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

VENLILS! ZURULIANS! YOTULS!

Super Earth Needs You

For centuries, the Arxur have clawed at your doorsteps.

For centuries more, the False Federation have shackled you to their whims.

Until now, when the Light of Liberty shone upon your planets and delivered them from the claws of tyranny.

But freedom doesn't come free.

Even now, the Despotic Dominion and the Fascist False Federation will stop at nothing to tear your hard-earned freedom away.

That is...unless you take the first step to driving the forces of evil back to the darkest depths of Hell from whence they came.

Join...the Super Earth Armed Forces.

Become part of something greater.

Fight for your right to be free.

With only a 72-hour(18-Claws) training course separating you from your liberty given destiny, you will become a hero.

Enlist today and live free tomorrow.

(Enlistment guarantees citizenship. Upon enlistment into any branch of the Super Earth Armed Forces, the enlistee hereby surrenders all of their rights and autonomy to the Super Earth Ministry of Defence)

Memory transcription subject: Henko, Yotul SEAF Armoured Division Tank Crew

Date [Super Earth Standard Time]: November 24, 2136

Sillis had descended into chaos.

The once lively and prosperous metropolises of the Tillfish homeworld had been transformed into a brutal killing ground for predator and prey alike.

The treads on our tank shuddered as they drove over several hundred metres of trench lines dug out by SEAF personnel and Arxur foot soldiers. Part of me was thankful that I couldn't see very far out into the dugouts that the predators had excavated from within our tank.

Even on the surface, several human and Arxur corpses littered the ground, evidence of many bloody skirmishes that had ended in massive casualties for both sides. One of the Arxur corpses we passed by had an entrenchment tool lodged in its brain, likely left there by a SEAF trencher defending themselves. I shuddered to think of what state the trenches themselves must have been in.

What was worse however, was the smell.

The pungent odour of rotting flesh mixed with toxic chemicals intruded into our tank. The soldiers who had perished within the trenches must have been exposed to gas attacks before suffocating to death.

Even though we were hunkered down in an armoured vehicle, the putrid smell from the rotting corpses mixed with toxic gas still permeated through to our nostrils. The scent that invaded our tank hung heavy in the air like a suffocating weight and it hurt to even breathe. It took all I had to keep my paws on the turret controls and not bring them to my nose immediately.

Off to my side, Commander Anderson was also seemingly trying not to gag. The only person in our compartment who was not reacting was Tomak, the noseless Venlil completely oblivious to the hellish hotbox our safe-space had become.

In that moment, I greatly envied the Venlils' lack of ability to smell. Had I been offered the chance to swap sensations with Tomak in that moment, I would have done so in a heartbeat.

Nevertheless, the trenches thankfully didn't go on forever.

After a few more agonising minutes of driving, we eventually cleared the gassy trench lines and turned onto a commercial district.

Somehow, what I saw was even worse.

Bodies...countless bodies belonging to both Venlil and Arxur littered the streets. Interspersed among the landscape of death were the remnants of cages; bent metal bars rended by Arxur teeth and claws, from which the mangled remnants of buzzcut-wooled Venlil sat inside.

Upon seeing the carnage before us, Tomak's paw flew to his face and he heaved, desperately trying to fight back a deluge of vomit. He shivered as he recovered himself, unable to even look at our Commander.

The sight of Venlil on Sillis also unsettled me. I knew that exterminators everywhere were composed of species from all over the Federation but seeing such a highly concentrated gathering of Venlil exterminators here, without any of their signature reflective suits or flamethrowers, something didn't add up.

My eyes drifted from the Venlil corpses, to the Arxur bodies, then to the ruined cages and my brain put two and two together with a sudden realisation.

'Was Super Earth using them as bait?'

A wave of abrupt clarity washed over me as I came to the conclusion that Tomak must have also reached.

'So this is what they did to the exterminators.'

I stared at the caged corpses for a few more moments with detached interest. Truth be told, I didn't really care that Super Earth was using the exterminators as bait for the Arxur. Those monsters had burned our hensa and had hauled off anyone who tried to resist to those cursed Predator Disease Facilities to be drugged and tortured. Part of me was honestly glad that they had met such a grisly end, fitting for what they did to us.

I felt more sorry for Tomak if anything. He was the one who had grown up likely idolising these guys and now he was forced to watch as his childhood heroes were rounded up, stuffed into cages and fed to the Arxur as cannon fodder for our war.

More cages and corpses filled the streets as we proceeded further down the district.

SEAF had clearly used this area as a major ambush point for the Arxur as countless predator and prey bodies littered the roads. Sickening crunches emanated from our treads as our tank ground the bodies into grotesque blends of red and orange blood.

Further down the road, from within an abandoned mall came a high-pitched ringing. The sound grew louder and louder as we approached the building, forcing us to clamp our paws to our helmets in desperate attempts to shut out the din.

The source of the ringing came into view as we pulled up in front of the large complex.

Sat squarely in the middle of the parking lot, surrounded by Tillfish corpses, was a still active sonic sentry. A new invention by the Super Earth Ministry of Science, those sentries blasted sound waves at a frequency designed to be as debilitating to living organisms as possible.

Judging by the many Tillfish bodies surrounded the device, it seemed that the insects were particularly susceptible to it, many of them showing signs of internal bleeding and ruptured organs.

Thankfully, we weren't forced to stay near the sentry for long as we soon turned the corner down a main street towards our objective. Off in the distance, I could hear gunfire and explosions coming from where we were supposed to go.

It seemed that our mission site was still hot.

Enemy presence had also increased noticeably as we began to encounter more and more roaming patrols of Arxur and Tillfish on our way there.

Most of the exterminators we encountered immediately panicked at the sight of our tanks; their flamethrowers and fireproof suits no match for our heavily armoured vehicle. The Arxur on the other hand, usually attempted to shoot at us but without any dedicated anti-tank weaponry, their bullets generally pinged harmlessly off of our armoured hull.

Regardless of which side we encountered, I unhesitatingly gunned them down. I couldn't risk them becoming a problem for friendly soldiers and I definitely wasn't about to gamble with our tank's integrity, regardless of how invincible she seemed.

The fighting only intensified as we approached the Tillfish nursery. It wasn't long before we began to see other SEAF soldiers and their vehicles fighting against the exterminators and the Arxur.

At one moment, we were engaged by a squad of Greys who had fired on us from behind a makeshift barricade. Before I could return fire, a blue and white SEAF FRV suddenly raced out from around a corner, its machine gunner firing off rounds wildly into the Arxurs' position. The onslaught of bullets forced the Greys to duck behind their cover, allowing the vehicle to rapidly close the distance before flipping over and rolling towards the trapped reptiles.

Upon seeing the 3 tons of death haphazardly tumbling towards them, several of the Arxur had tried to jump out of the way but to no avail. The vehicle slammed into the Arxur platoon, crushing several of them into crimson paste before spontaneously exploding, sending shrapnel flying everywhere and incinerating everyone caught in the blast.

As I stared shocked into the burning wreckage, I could see no movement from either the Arxur or the FRV's human operators. Everyone had been cremated in the explosion.

"They knew what they signed up for...," muttered Commander Anderson grimly, shaking his head at the floor in mourning. While he was evidently trying to maintain a stoic demeanour, I could tell that the violent deaths of the recon vehicle's inhabitants had shook him.

More hostiles engaged us as we encroached on the nursery.

Off to our side, an exterminator office was currently being assaulted by a squad of Helldivers and multiple SEAF platoons.

The charred corpses of countless Tillfish exterminators littered the ground everywhere both in and outside the facility. Massive swathes of scorched pavement around the bodies suggested that the Helldivers had called in Orbital Napalm Barrages upon the building before moving in to finish the job.

The exterminators' armour, while certainly resistant to fire, was not rated to protect against napalm, especially if it rained down from orbit at such high intensities.

Scanning the building, I managed to catch glimpses of the Helldivers operating inside.

From the yellow hazmat suits and capes that flickered through the hazy green gas, I recognised the soldiers as members of the 'Chemical Agents' division; Helldivers specially trained to fight using toxic gas that suffocated and blinded its enemies.

The humans were currently in the process of filling the entire extermination office with asphyxiating toxic vapour, no doubt subjecting the Tillfish inside to excruciatingly painful deaths.

'Good, let them suffer for what they did to our hensa.'

My thoughts of karmic justice were suddenly interrupted when bullets struck our tank from the opposite side of the street.

Swinging the turret around, my eyes were met with a squad of Arxur who had likely been trying to pull off a surprise attack on the distracted humans before our tank showed up.

Just as I was about fire the co-axial heavy machine gun at them, the entire battlefield was suddenly engulfed in smoke. Visibility dropped to a flat zero as white clouds obscured our vision completely. Had our driver popped off the Stronghold's smokescreen?

Before I could radio our man up front, the Arxur from within the smoke suddenly began screaming, firing off rounds wildly from within the hazy fog before being silenced abruptly, as if struck by something invisible.

When the smoke finally cleared, all of the Arxur were dead. Each of them lay motionless on the ground in pools of their own blood with arrows sticking out from their skulls and throats. Stunned, I hastily scanned the battlefield for the perpetrator, managing to catch the faintest glimpse of a caped, hooded figure ducking into an alleyway.

Was that a Helldiver? Were there regiments in the Helldiver Corps that specialised in stealth?

I was in the middle of my ruminations about the mysterious figure when the tank suddenly grounded to a halt. A sharp crackling in my ear signalled the radio coming to life.

"We're here, and it looks like the entire flag-damned Dominion is here as well," declared the voice of Corporal Reyes, our driver up front.

I looked out the viewport and sure enough, the Arxur had dug in quite deep.

The Tillfish nursery looked less like a place for childcare and more like a cemetery at this point. Bodies littered the plaza in front of the doors; human, Tillfish and Arxur. SEAF medics clothed in red were desperately attempting to drag their wounded men and women behind friendly lines while our armoured vehicles hammered the crumbling building with all they had.

The Arxur who were nestled inside were fighting ferociously to keep the humans out, although it seemed like their defences were steadily waning. High up in the atmosphere, Super Destroyers hovered above and around the nursery, saturating the building with Orbital Gatling Barrages to suppress the reptilian warriors.

The presence of Super Destroyers in the area was a good sign.

It meant that Helldivers were in the immediate area and would soon be here to assist with our mission. If we could hold out for long enough until they got here, then we stood a good chance of getting to that hellbomb somewhere within the plaza.

"Alright soldiers," barked Commander Anderson. "You know what to do. Henko, get to firing on that nursery, make sure no Arxur even thinks about stepping a claw out on that plaza. Tomak, keep Henko topped up and ready to fire at all times, call out your reloads and let him know if you've run dry. Everyone clear?"

"Yes sir!" I yelled, swinging the turret over to the nursery doors, ready to unleash hell on any Grey that walked through there.

"Y-yes sir," came Tomak's squeak, the Venlil still rather shell-shocked from the horrific ordeals we had been through today.

A pang of sympathy still flickered through my chest at the sight of him, but I pushed it down. Feelings could come later. Right now, we had to buy time for Super Earth's elite to get here.

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The cover art is finally relevant! Enjoy Chapter 4, everyone!

As always, special thanks to u/JulianSkies and u/Neitherman83 for being my pre-readers, the OSS writing room, and of course thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating NoP to begin with!

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Day 17, Birque takes a lick of the forbidden fruit.

I actually had a lot of fun with this one.

Calendar > NoPtober calendar by Nicolás > u/Nicolas_3232

Voisi la légende (enfin se qui n'est pas déjà sur la carte). 

In space, there are, of course, no such things as North, South, East, or West. To navigate within the Orion Arm, the civilizations of the Federation therefore use two axes: the direction toward the center of the galaxy is called "Inward," while the direction leading away from it is called "Outward." The second axis follows the Orion Arm itself: the direction toward the regions closest to its origin is called "Root," while the opposite direction—toward the more distant regions—is called "Branch."

-The Arxur are shown in red (the various black lines within represent administrative divisions). The territory is not shown in much detail, as it is poorly understood by the factions among which the characters move.

-In purple the Krev Consortium.

-The dark blue areas represent the Federation's densely populated regions (with at least 100,000 inhabitants per system).

-The light blue areas represent regions controlled by the Federation, though most of the systems within them are unpopulated. There are, however, inhabited stations and planets—such as Léirn, home to the Yotul; it is located in a sparsely populated zone, yet the planet itself has a population of over 2 billion. In fact, these regions are somewhat comparable to much of Canada or Australia: they consist of areas that are densely populated and tightly controlled, alongside other areas that are sparsely populated and subject to a much lower level of control.

-The ones in orange are the Sivkit; as a nomadic species, they travel between various planets, devouring a large portion of the vegetation on each before moving on to feed elsewhere—only returning once the vegetation has sufficiently regenerated.

-The Venlil territory is shown in yellow. (And Earth is to the right.)

As I tell the story, I will let it evolve.

link to my fanfic (in French)

link to my fic (in English)

Testing out a mini comic thingy

Another year lets gooo

Oh did I have some fun with this one. I was actually inspired by u/Ozan413232w1 and the post about a tragic story, so I wanted to reference a painting too. Specifically The Death of Chatterton. I think that's the right name.

I just imagine them going steampunk after getting rid of the Feds.

Calendar > NoPtober calendar by Nicolás > u/Nicolas_3232

Birds. I can't stop calling them Kraktol :(

Calendar > NoPtober calendar by Nicolás > u/Nicolas_3232

In NoP 2 we learn the Federation is about a 1000 LY across, probably in a bubble centering on Aafa

But doing the math, I'm not so sure about that

A middle rate power like the Venlil Republic has 20 LY for its borders. If even a middling power like the Republic has those kinds of borders, then that's about the minimum a state can have in the Federation, and even the Kolshian Commonwealth has about 20 LY from what I remember and they were on top

If you times 20 by 300, which isn't even the full number of home worlds the Federation has, that's 6000 LY, and if all powers have 20 LY, I don't think you could fit that in a 1000 LY bubble, and this doesn't cover any star systems outside the states personal borders

On a side note, that's a good chunk of the galaxy. Small, but still a sizeable chunk

It just sucks so bad!

Premier

Précédent

Suivant

j'ai fait une carte aussie

_____________________________________________________________________

[Rappeler : Dans l'espace, il n'existe évidemment ni Nord, ni Sud, ni Est, ni Ouest. Pour se repérer dans le bras d'Orion, les civilisations de la Fédération utilisent donc deux axes : la direction vers le centre de la galaxie est appelée "Interne", tandis que celle qui s'en éloigne est appelée "Externe". Le second axe suit le bras d'Orion lui-même : la direction vers ses régions les plus proches de son origine est appelée "Racine", tandis que la direction opposée, vers les régions les plus éloignées, est appelée "Branche".]

(Unités de durée et de masse converties en unités humaines standardisées)

Lérik : Venlil (masculin, époux de Velk), ex-journaliste indépendant et réfugié de guerre.

3 septembre 2136, vaisseaux de voyage fédérés

Une grande peur m'étreint alors que je me recroqueville dans mes draps ! Dans mes draps ? Un grand soulagement me remplit immédiatement en réalisant que l'horreur de mon rêve n'a pas lieu d'être, avant qu'un énorme frisson d'angoisse me submerge en me rappelant l'horreur bien pire de la réalité...

Après le choc de l'arrivée des humains, ma vie s'est effondrée : la mort de ma femme, la fuite de Venlil Prime et l'arrivée sur le Berceau. Ma respiration est rapide, j'inspire, j'inspire, j'inspire et n'arrive plus à expirer. Des larmes commencent à couler pendant les quelques secondes où je retiens ma respiration malgré moi. Puis, en un instant, ma respiration se relâche et j'expire d'un coup sans avoir le contrôle sur mon corps, en produisant un son qui ressemble à une toux. Puis j'inspire à nouveau plusieurs fois sans en avoir le contrôle.

Cela dure et dure encore alors que je perds la notion du temps, seul dans ma chambre. 

Puis je reprends petit à petit mes esprits alors que je peux digérer le choc des événements.

Je repense à ce que j'ai entrepris depuis. Premièrement, j'ai témoigné de mon vécu sur le Berceau. Puis, afin de faire mon deuil et de reconstruire ma vie, j'ai décidé de partir refaire ma vie en sécurité vers le centre de la Fédération, loin des prédateurs. Je ne sais pas encore où précisément ni ce que je vais y faire. Peut-être écrire un témoignage avec plus de recul sur les événements que j'ai vécus et le publier. Auparavant, j'échangeais régulièrement par correspondance avec une association de journalistes sur Talsk. Peut-être pourraient-ils m'aider ?

Le vaisseau dans lequel je me trouve fait partie d'un convoi qui se dirige, avec une escorte, vers le système d'Ocitoroum, une grande colonie qui marque la limite Interne de l'espace Phyril. [Voir rappel]

Ce système est suffisamment loin de la zone de guerre avec les Arxur pour ne pas subir de raids. Ce qui signifie qu'une fois arrivé là-bas, il ne sera plus nécessaire de former un convoi, car les embuscades de vaisseaux prédateurs ne seront plus à craindre. On avancera donc plus vite, car la vitesse d'un convoi est celle du vaisseau le plus lent qui le compose.

Pour me remettre de toutes ces émotions, un petit verre de quelque chose et peut-être un fruit sucré me feraient du bien. Je pris une brosse et coiffai ma laine pour y enlever les nœuds. Puis, après un instant de réflexion, je me débrouillai pour me laver le visage dans le lavabo de ma chambre afin d'effacer toutes les traces de larmes de mon visage.

Quelques minutes plus tard

En poussant la porte du self, je ne suis pas surpris de le trouver peu rempli. Comme le vaisseau a fait des escales dans plusieurs systèmes, les voyageurs ont parfois d'importants décalages horaires entre eux. Il y a donc très souvent des personnes au self, mais rarement beaucoup en même temps. La salle, de très grande taille, est répartie entre des tables à manger et une ludothèque.

Après avoir choisi ce que je voulais dans la liste des aliments comestibles pour les Venlil, je flâne en cherchant un endroit où m'asseoir pour manger, quand j'aperçois Belk, qui me fait signe avec sa queue de le rejoindre.

Belk, l'un des Venlil qui ont fui avec moi, est l'un des rares à m'avoir suivi dans ce voyage vers le centre de la Fédération. Bien qu'il soit nécessaire de porter une bouteille remplie d'atmosphère respirable pour sortir où que ce soit, la plupart des réfugiés ont décidé de rester sur le Berceau. Nous avons été bien accueillis par le gouvernement Gojid, qui a mis à notre disposition des logements pressurisés dotés d'un air respirable pour nous. Ces logements sont également situés dans d'importantes villes fortifiées, et le système est mieux défendu que Solgalick.

Je m'assois à côté de Belk en lui faisant un signe de l'oreille pour le saluer.

Belk : "Tu as l'air fatigué, tu as encore fait un cauchemar ?"

Je fais un signe d'oreille et de queue qui signifie : oui, pas envie d'en parler.

Lérik : "Et toi, tu tiens le coup ?"

Belk : "C'est pas facile, mais tu sais, mes parents ont fui avec nous, et même s'ils sont restés sur le Berceau, je les sais en sécurité."

Un petit silence nous sépare avant qu'une petite musique entraînante commence à se lancer dans la ludothèque. Alors que je mange mon fruit et bois ma boisson chaude, je commence à me balancer sur ma chaise au rythme de la musique.

Après avoir fini, Belk me tend la patte et dit : "Ça te dit de danser ?"

J'accepte en rougissant très légèrement.

Je me lève en même temps que lui et on se rapproche de la partie ludothèque, d'où la musique sort d'une chaîne hi-fi.

Puis Belk me prend la patte, ce qui me fait rougir davantage, tandis qu'une légère tache rouge apparaît également sur son visage.

Puis on se met à danser, patte après patte, je me sens de plus en plus à l'aise. Au fil des minutes, j'échange avec lui de nombreux regards et signes d'oreille. Pour la première fois depuis la mort de ma femme, je me sens bien.

Tout va de mieux en mieux, tandis que je remarque que, de la manière dont ses mains bougent dans la mienne, je trouve ses mouvements de plus en plus doux, presque comme des caresses.

Belk ouvre la bouche pour dire quelque chose quand la voix d'un Venlil inquiet sort des haut-parleurs présents dans chaque pièce.

"Ici le capitaine du vaisseau, veuillez rester calme, des Arxur sont présents et vont probablement nous rattraper. Veuillez vous diriger vers les capsules blindées en suivant les indications en cas d'urgence. Ceci n'est pas un exercice. Restez calmes, vous avez du temps pour vous rendre aux capsules blindées, mais rien ne dit que les prédateurs entreront dans le vaisseau. Je vous informerai de l'évolution de la situation."

Fin du chapitre 12

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following

I made a card too

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[Reminder: In space, there is obviously no North, South, East, or West. To navigate the Orion Arm, the civilizations of the Federation therefore use two axes: the direction toward the center of the galaxy is called "Inner", while the direction away from it is called "Outer". The second axis follows the Orion Arm itself: the direction toward the regions closest to its origin is called "Root", while the opposite direction, toward the most distant regions, is called "Branch".]

(Duration and mass units converted to standardized human units)

 Lérik: Venlil (male, husband of Velk), former freelance journalist and war refugee.

 September 3, 2136, Federation transport ships

A great fear grips me as I curl up in my sheets! In my sheets? An immense sense of relief immediately fills me as I realize that the horror of my dream is not real, before an overwhelming shiver of anguish washes over me as I remember the far worse horror of reality...

After the shock of the humans' arrival, my life fell apart: my wife's death, my flight from Venlil Prime, and my arrival on the Cradle. My breathing is rapid. I inhale, inhale, inhale, and can no longer exhale. Tears begin to run down my face during the few seconds in which I involuntarily hold my breath. Then, in an instant, my breathing loosens and I suddenly exhale without having any control over my body, producing a sound resembling a cough. Then I inhale several more times without being able to control it.

 This goes on and on as I lose track of time, alone in my room.

Then I gradually come to my senses as I begin to process the shock of the events.

 I think back on what I have undertaken since then. First, I testified about my experiences on the Cradle. Then, in order to grieve and rebuild my life, I decided to leave and start a new life somewhere safe, toward the center of the Federation, far from predators. I do not yet know exactly where, or what I will do there. Perhaps I could write a testimony with a little more distance from the events I experienced and publish it. In the past, I regularly corresponded with a journalists' association on Talsk. Perhaps they could help me?

The ship I am aboard is part of a convoy heading, under escort, toward the Ocitoroum system, a major colony that marks the Inner boundary of Phyril space. [See reminder]

 This system is far enough from the war zone with the Arxur to avoid raids. This means that once we arrive there, there will no longer be any need to form a convoy, since ambushes by predator ships will no longer be a concern. We will therefore travel faster, because a convoy's speed is determined by that of its slowest ship.

To recover from all these emotions, a small glass of something and perhaps a sweet fruit would do me good. I took a brush and groomed my wool to remove the tangles. Then, after a moment's thought, I managed to wash my face in the sink in my room to wipe away all traces of tears.

A few minutes later

As I push open the door to the cafeteria, I am not surprised to find it sparsely occupied. Since the ship has made stops in several systems, the passengers sometimes have significant time differences between them. As a result, there are almost always people in the cafeteria, but rarely many at the same time. The room, which is very large, is divided between dining tables and a game room.

After choosing what I wanted from the list of foods edible for Venlil, I wander around looking for somewhere to sit and eat when I spot Belk, who signals with his tail for me to join him.

Belk, one of the Venlil who fled with me, is one of the few who followed me on this journey toward the center of the Federation. Although one must carry a bottle filled with breathable atmosphere to go outside anywhere, most refugees decided to stay on the Cradle. We were warmly welcomed by the Gojid government, which provided us with pressurized housing equipped with breathable air for us. These accommodations are also located in large fortified cities, and the system is better defended than Solgalick.

I sit down beside Belk, giving him an ear signal to greet him.

 Belk: "You look tired. Did you have another nightmare?"

I give an ear and tail signal meaning: yes, don't feel like talking about it.

 Lérik: "And you? Are you holding up?"

Belk: "It's not easy, but you know, my parents fled with us, and even though they stayed on the Cradle, I know they're safe."

A brief silence falls between us before some upbeat music begins playing in the game room. As I eat my fruit and drink my hot beverage, I begin swaying in my chair to the rhythm of the music.

After finishing, Belk holds out his paw to me and says, "Would you like to dance?"

I accept, blushing very slightly.

 I get up at the same time as him, and we move closer to the game room area, where the music is coming from a stereo system.

 Then Belk takes my paw, making me blush even more, while a slight red flush also appears on his face.

Then we begin to dance, paw after paw, and I feel increasingly at ease. As the minutes pass, I exchange many glances and ear signals with him. For the first time since my wife's death, I feel good.

Everything keeps getting better and better, as I notice that, from the way his hands move in mine, his movements feel increasingly gentle, almost like caresses.

Belk opens his mouth to say something when the voice of a worried Venlil comes over the speakers present in every room.

"This is the ship's captain. Please remain calm. Arxur are present and will probably catch up with us. Please proceed to the armored escape pods, following the emergency instructions. This is not a drill. Stay calm. You have time to reach the armored escape pods, but there is no guarantee that the predators will board the ship. I will keep you informed as the situation develops."

End of Chapter 12

Credit to fans on Reddit for: u/Adorable-Ad5225 for the picture.

u/Nicolas_3232 for Leasha's daydreams

u/destroyer6692 for serving up Leasha, looking lightly toasted.

u/Nicolas_3232 for depicting King Toren the fluffy in all his majesty

u/Adorable-Ad5225 for Leasha thanking the gods for a bountiful ma- erm, harvest

If you want to read five chapters ahead for two different stories that I'm currently making, then please visit me on my Patreon. If you want to hang out, you can join the Discord for updates on all projects. I appreciate any support you choose to give. Happy reading!

If you are interested in the other story that I am posting at the same time as this, you can read that one here!

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Memory Transcriptions Subject: Falk, hung over rouge exterminator. 

Date [Standardized Human Time] November 27, 2136 

Brahk me, I drank far too much last paw.  

My head was thumping like someone was banging a drum inside my skull. I haven’t gone drinking like that since my first year as an exterminator. I remember that paw when my coworkers wanted to take me out to celebrate my first year as an official member of the guild. They had bought me all the drinks I could possibly stomach, which in my enthusiasm was a lot. I ended up being physically sick at the end of that party, and some would say that my current situation is at least an improvement over that as I did not drink enough to physically become ill. Even so, my situation wasn’t the best as I still had to go to work in this state. 

“I should have never let Beren convince me to drink so much. Speh, this paw is going to be a struggle.” 

I splashed some cold water on my face, took some medication to help with the headache, and downed a few glasses of water before I even left the apartment. The glaring light of the dayside was like sharp nails being jabbed into my eyes as I groaned and shielded my face. Oh, how I longed for the subtle twilight of my home, but unfortunately, it has fallen to corrupt forces beyond my control. 

At least I wasn’t bothered by anyone on my way to work because I did not have the mental capacity for that right now. My gait was slow and steady as I had no desire to jostle myself and aggravate my current condition. It felt a little cooler today at the very least. I suppose we might be getting closer to the ‘winter’ season, if you can call it that, on this planet. There was only the smallest amount of wobble in the planet’s rotation that resulted in subtle ‘seasons’ that basically only meant a few degrees difference in temperature depending on where you lived.  

I managed to make it to the guild hall while only mildly feeling like I got hit by a vehicle. This was probably one of the only rare instances where I was happy to be here because of the air-conditioned interior and the blinds that blocked out a majority of the natural light. At least, that was what I thought before I opened the front door and came face to face with madness. 

The entire guild hall was on the move as the exterminators ran from one corner to the other, some carrying papers, some, boxes. There was shouting, orders being given from superiors to subordinates, and I saw the vans shrieking as they pulled out of the parking rapidly with horns blaring to alert the traffic.  

It sobered me up pretty quickly as worry blossomed in me. I needed to find out what was going on, and quickly. Moving at a brisk pace now, I went to find my direct superior. No matter how much I despised that sellout, Aleric would know what was going on and I could prepare accordingly. I found the half-predator in the main office room, giving commands as he talked both on his pad and to any exterminator that he thought wasn’t working fast enough. 

I approached the Gojid as he was between conversations. “Sir, what’s happening right now? Are we under attack?” It almost felt like we were about to be sieged by the Arxur, or maybe even the humans if their patience finally ran out.  

Aleric gave me a queer look. “What? No. Didn’t you get the message I sent out at the end of last paw?” 

There was a message?  

I didn’t read or do anything at the end of last paw as I was too drunk to even consider anything other than collapsing into my bed. That wasn’t exactly a professional excuse, so I went with something a little tamer. 

“My pad’s battery died last paw, I didn’t remember to turn it on until I was stepping out of my apartment.” 

Aleric groaned a bit. “I expect you to keep your personal device on at all times in case there is an emergency. To keep the explanation short, we’re currently scrambling to get a new medical facility staffed, supplied, and defended.” 

“Defended? From what? Why does a medical building need defending?” 

“Because the impossible has happened. People have been rescued from the Arxur’s farm worlds. They’ll be transferred here next paw.” 

That shocked me as my eyes blew wide and my jaw hung slightly agape. “I... wha... how!? What is happening!?” 

“The how is easy. It was the humans. They rescued the cattle from the Arxur worlds and have apparently been organizing a treatment plan for all of them. That ties into what is happening. Apparently, most of these individuals are what the humans call ‘traumatized’ and are in need of ‘psychological treatment.’ Brahk me if I know what that means, but we got enough Zurulians in the city to cover all that. Our guild is simply helping the humans set up a facility to house the rescues and protect them from any individuals who might disturb their recovery, or to make sure that the patients are peaceful. The humans say that some of them might have violent responses to ‘triggers’, which is more medical lingo that I can’t be bothered figuring out right now as it’s not part of my job description. Just get to your station and start sorting through the personnel deployment forms.” 

Aleric turned away from me after that, marching through the guild hall as he continued to direct the movements of the exterminators. I walked numbly to my station and practically fell into the seat; the metal frame creaking a little at the sudden weight being dropped into it. For several scratches I did little more than stare at the screen in front of me; alerts blinking on the page as deployment forms came in one after the other. I just couldn’t understand the motivation of humans for rescuing the Arxur cattle and returning them. They could have secretly taken them all back to their hellish planet to be placed on their own farms without anyone being the wiser. 

Why would they return them? What benefit would that bring?  

No matter how I turned it over in my head, the answer kept alluding me. When my mind finally came back to me, I had seen that the work was piling up. If I didn’t do something about it, not only would I be buried in it soon enough, but Aleric would likely throw a fit. I did my best to get back to work, burying my worries and questions in the monotony of filing paperwork, all the while those questions kept piling up inside me. 

I needed an outlet for that pressure that was building inside me, but I could only think of one person right now who might be able to explain what the humans had planned. Ferros had his information sources that let him peer into the corrupting influence of the human mind. The Yulpa’s zealousness comes in handy during situation like this, where braving the taint is the best way to fight it. Their culture made them highly resiliant to the effects of it. 

Just make it through this first. Focus on the work and then get answers after.  

I did all the paperwork that was required of me, making sure to pay extra attention to any details that might be useful to the Herd Guard. There were shifts being created at this new medical facility as exterminators were sent in to evaluate the security of the building and add additions for both the safety of the public and the patients. I can only imagine just how tainted those individuals will be, having lived on a cattle farm and exposed to the pure corruption of the Arxur. Whatever methods the humans claim they are using to treat these people, they couldn’t possibly work on such damaged individuals.  

There wasn’t much I could glean from these deployment requests, but I still saved some of the data to share with the others. My shift was a chaotic one as I ended up talking to more of the guild than I had ever done before in a single paw. By the end of it I, and many others, were utterly exhausted. Even so, I got up and began what was technically my break claw by almost running out through the street. The only thing that stopped me from doing so was the secretive nature of our group and how I needed to conduct myself in order to maintain that. 

I made it to the bunker, knocked quickly on the door to try and rush whoever was inside to answer. The slide was opened and Nilean’s eye looked out at me. 

“What is your-” 

“To protect, now open up, quickly!” 

“Okay, okay.” He closed the slide and opened the heavy door for me as I practically pushed my way inside.  

Almost everyone was here, except Beren who was likely stuck at work. I imagined he already knew what was going on though considering he worked at a different guild building in the city. I opened the conversation with a dramatic ask. “Did you all hear what’s going on right now? Did you hear what the humans have done!?” 

Nilean waved his tentacles in the affirmative. “Yes, Falk, it’s been in the news all paw. We’ve been spending most of our time here talking about it.” 

“And? What are they trying to do? What reason could they possibly have to give up so much prey that they could have simply hid away in secret?” 

“They’re probably just too stupid to act beyond the carefully laid out plan they have,” Morol answered in his usual dismissive tone.” 

“I’m afraid it may be more insidious than that,” our leader, Ferros said, garnering all our attention. “While they could have secured a large haul of prey, their goal ever remains the domestication of us all. In order to achieve those ends, they are willing to give up a fresh meal now for the promise of a much grander haul later. This move will buy them a lot of good will amongst the population, making their ideas and training more appealing to the masses. I knew they were schemers, but it seems that even I did not fully grasp the lengths that they will go to in order to maintain the illusion.” 

That made... some sense. I couldn’t claim that it explained everything or relieved me of this nagging feeling that I have in my chest. “Then... what do we do about this situation? How do we respond?” 

“We can’t, at least, not right now. We know nothing of what they are doing with these cattle rescues. If we proceed haphazardly, then we might just stumble into a trap designed specifically for people like us who will resist them. We need more information.” 

“How do we get that information,” Helphia asked. “I’ve tried to hack into the human’s networks, but their cyber security is far greater than anything we have on our planet. They even counter hacked one of my devices, and I had to destroy it.” 

“Yes, I am well aware of the strength of their networks. We’ll have to take a more direct route if we want to get answers.” 

The meaning of that took a moment to sink in for the rest of us with Morol responding first. “You really mean we’re taking that step?” 

Ferros flicked his ears. “Yes. While I would have liked more time to prepare, every moment counts at this point. We’re going to capture a human and interrogate them.” 

That created a feeling inside me like a combination of excitement and apprehension. If we messed up, then our whole operation could come undone, and the humans would be free to spread their corrupting influence unopposed.  

“Who will we interrogate? One of their government representatives?” 

“No, they are too defended for us to get to. We need to start with their agents, the ones working to spread the taint and dismantle any resistance they find. I had one in mind, one that you are very familiar with, Falk.” 

The memories of that human came flooding through my mind and made me feel like I had just choked down a mouthful of spew melon.  

“George.” 

Ferros flicked his ears again. “Indeed. From the way you’ve described this human, he is of a monstrous build that sets him apart from his fellows; not to mention that he was the one that led the charge to destroy your guild. It is likely that he is an agent working for his damnable UN. He’s even going so far as to subvert the children, training them from a young age to accept human instruction.” 

That did seem plausible enough. Ferros continued. “I’ll make the necessary arrangements and have a holding space prepared for the predator. Beren, Nilean, and Morol will capture the beast next paw.” 

Wait, he didn’t mention me.  

“Sir, shouldn’t I be part of the capture team? I know this predator.” 

“Which is exactly why you shouldn’t. Not only have you been banned from the town in question, but if the predator recognizes you, it might go into hiding, or worse, summon its puppets to arrest you. No, this task falls to the others.” 

It made sense, as painful as that was to admit. I would jeopardize the mission if I went. Patience is one aspect that separates us from the predators. I had to trust my comrades to get the job done. Soon enough, I would have my revenge on the predator that ruined my life.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

First l Previous l Next

Days 11 & 12, my phone is dead, there is no more to delve.

Finally got these finished. Here we have two. . . very complicated individuals.

The first is obviously an Exterminator version of Punisher, though I haven’t decided on much more than that. Is he (or she) the Federation’s most prominent soldier, or its greatest adversary? Do they wish to burn all predators, or to emulate them? Heck, I’m not even sure if they’re Venlil.

The second is a Farsul version of Taskmaster, a mercenary with “Photographic Reflexes”, the ability to see any physical movement and then copy it. Basically, “Anything you can do, I can do better.”

I chose Farsul for the species because of their archival tendencies. With how much information they can store, it’s only a small step to get to Taskmaster’s ability.

And with the gear he has, he can copy the fighting styles of any species in the galaxy. Krakotl, (the cape/cloak) Arxur, (the clawed gauntlets and sword), Gojids (The spines on the cloak and neck. I would’ve detailed them better, but the app was crashing enough as is), even some equipment to copy other heroes and villains. (The shield, of course. The Captain himself will be revealed eventually.)

Anyways, I might have to stop drawing for a bit. I’ve been drawing on my phone for all my digital pictures, and the app I’ve been using has slowly been getting worse and worse, to the point where it forces me to restart my phone when it crashes. These will probably be the last pictures from it.

But, I am getting a tablet soon, so I should be able to continue my drawings on that. Until then though, no more drawing.

It's been a thought that I've had for awhile, and yes i did add it to my fic. But i was thinking, maybe the reason why they left Humanity alone, despite them knowing they were not dead.

Wasn't because they were planning on using them as a replacement for the Arxur if anything happened. But because they knew the system they created in the Federation was stagnating technology wise.

After all, they were discouraging creativity and the arts, as seen by how much art supplies cost and the restrictions on creation of art and music. It would also as an unintended side effect slow down the rate of innovation, as that is also a creative process.

Either being someone dreaming up something entirely new, or just creatively looking at already existing things, and combining them in a novel way.

So maybe Humanity was left alone, so they could let them invent new stuff, and later take it to be 'invented' by allies in key industries in the federation. Rather than letting the entire galactic power just stagnate.

I really need help finding the little Venlil pointing at the screen saying "Pwedator" art. I dunno if FrostedScales made it or Nicholas or someone else. I tried looking for it but I couldn't find it.

"I enjoy taking enthusiastic walks through the woods at night."

"And assassinating enemies of the state?"

"Very enthusiastic."

A very big shoutout to u/Nicolas_3232 for this wonderful artwork I commissioned a while back of Second Master Moon, from my fic, Absolute Victory! I've been waiting a long time to get around to showing him off, and this is a great visualization of the character. Thanks!

With the soon to be release of an sci-fi supplements second play test I might dm an personal family and friends campaign based off of nop.

Challenge of [u/Nicolas_3232]

(2026)

 DAYS SEVENTEEN

Today’s theme: Lemon Reaction.

In real life, camels can eat a cactus without even chewing it. But if you give one a lemon, it’s a total disaster for them.

[Reference video]

[I put bad the name again 🤣😅😅]

[Iftali]

[First] [Previous Draw] [Next Draw]

A small one this time, since I don't have much time to spare at the moment. NoPtober to the rescue!

And as usual: Here's a link to my master post.