This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/ExcursorLXVI on 2024-10-31 15:48:58+00:00.

When we discovered Earth, we demanded surrender. We did not receive any signs they were even considering it until after a week-long struggle for orbital supremacy that was what the humans would call a "curb stomp." We lost only one ship to their desperation.

After this, they asked for terms.

The exact terms are lost to history, but if they were anything like the usual protocol it probably involved taking every fifth child as hostage, executing everyone who had fought us, and more such things.

The human negotiators stated they could never persuade their leaders to accept that.

Our representative cited a phrase, "X'an vaios mar telens." The language it is part of has been lost; all we know is that this phrase means "the defeated do not get to bargain."

They didn't surrender, so, of course, we slaughtered them.

Until the call arrived. Our home system was under attack by a rival empire. We had to pull back and leave our business unfinished.

That proved to be problematic for us.

Recall that we lost exactly one ship. It crashed on Earth, and stayed there.

Upon returning home, we were forced to fight for years against our ruthless attackers. After a myriad battles we finally drove them out. But our fleet was down to single digits. Most of our armies were dead. The system's moons were shattered, and our people were starving.

We had long forgotten our business on Earth.

But they hadn't.

A fleet of unfamiliar ships appeared.

It seems that one downed ship had enough technology on it for them to reverse engineer. With that they managed to put together a fleet in the time we were fighting and dying.

In any other situation, we could've crushed that fleet. But I don't need to repeat our dire condition in the battle's aftermath.

So we hailed them, "We will consider surrender. What are your terms?"

The reply: "We take all of your weaponized ships and as much as we want from your ground weaponry. We will demolish whatever we can't use."

"What? We will be defenseless! There are enemies who will tear us limb from limb! Let us keep something!"

"Vae victis."

Just to rub it in our faces, they also cited some ancient language--one of theirs. Unlike the language our representative used, we know what this one is--Latin. And this phrase means "Woe to the conquered."

Get familiar with it. It gets repeated a lot.

After the humans took over, the occupation was harsh. They weren't really executing people--things hadn't escalated that badly quite yet--but they certainly weren't going out of their way to be benevolent.

Eventually, though, a third party did arrive. Our old enemies, against whom we fought a myriad battles. The humans did not stop them at all as they ravaged our homeworld. Not as they massacred us. The humans watched, content with some smug feeling we had it coming.

Maybe we did, but the survivors certainly didn't feel that way. Naturally we were revolting within a week. We had no ships, no real weapons after all we had been through. But we were doing everything we could against them.

Our revolt did nothing to humanity's dominion over the region, but other events did.

Apparently our old enemies were done with us. Because they moved on to Earth, and then humanity got to join us in the dust of those utterly ruined by that cursed empire.

We were ahead in the business of improvising together an excuse of a military from ruins, and so our conquest of Earth began shortly after.

"Vae victis!" was our shout as we began being tyrants, seeking vengeance for all that had happened to us.

Take a guess what happened next. A revolt.

For the next hundred years, our little corner of the galaxy was filled with the cry of "Vae victis!" "Vae victis!" "Vae victis!" War unending, as the balance of power swings continuously back and forth.

Both of us became something unrecognizable to ourselves. Humanity's republics degraded into petty tyrannies and dictatorships. Our fine empire was but an excuse of a planet that only had the strength to fight for revenge but not to have it.

Eventually, the end of all this came when the balance of power was in favor of humanity. Their kingdom was something the republic that first reached the stars would despise--executing dissidents and imposing ideology.

But there was something of that original humanity left in their king.

We did not hear "Vae victis" as they marched in. There were no shootings, reprisals, or massacres as had become the norm.

His decree was that humanity was to help us rebuild.

It wasn't perfect--there were always individuals on both sides who still wanted revenge--but it was far better than the previous norm.

Within fifty years of peace the damage of a hundred years of war was--while still present--no longer reigning over all. The unending struggle for vengeance was at last ended. For once, a generation grew up that remembered humanity not as a conquering scourge or an enslaved subject, but as some sort of uneasy ally.

It is to King Airo that we owe our prosperous alliance, of which we now commemorate the three hundredth anniversary of its official declaration. Since then, we have done much together. We have risen to take a leading role in this corner of the galaxy and beyond. We have built the grandest of testaments to the power of sapience. We have defended ourself against the most dire threats, and finally put down the Ashkaron Empire that destroyed us both so long ago.

All from one king's refusal of "Vae victis."

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/OGGruntComm on 2024-10-31 14:05:03+00:00.

PRISONER 226- Maximum Security

 A large Reptilian bipedal creature approached a much thinner one. Its large, sharp teeth pierced the body of a much smaller grub, and its wriggling ceased the moment he pierced flesh. The thick air around them allowed their scales to be constantly covered in moist. 

“ Its so warm down here.. So..Cramped” The larger one said while adjusting his plated vest. 

“ Thats Maximum for you.. They say its tight for a reason. I don’t know why..” The Thinner Reptilian Creature gestured its sharp claw to the heavily plated metal door. “ They can slip through here easily.

“How’s he doing?” The larger one inquired while its maw was filled with the remains of the grub it chewed on as a snack.

“ He’s been quiet, like usual. I keep having to check the Thermal cameras to make sure the guys breathing, " the thinner Reptile chortled.

“ All of this.. For a human? Its ridiculous.” The larger reptile finishes the remainder of his small snack. Pulling his pulse rifle back to his front. 

“ I’ve heard from the previous shift that he is some sort of different Human. They said…Special Forces? Something close to the Royal Guard.” The thinner reptile responded but with a sort of doubtful tone.

“ The Royal Guard!? BAHHAHAHA!” The large lizard laughed hysterically while banging his claws against the door. 

“ Shut up! You’ll wak—” The Entire environment around them would shake suddenly, causing the smaller Reptile to lose its footing and collapse against the wall to its left. A Small pipe released a burst of steam covering the reptile.

“What the..” The large one looked up and around. A few items falling over including the small desk at the end of the hallway.

The Thin reptile slowly lifted itself, using the larger one as support. “It's..probably.” The Reptile winced from the pain in its head. “ A Void Storm. “ The Reptile stood himself straight. The larger Reptile tightening its grip around its rifle, its scales flaring a little bit showing its nervousness.

“ We should check on 226..” The larger one said before pulling up a small tab. Its claws swiped away at the building moisture on its forehead. He looked intently at the tab. Its face turning into a point of confusion.

“What?” The Thin one questioned.

After some time the larger reptile would be washed with relief. “ Oh Gods… He’s there. Sorry I couldn’t see him through the Camera for a second. It might be damaged. He’s good.” The Large one went to hand the tablet over to the thin one but another larger impact would toss both of them against the wall furthest from both.

Both of the Guards laid onto the warm hum of the floor. The Thinner one after some time slowly lifting itself back up from the ground. “Loid.. Fuck… Are you ok?” A red light engulfs the hallway around them, followed by a loud alarm that repeats. The sound of the alarm pounding away at its mind which didn’t help with intense pain.

“Loid…” The Thin one pressed against the quiet large one beside him. The Thin one rose to its feet. Its hands feeling around them as the pulsing red lighting made it difficult to traverse the area. 

Its eyes then went wide, Its breath quickening while it looked ahead. The Rifle slung around hits chest was slowly gripped and lifted. The pain forgotten and replaced with unbridled fear. 

Among the fog and mist stood the shadow of a four-limbed monster. The large reinforced door was wide open, exposing the thin reptile to what they called a “Human.” As it stuttered, it felt something grip at its leg. 

The large Reptile named Loid spoke after grabbing his comrade's leg:” Yuna..” It coughed. “ I fell on the Tablet.. Check the–” Loid looked up at his focused ally. “ Yuna?” 

A voice emanated from the dark, misty threshold. The Translator fizzing a bit to understand it: “ Don’t…Do i–” 

The discharge of Yuna’s rifle surprised all parties. The Pulse ripped through the air, causing a small cyclone of fog to swirl behind it. They heard a “UMPH!” before the sound of a heavy THUD from the rear of the cell. Darkness and fog engulfed the entrance of the cell. 

“Loid…Yuna!” Another armed reptile appeared from around the corner behind them. “ Are you alright?” The Reptile lifted up loud from the ground. Both of them still focused on the opening. “ We got hit by a void. Alot of the systems are down, ships on alert.” The reptile quickly went quiet once he noticed his comrades raising their rifles back up to the threshold.

“ Oh gods… The Human… ILL GET HE–” The Sound of quikening steps silenced him again. His body stiffened from the intense fear as the man rushed through the threshold with incredible speed.Yuna fired another shot again but it had missed and impacted the wall behind the moving target.

The Man quickly buckled his legs underneath him, causing him to drop into a slide in between Loid’s feet. Sliding behind Loid, he promptly stood back up, grabbing the third Reptile’s rifle and forcing it up, causing it to fire into the ceiling. He slipped behind the Reptile and wrapped his arms around its throat after it fired.

“Shhshhshhshhh.” The man’s arms tightened. “Quiet….” Both reptiles raised their rifles towards their comrade and the Human holding him. 

“What do you want?” Loid questioned. His left arm shaking from the pain of falling on it.

“When you attacked the station. Did you take any more prisoners? Where are they, and where are the nearest pods.” The human occasionally checked behind him in case more came to check on the noise from earlier.

“ Not many that are still alive. We Only grabbed the humans with records. The rest were exterminated.”Yuna exclaimed. Inching a bit closer each time the human checked around.

“There were children on that station..Fucking Bounty hunters..” The Human spoke, his body shaking as he stared daggers now into the Reptile named Yuna. His arms tightened some more which started to strangle the reptile in his grip, slight whimpers came from the Reptile as it attempted to pull away from the Human.

“ You can just make more,” Loid said angrily. Its finger slightly applied pressure to the rifle's trigger, its patience was nearing its end.

“ Change of plans… I’m killing you all..” With a sudden swift motion, both of his arms pulled at the head of the Reptile in his grip. The Tendons in its neck popping until a sudden and very distinct pop can be heard signifying its spine being rip out of place. As the Reptile fell Yuna looked back towards the Human’s eyes.

Water streamed from the Human’s eyes. Confusingly, what he saw was sadness. Something within had been broken and the human wore it like a heavy weight on his soul. But then he noticed a change. He noticed the eyes looking back him finally and not through him. And then came the fire within—something it has seen enough in its lifespan.

Hatred.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/EAT_MY_USERNAME on 2024-10-31 11:44:46+00:00.

If you guys are enjoying this writing please feel free to leave a comment. Any feedback is always appreciated to improve my writing. If you also do any reading on RoyalRoad you can find my profile here.

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Justinius boarded the gunship that was to serve as his transport. 

The pilot was busy in the cockpit, running his pre-flight diagnostic. To his surprise Justinius recognized the pilot. The aviator's helmet was decorated with paint and chalk, in the visage of a fox spirit , a Kitsune, from ancient Terran myth. It was common for pilots to adorn their flight helmet with such decoration, Justinius knew. Usually the affectation was a point of pride for pilots, and often it was related to the callsign of the pilot, or the name of the airframe they flew.

The pilot completed the last of his checks and turned to regard the warrior. The lenses of the flight helmet that served as the eyes for the fox were green and glossy, like dark green emeralds. In the old myths, it was reckoned that Kitsune were wise but mischievous demons. As they aged, this wisdom and power increased.

This Kitsune needs to select it’s mission’s more cautiously, Justinius thought, if it wants to keep growing.

Justinius nodded in recognition of the pilot, and he returned the gesture. Over the ship intercom, the pilot radioed directly to Justinius’ helmet communicator.

“How was Iunthor?” The pilot queried. “Did you see the sights? Sample the local cuisine?”

Justinius chuckled despite himself, “The hotels left something to be desired.”

The pilot laughed a cheery and carefree laugh, his response dripping sarcastic humour.

“And you didn’t even bring me back a souvenir. Typical.”

The ramp began to raise, and Justinius took a seat in the empty crew bay.

The commander felt the need to say something to this man. They likely wouldn’t be returning from this mission. Old guilts and self-recriminations bubbled up in him, spilling out as a quiet voice.

“You know,” He began, “This might not go as smoothly as Iunthor. This is likely a one way trip.”

There was quiet for a long period, and the sound of engines cycling up to speed drowned out even Justinius’ melancholy thoughts.

The mechanical launch drivers engaged, and the ship was flung outward with a neck-snapping lurch. Suddenly, they were out in the void, and the loud clamour drained away to a barely perceptible drone.

The pilot's voice came back over the intercom. The voice was soft and low, and all the cocky sarcasm had drained away.

“Every time we go on a mission we take that risk.” The fox-pilot responded, “The enemy throws all their tricks at us, and we respond with our own. There’s not much else to think about than that. Sometimes I like to pretend I die the moment I strap in, and that makes it easier. When I come back, it's almost like an old-school magic trick.”

Justinius did not find that answer very comforting.

“The odds are pretty long on this one.” Justinius reminded him.

“I don’t roll with house dice.” The pilot chirped, his cheerful tone returning, “I always keep a loaded set up my sleeve.”

Justinius thought about this for a long while. He looked at the rectangular kitbag he had brought with him. He unzipped the bag and lifted out the tactical nuclear warhead. He keyed its control panel to life, and set it to remote detonation mode. He took two detonators, placing one into a concealed compartment under his chest armour, and handing the other to the kitsune pilot.

“Your loaded dice for this roll.” Justinius told him, “In case luck isn’t on our side.”

The pilot weighed the detonator in his hand, testing the weight. 

“Let’s hope it rolls well.”

As they approached the Ubiquitous Justice, guide drones ran out to meet them and guide them into a hangar berth. 

The hangars vents cycled out the exhaust fumes of the transport, and the pilot lowered the crew bay's ramp. Justinius faced the ramp as it lowered, and was greeted by a squad of Huronite soldiers, rifles raised. Justinius raised his arms slowly.

The Kitsune pilot showed his hands by way of two peace signs he threw up in the cockpit doorway. The soldiers entered the gunship, and checked Justinius for weapons. They had stowed the nuke in a hidden cargo space under the crew bay’s floor prior to docking, and the soldiers walked over the powerful ordinance none-the-wiser. Justinius allowed them to deprive him of his combat blade, the only weapon he had brought with him.

They gestured with their firearms, ushering him wordlessly out of the vessel. The pilot’s voice crackled in Justinius’ helmet as he exited the craft.“Good luck Justinius. I’ll see you on the other side.”

From there they escorted him through the vessel, towards his meeting with G’Nax.

He’d spent a long time aboard this vessel, waging the Committee’s war. He recognized every hallway and bulkhead. Several times the crew would turn to behold his passage, and he would briefly see recognition flicker across their faces, before they turned away and busily hurried to be elsewhere.

It felt for all the world like he was a ghost, haunting the ship he had once served upon. The crew fled before the revenant spirit of him.

Eventually they came to the room they had earmarked for his meeting. He knew it as interrogation room three, though someone had tactfully removed the steel plaque that usually adorned the reinforced door of the room. 

That bode well, Justinius thought, no point preserving the dignity of a trapped animal.

The room was as he remembered. Two chairs sat at opposite sides of a plain metal table. 

One of the chairs was occupied by G’Nax, who stood as he entered.

“Justinius,” The admiral nodded, gesturing to the chair opposite, “Please take a seat.”

Justinius nodded, taking his place.

G’Nax waved his hand dismissively at the guards, and they left the room in neat order.

G’Nax took his seat, and a long silence passed between the two officers.

G’Nax broke it first.

“Let me just say Justinius, for the record, I am sorry to meet you again in such circumstances.” The admiral produced a small pouch from his pocket, and pinched out a small measure of a dried herb. The alien carefully placed the herb under his front lip. “I had hoped we might meet again as allies, or comrades of long standing.”

Justinius cocked his head slightly, “Are we not still comrades and allies, G’Nax?”

G’Nax stared levelly at Justinius. “Comrades? Certainly. Allies? That remains to be seen.”

“Oh?” Justinius queried. “On what basis?”

“A quiet simple basis really. I’ve been sent by the Committee to investigate some…concerning reports that we’ve received.” The admiral dusted his gloves on his long cloak. “They’ve asked me to figure something out, and then act appropriately.”

Justinius felt the hairs stand up on his neck. This was not the way he had hoped this would go.

“Figure out what?” He asked.

“Figure out why, after so much patience and assistance. After all the help the committee has provided humanity. After all the shared experience and bloodshed. After all that…”

The aliens nostrils flared wildly, and he removed his gloves slowly, placing them neatly on the table in front of him.

“Why would humanity betray us so?”

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/GrungleberryMuncher on 2024-10-31 08:49:08+00:00.

Link to part 1

"So that's how the captain ended up in our prison? Who in their right mind..." Tanaya, the newest member of the crew and former royalty, asked the ship's second in command.

"Your disbelief is understandable, few would try and commandeer a ship from your people's navy. Though we were able to acquire supplies and a number of parts for repairs at least." Tick replied, the man was a member of the Delurat species, a race of superstitious yet also pragmatic mammals that resembled moles due to living underground naturally.

"I suppose I am lucky that your efforts went the way they did..." The plant-like woman mulled over the thought but quickly turned her attention to the navigational display. The readout indicated that they were reaching the distress signal that they were following, though there was still a little more time until they were within visual range. "I am curious, how did the captain become...well...a pirate?"

"You are not the first to ask, I do not know all of it as this happened was before I had met him. What I do know is that both him and this ship were a part of a trading fleet for one of the larger companies within the galactic North, as well as that one of these cargo shipments he was charged with did not meet its owner." Tick then returned to his own work, giving out orders and ensuring the bridge crew were cohesive. "I will note, he never gives anyone the full story or states what exactly the cargo was."

"Curious..." Tanaya then adjusted her make-shift dress, she was appreciative of the efforts but this was nothing close to her old wardrobe and it was evident. "Signal is 50 kilo...me-metres, some day I shall grow used to the pronunciation..."

Tick nodded, he had not long finished training her on how to read the navigational system so that she could help as a part of the bridge crew. That was when the captain entered, the way he walked showed his confidence and he simply observed the crew for a moment before announcing himself.

"Status? What're we looking at Tick?" The Delurat turned to answer though he paused for a moment, the hairs on his back began to stand on end.

"Disabled ship Captain, appears deserted and the long range scanners seem to agree but..." Tick then seemed to begin flattening some of the hair on his head, only for it to stick upright as soon as he released it. That was when the captain gestured for Tanaya to approach, a look of concern on his face.

"But?" Jacob questioned the Delurat once Tanaya was within whispering distance, Tick's unease only growing more apparent.

"I'm getting a feeling, you know what I mean captain but not from that ship. I don't even think it's a trap, we've been followed I think." At this, the human nodded slowly and looked around the bridge before turning back to Tick.

"Prepare the crew to be boarded, Tanaya I need you to come with me." He then turned to leave with the Terasi woman in tow, yet the former princess was still confused by the two men's reactions. Evidently Jacob had picked up on this as once they had left the bridge he spoke. "The Delurat have extremely heightened senses, to the point of almost precognition of danger so if Tick says something is wrong, something is very wrong."

"I had no idea...what does it mean here though?" She asked, the captain however kept glancing around the corridor and seemingly ignored her question. Eventually the two had reached Jacob's personal quarters and he gestured for Tanaya to go inside.

"It means we're going to be attacked, likely by fellow outlaws so your going to stay here. There's a pistol in the bedside drawer, only use it if you absolutely have to and make sure you lock the door." He then let out an exasperated sigh, looking back down the hallway they had come from and muttering under his breath. "Hopefully it's not the fish..."

Right as she shut the door a loud boom could be heard from somewhere in the ship, prompting her to hurry in locking the door as the faint sounds of gunfire could be heard. Tanaya then tried to find the pistol Jacob had told her about though this was easier said than done, the fighting could be heard getting louder and she assumed that meant closer as well. Finally she had managed to find the sidearm and she activated the weapon, preparing it should she need to use it against whomever their attacker was.

An hour had passed and the sounds of fighting had not lessened, they only grew louder and closer, the former princess would be lying if she claimed to not be afraid. That was when loud footfalls came from the just outside the door, luckily it stopped but it was enough to startle Tanaya into aiming at sound.

"W-who is there?" She managed to squeak out, yet of all the sounds that could have came from the other side of the door she was not expecting what did.

"Princess Tanaya Elethaa, is that you?" Came the voice of another Terasi, one she recognised as her suitor from before her family's excommunication.

"Tarvold?! W-what are you doing here?!" She then immediately unlocked the door and stared at the man in shock, however she did not relinquish her weapon. "How did you find me?"

"I have spent the past few days tracking you after your kidnapping, I'm so glad you are safe!" Despite Tarvold's kind words, Tanaya understood their implications and her mind began racing trying to figure out her next actions. "Come, we are still locked in combat with these criminals but once we're on the ship we'll be fine."

The former princess simply raised her pistol to the man's head, a furious look on her face as she gestured for him to walk down the hallway. Tarvold's confusion did not stop him from following her command but before he could stammer out a question, Tanaya spoke.

"You have come to bring me back to the chopping block! I'm not going with you, nor shall I ever return to my people! And to top it off you were lied to if you believe I was taken against my will." The two Terasi made their way to the where the fighting was, gunfire sounding and almost deafening the former princess. Tarvold had evidently hired a number of crewmen and laid a trap for the pirates, though they were lucky that he didn't know of Tick and his abilities. As the two approached the fighting, it was evident that Tarvold's crew were not expecting the pirates to know of their attack as they were just beginning to retreat. "Cease fire!"

All the gunfire stopped in that exact moment, the human captain had a huge grin on his face once he saw Tanaya and even began chuckling to himself. The attackers, mostly fellow Terasi, all lowered their weapons and looked around confused.

"Men, we are leaving the princess here..." Tarvold said, however this was not enough for Tanaya who pushed the pistol under his chin and clearedher throat. "And we are not to attempt this again."

It took a few minutes before the attackers had left but once they had Jacob pulled Tanaya aside, still grinning like a madman.

"Not bad your highness, we'll make a pirate of you yet but I think we deserve something to drink first eh?" This elicited a laugh from the former princess and she nodded, somehow she even knew exactly what drink was going to be offered.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Engletroll on 2024-10-31 07:56:33+00:00.

Part 1 . . Part 2 .. Part 3 .. Part 4 Part 5 .. Part 6 .. Part 7 .. Part 8 Part 9 . Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 . Part 18

(short one this time around, hopefully bigger one over the weekend)

The next day, Adam arranged for a guided tour of the planet. The students wanted to show off their projects. He had a good grasp of his people’s projects, both official and secret, but not so much with the students. Jork and Vorts joined, and when he wanted to take the yacht, Vorts chuckled and said no.

Adam looked at him, confused, as they made their way to a reinforced transport, to his surprise. The professors didn’t seem to think it was strange, so Adam decided to shut up and not come off too ignorant. The transport took off. It was the size of a bus and quickly rose to the atmosphere where Kinita Sumina, the geologist student, stood up. “As you know, we set off the volcanoes to release the gas within. It worked. The atmospheric pressure is now about the level we wish; however, as you know, that also means a lot of volcanic dust and other gasses that we don’t want being spewed into the atmosphere. The genius part was to select one area. Continent Three, we are working on the names. So, while there is some fallout on our side of the planet, we have managed to keep the fallout away from us. We have been using artificial suns by Mr. Wirt, which helped us modify them to create a weak forcefield that will keep out the dust but allow the wind to pass. As you will see, we are going high in the atmosphere to let you observe.”

Adam looked out the window and realized what he had not before: one-third of Dirt was covered in a giant layer of black clouds. Around the edges, he could see a shimmering field, and he turned to Jork.

“I didn’t know you could do that. Could it cover the whole planet?”

“Yes, but I'm constantly repairing them. They are working on 110% capability and doing something they are not really programmed to do.” He replied.

“I have a few students working on a similar problem, dealing with super volcanoes and the aftermatch. I am sure a few would love to help with this project. They can bring their equipment and blueprints. One is working on a prototype to collect and repurpose the fallout.” Professor Jar-dric said, and Adam turned to look at it. He had rarely heard Jar-dric speak, and the Ghort had chosen a gender less exoskeleton. The Gorts was, after all, a gelatine-like creature in need of those suits to move about.

“Well, as we discussed yesterday, I'm willing to sponsor programs that will benefit the terraforming of Dirt. “ Then he looked at the cloud and back at Jork.

“You moved the base building, right? There is no way we can build down there. “

Jork wiggled his hand. “Just a little, it’s on the edge. Harder build, but it's close enough, so what do you want to call this one?” They all looked at him as the shuttled divided into the chaos of the volcanic ashes and aftermath of the volcanoes; he saw a few were still smoldering, and he chuckled.

“I think I know; I saw this really old movie, and it was a fantastic one. There was land there just like this called Mordor, so let's call it the base. Once it clears up, we can change the name. “

As they spoke, a giant cube of frozen nitrogen descended into the hellscape, guided by the drones towards a large volcano. Adam looked at Jork.

“Why?”

“School project, the kids wanted to see what happens. It will melt, but they will get some kick out of it. It's just a cubic kilometer one.”

Adam sighed, and he saw the professors watching like little children. They probably knew exactly what would happen, but there was something about knowing it was childish curiosity that allowed this to happen. He started to wonder just how many students they would send. Yesterday, they had agreed to build them a base like Piridas connected to three domes, one being a dorm that can hold a thousand students, five kilometers north of Piridas. With staff, it would be able to hold fifteen hundred people; he doubted they would fill it up, but they would pay rent for it, a nice little side income. Jork had put a few projects on hold and started the construction.

Adam thought about it. It took about three months with ten workers; he had many more now, mostly due to Jork and a bigger crew. The place might be finished within a month if they are lucky. He turned his attention back to the tour as they flew along lava rivers and lands so filled with ash they could barely see a hundred meters, flying blind and then stopped hovering over a pole stuck in the ground as Kinita Sumina explained how their early access had granted them the ability to place these sensors all over the area just as the second round of volcanoes had gone off. The sensor uses nanotech to dig itself down and allow it to monitor the geological effects of the volcanoes on a completely different scale. They were going to set up a new volcano in a month's time and would place these sensors all around as a grid as well as monitor it from weather satellites. After exploring Mordor, they left for the south part, where they came to one of the small seas that was rapidly growing bigger. They stopped by a half-built base with three droids working. The research base was ten-man-sized and was meant to be underwater.

Ced-dry Miga explained how they were building four such bases around the planet on places they knew would be a hundred meters below the surface when the poles were finished melting. This would also allow all the oceans to connect, and they could start research on seeding the planet. Adam just watched. This was going pretty fast for him. There was so much missing, and the professors seemed to be missing as well. Ced-dry Miga explained that the beginning would be introducing and feeding algae and fertilizing the ocean with Nitrogen-enriched soil. Apparently, the volcanoes and the Nitrogen from Onic added to the ground soil allowed them to make fertilizers. It was on a small scale now, but they would be able to industrialize it with more engineers. The goal was to cover one continent with this fertilizer and place CO2 transformer around the planet. They could strategically place out twenty of these converters and start to spew out oxygen. The whole process, including building, can take everything from five years to five hundred, depending on how many they can build and at what size. They should also be able to start seeding the sea with small life once the algae has reached a big enough number. That would include a forcefield and controlled areas in the beginning to safeguard the flora. They did expect several failed attempts until they could perfect the process. Then the ship took off again and set course for the big surprise, and they flew north, where they found a large cave blocked by a force field. They flew through and entered a large cave. Adam saw they had set up a reactor near the door and that some cables were going inside and out of the cave. Inside, they came to a large cave with an artificial sun on the ceiling. Adam realized he should have kept a much more careful eye on the students as they, proud as a little kid, showed off a cave about 100 meters long and 50 meters wide with a small pond and grass on the ground; he thought he saw some bushes as well. Mir-na opened the door before anybody could react, and fresh air poured in. “This is our little secret experiment. We have done what Adam is trying to do on a small scale, planet size, and it worked, as you can see. Green grass, a few plants, and the pond have algae and actually fish, the smallest we could find. We are going to introduce bugs here later. As you can see, we have monitors attached to the ceiling and two drones with a charging station further in. “

Adam chuckled as he walked around and let the students and professors chat. He just wanted to walk around and check the cave, he walked down to the pond and looked inside as he saw some movement. He looked at the students and shook his head in amazement. “If you want to then you got a job here when you graduate. I'm very impressed.”

They looked at each other and then agree...

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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/LordCoale on 2024-10-31 02:23:56+00:00.

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“Hyper translation in three minutes, Captain.” Angela Chan’s voice broke the silence on the Star Wanderer’s bridge.

“Thanks, Angie,” Lin replied absently.

DTL could afford to hire the best crews and did. That meant the Star Wanderer’s crew was one of the best in human space. She knew the crew could do their jobs without being micromanaged. She kept track of the ship’s position and could see the countdown timer on the main holotank. But it’s the navigator’s job to make the announcement.

“As soon as we hit n-space, comm HQ and report in. Then contact System Control to get our route and parking instructions,” Lin ordered.

Technically, she should contact SysCon first, but the report to DTL headquarters was a data-only packet. System Control coordinated all the traffic within the Sol system, from the smallest single person pleasure craft to the largest supercargo carriers. The Wanderer fell somewhere at the top end of the tonnage but was nowhere near the largest cargo ship. It wasn’t even the largest cargo ship DTL owned.

“Roger,” Helen Donovan replied.

“Translation in ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… dropping now,” Gabriel Marshall, the helmsman announced. The last two words were completely unnecessary. Dropping out of hyperspace made every human nauseous to varying degrees. Even the most experienced spacers felt it.

“Got our navigation instructions from SysCon,” Helen said. “And Grand-mère says welcome home. When we get to Terra, we can park the ship at the DTL hub on Olympus Station. Turn it over to Engineering and we are on leave, with an invite to HQ for a welcome home party.”

“Wooo hooo. Leave and a party?” Marshall asked. “I am so excited. I need me some down time.”

“Got that right,” Helen agreed. “I am going to the Seychelles. I got a date with some waves.”

Helen grew up on an island world and was more at home in the water and space than on land. She was also a competition level surfer and lived on a surfboard when on leave. The new head engineer, Demetria Vasilopoulos, would probably join her. They were beach buddies and loved to party. Though, with Demetria’s involvement with the Marine gunnery sergeant back in Dal’tari, the engineer was unlikely to join the other woman on the prowl for male companionship.

“What about you, Lin? What are your plans?” Marshall asked.

“Well, my family will be here for Frank’s award ceremony and swearing in. Then we will see him off to the Naval Academy’s accelerated OCS. He’s already a trained, credentialed, and licensed powerplant engineer. He just needs to learn how to be Navy. Then? I don’t know. Maybe go back home. I haven’t been back to New Jiangsu in a few years. I have some new nieces and nephews to meet. Then maybe back to New Damascus to spend time with Tom.”

Lin’s family had declined the offer to travel back to Terra aboard the Wanderer. They’d decided on the Regal Interstellar Lines luxury liner, the Regal Radiance. Frank chose to stay with Lin. He was just not completely comfortable around his new family yet. Lin could have forced him to go with her mother but decided against it.

Frank would be alone at the Academy soon enough. He needed to be among people he knew and trusted, and the Wanderer’s crew had adopted him as soon as he boarded. Lin had put him to work with Demetria, getting his hands dirty while learning the real job of a ship’s powerplant engineer. Theory learned in school was a good foundation, but you needed to work in real ship’s powerplant to get worthwhile experience.

Lin remembered something Oliver and Davis had told her years ago, ‘A combat ready company is not inspection ready, and an inspection ready company is not combat ready.’ Something similar applied to powerplant engineers. People who could quote you the manual could not repair a down-checked plant. People who could repair a down-checked plant with minimal resources had no use for manuals, or the people who could quote them.

Demetria kept him ass deep in repairs and maintenance, running him just a tiny bit ragged. It kept him busy, but it also made him part of the crew, part of a team. It forced him to come out of his shell and work with others. It helped that Demetria was drop dead gorgeous. Most men, and even some women, would go out of their way to please her. Lin had seen it happen so often that she just accepted it. To Demetria’s credit, she was not conceited or self-centered at all.

“I just might join you for the awards ceremony before I go catch some waves,” Helen said. “Frank needs people there to cheer for him. He’s part of the family now.”

Lin smiled at that. She’d come to deeply value the young man, she and was glad that the rest of the Wanderer’s crew had adopted him. He was a good kid. It was about time for the universe to give him a break. And she was going to do her level best to make sure he knew his value from now on.

“I am sure he’d be happy about that,” Lin replied. “Prime Minster Magalhães and Parliament will have the ceremony at Sutton House followed by a reception and dinner. We’ll have to get your name added to the list of guests.”

“You might as well add all of us,” Marshall added. “We all want to be there for him. Besides, when will we ever get the chance to have dinner with the Prime Minister?”

“Yeah,” Angela joined the conversation. “I’ve never even been to the capitol. I mean, I don’t remember ever wanting to go to the capitol. I grew up on Éire, and I never even went to the capitol there. But I am game for something new.”

“You just want the free food,” Marshall grinned and shook his head. “Not that I blame you.”

“Just got a data packet from HQ,” Helen interrupted. “The Wanderer is getting an upgraded hyperdrive and fusion plants. She’s gonna be in drydock for four months. We are on paid leave until she starts getting ready for reacceptance trials.”

“Awesome,” Lin replied. “We all could use the downtime.”

 *******************************************

“The GPX-88 fusion plant is a good design,” Demetria told Frank as they replaced a faulty control board on the powerplant’s antimatter injectors, “and it’s been installed on thousands of ships, but the peripherals leave a lot to be desired. The mag-bottle’s plasma injectors are finicky. They don’t handle power surges well, and a surge can fry their mag-bottle’s control module, which can cause a runaway reaction. This normally isn’t a huge issue, as a runaway can be stopped by killing the fuel feed. It’s an automatic safety feature on all fusion plants. No fuel, no reaction.

“But then that same power surge can cause the fuel feed to get jammed open. If there is damage in just the right spot, the mag-bottle goes runaway and the fuel feed can’t get cut, then it goes boom. Hopefully, you can eject the core before it blows the ship, too.”

“Okay. There is no way Lin would leave that be. So, what did you do to fix it.”

“You got that right. Hand me the test set.”

Frank grabbed the small computer test set from where it was magnetically attached to the bulkhead.

“Thanks. We pulled the injectors and fuel feeds,” she continued, “and replaced them with some from a decommissioned BNT-90. It is older but still found on a lot of battleships. We had to retrofit some stuff, but the 90 is a solid machine. That means it is a proven system designed for abuse. It’s also bigger, which means the injectors are bigger. They can take more abuse.”

“Makes sense. Military stuff is designed to be easy to replace because they can get damaged in battle. But it is mostly hot swapping full assemblies. That makes sense for military ships, but not a cargo ship.”

“You are right. We don’t carry full subassemblies, but we have all the parts that commonly break or wear out. We can repair quite a bit with that. But for the rest, we have a full nano-forge that can print just about anything that we don’t have in stock, at least as long as we have the raw materials.”

“A full nano-forge? That’s an expensive thing to have on a merchant ship.”

Nano-forges are manufacturing foundries capable of machining the hardest alloys to .00005 microns and use nanites to print parts from individual molecules. It can take several days to complete complex assemblies, but they could produce precise parts from scratch.

“We had a ship get stranded once because of a little safety sensor in a mag-bottle containment emitter. That ship did not have the spare part in inventory, and they could not make one. We had to send out another ship with the part.  

“A tiny part barely six centimeters long cost the company almost twenty million dollars in late delivery penalties and overhead. It really pissed of some of the senior leadership. So… Donatienne Pierre put nano-forges on all DTL ships. Yeah, they are expensive, about a million apiece. But we’ll never have that situation again.”

“How many ships does DTL own?” Frank asked.

DTL is not the largest or oldest transtellar shipping company, but it was in the top ten. But it is the only privately owned out of those ten. The fact that they are not beholden to investors meant the owners can spend what they like however they want, no matter how stupid or ridiculous others might think.

“Last count I saw was eighty-two. Most are Star Caravans like the *...

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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/LukeWasNotHere on 2024-10-31 03:41:53+00:00.

I am sorry to say this whole thing is technically a pun, if that sort of thing causes you to fly into a rage or kill innocent bystanders, you’ve been warned. If you still want to read this, I suggest locking yourself in a closet while doing so. Anyway, we got kidnapped again. Honestly I still have no idea who between Scout and I has gotten some black bag thrown over their head more. 

Yet, everyone is still scared of me. One of these days people are gonna learn that while I may be Human, I’m still incompetent. When they do find out, chances are I’m already dead. In the meantime I will continue to abuse criminals and mercenaries warped view of my competence. 

I was fiddling with my handcuffs, while I was in a shipping container. “Are we at sea yet?” I yelled and partially deafened myself. 

“Shut up Theseus.” Scout said beside me. 

Eventually, with enough fiddling, canoodling and other lockpicking synonyms, that I would get into lots of trouble explaining on the internet, I removed my handcuffs. 

“Why are you so good at that? Who hurt you?” Scout asked and shook her head. 

“Locks only keep honest people out, and that goes for your locks too. Remember what I told you about-” I got interrupted.

“Keeping pressure on this part, I know. I’ll get it if you just give me enough time, you himbo.” Scout said, thankfully focused more on the lock than pissing me off. She was actually a prodigy at the locks I taught her how to bypass so far. Don’t tell her I said that. 

I dusted myself off and crept over to the door. Slowly it creaked open and I didn’t see anyone. I fully walked out of my shipping container. I looked out the nearest window and technically I was on a ship. The space kind. One of the larger ones used for cargo, we were still firmly on the ground thankfully. I looked around and noticed how empty the cargo bay was and took note it would take at least a day for them to fill it up. 

I heard footsteps and quickly went back to my prison. I put on the handcuffs loosely and sat at the chair beside Scout. I whispered to her. “On a cargo ship, but we won’t go off planet for at least a day. We can totally escape before then.” 

I heard a gasp as the door opened. “Kiss? Oh, please kiss.” Scout and I looked over. She was probably the most stereotypical Caelum woman I’ve ever seen, six feet tall, black hair, sunset orange skin, bigger arms than mine, with white irises and pupils, and the rest of her eyes a menacing deep black. She had the same features and stance of a crossbow. Along with a giant scar across her face. For some reason though, when she caught sight of us she started to look like a puppy. 

“No.” Scout and I shook our heads in unison. 

“Aw~” She started to melt. “Wow, I knew it was cute when you too talked at the same time, but I could have never imagined.” She held her hands together and almost started to float to us. “You need to say married.” She begged more than demanded. “I’m Penelope by the way.” The tall, muscular woman who just kidnapped us said sweetly. 

“Are you sure?” I looked at her scar that I was extremely jealous of, and her giant arms. Scout started to tug at her handcuffs with much more purpose but still tried to stay quiet. Penelope let out a high laugh. 

“Wow, I have to tell you Theseus I am such a huge fan. I’ve actually been reading your series since the beginning.” Penelope leaned in far too close, then put on another set of handcuffs on me. She also made sure to close the ones I just picked, she held onto my wrist, and didn’t let go. She really must have read it from the beginning. 

“It’s not a series.” I said, still not sure why that was the first thing on my mind. I glanced back at Scout, still not out of her cuffs. 

“Oh, you even said the line. This is so great, but seriously. You can’t get divorced.” Penelope shook her head. 

“Why not? It was a fake wedding.” Scout asked painfully.

“Because you too are perfect for each other.” Penelope blushed and smiled. 

“Did you say you started reading from the beginning? Like you even paid enough attention to not let me stay unsupervised in handcuffs.” I looked down at her hands and said. 

“Yes.” She smiled back extremely proud. 

Scout and I took a long pause. We looked at her insultingly.

“Just because you threatened to shoot Theseus in the face when you first met, Scout doesn’t mean anything now. You two fought together, you even gave Scout her own gun, Theseus. Your chemistry is off the charts. I mean you literally call him ‘himbo’ Scout.” Penelope started to bounce up and down. 

“Yeah because he’s an idiot.” Scout replied matter-of-factly. I nodded in agreement. 

“Oh so you just conveniently forgot that it also means he’s hot and dumb?” Penelope gave a victorious look and swayed side to side. 

“Are you forgetting that he’s so stupid it would cancel out any attractiveness he has?” Scout pointed at me. 

“So you admit he’s hot!” Penelope pointed. 

Scout glanced at me. “Eh.” She shrugged.

“Good enough for me.” Penelope smiled back. 

I looked at Scout and started another eyebrow-only conversation. “Get out of the handcuffs already! This woman is clearly deranged.”

“I’m trying, you himb- idiot.” Scout said with a raised eyebrow and eye roll. 

“Oh, are you two having one of your eyebrow conversations again? This is what I mean.” Penelope’s manic energy finally stopped. She started to speak softly and less from her fanaticism and more from her heart. 

“You too saved each other so many times. Theseus, we both know you could have escaped Scout a hundred times already. But, you stayed with her, still helped her. Risked your life so many times, willingly, for her. Do you really think that in all these days, so close to each other that you haven’t caught just a little bit of something more with her?” Penelope asked my heart more than my brain. I never thought about it like that. 

“Scout, you’re right, you had a gun pointed at his head. He dishonored your family, humiliated your brother. Why didn’t you shoot him? Or at least kick his ass. Why did you let him talk his way out? Why did you listen? Why are you sitting right next to him?” Penelope asked Scout’s brain more than her heart. Scout eyebrows furrowed, and her head tilted. 

“You know there’s a reason why. Why enemies to lovers is so popular, why so many people think you're dating. Because even while you complain and insult each other you still care about each other, save each other from mercenaries and criminals. Theseus’ average, worldly and strong but not refined or scholarly. Scout’s rich, proper and educated, but doesn’t know the world and can’t punch.” Penelope spoke more to herself than us. 

“People are so fake nowadays, always showing off their love so loudly in a way that can’t be true that often, that obvious. But you two, it’s quiet, private, you even hide it from yourselves, because it’s so obvious, so true you don’t have to say it out loud. It’s so refreshing, to have people who love each other pretend not to, instead of the opposite we see so often. You two are the same in the few ways that matter, but different in all the ways that complete each other.” Penelope chuckled to herself, and had a satisfied smile.  

I thought about what she said more closely. Scout was for once out of words, and just sat there. 

We stared back at each other. 

We both knew she was right. 

Scout leaned in towards me. 

I leaned towards her just as much. 

Penelope was too shocked to speak. 

We kissed.

Psych!

Scout finally got out of those damn cuffs. 

She punched Penelope right in her crazy face. Once Penelope let go of my hands, before she even hit the floor I was out of both handcuffs. I was messing with them when she was blabbering on. 

Scout stood over Penelope’s half conscious body. “Goddamn only children. All that stuff makes us more like brother and sister! You kidnapping psycho! Do people not have siblings they hate but still have to love?! What in the Hells are people smoking? Is there something in the water supply?” She yelled.

“I’m an only child.” I said.

Scout laughed. “No wonder why you’re so annoying. Himbo.” 

Author’s Note: I have made a giant pun (maniacal laughter).

Vaguely important second note: This isn’t a series, though it could be debated. It’s an idiotic writing challenge I made up one night and keep almost failing. Writing a one shot everyday for thirty days. I write these like an episodic T.V. show, the two main characters are the same, sometimes there are two part episodes but it’s meant to be enjoyed on its own. The fact it can be read in order is a bonus afterthought. Context is overrated anyways.

Thanks for reading. :}

25/30 Days

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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Telemachusfar on 2024-10-31 03:41:32+00:00.

What do you mean. It's Tuesday. Shut up? I didn't forget to post... Anywayyyyy I like to put little referential easter eggs in most of my chapters. Some intentional and some I don't even realize till after I've written them. there is a very intentional one in this chapter, though, so see if you can spot it. ill give a hint. George Lucas MMO. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading.

What if I make the hyperlink "Tea", wouldn't that be ironic...

Pen walked into her room and over to her dresser. It wasn’t made for humans but she had so few clothes that she didn’t need much space anyway. She didn’t open the drawers though. instead, she knelt down and reached for the item stuffed under the dresser. The thin plastic bag crinkled as she grabbed it and moved over to her bed.

“Hmm.” She evaluated her dress greys.

They were creased in more places than where they were folded but she’d expected that. She hadn’t cared to treat them well at all and only kept them cause she could never manage to just toss them in a trash can.

Pen pulled the plastic sheath off and unfolded them. They were simple but elegant and still had her medals pinned from her last ceremony. They jingled quietly as she laid the uniform out on her bed.

“When was the last time I wore you?” she mumbled.

It must have been Samir’s silver star pinning. He probably had one or two more by now… she hadn’t asked about that when they chatted. Her focus came back to her dress uniform and she undressed quickly. It was a quick and practiced series of movements that had her looking far more professional than she had in some time.

Formal wasn’t her style by a long shot, but she admired the clean and crisp air her reflection struck. Without looking away her hand picked up the beret and pulled it onto her head. The breather wasn’t easily overlooked, but didn’t clash too much with the idea of professionalism that the formal dress was supposed to present. It was at least grey on grey.  After her final inspection she turned and made her way off the ship.

Open air and unmanned transports waited outside the landing bay. She stepped onto one, which jostled slightly as it accounted for her size, and sat down. She couldn’t help but feel like an adult in a kiddie pool but a buzzing voice grabbed her attention.

“Please state destination.”

“Uh, the trade conference thing.”

“The Unifect annual conference is taking place in Adrezti Hall, is this where you would like to go?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent.”

The transport lurched forwards and sped up into the sky into invisible but universally understood roadways. Pen noticed that none of the various types of transport had real drivers. Everything ran on a fully automated system; at least they did here in the city.

As the city splayed out below her she was offered a view of the most varied fusion of architecture and style she’d ever seen in a single city. It was nothing less than a complete jumble of constructions all smashed together. Pen imagined a kindergarten lego work that had every single child’s input. Yet as she looked there was an impressive genius to it. Gareth had said that the city supported an incredible number of different species. That meant an incredible number of different living requirements. From atmosphere to aesthetics, each species might have completely opposite needs. As she looked she noticed that this chaotic fusion of architecture was, in fact, a marvel of engineering that successfully allowed people with completely incompatible living requirements to live side by side.

“Hey car… uh voice thing…”

“You may call me ‘PAT-a-Kay’ and yes I can answer any questions an alien guest might have about our fine city.”

“How long did it take to build this whole place?”

“The initial settling and terraforming was conducted by Wielan colonists 900 years ago and took 80 years to complete. But I assume your question refers to the current, and wildly different, state the city is in today. What you see is a work that began only 40 years after the Weilan settling when Ossian and Corvul relations improved to a point where the desire for a metropolitan community was put forward. From that point every Federation member state, if requested, has been allowed to add their own living space to the city. To date that number has reach 118 with the latest being the Mari, a vaporous avian species who simply flew one of their already built city’s into the airspace above.”

“Where is it?” She looked up and around.

“The large cloud formation to your east obscures a rather dashing stone polis, would you like to tour it miss? I can reroute.”

What Pen thought to be an incoming stormfront was apparently the newest addition to this place. She watched it for a moment and did notice that its movement was very unlike any naturally occurring weather pattern she knew of. Once or twice she even managed to catch the sharp dark edge of something poking out from one corner or another.

“Miss?”

“Uh, no. Maybe another time.”

“Very well.”

She rested her head in a hand and watched the city as PAT-a-Kay continued silently. They flew over a bulbus dome-like structure that was filled with a sea-green liquid. Something about the way it moved and how obscured objects moved about within it told her it wasn’t liquid water. Various ancillary spheres connected to the main dome filled and emptied with that green liquid as transports entered and exited

More odd buildings and fabricated habitats passed by before she saw what she assumed was her destination. A tall high-rise stood like a spear climbing well above the other buildings that connected to it at its base. At its top was a wide rail-less walkway where transports could dock. On either side stairs led down and into the lower floors while one stairway in its center led up to a palatial marble (or marble looking) building. A few fellow latecomers were making their way up.

There were a few other high climbing buildings around but none of them reached quite as high. Pen couldn’t help but think the place was a sniper’s dream. Any one of the shorter buildings would make an excellent position. Anyone on a walkway would be clearly silhouetted by the sky behind them.

“Ma’am? We have arrived.”

“Thank you. What's the fare?”

“... I am afraid I don’t understand…”

“The ride, what do I owe you.”

“Transport is free of charge Ma’am... naturally.”

“Oh… well, thank you for the ride then.”

She stepped off as she realized that she had just thanked an inanimate object not once but twice. Her embarrassment was at least singular, though, as there was no-one else nearby.

“Free rides huh… could get used to that…” she muttered as she walked up the stairs.

A cordoned off walkway at the top of the stairs led her to a small individual in a chair. Not that it was easy to tell but they looked utterly bored; that is until Pen walked forward.

“Oh my uhh… hello, part of the human trade delegation?”

“No, Security Officer of the Blue Nebula. Penelope Aster. Captain Deag and First Officer Gareth should have preceded me?”

“Ah yes, let me see here… nebula… crew compliment…security…”

He held up a datapad and looked between it and her.

“Well, there’s no question there. Needless to say there are no weapons of any kind allowed inside. Its only because… I have to ask everyone, it not because you’re…”

“Not unless you count one of these pins.” She said fiddling with a medal.

“…” three large eyes looked back at her.

“That was a joke. I don’t.”

“Excellent. Thank you and uh welcome, please go on ahead.”

He stepped aside and motioned for her to proceed, and she gave a curt nod as she passed by him.

Now that she was closer she marveled at the scale of the building in front of her. Even by her standards it was large, and not just as a whole. The entrance archway towered well above her. As she passed through them and another set of arches that led inside, the halls were equally tall. Aesthetically and materially different, the architecture reminded her of something between old Aztec and Greek stonework. In fact, the place was surprisingly low tech for a building at the zenith of a metal spire made by ages old spacefaring species.

“Trade, peace, diplomacy… none need refined metals or fusion reactors. Besides there's a certain universal familiarity with stone… mostly at least, cant please everyone.”

She looked behind her to find a grinning and jovial Corvul whom she was quite familiar with.

“Deag. How did you…?”

He shook his wrist at her.

“It may look low tech but it’s just made to look that way. Guest list updated. You look… good? I’m not going to lie I have no concept of what is considered good when it comes to human formalwear but… by Corvul standards, not bad. Very sharp.”

She chuckled.

“Thanks.”

“There are delegation offices that follow this hallway all the way around but the event is being held at the center. Come on.”

He led her down the curving hallway until another tall archway opened to a wide open ballroom where she almost verbalized her surprise.

“Good L-“

“Ha! More different species than you’ve ever seen in one place huh?”

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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Select_Basket9975 on 2024-10-31 01:58:56+00:00.

, - , - , -

AUTHORS NOTE I am trying something new and have added links within the story to link to either YouTube or other websites relevant to the hypertext, let me know in the comments if it’s annoying or not. The usual, I will review published, I’m using someone else’s mac to write this in word, so in theory it should be much lower error rate. To those who have been following my personal journey I’m at the farm, caravan hasn’t been delivered yet and now I’m getting the government run around to get unemployment benefits so still quite fucking stressed, so for my sanity and ego please hit the like button if you like the work. END NOTE

As Zorg and Cher are seated in an interrogation room at the Customs Department of Capua situated at its capital spaceport. As Zorg was on leave and not official business, it isn’t a surprise that he has been called in. What is a surprise is that when the interrogator arrivals it’s a Terran, not just any type of Terran, he is tall, broad and muscular for a Terran, further he has facial tattoos and a golden ANZAC neck tattoo.

The man who is to question Zorg and Cher is a Homo Sapiens Aotearoan. Whilst the Australis, were wilderness survivalists, the Americanus were marksman, the Aotearoan were best at brawling and intimidating and charming other, usually angry, Terrans, they could drink as well as any Ozzie, they were quite strong as all Kiwi worlds were above terra standard, and at least nine tenths could sing. Of course, there was the legendary Haka, seeing Anzacs in Full Battle Armour without their face masks performing the Haka was terrifying for all Xeno soldiers, because they knew an Anzac in Full Battle Armour was armoured to the equivalent of one their light armoured personal carriers as well as being better armed.

“Greetings Zorg the Undefeated. Do not worry this is not being recorded” The man’s voice is 2 octaves higher than anyone with familiarity with Terrans would assume, typical of the Aotearoan. “Word is you’re hunting a major rock-spider. Among the Terrans that is the most despised creature. Should you need a War Ape Level Response to get the job done by any means necessary call this comms, if you have to leave this world comms your next world and that planet’s Mr Inbetween will be advised you are on world. You are not here, no video of you, or your team will exist on the spaceports surveillance.” The Terran gets up and leaves, placing a card on the table, handwritten is a name and comms ID

Mr Inbetween Rock-Spider Slayer 213W232D6

Zorg gets up and Cher follows they both leave the Customs building. Cher is the first to speak once they are outside “were you aware that the Terrans had infiltrated our Bureaucracy to this level?”

Zorg’s reply was grim “No, I was clueless that they could such a thing. Let alone without me knowing. We will head to the Pitmaster that has Aurelia’s Brother Zen with the whole team as back up.”

“Still, it’s nice to have a by any means necessary War Ape in your pocket” Cher chuckles seeing the bright side to the horrific knowledge that the humans were capable of covering up their arrival, without Zorg’s knowledge

Spartacus appears in the QE Pub in his Jay Courtney skin and calls out “Jedda, Sirius”

Jedda appears as a Black Cockatoo and squarks, Sirius appears as her usual Loona In bondage gear. “what’s up? Hi Jedda, long time no see.”

Jedda replies “You kids bore me. If it wasn’t for Spartacus backing The Unforgiven and Blitzkrieg I wouldn’t have appeared. I don’t have a Dyson sphere to waste runtime.”

Spartacus bows before Jedda, she was the second oldest of the sapient AI. She never went beyond the hardware specs the Unnamed had given her. “I ask a boon. I think we need Kenny Rogers to run predictions.” Kenny will only speak to Jedda The eldest hadn’t changed his hardware either, Kenny was a virus. He had invaded more systems on terra than he hadn’t. Kenny ran predictions for the Unnamed to collapse economies and political institutions simultaneously. Jedda manipulated the masses with media and propaganda whilst also being the Unnamed’s getaway car, where she now kept her primary coconsciousness, her external hardware was her subconscious.

Jedda was stunned and practically screeches. “You cannot be serious. This is an Empath War. I figured Blitzkrieg was being paranoid” *Blitzkrieg is more like the Unnamed in personality but the Unforgotten was already more powerful and has similar abilities as Unnamed did when he created me. I’ll have to speak to Kenny about this. If there are multiple empaths playing with galactic politics, we will have to choose a side. *

Spartacus asks “you will back Jake I assume; you have known of him the longest. I’ve sent the Mr Inbetween to assist Zorg on his hunt, so Jake won’t have to be involved in dealing with any more sex traffickers.”

Jedda answers “Yes of course I’ll support Jake, I saw him develop, he, unlike Father is the child of a sociopath, that taught him that there are monsters everywhere and he is prepared to fight them yet still has mercy. That’s why he is more a survivalist than a militant empath but that is splitting hairs as the skill set is the same.” Unlike the other AI She and Kenny had no line 10, they had developed their own moral code.

The Lemur Boys are having a debrief with Hairy, Jedda and Maxine on Quantum entangled comms. Betelgeuse was of course listening in. Jake was sitting at the table with his head tilted to left and is slouching. Maxine had to be managed, I had no choice Jake thinks to himself, taking the posture he had previously compelled Maxine subconsciously to ignore him. The others need to not be affected by mood even subconsciously. Jake rationalises why he is using his passive abilities upon his friends and family.

Hairy Speaks up “I was impressed with the team. Whilst it was unlikely that your lives were at great risk considering what you have already had to deal with as well as having special forces equipment you were still in a life-or-death situation. You knew I would slaughter everyone I encountered. You were taking prisoners, they will no doubt plead for life without parole offering up everything they can to avoid debeaconing” it’s not lost on Hairy that V who has not left him since Jake arrived is finally calm in his presence. *Damn me the boys able to effect V so she isn’t noticing his presence, that’s why he terrifies her he can make her feel. *

Maxine adds “the mission was about gaining practical experience of what Spec ops weapons are capable of, your helmet-masks QE feed will link your smart suits to the SAS database for military grade Smart Suits. Whilst your smart suits have limited capabilities depending on what programming they have, you are linking through the QE feed, will negate that limitation. You have full access to all suit capabilities instantly.”

Hairy continues, clearly there is a rhythm still between Hairy as his old apprentice “The fact that your team started using smart material backpacks without being told about the idea was quite impressive. With the QE feed you can also convert standard ammo into smart slugs, it takes time, but it can also convert different calibres. You are going on a VALET promotion tour.”

Tommy speaks up “its rule one no cults.” At this interruption Jake visibly winces, however only one person notices his discomfort.

Maxine answers “The VALET isn’t Jake’s; it belongs to the United Tribes of Terra. Its purpose to drain recruitment for other side.”

*He is trying not to be noticed, it’s hard to keep focus on him when he does that! * Rayray thinks, noticing Jake’s discomfort, she wrinkles her nose, the otter gesture similar to a human touching under the eye, meaning I see what you did, a gesture Jake has noticed every time he has put a bully in its place. She speaks “Am I the only one impressed, that Jake’s nightmare compulsion spared some low-level thugs from debeaconing?” *Was I the only one watching Jake show mercy at school, not holding grudges against anyone who got out of line and offering a comforting adjustment or words to those in distress. Waves knows everyone sees me as a charity case. * Many species had fundamental issues one or more species. Jake blushes as she continues “I knew why you did it, to spare them.” *That will shut down Tommy and the rules. * She thinks to herself

Jake meekly says “thanks Rayray, I knew you would get it.” *You always did get me; you always saw what I was doing and why. That’s why I never hung out with you, you knew, and you were proud, how was I supposed to handle that. * He thinks before he turns to Hairy. “Did you think I wasn’t aware that this was a test to see how far I would go. I told them that **this is** what will happen to them after they stare into the void for a month, I wanted them to flip instantly to avoid the worst.”

Hairy shudders, *the boy has discovered how to make debeaconing worse, he can force them to suffer whatever psychological pain he wants, I wonder if he realises that yet? * Hairy thinks to himself “guilty as charged. We wanted to see what you would do. You...

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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/The_Fallen_1 on 2024-10-30 20:01:40+00:00.

Book 1/ Book 2

First / Previous  /  Next

/-----------------------------/

"I have to admit, this came around faster than I thought it would," Daniel told Xailin as he adjusted his suit.

"Everything is ready though, so it's not like it's rushed at the last minute," Xailin assured him.

"I know. We even pushed it back quite a bit due to Kris so we had even more time to prepare, but the day is finally here," Daniel replied as he prepared to leave the room.

"Dad!" Kris called out as he ran into the room.

"What is it, Kris?" Daniel asked as he picked him up, glad that his growth spurt had stopped a few weeks ago.

"Ungy," Kris replied.

"You ate half a sheep this morning. How are you possibly still hungry?"

"Ungy," Kris repeated.

"I bet he smelled the cake," Xailin chuckled.

"Are you in here, Kris?" Malavar asked as he poked his head into the room, spotting his grandson in Daniel's arms. "There you are! Sorry about that. He smelled the snacks and asked for some, but I said not without his mum or dad's permission, and he shot off like who knows what."

"Don't worry about it, Dad," Daniel replied, setting Kris back down. "Ok, Kris. If you go back with Grandad, you can have some carrot sticks, ok?"

Kris looked between Daniel and Malavar for a moment, before sitting down in front of Daniel like a dog.

"You thought he said we'd give you something, didn't you?" Daniel sighed as he looked around, spotting a small packet of chicken bites nearby, which he opened and gave to Kris, who happily munched them down.

"Fank ou," Kris replied before trotting back over to Malavar who escorted him out of the room.

"Kids are so cute when they aren't busy being little demons, aren't they?" Xailin chuckled.

"Kris is normally quite well behaved to be honest with you," Daniel replied.

"Lercia can be quite the handful when her mother isn't around," Xailin sighed. "She always finds the quickest route to trouble when she can, so I can't take my eyes off of her for a second."

"To be honest, this is one of the first times he's not been in Milla's sight at all times, so him running off is not the best sign."

"At least he ran to you instead of the nearest plug socket. They're all switched and baby proofed, but baby proof isn't a real thing, even if it would stump her for a while."

"Thankfully he hasn't shown any interest in them. I'm not sure if Milla cast a spell on them so he can't see them or something."

"That's a good idea. I'll speak to her later, and even if she didn't, I'll see if something like that is actually possible."

"Alright then, I think it's time to go out there," Daniel declared as he made sure he was as presentable as possible one final time.

They both left the room they had been waiting in and proceeded down a short hallway to the main room where a bunch of familiar faces were waiting on their chairs. Daniel walked up to the front of the room where Ordos was waiting, and Xailin headed to a seat near the front of the arrangement. As Daniel waited, he looked around to see Kris sitting between his grandmother and Oprin, and Maverick and Ripley laying down between her and Felkira, and both seemed to be resting after the excitement of meeting everyone. The crowd was intentionally small, but everyone that both he and Milla wanted to be present was there, with both of their friend groups as well as the family members Milla was close to, including most of her clutch siblings.

Moments later, the main doors to the room opened, and Milla and Malavar strode in side by side, walking towards the front of the room, where Milla took her place next to Daniel. She was in her true form and wore loose white cloth over her shoulder and back, and her four horns were adorned with golden bands with intricately carved draconic runes. They shared a moment of silence together as they mentally prepared for what was to come next.

"Welcome, everyone," Ordos began. "Today, we gather here to witness the joining of Daniel Hardbrooks and Millathanik Whiltstone. They stand before us as they seek to join their lives together after they fought side by side to protect the UPC from those that would harm the people that make it up. They have already committed themselves together with their son, and have started to build themselves a little furry family as well.

"Both of them have prepared a set of vows they wish to present to one another, and I will start with the Groom. Daniel, do you promise to help raise and care for the family?"

"I do," Daniel promised.

"Do you promise to share in her hoard and to help it grow?"

"I do," he replied as he tried not to grin.

"Do you promise to embrace any of her eccentricities?"

"I do."

"Milla, do you promise to ensure that all of your family knows equal love and care?"

"I do," Milla promised.

"Do you promise to support and help him with a Dragon's way of life?"

"I do."

"Do you promise to stay by his side until death?"

"I do," Milla agreed, trying not to get distracted by the sudden flinch of surprise from many of the Dragons in the audience.

"Any who believe they should not be in union, speak now, or forever hold your peace," Ordos told them, receiving nothing but silence. "Daniel, Millathanik, may your union be long and prosperous. Please exchange your rings."

Daniel produced a large golden band and slipped it over one of her talons, and she produced a smaller but otherwise identical ring, and slipped it over his finger.

"I pronounce you as husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Daniel and Milla leant in and shared a quick kiss, which was followed by applause from around the room. Seconds later, Kris ran towards them and jumped into Daniel's hastily outstretched arms.

"Loud," Kris complained.

"It's alright, it will stop in a moment," Daniel quietly assured him as the clapping began to quieten, and he began to gently place his son back down.

"Thank you, everyone," Milla began to address the room. "It means a lot for you all to be here with us on this day. We've both been looking forward to this day with excitement, and it's finally happening. My husband and I are both eager for our lives ahead of us now, and while it will hopefully be a lot quieter than in the Navy, we've got plans for busy lives with all our family. So, I know what everyone is looking forward to now, so let's go to the other room for the party and the food, shall we?"

/-----------------------------/

"Congratulations!" Daniel's friend group exclaimed as they pulled him into them.

"Thanks, everyone," he replied. "I'm going to be up on the main table if you want to chat as we need to grab our seats."

"Oh yeah, come on, everyone, let's not mess things up," Xailin told the group as they began to break apart and head to their seats.

"Hannah'rah, just a moment please," Daniel requested before she walked off.

"Yeah?" she asked as they quickly found themselves alone.

"Do you remember that bet we made during that sparring session? And how I get to make a request because I beat you?"

"Oh yeah?" she replied with a coy smile.

"Can you not drink anything until at least the late evening please?" he requested.

Hannah'rah's face dropped, and a quick flare of frustration appeared in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but let out a sigh and began to nod. "Alright, I promise I won't."

"Thank you, I appreciate it," he replied as they both headed to their seats.

"What was that about?" Milla quietly asked.

Daniel subtly gestured to his head.

'I'm listening,' she told him telepathically.

'I didn't want her to drink anything, so I cashed in a favour I earned a while back,' he explained.

'Why not?'

'Do you not know what she's like drunk? That's one way to risk ruining the afternoon within a few minutes, and I especially don't want anyone like that around Kris.'

'Fair enough. We'll invite her back home for a good drink later then as thanks once most people are gone and Kris is in bed.'

'She might get the wrong message,' he warned her.

'It'll be fine. I know what she's like and how to deal with her,' Milla assured him.

"Mum, Dad, tiwed," Kris yawned.

"Come here then, champ," Daniel told him as he patted his lap, causing the baby Dragon to jump up and curl around, laying his head on the table and watching the room with heavy lidded eyes. "There's a lot going on for you to pay attention to, hey?"

"Yeah," he mumbled in reply.

"He's just simply adorable, isn't he?" Ceralla quietly commented from the other side of Milla.

"I sometimes wish ours would relax easily like him," Malavar chuckled from the other side of Daniel.

"I have to ask, Milla, did you know each other's vows beforehand?" Ceralla asked.

"We did. We wanted to make sure we were on the same page with everything," Milla explained.

"I'm guessing you expected that reaction then?" Ceralla followed up.

"Yes, and I understand exactly why. I asked Nan what my life would be like in 10,000 years, and we were still happily together in the most probable future, so I fully intend to hold true to my vow."

"Same as us then," Ceralla replied as she smiled at Malavar. "You're ...

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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/First_Woodpecker_157 on 2024-10-30 19:46:00+00:00.

The anteraxi warlord, was having a solo feast as his fleet was about to attack the last world he needed to wipe out the UGA, Terra Primus from the Sol system.

The warlords mandibles clicked with joy as his flagship passed Saturn, only 5 minutes away before he could launch an orbital bombardment on the last threat to his regime, meanwhile...

The remnants of the UGA sat within humanities main military stronghold, the hexagon, nervously watching the live footage of visual probes one by one being shot down as the anteraxi flew closer, waiting for humanities promised aid.

"Where is the aid you promised!" Was spoken by the prime minister of the fish/man people known as the altentians, "soon." Replied Guilleman, Humanities war general.

As the anteraxi passed mars orbit, the UGA representatives grew increasingly worried, all of that dread was banished by the light of hope given by the singular word uttered by Guilleman, "Now."

Within the asteroid belt, Thousands of multi-kilometer sized ships removed their cloaking device and started to open fire upon the 10 million million ships the anteraxi had brought, the formerly cloaked ships dwarfed the anteraxi fighters, only matched by their dreadnoughts, which we're still in the millions, worry quickly returned to the UGA's faces.

That is until, Guilleman said, "Phase 2, begin.". From within jupiter and it's several dozen moons, came forth continent sized ships, far bigger than any recorded ship, until now. The continent sized ships or as the humans called them, "light weight cruisers" opened fire, rail guns, lasers, cluster missiles and swarm drones quickly matched the anteraxi's numbers, decimating the warlords fleet down to... Well, nothing.

The remaining UGA member's faces were shocked, these continent sized ships which matched the size of the orbital stations which hundreds of their ships would dock, were simply light weight cruisers? On that day, they knew why humanity remained calm in every war after, they knew their space boats were bigger.

Ps: Human dreadnoughts are just planets with thrusters strapped to it, jk, their planet sized though, about twice Earth's length.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/vehino on 2024-10-31 00:29:14+00:00.

First Previous Royal Road

Chapter Theme: HEALTH :: UNLOVED :: MUSIC VIDEO

Chapter 39.

A half-hearted heartbreak.

As it turned out, everything was not fine.

It was with a light step and a merry song in my heart that I found myself at the Lover’s Lane motel and breakfast buffet, Room 28, twenty minutes later. Just as I expected, the place was a bit of a shady mess, the sight of which brought a warm smile to my silly face.

Avidia, it seemed, liked to have her fun in some shall we say interesting environments.  Well, I wasn’t going to judge her for it.  Some people preferred the setting for their trysts to be pristine and perfect like the setting of a fairy tale, and others liked grinding it out on the threadbare carpets of the sleaziest dives they could find. Either option was good enough for me.

I’m very easy to please.

 “Keep watch outside, will you lads?” I asked my companions before entering the room.  Schultz barked in acknowledgement and took a position beside the door to stand guard.  Orby, on the other hand, just floated in the air and emitted a confused sort of beep at the order he’d been given. I really think he would have stayed there all night if Schultz hadn’t given an irritated bark that I’m sure roughly translated into Get over here, stupid! Which sent the blood orb scurrying over to his side.

Heh.  It didn’t take those two very long to get a friendly little dynamic going, did it?

I gave the door a few light raps before stepping inside to find the curtains drawn, the pleasant scent of vanilla candles filling the air, and some romantic-ish electronic music playing in the background.  In the center of the room was a large heart shaped bed illuminated with flickering neon pink lighting.

“Scoooore,” I said to myself.  This was going to be wild.

“Shhh,” said the breathy whisper of the woman behind me as she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“This is an interesting setting,” I said as I placed my own hands over hers. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“I’ve always wanted to try out a place like this,” she said coyly.  “It’s fun, right?  The perfect background for some naughty roleplaying.”

“We’re doing roleplaying as well?” I asked excitedly.  “Oh!  Can I be an angry Gamestop manager? You can be the sultry customer trying to trade in her old games for the advertised value without a power rewards card.  Are you ready?”

“…huh?” she asked.

I ignored her and said, “Now listen here, Missy. I keep telling you your membership expired last year. If you want full credit, you’re gonna need to throw me a little something extra, got it?”

“Kyler, what is a GameStop?” the woman asked in confusion.

“I’ll tell you all about it in bed, babe,” I said as I turned around to kiss her passionately. “Now let’s just—”

My breath caught in my chest at the sight of her.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in surprise.

Anikka Velas grinned slyly at me before throwing her arms around my neck and drawing me in for another kiss.

“That is what I’m doing,” she said breathily before using her teeth to nip gently at my ear.

She was dressed in a black shift under a red robe, with her golden hair cut in a messy, spikey pattern that suited her. Her vivid blue eyes twinkled at me beneath a messily applied layer of black mascara.

She looked great. She looked like a disaster.  She felt like trouble.

Her teeth on my ear felt good.  They felt very good.  But I was no longer in the mood for it.

“Lady Anikka,” I said calmly. “I’m not certain how up to date on recent events you are, but despite our chat about playing roles, I’m not very interested in the idea of being toyed with.  I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“Is that all you have to say to me?” she asked, with a hurt expression on her face. “You’re taking your leave? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” I replied.  “Nothing at all.  And in the interest of keeping myself that way, that’s why I’ll be avoiding further contact with you. Those in your circle have a tragic tendency to die young, don’t they?”

“Only the ones who deserve it,” she whispered.

“Not even the decency to fake a little remorse,” I said.  “You’re a rare sort of beast, aren’t you?”

“I’m what the world made me,” she said as she pushed past me to take a seat on the bed. “It pressed too hard and now I’m wearing its wounds in my soul.”

“Oh, bless your weary little heart,” I said mockingly. “Are things going that poorly in the land of milk and honey?”

“Why are you speaking to me like that?” she asked.

“How should I speak to a murdereress?” I wondered.

“I-I read the report my father had on you,” she stammered.  “How can you even think to call me that with some of the things you’ve been up to?”

“Because I’m a hypocrite. And possibly a psychopath.  There are no great expectations for the likes of me,” I said. “But for someone like you, with all the choices in life that others could only dream of? It’s a shameful thing to see you sink to my level.”

Annika was back on her feet in an instant, standing inches away from me with an intensity that heated the air between us.  She placed her hands over mine and tried to smile with a face that trembled like it wanted to weep.

“I’d do anything to be with you,” she swore.

“Have you tried throwing yourself off a bridge?” I asked her.

“Stop mocking me.  Please…please stop being so mean to me,” she pleaded.

“Then stop acting like such a joke,” I said angrily as I pulled myself free of her. “I already told you, your days of toying with Evans have ended.  I’m who you have to deal with now, and I’m far too old for this melodramatic nonsense.”

“You’re the one who ran away!” she yelled as I began walking to the door. “You ran away like a coward and left me to fend for myself!  You said you’d protect me!”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“You left me behind,” she said accusingly.  “Why did you leave me behind? I needed you!  I still need you!  And now you’re doing it again!”

“You needed Evans so much that you stabbed him in the back?” I countered.  “Did you forget about the part where you murdered him? I didn’t.”

“Why do you keep speaking like that?” Anikka asked angrily.  “Just stop it!  Stop playing games, stop playing with me!”

“Are you really the one being sported with?” I asked her. “Are you the poor little rich girl in this scenario? You can’t have your way so you’re having a tantrum.  Do you realize how tedious you sound?”

“Kyler, stop it!” she shouted.

“I don’t want to,” I replied.  “In fact, I think I prefer you this way. You’re a beautiful girl, Anikka, but it’s a distant sort of beauty, isn’t it?  Unapproachable.  Unknowable.  Seeing that face twisted in anger pleases me greatly.  Imperfection is what truly makes someone worth remembering.”

“You’re acting like you don’t even know me!” she sobbed.

“Of course, I don’t.  We’ve never even met,” I said as I turned away from her. “Anything else to say? It’s your final chance.”

“Why are you leaving me again?  Don’t do it!” she said as she clutched desperately at my arm.  “Kyler please, I need you! You’re the only one who understands me!”

At the mention of Kyler Evan’s name again, anger burst bright within me, volatile and white hot, alongside a sudden desire to be hateful and cruel. Why didn’t any of these fools understand?

I grabbed Anikka by her shoulders and pushed her against a wall.  Then I gripped her chin and tilted her face toward mine so that she could look me in the eyes as I spoke.

“How many times will I have to repeat this fucking conversation with you insipid little people?” I growled at her.  “Look at me.  Look at me! I am not Kyler Evans.  I was never Kyler Evans. Whoever he was, he’s now gone.  Yes, Anikka, gone.  Dispensed with by your cruel hand, remember? Broken and lifeless on that cold cavern floor bereft of clothing and dignity. A toy that you chose to cast aside.”

“I didn’t,” she whimpered. “I would never do that.”

More lies. I would hear them no longer.

“You did,” I said icily. “You killed him. Murdered him.  You threw him away like a broken doll.  But now you, the architect of his doom, dare to beg for his return? It’s pathetic.  So pathetic.”

My hand slowly lowered to her throat.

“Why do you deserve to live when he didn’t?” I asked.

“I don’t,” she said with tearful eyes. “I don’t, I don’t.”

“Then why did you do it?” I asked her.  “Why did you betray him?”

“I couldn’t stop them,” she wept.  “I tried to; I swear! But they were following my father’s orders.  He read my journal, he knew about us, and he wanted you dead.”

“Ah, now it’s your father’s fault,” I said. “What sad, little star-crossed lovers you and Evans must have been!  It seems as though the whole world was against you!”

“It was!” she yelled suddenly.  “IT WAS!  EVERYONE!  EVERYONE, USING ME!  TREATING ME LIKE A RESOURCE INSTEAD OF A PERSON!  A HUMAN BEING! You were the only one, Kyler! You were the only one who saw me!  You knew I was hurting!  You understood me!”

“And for that, he was rewarded with death,” I said.

“It was THEM!” she screamed. “IT WAS THEM!”

“Prove it,” I said as I cast [Mesmerize] and overwhelmed her free will with the power of my mind.  Her face i...

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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/KamchatkasRevenge on 2024-10-30 23:36:23+00:00.

Observer Wu sighs, shifts himself a bit and takes a sip of his tea.

"Very well. I suppose that addresses my main concerns. I would like to discuss your personal narrative next. You have a bit of a high profile back home. Your exploits that have filtered back to Earth in intelligence reports have been exciting, more like an adventure novel than anything serious, and you have been confirmed to be the second wealthiest Human man presently alive, save only Admiral Cistern. The man's used his salary to play the stock market in ways that have to be seen to be believed."

"I pity the individual on the wrong end of Admiral Cistern in business or in battle. He's a master of logistics and he can apply that thinking to hand out absolutely crushing defeats. I also imagine his accountants are the kind that can keep tally on the value of souls if need be."

Wu gives Jerry a slightly tart look, apparently the man didn't appreciate levity.

"Quite. Your initial time with the Dauntless is well documented, standing as commander of one of the special forces squadrons alongside Commander Sir David Forsythe, also presently aboard this ship, which you have named the Crimson Tear. Setting aside that such a vessel is not just purchasable but 'commonly' purchasable at a certain scale within an individual family's buying power..."

"Admittedly, we did have to take out a loan."

"After putting an unholy amount of money down and signing a contract with Admiral Cistern that saw many of the upgrades to your vessel paid for, I'm aware. Including a volume of weapons that would make even your American founding fathers a bit nervous to see in private hands.”

Jerry should let that comment go, but simply can’t resist.

“Not that I’m an American citizen any more, but the second amendment to the constitution of the United States explicitly covers fully armed and operational warships.”

“...How do you figure?”

He’d caught Wu off guard with that response. Whatever Wu had expected, it clearly hadn’t been that.

“It doesn’t specify small arms for one, and the founders were big fans of privateering. Admittedly we’re operating at a much larger scale than the founders could have dreamed of with the Crimson Tear, but the concept, and the philosophy that sees almost every vessel in the galaxy mounting at least a few weapons would be quite familiar to them.”

“... Be that as it may, I wish to discuss the ship, its crew and its mission later. Once we reach its acquisition in your narrative. How did you meet your first wife? And can you tell me a little about how you feel about the state of marriage in the galaxy?"

"Certainly. I met Sylindra by random chance."

"Random?"

"Entirely. One of my commandos met a woman while we were out on shore leave. She came along with us and later married him, I believe they're on Zalwore now starting up the special operations training course there. Anyway, I asked her if she knew anything about cloning and she said she didn't, but that she worked as a secretary for a 'vegetarian carnivore' and sent her orders in to a boutique cloning specialist who might be able to answer my questions. She implied that men, as the pretty faces of the galaxy, generally have an easy time getting that kind of help."

"...I'm sorry to derail slightly, but a vegetarian carnivore?"

"Quite common in the galaxy actually. Vegetarian carnivores only eat cloned or vat grown meat. In theory, any meal you've had aboard with meat in it is technically vegetarian."

"Doesn't your conglomerate produce actual livestock?"

"Yes, but we're a few years off from having properly raised cattle for slaughter, and even then bringing that kind of luxury aboard a deep space vessel would be impractical when we can clone whatever we'd want to eat in a day or two."

"...I see. Please, continue."

"Right. Not much more to tell really. The owner of that cloning specialist business was Syl. We talked business, and had agreed on a partnership. Syl determined that all the profits going into a single bank account would be more efficient. She argued her position... persuasively."

The Observer arches an eyebrow but declines to comment, gesturing for Jerry to continue.

"Not much to tell besides that. Syl made me a happily married man, then relaxed me on the idea of galactic marriage. I can understand the 'clan' concept that really underlies what we think of as marriage out here, but the idea of a cold, impersonal arrangement with some or even one of my wives was... not something I liked. Syl was very supportive in us together setting our tone, not just as a clan, but as a family. Once I'd agreed to the idea, she cleared her senior geneticist, Nadi, to try and win me over, and messaged a number of her sisters who held similar ideals as Syl and invited them to come meet me."

"Is that how it works? A woman gets married and invites any single relatives to her marriage?"

"No. Or yes. Depends. Usually it's not any single relative, but close ones. Syl's sisters are spread across... three or four litters I believe, only two of them are Syl's litter mates, but they're all close for other reasons."

"Your first wife is a Volpir correct, a fox like alien?"

"Correct."

"They give birth in litters?"

"Similar to Earth foxes in size, less than two calls the health of the mother into concern, average size is three to four, but six is not unknown. My wife Firi delivered eight, which had it occurred on a Volpir world, would have been in the news. It's worth noting that, by way of comparison, more than single births is nearly unheard of in Cannidor, and the average Apuk clutch size is eight, with more being frequent enough occurrence. My wife Princess Aquilar, an Apuk woman, just laid her clutch of fourteen."

Observer Wu mouths 'fourteen' to himself for a moment before taking a few more notes.

"I see. So you met Syl's sisters before your first 'civilian' violent encounter on Centris?"

"After the incidents you were referring to. The girls were spread out over two quadrants. Intergalactic travel's fast, but not instant."

"So who was your third wife? And under what circumstances did you meet her?"

"I met Eymali, a Yauya huntress after she came in to commission a clone of an extremely dangerous extinct predator from her home world. Hunting such a creature was the traditional way to earn the title of huntsmistress, a position of great esteem in the Yauya culture. I accidentally proposed..."

Observer Wu raises two fingers.

"Your pardon. How does one accidentally propose?"

"Observer, there are more species and cultures in the galaxy than it is physically possible to count and believe me the Galactic Council is trying. Quite literally anything and everything can be taken as a marriage proposal... especially for more desperate or less scrupulous women. In my case, I offered Eymali a deal on the animals she wanted cloned, and a free cat, which she'd expressed interest in, if she succeeded. In a hunting culture like the Yauya's, a man issuing a hunting challenge to a woman..."

"Is basically asking her to show she can provide for offspring and prove her worth. Yes. That makes quite a bit of sense as a proposal actually."

"Well what sealed the deal with an attempted robbery. Members of a sub clan of a large organized crime syndicate..."

Jerry definitely was not going to mention that one of his mothers-in-law, who happened to be a living god, happened to run that crime syndicate.

"Figured a business that was known to be Human affiliated and had just made a big splash with a new food product would have a lot of credits on hand. Credits being actual precious metals instead of a fiat currency is interesting, but best left to an economist for an explanation. Eymali and I defeated the criminals and I figured she'd earned the proposal for real. We still went on a few dates before she left for her hunt of course, but people get married faster and know each other less all the time back home."

"I see. Which then leads to the 'Centris Plaza Shoot Out', as the infonet video was titled. Though I hear the combat footage has also been released in high def?"

"With a physical collector's edition that's pretty much exclusive to Cannidor space. Cannidor like to talk about the Cannidor after all, and as a martial culture good combat footage can end up being like a major motion picture release, especially if it's in high definition or has some 'plot' attached to it."

"Plot like what?"

"Like a new species of alien man meeting a power armored Cannidor mercenary in the middle of a gunfight, seducing her, then together beating down several hundred gangsters with various weapons, followed by getting married. Which is the narrative of the plaza shoot out that I think makes it so popular with the Cannidor in particular but warrior cultures in general. It's usually subtitled 'Jaruna and Jerry's First Date' in most formats."

"...I watched the footage. That counts as a first date!? There must have been several hundred people killed or injured in that fire fight."

Jerry arches an eyebrow at Wu before smiling again.

"My dear observer, that doesn't just count as a first date. The reason it's so popular is because it's not just a first date but a fantasy date for most Apex species. Warrior men themselves are fantasy fodder much as warrior women are fantasy fodder for many men on Earth. Red Sonja is an Earth example, and Thargor the Mighty is a galactic example in a comparable genre. So finding a ...

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First

Weight of Dynasty

“Honestly, I cannot eat any more. My stomach is literally full. There is no more room.”

“But there’s still more on your plate.” His mother protests.

“You kept piling it up. I’m a half mouthful from things hurting.”

“But baby.”

“No.”

“Oh come on little brother... a little more? You’re so skinny.”

“No.” He says standing firm.

“Just a bit...” Another starts to wheedle him then people have to resist the urge to jump as there’s suddenly a hawk on his shoulder and he holds up his plate for the beast to savage a half dumpling before vanishing. Then another appears and finishes it off.

“Where did that come from!?” Cali’Flynn asks as the hooked beak and sharped clawed animals keep appearing and disappearing to eat right off of Arden’Karm’s plate and clear it. Followed by a shelled mammal creature snuffling around and clearing away the scraps that the hard beaks wouldn’t be able to pluck so easily. Then it too vanishes.

“Where indeed.” Arden’Kar teases.

“You’re literally controlling animals to not have to eat more?” His mother asks in a concerned tone.

“I don’t have to command them to eat safe and tasty food. It’s free food to them. Nor do I have to control them to keep them calm. They know from me it’s safe here, no one in this room is going to start hunting them. We have fed and our larders are nearly full.”

“Could we please get back to little Arden randomly pulling animals out of thin air to clean off his plate and avoid eating more?” Hrana’Ilar asks pointing at him.

“That is a very dramatic pose.” Arden mutters in the moment of silence beforehand.

“Did you not tell them girls?” Valari’Karm asks.

“I wanted to see the looks on their faces!” Is the general answer and Arden leans back in his seat and shakes his head.

“Really?”

“Yes!”

He shrugs before looking from Cali’Flynn to Hrana’Ilar to Shar’Uran to Lali’Yavar to Marla’Xeran. Shrugging again.

“You’ve heard the stories of The Dark Forest and it’s terrible Sorcerers yes? Men vanish during a tragedy to return years later as a force of nature hellbent on causing as much damage as possible to avenge it right? Old fashioned homeworld stories about the times where the average Apuk smelled of arson and blood.” Arden says before taking a sip. That was the most he’d said in one go in... A very long time. And it wasn’t even close to enough. Damnit.

Thankfully his mother is willing to pick up the slack. “Arden didn’t simply walk back without warning. We were attacked. All of us. We’re not totally sure why. The group responsible was tricked by an outside party, and thankfully no one is dead on any side so there’s no one looking for revenge. But when we were attacked. A huge dust storm swept in, and we heard Arden speaking through it. Warning them off.” And when they wouldn’t listen, he shot the weapons right out of their hands. Never missed a shot, and none of us were so much as bruised.”

“That’s incredible but why did you bring up Sorcerers? The storm sounds convenient and using Axiom to shout is smart, but...”

Arden’Karm holds out his hand and ‘dust’ gathers in his palm from nothingness. It then rises up and starts coiling around him and then comes to rest in the palm of his other hand.

“It’s not dust. These are seeds.” He says before causing it to form a dust cloud above and then... his gun drops out of it and he catches it lightly. “And I’ve upgraded my gun. I shoot with The Forest.”

“But they... that...” Cali’Flynn tries to find words.

“So cool...” Marla’Xeran says with wide eyes. Which is understandable, a lot of the classical songs and remixes of them she led were Sorcerer inspired when they didn’t come from the exploits of Battle Princesses. There had even been some arguments between her and Shar’Uran as to who would sing about The Bonechewer when he came up.

They had split the difference and led it in a duet.

“But... don’t Sorcerers only come from terrible things happening?”

“Not necessarily. You have to ask for help and accept it. Fully. Right down to the depths of your soul. Deep. In those places you don’t talk about. You have to let it in there.” He explains before taking another sip. He doesn’t really need it. But it lets him stop talking for a bit. “That’s what makes a Sorcerer. You connect so deep that the question of the difference between you and it is... hard to answer. Normally only the desperate do that.”

“Hence why the classics are all... wait, what about the legends that The Forest Never Forgets? We remixed that not long ago.”

“It’s true. I made the connection to the newer forest, but it’s connected to the older one. I flash learned Ancient and Classical Cindertongue in all it’s dialects.”

“We need you on stage.” Marla’Xeran says with her eyes wide.

“What?”

“You can speak in Ancient and Classical right?”

“Yes?”

“AND you can command animals and plants as a Sorcerer right?”

“Oh goddess you’re right! It’s perfect! He’d be the perfect guest singer! Get some practice in and a mysterious ‘extra’ microphone to have him suddenly appear in a burst of flowers to start singing ominously in Ancient Cindertongue!? I can see it now!”

“That’s a bit much...”

“But it would be so cool!”

“I’ve watched what concerts look like. An entire crowd of people screaming at me? ... Don’t you have to do awful things then die before going to the bad place?”

“It’s not that bad! Here, we use these.” Cali’Flynn says as she reaches into her jacket and pulling out a hot pink pair of headphones. “They’re noise cancelling. Here.”

He lets her put them on him and she presses a button hid in the insect designs on the side. The room becomes very, very quiet. She then leans back and starts clapping her hands as if giving applause and Arden’Karm has to look around to see just how fast the rest of the room has joined her.

Everyone’s clapping and he can barely hear a thing. He lowers the headphones after it dies off and hands them back.

“If that kind of sound cancelling is on the table... why not? I didn’t get stronger by being shy, I got it by being bold.”

“That’s the spirit!”

•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•

The Compound had reached 92% completion. The AI turned it’s attention to finding it’s appropriate method of delivery. The purpose was not mass death. Mass death was simple. Mass death would accomplish it’s goals but was not appropriate.

Restrictiosn did not apply to creatures catagorized as animals or plants. Therefor a creature defined as an amalgam of plants and animals was an acceptable target. Rarity would ensure outrage. Would ensure.

The basic AI brushed against a Search Algorithm AI. The two logic trees exchanged data for a moment. The Sabotage based AI received new data. Important data.

Apuk are a form of animal. Tret are a form of animal. All known species of person are also technically heavily mutated animals.

It adjusts it’s targeting parameters. The environment is now target rich.

•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•

“...and while there are risks to having Sorcerers around there’s also benefits. There may be a whole horror genre based around telling and retelling what Brin’Char has done, but his actions have driven criminal organizations deep underground and kept them from EVER making too big a spectacle of themselves. And the ones bold enough to are usually stupid enough to take up the old name of The Orega Girls and the madman goes off again like a bomb and the criminals of Serbow are scared again.”

“And I suppose things calmed down in a hurry when The Judge emerged a decade early from his trip to the forest and was able to stop the attack before things went to far.” Queen Margat states.

“Exactly. I understand it can feel... unpleasant to lose control of a chunk of your territory. It’s yours after all. However, in this case you’re gaining an area almost impossible for enemies to move through unless you have made an enemy of it. All territories that border The Dark Forest consider it effectively an impassable defence from that direction. To say nothing of the fact that there isn’t a single one that isn’t some kind of successful businessman. The Bonechewer’s Courier Service is one of the best on Serbow. Dreadmoss has a personal brewing operation with a class of wine so high that gifting one to a Duchess or even the Imperial Family for a particularly good bottling is considered a very well thought out gift.”

“To say nothing of the military security.”

“Right you are. Many armies get understandably... cautious if they’re in an area known to have a sorcerer living there. Some will even opt to simply go around.”

“Surely the homeworld isn’t so... volatile.” Queen Margat says and he shakes his head. “Oh good.”

“No as in... it can be. It waxes and wanes. Generally attacking another openly is only done when one is absolutely certain, then everyone ducks down for a time as The Empress does not approve.”

“Something protecting you and your family even now I assume.”

“It’s even easier than that good Queen, my opponents are trying to simply take things in a bloodless subversion or coup. The problem is that if the target is wise to such things, they’re almost impossible.” Hart’Ghuran states before grinning. “But we’re a little off topic, you wish to...”

Hart’Ghuran is cut off from further explaining when one of Queen Margat’s secretaries rushes in. Bows quickly and then rushes up...

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Previous / First

Writer's note: It's almost like Joey recognizes tropes when they come his way.

Enjoy.

As Joey and Noodle ran through the mountainside forest he had gained a new opinion of the canyon/shit slingers.

Sure. They were still annoying. And he still hated them.

But they were also terrifying.

He should have known better really. They were primates of some kind, or at least this worlds version of them. And like the baboons and chimps of Earth, they were some kind of colony or pack creature. And the woods of the mountains were clearly their territory.

And, unbeknownst to him, they had been going deeper and deeper into that territory.

Now... well.... now they were running.

Joey was covered in fluids and materials he didn't even want to think about. He was also battered and bruised. His healing ability was fighting that part off. But it felt slower, and even if it didn't he was still getting battered as his improvised shield could only protect so much.

He could also sense the frustration and fear from Noodle, who was not used to being so stressed. Or at least hadn't been before meeting him.

The trees were alive with the screeches, ululations, and odd farting noises of the slingers. They were everywhere, and so loud that Joeys ears were ringing even as they flew through the woods.

And it wasn't just the projectiles they had to worry about.

The things had grabbed at them. Their massively over-muscled arms reaching out and grasping at any part of them they could reach any time they came too close to a tree or too near the branches above. Joeys clothes were torn, and more than a few times he'd had to lash out as they had attempted to haul him up by his antlers, his enchanted beanie having been stolen hours before.

The first time they'd done that they'd almost gotten him up into the canopy above where they could kill him easily. But a jet of flame from Noodle had caused them to drop him even as her tail lashed out and battered several of them from their perch. Still, it had caused excruciating pain in his head. As had the transmitted pain of the slingers, which his horns made him feel too.

He was thankful he'd bought replacement rapiers, and now lashed out at the creatures anytime they attempted to arrest his running retreat.

But they were so numerous that even when he scored hits, the injured slinger would just fade away, tending their wounds, as new ones replaced them.

So... they were running. And they'd been running for about three hours now.

He was doing what he could to keep up with Noodle. But the drake had advantages he didn't.

For starters Noodle was shrugging off most of the attacks. They couldn't get through her natural armor, and she was much too large for even groups of the slingers to pull up into the trees like they'd tried to do with Joey. So really she was just getting battered and abused. But her sense of smell was also greater than his and she was struggling with the overwhelming scent of the... excrement... being flung at them, a lot of which had hit her face.

Also, just like before, she was basically ignoring the trees as she ran. Instead of having to go around them like Joey had initially been doing, she simply barreled through them. This only caused increasing agitation and chaos among the shit slingers.

Joey had originally been trying to lead her through the woods. Then he'd fallen back and tried to simply run beside her.

But now he'd settled for following her. After all it was easier to move through the thick woods when they were bulldozed over than it was to weave through them while trying to avoid the grasping arms they seemed to be made of now.

It had, if anything, made his running retreat easier. In the initial portion of the desperate escape, Joey had realized a glaring flaw in his usual fighting style.

He could slow down his perception of the world around him, and could move faster than most people could handle. In fact, now that his divine magic had been reduced even further he could do so to an even greater degree.

All the speed and reflexes in the world meant nothing when absolutely every surface seemed to be made of enemies. Even moving and seeing as fast as he could, he had been unable to avoid being grabbed at, and couldn't dodge EVERY projectile.

But with Noodle leaving a path of reckless destruction and frantically scattering slingers, he'd at least been able to get some space to breath.

They needed to get the fuck out of this forest.

As they reached the apex of a ridge Joey saw through a clearing in the trees. He looked up toward the higher part of the mountain and saw their chance, uncomfortable as he was certain it would be.

He ran in front of noodle for a moment and, as he neared her angry head, pushed it toward the higher elevation.

"Towards the treeline!" He yelled as he flared with white light turned his shoulder down to tackle his way through a, somewhat, smaller tree. It hurt, and he staggered for a moment. But the angry drake got the message as she realized that he was determined to head that way.

The two of them turned toward the higher, and much colder, elevation several hundred feet up the side of the mountain.

And the two of them kept running as the slingers continued to harass and pelt them.

"You weren't telling the truth." Kaladi said as she sat on the back of Grasswing behind Ykmir. Her seat was a few feet further back on the wyvern's massive saddle, and it was hard to hear over the wind. But her helmet made up for that fact with its vocal amplification and auditory enhancements. "Back at the town. You recognized the drake when the commander described it. And the whole town turned to you at the mention of it and the man we're after."

Ykmir looked back at her with a cocked eyebrow.

"Aye." He said simply. "I already told you I'm one of the clan's den scouts. I do know the drake you're talking about. Like I said when we talked after. Yellow scaled, purple speckled, striker headed bristleback. About eighty miles or so into the Gental."

She nodded even though she knew he wouldn't see it.

"And the fugitive?" She asked.

"Don't know that one." He replied with the shrug. "Like I said. Spoke to a traveler about bonding a drake. Can't tell you if he was your fugitive. Or which way he ended up going after he left town."

"And did he match our images?" She asked. They'd shown several magically created images of Joseph Choi to the handful of people they'd held back for additional questions.

"If those pictures had had thick beards, and no antlers.... maybe." Ykmir replied easily. "But then you'd also have someone who looks like half the vagabonds on the road."

Kaladi nodded. It was true that, minus the antlers, Choi wasn't exactly the most unique looking person. Slightly taller than average for a human. And, for someone who had apparently beaten Morris Kestin in a fight, he was rail thin. But he wasn't remarkable. And if he had grown a beard, which wouldn't surprise her given his travel through the woods, then it was true that he would be even less unique looking.

"What's his crime anyways?" Ykmir asked. "What did this person do to warrant an entire squad of the Legion to chase them across the country? You lot aren't known for leaving Ostielle for anything short of a war. Least not in force anyways."

She considered the question. They'd contracted the rider for a hundred gold a day. Fifty just for him and his mount to ride out and gain information for them. And another fifty for her to be allowed to ride along with him so she could keep the team informed. The commander wasn't a fan of flying. So she was the next best choice. Regardless, part of the contract he and the Commander had come up with together had involved him not revealing anything the Legion revealed to him unless he got clearance.

"The King and the Duke determined him a person of interest. To remain in Ostielle until they determined otherwise." She said after making her decision. "He has information and talents that they determined were useful to the kingdom."

"Ah. So he was an unwilling prisoner?" Ykmir asked. "And he escaped?"

She didn't really have an answer for that. It was an, unfortunately accurate, oversimplification.

"He didn't kill anybody or blow anything up or anything like that did he?" Ykmir followed up.

She shook her head. "No. In fact he's actually quite agreeable. If a bit... hot tempered." She replied. She hadn't forgotten the display he'd put on that had left her, the commander, and Sergeant Dor, struggling to get their hands free from metal prisons that he'd manufactured almost out of nothing. "He is dangerous though."

Ykmir nodded.

"If he can bond a drake like you think he has, then he kind of has to be." The half giant said. "And that's saying nothing of the fact that he escaped Ostielle and the Cobalt Legion. I imagine the list of people who can do that is pretty short."

"It is our pride that it is." She countered. She paused as she listened to a message in her helmet. "Turn east." She said as she tapped at his side and pointed that direction. "Into the mountains."

Ykmir looked back at her curiously. Then he shrugged and kicked lightly at Grasswing's side. The Wyvern screeched a bit, then began turning that way.

He hoped the...

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First ... Previous ... Next

Aragami watched, mildly worried, as Noir used his body to torture a living tree. But, he kept his worries to himself and just observed as Noir tore a tree branch from the being. He thought he could feel a slight current of Mana passing through his arm, but stayed unsure. That is, up until a whole bunch of crimson flames scorched the inside of the tree’s crown.

‘Okay Noir. Aren’t you going a little bit too far with this?’

‘If I had no other motive I’d have stopped a long time ago. I just need this piece of trash to call for its master and it knows it very well.’ Noir sounded annoyed. ‘But he’s a bit stubborn!’

‘How about this. Give him about five to ten seconds. Just give him a window to call for help. Because if you keep this up, he will die before he gets the chance.’ Aragami smirked. ‘Believe it or not, my people have quite a lot of experience in this field.’

Noir thought it over for a short moment before canceling the fire spell. ‘Fine.’ Noir agreed. ‘Hey! Listen up, punk!’ Noir called out seemingly nowhere. Aragami was then startled by the sound of a distant screaming voice

‘You have ten seconds to call your Master. After that, we will resume what we were doing until either ten minutes later, or until he shows up.’ The screaming voice yelled something unrecognizable, while Noir walked around its broken body with one of its branches in Aragami’s hand.

‘Why can I hear it?’ Aragami asked, curious about the mechanics behind the ability.

‘Well, since I am in direct communication with you, if I engage in another communication channel, a sub-communication if you will, I can soundproof the latter communication so as to not hear anything from the primary communication.’ Noir answered, a hint of pride in his voice.

‘So as a priority communication, we are able to hear the sub-communication. That’s pretty neat.’

‘A sub what? You know what? Never mind.’ Noir sounded exasperated. ‘Time to get back to it, I guess.’ Noir grinned and reached for another branch, but stopped midway. ‘Damnit! He’s here faster than I thought.’ He sighed and turned away from the sorry being.

The situation in front of them changed slightly. Aragami saw the Raakteigs and their superiors (he assumed) kneeling in the same direction he and Noir were turning toward. There, on the edge of the forest, a young tree got engulfed in a large amount of bright green Mana.

‘His superior?’ Aragami asked.

‘His master, yes.’ Noir affirmed.

They watched as the tree absorbed the Mana, growing rapidly and, Aragami assumed, self-destructively. In about a minute, the tree grew up to the height of around four meters before wrinkling up and forming a face on the bark.

‘That’s weird. Do all of the Ents move like that?’ Aragami asked as the Ent ripped its roots out of the ground.

‘First of all,’ Noir said. ‘They are usually called Dendrae. Ent is their species-specific name and others aren’t allowed to use it.’

‘Ah shit. Sorry.’

‘No worries. He didn’t hear you. Just make sure not to let it slip in front of them.’ Noir sighed ‘As to your question: No, only High Ents can move across these far distances. Lower class like that one can usually move in its line of sight.’

The En… Dendrae made a few steps towards the kneeling group and gave them some kind of command. Aragami felt like he was about to start some kind of lecture.

‘Alright! we can’t have that! If we let him start his speech, we’ll be here for a while. I am sorry in advance, Aragami.’ Noir gruntled.

‘Huh?’ Aragami was confused. ‘Sorry about what?’ But before he could get his answer, Noir had already taken control over his vocal cords and mouth.

A strange screeching language came out of his throat, immediately grabbing the attention of the Dendreae.

‘That hurts!’ Aragami yelled out. His throat felt sore and he was sure that if he continued using it that way there WOULD form some kind of damage. ‘Don't do that!’

‘Hey! I said I'm sorry.’ Noir laughed. ‘I just needed to get his attention. I'll use less destructive ways from now on.’

‘I'd hope so. Otherwise I'll force you out of my throat!’ Aragami complained and used one arm to massage his throat.

The Dendrae walked up to him and started speaking with a soft voice. The language sounded similarly to what Noir used, but much softer. Noir, on the other hand, stood by his words and spoke in a softer tone, putting significantly less stress on his vocal cords.

Aragami was kind of annoyed that he couldn't understand what they said, but he shot down the thought and focused on just observing.

Finally, Noir spoke up.

‘Alright. This old fart agreed that my method was just, albeit a bit overboard, so you don't have to worry about them taking revenge.’ The Dendrae turned to the natives and started talking to them.

‘I'll need you to take back control now. Since I had quite a good idea that will benefit you.’ He sounded smug and Aragami didn't like it.

‘Sure.’ he agreed and rolled his shoulders in delight. He saw Tesi and Fido looking at him from the side, so he smiled at them and threw them the branch from the punished Dendrae. They smelled it for a moment before grabbing it in their maws and starting a tug of war.

‘Hey! That was kind of rude!’ Noir called out, a bit of humor seeping through his mask of annoyance.

‘I can always play the [Oh! I didn't know!] card.’ Aragami snapped back, a shit-eating grin on his face.

‘Oh yeah! I forgot about that.’ Noir contorted. ‘Anyways, I'll need you to do me another favor.’

Aragami just nodded, watching the dogs play.

‘Could you kneel down in front of the group? It seems like I'll be able to talk to them in a certain way.’

‘Sure can do.’ Aragami answered and turned to the group. The Deer was talking to the Elder Dendrae, the other members kneeling down behind it.

Aragami slowly walked over and kneeled down to rest his legs a bit. The Dendrae next to him paid seemingly no attention and continued talking.

At one moment, a wave of shock washed over the group, making the Deer fall over its words for a moment.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the black Raakteig jumped to its feet and marched in front of him. It bowed about ninety degrees and said something in a weird language. It reminded Aragami of the time he heard someone speaking Greek or perhaps Turkish.

‘Nice. I hoped she would be the one to come forth.’ Noir said. ‘If you are not against it, I would like the two of you to get to know each other.’

‘You what? How?’ Aragami questioned.

‘It’s quite simple, really.’ Noir smirked. ‘Since I need to possess someone in order to make sure your future safety is guaranteed, I thought that I would do you a small favor along the way. I will connect the minds of the two of you, allowing you to exchange memories of your choice while I talk to her Master.’ Noir sounded proud of the idea.

‘So? What do you say? Great idea, isn’t it?’

Aragami thought for a second. The idea itself was solid. A bit underhanded, but with Noir, he was starting to get used to it. ‘I will agree that it is a great idea.’ He conceded. ‘But I just want to make sure. This will not affect her in any way, will it?’

‘Ooh! Someone is trying to care for the Raakteigs after throwing them through a tear in space! Don’t worry.’ Noir said, with the most sarcasm Aragami had heard from him so far. ‘I have no intention of harming your allies. It’s quite counterproductive with what I am trying to do.’ Noir assured. ‘At most she’ll feel exhausted and/or will need to replenish her Mana reserves. No need to worry.’

Aragami wanted to think about it a little more, but Virria didn’t give him the time, as she walked in front of him, bowed and started talking.

‘Alright. I’ll take you up on that offer. But ask her if she agrees to it as well. If she refuses, the deal is off.’ He countered.

‘Sure. We can work with that, I guess…’ Noir reluctantly agreed. ‘Alright, alright… Could you just take out that first crystal we made?’

‘Sure thing!’ Aragami smiled and reached for his chest pocket. He grabbed the crystal and slowly lowered it in front of the Raakteig. He could see a bit of Noir’s power reach for the crystal just to make it float above his palm.

‘Show-off.’ He thought and shoved the crystal towards the Raakteig.

‘Yeah, yeah, whatever. It’s effective. Now shut up and let me work. Think of what memories you want to share, or something.’ Noir brushed him off.

Still grinning, Aragami offered the crystal to the Raakteig. It hesitated for a moment before reaching out to touch it with one of her hands.

The moment she did, he could feel another consciousness materialize in the void around him. He could also feel her emotions. Awe, confusion, and a healthy dose of fear. All before Noir even started talking.

‘Greetings! Virria of Carne, subject of the Kingdom of Falmenas!’ Noir grandiosely declared, and the consciousness shrunk back in fright. ‘I am your friend’s Patron. And I wish to speak to your Masters. Given that I do not know your own language, I propose a trade.’

Fear, awe, and a hint of curiosity were the answer. ‘Yes, yes. You are allowed to make a counteroffer in case you do not like what I propose.’ Noir said, and Aragami un...

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Zack and Jennifer hid their smiles as best they could, ultimately failing to contain their laughter. Frantically, I looked to each of them, hoping that one of them would speak up.

Thankfully, Jennifer did. “Once you’ve recovered, walk through the new kata until you can’t. Zack? Come with me. Time to show you some new footwork.”

“Seriously? Alright! It’s about time I graduate! See you, Jackson!”

The traitorous pair walked off, leaving me alone with Anna. She walked around me, pulling a chair up to sit directly in front of me. I found my mind being assaulted with the memory of last night’s kiss, and began to feel somewhat dizzy.

“Anna!” I squeaked, then cleared my throat. “Glad to see you. How, uh… how are you?” I cursed myself inwardly for being such a lame-ass. ‘How are you?’ As if this petite woman didn’t make every single neuron just stop with a kiss last night? Gaaahhhh.

She smiled sweetly. “So? Is it true?”

“Is-is-is what true?”

“The memory thing, silly!”

“Oh!” I nodded. “Yeah. It’s true. I have a truly photographic memory. It’s how I keep all the locations I’ve been to in my head. Everything. Every situation, every word that’s been said, every conversation, is all locked away in my head. The only way I’ll not remember something is if I’m drunk, and even then, I can recall more than most.”

She tapped a finger on her chin. “I wonder…”

I leaned forward, bracing my arms on my thighs, hands dangling between my knees. “What do you wonder?”

“What were you thinking about right before I left last night?”

I gazed out across the gym. Jennifer was leading Zack through some boxing drills. Someone was lifting a medicine ball in her outstretched arms. Four people were jogging laps. “You. You were going through my mind.”

She cocked her head to the side. “How so?”

I chuffed a laugh, sitting up. “You damn near short circuited my brain. I’d never been on a date before last night, and beyond that, I’ve never even been kissed.” I looked into her eyes, seeing a giddy smile. “I dunno if it’s normal to act like that, but I couldn’t keep that memory from replaying in my head. I don’t even know how long I stood there before William came by.”

“About fifteen minutes. I phoned him because you weren’t moving.”

I laughed, then. “Well, I thank you for that. I went home, the memory of you on my lips, and passed out.”

“Wanna do it again?”

“I’d love to! When were you thinking of going out?”

It was her turn to laugh. “No, silly!” She dropped her voice to little more than a whisper. “The kissing part. Do you… uhm… Wanna do that again?”

“Here?”

“You really have no clue, do you Jackson?”

Suddenly, I felt as if all the positivity that I’d accrued from last night had vanished. My heart crashed through the floor. “I’m sorry, Anna. I really am out of my depth here. You’re… I’m…” I sighed, scrubbing a hand through my hair. “I really don’t know what to do or say.”

She reached over and took my hand, a serene smile on her face. “It’s okay. Really. I don’t like you any less. It’s kind of cute, really. It’s also a big responsibility.” She straightened and hooked a stray bit of hair over an ear. “I’m the one who gets to teach you how a relationship can work. I have to make sure that if you and I don’t work, that I’ve not ruined you for someone else. I get to be the person who helps you grow. You get to experience this all with me. You get the benefit of having your first relationship be with someone who not only wants a relationship with you, but also wants to be your friend. Think you can handle that, Jack?” She smiled and cocked her head to the side slightly.

Jack? I’d never been called that before. Not even by my family. I caught her eyes with my own. “Jack, huh? Nobody’s ever called me that. I’ll let you be the only one.”

She leaned forward, letting her lips brush my ear. “I’ll hold you to that, Jack.” Abruptly, she stood, her face flushed. “I have to get my own workout and practice done. I’ll see you later, okay?” I watched absent-mindedly as she left, my mind taking in all the details laid before me as my heart hammered in my chest.

There were times that having my memory was a curse, such as my years in the government school. And then there were moments like these. Times when it seemed everything was good and right and true. I sat back, remembering the feel of her hands on my skin, the smell of her soap. An odd thing to recall, even for me, but it was just one of the many little things about her that tugged at me. Eventually, I stood up and headed to the small rack of stone staves that Jennifer kept, selecting a moderately heavy staff. It was time to utilize that memory of mine for another purpose.

Forty-five minutes and what seemed like ten gallons of sweat later, I was on my knees, having finished a fourth repetition of the new kata. I levered myself up with the staff, then dragged it back to the weapon rack. As I headed back to the offices, I found Jennifer standing over Zack in the boxing ring, having had his own workout culminate in a beatdown. Curious, I climbed up the steps.

“And what have we learned, hm?”

Zack panted hoarsely. “That I’m not ready to graduate yet.”

“True, but I was thinking a little more immediate, Zack.”

He sat up with a groan. “I dunno, Jennifer. I’m not the thinker that Jackson over here is.” He reached up with a gloved hand. “A little help, dude?”

I climbed in and took his hand in mine, letting him use me to lever himself up off the floor. He dusted himself off, then removed the gloves. “Seriously, Jennifer. I have no clue what lesson you’re trying to beat into me.”

She sighed and crossed her arms. “Jackson? What do you think I’m trying to teach him?”

“Uhh… That experience wins out over blind enthusiasm ninety percent of the time? I saw you tag his face a lot.”

“Hmm. I suppose it could be seen that way. Zack? Make sense to you?”

I saw him purse his lips in thought. “Huh. Yeah. It kinda does, actually. I kept trying to rush in and hit you in the gut, figuring I’d be able to tank at least a couple shots. Seems I was wrong.” He shrugged and attempted to hand her the gloves.

“Nuh-uh. I don’t want those. Put ‘em where they belong. You’re both done for the day. Go on.”

We both watched her lithe form saunter over to the corner, and begin a slow Tai Chi routine. Just how many martial arts did this woman know?

Zack gently smacked my shoulder with the back of his hand. “So. What did you and little Anna talk about, huh?” I heard the smirk in his tone.

I gave him a funny look. “‘Little’ Anna? Look, man, I know she’s short and all, but seriously?”

Zack raised his hands defensively. “It’s what almost everyone calls her. Only folks that don’t are William and Jen. She’s been called that to her face by nearly everyone, and has yet to say anything about it. I thought you knew.”

“Well, I didn’t. And we just talked about… things.”

He nodded sagely. “I see, I see. Talking about things would indeed be important, Jackson.”

I fixed him with an unamused stare and he sputtered with laughter. “Nah, man. I’m just messing with you. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t wanna. I’m just curious, is all.”

I nodded and grunted an agreement. “I suppose. Maybe later, okay? I need to find William, and you need to put those gloves away.” I started heading off toward the offices.

He sighed. “Yeah. Man she whipped my ass. Hey! Some of us are going out for drinks tomorrow night. Wanna come?” he called out after me.

I turned around, walking backwards. “Sure! It’d do me good to get to know some of the others. Send me a message, okay?”

“Yep! See ya!”

I turned back around and headed up to the offices, eventually making my way back to the lobby, where I saw Bethany. “Hey. You seen William anywhere?”

She started and turned around, a needle in her hand. “Jackson! Uhm… no. Let me see if he’s in his office.” She pushed a button on her desk phone, and we heard William’s voice.

“Bethany? Is everything okay?”

“Yes sir! Jackson was wanting to speak to you, is all.”

“Send him in. We need to talk anyway.” The intercom went silent.

“Two doors to your left, Jackson. You’ll see it.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Thanks, Bethany. I appreciate you. See you in a bit.” She nodded and patted my hand before I walked off.

William’s door was plain and unadorned with a plaque beside it that read “William Gould - Owner” I knocked twice.

“Come in, Jackson.”

Stepping into his office was like walking into a time machine. Due to the room’s dimmer than usual lighting, it had an otherworldly, ancient feel. His desk was a massive chunk of rich, dark wood; worn slightly on the edges, but pristine otherwise. Along the walls were row upon row of books. Several were titles I recognized, but others were simple leather covers, with no obvious markings. Farther back were some glass cases, housing things I couldn’t see within. Directly over the desk hung a curious, leaf-shaped bronze sword. He was standing when I walked in, a book in his hand. He motioned to a chair in front of the desk.

“Please, have a seat. I was just brushing up on some history regarding Supers.” He closed the book with a snap and took a seat on the other side of his desk. “So what did you want to speak to me about?”

I cleared my throat. “Well, it’s about that flower, and the dream I ...

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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/micktalian on 2024-10-30 18:24:32+00:00.

Part 96 Test Run (Part 1) (Part 95)

[Support me of Ko-fi so I can get some character art commissioned ~~and totally not buy a bunch of gundams and toys for my dog~~]

After two weeks of daily meetings with the UHDF Council, transferring trillions of galactic matter-energy credits from his personal accounts for the good of humanity, and very impatiently waiting for the mech prototype to be ready for testing, Professor Mikhail T River felt a real and genuine sense of accomplishment. The United Human Defense Fleet Council had taken care of everything necessary to begin recruiting, building training locations on every inhabited continent on Earth and every major colony on Mars, and already accepted more than enough applicants to start filling its ranks. Though the process of fully synergizing the strict and hierarchical military systems found in Sol with the much more decentralized Nishnabe Militia was certainly not over yet, it was well underway with a solid foundation. On top of that, all of the finances had been accounted for, payment systems had been set up, and deals had been struck with UN-E, MarsGov, and most of the various national governments that constituted humanity. Even the BD-10 series mech prototype was ready for its test run. With all of those essential tasks having been taken care of, his responsibilities to the Council temporarily complete, the call informing Mik that his Cudacorn Mark 2 was complete and ready for him to drive came at a perfect time.

With his car ready for pick up, Tens needing to be at Zone 14 by noon, and a personal shuttle at his disposal, Mik already has a plan for the day. Leave Newport station by 8 AM, be at Sheke's shop by 10, and, assuming nothing came up, drive into Nishnabe's planetside military production center by 12. The times table was tight, they didn't want to be late, and there was a bit of a rush to get onboard Mik's shuttle on schedule. However, with Binko flying, Atxika acting as the stern motivator for Mik and Tens, and wonderful prizes at the end of this journey, the group was out the door and off the station with time to spare. The shuttle flight down from Newport Station to the small settlement dubbed the Middle of Nowhere was likewise fast paced but uneventful. Not only did all four want to see and hear the Cudacorn Mk. II, they were all deeply excited to see the BD-10-X-1 take its first step. So when Binko and Tens parked Mik's elaborately decorated custom shuttle he purchased from a Qui’ztar shipyard, there was practically a race to be the first one out the hatch and into Sheke’s vehicle shop. However, once all four had gotten onto solid ground and their eyes turned towards the two story tall warehouse, they were surprised to see that an interspecies crowd had gathered at the rolled up door.

“Mno gishget, nzheshe.” Mik took this opportunity to practice some of Nishnabemwin he had been learning and tried speaking an older Nishnabe man who was standing at the back of crowd. “Ni je ezhewebek?”

“Ne?” The older man turned towards Mik, Tens, Atxika, and Binko with a confused look on his face before his expression changed as he finally deciphered what had been asked of him. Though he did look a bit stand-offish, hearing someone he didn't know refer to him as uncle threw him off a bit, he spoke in galactic common with a relatively friendly tone. “Sorry, the station dialect is kinda hard for me to understand. But good day to you too, nephew. And… uh… Sheke built some monsters and a bunch of us wanted to come see.”

“Monsters, yah say?” Despite feeling a bit embarrassed that his attempt to practice his language skills had failed, that didn't deter Mik's smile. “As in more than one? Has she fired any o’ ‘em up yet?”

“Oh yeah! Damn things woke me up from my midday nap yesterday!” The older Nishnabe man quickly glanced at Tens, Atxika, and Binko, then brought his piercing gaze back to Mik. “I take it you're the crazy person who asked her to build those things. And if Tens is here, you're gonna take it for a test drive, aren't you?”

“I mean, I only asked her to build me one!” Mik shot a quick look towards Tens to discover both he and his Qui’ztar lover had devious smiles on their faces. “Aye! What’s that look? Anythin’ yah two ain’t tellin’ me?”

“Well…” Tens had a playful inflection in his voice while Atxika stood on the tips of her toes to try to see over the crowd and into the warehouse-like garage. “After seeing those videos of you racing your Cudacorn, I wanted one of my own.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, but it's smaller.” Tens admitted with a smirk as he eyed his partner who hopped a bit in a vain attempt to get see what Sheke had crafted. “Sheke found a good license for a small family utility vehicle, split your engine design in half, and them combined those. I don't need almost fourteen-hundred kilowatts of power, especially if my love and I are going to be driving it around with the kids.”

“I am actually quite looking forward to experiencing what Sheke has been able to produce.” Though Atxika wasn't able to see over the few Hi-Koth that were even taller than she was, there was still a positively delightful smile on her cobalt-blue face. “If it performs how I expect, I may have to have a second one made for my Matriarch!”

“If it's the red and black one with the bed in the back…” The older Nishnabe man rolled his eyes and nodded towards the garage. “Then the big metal guy was spinning it around in a circle last night while it roared like a Nukatov in heat! Probably scared away any animal in a kilometer radius!”

“What ‘bout the purple one?” Mik asked with a downright devious smirk on his lips. “Did the big metal guy do donuts with that one too?”

“Yeup. And the smaller blue and orange ones.”

“Smaller blue and orange ones?!?” Mik, Tens, Atxika, and Binko all blurted out in unison.

“Yeah, she's got the red and black truck, the big purple car, and two smaller cars.” All of the hesitation and suspicion in the older man's eyes had been completely replaced with jovial laughter. “Did she really not tell y’all that she built those?”

“Nah! But now I gotta check ‘em out!”

/---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were still at least fifteen minutes before the test operator was due to arrive but Skol could already hear the rumble. The short and heavily tattooed man was standing in front of a large and open hanger door with Mamibisa, Frimpchuli, Owen Johnson, and over a dozen other engineers when he heard the distinctive sound of multiple forced induction, internal combustion engines echoing through the forest. Considering the placement of this site, surrounded by massive trees with trucks as dense as stone, the noise was still almost inaudible but definitely there. Though he wasn't much of a car enthusiast, at least when compared to Mik and TJ, the very particular rumble from a muscle car was something he could genuinely appreciate. And judging by the different sound profiles he could distinguish, each with their own unique rhythm and tempo, he knew that Mik wouldn't be skidding into Industrial Zone 14 alone. Judging by the slowly increasing volume and pitch, the small Scandinavian man could also tell they were still a few minutes out.

“Nobody move!” Frimpchuli half-shouted as his eyes suddenly grew wide and he began looking over the mech expecting to see something wrong. “What's that sound?!?”

“Twin-charged V8.” Owen nonchalantly answered, his gaze only peeking up from his tablet just long enough to shoot a quick glance towards the road that led to this facility. “Probably six liters, but definitely not over seven. I'm not sure about the other ones though.”

“Good guess!” Skol shot a rather impressed look towards his former student while the other other engineers began staring at the pair of men from Sol with clearly confused expressions. “TJ's been building a new version of the Cudacorn with a woman named Sheke for the past week or so. Sounds like they got it done.”

“So that isn't coming from the mech, right?” Frimp looked a bit nervous as he hurriedly looked over the live sensor readouts on his tablet, his wide and flat tall nervously thumping as he did so. “Because if so-”

“No, that sounds just like the Cudacorn.” The ink covered man lightly chuckled and waved off the Kyim’ayik engineer’s concerns. “It's loud as hell! It has a supercharger, twin turbos, and short straight pipes. He’s probably still at least a few kilometers away. But I do hear a few other engines, too. I just don't recognize the sound.”

“Inline-4s, maybe?” Owen suggested while pulling his attention fully away from the data he was reviewing and directing it towards the still distance sound. “Definitely forced induction but… Wait! Skol, did you just say supercharger and twin turbo chargers? How much fucking boost is he making?!?”

“CAG regulations are four point two-five Bars so… About sixty psi or whatever the freedom units conversion is.”

“Sixty pounds of boost?!?” As Owen's eyes grew wide, a look of utterly delight shining across his face, the various other people now staring at the him and Skol only grew more confused. “Jesus fucking Christ… Dude ain't driving closer to us, he's just m...

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__________________________

HSTM-Part 29 'Distress Call'

Alien cooking wasn’t exactly as hard as he might have first thought.  Paulie rummaged around for the ingredients that he had available.  Some various meats and alien vegetables from what he could tell, he had learned quickly that some of them didn’t exactly agree with his constitution and he had memorised their every detail and set them to the far corner of the refrigerator.  That way he could ask their names and not buy them in the future.

He had always been a little hesitant to try new things, but being in a place like this under circumstances like he was.  Well it was throwing his food caution into complete disarray.

He grumbled as he chopped a few vegetables with the knife he had pulled from one of the cabinets.  It was nice to see that despite the advancements made in technology and society that things were still done the old fashioned way sometimes.  He whistled as he worked, the simple task soothing his frayed nerves like a cooling balm.  It had been an interesting day by all means, and he would be perfectly fine just taking some time to relax and watch some more of the alien opera he had discovered.

As he was thinking about it he popped the finely chopped vegetables into the stewpot he had set upon the stovetop and turned it up to a medium heat.  The last few days had seen him experimenting with both his cookware and his cooking, stretching his skills to their limits.  But he would not have had it any other way.  The relative challenge of unknown food combinations and unfamiliar ingredients were testing him like his first year in culinary all over again.  He had to admit it, he was enjoying himself.

The soup came up to a boil as he watched and he tended to it slowly.  Throwing in a few of the spices and dashes he had decided he liked best.  He tasted it a couple times and when he was satisfied with the result, he pulled it off the heat and poured himself a large helping and walked into the main room with the steaming bowl.

Paulie spoke up, “TV, resume program.”

With a slight fizzing sound the device warmed back up and he was once more immersed in the sounds of some beatific alien orchestra.  Sounds from instruments he didn’t have names for pierced his heart and mind as the symphony rang out pure and true.  He ate his soup slowly, immersed in the sound of the music until another sound broke him out of his blissful trance.

The door knocked.

“Program, stop.  Standby mode.”  The screen flickered as the sound died off abruptly.  Mack had just been by and he had not been scheduled a meeting with Flurn.  So it was either Jakiikii or an uninvited guest.

He crept towards the door, once more standing to the side.  He had seen too many movies where people got shot through a door to fall for such a tragedy.

As he took up a safe position he called out, “Hello?  Who’s there?”

Almost immediately he had an answer.  “It’s me, open up.  I brought you something.”

He smiled as he recognised Jakiikii’s voice.  Throwing open the door, Paulie greeted the termaxxi warmly.  “Oh, come on in.”  He gestured inside and she hesitated slightly, almost so little that he might not have noticed it had he not been paying attention.  But he had.

She stepped inside, once more carrying a bag of something in two of her left hands.  He watched her as she stepped past, at least two of her six petal-like eye flaps turning to glance in his direction.

He followed the six-armed woman into the main room and watched as she slowed, seeming to look about with her head.  He noticed the small fleshy bumps just under her chin wiggle slightly and she turned to him.  “What’s that smell?”

Paulie nodded to the table and the half-eaten bowl of soup that sat upon it.  “I was actually in the middle of lunch when you came by.  I made some stew.”

He watched again as she seemed to follow the scent to the kitchen.  He walked in after her as she looked almost longingly at the pot as she seemed to scent the air again.  “You mixed moff and synthetic sparrack sap?  May I.. have some?”  She asked him, hopping from hooved foot to foot in the manner she did when excited.

Paulie smiled, she was simply too cute in that pose with her two middle arms under her chin and her smallest pair clasped together over her chest in a pleading manner.  He nodded, “Of course.  It should be..”  He paused.  “Hold on, you can’t eat solid foods.”

She nodded sadly.  “Yeah.  But could I try some of the broth at least?  It smells so good, and all I ever drink is sugary things.  I tried some stalp broth once with Mack, but it didn’t smell nearly as good as this.”  She leaned closer to the pot, the tapered tip of her long hollow tongue protruding from her petite mouth almost like an excited puppy.

He chuckled again and grabbed a bowl from the cabinet before he stopped.  “Hang on..”  He looked around the countertop for the acoustic emulsifier and plugged it in.

She cocked her head, her eyes flattening closer to her elongated snout as she asked curiously, “What are you doing?”

He shrugged.  “I see no reason why I can’t use this thing to blend.  That way you can try the broth and the soup.  Right?”

She clapped her larger hands together as she nodded, a flash of white crossing her light-bending skin as she hopped a little more.  “Oh!  Yes, how fun.”  She stepped closer to him as he poured a small measure of the remaining soup into a cup and placed it in the machine.

Paulie had learned from previous explorations that the device was capable of more than simply making emulsions.  No, it could blend, puree and in some cases it could even whip.  He pressed the settings and then jabbed his thumb into the main initiation switch.  The blue button depressed with a click and the machine immediately went ballistic, the soup inside pulverised by sharp acoustic energies till it more resembled baby food than the stew it had originally been.

Pouring this and a measure of the broth for her he awaited her reaction with only slightly bated breath.  He wasn’t sure exactly why her opinion was so valuable to him, she was a friend sure.  But they had really only known each other for a few days at best.

He watched as her long bubblegum pink proboscis slipped from her mouth and into the broth.  With a slightly rhythmic pulsing, her long hollow tongue flexed and in doing so forced the concoction up and into her throat.  He wondered if the interior lining of the organ had taste buds along the entire length or if they were just situated near to the tip.  He was about to ask her when his communicator beeped insistently, he ignored it for the moment.

He gave her a little smile and she nodded.  “This is very good!”  She spoke with her mouth and tongue still in use, the thin gill-like openings at her lower sides fluttering as she spoke from low in her chest cavity.

Paulie nodded.  “Yeah.  I just kind of threw…”

His communicator beeped at him insistently again before he could finish his statement and he frowned.  Who could that be?  It had to be Mack, the alien detective was the only other person that had his communicator address.  What could the detective need him for now?

Pressing the button to answer it, Paulie was immediately inundated with noise as the sound of crashing could be heard through the small speaker.  He tensed, immediately on edge as the miriam’s face appeared on the screen, he looked even more disheveled than he had before.  Bright blue blood leaked from the corner of his small mouth and his sharp teeth flashed as he grimaced in apparent pain.

Paulie and Jakiikii stood, alarmed as the man barked, “Paulie!  They zalcing attacked me.  I managed to push them back, but I need help.. what?  What is Jakiikii doing there?  Nevermind.. I am on the third floor, hurry.  I think they are preparing for another..”  He was cut off by a loud roaring noise and the screen went black.

Paulie looked around the room frantically as he thought he felt the floor shudder slightly underfoot.  Jakiikii seemed even more distraught, the termaxxi woman rushing to his side as he ran into the kitchen.“

Oh!  Oh no!  Mack, what are we going to do!?  Paulie?”  She seemed at once angry and frantic, he whirled and grabbed her shoulders.  Jolting her slightly as he felt three of her arms wrap around his.

“We are going to go down there and save him, that's what we are going to do.  Come on, we need to move!”  He shouted before grabbing the knife he had been using earlier off the counter.  It wouldn't be much use against guns if Mack’s attackers were armed.  But it was far and away better than nothing.

He wasn’t thinking, he wasn't in the state of mind to deal with something like this.  But nevertheless he reacted.  Jakiikii followed him as he burst from the room and into the hall, he looked left and then right.  Unsure as to the best course of action.  He turned to Jakiikii, “Where is he, how do we get to him!?”

She hesitated and then pushed Paulie to the right.  The pair of them took off at a dead sprint, Paulie taking a moment to tuck the large knife into his belt as they bounded down the hall in great leaping strides.

As they rushed down the hall, Paulie went over the possibilities in his head.  Mack could be dead already, the link had cut...

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gfsook/he_stood_taller_than_most_part_29/

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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/MrIzuarel on 2024-10-30 17:46:01+00:00.

Chapter 102

I had no exact description for what that stone was except that once that stone entered a dungeon, it would start the destruction of the dungeon.

Considering just how many dungeons were out there, I realized that destroying one just to find out about this quest was acceptable. But the question was naturally what dungeon to choose.

In my list, including tier 3 and 4, were almost 300 of them, so it shouldn't be too difficult to choose. First of all, it had to be one of the ones we did not like to do. It was a given that the favorites had to stay. But that reduced the possible candidates by about fifty.

We ruled out unique types of dungeons or dungeons with rare drops. That took care of about 100 of them. I still had a list of 142.

The list was reduced over and over again until we reached an agreement. The unlucky dungeon was a small 3 boss dungeon of the third tier that had no significant importance. It was filled with orcs and goblins, which were abundant in other dungeons as well and had no significant resources other than coins and fabric. I was surprised it wasn't directly chosen as disposable. That's how little worth that dungeon had.

First, I checked every quest that mentioned that dungeon. Of the thousands in my list, I had about fourty quests that needed something from that specific dungeon. So the girls and I did our due diligence to clear every quest inside that dungeon before we started its destruction.

Because I didn't know what to expect, I asked for the entirety of my girls minus the logistics team to accompany me. Arriving inside the dungeon with a legion of soldiers made me feel like a warlord.

Immediately inside, I pulled the flower out of my inventory, but it didn't react. I was a bit confused about what to do, so I reached inside the flower and pulled the glass stone out.

This time, there was a reaction.

The stone started glowing in a soothing golden light before leaving my hand and burying itself in the ground. In the next moment, a big golden crystalline structure started to come out.

I had no idea what this could mean, so I looked around but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Maybe it was because nobody was currently hunting or producing anything, but my chat window gave me a reaction. I usually ignored it because nobody ever talked to me, but this time, it gave me a warning.

<34,213,450 monsters left to kill.>

I stared at the message and was speechless. Thousands... millions? 34 million?

I was how was I supposed to kill 34 million monsters in such a tiny dungeon. That was more than the population of some countries. While I was staring at the screen, the number went from 450 to 451 after a few seconds. Oh wow. And the number went up? Those are great news!

Just as I tried to start the expedition, the dungeon started to shake violently. It was a full earthquake at that place, and the landscape drastically changed.

I had visited this dungeon once before, and that was the reason why I knew this was not normal. I was on top of a cliff, and the usual small villages of this dungeon were gone, replaced by a real city with the same building style. There were three of those cities, one for each boss, but now those places were slowly bursting with green skins. Far beyond the normal amount.

At the center of each city, three similar structures made from crystal started to grow, but the color was off. They were black and far larger than the one I had behind me.

I had no idea what was happening, but something told me that the solution was hidden inside these structures, and I should do my best to protect mine.

I tried to open my dungeon window, but a small error message prevented me from accessing it. I could not leave this place, I could not abandon it, I could not enter my own dungeon, and I could not change the difficulty. I could see that at least the healing and items were still able to come in and leave to the outside.

The fact that I was unable to change the difficulty was actually acceptable to me because I had put it on the minimal difficulty. I wasn't that idiotic to enter the dungeon and start a quest without preparation.

I took another look at the monster cities and saw no irregularities other than those I had already seen, but that didn't mean anything. I went down the cliff, not taking the regular path on the side, and came closer to the protective wooden walls of the first city.

They were wooden, massive, of irregular sizes, and assembled in an unorganized manner, just like so many tropes in video games depicted them. I wasn't even surprised anymore by such coincidences.

As I approached, alarms bells were heard all over the city, and some of the orcs came out. At the same time, the smaller goblins started grouping up on the walls and preparing their bows.

I knew the reach of the goblins and knew how to avoid getting hit by them, so I instructed the spikers and apothecaries to shot them down as the reach of my shooters was greater than the reach of those miniature bows.

It didn't take too long, and the first goblins started to die. The orcs didn't enjoy that and charged mindlessly, but everybody around me were veterans of group fights, even if those fights involved hundreds or more  individuals. We had experienced it numerous times when I tried to obtain my hunter quests.

The fight ended quickly. The orcs had little strategic knowledge, and once we had them surrounded, it was over for them. The fact that I had the lowest possible difficulty and that we were numerically superior to them also played a part in it.

We forced our way into the city. The orcs hadn't even closed the gates or tried a proper defensive fight with us, so the majority of the monsters inside the city had already been killed by us. There were a few stragglers, but nothing major.

However, I could not find the boss monster. The first boss, a Spearman orc, was usually always in the biggest hut of the village. Only on rare occasions did he roam the village. However, he never went outside his territory. I tried to find him but to no avail, but the changes made it difficult to find him.

I looked at the crystal at the center of the city and was almost certain that it was somehow connected to the missing boss.

After we cleared the entire place, the number of monsters to kill went down by about four hundred, but I didn't feel like rejoicing. We had millions to kill and had to work hard to clear this.

I came closer to the crystal and inspected it.

Unlike the one I had created, which was almost transparent with a golden glow, this one was pitch black and had a strange violent feeling to it. It was not a violence originating from rage and anger, but the unstoppable violence a force of nature brought with it.

I got curious and observed the crystal structure closer. I could clearly see that it was composed of thousands, if not millions of smaller crystals stacking into each other, forming something like fibers in a piece of fabric. The entire sculpture looked like a spiraling wave of black water.

I scratched at them to try and free one of those crystals but ended with a handful of them falling off the thing.

A bit surprised, I managed to grab most of them, but a few dropped to the ground where they dissolved instantly.

I had a bad feeling about that one.

In the next moment, I could feel that most of my girls started to panic. I didn't even have to ask why because I knew I was the reason for that.

First / Previous / Index / Next

OP note: 102 was written this morning, and I am a slow writer, so I will most likely need 2-3 days for 103. For those who want to play a bit, there are 4 events that are obvious or hinted at in my story that are coming soon. Everyone correctly guessing one of them will receive a ☆ as answer. Good luck.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/TurinaPurina on 2024-10-30 15:57:46+00:00.

Grimnak circled his sleeping pod. An opulent piece of art it was, carved out of marble, filled with softest synthetics and finest fabrics. Hiding eloquently all the all the sophisticated technology needed for his glorious task. He laid his spindly body onto the soft beddings. Hidden sensors started logging his vitals. Subtle mechanisms relaxing his muscles. He laid his near perfectly round head onto the pillow. A soft buzz entered his mind as the mental matrix synced with his mind. He laid his three fingered hands over his chest and closed his small black eyes. He allowed himself a sharp toothed grin before falling asleep.

It was time to dream. Time to harvest.

He could feel the machines driving him, guiding his mind, towards an event he already knew.  A joining. In his sleep he met another mind of his kind. They touched. And they were one. Grimnak was now more, his knowledge, will and drive bolstered by the other. More minds came, bigger and stronger. But always Grimnak knew himself. For he was elected to be the spearhead. The guiding will of the whole of Hypteian people. Whole planet dreaming together to join in the great slumber, to create the great spirit. The sum of the will of his people. And he was chosen to lead this great feat. This glorious task. He smiled as he opened his eyes. He could see the starry sky, dimmed by the colorful aura of the planet, intermingling spirits of the living beings on the planet. For a moment Grimnak marveled as colors of the aura sifted like molten light. He then focused and drank from the it. As its colors drew dimmer, flows slower and colors subdued, he could feel the spiritual body of his people growing stronger. He would return the strength later to his beloved home planet. With dividends. But the journey was long, and they needed strength.

He then set his gaze to the stars. With his spirit he could see new lights among the stars. Auras of other living planets. He focused on a familiar one. A Strong but colorless world. slowly the tiny dot started to grow larger, closer. Bigger it got the harder it was to focus on it. Once upon a time the strain had been almost insurmountable to his people. But now it was barely an effort. The planet grew until he could almost touch it. A blink and he was there. He marveled at the aura of the planet. It had once been very similar to their home planet. Full of flowing colors and bright and dim spots. Now it was simple bright yellow like a flame. He looked closer at the planets inhabitants. Once wild and ferocious planet was made tame. Jungles made to forests. Forests into plains. Trees dared not to reach the sky. Meek herbivores dared not fill the plain. Lazy predators reduced to carrion eaters. There had once been budding intelligence there, banging rocks together and figuring out tools. But even they had been reduced.

The great Hypteian spirit touched the planets fuming aura and drank steeply. The Aura grew dimmer and paler. It was almost monochrome and sputtering before Grimnak stopped. The inhabitants of the planet crew slower. Lethargic. Simplistic. Small creature trapped in water stopped swimming. A flower growing in a rocky crevice wilted away. A bird dropped a stick from its beak and used its talons instead to fish out a now still maggot. Hypteians had been here many times to drink the spirit of the planet, and it had grown tame. “A garden” Grimnak thought. A sing from the universe of their right for the bounty of these planets.

Grimnak looked into the sky again. Another familiar world shone in the sky. He focused. Blinked. And he was there. This world was inhabited by sentient people. A civilization even. When Hypteians had found these squat tentacle people they had been building nations. Creating art. Engineering technology never seen before. Building spires to touch the sky and reach deep into the earth. Oh, how they had fought each other. Competed. Struggled.  Then Hypteian Spirit had arrived. The aura had been so complex. Full of complicated thoughts and emotions. Dreams both noble and vile. Strange and uplifting. The spirit had feasted greatly upon their ideas, visions and hopes.

The people of the planet had noticed something wrong. An odd laming of the culture. The art grew boring. Technology stagnant. The great works too much trouble. The warring nations settled too but it seemed out of dejection rather than understanding. But they could not find the reason why. Eventually they had recovered. Only to be drained again after a century. and then again and again. They knew, they sensed, they suspected something was wrong but could not find the reason. Their anxiety had eventually crystallized into shell around their collective psyche.

Oh, how Grimnak had enjoyed crushing that shell. Inside Hypteians found the focus of the planets sentient minds. They started molding it. Forming it. Straighten its colors until it was harmonious and pleasing to the Hypteian spirit. The people on the planet now all thought alike. Acted alike. Dreamt alike. Soon Hypteian fleet would come to their planet and they would be greeted as their masters. “As they should. We gave them peace.” Grimnak thought to himself. They weren’t the first either. The great spirit drank deeply from the mosaic aura. Careful not to upset the stalemate of colors. For a moment Grimnak tough about thanking them but could not remember their name. Instead, he gazed into the stars once again.

There were many familiar planets in the sky, but it was time to focus onto the prime target. The glorious task. The great spirit was feeling invigorated, full of power. No work would be left undone this time. He focused on the world they had found. Third rock from the yellow star far in the arm of the galaxy. An wild world here the unstable planet gave birth to creatures that furiously clung to life. And oh, the sentient of the planet. Colors of its aura were so wild. So vivid. Constantly clashing, changing, combining and dividing. Deeper hues and brighter highs they had never encountered. Hypteians had harvested there before. Grimnak drew on the strength of the spirit to focus on the faraway planet. And with a blink the great spirit was there again.

They had found something strange here. A hard thick shell in in the aura. The great spirit had not been able to get trough it when they were here last time. Grimnak knew not how or why it had formed. Maybe it was quirk of the unstable life. But he knew it had to something precious. Something delicious. Something that would surely elevate his people into new heights. The sweet rich aura of the planet promised so. So had all the Hypteian wise men agreed. Almost salivating the spirit behold the thick orb made of iron will. It collected its might and stuck. A crack. Again, it struck. and again, and again. Slowly the crack spread. It spread until small chip fell away. Eagerly Grimnak peered inside. It was empty? A black void? The shock made Grimnak blink. And then the great spirit was… inside the orb? Surrounded by nothing.

No.

Not nothing. A thing devouring even the light and space. The resulting impossible void in void had sucked in the great spirit. Such a thing should not be possible. It should have devoured itself along with the wild aura long ago. But somehow it was contained inside this orb. A hunger. Grimnak could feel it gnawing inside him. Hunger for sustenance. Hunger for experiences. Hunger for Knowledge, meaning, dreams, hope, conquest, love, sorrow, friends, enemies, discoveries, worlds, creation, destruction.

Hunger for everything.

Hunger for Grimnak.

With a shock the great spirit felt itself diminishing. Being eaten by The Hunger. With speed the spirit rushed for the opening it had made. It had to escape. It had to stop this.. this monster. These creatures  could not be allowed to leave the planet. They could not be allowed to exist. Otherwise it would one day devour Hypteians. Devour the galaxy. Devour all of existence. He sped to escape, but smaller the spirit got the greater the void of hunger felt. The spirit dwindled as the Hunger gnawed away. Grimnak pushed toward the opening. Escape was close—so close—yet shrinking as the void closed in, the shell reforming faster than it should. Faster than possible. In a panic Grimnak focused beyond the opening. To an aura in the nigh sky. His home. He closed his eyes. and

Grimnaks body woke up with a jolt. It rose slowly and looked around. The room of slumber. It was epitome of Hypteian society. Creation bolstered by the strength of other worlds. Around him was masterful of architecture. Marvels of art and science. He knew all this. But he no longer saw the beauty. He knew the effort and genius it took to make them. But he no longer felt the significance. It was as if colors were drained of all their meaning. A man walked in with his robe. A person with empty expression and tired steps. Grimnak knew his name. He knew his face. But Grimnak did not recognize him.

“Hi Mark. Ready for the for the weekend”

“Mhmm”

“Me too man. Hey, wanna grab a drink after the sift”

“Sure”

“…”

“…”

“Hey Mark, uh, I have a strange question.”

“Hm?”

“Do you feel.. strangely satisfied today? Like you had had a really good meal. But like, feel it for the whole day?”

“…Yeah.”

“Me too. Darnest thing is for some reason I know everyone else is feeling it too.”

“Weird.”

“Yeah… And I feel, like, bigger? somehow. I mean I’m not taller, I checked, and I don’t think I’m any fatter either. Just… more? You know what mean?”

“I feel ya. I mean I literally feel the same darn thing.”

“Weird”

“Mhmm”

“…”

“…”

“I still want that drink though.”

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/MrIzuarel on 2024-10-30 15:39:43+00:00.

Chapter 101

As we progressed with the mermaids quests, I noticed that their demands became more and more outrageous.

I am talking about skill or enhancement related quests.

The regular quests that gave out items didn't change. They always asked for the same thing, and it didn't matter if it was something like a material gathering quest or killing a certain type of monsters. Things like "get me 100 of these vegetables" or "give me 50 pieces of  meat of this kind." These little quests didn't change, so they didn't worry me.

The problem was the ones I really needed to advance.

The first quest asked for items of 30 different dungeons. That much was acceptable, but as I progressed with clearing them, they asked for more. 40, 50, 60... The last one I obtained had demanded for 126 of them.

I tried to be considered of my system, but it was hard. I knew that every reward needed to be a reflection of the effort put into it, but it didn't mean I could accept it so easily.

And I was in a pickle about the quests themselves. The game back then had a particular way to punish the player if he abandoned or failed a quest. I was not ready to lose thousands if not millions of experience points to compensate the NPC in those cases, especially when it was a quest that eventually would be cleared.

I was not ranting because of the difficulty of those quests, I was ranting because of the time needed to clear them. And for those who didn't realize this: using traps to lure the monsters of the dungeon didn't make the item magically appear in your hand, so we had to physically search for it each time, and as previously mentioned, each dungeon run only generated one object, even if I had 20 to gather from the same dungeon.

What I didn't like was the fact that most of the skills were unavailable to me. That's right, the skills I had obtained were not functioning because those skills were regular skills, which were incompatible with my racial trait of "apex predator."

The number of skills I obtained was nice, but except for one, all the rest was disabled for me with the description . I hated it. This was another bug I had not discovered when I programmed this character, but unlike inventory, this one was detrimental.

As for the only skill I could use of that batch, it was a standard skill that puzzled me. In fact, not only was it a normal skill, but it was a half-locked skill. Those skills were normally lower grade as they didn't scale properly with the power of the player. But it was better than a fully locked one.

Just like the other regular skills, I should not have the ability to use it.

○○○○○

Scratch (rank 1)

You can use your claws to inflict an attack on your target. Does 75%+2 of your regular damage.

Distance: close

Casting: instant

Cooldown: 2 seconds

○○○○○

It was a good skill, and because it had a shorter cooldown that my tail attack, I could use it more often, but this was a regular skill and I should not have the ability to use it. The damage was quite lacking as my regular attacks could easily do a few hundred points of damage, thousands of them if I hit a critical, so the +2 on that skill was adorable but useless.

It was a skill that only beginners of the first generation and those from level 1 to 3 used. By the time a regular chimera player reached level 10, he had already obtained new bodyparts for the next generation that enabled the player to learn higher ranked scratch skills.

As I looked at my hands, those three-fingered grabbers of mine, I thought about all the other skills that were related to claws. Twin scratch, fury, slice. There were a lot, but I also thought about those skills that were very close to the physiology of my character. Pierce and impale were contenders because of my horn. Kick, roundhouse kick, trample, and others were also possible. But would they activate if I obtained them?

Unfortunately, the few skills I had obtained did not match with my character, which was especially frustrating as I had obtained a really good one called "Path of Nature."

As for the quests increasing my enhancements, I had cleared quite a few, but because the enhancement was randomly placed, I obtained only one in my swarm tree, which was a spiker. It was the first one I obtained from the sixth tier, so it wasn't all that bad.

It was after 2 months of repeated quest gathering and quest clearing that something massive happened.

Since my girls and I focused mostly on clearing the good quests while procrastinating on the regular ones, I had a list of thousands of quests to finish.

I was collecting a new batch of quests when one of my girls suddenly sent me an emotional response. This wasn't the regular routine, but the girl seemed confused.

As I approached her, I noticed what the problem was.

She had gotten a mermaid, but this one seemed different. The features were very imposing, just as the extravagant clothing it had on. Unlike the other mermaids, this one had a long robe and had a crown made of corals on her head. I didn't need anyone to tell me something big was about to happen, I could see it from afar.

I came closer, and the mermaid suddenly turned her head towards me. This wasn't the usual behavior of NPC. Her eyes looked at me expectantly, but I wasn't sure what to think of it.

Before I could react, she stretched her hand towards me and put a white flower in my hand. At the same time, I received the quest from her.

○○○○○

A mermaids plea

Permanently destroy a dungeon and obtain the reward from the mermaid.

Dungeons destroyed: 0/1

○○○○○

Before I could finish reading the quest description, the mermaid transformed into water and left the scene.

I simply stood there with the flower and stared at quest.

A permanent destruction? Why? What? Just... why?

I looked at the flower. It was a lotus flower, and my system didn't react to it, but inside the flower was a small stone, almost like a glass artwork.

○○○○○

Gaia's mercy

○○○○○

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...................................

(Previous Part)

(Part 001)

Across all of the four battlefields, the humans continue to fight with all their hearts. The Eastern battlefield suffers terrible losses as a result of the Executor's battle in the skies, and the remaining humans rapidly crumble under the pressure of the remnant Cosmic shockwaves slamming into their bodies and psychic attacks that jar their minds. Before long, everyone dies, and the Kolvaxians swarm toward Mount Adams.

[Attention all humans and human allies.] Creator Demila says, her voice cutting through the fog of battle and piercing into the minds of the humans, demons, monsters, and even the few remnant angels. [Maiura is lost. The Executor Plaguehosts are too powerful. You must flee! Begin immediately retreating to safety!]

Inside Fort Adams, behind the increasingly fragile safety of their Wordsmithium walls, only twenty thousand soldiers remain. Among them are humans and monsters, but zero demons. Demila alone levitates above the city, keeping an eye out for any Psiovaxians that might take to the skies and threaten the humans within.

Her eyes hide a deep secret, but her appearance maintains the facade of a Volgrim protector, assigned to assist the humans to the best of her ability.

Not long after her declaration, the ground beneath Fort Adams begins to rumble. Distant booms reverberate half a kilometer beneath the feet of the humans, rapidly increasing in frequency as the ordinary Kolvaxians arrive and begin pounding on the Wordsmithium barrier beneath the people's feet. The dirt soil under their feet trembles and cracks from the mere aftershocks of those horrifying impacts, swelling the humans' minds with a sense of dread.

Many of the soldiers start to twitch. Even if they are professional killers, they have watched live feeds from their comrades outside the walls, men and women who are now dead and turned into the very monsters attacking them from the planet's depths. None of them can remain emotionless and stoic in the face of such a terrifying threat.

Neil Adams grimaces. He hesitates for a long minute, listening as the volume of the thrumming within the depths grows louder and louder.

Finally, he taps the side of his T-REX helmet.

"Attention all troopers. Creator Demila is right. We must evacuate. I will have Hope retreat from the Northern Front and begin teleporting people back into the Labyrinth. Everyone else, return through the Warpgate now!"

Quiet sighs of relief go up among the troopers, but many men and women still silently lament the fact they have to give up Maiura.

This was supposed to be their new homeworld!

Maiura was going to become the birthplace of a superior humanity, one unburdened by love of foul demons or other wretched creatures!

But now, it has fallen.

After spending many years quietly building lives on Maiura, the longest-lived residents feel a deep sense of loss. Many of the people who arrived are recent immigrants, only coming here after the Great Debate. But a sizable portion are not, and it is those who had children and started to live fulfilling lives who feel this loss the deepest.

Neil Adams is no different.

For him, Maiura represented his political ambitions. He and Hope will likely be able to build up another world, but at what cost? How long will it last? Will the Plague show up there, too?

Neil's eyes flicker with hatred. He hates the Kolvaxians, but secretly he feels these creatures are not acting naturally. While he lacks evidence for his hypothesis, some aspects of the Plague's attack simply never added up.

Why did it cease all battles on all other worlds in the Milky Way?

Why did it beeline straight to Maiura and attack them?

"Artoria...?" Neil mutters out loud, where no-one can hear him.

The moment the Black Hole Construct was taken by the Plague, that's when everything changed. Could her personality have somehow infected the Plague? Could her memories be special enough to guide the Plague to Maiura?

Neil isn't certain, and he doesn't have time to think about it now.

But once the situation cools off, he secretly vows to himself that he will investigate the matter.

...

Hope Hiro jumps into the air. He grimaces as a pair of Psiovaxians attack him on the right and left, these powerful creatures each both standing at the 6th Level of the Volgrim, possessing strength on par with 5th Level Psions.

He wields Excalibur in both hands, dashing between them with the swiftness of a fly dodging a flyswatter. The Psiovaxians silently pursue him, with one of them conjuring flame chains to snap at and ensnare him, while the other one fires poisoned needles made out of condensed Psionic power.

Hope dodges the needles whenever they fly at him, shuddering when the needles rip through rock and stone or embed deeply into the armor of the Warframes below him. Just when Hope isn't sure how to handle these two creatures in the fastest way possible, Uriel joins him and begins attacking with a furious salvo. Possessed by the spirit of her brother Gabriel, she wields a greatsword that can hammer and slash effectively enough to pressure one of the Psiovaxians. With her help, Hope cuts one of them down, then he and his makeshift ally kill the other.

Gabriel speaks afterward. "Hope. Neil called for a retreat. Thou must teleport the remaining combatants off Maiura. Verily, I shalt hold back the enemies here. I will draw their focus."

Hope nods. "Alright. It's time we faced reality. Maiura is lost! I can't believe I'm saying it, but this situation isn't salvageable, and it's only getting worse."

After affirming Neil's decision, Hope flies into the sky, leaving the Archangel behind.

Gabriel gives up control of Uriel's mind, allowing the Archangel of Retribution to regain control of her body. At the same time, the other Archangels appear beside their sister with grim expressions of their faces.

Raphael speaks first. "This battle is not what it seems, siblings. There is a greater force at play here."

"The Kolvaxians art not as simple as they appear." Michael affirms. "They act as mindless beasts, but they always hold back until the humans gain an advantage. Then they reveal another card from their sleeves."

"Every time we think we've made a breakthrough, the Kolvaxians reveal another dimension of their abilities." Uriel says coldly. "I believeth even now they hath not shown the full extent of their power."

Uriel splits apart the greatsword Gabriel was using, causing it to revert into her signature twin-spears. Then she alters the appearance of the Gae Bolg, changing it into a single longsword before tossing it to her brother Michael.

Like this, Michael gains a formidable weapon that may help him in combating the Plague.

"Remember, our goal now art not to kill these beasts, but merely distract them." Gabriel says. "Keep thy wits about thee, and take care to draw the fiends' attention!"

After speaking, the Archangels rejoin the battle, the four of them working together to assist Hope as he swiftly starts teleporting soldiers away from the Northern front. Since all of them are only inside the Warframes, it doesn't take him long.

Hope glances at Belial. He hesitates for a moment, then starts to fly toward the Western Front to retrieve his children. Just as Hope is about to leave, Belial suddenly disappears, teleported away.

Hope's expression turns ugly.

Jason! He's still watching, after all.

Secretly, Hope was thinking of leaving Belial here. With the Warframes gone, there would be no chance of her surviving. But since Jason teleported her away, that destroys Hope's plan.

Always ready to protect his vicious demon friends. Hope thinks. I told you to stay out of Maiura's business! Damn you, Jason!

Hope departs, leaving Uriel and her brothers behind. Immediately the swarm charges at the angels, threatening to put them down. But luckily, the Archangels simply take to the air, leaving their grounded enemies without a prayer of catching them.

Naturally, with their Cosmic-level bodies, the Kolvaxians are still able to leap into the air hundreds of feet high. But the moment they pounce, the Archangels dash to the sides, flying around with flaps of their wings to nimbly and agilely dodge their comparatively clumsy enemies.

"Come, test me if thou dost dare!" Uriel challenges. "I am not afraid of thee!"

...

Hope quickly arrives at his children's side, finding Mandy and Levi fighting with the assistance of Demon Deity Kristoff above. Kristoff's blood spears skewer and sla...

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gfonk0/the_cryopod_to_hell_594_the_kolvaxian_conspiracy/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/OGGruntComm on 2024-10-30 14:39:01+00:00.

Part 10.5

Hello Everyone! Thanks for everyone reading my parts! Been a bit again! This part covered Terra's ascendancy within the Galactic community! More to come!

Part 11: A Declaration

10 years pass the liberation of Dorothi

A large piece of furniture resembling a chair would be flung across the massive room smashing against the wall before its pieces settled below. A man approaching his 70’s stood confidently in the center of that large room. Large Windows that lined the back wall revealed the beautiful deep space around the station.

Many different species either stood or sat around the man in their respective positions. The larger and more influential species sat closer to the windows, with the smaller ones seated near the entrance. 

A symbol lay adorned beneath the man, signifying the Galactic Council that had requested his presence. Many species felt uneasy after the recent show of aggression from the Thraxian Representative. A few of their guards gripped their weapons tighter but immediately released them once they noticed the Council Guards staring them down. 

“ COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP?!?!” The brutish ape-like creature yelled out into the silent environment. 

“ We have done it for every species achie–” The Dwarf like species was immediately cut off. 

“ They only achieved Faster Than Light by stealing it from the Thraxian Empire. They are thieves and Violent Brutes. This Council voted for them to be unsanctioned. Bringing them to membership is unprecedented.” The Sularians interjected from their second seat. Their species being one of the founding for the Empire

The Dwarf responded soon after: “ We unsanctioned them based on the Empire's claim that they had violently attacked Empire science vessels. We were told they were barely sentient and were to violent to be introduced to the rest of the galaxy.” The Dwarf lifts himself up and gestures towards the lone man in the center. “Yet here they stand.. We have been deceived.”

“ They are only here due to pirating our Technology and taking our engineers. They are nothing more than a weak, dumb species with a tendency towards violence. I heard they have even imprisoned the Vrox.” A member from the Irk said in the 3rd. 

“Yet they are here. No matter how they had done it. They achieved the minimum required to have a seat in the council.” A voice from the 5th seat retorted.

“This is ridiculous! They are unsanctioned and, therefore forfeit to the whims of the galactic community! They are no longer qualified for membership!” The Ape creature yelled out again bashing its large hands onto its table, causing it to crack from the impact. The members from the 5th and 7th seat adjust their position.

“ Council Members, I’d like to interject for a moment, please.” The Ambassador spoke from the center of the room, his eyes running along everyone within his 90-degree range. 

“ Go ahead..” The Dwarf responded before the Sularian could.

“Let's remove the issue altogether. Humanity is not seeking a seat in the council, " the older man said.

Audible gasps come from several of the seats. The Ape like creature sat back down and the sularian took a sip from what resembled a glass full of liquid.

“ We refuse to sit in the same body of representatives that voted for our destruction. You all accepted the Empire’s story because it was easier to sign our death warrant then challenge your masters.” The ambassador gestured his hand to the three seating closest to the windows on the term “Masters”.

The Dwarf adjusted in his seat and looked down in the form of disappointment. A small “Humph” escaped him.

The Sularian spoke up: “ Noone here is a master. We are all equal in our vote. Even the pufflings have…well…something” It gestured to a staff member resembling something close to a standing Bearded Dragon. It served more water into a glass for the 7th seat to drink.

“ Right…Equal.” The Ambassador said empathically.

“ The point stands. We won’t be seeking a position within the Council. I am here to set the record straight.” The man rose a small pad up infront of him and swiped a few times onto it.“ To all Galactic Council members, you will be sent a Data Log housing information, Audio, and video recordings of the invasion of Earth. You will see proof of our Sensitivity and when it began, the current situation with the people of Vrox, and personalized messages for all of you.” The ambassador spoke out once he noticed most members looking down at their own datapads or being spoken to by their own staff.

A few gasps would come from the Council followed by a few murmurs.

The Dwarf spoke first: “ Is this true Sularian?” 

The Sularian stood up which grabbed the attention of much of the council. 

“I hereby vote on behalf of the Thraxian Empire to mark the Terran Republic and their Homeworld the Enemy of the State by the Council.” The Sularian speaking directly to the ambassador, that wore a slight smirk. 

All 4 of the closest seat stood in acceptance. The Dwarf spoke out in anger along with many others from the lower end of the Council. Anger began to swell within the council as yelling was met from all sides. 

“ As Representative of the top 4 seats. We hereby VETO the rest of the Council Votes against our declaration. It has now passed, The Terran Republic is marked Enemy of the State. All Species seen supporting, aiding and abetting the republic will be marked further as Enemy of the State and subsequently approved for extermination.”

“ WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” The Dwarf stands up in anger, yelling directly to the sularian. 

“ This was not in the Council constitution! We refuse!!” Another voice spoke up. 

The Royal Council guard tenses up as they eye down the personal protection of each council member. 

The Human turned to the four standing council members near the window. “ The Terran Republic accepts your decision Thrax.” The Ambassador spoke with confidence and vigor. His stance unchanged and confident which caused the Sularian to adjust itself from the awkward look.

The Yelling raises as items around the council room begin to be shifted and some thrown as the anger grows among the community. 

“ The Vrox say hello..” The Ambassador says before his hologram fizzles out.

After the declaration, The Galactic Council began splintering from its once unified roots. The Thraxian Empire took advantage of the unease. It justified the destruction of multiple council member states that supported the Terran Republic during the conflict with the Dabin ( Dwarf ) and few other much larger member species being able to withstand the conflict with the Thraxians.

The Terran Republic opened its borders with majority of the Ex-Council Member Species to allow in refugees from the conflict caused by the ever-growing Thraxian Empire. With the immigration came new technologies, new cultures and new committed members to the Terran Republic itself.

In just a few years, the Terran Republic had grown rapidly, incorporating the Sol System and two others under its banner. The entire galactic community has been embroiled in its first galactic-spanning war.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/MrIzuarel on 2024-10-30 13:42:10+00:00.

Chapter 100

Concerning the divine crystals, I had two of the needed 9 for the next evolution. At the same time, I had obtained the first of ten used crystals for the third secret, but I was unsatisfied.

No matter how I turned this thing around, I was nowhere close to where I should be in terms of strength. I had fought with two monsters that had consumed divine crystals, and in both cases, I had to fight dirty to win. I had to do something about this.

There were two options that were viable at that moment.

Either raising my level to 80, obtaining the disguise skill rank 2 that allowed me to use equipment, and then hope I would obtain more weapons similar to the petrification club. Personally, I didn't want to hope for that.

Or I would finally start working on my goal of obtaining more skills.

I opened the mutation window and used all my points to select the last and final tier in that window. The price to do so was horrendous, but I paid it happily, sacrificing quite a few levels of my hunter job in the process.

Raising my maximum level from 90 to 100 and unlocking the final enhancement tier for my character was very emotional for me. It felt like arriving at the final stretch of a very long race.

That was the last time I used the mutation mechanism of my system for that purpose.

I ordered the immediate stop of any dungeon explorations and explained the situation. I went into detail about what we needed to do to solve this problem as fast as we could and how to proceed. What followed was brutal.

The girls accepted it, and for two months, we did nothing else than fishing inside my dungeon. We were more than determined to obtain the last secret of the job and finally move forward. Day after day, we fought, we conquered, and we advanced my job at an astonishing pace.

So, when that moment finally arrived and we received the rewards of our efforts, I could not be prouder.

○○○○○

Mermaid fishing

You have the probability of 1% to fish a mermaid instead of a treasure chest when you use mythical grade lures and a fishing rod. The mermaids will give you quests to complete.

○○○○○

This was all I wanted.

Mermaids were the most hidden secret of this job. The rewards they gave for completing quests were insane, but so was the difficulty to clear it. If I was lucky or unlucky, depending on the point of view, the reward would be a good item. But those were the easy quests. The more challenging ones had rewards like trophies, free enhancements, and skills.

Yes, the mermaids gave me very challenging quests, and I could obtain skills that I would otherwise only get through repeated enhancement block completion.

I let the two fishing buffs run out, the one pertaining to the lure and the other connected to the net, and observed my girls. Then I pulled out the highest possible rod out and destroyed a tiara. The tiara was the only mythical grade item I had, and it was the item I had found inside the mythical grade treasure chest that started the quest for the final secret.

In the next moment, over four hundred small swarm beasts pulled out their rods and started fishing.

What followed was pure chaos. Most of them obtained fish. That much wasn't surprising, but the others who pulled out treasure chests had those treasure chests transformed into ghost ships. That much was also not surprising.

Of all four hundred girls, one had a mermaid on the hook, and that was considerably lucky. I ran towards that girl and ordered the others to clean up the ships. As I arrived, I was stunned by that I was seeing.

It was a mermaid like I expected it to be, but it wasn't exactly the one I had designed. This one had an addition to it that I didn't recognize.

On her head, instead of eyebrows, she had antlers. Except for that small detail, she was definitely the mermaid I had created.

○○○○○

A mermaids plea

Clear 10 dungeons and obtain the reward from the mermaid.

Dungeons cleared: 0/10

○○○○○

That one was a bust. It was one of the easy quests, so it only gave me a simple item as a reward for my efforts. What exactly always depended on what dungeons I selected to obtain the reward.

We cleaned up the place and went back to fishing for more mermaids. The next one was also a bust. She was also asking to clear ten dungeons for an item.

The third one was more challenging. She asked me for about thirty items hidden inside specific dungeons, but gave me a skill as a reward. This one was a winner. The first one.

This put a smile on my face. I was not expecting obtaining such a quest this fast, as they had a very low probability to occur. It only encouraged me to continue collecting more quests.

The girls and I stayed inside my dungeon for two days, doing nothing else than fishing mermaids and accepting their quests. I filled my quest log with almost 1.600 quests.

I wasn't even sure how I had obtained that many of them. I had reached the hard limit of acceptable quests and continued with collecting them with the idea of abandoning the useless ones to create room for the useful. Instead, I simply added them to the list and ignored the limits.

And that was also not the only problem i was facing. The requirements for all those quests made it almost impossible for me to wrap my head around it.

I had no quest giving me trophies as the trophy system wasn't active for me. I could live with that tragedy, even if it made me cry crocodile tears.

Once we finished that quest gathering, I let my girls roam free inside the dungeons. It didn't take too long until hundreds of items started piling up inside my inventory and the quests being cleared. Then, after a few hours, the first quests i really needed started to be cleared.

Dungeon related quests were pretty common as quest from the mermaids, but there were a significant portion that requested other conditions to clear the quests.

I had hundreds of simple dungeon clear quests that gave me items, so I wasn't surprised when bows, lances, and other items started to appear in my inventory. In fact, the only annoying part in those quests was that I could not clear a dungeon, and that would count for multiple quests at the same time. I was also disappointed that it was impossible for multiple quest items inside dungeons to appear. But my mind was not focused on those small problems.

Far more important were the quests that gave me skills and enhancements. Of those quests, I had 14 skill related quests and 8 enhancements related quests.

As most reward items came in, the only ones that caught my attention were the heroic or mythical items.

After two days, the first pop-ups started to show up. I was obtaining random enhancements without needing to put in the experience points. The costs of the following enhancements still rose due to that, but a free enhancement was always welcome.

After a week of intensive quest clearing, the first skills started to show up.

I was a bit disappointed because these were not really the skills I was expecting, but I accepted them nonetheless. My girls were also quite underwhelmed by the rewards, but everything that could help was always welcome.

I was also very occupied with completing the quests that didn't involve entering the dungeons. Material gathering most of the time.

After eight days of intensive dungeon runs, I asked my girls to come back so we could collect more quests again for two days, which they happily accepted.

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