The Nature of Predators - Arxur Miniseries (3/6)

First | Prev | Next 

Memory transcription subject: Kaisal, Arxur Dominion Third Fleet

Date [standardized human time]: September 29, 2136

The Arxur hunting party drew nearer, and it weighed on my mind that they had us outnumbered five-to-one. My sole ally was a fleshy, social creature whose strategy was to hide in trees; a cheap and cowardly tactic, by Dominion standards. Even if we survived somehow, the UN fleet withdrew from the system hours ago. The other humans stranded here may have gone down protecting the prey I hated.

Naitha snarled, announcing her presence. “Give us Kaisal, tree-climber, and we will let you live. He’s not worth your life. He is a traitor…a deserter!”

Maya remained silent in her perch; the pelts she wore made it difficult to see her among the foliage. We were ambush predators, but she took hiding to another level. The visual camouflage didn’t mitigate the fact that her scent was everywhere, giving away her location. Even I could smell the intensifying fear chemicals from above, and I wondered if she’d panic like a Gojid.

“You’re a good shot, but you’re not going to get another free look at me,” Typhith hissed. “They had to dig that bullet out of my shoulder.”

Good, I thought to myself. I hope it hurt. I wish it killed you.

The Arxur posse slunk low to the ground, keeping close to tree trunks. They knew of the human sniper’s intent, so they were taking precautions this time. It was a matter of pinpointing Maya’s location in the tree, and flushing her out somehow. At least I was going to die well-fed, feeling like myself again. It was nice to have a trace of sanity and satiety.

Naitha’s eyes locked on the exact tree the human was camped in. She hissed something to her comrades, and slid an RPG-launcher from her back. The Arxur placed a warhead into the firing chamber. I considered whether to warn Maya, but the alien was capable of performing her own observations. There was a pop and a burst of smoke, before the rocket was slung at the trunk.

The human vaulted to a branch of an adjacent tree, right before the explosive decimated her old hiding spot. The Arxur unleashed fire when she emerged into the open. My gun moved silently to face the posse, landing on Naitha. I wanted to kill her first; if I was going to die, she was coming with me.

The bullying female began reloading the launcher. “Kaisal, you stupid runt! I’ve got a…fiery snack for you.”

Maya unclipped the pin on a round object, and lobbed it at the posse. Typhith hissed in alarm, before scooping it up with haste. He flung it out of their vicinity, a mere second before a shrapnel-packed explosion detonated. The human retrieved another grenade from her belt, utilizing excellent throwing ability. Perhaps she wasn’t useless in combat.

My sights aligned with Naitha’s head, and I depressed the firing trigger. The female Arxur darted forward for a better angle of the human, just as my shot left the pistol. My bullet connected with a young soldier trailing behind her, piercing right between his narrowed eyes. I swallowed hard, refusing to dwell on killing one of our own. What choice did I have but to take on our attackers?

“He’s over there!” Naitha shrieked, pointing at the bush. “KILL HIM!”

Maya hurled two grenades at once, causing the Arxur unit to split apart. Bullets peppered her location, and she lost her balance on the branch. The human caught herself with delicate fingers, and dangled from the bough with a precarious grip. It began to dip under her weight, with the ground beckoning six meters below.

The grenades distracted the hunting party for a brief second, and several of them were tossed aside by the blast force. I debated whether to help the alien, who was trying to pull herself back up. As soon as Typhith and his troops regained their bearings, her center of mass would be an easy target. Self-preservation was my top priority, but being alone diminished my slim chances.

I crawled on all fours beneath her position. “Let go, Maya! NOW!”

The human’s head tilted downward, and she hesitated for a moment. The Arxur were getting back to their feet, assessing the battlefield. Taking a deep breath, Maya unhooked her fingers from the branch. Her feeble form rocketed toward the earth, and I braced myself to break her fall.

Weight slammed into my shoulders with surprising force, knocking the breath from my lungs. My paws gave way beneath me, and pain lanced across my skeleton. The human clutched her sides with a groan, clearly having taken a punch from my hard scales. She reached out for her rifle, dragging herself behind a tree trunk.

Bullets sailed just above my dazed form, and I crawled to her position. Maya lifted her goggles, studying me with dilated pupils. Her breathing had accelerated by a noticeable degree, but she seemed to have her wits. My nostrils flared, checking to make sure she wasn’t bleeding. The important thing was, neither of us were hit, though there were still nine Arxur closing in.

The human unclasped her helmet. “I’m going to toss this into the open air, draw their fire. You get a few shots off, okay?”

I bared my teeth in agreement, hugging my gun against my chest. Maya lobbed the headgear up into the air, and it was greeted by an instinctive array of bullets. My heart pounded as I poked my head out, before I tugged the trigger several times in the enemy’s direction. There were a few strained yelps, but I wasn’t taking the time to admire my handiwork.

The human scrambled back to another tree trunk further behind us, unleashing semiautomatic fire as cover. I followed her with urgency, knowing we couldn’t let the Arxur descend on us. My nostrils widened for a deep whiff, and I picked up the scent of three soldiers’ blood. That included the one I sniped at the beginning.

I hope I hit Typhith or Naitha already, but I think I still hear their voices. Nothing could be that easy, could it? I mused.

The Arxur party showed a bit of hesitancy, having lost three members to the wild tree-dweller. They stayed back for a moment, reassessing their options. Maya swiped my sidearm, and filled it with a fresh clip. She returned it to my grip, giving me a slight nod. The human must’ve run out of tricks, because her darting eyes were scanning for an escape route.

“You want to get to the base, so we can die to the prey instead? We have to get through these guys,” I growled. “Our current retreat is moving in the wrong direction.”

Maya heaved a flustered sigh. “Just be quiet; I’m trying to think. We can’t win a gunfight. I only have one frag and a smoke grenade left.”

“Well, we better use them wisely. The smoke could give us cover, if we need to move out again.”

The alien pursed her lips, and poked her gun around the trunk. A few blind shots were thrown at the Arxur, though her aim was errant. She was still nursing her right hip; I wondered if that plunge from the tree had done serious damage. Perhaps her breathing was labored from pain, rather than hyperventilation.

Maya’s eyes flickered up the tree, before blinking in defeat. The human was in no condition to be climbing again; even if she could, it would just get her shot back down. My head peeked out from behind the trunk, just in time to see a rocket sailing toward us. Naitha’s triumphant snarl was visible from several meters away.

I tackled the human on instinct, sending us rolling away from the tree. Our position was at the crest of an incline, so gravity helped gain some distance. The projectile slammed into the roots behind us, releasing a powerful blastwave. My already-bruised spine absorbed the impact; I could feel the nauseating ache beneath my scales. Hearing was swept away, leaving behind a ringing sensation.

The alien and I tumbled from the summit, landing at the bottom of the hill. Maya yowled in pain, clutching her hip. The human had nicked her chin, and was bleeding profusely from the gash. Spots rippled across my vision; the taste of my own blood was mixed with my saliva. Pressing a claw to my lip, the hardened digit came back viscous.

I struggled to my knees, roaring at the creature. “GET UP! We don’t have time to cry like prey in a stampede.”

“I…can’t.” Maya unhooked a grenade from her belt, coughing weakly. “You go on, Kaisal. I’ll wait for them…and give them this parting gift.”

“What empathetic bullshit is this? Give me that.”

My claws wrenched the projectile from her grasp, faster than she could react. Her fingers extended with a shaky attempt to reclaim it, before her eyes sealed in defeat. I could smell Naitha and Typhith leading the advance up the hill, eager to gun us down.

The two of us needed to find cover, or we’d be terminated on sight. One paw hooked under the straps of the human’s vest, dragging her like a prey carcass. Ignoring her pained whimpers, I positioned her behind a boulder.

Maya gritted her teeth. “Stop. I said stop!”

“I need you alive. Whether it’s to join up with your food-rich planet, or to prove my worth to my people. Either way, your survival is necessary for my benefit,” I said.

The human propped herself against the rock, eyes squeezed shut. The rise and fall of her chest was erratic; the slightest motions seemed to leave her in agony. This vulnerability stemmed from her frail form, without any natural armor or resilience. But pain wasn’t an excuse for Maya to give up. Didn’t she feel the call of self-preservation, same as me?

Naitha stomped to the peak, surveying the scenery. “Come out now! It’s over. We have so many questions about you and your species, tree predator.”

“Why don’t we talk then?” Maya shouted, in a strained voice. “Stay there, and I can give you answers. This can have a peaceful end.”

“Nice try. We only wanted Kaisal, before you started gunning down our people. We can’t just let that go. Now, you’re going to answer our questions from a cell.”

Typhith hobbled behind her. “Don’t worry, a fellow predator won’t go to the cattle pens. You’ll be a prisoner of war. If you cooperate and we befriend your people, the Dominion will likely trade you back home.”

“We…will never befriend you. And we don’t negotiate with terrorists!” the human hissed.

I blinked in confusion. Why would she associate us with random acts of violence? Everything we did was with the goal of our survival; it was easiest to play up the fear that prey had inherently. This was a war of extinction, not a senseless extremist movement. Our government, however much I disliked them, would treat any genuine sapients with the dignity they deserved.

“Take the deal,” I whispered. “It’ll get you off the cradle, and they’ll keep you comfortable out of self-interest. I can fend for myself.”

Maya snorted. “I’m not joining up with your To Serve Man outfit there. Fuck that.”

My eyes narrowed, and I steeled myself for a last stand. For a weak alien, and a scrawny kid who should be euthanized by the Betterment office, we hadn’t done too shabby. Out of spite, I was going to kill Naitha; I hated that bitch. If I got a second shot off, Typhith was going to burn with her. My claws slipped into the grenade pin, and I prayed I could throw like the human.

I hurled the explosive through the air, watching its trajectory with keen eyes. The grenade sailed with a wide arc, before colliding with the hill’s incline. It landed well short of the target, and gravity carried it back down toward us. Irritation flickered in the human’s eyes, before she flung her battered body out of cover.

“Kaisal, you imbecile,” she spat, through curses. “That was a terrible throw.”

Typhith fired several shots toward the human, while Naitha aligned the rocket launcher. The alien predator needed their attention drawn away from her. I locked my sidearm onto the Arxur cluster, unloading an entire clip in panic. Meanwhile, Maya fought through excruciating pain to scoop up the grenade. Crying out in agony, she tossed the device to its proper destination.

The human had gotten to it just in time, and left the hunters with zero time to react. The grenade triggered just as it was about to land, blowing up in the tracking party’s face. The explosion dealt catastrophic damage to nearby soldiers, maiming and killing in a wide berth. I recognized Naitha’s voice among the screams, and pleasure hummed in my heart.

Maya collapsed in a lifeless heap, burying her face in the leaves. I cast my pistol aside, and wrested the rifle from her hands. The human didn’t resist, only muttering a weak protest. My paws strode across the grass, skipping up the hill to finish off the mutilated Arxur. I placed rounds into the temples of two who were twitching; they weren’t who I wanted, but I couldn’t leave them alive. Killing my own was suddenly easier than it felt minutes ago.

Typhith was gushing blood from his throat, spitting up sticky fluid with racking coughs. I placed one leg over his neck, twisting my ankle into the wound. Satisfied at his preylike squeal, I abandoned him to his fate. He was going to bleed out within minutes, even without me speeding the process.

My eyes scanned the incapacitated grays, settling on my target. Naitha was slathered in blood, but she was trying to crawl toward her rifle. I knelt atop her tail, clacking my tongue against my mouth in mockery. Her head twisted toward me, but my rifle barrel was against her skull before she could try anything. My claw hovered over the trigger, watching her squirm.

“Let me go, Kaisal. You proved yourself, through and through. I was wrong about you. I’ll tell everyone of your glorious strength!” the female Arxur pleaded.

My nostrils flared. “Begging like prey, are we? That’s ironic.”

Without any further delay, I tugged at the trigger. Her body spasmed as it was pumped full of lead, before the corpse slumped against the dirt. After checking that everyone else was a goner, I slung the rifle around my neck. It was time to return to the downed human, and decide what to do with her.

First | Prev | Next

A/N - Part 3 in the Arxur's saga! A chapter of blissful pure action, as Kaisal and Maya are forced to work together. While our narrator has achieved his revenge, their struggles are hardly over. 

What will Kaisal do with Maya, with her incapacitating injuries? Will the duo press ahead to the bunker, and risk an encounter with Gojids (or even other humans and Arxur)?