The Nature of Predators - The New Arxur (4/10)

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Memory Transcription Subject: Raza, Arxur Collective Operative

Date [standardized human time]: August 19, 2154

The majority of the shuttle ride, I’d been thinking about confronting Hossat over his manipulation of the facts with Isif. It was difficult to manage any planning on how to get to Death’s Pass, which forced me to improvise when Zefriss came over to do his usual prodding. I stalled for a bit by asking whether the bullet wound in his tail would be an issue, which led to a glum comment that his legs worked just fine. I then concocted the idea to cross the roads to the rural villages, despite the fact that such places were where the Sefturna Sniper and patrols would typically pick us off; we knew the former was occupied crossing the Kizniftor Mountains. We’d seen in Cruelty’s Maw that there were not only pockets of fighting in the heavily-contested battleground cities, but also ambushes being sprung. There were risks regardless.

Besides, this is the fastest route to Death’s Pass, which is on the far side of Sefturna—all the way at the Kiznith border, of course. We can’t take a winding route through the southeast now. I don’t know how fast the sniper can climb on those dainty ledges, but with how often they make the trek, they must have it down to a science.

Ilthiss’ province wasn’t built up the same as the Collective’s heartlands, which were under Isif’s supervision. Our Chief Hunter had taken it upon himself to build up roads and modernize buildings, a tacit encouragement of the social gatherings the Dominion abhorred. Prey species (and the humans) often mingled at bars on their worlds, but alcohol was toxic for us; instead, us defectives often used butcher shops for the same purpose, chatting as we browsed the day’s lab-grown cuts. I didn’t see anything built for entertainment around Sefturna, or even anything designed for comfort—no motels sat on this desolate street. The road was still made of dirt, rather than paved. How could a region’s people feel connected at all if they all were homebodies? I loved the travel aspect of operative life, and to me, sticking to a single dwelling’s confines may as well have been a cattle pen.

“Why did the Sefturna Sniper cross the mountain?” Hysran cackled, breaking the silence as we stalked across the mud.

Hossat pulled his cloak tighter. “To blow your head off.”

“No! To pass death from Death’s Pass.”

“I don’t get it,” Zefriss groaned. “Your jokes are of a lower caliber than my handgun.”

“That’s a nice witticism. One of these days, I’m going to make you laugh, Zefriss, and then I’ll retire from comedy.”

The snarky male Arxur faked laughter, before snapping his head toward Hysran. “There. So you’ll retire now?”

“No! It has to be legitimate. Speaking of, I have a joke about Hossat that’s almost ready. I mean it, you’ll like this one.”

“There’s a joke I actually want to hear,” I commented. “If that fucker ever tries to throw us under the meat grinder again, I’ll gut him.”

The Nevok’s posture seemed bored. “I suggest you keep the threats and jokes to yourself. I have enough neurotoxins on my person—which I did check that they work on Arxur—to kill ten times your number.”

Hysran leaned closer, a childish expression on her face. “Where on your person?”

“Want me to show you? I might oblige, if I didn’t need you for my bonus.”

“You know, social people are more likely to survive if they have friendly feelings toward each other! You should be nicer to us, so that we have a greater chance of survival. Make normal conversation.”

“I don’t want to hear a thing he has to say. I will never like him,” I growled. 

Hossat straightened, as if deciding to defy me. “What should I say? That Sefturna looks as dreary as the Nevok cities with closed-down factories? There’s nothing to talk about, Hysran.”

“Surely there’s some aspect of Arxur culture that you’re curious about,” the wannabe comedian prodded.

“Hmph. What do your laws about murder look like? Is it permissible if it’s against a weaker, perhaps subordinate Arxur, or used as a way to settle a dispute? Assuming such charges exist, how would they even be tried on Wriss?”

I snorted, realizing that was the most words and eagerness he’d expressed about anything. “Of course that’s what he wants to know. Already trying to find the legal loopholes to slaughter whoever he’d like.”

“We have laws against murder and cruelty in the Arxur Collective, but don’t expect Sefturna to enforce them,” Zefriss scoffed, quickening his pace. The dirt roads stretched for miles, which meant Hossat would have plenty more time to slow us down, but we had to stay alert; there could be other traffic on the path, especially during nighttime. “Ilthiss never did. They’ll have your ugly head separated from your shoulders and think nothing of it.”

“Keep in mind that we can still do that too. Capital punishment couldn’t be doled out to a nicer guy. We keep order, not this ‘violence for sport’ mentality that you adore. Isif has a Public Executioner post in his court; he just uses it on scum like you, rather than defectives.”

“So…Betterment didn’t have any laws against murder? Their only executions were those with empathy?” The Nevok’s tone indicated surprise, as he jogged to keep up with our strides. “I have a hard time conjuring how such a society would function.”

“Bloodlines, bloodlines, bloodlines. Lots of pressure to only go for those beneath you. I came from a proud lineage, the kind Betterment adored,” Zefriss spat. “Perhaps we would’ve been so lucky that my…condition was considered only a chance mutation.”

“I don’t see the issue with having an extra digit.”

“The real mutation is his personality,” Hysran cackled. “Pricklier than a Gojid. Some say they took a chest x-ray of Zefriss’ heart to come up with the design for barbed wire.”

Zefriss lashed her with his tail, growling. “Do you think I was around at the invention of cattle pens?”

“You act like you were!”

“Please, Hysran, he’s not that bad. Hossat, on the other claw…” I hissed.

“…has Isif eating from his paw pads.” The Nevok sauntered down the road, bouncing on his hooves. “Remember, Raza, I don’t need to kill you to toy with you.

“All I’d have to do is swipe one claw, and every Arxur here will swarm your blood. I never thought I’d agree with eating sapients, but you look tastier by the minute.”

“Raza,” Hysran ventured.

“What? Are you seriously offended on his—”

“Shut the fuck up, and you’d hear the rumbling! Get to the bushes, yesterday!” Zefriss roared.

Turning away from my tunnel vision on the Nevok’s irritating voice, I could feel vibrations through the dirt; my acute hearing detected engines heading toward us down the road. It didn’t come from a lone source, from what I could tell. This was a supply route, so it was possible this was a trucking convoy, ferrying munitions and food to hungry soldiers. To our left was a ravine, which we wouldn’t want to tumble down; therefore, shelter was only available in the thickets to our left. We’d avoided those open fields due to it being a staging ground for insurrectionist troops, and also affording little cover should we be spotted. Hossat burrowed in the thorny bushes the easiest, with his smaller body; the rest of us had to lie flat behind them. It was tough to see from my vantage point, and I knew the Nevok’s diurnal eyes wouldn’t make out poorly-lit details for us. 

If it’s a defenseless transport of supplies, perhaps it’s our duty to disrupt them? That would be valuable, though we can’t afford delays on catching the Sefturna Sniper…

I shook that thought from my head. The task of stopping this convoy would fall on other Collective forces. Jeopardizing this mission wasn’t an option, especially since gunfire would draw out any soldiers. I hoped these trucks would pass by quickly, since precious time was ticking away, hiding here. We still had another twenty minutes to the small village of Tless, where we’d be able to get a read on how many Arxur were afoot in its premises. Then, we’d still have to find a way to sneak through there, make it across the heavily-guarded bridges through Rissana Canyon, and then get past the patrols near the base of the Kizniftor Mountains. I risked a brief glance over the top of the bushes, only to find these passing vehicles were anything but the supply transports I expected.

An entire procession of tanks barreled down the road, kicking clouds of dust into the air with their treads. It was all I could do to suppress my cough, as the churned up particles made their way into my lungs. Hundreds of Ilthiss’ soldiers marched alongside them, eyes prowling right over our hiding spot; I hoped Hossat’s scent-masking oils worked, and that our own smells blended into the masses. The rogue provinces must be planning some kind of colossal assault, possibly trying to go on the offensive—in response to how we’d battered their territory! Part of me wanted to forget all about the sniper, and send a squadmate back to notify Isif; the Collective had to know about this movement. I hadn’t thought Sefturna had this many combat vehicles, which suggested that Provincer Usliff of Kiznith must have sent some too. 

Hysran shared a glance with me, mouthing a profanity that I thought was, “Fucking Prophet.” I shared that sentiment, paralyzed at the side of a full military troop passing by. All it took was one soldier straying off the road, and weaving around the bushes…

My heart rate accelerated, at the possibility that they’d spot us; I had to be ready to shoot myself and the squadmates I cared about. Being ripped apart from limb-to-limb wasn’t what I wanted for any of us. It was better to receive a quick end than the cruel torments Betterment could conjure for defectives like ourselves. All of a sudden, I was grateful that Hossat supposedly had enough neurotoxins on his person to wipe out tens of Arxur. The tanks passed at such a crawling pace; minutes felt like hours. The dust was becoming unbearable, and I felt the damning itch in my nostrils of a sneeze. The powerful exhalation of snot was involuntary, a wet gust of air that I feared they’d hear. My tail had jolted too, rustling the branches.

Fuck. What do we do? I could give myself up for my squad, hope they won’t find them…or maybe kick Hossat out of the bush, since I don’t care what happens to him.

A greenish-gray head snapped in our direction, eyes narrowed to slits, before ambling toward the bushes—poking a spot not too far from where Hossat rested with his rifle barrel. “I swore I heard something, but it’s impossible to make out much with those blasted tanks roaring alongside me. Those hedges moved, sir.”

A commanding officer walked over to the grunt, sweeping his legs out from under him. “The hedges moved? There’s nothing there! Are you jumpy like fucking prey—like those defective sots with Isif?”

“No, ma’am, but I know what I saw…”

“The tanks are shaking the ground, you idiot. Leaves crinkle. The wind: ever hear of the wind?”

“Of course I have.”

“Then get your ass moving! Before I decide to have you culled for your stunted intelligence.”

The grunt scurried back into formation, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief; every nerve ending had been tingling with fear, as the clenching of my stomach sickened me. A slew of tanks rolled past us. I’d been in no state to count the exact number, but it was enough to roll over a Collective border garrison. These weren’t from the old Dominion arsenal, since the Arxur rarely used ground vehicles; they enjoyed the claws-on hunting experience of a raid, and leaping straight off from the shuttle. That doctrine limited the logistical challenges of bringing tanks to foreign planets. It wasn’t like the artillery was needed, since the average herbivores would stampede and flee at our arrival. Hossat was made of much sterner stuff than those preyfolk. Yet somehow, I thought of the sniveling sapients as more of a person than him.

I supposed it was fortunate that three-digits worth of treads had rolled over our footprints, erasing any signs of our road traversal. The last of the small army passed our position, with the tanks that brought up the rear eventually receding down the path. The final, tailing enemy soldiers looked gleeful and excited. They chattered about how the Sefturna Sniper was on their side, and how they were going to be just like that sharpshot, since Collective soldiers were such easy targets; the sniper was every bit the recruiting tool we feared. That was the reason we had to stop them. I didn’t dare to give the all-clear to keep moving, until minutes had passed since the enemies vanished over the hill. Hossat tumbled out of the hedge, with the cloak seeming to have intercepted burrs that would’ve otherwise embedded in his skin. Such cloth drapes were more useful than I would’ve assumed.

“Where are they going, Raza? All the way to the palace? Surely we must try to signal Isif!” Zefriss growled.

I stretched out my tense muscles, before hobbling back down the road. “If they’re going for the border, Isif will hear of it on his own—long before they reach our capital. I imagine Ilthiss is trying to take the fight away from his war-torn country. We have our mission, and this delay was costly enough. We must proceed.”

“I agree, with the only good idea Raza ever had. Our money is tied to eliminating the target, so we don’t deviate,” Hossat snapped.

The extra-toed Arxur stamped a paw with indignation. “Is this one person—the Sniper—really more important than uncovering the plans of an entire invasion force? They’ll stop for the day to eat, and we can try to sabotage them…”

“We can’t take on hundreds of Arxur with tanks, Zefriss; be realistic. The Sefturna Sniper is the lynchpin of their recruitment strategy.” I gestured broadly in the direction of the tanks, hoping to remind my comrades of what we’d witnessed. “I bet half those grunts signed up because they were promised they’d be as mighty as the sniper. We heard them say as much. Not to mention, that one sharpshooter killed hundreds of ours, and we can’t even fight back! Who can touch them from that distance?”

“Not Hysran. She barely passed the marksman certifications. Remind me, why is she here?”

Hysran spread her arms apart, chipper as ever. “For morale. I had time to finish my Hossat joke while we were lying there!”

“That’s what you were thinking about?” I spat. 

“What else was there to do? You guys ready?”

The Nevok emitted a frustrated huff. “Really, Zefriss has a point. Why is she here?”

“I’ll take as a yes! Why does Hossat have so much energy?”

“Because we almost got caught by assholes with tanks?” Zefriss hissed.

“No! Because he’s a hyper capitalist.”

I groaned at her utterly horrific quip. “Hysran…”

“Don’t worry, Raza! I’m making one about you too. Though the tliskis jokes were already for you.”

“How touching.”

“That’s what the tliskis sword said!”

“Alright, that’s quite enough of your shenanigans. I suggest we walk in silence on the way to Tless—only the first of many places we must broach tonight. Let’s enjoy the scenery, and stay vigilant in case anything else comes our way.”

I ambled up to the front of the traveling posse, and stared out at the sprawling countryside; while these weren’t the most exciting lands, the natural world was enough to clear my head. It was my job to stop allowing myself to be distracted by Hossat. Instead, I’d have to figure out how to sneak a Nevok through the secluded hamlet, and not to stick out like Zefriss’ extra claw myself. Going around Tless wasn’t an option, with the village’s elevated position compared to the surrounding terrain; they’d spot us in a heartbeat from above. It went without saying that the canyon and the mountain camps would have their own challenges as well. After witnessing Ilthiss’ army trundle down the very road we’d used to get under way, I’d say this mission was off to an eventful start.

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A/N - Part 4! Raza and crew head off into enemy territory, and decide to cross through the countryside since they know the sniper isn’t on the prowl. Hossat continues to be unpleasant, and his question about Arxur culture is regarding their murder laws. The spat between the four is broke up as a wall of tanks appear rumbling down the road, seemingly bound for an attack on Collective territory. They’re nearly caught by Ilthiss’ men as they’re forced to hide, but the stigma against “fearfulness” causes the team to escape. Despite what they saw, Raza determines that it’s both more important and realistic to continue their mission instead of pursuing the tanks, due to the recruitment factor. 

Which stop on our operatives’ mission do you imagine would be the most challenging for them? How do you imagine Ilthiss’ tank assault on Isif’s territory will go? Was Raza right to stay the course and go for the sniper? 

As always, thank you for reading and supporting!