An Ape Out Of Place 15
AOOP BONUS STORIES:
- The Spirit Of Hunters Past(Finished)
- New Exterminator On The Block
Memory Transcription Subject : Secretary General Mei Yū : Date : Reclaimed Terran Time : May 15th 2936
The antechamber was dark, as dark and dour as the spirits of those within. Two victims, two leaders, two people, side by side, staring out, standing to overlook a titanic abyss, a dark grave, a mausoleum not of bodies but of memories and ideas.
We gathered not to reminisce, or to remember, but to mourn. To mourn the stagnant corpse of two peoples. Their histories, their cultures, and the natures that birthed their peoples into existence. The grand mothers of two species, of which neither would ever know.
A voice cried out.
“They took so much from us.”
Another consoled.
“I know.”
“They made us so weak.”
One wept.
“It's okay.”
Another comforted.
“We could have been warriors, the galaxy's finest protectors but instead they made us the galaxy's push overs!!!”
Governor Selhn’s claws gripped hard into the side of my arm, it hurt, but I didn’t stop it, he needed this, I needed it too.
“They stole pups from their parents, they let them die out, old and alone!” he sobbed. “How could anyone do such a thing, how could they be so cruel!”
“I don’t know.” I managed out through a tear choked breath. “They let us die in the millions and billions for no reason at all. They could have stopped the arxur at any time and…. and….”
I couldn't finish the sentence so overwhelmed with grief as I was.
“What do I even tell my people Mei? What will you tell yours! That all this bloodshed was for nothing, that we stood by and let our friends die for us when we could have done so much more? By Sogalek Mei, your people at least got to keep parts of your species identity, I… I don't even know what we are supposed to be anymore.” The venlil croaked out.
Selhn's beautiful ice white fur was caked over in tears, his eyes and tail were limp with sadness, occasionally spasming furiously in rage, straining at the cage containing a long buried fury.
“All those damn canines did was ruin everything they touched! Perverted it and corrupted it!” He seethed as his temper flared up again. “Look at what they did to us!” He yelled, pulling away and striking at his bare snout with his paws. “They took a sense from us MEI! They did that to no one else but us, all because we dared to defy their expectations for a prey species! We dared to fight back, they took it! They took it and we will never know what other species rave about when they walk through a flower field.” He struck his snout. “Or what it's like to walk by a strayu forge in the morning.” He struck his snout again even harder, so much so I was really starting to worry. “What it's like to wake up to the smell of your papa or mama making your favorite meal!”
He went to strike his snout again. But I grabbed his paws this time. “Selhn please stop.” I cried out, begging for my friend to halt. “I don’t like seeing you like this! I don't want you to get hurt!”
I took his paws and I held them together, pinning the shaking appendages up to my chest, if it was my hands or his paws causing the shaking I did not know or care. I felt his paw squeeze and his entire body go rigid as he internally seethed.
“BRAHK!!!!” He bleated long and loud at the top of his lungs. So loud I swore I could almost feel it shake the room, so ferocious I felt a tinge of fear pierce my heart, but it was blotted out by sorrow and sympathy.
I think he noticed that twinge as his eyes softened and his paws unclenched as he looked on at me with concern. I released his paws, and both of them rose to meet the side of my snout, he framed my face in his paws as he spoke.
“Look at yourself Mei, I don’t know if what they did to your kind is worse or not. We can at least look our ancestors in the eye. You… your kind… they made you fear what you are.”
My composure faltered at that one simple reminder. I let out a reflexive sob and I felt Selhn wipe away my tears, before quickly burying me in a hug.
“I…. I don't think I have ever hated a species so much Mei, all the death, all that misery, it all goes back to those two. Not only did they hurt my people, but they hurt our best friends as well.”
Governor Selhn hugged me tighter with those words. I sobbed into his arms as the venlil slowly rested his deformed snout atop my mutilated head.
We took to laying there in each other's embrace, wallowing in emotions that neither one of us have had an opportunity to process and feel. We were each planetary leaders, and we each needed to publicly project strength and assurance for our respective herds.
So we stayed there, huddled away in that dark little antechamber for as long as time or fate would allow. Two leaders, of two species. Two old and great friends, betrayed by their oldest ‘friends’ amongst the stars.
“Mei?”
I heard Selhn began to ask after a while.
“Yes Selhn?” I replied softly, my head now pressed into his warm mane.
“Do you…. Do you think that maybe somewhere out there, in some other world ,some other universe, one where the farsul had never found us, either of us, do you think that if we met each other again…. would our species still be friends?”
I sat there for a moment, taken aback by the question, a question whose gut answer scared me at first, but upon sitting with it for a few moments, playing with Selhn’s paw fur as I thought, I remembered back to the uplift video, and the bits and pieces of ancient humanity I had gleaned from the archives and earth archaeologists alike, and I let out a weary smile.
“I… I think we would have adored you.” I spoke wistfully.
The governor chuckled lightly in response before taking a moment to think for himself.
“I think…I think we would have gotten fed up with the cooing and coddling.” he said with a sly ear flick.
“That's your fault for being so cuddleable.” I teased.
The governor performatively growled at my antics, channeling his inner skalgan.
I gave him a playful lick on the snout for his troubles.
We sat there for few seconds, my face mildly blushing and his lightly blooming just as our expected yet late arrival finally decided it was a good time to barge in the door.
“God Dang it you would not believe the traffic. One of the ancient Dreszjin freaked out and flew right into the road, the auto driver prevented any injuries but man you wouldn’t….. “The captain turned after closing the door behind him after having barged in without knocking. ”Am I interrupting something?” he said with a sly smile, clearly ignoring all the tear stains in the service of making a suggestive joke.
Governor Selhn leaped in fright and bloomed in embarrassment but I was used to the captain's antics by now. “No but you're late!” I accused.
“The meeting hasn't started yet.”
“No but we were going to talk about our talking points before we started!”
“Are you sure this isn't about you trying to cover up something, which is fine mind you, I can keep my mouth….”
“Shut up and help me groom the governor's wool back in order.”
The captain shrugged.
“Okay….. Whatever you say, secretary general.”
--------Memory Transcript Advance 10 : Minutes ---------
The leaders and representatives of the reclamation alliance had finally all gathered in the conference chamber. Humans, Gojid, Venlil, Harchen, Tilfish, Dossur, Mazic representatives and many more lined the room.
Me and the captain had managed to make Sehln presentable in time for the meeting, and it only took me a moment to brush my hair back down, to get my makeup back in order, and my suit jacket pressed flat.
I had taken one extra moment to collect myself as I looked into the mirror once more, dead on this time, and I stared down not the trembling eyes of some meek prey, but instead the focused eyes of a predator. I took a deep breath, and resolved myself.
I set aside the sorrow, the trepidation, the fear. I needed to be more than myself, more than what they made me. In that room, standing as the head of my people, out in the open for all to see. I had to be strong, either as a leader of the herd or a ferocious predatory protector it mattered not, for I would be all of those things and more for my people.
I put upon my face a stoic and composed aura and as I sat amongst my fellow leaders. The top of the line and encrypted holographic emitters making them feel just as present whether they were here in person or remotely.
I took my seat between Gojid Prime Minister Borhli and Venlil Governor Selhn. I gave The Prime minister a respectful nod, whilst my captain cutter pinched a grey hair from the fur of the gojid chief military adviser captain Sivrek, who tried to bat my advisors hand away but to no avail.
“You're getting slower with each passing cycle old man, you're going to retire soon? Or are they going to have to wheel you off the bridge one of these days.”
Sivrek growled out a reply. “Mock all you want, I could take you down with one claw tied to my leg! Slow my ass.”
“Oh I bet you would love to take a piece of……”
“CAPTAINS!” The Alliance’s President Bhoren was quick to cut off the two's usual bickering. “While your service to this alliance is very much appreciated, I would ask that you do not derail this meeting before it even properly begins.”
“Of course your honor.” Both of the captains spoke once, giving the mazic a respectful nod and bow respectfully.
Before, Cutter and I took a seat at our table.
“I should have left you on Leriss” Sivrek whisper shouted towards captain Cutter.
“Shhhhh” Gojid Prime minister Borlie shushed her captain.
---------
With the two captains corralled, the meeting could finally begin in earnest. The first topic of conversation was naturally, a summary of our accumulated archives findings. We have all at this point had multiple days to process the big bullet points of our revelations.
The question was what to do about it now. Because while the various council members disagreed on the details, we all agreed that the data needed to come out, the question was how?
Zurulian Prime minister Loku wanted to wait to release the archive data for as long as it took, to ensure that it could be released with minimal public safety risk to both reclamation alliance and unaligned powers. He pointed out, and rightly so, that the consequences of simply releasing the information as is, would be disastrous.
“We need to postpone the release of the archives data for as long as possible, the risk of panic, stampedes, riots, exterminator revolts on non R.A worlds and even mass depressive PD cases are frankly unacceptable. We need time to further understand and package the archives data release, it should be handed out piecemeal, and after the zurulian grand medical institute can roll out our newest depressive pd treatment measures." Loku argued.
“That is completely unacceptable!” Captain Sivrek blurted out. “The kolshians will no doubt push their initiative sooner rather than later, and win or lose the truth needs to be let out there. I’m sorry, but some temporary civil unrest, no matter how bloody, will pale in comparison to what the kolshians will do to our peoples, if they get their bloody tentacles all over them!”
I raised my hand, to be allowed to stand and speak, and alliance president Bhoren was quick to flick his trunk towards me, giving me the room. “I propose what is perhaps a more middling solution.” I spoke confidently. “I propose we release the news soon, before the kolshian shadow fleet can secure its footing and go on the offensive against us, but we must take every opportunity to mitigate damage, both physical and psychological. And while doing so at a societal scale may seem unfeasible at first, I remind the council that we already have infrastructure in place, built to accommodate stampede conditions, and to provide a sense of security to our peoples on a mass scale.”
I gave the room a moment to think over what I had just said, they looked on contemplatively for a moment, before tilfish general Birti, attending remotely spoke up. “You speak of raid bunker facilities!” He buzzed out in revelation.
“precisely” I declared, pointing to the general with a smile. “The bunkers internal layout is designed to contain stampedes, and the internal announcement systems are an obvious vector to disseminate the archives data in a controlled and contained environment.”
“What of after care?” President Bhoren questioned.
“Naturally the zurulian’s could take the lead, I understand we will be pushing your medical specialist, and working far faster than is ideal Prime minister Loku, but the zurulian medical institute is simply far ahead of anyone in the field of mental health and depressive PD treatment.”
The Zurulian minister began to rub his snout in contemplation at my proposal. “You are correct this is far from ideal, but the captain brings up a good point. Waiting for the kolshian fleet to come to us and restore their ghastly old predator disease practices would be an unconscionable step back, I believe this is an acceptable compromise.”
“I can see wisdom in this course of action as well.” Spoke the gojid captain.
With that topic tackled for now harchen representative Filenia brought up a prudent matter.
“Speaking of the kolshian fleet, I think its time we addressed the mazic in the room, pardon the language Mr. President, but I wish to make clear what the current plan is to deal with them, as I understand it they outnumber us by a significant margin and intend to go on the offensive soon, possibly within the next few weeks once they are convinced their space is secure.”
“That is correct.” Captain Cutter spoke up from beside me. “At our current intelligence estimates, we speculate that the kolshian fleet outnumbers ours five to one, and that is before factoring in any potential reinforcements either with or against us."
Sivrek spoke after Cutter, in an obvious attempt to speak over him.
“The archives reveal however will no doubt gain us numbers and rob the kolshians of potential allies when their deception is revealed.” He spoke confidently.
“It should be noted that even with the best possible projected outcomes, the kolshians will still possess a numbers advantage even with our best case matchup, accounting for the potential presence of allied defensive stations and installations. The numbers come down to a three to one advantage in the kolshians favor."
“THEN IT WILL BE A FAIR FIGHT!” Sivrek declared boisterously.
Seeming to ignore the man Cutter continued. “While that is well and good, I am also working on a plan to take a large portion of the Kolshian fleet out of the equation, and while I can't go into details I can assure…..”
“Oh please!” Captain Sivrek was quick to cut the captain off.
“The mighty Gojid fleet is not only the most disciplined of the alliance's starbound fighting forces but the most numerous and advanced as well, we are more than capable of ensuring that our alliance wins the day! If we need something to be cuddled to death Captain Cutter, will be sure to call upon your expertise.”
This got a reluctant chuckle from a number of the council representatives, while all captain Cutter did was return a sly smile towards Sivrek, which only seemed to infuriate the Gojid captain even more.
Oh god, these two are at it again. I hate non-United Earth council meetings sometimes.
If we were back in the U.E senate, and two representatives were bickering this aggressively, they would have been sent to the cuddle cushion to snuggle together until they remembered that they were all a part of the same herd!
We actually motioned once to have a similar policy established back in the federation council back on Aafa due to the frequent arguments and infighting, but even with the support of the farsul, the motion never really gained any traction.
And despite the policy's effectiveness back home, I couldn't decide whether or not it would really work in this instance. As many council members would readily speculate, that the two captains might enjoy their banishment if the alliance rumor mill was anything to go off of.
The two captains exchanged a few more jabs back and forth before president Bhoren inevitably slammed his trunk down on the podium demanding order once more.
“ORDER! I demand order in this council!” The president loudly trumpeted. “Captains! You will conduct yourselves in accordance with the rules of this council or the two of you will be ejected from this meeting! Am I understood!?” He boomed.
“Yes Mr. President" The two captains spoke in unison, suitably chastised.
The president let out a low bellowing sigh.
“Perhaps a recess is in order for some of us to settle our nerves, and come up with any pertinent questions or concerns to confer with the council. I propose a recess, does the council concur?”
Eighteen pairs of paws hooves and various grasping appendages went up in unison.
“Sustained then, very well we will reconvene in [20 minutes].”
I sighed leaning over to the child that was somehow my chief military advisor. “Can you not antagonize that man for more than thirty minutes?!”
“I was just answering some questions Madam Secretary." he said with an aura of faux politeness.
“You could have done so without eyeing the man down directly with that shit eating grin.”
“I was just trying to communicate that there were no hard feelings between us.”
I sighed.
“Okay, spill the beans, what is this plan you've been going on about to everyone, you’ve been teasing me with it for weeks, and now you got the council wondering, what exactly is it?”
“Are you ordering me to disclose the sensitive details of my machination’s general?”
“Yes, though you may withhold anything you don't think is wise to declare in this… somewhat public setting.”
The captain turned his head to take in all 360 degrees of his surroundings before leaning in conspiratorially.
“Lets just say, I may or may not have a sleeper agent in play, somewhere sensitive to the shadow caste’s efforts.”
I sighed aloud. “You have been reading far too many of those pre-uplift spy novels.”
“Hey they got some good ideas in them, and I read in the archives they were actually based on the writings of a genuine real life predator intelligence agent!”
“There sure are a bunch of ridiculous fictional super weapons and cackling villains in those books to base galactic security off of their teachings captain.”
“True but it cannot be argued they are an excellent source of inspiration."
“And I’m sure your interest in these books has nothing to do with the scantily clad ancestor humans on the covers?”
“Ah madam secretary, a good spy master never reveals his secrets.”
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Memory Transcription subject - Daisy Gardener : United Earth Command - Exterminator : Reclaimed Terran Time : May 13th , 2936
I glared down at my holotab, the chat log between myself and the Flaghill chief exterminator laid open on the screen before me, as a mountain of indecision bore down upon me with the weight of an avalanche.
Chief Exterminator - Frank Kinsey : I heard some rumors, that there was a violent incident with one of the human predators, and that there were exterminators involved. Why am I the last to hear about any of this officer?
I remembered well director Ali’s request. Her desire to downplay the incident aboard the Hope of the Herd. I thought it insane at first, to let a clear threat like Chekhov wander aimlessly amongst the herd, especially without giving a proper warning to those responsible for keeping us safe.
But at the same time, Part of me wanted to protect Beau and Anna, they didn't deserve the second hand suspicion that would be garnered from this, they deserved a chance. They were good predators, well in control of their instincts, not like me.
Daisy Gardener : There was an incident with one of the ancestor humans, they felt threatened when they were awoken, pd collar was successfully implemented to neutralize the threat, minor injuries sustained, all successfully treated, Research head Dr.Ali alongside compliant rescues were able to talk down and establish amicable relations with problematic rescue. The situation is dynamic, but tentatively resolved.
Minor injuries was certainly an understatement, but not technically a lie. A bit of deception to protect those who didn’t deserve the fallout of this incident, predatory deception.
Chief Exterminator - Frank Kinsey : If you're confident they won't be an immediate issue then I’ll trust your judgment in this matter, lord knows I have enough on my plate with this small army of predators descending upon my town.
Chief Exterminator - Frank Kinsey : You're a valuable officer Mrs.Gardener, frankly one that is too valuable to lose, so I request that you be careful Daisy, I’ve read your file, you do good work but you're prone to commit yourself too hard to your assignments sometimes.
I wasn't at all sure Mr.Chekhov wasn’t going to be an issue. But I’d made damn sure Dr.Ali put every precaution in place, the hope of the herds stationed takkan and mazic officers would be reassigned to shadow Chekhov until further notice. This was all in exchange for this little fib.
A new message pinged.
Chief Exterminator - Frank Kinsey : Speaking of working yourself too hard, I've arranged your replacement for the position of rescue minder, they should be ready to come by tomorrow morning. Sanctioned Pd as well, They do good work, they should have no trouble relieving you of your position.
What? No!
I quickly fired back a reply, making sure to not let my panicked state of mind influence the contents of my message.
Daisy Gardener : That won’t be necessary chief, I am more than capable of carrying out my duties for the duration of this assignment.
Chief Exterminator - Frank Kinsey : Are you sure? You’ve been gone for a while now. You're more than due for a break. What's wrong?
Daisy Gardener : I don't believe it would be wise to transfer responsibility of these ancestors for the time being, I have had time to study the predators and I believe much of their odd habits and idiosyncrasies would be lost on a new officer.
Chief Exterminator - Frank Kinsey : You can train them up on what to look out for then if you're concerned about potentially problematic behaviors or misunderstandings. This shouldn't be too difficult of an assignment, their responsibilities will just be to make sure they interact safely with the herd. They are literally collared, and those devices seem to work just fine by your own account. Besides, I'm sure after all this time you're quite eager to see your daughter again.
I almost dropped my tablet at just the mention of my Lila. I wanted so desperately to see her again, but I couldn’t, not now. There was something in me, and that incident awakened it. And the reveal let me know what it was.
Daisy Gardener : It's okay, I call my daughter constantly, I’m eager to have her back in my, arms. but this assignment is important and we can wait just a little bit more.
I sent the message off, praying it was a satisfactory answer before I threw my tablet across the room.
“FUCK!”
I slammed my head across the table.
Why did I have to be born like this! Why couldn’t I just have been a normal prey like everybody else!
I felt that buzzing sensation on my neck again, it felt like the walls of this ship were starting to close in on me. Long buried feelings and voices rose up to the forefront of my mind once again.
I wrapped my arms desperately around myself, fruitlessly bracing for the storm coming from within. The voices of doctors and nurses filled my mind, their whispers and shouts manifesting as if they were in this very same room.
“Monster”
“Danger”
“Tainted Thing”
“Predator”
I thought I could control it. I thought I had tamed the beast within. But when it mattered most I let it slip. What happens if I let it slip again? I couldn’t risk it, not with someone as innocent and fragile as my Lila.
I clutched the locket around my neck, normally hidden under my uniform. Within it a petal, pressed and preserved, a gift from our first date. All I had to remember him by.
I wish he were here right now, he would have known what to say, he always did, but now, never again.
My predator ways cost him his life, and as much as others may have influenced events, I have no one to blame but myself.
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Memory Transcription subject - Daisy Gardener : United Earth Command - Exterminator : Reclaimed Terran Time : Jan 3rd, 2936
--5 months earlier--
“So have you decided on a place to eat tomorrow?”
“What!?”
I exclaimed, as this complete non sequitur momentarily broke my wrought iron focus just enough to make me jump with the control yoke in my hand, causing the airvan to lurch slightly mid flight.
“I just asked you, have you decided on a restaurant yet, you always make me pick a spot, I'd say it's your turn to make the choice.”
I was stunned speechless for a moment. Not because this was an odd question for Havek to ask in and of itself, but the timing was frankly bizarre.
“Havek” I began, taking in a breath. “There is a warp core forge twenty miles out from a major metropolis, and a band of kolshian shadow caste is more than likely trying to make an improvised drive core bomb. IS THIS REALLY THE TIME TO BE ASKING THAT RIGHT NOW.”
“So?” He replied nonchalantly. “We are still ten minutes out, and you were ready to get into a firefight just now, surely picking a restaurant isn't shed off a venlil’s back compared to that right.”
“I…. I….” I stuttered out, before I realized what he was doing, and I closed my eyes and took a breath. And I let the tension seep out from my body.
“I see what you're doing, and it's not necessary.” I replied.
“Doing what?” He asked back, with an innocent looking questioning ear flick. ”It's not like you're stressed or anything, the mighty Daisy Gardener, hero of the new Brayga colony. You’ve slayed loads of ferocious arxur before this. What are a few measly kolshians going to do to someone as mighty as you sweety?” He spoke coyly, as he slowly approached the pilot seat and began to massage the tension from my shoulders.
“You shouldn't wind yourself up too much before a fight, it's good to remain fluid.”
“It's also good not to fall asleep!” I chided before raising a hand to bap his paws away, before quickly returning my eyes to the sky, and my mind to his question.
“McDonalds.” I decided quickly. “The one off of Gerrard street.” I added.
“The one with the pup play area?”
“Yep.”
“Seriously? For a date?”
“It's considered fine dining on some worlds.” I snickered out.
Havek flicked his tail in a sign of bafflement.
“Maybe I should stick to picking.”
“Hey it's not for me, Lila wanted to see you again, she hasn't stopped talking about you since your last visit, and it's the perfect place to bring her along with us." I replied with a tone of genuine warmth in my voice. Thinking back to my little fluffy bundle of joy.
Lila was so happy to have an adult venlil to talk to, there was so much I wasn’t fit to tell her about her people. I did my best, but I could never help her with tail language or intertwine tails with her like a venlil mother could do with their pups. And there were so many little things to the culture I just wasn’t aware enough about to convey. She needed Havek in her life, just as much as I did.
“You want to bring along the little spit fire? That sounds like it could be fun, maybe we could take her to watch that new paw protectors movie afterwards.”
“Yeh that sounds nice.” I said warmly, before tapping a finger on the mission clock, and locking the ship into autopilot. Havek took my hand and helped me out of the seat. “Time for the final brief.” I said simply.
“The floor is yours.” He spoke, bowing slightly and holding open the door to the passenger compartment.
I walked past him and tapped him on the shoulder as I went. “Thank you hun, now take the wheel.” he nodded and turned back towards the pilot chair, but not before running his tail affectionately down my back.
I was greeted by the sight of a small and hastily assembled team. Each dawning a suit of space core mk1 combat armor, surplus from the federation dominion war. Unpowered, and it wouldn’t hold up to direct plasma fire, but it was flame resistant and a puncture wouldn’t compromise the fire proof layer.
We grabbed every Pd officer on call and some off, but there were far too many standard officers in this van for my liking.
Their side facing eyes snapped to me upon entering.
I cleared my throat and began the final brief.
“Alright everyone listen up, I'm running over the brief one more time for clarity, so if you have any final questions ask them now, or you might not get a chance to ask them again.”
I paused for a second, only receiving a gulp from one of the flame thrower toting standard officer.
“If there are no questions to start with then I will begin.”
I held up a holotab given to us by local U.E intelligence agents, which quickly lit up the compartment with a diagram of the facility.
“As of 5:00 am local time, a group of kolshians, disguised as security personnel attempted to gain entry to the Toronto star ship forge facility. The first group, upon making contact with the security personnel at the perimeter gate, presented a set of falsified ID's at the south entrance, the south guard on duty didn’t give them a second thought and let them in with minimal scrutiny. The north gate guard was more diligent, and simultaneously less fortunate, he ran the IDs through additional security checks which they then failed. The guard was then killed for his trouble.”
I heard a whimper from some of the greener officers. Prey on Prey violence was always troubling to hear about, even if they had been through this briefing before.
They ought to get used to the idea quickly though, there was soon to be a lot more of that in their future. I cleared my throat and continued.
“The plasma shots from his killing were picked up on security sensors, and the facility quickly went into lockdown.”
I tapped a button and pulled up a set of United Earth government IDs. All kolshians posing for a standard ID photo. “The group of kolshians are mainly on earth via visitors visa’s, though troublingly enough, many also appear to be earth born natives. The individuals in question have come from many different walks of life, though usually relegating themselves to engineering or security professions.”
I tapped another button pulling up a list of names and their professions, ranging from warehouse security guards to warpdrive mechanics, to even a university professor in speculative physics.
”This group of kolshians, our intelligence believes to be acting under a previously unknown entity within the kolshian government known as the shadow caste. Very spooky sounding I know, but what I have been told by our higher ups is that they are suspected to be responsible for many of the more unsavory aspects of federation society. Though ultimately that is unimportant for our immediate assignment. What you need to know is that all of these guards still passed initial security screenings with no issues, and we believe if they had weapons of mass destruction they would have used them by now. This is where our new intel just in from U.E intelligence comes in.”
I pulled up a diagram of the starship foundry again and the path of destruction left by the attackers was highlighted.
“Satellite imagery shows that they appear to be gathering ship components from various assembly lines, and the number of engineers and PHDs on their teams leads us to a very scary possibility.”
I pulled up another diagram, fresh from captain cutter’s agents themselves. A mechanical amalgamation was shown off to the squad.
“Captain Cutters technical specialists believe they have an idea about what they are doing in the factory now. After analyzing the components they took , they determined that the insurgents are most likely attempting construction of an improvised Warp Core Bomb.”
There was another gasp, this time even getting a response from the PD officers, who leaned in with a concerned interest.
“This bomb's purpose is essentially to make an intentionally explosively botched warp reaction, by constructing a warpdrive and carefully disabling its safety lockouts that would ordinarily prevent such a reaction. The resulting explosion is bordering on a low yield antimatter reaction, and would be powerful enough to cause significant damage to the nearby city." I finished sternly.
The initial news caused Ice to form in my veins, and my fist wrapped tightly around my wrist as I spoke. My Lila was in the blast range, this wouldn’t stand.
“In the event this bomb actually exists and you encounter it, I have sent to all of you a step by step guide on how to disable it, but if you are able, it is strongly encouraged to contact the number provided to get walked through the process by one of our on-call experts.”
“What happens if we disarm the device incorrectly?”
One of the senior exterminators asked.
“I am told that it could flood the area with high intensity radiation. Depending on the reaction phase it may become deadly in seconds.”
“Understood” he responded with a solemn nod.
“Listen, I don't have to tell you what's at stake. If the federation can knock out this shipyard, if they can win the war that is certainly kicking off as we speak.”
I glanced between the PD officers in the vehicle.
“The federation higher ups want to bring back the old ways, many of you are old enough to remember what that was like, and some of you…. May have even lived it.”
My mind went back to Havek in the pilot seat, the way he grew out his neck wool, how he flinched whenever someone tried to groom his mane, claiming he didn't want to mess up his style, and the way his tail locked up whenever we walked by the predator disease clinic. Me and him, we knew better than anyone else what the old system was like.
“This cannot stand, I know many of you don’t want to kill fellow prey, but we need to keep in mind what will happen if we don’t. Millions are at risk just from the blast alone, and millions more may suffer a fate worse than death if we don’t stop them here today! Earth needs these ships to win the coming war, and we will do everything in our power to make sure they get them.”
I pointed to one of the trembling cadets.
“Cadet, What are you?”
“Mam?”
“I said what are you cadet!”
“An exterminator?” he said nervously.
“And what do we do?”
“We uhh, we protect the herd.”
“You don't sound very convinced cadet! WHAT ARE YOU!?”
“I am an exterminator.” He said more willfully this time.
I addressed the rest of the cabin. “AND WHAT DO WE DO!”
The officers shouted in unison this time.
“WE PROTECT THE HERD!”
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Posted Feb 26, 2026, 1:59 PM UTC