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The Nature of Predators 2-38
🕑 Added 2024-05-16 11:00:07 +0000 UTCMemory Transcription Subject: Tassi, Bissem Alien Liaison
Date [standardized human time]: July 20, 2160
When the Sapient Coalition first arrived, I placed them on a pedestal, thinking they were beyond Bissems—with infallible technology and the ability to make anyone bend to their will if they desired.
Now, after the battle seven days’ travel outside their border, I saw them for what they were: people scrambling to find answers against a superior force, and trying to rally support. They were in the same boat as Ivrana, as we did what was necessary and turned to anyone who’d lend a claw. I didn’t know how the humans would react from their station, when the Arxur ships Kaisal had hidden in a nearby system were moved to Ivrana. They might put two and two together when the Collective vessels burst onto the scene by the Osirs’ world—which the Terrans called Apep—and declared their quarantine to be over. Bissems could receive tremendous blowback for that political move, especially depending on how the reptilians treated the herbivores.
That was Naltor’s domain to grapple with, however. My job was to offer aid to the galaxy in non-military ways, gathering support and goodwill for Ivrana. I’d noticed that the Paltan government was unwilling to provide sanctuary to the Grand Herd, due to how little they’d shared the load of those fleeing the Arxur’s forever war. Ivrana had an entire continent we weren’t using, Nelmin: claimed by no country since the first Global War. When I voiced the idea of taking Sivkit refugees, the Lassian government loved the optics of showing that we could co-exist with aliens and share what we had. I found myself sent off on a long shuttle ride to the inside edge of Paltan space, thankfully away from the front lines.
Loxsel accepted my invitation for a parlay only after I told him I was on my way to meet him in person. “It seems I have no choice!” Those were his words, so I’m not sure if this isn’t all a colossal waste of my time.
The human-Paltan military base had an artificial atmosphere inside its premises, sealed in a sprawling dome that stretched for miles. The Terrans towered over the fluffy yellow aliens, whose heads came about to where humans’ hands stretched down. There wasn’t much fear shown as the two walked side by side, but I noticed the simians taking special care to watch where they were stepping; their narrow gaze turned downward, rather than directly ahead of them. It was subtle behavior shifts to accommodate other species that showed the Earthlings’ compassion.
“Tassi?” a human voice called, as I exited my shuttle on the dock for civilian guests. “If you’re looking for Ambassador Loxsel, he’s in the visitors’ inn straight to your left. Hard to miss—that one sticks out like a sore thumb.”
I chuckled. “Humans love expressions about hands the way we do flippers. There’s some overlap even.”
“It’s what we use to interact with the world. Kinda important if you ask me. Let me know if there’s anything at all you need; we set up a place for you to stay, unless you really want to do a 180 and book it back home.”
“I wouldn’t mind talking to the Paltans about helping out with any refugees that are straining their system, if that’s still an issue. For now, my first and only priority is meeting Loxsel.”
“Yeah, good luck with that.”
The soldier stepped aside, waving a palm toward the module that had basic amenities and a decent bit of sprucing up. While it was an artificial habitat in the middle of space, the garden the Terrans had planted was quite real—and seemed to have a major pest problem. I could see that entire rows of crops had been devoured, and bushes had nibbles in their leaves. How had the humans smuggled animals like that onto a military base, without noticing? Perhaps they needed to spray them with some pesticides to fend off the offending creature. I knocked on the door, waiting for the Sivkit, but there was no response.
Where is Loxsel? Our dramatic ambassador is nowhere to be seen, but I spy, through the window, the setup he calls into the SC from.
I noticed dirt strewn across the path, and on closer inspection, spotted fresh Sivkit-shaped footprints carving a path through the decimated plants. Loxsel might’ve gone to investigate the animal; given his skittish nature, he probably needed backup. As I’d been told by my friends, the Federation didn’t understand that wild critters with side-facing eyes could be dangerous. I wasn’t a fighter, but since he collapsed on the floor when the SC lost, I couldn’t see him having much resilience. Taking inventory of anything that could be used as a weapon. I crept around toward the back of the inn. If avoidable, I didn’t want to leap to violence in front of him, and get dubbed a “vicious predator.”
That was when I spotted a tail with a plume of gray fur at the tip, sticking out of a thick hedge. My immediate reaction was disbelief, as I saw Ambassador Loxsel waist deep in the vegetation; the Sivkit was devouring it from the inside out, judging by the crackling sounds. He was the pest problem that had ravaged this garden? I found him much more “voracious” than the humans, if he’d “graze” on plants in spite of other options. Unsure how to react, I made a few clicking noises to get his attention. Loxsel pulled himself free, leaves and twigs caked near his mouth.
“I am cornered by another predator, after being left to chew only these acerbic fronds! My tail, a morsel for you to masticate, like those fish your beak cleaves and ruptures,” the Sivkit brayed. “The humans served me right to you. Why? WHY?! I have given them nothing but adulation for their hunting prowess!”
I took a step back, alarmed by his wild accusations. “It’s Tassi, the Bissem you agreed to speak with; I just want to talk, Loxsel. Like you pointed out, we eat fish, not land creatures. I came here to talk about how we can bring the Grand Herd to safety, away from here; Ivrana has a continent that we’re not using, so you’d hardly have to see us. You need somewhere to go that’s far from the war’s epicenter.”
“And from the humans! Don’t let their act of affability fool you. When that s-soldier, right there, didn’t know I was listening, it said it was so hungry it could ‘eat a horse.’ I looked it up—that’s a big prey animal. Its stomach made growling noises. My time is running out…but the Grand Herd could walk itself to a different c-cattle pen. Yours!”
“You’re not anyone’s cattle on Ivrana. Bissems are very different from other predators. Remember, we only eat fish. Are you a fish?”
“You can’t tell?! I knew you weren’t really that picky. No carnivore is; what’s one carcass versus any other? It quenches the bloodlust just the same. Anything is a f-fish if you’re hungry enough, so yes, I guess I am. Despondent, I am! Skewer me and be t-through with it!”
“What you’re saying is crazy. I don’t know why you’re twisting my words, but I was trying to drill home the point that you’re not a fish. The humans have been nothing but polite to you.”
“They surrounded me with guns!” Loxsel shrieked. “T-thousands upon thousands of ships…maybe millions to watch me, c-cut off any hope of escape. We went to the strongest predators and gave ourselves up as an offering, and what have we to show for it? NOTHING! They lost, failed…were vanquished by that desecrated world!”
I folded my flippers, trying to discover if there was any sense in the Sivkits’ words. “Why do you say it’s desecrated? You haven’t even seen what’s going on down on the surface. There’s no reason you should be this upset. It’s a random planet.”
“No, it’s not! It is that which was burned and stolen…hidden from our sight by the spine snappers. A home s-said to be lost, but obfuscated through willful, execrable intent. History books must be emended, splashed with light as we reclaim the olden hearth. Where is the justice? There is no mercy for Sivkits. We are fettered, tarnished…braised and beholden to carnivore masters, for all time!”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. It’d help if you spoke in normal terms.”
“This is normal. Don’t question my normalcy; I am FINE! I said I’m fine, Tassi, you feral slurper of fish guts! I am no Sivkit-brain. Loxsel is an orator of breathtaking erudition, and lo, you are not cultured enough to appreciate my mastery!”
I turned away from the Sivkit ambassador, flustered by his “erudition.” It might take a moment to parse what he had meant, but a burned and stolen home, said to be lost…hm. Spine snappers meant the Federation, and Loxsel knew that much, regardless of him attributing that atrocity to the humans in front of the SC. Tied together, it sounded a lot like the story Dustin told: of exterminators destroying the Sivkit homeworld and their deeds being covered up, under the absurd guise that Sivkits somehow misplaced their native planet. Did he mean that this desert planet was their lost origin world, Tinsas? That would explain why they were so set on an infertile, barren sphere—it wasn’t a random planet.
“It wasn’t about grazing, or trying to get away from the Federation’s old territory,” I ventured. “You found Tinsas.”
Loxsel took a sliding step toward me, gazing at the stars above the dome. “We went out looking for our beloved. Beloved Tinsas: the womb of our species, beautiful as any cosmological finds; sheltering as checkered shade in—”
“A yes or no will suffice.”
“Hmph. Yes.”
“And now another species has taken up residence there.”
“Descretation! Thieves, assailants, and bloodlusters, of a caliber never seen. They must die! The humans had a chance, with the bombs, but didn’t pounce.”
“I think the humans would rather try to talk than bomb a species to extinction, Loxsel. That isn’t something you do lightly. Sivkits haven’t been there for almost a thousand years, so the world was empty when this species came.”
“Empty? TAKEN FROM US! We did try to talk—they murdered countless, priceless heads of cattle instead. That says, ‘this is ours now,’ and they won’t give it back. If the humans were genuine in their offer to help us, they wouldn’t temper their wrath. They’d purge the putrid scum from our planet!”
I took a few steps back, as Loxsel moved close enough that I could feel his breath. “It’s not fair to expect them to know. You haven’t told the humans why you want this planet.”
“We do not trust them. They exploded our last ambassador, while she hid powerless in a trash can, begging for her life. No exaggeration. That is me next, fulminated into pieces and pieces—like their drones. We hoped the humans would do to Tinsas what they did for Ambassador Axsely, but nooo! Of course they don’t!”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about, again, but…just because someone got ‘exploded’ back then, doesn’t mean anyone needs to now? Or that that’s normal human behavior?”
“How can we trust the Terran predators, when we can’t even trust them to be consistent in bombing innocent people? This is a travesty! An outrage!”
“This is the last I’ll say of this, but you asked for their help. Give them all the facts. What else can you ‘sacrifice?’ Don’t you want it to be worth it?”
Loxsel fell back on his haunches. “You finally said something that made sense, Tassi. Well done. I’ll consider telling the infinite-walkers about Tinsas, if it’ll make our transaction worthwhile. It’s not as if the gates of the cattle pen haven’t already sealed behind me—and I don’t want the information tortured out of me!”
“Might as well just tell them now.”
“I’ll show them. I’m good prey, meek prey! I’ve only been accused of predator disease twice…in the last year. That’s it! A record low!”
While I didn’t agree with calling all mental illness “predator disease,” nor with the Federation’s heartless treatment options, the ambassador could definitely be diagnosed with something. The conversation with Loxsel was becoming more exasperating by the second, so I decided to try to steer him back on course. My mission was to have the Grand Herd stop off on our forbidden continent; Bissems taking in refugees would show our good nature. I intended to pass on the information about Tinsas to the United Nations, as soon as I finished this discussion; I didn’t trust the Sivkit not to have a mood swing that stopped him from spilling the fish bait. This would also show Bissems’ value to humanity, and the rest of the SC.
When they’re fighting a war because of the Sivkits’ expedition, it’s important that they have the facts. I’m sure the humans will be curious to know how the Grand Herd found that out…and that the Federation ventured much further than we thought.
“What do you say about sending refugees to Ivrana? The Sivkits shouldn’t venture outward with dangerous species out there,” I tested. “The Grand Herd needs a world to go where you know the risks, right?”
Loxsel tipped over while sitting down, a stricken look on his face. “Fine! We must hope humans wouldn’t steal cattle from another p-predator—and that we stay a second-best option compared to fish. I submit, Tassi! Send the coordinates, and I’ll ferry the expeditions to their doom!”
“I’ll send the coordinates now. You can gather the expedition ships who want a safe haven, and they can follow me back to Ivrana. Can you do that, Loxsel?”
“I’ll go back inside my prison…s-send the message now. Bissems, oh sinister ones, you will have your catch ready by tomorrow; it will be so, as you have decreed!”
“Good. Thanks for your time. I hope for a safe and quiet voyage back to Ivrana, leading your refugees to a place they won’t have to worry.”
“Very well. So long.” The Sivkit wailed as soon as I began walking away, though I didn’t let myself turn back; I wanted his voice to fade into the distance. “What have I agreed to? What have I done? Sentenced to life with carnivores, oh cursed fate: worse than death. Languishing, and wishing I were slain! Let me grieve in peace! Leave me be!”
I hurried out of the decimated garden, hoping that the Grand Herd wouldn’t be as high-maintenance as this fellow. The important aspect was securing allies for Ivrana, and making a statement to the galaxy about who we were; bringing the Sivkits to our world would play well with the Sapient Coalition—at least, the herbivores who were unsettled by us. In a way, this was pre-emptive damage control in case our coziness with the Arxur got out. I turned back toward the enlisted humans who’d pointed me toward the inn; he smirked as I approached him, seeing the story of Loxsel told in my eyes.
“Any luck with the funny bunny?” the Terran chuckled.
Confusion overtook my features. “What?”
“Never mind. Is there something I can help you with, Tassi?”
“I need to speak with the United Nations; preferably someone high up. You’re going to want to hear this…I think the entire Sapient Coalition might.”
He flashed his teeth. “I’m going to need more than that to summon the brass on short notice. What is this about? What did Loxsel say?”
“Well, I can’t substantiate that it’s true, but Loxsel seemed to imply that the planet they were attacked nearby? It’s their old homeworld, Tinsas. The Sivkits are so bent out of shape, I think, because they want it back.”
The alien whistled, stroking his stubbly chin with nimble digits. “You don’t say. That’s a claim our intelligence agencies will have to follow up on, and it’s well beyond my paygrade. I mean, shit, that’s Project Chronicle territory. I’ll pass a message up the chain of command. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure they know who it came from.”
“Am I that transparent?”
“Nothing wrong with that. Every new species wants to prove themself, but I hope you don’t feel like you have to. We’ve got your back, no matter how it all shakes out.”
“Humans do, sure. It’s the other 81 parties in your Coalition that we’re worried about.”
“Fair enough. They warm a bit slow to predators, but we’re proof they come around eventually. Give it time, and don’t take it personal.”
“Easier said than done. We just want to help, and make a good impression. I hope knowing the Tinsas tidbit makes a difference.”
“I hope so too. It almost always helps to have all the facts, so thanks for letting us know. Your lodge is on the opposite side from Loxsel, if you want to settle down for the day. You earned a good rest, on us.”
“Thank you. I think I’ll take you up on that; I have some calls to make back to Ivrana. Take care.”
With the humans now aware of the real reason behind the Sivkit Grand Herd’s foray, it was my time to inform General Naltor that Loxsel accepted our offer. It would take quite a while to get back home, but it would all be worth it if it bolstered Bissems’ galactic standing. At least my ship wouldn’t be traveling alone on the trip back; perhaps the Sivkit passengers would be better conversation than the zany ambassador. Whatever Onso had said about how we hadn’t achieved our current status on our own, missions like this proved that the Yotul were wrong on that front.
Bissems were more than capable of contributing to our own progress, carving out a role in the galaxy, and bringing about a successful future through our own fortitude. Being an uplift didn’t mean that we were useless, or that we wouldn’t show aliens the value we brought to the table.
A/N - Chapter 38! Tassi travels out to persuade Sivkit refugees to migrate to Ivrana, and has a run-in with resident garden pest of the military base, Loxsel himself. Our dramatic Sivkit “dazzles” our narrator with his “breathtaking erudition,” while also tallying up the predator disease accusations against him; his dramatic speech eventually reveals something useful, however. Tellus is believed to be the Sivkits’ lost homeworld, Tinsas, and this is why they’re so adamant on getting a desert planet into their paws. Loxsel agrees to our Bissem scientist telling the humans about this, and also to her offer to take in his people as refugees.
What do you think about Tellus’ original state? How will the SC react to news of what the Grand Herd really wants with the planet…and how might the Krev Consortium/ark humans react if they discovered whose homeworld they were living on? How will Sivkits living on Ivrana go?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
John
The only I’ll ever care is if they actually try to escape the federations hold on them. I say they haven’t because they still destroy ecosystems on a planetary scale, they haven’t fixed their spines and they still have crap education, it doesn’t matter if their theoretically independent when they still do everything they did when they were under the federations boot heel.
Some Lvm
@Preisschild: bit part of the problem is the Bissems were never given such a chance. The way the first contact team presented it, it was "join the SC, or be left on your own". I am glad they are making back ways with the Arxur!
Some Lvm
Seriously, you know this was meant as a joke right? I was poking fun at the lousy selection of people that wound up on Ark 3. The Sivkits can have the desert planet, we can always shove the humans back on an ark ship and send it to Sagittarius A or something...
Preisschild
He should Even without prior knowledge about them just speaking to their ambassador should have rang a lot of alarm bells
Preisschild
Especially after everything their ambassador said More Red Flags than during a Victory Parade in the Soviet Union
Preisschild
It could be related to the exterminator fleet that came to the Bissems. That was never recorded into the archives either.
Preisschild
Yeah we could probably spare a planet for them and revert them to their original species, but only if they accept to not expand to other planets at least for a while to prove that they arent just locusts to the galaxy
Preisschild
Yeah, the SC sounds like a shitshow. I wouldnt want full isolationism, but perhaps restrict alliances to Humans, Yotul and perhaps Arxur, Venlil and other ex feds as long as they abandoned fed ideals completely
Preisschild
They would probably take over the entire planet when food runs out on their continent
PhycoKrusk
The sense I got was that the Archives were a black hole, i.e. once you go in, you don't come out again. The supply and expedition crews don't count because they never actually went in.
PhycoKrusk
But this one was _already_ a desert!
John
There’s already an armed conflict on Ivrana!
Greg Gougeon
I feel it might start a armed conflict.
David Bollinger
I don't think "only", but I definitely think he isn't the norm.
Matěj Habarta
It seems like accepting sivkits on Irvana will turn into ecological disaster of epic proportions.
Some Lvm
@T___: First and foremost, even by Dustin's estimate, which we can't be sure is accurate, the ecological crisis is still a decade away. Plenty of time to get the countries to cooperate through diplomacy and persuasion. And we don't even know if Bissems really need help to deal with their ecology, they may already have the means, just not the drive to fix it themselves. But than Dustin and his friends show up, pick a favorite country, and announce that if the rest of the planet does not fall in line with their demands, the whole Bissem species is going to die! So where is the choice exactly? At least three of the four nations do manage to cooperate, with only the one that knows how dangerous aliens really are refusing, but they can't straight up explain their opposition without blowing a lead on a 100 year conspiracy. So what does Dustin do now? Go over there, and force the issue! There was no need to inform the general public. There was no need to inform the other nations, at leas not through a press conference. Again - they could have easily convinced the Tsia SC and humanity were not a threat, get them to agree to reduce planetary tensions, and than after the Bissems were already accepted to the SC and the advanced tech started flowing, have a secret sit-down with the other nation leaders, and reveal the issue to them, finding a way to get past it without violence together. And yes - this still could have failed, but it would have much smaller chance of failure than what they did. Sorry, but unless new canonical information comes to light, the way I see it - if humanity did not rush first contact, the Bissems would have been much better off!
Guardian
I propose that the Sivkits accidentally learn the orange algae is delicious because someone fell into the water and, in the panic, bit down on some. Or, more likely, some Bissems try to show them water is okay, and someone grabs a mouthful out of curiosity.
Guardian
Given that, I'm going out on a limb here and hypothesizing that the discovery of this orange algae being delicious is actually an accident.
John
But I want him to character develop into actually being a good and reasonable person.
Cartoon dinosaur
Ok, so i had a good night sleep and feeling better. SO I dont think that line was smashing headphones worthy but it still definitely rubs me the wrong way.
T___
They should offer the reverse cure to individuals and not entire species through Loxel. As soon as there were some "normal" sivkits, the proper diblomatic talks could begin. Also, there is a chance - albeit a small one - that Loxel is faking it. No one can stand talking to him for long, and probably try to avoid interactions with him. If he had a reverse cured brain, he would be in a phenomenal position to spy on others. An actually smart person pretending to be idiotic and claiming to be smart? Wow.
T___
@Some Lvm I thought "the rush" was the ecological destruction of the entire planet. I disagree strongly. Dustin did not cause the war. It was all Bissems, the existing tentions, and idiotic leaders. The Tseia have no obligation to share their tech, yes. The other nations going to war to get some of it is on them, not Dustin. Hiding things from the public was not the way to go, after hiding things is the reason for the tensions now. And what are you going on with "the Bissem didn't have a choice"? Dustin declared a war and put the guns in ther hands, really? He publicly begged them NOT to go to war but to give diblomacy a chance.
John
The federation culture that the Sivkits still partially cling onto says oceans bad an filled with predators(which is why the otter people I forget the name were allowed to be genocides by the Arxur and the Feds didn’t lift a finger), they’ll remain inland and destroy all of the forests
John
He probably isn’t.
Charming Cobra
Just an additional thought...wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that Loxsel was the only Sivkit like that?
Charming Cobra
How is it possible for someone to be so verbose with gorgeous prose...yet a complete fool all the same? Loxsel is in the wrong profession, he should be a poet!
Guardian
And, given what we learned in Gojid Refugee, it's quite likely that most other xenos do not, in fact, have the level of compassion routinely expressed by humanity in general in this series.
Alekss Žukovskis
hey, SP. i, being a pattern-recognizer, see that you will divide Bissems further by Sivkits liking the algae very much, but that somehow causing a further ecological collapse. do i get extra credit.
Some Lvm
I doubt he would survive more than a few pictures... Or he might become an addict. I am really not sure what his malfunction is, he just might be the type to enjoy the electroshock therapy for predator disease...
Some Lvm
@Yannis: the first contact team consisted of 3 members, was led by a human, and it was the human alone who went to the Tsia continent uninvited, and caused most of the damage. @John: the Bissems didn't have a choice. Yes, they have agency, but that does not mean they can do whatever they want and ignore reality and circumstances. There is a huge difference between agency and omnipotence! You assume diplomacy is meaningless, and a 3rd party isn't capable of instigating a war between nations that would otherwise continued a tense, yet peaceful relations. It was the human leader of the contact team that sabotaged a diplomatic solution, he acted from a position of power as an advanced alien representing a powerful alien collective, and he pushed the Bissem nations towards an open conflict, giving them a brand new incentive to fight they did not have before. Therefore he is the most directly responsible for this war! Keep in mind - if Bissem acceptance to the SC was not dependent on all countries collaborating, there would have been not pressure to deal with the Tsia, and no trigger for the war! No, this is absolutely a human started war, and exactly the kind of thing the Yotul warned about! The method is a bit different, but Dustin and company totally Federationed this whole crafafel, and innocent penguins are paying with their lives for it!
John
They still cling onto fed culture and are deathly afraid of the ocean.
John
So you’re saying people have zero agency and don’t need to take responsibility for their actions? If the Bissems declare war on other Bissems it’s the Bissems fault regardless of the revelations that lead to that war because they chose to take the information and declare war rather than choose reason.
Luiz Henrique Alves
Someone should show Loxsel rule 34 about his species do see how he would react, probably would stop using the term cattle and star usin brothel
Yannis Morris
My point was more "Humans are one species of 82 and are not the only ones behind Ivrana relations. We ain't that important"
Some Lvm
@Yannis and John: the war is completely Dustin's fault: Yes, the Tsia hid the invasion and the tech they got from it, but that isn't what actually triggered the war! It was the combination of Dustin and his colleagues insisting on dealing with Bissems as a single entity ignoring their differences, and their blunt and abrupt exposure of the Tsia situation to the general public. The Tsia situation could have been handled diplomatically, peacefully, and gradually. There was no rush exposing them, it brought no benefit to anyone, and they were not really hurting anyone either. Unless you believe in global communism, there really is no reason to force any nation to share their technology. The Tsia were the one's to loose two cities worth of people to the attack, and the one's who shot down the alien attackers, so they very much got the rights to whatever they found on that spaceship. Do you honestly think any other Bissem nation, or for that matter a real life human nation, would act any differently?
John
@Spacepaladin Have you considered giving him(and the rest of his god forsaken species of parasitic locust bunnies) character development into better people rather than morons who double down on everything the federation did to ruin them? Because I have serious frustrations with their seeming inability to pull themselves out of the crap hole the Feds put them in.
John
@YannisMorris You do realize the Sivkits still cling enough onto fed culture that they probably are still afraid of water right?
John
Actions speak louder than words, if he was actually smart he’d know that. Unfornately despite everything he and the rest of his kind have not fixed what the federation broke in relation to them.
John
I’m not the biggest fan of the Sivkits, but I don’t think we should just let the KC wipe em out, I think we should quarantine those idiots until they either wipe themselves out with their unsustainable practices or fix the numerous problems the feds left me with.(Broken spines, destructive habits, idiocy, etc.)
John
Everything else you said is accurate especially about how the Sivkits aren’t refugees and will destroy Ivrana.
John
Yeah the war was something the Bissems did to themselves cause the other nations were butthurt about not having the tech the Tseias did and the Tseias were pricks who didn’t give it to them.
Yannis Morris
I take offense to the phrase “human caused war”
Yannis Morris
Oh I didn’t interpret it as avoiding stepping on people. I interpreted it as still the “Avoid scaring people and making the wrong movements” thing.
Some Lvm
I feel so bad for the poor Bissems! First, the nasty aliens start a world war over there. Now, the Bissems have to EU them selves to death just to kiss the SC ass? How exactly are Sivkits refugees? A refugee is a person escaping disaster, conflict, or persecution, but it seems the only reason the Sivkits sent out a fleet was because they actually wanted to take over a planet they currently didn't own. (Its actually irrelevant if their claim of prior ownership is true or not) I have a feeling importing a large number of them will cause problems Ivrana simply isn't ready or equipped to deal with. Despite being the only alien culture we have seen so far to have separate countries, they are still a lot more homogeneous than humanity, so having to accommodate a large number of individuals from a radically different culture will be tough. Not to mention the fact that between the ecological disaster and the human caused war, their resources are already stretched thin. Honestly, if I were a Bissem citizen, I would side with whatever political entity was calling for an isolationist policy at this point. The price of citizenship in the SC is just way too high! And as much as I like the reformed Arxur, a deal with them risks a military response from multiple parties. Yea... The poor space pengis just can't get a break...
CyberpunkGandalf
Actually, if they’re young and have not been indoctrinated into a fear culture, that might work
Some Lvm
Damn it! Now we are going to have to take those Ark 3 f*** back to earth? Nope! I rather let the KC exterminate the Sivkits...
Lokyar
Every planet is Tinsas until the Sivkits have eaten it into a desert
Lokyar
Or we could always go with the old "fearful and stressed sivkit are the only sivkit worth eating, so relax."
Lokyar
He's certainly in A Kool-Aid. Whether he's in THE Kool-Aid is questionable. Either way, putting a actor in to try and appeal to the evil predators ego was actually a vaguely reasonable response by the Sivkit, considering Feddie propaganda.
Apogee
Lovely chapter! I had a thought. I wonder if there would be a handbook of sorts on how to handle Fed ideologs. When someone is that afraid and irrational you gotta treat them kind of like an animal. Thus the masks, slow movements quite speech, it’s exactly how you deal with a panicking animal, that and backing away getting around a corner and out of a possible charge. The Sivkits may even squeal like a rabbit and could likely have heart attacks like one.
Peyton Schuman
This series was at least originally (and still is) a humanity fuck yeah! Story. It’s to be expected that humanity will do something not seen with any other species in that kind of setting.
EliasArt2Life
@DemonVee See my response to Yannis Morris. That being said, to add a bit to my argument, I don’t think the Krev level of advancement would matter. They uplifted the Dossur, and they were tribal. You could argue that they didn’t even know the Dossur were there until they landed, but I’d say that support MY argument; they landed on that planet to cleanse it of predators. That was a common thing that they did. Even if they couldn’t detect the Krev, they would have noticed that their planet had life, decided to cleanse it of any predators, and then found the Krev that way.
EliasArt2Life
@Gumcel Yeah, I’ve got to agree. They kept so much in the Archives, why leave THAT out? That being said, if I recall, Sivkits were one of the species who had members working alongside the Farsul in the Archives; individuals selected to aid the Farsul in keeping up the facade. Maybe the Farsul deleted it because they were afraid that if their Sivkit collaborators saw the location, they’d leak it?
Apogee
Dude I’m gonna be honest. It sounds like you need medication
John
Doesn’t change the fact they had a chance to pull themselves out and instead decided to dig deeper into the hole of ecosystem destruction and American public education level schooling instead of taking the oppurtunity they were given to help fix what the federation broke even if it was only in relation to themselves.
Guardian
I like your line of thinking here.
Gumcel
Still seems weird that they would keep their deepest, darkest secrets in there but not the location of a planet. Anyways I’m just gonna say that Loxsel dreamed it up. That’s my crack headcanon. He saw it in a dream and convinced everyone to leave because he thought it would be funny, seems like something he would do.
Cartoon dinosaur
2 things, well 3 actually. 1. Its the implications, Implying that most other species wouldn't care about not trampling others of smaller stature. Even if you dont care about them its inconvenient at the vary least. making us feel as though most sapient are callus dicks 2. We dont need to hear about how uber caring humans are, it puts us on a pedestal to say we care more about others then anyone else even though we know that's not the case thanks to the Yulpa cyber attacks and Farsul and Kolshian isolation. Its massively hypocritical. Humans in this story worked extensively to prove that are worthy of being seen as an equal. This isn't a comment you would prescribe to a species unless its uncommon and therefore they are the "best race" and 3, I was practicing drawing and I was extremely frustrated with it. and this line just kept going through my mind over and over and over and then my left headphone ear thingy feel of the headrest as I was using it and I just fucking smashed it.
Space Paladin
He definitely is. I’m laughing too hard writing him!
Gumcel
No, because they feds are irrationally afraid of water. They’re not gonna fix anything lol.
Space Paladin
What did she say, other than it’s the little things and the way we adapt to care for other needs that show we’re compassionate?
Space Paladin
Tinsas info was not in the archives, the Farsul totally wiped its location…so how did Loxsel find out?
AgentA1cr
Ah, so that's why Loxsel talks the way he does. Overcompensating for the stereotype of Sivkits being stupid by showcasing his extensive vocabulary through bombastic displays of grandiloquence.
Gumcel
Nobody knew about Tinsas’ location? Even if the information is buried in the archives it still seems crazy that no one could find it in 23 years. And how did they never find the krev? They’re one system away. Loxsel implies that Axsely was killed, which I don’t think actually happened lol. As for Tassi, their offer to relocate the sivkits seems unnecessary, are they really in such immediate danger? They know very little about their enemy anyways. Again, they still don’t even know if these are the same people who bombed Esquo, why are they assuming that the sivkits are in imminent danger? What exactly is the scale of this? Thousands? Millions? Billions? Because if it’s the latter it’s hard to justify moving such an insane number of people based off so little information. Do the other nations even know about this? It’s hard to imagine them signing off on this. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s conflict because one nation decided to send a diplomat off to give away land that they don’t own.
Cartoon dinosaur
"There wasn’t much fear shown as the two walked side by side, but I noticed the simians taking special care to watch where they were stepping; their narrow gaze turned downward, rather than directly ahead of them. It was subtle behavior shifts to accommodate other species that showed the Earthlings’ compassion." This line pissed me off so much I fucking smashed my headphones. (My spare set that was falling apart.)
DemonVee
You have to remember that if Tellus is Tinsas, than this happened around 900+ years ago, with the Sivkits being the 14th species found by the Feds. So I assume this was far before the Federation discovered the Varin who provided them their long range telescopes used to find new life, so the Feds were going around the galaxy basically blind. For comparison, on Earth, Europe would still be fighting in the crusades, and given that the KC doesn't seem like it's *that* far ahead of Earth than both the Jaslips and Krev would probably not even have electricity yet unless they had some major stagnation in advancement. The Feds wouldn't want to expand in that direction after the burnt the planet down. And I assume they were trying to stop expanding for the most part since the Arxur started being utilized.
DemonVee
Tellus is in a system right next to the Krev's if I remember correctly, but not the same. I assume the the Kolshians were just going ape-shit with their exploration in the early days before deciding to reign it in once they got the long distance telescopes from the Varim(?) And probably after the Arxur were discovered, not wanting to expand and accidently find something to break their conspiracy.
DemonVee
The Feds ruined their education systems, they didn't actually do anything to their brains.
EliasArt2Life
@Yannis Morris I considered the early time period as well. I just didn’t mention it because the counter is… boring. Simply put, if the Federation brought in the Sivkits early enough that the Krev were still in early civilization and too primitive to have sufficient telescopes, then how did the Federation NEVER EXPAND ONE SYSTEM FURTHER. They would have basically had to have been right at the Krev’s doorstep, then backtracked to cover up Tinsas’ location, then in the HUNDREDS OF YEARS (only the last 500 of which had the Arxur), never decided to go back and see what lay in that direction. We know the Federation wasn’t against uplifting primitive species, and since Tellus has shown no signs of ever being priorly inhabited, IF we assume it is Tinsas, they could have been sure no one would recognize it, so why wouldn’t they? You get the picture. I didn’t really want to mention that argument because it’s too similar to some of my other arguments, but as long as the subject got brought up, I might as well. And hey, I could be totally wrong. All it takes is one bit of information that we haven’t been given yet. But until then, I’m guessing “no.”
DemonVee
Nah, they dug a single hole on one tiny part of the planet. Its's unlikely they would find anything up until now when they started to spread out into the surface.
DemonVee
That would be a hilarious way to solve that problem
Edmund Lam
In a nice French strew.
Yannis Morris
I'm willing to bet that the Sivkits will be to orange algae what a goat is to kudzu. Because reasons. But yeah. I didn't consider that the Sivkit would just be wrong about that. *How* they know it's their home planet is a very important question here. But also the Sivkit were around super goddamn early in the Federation's history and I'm not sure the KC species were in a position to look out to the stars at that point in the timeline. (Of 1000-ish years and over 300 species assimilated, the Sivkit were number 24.) It's possible there was something in place that stopped the Sivkit from expanding in the specific direction of their homeworld. Either something enforced through Federation rule or smth the Sivkit decided to throw off after the Archive Leaks.
John
I hate Sivkits cause they doubled down on everything the federation made them into instead of doing the right thing and pulling themselves out of the crap hole the Feds put them in as soon as they found out.
Kyle Nelson
She didn't get exploded. Loxsel is overexaggerating again just like he did when he said that thousands of sivkits were killed, then it was hundreds of thousands, then it was millions.
EliasArt2Life
Once again, I’m willing to believe that the Sivkits believe that Tellus is their lost home world, but I’m not as sure that I believe it. It just seems incredibly unlikely that the Federation could be one system away from the Krev, and a number of days less than 7 away from the Jaslips, and never find them. I think what happened was that the Sivkit saw that Tellus had buildings, but was an otherwise desert planet, and decided that it must be because those buildings were remnants of their civilization and the desert climate came from the Federation’s destruction. I hate saying it, but the term “Sivkit brained” came about for a reason, and they don’t seem to have fixed that. Besides, the Krev would have noticed the signs of a previous civilization, even if their telescopes DIDN’T see Federation ships. The Federation would have had to systematically remove any trace of prior civilization from the planet, which would have taken additional decades, making it even LESS likely that the Krev would go unnoticed. I’m not buying it without more evidence. I don’t think Tellus is Tinsas. I think the Sivkit just THINK it is. Also, the Bissem are in for a shock with the Sivkit’s unsustainable practices on their already fragile ecosystem. New source of conflict for the plot.
Matěj Kratochvíla
They didn't get exploded, they were just in the room during the terrorist attack on a meeting between Elias Meier and various other alien ambassodors, on Venlil Prime, shortly after the Earths bombing was happening and they passed out in a trash can
PhycoKrusk
You know what? I like Loxsel; he's fun. We should eat him last.
PhycoKrusk
There _is_ an awful lot of algae on the planet....
Stueymon
I was gonna say, I thought I missed something?
PhycoKrusk
@John bro y u mad
PhycoKrusk
That's why I remain convinced it's all part of the show.
PhycoKrusk
... would that work?
Yannis Morris
Far as I can remember, she f**ked off after the HF Bombing and never showed up again
PhycoKrusk
That's the neat part about it, though: They won't eat them until they are under "sufficient duress." At that point, the whole thing becomes a game of the Sivkits getting more and more irritated as the Arxur give them a longer and longer list of things they would rather eat first. Bonus points if they make it to different classifications of rocks before they lost their cool.
PhycoKrusk
Physically, she was fine. Possibly she exploded _mentally,_ however.
Rohn Carver
tellus and the krevs world are not in the same system? I thought they were?
Stueymon
Wait, what happened to the old Ambassador? I don't recall them getting exploded.
Stueymon
Birds aren't real so it's ok
Greg Gougeon
Loxal reminds me of my father in law. Except all the ramblings are about what god said/told him.
DreamEnvoy
Krev Consortium
RaptorRed
No, the only humans nearby are Tyler's group from the arc ship
RaptorRed
KC?
Rohn Carver
aren't the krev in the same system as the humans?
Blake S
He seems a bit mellow for fed styled treatment in cannon its usually brain sapping and fear reinforcement
Ethan Rappolt
Oooh, yeah. They still seem to buy into the old ways. What if hes like this because theyve been "treating" him for "predator disease"? He does sound a little like some people that suffered the oldest school, most abusive, types of psych interventions...
DreamEnvoy
Arc ship humans settling a planet claimed by another party, and the conflict arising from a lack of transparency and proper commications. The KC-Sivkit conflict seems to parallel the old Human-KC, and I'm waiting for someone getting whacked on the head before masks are removed.
RaptorRed
It would be interesting to see what percent of people would care if something happened to the sivkits, after each long interaction with one.
Shajenko
Loxel must be fun to write for.
Rick VanHoute
The sivkits are gonna be oissed when they find out that humans took their home and blew them up. Also, infinite walkers is hilarious .
Triskit
I hope Ivrana is ready for round 2 of ecological destruction
Hayden Hodge
Ahhh yes, nothing to soothe diplomatic relations with a massive conglomerate of prey species like intimidating them with the exact species that caused all of this fear to begin with lmao
REDemon14
Maybe not in that one area. You won't find ancient Greek artifacts digging in Missouri
everything very
Same
Byne
I love Loxsel, he's so unhinged.
John
@PhycoKrusk HES A SIVKIT! The Feds took their brains along with their spines. He really is just that stupid because that’s how the Fursuls made him and his entire species to be. It’d be nice if the Sivkits didn’t immediately double down on being brain dead parasites as soon as they found out what the Feds did to them all the way back in NOP 1 but they did double down and they are that stupid and Loxsel clearly is no exception!
PhycoKrusk
Easy solution: Just have the lizard in charge state plainly that they _are_ going to eat the Sivkits, but not until they are under sufficient duress.
Yannis Morris
"Sir! The Algae blooms are out of control. There aren't any fish to eat them away!" "Very well then. It's time for our nuclear option. Space Locusts! Do your thing!"
PhycoKrusk
I still think it's part of the performance.
Yannis Morris
He did that in the same chapter he tried to assign "credit" for breaking Sivkit backs to humanity. Kuemper offered to fix their backs and Loxsel said he wasn't Sivkit brained enough to fall for it
PhycoKrusk
It's getting really hard to tell if he is, in fact, in the Kool-Aid, or if that's just part of the performance.
Yannis Morris
Their ecological collapse's main issue is the overabundance of Algae blooms... And Algae is a plant... Hmmm
PhycoKrusk
You may have just solved the entire Sivkit refugee crisis. "Adopt a Sivkit; they'll be well-adjusted in no time."
Byron Ritchie
Man Loxel is reminding me of that crazy diplomat from a clone wars episode
Byron Ritchie
That’s Space paladins secret agenda nop has been propaganda for bird hate since the beginning
Intricate Zebra
"Sir! Our planet is on the verge of a complete ecological collapse. What should we do?!?!" "There's only one option now... Send in the locusts."
Yannis Morris
It’d be f**ked up if his “being accused of Predator Disease” was him questioning the Kool-Aid and asking if humans are really so bad as to avoid every scrap of contact with them. Leading the Grand Herd to hammer in the Predator Narrative so he wouldn't dare go against it
Peter
Did a sivkit just use sivkit-brain as a pejorative? I can't wait for all of the sivkit herd to move in and arxur ships rock up in orbit.
Yannis Morris
Consider this: Ivrana’s Sivkits get a taste for orange algae
Scarred Ragdoll
Why would you bring the species reviled as intergalactic locusts and planet ecology destroyers to your homeworld currently suffering an ecological collapse?
Danny Luca
….. invite the pest I found destroying a garden who is ungrateful to humans after they agree to help protect them? What could possible go wrong? Certainly not additional ecological issues besides their issues cause now the Sivkits are eating all the plant life like jerks. Or a war between the Sivkits and Arxur once the Arxur show up
Jonathan Cardoso Mota
Actually he's doing the thing: He's mixing two incidents! Axsely hid in a trashcan much earlier However, on the terrorist attack when the bomb went off Meier actually shielded Axsely (he gets shot later)
Dinomannick
Thought? Oh no, I personally was hoping it was fake. If his personality is consider normal for his people, then we may have found the first non intelligent sapiant lifeform.
Hayden Hodge
Arxur are around the bissems space right? And they’re bringing the Sivkits there. I smell immense problems on the horizon, this is going to be a massive diplomatic issue for the bissems I believe.
Blake S
I interpreted that statement as a personal record.
Yannis Morris
You'd assume the average amount of PD accusations the average Sivkit citizen receives is zero. What does it say about the Grand Herd that Two accusations is a record low?
Yannis Morris
@John We were hoping
John
Wait you guys thought he was faking it?
Youre a swedekisser arent you
@TheDudeAbides True... It's naïve, but a man can hope.
TheDudeAbides
"Tellus humans are gonna be pretty pissed to leave again, until they learn Earth lives. Then they'll hopefully go to the homeworld happily." No, Taylor is goinng to somehow be involved and something dumb is going to happen. Like the Consortium military finally gets their heads out of their asses and a message from the SC comes in. For some reason Taylor is the one at the communication console and when it opens it and see that it's from a human he instantly convinces himself it's a fake from the federation and somehow makes the situation worse. Even if it's not that dumb of a situation that happens you're leaving out one huge factor that is the foundation of all the NoP stories from SP. Almost every important character is a imbecile at some point. The series of events you suggested is the sort of thing that normal or smart people would do. Which means it won't happen in the NoP universe.
TheDudeAbides
When the Sivkits become aware of the Arxur fleet their going to assume they were brought there to feed them.
TheDudeAbides
You'd think with all their mining and excavating in addition to farming on the surface that the ark humans would have found some signs of the Sivkits civilization by now.
TheDudeAbides
"hoping that the Grand Herd wouldn't be as high-maintenance as this fellow." Oh boy, Tassi is definitely going to regret this.
LiminalSouthpaw
Oh god. He's not faking. That's his actual personality.
Charles Hall
I've become racist to birds and rabbits in the last year and so and I don't particularly know why.
Elliott
Cover it up probably.
Elliott
Gonna have to teach the Sivkits to farm when they get to that continent, and also be around predators 10x their size when the Arxur show up.
Elliott
Might have to set some ground rules while they're there. But I think even if they totally ravage it, without a fleet to go off and graze somewhere else they'll be forced to start farming like normal cultures do.
Stellar
Loxsel is adorable lmao.
Mr. Walker
DON'T TALK ABOUT MY SON LIKE THAT!
Edmund Lam
Would a movie actor be better? Or a high school drama teacher?
Edmund Lam
Cute for a day. Then becomes super annoying.
Edmund Lam
Or a drunk Yoda.
Aured
Some of Loxsel's flowery expressions remind me of the obfuscated kennings used in skaldic poetry.
Wingit98
"Hey, Sivkits, why don't you, the locusts of the galaxy, come live on our world for a little while?" As Arxur ships appear in orbit
REDemon14
Loxsel, always a source of entertainment. :) Even though Loxsel knows what the federation did to them, he's still "drinking the kool-aid" unfortunately. I had a feeling Tellus would turnout to be Tinsas. Glad to have it be confirmed. Nice to see a bit of Paltans. "The Terrans towered over the fluffy yellow aliens, whose heads came about to where humans’ hands stretched down." They're just soft babies! I can see the Arxur situation backfiring on the Bissem in most circumstances. If the Collective minimizes damage of the future bombings though, the political hit *might* be minimized somewhat. Loxsel = Funny Bunny :) "I've only been accused of having Predator's disease twice this year, a record low!" Loxsel, what the fu- Considering the sivkits didn't talk to anyone outside the Herds for a long time, the fact the sivkit consider Loxsel mental hopefully means the rest of the Herd would be easier to work with. He is most certainly manic in a way. "Loxsel tipped over while sitting down, a stricken look on his face." There he goes, flopping again... Nice to see Axsely get mentioned, no mention of the fact that Meier, who held humanity's highest position of power at the time, sacrificed himself to *save* Axsely, but maybe Tassi will learn that later. Funny and insightful chapter. Always happy to see some sivkits! Great work
Mr. Walker
Loxsel is so cute! I just want to adopt him as my son and care for him!
Ryizmo
I believe he’s referring to the terrorist attack that killed Meier. If I’m remembering correctly the Sivkit ambassador was found hiding in a trashcan, but I’m pretty sure she was unharmed. She definitely lived though
Blake S
I’ll show them. I’m good prey, meek prey! I’ve only been accused of predator disease twice…in the last year. That’s it! A record low!” Awh poor loxel, they sent you as a sacrifice didnt they. You were to awesome for the fed brains liking
Blake S
Im guessing the sivkit leadership put out an order for a "gifted orator" as thier ambasador and then dispatch fucked up the brief. "What do you mean you mean we sent a stage actor to act as ambasador to our entire species!"
Blake S
Nothing like that shakesperian forest gremlin arcehtype
Blake S
Screw this galatic mystery shit. I wanna know what the sivkits got going on.
Swan
I'm curious what the consortium reaction would be if they suddently find an old Sivkit burrial ground on Tellus
Fever Dream
Man. Loxsel is gonna have a fucking time when he learns that it was *humans* that settled on their old home.
Kingarthur
Really starting to wonder if Loxsel is bat shit crazy or if he's "normal for a skivit and what the hell does he mean the last ambassador was blown up in a trash can? Not sure if I've forgotten something or he's crazy again
Joe King
I hope Loxsel never stops being a whack job.
Sroni
So, Tassi brings a herd of sivkit to Ivrana, and a fleet of arxur too. There is absolutely no way this will go sideways.
Anthony Mears
"Um, excuse me...is there someone else we could speak to? Could you put an adult on"?
Quiidek
Dang now the SC could have an alibi for going to war with the consortium!
Michael Halpern
that explains things...
Hive
Well... I guess they can say goodbye to that continent. After the Sivkits are done with it, there will be nothing left standing.
TheBlack2007
Phew. The Bissem really didn’t think that through now, did they? First they invite the Sivkit to their homeworld (which already is on the brink of ecological collapse as it is) despite their locust-like reputation - and at the same time they agreed to have their planet put under the protection of the Galaxy’s previous bogeyman. This is one hell of a powder keg just waiting to blow in their faces.
Youre a swedekisser arent you
Tellus humans are gonna be pretty pissed to leave again, until they learn Earth lives. Then they'll hopefully go to the homeworld happily. Also nice to have confirmation for it. And the Arxur are getting sneaky. Old habits die hard for ambush predators, I guess. Pretty funny.
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