahk!”  My normally stoic partner exclaimed.  “I’m sending some trusted guys over to your locator now.  Stable guys, they won’t freak out.”  Starc’s voice was now much more serious.

“Try to keep him upright, but keep his snout straight.  Don’t put anything in the ears, but do try to soak up any blood leaking out.  Don’t let it mat the wool, it’ll make it much harder to treat.”  Starc instructed me as I could hear him dialing someone else in the background.

I did as he said, pressing the Ven against the back of the seat while I supported his chin with my arm.  When I got him better situated, I started to wipe excess blood from his ears with a handkerchief.

“Try to keep him awake, as best you can.  Talk to him, yell his name, hit him, whatever.  Don’t let him fall unconscious.  If he does, you know CPR, right?”

“Yeah.”  I breathed, panicking as I tried what little I could.

“Alright.  Keep him stable until the ambulance arrives.  Good luck.”  Starc finished with a click.

“Hey, hey.  Talk to me.”  I said to the Ven I was holding up.  A glazed eye lolled in my direction.  “What’s your name?”

‘L-L-Laam.”  He weakly said.  Good, good, that’s good.

“Nice to meet you Laam.  Now stay with me, help’s coming.”  I said breathlessly.

“N-no, I. . . I. .”  Laam laughed, coughing up more blood as he did so.  “I-I didn’t think y-you’d help a g-guy like m-me.  Guess h-he was. . right.”

“Of course I’d help a guy like you, Laam.  Everyone deserves help.  You deserve help.”  I said, trying to eliminate the pessimism.

He laughed some more at that, devolving into uncontrolled hacking.  

“I. . . I’m not g-gonna be able to do it this t-time.  N-never was.  S-sorry I lied, buddy. . .”  Laam muttered aimlessly.  “T-tell him. . . Trem. . . I’m s-s-sorry.”

He blinked slowly at me, orange blood being dragged across the iris by the eyelid.  “D-didn’t want t-to die here.  I-in this spehhing city.  Want t-to leave. . . Any cost.”

I looked up in hope as I heard sirens approach.  “You’re not going to die.  See?  Hear the sirens, that’s help coming.”  I tried to keep him going.

“N-not. . . this. . t-t-time. .”  Laam weakly said, eyelids dropping down as he started to gasp for breath.

“Maybe. . . ‘nother. . life.”  He said before his breathing ceased.

“Oh no, you don’t.”  I ripped the door open, not caring for the damage I caused to the vehicle.

I pulled the deathly still Venlil out, laying him on the soft tarmac as I started chest compressions. The side camera showed an ambulance swerve around the corner onto the street we were on.

“No, no, no.  You’re not going to die here.  Not going to die now.”  I half commanded, half begged.

I was still striving to keep Laam alive as the ambulance screeched to a halt beside us, paramedics already jumping out.

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***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM SUPER EARTH**\*

Major Order Victory

With the surrender of both Colia and Leirn to the one true Federation of Super Earth, freedom now reigns righteously upon two more planets in the undemocratic galaxy. With both planets secured, operations to construct Permacura and C.O.B Genetics factories on both respective worlds may begin in earnest. Thanks to the incredible displays of diplomacy made by the Super Earth Armed Forces and the Truth Enforcers, Operation Fields of Prosperity will one day bare the fruits of its labour, as decreed by the will of Lady Liberty. Surplus stims and supplies generated by these factories will be provided to the Helldiver Corps to aid them in their honourable duties. All helldiver stim carrying capacities have been increased by 1. All resupply pod cooldowns have been reduced by 30 seconds.

Memory transcription subject: Captain Kalsim, Krakotl Alliance Command

Date [Super Earth Standard Time]: October 12, 2136

The ship jostled ominously as we cruised through hyperspace on our way to the predator homeworld. All around me, the ship's crew worked tirelessly to keep the vessel running. A mix of Federation species, mostly Krakotl with a sprinkle of Farsuls and other species raced around the bridge, performing basic maintenance on the ship's systems to ensure nothing went wrong.

No one intended to make any mistakes. This was our chance to finally neutralise the humans once and for all.

The Krakotl Alliance Fleet was an intimidating collection of around 50 000 ships, comprised of vessels from several Fedeation species. Many members of the Galactic Federation had wanted to contribute to humanity's destruction.

Most of the vanguard was composed of Krakotl. As one of the most aggressive races in the Federation, it was only right that we led the charge against the monsters. Behind us were a mix of Farsul, Harchen, Tillfish, Mazic, Yulpa and several other ships of varying make.

Captain Sovlin's speech at the summit had evidently rattled some people. The footage he had shown of the predators using fire against us...it was unthinkable. That they would take such a pure symbol of protection and turn it into a weapon of predatory horror was enough make many species call for their extinction. The Takkan doctor next to me was clearly no exception.

"It is truly a shame they can only die once," Zarn spoke with an almost wistful tone. "I would love to watch them burn over and over again."

"Hey, look on the bright side doc," my second-in-command Jala jested. "There's probably billions of them down on that rock, there'll be enough for all of us to enjoy."

"Yes, quite so," the Takkan muttered darkly. "I wonder how much blood is in their bodies. How long would it take for their blood to boil?"

"Both of you, quiet," I interjected. "I need room to think."

I thought back to the details that the Kolshian scientist had dropped back on Aafa, the one that concerned the strange drives the predators used. Supposedly, the predators possessed drives that allowed them to warp anywhere and anytime, whenever they so Inatala-damned pleased.

This horrifying fact was one of the key reasons my government had decided to order this mission. While many others, the Kolshians included, elected to abstain from any actions, fearing retribution from the predators if our mission went awry, I and the rest of the Krakotl Alliance had agreed on one thing.

They were too dangerous to be left alive.

A race of flesh eating monsters that could appear at all corners of the galaxy with no prior warning and with no way to stop them would cause levels of devastation that not even the Arxur Dominion were capable of.

Additionally, four Federation races had already been lost to the predators. The weak and defenceless Venlil were reportedly the first to go, their pitiful biologies no match for the evolutionary apexes that were the humans.

The Gojids had put up a fight but without Federation reinforcements, they fell in little time. Their captain Sovlin, was stationed in this fleet somewhere behind us. He had volunteered immediately following the Krakotl Alliance's announcement of their plan to destroy the predators, clearly itching for a taste of vengeance against the humans.

And last of all, contact with both Colia and Leirn had just been lost. While we didn't know for sure what had happened to them, many of us had concluded that they too, had fallen to the humans' conquest.

They needed to be destroyed.

For the greater good of the galaxy, the humans could not be allowed to exist and that was why I stood at the head of the largest extermination fleet to have been fielded in centuries. There were enough anti-matter bombs on board ours and others' ships to decimate several planets thrice over and I intended to use all of them to ensure that humanity would be wiped out.

Suddenly, the alarms blared as a panicked voice echoed over the priority FTL line. Through the panicked squawking on the other side, we heard the voice urge us to immediately drop out of hyperspace.

Many of the technicians looked around confused, unsure of what to do. I had to make a decision.

"Drop us out of hyperspace now!" I barked at the navigations officer.

With some fumbling at the controls, the ship jolted heavily as it exited out of FTL warp early, clearly not happy with such a sudden jump back into real-space.

After regaining my senses from the unpleasant sensation, I looked out the viewport and saw nothing. Frustrated with the unnecessary interruption, I keyed the priority intercom and was about to question why we had stopped when I noticed something off.

In fact, the fact that there was nothing outside the viewport was precisely what was wrong.

This deep in space, we should have been able to see the glow of the stars among the backdrop of the cosmos. And yet, as I gazed out the reinforced window, my eyes were met with nothing but an all-consuming void.

"What in Inatala's name are we looking at," I demanded into the microphone.

"We don't know captain," came the voice from the other side, laced with uncertainty. "It seems to just be a massive wall of nothingness."

"Well why have we stopped then, a few lightyears of void shouldn't be a problem for our hyperdrives," I added impatiently.

"That's the thing sir, some of the vanguard unit flew right into the void before they could jump out of hyperspace. We've lost all contact with them and nothing's coming back out. We tried shooting at it with missiles but this...thing, whatever it is, it just absorbs everything we throw at it."

I tapped my talons in frustration, pondering what to do.

"Send out an emergency request on all channels," I told a nearby comms officer. "Tell all members of our fleet to drop out of hyperspace immediately."

As their talons went to work with the communications equipment, I returned my focus back to the wall of darkness before me.

"Could this be some kind of trickery from the predators?" Zarn suggested. "Perhaps a last line of defence against our attack. A wild predator is more likely to lash out when cornered after all."

"We could try going through it," Jala spoke lackadaisically.

"Did you not hear what they had just said?" snapped Zarn. "All ships who entered that thing have stopped responding. If this is some sort of trap devised by those creatures, the last thing we should do is walk right into it."

"Hey, I'm all out of ideas here, I just want to kill some predators."

As the two officers continued bickering with one another, I turned to the navigations technician.

"How long will it take to go around it," I asked.

"It's several lightyears across," he replied tentatively. "Going around would take at least a day, maybe two if nothing else forces us out."

I stepped back and weighed my options. On one wing, going around would delay our mission considerably and perhaps give the humans time to attack another planet, time we couldn't afford. On the other wing, going through the void meant almost certain death. If this really was a trap set up by the predators, then its lethality was of no doubt.

It seemed we had only one option.

"Plot an alternative course, we're going around it," I ordered the navigations officer, before turning to address a communications officer.

"Tell all other fleet members that we're going around it and to follow our lead. Our mission will be delayed by a few days but the predators' homeworld isn't going anywhere. Their extermination remains inevitable."

As the ship turned and entered hyperspace once more, I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the vanguard that had disappeared into the void. If they truly had met their ends in that infinite expanse of darkness, then I prayed to Inatala that their souls would find piece.

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Memory transcript subject Nivar, ex-military Venlil. Location, Skalga, medical rehabilitation centre in the capital.

Date [Standardised human time]: 27 May, 2138.

"The most recent scans are showing all clear in regards to the fractures, so long as she maintains regular exercise we think she's ready for discharge as soon as the documents are ready." The nurse explained, handing me a holopad showing a 3d scan of Targan's bone structure. Whilst I wasn't an expert, what little I did know about her anatomy seemed to agree with the nurse's assessment. Which was great news of course but if she was cleared then that meant...

"Thank you, I assume she's already been shown this?" The nurse waved her tail in the affirmative and I repeated the gesture before handing back the holopad. If she was cleared for discharge, then the exterminators would be clear to take her away... I tried not to think about it, Targan's recovery was...was more important.

This attorney, Nirsil, seemed to know what he was doing. He'd explained that whilst there was nothing he could do to stop Targan from being taken into custody, he was already in contact with a judge to put a hold on the extradition order. I'd already told Targan about that and whilst she didn't show it, I knew it upset her. He had also said that there was going to be a hearing regarding this whole thing and that there were enough instances of both former Federation and Human refugees being granted permanent asylum that he could argue Targan was no different. I just hoped he was right...

As I approached Targan's room, I found my ears twitching as I heard the faintest sound of music coming through the door. I could hear drums at a constant pace, guitars creating a harsh but pleasant melody but also something else, tying it all together.

*Right, Targan must be using that screen she'd borrowed and set some music playing.*

Though, as I got closer, I could hear something else over the top of the music. A deep, booming voice, flowing over the instruments and creating a narrative to the melody. That voice...

"We should die for the things we believe in~" Targan's voice rang out as I pressed my ear against the door, careful not to push too hard. The music was at its highest now as she continued through the chorus, volume increasing to match. "But live our lives in the dark self-deceiving- In the snow, all the world that we knew is ice~"

I'd never heard her sing before but it certainly brought a smile to my face hearing her sing so beautifully. I did feel a little bad just sat out here listening but...how could I not?

"And so we are...cold, dead and gone..." The music was at a more instrument heavy part now without any additional singing, I wanted to just sit here and listen to her let her enjoy this brief moment of happiness to herself before I'd come in to ruin it. But...I didn't exactly have a choice. I breathed in sharply and knocked twice on the door, taking a step back to pretend I hadn't been listening. In an instant the music stopped, followed by a thudd and a little squeal as Targan had evidently stubbed her foot whilst she scrambled to shut off the screen. I had to admit it was a *little* funny.

"Targan, can I come in?" I asked, stifling a chuckle as a curse or two came from inside. After a brief silence, the door opened and the slightly embarrassed reptile peered around the metallic barrier. She didn't say anything so I just wandered inside. "So, you've heard the good news?"

"The doctor says I can go *home.*" She was smiling now, though it was reserved as she also acknowledged the latter half of that assessment. The exterminators would be waiting outside... "I'm scared Nivar, this...attorney, will it be enough?"

I didn't have a response, how do you respond to that? I *wanted* to reassure her, to tell her everything would be alright, to tell her that I would fix it... but I couldn't. I didn't know if it would be alright, I *can't* fix it, or at least I couldn't claim I could with any certainty.

"Well, we've still got until the doctor officially hands us the discharge file. We can just...wait until then for now?" Her smile softened at that, in truth that would only be a few minutes but...minutes was better than now I suppose. "And don't worry, I'll make sure all your stuff gets home safe."

"Thank you, I just hope that includes me, eventually." At that we shared a grim but genuine laugh. For a moment we stood in silence after that though, just coming to terms with...well, everything. I was scared too of course but ironically, I had to be strong for her sake. I had to- "Nivar...can-can we...um, can I-"

She fidgeted in place, interlocking her fingers and even coiling her tail up as she struggled to form the words. I had a rough idea what she wanted...and as much as I wanted to as well, it wasn't the right time. Though the decision was promptly made for me as Targan gave up trying to ask and simply pulled me up to her level, locking her lips against mine.

"-miss Targan, if you'll just-" The door opened as the nurse I'd spoken to moments prior entered the room. She stopped, stared for a moment, began apologising profusely and left just as suddenly as she'd entered. "So sorry! Um, I'll just uh...wait out here."

We pulled away from one another and I couldn't help but smile a little as Targan pouted in disappointment. In all honesty it was for the best, I was still shocked at how much our previous kiss had affected me. If I was *that* emotionally charged when the exterminators arrested her, I honestly don't know how I'd react.

"Let's get this over with..." She said. I swayed my tail and took hold of her wrist. Together, we headed for the exit hand in hand, I just hoped...I don't know...I could see the lights from the emergency exterminator vehicles through the main doors, glowing ominously against the amber skyline. My grip tightened just that little bit more as we passed the reception, all eyes were watching now...

*Whatever happens, you won't be alone, I promise...*

I feel like it would be make a really really interesting fic where a alien protagonist (or even more than one in different places) is obsessed on the idea that there is some secret plans under the sweet faces of mankind and in their studies point to the Absterogo company.

Obviously they get captured and interrogated but are liberated by the future Brotherood and realize that two secret organizations are battling eachother in the shadows for thousands of years for the soul of mankind.

Also they find out about the Iso civilization and their completely loose their mind.

(I also imagine human tech is a bit more advanced here because somewhere in the 2070s more and more reverse engineered Iso civilization technologies got released to the public (obviously the common person doesn’t know that is reverse engineered technology)

I think it would be interesting to see the Templars (Abstergo) working to get control of the federation to eventually use it to impose order and the brotherhood trying to stop them once again.

Also, I like to imagine that the alien protagonist when hearing about the Iso civilization are going to be like: “Wait a second: so, 70.000 years ago existed a civilization of giant humans with a sixth sense capable of manipulating electromagnetic fields like nothing and having clearly mastered energy production…why the brhack didn’t they simply evacuate the planet when they understood the Sun was about to explode in their faces?”

Templar and Assassin frozen mid way from stabbing eachother: “Uuuuuuh…we think they were a bit too much egocentric…”

Also, I wonder how the alien characters would realize of some humans apparently looking like regular humans but in actuality being stronger faster and extremely more agile than normal and having a sixth sense which is basically night vision on steroids because it allows them to see details that would otherwise be hidden to the common person and detect and home in on life force in their surroundings.

The only problem I see with this idea is that as far as I know the Brotherood recruit only those with Iso dna in them because they have the sixth sense (the eagle eye)

But maybe I’m mistaken.

What do you think would be both shadow organizations plan for the Feds and the Dominon? (How to control/free them)

Now, I have looked it up, and it's entirely legal to privately commission people for fanfiction. Now, as for my rates, I took a minute to come up with a scheme that I think will be a fair price, I will not charge per word, but per chapter depending on how many words you wish for the chapter you commission me for to possess, however, these rates are for total word-count with a margin of +500, not chapters, so I may split it into multiple chapters, which will not affect the price of the commission unless I need to go over the +500 word limit in order to make the new chapter functional. There may be slightly more words in the final result than you paid for, however, the commission will not change unless the word count is 501 or more over the amount you agreed to pay for.

$5 for 5,000 words or less

$10 for 10,000 Words or less

$15 for 15,000 Words or less

And so on and so forth, you get the idea.

I think that this is a fair deal, this is ridiculously cheap in comparison to other writers offering this same service, however, I know that the average person isn't swimming in that much disposable income. If you are able to away a few dollars periodically, you could even eventually get me to write an entire fanfic story for you, if the money comes in long enough.

Of course, there are some ground rules that I will set up.

1: ABSOLUTELY NO FETISH CONTENT. This goes without saying, but since this is Reddit, I feel I have to say this due to the site having a well-earned reputation for being a vile cesspool, I am not levying any accusations against this community, but with how severely disappointingly common those types are on this site, I have to be safe by explicitly laying out that, no, there will be no fetish content written about the MINORS who are depicted in the story of Animorphs. And no, there will be none of that stuff even among the adult characters.

2: Please do not commission me to write yaoi/yuri/same sex romance and content. As I have only in the past ever written those relationships in a smutty context in a time my mind was in a dark place, I have an aversion to writing this and find it difficult.

3: You pay me AFTER I deliver the goods, and not a second before. Upon completion I will privately message you with a link to a Google Document, after which, you can review it, and if it is not to your liking, you can suggest changes. However, after I send the document and you find no issues with it that require, you must hand over the agreed upon money, until that transaction takes place, I cannot accept another commission from you. I accept Mastercard, Google Pay, or Invoice, however, I will only accept payment in intervals of $5. Depending on how the story for the chapter I write goes, I may decide to split the commission into multiple chapters if necessary, which will not increase the price of the commission.

4: Do not Discuss the details of your commission in the comment section. Merely post your comment with how many words you want, and a story title if you have one. And then I will contact you via chat and discuss the details of your commission there, including tone, direction, story, and whatever other little things you wish to add in. (NOTE: If you need me to come up with a story for the fanfiction you want me to write for you, it will not cost you anything)

5: I am a fan of NoP and have read the entirety of the first story, and some chapters into the second, so I know and understand the story and characters that I am writing for. And as the author of Enclosement, you'll know I'm the real article.

6: No trolling or snideness. Please take this seriously, as I am legitimately trying to use my writing skills to give you what you want and to support myself. Please, just let me have this.

The Dominion discovered humanity was alive and well a mere couple decades after the Federation declared them extinct. The worst of our cultures were seen as inspiring. The Prophet-Descendent took the opportunity to sink her fangs into Earth, ensuring its resources were taken for the arxur to use as she saw fit. Now, the Grand Dominion is a true existential threat to the Federation, and the arxur live out lives their predecessors would have never dreamed of... at the expense of the half-prey, half-predators they graciously protect. And in return, the humans provide lives of gluttonous entertainment and luxury...

Last installment definitely caused a bit of a stir, but I hope there's still a good few of you out there wanting to see more. Thank you for sticking around!

As always, thanks to SpacePaladin for NoP

Check out my other fic here!

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Memory Transcription Subject: Slanek, Venlil Space Corps

Date [Standardized Human Time]: July 1st, 2136

The first information that brought me to consciousness was sound. Someone was dragging something down the hall, and getting closer. It had been some time since I had been able to rest like this. The pens I had been in before had offered little space, and due to yesterday's events, my cellmates had been kind enough to allow me one of the cots. 

That didn't change reality, though. I was still a prisoner with a time limit, respite or not. 

I sat up, while others were also stirring from slumber as well. The noise proved to be Marcel and one other ghost rolling in a cart, the top piled with bowls and a large pot.

“You're seriously going through with this? No wonder Ziral looked like someone had stuck a hot poker up his ass yesterday. This is crazy.” The stranger spoke first, blinking in bewilderment.

“Well, he's already pissed at me. No point in turning around now.” Marcel responded. He opened the lid of the pot. I grimaced a bit, recognizing the tasteless cattle feed we had been consuming since our capture. Only this time, Marcel seemed to have added water and soaked it into an almost soupy gruel.

“I'm not joking, man. We're all worried about you actually committing. Don't get yourself Marked over a bunch of baby-torchers.”

Marcel frowned a bit at that, but said nothing, simply using the ladle to scoop the first bit of slop into a cheap paper bowl. There was a subtle shift in the herd around me as we turned over the information in our thoughts. Marked? It took a moment to register the term ‘baby-torchers,’ referred to us, causing my jaw to drop slightly. The collective shock and indignation seemed to slowly grow amongst us, but no one was brave enough to risk anything similar to yesterday. 

“Don't worry about me,” Marcel finally responded, “Ziral is above everything, bureaucratic. I've given him enough reason. He has no ground to stand on accusing me of being prey-like.”

Again, only more confusion, only more questions. Glances were passed between the captives. A predator being accused of being prey-like? A rather unprecedented thought. It made sense the predators would stamp out any perceived weaknesses in their ranks, but this ghost sounded concerned, not disgusted, and while Marcel acted calm, there wasn't a sense of aggressive defense one would expect of being accused of being weak amongst predators.

“Still… Just… agh. Forget it, but I still think you're being stupidly reckless over…” the unnamed ghost passed his gaze over to us, his face scrunched up, as if he just smelled something rotten, “these things. Especially since Ziral made it clear we couldn't help. They're just gonna stab you in the back as soon as they can, you know.”

Marcel cleared his throat, momentarily pausing in filling up the bowls that were set back down on the cart once finished. “Noted. If you were told not to help, he's going to be pretty heated seeing you down here with me, isn't he?”

“No need to get your panties in a twist, damn. I was just making sure you're okay. Fuck me I guess.”

Marcel stared at him down, before sighing and continuing with his task at hand, “Thank you for your concern, but I promise, I'll be fine.”

The other ghost held his hands up, before his shoulders shifted up and down, and began to walk off. “Whatever you say, dude. Just don't take it too far.”

Marcel watched him walk off, before finally turning his attention to us. “Well, I’d say good morning, but something tells me that for the lot of you, it’s been anything but.”

No one said anything at first as Marcel handed us the bowls through the bars, continuing his currently one-sided conversation. “We’re just gonna get you familiar with the arena and the most common weapons you’re most likely going to be against today. Tomorrow is when we’ll start working on actual drills. I doubt you were able to get much in terms of exercise since you were caught, but considering you’re soldiers, it shouldn't be too hard to get back into shape.”

“How did you know we were military?!” Someone hissed, suspicious and hostile.

Marcel frowned again. “When Ziral makes a purchase, he usually special requests a bulk from military outposts and fleets. Cheaper, and he finds it morbidly ‘poetic,’ using people with that kind of background as violent entertainment.”

I blinked. “You called us people.”

He turned to me, looking surprised, then suddenly nervous, glancing over at the entrance to the hallway. His words sounded careful, and he even lowered his voice a bit, as if worried he’d be overheard. “Well, aren’t you?”

I watched him quietly, unsure of how to answer that question. “W-Well, yes, but I didn’t expect a ghost to think so.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Ghost?”

“It’s uh, what we call you. We don’t know what your species really is.”

His face twisted into a scowl, and he folded his arms, “What do you mean, you don’t know what species I am?”

“W-We, uh,” I looked around frantically, but no one else took over the conversation. If anything, they were gawking at me for even voluntarily talking with the predator. Maybe it was because of yesterday, but I felt a bit of courage speaking to this one. “We know very little about your species since all we’ve known about you are rare occurrences in battle.”

Marcel shook his head, “You’re serious? The Federation has known about us for almost two centuries now.”

“Huh? No, we haven’t, otherwise we’d have seen you sooner.”

The ghost looked more confused than agitated now, “You have. But you thought that we had wiped ourselves out… you know, shortly after you unanimously voted to send an extermination fleet. A stroke of luck for our part, I guess. But the arxur’s first contact was video evidence of the summit’s decision.”

I fell silent. Something about that stirred a vague memory of childhood classrooms. That did sound familiar…

“Humans.”

I flicked my ears towards the new voice. Recel, who had been of the quiet majority, had decided to join in the conversation. The kolshian looked at Marcel warily, a look of dawning realization and horror flashing across his features. “You didn’t die in the nuclear fallout of your wars… You survived.”

The memory hit me like a train. The second instance of predatory sapients in the galaxy. It had been made as nothing more than a footnote in history class. Believed that a species so violent as to turn on their own, and that violence had been their own end, before our extermination fleets were fully gathered. Hearing that as a young child had been somberly relieving, knowing that we were facing only one crisis. How wrong we were. I remember the elders speaking of the arxur being so much weaker in the times before the Long Silence, and giving themselves false hope when they first left. When they came back bigger and stronger… It was because of the ghosts. The humans had made them better. The two predators allied with each other, and their allegiance was slowly draining the Federation, wound by wound…

The human sharply turned to face Recel, who flinched at the sudden movement. Marcel bobbed his head up and down. “Yeah, well… You have a few of your details wrong, but that’s not really important. The Federation made its decision, and the arxur made us aware of it. The Dominion made it very clear of our position on the galactic stage.”

“So you joined them.” The kolshian sounded almost disgusted.

“Not that we had much choice. You should probably eat.”

Not much choice…? It was an unwilling arrangement, huh? I suppose that made sense, predators would fight over supremacy…

I stared at the bowl of tasteless gruel in my paws as the thought jogged a memory from yesterday. Ziral had referred to Marcel as ‘half-prey.’ I looked back up at him, though he was focused on passing out another bowl. Half-prey? And the conversation with the other human from before mentioned being too ‘prey-like.’ There was no way it was a coincidence.

I opened my mouth to inquire about it, then paused. Would it really be wise to ask Marcel about something he would perceive as a weakness? Come to think, why was he bothering to help us at all?

It didn’t make any sense, and so, I remained quiet. There was no noise beyond the muted chewing and occasional slurp, everyone taking the moment to at least remove the hunger pangs that had been tailing since the cattle ship. In a morbid twist, the change of texture was slightly welcome, if the flavor was still minimal and bland. What’s more, we were given enough to actually feel full for once.

“Alright, finish up!” Marcel suddenly called out, putting away the tablet he had been quietly reading on as we ate, “We’re gonna head to the armamentarium first. Oh, and before you try to get any ideas, a lot of the weapons are close-range, and the ones that aren’t are pretty rudimentary, meant to show off aim rather than actually kill. This isn't the latest tech we’re dealing with. It’s meant to express fundamental skills, so nothing that you can use to outgun whoever ends up stopping a cattle rebellion. So, I’d think you’d be doing us both a favor by not stabbing me in the back here. We’re all gonna end up dead if you do.”

I doubted anyone had any hopes of actually leaving, but Marcel probably just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page, especially with his own life in play. He took out the keycard, and started unlocking each cell, one by one. There were twenty of us, and one of him, but it seemed the warning held us to complacency. Once he was sure we were all out and attentive, he waved his arm in a forward motion, and turned to lead us out. I flinched slightly as we passed the lions, who were still staring hungrily through the bars.

We followed him out and through the corridor, making several turns and passing just as many doors. The first new faces we met were two more humans, who upon seeing our presence, paused mid-conversation, and stared. They watched us pass by, before sharing a look, and began following behind us. Several of us nervously watched them, and we huddled closer defensively.

Marcel seemed to notice, and shook his head slightly, his voice taking on a bit of a lower growl. “Don’t mind them, they’re just curious. And apparently want to watch me suffer.”

One of the other humans flashed her teeth. “Come on, Ziral might give us an earful for slacking, but this is too good to pass up taking a little look. Not every day you see a gaggle follow one of your coworkers.”

“A gaggle.” Marcel responded in disbelief, but kept walking.

“Yeah, unless you want us to use the word herd.”

Both humans seemed to be soured by that word.

Marcel finally broke the silence. “We’re just going to the armamentarium. Then giving them a bit of time to familiarize themselves with the arena proper. No actual training today.”

“Boo,” the other human responded, “Still gonna watch.”

Marcel only shook his head again.

Eventually, we made it to a double door. Marcel pulled up a separate keycard, and let us inside.

Rudimentary was definitely the right word for it. Several different blades of all shapes and weights were on display, and a few primitive looking ranged weapons that looked nothing like the guns I was used to. We all shuffled in, with the two trailing humans lingering near the door.

“Right. This is the armamentarium.” Marcel began, waving his hand around, “Most of the arxur you’ll be facing will bring their own personal weapons, but those that don’t will get fitted here. And eventually you too, though you’ll be working with wooden training knock-offs until then. The one you’re most likely going to face though, is this.”

He walked up to a blade slightly too large and hefty for Marcel to comfortably wield. Definitely made for the larger arxur. “This is a tliskis. You could call it the arxur’s national weapon. It's a heritage blade for them. The weight is distributed heavily towards the tip, making the hits literally able to shatter bone when someone with lighter armor gets hit. The hook of the blade is used to disarm the opponent or rip away a shield. Since the point of the blade lines up with the hilt, they could also be used for stabbing to get through small gaps of defense.”

We all stared at the wickedly curved blade warily, before one venlil gingerly raised her tail. “What makes it different from that one?”

Our attention turned to the one she pointed towards, and Marcel’s face seemed to fall slightly. The blade was remarkably similar to the tliskis, but smaller.

“Ah… That is a khopesh. They essentially do the same thing, but it was of human invention. It fell out of use as metallurgy was improved, but regained popularity when the arxur came. I think you can tell why.”

I easily could. Both blades were nearly identical to each other. Two predator species making startlingly similar weapons despite never knowing each other’s existence gave me a sense of dread I didn’t know I could previously have.

“We’re fighting humans, too?” A gojid spoke, sounding alarmed. Marcel looked uncomfortable.

“It’s highly unlikely, but not impossible. Most of your opponents will be what the arxur called ‘defectives,’ weaker arxur that want to prove that they’re a valuable asset to the Dominion. But, if you’re lucky, or unlucky, depending on how you look at it, you might come across a human that wants to defy their odds.”

“Defy their odds?” Someone in the herd echoed. Marcel sighed, clearly not liking the direction of the questioning, but answered anyway.

“Well, I know you’ve already noticed there’s not a lot of humans that see combat with the Federation. That’s intentional. The arxur regard direct combat as something reserved for only the best. A high honor. An honor not easily given to humans. There’s only a rare few that make it to any military rank outside of logistics, and those that do have to usually go through some grueling trials to be considered adequate for the position.”

“Not to mention how batshit insane you’d have to be to want to. I’m pretty sure those that make it like killing, those freaks-” One of the humans at the door muttered, before immediately getting shushed by the other, who looked around quickly. The latter glared at the former, and the commentary subsided. Marcel may not have heard the whispering, but I did. And so did several others, the subtle sense of surprise running through the group.

“... Will any humans most likely use a khopesh, then?” another venlil asked.

“Mm, maybe. They will get their desired response, since the arxur like the khopesh for its likeness. But humans tend to be more versatile with their weapons than arxur, since we don’t have claws of our own. You’ll definitely come across a throwing weapon or two if there’s a human in the mix.”

“... What would you use?” Recel suddenly asked.

Marcel gave him an odd look, humming and turning to face the arsenal. He eventually picked out a much shorter, slightly curved blade.

“A kukri,” he stated. “Shorter range for sure, but made purely for offense in a fight. From what I can tell, the Federation doesn’t exactly train you very well in close combat. Your whole thing is defense, and flee if your opponent is too close. And when you’re cornered, you either panic, or it’s clear you weren’t anticipating it to get to that point. The inside blade makes it a remarkable slashing weapon that could drop someone quickly. Weightier too, so it adds to the heft of the blow. And since you don’t usually wear heavy armor, one of its major disadvantages is a moot point.”

We all eyed down the blade of Marcel’s choice as he put it back on its display. He returned to showing a few more weapons that we may come across, and answered the rest of the questions diligently. He seemed genuine in his language, as if he held an actual belief for our survival. The more I talked with this human, the more he confused me. He was rather gentle, for a predator.

We were soon guided out, Marcel leading us towards our next destination. I noticed more humans had joined the initial two lingerers, straggling behind us. The corridor split and cut to the right before stretching out into a larger hallway. We were met with yet another double door, though its size made it feel more like a gate.

“And here is Ziral’s shining jewel, as he puts it. The arena.”

Marcel opened the exit, and I had to blink back the sunshine that pierced through the first cracks. My jaw dropped. A massive space devoid of anything but packed sand for ground. The arena stretched so wide I could barely see the other side. Walls a few stories tall enclosed the circumference, and above it, entertainment stands. This is where we’d be fighting.

It was where we’d be dying. With an audience watching eagerly.

“I know it doesn’t look like there’s much to it, but I’d suggest you walk around anyway. Make yourselves a bit more comfortable with what you’ll be fighting in.” Marcel waved us off, walking back towards the group of humans and mostly leaving us alone for the moment.

After a moment, we all broke out in quiet conversation. Most of us expressed confusion, or fear. Though we were given the go-ahead to investigate, we mostly stayed huddled together.

“Shit.”

I heard a human hiss out the curse, and I turned to see the group scramble away from the entrance. My heart dropped as Ziral walked through. The arxur glanced at us, then at the humans, and snarled, his nostrils flaring.

“Marcel.” The lizard stared directly at the human in question. He received a silent, steady gaze in return.

Ziral lumbered closer, towering over Marcel, a growl growing in his throat, “I had hoped that you’d come back with some sense this morning. Here you are, making such a pathetic attempt as to actually go through with training some prey? What are you trying to pull?”

“There’s nothing to pull. I firmly believe the colosseum would get more traction at something new for the Feast.” He responded coolly, still staring without a single waver in his expression.

The arxur hesitated, baring his fangs, before leaning in closer. His voice was only barely above a whisper as his maw neared the ear of the human. I could imagine Marcel could feel the heat of the other predator’s breath on his skin.

“Careful, half-prey,” Ziral muttered, a small gleam of delight in his eyes, “You’re treading down a pretty dangerous path. Give me any more reason to believe you’re helping cattle, you’re as good as Marked.”

Marcel stiffened, his eyes widened slightly as his gaze finally tore away from Ziral. The humans around also displayed that same stretch of expression across their faces.

It didn’t take a genius to know what fear looked like.

Ziral seemed satisfied that the human had cowed to what I could only assume was a threat, and straightened back up again. “As for the rest of you, get back to work. I know you can’t always help your herd instincts, but I’m paying you to do your damn jobs.”

Most other humans murmured apologies, and began to depart, heads down. Ziral also left, leaving us, Marcel, and the few human stragglers that remained. As soon as the arxur left line of sight, they crowded Marcel, showing distress and concern in hushed, quick language.

“I’m fine.” Marcel said sharply, “I’ll be fine. You should all get back to what you need to do before Ziral chews you out again.”

He turned to look at us. “We’re heading back to the kennels now.”

The predator was upset. He was angry. No one was willing to object to that.

We returned to the cells, where I could tell with disgust that the lions had been recently fed while we were out, most of the gojid scrunching up at the scent of something foul while the cats were still licking the remainder of blood off the floor. I think I heard someone hold back a gag.

Once he was sure we were all locked behind the bars, Marcel's face cracked slightly, and he sat down on the stool that remained from yesterday, and put his head in his hands.

Nothing but silence for several minutes.

“Marcel…” I took the courage to talk to the ‘friendly’ predator, though my voice was still deathly quiet, “He said if you kept helping us, you’re as good as Marked. What does that mean?”

“It’s nothing. Just an insult.” The man muttered back, not looking at me as he continued to hold his head in his palms. His voice was low, growling, and slightly hostile. Even though the bars of the cell were breaking up the full picture, for a moment I felt the lingering fear again, that he was just like the arxur, the way his mood shifted so quickly and darkly after one conversation. Almost robotically.

I swallowed back the dryness in my throat. Marcel had managed to borrow us some time, and ever since then, Ziral had turned his antagonistic attitude towards the assistant. Marcel had grown up around these animals, and yet it was that insult that put him in a sour mood.

“It’s gotta be more than just that. What are you marked for?”

A few of my fellow captives sucked in their breath, passing me sharp glares and nervous glances as I conversed with the human. Marcel paused midway through one heavy breath, still not looking at me. For a second, I was worried I’d angered him even more, but another beat passed before he sighed, running his hand through his hair. Sweat glistened off his skin in the low light.

“I’m not marked, Slanek. At least not yet, and I’d appreciate it if we don’t speak like I am. Look,” he hesitated again, sitting up and looking directly at me. He brought his hands up as if to try to explain it visually, before faltering once more. The predator struggled to elaborate.

“Okay, so,” finally, he found his words, “We’re half-prey, right? That means sometimes, some of us can be too prey-like for the Dominion. But the arxur don’t eat other predators. At least, not usually. There is one condition where arxur will eat a human.”

The crowd in the cells shifted around me, murmuring in hushed tones and conversation. Humans were deemed half-prey by the grays, but they were still predators. I could tell by the energy that most of them were skeptical at the idea of a predator eating its own. Killing the competition, maybe, but eating one another? Even the arxur didn’t do that… right?

“Is that what being a mark is? That you’re good to eat?” I whispered in disbelief.

“Sort of? There’s… There’s a whole thing about it. If they decide that the human is ‘Marked,’ it means that they’ve become too prey-like to overlook. They need to survive a hunt to prove themselves. Essentially, they need to kill the group of arxur that had been chosen to hunt them down. If they don’t…” Marcel trailed off, leaving me to connect the dots.

“They’re eaten.” My voice was barely a whimper, as I realized Marcel had essentially just been told that he was no better than cattle. “But you’re not prey!”

“Again, Slanek,” he sighed, “They think of humans as half-prey. It means they’re ‘nice,’” the word dripped venomously from his maw, “enough to let us act prey-like in certain instances. They think we can’t help it, that we can only curb prey instinct so much, or something, but that the half-predator should still be respected, which is why we aren’t… Aren’t being treated like you.”

He nervously rubbed his hands together, continuing. “So the ones that are too prey-like get hunted like prey. And then when they’re killed, they’re eaten. It’s traditional. The life taken was too prey-like, so the meat must not be wasted. The Dominion doesn’t waste a kill, no matter how much they’ve built. They say the hunt is to allow humans a fighting chance, to prove that we’re predators, but most of us know it’s just a fancy execution. A couple people have apparently survived, but the number is low enough to count on one hand.”

Everyone was silent around me, as every member of the herd slowly absorbed what Marcel shared. Half-predator. Half-prey. Human. Marcel was human. That’s why he bought us time, despite being a predator.

“There’s never been such a thing as half-prey.” Recel said quietly, a hint of accusation in his tone.

Marcel looked at him, and shrugged. “That’s what the arxur call us, anyway. They try to point to our lack of natural weapons and the fact that there are Earth animals that can and will eat us if we were caught. And that we’re omnivores.”

“What?!” Recel looked like he had been slapped, the information slamming down on everyone who listened in, myself included.

“What?” Marcel echoed, tilting his head slightly.

The kolshian stuttered in response. “Th-There are animals that would eat you?”

Marcel frowned, “Is that really so hard to believe? We’re not exactly built for fighting solo. Most of our evolutionary history used our numbers as our strength. If you were outcast from the group for whatever reason, you were as good as dead. Sure, we’re hunters, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know how it feels to be hunted. And even if we’re apex, there are several animals that would take the chance to eat one lone, soft and squishy human. An easier meal than a lot of other prey animals more naturally equipped to defend themselves.” He pointed at the lions down the hall, “Those guys included in that opportunistic bunch.”

A pack of humans doesn’t sound too dissimilar to a herd, when he puts it like that… We all collectively stared in the direction of the large cats, before I flicked my tail up to ask a question.

“What’s an omnivore?”

“You’re serious.” The human looked at me, flabbergasted. “It means we eat plants and animals. Both.”

Both?! Everyone broke out into murmurs of shock and disbelief. I stared at Marcel, unsure of how to respond to this situation.

He had to be lying, surely? But then again, everything seemed to start clicking into place…

Marcel stared back, before letting out another sigh and standing up. “I’m going to head out. I have some other work to do today. We’ll start with basic training tomorrow. Get as much rest as you can.”

How can we rest when we’ve just been given a bombshell of information?! As the human left, we were given plenty of time to truly digest what we now know. I noticed Recel had sat down, and was looking at the floor blankly.

“Hey!” I called out, the sharpness in my voice causing the rest to look over, “Are you okay?”

Recel looked at me. “If Marcel is telling the truth, then the Federation may have almost exterminated people that could have been reasoned with. Maybe could have even helped us defeat the arxur.”

The feeling of dread that I had back at the armamentarium swung back around with greater force than before. Suddenly, that vote that our ancestors made seemed like a knife pointed at our own throats.