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The Nature of Predators 2-71
🕑 Added 2024-09-09 11:00:10 +0000 UTCMemory Transcription Subject: Quana, Jaslip Soldier
Date [standardized human time]: December 23, 2160
The people of Tellus gathered in the public square, which the Trombil had established; of the aliens present, it was mostly inquisitive Krev waiting on the arrival of the new babies—that shipment was running late. The humans, especially the paler ones, had to wear sunscreen to avoid being baked to a red, flaky crisp. How vulnerable they were to the elements, cementing their need for clothing in any climate. Tellus was an arid world, which left me glad to have my cooling armor. The local military base had been emptied for this gathering, with all citizens’ presence mandated by Hathaway: who had returned a day ago from hospitalization in our bombing. I hated having to look upon the fruit of our handiwork, seeing the burned neck skin with the texture of paper mache. Cherise seemed more detached, like she’d turned off some part of herself after weeks of spreading the news of the lost battles.
Hibernation season approached in my enclave, back on the Smigli world, and I’d thought about requesting the cultural leave I was guaranteed. Months of slumber would be a relief, instead of continuing onward down the path of extremism, and watching the Consortium collapse in real-time. I wasn’t sure Esquo’s Fighters intended to go into the winter’s sleep, however. The Krev bombed the rebels once while we hibernated, back on our homeworld. It’d give the scaly bastards an opportunity to eliminate the problematic terrorists, in response to what’d happened to the delegates. Also, if they began rallying ark ships, we had ensure they didn’t leave us behind; the humans and the Jaslips would be the species who the Federation would exterminate the swiftest.
I enlisted because I wanted to help the humans, who were facing extinction. Perhaps our cause has forced Hathaway’s response, and he’s going to agree to board a new ark. Would he take a Jaslip with him? Should I just…leave my family and my comrades, who also want a ticket out, to live among these primates?
“The old leaders of the miners’ strike movement have been up Hathaway’s ass, Quana. We can’t let the Federation find us,” Cherise muttered. “Maybe the babies are here, and that’s the signal for us to ditch the Consortium; that’s why he waited. So we’ll have a better chance next time.”
I curled my lip in disgust. “I wouldn’t trust your mayor. He was eager to curl up next to the Consortium delegates, which speaks to his character.”
“We all wanted the Krev’s help to save our species, and destroy the Federation. I’ve seen Hathaway twist situations and people to his advantage, but he seemed genuine about not wanting us to get…exterminated. In that regard, he sounds like everyone else who was an adult on Earth, and remembers.”
“Like your uncle, you mean?”
“Sure. My uncle used to tell me bedtime stories about the Krakotl coming for us, and…I wish I could talk to him. I know he wouldn’t approve of the things I’ve done, but I’ve felt a million miles away, every time we’ve shared a meal since…”
“I feel the same with my family, when we speak via holopad. I’m happy to be here, at the military base, instead of face-to-face with them. I wonder if they know, since word has a way of getting around Esquo’s Fighters. They would’ve said something, right?”
“I don’t know, Quana. The feeling that you’ve been away from someone for so long, when they’re right next to you…I got out, at least as close as a human could on Tellus. Security: that meant I was tough enough. I might not have worked the mines, but I could push my body just as far—boot camp proved that. Why would I feel so morose and melancholy now, as opposed to everything else I’ve been through? I was silent through much worse.”
“We all have a breaking point. Jaslips have a saying about taking lives. ‘To kill another, you must first kill yourself.’ It’s not literal, but…it rings true. Our innocence has departed from us for good, and what we must do…is make use of what’s left. Should Hathaway not speak the truth, we confront him here.”
Cherise shook her head with disgust. “I’m seeing this through. I won’t back down. I’ll start a fucking riot, if that’s what it takes!”
The icy resolve in her voice reminded me of Aulan; the impassioned speeches of the Jaslip Independence Brigade must’ve rubbed off on my human friend. I believed a riot was quite possible, with all of the Tellish colonists gathered here. It wasn’t too long ago that we’d sat in a kelai shop, and I’d come to the stark realization that, despite how their souls might bleed through it all, the primates would burn everything to the ground with their final breath. I wondered if the Earthlings had a last spiteful display, as the bombs obliterated their fledgling species. This new planet couldn’t come to that again. There was so much more than the downtrodden Jaslips at stake. Every Consortium world would be under attack, when the Federation found the carnivore enclaves harbored there.
Esquo’s Fighters wasn’t a glamorous or wealthy place, under heavy surveillance and with tauyas being the homes many could afford. Still, it’s my home. I’m not ashamed of where I come from, and it’ll be strange to have that all…gone. To either have our own world or be dead.
“Good morning, colonists of Tellus! It’s good to be home.” Hathaway raised a fist with a strained smile, but I could see something resembling panic in his brown eyes: the desperate look of a drowning man, like a Jaslip who’d fallen through the summer ice. “I have some developments to report that will change everything for our people. This can be a new beginning for us, if you’ll allow it. Please, remain calm.”
Cherise’s eyes widened. “Shit, Quana. Is he actually about to say it?”
“It sure sounds like it,” I mumbled. “Or he could mean the babies arrived, and that’s the new beginning. He’s right if he has misgivings about how the Krev will raise them.”
The mayor paused, pressing a hand to his deep brown chin: void of the silvery beard, after the bombing. “I knew from the moment I heard this that I had to tell you. The ship carrying our precious children was attacked and boarded. But hold on! Our enemies are not entirely the Federation species. We noticed a United Nations logo, and found humans—other humans entering our ship. I have made contact with humanity’s homeworld; there are still people that are alive there. Earth did not fall during Kalsim’s attack! Our home survived!”
The visceral reactions throughout the crowd were swift and immediate, before Hathaway had finished his prepared line. There were screams and gasps from the humans, in contrast to a mix of excitement and confusion from the Krev who’d joined the gathering. Cherise swooned, as her legs gave out, and tears poured down her olive cheeks. The Tellus colonists seemed to have a universal display of shock, before a wave of cheers—clapping hands and shouting with joy—overtook the crowd. It took several seconds for my brain to process what I’d heard, rather than look around for any clues on how the fuck to process that news. I knew I should be delighted that the primates hadn’t been massacred, but I didn’t understand how Earth survived. What had the Federation done to them, as the price for their continued existence? Was this news worth celebrating?
The settlers didn’t share the same precautions, with some begging to go home at once. It was bizarre to imagine that the people we’d been fighting were composed of humans all along. Was the war I’d signed up for on their behalf meaningless? Their entire initiative was pointless, as some of the more shrewd primates seemed to realize; why had they ever come to Tellus? If they were all booking it to the spaceport, that meant Cherise would be…gone. The playful sisterhood we shared had warmed me to an alien, for the first time in my life. Humans were the only Consortium species that sympathized with us in this dispute. They understood what it was to suffer mistreatment in a way no other race could. I wondered whether the war against the Feddies would simply cease like that, and perhaps our entire civilization would peel out of hiding—if it was safe for obligate carnivores like us.
Wait…did we become extremists that bombed the Krev capital for nothing? If humans are alive and going home, we’re not getting on an ark; we killed our consciences for absolutely fuck-all! The Jaslips will never outlast this shame, with the Consortium having this narrative. We’ll carry this burden around for the rest of our lives.
“The news is even more triumphant from Earth; they turned some of the Federation species, like the Venlil, to their alliance—called the Sapient Coalition. They won the war with the Federation two decades ago, and eliminated the existential threat we faced! Nobody is coming to wipe us out, my fellow citizens!” Hathaway pronounced, though his excitement seemed forced.
That news sent a freezing current curdling through my veins, and my fur stood upright in a second. Those goofy-ass, newly spacefaring omnivores vanquished the Federation many years ago, and we’d been hiding from an entity that didn’t even exist any longer? The Consortium massacred Esquo for absolutely nothing, and holed us away in enclaves also for nothing! We could still be on our homeworlds today, not facing an exaggerated threat that we clearly could’ve faced. If Earth managed to defeat all of those idiotic species by themselves, why shouldn’t we have tried? We didn’t even look to see what had changed, and that was as foolhardy as could be! This entire war was against a phantom, endangering Jaslips under false pretenses…they kept us down.
I was going to rip them apart, and make them pay for what they’d taken. Where was our independence?! The Krev could never begin to make this right!
Cherise choked on snot, denial in her gaze. “How can that be? We didn’t have any hope. All of them attacking us, and we barely had a few thousand ships to our name…”
“The Federation never would’ve found us. Less than a decade after Esquo, they ceased to fucking exist!” I snarled, adrenaline rushing through my veins; I yearned for a fight. I wanted to get home to Aulan, and embrace that human spirit of burning them all with us. “They can’t even pretend to justify the shit they’ve done to us! I regret nothing we did, Cherise—they deserve worse. Though I imagine you’ll just go home.”
“Q-quana…I don’t know that planet. Earth, I mean. I’ve seen it on postcards and vaults…”
“Then you’ve seen more of Earth than I’ve seen of Esquo. Clearly, things weren’t so bad for humans as you all said!”
“I…two decades. All that time, we’ve been here, licking Krev boot heels…and we’re safe? We hid for nothing? More than we already thought it was for nothing. We were fighting our own people? I don’t…”
“Like you’ll still sympathize with the Jaslip cause, now that you have a perfect homeworld to return home to; you can just leave. The Krev will let their cute darlings leave, alright.”
Hathaway raised his hands, as people rushed up to him shouting questions; Krev journalists scrambled to cover the news. “I know we’ve shed so much blood, sweat, and tears in building our beautiful Tellus. The United Nations has expressed interest in visiting and sending aid, and I, of course, welcome a reunion with home. My hope is to get this world of ours accepted as one of Earth’s official colonies, and to welcome new human citizens from back home! We have walked so they can run. This can have been for something, if we settle the frontier for our people.”
“What if we want to leave?” Cherise shouted.
“That will be your choice! I’m working to get us tapped into their internet, so you can see everything…and communicate with anyone back home. It’ll be like you’re there, without a weeks-long journey. Flights will depart from the spaceport, as soon as I can make arrangements; no one is obliged to stay. Just remember, here, we don’t have rent or to want for anything, though. This entire city was given to us, so I don’t want to squander our Eden. Besides, Earth’s culture has separated vastly from our own; they moved on without us! The same prey aliens that drove us away now mingle freely on Terran soil.”
I bared my fangs, stalking to the front of the crowd. “You have a chance to return to your home—which apparently, was there all along—and what, you’re making this some UN colony? We don’t get a colony, but you do, even though you have a home to go to? Greedy fucking bastards! The Jaslips deserve it much more than you!”
“Jaslips are more than welcome here! I certainly think you should have a colony; you don’t have to hide anymore either. We had nothing to do with the Consortium—”
“That’s why you joined them?! You want to be a UN colony, so what the fuck happens to your Consortium membership?”
“The Krev will certainly, ah, understand that our allegiance is to our people first, and that we thought they were dead when we joined. That doesn’t mean we can’t lead Earth, in its relations with all of the species here—yes, and maintain a close friendship.”
“Why do we want a close friendship if our fucking people are at war with the Krev?” a miner shouted, to immediate looks of horror from the nearby scaly aliens. It was like they’d just watched their children die in front of them, which made my whiskers twitch with amusement. “We should switch sides. Those xenos exploited us for twenty years; we don’t owe them shit! Earth has everything, so why would we stay here: separated from our culture, Mayor, like you pointed out?!”
“Earth is complicated. While they certainly had more luxuries than us, the tables have turned. We can have orbital rings before them, which will be no doubt worth a fortune some day. With this happening in our lifetimes, stake a claim here—we’ll be rich! Or our children can be, when we pass the wealth we suffered for to them! Also, we can protect humanity. We already have a military base, so we’ll expand their influence and, um, we can be a key staging ground to strengthen our species. Nobody can ever threaten us again if we’re spread out, right?”
“If the UN wants to strengthen their influence and keep this shithole, they can manage that themselves. What does fucking riches mean if we never go back and spend it, Mayor?”
“It means this wasn’t for nothing, my dear friend; I want to have something to show for our time here. You and your brothers worked for twenty-three years. All I’m saying is, don’t rush to go back to that life on Earth. Labor laws there aren’t as cushy as you remember. We can wait for the UN to show up and make proper allocations for us…and make sure they won’t punish us.”
“Punish us?” Cherise blinked in shock, as I glared at her: why was she acting like this was bad news for her?! Humans couldn’t always play the victim. “What do you mean?”
“I mean we must show we’re on their side…prove our loyalty and worth. They are coming to see how we live, and they can suggest what to do to have a smooth transition. We’re in this together. Even if you’re leaving, you don’t want to leave the ones in your Tellus family, who’ll choose to stay, high and dry. Just think this through, and keep this neat and orderly. It’ll only be a week until UN officials arrive from the Paltan base; I arranged this for you and for us! Real humans from a living Earth, here before us: a sight to see! I’ll be here to welcome them even if I’m alone, because we must apologize for what we’ve done. Properly.”
There were a few moments of hesitation and uncertain murmurs, before clapping spread. The Krev gawked at the happy expressions among the crowd, though I could see they were unsettled hearing that their organization’s purpose was false—and it was good that they were disquieted! They were likely more upset about fighting the cute humans than killing Jaslips for nothing. The only thing the primates had been useful for was getting them to not scrutinize my actions. The Tellish were going to become like everyone else, now that they realized we weren’t kindred spirits at all; their mayor just said he wanted to buddy up with those obor-loving Krev freaks! Mammals with scales, and anyone wanted to be their friend? There was no sign of the riot Cherise had promised, even though the facts of the war cover-up hadn’t changed.
A friend, my supposed best friend, would be livid for me. She didn’t ask if I was okay; she only asked about wanting to leave—leave all her troubles behind! Self-serving…I’m going to take as many of the Consortium’s people down with me as I can. Whatever Aulan asks. Anything!
“We could weep for what this cost us in the past, but instead, we must exalt the glamor in our present and future. Let us celebrate, my friends! Let us celebrate our complete freedom and control over our destiny, the peace and prosperity that our people have achieved, and the glory of humanity that we will be a part of. Have you not seen how mighty the UN’s fleet was in battle? Yesterday, we ruled Tellus; today, we rule the galaxy!” Hathaway cheered.
I pinned my ears back, slinking out of the square with disgust. “And we—we don’t even rule ourselves. I guess that’s why humans are coming here: to lord over us. Fat chance. I’ll have my liberation or I’ll have my death.”
“Quana!” Cherise shouted. “Wait up! I need to talk to you.”
“I don’t care what you need.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? I know where you’re going. I wanted to come with you, to make sure Jaslips don’t get shafted in this all. I want to know the truth, because I trust you and Aulan more than the fucking mayor. Am I not good enough for you, now that my species is apparently alive?! What a crime. This is hitting me like a fucking tsunami, but you can’t even think about anyone but yourself.”
I whipped around, biting her sleeve—ripping off a piece of fabric in warning. “How dare you?!”
“I’m not wrong!”
“I joined the military to help humans; I felt sorry for you.”
“Why the fuck do you think I joined up with Aulan? I risked everything, before I knew about the ships losing; only knowing what Mafani said about those kits. And you what—think I didn’t care about you?”
“Of course you don’t; nobody fucking does!”
I stared directly into Cherise’s binocular eyes, feeling my claws curl against the pavement with rage; her cheeks were tear-streaked, and though she held my gaze, I could see her lip wobbling. My anger fizzled for a half-second, with the memories of our playful banter in boot camp coming back. The friendship had grown into sharing our deepest secrets, and selling our souls together; as angry as I was at humanity for their good fortune, Benson had been with me unconditionally. My wrathfulness toward the human was isolating her from the only person she felt she could talk to, after what we’d done with the bombs on Avor. I was too livid to put myself in her paws now, or even to ask about her feelings, but I’d be stupid to turn away someone willing to help the cause. A primate face had a much easier time slipping through Krev security, after all.
With a growl of frustration, I beckoned Cherise with a tail frond; she could follow me, if that was still her wish. It was time for me to go home, and join whatever chaos was unfolding as the news reached our species. The Jaslips wouldn’t be fighting for an ark to save us from the Federation anymore; this time, it would be about unequivocal independence from the Consortium that had oppressed us for so long.
A/N - 71! The news of Earth’s survival is unveiled on Tellus, which earns the colonists’ elation; however, with the promises of riches, warnings about home, and reminders of what they suffered, Hathaway tries to persuade them to stay and become a UN colony. Quana is incensed by all of this, and believes that humans will forsake her. Realizing the Jaslips suffered for nothing, she vows vengeance and demands independence.
What do you think of Hathaway’s announcement and plans? What do you expect the Tellish to do? How do you feel about Quana’s anger, and whether it might settle?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
PhycoKrusk
@Lvm The last point I'll add about Quana is the she doesn't just feel angry about the circumstances; she believes that she is being abandoned. She felt like Jaslips and Humans generally - and herself and Cherise in particular - were two peas in a pod. They would be best friends considering their circumstances. And then suddenly, Humans learn they get to pretend nothing happened. Whether real or perceived, she feels abandoned and like Humans (and Cherise) broke their promises. She might change her mind once she calms down, but in the moment, she isn't acting rationally.
PhycoKrusk
His goal here is building up Tellus so it can function as a staging ground and FOB for when the UN invades and conquers the Consortium. Think about it; for the UN being an organization that's starting to struggle to keep itself together, never mind keep the Coalition together, Hathaway talks a surprising amount about how Humanity "rules the galaxy." He's either plotting something, or has completely misapprehended the relationship of the UN to the rest of Orion-Cygnus.
Jhon Bustamante
los jaslip estan en muy mala posicion han sufrido mucho es de entender por que se sienten solos
Jhon Bustamante
violencia depredadora
Neu5Ac
Normally, I would be critical of everyone being so willing to eat Hathaway's bullshit, but this time it makes sense. They're probably so dumbstruck by the fact that Earth lives: even though he's trying to compel them to hang around as stepford smilers so he can maintain his power, they just lack the energy to climb on stage and rip him to shreds.
REDemon14
One billion didn't want to leave, but a good amount (around 4-6 hundred million) were forced off world. The rest were bombed during hibernation
DemonVee
“One billion stragglers that didn’t want to leave Esquo, but you know, the Krev saved us. Why are we so dramatic, right, Taylor? Those are amateur numbers. It’s actually okay, because 70% of us ended up on Omnol alive!” – Quanna
Alicja
Quana! Stop trying to bomb things it’s not nice 😡
EliasArt2Life
Well, Quana has snapped. This is quickly turning into Slanek 2.0, so I may be tuning her chapters out if she doesn’t get better. “Humans couldn’t always play the victim.” Excuse me? You’ve been playing the victim just as much. You’re doing it now; getting angry at humanity for abandoning the Jaslips, without waiting to see if they’re even going to. I mean, I get it’s hard to think clearly when hit by a pile driver like that, and she DOES have reason to be angry, but this is a little too much. She’s lashing out without checking to see if she might hurt someone who was trying to help her. I also don’t like how this is making her treat Cherise; right now Cherise is just about the only person who can pull Quana out of her downward spiral, and Quana looks like she intends to threaten to end their friendship unless Cherise goes along with her 100%. If this turns into a personal level version of the way other species have been treating humanity in this series… Hathaway DEFINITELY has an agenda. His reason for why people should stay didn’t sound persuasive at all. Build up Tellus so that the UN is convinced that you’re on their side? How does THAT prove your allegiance? How does that prove anything more than immediately dropping everything to go back to Earth and begging for forgiveness? What’s Hathaway’s goal here?
Some Lvm
I don't know... I do agree with your second paragraph and down, but I am really not sure about the first: The Tellus colonists really didn't have any luxuries until the Taylor / Gress incident, and while they have gotten some freebies from the Consortium once humanity was revealed, did Hathaway really get anything on a personal level he can't just keep by him self? My impression of him was that he was a completely incompetent though manipulative low grade politician who became a big fish in a small pond due to circumstances. I figured if he could get the colonists off his back and go live peacefully with what he got, he would, but I guess I was wrong... As for Quana, I think most if not all SP's characters are comprehensible, that is what makes his stories so compelling (at least to me), but understanding someone's motivations and having them being logical withing the context of the story, and sympathizing with that character are two different things. With NoP being all about how predators are not the real predators, Jaslips in general and Quana in particular seem to be a "counter point": violent and volatile, lashing out against people because of their racial association, not what they actually done. I get it: your life sucks, and you just found out it was all for nothing, but there is still a spectrum between "Oh well, lets make the best of it" and "lets murder anyone with scales".
Daru Arura
Having a role in a genocide does not leave you with clean hands.
Jhon Bustamante
entiendo el sentimiento de los jaslip su planeta fue destruido por nada y estan fuertemente reprimidos seguramente en su estado acepten unirse a los arxur y cometan ina locura
PhycoKrusk
It isn't that he likes power; he is surprisingly more complex than that. No, what he likes is _privilege._ He likes to have unlimited access to nice things; he likes to eat lavish meals and go on extravagant vacations; he likes it when people look at him and see a high roller. Power is just the easiest way for him to obtain those things, because if you want them and you have no power? You have to work for them, and you have to work hard. Hathaway has spent at least the last 23 years pawning off his work onto other people, then taking credit for the results. The man is a blister; he only shows up once the job's done, and then makes sure you never forget about him. Quana, while still a terrorist, is a comprehensible terrorist: She was born onto a planet that was not hers, has been mistreated and denigrated all her life even though she hasn't done anything wrong, and then when she finally meets somebody just like her who understands, Cherise gets a planet, a free end to any mistreatment, and the opportunity to pretend like it was all just a bad dream. She believes the universe is actively unfair to her specifically (evidence by everybody getting a happy ending except for her), so she's decided that since she can't do anything right, she may as well do everything wrong. Childish, sure, but consider the fact that until she met Cherise, she spent her entire life surrounded by psychopaths who only ever saw her as either a tool or an obstacle, and it's no wonder she never developed any real maturity.
Roscuro
Love that everyone realizing a lot of what they've been doing is meaningless eventually leads to the realization that war as a whole is meaningless.
Wholesome Redditter
That would be an improvement
Space Paladin
Hathaway could never admit that he presided over wrongdoings. The UN might punish him!
Jon Arbuckle
Or a passenger.
Gumcel
I don’t think it’s ever stated that they’re desert dwelling either.
Gumcel
Jaslips lost 300 million, not a billion.
Gumcel
He is the leader of a rapidly growing state, if everyone leaves he loses everything.
Gumcel
“I was too livid to put myself in her paws now, or even to ask about her feelings, but I’d be stupid to turn away someone willing to help the cause. A primate face had a much easier time slipping through Krev security, after all.” Oof, you can somewhat justify Quana’s shitty behaviour because she’s overwhelmed by the news, but ending with the conclusion that she shouldn’t alienate Cherish because she’s useful? Genuinely unlikeable moment for her. Also lol at: “Whatever Aulan asks. Anything!” If Aulan’s not a villain after all of this I’ll make krev document part 2 (for real this time).
Some Lvm
I knew it! From the very first lines describing Quana I smelled the terrorist on her! I was sure Mafani wasn't riding her for no reason, even if he was a bully. Although, I thought the gang would stop her before she got to the worst part of it. Instead - two got completely sidelined, and Cherise turned out to be a complete psycho... I can only hope she and her bestie slip and fall on some bullets soon... As for Hathaway, his speech is... A jumbled mess would be a kind way to describe it. Why is he so intent on keeping the settlers on Tellus? Is he so power hungry, he wants to hold on to his position as mayor at all costs? Does he think they will tolerate him now that they don't have to? That the UN will just leave him in charge? And did he seriously threatened miners with UN labor laws, after being a slave driver for 23 years???
Some Lvm
Honestly - I would have a hard time distinguishing the real Hathaway and GPT hallucination...
Anthony Mears
you thinking an android body with a Hathaway imprinted personality?
Anthony Mears
both sides do but that doesn't mean it's common knowledge
Anthony Mears
I imagine a brick would be stoic and stable, sodium in water on the other hand...
Jon Arbuckle
I don't think that's Hathaway.
Michael Halpern
The boarding party knew
PhycoKrusk
The main questions I would have for Hathaway would be; "Who is 'we'?" and; "What do you mean by 'rule'?" Because one glance at Orion makes it clear that there ain't no "we", and that the only things getting ruled are Jack and shit, and Jack shuffled off to Perseus a week ago.
PhycoKrusk
I didn't think anyone in the UN does.
PhycoKrusk
Cherise may not be at fault, but she _is_ in range.
PhycoKrusk
Who knows? There's a lot of important information that is apparently not being shared when it should be. For example, I'm not 100% sure that the wider Coalition actually even knows that Tellus is the Sivkits origin world.
DDDragoni
Hathaway's here desperately trying to spin this as an unequivocal win- I notice a conspicuous lack of acknowledgement that they killed innocents for nothing
DDDragoni
Quana doesn't know that, though- Hathaway just said "Earth survived!" Without mentioning how close it was. It's reasonable to assume it was untouched
DreamEnvoy
The break won't happen until after Chapter 72, so we have one more.
DreamEnvoy
"Wait…did we become extremists that bombed the Krev capital for nothing?" Yes. "The Consortium massacred Esquo for absolutely nothing, and holed us away in enclaves also for nothing!" Also yes. "I regret nothing we did, Cherise—they deserve worse." No, idiot. Trying to use this as a poor justification of your actions. Pouting over Cherise "going home". 3 POV chapters was all it took for me to come around to hate Quana. And the more I read, the more I dispise. It's impressive, given I'm usually biased in favor of anything fox-resembling. "Am I not good enough for you, now that my species is apparently alive?! What a crime. This is hitting me like a fucking tsunami, but you can’t even think about anyone but yourself.” Yeah, the sums Quana up quite nicely. "My hope is to get this world of ours accepted as one of Earth’s official colonies." I think the Sivkits might have something to say to that.
DemonVee
I'd say Tassi since they need someone in contact with the Sivcits
Elliott
I meant turncoat to the Krev, you can't just pledge your loyalty to someone have them fully uplift and pamper and defend you, and then go and say "nah I wanna leave and help the enemy we've been fighting". Personally if I was Meier I'd consider Krev membership into the SC before a Tellus human after that.
Swan
I'm curious who the UN are gonna send, and if we'll get their POV at some point, seeing their first couple days in KC space would likely be intressting (I don't think it'd be Meier, as he's got a lot of other shit on his plate atm, I guess you could use Dustin and Tassi? though the latter is on leave...)
DrewTheHobo
Wow Quana. Why does everybody have their head so far up their own ass all they ever thing and talk is shit? Bummer Hathaway lived though, some people just need to stay dead. Also did he know about the Jaslip babies? Dude didn’t prepare one iota for this important speech (but who’s surprised, he cant even be a human being).
Gavin Pierce
I think they set it up that Earth wasn’t even made aware what direction the arks were going(like everything was compartmentalized to each specific ark ship) even with their tech trying to find 1 ship or 1 planet if they landed in the entire galaxy is a hard task
Wingit98
You can see what Hathaway is really concerned about. He doesn't want people leaving. He likes being in charge, even referring to it as "ruling". But he doesn't want to rule over an empty city. I imagine he's going to try to keep people tied up on Tellus. And yes, Quana should be angry, but she's pointing that anger at entirely the wrong people. Cheries did nothing wrong, at least in this instance. And humanity as a whole did nothing wrong except not try to catch up with the Arks. The Consortium should let the Jaslips go without a fight. I know they won't, but they don't even like them anyway.
Aerowarrier
Even then, we haven’t heard anything about them even looking for the Ark ships. I’d have chalked it up to everyone who knew had died in the bombings, but multiple people on them had family members left behind, and it seemed like they were pretty well televised based on what the guy from the other miniseries said about getting onto the ship. So maybe we just haven’t seen any of the search for the ark ships, but it really seems like humanity just forgot they sent thousands of people out into the stars on the assumption Earth was a goner. And I don’t think there’s been any lines about the other ark ships at all, so I doubt this will be the first time some other alien force comes knocking for vengeance against a genocidal government they’re told wiped out at least one entire species by the supposed only survivors. Maybe the Farsul extremists got one, but there’s still another
Aerowarrier
Oh I missed that. They hate cold climates enough I just assumed :p
AnAbsoluteVillain
Why would he see a jail cell? His hands are clean.
Swan
Those UN diplomats are in for one hell of a ride; I get the feeling everything will already be chaos by the time they come in to clear up Hathaway's lies
AnAbsoluteVillain
I like Hathaway. Man has a vision. Priorities even. Nevermind the babies, were rich!
Michael Halpern
Hathaway doesn't know about the Skivits does he?
Alekss Žukovskis
SP said arxur are warmblooded
Bbobsillypants
The birds have had it to easy for too long. The tole must be paid.
REDemon14
I'm not meaning to compare, must want to point out that humans did indeed suffer. Quana seems to be going to the headspace that they didn't.
Byron Ritchie
Ok Hathaway is definitely going to be the main villain of the series or at least a major one
Byron Ritchie
It’s nop there is always eminent bird death! Unfortunately 😢… (I’m a huge bird lover)
DemonVee
Jaslips lost a billion too, unless it's viewed through a relevatistic lenses, their tragidies were on the same scale. It would be interesting tomsee how the jaslips react.
James
To be fair, the point of the Ark ships was that they couldn't be found. They were trying to save the species so the 3 ark ships did random jumps dozens of times for months. Trying to find ark ships that consisted of a few thousand peoples somewhere in the galaxy would have been a monumental task that could take hundreds of years. NOP doesn't span the entire galaxy, it's just a small section of the galaxy and it still takes a month of FTL travel to go across it.
James
That's no different then how people are today.....
Bbobsillypants
I sense eminent bird death
REDemon14
Hathaway, you absolute miserable bent of a bitch! The UN wants PEACE and you're here talking about RICHES? His spin on the situation is perhaps one of, if not THE, biggest complication on the KC side for the UN and I hope under Meier it sets him straight. The human yelling "We should switch sides", you motherfucker! The war is OVER. There are no sides anymore! Quana saying humanity can always make themselves or to be the victims is so ironic and hypocritical. "It's always about them!" She says as she makes it about herself. I wonder if her thoughts will change after she learns that humanity wanted to bring her people back as others protested, or that humanity tries to fix planets, or that humanity still lost a BILLION people. The Jaslips lost hundreds of millions in the Esquo bombing. If other jaslips feel the same as Quana, they are going to throw away the best chance to peacefully acquired independence; Humanity.
Daru Arura
Hathaway showing his true character speaking about Ruling the galaxy when he's going to be lucky to see beyond a cell if any kind of justice gets served.
Waffle man
Why does everyone in this story have the emotional maturity of a brick? IT really seems that way lately.
Anthony Mears
opening chapter of our villian narrative
Sci-fi reader
Free Mars! Ah, I mean … Free Jaslips!
Aerowarrier
Don’t worry Quana, Kaisal is gonna send as much of his fleet as he can spare to help you resettle your home after tearing the Consortium apart piece by piece. This is where we find out whether Aulan and the rest of the rebel higher ups are actually Jaslip extremists, or if they’re really working for the Underscales to further the narrative of Jaslips being dangerous and needing to be monitored. I could see it going either way, but he just knows too much. Course he could be getting info from Gress’ old contact, she seemed open to that sort of thing after the mess that was his last few cases
Aerowarrier
I mean saying they’re turncoats who stole a planet is a bit harsh. The UN sent them there themselves and then completely forgot about them, never sending an all clear message, and that planet has by all accounts been uninhabited for centuries. Also Hathaway is not the one to blame for that war starting. He may have been telling them to fire, but realistically his word meant very little considering he had just been made a member of the council like a month prior
Aerowarrier
I can’t wait to see the Arxur get into contact with Esquo’s Fighters. That’s gonna be a fun interaction. It’s also funny that all three of the obligate carnivore species are so vastly different in makeup. You’ve got the cold blooded, desert dwelling Arxur, the warm blooded, arctic roaming Jaslips, and the semi-aquatic, seafaring Bissem.
DemonVee
Think there will be one more before the break
Juan Daniel
I wonder how Quana and the rest of the Jaslips will react when they learn about the Jaslip breeding program and how Earth and humans are trying to rebuild their homeworld. Will they want to join the Species Coalition?
Mark Baculna
Nooo
Mark Baculna
2nd
Elliott
Jesus, you think the UN would want a bunch of turncoats who stole a planet and started the war by killing civilians? "Yeah the people who were just given giant rings and unlimited military protection who started the war by killing civilians, yeah let's let them back into Earth and keep Tellus as a colony!" Hathaway LIVE Execution 4K lethal injection memory transcript NOW.
Anthony Mears
what's more, they don't know about the UN Jaslip breeding program yet. that would have changed this reaction.
Conner Deese
Quana you empathy less moron, Hathaway you ever slimy politician both of you can go to hell, Clarisse get some therapy you have a lot to unpack
AlphaAllNight Gaming
Finally! Cherise and Quana are finally realizing that they suck an unholy amount of ass.
Fabian Feller
2nd hoo boy
Anthony Mears
1st I thought there wouldn't be a chapter today
