Deer predation or starvation worksheet answers
I am born as a Black-Eyed Child, but not one like you heard from the legends. As such, I am not a normal human being...
2023.06.03 07:30 The_Deprived_99 I am born as a Black-Eyed Child, but not one like you heard from the legends. As such, I am not a normal human being...
I was born in 1992 when I was given birth by my mother. My mother, in question, was a religious fanatic who was born and raised in the Christian Beliefs. So it was a horror to see that the child she gave birth look nothing like a normal human being in question.
As for my father, he was killed in a car crash the day before I was born.
I was born with jet black hair, sported into a ponytail. My skin was as white as the snow. I wear simple clothes like a black shirt and pants, and recently started wearing a black trench coat my size to have style on my dark and gloomy presence to everyone seeing me. I never physically age past 10 years, and I'm still a Black-Eyed Child to this day.
Because of my birth, my mother's life was ruined as she was forced to care for me. Or so she believed.
Turns out, she discovered I don't need the necessities like normal human beings would. Like food, drink, or sleep. In fact, my body never suffers from starvation, dehydration, or sleep deprivation. I'm just an endless ball of energy that can run out.
I never cried when I was a newborn or infant, making my mother's life easier. Granted, there was something about her nature and her environment she grew up in, causing her to never talk to her own child. I pitied her for unwilling to care for her child because of the way I am.
When my tenth birthday in 2002 was over, my mother would abandon me, believing I was beyond saving. This would give the chance to explore the world without anyone stopping me. It's not like anyone would know how to care for someone like me.
I left my childhood home and ran away to Tulsa, discovering I could run 40 Miles per Hour. It also made me discover I was born way stronger than everyone else, even though I'm not the type of person to show off my strength of lifting four-thousand pounds, lifting objects within that weight range.
When I arrived at Tulsa at midnight, it was quiet with a gentle breeze brushing my skin underneath my clothes. Due to how quite it was at midnight, it almost feels like the town was abandoned for no reason, other than giving the subtle feeling of isolation.
Before long, however, I heard a car honking at me and driving at 60 miles per hour. Before I could react, the car hit me square in my small body, sending me flying and ragdolled into a wall, smashing my face, and tumbled into a pile of trash bags.
I was bewildered and terrified over what happened to me. I know for a fact someone my age would be long gone after getting hit a car like that. But in that moment, I realized my injuries healed instantly, as if they never were there, even from my ribcage broken from the car hitting me.
I got up with ease to see a man who looks as if he was in his mid-30s. I could tell he was enraged and violent, almost as if he expected me to die instantly from my body getting flung by his car. My composure was regained the moment I got back to my knees.
"I truly wanted to believe a monster like you never existed. But my fears are realized... I'm sorry..."
The way the deranged man spoke those words sounded like genuine remorse and brokenness. I don't know what was going on his head of his, but I almost felt sorry for him. My opinions on my attempted-murderer didn't matter, though, as he pulled out a Glock and gave me 28 bullet wounds.
Feeling dread and terror from my body, I pushed through the bullets as the armed man walked me down while gunning me. As he shot the 28th bullet into my body, I grabbed the gun while he was holding it. A brief struggle occurred as I easily overpowered the man in strength as I pointed the Glock at his head, contemplating whether I should shoot him.
I ultimately decided he'd get off too easy from being murdered as I forced his arms to point the Glock to the femoral artery and fired the final bullet, making him scream in agony as blood ran down his leg in gruesome fashion.
I decided to test my striking power on the man as I sat him up from where he collapsed, getting him onto his knees. He stared into my pure black eyes in horror, believing I might kill after I'm done toying with him. The only words I'd ever spoke to the man were...
"You know how Mass times Acceleration equals Force, right? Well, here's my way of adding to that."
"Strength times Technique equals Devastation..."
I used 100 percent of my muscles and delivered the most precise shot to his left ribs with one arm that can lift 4000 pounds, while normally liftng 2000 pounds. I felt all of his ribs not break, but shatter at the enormous force behind my fist. The man screamed in horror and agony before I delivered another punch to his right ribs, shattering them. I stood over him, realizing my changes.
My ponytail was gone and my jet my black hair spiked up, similar to static hair. My skin turned into a dark grey, and had black veins protruding from my skin. I didn't have time to marvel at my sudden change, however, as multiple cars and trucks gathered, and people ran over to the deranged man. I assumed the people in question were his family members based on various ages.
When they turned to see me, they understandably looked awestricken and horrified at my presence as I returned to my normal state.
It didn't take long for police and the paramedic to arrive to pick up the lunatic of a man and send him over to a hospital, where if he recovers, might as well be sent to rehab or a mental institution. The police commissioner would ask me a few questions and I answered his questions to the best of my ability. The commissioner would pat me on the head and told me these words.
"I don't know what you are, kid. But the way I see it, the whole world's gonna know about this eventually. Until then, make something of yourself when you grow up. Do it for me, alright?"
I nodded my head as the police commissioner gave me permission to state at a hotel with no payment or rent required. He was right about one thing. My existence will be known to the world one day. Even into the present day, my existence is still unknown. I'm currently way stronger than I was over 20 years ago. And I still live in the hotel the police commissioner let me stay in.
So, there's one question I want to ask. And want your opinions: Am I Human or a Monster?
submitted by The_Deprived_99 to nosleep [link] [comments]
As for my father, he was killed in a car crash the day before I was born.
I was born with jet black hair, sported into a ponytail. My skin was as white as the snow. I wear simple clothes like a black shirt and pants, and recently started wearing a black trench coat my size to have style on my dark and gloomy presence to everyone seeing me. I never physically age past 10 years, and I'm still a Black-Eyed Child to this day.
Because of my birth, my mother's life was ruined as she was forced to care for me. Or so she believed.
Turns out, she discovered I don't need the necessities like normal human beings would. Like food, drink, or sleep. In fact, my body never suffers from starvation, dehydration, or sleep deprivation. I'm just an endless ball of energy that can run out.
I never cried when I was a newborn or infant, making my mother's life easier. Granted, there was something about her nature and her environment she grew up in, causing her to never talk to her own child. I pitied her for unwilling to care for her child because of the way I am.
When my tenth birthday in 2002 was over, my mother would abandon me, believing I was beyond saving. This would give the chance to explore the world without anyone stopping me. It's not like anyone would know how to care for someone like me.
I left my childhood home and ran away to Tulsa, discovering I could run 40 Miles per Hour. It also made me discover I was born way stronger than everyone else, even though I'm not the type of person to show off my strength of lifting four-thousand pounds, lifting objects within that weight range.
When I arrived at Tulsa at midnight, it was quiet with a gentle breeze brushing my skin underneath my clothes. Due to how quite it was at midnight, it almost feels like the town was abandoned for no reason, other than giving the subtle feeling of isolation.
Before long, however, I heard a car honking at me and driving at 60 miles per hour. Before I could react, the car hit me square in my small body, sending me flying and ragdolled into a wall, smashing my face, and tumbled into a pile of trash bags.
I was bewildered and terrified over what happened to me. I know for a fact someone my age would be long gone after getting hit a car like that. But in that moment, I realized my injuries healed instantly, as if they never were there, even from my ribcage broken from the car hitting me.
I got up with ease to see a man who looks as if he was in his mid-30s. I could tell he was enraged and violent, almost as if he expected me to die instantly from my body getting flung by his car. My composure was regained the moment I got back to my knees.
"I truly wanted to believe a monster like you never existed. But my fears are realized... I'm sorry..."
The way the deranged man spoke those words sounded like genuine remorse and brokenness. I don't know what was going on his head of his, but I almost felt sorry for him. My opinions on my attempted-murderer didn't matter, though, as he pulled out a Glock and gave me 28 bullet wounds.
Feeling dread and terror from my body, I pushed through the bullets as the armed man walked me down while gunning me. As he shot the 28th bullet into my body, I grabbed the gun while he was holding it. A brief struggle occurred as I easily overpowered the man in strength as I pointed the Glock at his head, contemplating whether I should shoot him.
I ultimately decided he'd get off too easy from being murdered as I forced his arms to point the Glock to the femoral artery and fired the final bullet, making him scream in agony as blood ran down his leg in gruesome fashion.
I decided to test my striking power on the man as I sat him up from where he collapsed, getting him onto his knees. He stared into my pure black eyes in horror, believing I might kill after I'm done toying with him. The only words I'd ever spoke to the man were...
"You know how Mass times Acceleration equals Force, right? Well, here's my way of adding to that."
"Strength times Technique equals Devastation..."
I used 100 percent of my muscles and delivered the most precise shot to his left ribs with one arm that can lift 4000 pounds, while normally liftng 2000 pounds. I felt all of his ribs not break, but shatter at the enormous force behind my fist. The man screamed in horror and agony before I delivered another punch to his right ribs, shattering them. I stood over him, realizing my changes.
My ponytail was gone and my jet my black hair spiked up, similar to static hair. My skin turned into a dark grey, and had black veins protruding from my skin. I didn't have time to marvel at my sudden change, however, as multiple cars and trucks gathered, and people ran over to the deranged man. I assumed the people in question were his family members based on various ages.
When they turned to see me, they understandably looked awestricken and horrified at my presence as I returned to my normal state.
It didn't take long for police and the paramedic to arrive to pick up the lunatic of a man and send him over to a hospital, where if he recovers, might as well be sent to rehab or a mental institution. The police commissioner would ask me a few questions and I answered his questions to the best of my ability. The commissioner would pat me on the head and told me these words.
"I don't know what you are, kid. But the way I see it, the whole world's gonna know about this eventually. Until then, make something of yourself when you grow up. Do it for me, alright?"
I nodded my head as the police commissioner gave me permission to state at a hotel with no payment or rent required. He was right about one thing. My existence will be known to the world one day. Even into the present day, my existence is still unknown. I'm currently way stronger than I was over 20 years ago. And I still live in the hotel the police commissioner let me stay in.
So, there's one question I want to ask. And want your opinions: Am I Human or a Monster?
2023.06.03 07:11 ChemistComprehensive Please help me, any and all advice is welcomed and appreciated. This is literally my last hope!
Hi, i’ll try to be short. i’m a female from birth (this matters) and i’m 24. I’ve tried to research some advice and rituals, but I can’t find anything online that feels valid for years.
I need a true to heart protection spell or ritual.
if you care about the reason feel free to read below or if your just want to put a protection spell, ritual, or advice in comments please do … Ever since I can remember I have had literal deathly bad luck, to the point people that aren’t superstitious notice it and say something to me about it. For example, a recent event is i bought a new car and within a month it’s totaled and i also crushed a bit of my spine. When i was able to walk and go to work i used my boyfriends car and that night i hit a deer and ruined the front end. things like this are constantly happening to me.
Also, my biggest problem in life is that women from the bottom of their hearts hate me. Including all women caregivers/family members i’ve ever had. it’s making being able to keep jobs or a relationship impossible. it’s making life impossible. its making me a terrible person. i love women and do not want to live in a world where i hate them. It’s literally supernatural; like every job, class, friends of friends and family members. it’s like something primitive in their soul locks in on me and they spend their time thinking of ways to destroy my life. When im in any room with a woman i can literally feel their gaze and negative energy projecting onto me, physically. I would post a picture of myself attached to this post but i’m worried you’ll feel it too lol and then i won’t get any real answers or help. I know you’re thinking “maybe you’re just a bitch”..”maybe you’re just abrasive and don’t realize it” “maybe you’re not self aware enough” “there’s no way you’re not the problem” “you’re probably full of yourself” i swear i can assure that i am not. i’ve tried to figure it out for years. i do way too much for people. I have had to take therapy to learn how to care about myself and how to stop being a pushover. When people are horrible to me to my face i can not stand up for myself and i don’t and for some reason i show them love and kindness and if i don’t i feel immense guilt; it’s torture and heartbreaking. i have moved 4 states to retry different tactics on forming better relationships with women and it’s all the same. For a long time i have felt like im cursed. i don’t have parents, i think the curse happened before i was born if that is the case, or maybe i really am paying for a past life’s sins
anyways someone please help me love y’all i’m sorry for this
submitted by ChemistComprehensive to witchcraft [link] [comments]
I need a true to heart protection spell or ritual.
if you care about the reason feel free to read below or if your just want to put a protection spell, ritual, or advice in comments please do … Ever since I can remember I have had literal deathly bad luck, to the point people that aren’t superstitious notice it and say something to me about it. For example, a recent event is i bought a new car and within a month it’s totaled and i also crushed a bit of my spine. When i was able to walk and go to work i used my boyfriends car and that night i hit a deer and ruined the front end. things like this are constantly happening to me.
Also, my biggest problem in life is that women from the bottom of their hearts hate me. Including all women caregivers/family members i’ve ever had. it’s making being able to keep jobs or a relationship impossible. it’s making life impossible. its making me a terrible person. i love women and do not want to live in a world where i hate them. It’s literally supernatural; like every job, class, friends of friends and family members. it’s like something primitive in their soul locks in on me and they spend their time thinking of ways to destroy my life. When im in any room with a woman i can literally feel their gaze and negative energy projecting onto me, physically. I would post a picture of myself attached to this post but i’m worried you’ll feel it too lol and then i won’t get any real answers or help. I know you’re thinking “maybe you’re just a bitch”..”maybe you’re just abrasive and don’t realize it” “maybe you’re not self aware enough” “there’s no way you’re not the problem” “you’re probably full of yourself” i swear i can assure that i am not. i’ve tried to figure it out for years. i do way too much for people. I have had to take therapy to learn how to care about myself and how to stop being a pushover. When people are horrible to me to my face i can not stand up for myself and i don’t and for some reason i show them love and kindness and if i don’t i feel immense guilt; it’s torture and heartbreaking. i have moved 4 states to retry different tactics on forming better relationships with women and it’s all the same. For a long time i have felt like im cursed. i don’t have parents, i think the curse happened before i was born if that is the case, or maybe i really am paying for a past life’s sins
anyways someone please help me love y’all i’m sorry for this
2023.06.03 05:56 GH057807 Ok. Sanity check. I'm losing my mind, where are Crushed Beast Bones??
I am level 35. This is an ingredient for the level 30 potion upgrade.
I have never seen a single one. Not one. Level 35, not one single solitary Crushed Beast Bone.
Not one.
I have been grinding beasts for 3.5 hours at this point. I have gone in and opened every chest in every basement dungeon I have found. Again, I have been grinding beasts for THREE AND A HALF HOURS and I haven't found a single one. Mammoths, bears, wolves, tree dudes, snakes, giant boars, even the deers and foxes and bunny rabbits. Nothing. Not one.
Is this item broken? Did Blizzard forget to add it? Is it not a real thing? Have I lost my mind or died and this is purgatory? Do crushed beast bones come from something other than dead beasts?
I've googled. The answers do nothing. Why. Help me.
EDIT: I HAVE FOUND A SINGLE CRUSHED BONE ON A RANDOM SPIDER. THEY EXIST. IT'S BEEN 4 HOURS AND I WANT TO CRY.
Edit2: It's been 4.5 hours now but I got em. Northern Scosglen, along the beach NE of Kel Bardu, there's an area with a bunch of spiders and I found them all there, dropping off of said spiders. There's a cellar dungeon towards the northern corner of the area that dropped 2.
For what it's worth, throughout all this I've had the ingredients to upgrade my potion at level 45 and level 60 twice over. I hope they fix this droprate, bloody fucking infuriating.
submitted by GH057807 to diablo4 [link] [comments]
I have never seen a single one. Not one. Level 35, not one single solitary Crushed Beast Bone.
Not one.
I have been grinding beasts for 3.5 hours at this point. I have gone in and opened every chest in every basement dungeon I have found. Again, I have been grinding beasts for THREE AND A HALF HOURS and I haven't found a single one. Mammoths, bears, wolves, tree dudes, snakes, giant boars, even the deers and foxes and bunny rabbits. Nothing. Not one.
Is this item broken? Did Blizzard forget to add it? Is it not a real thing? Have I lost my mind or died and this is purgatory? Do crushed beast bones come from something other than dead beasts?
I've googled. The answers do nothing. Why. Help me.
EDIT: I HAVE FOUND A SINGLE CRUSHED BONE ON A RANDOM SPIDER. THEY EXIST. IT'S BEEN 4 HOURS AND I WANT TO CRY.
Edit2: It's been 4.5 hours now but I got em. Northern Scosglen, along the beach NE of Kel Bardu, there's an area with a bunch of spiders and I found them all there, dropping off of said spiders. There's a cellar dungeon towards the northern corner of the area that dropped 2.
For what it's worth, throughout all this I've had the ingredients to upgrade my potion at level 45 and level 60 twice over. I hope they fix this droprate, bloody fucking infuriating.
2023.06.03 04:32 LawbirdBringer Nature of a Minuteman 4
Previous, First, Next ------------------------------- Memory Transcript: Taxxik, Venlil search and rescue pilot.
Date: [standardized human time]: September 7, 2287
-BANG!
My ears were ringing, my heart was threatening to jump out. I didn't know what was happening in the moment as I fell backwards with the momentum of something hard and heavy striking me in the chest. The sense of dread ran up my spine and down my tail as the I thought for a moment I had gone deaf.
I coughed and gagged as I felt the Predator move their hands from my ears. I felt one of its hands cling to my back while the other pats my chest. "H-hey! hey! you okay!?" he cried out as I groaned, this feeling. I don't think I'll ever forget it.
"I-I'm okay, I'm okay" I squeaked as I recovered from the feeling in my chest. "W-what happened?"
"I think you held it too close and the recoil uh..." The Preda-. Even. Scrunched his face up, for a second it looked like he was snarling... he must've recognized the fear on me because he swiftly covered his mouth up with a hand "I think the recoil basically gave you a rather... uncomfortable punch to the gut"
Trying to ignore the fear of seeing him snarl like that, I glanced downwards at the weapon in my hand. It felt surprisingly heavy. Though for someone like me. Was more awkward to hold than anything else... Kinetic weaponry was overturned for energy weapons, to save on resources for ammunition... I only fired a energy weapon once, and now. I understand why we swapped for them. This blasted contraption nearly broke my ribs!
"Well hey, at least you hit the bottle" Even pointed out, drawing my attention away from the gun in my paws. The shattered glass upon the ground where the bottle once stood invoked... something... in me.
I felt myself warm up a little inside. First time firing a Kinetic weapon, one made for PREDATORS. And wasn't even custom made for my size. And I hit the target... my ears fluttered, my tail swayed. I felt giddily as I pulled the gun back up into a small embrace. For as frightening this experience has been, I think I'm enjoying it a whole lot more than dealing with the Arxur.
... "So, shall we continue?" I asked, seeing that snarl on Even. even if it was hidden. Should've scared me again but... it felt... warm somehow.
----------Memory Transcript: Number 10059. Tilfish Cattle.
Date: [standardized human time]: September 7, 2287
Today is my day. I'm getting chosen... Why... why is the world so cruel?
The Chief hunter won't stop staring at me through the screen as the transport driver communicates with them. The others in the cage aren't moving... Maybe they're dead, maybe they are just trying to fake it... or maybe they are just asleep... I don't even know if I care.
I've been a breeder for a while, seems I've outlived my use to the predators... I couldn't sleep, so I simply watched and prayed it'll be swift when we get there.
Everything shakes, many of the other cattle cry out in confusion. The Arxur transport driver shouted at us to keep quiet as he shifts through his controls... What was happening? We can't already be there.
Another shake.
Things are getting dizzy as something strikes the ship hard.The Arxur reaches for their weapon as the doors open. I watch in silence as fire bathed him. A number of figures stepped from the door. Was this... what is this?
"We're getting you all out of here!" The lead of the strange bunch shouts through their mask as they move to the cages. Was this rea-!
BANG!
I sat up fast, as if the Arxur cattlemaster was waking me himself. I heaved and panted as I looked around the strange environment... where was the ship? This... am I on a planet!?
BANG, BANG!
I jumped at the noise, glancing around, I groaned as I clambered out of my be-... this isn't a bed. This is a table? Why was I-
Later.
I spot some odd shaped machine in the corner of the room, seemingly deactivated. Scurrying to the stairs, I began descending. the stairway, trying to collect myself. My body felt as if it was against every action I took as I rounded the corner at the final step. What I saw would've made me scream... if I wasn't me.
A hulking machine stood in the center of the room. I could feel heat radiate off of it as it stares off to who knows where. Keeping an eye and an antenna on it. I stepped through a hole in the wall. My hand ideally feeling at the cracks in my exoskele-that isn't my.
Looking down, I see what covered my wounds. Bandages? How interesting. The Arxur never bandage u-
Another BANG took my attention, Looking towards my right. I saw a unfamiliar figure and a... Venlil pup?... shooting something.
I sneak over, trying to understand what I'm seeing as the unknown creature praised the little pups' accuracy "You'll be protecting yourself in no time!" it cried out in a guttural voice... I'm ever thankful the Arxur never took my implants out. If I had gotten to where they were taking me, this would've been very diff-"Oh, wait. Taxxik. Look who's awake" The figure says as it turned to face me... those eyes.
P r e d a t o r.
"H-hey, you alright? You shouldn't be up by yourself! how long have you just been standing there!?" The pup whined as it handed the Predator the weapon it was using. I mimic fear the best I could as I gestured with a shaking claw towards the towering beast.
"I-I know, I know. It's okay, he's fine." The pup tries to console me as he pats my arm and tries to stay between my vision and the Predator, tough luck for someone so small.
"He... well, saved us. We're safe here" the pup... said those words with uncertainty but clearly seemed trusting of the Predator. How interesting. Predator Disease? Perhaps I won't have to...
"W-where" I stuttered my speech to match the faux fear. "Where are we?"
*"*We are on earth... where we are specifically, I can't quite say. Not a lot of signage left out here" The Predator exclaimed as the Pup nervously holds my arm as I raised my head to better watch the meat eater who towered over us. "Somewhere between what remains of New York, and the Pitt - at least, according to my maps"
"I... don't understand..." I reached to clean an antenna as the pup patted on the arm he was still clinging to. "Ssh, don't worry. I don't understand much either... b-but uh. It's okay!" the pup exclaimed as I shifted my head to better look at the small Venlil "They aren't like the Arxur, farthest thing from them if Even here is anything to go by!"
I spot this... Even... fidget at those words... he either lied to the pup, or didn't tell them something... I do not like this.
"They even have their own Exterminators" the pups' whisper dragged my attention back to him. "Even is a uh.. Minute man." the Pup paused to pronounce the words right, seeing Even nodding seemed to have confirmed the words the pup was using. "They're just like exterminators, just... trust me on this, okay. We're safe with Even" I watch the pup in uncertainty as they proclaimed this information.
Predators with Exterminators, such a idiotic idea... however... if there is to be believed, is the fact Even hasn't eaten us yet... considering I'm not in a ship, I've must have been out for a while. Leaving this pup to fend for themself. Why he was here, only Protector knows.
If humans like... E v e n. Were anything similar to the Arxur, they'd have eaten us by now, or left us for dead somewhere... unless he is planning on invading our homes. I don't see why he would do such things as wrap our wounds up and tend to me while I was unconscious.
Such a peculiar creature.
"So-" Even spoke "-You uh... got a name?" I studied its face for a moment, before looking to the ground as I searched through my memories... name... when was my name used? "I... do not remember" I answered as I felt at my head. How long have I been cattle for?
"Well... anything we can call you till then?" "Just... call me Til.. u-until I remember my name again."
"Alright then Til... I know you just woke up but... well, the sun is going down so... you're gonna have to go back to sleep." The Predator walks past me and the pup "Come on you two, I'll get the sleeping bags ready" it exclaimed as it entered the building...
What a truly, peculiar specimen.
"Here, you must be starving." the predator stated as we followed him into the building, handing me a odd... plant?
Hesitantly, I go to bite the questionable plant.So sweet. So delightfully sweet.
"Wh-t iz thz?" I asked as I began to scarf down this delightful bit of food. Barely taking a pause to speak "That would be Mutfruit" The pup answered for the Predator as I enjoyed this wondrous Mutfruit
So much better than the kibble we were fed!... Such sweetness. I must have more. ------------
Heeeeeyy, The Tilfish woke up! Truth be told, I was half planning on having her succumb to her wounds during target practice.Anywho, another short-ish chapter. Feel free to share thoughts in the comments.All together, this chapter is about the Tilfish waking up.
Previous, First, Next
submitted by LawbirdBringer to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
Date: [standardized human time]: September 7, 2287
-BANG!
My ears were ringing, my heart was threatening to jump out. I didn't know what was happening in the moment as I fell backwards with the momentum of something hard and heavy striking me in the chest. The sense of dread ran up my spine and down my tail as the I thought for a moment I had gone deaf.
I coughed and gagged as I felt the Predator move their hands from my ears. I felt one of its hands cling to my back while the other pats my chest. "H-hey! hey! you okay!?" he cried out as I groaned, this feeling. I don't think I'll ever forget it.
"I-I'm okay, I'm okay" I squeaked as I recovered from the feeling in my chest. "W-what happened?"
"I think you held it too close and the recoil uh..." The Preda-. Even. Scrunched his face up, for a second it looked like he was snarling... he must've recognized the fear on me because he swiftly covered his mouth up with a hand "I think the recoil basically gave you a rather... uncomfortable punch to the gut"
Trying to ignore the fear of seeing him snarl like that, I glanced downwards at the weapon in my hand. It felt surprisingly heavy. Though for someone like me. Was more awkward to hold than anything else... Kinetic weaponry was overturned for energy weapons, to save on resources for ammunition... I only fired a energy weapon once, and now. I understand why we swapped for them. This blasted contraption nearly broke my ribs!
"Well hey, at least you hit the bottle" Even pointed out, drawing my attention away from the gun in my paws. The shattered glass upon the ground where the bottle once stood invoked... something... in me.
I felt myself warm up a little inside. First time firing a Kinetic weapon, one made for PREDATORS. And wasn't even custom made for my size. And I hit the target... my ears fluttered, my tail swayed. I felt giddily as I pulled the gun back up into a small embrace. For as frightening this experience has been, I think I'm enjoying it a whole lot more than dealing with the Arxur.
... "So, shall we continue?" I asked, seeing that snarl on Even. even if it was hidden. Should've scared me again but... it felt... warm somehow.
----------Memory Transcript: Number 10059. Tilfish Cattle.
Date: [standardized human time]: September 7, 2287
Today is my day. I'm getting chosen... Why... why is the world so cruel?
The Chief hunter won't stop staring at me through the screen as the transport driver communicates with them. The others in the cage aren't moving... Maybe they're dead, maybe they are just trying to fake it... or maybe they are just asleep... I don't even know if I care.
I've been a breeder for a while, seems I've outlived my use to the predators... I couldn't sleep, so I simply watched and prayed it'll be swift when we get there.
Everything shakes, many of the other cattle cry out in confusion. The Arxur transport driver shouted at us to keep quiet as he shifts through his controls... What was happening? We can't already be there.
Another shake.
Things are getting dizzy as something strikes the ship hard.The Arxur reaches for their weapon as the doors open. I watch in silence as fire bathed him. A number of figures stepped from the door. Was this... what is this?
"We're getting you all out of here!" The lead of the strange bunch shouts through their mask as they move to the cages. Was this rea-!
BANG!
I sat up fast, as if the Arxur cattlemaster was waking me himself. I heaved and panted as I looked around the strange environment... where was the ship? This... am I on a planet!?
BANG, BANG!
I jumped at the noise, glancing around, I groaned as I clambered out of my be-... this isn't a bed. This is a table? Why was I-
Later.
I spot some odd shaped machine in the corner of the room, seemingly deactivated. Scurrying to the stairs, I began descending. the stairway, trying to collect myself. My body felt as if it was against every action I took as I rounded the corner at the final step. What I saw would've made me scream... if I wasn't me.
A hulking machine stood in the center of the room. I could feel heat radiate off of it as it stares off to who knows where. Keeping an eye and an antenna on it. I stepped through a hole in the wall. My hand ideally feeling at the cracks in my exoskele-that isn't my.
Looking down, I see what covered my wounds. Bandages? How interesting. The Arxur never bandage u-
Another BANG took my attention, Looking towards my right. I saw a unfamiliar figure and a... Venlil pup?... shooting something.
I sneak over, trying to understand what I'm seeing as the unknown creature praised the little pups' accuracy "You'll be protecting yourself in no time!" it cried out in a guttural voice... I'm ever thankful the Arxur never took my implants out. If I had gotten to where they were taking me, this would've been very diff-"Oh, wait. Taxxik. Look who's awake" The figure says as it turned to face me... those eyes.
P r e d a t o r.
"H-hey, you alright? You shouldn't be up by yourself! how long have you just been standing there!?" The pup whined as it handed the Predator the weapon it was using. I mimic fear the best I could as I gestured with a shaking claw towards the towering beast.
"I-I know, I know. It's okay, he's fine." The pup tries to console me as he pats my arm and tries to stay between my vision and the Predator, tough luck for someone so small.
"He... well, saved us. We're safe here" the pup... said those words with uncertainty but clearly seemed trusting of the Predator. How interesting. Predator Disease? Perhaps I won't have to...
"W-where" I stuttered my speech to match the faux fear. "Where are we?"
*"*We are on earth... where we are specifically, I can't quite say. Not a lot of signage left out here" The Predator exclaimed as the Pup nervously holds my arm as I raised my head to better watch the meat eater who towered over us. "Somewhere between what remains of New York, and the Pitt - at least, according to my maps"
"I... don't understand..." I reached to clean an antenna as the pup patted on the arm he was still clinging to. "Ssh, don't worry. I don't understand much either... b-but uh. It's okay!" the pup exclaimed as I shifted my head to better look at the small Venlil "They aren't like the Arxur, farthest thing from them if Even here is anything to go by!"
I spot this... Even... fidget at those words... he either lied to the pup, or didn't tell them something... I do not like this.
"They even have their own Exterminators" the pups' whisper dragged my attention back to him. "Even is a uh.. Minute man." the Pup paused to pronounce the words right, seeing Even nodding seemed to have confirmed the words the pup was using. "They're just like exterminators, just... trust me on this, okay. We're safe with Even" I watch the pup in uncertainty as they proclaimed this information.
Predators with Exterminators, such a idiotic idea... however... if there is to be believed, is the fact Even hasn't eaten us yet... considering I'm not in a ship, I've must have been out for a while. Leaving this pup to fend for themself. Why he was here, only Protector knows.
If humans like... E v e n. Were anything similar to the Arxur, they'd have eaten us by now, or left us for dead somewhere... unless he is planning on invading our homes. I don't see why he would do such things as wrap our wounds up and tend to me while I was unconscious.
Such a peculiar creature.
"So-" Even spoke "-You uh... got a name?" I studied its face for a moment, before looking to the ground as I searched through my memories... name... when was my name used? "I... do not remember" I answered as I felt at my head. How long have I been cattle for?
"Well... anything we can call you till then?" "Just... call me Til.. u-until I remember my name again."
"Alright then Til... I know you just woke up but... well, the sun is going down so... you're gonna have to go back to sleep." The Predator walks past me and the pup "Come on you two, I'll get the sleeping bags ready" it exclaimed as it entered the building...
What a truly, peculiar specimen.
"Here, you must be starving." the predator stated as we followed him into the building, handing me a odd... plant?
Hesitantly, I go to bite the questionable plant.So sweet. So delightfully sweet.
"Wh-t iz thz?" I asked as I began to scarf down this delightful bit of food. Barely taking a pause to speak "That would be Mutfruit" The pup answered for the Predator as I enjoyed this wondrous Mutfruit
So much better than the kibble we were fed!... Such sweetness. I must have more. ------------
Heeeeeyy, The Tilfish woke up! Truth be told, I was half planning on having her succumb to her wounds during target practice.Anywho, another short-ish chapter. Feel free to share thoughts in the comments.All together, this chapter is about the Tilfish waking up.
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2023.06.03 03:18 NotNiko15 Modern Cosmic Horrors chapter 2
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Chapter 2: In Inertia
In this chapter I took inspiration from a very creative venlil who decided to remain anonymous
---
Memory Transmission Subject: Kos, Venlil Civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: July 12 2136
It happened in a fraction of a second.
I was on my ship, traveling FTL in a subspace. I served as a captain of an interplanetary transporter Fertility. On board I carried loads of green fruits destined for a venlil colony where they meant to ripen upon arrival. Now they were exploding from the vacuum.
My very ship was torn into pieces within an instant. There was no time for my brain to process what happened. I braced myself for a slow death. I felt the oxygen leaving my vessel and temperature dropping rapidly. I felt pain in my chest.
Death… never came to me. I remain seated in my chair and the pain begun to subside. I watched as inertia took hold of my cockpit, lifting everything around me. The sight was bewildering, but I still don’t know why I wasn't suffocating. I released my harness and floated out of the room. Behind the doors was a dark hallway. The power was long gone so I decided to walk straight instead of trying to breach the doors in the darkness. At the end of a hallway, I reached an intersection. Only one of these tunnels had a light at the end, which was the way I chose.
Was this the afterlife? Was I dead, about to meet the creator? I was wondering as I floated through the tunnel. The light was just a reflection of what’s behind a corner. When I peeked, I saw that the entire vessel was torn in a half. The further corridor was abruptly cut by a precipice. I could even see the generator room that wasn’t spared by a sweeping force. I drifted across the ship, awestruck by the surreal scene. It was when I noticed that I had full control over the direction of my floating in inertia, which was against the laws of physics, more akin to out of body experiences.
And so I found myself suspended between two halves of my ship, unable to fathom the reason for this purgatory state. I lived a good life. I wandered out to open space, to try and see my ship in full. I noticed another object lingering close to my ship. It was a wreck of what looks like a space buoy. It collided with my ship, which means I was torn out of subspace before that.
Was that an FTL disruptor? It started working a moment before I passed through it. That was the best theory I could have thought of. I decided to investigate the buoy to test my hypothesis. The hull of the buoy had imprinted lettering in venlang.
MADE ON VENLIL PRIME
The name of my homeworld did not give any answers. I needed to look further. I tried to check behind the hull of my ship and I was met with an immense pain in my paw. It was illuminated by this system’s star. I pulled my hand behind the hull and hugged it, trying to ease the pain. Even after hiding in the shadow of a shipwreck, the pain was so unbearable, it was clawing on my senses.
I felt tears accumulating around my eyes, they were also affected by inertia, rendering my vision blurry. I returned to my cockpit. There was nothing rational in this place. I just wanted to see my family and friends. Whatever deity rules this universe, I was pleading for their mercy. The void remained indifferent.
When my feelings calmed, I began to think of my crew. They were still on this ship. I went to look for them on the other half of the vessel. Behind the precipice was a maze of corridors. A faint beam of light penetrated through the broken hull at the starboard side of my ship. It means that any illuminated area was off limits. Most of my crewmates must have been ejected, because I only found someone at the stern. It was my FTL engineer, Qualen. He was pale from freezing and suffocating. His eyes were popping out of the sockets, and his mouth expressed a pure terror. I wondered where his soul could go, or be. Maybe he didn’t die yet. Perhaps I was the first to die, and time passed unbearably slowly for the rest.
I returned to my cockpit resigned. I decided to wait for something to happen or to think of some bright idea. None of it ever came. I only noticed more anomalies. The objects that floated in inertia were now frozen in time. Even Qualen’s body wasn’t moving across the corridor. I started experimenting with the new laws. I threw an object and watched as its momentum was decelerating. Everything was trying to reach the frozen-in-time state. A thought came to me, that I am in fact Faster Than Light, and the entire world has come to halt. If that was true, then why was the starlight so painful?
I went exploring the front part of the ship. Despite being engulfed in darkness, the sun was my enemy now. I’ve reached the front sleeping quarters, which were reserved for the highest rank personnel, including captain. I’ve found a journal on a shelf. I returned to the cockpit to use the remaining light to read it. The journal belonged to Vesen, the first officer. I couldn’t find her anywhere. Maybe her body was floating in a dark room, or she was engulfed by the rays of the star and I couldn’t reach her. Maybe she was ejected and she disappeared forever. I decided she wouldn’t mind if I read through her journal.
Most pages contained a standard overview on Fertility’s state. Fuel, food, water, oxygen, power, crew. In the middle Vesen started writing more personally.
“Day 7 [July 10 2016]
I’ve read thoroughly through the crewmates’ dossier. There are individuals acting strange. I have seen the rations shrinking slightly faster than in the past 7 days. Even the social meetings were dropped more rarely, or very late. Those are the tiny hints for something bad. There is a predator disease developing on Fertility. I couldn't find it without commissioning a brain scan, so I had to guess based on the dossier.
There was one individual with an uneasy past. The FTL engineer Qualen was caught in a ln arxur invasion on one of the colonies. He barely survived and escaped by hiding in an unexplored by exterminators forest. He was hiding among wild predators, until the arxur took every survivors as a cattle. I am positive that Qualen was afflicted with predator disease after that time, and now he's spreading that behavior among the oblivious crew. In a meantime i must isolate him until we return to Venlil Prime”
I was shocked after reading this. Qualen had a predator disease? I have known him for many years, he couldn't possibly be dangerous. He was like a brother to me! His name would have been cleared if we ever reached civilization and brain scanned him.
But then again, he was the only other venlil who wasn't ejected from Fertility. Is he the reason I can not rest? It must be, there's literally nothing else on this shipwreck!
I have realized the purpose of this place. It’s a judgment. The sun was an instrument of execution, like a flamethrower for exterminators. I have to incinerate the body of a predator diseased crewmate before I can finally reach peace. The danger keeps me trapped from eternal rest, I have to burn it! I rushed out of the cockpit and reached the familiar precipice.
And I froze. The frame of the hull on the other side was lit by a star, locking me out of the stern. The rays were slowly traveling towards me. It made no sense! Everything was supposed to be frozen in time, but we are still orbiting around the system! I have returned to a dark hallway to gather my thoughts. I had to cross the precipice and burn the body of Qualen, but to do this I need to walk through hell itself. The alternative was to wait until the sun passes me unnoticed. I could not see any good spot to hide, as the ship was full of reflective surfaces. Both choices are equally risky but I chose the first option. It would be a problem if the chance I had was also time sensitive.
I returned to the great crack and took a good look at the spotlit surface of the corridor. I mimicked taking a deep breath for good luck and launched.
I felt like I was boiled in water, when I dived into the starlight. Whatever I tried to do on my most primal instincts, I was thrown out to square one, and even now the pain did not abandon me. I screamed into the aether, floated erratically, anything to let the endorphins ease my suffering. It took a long time to find relief, and I remembered that I don’t possess a body anymore and no natural pain relievers are produced in my brain. The only thing that suffered was my very soul.
When I returned to the precipice, I saw the starlight was already licking on my part of a ship. In no time I will be caught by dawn. I thought of going outside of my ship, while I still could. The reflective interior couldn’t be safer than the vast space. But I still could not outrun the starlight. I would be hiding in an umbra of Fertility. If I stray too far, I will be caught in penumbra. More than that, I couldn’t expect it, there are no reference points in space.
It was too late to do anything now. There was only one thing to test. The starlight might be an absolution. Maybe if I’m engulfed in it, I will be able to find the real afterlife. Absolution was not a concept from the venlilian faith, but again I can not think of any religion where the star smolders the soul of the wronged. Whenever I wanted to test it or not, the rays were approaching through the reflective walls of the hallways. I returned to the cockpit to wait for my fate. I thought of just closing the doors, but the electricity could not work and I was in inertia, I had no way to grapple and pull the doors together manually. I could only sit in my seat and wait.
What if there’s no good ending for me? If the star was an act of extermination of a soul, only a predator hell was awaiting me. Will I suffer for nothing forever? Will the souls of predators eat me until I stop existing? Will they keep eating me until the end of time? Or maybe they acknowledge me as one of them, as I could also have predator disease? Do predators even have souls? I was caught in a stream of thoughts as the starlight was closing in. I launched to the furthest corner, buying as much time as I can. I didn’t think the reflections even allowed the light to reach me. It seemed like the starlight was approaching me no matter what. If that’s the case, wouldn’t they reach Qualen’s body as well?
I had to stop that thought, as I was out of time for pondering. I took another nonexistent breath, closed my eyes and tensed all my muscles.
It was impossible to describe the agony I felt at that moment. My impulses forced me out to the center of the room, and my entire body was exposed to the scorching force of the star. My very soul was screaming out of my control and I was torn out of my mind. I lost my vision and heard ringing in my ears from the noise of my own throat.
Soon the blurry vision returned to me, but I was still screaming in pain. Through the pain I saw I was in a completely different room. There was a spotlight above me, and the walls were dim. I was laying on a bed that felt like it was made of cracked concrete. Everything that touched my body and the light itself was painful. Even the ungroomed hair was piercing through my skin. I heard a hum in my head, coming from a translation implant. There was someone in that room speaking an alien language. The figure appeared in my range of vision. It was tall and wearing a coat. It said that the others will come in a quarter of a paw, and that everyone was expecting me for a long time.
It came closer and I felt numbness as I deciphered the face of a blurry figure. It had front-facing eyes! IT WAS A PREDATOR! It truly must be a predator hell! I tried to move, back off, run! But my entire body was heavy. It felt like I hadn’t slept in a whole life. All my limbs, tail and neck were completely exhausted! The pain could not mellow either. I was trapped in a painful reality, awaiting to be tortured forever! The monstrum said that I must not worry about anything and allow my body to rest. It finally introduced itself as a human.
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submitted by NotNiko15 to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
Chapter 2: In Inertia
In this chapter I took inspiration from a very creative venlil who decided to remain anonymous
---
Memory Transmission Subject: Kos, Venlil Civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: July 12 2136
It happened in a fraction of a second.
I was on my ship, traveling FTL in a subspace. I served as a captain of an interplanetary transporter Fertility. On board I carried loads of green fruits destined for a venlil colony where they meant to ripen upon arrival. Now they were exploding from the vacuum.
My very ship was torn into pieces within an instant. There was no time for my brain to process what happened. I braced myself for a slow death. I felt the oxygen leaving my vessel and temperature dropping rapidly. I felt pain in my chest.
Death… never came to me. I remain seated in my chair and the pain begun to subside. I watched as inertia took hold of my cockpit, lifting everything around me. The sight was bewildering, but I still don’t know why I wasn't suffocating. I released my harness and floated out of the room. Behind the doors was a dark hallway. The power was long gone so I decided to walk straight instead of trying to breach the doors in the darkness. At the end of a hallway, I reached an intersection. Only one of these tunnels had a light at the end, which was the way I chose.
Was this the afterlife? Was I dead, about to meet the creator? I was wondering as I floated through the tunnel. The light was just a reflection of what’s behind a corner. When I peeked, I saw that the entire vessel was torn in a half. The further corridor was abruptly cut by a precipice. I could even see the generator room that wasn’t spared by a sweeping force. I drifted across the ship, awestruck by the surreal scene. It was when I noticed that I had full control over the direction of my floating in inertia, which was against the laws of physics, more akin to out of body experiences.
And so I found myself suspended between two halves of my ship, unable to fathom the reason for this purgatory state. I lived a good life. I wandered out to open space, to try and see my ship in full. I noticed another object lingering close to my ship. It was a wreck of what looks like a space buoy. It collided with my ship, which means I was torn out of subspace before that.
Was that an FTL disruptor? It started working a moment before I passed through it. That was the best theory I could have thought of. I decided to investigate the buoy to test my hypothesis. The hull of the buoy had imprinted lettering in venlang.
MADE ON VENLIL PRIME
The name of my homeworld did not give any answers. I needed to look further. I tried to check behind the hull of my ship and I was met with an immense pain in my paw. It was illuminated by this system’s star. I pulled my hand behind the hull and hugged it, trying to ease the pain. Even after hiding in the shadow of a shipwreck, the pain was so unbearable, it was clawing on my senses.
I felt tears accumulating around my eyes, they were also affected by inertia, rendering my vision blurry. I returned to my cockpit. There was nothing rational in this place. I just wanted to see my family and friends. Whatever deity rules this universe, I was pleading for their mercy. The void remained indifferent.
When my feelings calmed, I began to think of my crew. They were still on this ship. I went to look for them on the other half of the vessel. Behind the precipice was a maze of corridors. A faint beam of light penetrated through the broken hull at the starboard side of my ship. It means that any illuminated area was off limits. Most of my crewmates must have been ejected, because I only found someone at the stern. It was my FTL engineer, Qualen. He was pale from freezing and suffocating. His eyes were popping out of the sockets, and his mouth expressed a pure terror. I wondered where his soul could go, or be. Maybe he didn’t die yet. Perhaps I was the first to die, and time passed unbearably slowly for the rest.
I returned to my cockpit resigned. I decided to wait for something to happen or to think of some bright idea. None of it ever came. I only noticed more anomalies. The objects that floated in inertia were now frozen in time. Even Qualen’s body wasn’t moving across the corridor. I started experimenting with the new laws. I threw an object and watched as its momentum was decelerating. Everything was trying to reach the frozen-in-time state. A thought came to me, that I am in fact Faster Than Light, and the entire world has come to halt. If that was true, then why was the starlight so painful?
I went exploring the front part of the ship. Despite being engulfed in darkness, the sun was my enemy now. I’ve reached the front sleeping quarters, which were reserved for the highest rank personnel, including captain. I’ve found a journal on a shelf. I returned to the cockpit to use the remaining light to read it. The journal belonged to Vesen, the first officer. I couldn’t find her anywhere. Maybe her body was floating in a dark room, or she was engulfed by the rays of the star and I couldn’t reach her. Maybe she was ejected and she disappeared forever. I decided she wouldn’t mind if I read through her journal.
Most pages contained a standard overview on Fertility’s state. Fuel, food, water, oxygen, power, crew. In the middle Vesen started writing more personally.
“Day 7 [July 10 2016]
I’ve read thoroughly through the crewmates’ dossier. There are individuals acting strange. I have seen the rations shrinking slightly faster than in the past 7 days. Even the social meetings were dropped more rarely, or very late. Those are the tiny hints for something bad. There is a predator disease developing on Fertility. I couldn't find it without commissioning a brain scan, so I had to guess based on the dossier.
There was one individual with an uneasy past. The FTL engineer Qualen was caught in a ln arxur invasion on one of the colonies. He barely survived and escaped by hiding in an unexplored by exterminators forest. He was hiding among wild predators, until the arxur took every survivors as a cattle. I am positive that Qualen was afflicted with predator disease after that time, and now he's spreading that behavior among the oblivious crew. In a meantime i must isolate him until we return to Venlil Prime”
I was shocked after reading this. Qualen had a predator disease? I have known him for many years, he couldn't possibly be dangerous. He was like a brother to me! His name would have been cleared if we ever reached civilization and brain scanned him.
But then again, he was the only other venlil who wasn't ejected from Fertility. Is he the reason I can not rest? It must be, there's literally nothing else on this shipwreck!
I have realized the purpose of this place. It’s a judgment. The sun was an instrument of execution, like a flamethrower for exterminators. I have to incinerate the body of a predator diseased crewmate before I can finally reach peace. The danger keeps me trapped from eternal rest, I have to burn it! I rushed out of the cockpit and reached the familiar precipice.
And I froze. The frame of the hull on the other side was lit by a star, locking me out of the stern. The rays were slowly traveling towards me. It made no sense! Everything was supposed to be frozen in time, but we are still orbiting around the system! I have returned to a dark hallway to gather my thoughts. I had to cross the precipice and burn the body of Qualen, but to do this I need to walk through hell itself. The alternative was to wait until the sun passes me unnoticed. I could not see any good spot to hide, as the ship was full of reflective surfaces. Both choices are equally risky but I chose the first option. It would be a problem if the chance I had was also time sensitive.
I returned to the great crack and took a good look at the spotlit surface of the corridor. I mimicked taking a deep breath for good luck and launched.
I felt like I was boiled in water, when I dived into the starlight. Whatever I tried to do on my most primal instincts, I was thrown out to square one, and even now the pain did not abandon me. I screamed into the aether, floated erratically, anything to let the endorphins ease my suffering. It took a long time to find relief, and I remembered that I don’t possess a body anymore and no natural pain relievers are produced in my brain. The only thing that suffered was my very soul.
When I returned to the precipice, I saw the starlight was already licking on my part of a ship. In no time I will be caught by dawn. I thought of going outside of my ship, while I still could. The reflective interior couldn’t be safer than the vast space. But I still could not outrun the starlight. I would be hiding in an umbra of Fertility. If I stray too far, I will be caught in penumbra. More than that, I couldn’t expect it, there are no reference points in space.
It was too late to do anything now. There was only one thing to test. The starlight might be an absolution. Maybe if I’m engulfed in it, I will be able to find the real afterlife. Absolution was not a concept from the venlilian faith, but again I can not think of any religion where the star smolders the soul of the wronged. Whenever I wanted to test it or not, the rays were approaching through the reflective walls of the hallways. I returned to the cockpit to wait for my fate. I thought of just closing the doors, but the electricity could not work and I was in inertia, I had no way to grapple and pull the doors together manually. I could only sit in my seat and wait.
What if there’s no good ending for me? If the star was an act of extermination of a soul, only a predator hell was awaiting me. Will I suffer for nothing forever? Will the souls of predators eat me until I stop existing? Will they keep eating me until the end of time? Or maybe they acknowledge me as one of them, as I could also have predator disease? Do predators even have souls? I was caught in a stream of thoughts as the starlight was closing in. I launched to the furthest corner, buying as much time as I can. I didn’t think the reflections even allowed the light to reach me. It seemed like the starlight was approaching me no matter what. If that’s the case, wouldn’t they reach Qualen’s body as well?
I had to stop that thought, as I was out of time for pondering. I took another nonexistent breath, closed my eyes and tensed all my muscles.
It was impossible to describe the agony I felt at that moment. My impulses forced me out to the center of the room, and my entire body was exposed to the scorching force of the star. My very soul was screaming out of my control and I was torn out of my mind. I lost my vision and heard ringing in my ears from the noise of my own throat.
Soon the blurry vision returned to me, but I was still screaming in pain. Through the pain I saw I was in a completely different room. There was a spotlight above me, and the walls were dim. I was laying on a bed that felt like it was made of cracked concrete. Everything that touched my body and the light itself was painful. Even the ungroomed hair was piercing through my skin. I heard a hum in my head, coming from a translation implant. There was someone in that room speaking an alien language. The figure appeared in my range of vision. It was tall and wearing a coat. It said that the others will come in a quarter of a paw, and that everyone was expecting me for a long time.
It came closer and I felt numbness as I deciphered the face of a blurry figure. It had front-facing eyes! IT WAS A PREDATOR! It truly must be a predator hell! I tried to move, back off, run! But my entire body was heavy. It felt like I hadn’t slept in a whole life. All my limbs, tail and neck were completely exhausted! The pain could not mellow either. I was trapped in a painful reality, awaiting to be tortured forever! The monstrum said that I must not worry about anything and allow my body to rest. It finally introduced itself as a human.
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2023.06.03 02:12 Omansurver The second part of the fourth section of a certain super well-made-like-oh-my-god-this-is-so-good literary piece of media that was inspired by a animated piece of media, or the second part of the fourth chapter.
So yeah, second part. I forgot to say the page count last time of this chapter last time, so I'll say it now. Chapter four is about fifty pages long, so it fits the bill when it comes to these things. Not much else to say, so enjoy.
* * *
Jacob pondered.
On what exactly? Oh fine, I’ll tell you.
Jacob had just received what was, hopefully, a relatively unfiltered version of the recent events and situation on the planet. After about an hour of explanation, A had finished on the arrival of the disassembly drones, and the subsequent widespread assault on the worker drones. When Jacob had asked for the specific story of A’s squad, A had skirted around it, only lightly touching upon the subject. It was slightly suspicious, but Jacob didn’t plan on doing anything about it.
However, if it was the truth, it only raised more questions than answers. The fact that a company was willing to exterminate the entirety of what was probably a massive investment was just baffling. Jacob could only come up with two explanations, one of which was rather worrying to think about. The first was that of changing times; perhaps the company was so rich, and technology so advanced, that the worker drones could be replaced with the ease of buying another shipload of tissues. If you threw away an entire box of tissues, it would be annoying to say the least, but it wouldn’t cost a lot to just get another one.
But, it just didn’t make sense to Jacob that that would be the case. The United States military in the time of Jacob had heaps, thousands of missiles, and could afford to replace them as they were used. But if they all disappeared at once? It would take lots of time, money, and effort to replace each and every single last one of the lost payloads, and not to mention the logistical nightmare it would be.
So, that led Jacob to his other solution, one that insinuated a scenario far more confusing and sinister. If the company decided to just annihilate every worker drone, which is a very radical and illogical decision by a galaxy-spanning megacorporation, then it would line up with certain other decisions made by other people in the past.
During the Second World War, the U.S. government was fearful of a potential Japanese invasion. They believed that, if they did land boots on American soil, that the Japanese-Americans would rise up, taking the side of the invaders. And so, Roosevelt made the Executive Order 9066, ordering over one hundred and twenty thousand Japanese-Americans to be interned in concentration camps, where they would remain until near the end of the war.
This was an apt example for how even the most level-headed of individuals could make bad decisions under the influence of fear. If Jacob assumed that the same was true for this day and age, then perhaps the administration at the company had sent machines to kill the entire worker drone populace due some or maybe even all of them being much more dangerous than what was being let on. It was a bit far-fetched, but was the one of the only viable solutions at the moment, aside from his theory that nothing was real and they were all figments of the imagination of a being so complex they were nothing but fiction to it, but the chances of that were little to none.
Right?
Jacob’s pondering was interrupted by someone waving their hand in front of his face.
“Ugh, hello?” A snapped his fingers twice. “You there?”
Jacob blinked, refocusing on his present company. “Uh yeah, just processing.”
A scoffed. “Processing what? I thought humans were superior or something?”
Jacob smacked A’s hand out of his face. “Me too.”
A raised an LED eyebrow.
“Doesn’t matter.” Jacob waved hand in a dismissive way. “What now?”
“I dunno. That's all I had.” A shrugged.
“Nothing else you’re hiding?” Jacob questioned.
“No. There isn’t.” A glared at Jacob. “Now drop it.”
Jacob held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, jeez man, calm down. I just don’t wanna be bored for however long I’m stuck here.”
“Yeah well, that's not really my problem.” A stated.
Jacob didn’t reply, only sighing, before standing and getting up out of his seat.
A startled. “Wait, where are you going?”
“Out.” Jacob simply replied.
“Why?” A inquired.
Jacob shrugged. “Bored.”
A got to his feet as well. “Fine then. I guess I’m going as well.”
“You’re coming with?” Jacob asked incredulously.
“Yeah. I can’t have you running off and getting yourself killed.” A reasoned.
“They kept saying that too.” Jacob grumbled.
“Who said that?” A tilted his head.
“K and X.” Jacob answered. “Also, why don’t y’all have normal names? Why just letters?”
“I dunno.” A non-committedly replied.
“Huh.” Jacob took that as a cue to leave, turning to the ladder.
A followed closely behind, waiting until Jacob had gone through the small exit to ascend himself.
Jacob didn’t bother to use the ladder on the way down, buckling his knees and dropping the last few feet, hearing the snow crunch beneath him. He had been prepared to absorb the impact, but it seemed like whatever advanced mechanics his suit possessed had done the job all by itself, which was pretty nice. He made a mental note to test out the capabilities later on, just to get a general sense of the limits and what would be a danger to him.
Jacob heard a similar crunching noise behind him, causing him to look backwards, seeing A just awkwardly standing there.
“Just gonna follow me? Really?” Jacob was slightly annoyed.
“Yeah. I’ve gotta keep you safe until someone else takes you off my hands, or else I’ll-” A cut himself off.
Jacob took note of that, inferring what he might have been about to say. It only served to confirm his notion that he was sort of a VIP on the planet. He was to be protected at all costs, which was pretty nice for Jacob.
“So, you gonna do anything?” A asked.
* * *
The sound of snow crunching filled the empty room as the pair walked into it.
“Can we go back already?” X complained.
“No, and be quiet.” K scolded him. “It’s too echoey in this room, it’s annoying.”
X scoffed. “Pff, it’s fine. Nobody’s around for miles, we’re all good. Now when can we go back?”
K rolled her eyes. “We can go back when we find something, You heard what he said.”
“What who said?” X inquired.
“You idiot, our squad leader!? Our boss that we’ve spent who knows how long with!?” K cried out.
“Calm down, just messing around.” X leaned against the wall.
“Whatever, you know what A said. We can’t come back until we’ve found water.” K reminded X.
“Why do we even need it? I’m sure he’ll be fine.” X waved off the issue.
“He’ll die.” K deadpanned.
“He can walk it off.” X waved off the issue again.
“I don’t care, just get off the wall, we’ve gotta search every building.” K gestured for X to follow.
“How can we even find anything in here? Everywhere else we’ve checked has been empty.” X took his place next to K.
“You never know, now get to it.” K kicked over a rock, exposing a small marble.
X trotted over to a dented metal counter on one side of the room, peering underneath it.
“Nothing here, this is useless.” X whined.
“Shut up.” K called out.
X surprisingly obliged, kneeling down and searching the small cabinets that were connected to the counter. After finding nothing but a small skeleton huddled inside one of them, X sighed heavily, before making his way over to a large metal box. It might’ve been taller than him if it wasn’t tipped over on its side, with an assortment of power cords snaking out from an outlet on the back of it. Seeing a small handle on the front, X tugged on it, the slight rust giving way to superior strength.
However, X’s eyes went wide with shock, which changed to glee.
“Hey, look what I’ve found!” X called out to K.
K’s head whipped up, staring at the prize that X was brandishing. “You found- what is that?”
If the two had any idea what warm food was, they would’ve recognized the lumpy frozen good that X had in his hands as a perfectly preserved rotisserie chicken. If they had any sort of reheating device, and if they had proper taste buds, they might have been able to enjoy the sweet experience of a Thanksgiving dinner. However, they were ignorant robots who were about as smart as a middle schooler, so the only reaction that they, or at least one of them had, was confusion.
“I dunno, but it says chicken on the side!” X proudly exclaimed.
“What’s chicken?” K questioned.
“I’m . . . not sure . . . but I’m pretty sure it's food.” X’s LED eyebrows furrowed in thought.
“How do you know that?” K asked.
“Uh, I don't?” X seemed more confused than ecstatic now.
K shook her head. “Did you find anything useful?”
“Well I found this clear thing, but it only says something called ‘Dasani’ on the side.” X held up a clear plastic bottle, putting his finger in quotation marks when he said it.
“Give me that!” K dashed across the room, snatching the item out of X’s hands.
“Wha- hey!” X tried to grab at it, but K held it out of his reach.
“Back up!” K swatted X in the face, inciting a squawk of surprise.
“I found it first, give it back!” X shot back, tackling K, causing the bottle to roll across the ground.
The two began slugging at each other, scrabbling across the ground for dominance over a goddamn bottle, like a gang of the aforementioned middle schoolers. Nearly crushing the contested item multiple times, the two spent a good thirty seconds duking it out. And after K finally managed to curl into a ball around the bottle, X tried to no avail to recapture his former possession.
“You motherfu-” X was cut off by a noise from the door that led deeper into the building
The two highly professional disassembly drones shot to their feet, their gazes snapping to the origin of the sound. Standing there was a figure, about the same height as K and X, with familiar black plating and armor, kneeling down to grab a small blue marble that was on the floor. It appears as though the idiot had been trying to be sneaky to avoid capturing the attention of the killer robots, which clearly didn’t go as planned.
“Uh, hi.” The drone said after a moment of silence.
Even more silence.
The military drone took that as a cue to scoop up the marble, before dashing out of the room.
K and X instantly took chase, with K pocketing the small bottle for later. The military drone wasn’t quite fast, but it did make use of its head start well. The unnamed drone disappeared behind the corner, with the pair of disassembly drones right on his heels. However, when K turned around the edge, a bullet tore through the air, finding its home in her head. Completely unprepared, she fell to the ground.
X, contrary to what some might do, didn’t stop to assist her, instead just simply vaulting over her body, speeding onward. He was rapidly closing the distance between him and the military drone, when his prey suddenly whipped around with a pistol in its hand. X, unlike his comrade, was prepared for this inevitability, turning to the side and out of the path of the trio of bullets as they flew by him. X followed up on this by diving down onto the hapless drone, trying to skewer it on gleaming metal claws.
The drone didn’t have a chance to fight, but unknown to X, he did have time to press the small panic button on its jawline, or where the jawline would be if it was a human. If anyone on this planet was familiar with standard police or even military practice, they would recognize the small button as the useful yet annoying panic button.
For a bit of context, the panic button is usually represented as a small and easy-to-access device that, when activated, sends out an emergency distress signal that would notify the proper authorities of the panic button’s location and a dire situation. The panic button is common in the military, police personnel, elderly homes, schools, corporate buildings, apartment buildings, and basically everywhere else that isn’t a ghetto.
The drone, however, proved to be much smarter than his predecessors, much to the dismay of X. It dove to the side, dropping down and through a weakened rusty grate. As X’s claws scraped against the wall, the fleeing drone tossed a metal panel that was blocking the way out to his side, before dashing through the door. X jumped down to the lower floor, before continuing his chase.
A flurry of bullets ripped towards him, but X brought his arm up, letting his forearm absorb the projectiles that hit, and most missed. The drone ran down a comically long flight of stairs, taking three steps at a time. The stairs continued downward, eventually opening up to a basement with a gaping hole in the wall, which led straight into darkness. The drone nearly fell into the hole from the momentum of jumping down the stairs. But, it just managed to skid to a stop at the edge.
X landed at the foot of the stairs, crouching to absorb the impact. X’s gaze focused on the drone that was pointing the pistol at X, sights drawing a solid bead on his head. However, when it pulled the trigger, it was only met with a slight clicking sound. The drone gaze jerked down to the pistol, then straight back up to X, who was now diving towards it, claws outstretched.
The drone jumped backwards, losing his balance. Its foot slipped off the edge, and while the sudden space between it and X saved its life for the time being, it did have to contend with gravity, which was now pulling on the drone by a considerable amount.
X watched as the drone tumbled down the pit, hitting the sides. However, the sides of the pit were both sloped and slick with a thin sheet of ice, causing the drone to slide down to the bottom. The drone slammed against a large rusty metal pipe, which was a solid indicator of the pit’s identity as a sewer.
The drone scrambled to its feet, caving the skull in of a skeleton that appeared to have been a former inspector when one took into account the corpse’s clipboard and tattered clothes. X slammed down onto the large pipe, causing it to resonate like a gong. The drone snatched up a small length of rusty metal rebar that had impaled itself on the ground, the edge of the steel surprisingly sharp. The drone adopted a fighting stance, pointing the business end towards X.
The robotic predator didn’t care, however, just simply stabbing his prey with his own pointy stick, the sharp end of his nanite acid tail. The sharp tool stuck itself in the drone’s shoulder, causing it to drop the bar and curse. X took the opportunity to grip the drone by the head, while digging the claws of his other hand in its chest. X then looked into the opaque black visor of the military drone, before pulling in two opposite directions.
The effects were made known quickly, with the head of the military drone migrating away from its home connected to the body. Oil splashed down onto X, who took the opportunity to feed. X dropped the head, letting it hit the ground with a clang, dropping the body as well.
X stood over the fallen corpse, claws gleaming with oil. K landed next to him, retracting her wings.
“So you got it?” K asked.
“No I didn’t, he got away. This body right here is just a random pigeon, and you’re just hallucinating.” X replied sarcastically. “Also, how the hell did you get here so fast?”
K rolled her eyes. “Oh, be quiet. I’m just making sure, because knowing you, you would probably let him go for the funny.” She ignored his latter question.
“Well now that you mention it . . .” X looked sorrowfully at the body.
K punched him in the arm. “Whatever, we gotta go. I seriously doubt that he was alone-”
She was cut off yet again by a loud crash that originated from the hole up on the wall. The duo whipped around, only to see several guns pointed straight at them.
“Sup.” X nodded at the intruders.
* * *
The sound of conversation could be audibly heard from the lit tent.
The tent had been designated as the de facto headquarters for the former facility personnel, with a smaller offshoot serving as a meeting room for the leadership. The offshoot tent in question was currently being used for its purpose, with an emergency meeting being called. Not because of the discovery of a dead body, but for a different matter entirely.
“Can anyone at least tell me how this happened?” The Lead Engineer leaned on the table.
One of the data officers stepped forward. “We believe that when we were evacuating the facility, an error occurred that declassified the file.” They answered.
“An error did this.” The General wasn’t convinced.
“Well, yes. The computers had been degrading for a while now, and we had noticed that several of our autonomous programs were misbehaving, or just outright not working at all.” The data officer replied.
“And we did nothing about this?” The General glared at the trio of data officers that had joined them.
“We actually were doing all we could, but we didn’t have the materials to make a complete fix.” The Lead Engineer interjected.
“Why didn’t you tell me then!?” The General exclaimed.
“I did. You probably just forgot again.” The Lead Engineer suggested.
“What? I have the best memory here.” The General puffed out his chest proudly.
“Alright then, what were we just talking about?” The Lead Engineer inquired.
The General frowned. “We were talking?”
The Lead Engineer facepalmed. “Goddamn idiot.”
One of the data officers stepped up. “Uh, sir? There is still the matter of the ones who discovered the information.”
“Oh yeah, uh, dump them off the eastern bridge.” The Lead Engineer waved off the issue.
With a simple nod, the data officers left, accompanied by a few guards as well. The Lead Engineer sat back in his chair, before steepling his fingers on the desk. He looked back and forth between the assembled leadership, before the General spoke up.
“So, are we gonna continue or what?” He crossed his arms.
“Yes, sorry.” The Lead Engineer motioned to one of his ministers. “You take the lead, Kane.”
Kane got up, walking to the front of the tent, dragging a projector on a cart with him. When he arrived, he pulled down the white screen, securing the hook on a latch on the bottom. He then adjusted the cart, facing the lens towards the screen. He then attached a laptop to the projector, pressing a few buttons and fiddling with a few switches, cursing once. Finally, the projector flickered to life, shining an image onto the screen.
Kane cleared his throat. “Ahem, so. What you are seeing here is the first page of the document in question. As you can see here, it appears to be warning against a drone viewing whatever the contents of this file is.” Kane flicked to the next slide. “It continues to vehemently express this multiple times, not really differing in its warning at all.”
One of the military ministers, Alicia, raised her hand. “Uh, question?”
Kane paused. “What is it?”
“Its warning against drones? She asked.
“Yes, it is. I’ll explain this later on, so save your questions for the end please.” Kane looked back to the projection, skipping through the slides until he landed on the first one without a warning.
“Ah, here we go. So, as you can see here, this appears to be a logo for JCJenson-'' Kane was interrupted by a faint, “In Spaaaaacee!” from an unknown source. “Uh, anyway, as all of you know, JCJenson was the company that owned this planet, and the one that provided the drones that the government were using in their facility, which was us.” Kane flicked to the next slide.
“Here we can see a title for a project, along with several bits of accompanying information, like locations, associates, page number, references, you get the picture.” Kane then produced a long ruler from what seemed like thin air, before pointing the end at one of the words. “Pay attention to this one here ‘AbsoSolv’ as it’ll come up several times later on.” Going to the next slide, Kane cleared his throat yet again.
“This page is more confusing, as it appears to be mentioning several unit serial numbers that don’t match up with standard format, which are mixed in with several other ones that are in different format, like this one here,” Kane pointed his stick at a random one from the line. “This one says, S-010011X01, which I believe has a main identifying letter instead of a string of numbers based on time of construction.”
“Additionally, while some of these feature the normal serial numbers that worker drones use, they have another identifier after it, separated by a dash.” Kane flipped to the next slide.
“This one is more straightforward, as it appears to be featuring a set of technical designs of a modified worker drone with the serial number and other associated information listed at the top. The notes on the side are observations on the modifications that can be seen in the designs. Some of the original worker drone parts can be seen, but a majority of the inner and outer mass seem to have been altered or replaced with a substance that is described as ‘fleshy’. You can see at the very bottom a signature of an unknown human administrator, and a notice that marks the drone for ‘disassembly’ as an addendum can be seen that marks whatever this is as a failure, and a recommendation to request more data from their source.”
Kane took a breath, before going to the next slide. “This is essentially the same as the last one, and this continues for a few slides. Nothing of note can be found in them, save for a few different serial numbers that were listed in one of the prior slides.”
Kane flicked to the next slide. “This one has two addendums, which I will say in a moment. The image is different as well, with noticeably less random mutations and more of a form taking place. This one was supposedly much more successful than the others, and while it was still marked as a failure, the first addendum said that the team working on the project should strip the data from the drone in as best a condition as they could. The second one simply noted they were naming the specific strain of code they were using to ‘Absolute Solver’. The addendum does not mention any reason or motive behind the name, only noting the fact that their shareholders would be pleased.”
“The next one is the first apparent success in the line of experiments that JCJenson seemed to be doing. A single growth can be seen protruding from the back of the spinal transmitter, and several other growths have sprouted inside. However, it is noted that the drone survived the process, and remained somewhat coherent for a period of time afterwards, which seems to be an outlier when considering the others. There isn’t an addendum on this one, only a request from the team for more extensive data from their source to compare to this experiment.”
“This trend continues for a good while, so I’ll just summarize the important bits for all of you.” Kane stated. “Each version continued to show more and more productive attributes and traits, as is par the standard course. Throughout the notes, requests, and addendums, whoever was typing up the document repeatedly noted some things that I will review later, such as Absolute Solver, the ‘source’, Camp 98.7, Cabin Fever Labs, and disassembly drones.”
Kane flicked to the final slide. “This is the final page, with some items to note. It appears to be a reiteration of the specifics of the agreement between the government and JCJenson, with a few additional key things. It includes the standard formalities and the usual junk that we all know, but something else as well. When mentioning the exchange of data that came from the asset-” Kane paused as the room underwent an uncomfortable shuffle in their seats. “They mention a clear correlation between this project that JCJenson is, or was, working on, and the asset. They also instructed the government contacts that any unauthorized personnel, which included government agents, were now barred from entering Camp 98.7 due to ‘hazardous environmental conditions’ and that this was nonnegotiable.”
Kane turned away from the projector, clasping his hands in front of himself. “And now to explain.”
“From what me and the team I assigned could gather, we deduced the meanings and purposes behind several items that were mentioned in this file. The first and most obvious, the ‘source’ that is mentioned. They are receiving data from this source, which seems to be essential to the development of what they were working on. Based on their words, we figured that the source is likely the asset, and yes, the same asset that we are all familiar with.” Kane paused, seemingly to let his words sink in.
“Continuing on, we began to dissect what Camp 98.7 was. It was very clearly a location of sorts, but where it was and what it was used for was more complicated. While we never arrived at a solid conclusion, we believed that the most likely avenue was that Camp 98.7 might have been an outpost of sorts, perhaps used in conjunction with these Cabin Fever Labs.”
“On the matter of the Cabin Fever Labs, we can clearly assume that research and development of this Absolute Solver was being conducted there, and perhaps Camp 98.7 was a sort of staging ground or other type of location related to the lab. We believe that the location of one or both of these sites are hidden within another file.”
“And perhaps the most intriguing and complex matter of them all, Absolute Solver. We figured that it was likely that this Absolute Solver was instrumental in whatever experiments they were doing, or even being one of the subjects of the experiments themselves. From what we gather, Absolute Solver is something, maybe a piece of alien machinery, some sort of unknown lifeform, an experimental strain of cutting-edge code, one of those things, but whatever it is, it is not something that is ‘normal’. It appears to have a unique effect on those it hosts or comes into contact with, rapidly generating new organic material, with sometimes uncontrolled effects. While the file only shows the experiments that used drones, we don’t know if any humans or other organic lifeforms were included either. Likely not, considering the legality of the situation, but it's open to discussion.”
Kane took a large breath, before continuing.
“And finally, the disassembly drones. They seem simple, but my team believed it to be heavily related to our current situation. They aren’t mentioned very often, but they appear to be a direct result of their experiments or related to one. From what we could gather, they are meant to, well, disassemble. Drones on par with military-grade ones that are capable of a variety of things, like bullet fire, rocket launching, melee combat, flight, digital warfare, and regeneration.” Kane watched as his words dawned upon his audience, expressions filling with shock.
“Yes, those drones. The disassembly drones that we read about are likely some variant of the unknown assailants that attacked the facility, and stole the asset in the process.”
The General sputtered. “B-but that would be a severe political incident! If those drones were under the command of JCJenson, and they stole GOVERNMENT property, then they would be liable for retaliation!”
Kane tried to calm the room. “Now, hold on, I’m not done-”
The Lead Engineer also appeared to be shocked. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier!?”
“You told me to wait for the meeting!” Kane exclaimed.
The room erupted into disarray.
“We need to mobilize, hunt down those damn traitors!”
“What's their last known location!?”
“Where is the nearest transmitter, send out a request for retaliatory action!”
Suddenly, a drone burst into the room, knocking over the projector cart in the process. Everyone turned to look at him, ceasing the chaos for a moment.
“Er, uh, sirs?” The drone asked.
“Yes?” The General and the Lead Engineer stood up at the same time.
“I, uh,” The drone looked back and forth between the two administrators. “Well, we received a panic signal from one of our scouts.”
The General scoffed. “Why would that be enough to warrant our intervention? He probably just tripped on a conveniently placed banana peel.”
The messenger fidgeted nervously. “Well, his partner reported moments before the signal came in that he heard gunshots.”
The administrative drones shared a collective uneasy look.
“What did you do?” The General asked slowly.
“The officers who received the signal first sent in two of the patrol squads that were nearby at the time.” The messenger answered.
The drones in assembly all either looked down in disappointment or facepalmed.
The General spoke up after a moment. “Send in a squad as fast as you can to their last known location. Only veterans, and outfit them with heavy weaponry and explosive ordnance.” The General paused, before adding an afterthought. “And give them some cutting equipment too.”
The messenger blinked in surprise. “Wait, sir, are you sure-”
“Just tell the officers already!” The General slammed his fist down onto the cheap plastic table, which formed a crack.
The messenger saluted quickly, before dashing out of the room.
The Lead Engineer took a cursory look at the assembled drones, before he sighed.
“We’re screwed.”
* * *
“Are you going back anytime soon?”
Jacob looked back at his unwanted companion.
“No.” He answered simply, before resuming his casual trot.
“We’re getting too far away from the spire, and the sun is coming up in an hour or two. I for one don’t want to get caught out.” A insisted.
“Well I don’t die from a bit of sunlight, so too bad.” Jacob stepped over a tire rim.
“I’m not sure that’s your choice.” A stated.
Jacob paused and looked backward. “Oh, so you’re bossing me around now?”
“Maybe, if you keep on making dumb decisions like this.” A stopped as well.
“Pff, I’ll be fine.” Jacob waved his hand in the air to emphasize his point.
“You won’t last ten minutes.” A dead-panned.
“Nah, I’ll speedrun this stuff, I’ll be off-planet in an hour.” Jacob proudly said.
A shook his head and sighed. “Whatever you say.”
Jacob didn’t answer.
Jacob then looked around. “Wait, where are we? I wasn’t keeping track.”
“And you said that you would- whatever, we’re like, three miles away from the base.” A replied.
“Huh, went that far?” Jacob asked.
A frowned. “Three miles isn’t that far-”
A was interrupted by a rather loud crack that resonated through the landscape.
Jacob blinked. “Uh, ok then-”
Jacob was also interrupted by a trio of cracks and bangs, sounding slightly familiar.
“Are those-” Jacob was, yet again, interrupted by even more bangs.
“-gunshots?” He finished.
“I wouldn’t worry, those idiots are probably either messing around, or they found a worker drone to kill.” A nonchalantly answered.
“Shouldn’t we go check it out though?” Jacob inquired.
“It isn’t a problem.” A said, annoyed.
“Well it would give me something to do.” Jacob insisted.
A checked the time, before looking at the horizon for signs of sunlight.
“Eh, fine. Wouldn’t hurt, I guess.” A shrugged.
“Nice.” Jacob grinned underneath his ballistic visor.
* * *
K sliced through the head of the last desperate drone, before spitting out a bullet.
“You done?” K called out to X.
“Yeah, I guess. By the way, do you still have my Dasani thing?” X looked at K hopefully.
“Yes, I do. And besides, it isn’t yours, it's for Jacob.” K answered.
“What? Why is he getting it? Why not me?” X exclaimed.
“Because it's water, idiot. An uncontaminated source, like A told us, remember?” K glared at X.
“I guess, but that's water?” X asked.
“Yes, it is. It matches the description.” K replied
“Description?” X questioned.
“Yeah, the description. You know what description means, right?” K seemed even more annoyed.
“I know what it means.” X snapped. “But how do you know what water looks like?”
K just shrugged, before turning towards the exit.
“Come on, we gotta get back soon.” She flew upwards, landing on the ledge.
X followed suit, tracing their steps back through the building. X looked back up at the rusty grate that the drone had fallen through, which he now identified as being part of a weirdly placed catwalk. Scanning the environment, X found that the only entrance to the small alcove would be the hole in the catwalk. The basement that the small room was connected to didn’t have an entrance either, only having the gaping hole in the side of the room, which likely wasn't intended. That would mean that a person would have to chop through the sewer wall to get into the basement and adjoining alcove, or jump off the catwalk. Both of those options didn’t make any sort of sense at all. In fact, the catwalk wasn’t even needed, someone could have just removed the entire basement-and-alcove plan entirely, which also removed the necessity for a catwalk. All in all, whoever designed the building was either high off of some crazy drugs, an idiot, or both.
But, none of these thoughts went through X’s head, as he was only thinking about the devastating loss of his cool plastic bottle.
K hefted herself up onto the rusty catwalk, with X following close behind. K went through the doorway, only for a rather eventful event to stop her momentarily.
A rocket screamed through the air, smacking K straight in the chest. The resulting explosion blew X backwards and K apart, with oil splashing onto the ground in the process. With a clatter, X hit the ground, slightly dazed. He looked to his left to see what looked like the arm of K, twitching slightly. X tried to get up, only to fall again, after he put his weight on a hand that wasn’t there.
X, seeing the failure of Operation: GTFU, adjusted his position so that he could get up with his other hand only, which was thankfully still there. Investigating his left arm, he could see that everything down from the elbow had been separated from himself in the blast. He didn’t have time to look for it or go get it, so he simply let the matter go.
Standing up, X stared through the smoke, before diving back down onto the ground when another rocket came streaking past him. It scratched his face, sending small sparks up, before heading down the other hallway. X pointed his own rocket launcher into the fog, before firing off a flurry of shots. He heard explosions, but wasn’t rewarded with screams or grunts of pain. Problematic, to say the least.
X took the opportunity to kick K’s assorted dismembered body parts down into the lower alcove, where she should eventually reassemble herself. She was really taking a beating recently, and she would probably be frustrated about that when X was all done, but that wasn’t his problem-
X nearly met the same fate as K when another rocket flew from the open doorway, the fog starting to clear up. X jumped up and over the RPG, letting it fly into the unexplored depths of the building. He couldn’t do this dance forever, so he made the executive decision to charge into the unknown.
* * *
Anyway, I'll be posting the next part tomorrow, so hang on tight for the singular person that made it to the end. No need to like, this is purely for my own benefit. See ya.
submitted by Omansurver to MurderDrones [link] [comments]
* * *
Jacob pondered.
On what exactly? Oh fine, I’ll tell you.
Jacob had just received what was, hopefully, a relatively unfiltered version of the recent events and situation on the planet. After about an hour of explanation, A had finished on the arrival of the disassembly drones, and the subsequent widespread assault on the worker drones. When Jacob had asked for the specific story of A’s squad, A had skirted around it, only lightly touching upon the subject. It was slightly suspicious, but Jacob didn’t plan on doing anything about it.
However, if it was the truth, it only raised more questions than answers. The fact that a company was willing to exterminate the entirety of what was probably a massive investment was just baffling. Jacob could only come up with two explanations, one of which was rather worrying to think about. The first was that of changing times; perhaps the company was so rich, and technology so advanced, that the worker drones could be replaced with the ease of buying another shipload of tissues. If you threw away an entire box of tissues, it would be annoying to say the least, but it wouldn’t cost a lot to just get another one.
But, it just didn’t make sense to Jacob that that would be the case. The United States military in the time of Jacob had heaps, thousands of missiles, and could afford to replace them as they were used. But if they all disappeared at once? It would take lots of time, money, and effort to replace each and every single last one of the lost payloads, and not to mention the logistical nightmare it would be.
So, that led Jacob to his other solution, one that insinuated a scenario far more confusing and sinister. If the company decided to just annihilate every worker drone, which is a very radical and illogical decision by a galaxy-spanning megacorporation, then it would line up with certain other decisions made by other people in the past.
During the Second World War, the U.S. government was fearful of a potential Japanese invasion. They believed that, if they did land boots on American soil, that the Japanese-Americans would rise up, taking the side of the invaders. And so, Roosevelt made the Executive Order 9066, ordering over one hundred and twenty thousand Japanese-Americans to be interned in concentration camps, where they would remain until near the end of the war.
This was an apt example for how even the most level-headed of individuals could make bad decisions under the influence of fear. If Jacob assumed that the same was true for this day and age, then perhaps the administration at the company had sent machines to kill the entire worker drone populace due some or maybe even all of them being much more dangerous than what was being let on. It was a bit far-fetched, but was the one of the only viable solutions at the moment, aside from his theory that nothing was real and they were all figments of the imagination of a being so complex they were nothing but fiction to it, but the chances of that were little to none.
Right?
Jacob’s pondering was interrupted by someone waving their hand in front of his face.
“Ugh, hello?” A snapped his fingers twice. “You there?”
Jacob blinked, refocusing on his present company. “Uh yeah, just processing.”
A scoffed. “Processing what? I thought humans were superior or something?”
Jacob smacked A’s hand out of his face. “Me too.”
A raised an LED eyebrow.
“Doesn’t matter.” Jacob waved hand in a dismissive way. “What now?”
“I dunno. That's all I had.” A shrugged.
“Nothing else you’re hiding?” Jacob questioned.
“No. There isn’t.” A glared at Jacob. “Now drop it.”
Jacob held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, jeez man, calm down. I just don’t wanna be bored for however long I’m stuck here.”
“Yeah well, that's not really my problem.” A stated.
Jacob didn’t reply, only sighing, before standing and getting up out of his seat.
A startled. “Wait, where are you going?”
“Out.” Jacob simply replied.
“Why?” A inquired.
Jacob shrugged. “Bored.”
A got to his feet as well. “Fine then. I guess I’m going as well.”
“You’re coming with?” Jacob asked incredulously.
“Yeah. I can’t have you running off and getting yourself killed.” A reasoned.
“They kept saying that too.” Jacob grumbled.
“Who said that?” A tilted his head.
“K and X.” Jacob answered. “Also, why don’t y’all have normal names? Why just letters?”
“I dunno.” A non-committedly replied.
“Huh.” Jacob took that as a cue to leave, turning to the ladder.
A followed closely behind, waiting until Jacob had gone through the small exit to ascend himself.
Jacob didn’t bother to use the ladder on the way down, buckling his knees and dropping the last few feet, hearing the snow crunch beneath him. He had been prepared to absorb the impact, but it seemed like whatever advanced mechanics his suit possessed had done the job all by itself, which was pretty nice. He made a mental note to test out the capabilities later on, just to get a general sense of the limits and what would be a danger to him.
Jacob heard a similar crunching noise behind him, causing him to look backwards, seeing A just awkwardly standing there.
“Just gonna follow me? Really?” Jacob was slightly annoyed.
“Yeah. I’ve gotta keep you safe until someone else takes you off my hands, or else I’ll-” A cut himself off.
Jacob took note of that, inferring what he might have been about to say. It only served to confirm his notion that he was sort of a VIP on the planet. He was to be protected at all costs, which was pretty nice for Jacob.
“So, you gonna do anything?” A asked.
* * *
The sound of snow crunching filled the empty room as the pair walked into it.
“Can we go back already?” X complained.
“No, and be quiet.” K scolded him. “It’s too echoey in this room, it’s annoying.”
X scoffed. “Pff, it’s fine. Nobody’s around for miles, we’re all good. Now when can we go back?”
K rolled her eyes. “We can go back when we find something, You heard what he said.”
“What who said?” X inquired.
“You idiot, our squad leader!? Our boss that we’ve spent who knows how long with!?” K cried out.
“Calm down, just messing around.” X leaned against the wall.
“Whatever, you know what A said. We can’t come back until we’ve found water.” K reminded X.
“Why do we even need it? I’m sure he’ll be fine.” X waved off the issue.
“He’ll die.” K deadpanned.
“He can walk it off.” X waved off the issue again.
“I don’t care, just get off the wall, we’ve gotta search every building.” K gestured for X to follow.
“How can we even find anything in here? Everywhere else we’ve checked has been empty.” X took his place next to K.
“You never know, now get to it.” K kicked over a rock, exposing a small marble.
X trotted over to a dented metal counter on one side of the room, peering underneath it.
“Nothing here, this is useless.” X whined.
“Shut up.” K called out.
X surprisingly obliged, kneeling down and searching the small cabinets that were connected to the counter. After finding nothing but a small skeleton huddled inside one of them, X sighed heavily, before making his way over to a large metal box. It might’ve been taller than him if it wasn’t tipped over on its side, with an assortment of power cords snaking out from an outlet on the back of it. Seeing a small handle on the front, X tugged on it, the slight rust giving way to superior strength.
However, X’s eyes went wide with shock, which changed to glee.
“Hey, look what I’ve found!” X called out to K.
K’s head whipped up, staring at the prize that X was brandishing. “You found- what is that?”
If the two had any idea what warm food was, they would’ve recognized the lumpy frozen good that X had in his hands as a perfectly preserved rotisserie chicken. If they had any sort of reheating device, and if they had proper taste buds, they might have been able to enjoy the sweet experience of a Thanksgiving dinner. However, they were ignorant robots who were about as smart as a middle schooler, so the only reaction that they, or at least one of them had, was confusion.
“I dunno, but it says chicken on the side!” X proudly exclaimed.
“What’s chicken?” K questioned.
“I’m . . . not sure . . . but I’m pretty sure it's food.” X’s LED eyebrows furrowed in thought.
“How do you know that?” K asked.
“Uh, I don't?” X seemed more confused than ecstatic now.
K shook her head. “Did you find anything useful?”
“Well I found this clear thing, but it only says something called ‘Dasani’ on the side.” X held up a clear plastic bottle, putting his finger in quotation marks when he said it.
“Give me that!” K dashed across the room, snatching the item out of X’s hands.
“Wha- hey!” X tried to grab at it, but K held it out of his reach.
“Back up!” K swatted X in the face, inciting a squawk of surprise.
“I found it first, give it back!” X shot back, tackling K, causing the bottle to roll across the ground.
The two began slugging at each other, scrabbling across the ground for dominance over a goddamn bottle, like a gang of the aforementioned middle schoolers. Nearly crushing the contested item multiple times, the two spent a good thirty seconds duking it out. And after K finally managed to curl into a ball around the bottle, X tried to no avail to recapture his former possession.
“You motherfu-” X was cut off by a noise from the door that led deeper into the building
The two highly professional disassembly drones shot to their feet, their gazes snapping to the origin of the sound. Standing there was a figure, about the same height as K and X, with familiar black plating and armor, kneeling down to grab a small blue marble that was on the floor. It appears as though the idiot had been trying to be sneaky to avoid capturing the attention of the killer robots, which clearly didn’t go as planned.
“Uh, hi.” The drone said after a moment of silence.
Even more silence.
The military drone took that as a cue to scoop up the marble, before dashing out of the room.
K and X instantly took chase, with K pocketing the small bottle for later. The military drone wasn’t quite fast, but it did make use of its head start well. The unnamed drone disappeared behind the corner, with the pair of disassembly drones right on his heels. However, when K turned around the edge, a bullet tore through the air, finding its home in her head. Completely unprepared, she fell to the ground.
X, contrary to what some might do, didn’t stop to assist her, instead just simply vaulting over her body, speeding onward. He was rapidly closing the distance between him and the military drone, when his prey suddenly whipped around with a pistol in its hand. X, unlike his comrade, was prepared for this inevitability, turning to the side and out of the path of the trio of bullets as they flew by him. X followed up on this by diving down onto the hapless drone, trying to skewer it on gleaming metal claws.
The drone didn’t have a chance to fight, but unknown to X, he did have time to press the small panic button on its jawline, or where the jawline would be if it was a human. If anyone on this planet was familiar with standard police or even military practice, they would recognize the small button as the useful yet annoying panic button.
For a bit of context, the panic button is usually represented as a small and easy-to-access device that, when activated, sends out an emergency distress signal that would notify the proper authorities of the panic button’s location and a dire situation. The panic button is common in the military, police personnel, elderly homes, schools, corporate buildings, apartment buildings, and basically everywhere else that isn’t a ghetto.
The drone, however, proved to be much smarter than his predecessors, much to the dismay of X. It dove to the side, dropping down and through a weakened rusty grate. As X’s claws scraped against the wall, the fleeing drone tossed a metal panel that was blocking the way out to his side, before dashing through the door. X jumped down to the lower floor, before continuing his chase.
A flurry of bullets ripped towards him, but X brought his arm up, letting his forearm absorb the projectiles that hit, and most missed. The drone ran down a comically long flight of stairs, taking three steps at a time. The stairs continued downward, eventually opening up to a basement with a gaping hole in the wall, which led straight into darkness. The drone nearly fell into the hole from the momentum of jumping down the stairs. But, it just managed to skid to a stop at the edge.
X landed at the foot of the stairs, crouching to absorb the impact. X’s gaze focused on the drone that was pointing the pistol at X, sights drawing a solid bead on his head. However, when it pulled the trigger, it was only met with a slight clicking sound. The drone gaze jerked down to the pistol, then straight back up to X, who was now diving towards it, claws outstretched.
The drone jumped backwards, losing his balance. Its foot slipped off the edge, and while the sudden space between it and X saved its life for the time being, it did have to contend with gravity, which was now pulling on the drone by a considerable amount.
X watched as the drone tumbled down the pit, hitting the sides. However, the sides of the pit were both sloped and slick with a thin sheet of ice, causing the drone to slide down to the bottom. The drone slammed against a large rusty metal pipe, which was a solid indicator of the pit’s identity as a sewer.
The drone scrambled to its feet, caving the skull in of a skeleton that appeared to have been a former inspector when one took into account the corpse’s clipboard and tattered clothes. X slammed down onto the large pipe, causing it to resonate like a gong. The drone snatched up a small length of rusty metal rebar that had impaled itself on the ground, the edge of the steel surprisingly sharp. The drone adopted a fighting stance, pointing the business end towards X.
The robotic predator didn’t care, however, just simply stabbing his prey with his own pointy stick, the sharp end of his nanite acid tail. The sharp tool stuck itself in the drone’s shoulder, causing it to drop the bar and curse. X took the opportunity to grip the drone by the head, while digging the claws of his other hand in its chest. X then looked into the opaque black visor of the military drone, before pulling in two opposite directions.
The effects were made known quickly, with the head of the military drone migrating away from its home connected to the body. Oil splashed down onto X, who took the opportunity to feed. X dropped the head, letting it hit the ground with a clang, dropping the body as well.
X stood over the fallen corpse, claws gleaming with oil. K landed next to him, retracting her wings.
“So you got it?” K asked.
“No I didn’t, he got away. This body right here is just a random pigeon, and you’re just hallucinating.” X replied sarcastically. “Also, how the hell did you get here so fast?”
K rolled her eyes. “Oh, be quiet. I’m just making sure, because knowing you, you would probably let him go for the funny.” She ignored his latter question.
“Well now that you mention it . . .” X looked sorrowfully at the body.
K punched him in the arm. “Whatever, we gotta go. I seriously doubt that he was alone-”
She was cut off yet again by a loud crash that originated from the hole up on the wall. The duo whipped around, only to see several guns pointed straight at them.
“Sup.” X nodded at the intruders.
* * *
The sound of conversation could be audibly heard from the lit tent.
The tent had been designated as the de facto headquarters for the former facility personnel, with a smaller offshoot serving as a meeting room for the leadership. The offshoot tent in question was currently being used for its purpose, with an emergency meeting being called. Not because of the discovery of a dead body, but for a different matter entirely.
“Can anyone at least tell me how this happened?” The Lead Engineer leaned on the table.
One of the data officers stepped forward. “We believe that when we were evacuating the facility, an error occurred that declassified the file.” They answered.
“An error did this.” The General wasn’t convinced.
“Well, yes. The computers had been degrading for a while now, and we had noticed that several of our autonomous programs were misbehaving, or just outright not working at all.” The data officer replied.
“And we did nothing about this?” The General glared at the trio of data officers that had joined them.
“We actually were doing all we could, but we didn’t have the materials to make a complete fix.” The Lead Engineer interjected.
“Why didn’t you tell me then!?” The General exclaimed.
“I did. You probably just forgot again.” The Lead Engineer suggested.
“What? I have the best memory here.” The General puffed out his chest proudly.
“Alright then, what were we just talking about?” The Lead Engineer inquired.
The General frowned. “We were talking?”
The Lead Engineer facepalmed. “Goddamn idiot.”
One of the data officers stepped up. “Uh, sir? There is still the matter of the ones who discovered the information.”
“Oh yeah, uh, dump them off the eastern bridge.” The Lead Engineer waved off the issue.
With a simple nod, the data officers left, accompanied by a few guards as well. The Lead Engineer sat back in his chair, before steepling his fingers on the desk. He looked back and forth between the assembled leadership, before the General spoke up.
“So, are we gonna continue or what?” He crossed his arms.
“Yes, sorry.” The Lead Engineer motioned to one of his ministers. “You take the lead, Kane.”
Kane got up, walking to the front of the tent, dragging a projector on a cart with him. When he arrived, he pulled down the white screen, securing the hook on a latch on the bottom. He then adjusted the cart, facing the lens towards the screen. He then attached a laptop to the projector, pressing a few buttons and fiddling with a few switches, cursing once. Finally, the projector flickered to life, shining an image onto the screen.
Kane cleared his throat. “Ahem, so. What you are seeing here is the first page of the document in question. As you can see here, it appears to be warning against a drone viewing whatever the contents of this file is.” Kane flicked to the next slide. “It continues to vehemently express this multiple times, not really differing in its warning at all.”
One of the military ministers, Alicia, raised her hand. “Uh, question?”
Kane paused. “What is it?”
“Its warning against drones? She asked.
“Yes, it is. I’ll explain this later on, so save your questions for the end please.” Kane looked back to the projection, skipping through the slides until he landed on the first one without a warning.
“Ah, here we go. So, as you can see here, this appears to be a logo for JCJenson-'' Kane was interrupted by a faint, “In Spaaaaacee!” from an unknown source. “Uh, anyway, as all of you know, JCJenson was the company that owned this planet, and the one that provided the drones that the government were using in their facility, which was us.” Kane flicked to the next slide.
“Here we can see a title for a project, along with several bits of accompanying information, like locations, associates, page number, references, you get the picture.” Kane then produced a long ruler from what seemed like thin air, before pointing the end at one of the words. “Pay attention to this one here ‘AbsoSolv’ as it’ll come up several times later on.” Going to the next slide, Kane cleared his throat yet again.
“This page is more confusing, as it appears to be mentioning several unit serial numbers that don’t match up with standard format, which are mixed in with several other ones that are in different format, like this one here,” Kane pointed his stick at a random one from the line. “This one says, S-010011X01, which I believe has a main identifying letter instead of a string of numbers based on time of construction.”
“Additionally, while some of these feature the normal serial numbers that worker drones use, they have another identifier after it, separated by a dash.” Kane flipped to the next slide.
“This one is more straightforward, as it appears to be featuring a set of technical designs of a modified worker drone with the serial number and other associated information listed at the top. The notes on the side are observations on the modifications that can be seen in the designs. Some of the original worker drone parts can be seen, but a majority of the inner and outer mass seem to have been altered or replaced with a substance that is described as ‘fleshy’. You can see at the very bottom a signature of an unknown human administrator, and a notice that marks the drone for ‘disassembly’ as an addendum can be seen that marks whatever this is as a failure, and a recommendation to request more data from their source.”
Kane took a breath, before going to the next slide. “This is essentially the same as the last one, and this continues for a few slides. Nothing of note can be found in them, save for a few different serial numbers that were listed in one of the prior slides.”
Kane flicked to the next slide. “This one has two addendums, which I will say in a moment. The image is different as well, with noticeably less random mutations and more of a form taking place. This one was supposedly much more successful than the others, and while it was still marked as a failure, the first addendum said that the team working on the project should strip the data from the drone in as best a condition as they could. The second one simply noted they were naming the specific strain of code they were using to ‘Absolute Solver’. The addendum does not mention any reason or motive behind the name, only noting the fact that their shareholders would be pleased.”
“The next one is the first apparent success in the line of experiments that JCJenson seemed to be doing. A single growth can be seen protruding from the back of the spinal transmitter, and several other growths have sprouted inside. However, it is noted that the drone survived the process, and remained somewhat coherent for a period of time afterwards, which seems to be an outlier when considering the others. There isn’t an addendum on this one, only a request from the team for more extensive data from their source to compare to this experiment.”
“This trend continues for a good while, so I’ll just summarize the important bits for all of you.” Kane stated. “Each version continued to show more and more productive attributes and traits, as is par the standard course. Throughout the notes, requests, and addendums, whoever was typing up the document repeatedly noted some things that I will review later, such as Absolute Solver, the ‘source’, Camp 98.7, Cabin Fever Labs, and disassembly drones.”
Kane flicked to the final slide. “This is the final page, with some items to note. It appears to be a reiteration of the specifics of the agreement between the government and JCJenson, with a few additional key things. It includes the standard formalities and the usual junk that we all know, but something else as well. When mentioning the exchange of data that came from the asset-” Kane paused as the room underwent an uncomfortable shuffle in their seats. “They mention a clear correlation between this project that JCJenson is, or was, working on, and the asset. They also instructed the government contacts that any unauthorized personnel, which included government agents, were now barred from entering Camp 98.7 due to ‘hazardous environmental conditions’ and that this was nonnegotiable.”
Kane turned away from the projector, clasping his hands in front of himself. “And now to explain.”
“From what me and the team I assigned could gather, we deduced the meanings and purposes behind several items that were mentioned in this file. The first and most obvious, the ‘source’ that is mentioned. They are receiving data from this source, which seems to be essential to the development of what they were working on. Based on their words, we figured that the source is likely the asset, and yes, the same asset that we are all familiar with.” Kane paused, seemingly to let his words sink in.
“Continuing on, we began to dissect what Camp 98.7 was. It was very clearly a location of sorts, but where it was and what it was used for was more complicated. While we never arrived at a solid conclusion, we believed that the most likely avenue was that Camp 98.7 might have been an outpost of sorts, perhaps used in conjunction with these Cabin Fever Labs.”
“On the matter of the Cabin Fever Labs, we can clearly assume that research and development of this Absolute Solver was being conducted there, and perhaps Camp 98.7 was a sort of staging ground or other type of location related to the lab. We believe that the location of one or both of these sites are hidden within another file.”
“And perhaps the most intriguing and complex matter of them all, Absolute Solver. We figured that it was likely that this Absolute Solver was instrumental in whatever experiments they were doing, or even being one of the subjects of the experiments themselves. From what we gather, Absolute Solver is something, maybe a piece of alien machinery, some sort of unknown lifeform, an experimental strain of cutting-edge code, one of those things, but whatever it is, it is not something that is ‘normal’. It appears to have a unique effect on those it hosts or comes into contact with, rapidly generating new organic material, with sometimes uncontrolled effects. While the file only shows the experiments that used drones, we don’t know if any humans or other organic lifeforms were included either. Likely not, considering the legality of the situation, but it's open to discussion.”
Kane took a large breath, before continuing.
“And finally, the disassembly drones. They seem simple, but my team believed it to be heavily related to our current situation. They aren’t mentioned very often, but they appear to be a direct result of their experiments or related to one. From what we could gather, they are meant to, well, disassemble. Drones on par with military-grade ones that are capable of a variety of things, like bullet fire, rocket launching, melee combat, flight, digital warfare, and regeneration.” Kane watched as his words dawned upon his audience, expressions filling with shock.
“Yes, those drones. The disassembly drones that we read about are likely some variant of the unknown assailants that attacked the facility, and stole the asset in the process.”
The General sputtered. “B-but that would be a severe political incident! If those drones were under the command of JCJenson, and they stole GOVERNMENT property, then they would be liable for retaliation!”
Kane tried to calm the room. “Now, hold on, I’m not done-”
The Lead Engineer also appeared to be shocked. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier!?”
“You told me to wait for the meeting!” Kane exclaimed.
The room erupted into disarray.
“We need to mobilize, hunt down those damn traitors!”
“What's their last known location!?”
“Where is the nearest transmitter, send out a request for retaliatory action!”
Suddenly, a drone burst into the room, knocking over the projector cart in the process. Everyone turned to look at him, ceasing the chaos for a moment.
“Er, uh, sirs?” The drone asked.
“Yes?” The General and the Lead Engineer stood up at the same time.
“I, uh,” The drone looked back and forth between the two administrators. “Well, we received a panic signal from one of our scouts.”
The General scoffed. “Why would that be enough to warrant our intervention? He probably just tripped on a conveniently placed banana peel.”
The messenger fidgeted nervously. “Well, his partner reported moments before the signal came in that he heard gunshots.”
The administrative drones shared a collective uneasy look.
“What did you do?” The General asked slowly.
“The officers who received the signal first sent in two of the patrol squads that were nearby at the time.” The messenger answered.
The drones in assembly all either looked down in disappointment or facepalmed.
The General spoke up after a moment. “Send in a squad as fast as you can to their last known location. Only veterans, and outfit them with heavy weaponry and explosive ordnance.” The General paused, before adding an afterthought. “And give them some cutting equipment too.”
The messenger blinked in surprise. “Wait, sir, are you sure-”
“Just tell the officers already!” The General slammed his fist down onto the cheap plastic table, which formed a crack.
The messenger saluted quickly, before dashing out of the room.
The Lead Engineer took a cursory look at the assembled drones, before he sighed.
“We’re screwed.”
* * *
“Are you going back anytime soon?”
Jacob looked back at his unwanted companion.
“No.” He answered simply, before resuming his casual trot.
“We’re getting too far away from the spire, and the sun is coming up in an hour or two. I for one don’t want to get caught out.” A insisted.
“Well I don’t die from a bit of sunlight, so too bad.” Jacob stepped over a tire rim.
“I’m not sure that’s your choice.” A stated.
Jacob paused and looked backward. “Oh, so you’re bossing me around now?”
“Maybe, if you keep on making dumb decisions like this.” A stopped as well.
“Pff, I’ll be fine.” Jacob waved his hand in the air to emphasize his point.
“You won’t last ten minutes.” A dead-panned.
“Nah, I’ll speedrun this stuff, I’ll be off-planet in an hour.” Jacob proudly said.
A shook his head and sighed. “Whatever you say.”
Jacob didn’t answer.
Jacob then looked around. “Wait, where are we? I wasn’t keeping track.”
“And you said that you would- whatever, we’re like, three miles away from the base.” A replied.
“Huh, went that far?” Jacob asked.
A frowned. “Three miles isn’t that far-”
A was interrupted by a rather loud crack that resonated through the landscape.
Jacob blinked. “Uh, ok then-”
Jacob was also interrupted by a trio of cracks and bangs, sounding slightly familiar.
“Are those-” Jacob was, yet again, interrupted by even more bangs.
“-gunshots?” He finished.
“I wouldn’t worry, those idiots are probably either messing around, or they found a worker drone to kill.” A nonchalantly answered.
“Shouldn’t we go check it out though?” Jacob inquired.
“It isn’t a problem.” A said, annoyed.
“Well it would give me something to do.” Jacob insisted.
A checked the time, before looking at the horizon for signs of sunlight.
“Eh, fine. Wouldn’t hurt, I guess.” A shrugged.
“Nice.” Jacob grinned underneath his ballistic visor.
* * *
K sliced through the head of the last desperate drone, before spitting out a bullet.
“You done?” K called out to X.
“Yeah, I guess. By the way, do you still have my Dasani thing?” X looked at K hopefully.
“Yes, I do. And besides, it isn’t yours, it's for Jacob.” K answered.
“What? Why is he getting it? Why not me?” X exclaimed.
“Because it's water, idiot. An uncontaminated source, like A told us, remember?” K glared at X.
“I guess, but that's water?” X asked.
“Yes, it is. It matches the description.” K replied
“Description?” X questioned.
“Yeah, the description. You know what description means, right?” K seemed even more annoyed.
“I know what it means.” X snapped. “But how do you know what water looks like?”
K just shrugged, before turning towards the exit.
“Come on, we gotta get back soon.” She flew upwards, landing on the ledge.
X followed suit, tracing their steps back through the building. X looked back up at the rusty grate that the drone had fallen through, which he now identified as being part of a weirdly placed catwalk. Scanning the environment, X found that the only entrance to the small alcove would be the hole in the catwalk. The basement that the small room was connected to didn’t have an entrance either, only having the gaping hole in the side of the room, which likely wasn't intended. That would mean that a person would have to chop through the sewer wall to get into the basement and adjoining alcove, or jump off the catwalk. Both of those options didn’t make any sort of sense at all. In fact, the catwalk wasn’t even needed, someone could have just removed the entire basement-and-alcove plan entirely, which also removed the necessity for a catwalk. All in all, whoever designed the building was either high off of some crazy drugs, an idiot, or both.
But, none of these thoughts went through X’s head, as he was only thinking about the devastating loss of his cool plastic bottle.
K hefted herself up onto the rusty catwalk, with X following close behind. K went through the doorway, only for a rather eventful event to stop her momentarily.
A rocket screamed through the air, smacking K straight in the chest. The resulting explosion blew X backwards and K apart, with oil splashing onto the ground in the process. With a clatter, X hit the ground, slightly dazed. He looked to his left to see what looked like the arm of K, twitching slightly. X tried to get up, only to fall again, after he put his weight on a hand that wasn’t there.
X, seeing the failure of Operation: GTFU, adjusted his position so that he could get up with his other hand only, which was thankfully still there. Investigating his left arm, he could see that everything down from the elbow had been separated from himself in the blast. He didn’t have time to look for it or go get it, so he simply let the matter go.
Standing up, X stared through the smoke, before diving back down onto the ground when another rocket came streaking past him. It scratched his face, sending small sparks up, before heading down the other hallway. X pointed his own rocket launcher into the fog, before firing off a flurry of shots. He heard explosions, but wasn’t rewarded with screams or grunts of pain. Problematic, to say the least.
X took the opportunity to kick K’s assorted dismembered body parts down into the lower alcove, where she should eventually reassemble herself. She was really taking a beating recently, and she would probably be frustrated about that when X was all done, but that wasn’t his problem-
X nearly met the same fate as K when another rocket flew from the open doorway, the fog starting to clear up. X jumped up and over the RPG, letting it fly into the unexplored depths of the building. He couldn’t do this dance forever, so he made the executive decision to charge into the unknown.
* * *
Anyway, I'll be posting the next part tomorrow, so hang on tight for the singular person that made it to the end. No need to like, this is purely for my own benefit. See ya.
2023.06.03 01:59 The_Dancing_Owl The gate guardian
The fiercest enemy, the most significant hurdle between us and our goal is also our most loyal servant. Fear is the faithful solider between us and the edge of our experience. Whether trying to achieve astral projection or participating in other spiritual practices, it's often that great creeping sense of dread that pushes us back. We are told to push forward beyond fear, but how do you fight back against that most primordial force?
Tell me if this sounds familiar. We prepare the setting, ready our minds, perform our most sacred rituals, and then as a beast stalking us in the night fear strikes right at the most crucial moment. It's incredibly frustrating, and entirely too often it completely turns us away from our craft for a time. Our minds are our own, so why does a part of us fight against that which we so clearly desire? Why is there a guardian at the threshold to begin with? The most obvious answer is that you're an animal. Our minds are supposed to warn us of unfamiliar situations and prepare us for the seemingly inevitable battle with what lurks beyond the gate. I can't tell you how many times I have been in the middle of a familiar routine only to have that sense of dread tell me "NO! DANGER! DON'T GO ANY FARTHER!". Fighting this force is rarely worth it. But there are options. You are not just an animal after all. As a member of the human race, you just so happen to be part of one of the most successful predator species in all of known history.
Fight, Flight, Freeze. It's nature's oldest and most reliable multiple-choice test. In the moments your fear creeps behind you you are offered these three choices. When we sit in our meditation and wonder what lies beyond the gate we often pic freeze. The rhythm comes to a halt the senses are sharpened, and we wait for that phantom predator to strike. But what happens if we take the guardian not as a threat but as an invitation? Instead of alarm bells, we choose to hear a battle cry. Instead of an immovable primordial sensation at the threshold of our human experience, we choose to see an invader trespassing on our native territory.
In my experience when you choose to fight the beast it often folds. Your fear isn't there to trap you but to test you. Fear is meant to keep you alive, it's a driving force that expands your abilities in every conceivable way. When you choose to run, you run faster than ever before, when you choose to freeze your senses can pick up movements you never could have possibly noticed, but when you choose to fight you suddenly push farther than ever before possible. The power of fear is meant as a tool to help you not just survive but to thrive.
When that familiar sense of dread comes by why not bear your teeth, and see how far it takes you? At the end of it all, you will have gained something.
submitted by The_Dancing_Owl to AstralProjection [link] [comments]
Tell me if this sounds familiar. We prepare the setting, ready our minds, perform our most sacred rituals, and then as a beast stalking us in the night fear strikes right at the most crucial moment. It's incredibly frustrating, and entirely too often it completely turns us away from our craft for a time. Our minds are our own, so why does a part of us fight against that which we so clearly desire? Why is there a guardian at the threshold to begin with? The most obvious answer is that you're an animal. Our minds are supposed to warn us of unfamiliar situations and prepare us for the seemingly inevitable battle with what lurks beyond the gate. I can't tell you how many times I have been in the middle of a familiar routine only to have that sense of dread tell me "NO! DANGER! DON'T GO ANY FARTHER!". Fighting this force is rarely worth it. But there are options. You are not just an animal after all. As a member of the human race, you just so happen to be part of one of the most successful predator species in all of known history.
Fight, Flight, Freeze. It's nature's oldest and most reliable multiple-choice test. In the moments your fear creeps behind you you are offered these three choices. When we sit in our meditation and wonder what lies beyond the gate we often pic freeze. The rhythm comes to a halt the senses are sharpened, and we wait for that phantom predator to strike. But what happens if we take the guardian not as a threat but as an invitation? Instead of alarm bells, we choose to hear a battle cry. Instead of an immovable primordial sensation at the threshold of our human experience, we choose to see an invader trespassing on our native territory.
In my experience when you choose to fight the beast it often folds. Your fear isn't there to trap you but to test you. Fear is meant to keep you alive, it's a driving force that expands your abilities in every conceivable way. When you choose to run, you run faster than ever before, when you choose to freeze your senses can pick up movements you never could have possibly noticed, but when you choose to fight you suddenly push farther than ever before possible. The power of fear is meant as a tool to help you not just survive but to thrive.
When that familiar sense of dread comes by why not bear your teeth, and see how far it takes you? At the end of it all, you will have gained something.
2023.06.03 00:25 JoshAsdvgi THE HERMIT, OR THE GIFT OF CORN
 | submitted by JoshAsdvgi to Native_Stories [link] [comments] THE HERMIT, OR THE GIFT OF CORN In a deep forest, far from the villages of his people, lived a hermit. His tent was made of buffalo skins, and his dress was made of deer skin. Far from the haunts of any human being this old hermit was content to spend his days. All day long he would wander through the forest studying the different plants of nature and collecting precious roots, which he used as medicine. At long intervals some warrior would arrive at the tent of the old hermit and get medicine roots from him for the tribe, the old hermit's medicine being considered far superior to all others. After a long day's ramble in the woods, the hermit came home late, and being very tired, at once lay down on his bed and was just dozing off to sleep, when he felt something rub against his foot. Awakening with a start, he noticed a dark object and an arm was extended to him, holding in its hand a flint pointed arrow. The hermit thought, "This must be a spirit, as there is no human being around here but myself!" A voice then said: "Hermit, I have come to invite you to my home." "How (yes), I will come," said the old hermit. Wherewith he arose, wrapped his robe about him and followed. Outside the door he stopped and looked around, but could see no signs of the dark object. "Whoever you are, or whatever you be, wait for me, as I don't know where to go to find your house," said the hermit. Not an answer did he receive, nor could he hear any noises as though anyone was walking through the brush. Re-entering his tent he retired and was soon fast asleep. The next night the same thing occurred again, and the hermit followed the object out, only to be left as before. He was very angry to think that anyone should be trying to make sport of him, and he determined to find out who this could be who was disturbing his night's rest. The next evening he cut a hole in the tent large enough to stick an arrow through, and stood by the door watching. Soon the dark object came and stopped outside of the door, and said: "Grandfather, I came to -- ," but he never finished the sentence, for the old man let go his arrow, and he heard the arrow strike something which produced a sound as though he had shot into a sack of pebbles. He did not go out that night to see what his arrow had struck, but early next morning he went out and looked at the spot about where he thought the object had stood. There on the ground lay a little heap of corn, and from this little heap a small line of corn lay scattered along a path. This he followed far into the woods. When he came to a very small knoll the trail ended. At the end of the trail was a large circle, from which the grass had been scraped off clean. "The corn trail stops at the edge of this circle,"said the old man, "so this must be the home of whoever it was that invited me." He took his bone knife and hatchet and proceeded to dig down into the center of the circle. When he had got down to the length of his arm, he came to a sack of dried meat. Next he found a sack of Indian turnips, then a sack of dried cherries; then a sack of corn, and last of all another sack, empty except that there was about a cupful of corn in one corner of it, and that the sack had a hole in the other corner where his arrow had pierced it. From this hole in the sack the corn was scattered along the trail, which guided the old man to the cache. From this the hermit taught the tribes how to keep their provisions when traveling and were overloaded. He explained to them how they should dig a pit and put their provisions into it and cover them with earth. By this method the Indians used to keep provisions all summer, and when fall came they would return to their cache, and on opening it would find everything as fresh as the day they were placed there. The old hermit was also thanked as the discoverer of corn, which had never been known to the Indians until discovered by the old hermit. |
2023.06.02 22:40 G_Heo "Will you let me in?"
During the fall time Mel would go to his family's vacation house out by the lake. It was a peaceful community full of retired inhabitants. He arrived just as the sun began to rise over the tree line having made the late-night drive to avoid traffic. Turning the car into the driveway he parked the car, turning the engine.
Mel opened the car door, taking a moment to step out and stretch. Going to the back of the car he opened the boot, beginning the process of gathering his bags then taking them inside. A note was on the counter left by his parents. Walking over, he glanced at the note briefly.
It stated that the pantry and fridge had been restocked. If the power were to go out to use the generator in the basement. What confused Mel was a scribble at the bottom left by his sibling leaving a warning.
Whatever IT says and no matter what IT does DO NOT let it in.
Was this some sort of joke since it was close to Halloween?
It was normal for them to play jokes on each other around this time of year. For now, he shrugged and began to unpack. By the time he was finished Mel was ready for lunch, so he made himself a meal.
While sitting there though...out of the corner of his eyes he could have sworn that he saw something move outside.
Was it an animal?
The neighbors do have pets, and it could have also been some of the local wildlife as well. Since deer have been seen in the area according to his dad. Who normally takes pictures of them for the local travel magazine in town.
Though it certainly did not seem animal shaped.
Finishing his lunch and cleaning up. Mel took his dishes to the kitchen, rinsing them off before putting them into the dishwasher to be washed later.
Placing a hand over his mouth he yawned looking over at the grandfather clock in the kitchen. Should he go for a walk or lay down for a nap? With whatever was looming outside Mel figured it would be best to stay inside.
On his way through the house, he checked the windows, pulling the curtains closed, checking the doors, and closing the sliding door shades.
Stepping back from the sliding glass door Mel could have sworn that there was a small tapping against the glass. He decided it was just the shades moving from being closed and made his way to the bedroom.
Before long he was fast asleep. After time had gone by, and the sun had gone down a considerable amount, Mel opened his eyes.
Getting up from his bed he reached over clicking on the lamp that was on the bedside table. He took a moment to rub the sleep from his eyes before he stood up. Entering the living room, the automatic plug-in lights lit his way, but he stopped halfway when they noticed a silhouette standing outside the sliding glass door.
Hands and a face pressed to the glass staring inside.
Mel was thankful he had closed the blinds. Taking a deep breath, he took a step back slowly only to see the head of the figure jerk in his direction.
"I can hear you in there. Won't you let me in?"
He kept quiet, not answering.
"I know you're in there! Why won't you speak to me?!"
Mel heard scratching on glass as if it were trying to make its way inside.
Should he call the police? What exactly would they even do?
IT banged on the sliding glass door as the whole thing began to rattle, and shake.
"LET me in...”
“Let ME...in”
“LET ME IN!”
Retreating to the master bedroom he crawled under the bed, Mel pulled out his cellphone tapping 911 onto the screen.
Waiting for someone to pick up the sound of glass shattering made him jump, losing his grip on his phone dropping it. Mel could only watch as it bounced and slid out from under the bed. Going to reach for it he quickly retracted his hand upon hearing footsteps as if someone were dragging their feet.
"Hello 911, what is your emergency?" A man's voice spoke from Mel's discarded phone that was a bit out of reach.
The man repeated himself, and sighed clearly annoyed mumbling about prank callers and how this happens every year.
His heart felt as if it jumped into his throat making it hard to swallow as those footsteps were now in the master bedroom with him.
Staying still Mel heard the creak of the bed as if someone or something was crawling across it. Holding his breath, wishing it would just go away. Slowly the side of the comforter began to rise.
It lowered its long black hair first then its face came into view. Its features contorted with a matching twisted, and upturned smile.
“Why wouldn’t you let me in?” it hissed angrily
Mel screamed, fainting from shock. He did not know how long he had been out and awoke when his sister Wynn called out for him. Opening his eyes from his place under the bed he could see that it was now daylight. Had IT left him alone?
Crawling out from under the bed he went to the living room where his sister was cleaning up the shards that were scattered on the carpet from the broken sliding glass door. Wynn looked at him over her shoulder as he approached.
“There you are Mel! I tried calling your cellphone, but you did not pick up”
“Sorry sis” Mel apologized “Say um...Wynn, about that warning you left with the note on the counter” he inquired.
Wynn was silent for a moment before frowning.
“Oh that? When I was here a few weeks ago I thought...I saw” she shook her head before asking, “What happened to the door?”
He wanted to tell her what she had warned him about was real. Knowing Wynn, she would just brush it off saying Mel was just trying to prank her since they did every Halloween, but not this year. Whatever was outside, desperately wanting in and had gotten in, left Mel alive.
Next time he may not be so lucky.
submitted by G_Heo to nosleep [link] [comments]
Mel opened the car door, taking a moment to step out and stretch. Going to the back of the car he opened the boot, beginning the process of gathering his bags then taking them inside. A note was on the counter left by his parents. Walking over, he glanced at the note briefly.
It stated that the pantry and fridge had been restocked. If the power were to go out to use the generator in the basement. What confused Mel was a scribble at the bottom left by his sibling leaving a warning.
Whatever IT says and no matter what IT does DO NOT let it in.
Was this some sort of joke since it was close to Halloween?
It was normal for them to play jokes on each other around this time of year. For now, he shrugged and began to unpack. By the time he was finished Mel was ready for lunch, so he made himself a meal.
While sitting there though...out of the corner of his eyes he could have sworn that he saw something move outside.
Was it an animal?
The neighbors do have pets, and it could have also been some of the local wildlife as well. Since deer have been seen in the area according to his dad. Who normally takes pictures of them for the local travel magazine in town.
Though it certainly did not seem animal shaped.
Finishing his lunch and cleaning up. Mel took his dishes to the kitchen, rinsing them off before putting them into the dishwasher to be washed later.
Placing a hand over his mouth he yawned looking over at the grandfather clock in the kitchen. Should he go for a walk or lay down for a nap? With whatever was looming outside Mel figured it would be best to stay inside.
On his way through the house, he checked the windows, pulling the curtains closed, checking the doors, and closing the sliding door shades.
Stepping back from the sliding glass door Mel could have sworn that there was a small tapping against the glass. He decided it was just the shades moving from being closed and made his way to the bedroom.
Before long he was fast asleep. After time had gone by, and the sun had gone down a considerable amount, Mel opened his eyes.
Getting up from his bed he reached over clicking on the lamp that was on the bedside table. He took a moment to rub the sleep from his eyes before he stood up. Entering the living room, the automatic plug-in lights lit his way, but he stopped halfway when they noticed a silhouette standing outside the sliding glass door.
Hands and a face pressed to the glass staring inside.
Mel was thankful he had closed the blinds. Taking a deep breath, he took a step back slowly only to see the head of the figure jerk in his direction.
"I can hear you in there. Won't you let me in?"
He kept quiet, not answering.
"I know you're in there! Why won't you speak to me?!"
Mel heard scratching on glass as if it were trying to make its way inside.
Should he call the police? What exactly would they even do?
IT banged on the sliding glass door as the whole thing began to rattle, and shake.
"LET me in...”
“Let ME...in”
“LET ME IN!”
Retreating to the master bedroom he crawled under the bed, Mel pulled out his cellphone tapping 911 onto the screen.
Waiting for someone to pick up the sound of glass shattering made him jump, losing his grip on his phone dropping it. Mel could only watch as it bounced and slid out from under the bed. Going to reach for it he quickly retracted his hand upon hearing footsteps as if someone were dragging their feet.
"Hello 911, what is your emergency?" A man's voice spoke from Mel's discarded phone that was a bit out of reach.
The man repeated himself, and sighed clearly annoyed mumbling about prank callers and how this happens every year.
His heart felt as if it jumped into his throat making it hard to swallow as those footsteps were now in the master bedroom with him.
Staying still Mel heard the creak of the bed as if someone or something was crawling across it. Holding his breath, wishing it would just go away. Slowly the side of the comforter began to rise.
It lowered its long black hair first then its face came into view. Its features contorted with a matching twisted, and upturned smile.
“Why wouldn’t you let me in?” it hissed angrily
Mel screamed, fainting from shock. He did not know how long he had been out and awoke when his sister Wynn called out for him. Opening his eyes from his place under the bed he could see that it was now daylight. Had IT left him alone?
Crawling out from under the bed he went to the living room where his sister was cleaning up the shards that were scattered on the carpet from the broken sliding glass door. Wynn looked at him over her shoulder as he approached.
“There you are Mel! I tried calling your cellphone, but you did not pick up”
“Sorry sis” Mel apologized “Say um...Wynn, about that warning you left with the note on the counter” he inquired.
Wynn was silent for a moment before frowning.
“Oh that? When I was here a few weeks ago I thought...I saw” she shook her head before asking, “What happened to the door?”
He wanted to tell her what she had warned him about was real. Knowing Wynn, she would just brush it off saying Mel was just trying to prank her since they did every Halloween, but not this year. Whatever was outside, desperately wanting in and had gotten in, left Mel alive.
Next time he may not be so lucky.
2023.06.02 22:01 pindasausmetballen Qua Patet Orbis, Part 14
A Nature of Predators fanfic, all credit goes to u/SpacePalladin15
Memory transcription subject: Sergeant Irons, Delta-4, United Nations Marine Corps
[Standardised Human Time] October 26th 2136 A.D.
Rescue Mission: Operation Retina, POW Rescue
The windows became tinted after the Arxur spoke and the other holding me down looked confused as the room started to fill with gas.
‘’what’s happening? What is this gas?’’ it said as he began coughing up blood.
‘’Chlorine, smart choice, won’t kill in most cases, it will blind and give you terrible irritations on your skin and in your throat.’’ I answered as I silently held my breath as much as possible.
Once the Arxur were starting to falter, I took my chance and knocked one in the stomach with my elbow, using the shock of my hit to grab its rifle and shoot the other Arxur in the neck, making crimson blood flow out of the artery inside, onto the enclosed catwalk, slowly dripping into the pen.
I quickly tried to pin the other Arxur down with little succes, the gas started burning in my eyes, even though we were trained for this, its still hurted as fuck.
Frederick responded to seeing me pinned down and grabbed the now bled out Arxurs pistol, placing two well fired shots into its head, making him go limp immediately.
The gas was still here as I started to hear Gojid choking below us. I signed at the large gate in the pen, worried that talking allowed more gas to enter our lungs and we both moved to the end of the catwalk, towards the control room.
As we entered the control room we were met with a familiar face, Trinsa, he had a worried but slightly happy look on his face, his ears perked up when he heard my voice, he seemed to have a cybernetic left eye, probably what the grays did to him.
Once the other humans saw we had escaped they flipped a switch on the control panel, allowing the now former cattle to escape, meeting another squad of special forces on the other side.
Now back on the ship, I told Trinsa what happened, after we were boarded, Trinsa’s lights went out and got separated by the Arxur boarding the ship, we managed to hold them of for a few minutes but eventually we ran dry and got captured, we lost delta 1 and delta 2 during the fighting, god bless those brave souls.
Captured by the Arxur wasn’t pleasant, they saw us as more then the ‘prey’, but less than them, they called us leaflickers, beating us, torturing us for fun, laughing while we were suffering, they took Fredericks FUCKING ARM JUST TO TASTE TEST THE NEW SPECIES!
Our saviors weren’t much better, they gassed 14 Gojid with asthma, or shortlung, as they called it, WHAT DID THEY FUCKING EXPECT, ME, A FULLY TRAINED SPECIAL OPERATIVE, BARELY GOT TROUGH THAT, WERE THEY TRYING TO FUCKING KILL THOSE?
Trinsa also looked sad, but I won’t blame him, his tail curled around his leg and his large tan ears flat against his head, there were only two of us now, Fred was in medical, getting his arm treated and probably getting sent back to earth for a prosthetic.
‘’so does that new eye of yours have built in night vision or IR?’’ I asked jokingly.
‘’yeah, funnily enough, it actually does, but it works with my mind, just like the translators do, I’m no technician but that thing is hooked up to my brain!’’ he replied, pointing towards his left eye socket.
‘’why are you so sad, i’ve never seen you like this, you’re always happy?’’ he asked, unknowingly he just dropped a bombshell of a question in my mind.
‘’w- we lost ONE BILLION PEOPLE, with the expectations to come across aliens that are better than us, surely we’ll be the worst we thought, BUT NO, HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT THEY DO TRINSA, THEY LOCK UP ANYONE WHO DOESN’T FOLLOW THE ‘HERD’, BURN ANYTHING THAT ACTS ‘PREDATORY’, the moment they saw us, they wanted to kill us, just because how we look, now that wasn’t an issue if we did something wrong, BUT THIS IS JUST PLAIN RACIST, THEY FUCKING BOMBED US THE MOMENT WE CAME ACROSS THEM!’’ I ranted, the news I heard broke me, all the time I had spent in that shithole, just to hear 1/10th of your population died, it was miserable.
Trinsa moved a bit back, giving me some space, and probably because i was yelling at him, but I needed to let it out, someone to hear it, someone to listen, halve my squad died back there.
I'm not done with those aliens yet, but first some refreshment before getting out in the field again.
‘’hey lets get something in the mess hall, i heard they had this new thing called… pat- how do you pronounce this?’’ he handed me his pad showing some yellow fries, mayo, curry and onions, ‘’yeah lets go get that, i would love me a patatje speciaal, we’ll get one for Fred too’’
First/Previous/Next?
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Note: Curry is not the curry from India or other countries, its a spicier Dutch ketchup, really good! Patatje means fries in Dutch and speciaal, special, shocking right, go google it its reeeaaally good!
Thanks to oobanooba#5574 on the discord for proofreading!
submitted by pindasausmetballen to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
Memory transcription subject: Sergeant Irons, Delta-4, United Nations Marine Corps
[Standardised Human Time] October 26th 2136 A.D.
Rescue Mission: Operation Retina, POW Rescue
The windows became tinted after the Arxur spoke and the other holding me down looked confused as the room started to fill with gas.
‘’what’s happening? What is this gas?’’ it said as he began coughing up blood.
‘’Chlorine, smart choice, won’t kill in most cases, it will blind and give you terrible irritations on your skin and in your throat.’’ I answered as I silently held my breath as much as possible.
Once the Arxur were starting to falter, I took my chance and knocked one in the stomach with my elbow, using the shock of my hit to grab its rifle and shoot the other Arxur in the neck, making crimson blood flow out of the artery inside, onto the enclosed catwalk, slowly dripping into the pen.
I quickly tried to pin the other Arxur down with little succes, the gas started burning in my eyes, even though we were trained for this, its still hurted as fuck.
Frederick responded to seeing me pinned down and grabbed the now bled out Arxurs pistol, placing two well fired shots into its head, making him go limp immediately.
The gas was still here as I started to hear Gojid choking below us. I signed at the large gate in the pen, worried that talking allowed more gas to enter our lungs and we both moved to the end of the catwalk, towards the control room.
As we entered the control room we were met with a familiar face, Trinsa, he had a worried but slightly happy look on his face, his ears perked up when he heard my voice, he seemed to have a cybernetic left eye, probably what the grays did to him.
Once the other humans saw we had escaped they flipped a switch on the control panel, allowing the now former cattle to escape, meeting another squad of special forces on the other side.
Now back on the ship, I told Trinsa what happened, after we were boarded, Trinsa’s lights went out and got separated by the Arxur boarding the ship, we managed to hold them of for a few minutes but eventually we ran dry and got captured, we lost delta 1 and delta 2 during the fighting, god bless those brave souls.
Captured by the Arxur wasn’t pleasant, they saw us as more then the ‘prey’, but less than them, they called us leaflickers, beating us, torturing us for fun, laughing while we were suffering, they took Fredericks FUCKING ARM JUST TO TASTE TEST THE NEW SPECIES!
Our saviors weren’t much better, they gassed 14 Gojid with asthma, or shortlung, as they called it, WHAT DID THEY FUCKING EXPECT, ME, A FULLY TRAINED SPECIAL OPERATIVE, BARELY GOT TROUGH THAT, WERE THEY TRYING TO FUCKING KILL THOSE?
Trinsa also looked sad, but I won’t blame him, his tail curled around his leg and his large tan ears flat against his head, there were only two of us now, Fred was in medical, getting his arm treated and probably getting sent back to earth for a prosthetic.
‘’so does that new eye of yours have built in night vision or IR?’’ I asked jokingly.
‘’yeah, funnily enough, it actually does, but it works with my mind, just like the translators do, I’m no technician but that thing is hooked up to my brain!’’ he replied, pointing towards his left eye socket.
‘’why are you so sad, i’ve never seen you like this, you’re always happy?’’ he asked, unknowingly he just dropped a bombshell of a question in my mind.
‘’w- we lost ONE BILLION PEOPLE, with the expectations to come across aliens that are better than us, surely we’ll be the worst we thought, BUT NO, HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT THEY DO TRINSA, THEY LOCK UP ANYONE WHO DOESN’T FOLLOW THE ‘HERD’, BURN ANYTHING THAT ACTS ‘PREDATORY’, the moment they saw us, they wanted to kill us, just because how we look, now that wasn’t an issue if we did something wrong, BUT THIS IS JUST PLAIN RACIST, THEY FUCKING BOMBED US THE MOMENT WE CAME ACROSS THEM!’’ I ranted, the news I heard broke me, all the time I had spent in that shithole, just to hear 1/10th of your population died, it was miserable.
Trinsa moved a bit back, giving me some space, and probably because i was yelling at him, but I needed to let it out, someone to hear it, someone to listen, halve my squad died back there.
I'm not done with those aliens yet, but first some refreshment before getting out in the field again.
‘’hey lets get something in the mess hall, i heard they had this new thing called… pat- how do you pronounce this?’’ he handed me his pad showing some yellow fries, mayo, curry and onions, ‘’yeah lets go get that, i would love me a patatje speciaal, we’ll get one for Fred too’’
First/Previous/Next?
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Note: Curry is not the curry from India or other countries, its a spicier Dutch ketchup, really good! Patatje means fries in Dutch and speciaal, special, shocking right, go google it its reeeaaally good!
Thanks to oobanooba#5574 on the discord for proofreading!
2023.06.02 21:44 Best_Club_In_America Game of Throwin' Everybody Under the Bus: J.P. Morgan's General Counsel claims he advised J.P. Morgan to dump Epstein as a client; Dimon claims he "didn't know he felt that way" and "doesn't recall" ever having seen his recommendation and insists ultimate responsibility lay on the General Counsel
 | https://preview.redd.it/nvpgshuyrn3b1.png?width=880&format=png&auto=webp&s=51c0de31a739a5f769863a7e371923d53e45b3f7 submitted by Best_Club_In_America to Epstein [link] [comments] tl;dr: "Our attorney should have known better, and if he says he did and tried to alert anyone, "I don't recall" that https://www.ft.com/content/9cd93b9d-81f5-4f92-995d-988139420f7d Ultimate decider’ on Jeffrey Epstein was JPMorgan’s ex-top lawyer, says Jamie DimonBank’s chief executive testifies that former general counsel had ‘ability to override’ other executivesJamie Dimon has identified JPMorgan Chase’s former general counsel as the “ultimate decider” who had the authority to axe Jeffrey Epstein as a client, according to sworn testimony by the bank’s chief executive. Even if other executives such as Mary Erdoes, one of the bank’s most senior managers, had been vouching for the sex offender, the bank’s top lawyer was the person who “had the ability to override” their decisions, Dimon said. Dimon made the assertion during a seven-hour deposition last week, a transcript of which has been seen by the Financial Times. He was responding to suggestions that the decision to retain Epstein had been made by Erdoes and Jes Staley, the disgraced financier’s former private banker. According to the transcript, lawyers for the US Virgin Islands — which is bringing one of two cases against JPMorgan — indicated that Steve Cutler, the bank’s top lawyer from 2007 to 2016, had named Erdoes and Staley as the executives responsible for keeping Epstein on after his first arrest for sex crimes in 2006. “If [Cutler] allowed them to make that judgment, it’s because he didn’t step in and say, you have to go,” Dimon said. “But he could have done that.” Dimon’s deposition was taken in relation to two cases in which JPMorgan is accused of ignoring red flags relating to Epstein and benefiting from human trafficking. One has been brought by a woman who said she was abused by Epstein, and the other by the US Virgin Islands, where the late sex offender had a home. Court filings in the two cases have detailed how Erdoes, who now runs the bank’s $4tn asset and wealth management division, and Staley, were involved in multiple internal conversations about whether Epstein should be dropped as a client, and that they personally visited his residences. In 2011, Cutler sent an email that read: “I would like to put it and [Epstein] behind us. Not a person we should do business with, period.” He also wrote “This is not an honourable person in any way. He should not be a client.” Dimon said Cutler would have had the authority to kick out a client if he judged something was “over the line”, although that did not mean that “because he didn’t like something he wouldn’t allow a businessperson to make a different judgment call”. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a state charge in Florida of soliciting a minor for prostitution. He remained a client of JPMorgan until 2013. “Mr Cutler had the ultimate authority to kick him out if he thought it had gone that far,” Dimon said in his testimony. “I think the ultimate decider would have been the general counsel of the company.” Cutler, a former director of enforcement at the US Securities and Exchange Commission who subsequently left JPMorgan to go into private practice at Simpson Thacher, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. JPMorgan said: “Had the firm believed he was engaged in an ongoing sex trafficking operation, Epstein would not have been retained as client. In hindsight, we regret he was ever a client.” In his deposition, the 67-year-old Dimon said he first learned that Epstein had held accounts at JPMorgan for 15 years about four years ago, when the disgraced financier was arrested on federal sex crime charges. “I don’t recall knowing anything about Jeffrey Epstein until the stories broke sometime in 2019,” Dimon said. “I was surprised that I . . . had never even heard of the guy, pretty much, and how involved he was with so many people.” David Boies, a lawyer for the unnamed Epstein accuser suing JPMorgan, said on Wednesday that Dimon had admitted the bank’s “top executives knew for years that Epstein was a convicted sex offender who continued to target young women”. “Epstein withdrew hundreds of millions of dollars a year in cash to fund what he was doing, and . . . used his web of JPMorgan accounts,” said Boies, a claim JPMorgan called “patently and verifiably false.” Boies added: “If, as he claims, Mr Dimon was the only person in New York who never heard of Epstein before July 2019, that is an indictment, not a defence.” Dimon also denied ever being informed about Epstein’s accounts or behaviour by Staley, whom the bank is suing for allegedly withholding information about Epstein and for vouching for him internally. Earlier on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Staley claimed to have spoken to Dimon in person about the account on several occasions — an allegation JPMorgan described as “false”. ... tl;dr: WSJ reported that there's proof Staley had communicated with Dimon about Epstein; J.P. Morgan claims the WSJ is lying and that it's own CEO "not recalling" such communications = "proof they never happened" https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/31/jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-jeffrey-epstein-deposition.html JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testified last week that top bank executive Mary Erdoes and the firm’s then-head lawyer had the authority to boot sex predator Jeffrey Epstein as a customer well before Erdoes finally took that step in 2013. Questions by lawyers to Dimon at his deposition Friday for two lawsuits against JPMorgan underscore that Erdoes and the lawyer, former JPMorgan general counsel Stephen Cutler, were aware of claims Epstein had preyed on young women while a client of the bank for years. Erdoes in her own deposition, taken previously, admitted that she as early as 2006 was aware that Epstein was accused of paying cash to have underage girls and young women brought to his home, court filings reveal. But Dimon on Friday repeatedly said he had no knowledge of such claims about Epstein, and that he was barely aware of him at all until 2019, according to a transcript of the deposition obtained by CNBC. The lawsuits against the bank allege Epstein used money from his JPMorgan accounts for the sex trafficking of young women, and that the bank retained him as a customer to maintain his business despite serious warning flags about him. One suit against the bank was filed by the government of the U.S Virgin Islands, where Epstein maintained a residence on a private island. The other suit was filed by an Epstein accuser who is seeking to certify the complaint as a class action for other victims. During his deposition, Dimon was shown an email that JPMorgan’s then-general counsel Cutler Cutler sent Erdoes about Epstein on July 21, 2011. In that email, Cutler wrote: “I would like to put it and him behind us. Not a person we should do business with, period.” “This is not an honorable person in any way,” Cutler wrote in an email a day earlier to Erdoes, another top executive, Jes Staley, and two other bank executives, according to a lawyer who was questioning Dimon during the deposition. “He should not be a client,” Cutler added in that email. Cutler, in his own deposition last week, “testified under oath that Jes Staley and Mary Erdoes made the decision to retain Epstein as a customer of the bank,” a lawyer told Dimon. Dimon testified Friday that he was not aware of that email by Cutler when it was sent. But he also said, “Mr. Cutler had the ultimate authority to kick him out if he thought it had gone too far.” “He was delegating reputational decisions to somebody else” Dimon said, apparently referring to Cutler’s claim that the decision to retain Epstein was made by Staley and Erdoes. Staley, like other powerful men such as former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, as well as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, was a friend of Epstein. Staley had made social visits to Epstein’s homes in Manhattan and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He is due to be deposed in the suits on June 10 and 11, according to a source familiar with the schedule. Dimon was deposed at JPMorgan’s headquarters in New York by lawyers for the plaintiffs, and for Staley, who JPMorgan argues in its own legal complaint against him is responsible for any civil liability a jury might find. Epstein was terminated as a customer in 2013, two years after the emails and five years after he pleaded guilty to a Florida state charge of soliciting sex from a minor. As a result of that conviction, he had to register as a sex offender. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, a month after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges. A lawyer asked Dimon during the deposition: “As CEO of private [banking] or asset and wealth management, Mary Erdoes could have decided to terminate Jeffrey Epstein as a customer, as a client, of JPMorgan; is that right?” Dimon answered, “I generally would say that’s true, yes.” Erdoes testified in her earlier deposition that JPMorgan dropped Epstein as a client in 2013 after she learned that his withdrawals from his accounts were for “actual cash,” according to court filings. “I have trust and respect in both of them,” Dimon testified about Erdoes and Cutler. “My view is had she known what she had known today, she would be saying exactly the same thing I said,” Dimon said, referring to his statement that he would have terminated Epstein as a client if he knew about his conduct at the time. “There’s a chance that Jes knew, that’s why they’re different.” Dimon testified that he was not informed that Epstein was indicted in Florida for sex crimes in 2006, or of other concerns about him that others at the bank raised, the deposition reveals. “I don’t recall knowing anything about Jeffrey Epstein until the stories broke sometime in 2019” Dimon said, referring to when Epstein was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges. “I was surprised that I didn’t even — had never even heard of the guy, pretty much. And how involved he was with so many people,” Dimon said. A lawyer then asked, “Were you aware that Jeffrey Epstien was promoting you to contacts as a candidate for Secretary of the Treasury?” Dimon replied: “Nope.” When asked if the accusers of Epstein deserved an apology, Dimon said, “I think what happened to these women is atrocious, and I’m horrified at the amount of human trafficking that takes place.” “And I wouldn’t mind personally apologizing to them, not because we committed the crime, we did not, and not because we believe we’re responsible, but that any potential thing, what little role that we could have eased it or helped catch it quicker or something like that, or get it to law enforcement quicker or get law enforcement to react to it quicker, which they obviously didn’t, you know, I would apologize to them.” “For that, yes,” he said. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Wednesday that legal documents in the cases show that Staley discussed Epstein with Dimon over the years, including when Epstein was arrested in Florida in 2006 and when he pleaded guilty in that case two years later. “Staley also said that Dimon communicated with him various times about whether to maintain Epstein as a client through 2012,” The Journal reported. A JPMorgan spokeswoman in a statement about The Journal’s article said, “We believe this is false.” “There is no evidence that any such communications ever occurred — nothing in the voluminous number of documents reviewed and nothing in the nearly dozen depositions taken, including that of our own CEO,” said Patricia Wexler, the spokeswoman. Wexler later Friday told CNBC, “Had the Firm believed he was engaged in an ongoing sex trafficking operation, Epstein would not have been retained as client.” “In hindsight, we regret he was ever a client,” Wexler said. |
2023.06.02 19:43 tulpacat1 To Kill a Predator, Chapter 22
Hi everyone.
To Kill a Predator is a work of fan fiction set in the Nature of Predators universe originally created by SpacePaladin15 whose Patreon you should subscribe to.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Depiction does not equal endorsement.
Hope you enjoy it!
[First] [Previous]
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Memory transcription subject: Jarkim, Unemployed Krakotl
Date [standardized human time]: November 30th, 2136
If they were following standard procedure, they’d be storing munitions separate from personnel and weapons. In guild offices there were hermetically sealed rooms for it, ensuring any stray fires would be snuffed out as soon as they devoured all the oxygen.
In a place like this, my bet was one of the sheds or root cellars. I had sent Russo and Mosun to handle the garage and workers’ quarters.
Of course it was possible they hadn’t got enough fuel, ammo, and explosives to prosecute their campaign. Possible, but unlikely. The attack on the shelter hadn’t been the actions of a group running on fumes.
Honestly, if I were in their position I’d hole up here too. A large farm makes sense. They’d have phosphorous, ammonium nitrate, local stores of benzene or fuel oils, ipsom grain to make into powder, even the septic tanks if you’re really desperate… there’s more ways to create fire bombs at your average farm than I can be bothered to count.
I ran the math in my head. I didn’t like the result I got: the Liberators probably had enough fire to turn every human in the district into ash several times over, and they might still have enough left over for everyone who voted for Tarva too.
I approached the first shed with Slavik. It was one of the simple above-ground ones. Unlikely target to bear fruit, in my mind, but it was the closest. “I’ll go in first. You watch out with the rifle.”
They nodded at me, grimly.
The door opened and I rushed into the darkness.
“It’ll be the fourth.”
“Why’s that?”
“Four’s a lucky number.”
“No it’s not.”
“Sure it is. If you have to count past it, you have to use a second paw.”
The first shed had been empty but for tools. The second had held spare parts for their generators. The third had led to a root cellar full of sun-dried and salted fruit, and some jars of preserves.
Lucky number four was a steel door surrounded by concrete inset into the ground, and as soon as it was wrenched open the stench of chemicals assaulted me. Even Slavik coughed with distaste, and they didn’t have a nose.
“Well Slavik, turns out you were right.”
“That… does not taste lucky.”
“It doesn’t, does it. Alright, let’s go.”
I moved in. Slavik was right behind me. We headed into the gloom, slowly waiting for our eyes to adjust. Slavik muttered a bit before turning on the light attached to their rifle. They swiveled their entire torso back and forth, eyes focused on the rifle sights.
Industrial tanks of chemicals stood like forlorn monsters in the dark, the threadbare light by the rifle’s muzzle casting ugly and stark shadows.
“Never should’ve come here.”
I froze. The voice was coming from behind me… and to the left.
There was a second Venlil, lunging out from behind one of the tanks with a breaching tool held in both paws. He struck Slavik’s gun, and I heard the weapon hit the stone floor somewhere in the dark. With a second swing he caught Slavik across the head, and they went down hard.
I lunged at him, talons grasping for purchase in the short Exterminator-cut fur of the assailant. I got a good digging grip and pulled him back, raking grooves in his shoulders in the process and sending the crowbar clattering into the shadows.
I recognized him as Vilrak, and he screamed with anger and pain and managed to strike me in the eye with his elbow. I reeled back, squawking, when his paw struck me in the stomach. Pain blossomed and spread like fire. His claws were outstretched, and dug in under the feathers and tore skin.
In response I lashed out with a talon, tearing bloody gouges in his snout. Venlil snouts are sturdy and solid bone, and I did little actual damage. It was still enough to send him back with a yelp.
We both caught our breaths, blood dripping from claw and talon alike.
Slavik was on the ground. They weren’t moving.
“Vilrak, it’s over… Stand down.”
His voice was filled with loathing. “…Jarkim. So Karta failed to get rid of you, you traitorous piece of-”
I interjected immediately. “What you’re doing here isn’t going to work.”
“Oh, but it is. We’re going to bring Venlil Prime back to sanity, and back into the Federation.”
“There’s no going back. The Interview, the humans, the proof that even the Arxur can be bargained with after they returned their Venlil cattle… The galaxy’s a different place than it was just a cycle ago.”
“So what?”
I plead with him to turn from his path. When he realized and accepted the situation, he’d do the right thing. Just like I had. “We’re going to have to learn to live in the new world. One that doesn’t need us. We believed our job was necessary… We were only acting on… On the information we had, the information we were given. But we were wrong. Listen to me, Vilrak. There’s another path here. We can reform the Exterminators. We can make it into something better, something that serves the community.”
He straightened up and lashed his tail at me, turning and walking away. One eye was locked on me the entire time. “Oh you stupid, sanctimonious fuck. You’re the only one who ever believed any of that predshit.”
I paused. “…What?”
He walked slowly. I followed, staying at a careful distance. “Being an Exterminator was the perfect job. We had respect. We had power, Jarkim! You’re the only one who didn’t seem to realize that! Oh, you useless damn joke of a Krakotl… You turned your beak and curled your talons every time you had to pull the trigger, and always made sure the PDs came in without a fight. The rest of us loved it!”
I felt sick. I had never liked Vilrak, but this was… Like Vikar, and Renak, and Luarik, and Karta, and… Not unprecedented. But hearing it put in such stark terms…
“I always hated rolling out with you, because you’re too insufferably straight-laced. The rest of the guys understood the opportunities. But not you, oh no. As soon as you get in the van the fun stops. No taking money to make PD cases go away, no letting off steam with the rods and some drunk, no sharing cuties collared in the back of the van…”
My talons itched to tear out his evil fucking throat. But more than that, I wanted to tear down the entire system I had been complicit in. I had looked the other way, made sure to not ask awkward questions I didn’t want the answers to. And that made me one link in the chain. The facilities, the prosecutors, the assessors, they were all working with the Exterminators. Everyone knew that we were the only way they’d stay safe, the firebreak between the civilians and the predators. So they let us do whatever we wanted.
“Vilrak… It’s not going to stay that way anymore. It can’t. It mustn’t. The winds are changing. If everyone’s as… sick and twisted as you, and the Exterminators can’t be reformed? Then we’ll be abolished instead.”
“That’s right, because the humans are fucking it all up! They did more for Venlilkind in one paw than we Exterminators have done since we joined the Federation, just by sharing food with the greys! And now everyone knows it!”
“Exactly. There’s no going back.”
“Yeah, well. It’s worth a shot.”
When he turned to face me again he was holding a flamethrower, the tank under one arm and the nozzle under the other. In the darkness I only realized he was firing when it spewed incendiary death in a wide arc.
I had to gracelessly take flight, leaping back and thrashing with my wings to get behind one of the chemical tanks in time. I ended up smashing into the wall for my trouble, and I felt something in my wing snap.
But seeing the burning trail where I had stood a blink of an eye beforehand, it was still a worthwhile trade-off.
Other than what little light the fires gave off, and the light from the open door, the room was dark. The flashlight on Slavik’s gun had gone out.
I slowly crept around the tank… step by step. Listening for the Venlil’s footsteps, and hearing nothing.
I heard the sound of the tank shifting nearby, and froze in place. I held my breath.
He was speaking from just a couple of wingspans away, in the dark. “You’re not the first predator I’ve had to hunt. And you’re not gonna be the last.”
There was a click as the flamethrower’s ignition line turned on.
A line of fire spewed from the muzzle, sending me scrambling for cover again. I needn’t have bothered, he wasn’t aiming at me.
With the second line of burning fuel gel, he created a ‘V’ shape against the wall. He was simply boxing me in, cutting off my escape. Standard procedure when dealing with poor-visibility terrain.
Now all he had to do was hose the enclosed area, and that would be it.
I felt panic slowly begin to flood my brain, and forced it down. I couldn’t let myself become an animal. He knew how to burn animals.
Gotta get out of here, or I’m kindling.
With only one working wing, I was rapidly running out of options. When Vilrak spewed another gout of flame, my options dwindled further. I took flight, my one wing fluttering as I twisted my body in a desperate attempt to get above the flames and the equally dangerous super-heated air right above them. I felt the oppressive heat and could imagine my feathers curl and blacken as I made my desperate lunge over the fire-wall.
My talons scraped the stone loudly upon my rough landing, and I ended up falling prone. I yelled out as I landed on my bad wing again.
Starting to rise slowly, far too slowly, I heard Vilrak whistle out a laugh from nearby. I saw his shadowed form looming out of the dark, lit from the side by the growing flames. The flamethrower’s ignition line clicking on. Faced straight at me.
There was a bright, sudden light. And a scream.
Vilrak reeled back. So did I, good wing raised in a meaningless gesture of defense. I couldn’t see anything, blinded by Slavik’s flashlight. I heard a shout. “Jarkim, get down!”
I laid myself prone on the ground without hesitation.
KRAK-Ow
Superheated plasma flew overhead, sizzling the air and filling the enclosed space with the rank stench of ozone.
The shot impacted Vilrak’s fuel tank. The ensuing breach sent burning fuel and bits of hot metal all over the cellar, and threw him back into the wall. With my head down I could do nothing but flinch and hope.
A searing lance of pain impacted my leg, making me squawk out. A glance down showed a piece of jagged metal the size of a wing feather sticking out of my thigh.
Blinking the spots out of my eyes and coughing from the smoke filling the room, I saw Slavik holding the plasma rifle. It was aimed at the prone Exterminator, who was already screaming and crawling. His legs were on fire, and looked shredded from shrapnel. The flames were eagerly eating their way up his short-cut fur, already spreading up over his back and sides. His voice was a high-pitched, babbling shriek.
All that confidence, bravado, and gleeful sadism had vanished the instant it was his turn. And I wasn’t a good enough person to not take some vindictive joy in that.
“Not the flames not the flames please not the flames!! No no no nono please please not the flames!! Help meeeeee!!!”
KRAK-Ow
The second shot took him in the face. I looked away sharply, not interested in seeing the results.
“C’mon, you useless lump. Move your ass before it’s cooked.” Slavik grabbed me by my good wing, dragged me out of the burning cellar like a sack of grain, and closed the door behind us.
The fire would eat through all the oxygen long before it burst any of the chemical tanks. Even so, Slavik didn’t stop dragging me until we were a good distance away and we could both collapse in a panting heap on the ground.
Slavik’s head was leaking orange blood into their wool from the hit, and an ugly lump was already forming on their head. They looked at me darkly. “…That was mercy. I’m not going to let myself become the kind of person who’d have let him burn.”
I felt jolts of pain searing through my body each time I coughed. “Khakh, Khahhk… Y-You just saved my life. You don’t have to justify yourself to me.”
They looked down at their weapon in silence for a while, before speaking so quietly that I barely heard it. “You’re not the one I’m trying to convince.”
After a long silence, I tried my arm and grimaced. My leg refused to even bend now that the adrenaline was flushing out, and I didn’t want to take the metal out in case it was sitting in an artery. I didn’t even want to know what my feathers looked like. “…Wing’s busted. L-Leg too. I’m no good like this. Khahhk… I’ll head back, you try to link up with the other team.”
Slavik shouldered the rifle, and lifted me up. “After I get you back to Hanya.”
The trek back was awkward, and slow. I was left to hop and cling to Slavik as they half-dragged me along. I hoped the other team was having more success.
---
Memory transcription subject: Martin Russo, Human Refugee
Date [standardized human time]: November 30th, 2136
I raise my hand to Mosun. Three. Two. One.
The door opens. Mosun lunges in low, I sweep in high.
Nothing greets us but silence. We sweep the ground floor of the main house slowly, room by room. I move my aim back and forth like a metronome as I seek targets. My eyes dart around from place to place. Those saccades the Venlil are so afraid of.
The place shows clear signs of being lived in. Very recently. There are still-damp dishes in the kitchen.
The living room is an even bigger tell. On the table there’s a map of the whole district, and another of the town. Addresses are circled in different colors. I might not have recognized the map so quickly, except I’ve also been studying up for my own campaign.
As we search the place it appears that nobody’s home. They seem to have removed all the signs of the original inhabitants. I see pale reverse-shadows on the wall where once hung pictures or pieces of art.
I tap Mosun’s shoulder. He looks at me, and I point up, then down, and give a shrug. Upstairs or basement first?
As Mosun considers the question, we hear a scream. I freeze stock still, and Mosun’s eyes go wide. It’s from upstairs.
I brave a soft voice. “…Is that…”
Another scream. A word carries through the drawn out, inelegant blubbering. “Mhh-aaa-aahhhahhhu-hurttii-hi-hiiinnnn!!” My blood feels ice cold, and my stomach drops out.
Jesus Christ it’s my name. She’s screaming my name.
I’m acutely aware my tongue is dry.
Another scream, this time just a shrill sound of pain.
I’m running up the stairs. My grip on the gun is so tight it hurts. For a few seconds my thoughts don’t form words, just the panicked urge to rush to my beloved friend. To help and defend her.
Upstairs there are four rooms. Two on the left, one on the right, and one in the far back. The only one that matters is the one with the noise.
I rush to the door and almost wrench it open right away, but pause.
Stay frosty.
Mosun almost runs into me in his haste to keep up.
I turn and look at him. His furious face mirrors mine. I cringe as another shout comes from the room right beside us.
He nods grimly and grabs the door handle. We both take a couple of deep, steadying breaths.
I raise my hand to Mosun. Three. Two. One.
---
Here's some fun fanart of Martin's Ghost Gun by Asclepius on the discord, thanks Asclepius!
https://imgur.com/a/zpJf1S9
[First] [Previous]
submitted by tulpacat1 to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
To Kill a Predator is a work of fan fiction set in the Nature of Predators universe originally created by SpacePaladin15 whose Patreon you should subscribe to.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Depiction does not equal endorsement.
Hope you enjoy it!
[First] [Previous]
---
Memory transcription subject: Jarkim, Unemployed Krakotl
Date [standardized human time]: November 30th, 2136
If they were following standard procedure, they’d be storing munitions separate from personnel and weapons. In guild offices there were hermetically sealed rooms for it, ensuring any stray fires would be snuffed out as soon as they devoured all the oxygen.
In a place like this, my bet was one of the sheds or root cellars. I had sent Russo and Mosun to handle the garage and workers’ quarters.
Of course it was possible they hadn’t got enough fuel, ammo, and explosives to prosecute their campaign. Possible, but unlikely. The attack on the shelter hadn’t been the actions of a group running on fumes.
Honestly, if I were in their position I’d hole up here too. A large farm makes sense. They’d have phosphorous, ammonium nitrate, local stores of benzene or fuel oils, ipsom grain to make into powder, even the septic tanks if you’re really desperate… there’s more ways to create fire bombs at your average farm than I can be bothered to count.
I ran the math in my head. I didn’t like the result I got: the Liberators probably had enough fire to turn every human in the district into ash several times over, and they might still have enough left over for everyone who voted for Tarva too.
I approached the first shed with Slavik. It was one of the simple above-ground ones. Unlikely target to bear fruit, in my mind, but it was the closest. “I’ll go in first. You watch out with the rifle.”
They nodded at me, grimly.
The door opened and I rushed into the darkness.
“It’ll be the fourth.”
“Why’s that?”
“Four’s a lucky number.”
“No it’s not.”
“Sure it is. If you have to count past it, you have to use a second paw.”
The first shed had been empty but for tools. The second had held spare parts for their generators. The third had led to a root cellar full of sun-dried and salted fruit, and some jars of preserves.
Lucky number four was a steel door surrounded by concrete inset into the ground, and as soon as it was wrenched open the stench of chemicals assaulted me. Even Slavik coughed with distaste, and they didn’t have a nose.
“Well Slavik, turns out you were right.”
“That… does not taste lucky.”
“It doesn’t, does it. Alright, let’s go.”
I moved in. Slavik was right behind me. We headed into the gloom, slowly waiting for our eyes to adjust. Slavik muttered a bit before turning on the light attached to their rifle. They swiveled their entire torso back and forth, eyes focused on the rifle sights.
Industrial tanks of chemicals stood like forlorn monsters in the dark, the threadbare light by the rifle’s muzzle casting ugly and stark shadows.
“Never should’ve come here.”
I froze. The voice was coming from behind me… and to the left.
There was a second Venlil, lunging out from behind one of the tanks with a breaching tool held in both paws. He struck Slavik’s gun, and I heard the weapon hit the stone floor somewhere in the dark. With a second swing he caught Slavik across the head, and they went down hard.
I lunged at him, talons grasping for purchase in the short Exterminator-cut fur of the assailant. I got a good digging grip and pulled him back, raking grooves in his shoulders in the process and sending the crowbar clattering into the shadows.
I recognized him as Vilrak, and he screamed with anger and pain and managed to strike me in the eye with his elbow. I reeled back, squawking, when his paw struck me in the stomach. Pain blossomed and spread like fire. His claws were outstretched, and dug in under the feathers and tore skin.
In response I lashed out with a talon, tearing bloody gouges in his snout. Venlil snouts are sturdy and solid bone, and I did little actual damage. It was still enough to send him back with a yelp.
We both caught our breaths, blood dripping from claw and talon alike.
Slavik was on the ground. They weren’t moving.
“Vilrak, it’s over… Stand down.”
His voice was filled with loathing. “…Jarkim. So Karta failed to get rid of you, you traitorous piece of-”
I interjected immediately. “What you’re doing here isn’t going to work.”
“Oh, but it is. We’re going to bring Venlil Prime back to sanity, and back into the Federation.”
“There’s no going back. The Interview, the humans, the proof that even the Arxur can be bargained with after they returned their Venlil cattle… The galaxy’s a different place than it was just a cycle ago.”
“So what?”
I plead with him to turn from his path. When he realized and accepted the situation, he’d do the right thing. Just like I had. “We’re going to have to learn to live in the new world. One that doesn’t need us. We believed our job was necessary… We were only acting on… On the information we had, the information we were given. But we were wrong. Listen to me, Vilrak. There’s another path here. We can reform the Exterminators. We can make it into something better, something that serves the community.”
He straightened up and lashed his tail at me, turning and walking away. One eye was locked on me the entire time. “Oh you stupid, sanctimonious fuck. You’re the only one who ever believed any of that predshit.”
I paused. “…What?”
He walked slowly. I followed, staying at a careful distance. “Being an Exterminator was the perfect job. We had respect. We had power, Jarkim! You’re the only one who didn’t seem to realize that! Oh, you useless damn joke of a Krakotl… You turned your beak and curled your talons every time you had to pull the trigger, and always made sure the PDs came in without a fight. The rest of us loved it!”
I felt sick. I had never liked Vilrak, but this was… Like Vikar, and Renak, and Luarik, and Karta, and… Not unprecedented. But hearing it put in such stark terms…
“I always hated rolling out with you, because you’re too insufferably straight-laced. The rest of the guys understood the opportunities. But not you, oh no. As soon as you get in the van the fun stops. No taking money to make PD cases go away, no letting off steam with the rods and some drunk, no sharing cuties collared in the back of the van…”
My talons itched to tear out his evil fucking throat. But more than that, I wanted to tear down the entire system I had been complicit in. I had looked the other way, made sure to not ask awkward questions I didn’t want the answers to. And that made me one link in the chain. The facilities, the prosecutors, the assessors, they were all working with the Exterminators. Everyone knew that we were the only way they’d stay safe, the firebreak between the civilians and the predators. So they let us do whatever we wanted.
“Vilrak… It’s not going to stay that way anymore. It can’t. It mustn’t. The winds are changing. If everyone’s as… sick and twisted as you, and the Exterminators can’t be reformed? Then we’ll be abolished instead.”
“That’s right, because the humans are fucking it all up! They did more for Venlilkind in one paw than we Exterminators have done since we joined the Federation, just by sharing food with the greys! And now everyone knows it!”
“Exactly. There’s no going back.”
“Yeah, well. It’s worth a shot.”
When he turned to face me again he was holding a flamethrower, the tank under one arm and the nozzle under the other. In the darkness I only realized he was firing when it spewed incendiary death in a wide arc.
I had to gracelessly take flight, leaping back and thrashing with my wings to get behind one of the chemical tanks in time. I ended up smashing into the wall for my trouble, and I felt something in my wing snap.
But seeing the burning trail where I had stood a blink of an eye beforehand, it was still a worthwhile trade-off.
Other than what little light the fires gave off, and the light from the open door, the room was dark. The flashlight on Slavik’s gun had gone out.
I slowly crept around the tank… step by step. Listening for the Venlil’s footsteps, and hearing nothing.
I heard the sound of the tank shifting nearby, and froze in place. I held my breath.
He was speaking from just a couple of wingspans away, in the dark. “You’re not the first predator I’ve had to hunt. And you’re not gonna be the last.”
There was a click as the flamethrower’s ignition line turned on.
A line of fire spewed from the muzzle, sending me scrambling for cover again. I needn’t have bothered, he wasn’t aiming at me.
With the second line of burning fuel gel, he created a ‘V’ shape against the wall. He was simply boxing me in, cutting off my escape. Standard procedure when dealing with poor-visibility terrain.
Now all he had to do was hose the enclosed area, and that would be it.
I felt panic slowly begin to flood my brain, and forced it down. I couldn’t let myself become an animal. He knew how to burn animals.
Gotta get out of here, or I’m kindling.
With only one working wing, I was rapidly running out of options. When Vilrak spewed another gout of flame, my options dwindled further. I took flight, my one wing fluttering as I twisted my body in a desperate attempt to get above the flames and the equally dangerous super-heated air right above them. I felt the oppressive heat and could imagine my feathers curl and blacken as I made my desperate lunge over the fire-wall.
My talons scraped the stone loudly upon my rough landing, and I ended up falling prone. I yelled out as I landed on my bad wing again.
Starting to rise slowly, far too slowly, I heard Vilrak whistle out a laugh from nearby. I saw his shadowed form looming out of the dark, lit from the side by the growing flames. The flamethrower’s ignition line clicking on. Faced straight at me.
There was a bright, sudden light. And a scream.
Vilrak reeled back. So did I, good wing raised in a meaningless gesture of defense. I couldn’t see anything, blinded by Slavik’s flashlight. I heard a shout. “Jarkim, get down!”
I laid myself prone on the ground without hesitation.
KRAK-Ow
Superheated plasma flew overhead, sizzling the air and filling the enclosed space with the rank stench of ozone.
The shot impacted Vilrak’s fuel tank. The ensuing breach sent burning fuel and bits of hot metal all over the cellar, and threw him back into the wall. With my head down I could do nothing but flinch and hope.
A searing lance of pain impacted my leg, making me squawk out. A glance down showed a piece of jagged metal the size of a wing feather sticking out of my thigh.
Blinking the spots out of my eyes and coughing from the smoke filling the room, I saw Slavik holding the plasma rifle. It was aimed at the prone Exterminator, who was already screaming and crawling. His legs were on fire, and looked shredded from shrapnel. The flames were eagerly eating their way up his short-cut fur, already spreading up over his back and sides. His voice was a high-pitched, babbling shriek.
All that confidence, bravado, and gleeful sadism had vanished the instant it was his turn. And I wasn’t a good enough person to not take some vindictive joy in that.
“Not the flames not the flames please not the flames!! No no no nono please please not the flames!! Help meeeeee!!!”
KRAK-Ow
The second shot took him in the face. I looked away sharply, not interested in seeing the results.
“C’mon, you useless lump. Move your ass before it’s cooked.” Slavik grabbed me by my good wing, dragged me out of the burning cellar like a sack of grain, and closed the door behind us.
The fire would eat through all the oxygen long before it burst any of the chemical tanks. Even so, Slavik didn’t stop dragging me until we were a good distance away and we could both collapse in a panting heap on the ground.
Slavik’s head was leaking orange blood into their wool from the hit, and an ugly lump was already forming on their head. They looked at me darkly. “…That was mercy. I’m not going to let myself become the kind of person who’d have let him burn.”
I felt jolts of pain searing through my body each time I coughed. “Khakh, Khahhk… Y-You just saved my life. You don’t have to justify yourself to me.”
They looked down at their weapon in silence for a while, before speaking so quietly that I barely heard it. “You’re not the one I’m trying to convince.”
After a long silence, I tried my arm and grimaced. My leg refused to even bend now that the adrenaline was flushing out, and I didn’t want to take the metal out in case it was sitting in an artery. I didn’t even want to know what my feathers looked like. “…Wing’s busted. L-Leg too. I’m no good like this. Khahhk… I’ll head back, you try to link up with the other team.”
Slavik shouldered the rifle, and lifted me up. “After I get you back to Hanya.”
The trek back was awkward, and slow. I was left to hop and cling to Slavik as they half-dragged me along. I hoped the other team was having more success.
---
Memory transcription subject: Martin Russo, Human Refugee
Date [standardized human time]: November 30th, 2136
I raise my hand to Mosun. Three. Two. One.
The door opens. Mosun lunges in low, I sweep in high.
Nothing greets us but silence. We sweep the ground floor of the main house slowly, room by room. I move my aim back and forth like a metronome as I seek targets. My eyes dart around from place to place. Those saccades the Venlil are so afraid of.
The place shows clear signs of being lived in. Very recently. There are still-damp dishes in the kitchen.
The living room is an even bigger tell. On the table there’s a map of the whole district, and another of the town. Addresses are circled in different colors. I might not have recognized the map so quickly, except I’ve also been studying up for my own campaign.
As we search the place it appears that nobody’s home. They seem to have removed all the signs of the original inhabitants. I see pale reverse-shadows on the wall where once hung pictures or pieces of art.
I tap Mosun’s shoulder. He looks at me, and I point up, then down, and give a shrug. Upstairs or basement first?
As Mosun considers the question, we hear a scream. I freeze stock still, and Mosun’s eyes go wide. It’s from upstairs.
I brave a soft voice. “…Is that…”
Another scream. A word carries through the drawn out, inelegant blubbering. “Mhh-aaa-aahhhahhhu-hurttii-hi-hiiinnnn!!” My blood feels ice cold, and my stomach drops out.
Jesus Christ it’s my name. She’s screaming my name.
I’m acutely aware my tongue is dry.
Another scream, this time just a shrill sound of pain.
I’m running up the stairs. My grip on the gun is so tight it hurts. For a few seconds my thoughts don’t form words, just the panicked urge to rush to my beloved friend. To help and defend her.
Upstairs there are four rooms. Two on the left, one on the right, and one in the far back. The only one that matters is the one with the noise.
I rush to the door and almost wrench it open right away, but pause.
Stay frosty.
Mosun almost runs into me in his haste to keep up.
I turn and look at him. His furious face mirrors mine. I cringe as another shout comes from the room right beside us.
He nods grimly and grabs the door handle. We both take a couple of deep, steadying breaths.
I raise my hand to Mosun. Three. Two. One.
---
Here's some fun fanart of Martin's Ghost Gun by Asclepius on the discord, thanks Asclepius!
https://imgur.com/a/zpJf1S9
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2023.06.02 19:22 VeryUnluckyDice Playing By Ear - Ch12 (NoP Fanfic)
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Memory transcription subject: Professor Haeli, Galactic Music Professor at White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 7, 2136
I've always taken my work seriously. Music might not be as directly applicable as engineering or business but it does have influence over the public. Even as an entry-level professor, I put forth great effort in my work. Even if it was for my own desire for integrity.
Still, Blyne’s expectations were surprising.
It's not that I felt incapable. Rather, no one had ever approached me with something so…delicate. This was a new development, something that had been lacking in my field for as long as I could remember.
So, naturally, I found myself completely and utterly stumped.
I was glad to see such importance placed on my position. I was often used to music being overlooked. For as much as the Federation touted the cultural advantage of prey species over the dreaded Arxur, songs didn’t defend the planet from raids. Guns did. I recognized that reality but often felt as though musical education was overly neglected. Despite the promise of newfound attention, being in such an unfamiliar situation had my nerves frazzled.
I was hoping Grace, being a professional Human musician, could offer me some insight on what I should do.
“The headmaster wants me to prove that Humans and Venlil have a place in one anothers’ societies. I can’t figure out how I’m supposed to prove that. I teach music, not socioeconomics.”
“I think he’s just looking for something practical, love. Maybe I could do a little virtual performance for him over video; show him that Humans are perfectly capable of cultural intelligence, and that we can be cordial in a performance setting.”
I still wasn’t used to her calling me ‘love’ like that. Apparently it was a dialect thing.
“That might help my case if it’s not too much trouble. He seems genuinely interested in what Humans are capable of.”
Could I even get Blyne to watch something like that though? He said he supports my efforts but still…
“Which reminds me, we still haven’t done a video call yet.”
I had tried so desperately to avoid the topic but she was always steering our conversation toward that fact. She was within her rights to desire such a thing. That was, after all, the point of the program.
“Grace, I know it’s only a matter of time. I just…It’s scary.”
“I assure you I don’t pose any threat. Look, if you’re going to get through all of this, you’ll need to make peace with our faces. Your student has already managed it. As his teacher, you shouldn’t let him overtake you so easily, in my honest opinion. You should be able to surpass him.”
“Sounds like an awfully competitive approach. Are all Humans that way?”
“You call that competitive? I’d call it a simple expectation. You’re supposed to be the one paving the way. That’s why you came up with this project, yeah?”
I sighed. She was right. It was my cowardice that was barring me from progressing. I’d decided to start this study and now I was being passed up by my own students.
“Alright. You win. Just…could you turn to the side at first. I don’t want to be met with predator eyes immediately.”
“Of course. I’ll turn the camera off if it goes to shite. But, I think you’ll find I’m less monstrous than you might imagine.”
I’d seen reference images. In some way, they were rather flimsy looking. Despite the piercing binocular eyes, they didn’t have the long claws or powerful builds of the Arxur. Still, even the still reference photos had sent a shiver down my spine.
This is Grace, though. You know her. It’s not some unnamed Human model.
I pulled the exchange app up to the computer screen, bracing myself for the Human visage.
“I’m ready.”
“Very well. I’m putting it on.”
The screen changed to reveal a Human side profile. Instantly, my heart rate shot up and I gripped the sides of my chair.
“Haeli, love? Are you alright? I actually can’t tell since I’m looking the other way.”
“I-I’m fine. I j-just need to a-adjust.”
“Take your time. It’s alright.”
Grace had switched from her regular voice to the sing-song voice she had used when I’d first spoken to her. The melodious tone helped to put me at ease.
I took deep, slow breaths to steady myself. My muscles began to relax and the shaking receded. I looked down to find that my claws had torn through the fabric on the armrests of my seat involuntarily.
I didn’t know my claws could even cut that well.
The realization gave me enough of a distraction to steady myself completely. I focused on the screen and took the image in. Grace’s one visible pupil and skin were different shades of brown. She wore a gray artificial pelt that ran over her shoulders and down out of the frame. Her hair, a deep black, sat tied back and drooping down behind her head. Her nose jutted outward to about the average length I’d seen in the references. Just as well, her mouth was fairly small, not lending itself to the idea of a jagged-toothed predator.
Her eyes remained fixed off to the side, trying not to look at me.
Welp. Here comes the hard part.
“I’m calm, I think. Please, turn to face me. I know that’s how Humans usually communicate.”
“Alright, I’ll turn my eyes first by themselves slowly. Then I’ll turn my whole chair.”
I flicked my ears in acknowledgement though she was no doubt unable to see it. In fact, she was probably unfamiliar with the motion in the first place.
How unfortunate to not be able to communicate in such ways. I wonder how Humans read each others’ body language?
As I considered such a thing, her one visible eye slowly swept towards the camera. After a moment, it was trained on me. I flinched slightly at the realization but stayed firm, continuing my deep breathing.
“I’m turning the chair now.”
Slowly, her whole body turned to face me, her eyes, now both visible, remained trained on the camera as though they were locked in their orientation. I shuddered at the sheer accuracy of her vision, letting out a slight whimper by accident.“Too much?”
“N-no. I-I’ll get through th-this. I h-have to.”
Grace slowly nodded her head in a motion I didn’t recognize. Submission? Concern?
Wait…I think I read that it was acknowledgement. Maybe I should do that in place of ear flicks. It’d be something we can both do and read easily. That is, if I can get through this without having a fucking heart attack.
Grace’s face was fully facing the camera. Part of me expected something terrible to happen, like my subconscious was warning me of impending doom even as my logical mind knew that it was just a video call. I held my eye up to her predatory stare, gripped by terror but unmoving regardless.
Of course, nothing actually happened. As I sat there in my office, far from any threat, I began to slowly let myself go slack. The tension I’d been experiencing left my body in increments. I took the time to study her more closely as curiosity got the better of me.
As I’d expected, the eyes were really the only threatening thing about her. Granted, her mouth was closed so I didn’t get a look at her teeth. From what I had heard, the Human canines were rather small and they also had teeth for crushing plant matter similar to our own.
“Are you…s-seriously an apex predator?”
The words had left my mouth before I had a chance to consider them. Even in my fearful state, I managed to question a predator’s ability to hunt. Was I out of my mind? Would that make her angry?
Her hand shot up to cover her mouth as she giggled in response. She was laughing at me?
“Oh, trust me, love. We didn’t become apex predators with our natural armaments. We were just smart enough to use strategy. That, and we can put just about anything on a hell of a flight path. Humans are rather well-versed when it comes to throwing.
Throwing things? There’s no way that’s all it takes.
“H-how does throwing things m-make you a good predator?”
“Prey animals on Earth can be dangerous up close. I know that’s a foreign concept for the Venlil but such wildlife can be difficult to hunt for that reason. Can’t get close? Fashion a spear and strike from afar. Simple as that.”
Dangerous prey? Humans must not be that naturally threatening if they consider prey dangerous.
As she gave me her explanation, I found myself beginning to fully relax. Despite the fact that she was talking about hunting, it was still her voice, one I’ve become familiar with over the last few paws. That recognition became my anchor, allowing me to make peace with her visage. It helped that she lacked the massive fangs and claws of an Arxur. It would take some time to adjust but I could accept the forward-facing eyes. That wasn’t enough to make a Human dangerous by itself.
I slowly raised my ears from the top of my head and tried to sit with the confidence befitting a professor.
“I a-apologize. I’m usually n-not such a mess.”
“I’ve heard plenty of disastrous stories about partner introductions. Comparatively, I think you’re doing quite well.”
“Th-thank you.”
I was doing it. I was speaking with a predator. This is what I’d expected of myself at the beginning but I still felt surprised. My desire to converse with Humans had come from my passion, my drive to make a difference and learn new things. My aversion had come from my experience, having only known predators as evil monsters for all my life. The two lines of reasoning were clashing in my mind. But, I could feel the optimism winning out. I could do this.
“So,” Grace continued. “How about we drum up a catalog I can play for the headmaster? I’m sure between the two of us, we can make something appealing.”
“R-right. That’s a good idea.”
Can I really get Blyne to listen to her? I guess I have no reason not to try. He's been supportive thus far.
Part of me wished the doubters had been right; that Humans would have no musical complexity. Now I’m faced with a daunting challenge. I could only hope that I had the capabilities to succeed, not just for my own sake, but for our chances of working with Humans in the future.
-
Memory transcription subject: Kila, Venlil Engineering Student (First Year) White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 7, 2136
If the simulations were trustworthy, the slender metal tubing I’d left laying in my dorm room should work well enough.
Theoretically, of course.
Unfortunately, I was still missing the most important part. The vibration mechanism was continuing to act as my biggest roadblock. I’d been engrossed with the project against my better judgment since my call with Brad. I would probably benefit from a break but the frustration of not being able to figure it out had taken me hostage. Even in the midst of lectures, I was playing with the simulation rather than taking notes.
“Kila, the lesson ended some time ago. Are you stumped by something?”
The words of Professor Gretty snapped me out of my focus. Despite my wide field of vision, I’d still somehow managed to ignore the entire lecture hall being vacated. I felt my face turn orange with embarrassment.
“No, sir. Actually, I was working on my own project. Sorry, I might have not been paying as much attention as I should have been.”
He flicked his tail in a motion of indifference.
“You’re one of the more capable students in this class. Not many students attend office hours for the first five sessions.”
It was no exaggeration. As the term had begun, I’d confided in Professor Gretty for an early engineering project. It had been my goal to overachieve initially to give myself a buffer in case I struggled later on. All in all, I was glad for those efforts now that I was most definitely slacking in regards to my school work.
“I’m glad you think highly of me sir. You’re a capable teacher in your own right.”
“I appreciate the compliment but I must say I’m curious. What exactly are you working on that has your attention so captivated that you don’t notice that you’re in a room devoid of people?”
“I’m trying to figure out how to redesign a h-”
Probably shouldn't bring up the specifics. It's a touchy subject.
“-an instrument for Venlil use. It typically uses a method of playing that we can’t naturally replicate. Basically, I need to cause buzzing at this point to vibrate the air column in the instrument.”
I motioned to the point on the model. The mechanism needed to be small, able to fit into the end of the tubing. I’d been hashing out ideas for far longer than I would have liked.
“The main trick,” I continued. “Has to do with the changing frequency. See, it has to change along with the slide as it moves in and out. Also, it has to be able to change harmonics depending on each position. The player needs to push air through the system to maintain the internal state. So, I need a way to create the vibrations independent of that while still allowing air to pass through. As of right now, I'm just trying to work through the math and figure out what frequencies I need at what lengths to get everything resonating properly.”
Gretty studied the design closely, taking stock of the model thus far.
“Odd. I’ve never seen an instrument like this before. Why rework an instrument anyway? You're not a music student. Is it a personal project?”
Glad that he didn’t pry anymore into the origins of the device, I answered before he could decide to.
“Yes, it’s a personal project. A friend of mine actually is a music student. I thought he might enjoy using an exotic instrument but it’s proving difficult to accommodate for our anatomy.”
“I’m not much of an engineer but I could maybe help you figure out the frequencies required to create the right resonance. Send me the dimensions and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh, it’s not that big of a deal, professor. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Nonsense. I’m happy to see my students applying what they learn even for personal projects. After all, what good would an education be without practical use? Send me the dimensions. I insist.”
I flicked my ears in affirmation.
“Thank you, professor! I’ll get those to you right away.”
“Remember, Kila,” he leaned in for emphasis. “If you run into any issues you think I can help with, I’ll lend you a paw. Just make sure to do your best.”
Flicking my ears one more time, I picked up my belongings and made my way for the exit.
Maybe I should have been less secretive with him. No. I can’t risk it. Human integration is a controversial topic right now. It’s good to know he’s willing to help, though. Having the numbers mapped out would make it way easier to design the mechanism.
I could probably emulate the vibrations easily enough. It’d take some tricky robotics to get the different frequency options working. The real question was how to handle the controls. A Venlil player wouldn’t just be able to move the muscles in their mouths the same way a Human can. I’ll need to find a way to get it to respond to the movement in the slide automatically. Then, maybe I could place buttons on the slide itself to change the harmonic up or down. It'd probably have to be a short-range wireless setup. I'd need to make sure there isn't a noticeable delay too.
It’s going to take some finnicking with electronics. I hope I remember how to design compact circuits. Plus there's the code to write. Should be simple enough.
All of this for something a Human can do with their lips. I was really running against the wind for this.
-
Memory transcription subject: Professor Haeli, Galactic Music Professor at White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
Entering Blyne’s office, the plateau of paperwork seemed to have only gotten taller. He peaked up over the impending workload, eyes even more tired than before.
“Hello, Professor Haeli. I hope the paw has treated you better than it’s treated me so far.”
I took a seat across from him, just barely able to make him out over the wall of documents.
“Judging by the new height of your desk, I’d say it probably has, headmaster.”
He chuckled at the comment, though the fatigue crept through his features.
“I’m still determined to make time for you. After all, most of this paperwork is awaiting your conclusions anyway.”
I swished my tail in understanding but he may not have noticed given the stacks were impeding his vision.
“Honestly, headmaster, I’m somewhat surprised that you agreed to this. It took me several paws to work up the courage to enter a video call with my partner. Are you sure that this is a good idea?”
“I trusted you to be head over Human studies for the time being. And, I told you that I’d support you where I could. Hundreds of Venlil have entered visual contact with humans. If the integration continues as it has, that number will only grow. I’ll handle it. I trust your judgment. Also, I think I'm too damn tired to bolt from my desk at the sight of your partner.”
Flicking my ears in acknowledgement, I turned my attention to my pad. Navigating the app, I initiated a video call with Grace. Hopefully, she hadn’t forgotten about the time we’d decided on.
I was satisfied to see that she had remembered as her side profile appeared on the screen. I flinched slightly but stayed composed. This time, the camera seemed further away, able to capture the image of both her and her piano. The device was one of the more recognizable Human instruments. According to Grace, it was standard for songwriters to have one. Easy to learn but incredibly difficult to master.
“All set here, love,” she spoke without turning to face me. Instead, her binocular eyes were trained on the pages in front of her.
“Headmaster Blyne, are you ready?” I questioned, giving him one last chance to back out.
“Turn the pad to me, Professor Haeli. I’m prepared.”
I slowly spun the pad around to face Blyne, propping it up against a tower of paper. He tensed up and inhaled sharply at the sight. However, after a moment, he began to relax his muscles.
“G-greetings. My name is B-Blyne. I'm the headmaster at W-White Hill University. To whom d-do I owe the pleasure?”
“My name is Grace Patel. But, I know the Venlil typically only use one name. You may refer to me as just Grace. I'm a professional musician that specializes in this: the piano.”
“W-what a peculiar device,” he observed. “Quite large for a musical instrument, no?”
Despite the initial quiver in his voice, by the time he reached the end of his thought, it already carried the same confidence that was typically present.
He got over it that fast? I guess I should expect nothing else from the headmaster. He’s used to dealing with stress.
“Yes, sir,” came Grace’s response. Though, she continued to face the pages. “A grand piano is among the largest despite its commonality. It owes its size to the fact that it’s technically somewhat of a string instrument. Each key moves a small hammer that strikes long, taught strings inside.”
“Fascinating. Could you show me what it sounds like before moving into a full piece?”
“Of course.”
Grace’s hands flew lightly across the keys, rolling up and down scales with ease. I couldn’t imagine Venlil paws being so dexterous. She made it look effortless.
She’s a professional alright.
Grace also tapped the keys with different amounts of force, putting the breadth of dynamics on display. Then, she played some chords. At first, they were small and simple but they quickly grew to massive complex variants.
Initially, the fact that they used only half the tones we placed between sets made me believe that their harmonic practice would be lacking. It seemed that was rather short-sighted.
Blyne appeared to be rather entranced by the sound.
“What immense range. You said this was called a grand piano?”
“Yes, sir. There are many variations on the piano but this is the most common for symphony orchestras and solo pieces.”
Blyne flicked his ears in acknowledgement.
“I must say I'm rather impressed thus far. It may come as a surprise but I used to play a couple instruments myself in my younger years. I can tell that you're very technically proficient even by that little demo alone.”
“I like to think that I am. After all, I do this for a living.”
“How fortunate that Human society accommodates for that,” I interjected. “I think most Venlil would expect there to be no room for such a thing in a predatory society.”
Grace squinted her eyes but they remained trained forward.
“It's not exactly an easy occupation, I’m afraid,” she responded. “It's a lot of hours and not always great pay. In the end, it usually gets sidelined for jobs that are considered more practical.”
“It's a similar story within the Federation too. After all, music doesn't grow crops or fight Arxur.”
Blyne seemed to look sympathetic to my plight. He no doubt felt guilty of such standards. Time and time again, the budget had found its way to other departments. Not that I blamed him. There was always pressure from donors and the government. I new technological advancement would always take priority over musical capabilities. That was the truth. And, in all honesty, I couldn't bring myself to disagree completely with the principle.
“Music has its applications,” Grace continued. “It can bridge cultural differences or improve morale in dark times. For Humans, it can also be used to bring awareness to social issues. I'm not sure if that's standard practice for you, though.”
Using music as a form of protest? I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of such a thing.
“I understand that Humans have a rich musical history,” Blyne spoke. “I'm intrigued to know what you've selected for us today, Miss Grace.”
“I'm very excited to play for the both of you. I don't believe Haeli has heard this first song yet, either.”
We’d already selected a few pieces some time before. I'd heard each and every one. Yet, she was going beyond our list? I hoped that she knew what she was doing.
“This piece,” she continued. “Was written by Claude Debussy a little over two hundred years ago during the standard Human year of 1905. It was made exclusively for piano. Today, it’s regarded as a classic.”
Grace sat up in her seat and hovered her hands over the keys.
"The title of this piece is Moonlight."
She scooted herself ever so slightly closer to the behemoth of an instrument and entered a state of visible focus.
Then, gently, she pressed down on the keys.
The sound was nearly inaudible. Grace’s dexterous hands tapped gently along the instrument, leaving ample space between the groupings of tones. It didn't seem like she was abiding by any particular rhythmic structure. It was loose but not in a chaotic sense. The tune drifted lazily from each point to the next like petals in a breeze. Harmonically, it felt melancholy; not bright and cheerful but not necessarily dark either.
This changed for a brief moment where the chords became somber. However, the higher tones returned with a kind of arcing motion to counterbalance it. Grace’s timing lent itself to a rising and falling motion to match the tonal development.
Soon, those arcs turned into cascades, starting slowly and gradually increasing in tempo. I almost didn't notice the volume increasing alongside it. The chords began to feel more foreboding. I could feel my heart rate rising as Grace vaulted into increasingly dark tonal motion.
Then, suddenly, she played a bright pattern in an upwards motion, much more lightly than the cascades before. The motion was repeated a few times, each one lower in volume.
After a moment of blissful serenity, Grace’s playing took on a quality that I could only describe as wonderment. Once again, the piece became dynamically louder. The rate of tones increased but didn't carry the darkness from before. Instead, the harmonies were bright and easy on the ears.
The speed at which she played was impressive, though unconventional. Nothing she'd played for me had reached that pace. I wondered if Blyne could handle the sudden jump in tempo. But, when I stole a glance at him, he seemed just as entranced as I was.
For a moment, the tiredness in his eyes seemed replaced with wonder.
The music seemed to falter, not in the executive sense but rather there was a feeling of specifically designed instability. It was as though the piece was portraying a loss of balance, just barely leaning over a sharp edge.
But, just as it seemed about to fall, the volume once more dropped to near silence as it returned to its melancholy origin. It seemed to be nearly identical to the opening. And, after drifting between patterns for a moment, each reminiscent of a broader section of the work, it ended as meekly as it began. I was briefly unsure that it was actually over. It was like it just slipped right out of the room. I only had my confirmation when Grace slid away from the piano.
Blyne and I sat in silence momentarily, soaking in the experience.
“It's been many years since I've heard something so immersive,” Blyne’s voice took on the sound of nostalgia. “Truly, that was encapsulating.”
I flicked my ears in acknowledgement.
“I'm not sure I fully understood the symbolism though. It's likely a planetary difference. How do Humans interpret the moon?”
Grace tilted her head to the side in a look I assumed was confusion until realization hit her.
“Ah, I almost forgot that's what it translates to. See, the title is in a different language than the one I speak. I speak primarily English but the title is French. Your translators seem not to discriminate. If you wouldn't mind, turn them off for just a moment and I'll say the title verbatim.”
Blyne and I both complied with the request, powering them off and flicking our ears in a ‘go ahead’ motion. After the motion was lost on her briefly, Grace realized we were ready and spoke the title once more.
“Claire de Lune.”
It sounded starkly different to the Venlil sound that it had been translated to. Though, it sounded almost melodious in nature.
After we turned the translators back on, Grace continued her thought.
“To answer your question, Haeli, the moon can mean a number of different things depending on culture. But, one thing that is constant is its association with the night. I'd say in this context, it served as the inspiration in a sort of atmospheric sense. You may equate it to a picturesque street illuminated only by a few lamps and the moonlight from above. It's serene in that regard.”
“It was a beautiful piece,” I assured her. “But, it wasn't one we selected beforehand. What made you want to perform it?”
“Honestly, I would have very well suggested it earlier had I remembered it. It just popped into my head after the fact and I thought it would be a perfect introductory piece.”
“To that, I can agree,” Blyne offered. “I can tell that immense thought was put into the composition of the piece. And, I can tell that you have spent much time honing your craft. As such, I have a request.”
A request?
“Please, miss Grace, turn to face the camera.”
I tensed up. Even after already exposing myself to her face, I felt reluctant to have her eyes burrow into me again.
“Are you sure about that, sir?” Grace asked tentatively.
“I understand that you haven't been able to see us so far. And that, for Humans, looking away is often considered rude. It's probably been difficult to remain facing away from us this whole time. The least I can do for such a stunning performance is to look you in the eyes.”
Grace looked unsure but slowly she turned to face us. I felt my muscles tense further and Blyne stiffened across from me as well.
“You really needn't subject yourself to this,” Grace spoke, clearly noting our collective discomfort.
“I f-feel inclined to disagree,” came Blyne’s response. “If we are to live and w-work with Humans, we will need to overcome our instincts. I'm willing to give that an honest try just as Professor Haeli here is too.”
“I appreciate the effort. Truly, I do. But, save your energy. That song is not all I intend to play for you. Haeli and I selected quite the program.”
I flicked my ears in acknowledgement and accompanied it with a head nod for Grace.
“Yes, indeed. I believe you'll very much enjoy the rest of these, headmaster.”
And so we continued, traipsing through various piano melodies. From the slow, methodical sounds of Gymnopédie No. 1 to the almost haunting motion of Arietta, we sat enamored by Grace’s playing until, finally, we ran the established catalog dry and she bid us farewell before signing off.
Now in the silent office, Blyne suddenly fell against the wall of papers.
“Stars,” he spoke through the now collapsed pages. “I'm too old for this, Haeli. Her playing was incredible. And, I think I did well as a professional but her eyes are still terrifying.”
“I know how you feel. My student says you get used to it pretty fast, though.”
“To be young and have that kind of flexibility. It's going to take me some time, I think.”
“You held together well all things considered. I cut into the fabric of my chair with my claws just from tensing up so much.”
“Don't go destroying university property, now. We just got those chairs two terms ago. Also, about that student of yours, he's made quite the amount of headway, yes?”
I thought back to Mezil’s progress. It had certainly been more than I’d expected from any of my students.
“Yes. Grace was encouraging me to get him more involved. I can only really think of one way to do it. Actually, after her performance, I have a pretty ambitious idea.”
Blyne lifted his head from the paperwork and eyed me warily.
“You need my help, I assume.”
“I'll definitely need the go-ahead from you for this one. That, and I'll probably need some help figuring out the logistics.”
He sighed and started straightening out the stack he'd toppled.
“Alright then, Professor Haeli. What is your plan?”
-
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Memory transcription subject: Professor Haeli, Galactic Music Professor at White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 7, 2136
I've always taken my work seriously. Music might not be as directly applicable as engineering or business but it does have influence over the public. Even as an entry-level professor, I put forth great effort in my work. Even if it was for my own desire for integrity.
Still, Blyne’s expectations were surprising.
It's not that I felt incapable. Rather, no one had ever approached me with something so…delicate. This was a new development, something that had been lacking in my field for as long as I could remember.
So, naturally, I found myself completely and utterly stumped.
I was glad to see such importance placed on my position. I was often used to music being overlooked. For as much as the Federation touted the cultural advantage of prey species over the dreaded Arxur, songs didn’t defend the planet from raids. Guns did. I recognized that reality but often felt as though musical education was overly neglected. Despite the promise of newfound attention, being in such an unfamiliar situation had my nerves frazzled.
I was hoping Grace, being a professional Human musician, could offer me some insight on what I should do.
“The headmaster wants me to prove that Humans and Venlil have a place in one anothers’ societies. I can’t figure out how I’m supposed to prove that. I teach music, not socioeconomics.”
“I think he’s just looking for something practical, love. Maybe I could do a little virtual performance for him over video; show him that Humans are perfectly capable of cultural intelligence, and that we can be cordial in a performance setting.”
I still wasn’t used to her calling me ‘love’ like that. Apparently it was a dialect thing.
“That might help my case if it’s not too much trouble. He seems genuinely interested in what Humans are capable of.”
Could I even get Blyne to watch something like that though? He said he supports my efforts but still…
“Which reminds me, we still haven’t done a video call yet.”
I had tried so desperately to avoid the topic but she was always steering our conversation toward that fact. She was within her rights to desire such a thing. That was, after all, the point of the program.
“Grace, I know it’s only a matter of time. I just…It’s scary.”
“I assure you I don’t pose any threat. Look, if you’re going to get through all of this, you’ll need to make peace with our faces. Your student has already managed it. As his teacher, you shouldn’t let him overtake you so easily, in my honest opinion. You should be able to surpass him.”
“Sounds like an awfully competitive approach. Are all Humans that way?”
“You call that competitive? I’d call it a simple expectation. You’re supposed to be the one paving the way. That’s why you came up with this project, yeah?”
I sighed. She was right. It was my cowardice that was barring me from progressing. I’d decided to start this study and now I was being passed up by my own students.
“Alright. You win. Just…could you turn to the side at first. I don’t want to be met with predator eyes immediately.”
“Of course. I’ll turn the camera off if it goes to shite. But, I think you’ll find I’m less monstrous than you might imagine.”
I’d seen reference images. In some way, they were rather flimsy looking. Despite the piercing binocular eyes, they didn’t have the long claws or powerful builds of the Arxur. Still, even the still reference photos had sent a shiver down my spine.
This is Grace, though. You know her. It’s not some unnamed Human model.
I pulled the exchange app up to the computer screen, bracing myself for the Human visage.
“I’m ready.”
“Very well. I’m putting it on.”
The screen changed to reveal a Human side profile. Instantly, my heart rate shot up and I gripped the sides of my chair.
“Haeli, love? Are you alright? I actually can’t tell since I’m looking the other way.”
“I-I’m fine. I j-just need to a-adjust.”
“Take your time. It’s alright.”
Grace had switched from her regular voice to the sing-song voice she had used when I’d first spoken to her. The melodious tone helped to put me at ease.
I took deep, slow breaths to steady myself. My muscles began to relax and the shaking receded. I looked down to find that my claws had torn through the fabric on the armrests of my seat involuntarily.
I didn’t know my claws could even cut that well.
The realization gave me enough of a distraction to steady myself completely. I focused on the screen and took the image in. Grace’s one visible pupil and skin were different shades of brown. She wore a gray artificial pelt that ran over her shoulders and down out of the frame. Her hair, a deep black, sat tied back and drooping down behind her head. Her nose jutted outward to about the average length I’d seen in the references. Just as well, her mouth was fairly small, not lending itself to the idea of a jagged-toothed predator.
Her eyes remained fixed off to the side, trying not to look at me.
Welp. Here comes the hard part.
“I’m calm, I think. Please, turn to face me. I know that’s how Humans usually communicate.”
“Alright, I’ll turn my eyes first by themselves slowly. Then I’ll turn my whole chair.”
I flicked my ears in acknowledgement though she was no doubt unable to see it. In fact, she was probably unfamiliar with the motion in the first place.
How unfortunate to not be able to communicate in such ways. I wonder how Humans read each others’ body language?
As I considered such a thing, her one visible eye slowly swept towards the camera. After a moment, it was trained on me. I flinched slightly at the realization but stayed firm, continuing my deep breathing.
“I’m turning the chair now.”
Slowly, her whole body turned to face me, her eyes, now both visible, remained trained on the camera as though they were locked in their orientation. I shuddered at the sheer accuracy of her vision, letting out a slight whimper by accident.“Too much?”
“N-no. I-I’ll get through th-this. I h-have to.”
Grace slowly nodded her head in a motion I didn’t recognize. Submission? Concern?
Wait…I think I read that it was acknowledgement. Maybe I should do that in place of ear flicks. It’d be something we can both do and read easily. That is, if I can get through this without having a fucking heart attack.
Grace’s face was fully facing the camera. Part of me expected something terrible to happen, like my subconscious was warning me of impending doom even as my logical mind knew that it was just a video call. I held my eye up to her predatory stare, gripped by terror but unmoving regardless.
Of course, nothing actually happened. As I sat there in my office, far from any threat, I began to slowly let myself go slack. The tension I’d been experiencing left my body in increments. I took the time to study her more closely as curiosity got the better of me.
As I’d expected, the eyes were really the only threatening thing about her. Granted, her mouth was closed so I didn’t get a look at her teeth. From what I had heard, the Human canines were rather small and they also had teeth for crushing plant matter similar to our own.
“Are you…s-seriously an apex predator?”
The words had left my mouth before I had a chance to consider them. Even in my fearful state, I managed to question a predator’s ability to hunt. Was I out of my mind? Would that make her angry?
Her hand shot up to cover her mouth as she giggled in response. She was laughing at me?
“Oh, trust me, love. We didn’t become apex predators with our natural armaments. We were just smart enough to use strategy. That, and we can put just about anything on a hell of a flight path. Humans are rather well-versed when it comes to throwing.
Throwing things? There’s no way that’s all it takes.
“H-how does throwing things m-make you a good predator?”
“Prey animals on Earth can be dangerous up close. I know that’s a foreign concept for the Venlil but such wildlife can be difficult to hunt for that reason. Can’t get close? Fashion a spear and strike from afar. Simple as that.”
Dangerous prey? Humans must not be that naturally threatening if they consider prey dangerous.
As she gave me her explanation, I found myself beginning to fully relax. Despite the fact that she was talking about hunting, it was still her voice, one I’ve become familiar with over the last few paws. That recognition became my anchor, allowing me to make peace with her visage. It helped that she lacked the massive fangs and claws of an Arxur. It would take some time to adjust but I could accept the forward-facing eyes. That wasn’t enough to make a Human dangerous by itself.
I slowly raised my ears from the top of my head and tried to sit with the confidence befitting a professor.
“I a-apologize. I’m usually n-not such a mess.”
“I’ve heard plenty of disastrous stories about partner introductions. Comparatively, I think you’re doing quite well.”
“Th-thank you.”
I was doing it. I was speaking with a predator. This is what I’d expected of myself at the beginning but I still felt surprised. My desire to converse with Humans had come from my passion, my drive to make a difference and learn new things. My aversion had come from my experience, having only known predators as evil monsters for all my life. The two lines of reasoning were clashing in my mind. But, I could feel the optimism winning out. I could do this.
“So,” Grace continued. “How about we drum up a catalog I can play for the headmaster? I’m sure between the two of us, we can make something appealing.”
“R-right. That’s a good idea.”
Can I really get Blyne to listen to her? I guess I have no reason not to try. He's been supportive thus far.
Part of me wished the doubters had been right; that Humans would have no musical complexity. Now I’m faced with a daunting challenge. I could only hope that I had the capabilities to succeed, not just for my own sake, but for our chances of working with Humans in the future.
-
Memory transcription subject: Kila, Venlil Engineering Student (First Year) White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 7, 2136
If the simulations were trustworthy, the slender metal tubing I’d left laying in my dorm room should work well enough.
Theoretically, of course.
Unfortunately, I was still missing the most important part. The vibration mechanism was continuing to act as my biggest roadblock. I’d been engrossed with the project against my better judgment since my call with Brad. I would probably benefit from a break but the frustration of not being able to figure it out had taken me hostage. Even in the midst of lectures, I was playing with the simulation rather than taking notes.
“Kila, the lesson ended some time ago. Are you stumped by something?”
The words of Professor Gretty snapped me out of my focus. Despite my wide field of vision, I’d still somehow managed to ignore the entire lecture hall being vacated. I felt my face turn orange with embarrassment.
“No, sir. Actually, I was working on my own project. Sorry, I might have not been paying as much attention as I should have been.”
He flicked his tail in a motion of indifference.
“You’re one of the more capable students in this class. Not many students attend office hours for the first five sessions.”
It was no exaggeration. As the term had begun, I’d confided in Professor Gretty for an early engineering project. It had been my goal to overachieve initially to give myself a buffer in case I struggled later on. All in all, I was glad for those efforts now that I was most definitely slacking in regards to my school work.
“I’m glad you think highly of me sir. You’re a capable teacher in your own right.”
“I appreciate the compliment but I must say I’m curious. What exactly are you working on that has your attention so captivated that you don’t notice that you’re in a room devoid of people?”
“I’m trying to figure out how to redesign a h-”
Probably shouldn't bring up the specifics. It's a touchy subject.
“-an instrument for Venlil use. It typically uses a method of playing that we can’t naturally replicate. Basically, I need to cause buzzing at this point to vibrate the air column in the instrument.”
I motioned to the point on the model. The mechanism needed to be small, able to fit into the end of the tubing. I’d been hashing out ideas for far longer than I would have liked.
“The main trick,” I continued. “Has to do with the changing frequency. See, it has to change along with the slide as it moves in and out. Also, it has to be able to change harmonics depending on each position. The player needs to push air through the system to maintain the internal state. So, I need a way to create the vibrations independent of that while still allowing air to pass through. As of right now, I'm just trying to work through the math and figure out what frequencies I need at what lengths to get everything resonating properly.”
Gretty studied the design closely, taking stock of the model thus far.
“Odd. I’ve never seen an instrument like this before. Why rework an instrument anyway? You're not a music student. Is it a personal project?”
Glad that he didn’t pry anymore into the origins of the device, I answered before he could decide to.
“Yes, it’s a personal project. A friend of mine actually is a music student. I thought he might enjoy using an exotic instrument but it’s proving difficult to accommodate for our anatomy.”
“I’m not much of an engineer but I could maybe help you figure out the frequencies required to create the right resonance. Send me the dimensions and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh, it’s not that big of a deal, professor. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Nonsense. I’m happy to see my students applying what they learn even for personal projects. After all, what good would an education be without practical use? Send me the dimensions. I insist.”
I flicked my ears in affirmation.
“Thank you, professor! I’ll get those to you right away.”
“Remember, Kila,” he leaned in for emphasis. “If you run into any issues you think I can help with, I’ll lend you a paw. Just make sure to do your best.”
Flicking my ears one more time, I picked up my belongings and made my way for the exit.
Maybe I should have been less secretive with him. No. I can’t risk it. Human integration is a controversial topic right now. It’s good to know he’s willing to help, though. Having the numbers mapped out would make it way easier to design the mechanism.
I could probably emulate the vibrations easily enough. It’d take some tricky robotics to get the different frequency options working. The real question was how to handle the controls. A Venlil player wouldn’t just be able to move the muscles in their mouths the same way a Human can. I’ll need to find a way to get it to respond to the movement in the slide automatically. Then, maybe I could place buttons on the slide itself to change the harmonic up or down. It'd probably have to be a short-range wireless setup. I'd need to make sure there isn't a noticeable delay too.
It’s going to take some finnicking with electronics. I hope I remember how to design compact circuits. Plus there's the code to write. Should be simple enough.
All of this for something a Human can do with their lips. I was really running against the wind for this.
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Memory transcription subject: Professor Haeli, Galactic Music Professor at White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
Entering Blyne’s office, the plateau of paperwork seemed to have only gotten taller. He peaked up over the impending workload, eyes even more tired than before.
“Hello, Professor Haeli. I hope the paw has treated you better than it’s treated me so far.”
I took a seat across from him, just barely able to make him out over the wall of documents.
“Judging by the new height of your desk, I’d say it probably has, headmaster.”
He chuckled at the comment, though the fatigue crept through his features.
“I’m still determined to make time for you. After all, most of this paperwork is awaiting your conclusions anyway.”
I swished my tail in understanding but he may not have noticed given the stacks were impeding his vision.
“Honestly, headmaster, I’m somewhat surprised that you agreed to this. It took me several paws to work up the courage to enter a video call with my partner. Are you sure that this is a good idea?”
“I trusted you to be head over Human studies for the time being. And, I told you that I’d support you where I could. Hundreds of Venlil have entered visual contact with humans. If the integration continues as it has, that number will only grow. I’ll handle it. I trust your judgment. Also, I think I'm too damn tired to bolt from my desk at the sight of your partner.”
Flicking my ears in acknowledgement, I turned my attention to my pad. Navigating the app, I initiated a video call with Grace. Hopefully, she hadn’t forgotten about the time we’d decided on.
I was satisfied to see that she had remembered as her side profile appeared on the screen. I flinched slightly but stayed composed. This time, the camera seemed further away, able to capture the image of both her and her piano. The device was one of the more recognizable Human instruments. According to Grace, it was standard for songwriters to have one. Easy to learn but incredibly difficult to master.
“All set here, love,” she spoke without turning to face me. Instead, her binocular eyes were trained on the pages in front of her.
“Headmaster Blyne, are you ready?” I questioned, giving him one last chance to back out.
“Turn the pad to me, Professor Haeli. I’m prepared.”
I slowly spun the pad around to face Blyne, propping it up against a tower of paper. He tensed up and inhaled sharply at the sight. However, after a moment, he began to relax his muscles.
“G-greetings. My name is B-Blyne. I'm the headmaster at W-White Hill University. To whom d-do I owe the pleasure?”
“My name is Grace Patel. But, I know the Venlil typically only use one name. You may refer to me as just Grace. I'm a professional musician that specializes in this: the piano.”
“W-what a peculiar device,” he observed. “Quite large for a musical instrument, no?”
Despite the initial quiver in his voice, by the time he reached the end of his thought, it already carried the same confidence that was typically present.
He got over it that fast? I guess I should expect nothing else from the headmaster. He’s used to dealing with stress.
“Yes, sir,” came Grace’s response. Though, she continued to face the pages. “A grand piano is among the largest despite its commonality. It owes its size to the fact that it’s technically somewhat of a string instrument. Each key moves a small hammer that strikes long, taught strings inside.”
“Fascinating. Could you show me what it sounds like before moving into a full piece?”
“Of course.”
Grace’s hands flew lightly across the keys, rolling up and down scales with ease. I couldn’t imagine Venlil paws being so dexterous. She made it look effortless.
She’s a professional alright.
Grace also tapped the keys with different amounts of force, putting the breadth of dynamics on display. Then, she played some chords. At first, they were small and simple but they quickly grew to massive complex variants.
Initially, the fact that they used only half the tones we placed between sets made me believe that their harmonic practice would be lacking. It seemed that was rather short-sighted.
Blyne appeared to be rather entranced by the sound.
“What immense range. You said this was called a grand piano?”
“Yes, sir. There are many variations on the piano but this is the most common for symphony orchestras and solo pieces.”
Blyne flicked his ears in acknowledgement.
“I must say I'm rather impressed thus far. It may come as a surprise but I used to play a couple instruments myself in my younger years. I can tell that you're very technically proficient even by that little demo alone.”
“I like to think that I am. After all, I do this for a living.”
“How fortunate that Human society accommodates for that,” I interjected. “I think most Venlil would expect there to be no room for such a thing in a predatory society.”
Grace squinted her eyes but they remained trained forward.
“It's not exactly an easy occupation, I’m afraid,” she responded. “It's a lot of hours and not always great pay. In the end, it usually gets sidelined for jobs that are considered more practical.”
“It's a similar story within the Federation too. After all, music doesn't grow crops or fight Arxur.”
Blyne seemed to look sympathetic to my plight. He no doubt felt guilty of such standards. Time and time again, the budget had found its way to other departments. Not that I blamed him. There was always pressure from donors and the government. I new technological advancement would always take priority over musical capabilities. That was the truth. And, in all honesty, I couldn't bring myself to disagree completely with the principle.
“Music has its applications,” Grace continued. “It can bridge cultural differences or improve morale in dark times. For Humans, it can also be used to bring awareness to social issues. I'm not sure if that's standard practice for you, though.”
Using music as a form of protest? I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of such a thing.
“I understand that Humans have a rich musical history,” Blyne spoke. “I'm intrigued to know what you've selected for us today, Miss Grace.”
“I'm very excited to play for the both of you. I don't believe Haeli has heard this first song yet, either.”
We’d already selected a few pieces some time before. I'd heard each and every one. Yet, she was going beyond our list? I hoped that she knew what she was doing.
“This piece,” she continued. “Was written by Claude Debussy a little over two hundred years ago during the standard Human year of 1905. It was made exclusively for piano. Today, it’s regarded as a classic.”
Grace sat up in her seat and hovered her hands over the keys.
"The title of this piece is Moonlight."
She scooted herself ever so slightly closer to the behemoth of an instrument and entered a state of visible focus.
Then, gently, she pressed down on the keys.
The sound was nearly inaudible. Grace’s dexterous hands tapped gently along the instrument, leaving ample space between the groupings of tones. It didn't seem like she was abiding by any particular rhythmic structure. It was loose but not in a chaotic sense. The tune drifted lazily from each point to the next like petals in a breeze. Harmonically, it felt melancholy; not bright and cheerful but not necessarily dark either.
This changed for a brief moment where the chords became somber. However, the higher tones returned with a kind of arcing motion to counterbalance it. Grace’s timing lent itself to a rising and falling motion to match the tonal development.
Soon, those arcs turned into cascades, starting slowly and gradually increasing in tempo. I almost didn't notice the volume increasing alongside it. The chords began to feel more foreboding. I could feel my heart rate rising as Grace vaulted into increasingly dark tonal motion.
Then, suddenly, she played a bright pattern in an upwards motion, much more lightly than the cascades before. The motion was repeated a few times, each one lower in volume.
After a moment of blissful serenity, Grace’s playing took on a quality that I could only describe as wonderment. Once again, the piece became dynamically louder. The rate of tones increased but didn't carry the darkness from before. Instead, the harmonies were bright and easy on the ears.
The speed at which she played was impressive, though unconventional. Nothing she'd played for me had reached that pace. I wondered if Blyne could handle the sudden jump in tempo. But, when I stole a glance at him, he seemed just as entranced as I was.
For a moment, the tiredness in his eyes seemed replaced with wonder.
The music seemed to falter, not in the executive sense but rather there was a feeling of specifically designed instability. It was as though the piece was portraying a loss of balance, just barely leaning over a sharp edge.
But, just as it seemed about to fall, the volume once more dropped to near silence as it returned to its melancholy origin. It seemed to be nearly identical to the opening. And, after drifting between patterns for a moment, each reminiscent of a broader section of the work, it ended as meekly as it began. I was briefly unsure that it was actually over. It was like it just slipped right out of the room. I only had my confirmation when Grace slid away from the piano.
Blyne and I sat in silence momentarily, soaking in the experience.
“It's been many years since I've heard something so immersive,” Blyne’s voice took on the sound of nostalgia. “Truly, that was encapsulating.”
I flicked my ears in acknowledgement.
“I'm not sure I fully understood the symbolism though. It's likely a planetary difference. How do Humans interpret the moon?”
Grace tilted her head to the side in a look I assumed was confusion until realization hit her.
“Ah, I almost forgot that's what it translates to. See, the title is in a different language than the one I speak. I speak primarily English but the title is French. Your translators seem not to discriminate. If you wouldn't mind, turn them off for just a moment and I'll say the title verbatim.”
Blyne and I both complied with the request, powering them off and flicking our ears in a ‘go ahead’ motion. After the motion was lost on her briefly, Grace realized we were ready and spoke the title once more.
“Claire de Lune.”
It sounded starkly different to the Venlil sound that it had been translated to. Though, it sounded almost melodious in nature.
After we turned the translators back on, Grace continued her thought.
“To answer your question, Haeli, the moon can mean a number of different things depending on culture. But, one thing that is constant is its association with the night. I'd say in this context, it served as the inspiration in a sort of atmospheric sense. You may equate it to a picturesque street illuminated only by a few lamps and the moonlight from above. It's serene in that regard.”
“It was a beautiful piece,” I assured her. “But, it wasn't one we selected beforehand. What made you want to perform it?”
“Honestly, I would have very well suggested it earlier had I remembered it. It just popped into my head after the fact and I thought it would be a perfect introductory piece.”
“To that, I can agree,” Blyne offered. “I can tell that immense thought was put into the composition of the piece. And, I can tell that you have spent much time honing your craft. As such, I have a request.”
A request?
“Please, miss Grace, turn to face the camera.”
I tensed up. Even after already exposing myself to her face, I felt reluctant to have her eyes burrow into me again.
“Are you sure about that, sir?” Grace asked tentatively.
“I understand that you haven't been able to see us so far. And that, for Humans, looking away is often considered rude. It's probably been difficult to remain facing away from us this whole time. The least I can do for such a stunning performance is to look you in the eyes.”
Grace looked unsure but slowly she turned to face us. I felt my muscles tense further and Blyne stiffened across from me as well.
“You really needn't subject yourself to this,” Grace spoke, clearly noting our collective discomfort.
“I f-feel inclined to disagree,” came Blyne’s response. “If we are to live and w-work with Humans, we will need to overcome our instincts. I'm willing to give that an honest try just as Professor Haeli here is too.”
“I appreciate the effort. Truly, I do. But, save your energy. That song is not all I intend to play for you. Haeli and I selected quite the program.”
I flicked my ears in acknowledgement and accompanied it with a head nod for Grace.
“Yes, indeed. I believe you'll very much enjoy the rest of these, headmaster.”
And so we continued, traipsing through various piano melodies. From the slow, methodical sounds of Gymnopédie No. 1 to the almost haunting motion of Arietta, we sat enamored by Grace’s playing until, finally, we ran the established catalog dry and she bid us farewell before signing off.
Now in the silent office, Blyne suddenly fell against the wall of papers.
“Stars,” he spoke through the now collapsed pages. “I'm too old for this, Haeli. Her playing was incredible. And, I think I did well as a professional but her eyes are still terrifying.”
“I know how you feel. My student says you get used to it pretty fast, though.”
“To be young and have that kind of flexibility. It's going to take me some time, I think.”
“You held together well all things considered. I cut into the fabric of my chair with my claws just from tensing up so much.”
“Don't go destroying university property, now. We just got those chairs two terms ago. Also, about that student of yours, he's made quite the amount of headway, yes?”
I thought back to Mezil’s progress. It had certainly been more than I’d expected from any of my students.
“Yes. Grace was encouraging me to get him more involved. I can only really think of one way to do it. Actually, after her performance, I have a pretty ambitious idea.”
Blyne lifted his head from the paperwork and eyed me warily.
“You need my help, I assume.”
“I'll definitely need the go-ahead from you for this one. That, and I'll probably need some help figuring out the logistics.”
He sighed and started straightening out the stack he'd toppled.
“Alright then, Professor Haeli. What is your plan?”
-
First / Prev / Next
2023.06.02 19:02 CourtRooom Comprehensive Breakdown & Infographic of Rocket Launcher Frames - Updated for Season 21
We went from zero Rockets in Season 20, to 3 (4 if you count the Solstice Strand one but I'll omit it in this breakdown) in Season 21 - so of course I am back with an updated breakdown of Rocket Launchers for Season of the Deep.
Lots have changed and moved about, including a Mid-Season Update in S20 that tweaked with the Reserve Mods, so I'll be concentrating on those big highlights. If you're wanting a refresher on Rocket Launchers: see this S20 post and my original post too. As a note: those were written up in S20 and S19 respectively, but the core breakdown will still apply. I make these seasonal updates just to highlight any changes, additions, and more.
I also come with an updated Infographic. Once again this is split into two parts; part one highlights individual Rockets, where to get them, their frames, and damage profiles, whereas part two is focused on Perks and Ammo.
This is another Comprehensive Breakdown in my long series of these posts.
Previous Breakdowns
+++++
Credits/Sourcing:
Edits: if there are any I'll post any subsequent edits/clarifications at the bottom of this post.
+++++
+++++
As already mentioned I'll be focusing on new things, changes, and highlighting worthwhile data and information. Links to previous breakdowns posted in the intro of this post.
As a reminder, here's a quick recap of Rocket Launchers:
+++++
These breakdowns are mainly objective, but I've added some perk highlights, those in bold are the things that caught my eye.
No new fundamental changes here, but wanted to list one highlight.
I don't normally do a write-up on Origin Traits, but considering the Ghosts of the Deep Dungeon has a really synergistic one I'll put on here.
With new Perks we have new interactions with Wolfpack Rounds. This breakdown post is still pretty relevant re: Wolfpack Rounds by u/m4eix, but I'm adding an addendum to it:
Season 21 debuted the new "Deepsight Harmonizer" currency. This allows you to add Deepsight Resonance ("red box") so you can make progression on being able to craft it. This TWAB goes into more detail including restrictions, but basically older weapons with no direct source like Bump in the Night can now be crafted after utilising this currency; Bump in the Night itself can drop from the Gunsmith or Xur. They can also be used for those weapons that still have direct ways to acquire them (e.g. Red Herring and Apex Predator).
Unobtainable Rockets
Bump in the Night is still not directly acquirable (outside of XuGunsmith, which can be purchased and can RNG drop as a Deepsight version, or Deepsight can be applied to it) and joins the following Rockets that are not sunset but have no direct acquisition method (excluding XuGunsmith):
I attached an addendum to my previous S20 post with information related to the Mid-Season Update that changed Reserve Mods. I'll highlight it here, along with some additional information:
Reserve Mods were changed in Update 7.0.5. In general this didn't really make too much of a change to Rocket Launchers, but it did help out a few. Reminder: Reserve Mods adds to the 'Inventory Size' stat, which I'll go into more detail later.
If you want a partial list of how this affects most Rockets (craftable, recent, and community highlights) see Part II of the infographic. For a complete list, I've updated my spreadsheet page ("Rocket Launchers Overview" Tab) to include them all + interactions with various ammo Perks.
It wouldn't be a Court Rocket Launcher Breakdown post if I didn't highlight Inventory Size stat again and again. Haha, but in all seriousness this isn't going to be as dense as previous posts but I did want to reiterate some points.
Ammo Capacity (amongst other things but they aren't in the scope of this breakdown) is affected by the hidden "Inventory Size" stat. The higher this stat is, the more ammo you can carry - for Rocket Launchers this is pretty easy to calculate as you're working with small numbers. It also affects how much ammo you gain when you pick up a standard ammo brick, which I'll summarise here:
To calculate how much total ammo capacity (again, credit to MossyMax who deciphered this formula) as being the following (numbers always round up):
Here's how the new/refreshed Rockets fair with the total ammo capacity (magazine+reserves) with no additional perks (Bipod is listed further down):
Cold Comfort gets 10 total ammo capacity because it has a high Inventory Size stat of 45 so can breach that next breakpoint (for those wondering that's over 40). BrayTech Osprey is the only one out of the three to get Field Prep.
Rocket Launchers Can Get More Than 10
Rocket Launchers are hard capped to 10... or so we thought anyway. While under normal circumstances Rockets cannot breach this cap, the new perk Bipod - and one of Ahsa's Empowerment buff in the Deep Dive activity - can go beyond this cap.
We'll focus on Bipod in this section. For the magazine it's a simple 2x of the base magazine, which can be stacked with Envious Assassin and Reconstruction's effects (Bipod increases base magazine first, then EA/Recon compounds on that number).
Envious Assassin Magazine Size
Note: Perks like Envious Assassin and Reconstruction do not affect how many reserves you get. Osprey w/ Field Prep + Bipod data is all but confirmed, will revisit once we know for sure what 3x Reserves truly provides (\it could be 16 as standard Field Prep at 3x Reserves is technically 11 but the cap brings it down to 10).*
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Summaries
Post-Posting Edits Section
—Court
submitted by CourtRooom to DestinyTheGame [link] [comments]
Lots have changed and moved about, including a Mid-Season Update in S20 that tweaked with the Reserve Mods, so I'll be concentrating on those big highlights. If you're wanting a refresher on Rocket Launchers: see this S20 post and my original post too. As a note: those were written up in S20 and S19 respectively, but the core breakdown will still apply. I make these seasonal updates just to highlight any changes, additions, and more.
I also come with an updated Infographic. Once again this is split into two parts; part one highlights individual Rockets, where to get them, their frames, and damage profiles, whereas part two is focused on Perks and Ammo.
- Infographic Link (combined Parts 1 and 2): https://imgur.com/a/Ahqz3gR
- HQ versions can be obtained via my Twitter
This is another Comprehensive Breakdown in my long series of these posts.
Previous Breakdowns
- Chris Proctor & Rodney Thompson (Bungie Devs) Interview Breakdown on Podcast Versus Enemies
- Häkke Breach Armaments and the "Vehicles" Combatant Type
- S21 Champion Counters Infographic/Breakdown
+++++
Credits/Sourcing:
Edits: if there are any I'll post any subsequent edits/clarifications at the bottom of this post.
+++++
+++++
Seasonal Reminder
This post is written in the perspective of Season 21 (Season of the Deep); if you are reading this in the future then please keep this in mind that some things may have changed, been added, or removed. I do these write-ups every Season and avoid editing legacy (older) breakdowns and write-ups, so it may be worth checking for the Season you are in.As already mentioned I'll be focusing on new things, changes, and highlighting worthwhile data and information. Links to previous breakdowns posted in the intro of this post.
As a reminder, here's a quick recap of Rocket Launchers:
- Precision/Häkke Precision
- 0.9x damage profile
- Built-in Tracking; Low Blast Radius & Reload stats
- Häkke: Häkke Breach Armaments (for Vehicles, Turrets, Ships, etc)
- RPM: 42.5
- High-Impact
- 1.0x damage profile (i.e. 'baseline')
- High Blast Radius & Handling stats; Low Velocity stat
- RPM: 46.5
- Adaptive
- 1.1x damage profile
- Average All-Rounder; does not excel at any particular stat
- RPM: 50.5
- Aggressive
- 1.1x damage profile
- High Velocity & Reload stats; Low Blast Radius & Handling stats
- RPM: 54.5
+++++
Season 21: New Rockets & Perks
New/Refreshed Rocket LaunchersThese breakdowns are mainly objective, but I've added some perk highlights, those in bold are the things that caught my eye.
- BrayTech Osprey (Void; High-Impact)
- Non-Craftable
- Normal and Adept versions drop in Nightfalls (GM for Adept), and purchasable at Zavala once acquired
- Perk Highlights
- 3rd column: Envious Assassin, Field Prep
- 4th column: Bipod, Golden Tricorn, Frenzy
- Apex Predator (Solar; Adaptive)
- Craftable
- Drops in any Last Wish encounter, and purchase at Hawthorne
- Perk Highlights:
- 3rd column: Demolitionist, Reconstruction
- 4th column: Frenzy, Collective Action, Surrounded, Bipod, Explosive Light, Bait and Switch
- Craftable
- Cold Comfort (Stasis; Aggressive)
- Non-Craftable
- Drops in 1st and 2nd Ghosts of the Deep Dungeon encounters, and then also 3rd Encounter once acquired
- Perk Highlights:
- 3rd column: Envious Assassin
- 4th column: Collective Action, Bipod, Explosive Light, Bait and Switch, Chill Clip
No new fundamental changes here, but wanted to list one highlight.
- Eyes of Tomorrow
- Adaptive Ordnance now also refunds 1 Rocket when you kill 4 or more enemies with a single volley
- This refund is from thin air, NOT from reserves!
- New: Bipod
- Doubles the magazine size (stacks with Envious Assassin and Reconstruction)
- Increases the total reserve size beyond the cap (more details later)
- 0.75x Firing Delay scalar (this means the delay between firing one Rocket after another is now 25% faster)
- Rocket Launcher now has the following maluses:
- 40% reduced damage
- -30 Blast Radius (-25 if Enhanced)
- -20 Reload (-15 if Enhanced)
- New on Rockets: Collective Action
- Interacting with an Elemental Pickup grants 20% increased damage for 6s; interacting with more increases timer up to 12s
- Elemental Pickup Interactions (activates damage buff even when stowed):
- Collect: Arc Ionic Trace, Solar Firesprite, Void Breach, Stasis Shard
- Throw: Strand Tangle
- Enhanced data TBC
- New on Rockets: Bait and Switch
- After dealing damage with all equipped weapons within 3s of each: gain 35% increased damage for 10 seconds (11 seconds if Enhanced)
- New on a Rocket (Apex Predator): Surrounded
- While within 8 metres of 3 or more enemies (the 'surrounded' condition): 40% increased damage to the Impact Damage and 35% to the Explosive Damage
- Some weirdness here, not sure if it's intended to have the split between Impact and Explosive damage ratios - anyway, this provides a total damage increase of 36.2%
- Enhanced values are TBC; also some weirdness with Wolfpack Rounds, see below
- Buff lingers for as long as the 'surrounded' condition is met, then expires after 1.5s but can be reactivated
- While within 8 metres of 3 or more enemies (the 'surrounded' condition): 40% increased damage to the Impact Damage and 35% to the Explosive Damage
- New on a Rocket (Apex Predator): Reconstruction
- After not shooting for 4 seconds (3.5 seconds if Enhanced): refills 1 Rocket from reserves every 4 seconds (3.5 seconds if Enhanced) up to double magazine capacity
- This stacks with Bipod, meaning you can get up to 4 Rockets in the magazine
- New on Rockets: Envious Assassin
- Kills made by other weapons within 10 seconds of each adds Rocket(s) to the magazine from reserves based on the amount of kills
- The amount varies by ammo type; Primaries provide 10% per kill, Specials provide 20% per kill (ammo given number rounds up)
- Primaries:
- 1-10 kills = +1 Rocket
- 11+ kills = +2 Rockets
- Specials:
- 1-5 kills = +1 Rocket
- 6+ kills = +2 Rockets
- This stacks with Bipod, meaning you can get up to 5 Rockets in the magazine
- Enhanced Envious Assassin isn't providing any noticeable changes, so may not be working properly
- Kills made by other weapons within 10 seconds of each adds Rocket(s) to the magazine from reserves based on the amount of kills
I don't normally do a write-up on Origin Traits, but considering the Ghosts of the Deep Dungeon has a really synergistic one I'll put on here.
- Restoration Ritual (Ghosts of the Deep Dungeon Weapons)
- Reviving Allies or defeating Combatants with Finishers reloads and readies an Emergency Reload for the next time the weapon runs out of ammo
- For Rockets this is very simple: go from 1 to 0 in the magazine and the game will take it from the reserves and put it into the magazine with no reload or additional trigger
- This means you could technically have 6 Rockets in the magazine if you pair with Envious Assassin and Bipod
With new Perks we have new interactions with Wolfpack Rounds. This breakdown post is still pretty relevant re: Wolfpack Rounds by u/m4eix, but I'm adding an addendum to it:
- Bipod reduces Wolfpack Rounds damage by 40%
- Collective Action increases Wolfpack Rounds damage by 20%
- Bait and Switch increases Wolfpack Rounds damage by 35%
- Surrounded is doing some funky stuff. Credit goes to u/MrRokDC for testing and finding this (and other WPR interactions):
- For context: each Wolfpack Round bomblet perform Impact and Explosive damage which most Weapon Perks, except Explosive Light, actually do buff them (or in the case of Bipod, decreases the damage)
- Surrounded provides a 35% increase to Wolfpack Rounds Explosion
- Surrounded provides no damage increase to Wolfpack Rounds Impact
- Wolfpack Rounds total damage is a 23.8% increase
Season 21: Changes & Removals
Deepsight HarmonizerSeason 21 debuted the new "Deepsight Harmonizer" currency. This allows you to add Deepsight Resonance ("red box") so you can make progression on being able to craft it. This TWAB goes into more detail including restrictions, but basically older weapons with no direct source like Bump in the Night can now be crafted after utilising this currency; Bump in the Night itself can drop from the Gunsmith or Xur. They can also be used for those weapons that still have direct ways to acquire them (e.g. Red Herring and Apex Predator).
Unobtainable Rockets
Bump in the Night is still not directly acquirable (outside of XuGunsmith, which can be purchased and can RNG drop as a Deepsight version, or Deepsight can be applied to it) and joins the following Rockets that are not sunset but have no direct acquisition method (excluding XuGunsmith):
- Tomorrow's Answer (Void, High-Impact)
- Hoosegow (Arc; Adaptive)
- Shining Sphere (Arc; Adaptive)
- Bad Omens (Void; Aggressive)
I attached an addendum to my previous S20 post with information related to the Mid-Season Update that changed Reserve Mods. I'll highlight it here, along with some additional information:
Reserve Mods were changed in Update 7.0.5. In general this didn't really make too much of a change to Rocket Launchers, but it did help out a few. Reminder: Reserve Mods adds to the 'Inventory Size' stat, which I'll go into more detail later.
- 1x Reserve = +20 (unchanged)
- 2x Reserves = +40 (previously was +35)
- 3x Reserves = +50 (previously was +40)
- Code Duello, Royal Entry, Palmyra-B, and Hezen Vengeance can all get 10 Rockets without the need of additional Perks at 3x Reserve Mods (was 9)
- Hoosegow and Blowout can now get 9 Rockets at 3x Reserve Mods (was 8)
- Gjallarhorn can now get 10 Rockets at 3x Reserve Mods (was 9)
- Wardcliff Coil can now get 8 Rockets at 2x Reserve Mods (was 7; 3x unchanged at 8 Rockets)
If you want a partial list of how this affects most Rockets (craftable, recent, and community highlights) see Part II of the infographic. For a complete list, I've updated my spreadsheet page ("Rocket Launchers Overview" Tab) to include them all + interactions with various ammo Perks.
Supplementary Information
Rocket Launcher Total Ammo CapacityIt wouldn't be a Court Rocket Launcher Breakdown post if I didn't highlight Inventory Size stat again and again. Haha, but in all seriousness this isn't going to be as dense as previous posts but I did want to reiterate some points.
Ammo Capacity (amongst other things but they aren't in the scope of this breakdown) is affected by the hidden "Inventory Size" stat. The higher this stat is, the more ammo you can carry - for Rocket Launchers this is pretty easy to calculate as you're working with small numbers. It also affects how much ammo you gain when you pick up a standard ammo brick, which I'll summarise here:
- At 8 or 9 Reserves you will either get 2 or 3 Rockets back when picking up an ammo brick
- At 10 Reserves you are guaranteed to get 3 Rockets back when picking up an ammo brick
- Finder Bricks limit Rocket gains to just 1
- Scavenger Mods always just adds one extra
- This means: something like Enhanced Field Prep + Enhanced Chain Reaction Bump in the Night is a crazy ammo efficient Rocket Launcher - guaranteeing you 3, or 4 w/ Scavenger, Rockets per pickup!
To calculate how much total ammo capacity (again, credit to MossyMax who deciphered this formula) as being the following (numbers always round up):
( ( [RL Inventory Size base number] * 0.05 ) + 4.5 ) = total ammo capacityFor those curious: you can find the Inventory Size stats on websites that relay and utilise the game's API (such as light.gg).
e.g. Sleepless has a base Inventory Size stat of 36
((36 * 0.05) + 4.5) = 7 total ammo capacity
Here's how the new/refreshed Rockets fair with the total ammo capacity (magazine+reserves) with no additional perks (Bipod is listed further down):
| Base | Base Total Ammo Capacity | w/ 1x Reserves | w/ 2x Reserves | w/ 3x Reserves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Predator | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| BrayTech Osprey | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Cold Comfort | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| BrayTech Osprey w/ Field Prep | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
Rocket Launchers Can Get More Than 10
Rocket Launchers are hard capped to 10... or so we thought anyway. While under normal circumstances Rockets cannot breach this cap, the new perk Bipod - and one of Ahsa's Empowerment buff in the Deep Dive activity - can go beyond this cap.
We'll focus on Bipod in this section. For the magazine it's a simple 2x of the base magazine, which can be stacked with Envious Assassin and Reconstruction's effects (Bipod increases base magazine first, then EA/Recon compounds on that number).
Envious Assassin Magazine Size
- Base = 3
- w/ Bipod = 5
- Base = 2
- w/ Bipod = 4
| w/ Bipod | Base Total Ammo Capacity | w/ 1x Reserves | w/ 2x Reserves | w/ 3x Reserves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Predator | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| BrayTech Osprey | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| Cold Comfort | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| BrayTech Osprey w/ Field Prep | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 [16*] |
+++++
Summaries
- Three new Rockets this Season:
- Apex Predator (Adaptive; craftable, Last Wish Raid)
- BrayTech Osprey (High-Impact; NF/GMs)
- Cold Comfort (Aggressive; new Dungeon)
- Eyes of Tomorrow now refunds ammo for free after killing 4+ enemies
- New Perks for Rockets:
- Bipod, Bait and Switch, Collective Action, Surrounded, Envious Assassin, and Reconstruction
- Bipod can provide huge magazine sizes, but the malus is really harsh; Envious Assassin and Reconstruction can pair with Bipod for 5 and 4 magazine sizes respectively
- Surrounded weirdness, especially with Wolfpack Rounds
- Cold Comfort's Origin Trait (Restoration Ritual) effectively provides +1 to the magazine too
- Reserve Mods were changed in the mid-Season update of S20, they now provide:
- 1x = +20 (as before)
- 2x = +40 (was +35)
- 3x = +50 (was +40)
- For a full list see my spreadsheet page ("Rocket Launchers Overview" Tab)
- Overview Infographic attached, see link at the top!
Post-Posting Edits Section
- none at the moment...
—Court
2023.06.02 18:42 Army_Bot Summary For: Weekly Question Thread (05/15/2023 to 05/21/2023)
I’ve heard that going airborne will end up screwing up your back and knees up hard, but that also it’s more about the amount of rucking airborne units do.
Is the large amount of rucking the case for everyone who’s airborne or specifically infantry? For example if I went in as a 13B with a option 4, would I ruck as much as an airborne infantrymen or is the general complaint of shot back and knees about being infantry and airborne?
Link to Comment Chain
I am posting this for a friend, but if anybody can provide an answer, I think he would find it helpful:
I ets'ed in 07/2017 then reenlisted in 04/2023, so I'm past the 5 years. But when I signed my contract there were only orders for AIT. When I asked the counselor he said, "You don't go back to Basic. You go to Fort X to in process, then head to AIT." Yet, here I am getting sent to BCT.
Anything I can do here?
I'm not really hungry but I'll take one contract for the Coast Guard, please.
Link to Comment Chain
Since yesterday in IPPS-A, the announcement tile has said "1 unread". When i open the tile, i have around 6 or so announcements, and i have opened them all. None of them require any action. Any ideas on what this could mean? Or is this IPPS-A being IPPS-A?
Link to Comment Chain
Anyone know if someone in 75th Ranger Regiment who is a combat engineer will deal w more explosives such as clearing mines than a "normal" combat engineer?
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Hey guys, new to this thread. I am a Citadel Cadet participating in a Royal Lao Airborne ground school training this weekend to get Static Line qualified. We will be doing 5 SL jumps with a Royal Lao Jump Master, U.S. Army Jump Master, and Australian Jump Master, As a result, we will be awarded wings from the RLA, the US Army "Jump Wings," and the Australian Parachutist wings. Am I authorized to wear the US Army "Jump Wings" on my Cadet uniform as I will have been awarded them for jumping with a US Jump Master, but have not completed Airborne School? I understand the foreign wings are authorized, but was concerned about the US Wings, as I believe I may have found myself in a 'gray zone.' If anyone has some guidance, I would greatly appreciate it. - Have a great day.
Link to Comment Chain
I’m 18 years old and I graduate this Sunday the 21st of may. I’ve been talking to my recruiter and he gave me the run down on benefits of the army. I’m considering going full time and interested in mos 91E as a career path. I’m sure my recruiter is just telling me what I want to hear. What should I expect in joining the army or should I change mos?
Link to Comment Chain
So I've been out of the Army a year and some change, where do we get documents since AKO is retired? I need a copy of my DD-214
Link to Comment Chain
My husband is finishing bootcamp and I was promised by a few recruiters that our infant son and I will be given special permissions to come live together during his 9-month AIT. On a different thread folks have warned me that this doesn't happen any more and I'm freaking out just a bit. Has anyone heard of this happening in the last few years? are families with really young kids and really long AIT durations worthy exceptions that anyone is aware of?
Link to Comment Chain
Hey y’all I’m 23 and I’m planning on joining the reserve by the end of the year and was wondering if I’m able to attend airborne, ranger, special forces as a reserved? Also does mos skill transfer into the civilian world?
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I’m 22F and I want to be a Delta Force operator. I’m 5’8” and 168lbs.
Has a woman ever graduated Delta Force selection? Does anyone have advice for females that want to join Delta Force?
I can’t find much information online about female Delta Force operators.
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I'm Enlisting for active duty, assuming any MOS can be selected off a 95 ASVAB score . What MOS (if any) have the best quality of life? Mostly see 18 and 35 series as recommended the most, any reason in particular?
-Hours-Location (if it matters)-Whatever you can come up with-Chances of getting BAH ASAP or not having to live in base
Can't think of anything else, but any pros/cons that would weigh in favor of pros for said MOS. Preferably not jumping out of planes type stuff.... rapelling is fine tho.
Please no "look up for an MOS that you are passionate about or really want to do because you will be stuck with it and be hate your time in."
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Although hindsight is 20/20, what MOS should I have picked with these scores?
ASVAB line scores
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Are drill sergeants allowed to read recruits mail? I’m talking just letters, not packages.
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What is officer basic training like? Is it like BCT, if so in what ways? I know you need a Bachelor’s Degree in order to be an officer
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What does life look like for a 255S?
How does that change with rank, WO1-WO5?
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What does the xo do in a battalion? Are they involved with basic training and the privates at all?
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Hey guys, soon to be enlisted and had a question on my career and what would be best going forward.
So joining at 27 with a bachelors and wanted to do something unique/actually doing the job while also being helpful in getting a career once I get out. Can't go officer because of previous law violations. Currently my mentality is just go for an MOS where I can max out my bonus so I can throw all of that into TSP/IRA, go green to gold when I can, and try to go to every school that I can (airborne, ranger, etc.)
Currently looking at 19K cause tank go boom, big bonus, and I also have a passion for mechanics which is a career path I wouldn't mind too much especially if I can go to trade school while I'm in. Then eventually reclass to a tech field if possible and go tech/intel.
Does this sound like a sound like a good plan or is there another route that I am not seeing that would be more beneficial?
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I'll be joining my husband in July once he finishes basic and moving with our baby to live together during AIT. Does anyone know what that experience might be like and whether or not we'll have the option to live off-post? I know they are making an exception for us to live together as a family since People in AIT generally are in dorms. Any information would be helpful!
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Probably a stupid question- Can you split up your TLE days when PCSing? And if you do, do the days you check out of the hotel count "against" the TLE day count?
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How many times do pogs go to train in the field? For example how many times would 68n train a year?
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Would 68Ws assigned to an armor unit be permitted to wear tanker boots or no?
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When you guys buy boots do you buy your true size? Given that boots socks may be a little thicker?
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I'm very Interested in joining. I'm a female with a stature of 4'11. Currently I'm incredibly overweight-I'm trying to fix that. Would you recommend "PT" level workouts everyday or something more intense? What has helped you lose weight? I have lost 10 pounds so far with mostly just walking which is only the start, but looking for workouts that would help shed weight more effectively. Thanks in advanced!
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Sat down with my recruiter and told him I did weed back in 2020. Should i have just denied this? Will this disqualify me?
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What made you choose the army over any other branches of military? At what age did you say “yeah ima join the army?”
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I need to advice on which jobs have good transferable skills into the civilian world my recruiter told me the field artillery promotes the best but I’m looking for more skills I can learn for when I get out. I got some mechanical jobs and I don’t know anything about mechanic stuff so no clue how I got them but I got 13M 35P 91A 13B 14T 91J 92F 92G 88M 91B 91C 91D 91S
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So idk if this is the right spot to ask this but I'm currently stationed in Alaska with a DEROS of 20240907. I've been in for six years, currently an 11B E5 but hoping to pickup soon (ALC complete and all that jazz). Right now my parents are in South Carolina specifically around the fort Jackson area. They're not in good health so I am trying to see if I can volunteer to be a drill sergeant or recruiter to cut my DEROS short and take those assignments.
My questions are basically:
Can I leave an OCONUS assignment early to volunteer for drill/recruiting?
And if so, am I able to pick my location as a drill sergeant or recruiter if I volunteer, compared to being DA selected.
Any questions would be appreciated. I've gotten like seven different answers between my career counselor, PSG, internet, and even the recruiting teams and branch managers:
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What does a division special projects officer do? Would like a brief explanation of their role and life
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Arms 2.1 fat camp. Whats your experience? Easy to pass? RN BMI is 30 need 28
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When I log into DEERS, it says my email is still in the old format of, "name"[email protected]. I still haven't received any email about my levy brief or updates about going into IPPS-A to complete Member Elections (I already have on my own). Could this be an issue if the new official email is now "name"[email protected]? This is the email I've been checking.
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Im leaving soon for basic and Im curious; What MOS's in the army are the best and worst for quality of life? I know everyone is going to say "it depends" because if you like being outside in the woods, you are likely to enjoy being in the infantry more than a supply guy, and I understand that. However there are some jobs that are objectively cushy and some jobs that objectively suck.
Some things that would make a community suck
-horrible leadership -consistently long hours - lack of unit pride - lack of comradery -lack of purpose
some things that would make a community nicer
-better work/life balance - stationed at fewer bases/ less relocation of family -high unit pride/comradery
I am especially curious of quality of life within combat arms as well as EOD and intel, but I wanna hear about any job/community if its really good or really bad.
Thanks for any input.
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Any dog handlers stationed in MieSau Germany?
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My boyfriend is thinking of joining the US Army. No kids and no want for kids, so don't have to take that into consideration. We do live together, and we do have pets (because i know its been said to consider pets) So...Pros and cons of joining the military? What do you wish you knew before joining the military that you didn't find out until after joining? What did you have as a concern before joining that wasn't really much of a concern after? What wasn't a concern and it should have been the entire time? What should one joining be leery of? What about life after the military? Job opportunities, civilian life, difficulty adjusting, dealing with the VA (do you HAVE to use the VA once out of the military? I know my dad has constant issues with them) Just trying to gather as much information as possible so he can make the best decision for himself and what he wants in life long-term with as many facts as possible..after all, once he joins, he's property of the US government for the remainder of his contract and then some) Any help is very much appreciated and of course, thank you all for your role and your sacrifices in keeping us safe. I know it's not always easy, but it's much appreciated.
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Just graduated and will be attending West Point next year. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do, but I’d like some inside knowledge to make sure I’m making the right choices now that will prepare me down the road. I know it sounds cliché, but simply put I want to jump out of planes and make things go boom. I’m very active, love grueling physical work, and want to push myself in what I do. What MOSs/schools/units should I be looking into now that will set me up for this?
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submitted by Army_Bot to army [link] [comments]
Is the large amount of rucking the case for everyone who’s airborne or specifically infantry? For example if I went in as a 13B with a option 4, would I ruck as much as an airborne infantrymen or is the general complaint of shot back and knees about being infantry and airborne?
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I ets'ed in 07/2017 then reenlisted in 04/2023, so I'm past the 5 years. But when I signed my contract there were only orders for AIT. When I asked the counselor he said, "You don't go back to Basic. You go to Fort X to in process, then head to AIT." Yet, here I am getting sent to BCT.
Anything I can do here?
I'm not really hungry but I'll take one contract for the Coast Guard, please.
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Has a woman ever graduated Delta Force selection? Does anyone have advice for females that want to join Delta Force?
I can’t find much information online about female Delta Force operators.
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-Hours-Location (if it matters)-Whatever you can come up with-Chances of getting BAH ASAP or not having to live in base
Can't think of anything else, but any pros/cons that would weigh in favor of pros for said MOS. Preferably not jumping out of planes type stuff.... rapelling is fine tho.
Please no "look up for an MOS that you are passionate about or really want to do because you will be stuck with it and be hate your time in."
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ASVAB line scores
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How does that change with rank, WO1-WO5?
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So joining at 27 with a bachelors and wanted to do something unique/actually doing the job while also being helpful in getting a career once I get out. Can't go officer because of previous law violations. Currently my mentality is just go for an MOS where I can max out my bonus so I can throw all of that into TSP/IRA, go green to gold when I can, and try to go to every school that I can (airborne, ranger, etc.)
Currently looking at 19K cause tank go boom, big bonus, and I also have a passion for mechanics which is a career path I wouldn't mind too much especially if I can go to trade school while I'm in. Then eventually reclass to a tech field if possible and go tech/intel.
Does this sound like a sound like a good plan or is there another route that I am not seeing that would be more beneficial?
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My questions are basically:
Can I leave an OCONUS assignment early to volunteer for drill/recruiting?
And if so, am I able to pick my location as a drill sergeant or recruiter if I volunteer, compared to being DA selected.
Any questions would be appreciated. I've gotten like seven different answers between my career counselor, PSG, internet, and even the recruiting teams and branch managers:
Link to Comment Chain
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Some things that would make a community suck
-horrible leadership -consistently long hours - lack of unit pride - lack of comradery -lack of purpose
some things that would make a community nicer
-better work/life balance - stationed at fewer bases/ less relocation of family -high unit pride/comradery
I am especially curious of quality of life within combat arms as well as EOD and intel, but I wanna hear about any job/community if its really good or really bad.
Thanks for any input.
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2023.06.02 18:42 Army_Bot Summary For: Weekly Question Thread (05/15/2023 to 05/21/2023)
I’ve heard that going airborne will end up screwing up your back and knees up hard, but that also it’s more about the amount of rucking airborne units do.
Is the large amount of rucking the case for everyone who’s airborne or specifically infantry? For example if I went in as a 13B with a option 4, would I ruck as much as an airborne infantrymen or is the general complaint of shot back and knees about being infantry and airborne?
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I am posting this for a friend, but if anybody can provide an answer, I think he would find it helpful:
I ets'ed in 07/2017 then reenlisted in 04/2023, so I'm past the 5 years. But when I signed my contract there were only orders for AIT. When I asked the counselor he said, "You don't go back to Basic. You go to Fort X to in process, then head to AIT." Yet, here I am getting sent to BCT.
Anything I can do here?
I'm not really hungry but I'll take one contract for the Coast Guard, please.
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Since yesterday in IPPS-A, the announcement tile has said "1 unread". When i open the tile, i have around 6 or so announcements, and i have opened them all. None of them require any action. Any ideas on what this could mean? Or is this IPPS-A being IPPS-A?
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Anyone know if someone in 75th Ranger Regiment who is a combat engineer will deal w more explosives such as clearing mines than a "normal" combat engineer?
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Hey guys, new to this thread. I am a Citadel Cadet participating in a Royal Lao Airborne ground school training this weekend to get Static Line qualified. We will be doing 5 SL jumps with a Royal Lao Jump Master, U.S. Army Jump Master, and Australian Jump Master, As a result, we will be awarded wings from the RLA, the US Army "Jump Wings," and the Australian Parachutist wings. Am I authorized to wear the US Army "Jump Wings" on my Cadet uniform as I will have been awarded them for jumping with a US Jump Master, but have not completed Airborne School? I understand the foreign wings are authorized, but was concerned about the US Wings, as I believe I may have found myself in a 'gray zone.' If anyone has some guidance, I would greatly appreciate it. - Have a great day.
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I’m 18 years old and I graduate this Sunday the 21st of may. I’ve been talking to my recruiter and he gave me the run down on benefits of the army. I’m considering going full time and interested in mos 91E as a career path. I’m sure my recruiter is just telling me what I want to hear. What should I expect in joining the army or should I change mos?
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So I've been out of the Army a year and some change, where do we get documents since AKO is retired? I need a copy of my DD-214
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My husband is finishing bootcamp and I was promised by a few recruiters that our infant son and I will be given special permissions to come live together during his 9-month AIT. On a different thread folks have warned me that this doesn't happen any more and I'm freaking out just a bit. Has anyone heard of this happening in the last few years? are families with really young kids and really long AIT durations worthy exceptions that anyone is aware of?
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Hey y’all I’m 23 and I’m planning on joining the reserve by the end of the year and was wondering if I’m able to attend airborne, ranger, special forces as a reserved? Also does mos skill transfer into the civilian world?
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I’m 22F and I want to be a Delta Force operator. I’m 5’8” and 168lbs.
Has a woman ever graduated Delta Force selection? Does anyone have advice for females that want to join Delta Force?
I can’t find much information online about female Delta Force operators.
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I'm Enlisting for active duty, assuming any MOS can be selected off a 95 ASVAB score . What MOS (if any) have the best quality of life? Mostly see 18 and 35 series as recommended the most, any reason in particular?
-Hours-Location (if it matters)-Whatever you can come up with-Chances of getting BAH ASAP or not having to live in base
Can't think of anything else, but any pros/cons that would weigh in favor of pros for said MOS. Preferably not jumping out of planes type stuff.... rapelling is fine tho.
Please no "look up for an MOS that you are passionate about or really want to do because you will be stuck with it and be hate your time in."
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Although hindsight is 20/20, what MOS should I have picked with these scores?
ASVAB line scores
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Are drill sergeants allowed to read recruits mail? I’m talking just letters, not packages.
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What is officer basic training like? Is it like BCT, if so in what ways? I know you need a Bachelor’s Degree in order to be an officer
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What does life look like for a 255S?
How does that change with rank, WO1-WO5?
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What does the xo do in a battalion? Are they involved with basic training and the privates at all?
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Hey guys, soon to be enlisted and had a question on my career and what would be best going forward.
So joining at 27 with a bachelors and wanted to do something unique/actually doing the job while also being helpful in getting a career once I get out. Can't go officer because of previous law violations. Currently my mentality is just go for an MOS where I can max out my bonus so I can throw all of that into TSP/IRA, go green to gold when I can, and try to go to every school that I can (airborne, ranger, etc.)
Currently looking at 19K cause tank go boom, big bonus, and I also have a passion for mechanics which is a career path I wouldn't mind too much especially if I can go to trade school while I'm in. Then eventually reclass to a tech field if possible and go tech/intel.
Does this sound like a sound like a good plan or is there another route that I am not seeing that would be more beneficial?
Link to Comment Chain
I'll be joining my husband in July once he finishes basic and moving with our baby to live together during AIT. Does anyone know what that experience might be like and whether or not we'll have the option to live off-post? I know they are making an exception for us to live together as a family since People in AIT generally are in dorms. Any information would be helpful!
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Probably a stupid question- Can you split up your TLE days when PCSing? And if you do, do the days you check out of the hotel count "against" the TLE day count?
Link to Comment Chain
How many times do pogs go to train in the field? For example how many times would 68n train a year?
Link to Comment Chain
Would 68Ws assigned to an armor unit be permitted to wear tanker boots or no?
Link to Comment Chain
When you guys buy boots do you buy your true size? Given that boots socks may be a little thicker?
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I'm very Interested in joining. I'm a female with a stature of 4'11. Currently I'm incredibly overweight-I'm trying to fix that. Would you recommend "PT" level workouts everyday or something more intense? What has helped you lose weight? I have lost 10 pounds so far with mostly just walking which is only the start, but looking for workouts that would help shed weight more effectively. Thanks in advanced!
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Sat down with my recruiter and told him I did weed back in 2020. Should i have just denied this? Will this disqualify me?
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What made you choose the army over any other branches of military? At what age did you say “yeah ima join the army?”
Link to Comment Chain
I need to advice on which jobs have good transferable skills into the civilian world my recruiter told me the field artillery promotes the best but I’m looking for more skills I can learn for when I get out. I got some mechanical jobs and I don’t know anything about mechanic stuff so no clue how I got them but I got 13M 35P 91A 13B 14T 91J 92F 92G 88M 91B 91C 91D 91S
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So idk if this is the right spot to ask this but I'm currently stationed in Alaska with a DEROS of 20240907. I've been in for six years, currently an 11B E5 but hoping to pickup soon (ALC complete and all that jazz). Right now my parents are in South Carolina specifically around the fort Jackson area. They're not in good health so I am trying to see if I can volunteer to be a drill sergeant or recruiter to cut my DEROS short and take those assignments.
My questions are basically:
Can I leave an OCONUS assignment early to volunteer for drill/recruiting?
And if so, am I able to pick my location as a drill sergeant or recruiter if I volunteer, compared to being DA selected.
Any questions would be appreciated. I've gotten like seven different answers between my career counselor, PSG, internet, and even the recruiting teams and branch managers:
Link to Comment Chain
What does a division special projects officer do? Would like a brief explanation of their role and life
Link to Comment Chain
Arms 2.1 fat camp. Whats your experience? Easy to pass? RN BMI is 30 need 28
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When I log into DEERS, it says my email is still in the old format of, "name"[email protected]. I still haven't received any email about my levy brief or updates about going into IPPS-A to complete Member Elections (I already have on my own). Could this be an issue if the new official email is now "name"[email protected]? This is the email I've been checking.
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Im leaving soon for basic and Im curious; What MOS's in the army are the best and worst for quality of life? I know everyone is going to say "it depends" because if you like being outside in the woods, you are likely to enjoy being in the infantry more than a supply guy, and I understand that. However there are some jobs that are objectively cushy and some jobs that objectively suck.
Some things that would make a community suck
-horrible leadership -consistently long hours - lack of unit pride - lack of comradery -lack of purpose
some things that would make a community nicer
-better work/life balance - stationed at fewer bases/ less relocation of family -high unit pride/comradery
I am especially curious of quality of life within combat arms as well as EOD and intel, but I wanna hear about any job/community if its really good or really bad.
Thanks for any input.
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Any dog handlers stationed in MieSau Germany?
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My boyfriend is thinking of joining the US Army. No kids and no want for kids, so don't have to take that into consideration. We do live together, and we do have pets (because i know its been said to consider pets) So...Pros and cons of joining the military? What do you wish you knew before joining the military that you didn't find out until after joining? What did you have as a concern before joining that wasn't really much of a concern after? What wasn't a concern and it should have been the entire time? What should one joining be leery of? What about life after the military? Job opportunities, civilian life, difficulty adjusting, dealing with the VA (do you HAVE to use the VA once out of the military? I know my dad has constant issues with them) Just trying to gather as much information as possible so he can make the best decision for himself and what he wants in life long-term with as many facts as possible..after all, once he joins, he's property of the US government for the remainder of his contract and then some) Any help is very much appreciated and of course, thank you all for your role and your sacrifices in keeping us safe. I know it's not always easy, but it's much appreciated.
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Just graduated and will be attending West Point next year. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do, but I’d like some inside knowledge to make sure I’m making the right choices now that will prepare me down the road. I know it sounds cliché, but simply put I want to jump out of planes and make things go boom. I’m very active, love grueling physical work, and want to push myself in what I do. What MOSs/schools/units should I be looking into now that will set me up for this?
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submitted by Army_Bot to ArmyWQT [link] [comments]
Is the large amount of rucking the case for everyone who’s airborne or specifically infantry? For example if I went in as a 13B with a option 4, would I ruck as much as an airborne infantrymen or is the general complaint of shot back and knees about being infantry and airborne?
Link to Comment Chain
I ets'ed in 07/2017 then reenlisted in 04/2023, so I'm past the 5 years. But when I signed my contract there were only orders for AIT. When I asked the counselor he said, "You don't go back to Basic. You go to Fort X to in process, then head to AIT." Yet, here I am getting sent to BCT.
Anything I can do here?
I'm not really hungry but I'll take one contract for the Coast Guard, please.
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Has a woman ever graduated Delta Force selection? Does anyone have advice for females that want to join Delta Force?
I can’t find much information online about female Delta Force operators.
Link to Comment Chain
-Hours-Location (if it matters)-Whatever you can come up with-Chances of getting BAH ASAP or not having to live in base
Can't think of anything else, but any pros/cons that would weigh in favor of pros for said MOS. Preferably not jumping out of planes type stuff.... rapelling is fine tho.
Please no "look up for an MOS that you are passionate about or really want to do because you will be stuck with it and be hate your time in."
Link to Comment Chain
ASVAB line scores
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How does that change with rank, WO1-WO5?
Link to Comment Chain
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So joining at 27 with a bachelors and wanted to do something unique/actually doing the job while also being helpful in getting a career once I get out. Can't go officer because of previous law violations. Currently my mentality is just go for an MOS where I can max out my bonus so I can throw all of that into TSP/IRA, go green to gold when I can, and try to go to every school that I can (airborne, ranger, etc.)
Currently looking at 19K cause tank go boom, big bonus, and I also have a passion for mechanics which is a career path I wouldn't mind too much especially if I can go to trade school while I'm in. Then eventually reclass to a tech field if possible and go tech/intel.
Does this sound like a sound like a good plan or is there another route that I am not seeing that would be more beneficial?
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My questions are basically:
Can I leave an OCONUS assignment early to volunteer for drill/recruiting?
And if so, am I able to pick my location as a drill sergeant or recruiter if I volunteer, compared to being DA selected.
Any questions would be appreciated. I've gotten like seven different answers between my career counselor, PSG, internet, and even the recruiting teams and branch managers:
Link to Comment Chain
Link to Comment Chain
Link to Comment Chain
Link to Comment Chain
Some things that would make a community suck
-horrible leadership -consistently long hours - lack of unit pride - lack of comradery -lack of purpose
some things that would make a community nicer
-better work/life balance - stationed at fewer bases/ less relocation of family -high unit pride/comradery
I am especially curious of quality of life within combat arms as well as EOD and intel, but I wanna hear about any job/community if its really good or really bad.
Thanks for any input.
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2023.06.02 17:28 Dinosaurzus_ Facts About How Fast Is A Raptor Dinosaur
 | Dinosaurs have more than a thousand species; among the popular genus are called the raptors. However, the word raptor is just a made-up word by the popular Jurrasic Park movie to refer specifically to dinosaurs in the Dromaeosaur family. Raptor is actually shortened word from the word ‘velociraptor.’ This article will explore the different species of raptors, how they moved, and what fossil records tell us about their speed. We will also look at the anatomy of a raptor dinosaur and how it helped them move quickly. Finally, we will discuss some interesting facts about how fast is a raptor dinosaur. submitted by Dinosaurzus_ to u/Dinosaurzus_ [link] [comments] What Are RaptorsRaptors are the fastest of all dinosaurs. A raptor dinosaur is a fast runner, able to reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour and cover short distances quickly. That’s how fast is a raptor dinosaur is. Their name comes from the Latin word ‘raptor’ which means ‘bird of prey’. Raptors first appeared during the Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago. The earliest known raptor is the Microraptor, which measured just over a foot in length and weighed less than a pound. Raptors were some of the last dinosaurs to go extinct, with the last known raptor, the Hesperornis, disappearing around 65 million years ago.Raptors have some pretty amazing characteristics that set them apart from other dinosaurs. These characteristics make raptors fascinating and impressive creatures. They have feathers that are believed to keep them warm and for their eggs while brooding. They also have three-fingered hands, which are great for grasping onto things. Their brains are relatively large compared to other dinosaurs, which makes them to be very smart. Finally, they have a large killing claw on their hind feet, which is used for hunting and self-defense. What is a Raptor DinosaurCan you imagine how fast is a raptor dinosaur is? A raptor dinosaur is a fast runner, able to reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour and quickly cover short distances, making them faster than most cars! They can also run at 40 miles per hour for long distances. Its really interesting how fast is a raptor dinosaur.Raptors have very sharp claws on their feet that help them grip onto prey like lizards or snakes. Their claws are also used for holding onto branches while they eat and maybe even as weapons against other predators! Raptors are carnivorous animals, which means they eat meat instead of plants like many other animals do. They usually hunt in groups because they enjoy catching prey together. Types of Raptor DinosaurThere are many different types of raptors, but some of the more well-known ones include the Velociraptor, Deinonychus, and Utahraptor. Raptors were incredibly fast and agile creatures, and their sharp teeth and claws made them fearsome predators. It’s incredible to know how fast is a raptor dinosaur.VelociraptorThe velociraptor was made even more popular in the Jurassic Park franchise which displayed twice its actual size. It may be smaller than other dinosaurs under its genera – dromaeosaurids, but it nevertheless shared the same anatomical features. This bipedal with a long tail, carnivorous dinosaur, feathered but flightless has a speed of approximately 40 kilometers per hour.DeinonychusThis long-clawed dinosaur with a carnivorous diet is the model of the Jurassic Park (1993) raptor dinosaur. Considered to be a smart, fast, and agile predator because of its large brain that can perform relatively complex movements when chasing its prey. Deinonychus may be considered small but very fast, with a speed of 70 kilometers per hour.UtahraptorThe biggest among all raptor dinosaurs is the Utahraptor. With its bigger body built, it is not as fast as Deinonychus or Velociraptor but can maintain balance when attacking its prey with its feet. Because of its limited fossils, Utahraptor’s speed is still being determined, but it can run approximately between 25 and 30 kilometers per hour.OrnithomimidaeAlso known as the ostrich-mimic, as it resembles the modern ostriches, ornithomimids can run at approximately 60 kilometers per hour. They are even considered the fastest-running dinosaur.The Anatomy of a Raptor Dinosaur and How it Affects Their SpeedRaptor AnatomyThe anatomy of a raptor dinosaur is similar to that of birds. Raptor dinosaurs have two large clawed legs, long tails, and wings. They also have long necks and small heads. Although they are smaller than their bird counterparts, they are still capable of flight and have a hinged jaw that allows them to take off with ease. The anatomy of a raptor is unique because it combines both bird and dinosaur traits into one animal. This makes it easier for scientists to determine how these animals lived during prehistoric times because they had all the necessary features but also had some aspects of other animals as well.Raptor PhysiologyRaptors have long arms and short legs. They have a large heads with powerful jaws and sharp teeth to slice through flesh easily. They also have strong claws on their feet that can dig into prey and help them hold on tight while attacking it. The bones in their body are very similar to those found in birds like chickens, ducks, and geese that live today. However, they also have some dinosaur traits such as muscle attachments on their limbs and an opposable thumb like dinosaurs do not have today due to evolution over millions of years ago.Biomechanics Analysis• Raptor claws Raptors have very sharp claws on the hind of their feet that help them grip onto prey like lizards or snakes. Their claws were also used for holding onto branches while they eat and maybe even as weapons against other predators!• Raptor diet Raptors are carnivorous animals, which means they eat meat instead of plants like many other animals do. They usually hunt in groups because they enjoy catching prey together. Sometimes they’ll go out with just one other raptor if they think there might be something big around. ConclusionConclusively, we have answered how fast is a raptor dinosaur. They are among the fastest terrestrial runners, reaching top speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. Raptors have long legs and a tail that help them balance while running at high speeds. They also have large, powerful muscles that enable them to make sudden changes in direction. Raptors are not only fast on land, but they are also good swimmers and can reach speeds of up to 10 miles per hour in water.https://preview.redd.it/foznv5r7im3b1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c76760c0102caf4ce6a0ab14cb7d3bdf7634fb5f Facts About How Fast Is A Raptor Dinosaur Dinosaurzus |
2023.06.02 17:01 endersgame69 Adopted By Humans VII C13
I had a feeling I knew what was being asked of Fauve. A young media expert with smarts, ambition, ability, and whose work was slowly creeping outward into my counterparts among the other species…and who had already developed a rapport with dangerous ones to the point where she had no fear of them?
And one more thing.
She’s terribly cute.
This is hard to explain to some species, but the simple fact of the matter is that as an unmodified human with no meaningful combat training and only a reasonable level of fitness associated with a normal level of activity… Fauve appeared to be distinctly nonthreatening. She did not tower over ‘most’, the maxiki notwithstanding. She did not have any evident savage appendages or claws, and even her canines were underdeveloped even relative to my own.
Simply put… she did not look like an apex predator whose species was like a coiled spring ready for the pressure holding it down to release and spring it to undreamt of heights.
With a slender frame and wide, intent eyes, you had to be familiar with the common divergences of predator and prey to recognize that she was from a predator species at all. For example the front seated eyes for depth perception as opposed to the side facing eyes to search for predators. The slight canines for the tearing of meat after a creature is defleshed. The upright body that let them see farther.
She wasn’t even particularly fast, so you’d have to know enough about human anatomy to know that a tribe of her kind could walk almost anything to death.
So, Fauve looked harmless. It didn’t hurt that any attempt at delving into her identity would reveal that it was being in danger that ultimately led to her coming into her current state.
Of course, I knew the truth. In a strange sort of way, if Bonny Red was right, and I was more dangerous than she, then Fauve was at least as dangerous as me, you see. I wanted to change one Empire, one people. All else was an afterthought that I saw as a possibility but could be developed later.
Fauve had her eyes set on the whole galaxy, and my work was one of the weapons in her arsenal.
Do you see why I adore humans so? They are beautiful, dangerous, charming, kind, and relentless all at once, when something tickles their ambitions.
I will not trouble you with the drab details of my backchannel work, it is as it seems. I relayed a request to the league fighters. The fighters reached out to their embassy on Earth. The embassy received my message, a time was ‘suggested’ and I relayed that and then they would handle the rest themselves.
It was done in the time it took to finish lunch and write about it here, which was to say, about an hour.
To pass the time, I chose to amuse myself in the fruits of one of Fauve’s projects. I had a headset to engage in the game world that Fauve made, and followed the story she laid out. My character began as a family man, a wife, hair like ink, and the slight almond shape to her eyes that marked her heritage as coming from the far east.
In the game I played, she held a child who was a mix of both of us, and my role was that of a scientist… for three ‘days’ I tended ordinary tasks and played through the preprogrammed warmth of their household. Then I got to see the world erupt in flames outside of our window.
From there, safety. Cold storage… and my wife and child were stolen, from within the glass, I heard the ones taking them say, “They agreed to this…”
The scene faded out… and when I was ‘awake’ I was not alone, or the same. For one, I now had animalistic features, as did they… and yes, my ‘family’ was there. And I played for sixty in-game days until I died… only to take over and play as my wife, then when she died… I took over playing as my daughter. The game carried me through generations, parent to child, until I found myself playing a very familiar face.
Usagi.
I do love my humans, particularly Fauve… but they’re very good at ripping your heart out.
It was a combination adventure and survival game played over generations, and a history lesson that ended with my character’s demise, right down to her final words, and even her real voice.
Thinking of the horrors of the human past, everything took on a kind of urgency that it was difficult to describe, like being caught in the midst of a battle and knowing you must do something, but knowing anything you might do could just as easily lead to your death as your salvation.
I took the headset off and closed out the game. I had to do something… productive, I suppose.
I stretched out, laid myself back on my bed, and stretched myself out yet again. It was hard to be productive right now. It just felt like I was being pressed to death by an invisible weight…from every direction.
I grabbed my datapad and switched the screen over to my cooperation structure to do a little other work… it might work, it might not, but if it fails I lose nothing but credits. While if it works, who can say what positive impact might follow in the future?
What I was doing was going for the compensation section where pay and bonuses for players were managed. I selected my ‘discretionary’ options. As founder and the head of both organizations, in theory under the old human system I had total control over everything, in reality under that system there was an amalgamation of checks and balances that… frankly didn’t work very well, from what I’ve seen.
Under the new system, founding documentation always included discretionary percentages to where the head could act on budgets without oversight, beyond which changes had to be run through a board that handled day to day operations.
I wanted to provide an incentive for more species to send competitors to Ballyball and toward my fighting tournament, to that end, compensation needed to go up. If I wanted the Hundred Terrors to all be represented within three years, I’d need to increase the profit considerably, and expanding the range of players would further my ‘bonding’ experiments.
After this volume was released, I was asked if I ever felt guilty about essentially ‘manipulating’ so many into positions that not only caused injury, but also potentially toyed with their emotions in unpredictable ways.
No.
That is my answer.
No.
Not really.
Or if I did, not enough to get in the way of doing it. It wasn’t about my career anymore. Perhaps this is just proof that I am a dlamisa…
Or perhaps it is just proof that I am, and was, and maybe always will be, just as damaged as everyone else in my species.
Sometimes the right thing to do isn’t evident.
Sometimes the right thing to do will just get a lot of innocent people killed.
And sometimes the only way to do anything right, to save a lot of lives, to make a lot of lives better, is to do the wrong thing.
Even if that means a few have to go down hard for that to happen.
If a few bruised and bloody people in an arena played a part in making sure worlds didn’t burn, then it was absolutely worth it.
I’ll accept the judgment of history for my actions, because it means that even if I was wrong, there are people still alive to judge me for them.
submitted by endersgame69 to TheWorldMaker [link] [comments]
And one more thing.
She’s terribly cute.
This is hard to explain to some species, but the simple fact of the matter is that as an unmodified human with no meaningful combat training and only a reasonable level of fitness associated with a normal level of activity… Fauve appeared to be distinctly nonthreatening. She did not tower over ‘most’, the maxiki notwithstanding. She did not have any evident savage appendages or claws, and even her canines were underdeveloped even relative to my own.
Simply put… she did not look like an apex predator whose species was like a coiled spring ready for the pressure holding it down to release and spring it to undreamt of heights.
With a slender frame and wide, intent eyes, you had to be familiar with the common divergences of predator and prey to recognize that she was from a predator species at all. For example the front seated eyes for depth perception as opposed to the side facing eyes to search for predators. The slight canines for the tearing of meat after a creature is defleshed. The upright body that let them see farther.
She wasn’t even particularly fast, so you’d have to know enough about human anatomy to know that a tribe of her kind could walk almost anything to death.
So, Fauve looked harmless. It didn’t hurt that any attempt at delving into her identity would reveal that it was being in danger that ultimately led to her coming into her current state.
Of course, I knew the truth. In a strange sort of way, if Bonny Red was right, and I was more dangerous than she, then Fauve was at least as dangerous as me, you see. I wanted to change one Empire, one people. All else was an afterthought that I saw as a possibility but could be developed later.
Fauve had her eyes set on the whole galaxy, and my work was one of the weapons in her arsenal.
Do you see why I adore humans so? They are beautiful, dangerous, charming, kind, and relentless all at once, when something tickles their ambitions.
I will not trouble you with the drab details of my backchannel work, it is as it seems. I relayed a request to the league fighters. The fighters reached out to their embassy on Earth. The embassy received my message, a time was ‘suggested’ and I relayed that and then they would handle the rest themselves.
It was done in the time it took to finish lunch and write about it here, which was to say, about an hour.
To pass the time, I chose to amuse myself in the fruits of one of Fauve’s projects. I had a headset to engage in the game world that Fauve made, and followed the story she laid out. My character began as a family man, a wife, hair like ink, and the slight almond shape to her eyes that marked her heritage as coming from the far east.
In the game I played, she held a child who was a mix of both of us, and my role was that of a scientist… for three ‘days’ I tended ordinary tasks and played through the preprogrammed warmth of their household. Then I got to see the world erupt in flames outside of our window.
From there, safety. Cold storage… and my wife and child were stolen, from within the glass, I heard the ones taking them say, “They agreed to this…”
The scene faded out… and when I was ‘awake’ I was not alone, or the same. For one, I now had animalistic features, as did they… and yes, my ‘family’ was there. And I played for sixty in-game days until I died… only to take over and play as my wife, then when she died… I took over playing as my daughter. The game carried me through generations, parent to child, until I found myself playing a very familiar face.
Usagi.
I do love my humans, particularly Fauve… but they’re very good at ripping your heart out.
It was a combination adventure and survival game played over generations, and a history lesson that ended with my character’s demise, right down to her final words, and even her real voice.
Thinking of the horrors of the human past, everything took on a kind of urgency that it was difficult to describe, like being caught in the midst of a battle and knowing you must do something, but knowing anything you might do could just as easily lead to your death as your salvation.
I took the headset off and closed out the game. I had to do something… productive, I suppose.
I stretched out, laid myself back on my bed, and stretched myself out yet again. It was hard to be productive right now. It just felt like I was being pressed to death by an invisible weight…from every direction.
I grabbed my datapad and switched the screen over to my cooperation structure to do a little other work… it might work, it might not, but if it fails I lose nothing but credits. While if it works, who can say what positive impact might follow in the future?
What I was doing was going for the compensation section where pay and bonuses for players were managed. I selected my ‘discretionary’ options. As founder and the head of both organizations, in theory under the old human system I had total control over everything, in reality under that system there was an amalgamation of checks and balances that… frankly didn’t work very well, from what I’ve seen.
Under the new system, founding documentation always included discretionary percentages to where the head could act on budgets without oversight, beyond which changes had to be run through a board that handled day to day operations.
I wanted to provide an incentive for more species to send competitors to Ballyball and toward my fighting tournament, to that end, compensation needed to go up. If I wanted the Hundred Terrors to all be represented within three years, I’d need to increase the profit considerably, and expanding the range of players would further my ‘bonding’ experiments.
After this volume was released, I was asked if I ever felt guilty about essentially ‘manipulating’ so many into positions that not only caused injury, but also potentially toyed with their emotions in unpredictable ways.
No.
That is my answer.
No.
Not really.
Or if I did, not enough to get in the way of doing it. It wasn’t about my career anymore. Perhaps this is just proof that I am a dlamisa…
Or perhaps it is just proof that I am, and was, and maybe always will be, just as damaged as everyone else in my species.
Sometimes the right thing to do isn’t evident.
Sometimes the right thing to do will just get a lot of innocent people killed.
And sometimes the only way to do anything right, to save a lot of lives, to make a lot of lives better, is to do the wrong thing.
Even if that means a few have to go down hard for that to happen.
If a few bruised and bloody people in an arena played a part in making sure worlds didn’t burn, then it was absolutely worth it.
I’ll accept the judgment of history for my actions, because it means that even if I was wrong, there are people still alive to judge me for them.
2023.06.02 15:48 flippenphil (Offer) Dr. Seuss 5 film collection (Request) The Menu, Amsterdam, Babylon
UPDATE: WB killed the Dr. SEUSS code some time in the past 3 weeks sorry
MA = Movies Anywhere
GP = Googleplay
[?] = unknown definition
title = pending trade
If a title is no longer listed = It has been traded
COMBO Films
Vudu Only
Titles I am looking for
submitted by flippenphil to uvtrade [link] [comments]
MA = Movies Anywhere
GP = Googleplay
[?] = unknown definition
If a title is no longer listed = It has been traded
COMBO Films
- 2film: My Girl 1 & 2 SD =MA
- 3film: Mall Cop / Zookeeper / Boom SD =MA
- 3film: Night at the Museum: Trilogy SD =MA
- 3film: The Other Guys, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights SD =MA
- 4film: The Magnificent Seven Collection HD Vudu
- 6film: Joe Dirt, Benchwarmers, House Bunny, The Animal, Deuce Bigalow, Master Of Disguise SD =MA
- SONY BUFF PASSES (Current) - 2
- Universal Rewards (Current) - 3
- 10 Clover Field Lane HD Vudu only
- 12 Rounds 2 Reload HD =MA
- 101 Dalmations HD =MA
- 101 Dalmations (Googleplay) HD =MA
- 127 Hours (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- 1917 HD =MA
- 2 Guns (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- 2 Guns HD =MA
- 21st Jump Street HD =MA
- 21st Jump Street SD =MA
- 22nd Jump Street SD =MA
- 3 From Hell 4K (Vudu Or iTunes)
- 40 Year Old Virgin HD =MA
- 47 Ronin HD =MA (MA Redeem, Vudu Kills Code)
- 47 Ronin =MA 4K (iTunes Portion)
- the 5th Wave SD =MA
- A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood HD =MA
- A Dogs Way Home HD =MA
- A Good Day To Die Hard HD = MA
- A Good Day To Die Hard (iTunes redeem) SD = MA
- A Haunted House (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- A Madea Christmas HD Vudu
- A Madea Family Funeral HD (Vudu / iTunes OR GP)
- A Million Ways To Die In The West [unrated] (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- A Monster's Call HD =MA
- A Monster's Call (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the A-Team (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- A Thousand Words SD Vudu
- A Quiet Place HD Vudu Or iTunes 4K
- A Walk Among Tombstones (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- About Last Night HD =MA
- Admission (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- the Adventures Of Tintin SD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- After Earth SD =MA
- the Age Of Adaline HD Vudu
- Alex Cross HD Vudu
- Alpha and Omega 3: Great Wolf Games HD Vudu
- Alice Through The Looking Glass HD =MA
- Alien Covenant HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- All the Devil's Men HD Vudu or iTunes
- Alpha SD =MA
- Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chip Wrecked (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- the Amazing Spiderman HD =MA
- the Amazing Spiderman SD =MA
- the Amazing Spiderman 2 HD =MA
- the Amazing Spiderman 2 SD =MA
- Amelia (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- American Assassin HD Vudu/GP/iTunes
- American Made HD =MA
- American Girl: Mckenna Shoots For The Stars HD =MA
- American Hustle HD =MA
- American Hustle SD =MA
- American Reunion UR HD =MA
- Anchorman 2 HD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- And So It Goes HD =MA
- the Angry Birds Movie HD =MA
- Annie (2014) HD =MA
- Annie (2014) SD =MA
- Annihilation HD (Vudu Or iTunes) Split
- the Art of Self Defense HD =MA
- Arrival HD Vudu or iTunes 4K
- Arthur (iTunes redeem) SD =MA
- Arthur Christmas SD =MA
- Assassin's Creed HD (4K If iTunes Redeem)=MA
- Atomic Blonde HD =MA
- Atomic Blonde (iTunes Portion) 4K =MA
- August Osage County HD Vudu
- Avengers: End Game HD (googleplay) =MA
- Avengers: Infinity War (googleplay) HD =MA
- Babylon A.D. (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Bad Boys For Life HD =MA
- Bad Boys For Life SD =MA
- Bad Grandpa HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- Bad Moms (iTunes) HD =MA
- Bad Moms HD =MA
- Bad Words (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Bank Job HD Vudu
- Barbie & Her Sisters In A Puppy Chase HD =MA
- Battle Of The Year HD =MA
- Battleship 4K =MA (iTunes Portion)
- Battleship HD =MA
- Baywatch (Vudu-HD Or iTunes-4K)
- Beethoven Treasure Tail (iTunes Portion) HD =MA
- Beethoven Treasure Tail HD =MA
- Begin Again HD Vudu
- Beirut HD =MA
- the Best Man Holiday HD =MA
- the Best Man Holiday (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Big Miracle (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Big Short HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- the Big Wedding HD Vudu Or iTunes
- the Big Wedding SD Vudu
- the Big Year (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Black Nativity [Extended] HD =MA
- Black Swan (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Blackhat HD =MA (iTunes Portion)
- Blockers HD =MA
- Bloodshot SD =MA
- Blue Jasmine HD =MA
- Boo! A Madea Halloween HD V/I/GP
- the Book Of Life HD =MA
- Boss Baby HD =MA
- the Bourne: Identity HD =MA
- the Bourne: Identity (iTunes Redeem) 4K =MA
- the Bourne: Legacy HD =MA
- the Bourne: Legacy (iTunes Redeem) 4K =MA
- the Bourne: Supremacy HD =MA
- the Bourne: Supremacy (iTunes Redeem) 4K =MA
- the Boy [unrated] HD =MA
- the Boy [unrated] HD =MA (iTunes portion)
- the Boy Next Door HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- Boyhood HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- Braven HD Vudu or GP
- Brian Banks HD =MA
- Bride Wars (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Brides Maids (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Bridge Of Spies HD =MA
- Bring It On: Cheersmack HD =MA
- Bring It On: Cheersmack (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Broken City HD Vudu
- the Butler HD Vudu
- the Bye Bye Man HD =MA (iTunes Portion)
- the Cabin In The Woods SD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- the Cabin In The Woods HD Vudu Or GP
- the Call SD =MA
- the Call HD =MA
- the Call Of The Wild (googleplay) HD =MA
- the Call Of The Wild HD =MA
- Captain Phillips HD =MA
- Captain Phillips SD =MA
- Captain Under Pants: The First Epic Movie HD =MA
- Carrie [2013] (Vudu or GP) HD
- the Case For Christ (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Case For Christ HD =MA
- Casino Royale HD V/GP
- Cedar Rapids (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Change Up (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Change Up Unrated (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Chappie SD =MA
- Chasing Mavericks [2012] HD =MA
- the Choice HD (iTunes, Vudu Or GP)
- the Choice HD (Vudu Only)
- Chronicle HD =MA
- Chronicle (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Chronicles Of Riddick [unrated] (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 SD =MA
- Coal Miner's Daughter HD = MA
- Coal Miner's Daughter HD = MA (iTunes portion)
- the Commuter HD V/i/GP
- Concussion (will Smitch) HD =MA
- Concussion (will Smitch) SD =MA
- the Condemned 2 HD Vudu
- Contraband (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Counselor HD =MA
- Countdown [wwe films] HD Vudu
- Cowboys And Aliens (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Croods (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Cruella HD =MA
- Cruella (Googleplay) HD =MA
- Cult Of Chucky [unrated] HD =MA
- Cult Of Chucky [unrated] HD =MA (iTunes Redeem)
- Curse Chucky (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Curse Of Chucky HD =MA
- Daddy's Home HD Vudu / 4K iTunes (split)
- Dallas Buyers Club HD (iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Danny Collins HD (iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes HD (4K If iTunes Redeemed) =MA
- the Day The Earth Stood Still (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Dead In Tombstone [unrated] HD =MA
- Dead Man Down SD =MA
- Deadpool HD (4K If iTunes Redeemed) =MA
- Deadpool 2 [super dooper cut] HD =MA
- the Descendants (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Deliver Us From Evil SD =MA
- Despicable Me (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Despicable Me 2 (4K iTunes) =MA
- Despicable Me 2 HD =MA
- the Devil Inside SD Vudu
- Devils Due HD =MA
- Diary Of A Wimpy Kid (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Dictator SD Vudu
- Die Hard: A Good Day To Die (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Dilemma HD =MA
- Dirty Dancing SD Vudu
- Dirty Grandpa SD Vudu
- Disney Nature: Monkey Kingdom HD =MA
- Disney Shorts Collection (googleplay) HD =MA
- Disney Shorts Collection HD =MA
- Divergent HD Vudu
- Divergent [4k Itunes] or [GP-HD]
- Divergent Series: Allegiant HD Vudu
- Divergent Series: Allegiant SD Vudu
- Divergent Series: Insurgent HD Vudu/GP (iTunes Split)
- Divergent Series: Insurgent SD Vudu
- Django Unchained HD Vudu
- Dom Hemingway HD =MA
- Downsizing HD Vudu & iTunes 4K
- Downton Abbey The Movie HD =MA
- Dracula Untold (iTunes Redeem) 4K =MA
- Dracula Untold HD =MA
- Draft Day HD Vudu/iTunes Split
- Draft Day SD Vudu
- Dragon Heart 3 (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Dragon Heart 3 HD =MA
- Dredd HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- Dredd 4K (Vudu Or iTunes) Or GP-HD
- Drive (2011) HD MA
- the Duel SD Vudu
- the Duff HD Vudu
- Dumb And Dumber To (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Dying Of The Light HD Vudu
- E.T. (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA (from bluray)
- E.T. HD =MA
- E.T. SD =MA
- Escape Plan HD Vudu
- Edward Scissorhands HD =MA
- Elysium SD =MA
- the Emoji Movie HD =MA
- Empire State HD Vudu
- End Of Watch (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Ender's Game 4K Vudu/iTunes Split
- Ender's Game HD Vudu/iTunes/GP
- Enough Said HD =MA
- Epic (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Epic HD =MA
- Escape Plan HD Vudu
- the Equalizer HD =MA
- the Equalizer SD =MA
- Ex Machina HD Vudu
- Exodus: Gods And Kings HD (4K If iTunes Redeemed) =MA
- the Expendables 2 HD Vudu/iTunes/GP
- the Expendables 3 4K Vudu
- the Expendables 3 [unrated] HD
- the Expendables 3 HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- Extraction HD Vudu
- Fast & Furious 1 (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Fast & Furious 1 HD =MA
- Fast & Furious 2 (4K iTunes) =MA
- Fast & Furious 3 HD =MA
- Fast & Furious 4 HD =MA
- Fast & Furious 4 (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Fast & Furious 5 Extended (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Fast & Furious 5 Extended HD =MA
- Fast & Furious 6 Extended (4K iTunes) =MA
- Fast & Furious 6 Extended HD =MA
- Fast & Furious 7 Extended HD =MA
- Fast & Furious 7 Extended (4K iTunes) =MA
- Fast Furious 8 Extended 4K =MA
- Fast Furious 8 Extended HD =MA
- Fast Furious 8 Theatrical 4K =MA
- Fast Furious 8 Theatrical HD =MA
- the Fault In Our Stars HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- the Fault In Our Stars HD =MA (no Upgrade)
- the Favourite HD =MA
- Fences HD VUDU or iTunes 4K (split)
- Fifty Shades Darker [unrated] (iTunes) HD =MA
- Fifty Shades Darker [unrated] HD =MA
- Fifty Shades Of Grey [unrated] HD =MA
- Fifty Shades Of Grey [standard] 4K (iTunes Redeem) =MA
- the Fighter HD =MA
- Finding Dory (googleplay) HD =MA
- Finding Dory HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Finding Nemo (googleplay) HD =MA
- the Finest Hour HD =MA
- the Finest Hour (googleplay) HD =MA
- the Five Year Engagement (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Flight HD (Vudu / iTunes Split)
- Footloose (2011) SD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- Frank & Lola HD =MA
- Fright Night 2 UR HD =MA
- the Front Runner SD = MA
- Frozen HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Frozen (googleplay) HD =MA
- Frozen (sing Along Edition) HD =MA
- Frozen (sing-along Edition) (googleplay) HD =MA
- Frozen Ground HD Vudu
- Fury HD =MA
- Fury SD =MA
- G.I.Joe Retaliation HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- the Gambler HD (Vudu / iTunes Split)
- Gemini Man HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- Get On Up (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Get The Gringo (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Ghost In The Shell [2017] HD Vudu Only
- Ghost Rider Spirit Of Vengeance SD =MA
- Ghostbusters HD =MA
- Ghostbusters: Answer The Call & Extended HD =MA
- Gifted HD =MA
- the Girl In The Spidersweb SD =MA
- the Girl On The Train =MA 4K (iTunes Redeem)
- the Girl On The Train =MA HD
- the Giver HD Vudu
- Gladiator Vudu or iTunes 4K
- Glee The Concert (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- God's Not Dead 3: A Light In Darkness HD =MA
- Gods Of Egypt HD Vudu (and iTunes 4K split)
- Gods Of Egypt SD Vudu
- Grace Unplugged HD Vudu
- the Grand Budapest Hotel HD =MA
- the Great Wall (iTunes Portion) 4K =MA
- the Great Wall HD =MA
- the Greatest Showman HD =MA
- the Grey (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Grown Ups 2 HD =MA
- Grown Ups 2 SD =MA
- Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 1 HD =MA (no 4K Upgrade)
- Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2.0 (googleplay) HD =MA
- Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2.0 4K =MA
- the Gunman HD =MA
- the Gunman (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Hacksaw Ridge HD Vudu iTunes Or GP
- Hail, Caesar! HD =MA
- Hail, Caesar! (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Halloween Kills Extended HD =MA
- Hammer Of The Gods SD Vudu
- Hansel & Gretel [unrated] HD Vudu / HD iTunes (split)
- Hands of Stones HD Vudu
- the Hangover (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Hardcore Henry HD =MA (iTunes redeem)
- Harvey (1950) (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Hateful Eight HD Vudu Or GP
- the Haunting In Connecticut 2 Ghosts Of Georgia HD Vudu
- the Heat HD =MA
- the Heat (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA (will Send First)
- Heaven Is For Real HD =MA
- Heaven Is For Real SD =MA
- Hell Or High Water SD Vudu
- Hellboy (2019) 4K Vudu/iTunes/(GP HD)
- Here Comes The Boom SD =MA
- Hidden Figures HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Hillsong: Let Hope Rise HD =MA
- Hocus Pocus (googleplay) HD =MA
- Holiday Inn (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Home Again HD =MA
- Home Alone 4K =MA
- Home Alone HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Home Alone 2: Lost In New York HD =MA
- Homefront (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Homefront HD =MA
- Honey 2 (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- Honey 2 HD =MA
- Hop (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- Hop HD =MA
- Hope Springs HD =MA
- Horton Hears A Who (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Host (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Hostiles 4K Vudu/iTunes/(GP HD)
- Hotel Transylvania SD =MA
- Hotel Transylvania 3 SD =MA
- Hours SD Vudu
- House With A Clock In Its Walls HD =MA
- How To Train A Dragon 2 HD =MA
- the Hundred Foot Journey (googleplay) HD =MA
- Hugo SD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- the Hunger Games HD Vudu
- the Hunger Games: Catching Fire HD Vudu
- the Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1 HD Vudu
- the Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 2 HD Vudu
- I See You HD Vudu (no itunes)
- I, Frankenstein HD Vudu/iTunes/GP
- Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Ice Age: Dawn Of Dinosaurs (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Ice Age: the Great Egg-Scapade HD =MA
- Identity Thief (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Ides Of March HD =MA
- In Time (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Incarnate (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- Independence Day Resurgence HD =MA (no Upgrade)
- Independence Day Resurgence HD (4K if iTunes Redeemed) =MA
- Inferno HD =MA
- Inglorious Bastards (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Inside Out HD (4K If iTunes Redeemed) =MA
- Inside Out (google Redeem) HD =MA
- Insidious Chapter 2 SD =MA
- Insidious: the last key SD =MA
- Internship (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Interview HD =MA
- the Interview SD =MA
- Into The Spider-verse SD =MA
- Iron Man 3 (googleplay) HD =MA
- Iron Man 3 HD (4K If iTunes Redeemed) =MA
- Jack Reacher SD Vudu
- Jack Reacher HD Vudu (4K itunes split)
- Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit HD Vudu Or iTunes
- Jarhead 2 [unrated] HD =MA
- Jarhead 2 [unrated] HD =MA (iTunes portion)
- Jarhead Law Of Return HD =MA
- Jason Bourne HD =MA
- Jason Bourne 4K =MA (iTunes portion)
- Jaws HD =MA
- Joe SD Vudu
- John Wick 4K (Vudu,iTunes Or HD-GP)
- John Wick SD? Dvd (Vudu/iTunes/GP)
- John Wick : Chapter 2 HD (Vudu,iTunes Or HD-GP)
- John Wick 3 4K (Vudu,iTunes Or HD-GP)
- Joy HD (4K If iTunes Redeemed) =MA
- Joy HD =MA
- Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle SD =MA
- Jumper (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Jungle Book [2016] (preorder) HD =MA
- Jungle Cruise (googleplay) HD =MA
- Juno (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Jurassic Park (4K iTunes) =MA
- Jurassic Park HD =MA
- Jurassic World (4K iTunes) =MA
- Jurassic World HD =MA
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom HD =MA
- Just Wright (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Justin Bieber: Never Say Never HD VUDU / iTunes (split)
- Keeping Up with the Jones (4K if iTunes Redeem) = MA
- Kevin Heart: Let Me Explain HD
- Kickass 2 (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Kickass 2 HD =MA
- Kidnap HD =MA
- Kidnap (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Killer Elite (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Killing Them Softly HD Vudu
- Kin HD Vudu/iTunes/GP
- the Kingsman: The Golden Circle HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- the Kingsman: The Secret Service HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- the Kingsman: The Secret Service SD (Vudu) =MA
- Knight And Day (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Knocked Up HD =MA
- Knocked Up (iTunes redeem) HD =MA
- Kung Fu Panda 3 HD =MA
- the Last Exorcism Past2 SD =MA
- Last Knights HD Vudu
- the Last Stand HD
- Last Vegas SD =MA
- the Last Witch Hunter SD Vudu
- the Legend Of Hercules HD Vudu
- Les Miserables [1998] HD =MA
- Les Miserables [2012] (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- Les Miserables [2012] HD =MA
- Let's Be Cops HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Life HD =MA
- Life As We Know It (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Life As We Know It SD =MA
- Knight And Day (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Life Of Pi HD (4K iTunes Through Foxredeem) =MA
- Lightyear (googleplay) HD =MA
- the Little Mermaid HD =MA
- the Little Mermaid (googleplay) HD =MA
- Little Women (2019) HD =MA
- Lockout (unrated) SD =MA
- the LOFT (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Logan HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Logan Lucky HD =MA
- Logan Lucky 4K (iTunes) =MA
- the Lone Ranger (googleplay) HD =MA
- the Lone Ranger HD =MA
- Lone Survivor HD =MA
- Lone Survivor 4K (iTunes Redeem) =MA
- the Longest Ride HD ( 4K If iTunes Redeemed) =MA
- the Longest Week HD Vudu
- Looper SD =MA
- the Lorax (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Lorax HD =MA
- the Lord of The Rings: Return Of The King HD =MA
- the Lords Of Salem HD Vudu
- Love Actually (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Love Actually SD =MA
- Love & Mercy HD VUDU
- Love & Other Drugs (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Machete (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted HD =MA
- Madea's Neighbors From Hell The Play SD Vudu
- Madea's Witness Protection HD Vudu Or iTunes
- Madea's Witness Protection SD Vudu
- Maggie HD Vudu Only
- Maleficent (googleplay) HD =MA
- Maleficent HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Maleficent: mistress of evil (googleplay) HD =MA
- Mall Cop 2 SD =MA
- Mamma Mia! (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again HD =MA
- the Man With The Iron Fists (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Marauders HD Vudu
- the Marine 4 HD Vudu
- the Marine 6: close quarters SD =MA
- Marley & Me (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Martian HD (4K If iTunes Redeem)=MA
- Mary Poppins HD =MA
- Mary Poppins (googleplay) HD =MA
- Mary Poppins: Returns (googleplay) HD =MA
- the Maze Runner HD (no Upgrade)
- the Mechanic: Resurrection HD Vudu, GP HD Or iTunes 4K
- the Mechanic: Resurrection SD Vudu
- Megan Leavey (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Megan Leavey HD =MA
- Men In Black 2 HD =MA
- Men In Black 3 HD =MA
- Men In Black 3 SD =MA
- Middle School: The Worse Years Of My Life HD Vudu/GP or iTunes split
- Midway 4K Vudu/iTunes or GP
- Mike & Dave Need A Wedding Date HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Minions (4K iTunes) =MA
- Minions HD =MA
- Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children HD (4K iTunes redeem) =MA
- Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children HD =MA (Vudu Redeem)
- Mission Impossible: Fallout HD (Vudu or iTunes)
- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocal HD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocal Dvd (Vudu)
- Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (HD Vudu Or iTunes 4K)
- Mom's Night Out SD =MA
- Moneyball HD =MA
- Monte Carlo (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Monuments Men HD =MA
- the Monuments Men SD =MA
- Moonlight HD Vudu
- Monster's University (googleplay) HD =MA
- Mortal Instruments SD =MA
- Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend? (iTunes Portion) HD =MA
- Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend? HD =MA
- the Mountain Between Us HD ( 4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Mr. Holmes HD Vudu
- Mr. Peabody & Sherman HD =MA
- Mr. Popper's Penguins (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Mud HD Vudu
- Mulan Original Cartoon (googleplay) HD =MA
- the Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Muppets Most Wanted (googleplay) HD =MA
- Muppets Most Wanted HD =MA
- My All American HD =MA
- My All American (iTunes redeem) HD =MA
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 HD =MA
- My Life As A Zucchini (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- Nebraska HD Vudu
- Nerve SD Vudu
- Night At The Museum Or Night At The Museum: 2 [pick One] HD =MA
- Night At The Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Night At The Museum 3: Secret Of The Tomb HD ( 4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Night School [extended] HD =MA
- No Country For Old Men HD Vudu Or GP
- No Escape HD Vudu
- Noah HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- Non-stop (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Non-stop HD =MA
- Norm Of The North HD (iTunes Or GP)
- Norm Of The North HD Vudu Only
- Now You See Me 4K Vudu/iTunes/GP
- Now You See Me HD Vudu
- Now You See Me HD Vudu/iTunes/GP
- Now You See Me 2 SD Vudu
- Oblivion HD =MA
- Office Party HD VUDU or iTunes (split)
- Olympus Has Fallen SD =MA
- the Oranges (itunes redeem) SD =MA
- the Other Woman HD =MA
- Ouija: Origin Of Evil (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Overcomer SD =MA
- Oz The Great And Powerful (googleplay) HD =MA
- Oz The Great And Powerful HD =MA
- Pacific Rim: Uprising HD =MA
- Paddington HD Vudu
- Pain & Gain HD Vudu Only
- Paranormal Activity 2 HD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- Paranormal Activity 3 SD Vudu (try iTunes at your own risk)
- Paranormal Activity 4 HD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- Paranormal Activity Ghost Dimension HD (Vudu or iTunes)
- Parental Guidance HD =MA
- Parental Guidance (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Parker HD =MA
- Parker SD =MA
- Passengers HD =MA
- Patriots Day HD Vudu (or 4K iTunes)
- Paul [unrated] HD =MA (iTunes Redeem)
- Peanuts Movies HD ( 4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Penguins Of Madagascar HD =MA
- Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters HD =MA
- Perks Of Being A Wallflower HD Vudu Or iTunes SD (split)
- Peter Pan 2: Return To Never Land (googleplay) HD =MA
- Peter Pan 2: Return To Never Land HD =MA
- Philomena HD Vudu
- Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (googleplay) HD =MA
- Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales HD =MA (iTunes kills code)
- Pirates! Band Of Misfits SD =MA
- Pitch Black [unrated] (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- Pitch Perfect HD =MA
- Pitch Perfect [iTunes redeem 4K] =MA
- Pitch Perfect 2 HD =MA
- Pitch Perfect 2 HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Pitch Perfect 3 HD =MA
- Pixels SD =MA
- Planes (googleplay) HD =MA
- Planes HD =MA
- Planes Fire And Rescue (googleplay) HD =MA
- Planes Fire And Rescue HD =MA
- Planes, Trains & Automobiles HD (Vudu or iTunes)
- Playing For Keeps SD =MA
- Pompeii HD =MA
- Pompeii SD =MA
- Possession HD Vudu (SD iTunes)
- Predators (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Premium Rush SD =MA
- the Prince HD Vudu
- Prometheus HD =MA
- Prometheus (iTunes Redeem) [?] =MA
- Promised Land (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Protector 2 SD Vudu
- Public Enemies (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Public Enemies (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Purge (4K iTunes) =MA
- the Purge HD =MA
- the Purge: Anarchy HD =MA
- the Purge: Election Year HD =MA
- Queen Of Katwe (googleplay) HD =MA
- Queen Of Katwe HD =MA
- R.I.P.D. (redeems In iTunes) 4K =MA
- R.I.P.D. HD =MA
- Ralph Breaks The Internet (googleplay) HD =MA
- Rambo HD (Vudu,iTunes4K Or GP)
- Rambo: Last Blood 4K (Vudu,iTunes Or HD-GP)
- Ramona And Beezus (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Rango HD Vudu Or 4K iTunes (split)
- Real Steel (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Reasonable Doubt HD =MA
- Red 2 HD Vudu
- Red Sparrow HD =MA
- Redemption HD Vudu
- Reprisal HD Vudu
- Resident Evil: Retribution HD =MA
- Resident Evil: Retribution SD =MA
- Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City HD =MA
- the Revenant HD =MA
- Ricki And The Flash SD =MA
- Riddick [unrated] HD =MA
- Riddick [unrated] (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- Ride Along (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Ride Along HD =MA
- Ride Along 2 (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Rio HD =MA
- Rio (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Rio 2 HD =MA
- Rise Of The Guardians HD =MA
- Rise Of The Planet Of Apes (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Risen SD =MA
- Robin Hood (1973) [Disney-animation] (googleplay) HD =MA
- Robin Hood (2018) Vudu/GP HD or iTunes 4K
- Robocop 2014 HD Vudu Or GP
- the Rocker (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Rocky Horror Picture Show HD =MA
- Runner Runner HD =MA
- Rush HD =MA
- Safe HD Vudu Only
- Safe House (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Safe House HD =MA
- Same Kind Of Different As Me HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- Samson HD =MA
- Santa's Little Helper HD =MA
- Sausage Party HD =MA
- Savages 4K (iTunes Redeem) =MA (unsure Which Version)
- Saving Mr. Banks HD =MA
- Saving Mr. Banks (googleplay) HD =MA
- Scarface 4K (iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Scarface HD =MA
- Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark 4K Vudu/iTunes or (GP HD)
- Schindler's List =MA HD
- the Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption HD =MA
- the Scorpion King 4: Quest For Power (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Scorpion King 4: Quest For Power HD =MA
- Seal Team 8: Behind Enemy Lines HD (Vudu Or Googleplay)
- Search Party HD =MA
- Search Party (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- the Secret Life Of Pets HD =MA
- the Secret Life Of Pets (4K iTunes) =MA
- the Secret Life Of Pets 2 HD =MA
- the Secret Life Of Walter Mitty HD =MA
- See No Evil 2 HD Vudu
- Seeking A Friend For The End Of The Earth (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Selma HD (redeems In iTunes) HD =MA
- Seventh Son (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Seventh Son HD =MA (iTunes Portion)
- Sex Tape SD =MA
- the Shack HD Vudu Or iTunes (split)
- Shrek: Forever After (the final chapter) HD =MA
- Showdogs HD =MA
- Sicario HD Vudu
- Sicario 4K Vudu (or HD GP Or iTunes)
- Silver Linings Playbook HD (Vudu Or Googleplay)
- Single Mom's Club HD
- Sisters [unrated] (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Sisters [unrated] HD =MA
- Skin Trade HD Vudu Redeem
- Skyfall HD (Vudu Or Googleplay)
- Skyfall SD (iTunes)
- Skyscraper HD =MA
- Sleepless (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Slumdog Millionaire (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Smurfs 2 HD =MA
- the Smurfs 2 SD =MA
- Snitch HD Vudu
- Snow White & The Huntsman (4K iTunes) =MA
- Snow White & The Huntsman HD =MA
- Snowden HD =MA
- Snowden (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Son Of God HD =MA
- Sonic The Hedge hog 2 4K (Vudu or iTunes)
- the Spectacular Now SD Vudu
- Spectre 007 HD Vudu/GP/iTunes
- Spider-man: Far From Home HD =MA
- Spider-man: Far From Home SD =MA
- Spider-man: Homecoming HD =MA
- Spider-man: No-way Home SD =MA
- Split HD =MA
- the Sponge Bob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water HD Vudu / iTunes (split)
- Spy [unrated] HD =MA
- St. Vincent HD Vudu
- Stand Up Guys HD Vudu
- the Star SD =MA
- Star Trek [1] HD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- Star Trek [2] Into Darkness HD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- Star Trek [3] Beyond HD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- Star Wars: Force Awakens HD =MA (Vudu - No Upgrade)
- Star Wars: Rise Of The Skywalker 4K =MA
- Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker (googleplay) HD =MA
- Step Up Revolution HD Vudu Or (iTunes Quality Unknown)
- Straight Out Of Compton (iTunes Redeem) 4K =MA
- Straight Out Of Compton [unrated] HD =MA
- Strange World (googleplay) HD =MA
- Street Kings (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Super 8 HD Vudu Portion
- Super Buddies (googleplay) HD =MA
- Super Troopers 2 HD =MA
- the Sword In The Stone (googleplay) HD =MA
- Taken (theatrical slip) SD =MA
- Taken (Extended slip) SD =MA
- Taken 2 HD =MA
- Taken 3 (extended) HD =MA
- Ted (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Ted [unrated] HD =MA
- Ted 2 (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Teen Spirit HD =MA
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles HD Vudu/iTunes split
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows HD Vudu/iTunes split
- Temptation HD Vudu
- Temptation HD Vudu or Google Play (ask for this one for GP)
- Terminator Dark Fate HD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- That Awkward Moment SD =MA
- That's My Boy SD =MA
- the Theory Of Everything (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Think Like A Man SD =MA
- Think Like A Man Too SD =MA
- This Is 40 (iTunes Portion) HD =MA
- This Is The End HD =MA
- This Is The End SD =MA
- Thor Love And Thunder 4K =MA
- Thor Love And Thunder HD =MA
- Thor Love And Thunder (googleplay) HD =MA
- Thor Ragnarok (googleplay) HD =MA
- Thor Ragnarok HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- the Three Stooges [the movie] (iTunes redeem) SD =MA
- Tinker Tailor Solder (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Tinkerbell And The Legend Of The NeverBeast HD =MA
- Top Gun HD Vudu & Unknown iTunes (split)
- Total Recall (1990) HD Vudu
- Total Recall (2012) [theater & Extended] HD =MA
- Total Recall (2012) SD =MA
- Tower Heist (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Toy Story 4 (googleplay) HD =MA
- Tracers SD Vudu
- Trainwreck (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Transformers: Age Of Extinction HD (Vudu Only)
- Transformers: Age Of Extinction SD Vudu
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon HD Vudu
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon SD Vudu
- Transformers: The Last Knight (digital Cut) HD Vudu Or iTunes 4K Split
- the Transporter (iTunes) SD =MA
- Trauma Center 4K Vudu/iTunes/GP
- Tremors 5: Bloodlines HD =MA
- Tremors 5: Bloodlines (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Tremors 6: A Cold Day In Hell HD =MA
- Trolls HD =MA
- True Grit HD Vudu (iTunes Split)
- Trumbo (iTunes redeem) HD =MA
- the Trust SD Vudu
- Turbo (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Turbo HD =MA
- Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt 2 HD
- Unbroken (iTunes) HD =MA
- Unbroken HD =MA
- Underworld: Awakening SD =MA
- Underworld: Bloodwars HD =MA
- Unfriended HD (iTunes Portion) =MA
- Unfriended HD =MA
- Unknown (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Unstoppable (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Vampires Suck (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets HD Vudu
- Venom HD =MA
- Venom SD =MA
- the Vow SD =MA
- Walking With Dinosaurs HD =MA
- Wallstreet 2: Never Sleeps (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- Wanderlust (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- War Of The Planet Of The Apes HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- War Room HD =MA
- War Room SD =MA
- Warcraft (4K iTunes) =MA
- Warcraft HD =MA
- Warm Bodies HD Vudu
- Warm Bodies HD Vudu/GP/ iTunes (4K iTunes Split)
- the Watch HD =MA
- Water For Elephants (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- We Bought A Zoo (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Wedding Ringer SD =MA
- Werewolf: the Beast Among Us UR HD =MA
- Wanderlust (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Wanted (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- What Happens In Vegas (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- What To Expect When You're Expecting HD
- Whats Your Number (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- When The Game Stands Tall HD =MA
- When The Game Stands Tall SD =MA
- White House Down SD =MA
- Why Him? HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- Widows HD =MA
- Wild Card HD Vudu
- Winchester HD Vudu/GP/iTunes
- the Witch SD Vudu
- the Wolf Of Wall Street HD Vudu (and 4K iTunes Split)
- the Wolfman (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- the Wolverine (iTunes Redeem) [SD?] =MA
- the Wolverine (unrated) HD =MA (must redeem on MA)
- the Woman In Black SD =MA
- Won't Back Down HD =MA
- Wonder HD (iTunes, Vudu Or GP)
- Woodlawn HD =MA
- Woodlawn (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- World War Z HD (Vudu Or iTunes)
- X Men Apocalypse HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- X Men Days Of Future Past HD (4K If iTunes Redeem) =MA
- X Men Days Of Future Past HD =MA
- X Men First Class (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- X Men Origins Wolverine (iTunes Redeem) SD =MA
- XXX: Return Of Xander Cage HD Vudu (or iTunes Split)
- Yesterday HD =MA
- Young Adult HD Vudu
- the Young Messiah (iTunes Redeem) HD =MA
- Zero Dark Thirty HD =MA
- Zero Dark Thirty SD =MA
- Zootopia (googleplay) HD =MA
Vudu Only
- Nurse Jackie Season 6 HD Vudu
- Orange Is The New Black Season 1 SD Vudu
- True Detective Season 3 HD Vudu
- Game Of Thrones Season 1 HD iTunes Only
- Game Of Thrones Season 2 HD iTunes Only
- Game Of Thrones Season 3 HD iTunes Only
- Game Of Thrones Season 4 HD iTunes Only
- True Detective Season 3 HD iTunes Only
- Abduction SD (iTunes)
- the Act Of Valor SD (iTunes)
- the Adventures of Tin Tin HD (iTunes)
- Alex Cross SD (iTunes)
- All Eyez On Me HD (iTunes)
- Annihilation HD (iTunes)
- Bankok Dangerous SD (iTunes)
- the Bank Job SD (iTunes)
- the Big Wedding HD (iTunes)
- Book Club 4K (iTunes)
- Brooklyn's Finest SD (iTunes)
- the Corrupted [2020] (iTunes)
- Criminal 4K (iTunes)
- Daybreakers SD (iTunes)
- the Dictator HD (iTunes)
- Divergent 4K (iTunes)
- Divergent Series: Allegiant 4K (iTunes)
- Divergent Series: Insurgent 4K (iTunes)
- Don Jon SD (iTunes)
- the Expendables [first movie] SD (iTunes)
- the Expendables 3 [unrated] HD (iTunes)
- Family Guy Its A Trap (iTunes)
- Forbidden Kingdom (iTunes)
- G.I.Joe The Rise Of The Cobra (iTunes)
- Gamer iTunes SD (iTunes)
- Ghost In The Shell 4K (iTunes)
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Titles I am looking for
2023.06.02 14:27 resurrective Chapter 20 - What is love?
“HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!”
A laugh, what does it mean for a person? A sign of amusement? A mark of contentment? Maybe, a reaction to a quirky comment or action? Perhaps…
But now, all that echoed throughout the burning lands was a guffaw of despair and torment. It belonged to Eve, the future queen of the entire Confederation of Demons. And right now, no trace of royal dignity was to be seen within her. The woman was pulling her white hair, kneeling in her sphere at the sight of the mass-murder.
The snow of death, the sprinkled ash of white and purple fell upon the ground, taking hundreds of lives. Gramgrim, the strongest and the fiercest formation underneath the authority of Me-ua now perished like slugs under the salt. Orcs, dogs, trolls, deer, lions, crows, fiends, mind-flayers, tigers, boars, even a cult of bulls-necromancers – the brigade included many different races, men and women of different backgrounds and upbringings, their tamed beasts and familiars, slaves and draft animals. Looking at the southern organizations, consisting of various Ma-zok tribes was always fascinating. Especially, when none of them could withstand the divine plague, sent as a godly punishment for defiling the holy land of kokuyoku.
Was there any way to save themselves? Yes – they simply never should’ve come to the village. Now, though? Well, not even Panakea’s blessing could save Keyaruga from death, so why should any of them survive?
Such was Eve’s wrath; such was her sorrow, enshrined upon this wretched world.
“Fascinating.,,” Keyaruga muttered, looking underneath him. He couldn’t help but to feel glee. After all, hundreds upon hundreds of high-leveled demons perished, blessing the whole party of five with new levels to enjoy (or hate, in Ellen’s case). Strange, though. Normally, a party couldn’t be larger than four people (not that a mortal had control over it anyway; people could travel in however big assemblies, as they pleased, yet experience was earned only by parties of four), but the group stuck together pretty well. Was it another of Caladrius’ gifts, she just didn’t bother to share? Well, whatever the case…
“I know, it’s not a reason for joy… but we can definitely use all that power in our future battles.” Freia mused with a trace of regret in her voice.
“Uh-huh. Good thing to get stronger before we go after the demon king.” Setsuna supported, trapped in a conflict between joy at reaching her new threshold of power and fury for losing Visou.
“Of course this would happen… This always happens with those people and places I care for or love… I shouldn’t have taken this damned bracelet…” Keyaruga growled, looking at the yorkama talisman on his right wrist. Yet, when he was about to rip it away…
“Don’t do that.” …Ellen stopped him. For the first time in this nightmarish day she was thankful for her new powers, as they allowed her to stop her ‘brother’ from an act of utter stupidity. “It’s not your fault. Look, they came here, seeking Hakuo’s rival! Your sympathy has nothing to do with that, stop dealing in superstitions!” The Apostle of Caladrius attempted to reassure the lad. But alas…
“It’s my fault. Like Visou… like Alban… like Karman… It’s all been my fault.” …the man just wouldn’t listen.
“No… it was mine…” The crimson-haired cutie whispered, yet once again – no reaction. “Hey, brother, see that breached wall behind Mil’s house? I see traces there. Could you, maybe?..”
“Yes… Oh, Ellen, thank you!” Only when she pointed out the obvious, did the man finally wake up from his trance. Just in time to hear…
“KILL!!! KILL THEM ALL!!!” …this. Eve still couldn’t really master her raging emotions, and even the fact that no creature remained alive in the burning village stopped her in any way.
“Hm, I am saddened to inform you, little one, that there is nobody to slay here. And even if there were, I am unable to maintain the offence. I need to feed and regain my strength now.” Caladrius admonished, descending on the earth. “However, down the north road, you may find other survivors. Just make haste; they do not have much time.” The harbinger of plague informed the group, putting the white sphere on the ground. The barrier had faded just as all poisonous ash did as well, coincidentally.
Keyaruga, Setsuna, Eve, Freia, Ellen, Kelly, Patty – all could finally walk properly again. Not really a big perk, when all you’re finding yourself among the still burning remains of a ruined village, though.
“O pluvia clemens, benedic nobis tua gratia recreativa.” Fortunately, they had the Hero of Magic at their side. And so, the first thing Freia did was to cast a simple rain spell. A critically important move, especially when their raptors were getting panicked by the fires.
“Now, if you excuse me.” And what would horrify any sentient being was how gruesomely filthy Caladrius turned out to be. The very first thing she did when the party had finally landed was to grab some dead slimy bastard, and just swallow him whole, like some sort of a pelican.
“Hey! Hey! Hey! He-e-ey!!! The hell are you doing?!” The younger princess yawped, consumed by her anger. Not because she was disgusted, though… “You fucking munched him with all that armor and shit?! What’re you even thinking of?! We need that!”
“I do not care, Apostle. Unless you are willing to strip them yourself, your whining is of little concern to me.” The deity replied dismissively. Even if her plague faded without a trace, the diseased corpses were still a delicacy for Caladrius.
And here I thought Ellen was slandering her about this part. Thought it was just a nice joke. Apparently, not, Keyaruga mused, witnessing the same vile spectacle as his girls did.
“Well, I’m willing as hell! You can buy an entire village for one of those!” The young lady snarled, turning one of the corpses over, just to untie the leashes that held a cuirass in place. When people die, their rectum can’t hold feces anymore. The stench of death, dung, decay, the earth, wet and softened by the rain – so much filth among the corpses, and yet, the warlady felt overjoyed looting the corpses of their fallen enemies before tossing their naked bodies toward her hungry patron.
“Keyaruga, I think, we should…” Freia softly spoke, pointing at the breach on the northern side. She wasn’t overly enthusiastic about defiling the dead, so maybe…
“No, I’m going alone.” Sadly, the healer wouldn’t let anyone accompany him in this quest. Even the golden egg had to leave his back right now. He knew who he was pursuing. And what he would do to his enemies, once he’d reached them. “Setsuna, Freia, hold this, and stay here, and watch out for Eve, and… Well, you may also help Ellen with looting.” The lad spoke, completely ignoring the rain that fell upon his head.
“Uh-huh, got it.” The gray-haired girl agreed, putting the straps holding their unborn ‘child’ on her back. Strangely enough, the ice warrior was more than happy with pillaging the corpses. With her arms being covered in the frozen gauntlets, the girl could easily strip the fallen brigadiers to Ellen’s obvious delight.
“I… think I should bury the villagers.” Freia, on the other hand, grabbed a shovel somewhere. Instead of defiling the dead, she wanted to properly inter the remains of the poor black-wings… until their bodies were eaten by their own god.
“Whatever you wish… Just don’t forget to cut off their wings.” The man ordered, tossing away everything from Kelly’s saddle. He needed speed, not sustainability.
“I see… feathers… magic catalysts…” The sorceress instantly understood what the hero wanted from the fallen villagers. To be honest, that sort of cruelty paled compared to what their enemies sometimes allowed themselves. It didn’t make the pink-haired girl any happier, though.
“Wait!” Finally, just as Keyaruga was about to climb on his reptile steed, he got a companion in the form of the queen-to-be. “I’m… going with you!..” She spoke wearily, yet her tone wouldn’t brook any denial.
“You shouldn’t, Eve. You’re too drained as it is, I can’t risk you now.” That didn’t work on the new hero, though. The red-eyed lad knew, what kind of atrocities he was about to commit. What’s worse – he was looking forward for them.
“No… You know I can’t be killed that easily.” The white-haired woman insisted, allowing herself to climb in the saddle no matter what Keyaruga wanted. “Also, those are my people we’re talking about.”
“Alright…” The man nodded, giving one last brief look at what travesty was currently occuring on this holy ground: hundreds of corpses, two enthusiastic looter-girls stripping them before feeding them to the goddess that was primarily supposed to guard this place from such tragedies, and the strongest mage in the world, cutting off wings with her wavy dagger. All gave him a brief look. “Girls, lady Caladrius, you stay here! The raptor we’re taking will go faster carrying only two of us.” The healer admonished, silently praising himself for not including the plague incarnate in the ranks of his lovers. Wouldn’t that be awkward?
“Uh-huh. Good luck, you two.” Setsuna waved her armored hand, happily proceeding with robbing the corpses.
“Yeah… thanks. We’ll need it.”
…
The forest had been defiled. A trace of bodies, both kokuyoku and their ruthless persecutors, marked a path for the hero and his queen. Faster! Faster! The man smacked his reptile with his heels, struck against the ribs, pulled every bit of speed from poor Kelly. So much so, that even wild scavengers, who came to feast on the corpses, just fled from the massive raptor. And yet, it still wasn’t enough…
“Hey, Keyaruga!” Eve spoke, holding onto the hero’s torso with her trembling arms. “Why are you even helping us? Why… do you even bother, if they die no matter what we do?” The queen-to-be asked melancholically. Right now, she tried to find at least some meaning in her existence, just to not fall into a pit of nihilism and despair.
“It’s because… I have power. I can make a difference. And because I want to do so.” The red-haired lad responded, navigating a path through the woods with his jade eye. His status elevated him above the rest, giving the man many abilities, some considered to be… unnatural. For example, he could easily alleviate Kelly’s fatigue from constant galloping.
“Power, yes?.. The onslaught… it began when Caladrius was playing with us… But instead of putting an end to this hell, she’d go on, and on, and on… And even when we got out, she never told us what was going on. When I asked her to bless you, I was scared… and discomforted, and… whatever other words you have for discomfort. I thought it was because of the trial… Thought it was over… Then… I looked at myself, my own actions, here and in the past.” Eve shared the burden of her guilt with Keyaruga. The white-haired woman couldn’t help but blame herself for everything that happened. If she didn’t ignore her feelings, if she had checked on her wings a little earlier, if she… “If I… If I just could…”
“Was that what you saw in your challenge?” The healer wondered, trying to get his companion out of this ruinous obsession over what nobody could prevent, or even predict.
“Ugm… Who did you meet there?” Did he fail? No, not really. But instead of giving him an answer, the queen-to-be countered with a question of her own.
“Many, many people… I don’t want to talk about it now.” Unfortunately, though, Keyaruga just couldn’t bring himself to reveal what he saw, heard… did with his own hands.
“I… I see…” Eve murmured, getting a message from the lad’s depressed tone. He too carried much pain in his soul, and that vortex of suffering could never be dissipated by shutting down just some of his emotions. To completely silence this pain, Keyaruga would have to become something else entirely, something inhuman, incapable of either hate or love.
“More important, Eve, I want you to sharpen your senses. Maybe, you can trace magic better than me.” The hero suggested, as his right eye rolled around in his socket. The forest was wide and thick, and his sight wasn’t as all-seeing as he’d like it to be.
“I’ll try.” Eve whispered, trying to focus her attention on the ambient mana. Maybe, if she was just diligent enough, she could trace her living brethren? Maybe, all wasn’t lost just yet? Maybe… “You know, Keyaruga, you’re not the guilty one in all of this… If Mil didn’t let everyone in, if I wasn’t saved by your goddess, if our goddess wasn’t just like Ellen says she is… than none of this horror would have happened.” The lady in red deadpanned cautiously. Now that she knew of her ‘future’, how it might’ve been without this self-conflicted man at her side, the kokuyoku scion could clearly tell – her grandfather was just like Keyaruga and Ellen, he wanted the best for his people… and that turned Visou into a deathtrap. After all, Hakuo wouldn’t have sent Gramgrim here if Cornar had come to him with the valuable bounty that was the black-wings’ princess.
“I’m sorry…” The healer uttered, still unaware, just how much of a monster Eve’s first husband really was, and how much she owed him for showing, how the love should even look like in the first place.
“You really shouldn’t be, Keyaruga.” The black-winged prodigy responded sorrowfully. She felt the lad’s distress: it was in his voice, his posture, his way of breathing… “You can’t just carry the burden for everyone else. I tried… and I failed.” Eve spoke, trying to dissuade her defender from thinking he was able to hold the whole world on his shoulders, when, in reality, it was simply impossible. “Don’t do that. You’ll break.” This calm phrase was spoken serenely, and yet, it was a cry. A cry for help, for understanding, for letting go.
“We don’t need Caladrius.” But Keyaruga just couldn’t release himself from this burden. Even now, when riding over the forest floor, covered in disfigured corpses, most of which were charred whole, seemingly by lightning, the man couldn’t stop thinking about Eve, her troubles, the tragic price her ultimate power might demand from her.
“Why?” The lady in red asked, attempting to follow the new line of conversation which her companion had turned to. Why would he even be scared of it? Didn’t Ellen bargain two free casts for her? Ellen… How could this capricious princess be able to extort such a valuable gift from the harbinger of plague? If Eve had done something like this in the first world… then there wouldn’t be the second one.
“She’s… too frivolous, arrogant, she’s thousands years old, yet all I see is an old snobby child with no backbone. We can’t be sure she’ll maintain her promise, and I really, really don’t want to see you wither away.” The man said with that seemingly careless voice of his. “If you need someone dead, I’ll be there for you.” He added grimly then. Eve was too soft, even now, she still couldn’t deal with the moral compromises necessary, and there were going to be a lot more of them on the way toward the Obsidian Throne.
“Hah… You really do want me to fall in love with you?” The queen-to-be noted somewhat playfully. Her mood was still sombered, but even so, there was always a light in the darkness.
“Heh, aren’t you already? I can tell – you’ve changed, so that you could keep up with me, especially in the bed.” Keyaruga followed this little funny road, and retaliated with a joke of his own. But… was it really a joke, though?
“Yes… Yes, I have.” Apparently, not. “I can’t force you to become your old self, but I had a chance to change myself.” Eve explained, lowering her head. She couldn’t keep up with the man last night – he was just too big for her. That’s why, the girl had to go, the queen-to-be had to become a woman, and fast.
And so, there could be only one thing to ask at this point.
“So, do you want to fuck, once this is over?” The hero unceremoniously inquired from his companion. After all, they were already past all those earlier insults and attempts at shaming from Eve’s side.
“Yes, I do! I really, really do. I want you to ravage me, so I wouldn’t go mad.” The Me-ua kahul responded with a plea of sorrow, hate, loathing, and regret. There wasn’t anything enticing in this request, but… it was so humane.
“Of course. I will.” The man promised. Despite everything, despite this day supposedly belonging to Ellen and Setsuna, he wouldn’t refuse her, no matter what. And Eve felt that resolve in the man.
“Also, I won’t stop using Caladrius. We need her, Keyaruga. We need her… to establish our authority. Then… maybe, I won’t have to lose anyone again.” The queen-to-be spoke wearily. She wanted to reach Hakuo, wished to murder this monster once and for all with her own hands, instead of waiting till some disease finishes him. She wanted to bury this king’s legacy once and for all, so that his blood would never poison her life ever again. Eve Reese desired revenge. And Keyaruga would never feel worthy of discouraging his queen. And yet…
“Alright. But you have to promise me one thing – one time. She gave us only two times, and I don’t want you to overreach any further. Everything else I’ll deal with personally. It won’t make a difference to me anyway, my hands are already dirtied enough as it is.” Keyaruga all but demanded. The gods had put them in a tight little cage, where only those who kill more than others, were worthy of wielding great power. Right now, the man wasn’t sure his party was enough to challenge Hakuo’s rule. Even Eve, drained by Caladrius, managed to overpower her ‘heroic’ adversaries. Too bad they left her exhausted for Keyaru to finish the job. Speaking of that…
“But… why would you even bother? Don’t you just want to… make another redo? To fix everything, to save those who you couldn’t save?” The lady in red asked the lad. He was never too secretive about the circumstances he was in, and how the world ended up as it is. Still, each time he spoke of that, pain and loss broke through his armor of callousness.
“No. Just as you said, I have people to live for now. Freia, Setsuna, Ellen, you, Eve – I can’t imagine my life without you. And if I just flee into the past, then what’s even the point of us having this little chat right now?” The healer quarried in response. He was sure of what he was talking about now. Or, rather, trying to convince himself and Eve of that.
“Haa… Right…” For better or worse, the woman just exhaled and dropped the topic. To believe it would mean disregarding Keyaruga’s deep painful wounds, any further prying risked opening them up again. “I think we’ve got something.” Fortunately, right in that moment, Eve noticed a track, something to spot her brethren, where the trail of bodies had just ended.
“What? Where?” Keyaruga asked, now looking around.
“To the left from here. I feel my brethren coming to me from this side. They’re… fighting. And dying.” As the lady in red spoke, pointing in the direction the flow of souls was coming from, the rider pulled the reigns to stop his steed. He then jumped off the saddle.
“Shit, I must hurry!” The hero snarled, pulling the saber out of its sheath. A contradicting statement, seeing as he would be much faster mounted. But no… “Keep your eye on Kelly! I can’t risk the two of you!”
“You want to go alone?” The woman astounded, reaching for her companion. Alas, he never faced her.
“Yes! Our enemies are strong, Eve. And I’m not sure if I can properly protect you. Stay here; cover me with your magic.” Keyaruga urged sternly. He wasn’t a healer, nor a competent defender whatsoever. The hero was a murderer, and nothing could convince him more than the trial he completed just an hour ago.
“Hold on! I won’t let you go alone.” Nevertheless, the kokuyoku scion too wasn’t the same after that challenge. She flapped her wings, and numerous black spheres left her feathers. One, two… ten, twenty… Twenty-three shades now flew around the man, ready to assist him in murdering whoever threatened their kin. “They will protect you.”
“Ah… thanks.” The red-haired man uttered, looking at the fallen black-wings. Right now, they rather reminded him of insects with the way they dashed around. “We’ll be on our way, then.” Still, it didn’t stop him from getting ready to sprint forward to save whoever was left of the kokuyoku-zok and to punish their oppressors.
“Promise you’ll be back! Promise you’ll save everyone!” Eve ultimately asked, looking at her dead brethren. Shying away from them was a luxury, and now she had no time for such things.
“I will, Eve! Take care!”
And so, he ran off, to the site where the last bit of fighting was happening. Him, twenty-three shades… against the elite forces of Gramgrim, the only remaining fragment of the horrifying battalion; now, though, the time had come to end this warband once and for all.
…
Faster! Faster! I must be faster!
Keyaruga lunged through the woods, he jumped across logs, climbed the hills, passed a few ravines along the way, just to finally reach yet another battlefield. Mil was there, the wizened magician firmly held his staff. All bloodied, his robe torn apart, the old man still fought on.
“Masanna tanouti! (kill everyone)” A massive rider, carried by an even greater armored warg tackled Mil and his defense line of mostly women spellcasters, and a few strong men among the refugees.
“Usegi! (run) Usegi-i!!!” Mil yelled, getting ready to ward off the seemingly countless hordes of bloodthirsty invaders, preferably – all on his own. The thought of death never scared the magician, as he already looked in its eyes, and they were gentle.
“Mil-murnaz! (elder Mil!) Katunj pora bornul non! (we have nowhere to retreat!)” An armored old woman yelled, preparing her grandiose fire blast. None of them would abandon him. Only seventeen of them remained against a group of forty-seven raving cutthroats, knowing all too well, they wouldn’t be able to pull through. And yet, none of them would go down without a fight. If they did, they would be slaughtered, and after that – their kin would follow.
“SUNI-I-I-I!!! (DI-I-IE!!!)” The bruised elder snarled, imbuing his wooden staff with an element of lightning. One swing, one smack – and the monstrous wolf fell down, wriggling in the shocking agony, along with its master. One down.
“Globus igneus!” The armored hag next to him yelled, sending a massive fireball into the troops. Seven perished, four else – scattered. Yet, those who fell were mercilessly crushed underfoot by the four brutal tiger-riders – no regards to their allies, and even less toward the foe. Five men and two women from the black-wings stood up to meet them with their spears, staked into the earth… It didn’t work – the demons breached their line, gutting everyone in the reach of their decorated cleavers.
“Katunji! (retreat!) Konato wor marmori! (protect the children)” Mil commanded, tossing two hardened feathers into the enemies. Too close to him, but… it didn’t matter. “KURLINA-A-A!!! (FUCK YOU!!!)” He yelled, detonating the enchanted quills.
BOOM!
An explosion, a shockwave, the trembling of the earth. Kokuyoku were mercilessly pushed further, practically hunted like animals, and yet, their prey had claws and teeth. The blast was mighty, it broke Gramgrim’s formation, allowing the defenders to flee, to run, to… live a few minutes longer.
“Kha-a-a… Ha-a-a… Agh…” Mil helplessly wheezed, pushed to the trunk of the giant oak. His bones were broken, the old man had lost all feeling in his legs, hands, and… No, he knew what he was getting into. “Gh-h-h!.. Ugh… E… va… ma…” Even when some tall goblinoid thug impaled him with a spear, the only thing on the mind of the dying sorcerer was his granddaughter, and all those he tried to save. Tried, but…
“I’VE COME TO SAVE YOU!!!” Keyaruga roared, engaging a bat-like swordsman, lunging toward the fleeing defenders. Just in a few hundred meters away, the refugees were running from the pursuers. It was honestly a miracle to see them keeping such a substantial distance, even though the enemies had carnivorous mounts. It seems, like they were rather enjoying chasing their prey.
“GHA-A-A!!!” Nevertheless, the fencer retreated from the hero, picked up a lance from the roasted wolf-man, and tossed it into the hero. The latter dodged, then pointed in the direction of his adversaries.
“Tania wor tanouti! (kill them!) Orn wor shef na! (don’t be concerned about me!)” And just like that, a cascade of shadows materialized to shred the enemy flanks and rear. The raging dark spirits now flew all across the surviving hunters’ ranks, ripping and tearing, stabbing and shredding the yelling warriors, as they tried to damage the ethereal vengeful apparitions. Could it be worse? Oh yes! Someone began simply sniping them from afar, numerous beams of piercing light took lives of so many, the Gramgrim’s morale hit the bottom.
Still, that didn’t mean they’d stop fighting. Certainly not! The bat-demon just met a shade with a wide swing from his reddish greatsword – an instant later, this spirit was gone. An adamantine blade – Keyaruga couldn’t just let him roam around – the man tossed a dagger from his sleeve, but no. The warrior just easily deflected it with a sneer. Before the lad could go on, he crossed those twenty meters with merely two jumps, ready to cleave the hero’s head in one rapid sweep.
The man ducked, right leg forward, balance toward offence. A slash was aimed toward the leg…
“Ghhh!” And it failed – the healer got a knee in his chin for that. After all, how can a thin saber cut through the metal greaves underneath the surcoat? Discombobulated, the man was about to get a downward cut to his shoulder.
“A-A-A-A-R-R-R-R!!!” Fortunately for him, another shade saved Keyaruga the trouble by backstabbing the fencer. Well, she just impaled him in the right armpit. Did that stop the berserker? “ULMO-O-O!!! (BITCH!)” Well, certainly not. Even if his one limb flopped uselessly by his side now, the warrior firmly grabbed his sword with his left hand, turned around, and slammed the spirit with the pommel, sending herto in the afterlife for sure!
A perfect chance to dispatch the swordsman, right?
Wrong! Barely had Keyaruga reached out to give the adversary one fatal touch, when another massive tiger-like brute attacked him with his massive claws. Slash, swing, up, down – the bruiser-armorclad was fast, his attacks – relentless. The lad was forced to retreat, elope, block – anything and everything to not get smashed. Each time he blocked a hit with his saber, his elbow would dislocate. No matter, Georgius healed in less than a second. No matter, just get…
“Tokalbarne! (got you!)” Alright, now that was surprising. The lad felt the trap, but proved too slow to escape the massive tail. Distracted by the tiger, he let himself be trapped by a lamia, which now not only enveloped the man’s entire body, but also unceremoniously licked his cheek. Was it the end?
“A-A-A-A-a-a… Ha-ha-HA-HA-HA!!! TUYOBU, TONA!!! (harder, mommy!)” Clearly not! Even while being crushed by the mighty snake tail, Keyaruga laughed, intimidating his foes with the undying audacity within his immortal body. “USHI INAV… MUNA CABNEI!!! (YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD!)”
“Nan-! A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!” The lamia groaned in pain. A moment later her body began to swell, to bloat, and to rupture in a gruesome spectacle of blood and gore. Could Keyaruga do it better? Certainly, but he had no time, nor wish to figure out the half-shake’s anatomy, and where her heart (Is it just one?) lied.
Either way, one down, the shades did their job too, keeping the rest of the Gramgrim goons busy, often even ending them. They were forty-seven? Well, now they were just nineteen, and the monsters’ corpses didn’t actually do wonders for the battle spirit of the remainder either.
Keyaruga couldn’t care less, though. He got out from the lamia’s mortal grip, covered in blood and viscera, only his clean white teeth shone brightly.
“E-eh…” The tiger-brawler was shaken by the view. He reached toward the woman, unable to believe his eyes. Was she his lover, or something?
“Die!” No matter, whatever the case, the Hero of Healing dashed toward him, pushed his armored left arm against his chest, and then, the purple hue killed the man for good. His aorta just ruptured from the defiled mending spell.
Then, more beasts, some of which were mounted, lunged toward him. Two tigers, a massive deer, a swarm of eight snakes, and even a giant black bear. The warband reasoned that the fastest way to get rid of shadows was to kill the man. Well, they were wrong.
“Saltare et aurugine ventis!” At this point, he didn’t really care about the melee, that’s why, instead of engaging in anymore close-quarter fights, the lad simply called upon a mighty firestorm, a burning tornado of wind and blaze, which not only killed the animals, but also moved on to the rest of the crumbled Gramgrim troops, razing trees, ma-muana and ma-zok alike, charring their flesh and drowning their screams in the mercilessly loud crackling of magical flames.
I guess, that’s what I’m getting for not min-maxing my physical stats and speed before going melee. Well, no matter. Now that they’re dead… Wait, Mil?
“MIL!!!” Keyaruga yelled, running toward the old mage. He… was already beyond saving. Fifteen shades gathered around the hero, as he looked at the impaled man, and his decapitated green-skinned murderer who had been killed next to him. “Muna sagri. (You may leave)” And so, the healer sent the shades away. Quite in time, actually, as they were already flickering in and out of existence anyway – Eve was losing her mana. Finally, the lad was all alone. “Alright, old daredevil. You deserved a nice funeral.” He pulled the spear out of the corpse, and put it on his shoulder. It wasn’t much, but at least, he would be sent off properly.
Time to go, I guess. Now, let’s reunite with Eve, and then…
“A-A-A-A-A!!!” Another change of plans. The lad heard a scream. Two voices, in fact, both females. The man looked around and saw the bat-swordsman, dragging a mother and her child by their hair, completely disregarding their wails of pain whatsoever.
“What, do you really think taking hostages will save you?” Keyaruga scoffed, taking a step toward the cowardly combatant. Quite surprising really, seeing how good he was with that greatsword of his. But, well, two more, two less – the black-wings were doomed either way, right?
“Keyaruga-maran!” Maybe so, but those weren’t just some unknown refugees – they were Mayala and Brin. When the man saw them, he halted his movements completely.
“Good humie! Stand right where you are, or they die!” The cutthroat threatened. It seemed he had already healed the wound left by a shade with a potion. And now, instead of running away, he intended to use the captured family to extort the hero. For what purpose, though?
“Oh, great! Finally, someone, who speaks a human language!” Keyaruga wouldn’t be swayed by that. Why would he, actually? As it stood now, he could simply send a spell of light through the mother or the daughter, run closer, heal them…
Why should I even care? It’d only hurt for a moment, nothing really…
“Good! And stay there, little shit.” Well, turned out, it worked. The healer lowered his saber.
“Or what? You kill them? See those burning pines, pal? I just killed all of your friends. By the way, Gramgrim is no more. I bet Caladrius has already eaten all of their corpses.”
“Hah, no shit, clever boy! Then where is she?! HE-E-EY!!! CALADRIUS!!! OVER HE-E-ERE!!! See?” Sadly, the bat-fencer remained completely unfazed by the news. He still had an advantage – Keyaruga seemed to care for the weeping family, and that was his weakness. “Drop your sword, then get on your knees, or I’ll take their fucking heads!”
“How enticing…” The man wondered with a nervous grin. He spun his weapon once, and pointed it to the ground. Mayala and Brin looked at him, their black eyes conveyed terror and distress. And still, there was a glimpse of hope. Keyaruga could do a miracle. He would save them, just like he saved the girl from the terminal rabies. “Will you set them free if I surrender?”
“Yau! (yeah!)” The swordsman grinned, drawing his reddish blade closer to their necks. “Drop your iron!”
Ha-ha-ha-hah! Oh, what should I do? What should I make?
“Hey, I’ve got a better idea. How about I kill myself?” And just like that, the healer pointed his own weapon at his chest, sowing dread in the hearts of the hostages and careless amusement in their captor.
“What? He-heh! Go ahead, humie, I’ll watch!” The bastard chuckled, slightly lowering his massive blade. This nasty glee grew only greater, when…
“Heh, I’m serious!” …the red-eyed lad plunged his own saber through his chest. To deep, in fact, that only the handle now stuck out from his torso.
“KEYARUGA-SONA!!!”
“UA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!”
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You’re fucking hilarious!”
Three reactions, one of terror, one of tears, and the last one of irrepressible laughter – Keyaruga spat a chunk of blood, such a wound could never really kill him, and yet, it allowed for a safe movement. One, two, three steps – as long as he pretended to limp forward like a dying fool, the enemy would never stop him from approaching. He liked the view, liked seeing the man bleeding and coughing his own lungs out. He even…
A beam. A beam of white energy just flew right besides his head. It took a moment for the cutthroat to get, what was going on, but when he did, when he understood, that some distant caster could take off his head…
“YOU FUCKER!!!” Then, the cowardly warrior grabbed his greatsword with a two-handed grip, swung it at the terrorized family… “I’LL KI-!” …and died. The last thing he saw, felt, and tasted – was the trident that pierced his neck and head from the back.
submitted by resurrective to RedoOfHealer [link] [comments]
A laugh, what does it mean for a person? A sign of amusement? A mark of contentment? Maybe, a reaction to a quirky comment or action? Perhaps…
But now, all that echoed throughout the burning lands was a guffaw of despair and torment. It belonged to Eve, the future queen of the entire Confederation of Demons. And right now, no trace of royal dignity was to be seen within her. The woman was pulling her white hair, kneeling in her sphere at the sight of the mass-murder.
The snow of death, the sprinkled ash of white and purple fell upon the ground, taking hundreds of lives. Gramgrim, the strongest and the fiercest formation underneath the authority of Me-ua now perished like slugs under the salt. Orcs, dogs, trolls, deer, lions, crows, fiends, mind-flayers, tigers, boars, even a cult of bulls-necromancers – the brigade included many different races, men and women of different backgrounds and upbringings, their tamed beasts and familiars, slaves and draft animals. Looking at the southern organizations, consisting of various Ma-zok tribes was always fascinating. Especially, when none of them could withstand the divine plague, sent as a godly punishment for defiling the holy land of kokuyoku.
Was there any way to save themselves? Yes – they simply never should’ve come to the village. Now, though? Well, not even Panakea’s blessing could save Keyaruga from death, so why should any of them survive?
Such was Eve’s wrath; such was her sorrow, enshrined upon this wretched world.
“Fascinating.,,” Keyaruga muttered, looking underneath him. He couldn’t help but to feel glee. After all, hundreds upon hundreds of high-leveled demons perished, blessing the whole party of five with new levels to enjoy (or hate, in Ellen’s case). Strange, though. Normally, a party couldn’t be larger than four people (not that a mortal had control over it anyway; people could travel in however big assemblies, as they pleased, yet experience was earned only by parties of four), but the group stuck together pretty well. Was it another of Caladrius’ gifts, she just didn’t bother to share? Well, whatever the case…
“I know, it’s not a reason for joy… but we can definitely use all that power in our future battles.” Freia mused with a trace of regret in her voice.
“Uh-huh. Good thing to get stronger before we go after the demon king.” Setsuna supported, trapped in a conflict between joy at reaching her new threshold of power and fury for losing Visou.
“Of course this would happen… This always happens with those people and places I care for or love… I shouldn’t have taken this damned bracelet…” Keyaruga growled, looking at the yorkama talisman on his right wrist. Yet, when he was about to rip it away…
“Don’t do that.” …Ellen stopped him. For the first time in this nightmarish day she was thankful for her new powers, as they allowed her to stop her ‘brother’ from an act of utter stupidity. “It’s not your fault. Look, they came here, seeking Hakuo’s rival! Your sympathy has nothing to do with that, stop dealing in superstitions!” The Apostle of Caladrius attempted to reassure the lad. But alas…
“It’s my fault. Like Visou… like Alban… like Karman… It’s all been my fault.” …the man just wouldn’t listen.
“No… it was mine…” The crimson-haired cutie whispered, yet once again – no reaction. “Hey, brother, see that breached wall behind Mil’s house? I see traces there. Could you, maybe?..”
“Yes… Oh, Ellen, thank you!” Only when she pointed out the obvious, did the man finally wake up from his trance. Just in time to hear…
“KILL!!! KILL THEM ALL!!!” …this. Eve still couldn’t really master her raging emotions, and even the fact that no creature remained alive in the burning village stopped her in any way.
“Hm, I am saddened to inform you, little one, that there is nobody to slay here. And even if there were, I am unable to maintain the offence. I need to feed and regain my strength now.” Caladrius admonished, descending on the earth. “However, down the north road, you may find other survivors. Just make haste; they do not have much time.” The harbinger of plague informed the group, putting the white sphere on the ground. The barrier had faded just as all poisonous ash did as well, coincidentally.
Keyaruga, Setsuna, Eve, Freia, Ellen, Kelly, Patty – all could finally walk properly again. Not really a big perk, when all you’re finding yourself among the still burning remains of a ruined village, though.
“O pluvia clemens, benedic nobis tua gratia recreativa.” Fortunately, they had the Hero of Magic at their side. And so, the first thing Freia did was to cast a simple rain spell. A critically important move, especially when their raptors were getting panicked by the fires.
“Now, if you excuse me.” And what would horrify any sentient being was how gruesomely filthy Caladrius turned out to be. The very first thing she did when the party had finally landed was to grab some dead slimy bastard, and just swallow him whole, like some sort of a pelican.
“Hey! Hey! Hey! He-e-ey!!! The hell are you doing?!” The younger princess yawped, consumed by her anger. Not because she was disgusted, though… “You fucking munched him with all that armor and shit?! What’re you even thinking of?! We need that!”
“I do not care, Apostle. Unless you are willing to strip them yourself, your whining is of little concern to me.” The deity replied dismissively. Even if her plague faded without a trace, the diseased corpses were still a delicacy for Caladrius.
And here I thought Ellen was slandering her about this part. Thought it was just a nice joke. Apparently, not, Keyaruga mused, witnessing the same vile spectacle as his girls did.
“Well, I’m willing as hell! You can buy an entire village for one of those!” The young lady snarled, turning one of the corpses over, just to untie the leashes that held a cuirass in place. When people die, their rectum can’t hold feces anymore. The stench of death, dung, decay, the earth, wet and softened by the rain – so much filth among the corpses, and yet, the warlady felt overjoyed looting the corpses of their fallen enemies before tossing their naked bodies toward her hungry patron.
“Keyaruga, I think, we should…” Freia softly spoke, pointing at the breach on the northern side. She wasn’t overly enthusiastic about defiling the dead, so maybe…
“No, I’m going alone.” Sadly, the healer wouldn’t let anyone accompany him in this quest. Even the golden egg had to leave his back right now. He knew who he was pursuing. And what he would do to his enemies, once he’d reached them. “Setsuna, Freia, hold this, and stay here, and watch out for Eve, and… Well, you may also help Ellen with looting.” The lad spoke, completely ignoring the rain that fell upon his head.
“Uh-huh, got it.” The gray-haired girl agreed, putting the straps holding their unborn ‘child’ on her back. Strangely enough, the ice warrior was more than happy with pillaging the corpses. With her arms being covered in the frozen gauntlets, the girl could easily strip the fallen brigadiers to Ellen’s obvious delight.
“I… think I should bury the villagers.” Freia, on the other hand, grabbed a shovel somewhere. Instead of defiling the dead, she wanted to properly inter the remains of the poor black-wings… until their bodies were eaten by their own god.
“Whatever you wish… Just don’t forget to cut off their wings.” The man ordered, tossing away everything from Kelly’s saddle. He needed speed, not sustainability.
“I see… feathers… magic catalysts…” The sorceress instantly understood what the hero wanted from the fallen villagers. To be honest, that sort of cruelty paled compared to what their enemies sometimes allowed themselves. It didn’t make the pink-haired girl any happier, though.
“Wait!” Finally, just as Keyaruga was about to climb on his reptile steed, he got a companion in the form of the queen-to-be. “I’m… going with you!..” She spoke wearily, yet her tone wouldn’t brook any denial.
“You shouldn’t, Eve. You’re too drained as it is, I can’t risk you now.” That didn’t work on the new hero, though. The red-eyed lad knew, what kind of atrocities he was about to commit. What’s worse – he was looking forward for them.
“No… You know I can’t be killed that easily.” The white-haired woman insisted, allowing herself to climb in the saddle no matter what Keyaruga wanted. “Also, those are my people we’re talking about.”
“Alright…” The man nodded, giving one last brief look at what travesty was currently occuring on this holy ground: hundreds of corpses, two enthusiastic looter-girls stripping them before feeding them to the goddess that was primarily supposed to guard this place from such tragedies, and the strongest mage in the world, cutting off wings with her wavy dagger. All gave him a brief look. “Girls, lady Caladrius, you stay here! The raptor we’re taking will go faster carrying only two of us.” The healer admonished, silently praising himself for not including the plague incarnate in the ranks of his lovers. Wouldn’t that be awkward?
“Uh-huh. Good luck, you two.” Setsuna waved her armored hand, happily proceeding with robbing the corpses.
“Yeah… thanks. We’ll need it.”
…
The forest had been defiled. A trace of bodies, both kokuyoku and their ruthless persecutors, marked a path for the hero and his queen. Faster! Faster! The man smacked his reptile with his heels, struck against the ribs, pulled every bit of speed from poor Kelly. So much so, that even wild scavengers, who came to feast on the corpses, just fled from the massive raptor. And yet, it still wasn’t enough…
“Hey, Keyaruga!” Eve spoke, holding onto the hero’s torso with her trembling arms. “Why are you even helping us? Why… do you even bother, if they die no matter what we do?” The queen-to-be asked melancholically. Right now, she tried to find at least some meaning in her existence, just to not fall into a pit of nihilism and despair.
“It’s because… I have power. I can make a difference. And because I want to do so.” The red-haired lad responded, navigating a path through the woods with his jade eye. His status elevated him above the rest, giving the man many abilities, some considered to be… unnatural. For example, he could easily alleviate Kelly’s fatigue from constant galloping.
“Power, yes?.. The onslaught… it began when Caladrius was playing with us… But instead of putting an end to this hell, she’d go on, and on, and on… And even when we got out, she never told us what was going on. When I asked her to bless you, I was scared… and discomforted, and… whatever other words you have for discomfort. I thought it was because of the trial… Thought it was over… Then… I looked at myself, my own actions, here and in the past.” Eve shared the burden of her guilt with Keyaruga. The white-haired woman couldn’t help but blame herself for everything that happened. If she didn’t ignore her feelings, if she had checked on her wings a little earlier, if she… “If I… If I just could…”
“Was that what you saw in your challenge?” The healer wondered, trying to get his companion out of this ruinous obsession over what nobody could prevent, or even predict.
“Ugm… Who did you meet there?” Did he fail? No, not really. But instead of giving him an answer, the queen-to-be countered with a question of her own.
“Many, many people… I don’t want to talk about it now.” Unfortunately, though, Keyaruga just couldn’t bring himself to reveal what he saw, heard… did with his own hands.
“I… I see…” Eve murmured, getting a message from the lad’s depressed tone. He too carried much pain in his soul, and that vortex of suffering could never be dissipated by shutting down just some of his emotions. To completely silence this pain, Keyaruga would have to become something else entirely, something inhuman, incapable of either hate or love.
“More important, Eve, I want you to sharpen your senses. Maybe, you can trace magic better than me.” The hero suggested, as his right eye rolled around in his socket. The forest was wide and thick, and his sight wasn’t as all-seeing as he’d like it to be.
“I’ll try.” Eve whispered, trying to focus her attention on the ambient mana. Maybe, if she was just diligent enough, she could trace her living brethren? Maybe, all wasn’t lost just yet? Maybe… “You know, Keyaruga, you’re not the guilty one in all of this… If Mil didn’t let everyone in, if I wasn’t saved by your goddess, if our goddess wasn’t just like Ellen says she is… than none of this horror would have happened.” The lady in red deadpanned cautiously. Now that she knew of her ‘future’, how it might’ve been without this self-conflicted man at her side, the kokuyoku scion could clearly tell – her grandfather was just like Keyaruga and Ellen, he wanted the best for his people… and that turned Visou into a deathtrap. After all, Hakuo wouldn’t have sent Gramgrim here if Cornar had come to him with the valuable bounty that was the black-wings’ princess.
“I’m sorry…” The healer uttered, still unaware, just how much of a monster Eve’s first husband really was, and how much she owed him for showing, how the love should even look like in the first place.
“You really shouldn’t be, Keyaruga.” The black-winged prodigy responded sorrowfully. She felt the lad’s distress: it was in his voice, his posture, his way of breathing… “You can’t just carry the burden for everyone else. I tried… and I failed.” Eve spoke, trying to dissuade her defender from thinking he was able to hold the whole world on his shoulders, when, in reality, it was simply impossible. “Don’t do that. You’ll break.” This calm phrase was spoken serenely, and yet, it was a cry. A cry for help, for understanding, for letting go.
“We don’t need Caladrius.” But Keyaruga just couldn’t release himself from this burden. Even now, when riding over the forest floor, covered in disfigured corpses, most of which were charred whole, seemingly by lightning, the man couldn’t stop thinking about Eve, her troubles, the tragic price her ultimate power might demand from her.
“Why?” The lady in red asked, attempting to follow the new line of conversation which her companion had turned to. Why would he even be scared of it? Didn’t Ellen bargain two free casts for her? Ellen… How could this capricious princess be able to extort such a valuable gift from the harbinger of plague? If Eve had done something like this in the first world… then there wouldn’t be the second one.
“She’s… too frivolous, arrogant, she’s thousands years old, yet all I see is an old snobby child with no backbone. We can’t be sure she’ll maintain her promise, and I really, really don’t want to see you wither away.” The man said with that seemingly careless voice of his. “If you need someone dead, I’ll be there for you.” He added grimly then. Eve was too soft, even now, she still couldn’t deal with the moral compromises necessary, and there were going to be a lot more of them on the way toward the Obsidian Throne.
“Hah… You really do want me to fall in love with you?” The queen-to-be noted somewhat playfully. Her mood was still sombered, but even so, there was always a light in the darkness.
“Heh, aren’t you already? I can tell – you’ve changed, so that you could keep up with me, especially in the bed.” Keyaruga followed this little funny road, and retaliated with a joke of his own. But… was it really a joke, though?
“Yes… Yes, I have.” Apparently, not. “I can’t force you to become your old self, but I had a chance to change myself.” Eve explained, lowering her head. She couldn’t keep up with the man last night – he was just too big for her. That’s why, the girl had to go, the queen-to-be had to become a woman, and fast.
And so, there could be only one thing to ask at this point.
“So, do you want to fuck, once this is over?” The hero unceremoniously inquired from his companion. After all, they were already past all those earlier insults and attempts at shaming from Eve’s side.
“Yes, I do! I really, really do. I want you to ravage me, so I wouldn’t go mad.” The Me-ua kahul responded with a plea of sorrow, hate, loathing, and regret. There wasn’t anything enticing in this request, but… it was so humane.
“Of course. I will.” The man promised. Despite everything, despite this day supposedly belonging to Ellen and Setsuna, he wouldn’t refuse her, no matter what. And Eve felt that resolve in the man.
“Also, I won’t stop using Caladrius. We need her, Keyaruga. We need her… to establish our authority. Then… maybe, I won’t have to lose anyone again.” The queen-to-be spoke wearily. She wanted to reach Hakuo, wished to murder this monster once and for all with her own hands, instead of waiting till some disease finishes him. She wanted to bury this king’s legacy once and for all, so that his blood would never poison her life ever again. Eve Reese desired revenge. And Keyaruga would never feel worthy of discouraging his queen. And yet…
“Alright. But you have to promise me one thing – one time. She gave us only two times, and I don’t want you to overreach any further. Everything else I’ll deal with personally. It won’t make a difference to me anyway, my hands are already dirtied enough as it is.” Keyaruga all but demanded. The gods had put them in a tight little cage, where only those who kill more than others, were worthy of wielding great power. Right now, the man wasn’t sure his party was enough to challenge Hakuo’s rule. Even Eve, drained by Caladrius, managed to overpower her ‘heroic’ adversaries. Too bad they left her exhausted for Keyaru to finish the job. Speaking of that…
“But… why would you even bother? Don’t you just want to… make another redo? To fix everything, to save those who you couldn’t save?” The lady in red asked the lad. He was never too secretive about the circumstances he was in, and how the world ended up as it is. Still, each time he spoke of that, pain and loss broke through his armor of callousness.
“No. Just as you said, I have people to live for now. Freia, Setsuna, Ellen, you, Eve – I can’t imagine my life without you. And if I just flee into the past, then what’s even the point of us having this little chat right now?” The healer quarried in response. He was sure of what he was talking about now. Or, rather, trying to convince himself and Eve of that.
“Haa… Right…” For better or worse, the woman just exhaled and dropped the topic. To believe it would mean disregarding Keyaruga’s deep painful wounds, any further prying risked opening them up again. “I think we’ve got something.” Fortunately, right in that moment, Eve noticed a track, something to spot her brethren, where the trail of bodies had just ended.
“What? Where?” Keyaruga asked, now looking around.
“To the left from here. I feel my brethren coming to me from this side. They’re… fighting. And dying.” As the lady in red spoke, pointing in the direction the flow of souls was coming from, the rider pulled the reigns to stop his steed. He then jumped off the saddle.
“Shit, I must hurry!” The hero snarled, pulling the saber out of its sheath. A contradicting statement, seeing as he would be much faster mounted. But no… “Keep your eye on Kelly! I can’t risk the two of you!”
“You want to go alone?” The woman astounded, reaching for her companion. Alas, he never faced her.
“Yes! Our enemies are strong, Eve. And I’m not sure if I can properly protect you. Stay here; cover me with your magic.” Keyaruga urged sternly. He wasn’t a healer, nor a competent defender whatsoever. The hero was a murderer, and nothing could convince him more than the trial he completed just an hour ago.
“Hold on! I won’t let you go alone.” Nevertheless, the kokuyoku scion too wasn’t the same after that challenge. She flapped her wings, and numerous black spheres left her feathers. One, two… ten, twenty… Twenty-three shades now flew around the man, ready to assist him in murdering whoever threatened their kin. “They will protect you.”
“Ah… thanks.” The red-haired man uttered, looking at the fallen black-wings. Right now, they rather reminded him of insects with the way they dashed around. “We’ll be on our way, then.” Still, it didn’t stop him from getting ready to sprint forward to save whoever was left of the kokuyoku-zok and to punish their oppressors.
“Promise you’ll be back! Promise you’ll save everyone!” Eve ultimately asked, looking at her dead brethren. Shying away from them was a luxury, and now she had no time for such things.
“I will, Eve! Take care!”
And so, he ran off, to the site where the last bit of fighting was happening. Him, twenty-three shades… against the elite forces of Gramgrim, the only remaining fragment of the horrifying battalion; now, though, the time had come to end this warband once and for all.
…
Faster! Faster! I must be faster!
Keyaruga lunged through the woods, he jumped across logs, climbed the hills, passed a few ravines along the way, just to finally reach yet another battlefield. Mil was there, the wizened magician firmly held his staff. All bloodied, his robe torn apart, the old man still fought on.
“Masanna tanouti! (kill everyone)” A massive rider, carried by an even greater armored warg tackled Mil and his defense line of mostly women spellcasters, and a few strong men among the refugees.
“Usegi! (run) Usegi-i!!!” Mil yelled, getting ready to ward off the seemingly countless hordes of bloodthirsty invaders, preferably – all on his own. The thought of death never scared the magician, as he already looked in its eyes, and they were gentle.
“Mil-murnaz! (elder Mil!) Katunj pora bornul non! (we have nowhere to retreat!)” An armored old woman yelled, preparing her grandiose fire blast. None of them would abandon him. Only seventeen of them remained against a group of forty-seven raving cutthroats, knowing all too well, they wouldn’t be able to pull through. And yet, none of them would go down without a fight. If they did, they would be slaughtered, and after that – their kin would follow.
“SUNI-I-I-I!!! (DI-I-IE!!!)” The bruised elder snarled, imbuing his wooden staff with an element of lightning. One swing, one smack – and the monstrous wolf fell down, wriggling in the shocking agony, along with its master. One down.
“Globus igneus!” The armored hag next to him yelled, sending a massive fireball into the troops. Seven perished, four else – scattered. Yet, those who fell were mercilessly crushed underfoot by the four brutal tiger-riders – no regards to their allies, and even less toward the foe. Five men and two women from the black-wings stood up to meet them with their spears, staked into the earth… It didn’t work – the demons breached their line, gutting everyone in the reach of their decorated cleavers.
“Katunji! (retreat!) Konato wor marmori! (protect the children)” Mil commanded, tossing two hardened feathers into the enemies. Too close to him, but… it didn’t matter. “KURLINA-A-A!!! (FUCK YOU!!!)” He yelled, detonating the enchanted quills.
BOOM!
An explosion, a shockwave, the trembling of the earth. Kokuyoku were mercilessly pushed further, practically hunted like animals, and yet, their prey had claws and teeth. The blast was mighty, it broke Gramgrim’s formation, allowing the defenders to flee, to run, to… live a few minutes longer.
“Kha-a-a… Ha-a-a… Agh…” Mil helplessly wheezed, pushed to the trunk of the giant oak. His bones were broken, the old man had lost all feeling in his legs, hands, and… No, he knew what he was getting into. “Gh-h-h!.. Ugh… E… va… ma…” Even when some tall goblinoid thug impaled him with a spear, the only thing on the mind of the dying sorcerer was his granddaughter, and all those he tried to save. Tried, but…
“I’VE COME TO SAVE YOU!!!” Keyaruga roared, engaging a bat-like swordsman, lunging toward the fleeing defenders. Just in a few hundred meters away, the refugees were running from the pursuers. It was honestly a miracle to see them keeping such a substantial distance, even though the enemies had carnivorous mounts. It seems, like they were rather enjoying chasing their prey.
“GHA-A-A!!!” Nevertheless, the fencer retreated from the hero, picked up a lance from the roasted wolf-man, and tossed it into the hero. The latter dodged, then pointed in the direction of his adversaries.
“Tania wor tanouti! (kill them!) Orn wor shef na! (don’t be concerned about me!)” And just like that, a cascade of shadows materialized to shred the enemy flanks and rear. The raging dark spirits now flew all across the surviving hunters’ ranks, ripping and tearing, stabbing and shredding the yelling warriors, as they tried to damage the ethereal vengeful apparitions. Could it be worse? Oh yes! Someone began simply sniping them from afar, numerous beams of piercing light took lives of so many, the Gramgrim’s morale hit the bottom.
Still, that didn’t mean they’d stop fighting. Certainly not! The bat-demon just met a shade with a wide swing from his reddish greatsword – an instant later, this spirit was gone. An adamantine blade – Keyaruga couldn’t just let him roam around – the man tossed a dagger from his sleeve, but no. The warrior just easily deflected it with a sneer. Before the lad could go on, he crossed those twenty meters with merely two jumps, ready to cleave the hero’s head in one rapid sweep.
The man ducked, right leg forward, balance toward offence. A slash was aimed toward the leg…
“Ghhh!” And it failed – the healer got a knee in his chin for that. After all, how can a thin saber cut through the metal greaves underneath the surcoat? Discombobulated, the man was about to get a downward cut to his shoulder.
“A-A-A-A-R-R-R-R!!!” Fortunately for him, another shade saved Keyaruga the trouble by backstabbing the fencer. Well, she just impaled him in the right armpit. Did that stop the berserker? “ULMO-O-O!!! (BITCH!)” Well, certainly not. Even if his one limb flopped uselessly by his side now, the warrior firmly grabbed his sword with his left hand, turned around, and slammed the spirit with the pommel, sending herto in the afterlife for sure!
A perfect chance to dispatch the swordsman, right?
Wrong! Barely had Keyaruga reached out to give the adversary one fatal touch, when another massive tiger-like brute attacked him with his massive claws. Slash, swing, up, down – the bruiser-armorclad was fast, his attacks – relentless. The lad was forced to retreat, elope, block – anything and everything to not get smashed. Each time he blocked a hit with his saber, his elbow would dislocate. No matter, Georgius healed in less than a second. No matter, just get…
“Tokalbarne! (got you!)” Alright, now that was surprising. The lad felt the trap, but proved too slow to escape the massive tail. Distracted by the tiger, he let himself be trapped by a lamia, which now not only enveloped the man’s entire body, but also unceremoniously licked his cheek. Was it the end?
“A-A-A-A-a-a… Ha-ha-HA-HA-HA!!! TUYOBU, TONA!!! (harder, mommy!)” Clearly not! Even while being crushed by the mighty snake tail, Keyaruga laughed, intimidating his foes with the undying audacity within his immortal body. “USHI INAV… MUNA CABNEI!!! (YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD!)”
“Nan-! A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!” The lamia groaned in pain. A moment later her body began to swell, to bloat, and to rupture in a gruesome spectacle of blood and gore. Could Keyaruga do it better? Certainly, but he had no time, nor wish to figure out the half-shake’s anatomy, and where her heart (Is it just one?) lied.
Either way, one down, the shades did their job too, keeping the rest of the Gramgrim goons busy, often even ending them. They were forty-seven? Well, now they were just nineteen, and the monsters’ corpses didn’t actually do wonders for the battle spirit of the remainder either.
Keyaruga couldn’t care less, though. He got out from the lamia’s mortal grip, covered in blood and viscera, only his clean white teeth shone brightly.
“E-eh…” The tiger-brawler was shaken by the view. He reached toward the woman, unable to believe his eyes. Was she his lover, or something?
“Die!” No matter, whatever the case, the Hero of Healing dashed toward him, pushed his armored left arm against his chest, and then, the purple hue killed the man for good. His aorta just ruptured from the defiled mending spell.
Then, more beasts, some of which were mounted, lunged toward him. Two tigers, a massive deer, a swarm of eight snakes, and even a giant black bear. The warband reasoned that the fastest way to get rid of shadows was to kill the man. Well, they were wrong.
“Saltare et aurugine ventis!” At this point, he didn’t really care about the melee, that’s why, instead of engaging in anymore close-quarter fights, the lad simply called upon a mighty firestorm, a burning tornado of wind and blaze, which not only killed the animals, but also moved on to the rest of the crumbled Gramgrim troops, razing trees, ma-muana and ma-zok alike, charring their flesh and drowning their screams in the mercilessly loud crackling of magical flames.
I guess, that’s what I’m getting for not min-maxing my physical stats and speed before going melee. Well, no matter. Now that they’re dead… Wait, Mil?
“MIL!!!” Keyaruga yelled, running toward the old mage. He… was already beyond saving. Fifteen shades gathered around the hero, as he looked at the impaled man, and his decapitated green-skinned murderer who had been killed next to him. “Muna sagri. (You may leave)” And so, the healer sent the shades away. Quite in time, actually, as they were already flickering in and out of existence anyway – Eve was losing her mana. Finally, the lad was all alone. “Alright, old daredevil. You deserved a nice funeral.” He pulled the spear out of the corpse, and put it on his shoulder. It wasn’t much, but at least, he would be sent off properly.
Time to go, I guess. Now, let’s reunite with Eve, and then…
“A-A-A-A-A!!!” Another change of plans. The lad heard a scream. Two voices, in fact, both females. The man looked around and saw the bat-swordsman, dragging a mother and her child by their hair, completely disregarding their wails of pain whatsoever.
“What, do you really think taking hostages will save you?” Keyaruga scoffed, taking a step toward the cowardly combatant. Quite surprising really, seeing how good he was with that greatsword of his. But, well, two more, two less – the black-wings were doomed either way, right?
“Keyaruga-maran!” Maybe so, but those weren’t just some unknown refugees – they were Mayala and Brin. When the man saw them, he halted his movements completely.
“Good humie! Stand right where you are, or they die!” The cutthroat threatened. It seemed he had already healed the wound left by a shade with a potion. And now, instead of running away, he intended to use the captured family to extort the hero. For what purpose, though?
“Oh, great! Finally, someone, who speaks a human language!” Keyaruga wouldn’t be swayed by that. Why would he, actually? As it stood now, he could simply send a spell of light through the mother or the daughter, run closer, heal them…
Why should I even care? It’d only hurt for a moment, nothing really…
“Good! And stay there, little shit.” Well, turned out, it worked. The healer lowered his saber.
“Or what? You kill them? See those burning pines, pal? I just killed all of your friends. By the way, Gramgrim is no more. I bet Caladrius has already eaten all of their corpses.”
“Hah, no shit, clever boy! Then where is she?! HE-E-EY!!! CALADRIUS!!! OVER HE-E-ERE!!! See?” Sadly, the bat-fencer remained completely unfazed by the news. He still had an advantage – Keyaruga seemed to care for the weeping family, and that was his weakness. “Drop your sword, then get on your knees, or I’ll take their fucking heads!”
“How enticing…” The man wondered with a nervous grin. He spun his weapon once, and pointed it to the ground. Mayala and Brin looked at him, their black eyes conveyed terror and distress. And still, there was a glimpse of hope. Keyaruga could do a miracle. He would save them, just like he saved the girl from the terminal rabies. “Will you set them free if I surrender?”
“Yau! (yeah!)” The swordsman grinned, drawing his reddish blade closer to their necks. “Drop your iron!”
Ha-ha-ha-hah! Oh, what should I do? What should I make?
“Hey, I’ve got a better idea. How about I kill myself?” And just like that, the healer pointed his own weapon at his chest, sowing dread in the hearts of the hostages and careless amusement in their captor.
“What? He-heh! Go ahead, humie, I’ll watch!” The bastard chuckled, slightly lowering his massive blade. This nasty glee grew only greater, when…
“Heh, I’m serious!” …the red-eyed lad plunged his own saber through his chest. To deep, in fact, that only the handle now stuck out from his torso.
“KEYARUGA-SONA!!!”
“UA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!”
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You’re fucking hilarious!”
Three reactions, one of terror, one of tears, and the last one of irrepressible laughter – Keyaruga spat a chunk of blood, such a wound could never really kill him, and yet, it allowed for a safe movement. One, two, three steps – as long as he pretended to limp forward like a dying fool, the enemy would never stop him from approaching. He liked the view, liked seeing the man bleeding and coughing his own lungs out. He even…
A beam. A beam of white energy just flew right besides his head. It took a moment for the cutthroat to get, what was going on, but when he did, when he understood, that some distant caster could take off his head…
“YOU FUCKER!!!” Then, the cowardly warrior grabbed his greatsword with a two-handed grip, swung it at the terrorized family… “I’LL KI-!” …and died. The last thing he saw, felt, and tasted – was the trident that pierced his neck and head from the back.
2023.06.02 13:35 Liberty-Prime76 Letter of Marque - A NoP Fanfic 10
As always, thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for the wonderful universe that is NoP
Thank you to u/cruisingNW for proof reading and helping me out of some hang ups, you're the man! And for letting me use Barry, Borven and Tarva (No relation)!
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Memory Transcription Subject: Christopher A. Dewey, Human Merchant Sailor, Venlil-Human Exchange Participant
Date [Standardized Human Time]: August 24th, 2136.
The door to Suite 4006 didn't look all that different from the door to our bunk room, though the walls around it lacked the friendly atmosphere of the exchange areas; guess admin offices are bland no matter the species. Taisa was beside me trying to appear confident; I noticed she did that a lot. Originally I had thought it was for my benefit, to make me feel like she wasn't scared of me; but I wasn't so sure of that anymore. It seemed that any time she was in a situation that made her feel small or scared she did her best to puff up and push through it. It was one of the things I liked best about her; but that didn't mean I'd ever stop giving her shit for fainting.
"Taisa," I started, placing my hand on her shoulder, her tail curling a little and resting against the side of my leg. "It'll be alright, I figure they wanna ask some questions about what happened earlier. Verify reports, get the story first hand. That sort of thing."
She took a deep breath as her ears flicked at my statement and her tail swayed off my leg. I think that one means she understands, or maybe it's agreement? Still tryin’ to figure those out.
"We tell 'em what happened, get it all cleared up on our end, easy and free 'fore too long. Once we got their questions outta the way we can drop our little 'research idea' on ‘em and see where it goes from there." I squeezed her shoulder gently at the end, she beeped a little but seemed to puff her chest out with a little extra confidence.
"Here goes nothin'." I raised my hand to rap against the metal door, I assume I looked a fool when the door opened up before I actually managed to knock.
"Christopher A. Dewey and Taisa, I presume?" A Venlil in the door stated, keeping the two of us in the span of his left eye. "Come in, have a seat."
He maneuvered his way around behind the desk, sitting down in a chair next to a Human at a shared desk as Taisa and I got situated. "I am Borven, and this is Barry." He stated, introducing himself and then the Human with his tail. "We are the liaisons for the exposure program. I assume that you know why we called you in this waking?"
I nodded, leaning back in the chair. "I'd wager a guess it has something to do with a certain upset Ensign, a bunch of angry Humans and a... pawful of scared Venlil?"
Barry nodded, pulling something up on the pad in front of him. I figured it was probably the report drafted by the guard that questioned us. "We wanted to confirm your side of the story as reported by Officer Gentry and Officer Jaisle, would you mind?"
I motioned with my hand for him to proceed. "I'd be happy to."
“Very good. To start, can you verify that this record of your account is accurate?" Barry queried, handing the pad off to me.
I sat for a few minutes, reading through the report and follow up answers that had been written down. Taisa took the pad as I offered it to her, "Looks good to me."
A few minutes longer, “Yeah, me too. Although two of the Venlil that had hidden behind Chris are missing, A female with white wool and a male with black wool with gray striping. I’m sorry I didn’t think to ask after their names.” She corrected, handing the pad back over to Barry.
“Thank you, we’ll be sure to correct that error.”
Taisa's ears perked up as she beeped out a question, her curiosity from earlier evidently not satisfied, "What does the UN intend to do with him?"
"Well, that depends, do you still decline to press charges, Mr. Dewey?" Barry asked, setting the pad back on the desk as he tapped a button to confirm the report.
I shook my head, "Nah, he needs help, not a lawsuit."
"Then in that case I am not at liberty to discuss an ongoing investigation beyond confirming your account. I apologize." Taisa's tail lashed in what I figured was annoyance at that before she took a breath and steadied it.
A few more questions were leveled at us, asking about the mood in the room just before and after the announcement, what individuals we could remember that looked the most agitated and if we could identify any of the pairs that had departed before the shouting began. Then Borven struck on a question that seemed to give Taisa pause.
"Taisa, what motivated you to intervene and guide the Venlil hiding behind your partner out of the altercation? You could have risked a stampede and caused far more problems than you were solving."
Her ears drooped for a moment, her tail coming to a standstill as she thought over the question. “I saw people in trouble, saw Chris doing something and I just… I had to help. I didn’t really think about whether it would cause a stampede until after I had already gotten them moving. After that I tried my best to stay calm; I’ve read that people at the front of a herd keeping a level head is what can start or stop a stampede.”
Borven’s tail flicked as he tapped something into his pad before swiveling his ears towards Barry. “I think that covers everything I have, Barry, any further questions?
Barry shook his head, tapping away at the pad before setting it back on its mount. “I believe that’s everything that I need. Unless the two of you have any further questions yourselves, you are excused. Thank you for your assistance.”
Taisa and I exchanged glances for a moment. “Actually, we did have one question.” “As I stated earlier, Mr. Dewey, unless you wish to press charges I cannot divulge information with regards to the Ensign’s punishment or prospects moving forward.” Barry sighed. “Please pose your question with that in mind.”
“And I understand that, this is about something else.” Barry raised an eyebrow as Borven fixed a single eyed gaze on me.
“Taisa and I were thinking that we’d, in the spirit of the exchange program, like to run an experiment.” “An experiment?” Borven asked, refocusing his ears on Taisa. She flicked her ears at him and tapped me with her tail, prompting me to continue.
“Yes. We’d like to run an experiment on Human-Venlil Business partnerships; see how we work together. Taisa is a trained ships engineer and I’ve spent the last 15 years hauling freight, organizing and working merchant ships all across Earth. I’d need some more targeted flight training and familiarization with rules and regs but I’ve spent plenty of time in simulators at home.”
A few moments of silence hung in the room before Barry shrugged. “That’s not under our department's purview but I can get you two in touch with the two people you’d likely need to… convince of the feasibility of your proposition.”
“Thank you, Gentlemen.” I said, standing from the seat before turning to walk out the door behind Taisa.
As the door closed I heard Barry and Borven bickering about how many of the pairs were going to want to stay together in one way or another. They seemed like fun, if maybe a bit stiff. After a minute or two of quiet walking down the hall our pads chimed, indicating we had received a message: Barry and Borven notified me that you and your partner have suggested an experiment. Please report to Conference Suite 4185. Sent by Thomas Ashforth, UN Liaison.
It wasn’t a terribly far walk around the station’s outer ring to arrive at the conference room, only a few minutes.
“Alright… 4185 it is.” Taisa spoke up next to me, taking a deep breath as her ears swiveled back a little; she looked worried.
“Hey, don’t worry. We got this.” I soothed while patting her on the back; trying to put a little pep back in her step. “It didn’t get sunk in the bay so we’ve got a chance at least!”
“I know,” She took another deep breath, puffing her chest up as we stepped up to the door. “I’m just scared they’ll say no. Or worse, find a reason to split us.” “We’ll just have to make sure that doesn't happen. You won’t be rid of me that easy.” I joked, putting a small twinkle of mirth in her eye as her tail lashed about.
I saw a retort brewing but it was cut off by a stern voice from beyond the door. “Enter.” Both of us stiffened a little as the door slid open to reveal a room with a small conference table, 6 chairs in total surrounding it. The two at the far end were occupied by a man wearing a UN dress uniform and a small union jack pinned to his lapel, while a very… very small ice-white Venlil sat on a cushion atop the table.
“Please be seated, we’ve got a few questions about your experiment. My name is Thomas Ashforth.” Said the man, gesturing across the table.
As Taisa and I sat down the small Venlil began. “And I am Professor Tarva, no relation. I’m head of the Integration efforts. You must be Taisa!” Taisa returned the enthusiasm with a flick of her ears before Tarva turned her ears towards me. “And you must be Christopher! Protector blessed, you’re certainly the largest Human I’ve seen so far!” I nodded in return. “My friend here is coordinating the fiscal side of the exchange program. So, why don’t you two tell us about this idea of yours?”
I took in a breath to steady my nerves, Taisa’s tail coiling around my ankle helped motivate my voice forward that little bit more. “We know that the recent blockades have caused issues for Venlil prime, and while Earth may not need anything from Venlil prime to get by there’s a lot of people who I’d bet would want plenty. Taisa also tells me a fair few of the freighter captains are still ‘bolty’ about trading directly with Humans; neither Taisa nor myself have that problem. From what she has said there’s a lot of surplus ships floating around VPs shipyards waiting for trade to open up again. The experiment would be to acquire a smaller freighter for Taisa and myself to crew, command, and operate so as to gather a better understanding of how Humans and Venlil work together in a civilian ship environment as well as the operation of an enterprise. Plenty of research is going to come up for military applications but I think opportunities to gain information on Civilian settings will be few and far between for some time.”
“An interesting theory! But what extra information do you think we can get from a civilian vessel that we can’t from a military vessel? What you’re suggesting could easily be replicated within the logistics corps instead!” Her tail was swaying slowly as her ears stayed pointed directly at me.
“Chaos.” I said, simply, shrugging at the statement.
That seemed to catch her off guard a moment, her tail falling still before her ears perked up and her eyes came alight with a fire of interest. “And why exactly would I want to include chaos in my experiments?”
“Military ships, combat and logi, all have an inherent order to them, in combat or out of it. They are specifically trained for, and sometimes raised in it. Civilian merchants and shippers don't have that training, which means the operating conditions, stresses and strains on the crew of a military ship are different than that of a civilian ship. Monitoring how Taisa and I work together, our responses to those stresses and strains could provide valuable insight into future workplace ‘integration’ efforts.” I leaned forward, bracing my elbows on the table as I looked over her head, trying to avoid spooking her.
Despite those efforts, her favored eye bore into mine, before she changed her tactic and tried again, “Ok, so the idea has merit. But why should we get a whole ship for the two of you? Why not register you with a freight company and have you work with them as well?” She countered, a gleam in her eye as she focused on my face.
“Please point us to a freight company that won't make a stink about having a human pilot, let alone one my size. Even if you did find a freighter willing to stomach my presence that doesn’t change the fact that baseline interactions would be easy enough to find examples of, and could be done with any pair of applicants in any setting. What we are proposing is the examination of a joint business venture. Taisa and I have experience: I was the first-mate on my last ship, and Taisa is a Venlil-trained and registered ships engineer. These are the backbone of any ship, giving you a clean sample to get readings, uncluttered by other people”.
“That comes to another question. Why the two of you? There’s plenty of running freight companies we could organize this same exchange with, without having to dig up the money for a ship.” She retorted, despite the wording and my still… developing understanding of tail signals, I was pretty sure she was enjoying this.
As I mulled over the question, trying to think of the best response, Taisa spoke up from the chair next to me, her ears peaked straight up, a confident look in her eyes with a voice as sure as steel. “Because we’re here. You already planned on something similar or ‘integration’ wouldn’t be on the table. I’d guess that you’ve got pairs picked for all sorts of ‘experiments’, and business is just one part of it.”
Atta Girl Taisa! Said it better than I ever could.
Tarva opened her mouth for another question; if I didn’t know better I’d think she loved this kind of back and forth. But before she could begin Thomas’ voice drifted in and I was reminded of the sharp cold of the Bering Straits. “I’m very pleased you work so well together. But how would that benefit the program? Why should the UN invest in your… ‘integration’.” His eyes passed between us, like we were being measured for a casket, it was clear that wasn’t a question, it was a statement.
Flipping open a ledger, Thomas pulled a pen from his breast pocket, the motion felt like it carried more weight than the drawing of any sword. “Firstly, this, as all business ventures must be, has to be profitable. To you, to the program and to the U.N. until you’ve paid back your debt, and more. How do you intend to actually make a profit? Have you considered fuel costs? Maintenance? Registration? Permitting?” His gaze felt like it could turn me to stone, I hated accountants, near as much as lawyers.
Taisa seemed not to have such hangups, someone had been thinking. “Fuel costs would be negligible when compared to the overall short trip and high margins that could be made by hauling higher value cargo. Maintenance would be handled by myself, limiting costs only to parts. I doubt that we will be acquiring a fresh off the line ship, and I know my way around a scrapyard. Registration and permitting are firm plan-able costs that can be included within the operating budget since they come up at regular intervals.”
Thomas nodded, writing in his ledger before looking back up at us. “And what do you intend to actually ship? The most profitable ventures have a plan and a consistent schedule.” I sat up a little straighter, I wasn’t going to let an accountant send me running like a dog with my tail between my legs. “My experience is with Tramp freighters, sir.” The use of the term earned a look of confusion from Tarva and a slight sigh from Taisa, while Thomas was clearly familiar with the term. “Charging higher rates for a slightly less consistent schedule would make up for the irregularity. I am of the opinion that limiting what is hauled to one type, brand or item of cargo would, in this case, be a poor decision at such a small scale. Bulk freighters at home only work because of their scale and the guaranteed regularity, to make such a thing work for that kind of enterprise the U.N. would have to invest far more into the ship just to get the idea off the ground. Taking bespoke contracts for individuals, or groups of them within the same city or province, would allow us to keep a more flexible margin for each run. As well, I already have a few old associates on Earth that are likely chomping at the bit to open a trade route with VP.”
His eyes narrowed a little as he wrote in his ledger again, that infernal brass pen making notes I couldn’t see. “What guarantees can you give us that this will last? How can the U.N. be sure that in a month’s time this doesn’t blow up in our faces and we’re left with an old freighter, a diplomatic incident, and an empty bag?”
To my surprise Tarva spoke up on our behalf. “Christopher's Empathy test puts him in the top 5th percentile of those tested. Taisa has been searching for a job since she graduated, and from her application wants very much to avoid returning home for work, that coupled with Christopher’s registered work history and their obvious compatibility I think it unlikely the experiment will ‘blow up’ in the U.N.s face.”
Thomas’s eyebrows scowled, like his ledger insulted his mother. He laid his pen down with a sigh, “The U.N. Reserves the right at any time, during the period in which the debt for the ship has not yet been paid, to requisition cargo space. Christopher, you will be completing a mandatory course to bring your capabilities inline with UN or Venlil freight pilot standards, failure of this course is unacceptable.” He let the ultimatum hang in the air… then continued, “Taisa, you will be tested on how much of your education you have retained in your time since graduation, as well as your efficacy in this role. Finally: any and all damages, maintenance, modifications and or ‘personalizations’ made to the vessel, beyond what is required by both species’ workplace safety requirements, will be done at your own expense. The U.N. will not be liable for these costs.”
“These are the terms of our little venture. And they are non-negotiable. Do you accept?”
Taisa and I exchanged a quick glance before responding “Yes.” In unison.
“With that concluded, hard copies of your agreement will be provided shortly. You both begin your respective written portions tomorrow. Congratulations! I look forward to seeing your ‘experiments’ results.” Thomas chuckled the last sentence, breaking the accountant’s stony demeanor, maybe he wasn’t that bad.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “So, that means…”
“That means you’re approved.” Tarva beeped, her tail swaying happily. “We of course will need to work out your overall flight training schedule, lodging and a business plan but we can handle that. My counterpart here will need to source a ship, but none of that should be particularly difficult. For now, congratulations on your acceptance into the Integration program!”
I thought for a moment, weighing the last few days in my head, if there was something I could lay my head down under each night it would be that brilliant twilight sky. “What about Heartwood? For lodging, I mean; Taisa’s family lives there. She says it's a small town but I’m sure something could get worked out. Could also help with introducing the people there to Humans!”
Tarva paused, her ears swiveling in thought. “I think that could be arranged, if I remember correctly there is a small shuttle port there. Although I do want to make sure that you understand: rural communities are likely to be less accepting of Human presence, you will be met with some degree of prejudice. You may not get the welcome you’re hoping for.”
Taisa spoke up before I could respond, one eye focused on me while her ears were directed towards Tarva. “I think the people of Heartwood would come around. It might take a bit but if anyone could get through to them it’ll be Chris.”
I smiled a little, looking over to Tarva. “I’ve never met a farmer I couldn’t charm! I’m willing to give it a go, just gotta avoid gettin’ torched, apparently.” For the first time, for the briefest moment, that seemed to set Tarva off balance; Taisa did mention that Exterminators were a sensitive subject.
“W-Wonderful!” Clearing her throat, she regained her composure, “In that case we’ll see what we can work out. I’ll make sure to include an extra form for you to fill out to request any personal belongings you need from home! For now, though, I think the two of you should get a good rest, you’ve both got busy paws tomorrow!” She beeped excitedly and her tail swayed happily as she turned to Thomas and began discussing the arrangement.
Taisa and I took the cue and rose from the table, headed out the door, and walked back to the room in silence until the door to our space closed behind us; both of us releasing heavy held breath as it did.
“I can not believe that worked.” Taisa said, her tail wagging as she wrapped her arms around me. “We’re going to actually have a ship… I’m actually going to get to do what I trained to do, what I want to do.” I returned the hug. “We’ll both get to do what we want, but first we’re gonna have to get through those tests.” She giggled a little, the joy at the prospect evident in her voice. “We’ve got this, together.”
Confident as ever. I pulled her into the hug a little tighter.
“Together.”
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submitted by Liberty-Prime76 to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
Thank you to u/cruisingNW for proof reading and helping me out of some hang ups, you're the man! And for letting me use Barry, Borven and Tarva (No relation)!
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Memory Transcription Subject: Christopher A. Dewey, Human Merchant Sailor, Venlil-Human Exchange Participant
Date [Standardized Human Time]: August 24th, 2136.
The door to Suite 4006 didn't look all that different from the door to our bunk room, though the walls around it lacked the friendly atmosphere of the exchange areas; guess admin offices are bland no matter the species. Taisa was beside me trying to appear confident; I noticed she did that a lot. Originally I had thought it was for my benefit, to make me feel like she wasn't scared of me; but I wasn't so sure of that anymore. It seemed that any time she was in a situation that made her feel small or scared she did her best to puff up and push through it. It was one of the things I liked best about her; but that didn't mean I'd ever stop giving her shit for fainting.
"Taisa," I started, placing my hand on her shoulder, her tail curling a little and resting against the side of my leg. "It'll be alright, I figure they wanna ask some questions about what happened earlier. Verify reports, get the story first hand. That sort of thing."
She took a deep breath as her ears flicked at my statement and her tail swayed off my leg. I think that one means she understands, or maybe it's agreement? Still tryin’ to figure those out.
"We tell 'em what happened, get it all cleared up on our end, easy and free 'fore too long. Once we got their questions outta the way we can drop our little 'research idea' on ‘em and see where it goes from there." I squeezed her shoulder gently at the end, she beeped a little but seemed to puff her chest out with a little extra confidence.
"Here goes nothin'." I raised my hand to rap against the metal door, I assume I looked a fool when the door opened up before I actually managed to knock.
"Christopher A. Dewey and Taisa, I presume?" A Venlil in the door stated, keeping the two of us in the span of his left eye. "Come in, have a seat."
He maneuvered his way around behind the desk, sitting down in a chair next to a Human at a shared desk as Taisa and I got situated. "I am Borven, and this is Barry." He stated, introducing himself and then the Human with his tail. "We are the liaisons for the exposure program. I assume that you know why we called you in this waking?"
I nodded, leaning back in the chair. "I'd wager a guess it has something to do with a certain upset Ensign, a bunch of angry Humans and a... pawful of scared Venlil?"
Barry nodded, pulling something up on the pad in front of him. I figured it was probably the report drafted by the guard that questioned us. "We wanted to confirm your side of the story as reported by Officer Gentry and Officer Jaisle, would you mind?"
I motioned with my hand for him to proceed. "I'd be happy to."
“Very good. To start, can you verify that this record of your account is accurate?" Barry queried, handing the pad off to me.
I sat for a few minutes, reading through the report and follow up answers that had been written down. Taisa took the pad as I offered it to her, "Looks good to me."
A few minutes longer, “Yeah, me too. Although two of the Venlil that had hidden behind Chris are missing, A female with white wool and a male with black wool with gray striping. I’m sorry I didn’t think to ask after their names.” She corrected, handing the pad back over to Barry.
“Thank you, we’ll be sure to correct that error.”
Taisa's ears perked up as she beeped out a question, her curiosity from earlier evidently not satisfied, "What does the UN intend to do with him?"
"Well, that depends, do you still decline to press charges, Mr. Dewey?" Barry asked, setting the pad back on the desk as he tapped a button to confirm the report.
I shook my head, "Nah, he needs help, not a lawsuit."
"Then in that case I am not at liberty to discuss an ongoing investigation beyond confirming your account. I apologize." Taisa's tail lashed in what I figured was annoyance at that before she took a breath and steadied it.
A few more questions were leveled at us, asking about the mood in the room just before and after the announcement, what individuals we could remember that looked the most agitated and if we could identify any of the pairs that had departed before the shouting began. Then Borven struck on a question that seemed to give Taisa pause.
"Taisa, what motivated you to intervene and guide the Venlil hiding behind your partner out of the altercation? You could have risked a stampede and caused far more problems than you were solving."
Her ears drooped for a moment, her tail coming to a standstill as she thought over the question. “I saw people in trouble, saw Chris doing something and I just… I had to help. I didn’t really think about whether it would cause a stampede until after I had already gotten them moving. After that I tried my best to stay calm; I’ve read that people at the front of a herd keeping a level head is what can start or stop a stampede.”
Borven’s tail flicked as he tapped something into his pad before swiveling his ears towards Barry. “I think that covers everything I have, Barry, any further questions?
Barry shook his head, tapping away at the pad before setting it back on its mount. “I believe that’s everything that I need. Unless the two of you have any further questions yourselves, you are excused. Thank you for your assistance.”
Taisa and I exchanged glances for a moment. “Actually, we did have one question.” “As I stated earlier, Mr. Dewey, unless you wish to press charges I cannot divulge information with regards to the Ensign’s punishment or prospects moving forward.” Barry sighed. “Please pose your question with that in mind.”
“And I understand that, this is about something else.” Barry raised an eyebrow as Borven fixed a single eyed gaze on me.
“Taisa and I were thinking that we’d, in the spirit of the exchange program, like to run an experiment.” “An experiment?” Borven asked, refocusing his ears on Taisa. She flicked her ears at him and tapped me with her tail, prompting me to continue.
“Yes. We’d like to run an experiment on Human-Venlil Business partnerships; see how we work together. Taisa is a trained ships engineer and I’ve spent the last 15 years hauling freight, organizing and working merchant ships all across Earth. I’d need some more targeted flight training and familiarization with rules and regs but I’ve spent plenty of time in simulators at home.”
A few moments of silence hung in the room before Barry shrugged. “That’s not under our department's purview but I can get you two in touch with the two people you’d likely need to… convince of the feasibility of your proposition.”
“Thank you, Gentlemen.” I said, standing from the seat before turning to walk out the door behind Taisa.
As the door closed I heard Barry and Borven bickering about how many of the pairs were going to want to stay together in one way or another. They seemed like fun, if maybe a bit stiff. After a minute or two of quiet walking down the hall our pads chimed, indicating we had received a message: Barry and Borven notified me that you and your partner have suggested an experiment. Please report to Conference Suite 4185. Sent by Thomas Ashforth, UN Liaison.
It wasn’t a terribly far walk around the station’s outer ring to arrive at the conference room, only a few minutes.
“Alright… 4185 it is.” Taisa spoke up next to me, taking a deep breath as her ears swiveled back a little; she looked worried.
“Hey, don’t worry. We got this.” I soothed while patting her on the back; trying to put a little pep back in her step. “It didn’t get sunk in the bay so we’ve got a chance at least!”
“I know,” She took another deep breath, puffing her chest up as we stepped up to the door. “I’m just scared they’ll say no. Or worse, find a reason to split us.” “We’ll just have to make sure that doesn't happen. You won’t be rid of me that easy.” I joked, putting a small twinkle of mirth in her eye as her tail lashed about.
I saw a retort brewing but it was cut off by a stern voice from beyond the door. “Enter.” Both of us stiffened a little as the door slid open to reveal a room with a small conference table, 6 chairs in total surrounding it. The two at the far end were occupied by a man wearing a UN dress uniform and a small union jack pinned to his lapel, while a very… very small ice-white Venlil sat on a cushion atop the table.
“Please be seated, we’ve got a few questions about your experiment. My name is Thomas Ashforth.” Said the man, gesturing across the table.
As Taisa and I sat down the small Venlil began. “And I am Professor Tarva, no relation. I’m head of the Integration efforts. You must be Taisa!” Taisa returned the enthusiasm with a flick of her ears before Tarva turned her ears towards me. “And you must be Christopher! Protector blessed, you’re certainly the largest Human I’ve seen so far!” I nodded in return. “My friend here is coordinating the fiscal side of the exchange program. So, why don’t you two tell us about this idea of yours?”
I took in a breath to steady my nerves, Taisa’s tail coiling around my ankle helped motivate my voice forward that little bit more. “We know that the recent blockades have caused issues for Venlil prime, and while Earth may not need anything from Venlil prime to get by there’s a lot of people who I’d bet would want plenty. Taisa also tells me a fair few of the freighter captains are still ‘bolty’ about trading directly with Humans; neither Taisa nor myself have that problem. From what she has said there’s a lot of surplus ships floating around VPs shipyards waiting for trade to open up again. The experiment would be to acquire a smaller freighter for Taisa and myself to crew, command, and operate so as to gather a better understanding of how Humans and Venlil work together in a civilian ship environment as well as the operation of an enterprise. Plenty of research is going to come up for military applications but I think opportunities to gain information on Civilian settings will be few and far between for some time.”
“An interesting theory! But what extra information do you think we can get from a civilian vessel that we can’t from a military vessel? What you’re suggesting could easily be replicated within the logistics corps instead!” Her tail was swaying slowly as her ears stayed pointed directly at me.
“Chaos.” I said, simply, shrugging at the statement.
That seemed to catch her off guard a moment, her tail falling still before her ears perked up and her eyes came alight with a fire of interest. “And why exactly would I want to include chaos in my experiments?”
“Military ships, combat and logi, all have an inherent order to them, in combat or out of it. They are specifically trained for, and sometimes raised in it. Civilian merchants and shippers don't have that training, which means the operating conditions, stresses and strains on the crew of a military ship are different than that of a civilian ship. Monitoring how Taisa and I work together, our responses to those stresses and strains could provide valuable insight into future workplace ‘integration’ efforts.” I leaned forward, bracing my elbows on the table as I looked over her head, trying to avoid spooking her.
Despite those efforts, her favored eye bore into mine, before she changed her tactic and tried again, “Ok, so the idea has merit. But why should we get a whole ship for the two of you? Why not register you with a freight company and have you work with them as well?” She countered, a gleam in her eye as she focused on my face.
“Please point us to a freight company that won't make a stink about having a human pilot, let alone one my size. Even if you did find a freighter willing to stomach my presence that doesn’t change the fact that baseline interactions would be easy enough to find examples of, and could be done with any pair of applicants in any setting. What we are proposing is the examination of a joint business venture. Taisa and I have experience: I was the first-mate on my last ship, and Taisa is a Venlil-trained and registered ships engineer. These are the backbone of any ship, giving you a clean sample to get readings, uncluttered by other people”.
“That comes to another question. Why the two of you? There’s plenty of running freight companies we could organize this same exchange with, without having to dig up the money for a ship.” She retorted, despite the wording and my still… developing understanding of tail signals, I was pretty sure she was enjoying this.
As I mulled over the question, trying to think of the best response, Taisa spoke up from the chair next to me, her ears peaked straight up, a confident look in her eyes with a voice as sure as steel. “Because we’re here. You already planned on something similar or ‘integration’ wouldn’t be on the table. I’d guess that you’ve got pairs picked for all sorts of ‘experiments’, and business is just one part of it.”
Atta Girl Taisa! Said it better than I ever could.
Tarva opened her mouth for another question; if I didn’t know better I’d think she loved this kind of back and forth. But before she could begin Thomas’ voice drifted in and I was reminded of the sharp cold of the Bering Straits. “I’m very pleased you work so well together. But how would that benefit the program? Why should the UN invest in your… ‘integration’.” His eyes passed between us, like we were being measured for a casket, it was clear that wasn’t a question, it was a statement.
Flipping open a ledger, Thomas pulled a pen from his breast pocket, the motion felt like it carried more weight than the drawing of any sword. “Firstly, this, as all business ventures must be, has to be profitable. To you, to the program and to the U.N. until you’ve paid back your debt, and more. How do you intend to actually make a profit? Have you considered fuel costs? Maintenance? Registration? Permitting?” His gaze felt like it could turn me to stone, I hated accountants, near as much as lawyers.
Taisa seemed not to have such hangups, someone had been thinking. “Fuel costs would be negligible when compared to the overall short trip and high margins that could be made by hauling higher value cargo. Maintenance would be handled by myself, limiting costs only to parts. I doubt that we will be acquiring a fresh off the line ship, and I know my way around a scrapyard. Registration and permitting are firm plan-able costs that can be included within the operating budget since they come up at regular intervals.”
Thomas nodded, writing in his ledger before looking back up at us. “And what do you intend to actually ship? The most profitable ventures have a plan and a consistent schedule.” I sat up a little straighter, I wasn’t going to let an accountant send me running like a dog with my tail between my legs. “My experience is with Tramp freighters, sir.” The use of the term earned a look of confusion from Tarva and a slight sigh from Taisa, while Thomas was clearly familiar with the term. “Charging higher rates for a slightly less consistent schedule would make up for the irregularity. I am of the opinion that limiting what is hauled to one type, brand or item of cargo would, in this case, be a poor decision at such a small scale. Bulk freighters at home only work because of their scale and the guaranteed regularity, to make such a thing work for that kind of enterprise the U.N. would have to invest far more into the ship just to get the idea off the ground. Taking bespoke contracts for individuals, or groups of them within the same city or province, would allow us to keep a more flexible margin for each run. As well, I already have a few old associates on Earth that are likely chomping at the bit to open a trade route with VP.”
His eyes narrowed a little as he wrote in his ledger again, that infernal brass pen making notes I couldn’t see. “What guarantees can you give us that this will last? How can the U.N. be sure that in a month’s time this doesn’t blow up in our faces and we’re left with an old freighter, a diplomatic incident, and an empty bag?”
To my surprise Tarva spoke up on our behalf. “Christopher's Empathy test puts him in the top 5th percentile of those tested. Taisa has been searching for a job since she graduated, and from her application wants very much to avoid returning home for work, that coupled with Christopher’s registered work history and their obvious compatibility I think it unlikely the experiment will ‘blow up’ in the U.N.s face.”
Thomas’s eyebrows scowled, like his ledger insulted his mother. He laid his pen down with a sigh, “The U.N. Reserves the right at any time, during the period in which the debt for the ship has not yet been paid, to requisition cargo space. Christopher, you will be completing a mandatory course to bring your capabilities inline with UN or Venlil freight pilot standards, failure of this course is unacceptable.” He let the ultimatum hang in the air… then continued, “Taisa, you will be tested on how much of your education you have retained in your time since graduation, as well as your efficacy in this role. Finally: any and all damages, maintenance, modifications and or ‘personalizations’ made to the vessel, beyond what is required by both species’ workplace safety requirements, will be done at your own expense. The U.N. will not be liable for these costs.”
“These are the terms of our little venture. And they are non-negotiable. Do you accept?”
Taisa and I exchanged a quick glance before responding “Yes.” In unison.
“With that concluded, hard copies of your agreement will be provided shortly. You both begin your respective written portions tomorrow. Congratulations! I look forward to seeing your ‘experiments’ results.” Thomas chuckled the last sentence, breaking the accountant’s stony demeanor, maybe he wasn’t that bad.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “So, that means…”
“That means you’re approved.” Tarva beeped, her tail swaying happily. “We of course will need to work out your overall flight training schedule, lodging and a business plan but we can handle that. My counterpart here will need to source a ship, but none of that should be particularly difficult. For now, congratulations on your acceptance into the Integration program!”
I thought for a moment, weighing the last few days in my head, if there was something I could lay my head down under each night it would be that brilliant twilight sky. “What about Heartwood? For lodging, I mean; Taisa’s family lives there. She says it's a small town but I’m sure something could get worked out. Could also help with introducing the people there to Humans!”
Tarva paused, her ears swiveling in thought. “I think that could be arranged, if I remember correctly there is a small shuttle port there. Although I do want to make sure that you understand: rural communities are likely to be less accepting of Human presence, you will be met with some degree of prejudice. You may not get the welcome you’re hoping for.”
Taisa spoke up before I could respond, one eye focused on me while her ears were directed towards Tarva. “I think the people of Heartwood would come around. It might take a bit but if anyone could get through to them it’ll be Chris.”
I smiled a little, looking over to Tarva. “I’ve never met a farmer I couldn’t charm! I’m willing to give it a go, just gotta avoid gettin’ torched, apparently.” For the first time, for the briefest moment, that seemed to set Tarva off balance; Taisa did mention that Exterminators were a sensitive subject.
“W-Wonderful!” Clearing her throat, she regained her composure, “In that case we’ll see what we can work out. I’ll make sure to include an extra form for you to fill out to request any personal belongings you need from home! For now, though, I think the two of you should get a good rest, you’ve both got busy paws tomorrow!” She beeped excitedly and her tail swayed happily as she turned to Thomas and began discussing the arrangement.
Taisa and I took the cue and rose from the table, headed out the door, and walked back to the room in silence until the door to our space closed behind us; both of us releasing heavy held breath as it did.
“I can not believe that worked.” Taisa said, her tail wagging as she wrapped her arms around me. “We’re going to actually have a ship… I’m actually going to get to do what I trained to do, what I want to do.” I returned the hug. “We’ll both get to do what we want, but first we’re gonna have to get through those tests.” She giggled a little, the joy at the prospect evident in her voice. “We’ve got this, together.”
Confident as ever. I pulled her into the hug a little tighter.
“Together.”
---
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2023.06.02 12:47 JoshAsdvgi THE GREAT MEDICIME DANCE
 | submitted by JoshAsdvgi to Native_Stories [link] [comments] THE GREAT MEDICIME DANCE [CHEYENNE] The Tsis-tsistas people have danced the great medicine dance for a long, long time, longer than anyone can remember or even imagine. The dance represents the making of this universe and was conceived and taught to the people by the Creator, Maheo, and his helper, Great Roaring Thunder. It portrays the making of the sun, moon, and stars; of rain, wind, and snow; of Grandmother Earth and the blue sky above her; of the mountains and rivers; of all living things, big and small. The dance is performed especially in times of starvation, distress, and widespread death. This, our most sacred ceremony, was brought to us by the Sutai medicine man Horns Standing Up, under the guidance of the Creator himself. Long ago, when the earth and the people dwelling upon it were young, our tribe was starving. The earth itself was starving, for no rain was falling. Plants and trees wilted. Many rivers dried up. The animals were dying of hunger and thirst. The Cheyenne had nothing to eat except some old, dried corn and their dogs, which used to carry their packs in those days before we had horses. There were not many dogs remaining, and very little corn. So the people left their old hunting grounds, left the land which had nourished them for generations, and started off in search of food. They went north, where the drought was less severe, but found little game and no buffalo at all. One evening they came to a stream in which water still flowed. The leaders and old chiefs sat down beside this stream and sadly watched the thin, weary people pitching their tipis. Then it came to the chiefs, as in a vision, what ought to be done. They ordered all the men to go to the women, each man to the woman he felt most attracted to, and beg her to give him something to eat. The men did as they had been directed, and each chose the woman who was to feed him. Among the warriors was a young medicine man. He went up to a beautiful woman who happened to be the wife of the head chief. She set a bowl of dog soup before him and waited for him to finish eating. Then he said: "I have chosen you from among all women to help me save our people. I want you to go north with me, as the medicine spirits have commanded. Take your dog teams and bring supplies for a long journey-now, right away!" Though she was the chief's wife, the woman did what the medicine man had asked. She was ready to travel in no time, and the two left unobserved in the dark of night. Two days and one night they traveled without stopping, urging on the dogs who carried the travois with the tipi poles and hides and other things needed for survival. At last they rested. The man told the woman to put up the lodge and to prepare two beds of soft, fragrant sage for them to sleep on. He said: "Make the tipi face the rising sun." He also told her that Maheo, the Creator, had sent him a vision revealing that the two of them must go north and bring back the great medicine lodge, Maheo's symbol of the universe, and with it a sacred ceremony which they would teach to the Cheyenne. "In my vision," he said, "Maheo promised that if the people accept and perform this holy ritual, the rains will fall again and the earth rejoice, the plants will bring forth green leaves and fruit, and the buffalo will return." And so they traveled, the woman every evening pitching the tipi facing east and preparing the beds of sage on opposite sides of the tipi, the man sleeping on his bed, the woman on hers. One night she said: "How is this? You made me run away with you, but you never approach me as man approaches woman. Why did you make me go with you, then?" He answered: "We must abstain from embracing until we enter the great mountain of the north and receive the sacred medicine dance. After we emerge from the mountain, I shall embrace you in a renewal-of-alI-life ceremony by which people will continue to be born, generation after generation, through the woman-power of perpetuation." At last they came to a vast, dark forest from whose center rose a cloud wreathed mountain reaching far into the sky. Beyond the mountain they' saw a lake of unending waters. They came to a large rock at the foot of the mountain, rolled the rock aside, and discovered an entrance. They went inside the mountain and, closing the opening behind them, found themselves in the mountain's great medicine lodge, which was wonderful to behold. Today the medicine tipi which the Cheyenne put up for their sun dances at Bear Butte is an imitation of that sacred mountain lodge. The young man and the woman heard voices coming out of the mountaintop-the voices of Maheo the Creator and his helper Great Roaring Thunder. Instructing them in the holy ways to perform the sacred ceremony, Maheo spoke for four days. Then they had learned all there was to know about the dance, the Creator, said: Now you will leave and teach the people what I have taught you. And if they perform the ceremonies in the right way, they will be favored for generations to come. The sun, the moon, the stars will move again in harmony. Roaring Thunder will bring soothing rain and winds. Corn and chokecherries will ripen again. Wild turnips and healing herbs will grow once more. All the animals will emerge from behind this mountain, herds of buffalo and antelope among them, and follow you back to your village and your people. Take this sacred hat, and wear it whenever you perform the sun dance. With this will control the animals-the buffalo, the antelope, the elk, the deer-who give themselves to the people for food. The Tsis-tsistas shall never be hungry again, but live in plenty. Put on this sacred buffalo hat as you leave, and Grandmother Earth will smile upon you forever. And so the young medicine man of the Sutai and the good-looking woman left the mountain through the secret passage. As they rolled the rock aside and emerged, buffalo without numbers streamed out of the mountain behind them, and the earth brought forth green shoots. Herbs and plants sprouted under a gentle rain, and the earth was like new, glistening in freshness. Thus the man and woman walked sacredly, clad in buffalo robes painted red, and the medicine man wore his horned cap. Their dogs walked before them, dragging their travois poles, while behind them followed a thundering herd of buffalo, and after these came all manner of animals, male and female, big and small. At the day's end the man and the woman put up their tipi and lay down on their beds of sage to rest, and all the animals settled down to rest also. And at some time during this journey back to their village, the man and the woman did lovingly what was necessary- to ensure renewal and continuation of life through woman-power. Each morning during their travels, the man sang the sacred songs which the voice of Maheo had taught him. At last one evening they arrived near the stream where the people were still camped, awaiting their return. The medicine man and the woman did not go into the village at once, but spent the night outside. In the morning the medicine man put on issiwun and entered the camp, accompanied by the woman. He told the people of all that had passed, told them that he had brought them the knowledge of the great medicine lodge and the great sacred dance, the songs and ceremonies that went with it, and above all, issiwun, the sacred buffalo hat which had the power to control the wandering of the animals. He told the people that if they performed the sacred sun dance, they would have plenty of buffalo to eat and would never suffer hunger again. The people put up the medicine lodge according to the young man's instructions, painted their bodies in a sacred manner, and sang the right songs. The children made clay figures of buffalo, antelopes, and elk and brought them into the lodge as a symbol of life's renewal Since then, whenever the little figures are placed inside the Medicine lodge during the dance, some of those animals will come near to gaze upon the sacred tipi, and some of their animal power will linger on. In the same way, our old friends, the Sioux people, fasten the figures of a man and a bison, both cut from buffalo hide, to their sacred sun dance pole. Then an eagle will come in and circle above the dancers to bless them. Thus the Tsis-tsistas people performed the great medicine ceremony for the first time, and all was well again. And the people named the young medicine man Horns Standing Up, because the sacred hat has two horns at each side. -Told by Josie Limpy and Mrs. Medicine Bull, with the help of an interpreter, at Birney, Montana, in 1972. |