Chain Reaction - (Deathclaws x NOP) Chapter 6
Back again, in a somewhat timely fashion - progress. All it took was a giant snowstorm forcing me to hunker down for the day. This is effectively two mini-chapters stapled together. I'm still new to this, and pacing is one of the items I'm having difficulty figuring out, namely what parts to show on screen vs off. I'll be experimenting with that as we move on, let me know if I either let a plot thread dangle for too long, or beat a dead horse.
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Memory transcription subject: Captain Isriss of the Arxur Dominion
Date [standardized human time]: July 16, 2136
I returned to the folds of Dominion space with massive casualties in my crew and our cattle pens mostly vacant. But I was unbowed. I was as sure of my purpose as the Prophet himself. Our presence was not unnoticed and we received a hail from our sentry nearly immediately.
A scrawny looking whelp answered “Receiving you Isriss you are-”
“Connect me to the Chief Hunter immediately. I have urgent news to report. Secure channel.” I said, cutting them off before they could finish. The defective was immediately cowed and set about their task. Rare was it for someone to willingly seek an audience with a Chief Hunter, and harsh were the punishments for invoking such an audience flippantly.
A moment later Chief Hunter Isif’s imposing presence filled the screen as they scowled down at me. “I humbly greet your Savageness.” I said with a deep bow.
“No formalities. Report, now.” snarled Isif.
“We attacked and boarded an unknown vessel. The occupants were a second space-faring predator species.” Prophet guide me, I managed to keep the smile off my face. I heard all the noise from the Chief Hunter’s bridge suffocate in that instant.
Isif growled at me “Repeat that again.”
“Your Savageness heard me correctly the first time.” I said, chancing a bow. There was a Chief Hunter saying they didn’t want formality, and then there was not showing proper deference to your betters. “They call themselves deathclaws.”
“You are sure of this?”
“I have the casualties to prove it.” I said, and sent Isif images from our med-bay with numerous Arxur slashed and bitten, and several Arxur in pieces.
“And now you have lead them here!?” roared Isif, as they slammed the console in front of them.
“No!” I said probably a little too loudly “The deathclaws reaped a tally of blood from my crew for assaulting their vessel. They offered a chance to parley. I seized it. The Captain of their vessel wished for a means for their government to contact our own.” I showed footage of our internal cameras of the standoff we had the deathclaws, and the ceasefire called by their blood soaked Captain.
Isif stared at the footage with unabashed hunger. “Did you provide such a means of communication?”
“I did your Savageness. A standard holo-pad, preloaded with a channel to my own.”
“Good.” said Isif with a nod, before scanning through the images for a moment. “Predators through and through. But they sought diplomacy. Do they know of our war?”
“Yes Chief Hunter. I informed them of the leaf-licker’s heresy and their hatred of the natural order.”
“Anything else to report?”
“Yes.” I said as I stood up straighter. “The deathclaws are not natural predators. They were created by humans, and share the same homeworld.”
Isif scowled. “How did you obtain this information?”
I bowed “The deathclaws offered the information freely your Savageness. As I told them of our war, they gleened that space-faring predators were a rarity. I mentioned the humans, and the deathclaws supplied their connection. Evidently the humans wished for their wars to continue even after their bombs fell, and designed the deathclaws to fight in the ashes of their world.” I straightened up. “Their bloodlust is a wonder to behold.”
Isif drummed his claws on the desk in front of him, as I caught snatches of the images and data I sent over reflected in his eyes as he cycled through them. “You have done well, Isriss.” said Isif breaking out of his silence. “Return to base for repair and resupply. You will debrief me in full in person. Dismissed.”
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Memory transcription subject: Captain Cyrus of the Terran Reclamation Committee
Date [standardized human time]: July 17, 2136
I had made the call that we were going to return to Earth after our run in with the Arxur. This was way over my head and we needed to get as many minds as we had working on potential solutions as quickly as possible. While the repairs to our airlock made us airtight, there was some loss in efficiency in FTL, so we were slower on our return trip. That did give Engineer Syk and Dr. Kira ample time to begin their investigations into the Arxur technology and the Arxur themselves, respectively.
I was dealing with updates for the latter. Dr. Kira had performed dissections on three of the deceased Arxur, who were now displayed in various pods across the med-bay. Ordinarily, such a display would waste unnecessary space, and slow the operations of the med bay. Today however, they provided a very useful feature: ambience for the captured arxur that had recently regained consciousness.
We had them security fastened to one of the operating tables, and muzzled. They had stirred groggily for a few moments before their heart rate spiked, and began to thrash against their restraints, their eyes frantically searching the room, freezing on their dead companions and us before they began to thrash again with renewed vigor. The bonds held fast and the arxur’s efforts slowly began to subside as they panted from the effort, each breath showing their ribs in stark relief against their skin. Dr. Kira and myself watched the proceedings from across the room flanking the closed door to the medbay. We said nothing, but observed; Kira the arxur’s vitals and I the arxur itself.
“Nod if you can understand me.” I said when Kira signaled me that she had a good baseline for the arxur’s vitals. It was a far stretch from a lie detector as we had extremely limited knowledge of arxur biology, but we’d make do.
The arxur in question focused their attention on me as Dr. Kira moved slightly to the side to get a better look at the readouts. The arxur paused for a moment before slowly nodding their head.
“We’re going to ask you some questions now.” I continued “Nod for yes, shake your head for no.”
“Do you know where you are?” Nod.
“Do you know how you got here?” Nod.
“Are you in pain?” Wobble. The arxur gave a somewhat spiraling gesture with their head.
“Some pain, but not unbearable?” Nod.
“Are you hungry?” The arxur hesitated for a moment before nodding.
I stepped next to the arxur, and placed my clawed hand over their chest. I noted that my claws were thicker than their ribs. The arxur for its part, sucked in a breath, and braced for a blow that never came. I leaned in, whispering “Do something stupid and I do something violent.” before giving a very significant look to the dismembered arxur corpses in the room. The arxur gave me a hurried nod in acknowledgement of my oh so subtle implication.
I stepped behind them, undid the latch of their muzzle, and pulled it free from the arxur’s mouth. The arxur remained still while I circled back around to the front of them, before slowly working their jaw. “...Thank you.” they said in a voice that was both more high pitched and more ragged than I would have imagined.
I pulled some rations we had prepared out onto the table adjacent to the arxur. “This is rad stag jerky.” Dr. Kira pulled up an image of a rad stag on a monitor facing the arxur. “Lean and chewy, but it keeps.” I pulled off a small piece and popped it into my mouth.
“You really are predators.” said the arxur in a mystified tone that sounded as if I had just sprouted wings.
“Just so.” I said, opening my mouth and showing the arxur that I did indeed eat it. I tossed the rest of the jerky to the arxur, who snapped it out of the air without any hesitation, and swallowed it just as quickly.
“We’ll be monitoring you for signs of an allergic reaction.” said Kira, breaking her silence.
“While we wait, a more proper introduction. I am Captain Cyrus. It is my vessel you boarded, my crew you threatened, and I was the one to almost kill you. This is Dr. Kira. She is the reason you are still alive. She is also the one to dissect your former crew mates. Name and rank.”
The arxur in question stiffened, and I saw them try to subtly pull on the restraints again. “Going to carve me up if I don’t answer?”
“We’ll consider it.” answered Kira. “But pay closer attention. Dissections are performed on the dead, not the living.”
The arxur stewed for a moment “Taxif. Raider, junior rank.”
I nodded “Good to meet you Taxif, circumstances notwithstanding. How long have you served on that vessel?”
“Three years.”
“Why did they send you to die?”
“What?” asked Taxif, as they tried to push away from me in their medbed.
“We were an unknown - granted. But we had a spaceship. The logical conclusion is that we have guns too. And you charged into a choke point, unarmored. No shields, barricades, flashbangs or even an attempt to gain access to our systems. Your tactics ended at a bare-assed bum rush!” I said snarling.
“But the raids work! We’ve never failed to capture a prey vessel after boarding it!” said Taxif, their restraints clinking as they attempted to gesture with their hands.
“And how many of you die?”
“We’re at war! There’s always going to be casualties.”
“That doesn’t give you license to be stupid about it.” I said, exasperated. “And you never answered my first question: why were you one of the first through the door?”
“I volunteered.” lied Taxif. Poorly I might add. So poorly, Kira ducked further behind her monitor to avoid snickering.
“Why did you feel the need to volunteer?”
“It was the right thing to do.” lied Taxif, again.
I wasn’t getting anywhere with this line of questioning. I wanted to pump them for answers why they were still in a talkative mood. “Your ship attacked us after we set off a mine disguised as an asteroid. Is this a common tactic?”
Taxif gave as much of a shrug as they could “I would assume so. Prey panic when you ambush them.”
“Did your vessel patrol just this system or was there a larger patrol route?”
“I think it was just this system… why am I answering so many of your questions?” asked Taxif as they shook their head.
“Because you’ve never been ordered not to.” supplied Kira as she subtly shifted one of the dials on her console. “The prey would have simply lit your body aflame.”
“Ironically in this war of yours only the predators take prisoners.” I added. “Speaking of predators, any signs of an allergic reaction?”
“None sir.” said Kira shaking her head.
I opened the rest of the ration pack, placing it on the nearby wheeled examination table. I let in the guard that had been standing outside the medbay door. “Taxif, you are, by loose definition, a prisoner of war. You will be fed and sheltered so long as you are in our care. Attempt to escape and we will kill you.” I said with a very significant glance to the guard’s laser rifle. “Kira will remove one of your restraints so you are able to eat. Eat your fill and rest. I will have more questions for you.” Taxif for their part, just stared at the pile of meat I had placed on the table in front of them. I had given them what we considered to be a full size ration, and according to the doctor’s charts, the crew, on average, had nearly four hundred pounds on Taxif. Taxif was going to eat like a king.
While Taxif began to eat, I spoke with Kira outside of the medbay.
“Good work in there Kira.” I said.
“Miracilous given that it’s a new species, but thank you Captain.”
“Continue your observations and refine the formulations. We’ll want a working profile before we hand off to General Ward.”
“Am I free to make inquiries of my own during my observations?”
“Permission granted. Record everything.”
Posted Jan 26, 2026, 12:18 AM UTC