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The Nature of Predators 2-66
🕑 Added 2024-08-22 11:00:09 +0000 UTCMemory Transcription Subject: Taylor Trench, Human Colonist
Date [standardized human time]: December 22, 2160
Chills ran down my spine, just letting my mind run loose with the possibility that there were other survivors; there was no reasonable doubt that the war was a mistake, a senseless conflict, if humanity was on the other side too. We’d had zero chance of survival at the Battle of Earth, yet here they were: a Krakotl standing alongside a Terran, both sporting the garb of the United Nations. With all of the grief I’d felt for my homeworld, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were so many questions I wanted to enunciate, but a blankness filled me. All of the fight and adrenaline left my body in a single breath. I didn’t bother to rise from my knees, while the soldiers surrounded me. The aliens didn’t seem afraid of my predator eyes at all, even when they drew close; I thought they’d never let go of that phobia.
“The people we’ve been fighting the whole time are humans. Aw, dammit all,” Arjun grumbled.
I can agree with that. What does this even mean for me? I’ve wasted my life, and what do I do now: go home? Leave what we just built…and Gress…
Tears rolled down my cheeks, burning like acid. “Did Earth survive?”
“Yes. Give me that.” Arjun’s hand curled around the grenade, as my fingers slipped off of it. He reinserted the pin, but squeezed the lever nonetheless and dropped it into some sort of explosive container. “Cuff him. Someone check the bodies, see if any are alive. Name and rank?”
“Taylor Trench…Tellus militia.” I curled my lip at the stupid blue bird, as she chained my wrists together. “D-don’t have a rank since I left the…proper military.”
“Okay. Are we getting this sent back to the SC, Cala? They need to see this.”
The Krakotl nodded. “We are.”
“Good. I have a solid guess who Trench is, and we’ll check our records of who left there, but I want to hear him say it. How and when did you end up off of Earth?”
“October 2136, sir,” I stammered, feeling shock and rage at the cosmic irony of this all. “Before the attack. Ark Ship 3.”
“Okay. How the fuck did a few thousand humans starting from nothing get a fleet like this?”
“We…met t-the Krev. Other aliens. They have…wait.” A lightbulb flickered on in my brain, as I remember my fears about the aliens changing us into something unrecognizable. “Fucking prove that the Federation didn’t change you, like they did to the Sivkits. They’d never abide us being predators.”
“Back up. We ask the questions first,” Cala cawed, in a voice that stirred my intrinsic hatred for her kind. “You know about the Sivkits?”
“You know what was done to the Sivkits?! The Federation hid it all, and destroyed their homeworld.”
“We know everything the Farsul did. We found their record-keeping, but how could you know that, if you’re saying you didn’t even know Earth survived?”
“We f-found Sivkit bunkers. We only very recently realized we, um, settled their homeworld. Your turn. Prove they didn’t fucking change you! I won’t help those Federation pricks.”
Arjun picked up a stick of our beef jerky from the counter, unpeeled it, and bit down hard, staring at me as he chewed. He arched an eyebrow, as if asking whether I was satisfied; the herbivore squadmates didn’t flinch or act horrified at all, despite how monstrous they’d once made our diet out to be. The truly jaw-dropping moment was when the Krakotl snatched the rest from his grip, and shoved it down her beak. Since when did those extermination-happy birds who hated us for our culinary tastes consume predator food as well? I didn’t know what kind of Feddie Cala was, but I couldn’t deny that none of these prey animals acted like they were zombified by the founders. It seemed as if my species had emboldened them, and made them into actual people somehow, as opposed to the feckless cowards they’d been before.
How could we have convinced them to accept us? I still don’t know what the fuck happened, but…heavens, I hated them all so much. We thought aliens would never give us a chance, hid our faces, and all this time, it sounds like these people were living their lives! Normal and…happy! Why did I deserve to be excluded from that?
Arjun snapped his fingers, as I hung my head and wept with uncontrollable self-pity. “We’re not done with you. Do you have any idea the resources we’ve had to pull because of what you did? The clusterfuck that we’ll face when our allies find out it was humans launching a massive attack?”
“I’m sorry,” I gasped out. Allies. We have actual allies. “I—we—didn’t know. We were scared, and we didn’t want anyone to find us. They’d finish the job! You have to understand.”
“Tell me who the Krev are, and what that has to do with getting the ships like I asked you.”
“Green scaly mammals who think humans are…adorable, because they keep primates for pets?”
Arjun’s face was priceless. “I’m sorry, what?!”
“Yeah, the Feds killing humans was like someone gassing puppies. The Krev were upset. They have, uh, lots of ships and some allies. They heard the Federation’s broadcasts a century ago and tried to keep away from them, avoiding detection up until they met us. Their whole society was built on hiding from those monsters. It’s a long story, but they wanted to protect us and eliminate the Feds.”
“Okay, well there’s no sign of these aliens tagging along; I see only humans here. Is there anyone else on this ship?”
“Yes. The c-captain—”
“She just surrendered to our people. It seems she had a change of heart when she saw Arjun through some helmet camera,” Cala interrupted.
“Okay. And there’s…Gress. He’s a Krev; promise you won’t hurt him. I don’t care what you do to me.”
“As long as he doesn’t shoot at us, sure.”
“Y-yeah. Right. I threw him behind this bulkhead to save him. Let me signal to him?”
Arjun turned me around, holding onto my elbow. “Be my guest.”
I peered through the cylinder peephole, enough to see a despondent Gress curled into a ball. He thought I was dead, didn’t he? The Krev should’ve gone to hide, but it seemed as if his will had been sucked out of him. I related to the feeling, especially since he was the only reason I wasn’t totally breaking down. The United Nations’ soldier buddies were ready to lift their guns at a moment’s notice, so I knew I couldn’t have Gress appear threatening. He would surrender just like I had when he learned the truth; I imagined he’d be horrified to learn that the Consortium had been fighting the hairless primates. Right now, I had no idea what to feel either, but the realization that everything we’d done for the past few decades was useless: that would kick the scaly aliens in the groin too.
Shit, they’re already moving in to cut the electrical wiring beside the bulkhead. I have to ensure Gress doesn’t do anything stupid, like he did with Mafani.
I tapped the glass, and noticed a manic Gress swivel his handgun toward me like lightning; his eyes were wild and erratic. The Krev withdrew when he saw me, unmasked; he was shaking with relief that I was alive. Hindered by handcuffs, I tried to gesture to lower his gun, wishing he could hear words through the soundproof barrier. He looked confused at my sudden change of heart to surrender, and seemed to cue in on my distraught, barely-holding-myself together look. The grimace on his face was a skeptical one, as he tried to ask silent questions that I couldn’t explain without him seeing for himself. I did my best pleading expression, out of desperation. Gress couldn’t resist melty human eyes, so that might disarm him. The bulkhead began to unfurl, and I took the opportunity to shout at him.
“They are human! Stand down,” I barked in a hoarse voice.
The Krev’s nose wrinkled with further distrust, but the gun clattered reluctantly to the ground. His face took on an expression of shock as he saw Arjun herding me, along with a xeno contingent. The soldiers shouted at my beloved alien, who had turned his searching gaze toward me. I gave him a helpless shrug, asking all of the same questions with my erratic pupil movements. We’d shared the false belief of humanity’s extinction, and I wasn’t sure what this meant for our future. How did a society move on from structuring their entire existence around an erroneous idea? The Consortium’s entire policy had centered around hiding from the Federation, yet somehow, my own species had evaded their conversion process.
“No!” Gress whimpered, looking queasy and devastated at the mutilated corpses of the humans we’d been laughing with before all of this. I couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty not to be lying with them, after how much I’d ruined in this war; it should be me, executed for my wrongdoings. “I don’t want to see injuries like this. It’s…like the kits. So much blood. I don’t want to see it!”
“Look away, Gress.” I bit my cheek, forcing myself not to spiral into self-hatred at this moment. It would’ve hurt the Krev if I died; I’d seen how hopelessly he sobbed, and that wasn’t what I wanted for him. “We can’t do anything for them. We just have to figure out what’s going on. Stay strong, for our people.”
I didn’t know if it was too late to make peace, but the only thing keeping me sane was the idea I could try to make this right—allaying my mistakes. Had we crossed a line too great to forgive in attacking the Sivkits? After hearing about everything that was done to the Sivkit species, it was comforting to hear that Arjun was aware of the Federation’s crimes; their ideology was more hideous than even what we knew of when we left Earth. Given that the United Nations had acquired the Farsul’s records, they likely had accrued a lot more dirt on those bastards than we did. Maybe the preyfolk had broken free of what they were turned into. We could’ve known this much sooner if we accepted the hail, during that first incursion into our system.
Earth lives. None of us dared to dream or hope that. How much we must’ve missed out on, being able to extend our hands in true friendship.
“Are you with the Federation?” Gress blurted, as Arjun cuffed the dazed Krev.
The translator must’ve interfaced with my own, because the human seemed to understand. “No. The Federation collapsed twenty-three years ago, after losing the war to us. Humanity took over as one of the most politically and militarily powerful entities, ruling a new body called the Sapient Coalition.”
“You defeated the Federation? How?! You, the puffy-faced, adorable primate people…”
Cala trilled with laughter. “He thinks you’re adorable, Arjun. They talk about you like the internet talks about kittens. Who’s a cute little monke—”
“No. Shut up,” Arjun hissed, an unamused scowl on his face. “Is this how Krev handle all diplomatic first contacts?”
“Sorry. I’m not a diplomat. Just a professional human enjoyer, and uh…I thought of you as precious and lovable lifeforms that need protecting. But it’s true, you were only a new species. I can’t believe that we spent a hundred fucking years hiding from and preparing to face them, and you beat them as a new species inside a year. That’s just…pathetic of us, if we could’ve taken them. How the fuck did you manage it?”
“We gathered enough allies to defeat them, not just by convincing the galaxy that we were a good people, but also by exposing their lies and genoc—”
“Allies. The Arxur? Is that why they worked with you at Talsk; those monsters saved Earth?” I shrieked.
Cala tilted her head. “You drew the right conclusion, somehow, but your reasoning is off. Earth did survive because the Arxur came to bail out their fellow predators. They helped now, against you at Talsk, because they supplanted their government, after it came out Betterment colluded with the Feddies to starve them.”
“The grays got put in isolation by the SC for their crimes, but they grow…impatient,” Arjun sighed. “Their new leadership thought they could prove to us that they’re reformed by saving the Farsul. There’s a whole eugenics thing they did on their own people, but the Arxur weren’t always cartoonish monsters. Jury’s still out on whether they can be allowed into normal society.”
“You’re asking whether the people-eating monsters can be…that’s absurd!” Gress spat, staring at his claws the way he did during his worst flashbacks. “None of the enemies we thought we were fighting even exist anymore. You fixed it, and we…”
Cala parted her beak. “It’s not too late to seek peace. There have to be consequences for attacking civilians, but there doesn’t have to be any more bloodshed. There’s no reason for our sides to fight a war of extinction, and this at least gives an explanation for what you did. I’d know a thing or two about mitigating circumstances. You can help yourselves by helping us.”
“That’s right,” Arjun interjected, ambling up to the cargo elevator. “So keep talking. What are you transporting?”
“C-children,” I managed, which caused a darkness to flash across the human’s face.
“You’re fucking traffickers?!” His hands tightened around my vest, pushing me into the elevator with a newfound rage.
“What? No! I would never.” I shifted so my shoulder was touching Gress, as a squad of soldiers loaded into the lift. The platform began to lower before I could think how to explain our mission. “You know how we thought we were, um, a near-extinct species?”
Arjun bared his teeth, as the elevator lowered down into the cargo bay. “Get to the point.”
“We might’ve had the Krev and their allies grow millions of human babies in artificial wombs to replenish our numbers, and might’ve promised to let some xeno friends raise them for us?”
“Might?” Cala echoed.
“…yeah. About that.”
I stared with waiting eyes in the general direction, since the sight of our cargo would speak for itself. A stupefied Arjun, along with the rest of the Peacekeeper squad, gawked as the platform landed. His hands relinquished their death grip on my vest, instead flying to his head in horror. Covering the entire area from wall-to-wall were ectogenesis pods with human babies inside, who were due to be delivered to alien families on Tellus. While I’d thought repopulating our species was wonderful mere hours ago, now I wasn’t sure what would become of them. Would we leave them here with their alien adoptive families, since the rest of humanity was far away? Should the ark colonists also leave Tellus abandoned, regardless of what the Krev had done to build it up? I didn’t know if I could just go home, after living on this world for so long…
What even am I? An angry man who felt cheated out of a happy existence, and deluded himself into thinking he was protecting his species and the people he cares about. Arjun thinks this is stupid and inconvenient, like everything we did. We’re a loose end.
“Call the UN!” Arjun shook his head, unable to deal with what he was seeing. “This is…not what we expected at all.”
Cala fluttered her wings. “It’s being streamed back to the SC live. They’re seeing what we see.”
“Get someone on the line. They have a truckload of human babies; what do you even do with that?! We need the brass to tell us what the fuck to do about this, now.”
“Let’s keep our cools. They’ll be in touch when they make a decision, and there’s no need to rattle their cage. For now, we follow our orders. Take these two in, and secure this vessel.”
“We should contact our government first! Fix our comms, and let the captain send just a short video message,” Gress pleaded. “They need to know they’re fighting humans, because they don’t want to war with you. If we don’t contact them, they’ll send ships looking for us in a few hours.”
Arjun scoffed. “Not so fast. We’ve tried to talk to you for months! You wouldn’t pick up the phone. I don’t trust your government one bit, because I don’t know a thing about them.”
“Our government does suck, and some people are really gonna think they suck extra now, but they definitely don’t want to fight humans. The Consortium has tried to help rebuild the little they thought you have.”
“I don’t know who we’re dealing with, and what they’re capable of. We found a world that appeared to be orbitally bombarded, killing civilians and wiping out an entire civilization. It was staged to look like they killed themselves.” He turned a holopad around, showing us an image taken of sapient skeletal remains. “Do you happen to know anything about this species?”
I squinted at a decaying canid skull shape, with the unmistakable three tails. “Oh, the Jaslips? The Esquo Massacre?”
Gress winced. “Yeah, they’re not dead. They were just…moved, for being too close to the Federation as, uh, carnivores. The Consortium thought it was necessary to relocate them before they were discovered, and not all of them went before…well, you saw. A morally questionable decision that Jaslips don’t all like, and that I personally don’t like, but they’re very much alive.”
“Yeah. We served with a Jaslip named Quana. She doesn’t like the Krev or the Reskets—the nine-foot-tall birds that run the Consortium military, because of course they do.”
“These Reskets are the ones who attacked us?” Cala cued in on this side tangent, as Arjun had returned to staring with abject horror.
“Not fair to pin it on them. The Reskets have the top commanders and made the plans, but the whole Consortium authorized it. It was supposed to be a decapitation strike on the Federation.”
“We figured out that much. I can’t say I’d cry any tears for Nishtal, but trust me, the Krakotl have been kicked down enough.”
Gress’ thin tongue flitted out of his mouth. “Your people attacked Taylor. He fled his home when he was nine years old, and that’s all you have to say?! That the Krakotl—not humanity—have been kicked down enough?”
The blue avian sighed. “I am sorry. And I’m happy that, though the Terrans got knocked down, they picked themselves back up: stronger. There’s things I’ll tell you about my, um, people’s part in that, but not now. I’m sure this is all a shock, but you should be very proud of what humanity overcame. My opinion is that you should be allowed to tell your settlers that much. That’s reason to hope, and to believe we can all move past this.”
“Move past this? This is a fiasco of epic proportions. After all that work to save the Osirs, it was for what?” Arjun huffed.
“Osirs?” I echoed.
“When we found that dead Jaslip world, let’s say we…might have tried to resurrect millions of them with artificial births as well.”
Gress blinked in shock, like a glass of water had been thrown in his face. “You what?! There’s millions of babies on both sides—”
“Of species that aren’t actually staring down extinction,” I finished, numbly pronouncing the words without comprehending them.
Arjun issued a flustered breath. “Yep. God knows what happens to them now. Who knows what happens to any of us now? Humans launching a revenge attack for Earth is going to burn some goodwill with those who see it as ruthless vengeance—”
“—and humans defeating the Federation twenty-three years ago, as a novel species, will make the Jaslips want to torch the Consortium. Though I’d be a lot less sad to see them do it than I think you’d feel over your government being taken down,” Gress growled.
“What a mess. Taylor, if you really want to help sort any of this out, you’re going to walk quietly back to the ship and state your agreement to a memory scan. We want to know everything you’ve done and know, and it’s hard to explain how the device mind reads, but this technology lets us see what’s in your head.”
I nodded. “The Consortium does brain scans. I understand. Gress and I will cooperate however we can. Trust me, this isn’t what we thought we were fighting for. He knows a lot, and you can see how much he cares for us.”
“We don’t have the neural data to interpret Gress’ scans, but obviously we are quite familiar with the human mind. I guess the one silver lining is our brain scans will work right away; we can have all of the answers today. I hope that’ll put this ridiculous war to bed.”
“I do too. I just want to…exist.”
After being reunited with my people, who were the very enemy we’d been trying to destroy in a war, I wasn’t sure what it meant to be loyal to humanity anymore. Nothing was certain for the Krev Consortium going forward, and I had to find a way to cope with the bedrock of my life going up in smoke. Maybe being a prisoner of war was exactly where I deserved to be.
A/N - 66! Taylor explains who the Krev Consortium are and why they’re attacking, while despairing that his suffering was for nothing and everything they believed was a lie; he does manage to get Gress to stand down. Gress is relieved that Taylor is alive, but flabbergasted that humans, despite being new to the galaxy, vanquished the Federation in record time: begging the question of why they hid. Both sides all learn of the species revitalization efforts with children, which weren’t necessary at all. The UN is seeing everything and will have a proper name to put to the “Osirs,” who are very much not dead.
What will become of the militia captain contacting the Consortium governments and informing them who they’re fighting against; is peace a viable possibility? What will happen to Taylor and Gress as prisoners of war; should they be punished for their part in this? Will our narrator ever warm to Cala, and will the UN glean anything from Taylor’s transcript?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
Michael Halpern
Technically we hybridized with them, that's why a lot of their distinct genetic markers can still be found in living humans, this is what's known as a "hybrid swarm" when the hybrid is viable enough to have children and expand its range, very rare in the animal kingdom but it happens a lot with plants (often human intervention)
Mark Baculna
The shield are actually happen the kolshiand get glassed
Mark Baculna
Our social nature is alao our best weapon and many species are extinct because of it. We fucked the denisovans, neanderthals and other human “species” to extinction.. granting theyre not really extinct as they live in in us - still.. we’re like the borg
Shajenko
In the side story, she's eight (or at least she thinks that's how old she is). She turns nine while in custody on Earth.
Johan / Phoenix
That, or inverse polarity.
Johan / Phoenix
If Cala is 30 years old, she'd been 6 at the time of the battle of Earth, thus not old enough to serve ... I think. From what I can recall, most Fed-species seems to be of age for Exterminator service around 12, and I don't think the military recruits younger.
PhycoKrusk
@Lvm It certainly is, but I can add this: With the drone fleets, they are three very large things (relatively speaking) moving through space. Their purpose is to strike at three planets, and we see that they had enough offensive and defensive technology that against normal Feddie tactics, they would have been completely impervious. They weren't intended to go unnoticed, meaning it was likely that someone would notice them, figure out where they were going and the path they were taking, and then park some spy equipment in the space they've already gone through to try and intercept transmissions. In the case of the stealth ship, it was designed and intended to go unnoticed, and it was hanging out near the edge of Consortium space looking for a target of opportunity. By the time they started transmitting anything, the op would've been underway, and they specifically chose a target in an out-of-the-way location. Unlike the drone fleets, intercepting their transmission wouldn't have been a deduction of where to put the listening equipment, but would've been someone on the right place at the right time with their equipment turned on looking for a transmission to intercept. There also wasn't any concern about concealing it's origin; they've would've guessed where it came from. Each mission has very different risk factors, and this influenced the approach for each. And if course, never forget who it was that thought launching the drone fleets without having intel was a bad idea. #RadaiforShogun
Dookus Maximus
Well you might think so, but just recall how much everyone was complaining about Trench in the earlier chapters. All of the chapters are memory transcripts. The SC will literally be seeing the same things we did.
Some Lvm
@Phyco: It is difficult to argue what is and what isn't possible with a completely fictional technology. I am basing my assumptions off the fact the Consortium did not want to keep comms with their decapitation strike drones out of fear they will be discovered. As the SC and KC are pretty much equal in terms of technology, I would assume same cation would go for the SC stealth mission, but I can't rule out some form of "narrow beam" communication that would be hard to impossible to detect. Plus its sci fi, you can slap the word quantum on anything and get away with it.
Neu5Ac
Fair enough. It happens to the best of us. For what it's worth, I really did want to have a sincere conversation, it's unfortunate things didn't turn out that way.
PhycoKrusk
In their defense, assuming there were malevolent forces out there that would kill them was _not_ unreasonable.
PhycoKrusk
@Lvm We are informed that the op is being streamed live back to the Coalition; we are not told at any point that it is a broadcast. It is entirely possible that they have some sort of communication array set up far from the AoO back in their own space, and that they are narrowcasting to that, and _it_ is sending everything back.
PhycoKrusk
@George There's no "probably" about it; the Krev cannot be trusted to raise Humans to be anything other than pets and conversation pieces.
PhycoKrusk
@Neu That's just as well, because I can't get my train of thought back. Whatever it was I had written, it's dust in the wind.
TheBlack2007
Honestly depends on how much these troops are going to interact with Taylor and Gress. If they are just putting them in the brig, there's literally no reason for her to tell either of them but if for some reason, they end up on the same team (kinda like Sovlin did with Carlos and Sam), she absolutely should tell them at some point. The question would come up naturally if she reveals why she's with the peacekeepers anyway. How else would a Krakotl child end up on Earth in the care of a human adoptive father?
Conure King!
The consortium operated off farm forest theory and it’s gonna bite them in the ass
Shajenko
"I was literally eight years old!"
John
She better and if she doesn’t she needs to immediately state she was a conscripted and manipulated child soldier.
Shajenko
Hope Cala keeps to herself the whole thing about being in the extermination fleet...
Some Lvm
I did not know that about the Bin Ladin op, but even if that is true, there is a big difference: Encrypting the comms only keeps the enemy from knowing what is being transmitted, it does not hide the origin of the transmission, nor the fact it is taking place. This specific mission hinges on the ship to go completely undetected, grab interrogation subjects and get out undetected. Sending any kind of transmission will expose their location to the Consortium, who clearly have the tech to track FTL comms.
TheBlack2007
Remember the hit on Bin Ladin back in 2011? That thing was also broadcast live to the White House despite nobody knowing it was underway. Encrypted communications are a thing, after all…
Guardian
Wait, we're gonna get a Radai narrative/POV? Or will it be through another character's POV?
George Smith
Yeah, but look considering their reaction to humans it’s probably in everyone’s best interest that both sides repatriate the cloned children.
Wingit98
Humans have cuteness aggression, where if we're feeling cuteness overload our brains throw in aggressive thoughts and emotions to try to balance us out and keep us from getting too excited, and it results in us squeezing a dog too hard or something. I think the Krev brain doesn't try to balance out at all and there's just nothing reigning in their response to something cute, because while humans find Jaslips cute, Taylor and Cherise never had any issues treating Quana like a full person. Every Krev we've met in the other hand absolutely melts over every little thing we do and struggles not to baby is. It's completely out of control and it makes me really worry about the kids they'd be raising. I kinda want the UN to take them or at least immediately set up a very attentive CPS on Tellus to monitor how these kids are being raised.
Wingit98
I don't even want to think about the legal clusterfuck this situation would open up
Wingit98
That's my favorite thing about this series. There's so many different perspectives on everything, and number of perspectives has only gone way up in the sequel.
Wingit98
I was under the impression that they could collect the data from Gress's brain scan, but it would take more time to parse through with entirely new biology. And, well, Obama was in the situation room watching live when seal team 6 went after Bin Laden. There are some things where the powers that be need to be appraised of all the facts as they happen.
Wingit98
I'm pretty sure the Esquo Massacre was a mere 7 years before the federation was toppled, which is just unspeakably tragic. They were so close to the problem solving itself and yet they had no idea. The Krev's response to us seems completely out of control. Like we find the Jaslips cute, but Taylor and Cherise never had any issues not patronizing Quana about it, but every Krev perspective we've gotten has them absolutely dying of cuteness overload over every little aspect about us. Their cute response seems to go above and beyond ours. And that's why I think humanity above all will be open to the Krev working to make amends. It's a whole planet of marks—goddamn gold mine in the long term. It's too good to pass up.
Kevo
Hell yeah, can’t wait
Space Paladin
Hardly all in one chapter, I fully intend to show all parties reactions: and boy do I have a lot, an overwhelming amount of factions even, to reckon with! Sivkits, Arxur, Bissems, Duerten, Shield, Jaslips, Tellus colonists, Meier/UN/Earth, KC, SC, Remnants, Technocracy, Venlil, Radai—planning to show all of those 😅
Space Paladin
The SC observed Bissems for a decade before initiating first contact, so that’s how they had their brain data already analyzed
JayDee
Well, about the first contact, Arjun was certainly right, they go from attacking a sivkit fleet on sight after acknowledging they are being hailed, and then launched an extermination mission against Billions of civilians without any solid information than "federation bad" and then after the realization hits gress is all " aww poor lil monke beebes, how did you do it?" Haha I mean I do like Gress as a character, but I think the Krev are going to have some reckoning and be absolutely crushed when most of Humanity and the SC disparages them for their foolishness and is hesitant to have anything to do with them, especially when they learn that the aliens who think them "adorable" were the ones to eradicate millions of Jaslips over "protecting" them from a threat that was already on its way to being dealt with (Unless my understanding of the timeline when the bombing of the Jaslip homeworld actually happened is off)
Kevo
Atleast they will all be in one place together with some humans which is better imo, I don’t think any humans besides an embassy are on the Bissem world yet, let alone the other ex fed worlds. But who knows what will happen now tho. I bet the Krev took this seriously and getting an adoption was either a lottery for a well off family for sure, not saying there won’t be problems of course. I get what you mean tho, I wouldn’t trust ex feds either even after all the time. It’s tough for both now that I think about it more jeez. Yeah Krev needa calm down, I’d like to think if I had a sentient bipedal cat or dog I’d treat them the same way I do my own. And I do give my 3 year old headpats… just not behind the ear. Also it might not be just Krev adopting… but I doubt it
Gumcel
Why would The Shield care about what happened to Aafa? After this they’ll probably be praising the ark humans for trying to wipe out the kolshians lol.
Gumcel
“You defeated the Federation? How?! You, the puffy-faced, adorable primate people…” Assuming humans couldn’t win not because they were grossly outnumbered but because they little primate people…smh Gress (he’s still based though). “No. Shut up,” Arjun hissed, an unamused scowl on his face. “Is this how Krev handle all diplomatic first contacts?” ““““Diplomatic first contact”””” my brother in Christ you literally boarded their ship, killed dozens of people and spoke to the first krev you saw. Now you’re complaining that he’s not acting diplomatic…
EliasArt2Life
@Kevo @Neu5Ac So, to clarify the situation; the Bissem offered to take SOME of them in, not all of them. Still accurate that the Bissem offered to take care of the Osirs, though. There are thousands of humans, and millions of babies. And the Krev haven’t shown much ability to accept all aspects of humanity; just the aspects that they think/choose to interpret as “cute”. That suggests that millions of Krev will be going to a humans planet with a population of thousands, the Krev will probably be predisposed to teaching the behaviors that they find “cute”, and less predisposed to the rest of human behaviors, and there aren’t enough humans to supervise all those Krev. Yeah. I’d say that’s just about as bad as the situation with the Jaslips.
Cerchus
Fair enough then, just felt it needed to be said lol
Guardian
Nice. Someone had to say it. XD
DemonVee
The brain scanner question is interesting. - I suppose a simple answer could be that it's seemed to have become a fairly common technology, and was meant to be used for more detailed mission reports rather than interrogation. - Or another answer is that they could scan Gress's mind, where they would decode it later, but since their neurology is completely new, they wouldn't be able to get an instant read like with Taylor. - Initially (not including jones) the Bissem were offered a scan for a history record. It wasn't necessarily meant to be an instant read, or perhaps they were able to base a bissem's neural patterns on their own neurological studies given that the UN were surveying them for 2 years.
Guardian
Prediction: we're going to see some sort of Law & Order-type courtroom stuff because those Krev that signed up to help raise human bebehs will have actual human families saying the bebehs should be raised by their own.
Some Lvm
Well, I am somehow warming to Cala, so I guess anything is possible...? Only in NoP can a stealth mission in to the depth of enemy space be broadcast live across the galaxy... Anyway, yet another awesome chapter! But I have so many questions: 1. How did Arjun end up the only human in the squad? 2. Why is their commanding officer a Yotul? I can understand Gojids joining the UN force, since the Union fell and they have no military of their own, but with how the Yotul been shaping out these past 20 years I would expect them to hold on to any potential recruit for their own military. 3. Who is the captain of this ship? She is the first ark 3 colonist to act rationally in a stressful situation, literally under fire! After the last chapter I honestly half expected her to panic and hit the self distract, despite the baby cargo, because that is just such an ark 3 thing to do... 4. What exactly was the purpose of having a memory scanner on board the attack ship, if it can't be made to read alien thought patterns? They did not expect to run in to humans, and it does not sound like the kind of equipment you bring on a high stakes stealth mission in to enemy territory! Worst case scenario - if the ship is captured it could have been used by the enemy to interrogate the crew! 5. Why couldn't they figure out how to interpret Gress's scan? They had no issue with BIssems, just days after first contact! Still can't believe I am at a point where I look forward to the next Taylor chapter, as I was thoroughly convinced he was a strong contender for the worst NoP character ever...
James
It's far from over, just 2 low level soldiers talking to eachother doesn't solve anything. The governments of both factions now have to talk.
Kevo
Oh yeah your right, surely not all of them in one place tho
Neu5Ac
IIRC, the Bissems offered to take them in.
Neu5Ac
You're most certainly right, and if Taylor is lucky, a jury will also see it that way and he will be acquitted. However, that will come after he receives the initial charges and is tried.
DemonVee
@PhycoKrusk I guess that's poor wording on my part. I meant that the conflict was set off once the sivkits finally came in contact with the KC, which is strange due to the timing. @Aerowarrier That's kinda what I mean tho. The Kolshians were talked down from killing omnivores by the main Farsul group creating an alternative, by default they were ready to kill omnivores. So how is it that these new shadow Farsul haven't managed to just hype them up into doing it anyway?
RS
The application of justice requires wisdom; wisdom in this case would certainly disfavor punishment. There are multiple factors that contribute to culpability: Voluntariness vs involuntariness, deliberation vs indeliberation, knowledge vs ignorance, weakness/passion vs malice aforethought. In the case of conspiracy or collusion there is also consideration to what degree the actual action taken contributed to either the wrongdoing or the subsequent obstruction of justice. In this case, it would appear that Taylor's actions in supporting or encouraging Radai were indeed voluntary, but they were at least partially indeliberate (He did not go looking for trouble and did not have sufficient time to consider the depth and gravity of matter), motivated by passion/weakness (Fear of death, his shipmates' death, his species' death), and undertaken in actual ignorance (He truly believed this ship posed a direct and imminent threat). He was a low-ranking soldier not otherwise qualified to provide expert counsel and a seasoned, respected general was present at the scene giving direct orders. While I don't like the concept of brain scans, they should prove exculpatory.
Jon Arbuckle
Seems kind of fast, all in one chapter.
Neu5Ac
It's not a competition, there's nothing to forfeit. Like I said, I'd rather we have a civil discussion.
PhycoKrusk
@Neu I submitted a response to you, and Patreon ate it. I have no time or desire to reenter it right now; I'm just letting you know I'm not forfeiting.
Space Paladin
Oh, trust me, Taylor isn’t happy about Cala being there! As we’ll see more in chapter 69 😅
Neu5Ac
@wholesome reddittor Incorrect: the KC concluded that Taylor's words had no weight on the decision. The SC and the UN may beg to differ. And do you believe that SP15 can't make something that's both a good story AND HFY? I think he did alright with NoP 1. Why do you doubt him?
Kevo
Atleast the Krev families will be on Tellus with other humans, the Jaslip babies not so much as we don’t know where they are going, the Krev know our culture… well if that is where they go now, who knows
Neu5Ac
@PhycoKrusk As far as Taylor's POW status, I'm sorry to say you're wrong on all accounts. First, Article 4, ¶ A(1) of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949 defines POWs as: A. (. . .) persons belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy: (1) Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces. By definition, he is very much a POW, and so is Gress if he's anything other than a passenger (and if there's any doubt, Article 5 guarantees them the rights of POWs until all doubt is removed). Second, he's bound (i.e, required) to provide his name, rank, ID, and DoB (which I'd forgotten) under Article 17 ¶ (1), and can be subjected to restricted privileges if he doesn't under ¶ (2): (1) Every prisoner of war, when questioned on the subject, is bound to give only his surname, first names and rank, date of birth, and army, regimental, personal or serial number, or failing this, equivalent information. (2) If he wilfully infringes this rule, he may render himself liable to a restriction of the privileges accorded to his rank or status. Third, he could absolutely be held accountable for the war crimes against the Sivkits by urging Radai to ignore their hails and attack them, regardless of whether his urging actually influenced him: the Nuremberg Trials set a precedent that instigation, aid, and abetment, along with provable intent, are equivalent to the crime itself (at least in relation to war crimes), and this has since been codified by the ICC. Even standing by and doing nothing as a war crime is committed is enough to be held accountable, and Taylor did a little more than just stand there. As for the interaction between rights and memory scanning: that's real nice and all to say how much the world sucks, but it doesn't actually answer my question. Do the so-called conspiracy nuts have the right to deny memory scans outright when they're accused of a crime, or can the police receive a warrant to have one done? Or do you believe that the Bill of Rights itself has been so thoroughly eroded as to be meaningless? You might say that this conversation is meaningless, and I could say the same about your opinion, but I'd rather neither of us say these things and instead have a civil discussion.
Kevo
Taylor and Gress definitely shouldn’t be punished and they will see how Radai wanted to contact first but was pressured not to, and they will see the corruption of the KC, Taylor has seen a lot actually. I’m more worried about the Jaslip babies than the human ones, the Krev won’t flake out on looking after human babies even after the news I bet
Swan
Taylor and Gress are about to read the entire prequel
EliasArt2Life
@PhycoKrusk Beat me to it. Also said it better than I would have.
EliasArt2Life
“How did a society move on from structuring their entire existence around an erroneous idea?” I’m starting to feel like this is the overall theme of NOP2; there’s been a large focus on other species and individuals being able to and unable to move on, and now we have both Taylor and the Krev wrestling with the idea. “Is this how Krev handle all diplomatic first contacts?” I’m glad that SOMEONE IN UNIVERSE called the Krev out for this! I’ve been thinking for a LONG time about how unprofessional the Krev are with this stuff! (Also, Gress saying that he isn’t a diplomat… he was a hostage negotiator. Sure, a different job, but similar.) You know, I think Arjun’s response to the babies makes sense; he was kidnapped as a kid by an alien who had the intentions to bring Arjun up “to not be a monster” (i.e. taking away Arjun’s culture, and replacing it with Krakotl culture), couldn’t comprehend Arjun being able to eat plants but not all plants, and was allowed to be abused by that alien’s companions. He likely sees the potential horror and abuses that can come from humans being raised by aliens (who see his species as looking like their pets) more than anyone else in the room. This whole thing IS a fiasco. Given the increasing tension of the Remnants, Arxur, AND Jaslip Extremists, the best choice for both parties is to end this war quickly and peacefully, and then turn their attention to the new problems they’re facing. Also, the Remnants are totally going to find out immediately. The Shield (including the Duerten) have been sending representatives to the SC, so they know, and given their connections to the Remnants, they’ll tell them soon. Arxur may take a while to find out, but the Bissem or the Yotul will probably (foolishly) tell them soon, too. I wonder if the next chapter will show this from the SC’s perspective, watching the live stream?
T___
But it's not just our capacity for violence. It is our social nature. That allowed us to truly see ourselves in the other person's shoes and think up ways to make both happy. That made us to go and always look for friends in people different than us. That made us great strategists, and that won the war.
T___
I think when they see Taylor's memory scan, they will be crying. They will see his lonely and miserable life, so pointless now. They will see him with Gress and the only warmth in his entire, miserable existence. Arjun and Cala had their wonderful human dads. Taylor only was used by the crooked Hathaway. They will see Taylor spiraling and him thinking he should get punished for the dead miners, being gay, for everything. There's no way they won't be moved by it.
Wingit98
Fucking FINALLY! Finally some communication! Now to see how this can somehow go wrong.
Luiz Henrique Alves
Honestly? Fuck the Feds and all the parts of the Shield that colude with them, they should be the next target after taking down the 1984 of the KC!
Wholesome Redditter
It was confirmed Taylor words had no weight in the decision. And I’m glad this is an actual story instead of regular hfy brainrot
RS
Of course Gress and Taylor shouldn't be punished. They're low ranking foot soldiers serving honorably under reasonable orders from a misnformed but not malicious command structure. What would be the charges? Protecting little ones and shooting back when they get attacked? Even if they do a brain scan and see Taylor pleading with Radai to blow up the sivkit ship, Taylor was a nobody in the chain of command and, again, he was misinformed. This is a case of near perfect ignorance that seems to cover all sides and everyone should just go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for this all to blow over.
Sci-fi reader
Governments are fighting for less.
Sci-fi reader
Also, Taylor was the equivalent of a private. He was in no position of authority. It wasn’t his order to fire or to ignore radio hails. The fault rest on the fleet commander.
Michael Halpern
Gress and the Krev in general have to learn to accept the human capacity for violence. It is precisely because we lack natural built in defenses that we are so good at it, same goes for our closest living cousins
Aerowarrier
Honestly, the Kolshians were SCARILY close to deciding on committing omnicide. It prolly wouldn’t have started out as that, but the Krev have a point that true herbivores eat meat sometimes. If they decided to just wipe out the Krakotl, that would’ve led to them killing every other species they found except for like maybe the medical race I don’t remember the name of. This story could’ve been VERY different if the Farsul hadn’t come up with an alternative
Aerowarrier
I would definitely disagree at the Kolshians being able to be reasoned with. The Kolshians are the reason predators are so hated in the first place, it was their overreaction to “the hunger” that kicked off everything. The main Farsul are arguably the only reason the Kolshians weren’t just genociding every species they found with a hint of predatory behavior, since they offered a different solution. As terrible as their gene editting was, they are pretty much the only reason every single species they did that too even still exist
Aured
Yay!! I've been waiting for this to come to a head. Of course, the Shield and the fed remnants are going to be even more angry at the humans now after what happened to Aafa.
PhycoKrusk
Taylor is not a prisoner of war, and therefore that Convention does not apply to him. Furthermore, that Convention does not permit POWs to only supply that information; it limits the captors from compelling more information than that. Again though, Taylor is not a POW, so what they can or cannot compel from him is not defined by that Convention. Lastly, while he certainly may have instigated opening fire on the Sivkits, he did not pull the trigger, did not give the order to fire, and was not the most senior officer present who did give the order, so his legal culpability in that is minimal. As for the interaction with Rights, that's not even a question to be considered: We've seen enough of 2137 Earth to know that in 2160, the only people who might be whining about privacy are going to be "conspiracy nuts" and select Americans (who are probably also "conspiracy nuts"). This future sucks, we already know this future sucks thanks to Danny from "Farsul Prisoner", and we know it would have only gotten worse as the UN tried to appeal to a bunch of xenos who have spent hundreds of years regarding an unwillingness to share private details with everybody around them, law enforcement, and the government at a moment's notice as severe mental illness.
PhycoKrusk
@Vee The conflict was kicked off by the Consortium; the Sivkits didn't shoot first. They didn't even shoot back; never touched their holster; never had a chance to draw.
PhycoKrusk
They're also going to see Taylor's thought processes short circuiting with fear. In essence, they're going to see the Humans acting just like "prey".
PhycoKrusk
Sadly, the Krev leaders are almost all dead (except for Radai and Hathaway), so there won't be much yapping. Here's to hoping that Radai can get this cluster sorted out in short order, but honestly, I don't think anything about this is going to be sorted or in short order. #RadaiforShogun
Byron Ritchie
Oh man the tellan and osirian babies are going to have a lot of identity issues growing up At least there’s hope for a peaceful end between the lcs and the scs now
Sci-fi reader
Funny thing. She can legally vote or even run in UK elections. They can't. Cala for MP! Is she an Arsenals or Manchester fan? Or is Wrexham AFC in the Premier League by that time?
Sci-fi reader
I need this scene. When Taylor realizes Cala had been speaking English with a working class UK accent this whole time.
DemonVee
I had a similar theory since the last chapter. Supposedly the Farsul like to use proxies for their conflicts, and it's basically certain that they operate under the same anti predator beliefs considering the "hunger". I always found it strange that the KC literally "caged" themselves on their homeworlds, and that they made policies against spreading on other worlds with colonies. With the Farsul being a possible factor, they have coincidently quarantined themselves against spreading the so called hunger. Further more, they bombed the homeworld of the only carnivore in their alliance. And the underscales new about the Tinsas but never told the truth about the Federation? Something that could only benefit the conspiracy. My bets are that these new Farsul either intended to make a disposable army against the proper Federation in their covert war. Or, this is meant to be some sort of "humane" way of isolating omnivores from spreading the hunger. Either due to growing a conscience after leaving the Feds proper, or because of always trying to make less painful decisions in their eyes, Dead>Gene-editing... (If they thought not killing omnivores was wrong, why not just come to the Kolshians since they were more eager, probably easier to be convinced? My only explanation for this could be if they thought that the Kolshains were tainted too since they said that they brought the hunger from their world.) --------- There's also the fact that the conflict was kicked off by the Sivkits, who found their homeworld's location due to following a crazed man who was "let go" by the shadow farsul
sticksnstones
The news is spilled! I still wanna see the dead soldiers get brain scanned, and Taylor finding out they could be resurrected in the near future.
REDemon14
Governments have fought for less :(
DreamEnvoy
Finally the chapter where both sides finally do what they should've from the beginning: talk. I would believe that the story is coming to a close with how peace is now acheivable, if not for the messes this war caused. Namely the SC accidentally causing another Fed-Arxur war, and the jaslips causing terrorist attacks.
Neu5Ac
Oh boy! Time for Taylor to get charged with war crimes! After all, while all the other humans agreed to it, it was him specifically who demanded that they ignore the Sivkits hails and open fire on them. And I wonder at whose hands will Hathaway receive Justice: the Tellans, or the SC? Either way, he'll almost certainly be getting the death penalty regardless of whether there technically aren't any nations in the UN that technically allow it: they were willing to make an exception for the Krakotl admiral (his name escapes me at the moment), and given that what Hathaway's done is easily just as bad, they'll probably make one for him too (especially if he gets memory scanned and is as corrupt as I suspect he is). Speaking of, I wonder how memory scans interact with personal rights? The Geneva Convention requires that a POW provide only his name, rank, ID number, and nothing else, so Taylor is already failing hard by running his mouth (not that that's surprising, or even necessarily bad). Arjun said he's going to agree to a memory scan which suggests he has the right to refuse one. Is the same true for private citizens? If they're brought in for questioning by police, do they also have the right to refuse a memory scan? In US law, would taking memory scans be considered a search or seizure of person and property and thus be protected under the 4th Amendment, or an act of self-incrimination and thus be protected under the 5th? The former would suggest that a warrant could be issued for a memory scan. I suspect it would be a hot topic for debate on Earth. I hope whoever replaces Kuemper is a proper no-holds-barred warhound. Humanity hasn't been very "fuck yeah" for this story, and I want to see what they'll be like when the gloves come off. It would be interesting to see how such a person reacts to the KC.
Elliott
🤫 shh don't let them hear you say that.. If Indrek, Taylor, and Cherise are anything to go off of, these people are a little... insecure.
Michael Halpern
Its not that hard to have the recievers send suspect data to an isolated memory bank, and only play it on an unnetworked computer.
Thrownawaz
Do da dee da doo dat da another awkward moment!
Dookus Maximus
Fuuuuuuuuck.
Swan
Personally I think it could (will) get worse; I think the fed remnant might just declare war on the SC if they make peace with the consortium (For allying with predators or some shit)
Sobek
In the next chapter: the entire war collapses from the inside of both sides
Fergon
Cala in her heavy british accent: Oy bruv, I bombed London. Livid, innit? Taylor with mouth agape 😱
Felin
Who's to say will the war end. KC can suppress who they are fighting or even refuse to listen after ship went quiet for bit too long, rightfully assuming it got captured. There are so many ways how this can go wrong
Felin
Now this is what I'd like to call a clusterfuck
Aerowarrier
Hmm now the question becomes, are the Farsul radicals working with the Underscales to some extent, and that’s how they’ve managed to stay under the radar for so long. Cuz that would definitely lead to a lot more conflict. We’re also definitely going to see the Jaslips, 100% rightfully, push for tearing the entire Consortium apart. And I can’t wait till the Arxur catch wind of a fellow obligate carnivore that was oppressed and quarantined by an all powerful government that destroyed their world in an attempt to “help” them. The Reskets are gonna have their work cut out for them when the Greys come to exact bloody vengeance for Esquo
Neu5Ac
In fairness, the KC have been willfully ignoring all broadcasts from the SC. That said, if their sensor network extends any further than within 23 light-years of former Federation space, they'll have a lot of 'splainin' to do.
Neu5Ac
She IS more native to Earth than they are.
Neu5Ac
In fairness, one can only take so much shock at once. There reaches a point where Hitler himself could walk into the room and wave at you and you wouldn't have the energy to even wave back.
REDemon14
Poor people are in *way* over their heads here. Taylor is spiraling again. Here's hoping they allow Gress to catch him, who is also having a bit of a rough time seeing the bodies As far as I see, peace is the only option at this point. The KC-SC war is over. All that's left to deal with is the fallout. Speaking of said fallout, only three species should be upset with humanity: The Kolshians, the Farsul, and most justifiably, the *Sivkit*. They sent a diplomat to humanity, it didn't work out but, they were still one of the first. After it feel through, they didn't have any hostilities, they just cut themselves off. Then, when they finally rediscovered their homeworld, they lost thousands of lives because their hails were unanswered. (Reminder, the KC crew *cheered* when they destroyed those ships. They're going to see that in the brain scan) Can't wait to see what happens next
Alekss Žukovskis
SP! Dont you drag out the Krev leaders yapping at clueless Humans, i cant wait.
Jhon Bustamante
civil war
Michael Halpern
dismantle the Underscales, there's no way they didn't pickup the attempted communication
Swan
Tbf the fed remnant still exists, although the consortiums might not hear about them in the message
Elliott
Now that that's settled, I'm wondering if the Krev might have a different view of humans. Sort of dark-foresty, but they just made millions of humans, lost to them, and will now hear about how we rapidly grew and conquered their biggest fear with ease. That's got to put some tension into the mix of things, how can you trust a species that seemingly grows and develops faster than you. That's a real blow to their ego and likely for some or many a signal Humans are a threat. Though if communications do end up not going through and the SC confiscated the ship, it's going to spell disaster. Krev might briefly go into panic mode and Esquo-Massacre Tellus before the SC can get into contact.
Byne
The existence of the Federation is what the entire existence of the Consortium hinges on, so I wouldnt be surprised if they covered this all up and just continued the war.
Elliott
My girl Cala is definitely going to get some head turns meeting Tellus Humans. Imagine the last thing you hear about Krakotl is them destroying Earth, then one shows up speaking English (presumably with a British accent) talking about Football or Tigers like she's more native to Earth than you are.
Cerchus
He took the fact that we didn’t exterminate the krakotl way way wayyyyy too well.
DDDragoni
Whew, okay. I was worried someone was going to do something drastic. Now with the immediate situation defused we can figure out what do do about the powder keg that this reveal just tossed a match into
Schnitzelsemmel
Third
minefain _yt
Second
pogman
First
