The Nature of Predators

Memory Transcription Subject: Quana, Jaslip Soldier

Date [standardized human time]: February 10, 2161

Esquo’s Hope was the Jaslip enclave on the Ulchid world, and also the nearest to our prior engagements on the Smigli homeworld. I couldn’t get used to having the Arxur breathing down our necks; my biggest hesitancy was over taking anything that qualified as food to them. Cherise expected to have a rather incomplete diet, but that friendship-encroacher Hysran was happy to show her Yotul and Terran plants that had been brought in case KC herbivores were involved. My primate friend was eager to try the alien food, despite how barebones it was compared to Krev cuisine. My reservations about compromising the values we stood for weren’t shared by the human.

Regardless, Chief Hunter Kaisal was giving the Ulchids an ultimatum: release the Jaslips, or they would be forced to comply. The three-legged, hypersocial aliens weren’t a military species, and were likely to surrender to us. The trouble was that the Resket fleet surrounding Cieki might have something to say about us rallying troops from Esquo’s Hope, for our eventual raid of the KC’s big players. The Krev and their pink avian enforcers were the real enemy—the claws pressed to the Jaslips’ necks pinning us down, and spreading their lies to justify our deaths.

What did Arxur know about being on the wrong side of oppression, anyway?

“So Kaisal talked about ‘asserting control over the enclaves,’” I snapped at Zefriss. “What does that even mean? Is your plan for us to bow to you? Because I would never!”

Operative Zefriss lashed his tail. “If it is as simple as you wishing for your own world, then we will see that the KC species all release you. Our kind have been prisoners to the SC, locked away. We…hrr, sympathize.”

A loud laugh interrupted our conversation, as Cherise slapped Hysran on the shoulder in a fit of hysterics. “No! You did not just go there.”

“Did too! So much material with the whole three legs; threes are funny! You know…an Ulchid in a foot race just couldn’t reach the fin-ish line,” Hysran cackled, in another infuriating pun that I couldn’t understand.

“Please. You must’ve spent the whole ride over to this side of the galaxy looking for material on all the KC species.”

“That’s standard for the hunt, Cherise. I never stop thinking of jokes. I like to make others take things…less seriously! Especially when the jokes about these Consortium races write themselves.”

“I’ll bite. Do you have any jokes about us: and I mean the Tellish specifically?”

“Hrr, if there were any good jokes, I was hoping you would Tellus.”

My blood boiled, as Cherise howled and swatted Hysran playfully with her flimsy hands. She’d looked so happy ever since that damn cannibal had pranced around wisecracking, with jokes that I was left out of by virtue of my language; it was like the human was eager to replace me with the latest, greatest thing. The fact that she wasn’t brooding and depressed after the Arxur arrived—some random stranger shouldn’t have fixed her problems. I’d actually believed she followed me to the JIB for me, but now, I was dirt because I snapped at her once. Once!

“Interesting. Hysran annoys you as much as she annoys me,” Zefriss noted.

I growled, pinning my ears back. “Nice observation. How astute.”

I turned toward the viewport, angling my ears away from Cherise and Hysran. Our confrontation with the Resket fleet around Cieki was imminent, after Kaisal announced our presence with the JIB’s demands. There was no sense concerning myself with things that were much less important than our mission. Just as I had predicted, the militaristic avians were keeping a watchful eye on Consortium worlds, in case the Arxur made another move on our behalf. They didn’t intend to be embarrassed twice, after the dishonor of getting played at Esquo’s Fighters. The birds had come so close to crushing the Jaslip rebels.

The Arxur’s fleet was comprised of drones, and Kaisal’s command ship stayed a ways back; Collective operatives and Jaslip insurgents could board a shuttle to put paws on the ground, if needed. I wasn’t sure that these bloodthirsty menaces would be able to clear the disciplined Reskets, in open combat. The Consortium had an edge in technology, having engineered ships for a century to face the highly-exaggerated threat of the Federation. Perhaps it’d always been meant to use against their own people. There was no leaving, not when that’d make their control slip.

The Krev Consortium will never acquiesce to our demands, even if the Ulchids themselves are unwilling to suffer the consequences.

The good aspect of the Ulchids being hypersocial was that Aulan had been able to craft a phishing email, and play on that connected nature; it’d gotten us ears into the basic military chatter around Cieki. Kaisal was hailing the Reskets to broadcast his demands, but we could hear their internal dialogue at the same time. On the display feeds, I could see orbital defense platforms revving to life, and the defensive KC fleet bristling with weapons. I had my doubts about this plan; it wasn’t subtle. If we couldn’t take this planet though, there was no hope against the real Consortium strongholds.

We needed more allies than the grays, but they were all we had. It’d be too much to ask for Cherise’s species—the damn humans—to get their hands dirty; Kaisal told us they wouldn’t. I appreciated that they had tried to rescue our species via the Osir Project, but that rescue ended the second they found out we weren’t extinct. Even knowing what we were going through, they’d signed a peace treaty with the Consortium…without advocating for Jaslip liberty at all! Maybe the Arxur weren’t so bad, in comparison to every other indifferent alien.

“Release the Jaslips from under the control of this world’s natives at once!” Kaisal bellowed, as soon as his hail was accepted. I could echo his sentiment, judging by the itch of a growl that constantly nagged at my chest these days. “Carnivores do not belong to you. Free them, and you will not see us loose them by force.”

The Resket commander on screen looked unimpressed. “You declared war on the Consortium back at Omnol. If you wish to negotiate, turn back and handle this the diplomatic way.”

“Diplomacy. Diplomacy. I am not the bumbling Sapient Coalition! I want results, and I want them now—not waiting an eternity for what scraps you might deign to throw us. My demand is reasonable, and I want only your compliance.”

I tuned my ears to the internal chatter, as the avians spoke among themselves. “The Ulchids wish to let them have the Jaslip enclaves; they said they’d be happy to have the trouble ‘out of their oceanfront.’ If those hibernating extremists are so eager to go off on their own, without the blanket of our security, let them. However, it’s not about that.”

“The Consortium was clear that we cannot afford the dishonor of bowing to an invading army, especially after the embarrassment of the Federation’s nonexistence,” another voice answered, on the line we eavesdropped on. “The Jaslips refused to take the civilized route, so we cannot allow them to sow anarchy and make the Resket army a laughingstock. This is not how things get done. The delegates demand that we destroy this Arxur fleet.”

“That’s an order? I respect the hierarchy, but what will the Ulchids think?”

“The Ulchids will get in line for the good of the whole institution; they, of all species, understand collectivism. While I’m not eager to expend more manpower on these dishonorable insurgents who do not respect the rule of law, we have our orders, in no unclear terms. When the Jaslips stop acting like animals, we can reevaluate. Let’s not forget who the Arxur are—the most dishonorable of all.”

“That is true. We cannot let them raid Cieki, and we have no guarantees that the Jaslips will stop gunning for ‘revenge’ even if the Consortium bends to them. Specify our orders?”

“‘Eliminate all trespassers and hostiles from the Ulchid system. Utilize all weapons at the Resket army’s disposal, including orbital defense systems that have been transferred to your control, then help enforce a crackdown on the Esquo’s hope enclave.’ We are well-disciplined and know our tasks. Prepare to fire.”

My blood boiled as I heard the order that the Krev Consortium had passed down, as well as how the Reskets spoke about us inside their own ranks. Jaslips were mere animals to them, because we had no other options to speak up for ourselves. I didn’t even care if Kaisal was going to go out in a blaze of glory here, because we had to give them a lashing they’d remember. If the Jaslip Independence Brigade was doomed despite the outside reinforcements, then it was my new mission in life to take as many of them with us as possible. There wasn’t a sympathetic, kind individual in the Resket’s ranks; the supposedly honorable military existed to keep us down.

“Kibblarhans!” I hissed to Zefriss. “They will never give us freedom. The path forward is only paved with blood!”

Zefriss’ eyes narrowed, a calculating glint in those vertical slit pupils. “If this is how the Consortium insists on responding to us, we must teach them a lesson. This is what the Arxur are willing to take a stand for, and…the whole galaxy will know it.”

I waited for the Resket ships to begin firing on us, expecting an all-out battle to erupt around Cieki: bright, fast, and violent. There was a matter of listening for the ultimate command to fire, and trying to use our ears in their ranks to our advantage. That was the one edge we had, despite being outsiders here. I could feel my heart pounding from nerves, as I wished so desperately that we could free this enclave and all of the others. Jaslips deserved at least as much respect as the Tellish.

The Resket commander’s words were firm. “Set drones to fire in three, two, o—”

“Belay that order!” another voice squawked, one that sounded familiar and carried an authoritative weight. It was the unamused, no-nonsense register of General Radai, one that I’d heard many times in boot camp. “Escort the Arxur ships to the Esquo’s Hope enclave, and contest any KC drones that do not heed my command. Only fire on the intruders should they attack or posture to attack the Ulchid civilian populace.”

“General Radai? With all due respect, our prior orders are from the top.”

“It’s our imperative to defy dishonorable orders. The Krev, and elements of our own ranks, have been greedy and deceitful in their handling of the Jaslips. Regardless of how the JIB handles itself, there has been no acknowledgment of wrongdoing—no history of honorable conduct—from the KC. They will kill me for this, for disagreeing with them even if I did not defy them, so how much freer are we from their control?”

“Sir, the Consortium are—”

“Other species, who deemed their wishes to be above our own in the hierarchy. I do not agree: ultimate control of Tanet and her actions belongs to us. We must break off from their direction; we can think for ourselves. There has been enough hiding like cowards, to learn of a nonexistent threat, and enough lives lost. Reskets cannot align ourselves with their morals any longer. To all who are loyal to our honor code above all else, and who do not wish to stain our species’ legacy further with disrepute, stand down. Help the Jaslips.”

I was mystified as the Consortium fleet, by and large, powered down their weapons and cleared a path. It was obvious that Radai commanded a great deal of respect, and that his reputation was beyond reproach within his own ranks; I began to see why the Resket delegate had gone into hiding, out of fear that the KC might terminate him. His people had sheltered him since the Mafani incident, and he had tried to pursue answers over what happened to the kits, so I could see an argument that maybe he cared about our lives. All the same, with how buddy-buddy the avians were with the Krev, I found it hard to believe that Radai’s fellows would join his stand. Why would the Resket generals stand with extremists that I knew he hated so much?

Because Radai hates the Krev Consortium more, and blames them for pushing us to this? Reskets aren’t capable of seeing the whole truth. They’re Krev claw-lickers. Surely the general is the only one whose conscience will win out over being mindless and robotic, following orders like good little soldiers…

“Allow us to join your ranks,” the Resket on Kaisal’s screen replied, in words that were meant to be heard by us. Uncertainty flashed in the pink avian’s large eyes. “I’m told that we’re aiding your efforts to free the Jaslips. We truly did want to save them, not make them our eternal prisoners.”

The Arxur leader chuckled, eyes gleaming with shrewdness. “I’m not sure if they’ll believe you, but I do. Aulan, do you accept this aid?”

The Jaslip flicked an ear in agreement. “If they’re finally willing to acknowledge our mistreatment and aid our cause, then I can bury the past for the time being. Our liberty comes before all other considerations.”

I gawked at the viewport, baffled by the sudden, drastic turn of events. The Jaslips finally had an ally who could meet the Krev at their level. The last thing I ever would’ve expected was for the Reskets to side with us, based on orders that came from their top general. There was no question that Radai was a marked man after this, and I posited that our independence movement might have just turned into a full civil war. Aulan was right that our freedom was what mattered, but the Consortium burning would be a bonus.