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The Nature of Predators - The New Arxur (8/10)
🕑 Added 2024-09-21 11:00:08 +0000 UTCMemory Transcription Subject: Raza, Arxur Collective Operative
Date [standardized human time]: August 19, 2154
I could hear the footfalls and occasional cascades of rocks, as the presumed sniper approached our location. My team was instructed to stand at ease, acting like we belonged here; Hossat hid behind a rock, since his presence would have any Arxur’s guard raised. We only saw her once she rounded the bend of a twisting crag…a nimble and flat body with coverings much thicker than the Nevok’s cloak, and a bag slung over her back. While I’d never seen a human in person, I’d watched enough of their media to know what she was on sight. An audible gasp tumbled from my mouth, while Zefriss seemed amazed. He hadn’t been impressed by the characters at the Terran embassy, but this had all of our attention. The deadliest shooter in Wriss’ history was one of these…entirely harmless-looking predators, who’d thrown in their lot with prey?
That did qualify how shots thought impossible were being landed, but it was chilling that she could be that precise. She excelled at the traversal of perilous terrain, with smaller feet and arboreal climbing skills helping her. I gawked as the edges of her feeble fingers clung to a ledge, and reached for the rest—entire body dangling beneath her. It didn’t make sense that Ilthiss would hire a “leaf-licking” simian, or that a Terran would join forces with Betterment. I had so many questions running through my brain, and I couldn’t imagine what Isif would think when he heard this. He trusted humans to back his cause, and considered them allies. Also, the Sefturna Sniper was a loner; weren’t humans known for being overly friendly and pack hunting?
No wonder the guards back at the camp laughed at the idea of the Sefturna Sniper eating Hossat; humans are revolted by the notion. How widespread is the knowledge that Ilthiss’ great recruiting tool isn’t an Arxur at all? It can’t be known past this small greeting party. None of the enlistees marching alongside the tanks voiced any indication.
“We have to regain our composure and act normal. This human is armed and dangerous. It’s best if we don’t tip her off that we’re…outsiders. We want to take her quietly, without a chance to fight back,” I managed. “We can’t let her slip away either.”
Zefriss stared as the sniper dangled from one arm, shaking out the other limb. “What the fuck is going on? We can’t have been chasing a human—this is making a mockery of our planet! And what, we’re supposed to believe that she’s been going for hours pretty much nonstop, like that? She’d have to be tireless!”
“From everything you’ve read, you know that Terrans were incredibly effective soldiers, who pulled daring feats like parachuting from fucking space. Is it that surprising that mountain heights are a challenge they can overcome?”
“I know they’re clever and reckless, but that strong? That proficient in firearms? No! We have to have…something that makes us superior.”
“We don’t have to burn our meat to eat it,” Hysran remarked. “And…yeah, I think that’s it.”
I lashed my tail. “No more talking! She’s coming. Hossat, we should try to gather information about the sniper first. It’ll be valuable to Isif, which means it’ll be valuable to you, in terms of a reward and his favor. Am I clear?”
“Hmph. Understood,” the Nevok sighed, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
The human dismounted from the ledge, landing on her two legs. She sauntered down the rocky steps leading down, flashing pearly white teeth. I’d never seen a predator’s fangs look so pristine. What did she do: paint them? The canines were indistinguishable from the rest at a distance, but the binocular eyes were alert. Thanks to the pasty sclera, I could tell she’d spotted us and was assessing us; those pupils couldn’t be clearer where they were looking. Zefriss slumped against a rock, in an attempt to look bored—or maybe he actually was bored. It was tough to say with him. I walked away from Hysran, to ensure perceived separation between us. The primate continued toward us, though her eyes never left our posse. My claws twitched, considering whether she was close enough for me to grab my gun. It might be easiest to shoot her in the kneecap, which seemed like a key junction for her mobility.
If I miss, the Sefturna Sniper won’t. I assume she carries more than a sniper rifle. That said, it could also give her a chance to get away, and we can’t pursue her up Death’s Pass. I mean, I can’t dangle from the tips of my claws for hours. Has the path eroded away that much, or does she see it as a shortcut?
The primate waved a flimsy hand at us, widening her “smile.” “Good morning!”
“Uh…yes, good morning!” I returned with forced cheeriness. I had to say something back, right?
That, however, proved to be the wrong thing to do. The human turned tail and sprinted for the cliff face, unslinging her bag as she ran. I was clueless to what had alerted her that something was amiss; perhaps there was some line Ilthiss had that we were supposed to use to identify ourselves. That seemed unusually social for him, though. What I could glean in an instant was that the Terran wanted to get to a raised position, and pick us off with the sniper rifle. Muttering curses, I beckoned to my team and chased after her. The three Arxur were slowed by lumbering up the raised steps, while the primate was nimble in hopping up them. Shouldn’t she be lacking in the energy to run at full speed? Hossat was trailing behind us with his short legs, so the Nevok was all but out of commission. We were the last chance.
“We can’t let her draw that rifle! If she gets to a perch, we don’t stand a chance!” I barked. “Shoot at her. We must get closer!”
The Terran was well aware that we were in pursuit, judging by how she hurled a grenade…also with perfect accuracy. How could those flimsy human arms target projectiles as good as a damn machine? Arxur undersold how dangerous these predators were quite a bit, talking about them like inferior hunters, but at least “real people.” I kicked away the explosive device in front of me blindly, before diving behind a rock with my team. The sniper hadn’t slowed, but it’d allowed her to gain precious time and to impede our progress. From what I could see, she’d reached the cliffside already. She was heading for a small ridge, about a hundred feet up; the primate was swinging on her arms to jump between handholds, somehow catching herself.
We were losing this race, and I didn’t know how we were supposed to catch her. The best hope was to get close enough and start shooting at her, praying she wasn’t too high up to get a clean shot with a pistol. So much for taking her alive for questioning. Refusing to pause for the burning in my lungs, I sprinted up the last few steps on all fours. Hossat was the last straggler, as my two squadmates struggled up to the final step. The sniper strained with an arm to reach up, and pulled herself up with a grunt. As I lifted my handgun, she shimmied around the curved side of the cliff—out of sight. It was as if she had a nose for danger. My weapon fell to my side, realizing that the deadliest asset Ilthiss had just got away on my watch; if we somehow didn’t all die here, Isif was going to kill me.
“She’s gone. We can’t catch her,” I decided, realizing I had to save my team. “Get back to the truck, and hurry! We have to at least…tell Isif, and try to get away. I know she’s hit people in moving vehicles, but maybe we can get behind something.”
Zefriss huffed in frustration. “At least try to stick some charges in the cliffs, and hope it dislodges something? Turning tail and fleeing is humiliating!”
“It’ll only take her a few minutes to scale that cliff. We have to put some distance between us!”
“Zefriss would love to put more distance between us. He thought personal space extended into space!” Hysran cackled, with an inappropriate levity once more. Did she not understand the seriousness of the situation?”
“I said leave, Hysran! That includes the Nevok; we won’t wait on his short—”
“Oh, get out of my way. Amateurs,” Hossat spat.
I stared in amazement as the Nevok took a running start, and briskly pranced up the near-vertical cliff. His hooves locked onto the smallest fissures in the wall with unabashed confidence, hopping upward in surprisingly quick increments. Those goofy-looking legs had a purpose after all; his species must be perfectly suited for mountain-climbing, since they evolved for wintry environments. Hossat defied gravity with ease, and pushed off of nothing as he roundedthe corner. He reached around the corner and grabbed the human’s coat, pulling her back and carelessly hurling her onto the ground. She flailed out with some kind of chisel, slowing but not ending her descent. The primate toppled from a dizzying height, and landed roughly on the rock below.
“Oh c’mon.” The Terran sniper had dropped on her side, and judging from the pain in her groan, she might’ve broken something. I could see her eyes watching with amazement as Hossat ran straight downward, only needing to scrabble for traction once. “That’s not fair.”
I stormed over to her, planting a foot on her chest. “Don’t move!”
“I surrender, dammit. It’s not worth dying for a bloody job. I’m just a military contractor; I work for whoever pays me. Christ, if I hadn’t caught myself, you could’ve killed me, falling from that high up!”
“Our job is to kill you,” Hossat said coldly, lifting the gun he’d been cleaning when I first met him. “We have information on who you are, so there’s the bonus, Raza.”
I placed a paw on the Nevok’s arm, preventing the gun from pointing at our prisoner. “Let’s not be hasty now. Maybe she can…talk to us. Besides, our orders are to neutralize her, so bringing her in—”
“Too much of a risk. She could kill one of you if she gets the chance too, jeopardizing my other bonus. No, I must ensure the job is done.”
“I’ll give you some of my pay!” the human exclaimed desperately.
Zefriss snorted. “What good is Betterment pay to you or any of us? They’re going to lose!”
“Obviously, I know that! That’s why Ilthiss paid us in raw minerals, as well as cultural artifacts. Ancient art and relics from Wriss are, or will be, invaluable to many interested buyers. I can tell you where they are. I haven’t shipped them home yet.”
“These relics are worth so much that you’d take a job like this? Where are your scruples?” What? I’m surprised to hear Zefriss concerned about morals. “The things Betterment has done are unnecessarily cruel. Everything but simple. They’d kill my fr—coworkers! I’m not ashamed of them, except for Hysran. You believe in the cause?”
“Save your moralizing. Look, there’s been an age of unprecedented peace on Earth, and that’s been…bad for military business. We ate good for a while supporting the UN, off subduing the Federation remnants and occupying big names like Aafa. The money well has dried up since then—there’s no shortage of Peacekeepers with all the alien recruits. This contract was unusual, but we needed someone to hire us. Your side just didn’t offer; I wish they did, since your money might have some value in a year.”
I gawked at her, hearing that she was as coin-driven as Hossat. “You killed hundreds of our assets for a terrible cause, and you don’t feel bad about it at all…the fuck is your name?”
“Casey Brenner. I popped a few heads, but that’s business. It’s not like I knew them, and neither did you. Don’t take it personal. Obviously, I hate Betterment and all they stand for, but they had no shot at winning. I took Ilthiss to the cleaners, and I kept the UN out of your war. In a way, I helped you more than I hurt you.”
“What are you talking about? Sefturna would’ve already been put down without you! You made it impossible for us to travel the roads, and you were Ilthiss’ best recruiting tool!”
“I’m sorry. My…loyalty could be bought and turned on them. I can help you. If you don’t want to sell the artifacts yourself, you can always return them to Isif; recovering them for the Collective will earn you a nice promotion. And I won’t trouble you. I mean, I broke my fucking hip; I have no mobility to run away, wiggle out of restraints, or reach for any weapon quietly. Please.”
“Tell us where you hid the artifacts, and you have a deal,” Hossat offered.
“How stupid do you think I am? No, you’ll take me to your leader, so I can…have a chance to offer my services. Isif likes us. He’ll see reason, and he’ll see value in learning more about me. It’ll show Arxur take surrenders, and give him leverage over the Terran government. He’ll want to have that in his pocket, should the UN get wind of your civil war.”
“Isif was unequivocal about the SC not finding out about the war.” I tilted my head, and debated whether it was worth the increased risks to my team that Hossat had pondered. We’d be escorting a wounded human who’d have every incentive to alert enemies if we tried stealth. “It’d be a major setback to our acceptance aspirations, so we need a…last resort. And hearing that the sniper was a human will unravel Ilthiss’ entire recruitment strategy.”
“Fuck. I guess I have to keep another yappy member around to get more money.” Hossat stamped a hoof with disdain. “Isif is lucky I need his approval. And I must say I do like the idea of blackmailing Earth; they’re too big for their overcoats!”
Zefriss narrowed his eyes. “Hrrr. Casey has a point in regards to her propaganda value, but I question how we’ll bring the captured Sefturna Sniper back through that camp. It’s the only way off this plateau, and the soldiers back there will question it. She was supposed to take Hossat over the mountains, and he’ll still be here when—”
“Don’t worry about that camp,” Hossat said with a dark chuckle. “They’re well taken care of.”
“What do you mean?” Hysran tilted her head, prying the Nevok for more than that cryptic remark. “Last time I checked, the truck doesn’t teleport.”
“You’ll see. They’re not going to trouble us anymore. Speaking of which, make me think you’re making a move, human, and you’ll wish I killed you with a bullet.”
Casey rolled her eyes, showing off the uncanny whites. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. I’m quite curious to see what became of my welcome party; not the sharpest tools in the shed. Help me to your truck.”
“Raza? It’s your decision,” Zefriss deferred.
I hoisted the human to her feet, and signaled to Hysran to remove the sniper’s bag. “Isif doesn’t respect his most trusted operatives. Let’s remind him why we deserve better. We go above and beyond.”
Hysran toted the primate alongside me, a giddy look in her eyes. “I’ve wanted a human to tell jokes to forever! Why are a human’s canines so small?”
“Because we use silverware,” Casey sighed.
“No! Because they’re bite-sized.”
“Ugh. So the Arxur do still torture their prisoners. Lucky me.”
I allowed Hysran to drive, since my eyes were getting a bit heavy; I dozed off about as soon as my skull touched the headrest, after muttering to wake me when we reached the camp. Hossat’s remark about the entire contingent of Arxur not being a concern any longer left a lot of questions. After being waterboarded in blood, I doubted the Nevok would’ve said that lightly. It felt as if my eyes had closed for a second when Zefriss woke me with a roar, gesturing to the outpost up ahead. Pulling out my binoculars in a hurry, I could see Arxur corpses strewn through the clearing. Foam lined their mouths, where they seem to have convulsed and died; some had fled, but not escaped whatever killed them. My head snapped toward Hossat, who bore a smug expression.
What…how did he…? Casey is looking at him like she believes what he said now, about making her wish she’d caught a bullet.
“Okay, can you teleport?” Hysran demanded.
Hossat laughed wickedly. “Do you believe I can?”
“No, or you would’ve teleported to Wriss. Explain yourself. How did you wipe out the whole camp?”
The Nevok opened his cloak, showing off dozens of vials. “When they were pressing my head into that nastiness, I slipped a few vials of neurotoxins into the bloodsoak—ones that take a few hours to act. Just long enough that they won’t be tipped off before they’ve all partaken. Serves them right.”
“Well, shit. We should send him to enemy camps more often,” Zefriss grumbled. “Let him infiltrate some water supplies.”
“Why? You can do that from orbit.”
“You can.” Casey bobbed her head in agreement, an impassive look on her face. “The UN has such things, off the books. Assuming such reservoirs are uncovered, it should work. I can tell you all about programs like that: part of my usefulness.”
I shuddered in horror at the idea of employing such tactics. “Actually, for weapons that do this…I’d rather you didn’t. No one deserves such a fate.”
“Suit yourself. Though your leader may think otherwise.”
I reclined on the seat, snorting; Isif would agree with me on that matter, which was a large part of why I followed him. The Chief Hunter had taken the Arxur down a better path, one not about cruelty and killing those weaker than himself. As the truck rolled past the sea of bodies, I receded into my thoughts of how I’d face our boss to give our mission report. A lot had changed throughout this journey, and however successful our operation had been, we had to see whether the Collective had withstood the test of the tank invasion that had landed in our absence. If we’d scored a victory there as well, Ilthiss’ rebellion could crumble right before our watching eyes.
A/N - Part 8! The Sefturna Sniper is indeed a human, surprising our Arxur characters more than the readers. Casey figures out that Raza is no Ilthiss lackey from her friendly greeting, and tries to climb up to escape and snipe; however, Hossat’s mountain goat climbing skills save the day. The team is persuaded to keep her alive after she offers compensation, with Raza having a motivation to prove Isif wrong about her: believing that he no longer believes in her. We then see that Hossat slipped neurotoxins into the bloodsoak while being drowned.
What do you think of this human mercenary, as well as our new info on military contractors in the NOPverse? What do you think of Hossat’s sly way of taking out the Arxur camp, and also his climbing abilities; are Nevoks officially cool? How do you think Isif will respond to the team’s return?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
REDemon14
"If I had a nickel for everything SP broke the hip of a female Human sniper in an Arxur side story, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. "
kabhes
Both times a hip too.
Aerowarrier
Given how she talked, there’s probably more human mercs employed by those two. Hopefully she can contact them and tell them it’s time to move on before hit squads are sent after the rest of them
Maelstrom
I was seriously like, “oh shit, he didn’t!” when Hossat said the camp wouldn’t trouble them anymore. I suddenly knew he wasn’t just clutching to keep his poison vials inside and hidden when he got his face dunked in. Well played, SP.
Sci-fi reader
Depends. Up a cliff face? Sure. Goats a great. Get a goat to repeal down from a helicopter or climb up a rope or cargo net? Not so much.
DemonVee
Maybe that's her play? No Betterment Arxur would come to her rescue, but her team... It’s also a way to bloat the legend, each of their kills adding up.
DemonVee
Humans do have really powerful noses, they poke out of our faces for a reason. The thing is, from what I understand is that most of the nerves don't connect to concious parts of the brain. So "you" might not smell anything, but your subconscious does. It's often the reason why some report getting an eerie feeling of a presence when there is a intruder in their house, or some animal hiding near by.
Stueymon
I guessed they were going to be human a few chapters back. Better endurance and climbing ability rather made it obvious. Every conflict has a private military involved at some point. Why get paid grunt wages when you can make bank for abandoning principles?
EliasArt2Life
So the Sniper WAS a human, not a Nevok. Too bad. I was hoping for a Nevok to COMPLETELY smash the Arxur’s prejudices, but I admit that a human was more likely, aside from the foreshadowing of Hossat’s climbing abilities. “I know they’re clever and reckless, but that strong? That proficient in firearms? No! We have to have…something that makes us superior.” Well, you guys are much stronger than us in most ways, you have heightened senses of smell, where our noses can’t even out perform most of the herbivores, you are nocturnal, where we need technology (that leaves us vulnerable to flashes of light) to see in the dark, you have tails that act as a 5th striking limb, deadly teeth and claws, and you have tough scales protecting you. Honestly, the Arxur are physically superior to humans in most ways. But we’ve always been faced with threats that were better equipped and stronger than us, so we’ve learned how to maximize our few strengths, create new strengths through technology, and minimize our weaknesses. We aren’t superior, just different, and good at leveraging that difference. Also, Zefriss’ reaction was GREAT! So, former military personnel turned mercenary. That’s the sad cost of peace; those who made their living from violence (necessary or not) often have to adapt. And if they can’t adapt, they usually start disrupting that peace. Hossat’s actions… I morbidly impressed by his effectiveness and efficiency. A whole camp taken out with just a few vials of neurotoxin. Impressed AND disturbed. Poisoning’s a rough way to go. I hope that (once it set in) it was relatively painless and quick.
DemonVee
I don't think she's that much of a risk now, the team would only be fools not understanding that they're holding all the cards here. She's an immobilzed Human with a broken hip. In a region that culls the infirmed, that lacks necessary medical facilities and already looks down on her species by default. On top of that she's a Betterment secret that risks harming their cause if known to the public, a risk that can no longer do her job. The few people who knew her identify are mostly dead by Hossat's hands, and if others can tracker they're more likely to want her dead to remove a loose end. With that, she has to know that her best chances of getting of Wriss without dying to her injuries or getting finshed of by an Arxur is through the team transporting her back to collective territory and under Isif's custody. So bombs, screams or any other ways to get her attention are probably off the table.
arthur D. gonzalez-martin
didnt the russians do that with the blowing of that dam
Elliott
That intel and propaganda is NOT worth getting outed to by the SC, or losing your life over. Without her they don't have much of an advantage as they've apparently thrown everything into an assault on Isif. Any advantage her life has is vastly overshadowed by the risk and disadvantages of keeping her alive.
Elliott
You fail to realize how great a risk she poses. Imagine she screams at an enemy checkpoint, detonated a hidden bomb while meeting Isif, has a tracker on her. Then even if they try to blackmail the UN, she could claim they're lying and give the SC just cause to intervene, spill the news about the war to them, assuming they kill her then it looks like the collective just killed a random human, don't kill her or let her talk and it looks like the Collective is holding one hostage. You have to think of the optics this could give and be spun by parties like Jones. Enemy Intel isn't valuable enough to put your entire planet at risk.
Gumcel
Ok I disagree with those saying that it’s not worth it to bring her back. She has potential usefulness as a propaganda tool, has intel on the enemy and has been shown to be exceedingly competent in her job. The Collective is more prosperous and have her captive, betrayal is an easy choice. She has no loyalty to Ilthiss and after switching sides any hope of returning to Ilthiss evaporates. She has absolutely no motive to betray them and return to Ithiss.
Gumcel
“Obviously, I know that! That’s why Ilthiss paid us in raw minerals, as well as cultural artifacts. Ancient art and relics from Wriss are, or will be, invaluable to many interested buyers. I can tell you where they are. I haven’t shipped them home yet.” “Us” implies that they’ve hired an entire mercenary company, rather than just one individual. “I reclined on the seat, snorting; Isif would agree with me on that matter, which was a large part of why I followed him.” :arxur_clueless:
Sci-fi reader
You mean like IBM, Coca-Cola, Ford, General Motors, Westinghouse, and Kraft?
erickjosemolina
Lo sospeche desde un principio
Conure King!
Earth governments borderline do that in the modern era, irl.
DDDragoni
Humans may be good climbers, but we've got nothing on Goat Legs
Jagger
I was going to say the same thing about Arxur advantages. I've always pictured them as fairly muscular bipedal crocodiles, so I'm sure they'd excel in bursts of strength and a slower metabolism. We'd probably beat them in the endurance department, but endurance doesn't count for much if you're already stuck in the jaws of a large muscular reptile.
Sci-fi reader
Not much leverage. "Ms Brenner? Why she is a known fugitive for tax evasion, and was never employed by the government." In fact, her employer, Booz Allen Inc, fired her months ago. We are free nation. People are welcome to come and go. Booz Allen? We contract out our administrative and IT support work to them, as we have for over century. Nothing to see. Hey, want some free pagers and walkie talkies?
Sci-fi reader
CIA has got to CIA.
Sci-fi reader
Good old Blackwater, I mean Xe, I mean Academi, I mean Constellis. Or maybe just good old Booz Allen.
Pierre Florendo
Operation Paperclip?
DreamEnvoy
"surprising our Arxur characters more than the readers." Most of the readers that is. "It didn’t make sense that Ilthiss would hire a “leaf-licking” simian, or that a Terran would join forces with Betterment." Which is why I'm among the few who are somewhat surprised. I would think Ilthiss would have too much pride to hire human mercenaries. Honestly a bit disappointed the reason she accepted the job is so simple. No sympathy for Betterment or anything. Just killing for the money. A mercenary with mercenary reasons. Hossat poisoning blood while being bloodboarded was cool, though. I was curious how our group would handle the return trip.
BiasMushroom721
Lets look at it another way. She willingly works with nazis. Shes a nazi. She actively sabatoged the people fighting the Nazis. She did such a good job she improved the Nazis position. She helped the nazis kill more people. She doesnt even care. Shes not worth it. Shes a nazi
Alekss Žukovskis
what about that intel? plus, no one knows yet, that the legendary loyalist Sefturna Sniper has just become a double agent. She is extremely useful in my eyes.
Alekss Žukovskis
how self-aware XD
Alekss Žukovskis
with Jones meddling? pick a target your size. optics mean nothing to lizards.
Alekss Žukovskis
did i just read that right? orbital dropped toxin capsules?
REDemon14
Hysran never ceases to make me smile! And the sniper is *drum roll* A HUMAN! Who else was gonna put their nose in someone else's business? XD You are *different* Zefriss. You have natural weapons that are good for hunting and self-defense. Claws, fangs, denser muscles. We have tools, tactics, and a natural sense of projectiles. Casey: Good Morning! Raza: Uhh, morning? Casey: Sus! Casey putting that stamina to good use. However, Hossat's got them mountain goat legs! Military contractors, of course. I do find out sad that Siffy wouldn't take human aid while the anti-social arxur would. I personally think taking her alive is a good idea. She has a broken hip, meaning she ain't going anywhere, Betterment arxur don't like wounded "allies" (I don't know if they'd just kill her, but still), she has an economic incentive to joining Isif now. With her injury, she isn't going to be fighting, which is all she has to offer Betterment, but with Isif she can sell him Intel, she would have gotten a good bit with her time fighting for Betterment and she doesn't need to be able bodied to share it. Hossat, you sneaky hare! Guess he really did have enough toxin to kill dozens of grown Arxur. "No one deserves such a fate." Most of me agrees, but part of me has a kind of schadenfreude when objectively evil people meet less than peaceful fates. (What does that say about me? ○_○) I do wonder how the whole tank situation is going back on Isif's end. Guess we'll figure out next chapter :) PS: Why do you keep breaking the bones of female snipers in arxur side stories? Has a female sniper wronged you like the birds?
Alekss Žukovskis
yup thats a human. and damn hysran just striding up to her and tossing her down was cold AF.
un_pogaz
>We have to have…something that makes us superior.” “Superior”, you're looking for the wrong thing Zefriss, you are different. You're bigger, stronger, you have claws, bone-shattering jaw strength and an incredible sense of smell. Ah, and your scales protect you from scratches far more than our soft skin, so brambles and nettles are no problem for you. But more subtly, your solitary, ambush-predator origin certainly makes you much better natural snipers than the rest of us, you just need training and practice. >“Don’t worry about that camp,” Hossat said with a dark chuckle. “They’re well taken care of.” ... oh son of a bitch, he emptied poison into the pot. Smart. Well, it was a human mercenary and there was absolutely nothing ideological about it, which is a good thing considering how much worse it could have been. Even if she's absolutely unscrupulous and too easy to buy, you can't trust her for long. Raza's reluctance to use poison is commendable, but war is ugly. Poisoning a water supply that could be used by civilians is truly immoral, but if you're sure it will only be used by enemy soldiers... why not. Ah and Hossat is the Goat.
BiasMushroom721
I love how we humans understand we aint worth the trouble
Elliott
Exactly, not only could she give away their position, but even assuming they get home, what's from stopping her from claiming victim on camera? That'd give the SC justification, however flimsy, to act. There are just so many scenarios this goes wrong, and most of the rewards from making those risks could be gotten still by just executing her. It's incredibly stupid.
Anthony Mears
contractors never change
Ndreda
Not sure if this is already fixed but there is a small typo "roundedthe corner" missing one space. Edit. I did say the sniper is a soldier of fortune
Elliott
I'm not typically the merciless ruthless realist, but keeping her as alive is way too much of a risk. That's basically putting your life into the hands of a former enemy. Not just that but it sounds like they're going to take her straight to Isif, which is also largely a bad idea. Kill her, recover evidence and her body, use it as leverage against Earth anyways since she's not much more useful alive as a political tool as she is a liability.
BiasMushroom721
Ugh, I would have just shot her and been done with it. Shes bad news and not worththe risk
Dookus Maximus
1th
