The Nature of Predators - The New Arxur (8/10)

First | Prev | Next

Memory Transcription Subject: Raza, Arxur Collective Operative

Date [standardized human time]: August 19, 2154

I could hear the footfalls and occasional cascades of rocks, as the presumed sniper approached our location. My team was instructed to stand at ease, acting like we belonged here; Hossat hid behind a rock, since his presence would have any Arxur’s guard raised. We only saw her once she rounded the bend of a twisting crag…a nimble and flat body with coverings much thicker than the Nevok’s cloak, and a bag slung over her back. While I’d never seen a human in person, I’d watched enough of their media to know what she was on sight. An audible gasp tumbled from my mouth, while Zefriss seemed amazed. He hadn’t been impressed by the characters at the Terran embassy, but this had all of our attention. The deadliest shooter in Wriss’ history was one of these…entirely harmless-looking predators, who’d thrown in their lot with prey? 

That did qualify how shots thought impossible were being landed, but it was chilling that she could be that precise. She excelled at the traversal of perilous terrain, with smaller feet and arboreal climbing skills helping her. I gawked as the edges of her feeble fingers clung to a ledge, and reached for the rest—entire body dangling beneath her. It didn’t make sense that Ilthiss would hire a “leaf-licking” simian, or that a Terran would join forces with Betterment. I had so many questions running through my brain, and I couldn’t imagine what Isif would think when he heard this. He trusted humans to back his cause, and considered them allies. Also, the Sefturna Sniper was a loner; weren’t humans known for being overly friendly and pack hunting? 

No wonder the guards back at the camp laughed at the idea of the Sefturna Sniper eating Hossat; humans are revolted by the notion. How widespread is the knowledge that Ilthiss’ great recruiting tool isn’t an Arxur at all? It can’t be known past this small greeting party. None of the enlistees marching alongside the tanks voiced any indication.

“We have to regain our composure and act normal. This human is armed and dangerous. It’s best if we don’t tip her off that we’re…outsiders. We want to take her quietly, without a chance to fight back,” I managed. “We can’t let her slip away either.”

Zefriss stared as the sniper dangled from one arm, shaking out the other limb. “What the fuck is going on? We can’t have been chasing a human—this is making a mockery of our planet! And what, we’re supposed to believe that she’s been going for hours pretty much nonstop, like that? She’d have to be tireless!”

“From everything you’ve read, you know that Terrans were incredibly effective soldiers, who pulled daring feats like parachuting from fucking space. Is it that surprising that mountain heights are a challenge they can overcome?”

“I know they’re clever and reckless, but that strong? That proficient in firearms? No! We have to have…something that makes us superior.”

“We don’t have to burn our meat to eat it,” Hysran remarked. “And…yeah, I think that’s it.”

I lashed my tail. “No more talking! She’s coming. Hossat, we should try to gather information about the sniper first. It’ll be valuable to Isif, which means it’ll be valuable to you, in terms of a reward and his favor. Am I clear?”

“Hmph. Understood,” the Nevok sighed, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

The human dismounted from the ledge, landing on her two legs. She sauntered down the rocky steps leading down, flashing pearly white teeth. I’d never seen a predator’s fangs look so pristine. What did she do: paint them? The canines were indistinguishable from the rest at a distance, but the binocular eyes were alert. Thanks to the pasty sclera, I could tell she’d spotted us and was assessing us; those pupils couldn’t be clearer where they were looking. Zefriss slumped against a rock, in an attempt to look bored—or maybe he actually was bored. It was tough to say with him. I walked away from Hysran, to ensure perceived separation between us. The primate continued toward us, though her eyes never left our posse. My claws twitched, considering whether she was close enough for me to grab my gun. It might be easiest to shoot her in the kneecap, which seemed like a key junction for her mobility.

If I miss, the Sefturna Sniper won’t. I assume she carries more than a sniper rifle. That said, it could also give her a chance to get away, and we can’t pursue her up Death’s Pass. I mean, I can’t dangle from the tips of my claws for hours. Has the path eroded away that much, or does she see it as a shortcut?

The primate waved a flimsy hand at us, widening her “smile.” “Good morning!”

“Uh…yes, good morning!” I returned with forced cheeriness. I had to say something back, right?

That, however, proved to be the wrong thing to do. The human turned tail and sprinted for the cliff face, unslinging her bag as she ran. I was clueless to what had alerted her that something was amiss; perhaps there was some line Ilthiss had that we were supposed to use to identify ourselves. That seemed unusually social for him, though. What I could glean in an instant was that the Terran wanted to get to a raised position, and pick us off with the sniper rifle. Muttering curses, I beckoned to my team and chased after her. The three Arxur were slowed by lumbering up the raised steps, while the primate was nimble in hopping up them. Shouldn’t she be lacking in the energy to run at full speed? Hossat was trailing behind us with his short legs, so the Nevok was all but out of commission. We were the last chance.

“We can’t let her draw that rifle! If she gets to a perch, we don’t stand a chance!” I barked. “Shoot at her. We must get closer!”

The Terran was well aware that we were in pursuit, judging by how she hurled a grenade…also with perfect accuracy. How could those flimsy human arms target projectiles as good as a damn machine? Arxur undersold how dangerous these predators were quite a bit, talking about them like inferior hunters, but at least “real people.” I kicked away the explosive device in front of me blindly, before diving behind a rock with my team. The sniper hadn’t slowed, but it’d allowed her to gain precious time and to impede our progress. From what I could see, she’d reached the cliffside already. She was heading for a small ridge, about a hundred feet up; the primate was swinging on her arms to jump between handholds, somehow catching herself.

We were losing this race, and I didn’t know how we were supposed to catch her. The best hope was to get close enough and start shooting at her, praying she wasn’t too high up to get a clean shot with a pistol. So much for taking her alive for questioning. Refusing to pause for the burning in my lungs, I sprinted up the last few steps on all fours. Hossat was the last straggler, as my two squadmates struggled up to the final step. The sniper strained with an arm to reach up, and pulled herself up with a grunt. As I lifted my handgun, she shimmied around the curved side of the cliff—out of sight. It was as if she had a nose for danger. My weapon fell to my side, realizing that the deadliest asset Ilthiss had just got away on my watch; if we somehow didn’t all die here, Isif was going to kill me.

“She’s gone. We can’t catch her,” I decided, realizing I had to save my team. “Get back to the truck, and hurry! We have to at least…tell Isif, and try to get away. I know she’s hit people in moving vehicles, but maybe we can get behind something.”

Zefriss huffed in frustration. “At least try to stick some charges in the cliffs, and hope it dislodges something? Turning tail and fleeing is humiliating!”

“It’ll only take her a few minutes to scale that cliff. We have to put some distance between us!”

“Zefriss would love to put more distance between us. He thought personal space extended into space!” Hysran cackled, with an inappropriate levity once more. Did she not understand the seriousness of the situation?”

“I said leave, Hysran! That includes the Nevok; we won’t wait on his short—”

“Oh, get out of my way. Amateurs,” Hossat spat.

I stared in amazement as the Nevok took a running start, and briskly pranced up the near-vertical cliff. His hooves locked onto the smallest fissures in the wall with unabashed confidence, hopping upward in surprisingly quick increments. Those goofy-looking legs had a purpose after all; his species must be perfectly suited for mountain-climbing, since they evolved for wintry environments. Hossat defied gravity with ease, and pushed off of nothing as he roundedthe corner. He reached around the corner and grabbed the human’s coat, pulling her back and carelessly hurling her onto the ground. She flailed out with some kind of chisel, slowing but not ending her descent. The primate toppled from a dizzying height, and landed roughly on the rock below. 

“Oh c’mon.” The Terran sniper had dropped on her side, and judging from the pain in her groan, she might’ve broken something. I could see her eyes watching with amazement as Hossat ran straight downward, only needing to scrabble for traction once. “That’s not fair.”

I stormed over to her, planting a foot on her chest. “Don’t move!”

“I surrender, dammit. It’s not worth dying for a bloody job. I’m just a military contractor; I work for whoever pays me. Christ, if I hadn’t caught myself, you could’ve killed me, falling from that high up!”

“Our job is to kill you,” Hossat said coldly, lifting the gun he’d been cleaning when I first met him. “We have information on who you are, so there’s the bonus, Raza.”

I placed a paw on the Nevok’s arm, preventing the gun from pointing at our prisoner. “Let’s not be hasty now. Maybe she can…talk to us. Besides, our orders are to neutralize her, so bringing her in—”

“Too much of a risk. She could kill one of you if she gets the chance too, jeopardizing my other bonus. No, I must ensure the job is done.”

“I’ll give you some of my pay!” the human exclaimed desperately.

Zefriss snorted. “What good is Betterment pay to you or any of us? They’re going to lose!”

“Obviously, I know that! That’s why Ilthiss paid us in raw minerals, as well as cultural artifacts. Ancient art and relics from Wriss are, or will be, invaluable to many interested buyers. I can tell you where they are. I haven’t shipped them home yet.”

“These relics are worth so much that you’d take a job like this? Where are your scruples?” What? I’m surprised to hear Zefriss concerned about morals. “The things Betterment has done are unnecessarily cruel. Everything but simple. They’d kill my fr—coworkers! I’m not ashamed of them, except for Hysran. You believe in the cause?”

“Save your moralizing. Look, there’s been an age of unprecedented peace on Earth, and that’s been…bad for military business. We ate good for a while supporting the UN, off subduing the Federation remnants and occupying big names like Aafa. The money well has dried up since then—there’s no shortage of Peacekeepers with all the alien recruits. This contract was unusual, but we needed someone to hire us. Your side just didn’t offer; I wish they did, since your money might have some value in a year.”

I gawked at her, hearing that she was as coin-driven as Hossat. “You killed hundreds of our assets for a terrible cause, and you don’t feel bad about it at all…the fuck is your name?”

“Casey Brenner. I popped a few heads, but that’s business. It’s not like I knew them, and neither did you. Don’t take it personal. Obviously, I hate Betterment and all they stand for, but they had no shot at winning. I took Ilthiss to the cleaners, and I kept the UN out of your war. In a way, I helped you more than I hurt you.”

“What are you talking about? Sefturna would’ve already been put down without you! You made it impossible for us to travel the roads, and you were Ilthiss’ best recruiting tool!”

“I’m sorry. My…loyalty could be bought and turned on them. I can help you. If you don’t want to sell the artifacts yourself, you can always return them to Isif; recovering them for the Collective will earn you a nice promotion. And I won’t trouble you. I mean, I broke my fucking hip; I have no mobility to run away, wiggle out of restraints, or reach for any weapon quietly. Please.”

“Tell us where you hid the artifacts, and you have a deal,” Hossat offered.

“How stupid do you think I am? No, you’ll take me to your leader, so I can…have a chance to offer my services. Isif likes us. He’ll see reason, and he’ll see value in learning more about me. It’ll show Arxur take surrenders, and give him leverage over the Terran government. He’ll want to have that in his pocket, should the UN get wind of your civil war.” 

“Isif was unequivocal about the SC not finding out about the war.” I tilted my head, and debated whether it was worth the increased risks to my team that Hossat had pondered. We’d be escorting a wounded human who’d have every incentive to alert enemies if we tried stealth. “It’d be a major setback to our acceptance aspirations, so we need a…last resort. And hearing that the sniper was a human will unravel Ilthiss’ entire recruitment strategy.”

“Fuck. I guess I have to keep another yappy member around to get more money.” Hossat stamped a hoof with disdain. “Isif is lucky I need his approval. And I must say I do like the idea of blackmailing Earth; they’re too big for their overcoats!”

Zefriss narrowed his eyes. “Hrrr. Casey has a point in regards to her propaganda value, but I question how we’ll bring the captured Sefturna Sniper back through that camp. It’s the only way off this plateau, and the soldiers back there will question it. She was supposed to take Hossat over the mountains, and he’ll still be here when—”

“Don’t worry about that camp,” Hossat said with a dark chuckle. “They’re well taken care of.”

“What do you mean?” Hysran tilted her head, prying the Nevok for more than that cryptic remark. “Last time I checked, the truck doesn’t teleport.”

“You’ll see. They’re not going to trouble us anymore. Speaking of which, make me think you’re making a move, human, and you’ll wish I killed you with a bullet.”

Casey rolled her eyes, showing off the uncanny whites. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. I’m quite curious to see what became of my welcome party; not the sharpest tools in the shed. Help me to your truck.”

“Raza? It’s your decision,” Zefriss deferred.

I hoisted the human to her feet, and signaled to Hysran to remove the sniper’s bag. “Isif doesn’t respect his most trusted operatives. Let’s remind him why we deserve better. We go above and beyond.” 

Hysran toted the primate alongside me, a giddy look in her eyes. “I’ve wanted a human to tell jokes to forever! Why are a human’s canines so small?”

“Because we use silverware,” Casey sighed.

“No! Because they’re bite-sized.”

“Ugh. So the Arxur do still torture their prisoners. Lucky me.”

I allowed Hysran to drive, since my eyes were getting a bit heavy; I dozed off about as soon as my skull touched the headrest, after muttering to wake me when we reached the camp. Hossat’s remark about the entire contingent of Arxur not being a concern any longer left a lot of questions. After being waterboarded in blood, I doubted the Nevok would’ve said that lightly. It felt as if my eyes had closed for a second when Zefriss woke me with a roar, gesturing to the outpost up ahead. Pulling out my binoculars in a hurry, I could see Arxur corpses strewn through the clearing. Foam lined their mouths, where they seem to have convulsed and died; some had fled, but not escaped whatever killed them. My head snapped toward Hossat, who bore a smug expression.

What…how did he…? Casey is looking at him like she believes what he said now, about making her wish she’d caught a bullet.

“Okay, can you teleport?” Hysran demanded.

Hossat laughed wickedly. “Do you believe I can?”

“No, or you would’ve teleported to Wriss. Explain yourself. How did you wipe out the whole camp?”

The Nevok opened his cloak, showing off dozens of vials. “When they were pressing my head into that nastiness, I slipped a few vials of neurotoxins into the bloodsoak—ones that take a few hours to act. Just long enough that they won’t be tipped off before they’ve all partaken. Serves them right.”

“Well, shit. We should send him to enemy camps more often,” Zefriss grumbled. “Let him infiltrate some water supplies.”

“Why? You can do that from orbit.”

“You can.” Casey bobbed her head in agreement, an impassive look on her face. “The UN has such things, off the books. Assuming such reservoirs are uncovered, it should work. I can tell you all about programs like that: part of my usefulness.”

I shuddered in horror at the idea of employing such tactics. “Actually, for weapons that do this…I’d rather you didn’t. No one deserves such a fate.”

“Suit yourself. Though your leader may think otherwise.”

I reclined on the seat, snorting; Isif would agree with me on that matter, which was a large part of why I followed him. The Chief Hunter had taken the Arxur down a better path, one not about cruelty and killing those weaker than himself. As the truck rolled past the sea of bodies, I receded into my thoughts of how I’d face our boss to give our mission report. A lot had changed throughout this journey, and however successful our operation had been, we had to see whether the Collective had withstood the test of the tank invasion that had landed in our absence. If we’d scored a victory there as well, Ilthiss’ rebellion could crumble right before our watching eyes.

First | Prev | Next

A/N - Part 8! The Sefturna Sniper is indeed a human, surprising our Arxur characters more than the readers. Casey figures out that Raza is no Ilthiss lackey from her friendly greeting, and tries to climb up to escape and snipe; however, Hossat’s mountain goat climbing skills save the day. The team is persuaded to keep her alive after she offers compensation, with Raza having a motivation to prove Isif wrong about her: believing that he no longer believes in her. We then see that Hossat slipped neurotoxins into the bloodsoak while being drowned.

What do you think of this human mercenary, as well as our new info on military contractors in the NOPverse? What do you think of Hossat’s sly way of taking out the Arxur camp, and also his climbing abilities; are Nevoks officially cool? How do you think Isif will respond to the team’s return?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting!