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The Nature of Predators 50
🕑 Added 2022-09-25 12:00:05 +0000 UTCMemory transcription subject: Captain Kalsim, Krakotl Alliance Command
Date [standardized human time]: October 17, 2136
The predators’ formation was disintegrating, and it looked likely we would secure victory within the hour. I considered broadcasting an apology to the surface, once Earth’s space fleet was exhausted. The unfortunate civilians knew they were witnessing the last day of their civilization. Did the humans not deserve the solace of an explanation?
There was a part of me that wondered if we could’ve found another way. The issue was their growth and reproduction, which would be exponential if left unchecked. Maybe we could’ve isolated any humans who surrendered on an abandoned world, sterilizing them to prohibit breeding. That way, the existing primates could live out the rest of their lifespan, without the option to prowl the stars.
What if there was another path to achieve extinction, without the deaths of billions? Ah Kalsim…such thinking is counterproductive.
“Zarn, any update on Thyon?” I asked, hoping for a brief distraction.
The doctor took several seconds to respond. “The first officer is in a medically induced coma, but I’ve managed to freeze the brain swelling. He’ll live, though I can’t predict the long-term effects, sir.”
Some tension was lifted from my wings, with the assurance that the Farsul would survive. This entire crew needed a piece of good news. We were set to join the next bombing rush; all remaining Federation ships were partaking in this charge. This was the chance to strike down every last craft the humans had limping above-world.
“By the way, I’ve quite enjoyed the show from my little window. I much preferred it when we thought all of these nasty creatures were dead,” Zarn added. “Whatever your predator delusions, you should be proud of yourself, Captain.”
I tossed my beak in disdain, not dignifying that statement with a response. Relations between myself and the Takkan practitioner would be much better if he kept his opinions quiet. My talons swiped through the screens, ensuring that our payloads were in working order. All systems were operational onboard; there was just a small dip in our shield capacity.
Our vessel fell into the rear of the advance, and navigations increased our acceleration. We would have control over the final targets, which might require flexibility. My expertise would come in handy, assigning relative importance to locations. Why did it feel so wrong, to speak about Terran settlements in those terms?
Thoughts of Nishtal’s impending invasion weighed on my mind too. There might not be any home to go back to. Krakotl civilization would be the last casualty to Terran brutality, but that didn’t ease the horror of it. We might be forgotten by the Federation within decades, just another species that fell to the Arxur. I hoped historians would appreciate our sacrifice.
Alarms flashed on sensors, snapping me out of my torturous musings. Several allied vessels had been picked apart by precision strikes, right beside us. The rear vanguard was blindsided by hundreds of blips, who were darting in between our flotilla. The newcomers were trying to shove their way to the Terran fortifications.
“Ready weapons, and fire at anything we don’t recognize!” I screeched. “Where did these bastards come from? They’re a little late if they’re humans.”
My comms technician shuffled nervously. “I just finished decoding communications between a Terran command post and these vessels. The Zurulians sent military assistance.”
“You’ve got to be joking. The Zurulians have a fledgling, erroneous association with the humans. What have the predators ever done for them?”
Jala snickered. “Never mind that, Captain. I’m pretty sure the Galactic Institute of Medicine and their twenty ships aren’t going to tip the scales either way.”
“That’s not the point! Comms, I need to know these developments ahead of time.”
“He’s right. Stars forbid the Yotul show up with a trebuchet next.” The sociopath feigned a swooning motion. “Then we’re really screwed!”
I huffed in irritation, watching as our ship turned to face a Zurulian hostile. The quadrupeds gave us a wide berth, and dodged Jala’s errant plasma beam. Several Federation captains were calling out conflicting orders on the comms, which led to disarray. Exhaustion was making it difficult to recall foreign military techniques, so I couldn’t find solid advice to offer.
The Terran fleet were advancing on our front lines, capitalizing on the breakdown of command. Cursing the Zurulian fools, I barked orders to pull back and regroup within the lunar orbit. This was a waste of precious time, that could be vital to the defense of our home. We weren’t going to leave an extermination half-done.
We’ll get our bearings, and charge at Earth again. Perhaps we can still accomplish this quickly.
The Federation reassembled, adjusting for the fresh reinforcements. The numerical advantage was still slanted to our side, and prey wouldn’t fight half as well as a human. However, it might be difficult for the crew to fire on Zurulians. We had accepted that the Venlil were reduced to predatory thralls, but this race was a new convert.
“The Zurulians chose their side, and they chose wrong. I know it seems harsh to strike them down, but they put themselves here.” I surveyed the expressions of my crew, noting how distraught they looked. “If the Arxur are truly attacking our homes, this might cost us our entire civilization. Everything is on the line; there is no time for bargaining.”
Jala hissed in frustration, as she realized our missiles were depleted. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so liberal with their usage. The plasma railgun had recharged, but I wasn’t sure how low our gas supply was running. We couldn’t afford to have only kinetics at our disposal; discretion was required going forward.
The Zurulian fleet fell in beside the humans, though they seemed wary of drawing too close. There was no basis for those fears; the risk of Terrans attacking their allies right now was negligible. These predators were too smart to betray useful assets, that Earth needed so desperately. They weren’t just raving beasts.
“Sir, more unknown ships incoming! There’s…” my comms technician trailed off.
I blinked. “Where from? How many? Speak!”
“T-thousands. The subspace trails are from all over the place…”
My confusion intensified, and I attempted to stave off my sleep-deprived stupor. The humans didn’t have many Federation allies; to my knowledge, only six could respond in time. Two of those partners were already here. The neutral powers had no intent of interfering either way, since it would simplify their stance if we succeeded.
But no singular Federation race had that many ships at their beck and call. This had to be some sort of group or alliance. Maybe these were weaker species that had been coerced. Others might give into cheap tactics if their homeworlds were held hostage.
That, or the humans had found a way to deceive our sensors. These contacts could be decoys meant to sow confusion. How would such a trick even work though?
The comms analyst scratched her crown. “Sir, we’re picking up a looping transmission from this mystery fleet. It’s directed toward Earth. Putting it on screen now.”
My beak nearly split open, as the video feed materialized. Those slit pupils were the unmistakable identifier of the Arxur. I was uncertain whether their eye shape was solely for ambush hunting, or if they allowed the grays to stalk at dusk. It made human vision seem like love beacons by comparison.
“This is Chief Hunter Isif,” the reptile clicked. “Forgive our tardiness, but we did request that you disable FTL disruptors multiple times. Hang in there, humans. We are here to help.”
A few crewmates were sobbing from the beast's projection. Even an extermination officer like myself was paralyzed by those dagger-like teeth, jutting from its truncated maw. The length of its gullet, visible as it spoke, was a ghastly sight.
Why were the grays not laughing at the loss of life on Earth? Those demons delighted in death and suffering. They went out of their way to cause it. It didn’t seem within their behavioral pattern to save a weaker sapient, even if that species were predators.
“I don’t understand any of this. How are the Terrans responding?” I stammered.
The comms technician pecked away at her station. “L-lots of chatter from the human coalition. It doesn’t appear their command was expecting the Arxur, though that could be staged for the benefit of their…less vile friends.”
“Shit! The Zurulians and the Venlil can’t be happy about this, can they?”
“No, sir. The Zurulians are demanding to know why the Arxur are here, and the Venlil are asking why they were not informed.”
“The Terran response?”
“The humans claim they didn’t invite the grays, but aren’t in a position to reject their help. They suggest that their allies ‘go with it’, unless they’d prefer to fight the reptilians too. Their response to the Arxur offered thanks, and insisted those two prey races are friendly.”
Of course that’s what the clever monkeys said. They excel in manipulation tactics, and they’re using both parties.
I leaned back on my perch, wondering if this would kill the Zurulians’ ties to humanity. This should unmask the truth about the Earthlings' long-term goals. Perhaps we could convince the other races to stand with us, but the time spent pleading with them would allow the Arxur to pounce.
If the grays were genuine in their intention, the tide of this battle would turn decisively. The numerical edge was in the Terrans’ favor, with these new additions. Not to mention the psychological impact the Arxur’s presence had; many Federation vessels were panicking at the prospect. We had to break through to orbital range with haste.
“There’s no escape route, and…we stand no chance against the grays. But we can make our deaths mean something to the galaxy,” I squawked on the fleet-wide frequency. “We must get as many bombs off against Earth as possible. All Federation vessels, charge at max velocity!”
The Krakotl and our allies bolted forward, right toward the waiting human alliance. The Zurulians hesitated, not firing on either party. The quadrupeds’ reluctance to abet Arxur allies made them the obvious point of entry. Their railguns were powered up, but few of them acted even as we closed in.
The Zurulians came to a decision, and dropped into defensive positions. Plasma arced straight toward us; I saw my life flash before my eyes. The beam sailed just off to our side, and obliterated the neighboring ally that was keeping pace with us. If their aim was half a degree different, that would’ve been my vessel in tatters.
There was no time to gawk at the wreckage left behind, with the Arxur swooping in on any stragglers. While I wasn’t proud of the extermination itself, our sacrifice was valiant and honorable. The Krakotl fleet knew that most of us were about to die, but the captains had the commitment to finish the job.
“The Arxur are swallowing our rear flank, sir. Their ships are gaining on us faster than we can move,” Jala called out. “Should we turn and stall them?”
I puffed out my feathers. “Absolutely not! Keep going!”
According to sensors, the reptilians’ maximum speed was much higher than we ever documented. I realized that they had been concealing their technological limits. Two gray bombers selected us as their quarry, and sent drive-tracking missiles in our direction.
Jala shoved the nav officer out of the way, deploying a stream of interceptors in the nick of time. A Terran robot ship had also spotted us, and launched supercharged plasma at our position. We barreled through the Zurulian line with urgency; they were no longer of comparative importance.
My sociopath rerouted all power from shields to the engine. The core was already overheating from exertion, before this stunt. The female Krakotl didn’t quite manage to get ahead of the inbound plasma; it plowed into our aft compartment.
Alarms began ringing overhead, while crewmates screeched in terror. My readout informed me that steering was offline. The engine was listed as a critical failure.
We’re stuck on a one-way ticket toward Earth. The ship is going to crash…assuming it doesn’t get blown to bits first.
“All crew to escape shuttles!” I shrieked, as loud as I could.
The personnel didn’t need to be told twice, as the flapping of wings drowned everything out. I took a deep breath; it was up to me to finish the job. We were about thirty seconds from orbital distance, and these two bombs could cross a few million humans off the list. Jala began to abandon her perch, which earned a withering glare from me.
“Get back here! I know you want to save yourself, but the rest of the crew will kill you for being a ‘predator.’” I jabbed a talon at her, then pointed to the weapons station. “You have no future, no place in society, without me. So you’re going to stay right here until the job is done!”
She hesitated, but was persuaded by my argument. The overhead power flickered out, as the engine began to melt nearby systems. The emergency lighting colored the floorboards a dim hue, and only essential functions were available.
A plethora of enemies were still chasing our runaway ship. With our shield power rerouted away, there was no disincentive to use kinetics. Arxur bullets plowed through our armor, and the Terran automaton chipped in its own lead munitions.
“Requesting assistance in the medbay,” Zarn panted over the comms. “I am unable to carry Thyon on my own…nor am I able to fly the emergency medical pod. Captain? Anyone?”
I sighed. “I will be there in a minute. Hold on, Doctor.”
The Terran robot was recharging its weapons, but struggled to keep up with our unsafe speed. Fear burned through my veins. I offered a silent prayer, that we would survive long enough to complete the mission. It was a few more seconds until we could deploy the anti-matter bombs.
The human contraption didn't target us, from outside a reliable range. Arxur munitions were inflicting steady damage, but they hadn’t caused any catastrophic explosions yet. We hobbled into orbital range, and established target locks on two Terran cities. Jala slammed her beak on the firing mechanism.
I gave her a nod, and we fled from the bridge with urgency. The journey was a blur, as we swooped down the evacuation stairwell. Jala bowled through the door to the medbay, examining a pacing Zarn.
The Takkan doctor had thrown some supplies in his designated shuttle. I was surprised he hadn’t just left Thyon for dead. The unconscious Farsul had a clump of bandages around his head. It was painful to see him comatose on a cot.
“You took your time!” Zarn spat.
I glared at him. “We came as fast as we could. I think you of all people would want us to make sure the explosives made it to Earth.”
The ship rocked around us, barely swallowing a hit from one of our enemies. There was no time for bickering, if we were to survive. The three of us shouldered Thyon’s weight, and deposited him into the pod’s rear seat. The doctor strapped the injured patient in, as Jala and I brought the shuttle online.
The vibrations intensified around us, likely from our vessel entering Earth’s atmosphere. Without heat shielding on the damaged areas, the main hull was going to be incinerated. Jala closed the exit hatch, and we jettisoned the shuttle. The controls would have to be learned on the fly.
Cerulean skies surrounded us out the window, as we plummeted toward the ground below. The momentum from the ship’s breakneck fall had carried over. I wrestled with the control column, and tried to steady us. Jala flung all power to thrusters, but it could only slow us down so quickly.
No, no, no. We can’t be stranded on a predator’s planet. We have to get back up to our fleet…
Land was rushing up to meet us much too fast, even as our velocity lessened. Impact looked to be an inevitability; there was nothing I could do to prevent it. My body snapped back in the harness, and our shuttle’s belly collided with foreign grass.
A/N - Part 50 is here! The Arxur come to the rescue, and Kalsim winds up crash-landing on Earth with the other officers.
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
Michael Morse
I'm hoping for peace but this conflict is so dynamic and complicated. This is an amazing story. I have not been chomping at the bit to finish a story like this in years.
Quinn the derg
I am very interested to see how the Arxur, Venlil, and Zurulian interactions play out. Hopefully the humans can keep the Arxur from traumatising them too badly, but seeing how the Venlil-Human first interactions went, I fear for the hearts of our little puppy bear friends.
