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The Nature of Predators - Gojid Refugee (3/9)
🕑 Added 2024-02-17 12:00:06 +0000 UTCMemory Transcription Subject: Talpin, Gojid Citizen
Date [standardized human time]: September 27, 2136
The Arxur raiders’ nostrils angled toward us slightly, after catching a whiff of fresh Gojid scents. I burrowed deeper into the fertilizer bags, as if their teeth wouldn’t slice through such a barrier in no time. These predators were more seasoned at tracking down sapient prey than their human counterparts; those filthy Terrans would be right behind them, alerted by the carnivorous raiders homing in on us. I watched the reptilians lunge over the planters, and fling the bags aside with powerful paws—cackling with malicious delight. Berna placed herself between them and me, to my horror. Fear was also causing physical pain in my chest, leaving me unable to think…not that any thoughts could help us now. Seeing a gray in person was the worst possible experience for civilized prey sensibilities.
Behind them, I could see the Terran soldiers hustle forward, with wide eyes; the whites were popping now more than ever, as their faces contorted in grotesque ways. One individual was moving its lips toward a radio mounted on its green fabric. Their pelts were tailored to blend into grasses, like where I’d crouched, and lie in wait for any unsuspecting prey. It was obvious, even if their physical features weren’t as pronounced and lethal as the Arxur, that everything about them went into hunting. Explosions detonated on the horizon, painting a canvas of their deeds behind their lumbering frames. I could see their sinister pupils scanning the situation, spectating as the gray opened its maw toward my sister. They looked less wild than their counterparts: much more calculating.
I wonder if the predators are going to fight over who gets the spoils. The Arxur’s going to snap Berna in half. The last thing I’m going to see is her death…before my own torment. I can’t have the grays knowing what a weakling I am.
The gray began to twist its head, angling its teeth toward my sister’s neck. I could see all the way down the monster’s gullet, the pink rivulets of flesh lining the top of its mouth. Its eyes were frantic with derangement, as beads of drool oozed from its mouth. I waited for Berna to be chomped in two, knowing that it was over for us both. Perhaps it was a small mercy that we wouldn’t be cattle to a human-Arxur joint force. I closed my eyes, wishing not to have that image burned into my final moments…or to see the fangs bearing down on me. Thankfully, I wouldn’t be able to hear its snarls, or my sister’s screams. The world was peaceful, dark, and quiet behind my eyelids, a serene contrast to reality.
As I waited for the agony of fangs meeting my throat, instead, I felt sticky fluid and flesh bits splatter across my face. Was this…my sister’s remains? How had such a thorough coating sprayed everywhere? My eyes blinked open, disgust washing over me, before I felt claws grapple against my shoulder. The gray lunging at Berna had been downed by a bullet through the side of the head, a perfect shot which seemed to originate…from the humans? The Terrans blindsided the Arxur with an ambush from behind, seeming to surprise even the reptilians; no doubt they knew the primates were here, but they hadn’t expected their hunter brethren to ambush them. It seemed the Earthlings weren’t keen on sharing their cattle…or giving us a quick end.
“Hey there! Are you alright?” Berna turned to face me as one predator’s lips moved, shakily mouthing words, and I inferred that she was relaying what it was asking. “Fuck man. Why are the Arxur here? Why are the fucking Arxur here?!”
My sister looked bewildered, as she imparted the last part of its speech; the human’s features had turned increasingly wild, and it clutched its skull with gestures that seemed increasingly animated. I could feel the crimson blood dripping all over me, contaminating my fur with what ran through Arxur veins. Tears ran down my face, as I tried to brush it off my pelt. Berna soothed me, as much as she could. The two of us huddled against the wall together, knowing there was nowhere left to run. The Terrans were going to capture us, and take us with the rest of the Gojid cattle. Why were they pretending to be surprised that the grays had arrived?
The Terran that had spoken to us seemed to be the guard that spotted me; it approached, while its pupils jerked around in the most unnerving display I’d ever seen. I moved back closer against the wall, despite knowing it was futile. Resisting these domineering beasts wouldn’t do us any favors. I watched as it maneuvered its legs over the Arxur corpses, and slung its gun over its back. It hesitated when we shied away from it instinctively; the very pores on the terror’s skin were visible, coated in slime after chasing us. It crouched and raised its palms in a slow motion, before retrieving a towel from its satchel. The predator threw the rag at me, waiting with its golden fur strips above its vision raised.
Its lips moved, though I had no idea what it was barking. What does it want?
My sister replied to it, giving me a guess at what it said. “You expect us to believe you’re not here to hurt us? You chased us all the way from your camp!”
The monstrosity stared directly at us, offering a response that was hidden from me. I supposed I should be relived that I was immune to its lies.
“We didn’t mean to intrude on your territory.” A response from my sibling once more, which didn’t seem to satisfy the beast. “Really, it wasn’t a challenge to your authority. M-my brother had the idea to turn ourselves in as cattle, and…submit willingly. Is that something you want?”
The human’s insufferable eyes widened, as if in shock, and it tossed its head from side-to-side in emphatic fashion. It seemed to respond with only a single, bellowed word.
“Why did you save us then?” my companion asked it.
The Terran’s eye fur slanted downward, its exposed facial skin creasing with what seemed like disgust. It extended a finger as it spoke, pointing at the Arxur corpses like they were the object of its anger.
“‘Because they were going to eat us?’” Thank you, Berna, for echoing its words. “Saying that you would n-never do that is hard to believe. You honestly want us to believe humans had nothing to do with this?”
The creature bobbed its head again, but this time, up-and-down. I began to gather that in its nonverbal arsenal, horizontal motion was a sign of “no”, while vertical shaking was in the affirmative. The Terran cast a glance back at its squadmates, who seemed to be urging it to leave. It gestured to me with a finger, like it had with the grays’ corpses. My spines had been at full bristle for a while, or else that signaling would’ve made them pop out! It began saying something, while I shriveled away from it in terror.
“Do what the p-predator says, Talpin,” Berna spoke to me, trying to fill in the gaps in a way that seemed organic. “Wipe the blood off. Like the creature said, it’s…just a towel.”
Dumbfounded about why it’d allow me to clean off the filthy blood, without any prompting, I decided to obey. I mopped up the gunk spattered across my features, though it was impossible to get it all off, or to shake the feeling. The Terran extended a murderous hand, and I gulped, understanding that it wanted the rag back. That was a clever way for it to get a lick of blood for later, even though it wasn’t my blood. My arm was quivering like a leaf, as I passed the bloodied cloth back. Its lips curved in a snarl that it couldn’t quite restrain, and it rose back to its full height after snatching the cloth from me. It gestured with an opposable digit over its shoulder, toward its squadmates. It then alternated to pointing at a novel explosion, which was drawing closer to Blessed Fields.
“Let me get this straight. You’re evacuating the planet. You want us to come with you, and we can’t hesitate, because there’s no time to waste. The bombs are closing in on the village, and if we don’t come, we’re going to die.” The human moved its head in the affirmative nod. Berna paused, shooting a glance at me—knowing what predators would think of my ailment. “Our father is back in Blessed Fields. Everyone we care about…”
The predator grimaced, though I had no idea what faux sympathy line it spouted next. I didn’t know what to make of its prey imitation, other than to think it was more convincing than others of its cursed breed. It backed away into its pack, and seemed to urge us to follow with beckoning hands.
“How can we possibly trust you? You invaded our planet. You eat flesh, just like them.”
As the animal launched into a final response, despite the urgings of its squadmates, I could guess what it was saying; from how it pointed at the Arxur corpses once more, it was pleading that the grays were worse. Berna was watching me out of my periphery, requesting my help to reach a decision. It was a death sentence to go with the creatures; when I’d been ready to turn myself in as cattle, it wasn’t with the intention that Berna would share my fate. It was strange that the humans didn’t take us as captives by force, though that must be because they enjoyed luring us in willingly. The prospect of going far from the cradle, beholden to their whims on their depraved planet, wasn’t an appealing one.
What I couldn’t deny was that these creatures had much greater control over their appetite than the roving Arxur. No matter how wretched this life would be, never having a day away from these hideous creatures—there was a pit in my stomach, just looking at them now—Berna would die if the bombs reached here. The grays were a known commodity, whereas the Terrans might give passable treatment to anyone who went along with them, like the Venlil. I was bound to be culled eventually, even if the remote possibility they were genuine in helping was true. Predators would never waste resources on someone like me, when Gojids never could, but this was the only hope of saving my sister.
We either die to the Arxur, the bombs, or we lie to ourselves about believing a word this slimy beast says. It gets us away from this doomed village. Maybe their cattle pens are a little nicer than the grays’, or their security is a bit more lax to give us some slim hope of escape.
Accepting the sacrifice that was needed of me, despite the unending fear, I tailed after the Terran soldiers with resignation. Berna cast a glance back in the direction of our home, where our father would be caught up in the midst of bombs. There was no time to go back for him, though I’d still try if it wouldn’t have meant my sister would refuse to go with the flesh-beast’s evac ship. The creatures hurried back in the direction of their camp, and I strained to find the energy to sprint after them once more. It went against every inclination to run toward the predators, rather than away. I didn’t want to imagine what horrors we would see in their presence, and then on a much wider scale once they got us to Earth.
Bombs pummeled the horizon, leaving billowing clouds in the night sky. The fields seemed long and unending in this direction, especially when my legs felt like jelly. Even from a distance, I could see the humans packing up their camp in a hurry; they’d already gotten a few ships off the ground from a grassy patch on the hillside, while more transports buzzed in to collect the last of their people. It seemed a foregone conclusion that they intended to leave without our human escorts, if it came down to it. I spotted other bands of UN soldiers herding a few Gojids toward the landing zone, so it seemed we weren’t alone in being suicidal enough to go with predators. With our army gone, they were the only ride off this planet.
Berna doubled over alongside me, as we finally staggered within range of an angular transport—already packed with people and predators. “Tal, are you sure about this? I’ll cover for you, if you want to make a run for it. Do you really think it’s the right idea, to go with them?”
I wasn’t sure if it was the right idea, but it was the least bad option of several unspeakable ones. Whatever the Federation knew to be true of Terran cruelty, they hadn’t brought this level of senseless slaughter to our streets…and they at least tried to give us false hope. I hadn’t dreamed the mammalian predators would bother to save us, when the Arxur’s jaws were inches from my sister’s windpipe. Not wanting to have the humans spot me writing out my words, and deny us both entry to the ship due to genetic blemishes that could taint their breeding stock, I mimicked the soldier’s nod for yes.
“Okay. I’ll protect you, as best as I can. You just follow my lead, w-whenever these nightmares take us; I’ll do what I can to hide…you know,” Berna replied. “I love you, Tal. Don’t worry, you don’t have to find a way to say it back.”
Her protection isn’t what I want. I don’t want to be a liability again, not in a situation like this! It’ll be enough of a burden for us both to bury our grief about our father…to not think about it, since the predators wouldn’t understand. Berna shouldn’t be stuck worrying about me.
I wrapped my arm around her spines with affection, before finding the strength to clamber into an evac shuttle. My legs gave out once we were onboard, both from exhaustion and the strain of survival chemicals flooding from my brain. Normally, I’d have concerns about whether a predator built contraption had anything resembling safety inspections; they were better at destroying things than keeping them together. However, given that they’d managed to fly all the way through subspace to the cradle, I’d assume it worked fine. Humans wouldn’t travel the stars with such calmness if crashes were regular. They were murderers, but they were not suicidal.
I was tempted to squeeze my eyes shut, trapped in an enclosed space with dozens of sets of binocular eyes open around us. The boarding door sealed shut, and I felt the shuttle lift up from the ground, defying the cradle’s gravity. Not even Berna could ease the hopelessness I felt, knowing my days were numbered. The Terrans who had brought us in had migrated to a corner, and the same one who’d waved a hand at me before lifted its paw in acknowledgment. I studied the beast for a long second, not understanding its motivations—or why it’d poured so much energy into convincing a measly two prey animals to follow its posse, with its ticket to safety on the line. Its kin had seemed much more eager to book it out of there.
Did it sense my debility, and that was why it decided it needed me as a plaything? What would the humans do with a specimen like me? Their species didn’t behave as I’d expect from such a vicious scourge; their drives were an enigma that I couldn’t quite unravel. I drew a shaky breath, noticing the human restart the waving of its hand. It was almost as if it was demanding my attention…no, my reciprocation of this ritual.
Uncertain what sort of response the Terran soldier wanted, I lifted a paw in kind. A snarl crossed its lips, and I hoped that blatant threat display just meant it was amused at its control of me. This had been one of the longest days of my life, with all of the predators I’d been exposed to, and it was only the first of many.
A/N - Part 3! After being saved by the humans from the Arxur, Talpin and Berna are forced to make a split-second decision on whether to go with them, as the evac ships are the only ride out; Berna promises to hide our narrator's deafness, but both know the Terrans will figure it out. What do you think it must've been like for all of the Gojid refugees who chose to come with us, losing their homes, losing loved ones, and not knowing if they were heading for a cattle pen--stuck in close quarters for the entire journey to Earth? Will Talpin come around to humans...and will he be surprised by the true treatment of his people?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
Some Lvm
A thought occurs to me: At which point exactly is Talpin deaf? I mean which part of the chain is malfunctioning? After learning how translators work in the NoP universe, it seems one of them could have easily replaced a cochlear implant or similar, and while without adjustment it probably wouldn't transmit all sounds, it would at least allow Talpin to hear speech. I know medical tech in Fed times sucked, but surely someone would have thought to at least try?
EliasArt2Life
@PhycoKrusk Are you kidding? There are few enough people in the comment section who are both willing to challenge and adapt as is. You come up with a ton of great thoughts and ideas. I may not always agree with them, but I’m alway glad to see them. You’re also willing to admit when someone else has a point. That’s one of the BEST qualities to have! I’ve noticed some people in the comments who refused to budge on ANYTHING, and eventually had to stop engaging with them. You can’t convince someone who refuses to be convinced, and debating with someone you know will never allow themselves to be convinced is a waste. I’m always happy to see your comments; you challenge me and my stances in a way only a few people in the comments do.
JustOffKilter
True.
Yannis Morris
Or he could go Beethoven with it and stay deaf
JustOffKilter
Even though it seems pretty certain that Talpin and Berna are the only survivors from Blessed Fields. Some part of me is still hopeful that, if Talpin gets a cochlear implant or something like that, that he tries his claw at making music and his father gets to hear it. That'd about warm the cockles of my jaded, cynical heart.
EliasArt2Life
@Space Paladin Ah! Thank you. I’ve been wondering about Gojid gestures for a while; I kept on getting mixed messages about them. This helps to clear them up.
Serpent_Bon 274
Are you telling me?
T___
I also think we do have extensive body language. Not many people are aware of using the nonverbal signals that we use to communicate. Actually, 60% to 65% of all communication is non-verbal! Think of facial expressions, eye gaze, gestures, posture, personal distance, body movements and in many cases, the things we don't say. We use them especially to express emotions or intentions.
Space Paladin
Thank you!
Space Paladin
The Gojids can’t use tail languages so they have more simple signals, like claw flicks, that function like ours
Invariance
"Being a powerful spacefaring society is irrelevant. The individual has an obligation to the herd, not the other way around." Some people would say that society actually does have an obligation to its members. It's not really just a question of resources, but about the culture of the federation as a whole; the way Salcic and Kittia (from the first chapter) were talking about Talpin when they thought he couldn't hear them doesn't speak of a culture that would immediately do better with sufficient resources: "Maybe we should let them know about his condition, since it’ll take their attention off of us. The weakest member of the herd could slow them down. They’d have to stop to eat their morsel…perhaps even fight over the honor. In many ways, they’d be doing him and his family a favor. Who would want to live like that—with that?"
EliasArt2Life
Actually, that won’t be until the following morning. But point taken!
EliasArt2Life
The Cradle has been described as if it’s a bastion against the Arxur. The culture and people have not been shown to be in need of supplies. Let me put it this way; if the Cradle is so short on resources that they cannot accommodate the deaf or otherwise disabled, there should be far more signs of this than a single throwaway line. There should be rationing, shortages of precious metals, people should be encouraged, if not made, to do work to provide more resources, etc. Talpin’s father’s job may be to help plants grow better, but it’s probably less desirable than getting another farmer or miner. Yet his job is still revered by the community, and he’s teaching his daughter the trade. I’m sorry, but I don’t see sufficient evidence to take the word “need” in Talpin’s reflection literally.
PhycoKrusk
They still let me hang around in spite of all the fights that I start, so I'm pretty sure you're good.
Ottwo
I mean I dunno bout you but if someone shot me I wouldn’t really want to work with them
Gumcel
Yumby Gobib (I am scraping the bottom of the barrel of things to say because I am struggling to think of anything clever but I still wanted to be a part of the discussions)
Gumcel
Yeah according to Sovlin, Talpin is nearly an adult, so like 16 at the youngest.
TheBlack2007
It's a society driven by a pretty collectivist ideology. Individuals are allowed to express themselves as long as they don't endanger "the herd" - and those who endanger it for reasons beyond their control, like people with disabilities, are eyed suspiciously. The Federation is known to be pretty backwards in terms of sociology. Which is entirely by design since it helps the Kolshian puppet masters to uphold their grasp on it.
Xelav
I really hope that their father made his way on evac shuttle es too and that they will reunite eventually, maybe we can even get his POV?
Yannis Morris
Considering how simple the accommodations end up being: I doubt they couldn’t spare anything
Yannis Morris
@PhycoKrusk I don’t think Talpin is a kid but otherwise great points. Man, imagine the mindfuck when they realize that giving extra to the disabled is apparently instinct to the “vile, nasty predators”
PhycoKrusk
Being a powerful spacefaring society is irrelevant. The individual has an obligation to the herd, not the other way around. @Mike Being impoverished is not the same as being at war. If all your resources have to go into producing food and into military adventures, you will not be able to spare the resources to accommodate disabilities.
Mike Rees
There are still facilities and language for the deaf in the most impoverished parts of Earth. An agrarian planet/culture should still have been able to provide for that.
PhycoKrusk
Makes perfect sense from almost any point of view: The Nazis were perfectly content to work with the Imperials to crush the Soviets, but always intended to turn on them as soon as it was convenient.
PhycoKrusk
S'wat I do.
mitsos_pr
They are a powerful spacefaring society. They should be able to accommodate deaf people. They are just unwilling to do it and don't view it as important.
Doodoomaan
Still waiting for that chapter where Sovlin went to Talpin's refugee center.
Paperclip
Yeah, that's a better analogy. I wrote this like right after waking up so it left my head
Doodoomaan
Krusk is right. It's not doublethink, it would make perfect sense from their point of view.
PhycoKrusk
I would like to propose something friends: We come down pretty hard on the Federation for how they "accommodate" their disabled citizens, and I think that this is proper. However, in this very chapter Talpin miss that the Humans wouldn't waste resources on him "when Gojids never could." On that reading that, I realized something: Talpin is not on Aafa, or any of the multitude of other planets and colonies. Why does that matter? Location, location, location. The Federation is, regardless of what's happening behind the scenes, embroiled in a war with the Dominion, and the cradle, if it is not the front line, might as well be. With only a handful of exceptions, every Gojid character we actually see has been a farmer, or otherwise involved in agriculture. As far as we have seen, the cradle's primary industry is agriculture, and they are many of the frontline soldiers against the Dominion. When Talpin says that Gojids can't spare resources for him, we have generally assumed that they can and simply won't. But what if Talpin's right? What if, because of the role and the corner that the Federation has forced them into, they actually can't spare those resources for him?
E G
I don't remember them.
Bungus Grungus
I wouldn't say it's more advanced, maybe a bit more common.
Ottwo
You’d make a good Fed lol.
PhycoKrusk
I mean, both _can_ be true at the same time; work together to get on the ground and then stab each other in the back.
PhycoKrusk
I'm also curious what happens before they cobble together his aid. Knowing how Humans tend to be with unfortunate kids, I kind of envision things like he ends up with a little bit extra when rations are distributed, or there's this guard on rounds sometimes who, when they pass by Talpin, slips him a piece of _fancy_ candy (because let's face it, the guards will be "sneaking" candy to all the children) and raises a finger to their lips to say "Shhh," as if it were a big secret and they'll get in trouble if someone finds out.
PhycoKrusk
And we do know that, at least at the refugee camp on Earth, it was not widely known to the Humans that he was deaf until after Sovlin arrived. I figure either they manage to hide it until that point (or at least accidentally convince everyone that it's something else), or a couple of the Humans do figure it out but all that really changes is they're more patient when they need Talpin to do things, or they switch their communication almost entirely to Berna ("Hey, could you tell him that....") As far as any of us know, they're taking the Gojids straight to Earth from the cradle, so they should only be in transit for a couple of days at most. They might stop on Skalga while command figures out what to do, but otherwise we aren't looking at a lot of time interacting with this batch, so they might actually manage to hide it.
PhycoKrusk
It's less like having to follow what you think are Nazis, and much, _much_ more like having to follow what you "know" are cannibals.
EliasArt2Life
“Predators would never waste resources on someone like me, when Gojids never could” … This whole time, it’s been repeated that “Predators will not understand why we choose to care for our disabled, to waste resources on them”, but it became very clear that the Federation was doing the bare minimum. But thinking of it, it’s not the Gojid community who is spending resources on Talpin; it’s his family. The fact that he’s aware of the fact that the average Gojid wouldn’t spend any resources on him if they could avoid it is sad. Just wow. It’s small, passing thoughts like this that sell just how deeply ingrained this sick ideology is to the society.
EliasArt2Life
Poor Talpin. The evacuation from the Gojid Cradle seemed frightening enough to the humans. Talpin is both a Gojid AND deaf. He is being forced to play catch up every step of the way. He can’t even understand what humans are asking of him, or their reassurances. All he gets are the secondhand accounts from Berna. I’m guessing that the next chapter will take place on Earth around when we first met the pair. Or it’s getting dragged out, which I’d be happy for as well. Question: can we get a rundown of just how alien gesture signals work? Some comments have made me reconsider them. We know that the signals are unique to each species, and that aliens consider our gestures to be something similar, but different. Best I can recall, alien gestures seem to communicate short ideas in quick movements: “I love you”, “go here”, “danger nearby”, etc. Where our gestures are more limited, and seem more focused on conveying emotions (like a shrug, eye roll, etc.). Alien gesture language doesn’t seem to have a way to spell things out, since that’s never been used (although it does seem capable of referring to an individual, likely through pointing). Also, one more thing; does Talpin know Gojid gestures? He flicked his claws in agreement back in chapter 1, but I’m not sure if that’s considered to really be Gesture language (in the same way human signs don’t seem to be exactly analogous). Aside from that… I skimmed this and the other chapters, I did not see anywhere where Talpin mentioned a Gojid gesturing a word or phrase. I distinctly recall reading that Gojids use claw signals, so I don’t think that Gojids lack a gesture language… Am I missing something?
Hello There
Keep it coming Paladin. Fantastic story telling
Alekss Žukovskis
*licks mayonaise from a bowl, hangrily*
Alekss Žukovskis
"meant my sister would refuse go with the flesh-beast’s evac ship." should be "refuse TO go"
EliasArt2Life
They have a “claw-language”, but I’m guessing that he’s nodding because he figures that humans won’t understand the Gojid equivalent. Edit: Nevermind; I hadn’t gotten to that point yet. It’s either made to reinforce his point, or the Gojid don’t have an equivalent/it’s exceedingly long. Despite being more advanced than our body language, alien signs seem to have many limitations.
Apogee
This is becoming my favorite miniseries! I think it’s the figuring out how to communicate. And Berna is slick! She cares so much about her brother, kinda like a mother to him I’m sure. I had a similar relationship with my little brother, especially since we had to survive a hostile environment. Can’t wait for the next chapter!
Space Paladin
@Kilo It’s pinned in #patron-only. If you can’t access it, you need to integrate your discord to your Patreon to get the role; a bot will give it automatically!
Kilo Rat
I'm trying to find that now, which channel is that in? I checked all over but I'm unable to find it. I don't see it in general-information either
I mean Talpin and Berna were in the original series.
Invariance
Ah that's right, I forgot about that. It's in the Species Glossary.
Finally, they're being fed not a Fed.
DemonVee
Haha, the worst thing is that there are people that actually think like this.
DemonVee
I think Gojids were mentioned to have too rigid tails for normal tail language in one of Sovlins first chapters
Invariance
I really like the idea of this as a side-story. "I mimicked the soldier’s nod for yes." Does tail language not have a sign for "yes"?
Edward ward
This made me laugh so much I scared my cat
Byron Ritchie
Cant wait when Talpin finds out the humans treat disabled people better then the feds (at least comparatively 🙁)
TheBlack2007
Also the ones he took to Aafa as witnesses.
Intricate Zebra
Somewhere, half a world away, a hangry lizard is currently being fed beef jerky by a confused monkey.
Ottwo
“Of course the humans would be working with the Arxur!” “Of course the humans would fight with the Arxur over cattle!” Talpin. Buddy.
Vladi Vladi
I think fewer things are more disgusting in this setting than Federation culture, especially from overzealous people like the Gojid, they just go on and on and on and on, they suck your empathy dry until you either move away from them to remain sane or pummel em into paste to make them shut up
un_pogaz
Damn shit their father. That tragic. Otherwise, of all the things about human going through his mind, the human "snarl" is one of the few things that isn't Federation bullshit. Seriously, even on Earth we're the rare ones to do that. I forgive him that misinterpretation (and all others aliens). Well, next chapter will probably start with a summary of refugee life and end with Solvin's intervention.
Byne
The pinned schedule on the discord has dates for at least 9 chapters.
Anemoia
Oh shit, I forgot Talpin and Berna were the Gojids Sovlin spoke to in the refugee camp
S1nsational
I hope this side story is going to be long, because while we're seeing a different side to The Cradle evacuation, we have seen much of this before. The part where this will start to get really interesting is when Talpin's disability is revealed. Which we see in the refugee camp in NOP1. What I really want to see in the aftermath of that. What happens with Talpin (and his sister, I'm pretty sure she was with in in the camp) after he was given his new disability aid. The first alien to receive such intervention from humans. And the first time Talpin got any support from anyone not his family
E G
I assume that human is trying to communicate and he's already exposing himself as deaf. I'm expecting another classic feddie breakdown sooner rather than later when he realizes he's not instantly dead the moment they realize he's got a disability.
Paperclip
Damn, having to leave behind your family to certain death must suck. Plus having to follow what you think are Nazis to their home with no chance of escape, that's awful. We already knew Talpin was on the therapy list, but now we know how MUCH he needs it.
Corporal Chunk
Second
print Path
First
