The Nature of Predators 174 (Patreon)

Memory transcription subject: Onso, Yotul Technical Specialist

Date [standardized human time]: March 26, 2137

United Nations soldiers were amassing by the governance hall, the very building where every Federation diplomat once gathered. If the shadow caste’s hideout was in that intricate construction, I could almost respect the brazenness to keep the secretive underbelly so close to every other race. There was a wondrous arrogance to it, the very trait that made the Kolshians underestimate humanity, until they no longer had the chance to wipe Earth out. They always assumed they were untouchable and would handily win the war, until the moment Aafa was ours.

While the Terrans were still calculating their moves, Kolshian civilians had stormed the hall, and fires danced precariously close to the building. Since the United Nations needed the information within, we were in the process of quelling blazes. The crowd had been incensed by their government throwing away evacuation shuttles, and also that they’d lost to the predator invaders. Once we’d assessed the situation, Tyler had found us a group of human soldiers to storm the hall with. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but we needed one of the native guards to help us.

Even the Kolshians responsible for protecting this place seem to have turned on their government; I don’t think they’re in on the shadow caste’s locale. I’ve advised Tyler we need a different way of asking.

My gaze monitored Aucel, a Kolshian who seemed none too fond of us; while I didn’t like her mingling with our posse, I could respect that she had a brain in her skull. If she was right about the shadow caste being buried belowground, it would make our mission much smoother. My main concern was that, should she end up representing a problem for us, I didn’t trust Sovlin’s loyalties. The Gojid wouldn’t turn on humanity, but I doubted he was capable of pulling the trigger on Recel’s sister either. This could be a trap set for us by the secret government, luring us into a place where they held the cards.

“I’ll assume we won’t just find a floor plan lying around, huh?” Samantha asked.

The Gojid hovered close to Aucel, as we moved toward the door. “I’ve been to the basement. Your head’ll spin trying to get there, through all sorts of twisting corridors, and finally down an escalator. They have a subway train that takes you from the hall to the office spaces. I didn’t see anything related to the shadow caste back then, so...”

“It’s alright. Nikonus must have had some sort of bunker, where he’d go if there was an attempt on his life. Idiot might’ve not expected an assassination, but he ain’t so dumb to not have plans for it,” Tyler explained. “We just gotta ask the guards if they know where Nikky went in an emergency. Private bunker or some shit.”

Aucel gulped with nervousness. “What are you g-going to do about the civilians who’ve pushed their way inside?”

“They don’t bother us, we don’t bother them. They wanna attack us, we have to defend ourselves, but hopefully, they know we’re here for the shadow caste. If the bullets start flying, ya better duck for cover, ‘cause I sure ain’t givin’ you a weapon. That blue helmet tells our boys you’re with us. Coolio?”

“Uh…I don’t feel good about being here, with a bunch of…p-predators with guns.”

I bared my teeth with exasperation. “Have those predators shot at you, with said weapons? Sovlin, your friend, vouched that humans won’t snap. We’ve lived on a warship with them for months, during life-or-death battles. Stay behind if you want to, Aucel, but we don’t have time to tip-claw around your feelings.”

“I want to see what the shadow caste has been doing, while we all live up here. I want to know why they care so little about the lives of their own people, and why they lied to us. You’re here on my planet now, so I doubt there’s any avoiding humans anyway.”

“After everything your people are responsible for, I think it’s high time you stop treating us like the fucking monsters,” Sam grumbled.

Sovlin’s spines were bristling beneath his vest. “Aucel can’t help how she feels, and she’s not responsible for what the Kolshians did! It took me a long time not to be afraid around humans. It’s not easy to see you as normal.”

“You always act like it’s been so easy for us, Baldy! We said hello and everyone tried to wipe us out—over a billion dead. Everyone’s lost something, but you don’t see humans cowering around every alien they see.”

“That’s enough!” Tyler spat. “I understand that you’re angry at Kolshians, but Sovlin is right. Aucel had no say in what her government did. She can’t help the feelings she’s been programmed to have, and she deserves as much patience as we gave any other xeno. I know it ain’t easy, Sam, ‘specially after Carlos, but he’d be the first one to warn you about lumping an entire populace together.”

The Gojid mimicked a human nod. “‘The belief that makes monsters of us all.’ He was talking about not seeing your enemies as people. Carlos never wavered in that belief. I don’t intend to let you or Aucel make my mistakes.”

“And I don’t intend to let us get saddled with someone who’ll get in the way of our mission,” I countered. “This is way more important than what you owe Recel. This is a favor for Marcel, and also the answers for why all of his, and our, torment happened. If Aucel can’t control her feelings, then she’s not coming with us.”

Aucel wrapped her tentacles around her torso in a self-soothing gesture. “I’ll be fine. They killed my brother, and what they did is the reason the…‘predators with guns’ are here in the first place. If you have a chance to get rid of them and expose their real motives, I won’t be in your way. I just wish we’d get it over with.”

Is this as simple as facilitating revenge for her brother’s murder? I still don’t trust her not to be a liability, but she doesn’t seem like a shadow caste plant. I know how I felt, just seeing my hensa burned by those exterminators.

I could recall the aliens’ truck arriving at my family home, and Papa shooting the hensa for a quick death. Why couldn’t the exterminators give predators a swift, painless end, if they had to kill our beloved pets? Thinking about the look in our domesticated pest-killer’s eyes, I could imagine her tan-and-black pelt vanishing beneath tongues of flames. The fact that Dino’s coloration had been the exact same dug up all my memories, the moment I first encountered a Terran dog. Imagining what had been done to our beloved animals made me furious, just as much as thoughts of the Farsul who’d placed me on predator disease medication.

My claws curled up with fury, as the slights against the Yotul swirled in my mind. The glassing of Caato hadn’t made me feel any better, but it hadn’t eased my loathing of the Kolshians either. If I were honest, I hated having to work alongside someone who’d lived a comfortable life on Aafa; by her own words, Aucel hadn’t played an active role against the shadow caste. That made her complicit, as soon as she’d known the truth about her government. I was here to fulfill Tyler’s promise to search for Slanek, not for the secrets humanity sought. Whatever reason the Commonwealth gave for why this needed to happen, it wouldn’t suffice. I couldn’t care less.

Tyler placed a hand on my shoulder, making me jump. “Onso! Did you hear me? We’re moving, and I need your genius mind workin’ for us. You good, bro?”

“I’m fine. I was just remembering the day they burned my hensa,” I admitted. “Hearing the Kolshians justify what they’ve done; I’m not sure I want to be in the room for that.”

“Honestly, I ain’t sure I can deal with their contempt for us neither. You don’t gotta hear it firsthand, my man. Don’t think I don’t know you came here for me, and I appreciate it. Let’s see if the shadow caste’s there, alright?”

I lifted my rifle in acknowledgment, and bounded after the UN soldiers. We pushed our way through the thronging crowd, scaring them back by popping a few rounds into the ground. That proved an expedient way to clear a path, as we moved into the front door. We spotted a Kolshian in guard’s armor, who seemed to be helping the rebels milling about in the ornate entryway. Towering pictures of species working together on legislation mocked me from the walls, the false promise of the Federation put in visual form. I tried not to focus on the amicable body language of diplomats past and present, and instead watched Tyler round on the guard.

The blond human’s impatient eyes could be felt beneath his biohazard mask. “Do you know where Nikonus’ bunker…safe room, whatever ya wanna call it…where that is? Where he’d hide if shit hits the fan?”

Ah, Tyler. Ever so eloquent.

“Um, yes. I do,” the Kolshian gasped out.

“Then you’ll show us there. We’d like to pay your leader a visit.”

“Okay, but Chief Maronis’ bunker is sealed. Even us guards don’t have high enough clearance to give you access…”

Samantha raised an explosive charge. “Don’t worry. I have a key.”

Tyler leveled his weapon at the local guard, who wisely took the hint to get moving. The path through the entrance hall had been walked by many diplomats, though protestors had taken to smashing anything that looked fragile. Unlike the one at our behest now, the few defenders of Aafa who resisted the mob had been overrun; they were in the custody of furious Kolshian civilians. Most rebels paid little mind to the hundreds of UN soldiers, swarming in the direction of this “Maronis” fellow’s bunker. The largest group of dissidents had filtered into the now-vacated auditorium, where Noah had given his speech not too long ago. It felt like another lifetime, but none of the Commonwealth’s henchmen showed their faces there today.

The shadow caste has gone into hiding, it’s quite clear. They think they can stay off the radar, and regroup, but we won’t let that happen.

A handful of protestors did scatter in fright at the sight of us, but those who’d quietly sympathized with humanity fell in behind our troops. They must’ve figured that we were seeking out the shadow caste, who definitely lacked the backing of their citizenry right now. Sovlin was right about the hall being built in a disorienting maze; unless you treaded these paths every day, an escort was needed to find any particular destination outside the auditorium. Tyler questioned whether the guard was misleading us, before the Gojid piped up that it was, in fact, a meandering maze. Aucel was taking in the sights we passed in silence, and seemed to be considering whether to shrink back into the crowd of Kolshian followers. I wouldn’t mind dropping her off with her kind.

Before Recel’s sister could act on that thought, the guard we were tailing steered us toward an escalator. Sovlin’s eyes lit up with recognition, which was a good sign we were getting somewhere. There was an unspeakable awkwardness in hundreds of Terran soldiers, having to walk down the moving stairway in a single file line. Per Tyler’s directives, Sam and I each perched on a rolling railing, with Sovlin in front of the large Terran on a step, so that four guns pointed at any traps below. Aucel stuck right behind us; she did look as curious as I felt to see whether her theory was true. I was excited by the prospect of bringing this mission to a close, and ensuring that the Kolshians’ legacy of destruction came to a close.

The Kolshian guard pointed away from a subway train, walked to his indicated spot, and popped out a false wall. “Down another few flights of stairs, you’ll hit a blast door. I’m not sure your explosives are a big enough…key. You need to pass a retinal scan with authorization, and use today’s code; I don’t have either of those. Regardless, if Maronis is there, nobody will be allowed in or out.”

“So it’s kept shut by a powered switch? Obviously, we just need to cut the power to the door,” I pointed out. “Do we have any EMP grenades?”

Tyler grunted with contentment. “The range of those bad boys is short, but we sure do. We’ll scan through the walls to find where the switch is, and light it up!”

“Okay. Hang on,” Aucel piped up. “How do you know where to find Chief Maronis, or what’s waiting inside?”

“Well, we don’t, but I’m gonna find someone who does. Let the specialists do their business, and we’ll see if what’s back there’s really a bunker.”

A human soldier searched for the exact location of the switch, before attaching an EMP grenade nearby. She gestured for anyone with electronic devices to step back, to keep them from getting fried, then triggered the device. Like its jaws had been pried open, the mechanism sealing the blast doors released its grip. The thick barriers slid open in slow fashion, and uncorked the mysterious construction behind. Aucel’s eyes widened with shock, as she glimpsed the scale of cavernous space behind the entryway. Her theory about the shadow caste’s location was spot on.

The door hadn’t concealed entry to the head-of-state’s bunker; a city stretched as far as the eye could see, with rounded, cavelike edges above rather than a natural sky. Plants had been set up in pathways, between multi-story modules and miles-long spaceship hangars. Lights hovered above the greenery to aid its growth, simulating sunlight and illuminating the cavern. Thousands of Kolshians milled about the streets, with some flocking to shops. There were a few armed sentries posted by the opened doors, though none drew their weapons on us. The Terrans were quick to disarm them, and line them up by the doors.

I could appreciate the impressive feat of engineering, to carve out an expansive settlement down here. It answered numerous questions about how the conspiracy sourced its perpetrators, and where their advanced fleet had been stashed for all of these centuries. I believed fully that, despite the negligible effort to send average civilians to bunkers, Commonwealth leadership had hidden here in the face of our invasion. It was in line with their standard selfishness and disregard for lives.

Just wait until the Kolshian protestors waltz inside, behind the humans, and see how an entire society was kept from them. We’re going to make someone point us to Chief Maronis!

“Where is Maronis?” Tyler barked, leaning close enough that his breath struck a sentry’s cheeks. “I think he should discuss the terms of your surrender.”

The shadow fleet thug gulped. “Chief Maronis…thought you might find us. Don’t worry, he didn’t run! He wanted to parlay, and told us to send you to him. The five-story building painted the color of seagrasses, straight to your right—it’s the true office of the Chiefs. A short walk from the hall.”

I pinned my ears back. “How do we know this isn’t a trick?! You don’t fight fair.”

“Because it’s over. This is the only chance our work will be maintained, for the continuance of all life, and Maronis gambled that maybe you could understand. We know you want answers, so hear it from the top. Let us spell out our proof that you will kill all of your friends, whether you mean to or not.”

Tyler hesitated, before stepping back from the Kolshian. “Lead us to him. Try anything and you can forget any mercy. You can forget keeping your life.”

As Samantha, Aucel, and Sovlin followed after Tyler, I found myself hanging around by a stationary group of UN soldiers. I didn’t want to hear the root of the Kolshians’ propaganda, explaining why humanity would snap and wipe out their sapient allies. What was the point of entertaining such wild delusions—especially when this could easily be a trap? I’d meant to stick with my exchange partner the whole way, but he said he wouldn’t force me to listen to Federation bullshit. I could watch his back from out here, searching for signs of shadow fleet treachery. When the time came to search for Slanek, I would be there to help my human friend fulfill his promise.

I cleared my throat for attention. “You go on ahead. I’ll wait out here. If anything smells off, get out of there.”

Tyler glanced over his shoulder, before giving a curt nod. “I hate separating from ya, but I respect you takin’ care of yourself. Don’t worry. We’ll see ya on the flip side, Onso.”

I flicked my ears in acknowledgement, and watched as Kolshian protestors tailed his contingent of Terran soldiers; those answers meant a lot more to that posse than they did to me. All I cared about was protecting Leirn and my friends. A sliver of me was curious what justification the shadow caste thought humanity would care about, but it would be delusional ravings if they truly thought Earth would carry on their work. I rested back on my heels about a grueling day’s exploration, and committed to a diligent watch outside the building where Maronis was supposed to be waiting.

As long as humanity found the closure they were looking for, perhaps this wouldn’t be an entirely wasted endeavor.

A/N - 174! Following up on Aucel's theory, Onso and his team head to the governance hall, where there's two camps in their posse on the Kolshian's inclusion; our Yotul friend expresses his disinterest in hearing the conspiracy's explanation to Tyler, who proves understanding. With help from some furious Kolshians, the team finds their way to a hidden bunker...which proves to be a doorway to a massive underground city and secret society. The nearest sentries express that the new Chief, Maronis, wishes to "parlay."

What reasons are you expecting Maronis to give, assuming his offer to talk is straightforward? Why would he believe that humanity would want to continue the shadow caste's work, and why does he claim we will kill "all of our friends?"

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! Next chapter is very spicy, so I'm looking forward to you guys seeing what's in store!