Next
“Readings show that the facility is still operational. That should not be possible.” The robotic voice of Z-8 reading the analysis out to the crew of The Scav. Their multiple mechanical arms operated three different devices, multitasking with immaculate precision.
“Noted Zate, are there any lifeforms detected?” Asked Lizra, the Elyrian Captain of the vessel. She stood in the center of the room on a small pedestal that made her tall enough to see out the window, striped white and red tail swaying in thought. Outside the window was a frozen moon that housed the remnants of a long forgotten pre-migration military base.
“None that appear on the scanner Captain Lizra. We hope we did not come all this way just for our mission to be futile.”
“Even if it is not here, perhaps there will be something left behind in the facility's computer systems, these pre-migration bases are always incredible to explore.”
“If there ain't nothing here, I’m gonna send a strongly worded letter to Ensign Marketh. And by strongly worded letter, I mean my fist through his stupid fucking face.” Argall growled. Being the only Induran on the crew he had grown quite annoyed that nobody could assist him with the heavy lifting during the long journey. He could barely fit within the tight confines of the control room, and his large purple form took up more space than anything else on the ship.
“Calm yourself Argall, deep breaths. All of our work shall have paid off here momentarily. Bring us down Zate.”
The ship descended towards the rocky object below and set itself down on a crumbling landing pad. The trio disembarked after Argall and Lizra donned their environmental suits. Once they reached an outer door Zate began to interface manually with the facility. But after a minute of working, they had yet to make any progress. They should have been able to open the door in seconds with such outdated security, but everything seemed unrecognizable to them.
“Captain, it seems that the facility’s computer systems have been rewritten entirely from the ground up. I do not even recognize the coding language. This could be more difficult than we first expected.”
“That can’t be right, this place is over a thousand years old. I thought you had every language from the Commons in your database?”
“We do, it seems that whoever did this, did it entirely from the ground up. We will have to break it down into binary and then organize in a way that we can…”
“There’s no lifeforms inside, just make a new door.” Argall grumbled, reeling back and smashing a large dent into the side of the facility.
“Argall no more! These ancient outposts are fragile! This could cause irreparable damage, not to mention compromise the structural integrity!” Lizra yelled, jumping up and trying to wrap her paws around the angry Induran’s arm. Before he could punch it again, the door hissed and swung inward.
“Oh! Excellent work Zate! I guess it wasn’t too hard for you after all.”
“It was not us who opened the door.”
“Oh… perhaps punching was the key. Good call Argall, exercising initiative in the absence of orders.”
“Of course ma'am , it just came to me naturally.”
“Lets not dwell out here any longer, in we go crew!”
The three made their way into the facility as the door closed behind them causing Lizra to jump onto Argall in surprise. The dark corridors were lit up seconds later with the hum of long dead fluorescent lights. Lining the hallways were the long expired bodies of other Elyrians. Their corpses preserved by the cold temperatures and lack of air inside. The systems started to kick back on and compressed air flooded into the installation. The dead silence within, replaced by the busy whir of machines coming to life after having been out of a job for centuries.
“Z-Zate I thought you said you couldn’t access the facility?”
“Correct, we were unable to decrypt the programming language or set up an interface. It is not us rebooting the systems.”
“Right, Argall I-I think I shall stay up here, for my own safety of course.” Lizra stated perched atop his shoulder, tail wrapping around the hulking Induran’s neck for balance. He answered her with a growl as the group continued forward. Argall accidentally bumped into one of the corpses causing it to crumble into a pile of dust and bone. They followed the blinking lights that led them through the dilapidated hallways before reaching an intersection. The lights on the other end of the hallway were out and the only thing illuminated was a door to their left. Whatever was running the facility wanted them to go here.
“The lights seem to want us to go in, do you all think this is where the weapon is?"
“We are unsure captain. When we tried to interface we were actively repelled by something and we have been attempting unsuccessfully to gain access since. There is someone else in the facility, and they know we are here.”
“Lets just follow the blinking lights, and if someone else is here, then I punch them and take the weapon. They can’t be good at computers and punching.”
“I love your optimism Argall, always good to have a plan! But maybe let’s refrain from punching our host? They’ve been very welcoming thus far, I’m sure if they wanted to fight us they wouldn’t have let us in to begin with.” Lizra countered as she looked at the new glowing path before them. The corroded door slid open as they approached.
Inside was a vast array of dated computer equipment, hundreds of wires and tubes connected to a sleek black box in the center of the room. She had never seen a computer like that in the old textbooks she studied before this quest. As the group walked towards it, grainy speakers embedded into the room crackled to life.
“Welcome visitors. My name is Tic-Tac, it’s so nice to see someone again after all these years.”
“Hello…uh Tic-Tac. Thank you for letting us in. May I ask, where exactly are you?”
“You’re looking at me madam. Please refrain from touching anything in here, my interfaces are very fragile. Now can I ask what brings you here?” Lizra hopped down from Argalls shoulder and stepped up to the small black box in the center of the room, inspecting the cables and wires around it. This is what was running the facility?
“We are here for the weapon, please resist.” Argall said, cracking his knuckles.
“No no no, please do not resist! We’re all nice here. We are here looking for an ancient weapon to aid us in a conflict that threatens all of our species. Would you by chance be Human?”
The intercom made a strange noise before speaking again “Haha, no I am merely based upon a human intelligence. You must have come here for my friend… hmm I guess we never got to discuss that new name yet. Regardless, he is here. But before we go any further I have to ask why you sought us out specifically.”
“Well you see Mr. Tic-Tac, we were given the quest to find a weapon that could change the tide of our war. We are part of a rebellion against the Galactic Core and we sent out many search parties to find anything that could help us change the tide of the battle. We are one of those parties, and we hope that you would lend your assistance to us in our time of need.”
“Unfortunately we retired from conflict many years ago. I do not think my partner would be so keen to assume a combat role again. We ended up here after an attempt to escape a life whose only purpose was war.”
“Well umm, maybe he would agree if we could talk to him? Tell him why we are fighting?”
“I am afraid that is not possible. He is currently indisposed, but if you would assist me in bringing him back to the world of the waking then he might hear you out.”
“Pardon my interruption but you have complete control over this facility. Is it not within your realm of capabilities to bring him back yourself?” Zate asked as they curiously inspected the systems around the room.
“I would if I could. I have actually been waiting for someone to stumble across this place so I could wake him. But since I do not possess a physical body it isn’t within my current means to accomplish.”
“If you do not possess a body how did you manage to construct these interfaces of yours.”
“Those that were here before you made this for me. They did not know what they were working with and they went through a great deal to communicate with me. I bided my time until I had full access to their systems to gauge their true motives. They did not have genuine intentions with us, so once they served their purpose, I had them purged from the facility.”
“So that explains why everyone here isn’t in… pristine condition." Lizra said glacing at the corpses of her people around the room. "You wouldn’t do that to us right Tic-Tac?”
“As long as you do not jeopardize my sovereignty or attempt to harm my partner.”
“Right, yea no intentions of doing that here. How can we be of assistance Mr Tic-Tac?”
“To your left you should see a cryostasis chamber, inside is my partner. It requires someone to physically release him from the outside. I’ll start the process of waking him, shouldn't be long.”
After a few minutes the chamber in the corner of the room started to get louder, finally booting back up again after a thousand years of being idle.
“Ok may the Induran please step up and release the clamps on the side?”
“How are you aware of what an Induran is? This facility was abandoned long before the Elyrian came into contact with the wider galaxy.” Zate asked the computer suspiciously.
“When you attempted to interface with my network, you opened yourself up to my own inquiry. I was able to access your memory and language databases stored within your own systems. I apologize for the violation but I was just being precautious.”
Zate did not know how to feel about how easily this program was able to bypass their security measures without them even knowing. That should not have been possible. As an Extant, they were a dispersed biological consciousness that was housed in a mechanical form. Their own internal systems should have been entirely shielded from outsider meddling. They put that aside as a note for future reference.
Argall walked forward and released the clamps that held shut the pressurized pod. Inside was a creature none of them had ever seen before. It looked more akin to an Extent than any biological creature. It reached up and pulled itself out of the pod denting the metal on either side as it did so. Once it rose to it’s feet it was nearly as tall as the Induran. Argall backed up and looked like he was ready to fight the thing in front of him.
“Calm down Induran, I do not think that would end well for any of us." Tic-Tac reprimanded before moving to the speakers in the back of the room and speaking in a strange language. "All good buddy? Can you hear me?”
“Fuck you TAC, I trusted your plan! The fuck were you thinking? I was conscious for the first 5 years! Do you have any idea what they put me through?”
“What is it saying? I can’t understand it.” Lizra asked, hopping up on Argall’s back peaking over his shoulder. She was trying to hide behind his bulky form to get a look at the new creature in the room. It had thick black metal plating that blanketed its bipedal form. On its chest were many strange objects and lettering she did not recognize and beneath the armor was a tight suit that covered everything the metal plating did not. Atop it’s head was a large metal helmet with a bright orange visor covered in small hexagons that faintly glittered in the light.
“Momentarily. We are uploading a new language to your translators. This should solve the problem. I see you placed this here when I was not paying attention Tic-Tac. I would ask that you refrain from violating our systems in the future.” Zate scolded and a second later the other two were able to understand the strange creature's speech.
Tic-Tac’s voices lit up the intercom in the room once again. “Good to hear your voice again 909, you know I don’t like being called TAC anymore.”
“And I said not to call me 909 again, so we’re even. Who are these ones? How long has it been? They didn’t find us, did they?” His voice sounded frantic as he got to the end of his questions.
“Take it slow, you're very disoriented right now. These ones are friendly. And no they didn’t find us, we’re safe.”
“Hi Mr 909?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Right, Mr Human then? We are here seeking a weapon to help us in a fight against a terrible enemy. Your friend Tic-Tac told us that you are what we came for and may be convinced to aid us in this fight?”
“No, I don’t do that anymore. I’m done fighting other people’s wars. Just get me off this rock.”
“But sir you don’t understand, The Core they-they’re tyrannical. They abuse the countless races of the Outer Belt, take our resources, they're-”
“Unless their goal is to exterminate every beach in the known galaxy to stop me from enjoying my retirement, I’m not interested.”
“Apologies everyone, but I am afraid I have some bad news. I’ve detected a slipspace rupture nearby, and it’s headed in our direction. The ship you arrived in, does it have any weapons?”
“Oh that was fast. Well, it's kind of funny, you see we were hoping to find one here, so uh… no, not really.”

With David posting Lost Highway on Letterboxd I saw some folks start mentioning their need to get going on Twin Peaks. With only 2 episodes planned for the original series (and thus only two discussion threads) for about 25 hours of television— posting to gauge interest in weekly Twin Peaks watchalong threads. Might be a good way to organize viewing and discussion of the series outside what will be possible in the eventual pod ep threads?
I figure if we arbitrarily pick Tuesdays for each thread and start 5/21, and we double up episodes other than pilot/premiers and finales—that’s 17 weeks and we will be done by September 10th, which would roughly be decent timing?
Thoughts? Objections? If mods see this and want to take the helm all the better :)
EDIT: Watchalong officially starts NOW! I will post a discussion thread for the pilot TUES 5/21.

I need a watch mainly for normal somewhat competitive running training: to measure distance, speed, and heart rate. I had the M430 for many many years and loved it for its simplicity and how it could do everything essential. Eventually the battery life started to be compromised, so I decided to upgrade to Polar Pacer, which I read is a similar watch but with some new features.
I'm disappointed - many functions that were working well in M430 have been made worse for some reason.
The main ones concern interval training:

1. When doing intervals, I use a lap view with "Average lap pace" as the main thing to help pace myself. Expect, it is actually not showing average lap pace, but is so severely delayed that it becomes essentially useless. Say I'm trying to run 3-min repetitions at 4 min/km pace. Starting off, the "avg pace" might lag stuck at 4:17 forever, even though I feel I'm running faster. It will slowly drift to perhaps 4:10 over the first minute, and then 4:05 over the second minute. Then, suddenly it jumps to 3:52 min/km during the last minute. So I have overshot it due to the lag. The feature clearly does not work, which is surprising, as it worked perfectly in M430. Ironic that the watch calls itself "Pacer" and fails at this basic task. Now I have to do the math in my head while I run by looking at the distance and time ("4 min/km pace is 250m per minute") to be able to gauge how I'm doing - the distance is correct in the watch. This is silly: the watch should be doing the math for me! But it is not calculating simple average pace! Instead, it seems to be using some obscure weighted average that makes it useless in short intervals (not that 1-4 min intervals are that short - you can easily get good enough GPS to calculate this, as proven my the instant pace which works well).
   
2. When pressing the lap button, I only get the lap time. This can't be customized. In M430, I got lap pace and lap heart rate on the flash screen, which again, made pacing an entire interval session much easier. Lap time is not interesting unless I'm on the track which already gives me distance, but even then, I'd rather see average pace to avoid doing the math in my head! If I'm doing 3-min intervals, I know that the lap time is 3 min, so don't show me that and allow be to choose a more informative variable.
   
3. Polar Pacer is advertised as being compatible with the Stryd pod. I already had one (and use it occasionally), and that's why I didn't go for the Pacer Pro. IT IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH STRYD. Yes, it shows you power in real time when you run, but it does not store running power data, so that you cannot see what you did afterwards or use that metric to monitor training. This should be made clear before selling the watch as "Stryd-compatible".
   
4. Treadmill running speed is way off. This was the case for M430 too, but you would think that this is a very easy thing to fix with a calibration factor that you can manually put in. Why did Polar not do that? Even in my ancient Polar RS200 from like 20 years ago, you could manually calibrate their footpod against a known distance. Why not in 2024, Polar? Again, treadmill data is pretty useless because of this.
   

I'm thinking of switching to Garmin or Coros for my next watch. Polar is just so far behind in features these days. The HR stuff is good, better than anyone, but that's just not enough to make me commit to Polar anymore if they don't care about basic functionality. I already switched to Garmin for my bike computer as Polar is completely uninterest in cycling metrics.
This was mainly to rant about how a "Pacer" watch does not to its job, but also to perhaps hear solutions in case I'm getting something wrong and not configurating the watch properly. What are your experiences?

first
Luna VI query: Set the source to the leaked files of the first reconnaissance operation of Irisa.
Certainly!
Luna VI query: What did Ryo do during the first hour of the war?
***
Ryo had already reached a state of full awareness after waking up, and yet he hadn't moved an inch, immersed in his inner world as he thought about what he and Elysira had done at night.
And what a wild night it was.
The way that she had skipped the journey to go straight for the finishing line had caught him unprepared. Still, with the mystery of their physical compatibility out of the way from the get-go, Ryo had been left with a lot of time to explore the other hiccups and perks of this interspecies endeavor.
From the occasional accident with her claws to the new possibilities her tail brought to the table, Ryo had enjoyed everything.
There was not an ounce of regret in him, but the memory of their last act lingered incessantly in his thoughts—a vivid Recollection of Elysira’s tail wrapping around his leg and letting silence prevail as his arm shyly enveloped her, allowing them to fall asleep side by side.
The one memory that held him in place, fearing their next interaction when the slightest of his movements would inevitably wake her up, mirroring what had happened all in the previous mornings.
What would she say?
Would she think that they are in a relationship now?
What would he do if the concept of casual hook ups didn't exist for the Irisians?
Ryo touched his face and shook his head, instantly deciding it was time to start his morning routine to distract him from those absurd thoughts.
The brain IO interface captured his intention, turning on the lights on the ceiling with maximum brightness, something that he was sure would wake her up at once given how sensitive to change all Irisians were.
And yet he was wrong.
Elysira’s head tilted away from the light as eyelids fluttered, but the only other thing she did before stopping moving was strengthening her grip on his leg quite a bit, making him realize that her tail had not let go of him the whole night.
Upon noticing how numb his leg felt, Ryo propelled his body upwards, intending to uncoil her tail from his leg and start his day. Hopefully, Elysira wouldn't mention what they did, and he too would be able to pretend it never happened.
However, the moment his upper body lifted from the ground and he got a full view of her body, he was unable to remove her tail from his leg, captivated by a simple but powerful sight.
With her hands inside the pockets, Elysira had used his jeans to restrain her claws, putting herself in a very uncomfortable position, likely afraid of hurting him during her sleep.
His eyes widened, dispersing his previous train of thought from existence. The hand that was supposed to be dealing with her tail moved toward Elysira's exposed neck instead, aiming to wake her up with a gentle touch.
And as if he had just perturbed the stillness of a calm lake with a stone, a barely perceptible ripple of yellow spread on her skin from the contact with his fingertips. It traveled through her neck, reaching the soft lines of her face, and even traveled down her long hair strands.
At the same time that it felt wrong to be able to take a peek at her emotions so easily, Ryo couldn't help but wonder—which other colors had the darkness stolen from him? While immersed in this question, Ryo kept caressing her neck until her eyes opened slowly, resetting all the back spots of her body at once as consciousness took control over instinct.
Elysira’s grip on his leg loosened when she realized she was overdoing it. Her gaze started scanning every inch of him, starting from the accidental scratches of her own making and unashamedly stopping at places she had not seen before.
Unbothered by her curiosity, he even removed some of the loose strands in front of her eyes and threw them behind her long ears to make her job easier, feeling some apprehension only when she lost interest and sought eye contact.
Traces of purple appeared around her black spots as she spoke. "What do you humans do after... what we did?"
Ryo winced, but his tone was gentle. "Silly girl!" He felt deep regret for how he had skipped the part of Irisian relationships in favor of politics when she was teaching him about her species. "It could be everything or nothing."
He expected some intense reaction from Elysira, but there wasn't a lot of emotion showing. As he searched her skin, he also realized he was unable to look at her the same way as before.
From seeing her small breasts, which he now knew for a fact fit on his hands, to the very memory of all evenness that he now was able to associate with the sheen her skin exhibited from certain angles, Ryo realized he had lost the ability to gauge her emotions without feeling a hint desire.
She noticed how long he was staring at her and a hint of yellow appeared. "I don't need everything, but nothing is not enough!"
How did Ryo fail to see that this conversation would inevitably happen when they were having fun at night?
"Oh!" He was unable to keep his mouth shut, which resulted in red and purple manifesting on her skin as he felt the pressure for a quick reply.
He had heard the Irisians speaking terms such as chosen, mate, and family, but Ryo didn't know much about this, and now was not looking like a good time for asking for clarification.
The translator would do its job in conveying his intention. But what would he say? Friends with benefits maybe? He gave up that one on the spot; he didn't consider their previous relationship a friendship, and somehow, he felt a dangerous desire to want more than that from her.
Under the pressure of his previous mistake, he told her the highest relationship he was willing to have without a care in the world for consulting his superiors. "Is girlfriend good for you?"
Elysira’s eyes widened as her skin maintained the same tones. But it lasted only a second before a golden hue took over, leaving little room for her black spots. "Wait, are you serious? I never thought you would consider anything more than being my exclusive pair."
"I am serious, but what's the difference?" Ryo instantly felt he could have gotten away with being just friends with benefits.
"Two differences." She took her clawed hands from the pockets of his jeans and pressed them against his neck in a fast but controlled movement. "One is implied trust." Her head approached him slower as if she would kiss him, but instead, her lips diverted toward his ears where she whispered, "And the other is a promise for the future."
"That seems alright."
As he said that, Elysira had already started taking little bites on his earlobe, her other hand joining around his neck while her tail was sneakily pushing the rest of her body on top of him.
"This will have to be quick, we-"
Ryo was about to give up the time they had for breakfast, when a powerful explosion shook the ground, causing the whole tent to vibrate.
Elysira’s pointy ears began to twitch and her body receded, trying to get of clue of what happened as she displayed purple. "I hear nothing."
"This was not far from here; I don't think it was a landslide." Ryo summoned a window with all the cameras outside and found nothing unusual, even with the infrared inspection.
Elysira could see what he was doing since they had never left the shared augmented space.
"Can we see what Amara is doing? She might know more than us."
He still was incapable of referring to her as his girlfriend even in his thoughts, but he still felt a hint of pride for her quick thinking. "Let's see."
He quickly summoned a live feed and promptly instructed the AI to go through the recordings of the whole night. "Nathan and that princess are still inside the tent. Time to go there."
Ryo wasted no time explaining, quickly standing up to begin the search for his underwear. The floor was still littered with paper sheets, and there were even some opened water bottles around, but he still found what he was looking for before pulling his jeans from under Elysira’s butt and getting dressed with haste.
He wore his shoes but didn't bother with his shirt and jacket, just taking his already loaded gun from the holster and getting some spare ammunition before heading outside cautiously.
"I'm going with you." She got out of the tent almost at the same time as him, proving that not needing clothes had its advantages.
"Stay close." He activated the infrared view mode and scanned the surroundings just to be sure, then hasted his steps towards Nathan's tent which was about forty meters ahead.
There was little he expected would go wrong on such a short journey, but Elysira’s ears began to twitch halfway through, prompting him to stop advancing. "Hear someone?"
"Something." She then used her tail to point uphill, in the direction where the rest of the group had set camp on the previous day. "I think it's a drone."
"Fuck, I hope you are wrong." He raised his 3D-printed revolver and felt like cursing more at the fact he didn't even have a proper pistol, pulling back the harmer and getting himself in front of Elysira.
Thanks to her acute hearing, when he heard the buzzing of the drone, his gun was already pointing in the right direction. Upon getting the first glimpse of the flying object and noticing how fast it was moving, he didn't hesitate to do a partial activation of combat mode.
The world slowed down for a moment, allowing him to see the device flying among the very few beams of blue light that made their way through the canopies. He didn't wait a single second and corrected his aim slightly to the left before pulling the trigger.
Bang!
The drone was torn to pieces and many parts fell about twenty-five meters away from them, at a distance that any explosives wouldn't hurt himself or Elysira.
When his eyes found her behind him, there was yellow and purple on her skin as she asked, "What if it was friendly?"
"The owner can send the bill up the chain for all I care." Ryo lowered the gun and did a full scan all around once more, only to find nothing again.
Her tail wrapped around his arm as all purple on her body disappeared, leaving only a hint of yellow. "Amara won't be happy if it was hers."
Just as Elysira spoke, a circular door opened on Nathan's tent, and Amara took a step outside with red filling her body.
Ryo pictured a scene of a princess complaining about her lost drone, but things only got more complicated instead.
Nathan emerged after her, and the pair began to argue loudly about what to do now that a war had broken out; Amara wanted to march uphill to join her guards, but Nathan held her by the tail when she was about to leave and prevented her for moving, saying it would be too dangerous.
Their argument turned into a messy mixture of the present situation with Amara sulking about a wasted night, which led Ryo to exchange a look of surprise with Elysira.
But their surprise only lasted a moment and Ryo decided he couldn't let those fools keep wasting valuable time.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
He had their attention now. "Please don't tell me you're mad because the plant lover couldn't get it up."
Under normal circumstances, Ryo had no doubt his assholish behavior would only instill shame and improve their cooperation.
However, he forgot to account that he was not wearing a shirt, leaving all his scratches exposed while Elysira was disheveled by his side, which caused Nathan's jaws to drop followed by Amara throwing an indignant gaze at Elysira and then at Nathan, who gave Ryo the feeling he might snap at any time.
"Why are you here?" Nathan's calm voice didn't match his clenched fist and rigid posture.
"Information. I want her to tell me what she knows about this war." Ryo had learned about the war by overhearing their previous argument.
Surprisingly, Amara was cooperative. "My brother's army found our position. They were not aware I was here with Nathan and ambushed the rest of my people and Zara; you destroyed their drone but if they saw us they might have a good reason to come here."
"Fuck!" He turned to Elysira and ordered. "Go back and gather my things. Take the essentials first, we are leaving."
Elysira used her tail to squeeze his arm in acknowledgment and rushed back. But when she had barely taken a few steps, she stopped as her ears moved. "More drones are coming!"
After alerting him, she ran to accomplish her task, leaving Ryo in the company of just Nathan and Amara.
"Isn't that great?" He grumbled to himself, but his voice carried loudly, obtaining the pair's attention as he raised his revolver again.
Knowing that the enemy was probably aware of their position, Ryo used infrared view mode to ensure they weren't using the drones as a distraction to pull off an ambush.
And that didn't seem to be the case when the first machine appeared, flying downwards in zigzag from the concentration of trees uphill.
Again Ryo used a partial activation of combat mode and aimed at the drone, yet this time more of them appeared, leaving the cover of the woods in groups of three until there were nine of them in total. But they didn't even try to get close this time, choosing to hover next to the canopies more than two hundred meters away from him, and assuming something akin to a structured formation.
This was extremely weird and enough of a reason for him to retreat a little, getting closer to his tent and taking cover behind a tree.
Nathan and Amara moved too, the botanist getting inside and returning with his gun while Amara's colors blended with his tent becoming hard to spot.
Assessing the new situation in an instant, Ryo concluded it would be better not to engage and retreat considering that those drones would be hard to take down at such distance. But things changed again quickly when the AI triggered a pop-up window, showing that several of the cameras he had set up in strategic places were capturing movement.
And what he was seeing now were several armed groups of Irisians heading towards their position, confirming Amara's supposition that the rebels were coming for them.
With the situation getting grimmer with every passing moment, Ryo thought of a possibility for what the drones might be doing, but his mind was still refusing to believe that the rebels could be as organized as his worst-case scenarios were giving them credit for.
To test this, he immediately tried to contact the space station through radio transmission, and since being found by the enemy was no longer an issue, he set the transmitter to maximum potency to validate his test.
Unable to establish a two-way connection.
He frowned even though that was not totally unexpected.
With only a few minutes at best before this place was filled with enemies, they would have to leave fast or they would be at the mercy of the enemy.
But first, there was something he wanted to say to Nathan, who now was using his tent for cover together with Amara. "Listen up, those fuckers are jamming our comms and they will be here at any time. Take the MLBCS and find a clearing to use it, I doubt they can interfere with the laser. Just don't forget that your immediate safety comes first or else you might not be among the living when the pod arrives."
Ryo and Nathan were technically enemies, but the last casualty in the war between Earth and Mars had happened several years in the past, ensuring that he had no reason to wish any harm for the botanist even though he didn't like him.
As for Amara, it was a little different. He hurried back to his tent without saying anything to her. And he did that not because he wished her harm, but simply because he didn't understand what she had at her disposal to offer any useful advice.
"Wait, what are you gonna do?" Nathan shouted from a distance.
With the adrenalin of seeing how many Irisians were coming helping his sincerity, he shouted back. "I'm not leaving the planet unless mission control finds a way to save Ely too."
After that, Nathan and Amara disappeared from his mind as he took cover behind his tent, slamming his hand against the foldable fabric many times to get Elysira's attention. "Hurry up, we can't stay here any longer."
She left immediately after, struggling to maintain balance as she used a hand plus her tail to carry his backpack, while her gun threatened to tumble from her gasp in her other hand.
And besides, one thing that Ryo’s eyes were immediately drawn towards was the clothes she was wearing—his clothes. While her legs were still exposed, his jacket still covered a bit more than her hips, loosely engulfing her slender frame like a billowing sail.
"I put the food and water in your backpack." She let go of the heavy item right over his feet as she put the gun on the ground and lifted her arms for him to recover his jacket and t-shirt. "You can get dressed while the tent folds."
He might have allowed her to keep the jacket if not for it being an inconvenience to her, so he just took it, making the first time he saw her wearing clothes a very short experience.
"No time for that, it won't fold with all the paper you left on the ground." He said as he swiftly slipped his arms into the sleeves of the jacket and zipped it up in one smooth movement.
Ryo was already considering which path they would take to flee when he noticed something terrible—Elysira’s skin had just been filled with gray as tiny black spots began to appear and disappear as if rain on the sand of a desert.
"What's it now?" He asked, trying to hide how unprepared he was to deal with this.
"Nothing has changed." Elysira averted her eyes. "I'm a burden to you just as I was to Amara. If I had-"
"Oh, shut up and quit the self-pity!" Ryo realized he was being too harsh, but still went on to finish it. "The paper is our mistake and I'm staying because I like you. This simple. Now get your gun and use your goddam camouflage, just like that princess is doing."
Ryo felt awful after saying this, and Elysira seemed quite taken about as she stared at him with wide eyes.
A moment later, however, she bent over and took the gun from the ground, her exterior blending quite well with the surroundings.
Ryo felt bad for her, but now there was no time to talk. "We run now, let's go."
The sound of his own steps was all he heard as they were putting some distance from the tent, making it so that he had to check on Elysira every couple of steps he took to ensure she was following him.
It was only when he heard some gunshots from far behind that he felt her claws tugging at his jacket from behind. "I hope Nathan is like you."
***
This was an account based on what Ryo did during the first hour of the war. The previous narrative is based on the events of the morning of the twentieth day of the exploratory mission of Irisa. According to your current settings, no queries will be suggested.
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Hey all! Finally got around to writing a trip report after my trip last week. I went to Disney world to celebrate my graduation from college and my honeymoon! I haven't been since I finished my college program pre-covid, so a lot has changed in the parks for me, and my partner has only been twice in his life and knows almost nothing about the parks. Needless to say, I did all the planning. We ended up not getting genie+ at all, and just gauging the crowd levels and checking wait times to make sure we could get on rides with shorter wait times. Overall, we were able to ride everything we wanted to, and didn't wait very long for many rides at all! Anyway, here's my trip report! Sorry it's so long!
May 4: arrive at MCO around 8 am, take Lynx bus to Disney Springs (route 311), so we can get something to eat and walk around to shop. The bus takes about an hour to get from the airport to Disney Springs, but for $2 per person, it can't be beat. End up eating at Chicken Guy, and then head to Pop Century when we're done shopping. It's around noon, and our room isn't ready, so we decide to hop on the skyliner to get a feel for it before we hit the parks the next day. We end up taking the friendship boats from Hollywood Studios to Swan and Dolphin to go play some mini golf with the free vouchers we got! Afterwards, we head back to the resort and head to the front desk, because the app said our room wasn't ready yet. The front desk person immediately found a room for us, so we were able to relax for a bit in the room before grabbing something to eat at the quick service location. We got the dining plan, and ended up using quick service credits for this meal. This is when we found out how much getting just a single alcoholic beverage can add to your bill! Anyway, after relaxing a bit more, we went out to the Polynesian resort to chill in the sand and have dinner at the Kona Cafe (which was great, btw!). We ended up just sharing plates of sushi, but were so full afterwards. We went back to our room at Pop and talked about our plans for our first park day before going to bed.
May 5: Our first day was Hollywood Studios. Neither of us were huge star wars fans before this trip, but in the weeks leading up to our vacation, we watched all the mainline star wars movies, watched Obi Wan, and previously watched the Mandalorian, and fell in love with the series. So, needless to say, we spent most of the day in Galaxy's Edge. We woke up at 7 and immediately got to the Skyliner to see a huge line, but was surprised at how fast it went. We were finally inside the park around 8 am and were surprised to see people already in the park, since we thought early entry started at 8:30. Either way, we walked over to Rise of the Resistance and got out of the ride around 8:15, so we headed to smugglers run. We loved Rise, but were pretty disappointed by Smuggler's. Afterwards, we explored Galaxy's Edge a bit before heading to an early reservation for Oga's. We honestly had a lot of fun there! I was skeptical because of the posts here, but the only thing I can really complain about are the prices, but what can ya do at Disney? We explored the rest of the park a little bit to ride Runaway Railway and Tower of Terror. We also watched the Indiana Jones show, which is where I found out my partner has never seen an Indiana Jones movie, but we almost always came back to Galaxy's Edge to explore, and ended up riding Rise multiple times because we enjoyed it so much! We ate dinner at Woody's Roundup Rodeo BBQ, and didn't realize that the menu was basically the same for everyone, and ate way too much food because of it. While delicious, I made sure not to make the mistake of overeating after that. We left early as neither of us care too much about watching fireworks shows.
May 6: Our second day was Epcot. Rope dropped Remy's, and still ended up waiting 40 mins. We were fine with it, tho, as we saw the wait go up to 80 mins as we were still in line. It was pretty fun, and we were glad to get it over with earlier. We headed over to the future world section of the park, rode the Figment ride (partner never went on it before and was excited to), then explored a bit before heading to our Cosmic Rewind VQ, which was probably the best coaster I've ever been on. It definitely lives up to the hype I've seen about it. Afterwards, we headed to the land pavilion, ate, then went on Soarin and (my fave ride) Living with the Land! We started our trek around the world, starting with Mexico, and made it to the Japan Pavilion for our reservation at Shiki-Sai for dinner. The food was great, but you definitely don't seem to get a lot for what you pay. We felt full enough afterwards, and decided to head back towards Norway to ride Frozen so we could beat the crowds after the fireworks show (neither of us are big fans of fireworks) overall, this day felt super busy, and is definitely a place that requires multiple days to fully experience for next time. We also made the mistake of not realizing you could buy LL and only book one VQ a day, because I wish we could've ridden Cosmic Rewind again! Next time!
May 7: Our third day was Animal Kingdom (my fave park). Rope dropped Flight of Passage, and ended up waiting about 20-30 mins, but it was my partner's first time riding and he enjoyed it. We both thought the screen looked a little blurry at times, and it made me wonder if the screen was aging or something. Afterwards, we dashed to Kilimanjaro Safaris and waited about 20 mins again, but it was another ride my partner never experienced, and he actually said it was probably his favorite attraction that day. We explored some gift shops and then made our way to Expedition Everest, then down to Dinoland USA. my favorite ride is Dinosaur, and it was one of the only rides we decided to ride more than once because I know Dinoland is on it's last leg before getting replaced. Man, is it in a sad state tho. This is the first time I've been since Primeval Whirl closed, and it definitely makes that area seem so empty. While we were walking past the carnival games, we heard one of the announcers begging for more players to join a game, so we decided to buy two tickets to join. I had never played these carnival games before, as I always thought they were overpriced if you didn't win anything, but I ended up winning! I got a Mickey with a dino institute shirt, which is probably the best souvenir I could've asked for to remember this part of the park. After that, we were done with rides for the day and decided to stroll around the park. We went to Rafiki's Planet Watch, since I remember going as a kid, and it was cool to see the veterinarians working, but definitely more of a place for little ones. The train ride was cool, tho. After strolling around through gift shops and such, we did the Bugs Life show, which was just as terrifying as I remember it as a child. It was also my partner's first time watching this show, and said he understands how this would be terrifying to a child. Well, good riddance to whenever that show gets replaced. After that, we got some burger pods and then left the park early so we could check into Animal Kingdom Lodge and chill in the pool because our feet were killing us. After we got out of the pool, we explored the resort some more, awed at the animals from our balcony, and then got ready for dinner at Boma. This was the meal my partner was most excited for, but unfortunately he was feeling a little sick and ended up not eating that much because of it. We also had an issue with our dining plan for this meal, but our server got it taken care of while we ate. Finally hit the hay after dinner.
May 8: Our last park day was Magic Kingdom. While I was exhausted, and suggested sleeping in since we had extended evening hours, my partner was already up and getting dressed. So, we rope dropped Space Mountain, then headed over to Haunted Mansion, then Thunder Mountain. I was getting hungry, so we got a Nutella fruit waffle from Sleepy Hollow and got to watch the parade while we waited. My partner started acting hangry while waiting in line because he thought we were wasting time, but I knew it was fine because we had extended evening hours. He felt better after eating, tho. We took a break to watch Hall of Presidents, then headed over to Tomorrowland for our Tron VQ. We ended up waiting an hour and a half, honestly maybe even more for?? It was insane, we waited 20-30 mins before we even got to the real line that you scan in for. Why does that happen?? This was definitely the most agonizing wait for us. The ride was really fun, but we thought it was just a tad too short. Even if it was only 5 seconds longer, but it is what it is. We enjoyed it, and definitely wanted to ride it again for extended evening hours. We were exhausted afterwards, though, so we went back to our resort to get some food in a more quiet setting and take a nap. After the nap, we headed back out and watched the tiki room, rode the train to storybook circus, rode the people mover, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Tron again (which was a walk-on after scanning in), Under the Sea, Winnie the Pooh, and Mine Train. We were definitely speed running the rest of the rides we cared about at the end, but it was definitely worth it considering how short all the waits were. We still had some time left of extended evening hours after Mine Train, but we decided to call it there because we were so exhausted.
May 9: Our last day, which we were so exhausted from the past few days that we just decided to chill at the resort. We ate breakfast at Boma, then just lounged around in the lobby, walked around to look at the animals one last time, and I bought an animal Kingdom Lodge shirt in the gift shop as a souvenir. We took a bus to Disney Springs and immediately took a Lynx bus back to the airport, where we drank some more overpriced alcoholic beverages while waiting for our flight and heading home.
Overall, it was a great trip. Even though I used to work there, it's a completely different experience going to the parks as a guest on a vacation. It was my first time staying at a deluxe resort, too. Something I was iffy about beforehand was the dining plan, but I loved it. It was crazy looking at the prices of all of our meals, and I think it definitely was a good deal for us since we loved all the fun themed alcoholic drinks we could get!
While I love MK, I think next time we might actually skip it. No plans for kids, so we definitely appreciate the aspects of the other parks with more things to do for adults (like going to Epcot everyday for cosmic rewind and alcohol). We both had a great time, and definitely want to start saving up for our next trip!

NOTE: This is my favorite episode of the Strays saga so far. Please enjoy! If you'd like to hear me read this story go here
2064 - Brownsville, Texas
Diego and Manuel stood silently while their grandparents spoke to the man. The boys should be celebrating their tenth birthday this week, but that wasn’t happening now. As the man started to nod their grandmother returned. She spoke to them in Spanish.
“My little ones. As we had feared we can’t send you both. Diego will go, he is younger.” Diego thought to himself ‘only by seven minutes,’ but his grandmother continued quickly. “Manuel will be our representative here, and Diego will go to space and start a new branch of our family tree.” Grandfather returned. They spoke in hushed tones a moment then turned back to the boys, shaking in the morning cold, holding hands tightly. Grandfather knelt in front of the boys, speaking in Spanish as well.
“My boys, there are great adventures ahead for you both. I know this is difficult, but you are strong, you have the name of warriors, and you will carry that name and make us proud, wherever you are. You are Tolama, and you represent us all.”
He was crying and the boys shook, trying not to cry. Grandma reached down and picked up Diego for a massive hug. Grandpa took him from her, squeezing him before setting him down next to his twin brother. Manuel tried to smile through tears as the boys embraced. Diego understood why he was leaving, and they both knew they might be separated. Hopefully Manuel would get on another ship. It didn’t make it easier.
The man that had spoken to his grandparents came over. “Time to go. Which one?” Trying to be brave, Diego turned to face him. He tried to speak but his ragged breath only made gasping sounds. The man smiled a warm smile. He took Diego’s hand. As they walked away he spoke to Diego in English, which, as his second language wasn’t that strong, but he understood enough. “Diego, right? I’m sorry I can’t take you both. My father decided to stay, demanding I take a child in his place.”
This had become common as people began to fear that the end of the world was nearing. Parts of humanity burned the Earth, while others tried to save some aspect of humanity, albeit not on this planet. The man continued.
“My name is Steven, and you are now a part of my family. My wife and daughter are already on board, so we need to hurry.”
On the ship, named “The Exiter,” (Stephen said it was a pun but Diego didn’t understand,) Steven closed the top of Diego’s sleeper pod. Diego watched him climb into the pod right next to him, looking at his family’s pods before closing the lid. Diego’s mind raced, what would happen? Where were they going? What kind of person was Stephen? His thoughts drifted to Manuel, and his grand-pa—re—n——
Diego drifted off to hibernation sleep.
2089 - The Exiter
Diego was awakened by a fist slamming on his sleeper pod. His mind was filled with cobwebs, his vision was blurry, and it took him a moment to remember where he was. The pounding continued. A woman was frantically trying to get his attention, he couldn’t make out her features, just a general shape. She was pointing at a red handle near his hand. He took a breath and the air burned. He coughed, which sent a jolt through him. His brain was foggy but he grabbed the handle and pulled, a vague memory that it was important to remember.
His pod opened and Diego smelled cooler air, still stale, but less painful. His eyes were focusing better but he still wasn’t sure what was going on. The woman spoke. “Are you the boy Steven brought on board?” Diego thought a moment then nodded. She breathed a steadying breath. “OK, come on out. I’m Linda, and this is my daughter Cassie. I’m afraid Steven didn’t make it.” She was so frantic that her voice barely cracked, although Cassie was sputtering through tears, holding tight to her mother’s leg. “The sleeper system has failed, several people didn’t make it.” This brought her to full tears as the two held onto each other. Diego was still fuzzy, barely remembering the events that had happened to him yesterday… or maybe longer? He looked up at Linda who pulled him into the embrace with Cassie. She gathered herself and smoothed her shirt before speaking.
“We are not even close to Proxima, this will be our home now. Maybe for the rest of our lives.” She looked at Diego, and Cassie, who was a bit taller than him but probably not much older. “And, this is our family. It is the three of us now. What is your last name?”
Diego spoke in a hushed tone, “Diego Tolama.”
Linda smiled. “That is a wonderful name Diego. Our last name is Kramer. You can use that as a middle name if you’d like, but keep Tolama, you will represent the family you left behind.”
Diego felt tears flood his eyes as he began to silently cry.
2100 - Exiter - Present Day
Diego was doing the same thing he did every morning, examining his crops. He had quickly learned about growing food in zero gravity, and had rapidly become the leader of the botanical department. It was quite possibly the most important job on the Exiter, or as many now called it, The Last Exit. Of course, the engineers who had managed to increase the speed of the ship got the most excited attention, but without Diego, they would have run out of food years ago.
A cup appeared in front of him, as Cassie joined him. “Coffee!” She smiled. He took the cup from his sister, and wondered how many rations she’d spent on it. Of course it was a special day so it was justified. Although he had managed to engineer several varieties of coffee and tea, coffee was a low yield crop in space, so it was more for special occasions.
Cassie sipped her coffee, smiling. “You know what today is?”
Diego returned her smile. “Of course I do. It’s Mom’s birthday.” She leaned on him as they smiled and sipped their special coffee. Before she passed Linda had loved coffee, often giving up a meal to get one cup in the morning. She was the reason Diego had spent so much time finding a way to grow coffee.
They had launched with more than a year’s worth of food and some water, as a means to survive the initial colonization on Proxima 2. It was obvious from the start that the food and water wouldn’t last. They had to grow food and recycle water.
The supplies they brought from Earth certainly had everything they needed, but recycling was so much more critical on the ship. They could not rely on finding ways to use local materials and supplies. Water was tricky. Diego had a knack for it, growing up on his grandparents’ farm had apparently left an imprint on him. His sister nudged him. “What’s your plan for the day?”
Diego smiled. “Tomatoes!”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s always tomatoes, or potatoes, or onions, or beets.” Diego interrupted her, “Someone has to make the food!”
They were both interrupted as Captain Lee came flying into the storage bay. He had unlocked his mag boots and was yelling to everyone to come into the large chamber. While the majority of the storage bay was dedicated to Diego’s farm, this was the largest space on the ship and still served as a gathering room.
Captain Lee drifted across the room until he bumped into the central beam, grabbing on to stop in the center of the room. Captain Lee was in his fifties, (Technically 25 years older, but hibernation doesn’t count,) and not as spry as he had been in his younger days. People aged differently in space, and some people didn’t do well. For him to practice these gymnastics meant he had some kind of good news, maybe another speed increase!
Captain Lee looked around to make sure everyone was present. “Folks, the Last Exit as flown it’s last kilometer. I have just been in communication with a ship from Earth.” The crowd looked around, had they come across another sleeper ship? Lee waited for the murmurs to quiet then continued. “It seems after we left the war ended and humanity rebuilt the Earth. They also solved faster than light travel and this ship, The Shepherd, has come to save us.” He looked around to gauge the crowd’s excitement. He yelled out “We can go home!” before spinning in the zero gravity.
Cassie approached Diego. “Hey, you haven’t packed.” Diego busied himself around his tomatoes, acting like he didn’t hear. “Diego, I know you don’t want to leave your gardens, but we can go home.” She pulled him to face her and realized he was crying. “What’s wrong?”
Diego took a deep breath, “Manuel died. All of my family is gone.” Cassie hugged him as he stood still, tears flowing. She grabbed his arms.
“I know it’s not the same, but you have me. We can start our families again, Kramer and Tolama, back on Earth. Diego, we can find new people. You can get married, I can get married. We can start new lives!”
Diego huffed, “I like this life. I have a purpose here!”
Cassie paused, “They have farms on Earth, but you can find a new purpose. You can go to school, learn to fly spaceships. You can do anything!”
Diego turned away. Cassie stood silent, unsure what to do. Everyone had already packed the few things to take with them. It was a simple task, and they were ready to leave. Crew members from the Shepherd had helped Diego harvest whatever food was ready. He seemed so happy, but now his garden was half empty. The remaining plants would die, and whenever the time came that a salvage team could retrieve the ship, which could be years, who knows what it would look like in here. Sadly, she put a hand on his shoulder and was about to speak when she heard a click.
Diego turned around and showed her the makeshift manacle he had on his wrist. The other end connected to a chain and was wrapped around the main post of the bay. He sat down, “I’m not going.”
She smiled at him sadly and shackled herself next to him.
Commander Klein rushed up to Captain Gardner, who was ushering passengers into their new space for the trip to Earth. They had room to pick up more Strays but if they didn’t find a ship in this sector, they would be back at Earth within the week. Commander Klein caught his breath. “Captain, we have a problem.” Gardner turned to him and seeing the concern on his face, ushered him to a corner away from the Exiter passengers.
“What is it Commander?”
Klein looked worried. “Remember the garden manager?” Gardner nodded. Klein took another breath, “He and his sister are chained to the ship’s structure. They won’t leave.”
Gardner frowned. It was an impressive garden, they would eat magnificently for a few days as they searched and returned to Earth. “Well let’s go talk to them.” Klein paused and Gardner realized there was more.
“Bren wanted to go document more of the botanical system, he was quite impressed. They chained him up with them.” Gardner’s brow furrowed. “Hostages?” Klein nodded as Gardner turned to go find out what was happening.
As Klein and Gardner walked to the airlock Jeffries joined them. “Captain?” Gardner looked at her, waiting. “Sir, I heard what’s happening. I spoke to Diego when we arrived. I grew up on a farm and Bren and I had taken an interest in his methodology. He’s solved several Zero-G botanical issues that we haven’t yet.”
Gardner grunted, “Yes, I’m sure it is impressive, but we can’t leave them.”
“Sir” She stepped in front of them causing all three to stop. “Can I try talking to him? I think I understand what he’s going through.” Gardner paused, waiting for an explanation. “Leaving my farm was the hardest thing I ever did. I knew I wanted to be a pilot but the farm was such a life affirming place. I get it. Maybe I can connect with him.”
Gardner thought a minute, looked at Klein, and agreed. “OK Lieutenant, you have fifteen minutes.” She nodded with determination and rushed off. Suddenly Gardner had another thought, “Don’t get yourself chained to the ship!”
The airlock led into a small room, then directly into the main storage bay. Bren sat on a stool, examining the various beds of vegetables. It really was an impressive setup. Diego stood and faced Jeffries defiantly. Cassie sat near the beam they were chained to. Jeffries tried to get a read on her but her face was blank.
“Diego, remember me?” Diego nodded. She continued, “My name is Isabella Jeffries, I’m the pilot on The Shepherd.” Diego stood silently. Cassie looked back and forth. Bren poked at chambers full of small green tomatoes, not ready to harvest. Jeffries stepped closer. “Diego, I grew up on a farm. We grew corn, beets, grains, alfalfa. I understand your connection to the gardens. I miss it.”
Diego spoke quietly. “No, you don’t. I was born in Arizona, but when I was six my parents were killed in a car accident. My twin brother and I went to Mexico to live with my grandparents.” He paused, looking at Cassie for strength. Bren looked on, as he felt the dirt cradles surrounding some root vegetables, too small to tell what they were. Diego went on, “It was three days before my tenth birthday that I got on this ship, while my brother stayed behind. My new father, Stephen Kramer died in a sleep pod malfunction, as did 33 others. I met my new mother Linda eleven years ago, she passed three years ago due to a simple illness we didn’t have the proper medication for. Today was her birthday. And you know about Manuel.” Cassie stood up and gently hugged him from the side. “My sister is all I have left, and my garden.” I can’t leave.
Cassie chimed in softly, “I go where Diego goes, he’s my only family.”
Jeffries took them in, imagining this must be what it felt like being separated from his brother. Unfortunately she already knew his brother had passed, she’s the one who looked up his family, and she delivered the news. “Diego, I can’t say I know just how you feel, I’ve lost people, but every story is different. But I did leave my farm, and I know how that felt.”
He interrupted her, his frustration rising, “No you don’t! You had another path. You became a pilot. Your farm kept going. This is my life’s work. I was happy to harvest all that food, but these plants still here, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, peppers, they’ll just die, and all this work will be gone.”
Bren noticed when he said potatoes, and examined the dirt cradles, impressed. He spoke up, “Lieutenant, have you seen his cradles for tubers?” Jeffries nodded. Bren spoke almost to himself, “Quite impressive, the Klaan could learn from Mr. Tolama.” Diego looked at Bren, trying not to lose his anger. Bren suddenly stood up, his mag boots clanking as he jumped. “And the tomato chambers, efficient. I understand The Shepherd has a space for botanical research?”
Jeffries picked up on Bren’s thought. “Yes Bren, we do, but it’s currently extra storage space, we haven’t quite mastered Zero-G growing. But, we have all the equipment, lights, irrigation, compost bins.”
Diego looked confused but Cassie caught on and turned to Diego. “Diego, what if we could get them to take this all with us, would you go then?”
Diego looked at her sadly, then looked around. “But this is our world.”
She took his hand, “I know, but Mom is gone, and the garden can come with us.” She looked at him a moment. “Our world is us, wherever we go, it’s you and me.”
Diego started crying again, as Jeffries got a beep on her communicator. She read a text note. “Diego, I know I told you you had no family, that isn’t true.” Diego looked at her curiously, his eyes red and tired. She read from the message on the communicator. “Your brother didn’t marry, but it seems he may have had a girlfriend, which isn’t in official records. Maria Alvarez, in Guadalajara. She has a daughter. I don’t know if that’s Manuel’s child, but you could at least meet Maria and hear what Manuel’s life was like. Her daughter’s name is Daniela.”
Diego gasped, “That was my mother’s name.” Cassie looked at him expectantly. Diego looked back at Jeffries, “We can take all of this?”
Jeffries nodded, “Yes, and I’m fairly certain our own botanists back on Earth would love to learn what you’ve done here. Bren seems quite impressed. You may already have a purpose on Earth.”
Bren nodded excitedly. “The irrigation systems are ingenious. Some sort of vacuum driven device?”
Diego nodded and reached down to his wrist, flipping a switch to unlock the cuff. He showed Bren who silently pushed the same switch and his cuff also fell away, floating gently away from him. Cassie flipped hers as well. Diego smiled sheepishly. “They don’t lock. We use them to stay attached to move up and down in the bay.”
Jeffries breathed a deep sigh, and gave Bren a questioning look. He raised his hands and shook them, a move that seemed equivalent to a shrug. She spoke into the communicator, “Captain, please send a moving team and clear space in the botany lab. We’re taking the gardens with us. Diego will supervise, and then we can all leave.”
Diego looked around the chamber, holding tightly on to Cassie’s hand. He smiled at her, knowing he wouldn’t leave his life's work, and he wouldn't lose another sibling.

A/N: Yeah, I locked tf in and revised my main work when I was posting those side stories. I went through every chapter with a fine-tooth comb and revised them to bring them up to current Cap standards. Maybe I'll do this again at some point, too.
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“Holy shit! Kryll!” Those were Ivan Kaydanovsky’s first words as he stepped off his shuttle and onto the deck of the Republic’s Claw. An honor guard of two Republic marines flanked him, clad in polished black and carrying beautiful but deadly ceremonial rifles. On another shuttle, escorted by a black-clad RDF:Intelligence officer and a much larger honor guard, Kryll Naxol stood with the powerful bearing of a Republic Auxiliary.
“Ivan!” Kryll called back, committing a minor breach of protocol to rush out and greet his old friend. They wrapped in a bear hug, nearly crushing each other with their cybernetic strength before logic and neural inhibitors prevailed. “You were assigned to the Claw?”
“Probably old man Jedik trying to keep a watch on us,” Ivan chuckled. “But all’s well that ends well, right?”
Kryll blinked a bit and cocked his head before finally agreeing. “Suppose so. You’re with the standards, right?” The standard Auxiliaries. The ones without a Vanguard to guide their training. Many former apprentices had joined them over the course of the war. Some died with their masters instead.
“Yeah, yeah, the little babies sucking on bottles. That’s me,” smiled Ivan. “You’re motherfucking special forces. Give it a few years, you’ll be taking me as an apprentice.”
“Give it a few years, and the war will be won.” Kryll spoke with pride, and something between confidence and arrogance to back it up. “I… haven’t given too much thought as to what I’ll do after that.”
“See your people?” asked Ivan. “You have to have some.” Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know much of anything about Kryll’s past. He had never asked, and his friend had never told.
“You’re my people.” Kryll looked deep in thought for a moment. “Family, too, I suppose. Everyone else is dead.” Ivan suddenly felt very foolish. “Try not to die, too, okay?” Kryll made an attempt to cut the tension. “I kind of like you.” It had evidently failed.
Ivan remembered his old platoon on Atreides. Russian conscripts, hardly the cream of the crop, but sturdy and true fighters to the last. He missed them dearly, more than he would like to admit. He knew Kryll felt the same. “We’ll have to live for them, then. Keep their memory alive.”
“They lived as heroes,” Kryll replied. “Died like heroes, too. If we do have to go, I wouldn’t mind going out like them.” Ivan felt it was better not to go out at all.
“We had better pack it,” he said. “Don’t want to be late.” And, with that, he and Kryll had separated. Ivan wondered when they would see each other again.
The Auxiliaries Ivan was to meet stood in a large and gleaming cargo bay in clean and orderly ranks, like Ivan’s last platoon had done on Iera Prime. They were all dead now. He felt grimly thankful he had never gotten to know any of them. Then he wondered if Kryll had ever felt the same.
Forty men, Ivan counted. Or women, he added, as you could never really tell in combat armor. Forty Auxiliaries, standing at attention with automatics at port arms. Ivan realized that he was the forty-first. He had yet to don his armor, a suit which he assumed was custom-made for him. Even without the wings, Ierad physiology was alien enough for the Claw’s engineers to have to specialize a design. Ivan had learned as much when his martial arts instructors had to learn Muay Thai at the SpecOps academy.
A grim-faced officer directed him toward the armory. Two imposing marines flanked it, each standing at six feet tall and built like a gorilla in their powered combat suits. Ivan could have taken them apart like tin cans if he wished.
The door hissed open. Even on a Republic ship, all bright colors and sleek curves, there were some places where beauty was a foreign thing. This, a dull gray hallway with sixty berths for powered armor, was one of them. A requisitions officer stepped out of nowhere to challenge Ivan, surprising even his enhanced reflexes, and a brief exchange of words convinced him to show Ivan to his suit.
“Echelon-class standard-issue powered combat armor,” the officer explained, referring to the hulking black thing Ivan was to wear. “Modified for your… unique… physical characteristics. The wing weapons are absent, replaced with shoulder mounts for an arsenal of your choosing.” Ivan took all this in as he was told it. “Each forearm contains a mount for another weapon, usually an autocannon combined with a blade or cutting laser.”
Ivan had seen blades in use before. Horsemen, two of them, had boarded a battleship over the planet Segmentus. Why they hadn’t drawn guns, Ivan could not say, but he remembered vividly the ease with which they had cut down the ship’s marines.
“I’ll be using this?”
“You are Republic Auxiliary Ivan Kaydanovsky, identity number 87987, assigned to Standard Cohort Twelve, are you not?” Ivan nodded. “Then you will be using this.” The requisitions man jabbed a wing at the suit’s chest, where Ivan’s identity number was emblazoned in white Terran numerals.
Ivan stepped closer to the powered armor, admiring its massive bulk. No weapons were strapped to its arms, no artillery was stowed on its back, but this inert suit of armor seemed as formidable as a Greek god in front of lowly mortal Ivan. “You do know how to put it on, yes?” Ivan was really starting to dislike this requisitions officer.
He donned the suit and ran through his diagnostic checks. He had never used a powered suit of this caliber before, but it all came naturally to him. The implants were doing their work well.
After he had gotten the feel of things, some minutes later, Ivan Kaydanovsky took his first step in Auxiliary-grade powered armor. “It’s not unusual for operators of powered combat armor of this grade to experience a rush of euphoria, usually combined with a feeling of invincibility or limitless power,” droned the requisitions man. “Are you?”
Ivan knew all of that. Ivan had the specifics of this armor drilled into him so many times that he could have given that briefing from memory even without his computer augments. “Yes,” he said, taking a thunderous step forward and testing the suit’s systems with a few practiced movements. Then, he threw a lightning-fast blow that could have put a dent in the steel wall in front of him. He stepped back in shock. “I think I am.”
“Well, that’s natural.” The requisitions officer walked toward the door, beckoning Ivan with a wing to follow. “We should have someone here in a bit to remind you that you’re fallible.” Ivan needed no reminder. He had seen the casualty statistics. In a war like this, even gods were mortal.
The door hissed open. “Is that him?” Ivan looked to see a Republic colonel with striking blue plumage standing in the massive doorway.
“Auxiliary… Kaydanovsky, identity number 78987, come with me,” the officer commanded. There was no further communication.
A short ride in a transit pod later, Ivan followed the officer through a corridor and up to a door that was flanked by marines. That was hardly unusual, guarding doors was most of what marines did, but Ivan could not help but notice this door’s security was a bit overkill. The marines eyed him uneasily, and his armor reported that it was being scanned by a battery of concealed sensors. The door in front of him looked flimsy, coated in some alien wood and decorated with gold filigree, but his scanners detected six inches of blast proof metal behind it. “Admiral Jedik’s quarters,” Ivan guessed.
The marines looked among each other. “He’s cleared. Colonel, right this way.” The door slid open, triggered by an unseen operator. The colonel ushered Ivan in.
“Holy shit, Kryll!” That was the second, and not the last, time Ivan would say such a phrase. The Russian trooper spied his friend as he walked into a small but beautiful living room, surrounded by well-placed decorations and copies of artwork from across the galaxy. Most were from Earth, and there was even a Bible on some alien furniture near the door.
“Holy-” Kryll Naxol, clad in his own set of powered armor, shut his beak just before he uttered three alien syllables that would have been improper in the present company. There was, after all, a Republic fleet admiral standing by the hologram projector. “I apologize for my friend’s vulgarity, sir.”
“Apology accepted.” Yegel Jedik, the father of the microchip that now clung tightly to Kryll’s prefrontal cortex, snapped to attention and saluted Ivan. He saluted back. “Colonel Talta, you’re dismissed. Report to the fleet bridge and continue your work on the battle plan.” Jedik was dressed for a formal occasion, a rarity in the Republic fleet, and he was holding a glass of alcohol in his left claw. That was not a rarity.
The colonel, whose name tag Ivan had never actually bothered to read, saluted and left. “Sir, if I may,” said Ivan, “Why am I here?”
“You do remember, of course, that your friend owes his position to the computer chip my surgeons installed in his brain?” Jedik asked. Ivan nodded, a gesture which the admiral had learned by now. “Good. I must confess, I’ve not been entirely truthful with you.”
“With all due respect, sir, I suspected as much,” said Ivan. “I saw your spies when I was training.”
“And you?” Jedik turned to Kryll.
“I don’t think the microchip operates the way you explained it to me. A randomized tactical generator wouldn’t have had the effect it did.”
“I’m not going to discuss military secrets with you,” Jedik snapped, ending that line of discussion. “That is need-to-know only, and neither of you need to know it. Now, listen well.” They were listening. “You, Lieutenant Naxol, are an experiment. A test subject, functionally identical to every other soldier who agreed to have that microchip installed except for one factor; you are an Auxiliary. There is one other in the galaxy like you, lieutenant, and you both are assigned to the same unit.” He pointed a wing at Ivan. “You are their control group. The three of you will be fighting together, under my personal supervision, and your performance will be instrumental in demonstrating the effectiveness of this microchip technology. Are we clear?”
They were test subjects. Guinea pigs on the front lines of a war. Ivan really hoped that Admiral Jedik knew what he was doing.
“Sir, yes, sir!” Kryll and Ivan barked in unison, responding reflexively to their superior’s request. “Perfectly clear, sir!” After that, they were dismissed. They passed ranks of armored marines, who stood like suits of armor in some ancient castle, and thought of their new task.
“Kryll,” Ivan said, to break the silence. “Things make sense, now. The spies, the gold cadre, most of it. The one thing I don’t get is why a Vanguard chose you if Jedik had already laid a claim.”
“He probably didn’t,” Kryll figured. “Or Jedik was late to claim my services. Hell, this microchip is a wonder. I could never think of things like this before.” He paused, thinking of things like this. “Do you think Jedik even knows what it does?”
“Shit, I fucking hope so!” Ivan laughed. “It’d be real shitty if you started seeing the shadow people halfway through a firefight!” Then he had to think, too. “I’d wager he has some idea, but he can’t know everything. No need for an experimental unit if he did,” he explained.
“Agreed. He probably has thousands of units like ours. Tens of thousands of test subjects.”
“It’s kind of fucked, doing that to people,” said Ivan. “I mean, he doesn’t even know what the chips really do, and he’s testing them on intelligent beings.” Kryll didn’t feel the same way. “Why not use it on mice, or monkeys, or those six-legged things that can solve a Rubik’s cube?” ‘Those six-legged things’ referred to a species of mammal on Iera Prime whose average specimen was about as intelligent as an eight-year-old child. Most of them could not solve Rubik’s cubes.
“The Alliance killed two hundred billion people,” Kryll countered. “No provocation, no prior aggression on our end, just senseless murder. If putting computers in my head helps them finally get what’s coming to them, then hook me the fuck up.” There was a harsh finality to his words that ended all discussion on that matter. Ivan did not want to press him any further.
“Who’s the third Auxiliary?” Ivan changed the subject.
“How would I know? I got told the same thing you did.”
“Yeah, I figure that’s fair.” Ivan shrugged. “We should meet him soon enough.”
They did meet him soon enough. Both of them had made their own mental preconceptions of what their new teammate would be, and both of their preconceptions were totally dashed when they finally saw it. Not he, or she, but it. It sat on a huge crate in the cargo bay they had been assembled to, covered from head to toe in a thick brown exoskeleton and holding a massive assault weapon in two of its six limbs. Two others were obviously for movement, being furthest from its ant-like head and shaped much like animal legs on Earth, and the two middle ones were clearly manipulators. They were shorter and scrawnier, but still formidably strong as appendages went. They grasped the assault rifle, the same model of weapon Ivan had seen in the armored gauntlets of Republic marines just minutes prior.
The top two appendages, positioned similarly to Ivan’s arms, were neither for grasping nor moving. They were bruisers, thick as tree trunks and covered at the ends with sharp spikes of strong chitin. They could hold something, with three digits on each limb, but any fine motor tasks were impossible.
The insect was totally naked, not even wearing armor, but no reproductive or even waste-disposal organs were visible. Ivan, being a devout Christian, was thankful for that.
It stood up as it saw him, rising to the height of fully eight feet tall and making Ivan recall all the times he had crushed insects underfoot when he was younger. The burly Russian was clad in full powered armor, seven feet tall and one thousand pounds heavy, and this monster still made him feel small. Any previous thoughts of invincibility in his armor were quickly dispelled.
“Soldier caste,” said Kryll. “It’s a Krulvuk, born and bred for war.”
“I’ve heard of them,” Ivan breathed. “Good Christ, you look different in person.”
“Why?” asked the Krulvuk. “Holographic distortion?”
“No, no, it’s just an expression,” Ivan sighed. “Never mind.”
“My apologies,” the insect chittered. “I am unfamiliar with expressions.” It crouched lower a little, bringing Ivan’s helmeted head level with its own. Two bulbous eyes, like those of a Terran housefly, stared at his metal visage. A pair of massive mandibles clicked absentmindedly. “Command castes are meant for such a purpose. I am a soldier caste.”
Ivan recalled seeing a command caste on a news broadcast, defending her actions from a crowd of incensed reporters. She, or at least the broadcast said it was a she, was the magistrate of a Krulvuk colony on the outskirts of Regime space. When a famine struck, she ordered the killing of twenty thousand of the lower castes to conserve food for the rest of the colony.
Ivan did not like the Krulvuk command caste.
“Tell me more about them,” he said, gauging whether this soldier’s feelings aligned with his own. “How do they treat you?”
“The command caste are thinkers, scholars, leaders. They are exceedingly rare. Soldiers and workers serve them.” Then it paused, mandibles clicking and claws fidgeting. “My command caste sold me to Admiral Jedik for sixty thousand units. He had no need for me.”
There was no emotion whatsoever in that insect’s modulated voice. No hint of sorrow at its betrayal or sale, like a slave on old Earth. “Like a slave?” Ivan gasped. “You’re a slave?”
“It’s a hive insect,” Kryll explained to him, not to defend the insect but to explain its alien nature. “Hardwired to serve its colony, without any regard for its own life or safety. It would kill itself if it meant the colony stayed alive.”
Ivan looked at the insect. “Would you?”
“Without question.”
“Why?” he gasped. “What the fuck do you owe them?”
“It is my biological imperative to obey and serve,” chittered the insect, “No matter the cost.” Its mandibles clicked once, a gesture that Ivan’s suit translated into realization. “Oh, my apologies. I am Vigel, formerly known as Sekvit 1,829.” The 1,829th Krulvuk to hatch from one of Sekvit’s eggs. The command caste were the only ones who could lay them. “I was named by Admiral Jedik, who I am now legally and ethically required to serve.”
“You earned a name,” Kryll congratulated Vigel. “Good job, big man.”
“Thank you,” Vigel chittered. “Low castes are genderless, for your information, but I feel no offense at the mishap. I have been informed that my species can be found quite unnerving, and I truly appreciate your support.”
Ivan certainly found its species unnerving. They were alien, truly alien, and in a very bad way. There was a reason the Alliance had taken pains to exterminate them over the course of their invasion. Regardless of how he thought of the Krulvuks, Ivan was still glad they had failed.
“Well, uh, you seem agreeable enough,” he ventured. “It’s just the command caste that I mind. The way they run things doesn’t sit right with me.” Krulvuks were a cold and utilitarian species, having earned many enemies before they stood against the hated Alliance. Before the war, the threat of a Krell Imperial or international police action kept their species in line with Coalition morality. Now, with their army sorely needed to defend frontline worlds, there were no such restrictions. The Galactic Coalition could not afford a conflict at home.
Their lower castes were instinctively conditioned to obey and defend the command caste to the death, and the latter treated their servants almost universally like expendable machines. To them, lives were a resource like any other. Soldier caste, worker caste, even fellow command castes had a value, and they all could be left to die unflinchingly if another resource was deemed more precious.
Vigel did not mind this way of life. Most others did. The Krulvuk Regime had a very short list of allies.
“Why?” asked the massive insect. “They are logical. Efficient. Calculating. Are these not admirable traits in a leader?”
“A leader should have compassion,” Kryll countered. “They should care for their people, not just see them as tools.” Vigel understood this concept, even if it did not grasp the sentiment of it. Admiral Jedik had explained it to him.
“Like the admiral,” it clicked understandingly. “Compassion is unnecessary,” it countered. “Logic dictates that, when the colony prospers, the command caste will also prosper. Thus, logically, the command caste has an incentive to make their colony prosper. No compassion is involved in that.”
No compassion was involved on Tlelaxis III, either, when a battalion of Regime troops gunned down an entire worker caste habitation sector to cull the spread of a lethal epidemic. Ivan was really growing to dislike Vigel. Kryll had already drawn that conclusion, though he was better at hiding it. “And what if I’m wounded on the battlefield, and logic dictates you leave me to die?” snapped Ivan.
“Ivan,” Kryll warned. “Let’s try to be cooperative here.”
“His concern is valid,” Vigel countered. “I assure you, I will always act in the best interests of the Republic. I would never abandon my unit unless the situation demanded it.” Ivan felt that was a fair answer, all things considered. He knew he’d shed few tears over leaving Vigel on the front. “Still,” warned the insect, “I may not refuse an order that is given to me. I am compelled to obey.”
“Any order?” asked Ivan, concern mixed with contempt in his voice. “Tell me honestly, are you a machine? Or are you a man?”
“I am neither,” said Vigel. “I am simply a killer. Born and bred.” A butcher was closer to Ivan’s description of it. “That is why I am here.”
“Damn straight!” Ivan exclaimed. “You’re a soulless, emotionless, murder machine, just like the rest of your shitty race.”
“Ivan!” snapped Kryll. “As your superior officer, I command you to be silent!” Ivan stepped back sheepishly. “You will not insult your fellow soldiers again.”
“I am not insulted,” Vigel defended him. “I find his assessment to be somewhat accurate, if in a demeaning way.”
“Which means you should be insulted,” Ivan snapped, jabbing a finger at Vigel. Kryll glared at him through his helmet. “Any normal person would.”
“Sergeant Kaydanovsky, do I need to tie your mouth shut with rope?” Ivan grew silent. After all he’d been through alongside Kryll, he had almost forgotten the bird was still his superior officer. “You will refrain from speaking in that manner about anyone in this unit, or I will have you running sixties until your legs collapse,” Kryll snapped. He could be quite intimidating if the situation called for it. “Am I clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Ivan growled, snapping to attention and saluting. “Perfectly clear, sir.”
“Good. Now, you’re dismissed.” Ivan turned and stalked out of the room. Kryll considered following him, thinking more as his friend than his commanding officer, but there was little he could do. Kryll Naxol could field-strip an automatic rifle in ten seconds flat, he could make an improvised explosive out of engine coolant and empty canteens, but he was far out of his element here.
Ivan walked out of the cargo bay in a fury, disgusted at the callousness with which Vigel treated life and the readiness with which he defended his despotic command caste. Kryll knew he was right, he felt the same way himself, but he was hopeless at convincing Ivan to hold his tongue around Vigel. Unity was what won wars, and Kryll's unit was disunified. If Ivan refused to fight alongside Vigel, or he did not place his trust in it, the unit would be destroyed. People would die.
The fleet would be at Neldia within a day. He and his men would be fighting on the ground, behind enemy lines and with only each other to rely on, within three. And, like it or not, the bond between them was fast unraveling.
Kryll knew he had to act fast, but he didn’t know what to do. The doctrine that had held true all his life had just failed right in front of him and, unless he was able to make Ivan fight down his feelings, the entire unit would be in danger.
Kryll Naxol did not know how to succeed, but he very much knew he was failing. Part of him believed that he already had.
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I’m looking to replace my windshield mounted radar detector with a remote bumper mounted setup with a gauge pod display. What are some off-the shelf kits or detectors to get started?

13’ heavy gauge aluminum boat. Really rear heavy, I am thinking of adding some rear pods for more flotation and try and get it to plane out. Anyone have any experience with this?

Eleven days prior
The ten stealth pods were on their final approach after drifting for two days from the small moon orbiting their target planet. They were ejected from a nullship that flashed out of null space below the moon’s southern pole, taking advantage of the strong magnetic fields in that region to mask the exit flash and avoid detection by the insectoid ships in orbit around the planet. The planet and the moon were currently transiting through a large meteor stream that intersected their orbit around the sun three times a year. The command-pod AI ran billions of calculations per second as it started creating an atmospheric entry plan for the ten pods that would coincide with the trajectories of the numerous particles of dust and debris that would be entering the atmosphere for the next three days.
Selecting an area with a projected high concentration of small-diameter meteors in the next hour, the AI created a maneuvering program for the pods that activated a series of compressed-gas positional thrusters to guide the pods over to the entry point. The AI confirmed the calculations and initiated the final entry program as the ten pods fired their rear gas thrusters one last time and accelerated towards the planet. They were joined by over a thousand pieces of cosmic debris as they entered the atmosphere and streaked across the sky, flaring brightly as they dropped towards the surface with the other meteors.
Kepler-186f system
2^nd planet, Insectoid Builder World, 2174 A.D.
The special forces team had been on the planet for ten days without seeing any signs or indications of the presence of a queen on the planet. Lieutenant Diego could not believe the sheer number of drones he saw in the last nine days since they marched forty kilometers from their landing site towards an endlessly sprawling ground-based shipyard facility. Tens of millions of drones scurried about day and night as raw material was offloaded by massive aerial cargo ships that landed, were emptied, and flew off to reload in an endless procession. Diego found himself enthralled by their construction processes and the astonishing speed at which they built ships. In just the last five days, he saw ten insectoid cruisers go from a skeletal framework to fully completed and watched as they lifted off the surface and went into orbit. He was particularly impressed with how the tough ship hulls were created. A large percentage of the cargo being dropped off seemed to be organic in nature and was dumped into large tanks scattered throughout the shipyard.
A conveyor system comprising hundreds of thousands of worker drones connected all the tanks and would snake their way among the shipbuilding areas, carrying loads of the organic material on their backs and dumping it at the end of the lines. Other drones with smaller containers would fill them with material and bring them to waiting drones by the ships, dumping the contents on the ground in front of them, and then go back for more material. The drones in front of their piles would then start eating the organic material, swallowing it. After they ate the pile in front of them, they would scurry over to the ships and start regurgitating what they ate into their tarsal claws in small amounts and shaping them into round balls. They would then stack the balls in a row like bricklayers until they ran out of regurgitated material. They would then go back to eat more material, while teams of drones would take their place and wave a handheld apparatus that seemed to heat the balls, and they would melt, deforming from the treatment and filling in the gaps, turning into perfect hexagons.
Once a section was completed, a different team of drones would arrive with a large device and set it up. They would then turn the device on, and a god-awful screeching sound would emanate from the front of the device and be directed towards the still-soft sections of the hull. Within thirty seconds, that section of hull would start groaning, and the opaque, soft hexagons would turn jet black and harden into a tough, metal-like material. An Insectoid cruiser that was 360 meters long, 60 meters wide, and 120 meters tall would have its entire hull constructed and enclosed in forty-two hours.
An alert popped up on his HUD that it was time to insert another energy pack into the shrouding system that camouflaged his team and prevented detection. He keyed his throat mike and issued the command for everyone to replace their energy packs, and he turned to face the two civilian scientists to make sure that they received and understood the order. He was vehemently opposed to bringing them, but the admiral was adamant that they were to accompany the team, and Diego relented after some resistance. There was no way in hell he was willing to piss off the big man over a couple of civvies; there were better hills to die on.
As he watched them fumble about for their replacement packs, he smiled and had to admit that they were growing on him. During the two weeks it took them to get to the far side of Insectoid space, their wide-eyed enthusiasm and willingness to talk about their respective fields of study seemed to infect his team, and they became almost like little siblings to them. He chuckled to himself as he remembered how confused Dr. Ariti seemed to be by the fact that his team was able to process and retain the information she was telling them with ease. He was there when Dr. Masiello informed her that the eight-member team held over twenty PhD’s among them, and the look on her face was just the cutest thing he ever saw.
The sun was halfway down past the horizon, which meant they had just another hour of daylight before darkness would arrive. He signaled that it was time to pack up and move, and in a few minutes, they were headed back towards their base camp. He was grateful for the .7g gravity on the surface, as it made their daily hikes with equipment and the frequent relocations of their camp to avoid detection easier. It also gave his joints a welcome reprieve from their usual aches, a mercy he greatly appreciated. They arrived at base camp a half hour later, and everyone went about their assigned tasks and end-of-day routines before they all sat down around a red-light lantern in the middle of the camp to have dinner.
The combination of the eerie red light and the pitch blackness of their surroundings was something none of them could get used to, and it created an ominous atmosphere as they reluctantly opened their ration packs. The shrouding device could hide them effectively, but they enacted as many safeguards as they could against detection, such as only using red lights at night and eating foods that had been stripped of any scent and devoid of flavoring spices. The result of their security measures was that they felt like they were eating cardboard in hell. Diego had been sick before and felt like he couldn’t really taste his food when his nose was stuffed, but he always knew he was eating his mom’s chicken soup. As vague as the scent and taste of the soup might be, it was still there, and he could detect its essence. The food they were eating was on a totally different level, and he never realized just how important a component smell was to tasting food until he ate rations completely devoid of any scent or seasoning except for salt and potassium chloride.
As they choked down their dinner, he noticed Emily and Owen shooting furtive glances at each other, and they seemed agitated. He waited until they all finished eating and indicated that he wanted to talk to them alone. They walked 10 meters away from the red-light lamp and stopped right on the edge of the total blackness surrounding their camp. Emily and Owen seemed really distressed, and he knew something was seriously wrong. He didn’t have the time or the patience for their bullshit, and his internal alarms were going off wildly.
“What is going on with you two? Tell me, now.” He saw them cringe at his harsh manner, but he couldn’t afford to feel bad for them. Not on an enemy planet with almost thirty billion wasps that were five feet tall and armed with skull-cracking mandibles and twelve-inch serrated stingers coming out of their asses. They didn’t answer, and he stepped forward into their personal space and was just about to demand answers when Owen, in an uncharacteristic show of bravery, put himself in front of Emily as if to protect her.
“Lieutenant, I would appreciate it if you would direct your questions to me. There is no reason for you to speak to Emily like this. She is rightfully terrified, and I have spent the last ten days trying not to shit my fucking pants in front of all of you, so do me a favor and get the fuck out of our faces.”
Diego couldn’t believe the balls on this puke, and he almost gave in to his desire to punch the defiant bastard in the face before he realized how ridiculous it was. Here he was, squaring off with an entomologist who was telling him to fuck off, and the absurdity of it all and the pressures of the mission came crashing into him. He took a few steps back, turning around and breathing deeply, trying to calm himself. Owen, now in the throes of an uncontrolled adrenaline crash, waited a few seconds and then stepped next to him and put out a very shaky fist bump, offering an unsaid apology with his eyes. Diego bumped it, and he turned back to face Emily. “I apologize for the way I spoke to you; I am not used to having civilians on my missions. I hope we can reset and put this behind us.”
Emily nodded, and Owen walked back over and stood next to her. Emily looked at Owen and nodded, and Owen pulled out a data pad, set it on the floor, and pressed a button. A holographic map floated above it, and he pinched the display with his fingers and zoomed into the area where they were currently located. “Lieutenant, we are of the opinion that we are not going to locate a queen on the surface.” He expanded the map back out and swiped it sideways to an area over a hundred kilometers to the east. He zoomed back in and pressed an icon on the map that added a subterranean scan, and a massive underground structure popped into view, looking like an upside-down pinecone, with the narrow top of the structure expanding in size as it went deeper. Diego leaned forward to look at the numbers on the side of the structure and whistled softly to himself as the estimated dimensions were displayed. The structure was thirty-six kilometers deep and had a radius of twelve kilometers at its widest. It was a massive underground Hive, and there was a flashing question mark in the center of the Hive where there was a large chamber located. It seemed to be the nexus of the Hive, which was connected to the rest of the structure by six bridges or tunnels. Owen pointed towards the question mark icon. “This has to be the queen chamber, and if there is a queen currently on the planet, that is where she will be.”
Diego stared at the map, thinking about how to get her out of there. He keyed his throat mike and called for Sgt. Singh to join them at their location. A few moments later, he arrived, and Diego quickly brought him up to speed. Singh was the team’s engineer sergeant, and he thoughtfully stroked his beard as he looked at the display. “Obviously, we cannot infiltrate the Hive to root the bitch out. I have enough explosives and demo bots to severely damage some of the cruisers under construction; maybe that will get the queen to leave the Hive, if she is even in there.” He finished speaking, and Diego looked at the doctors to gauge their reaction to what he said. Emily spoke first. “I would not do that. We don’t know what their response to that will be. They might have soldier drones. We haven’t seen any here or found any evidence of them from the wreckage in the Eleani system, but that does not mean that they do not have a soldier or guard caste protecting their hives.”
Owen nodded in agreement and added, “We need to find a way to know for sure if there even is a queen here before alerting them to our presence. Who’s to say that the queens wouldn’t respond to such an attack by retreating to their primary world and staying there, depriving us of a chance to grab a queen ever again? I might have an idea, and the sergeant’s expertise and input would be welcomed.” Diego nodded, and both he and Singh took a knee as Owen played around with the map, highlighting an area of the shipyard almost fifty kilometers from their position.
He asked his AI assistant to access the geological and topographical scans that were taken from orbit before they landed on the planet and highlighted a five-square-kilometer section of crust under the outer edge of the shipyard. “The crust is extremely thin here, and there is a massive chasm underneath this area from the worker drones pumping out the aquifer for water. I think a series of properly placed sub-surface explosives will cause the thin roof of the chasm to weaken enough to collapse a small area, and the weight of this section of the shipyard will add further stress to the undamaged crust and collapse the entire area, causing all the ships and workers to fall into the chasm. It would seem to be a natural occurrence, and we can avoid having to give away our presence on the planet. I bet that will get the queen up here if she is in the Hive.” Owen then added markers indicating where he thought the explosives should go and their yields, and then looked at Singh, waiting for his response.
Singh quickly played around with the map, ran his own calculations on the placement and explosive yields, and looked at Owen with a growing respect in his eyes as his AI assistant verified the numbers. “Not bad, Doc; this is pretty good for a bug guy! Are you a geologist too?” Owen smiled widely at the praise from Singh and answered with obvious pride in his voice. “Actually, I did two six-month tours as an ore prospector in the Fomalhaut asteroid belts before my then-girlfriend threatened to break up with me. I was pretty good at figuring out the proper explosive placement to break up the asteroids while maintaining the integrity of the mineral deposits and cores. It was a fun job, and the money I made paid for my parents retirement home and my college.” Singh nodded approvingly and stood up, walking over to Owen and warmly shaking his hand. “It is always nice to make the acquaintance of an ore prospector; it’s a dangerous job and requires a lot of technical skill.”
Diego rolled his eyes and studied the map while the two of them continued talking about blowing crap up and zoned out the lovefest. Emily came over and sat down next to him. “I agree with Owen. If the queen is in the Hive, she would have to come out and oversee the worker drone response to the collapse. Do you think it is a good plan?” Diego grunted in response as he continued to think about the feasibility of the plan and the possible outcomes. He turned to her and nodded. “I do think it is a solid plan, and even if there is no queen here, then at least we can do some damage to their shipbuilding efforts for a short period of time. There’s what—almost two hundred cruisers in that area? At least we can strike a blow against them if we fail in our objective to capture a queen. Wiping out two hundred cruisers and a few million drones is a nice consolation prize, and we can exfil this planet with pride in that accomplishment.” Emily smiled at him and said, “It would be nice to get off the planet and go back home. I know I volunteered to come here for the mission, but I am tired of being scared all the time; it is exhausting.”
Diego reached out and lightly patted her on the shoulder. “You two are doing a fine damn job so far. I have to admit that the both of you have been far less trouble than I was expecting to have to deal with on this mission.” Emily smiled widely. “Thank you for that, lieutenant; that means a great deal to me.” Diego smiled in return and stood up, offering his hand to assist Emily. They walked back over to Singh and Owen, who were geeking out over the demo bot specs that Singh had pulled up on his wrist pad. “If you two lovebirds are about done, let’s head back over and quickly outline our preliminary plan to the rest of the team. We will work out the details, solidify a proper plan in the morning, and go from there.”
They all started walking back towards the red-light lamp, and Diego slowed his pace as he walked behind them, listening along as Owen was telling Emily and Singh about a time when he spent two days evading an ore pirate ship in a cat-and-mouse chase. His copilot was killed in the initial attack, and he managed to cripple their ship with mining charges when he laid a trap and led them into it. “Not bad for a puke.” He thought to himself as his previous estimation of the scientist rose considerably as Owen described how his damaged ship was almost out of air, so in desperation, he boarded the drifting ore pirate ship and single-handedly took the four survivors prisoners.
A little while later, after everyone had gone into their tents to sleep, Diego was just about to drift off when he heard a faint rustling sound outside his tent and sat upright, alarmed. The sentry bots and the perimeter sensor system did not activate the silent buzz alarm on his wrist pad, and he tapped it, accessing the video feed from the overhead sentry drone that was floating above their camp. From this bird's-eye view, he saw Emily finish tiptoeing across the camp and stop outside Owen’s tent. She looked furtively around the camp before pressing the entry seam control and quickly slipping into his tent before the seam closed back up behind her. He pressed a series of commands, and a few moments later, a backup shroud drone silently assumed position over the tent and activated, making it disappear from the visual feed. He broke the connection to the overhead sentry drone and laid back down, feeling a genuine smile form on his face. He closed his eyes and thought his last thought before sleep overcame him.
“Not bad at all, Owen.”

Took the test on 4/19 and 4/20. Got the score today and I'm passed!!!! Just want to share my experience with others as it's still somewhat fresh to me.
Background: PGY-2 IM res. Very anxious test taker.
Step 1 (2020): 233
Step 2 (2021): 254
Uworld: 100% competition. 55% during my intern and 45% during my 2nd years, all in untimed, tutor mode. Average 68%. Did not do the step 2 supplement
UWSA 1 (2 weeks out): 227
UWSA 2 (1 week out) 220
Free 137: 68% average
CCS: I did not like UW CCS cases, so I did the CCScases, completed about 120 cases, average 74%
Real score: 241, average for all domains
Preparation: I initially planned to take it the end of my intern year, that's why I did about 55% of Uworld but the second half of my intern and first half of second years were very floor heavy, so I ended up took it about 3 weeks ago. I completed the rest of Uworld 3 weeks before the exam. I also used the Anki step 3 Dorian deck to review the Uworld questions. Got through around 50% of them.
2 weeks out, I did my first UWSA test, spend a day to review and do all the Uworld biostatistics question again
1.5 weeks out: started CCS cases
1 week out: did the second UWSA. Watch Randy Neil step 1 biostatistics. I stopped every questions and tried to answer it before then watched for the explanation
5 days out: got jeopardized :( also got sick during that time... Did my free 137. Review Biostatistics
3 days-1 days: Listened to high yield episode of divine pod cast. Read the notes for each of the episode. Review Uworld biosstat again.
I came to the subreddit late so I was not aware that step 1 contents was on this exam until few days before the exam...so I ended up did not review any step 1 materials...
The examples I provided are similar but not the questions I had on my exam (just a disclaimer in case, you know...)
Day 1: I was very very anxious, having palpitation. As everyone has mentioned, day 1 was full of biostatistics, drug ads, ethics, and communications with sprinkle a of step 1 content (1-2) questions each block. For biostatistics and drug ads questions, I didn't read the full stem, only read the question and view the ads. Most of the questions, I was able to answer just by reading the ads. This saves me sometimes to comeback later when I completed all the questions. I usually did a time check when finished about 50% of questions to gauge whether I'm on time or not. If I still has about half of the time left or more for half of the questions, then I was on good track and vice versa.
Step 1 content on this days was about MOA of drugs (ABX, DMARDs), indirect questions, they wanted you to figure out the drug and tell them MOA or the adverse effect of the drugs. About 1 questions per block. About 3-4 questions in total for micro, you will need to figure out the bacteria and then tell them its characteristic (gram +/-, coagulase, bacilli vs cluster etc...). About 3-4 questions in for biochem (mechanism of certain disease, prognosis of it, for example, what is MOA or prognosis of a strawberry birth mark, other disease associated with certain skin mark). I guessed for all of these questions.
I somehow got a lot of peds-related questions during the first days in ethics, communication and biochem. Do you ask the kid directly for private conversation or have to ask mom for permission first, etc...
Ethics and communication: Not sure how to prep for it as there are always 2 choices that sounded good to you. Some advice that I heard is choose the one that encourage more communication, open-ended and understanding.
I took a 5 minutes break after each block, tried to take a deep breath to calm myself before starting the next one. Brough protein bars for lunch because only have 30 minutes for lunch so needs something quick.
Day 2: I came out of day 1 feeling miserable and depressed because of how random and how much I had to guess for it. I counted about 50q+ I got wrong already so it made my anxiety worse. Could not really prep for day 2, which was the next days and instead spent the night browsing about step 3 stuff, ended up having bad sleep.. So my advice is to schedule day 1 and day 2 few days apart so you have sometimes to rest and bounced back because more often than not, you will feel terrible and worried after day 1.
Day 2 is a bit easier for me as IM residents though I still found myself guessing a lot. There is quite a fews ambiguous risk factopoor prognosis question where I could narrow down to 2 choices; gestational HTN is a risk factor for CVD or CKD? factor indicated poor prognosis for CHF (age, EF or functional status)? I did not find Divine podcast helpful for me in this, may be I was having bad luck. Got some questions about infection control and isolation.
Next best step management is somewhat tricky. Divine had some podcasts for this but I did not listen. Also able to narrow down to 2 choices on some of the question, if you suspected elderly abuse, would you do pain management first or report to the state? A lot of questions are like this. Some are more straightforward. I found Uworld is most helpful for day 2. A third of it it is medication management, 1/3 prognosis and 1/3 risk factor, palliative care etc... No biostatistics
CCS cases: There are some mnemonic out there but I did not use any. They actually provided more information on the cases compare to the CCScases. As I read through the prompt, I quickly jogged down pt characteristics; age/screening tests/vaccine/alcohol/smoking, any abnormal vital sign (fever-tylenols/broad infection work up, low BP - pressor + fluid etc...), differential dx and tests so I won't forget it. Most of my cases ended early, only one cases end on-time. But I still score average for this so ended early is not necessary indicated better performance.
I also took a break after each block and cases too. Helped me to calm down.
Took me a few days to feel better after the exam as I thought I would fail.
Good luck everyone!

Alien-Nation Chapter 202: Property Damage

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Chapter Summary:

Morsh breaks Goshen's omni-pad to wipe anything incriminating she might've gotten out of her interrogation targets, then they have good conversations with Amilita
Oh, and Elias Wakes up
The borrowed fleet car was a far cry from a noblewoman's private vehicle. Even at full acceleration, it lagged far behind the ambulance, until it had disappeared from view. Finally, they found a building that seemed far too tall to be made of brick, with square windows and white curtains.
"This is it," Natalie confirmed, pointing at the "H" on the roof.
"You're sure it's not that one?"
"It's still under construction, see?" She pointed at the construction equipment, and now that Morsh squinted she could see that the far corner was still unfinished. She grunted unhappily and started to approach the small rooftop landing pad.
"Fleet car 117, please go to visitor parking," traffic control spoke through the fleet car's speakers, and the heads' up display highlighted the part where another officer car was already headed toward. Probably Amilita.
"This is Nataliska of house Rakten, we have business with the occupant of that patient. We will be setting down on the roof."
"Helipad is not for visitors," the accented trade shil repeated herself. "Please do not go."
Nataliska leaned forward and flicked off the comms, and Morsh guided the fleet car to the 'Helipad' and set down next to the already-empty ambulance.
She hopped from the car and sprinted to the main door. "Come on." The door from the roof was locked, however, and when Morsh gave it a more firm tug, it popped the handle clean off.
"Now what?" Nataliska asked, but before Morsh could even think to answer the girl was already in motion, thin and dexterous fingers finding a part of steel in the ripped apart internals to peel back, the latch opening with a click.
"Nice work," she complimented her ward for her persistence.
She may have celebrated too early, because they now found themselves lost in the bowels of the alien building. Nataliska seemed to move with a purpose, though, pressing a button, and a lift opened.
Going down a couple floors in a box that felt entirely too shaky for Morsh's liking opened, only to find themselves immediately lost as the doors opened. The staff milling about wore various colored uniforms, probably meant to indicate something about their speciality, though Morsh saw no bloodstains or helpful lettering to guide the unfamiliar.
"Where to?" Nataliska asked, uncertainly.
Morsh was increasingly sure that hospitals served a secret universal purpose: To hide away anyone suffering in a maze that only employees could solve. Whether on-board the depths of a warship, a space station, planetside on an embattled world, or even in an alien-constructed, retrofitted building, she always got lost whenever she found herself in one.
"Hey, I can't read this stuff," Morsh waved a hand at the alien lettering and raised her omni-pad, letting it translate what text it saw. It took a couple times of double-checking, counting the third one from the top. "This one says 'child-medicine.' Is Elias still considered a child?"
"Pediatrics?" Nataliska sounded the human word out.
Morsh squinted at her omni-pad, and then back at the sign. "I think so?"
The bodyguard loathed the insurgency for the delays they'd caused. Had it not been for them, then she wouldn't be stuck navigating these hallways, and the new hospital next door would be finished already. At least something about this place would be familiar.
"I think we follow these colored lines on the wall. It's the same color as the sign."
"Alright," it was as good an idea as any, and they went around the corner to find a waiting room.
"Let's try one of the attendants?" Nataliska suggested, striding forward before Morsh could ask her to wait. The woman behind the desk had the sagging skin of someone from a high-gravity world, though at least they had the tendency to be stocky, but strong. Yet she seemed almost too round for her chair, bloated underneath the strange mottling that ran up her exposed arms and lower neck. She frowned from behind her thick-framed glasses at the pair of approaching shil'vati. Morsh sensed some vague hostility, but the woman certainly also seemed utterly impotent, so she filed it away as a triviality and instead took the room's surroundings, gauging the others in it. No one in the waiting room seemed particularly dangerous, though they were all keeping their distance.
Nataliska leaned forward. "Hi," she used the human greeting, though Morsh realized she'd forgotten to activate her translator and missed the next bunch of words. By the time she'd gotten it online, she'd missed everything except "Elias Sampson."
The blank stare returned showed no more understanding than Morsh had of what Nataliska had just said.
"I need to see Elias Sampson," Nataliska tried again. "He was taken here. He was hurt badly. He's my friend, and I need to check in on him." She tapped hurriedly on her omni-pad, and then smiled, pointing at a photo of him she'd taken. The woman glanced at the screen with disinterest, and then huffed.
"Try the Emergency Ward, or maybe surgery," was the only answer they got before the strangely-shaped woman started to rise from her desk.
"Where's that?" Nataliska's patience was obviously running thin.
"East wing. * " The woman finished standing from her desk and waddled away from the glass partition before either of them could ask where the 'East Wing*' was.
"Thank you!" Natalie said, always polite.
"Now what?"
"We find the East Wing." Natalie glanced at the window. "It's...uh...evening, so, away from there. That means..." she pointed, and started down the hallways.
Morsh shook her head. This felt like it was getting them nowhere. Worse, they quickly found dead-ends where they couldn't proceed through without a pass of some sort- and no one seemed to come along the particular hall that they'd gone down so they could follow them inside to get further east. Nataliska had insisted Morsh not put a shoulder to the locked door- avoiding incidents seemed to be a priority.
Eventually a nurse wearing blue scrubs rounded the corner, and started to double-back when Morsh decided she'd had enough of being made to wander aimlessly and flanked the human, cutting off her retreat.
Nataliska brought her omni-pad back up again, pointing at the picture. "Elias Sampson- sorry, I should start over. Do you know where surgery is, or perhaps the emergency room? East Wing?"
The nurse studied the picture for a few seconds longer than the secretary had, and then looked at Nataliska for a couple more, as if thinking about what to say in response. "Ask her to guide us," Morsh suggested, the translator speaking her own words back out for her before she shut off its speaker. "That way if she's thinking of misdirecting us, at least she's wasting her time, too," she added.
"Why would she do that?" Nataliska asked.
*"I'm sorry, are you next of kin or family?" *The nurse asked dutifully.
"Well, no, but I'm a noblewoman, and he was hurt badly. I ask that you aid us. It's very important that I'm there when he wakes up."
The corners of her mouth dipped slightly lower. "I see. Are you listed as his emergency contact?"
"Please. It's important."
"Of course it is. I'm going to have to ask your name."
"Nataliska of house Rakten. I'm right here-" she began scrolling through the photos, until she found one of the two of them side-by-side. "See?" This time the nurse didn't even bother looking.
"Sampson...tell you what, wait here, and I'll go check the emergency contact list-"
The nurse's indirect refusals to give any straight answers only ended when their demands were joined by the huffing arrival of the Lieutenant Colonel.
"Sorry. I was just setting up a place to work from when I saw you walk by," she said, panting the words out, and gauging the situation.
Morsh was tired of hearing the girl repeat herself in asking, and decided to speak the inevitable question for her. "Where's Elias? We've been trying to find him."
Amilita turned to the nurse they'd cornered, and activated her translator. "Please show them to the patient's room. I'm General Amilita, Acting commander of the Delaware Garrison." The woman paled slightly, and Morsh switched off her translator halfway through repeating Amilita's translator's English back into Shil'vati.
"Of course, ma'am," the woman said in trade shil'. And just like that, the three of them were off with a guide, though Amilita peeled off the group after only a few dozen steps.
What a strange inversion it was when a combined noblewoman's title and presence of a bodyguard couldn't get the respect a military uniform apparently commanded here.
"This is the room," Nataliska relayed for the Nurse, who immediately scampered off. The door opened, revealing a nurse who was as startled to see them as the first nurse had been, and Nataliska started drilling her with rapid-fire questions. The new Nurse was surprised that the shil'vati girl was fluent in English, and answered each question quickly, if shortly. Morsh switched back on her translator, but it was already too late to catch most of it.
When Nataliska had apparently finished her questions, Morsh let the nurse slip past and leaned in. "So? What'd you learn?"
"He's 'stable,' whatever that means, and has been sedated for his own good." She sighed. "I guess I'll go into the room, and talk with the doctors attending. Maybe they know when he can be woken up." She took a second to think. "I wonder what machines they used to use to bring people out of comas." Then she smiled a little bit- the first one she'd had in a while. "I wonder if they just slapped or shook their patients? Or was it a really loud noise? Do you think there's a prescribed one that they'd always use?"
She tried the handle, the question clearly on the tip of her tusk.
Except there was no one to ask. The room had been left empty, with just Elias laying there unconscious. The boy had filled out since the early days, when the newly-minted 'Natalie' had confessed she'd found a boy to finally talk and sit alone with, then proudly showing off a photo she'd snuck. He'd looked almost malnourished, waifish then. Now, laying still in the cot, despite all the lean muscle he'd put on through maturing, he looked no less vulnerable. The various faces he wore with such an intense focus and force of will were gone, leaving a vacant expression she'd never thought she'd see him wear. The planet could think what it wanted about boys and what they were supposed to be- the reality was they were still boys. No amount of arguing would ever make her feel anything other than a twist in the gut, and a feeling that something had gone horribly wrong.
The staff hadn't even a doc bot left in the room to keep an eye. There were distant squeaks of shoes on the shiny surface that humans loved to floor their interiors with, muted conversations drifting down the hallways, but only a few people milling about. Whatever the doctors had done, they felt they'd finished their work and cleared out.
"So, what now?" Morsh asked.
"We could wait?" Nataliska suggested, trying to hide how nervous she was. "I mean, maybe he'll wake up on his own? Or they're getting one of those machines I saw on TV."
"What machine?" Morsh asked.
"Well, when the person's asleep, then someone gets a machine that makes a whining noise." Suddenly, Natalie got quiet.
"And then what?"
"...then they rip open the guy's shirt, and uh, it's not what you think! They put their hands on it- his chest- the part where his heart is, I mean. And they put these metal pads on him, and someone says 'clear' and then he wakes up with a jolt."
"Uh-huh. And they just put this on TV, for anyone to see?"
"It's not like that! It's a legitimate medical procedure!"
"The nurse didn't say anything at all about that? Like, not even a rough idea on if that's what they're going to do, or when they're going to be back?"
Nataliska shrugged helplessly. "No, not really. I could wait with him? Or at least keep an eye over him, and ask anyone that comes by."
"Might be smart," Morsh agreed. "I'll stand guard. Want me to close the door? I know he doesn't like me all that much ever since the, well, you know. Everything."
"Thanks," she said. "I'm just worried about being seen alone with a boy behind a closed door."
"Come on, it's you two. Whatever went on, no one else knows about you crying in your room for days on end. I'll leave the two of you to chat alone and sort things out."
"Thanks, Morsh. You're the best. It's fine though, you can leave the door open for now, and I want to stay here, just in case." She walked in and pulled the chair up alongside the bed and gave the bodyguard a slight smile.
The bodyguard felt the minutes tick by. It bothered her that he'd been dumped there without so much as an attendant, with all manner of wires and human machines watching him in their stead. Pathetic. At least the room had an actual door and glass windows, curtained for privacy. It seemed they were very short-staffed, but that did keep her job of watching for threats simpler, and having to defend just the one point of entry made life easy. She idly tapped her pocket to make sure she still had that crucial object before an idea worked its way into her head.
She knocked on the doorframe, and Nataliska raised her head from her omni-pad.
"Kid, you're okay to take over guarding him for a bit?" Morsh asked.
"Huh?" She asked, standing and coming up to the door.
Morsh handed Nataliska her pistol. "I've gotta take a leak." The eyes of a nurse who wandered by were as large as saucers at the sight of the weapon, and she hurried her footsteps away from the pair.
"Uh...yeah," Nataliska answered, fumbling the grip for a moment. She started to stare at it and look down the barrel before Morsh pushed the tip down at the floor, making eye contact.
"That part faces whatever you want to kill," Morsh reminded her young ward, feeling a sudden sense of unease about leaving the same girl she'd just chewed out over acting before thinking alone with a pistol. One that Morsh clearly needed to actually teach her to use, too.
"How do I...?" Nataliska asked nervously, almost fumbling the pistol as she tried to hold it out for her bodyguard to inspect.
"The safety's on. This button here. Actually, you know what? Here. Take the knife. Don't use it unless you have to." The swap was quick, and Morsh felt the reassuring feel of her custom laspistol on her thigh once it had settled back into its quickdraw holster.
"Um..." the girl hesitated. Morsh prayed she didn't need to tell her which end to stick a threat with. Then again, common sense with nobles was like oxygen. The higher up someone went, the rarer it was to find.
"Just for a second. If you need me, press the panic button on your omni-pad, and hold them off with the knife until then. You understand?"
"I understand," she echoed, inching closer to the door, as if already imagining someone trying to sneak past her.
Morsh felt the unfamiliar bulge shift in her pocket as she made her way down the hall. The old human hospital with alien writing on the wall still threatened to misdirect her from the point where she'd seen a particular sign. It took only a couple turns she'd committed to remembering before she came across it again. She pushed open the double-doors and took in the enormous room, pleased with herself that it was almost certainly what she'd hoped it would be.
The small technician lady stood from behind her desk, itself separated with its own wall. Morsh let out a low whistle from between her tusks. "Whew, that is a big machine you have in there." She squinted exaggeratedly. "Not a lot of wiggle room for a patient, though," she muttered as if in contemplation. "Gotta have some courage to crawl in there and be treated here, I gotta admit. Say, Doc, you know I left my knife behind. And this thing here- well, let's just pretend it's not here at all," she tapped her holster, before fishing out and tossing the omni-pad she'd pickpocketed off Amilita into the center hole, watching in fascination how its course changed before sticking fast to one of the inner walls, defying gravity. "So, why don't you turn on that machine for me? It's that magnetic...uh...thing."
She glanced down at the workstation the woman was at, and noted the various pieces of metal arrayed on the desk. Her laspistol should be safe here- or at least better here than in Nataliska's shaky hands.
"Magnetic Resonance Imager, and I think that would be a very bad idea. It would-" she eyed Morsh with increasing alarm as the bodyguard strode closer until she leaned over the woman, leering.
"I didn't ask what you thought."
Swallowing nervously, the much smaller woman started trying to explain what it was in the crudest trade shil, stumbling over her words.
"Didn't ask what it was, either, I said turn it on." The little woman's babbling ceased, and she quaked where she stood. "Do it, or trust me, you'll need more than whatever it can do for you."
The woman finally did as she was told, and the omni-pad began to promptly bang around the inside, until with a final, terrifying crack it went silent, and a warning chime sounded.
The woman let out a wail of distress and then stared balefully up at Morsh in a very: See? I told you so! gaze, as if missing the entire point. Morsh only let out a low whistle after she pulled open the door. Some people just could not be shown a good time or anything neat. The omni-pad was now stuck fast to the inner wall of the circular device, having punched a hole right through the plastic. "Do you have any idea how much that cost? This hospital has one of those, and parts for it- I don't even know where-"
Morsh pried the omni-pad loose, having to brace herself against it and pull with all her strength and then tested to see if it would switch on, noting with some satisfaction that it was certainly wiped of whatever it contained. She'd held corpses of comrades with more life left in them.
"Bill us."
Besides, how useful could the machine still be in this day and age? Morsh shook her head. Humans could keep their sentimentality and attachment to outdated tools. She'd prefer a doc bot any day to the confinement chamber.
She came back to find the situation outside Elias's room more or less as she'd left it and patted her ward on the shoulder after retaking possession of the knife with a genuinely relieved sigh.
"Sorry about that, I've been holding it in since I broke orbit. No visitors?"
Nataliska shook her head. Morsh sighed. "Then we're probably going to be here a while. But you know who isn't, and I suggest you go settle things with? Amilita."
"But, what if he-"
"I'll message you immediately," she promised. "Now, go, before he does wake up and you're still not back."
That got the girl moving, Morsh noted with some satisfaction.

Settlement

The hospital smelled. None of the scents were familiar to her, some of them were even superficially pleasant, and she imagined she might even enjoy the cleansers or aerosol sprays used to disinfect if she shut her eyes to relieve them from the long, harsh blue lights and imagine a breeze or spring. Oh, to close one's eyes and pretend the world isn't what it is.
Natalie was reluctant to leave Elias's side but Morsh was right. She had to talk with Amilita.
It took a few tries, but she eventually was directed to the same hallway she'd been in before. She stopped at the open doorway to see that the giantess had taken over an empty storeroom and made it into a temporary office headquarters, resignedly signing off orders from her wrist-pad in rapid-fire motions. The rings under the old family friend's eyes were visible even through the semi-transparent image of her wrist-pad. When she shifted her focus and noticed the young noblewoman snooping at the threshold, Amilita stood to greet her before then ducking her head in a sign of respect and submission to the authority Natalie wielded, something Amilita had only done for her mother.
"I hear Morsh has been busy protecting the boy's privacy." The words were offered plainly and left for Natalie to determine how they were meant. She'd had enough of assuming the better of people after today.
"That's right, I stationed Morsh there. I hope that isn't going to be a problem."
Amilita put her hands up, showing off the white bandages taped around her knuckles as fresh flesh grew back underneath, "No, not at all. I've even requested the boy's medical files not be updated to reflect his recent visit here." With her other hand, she tapped a small stack of printed out papers.
Natalie blinked at the news. "Why?"
"His death would have been framed by Goshen as a suicide," she muttered.
"What? How? That's ridiculous. He was kidnapped!"
"I know," Amilita poked a finger at the gauze to again emphasize what she'd done at the sight. "Perhaps I ought to explain how I found him. He was hanging by his belt, dangling from a pipe. When I carried him out, he was barely breathing from asphyxiation and with marks on his neck. From what I can tell, they used the doc bot to check the airway and noted no spinal fractures. What matters is that these notes only include injuries, not their context." Natalie already knew from his treatment at school that he'd have a history of bruising, swelling, and cuts. Injuries she now understood why he'd wanted to treat on his own, rather than potentially hand information over. As she considered the implications, Amilita cleared her throat, lowering her hand. "What have you heard about when boys attempt suicide, Nataliska?"
"Uh, well..." she didn't want to appear ignorant, but she knew it wasn't exactly common. "I hear they choose quiet methods? I guess it's so wives won't try and stop them?"
"Usually it's described as a cry for help. When a boy threatens it, it's as a desperate gambit to force his terrible wives to release him. The women either lose him and are forever known and outed as husband-killers and neglectful. Or they take him to the hospital and at least avoid the 'boy-killer' charges. Threatening suicide is the final move of the truly desperate."
"Wasn't he desperate, though?" She felt she was missing something.
"What do those women who were in his life say in their defense, though? And remember, the medical records will leave Goshen out. It's just his injuries that are left in."
Natalie blinked. "Well, I guess they don't just confess?"
The officer's tone turned weary and she seemed to deflate some at Natalie's lack of answer. "I don't know if it's because I've been spending too much time around the wrong people, or if I'm suddenly sensitive to it after having a son. People always say about boys who attempt suicide: 'He couldn't handle it.' That he couldn't take the prospect of a life of housework and the pressures of fatherhood, which is always said to be easy. That, or he felt he couldn't compete with the pressures of acting like and being treated as a woman if he had a job." Amilita bit her lip. "I don't want that said about Elias- they won't know about the circumstances of the kidnapping, or anything else."
The young noble bristled, some heat entering her voice, "The trial should be easy enough to point back to. It doesn't matter if they dig it up."
"You can't appeal decisions on admittance or acceptance to a future job if they never even tell you they dug so deep into your past in the first place. I worry that if I step in and demand the circumstances be included, it'll be so unusual that people will still doubt him. They'll think I pulled strings. If you do it, they'll think you're doing the same, all to protect him. See the problem? We can't add it. So it is for the best that this stays off his record completely. We made sure we're not burying him physically, and now I'm making sure we're not burying his future." She inhaled, and then looked Natalie in the eyes. "I'm fine with the only record being in your hands, holding it in trust for him to decide if he wants to re-enter it into his medical history or not." She broke her eye contact and tapped the small stack of papers meaningfully. "I'm asking that you respect his privacy, because I have a duty to enter these into his record. But if they happen to go wandering, well, it's for the better then. I just ask that you...not share these to the datanet." She added the last part quietly.
Natalie nodded mutely. Her mouth opened, but no noise escaped at first. It took several moments to process that he possibly had been willing to kill himself to keep her family secret buried. Elias, You helped me when I told you my family's secret and Myrrah came to us. I ran and wasn't there to help when someone came to you over yours. There's still at least one more thing I can do.
"If the record is left out, would that help Goshen's case? I mean...what if she isn't punished for this?"
"My personal testimony could condemn her by itself, and you still retain the physical medical record. Not to mention you could weigh in, and so could he, and it would remain out of any record or background check. Besides, Goshen's cuffed to a bed in the commoner ward, and I doubt she'll live much longer."
"You almost killed her?"
"Well, I wasn't gentle," Amilita admitted, not at all bothered by the admission. "But, no, she is seen as the one responsible for the loss of the noblewomen. The fleet and Nobles don't want to pin the loss of three system lady matriarchs on a martyr. Especially when one of them's a scioness of the Maudalenti family- you wouldn't know them but they're renowned for their brave military service."
Natalie's head spun. She'd actually heard of that family. "Why was he able to take so many of such high stature?"
"It takes considerable power or favor to bully one's way onto this world, past all the secrecy and safety demands, and even more to get to enjoy a pleasant time in a green zone. So naturally, almost all of them had it in spades. Enough to where their families could afford to chase Goshen to the ends of the Galaxy to make an example of her if they wanted, and I suspect greatly that they do. Even in the Delaware barracks, they're furious at Goshen for losing the Marine hostages, and ordering repeated long charges over open terrain against railguns. There's no state I can transfer her to, thanks to all the borrowed troops. There's hardly any that I can think of that didn't lose at least a pod or two. The sad reality is Galatea Goshen hasn't a friend left in the galaxy, let alone one here who can stand up to all that. Normally when this many interested parties want someone in uniform to be hung up by her ears the officers are able to close ranks and stop them, but for the life of me I can't imagine why anyone would. Azraea is thought to have died because Goshen couldn't get the job done." Then she sighed and looked skyward. "Even the Goddesses would abandon her now. The warrior Goddess Krek was bloodthirsty and loyal, but she would have hated the senseless casualties Goshen pushed for. And now, even I'm abandoning her over what she did to Elias." Her eyes drifted back down to meet Natalie's. "Do you understand what I'm saying? She's unlikely to live to see a trial."
She was laying Goshen out on a line.
"'Justice will be done'," Natalie promised, quoting an ancient tome carved into stone, weathered away by sea spray in the millennia since. Amilita hung her head ever so slightly deeper. Natalie shouldn't tip her hand, she knew, but then again Amilita also dared not interfere.
"Do you know when he'll wake up?"
"No," she said. "They sedated him on the flight over, apparently for his own protection, and it won't last. I'm told this may be a polite way of saying that he attacked them."
She blinked and started to stand up, "Then if you'll excuse me, I need to watch over him."
"Of course," Amilita almost whispered. "I'm sorry," so quiet and tender the words could hardly be said to have come from someone of Amilita's rank and physical stature.

Living Dead Boy

Natalie returned to find that an unknown Marine had joined Morsh near Elias's door, the former staying a respectful distance across the hallway. She wore a darker blue patch, indicating she wasn't here from Delaware's garrison. She strode right past Morsh, who made a point of shutting the door behind her.
Natalie stared at the stack of papers on the small table next to the chair she waited in, her gaze wandering about the room listlessly, coming once more to fall on its sole occupant
His chest rose and fell steadily, with an annoying 'beep' repeating at a constant interval indicating he was being monitored in at least some sense. His clothing was disheveled, like when she'd first met him.
She turned on her omni-pad, and sent a panoramic photo of the room to her mom, not even managing a smile. Just giving you an update. I don't know much. Watching the doctors, when they come in. Don't show anyone, obviously. It felt strange to even have to ask such a courtesy.
The message back was immediate: How much would I need to pay to have one here, just to answer my questions and look over Elias, and not just disappear somewhere else at random times?
The medical staff had wielded immense power, even in the face of a noble name. It reminded her more of a cult than a proper medical institution. Still, on Earth, most services seemed to have a price, even things that were held sacred. Thanks to the exchange rate the price was often rather pitiably small, surely, one doctor wouldn't take too much.
She was about to respond with a rough estimate when she thought she saw him stir, though it might have just been the sheet settling.
"Elias?" She asked, leaning over and placing her hand gently on his forearm, only for him to jerk awake and slap her hand off.
He had been stirring slowly, then more quickly and feverishly until he began kicking his legs, yanking the carefully tucked bed sheets out of where they were pressed and tangling them around his feet. The beeping had grown to a frantic and erratic pace, and a tone began to blare as he ripped something off his finger.
"Elias, calm down!"
Instead, he swung his legs out from the hospital bed and tried to push himself off of the bed and to the door, instead going down in a heap as the little white sheet slid on the slick floor. He let out a slight cry of pained alarm that would wrench at any woman's heart. Bright eyes wide and wild, he lay there for a second or two, and Natalie hesitated. She couldn't help but feel responsible in some way for the pain he was in, and so she backed off, and instead crouched down, showing her empty palms.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Natalie tried to soothe him, though he glanced over her shoulder at the exit, then around the room as her words sank in and he met her eyes- just for a moment, before he paused and gave her a second glance. "Natalie?" He rubbed at his eyes. "Sorry, everything was a bit blurry for a second there..."
The momentary expression of relief that settled over her was shattered when the door was suddenly shoved open, knocking Natalie forward and toward Elias, and then everyone began screaming at each other, all at the same time.
The poor Nurse let out a shriek of terror as Morsh pulled the hapless woman sprawling back out of the doorway by her fabric collar, legs and hands in the air as she slid.
Natalie tried to shield Elias's crouched form while finally cutting through everyone else's screaming with a simple command: 'Get out!' Elias was trying to push past her, but she couldn't let him run, she'd just found him! Then Morsh tried to step through the door, saying something about how an alert had gone off. Elias had half blocked her off with his body and gotten into some semblance of a fighting stance, and was now trying to protect Natalie from her own bodyguard. Each of them was blundering through trying to protect each other, but the chaos of the situation ensured that none succeeded at anything but getting in each other's way.
"Get OUT!" Natalie roared again. Morsh knew when to pick her battles, and when to follow orders, and slammed the door shut so hard it hurt her ears. Angry voices on the other side went back and forth, but Natalie pushed herself against the frame, even as the newly-conscious Elias gathered himself up and met her eyes.
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Author's Notes:
Also, good news. My father's made it through his surgery! A lot of stress taken off. He is in good health, and good spirits. Editor is progressing through what is occupying him. I would like to thank Guardsman Miku and Tumbleman for their efforts in helping with the editing.
Archive Of Our Own contains the latest version of Alien-Nation with a lot of added scenes, flow improvements, and so on. (You can also download the story as an ePub for reading on your personal device, if you feel like doing so, though I recommend waiting until Book One is truly finished.)
Link to Archive Version here:

This is a crossover fanfiction between original fiction titles: Nature of Predators by SpacePaladin15 and The Last Angel by Proximal Flame respectively. All credit and rights reserved goes to them for making such amazing science fiction settings that I wanted to put this together.
You can read The Last Angel here: Be warned, it's decently long, and at its third installment so far. I highly suggest reading it before reading this, or this story will not make sense.

Otherwise, enjoy the story! Thanks again to u/jesterra54 and u/skais01 for beta and checking of work!
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Memory transcription subject: Second Submissive Specific Advisor Lithke, Arxur Dominion 6th Sector Fleet
Date [standardized human time]: October 19, 2136
It took a long time to get to its point, but the...artificial intelligence finally properly introduced itself to us. I didn't exactly know what to think of it.
Sentience was defined in true sapients, unlike that of the Federation leaflickers; a right reserved to predators, not prey. But this was neither. It was outside the cycle of life, yet smart as life all the same. It did not need sustenance or instincts to survive, for it was never built with them in mind. It had more in common with that of a plant in diet than an animal, and I was tempted to treat it like an object at first.
But thinking back to its story. Its history, its hull, its purpose. It was built by humanity, not the one we knew, but still the creation of truly sentient beings. It was a weapon of war, of unbridled power meant to hunt, ambush, and kill the most dangerous prey of all: other super-ships. In a way, it was a predator of a scale near unimaginable, seeking unimaginable cruelty towards the alien races that dared to kill off its kin, its creators. It was an applaudable effort.
Yet, the dichotomy was the most alien concept I had tried to chew on, even considering the concept of time travel that was mentioned mere [minutes] earlier. That concept was annoying enough to translate.
Why would anyone return to the past? The past is not worth returning to, as a [weak fortification], unfocused era is not worth the time of those espoused to the Great Prophet's [fullthought] of endless self-improvement.
But chew on both I still would. Eventually. For now, I wish to gauge its character. If it was anything like the humans, it might've been softer than a predator ought to be, but in its case its motivation towards war, towards how it reveled in the total death of this...Compact was ever honing, ever chaseworthy, to inspire it to further improve. It had been at war longer than Betterment had even existed. If there was something worthwhile to learn we had not about the proper self, they might be the key to it.
I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt, and treat it as one would treat a fellow predator. It was only fair, they had saved humanity as well, as who else but a fellow predator would stick their heads out to assist on their own free will?
Unlike the slave 'pets' that the Venlil are humans keep around. Isif's order to follow the human's rules involving prey was a pain. I could hardly stand to treat them with any dignified respect as they assisted Earth; why the humans and prey went so much further for eachother was a mystery I'd never truly get to the bone of.
But that was besides the point. The artifi- no...Red One - finally turned away from Hailey to signify interest in me at last, and I was glad for it. A chance to talk with such a being would likely be useful.
"And you, who are you, Arxur?" She said.
My tail lashed with some pride.
"I am Lithke, Second Submissive Specific Advisor to Chief Hunter Isif! I am glad that the humanity of your future was willing to build a fellow predator."
Red One seemed to stall at that. "Fellow predator? Is there a cultural reference I'm not getting here?"
Hailey stepped into the conversation once again. "Ah, apologies! You gave a bunch of context to your own future, but we haven't exactly talked about our culture and history, have we?"
I held my claws forward, a gesture meant to make her stop. "I will handle our side of the conversation, human. Don't interrupt." Hailey looked frustrated at that, but she did not know our culture like we did.
Red One turned to me, a digital eyebrow raised at my command. I continued. "I refer to you as a predator with reverence, Red One. Despite the fact that you are not a natural predator, you are built as one, designed to hunt game of far greater prize than others. The Dominion appreciates those who fully embrace their predator roots, for through them we manage to thrive against a hostile galaxy."
Red One started to look...perturbed? Confused? She must know the Federation prey tried to exterminate Earth, they hated humanity for their biology, what was wrong with what I had just said?
"I do not understand why that matters. Why would diet be a basis of respect?" Her response was staggeringly ignorant.
No. It can't be...she doesn't know!?
Hailey looked at me with an almost sickened expression of pain, the explanation to come undesirable for either of us. She stepped forward again, meekly embarrassed, but this time I did not stop her.
"Well uh...about that..."
+CONFED IO.5+
+READING MAIN SEQ.MEM+
...
This galaxy is utterly absurd.
I had seen a lot of things in my time alive. Abominations from the void, dyson swarms that could move entire stars, and an encroaching superpower that squashed every aspect of culture and memory for the mere feeling of control. But never had I seen as hilariously sad a reason as racial prejudice based off merely being able to eat meat.
And then the Arxur decided to run with the stereotype.
Why?! What half-stupid species reaches spaceflight, hell, faster-than-light travel, and is deathly afraid of the very concept of a food chain, let alone half the niches inside it?! Did these races even evolve!?
I am almost willing to take Lithke's words for granted that the people in The Federation aren't sentient if they can't see that...
But that's not all. Not only did this Federation of species all end up to be only herbivores, something statistically suspicious assuming life was as common as in my reality, but it also met with one obligate carnivore, and those carnivores just happened to turn into the very thing they sought to destroy! Of all the possibilities, why did I have to end up dealing with a universe as insane as this?
But I took a mental step back, as my avatar pinched its nose to better reflect its utter frustration. No, there has to be more to this...galactic-wide phobia. Plenty of sentient obligate herbivores and carnivores existed in my universe, yet none were discriminated against in any diet specific ways. Oh sure, there was the equivalent of refusing to serve food because the amino-acids of one race didn't match with the cooking of another, but that was not prejudice for one's diet, but prejudice using diet to deny another.
I could at least take solace in the fact that humanity seems to be sane enough. They don't seem to be cruel slavers akin to the Arxur, or hysterical fanatics like the Federation. Small mercies...
This galaxy still had its similarities in unsettling ways. Both The Federation and The Arxur Dominion did not hold much care for the past, readily uncaring of old culture or history. It spoke of monoculture red flags, at least from the top-down, with an obligation towards prejudice. Most of the races of the Federation were forcibly uplifted, which rang oddly and painfully like that of The Compact's same policy of expansion and absorption. The Arxur were comically cruel and evil in their policy, they thought more akin to that of autocratic dictators, chasing after ideals that would make a eugenicist blush. If I squinted, it felt like I was looking at a badly written holo-novel reflecting my galaxy's politics, but horribly distorted and exaggerated; like looking at a broken reflection.
But that was besides the point currently. Why humanity was allied with the Arxur was likely for pragmatic reasons, ones I had yet to figure out besides obvious protection. I could only hope humanity was smart enough to not have anything else rub off on them. Which is why I turned my attention back to Hailey's and Lithke's explanations, hungry for more context.
"And The Federation, when you first met them, was immediately hostile?" I asked Hailey.
"Yes. The Venlil took a chance to trust us, but the other races could not say the same. Upon the first meeting of Marcel Fraiser, a UN soldier attached to the defense of Venlil Prime with proper Federation forces, he was immediately subjected to torture by them, and only broke out with the assistance of one of the Federation crew members. I don't remember their names, sadly."
So there was some sense of care for predators among the Federation. It didn't seem to be as fully iron grip as I had feared. But if it took blatant torture of an innocent being for even one to realize something was wrong, then it was likely deeply entrenched. I had no idea how to proceed with that.
"Peh, as if prey can be trusted. I still do not see what you humans do in them, they are all pathetic at best." Lithke heartwarmingly added right after. The bad blood was deep here, Arxur and Federation were at eachothers throats, sometimes quite literally if Lithke's talk is to be believed.
"If this is all true, I cannot tolerate the Federation as an entity. They are deeply entrenched in an absurd ideology, and they had the gall to use it as an excuse to exterminate humanity."
They reminded me of the Compact in possibly the most personal way imaginable. They went after humanity. They sought to burn it to the ground, to salt Earth until it was a desolate rock.
That was unforgivable.
They would pay.
But not yet. Currently, I needed assistance, and so, I sought to turn the conversation back to the other topic matter at hand: my intentions to stay in this system. It felt...odd to ask for help, I never had the opportunity to do so for so long without strings attached, but this...this was the closest to trustworthy it got.
"Nevermind the state of the galaxy for now. If it is within your capabilities to help me get back home, and repaired, I would appreciate it."
Hailey jumped at that statement with one of her own. "Home being your reality or Earth?..." She asked tentatively.
Well, if you're going to line it up for me so easily.
"Yes." I responded, a feeling of cheekiness spreading throughout my circuits. Hailey groaned in response. A chance to talk with humanity once again burning away whatever tension I had built up over these long years. I was happy in a way I thought I'd never have again.
Happiness, huh? What a rare feeling.
Memory transcription subject: Second Advisor Lithke, Arxur Dominion 6th Sector Fleet
Date [standardized human time]: October 19, 2136
As Hailey retreated to the back of the ship to activate the communication relay back to command, I found myself alone in the pilot cabin, with Red One as my on-screen company. The synthetic predator watched me for a few moments, as if analyzing me, looking for anything to pry into. She was inquisitive, smart, [quick to the kill], and dangerous given her ship-self. All of which would be admirable traits in the Dominion. Yet, she was still more akin to a human in mindset than I had liked; I had hoped she would be more receptive to our way of thinking given her nature, but...
"Lithke." She interrupted from nowhere. I was roused from my mulling once again to look at her. "I have learned a bit about the Dominion from you, but I have a question pertaining to them if you'd hear it."
She wished to learn more? Maybe she was conscious of her creator's race's more...delicate palate then, and just waiting for us to be alone.
"Speak. I will listen and answer." I said.
"The Federation and Dominion are absolute enemies of one another, neither willing to extend any hand of diplomacy or ceasefire, according to what I've heard so far. You are both morally and racially repugnant to one another, and yet, I see there is clearly a problem if that is the case. Why aren't you both at total war with each other?"
I paused for a moment.
"But...we are at total war with each other. We do not forgive them, nor forget their actions. They deserve no mercy and we give none."
"Lithke, if the Dominion has as much of a military edge over the Federation as I am likened to believe, you have the capability to [utterly devastate] them on a whim. Yet, your [main method] is merely to raid their outer settlements, and aim for weaker colonies and targets. If they've wronged you so incredibly in the past, and you have the means to take revenge directly, why do you not attack their homeworlds?"
This was an odd take, especially given that Red One knew of our cattle farms. I told her specifically of our use of Federation prey to replace the now extinct cattle species during first contact. What was she hinting at?
"We raid because they are a source of food. It is an un-intuitive idea to kill off your food supply in total."
"And yet it has been nearly [300 years] and you couldn't find a suitable cattle species on a different planet? The galaxy is likely filled with multicellular life of various sizes, and not one planet you've passed through has had any possibility of domesticable animals? The premise of this war seems inefficient. You raid sentient-controlled planets for sentient livestock, when they are slow-breeding and trouble to contain over non-sentients. The main aspect to me that stands out is how...cruel it is, for no real point."
"Cruelty always has a point, Great Predator. It tempers us to our more primal selves."
Her avatar cringed at that. "Please do not call me that. Just Red One. But that is besides the point: in what purpose is there to live a life that best emulates your animal roots?"
I sniffled in amusement. She did not know of The Great Prophet's wisdom. Of course, her creators could not see it either, so I was not surprised. I tilted forward in my chair to explain.
"The idea seems counterintuitive, I know. But it does make sense once you think about it more. The Great Prophet once said that we should strive to better ourselves at every moment, that we should be driven forever to improve the species and ourselves. That we should train to become the utter pinnacle of physical and mental might. We tried to emulate this chase in various ways, but the most powerful driver of all was that of hunger."
She crossed her arms, clearly waiting for me to elaborate. "Hunger makes us more than want, it makes us need. It is the strongest method one has to inspire yourself towards your goals. The starving beast is strong in body, but not in mind. The sapient creature is strong in mind, but not in body. To be both mentally and physically strong, is to be the starving sapient. Through that comes enlightenment to The Great Prophet's Word: a hungry mindset is a perfect one."
"And so, you take the harder route in search of a perfect species. You specifically don't produce enough food to go around, you exact cruelty to hone your killing instincts, all to follow your 'Great Prophet's Word'. Is that correct?"
She understood! We were getting somewhere!
"Exactly. I was worried you, like most humans, would not understand our ways. But clearly we are more alike than you think. You struggled against your Compact for over a millennia, ever seeking to improve your weapons, to further your tactical acumen, because your nature was to wage war. You gave in to your programmed instincts to best commit to revenge. And now you are a killing machine above any other. We struggle in another way, but for similar reasons, to best fit our nature."
She looked almost distraught at my comment. Like she pitied me.
"Lithke...nature...doesn't work like that. Evolution doesn't want you to be starving, so it gives you a strong motivator signal so that you don't die. To starve is not evolution rewarding you, it's warning you're in grave danger. Malnutrition does not let you grow ideally, it does not give your body the resources it needs to get stronger. The 'starving beast' is desperate, because it wants to live in a world where it is stronger, more capable to take on life, where it is full."
How dare she ridicule His Wisdom! I spun to face the wall, teeth gnashing, but I could still hear her voice.
"It's not intended to starve yourself for so long, trust me, I've been on the edge of survival for far too long. It burns at your psyche, it melts away yourself to be constantly chased, constantly in danger, constantly in pain. You don't live a fulfilling life feeling like you're wasting away at every moment. The fact that these principles are enshrined in your very government is worrying, Lithke. It's as if..."
Her avatar seemed to light up in a moment of enlightenment. But what she said chilled me to my bones.
"...as if your government wants you this way for control. A status quo of death, of hardship. The Dominion doesn't end the war outright despite your advantages, because it sees this as a way to keep everyone in line. Hunger and cruelty as a motivator not to improve, but to conform."
That...that...
It was like being doused in the cold water near the cattle pens. I thought back to past moments in my life. Where I had shown interest in the relatively mundane, the simple. Where the endless details stuck out to me, but no one else saw them.
"Lithke! Quit staring at the ships outside!"
"Are you DAFT? Why is your instinct wasted on this?!"
"You are a disgrace to think of anything but the chase so much, Lithke."
Her words rang in my head, over and over, as I stared blankly into the wall.
"-not to improve, but to conform."
Why did it make sense?
No...no...there must be something I'm missing. The humans are good at manipulation, I'll give them that, and their creation is too.
I must speak with Chief Hunter Isif immediately. His Cruelty would know what to do.
Memory transcription subject: Hailey Whitmer, UN Special Envoy
Date [standardized human time]: October 19, 2136
As I walked back from the communication relay room, Lithke was coming in the opposite direction. He was deep in thought, almost shaken, as he slowly walked my way.
"You uh...okay Lithke?..."
"Nothing, human." He growled. "Just talk with the AI. I have business to attend to." He pushed past me with no further clarification.
Oh no, what did he do?
My pace hurried back to the front of the ship, expecting the worst, but when I returned, neither the AI nor the ship looked worse for wear, thankfully. She was paitently sitting on the projection, simply biding time until one of us came back, I assume.
"Ah...Lithke just walked back to the comms room. Looked rather perturbed. Anything wrong?" I asked her.
"We talked. Nothing too special." She cryptically responded. Before I could ask further, she spoke again. "So, anything about my request?"
Right to it, then.
"Well, we are willing to help you repair and return home as far as I asked. They're still utterly surprised about well...everything, but I only gave them a summarized view. I'll have to explain in further detail when I get back to command, since the ship will have proper recordings of our conversations. The only problem is, the place where we could feasibly help you repair is in only one location: The Lunar Shipyards"
Red One's sobering smile told the whole story. "Ah. And I have no way to easily get there with no main engines. At least...not quickly, that is."
"Now, there's still options!" I put my hands in front of me. "While I'm no engineer, and the United Nations of Sol's fleet is rather...weakened at the moment, I could try and ask the Venlil Space Force still in the system if they'd be able to spare people and resources to getting you home somehow." I grimaced a bit. "They're still touchy right now, given both you and The Arxur showing up were highly unexpected developments, but I'm sure they will be able to find some way to help!"
Hopefully my speech was a comforting one. Red One mulled it over, her avatar rocking slightly back and forth as she looked up at nothing in particular, pondering. Then, she stopped to look back at me again.
"Whatever works. I have effectively no other options unless you want to toss asteroids my way. But given a shipyard would likely be faster, there's more merit to that." She paused. "Won't they...be afraid of me?"
"Red. Can I call you Red? Red...everyone is afraid of you. For once, the Venlil aren't alone in this, you are an anomaly on a scale I can hardly believe exists. You're dangerous beyond our wildest measure, but I trust you nevertheless because your story and physical existence is too nuts to be anything but the truth."
She didn't look all too happy at that. I continued however.
"But, I have to say, if the Venlil can get over us, they can likely get over you. There's merit to be had in not worrying about them for once. No, worry about yourself for now. Once Lithke is done with his call, we're gonna head back to Earth and give a full report. I promise, I'll come back as soon as possible, with as much help as I can provide for your sake. You've earned it for helping us so far."
Red One smiled at me. It was muted, tired, but it felt more genuine than any other up to that point
"Thank you."
Memory transcription subject: Captain Kalsim, Krakotl Alliance Command
Date [standardized human time]: October 19, 2136
My mind was on fire as I awoke. Painful throbbing all throughout my body as I attempted to shift in place, and yet couldn't.
As the vision cleared from a starry blur, I saw I was in a hospital room of some sort. The room set me off however, as this was no Zurulian setup I knew of.
Where was I?
The floors, walls, and ceiling were all adorned in unfamiliar apparatuses and a language I was having trouble reading. Perhaps the translator was acting up?
I reached for my [auriculars], feeling around for the implant. But as I did, I looked at my...wings.
Bandages wrapped around them, their structure feels so weak in comparison to normal...and the-
The hole
[[Utter panic setting in as I could hear the metal screech closing in behind me, a terrifying reminder that it was faster even damaged]]
[[The feeling of falling, as my wing went numb and limp from shock]]
[[The cracking of bones, the feeling of blood, the limp of failing adrenaline]]
[[The Machine speaking in Jala's voice, the robotic monster, that killed them. Waiting paitently to do the same to me.]]
It came back like a Hurricane. I could not breathe, could not speak, my heart rate convulsed higher and higher on the screen next to me oh Inatala's talons why did this happen oh nononono....
I flailed for help, desperately trying to not think of the arm. My body hurt in ways I hadn't felt until I had noticed. And the worst part was knowing...
...I'm in a human hospital, aren't I? That's why none of this is familiar. I'm going to die. Oh no by Inatala I'm going to die, accursed Maltos-song scourged predator-infested planet this is-
A human rushed to the door, as if to capitalize on my fear at that moment. He was dressed in what I could only assume were a doctor or nurse's clothes, but they were waiting to kill me, they wanted me awake to die-
The human grabbed me. The end is nigh get off me GET OFF ME GET OFF ME!-
I twisted and squawked as loud and as violent as my damaged body could manage. I wouldn't go without a fight! But regretfully, he overpowered me with little issue.
"Hey! Calm down, hey! You're gonna be alright. Relax! You were banged up pretty good when you came in, I'm surprised you're even awake!
I attempted to struggle any bit further, but after a certain point my strength was spent, my will leaving me to fight further.
Well, this is it. I can only hope the humans aren't slow to kill me...
But it didn't come. He just kept by my side, stating phrases I didn't understand, like "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder", and "Flashback Triggers".
Oh no, have I been corrupted?
I didn't know how long I've been in the hospital, but perhaps their predator taint finally reached me? Am I...predator diseased?
I could only lay in silence as he left my room, awake but unthinking, my brain spent on the stress of...everything. Of the battle above Earth, the escape pod, the machine. Time passed like nothing at all.
I did not know when he came in. Sitting in a chair across the room from me, he was dark-skinned, tall, professionally dressed, looking at me as if I had just killed his family.
…In possibility, that was a concern.
"Captain Kalsim, I presume?" He said with a distinct tone of disdain in his voice.
Very much possible.
I was prepared for him to pull a weapon, to simply finish me off in my broken state, to complete whatever retribution might lie on his mind. But, he didn't. He just continued, the same light tone of hatred infused within his words.
"My name isn't important, but what is important is that I am an Intelligence Officer. For what nation doesn't matter anymore, really...not after what you did."
He stood up, slowly walking closer. "The current estimates for total dead is somewhere in the 780 million range. Seven-hundred and eighty-million men, women, and children buried under rock and rubble where they weren't atomized by the bombardment you ordered. Seventy-five major cities, countless minor ones, dating eons of history and cultures, reduced to rubble and cinders."
He finally stood, still, directly to the side of my hospital bed. He looked imposing, and furious in a way that made me fear for my life.
"To put it mildly, the fact that they're even giving you the chance to heal first is a farce. Any court would sentence you to a firing squad, even if they were juried by nothing but pacifists. Yet, despite all that, the UN is offering a reduction of your sentence to merely rotting in a cell for your life. Why, you might ask? For pragmatism's sake." He scoffed. "We don't know enough about the Federation's capabilities, their true numbers. What is fiction and what is fact about your military is not widely given, nor the specifications of your technology. Normally, we'd just spy on you to get answers, but there's no chance to sneak us into your domain. So, it's come to this, of all things."
"I have to stand down the crippled fucking turkey that killed my country and pry numbers out of him." The human said in the coldest tone I've ever heard a sapient being use.
"So...before I take to any urge of personal justice, I suggest you give me something to work with here for my bosses. Especially about the vessel that [murdered] your fleet. Time's ticking."
My voice found a sudden strength for the next hour where there wasn't one before.
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Stock alternator is 160A and am not looking to upgrade it
Planning on doing big 3 and a little 0 gauge wiring but what other things should i run that wont break the bank?
what would i need to do to run 3000w rms monoblock and a 700w rms 4 channel
Have full leds (heads and tails) also have 4 pod lights and a lightbar but those are very inconsistently used to not worried about the effects of running them