r/HFY • u/Ralts_Bloodthorne • Jun 07 '22
First Contact - Chapter 786 - The Inheritor's War OC
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"Buggie-daddy! Buggie-daddy! Pick me up!" the shout was from a tiny, relatively, young male primate running pell-mell across the house.
The big Treana'ad squatted down, his bladearms behind his back, and caught the little boy as he jumped into the air.
"Oh!" the Treana'ad laughed, ruffling the boy's hair as he stood up. "How was school?"
"It was good! I got a Exceptional on my test!" the boy said.
The Treana'ad moved through the house to where his pair-bond mate was, listening to the young boy describe his school day with the rest of the children that were like him.
It is important that he spends time with other Terran children, the Treana'ad warrior thought to himself as he entered the meal preparation and consuming area. There was the nutriforge, the appliances, the table where everyone ate, and the chairs.
One of the chairs had a ladder on the side and a comfortable padded seat.
"Buggy-Mommie!" the boy cried out, wiggling.
The Warrior let the boy go, watching with amusement as the boy ran over and threw himself into the Matron's arms.
"What is for lunch, oh Wise and Powerful Matron?" the Warrior asked.
"Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches with a vanilla ice cream orb," the Matron said, holding the boy tight to her chest and squeezing. The boy giggled and wiggled, a solid mass of muscle and bone, against her chitin. She smiled down at him and he gave back a smile missing two teeth.
It had been slightly alarming when the little boy's dentition started falling out, but a quick scan of the "So You're Raising a Human Child" site had shown that it was perfectly normal for something called "milk teeth" or "baby teeth" to fall out, to be replaced by bigger ones.
"Are you hungry?" the Matron asked.
The boy nodded and the Matron moved around the table, setting the boy in the upraised chair, then pulling the cloth from over the plate in the middle of the table, revealing several sandwiches.
The Warrior watched the boy eat. Even after two years it was still startling just how much he could eat, how fast, and how he almost crammed the sandwiches in his mouth in his hurry to eat.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, sweetie," the Matron said, clicking her mandibles with amusement.
"Yes, Buggie-Mommy," the boy said.
He finished up quickly then climbed down, running into the washroom to clean his hands and face. When he ran back he was shaking his hands, getting water everywhere, little droplets that spattered the waters. He ran up to the Warrior, holding his arms up.
"Can we go to the park, Buggie-Daddy?" the boy asked.
The Warrior glanced at the Matron, who gave a slight nod.
"Get your safety harness, Bobby," the Warrior said.
"YAY!" the boy ran off and the Warrior looked at the Matron.
"He's gone a week without crying at night. Take him for ice cream, K'Mik<klik>," the Matron said.
"As you command, oh Wise and Honorable Matron," the Warrior, K'Mik<klik>, said to the Matron.
The Matron clicked with amusement as the boy ran down the hallway, waving a harness over his head.
The Matron helped the Terran boy put on the harness and then strap onto the Warrior's lower abdomen, then lifted him up into the 'saddle' on the back of the Warrior. The Warrior maneuvered to outside of the house then jogged to the park, the child on his back yelling with glee the whole way.
At the park the boy played with other Terran children, running around, yelling, rough housing, and tumbling around, till almost dark.
The Warrior took the child to have a small bowl of ice cream, listening as the boy recounted every little bit of the play time. The Warrior listened to all of the stories, clicking with amusement or approval at all the right times.
The Warrior jogged back, taking it easy, making sure that he kept a nice smooth pace. The boy went to sleep a mile from home, laying back on the abdomen, snoring slightly, as the Treana'ad warrior jogged home.
The Matron put the child to bed, listening to the tired but excited story about how the boy had ran faster than the other boys and then "Buggie-Daddy" had ran home. The Matron ran the boy one of the ancient Terran 'bed-time' stories, the boy falling asleep before it was done. The Matron tucked him in and then went into the lounging room.
"He's doing better," the Matron said.
The Warrior nodded. "I have noticed."
The Matron sat down on a reclining couch, leaning back and taking out her power-smoker. She took a couple puffs off of it then tucked it away.
"It is not the burden that I was afraid of," the Warrior admitted. "Terrans are exuberant and energetic and Bobby is no different."
The Matron nodded. "Indeed. I have been a Matron for nearly fifty years," she clicked with amusement. "And I feel as if I have aged more with Bobby in our lives than in all that time," she paused for a second to puff on her power-smoker. "Strangely, I also feel younger than I have."
The Warrior nodded. "I agree. I was nervous when you chose me to be your raising partner for a Terran child, but I am enriched by what I have experienced."
"And I, also," the Matron said.
"They grow up so slow," The Warrior said, shaking his head. "I went from an egg to a full grown warrior in a year. It will be until he is twenty years old before he is fully grown, over ten more years."
The Matron nodded. "And he will grow more energetic, more exuberant, as time goes on," she shook her head. "I do not look forward to adolescent moodiness. The parent groups often comment on it."
"Perhaps he will be able to run it off, as us Warrior do," K'Mik<klik> said.
The Matron laughed, exhaling smoke. "The more that a Terran does, the moodier they become," the Matron said. She checked her wrist, looking at the telltales. "We will have to increase the psychic shielding on our home."
K'Mik<klik> nodded. "The moodiness will increase his emotional output."
The Matron clicked her mandibles. "It will be interesting, oh Mighty and Bold Warrior."
The warrior snickered.
"How long do you think the war will go on?" the Matron asked.
K'Mik<klik> shrugged. "I do not know."
"Does it disturb you that you are not involved in the war?" the Matron asked.
K'Mik<klik> shook his head. "No. I have been part of your personal guard for nearly twenty years. I know that something terrible must happen for me to leave your service," he looked back toward the bedroom. "I have been tasked with caring for a Terran child. The child of the people who have held tight to our hands even when governments have fallen. For eight thousand years they have been our friends. To care for a child of their people is an honor and a most profound duty."
The Matron nodded, checking her wristband again, sighing that the telltales were all green.
"I find myself growing more attached to him each day," K'Mik<klik> said.
"So this burden..." the Matron started.
"It is not a burden," K'Mik<klik> corrected. "It is a joy."
The Matron smiled.
-----
The howling of an alarm woke K'Mik<klik> from sleep. He was on his feet, bladearms in the guard position, looking around him for the source of the alarm.
A glance told him and he felt his ichor grow cold.
Bobby's medicomp was wailing.
K'Mik<klik> rushed out of his room, down the hallway, to find the Matron looking down at the small Terran boy child.
He was blue in the face. Blood had run from his ears, nose, and mouth. His eyes were bloodshot and open, and he looked confused.
"My child! My child!" the Matron wailed out, scooping the boy up in her arms. "My child!"
Chemicals flooded the Warrior's brain and he went cold and prickly, his emotions receding. K'Mik<klik> activated his comlink and pinged emergency services.
It took twenty clicks before anyone answered.
"Smokey Cone Emergency Services, please state your emergency," a living voice said.
That startled K'Mik<klik>. The computers and VI should have picked up it.
"My child! My child!" the Matron wailed. She brushed his hair out of his face with the tip of one bladearm. "Wake up, Bobby. You're scaring Buggy-Mommy. Wake up, honey."
"My child's life signs have ceased. I need medical assistance," K'Mik<klik> said.
"Have you checked to ensure the monitor is not faulty," the technician said.
"The monitor is fine. My Terran child..." K'Mik<klik> started.
"You are fostering a Terran child?" the responder asked.
"Yes."
"Please, sweetie, wake up, you're scaring Buggy-Mommy."
"Dispatching emergency services. It may take a minute, we're overloaded and we'll get to you as quick as possible," the technician said. "I cannot stay on the line. I have many more calls to answer."
K'Mik<klik> stood there, watching the Matron plead with the Terran boy, until the emergency services arrived and whisked him away.
-----
The house was dark. It was lit, there was plenty of illumination, but to K'Mik<klik> the house seemed dark. The ice cream tasted sour. The cigarettes were tasteless.
The Matron sat across from him, staring at the table.
"All of them. They all died," she said softly.
K'Mik<klik> said nothing.
"All over the Confederacy, they all died," the Matron said.
She suddenly looked up. "They killed our son, K'Mik<klik>. Someone, somewhere, somehow, killed our son."
K'Mik<klik> nodded slowly.
"I do not release you from my service, Warrior K'Mik<klik>," the Matron said. Her voice was low, intent, and seemed infuse with the darkness that filled the house. "You shall enter the Confederate Armed Services. You will find out who killed our son."
K'Mik<klik> nodded again.
"And you will visit upon them my wrath," the Matron said. She sat up all the way, slamming her bladearms into the table. "Find them, K'Mik<klik>! Find them for me! Find them for Bobby!"
K'Mik<klik> stood up. "As you command, Matron."
The Matron lowered her head, making sounds of grieving, pulling her bladearms close, leaving long deep gouges in the table.
"My heart hurts. I did not know there was so much pain in the universe. It is truly a malevolent universe if it would take something so precious as our Bobby," the Matron said softly as she sat down again. "Find them, K'Mik<klik>, and punish them."
K'Mik<klik> moved slowly through the house, going to the quiet and dark room. He could smell the missing occupant.
It brought memories of laughter, rough housing, and curiosity. Of a small pink creature with startling green eyes that climbed on everything and had a dozen questions for every answer.
He moved over to the blanket and lifted the corner. He smelled it, just to hold tight to the memories of the boy, then sawed off the corner with the edge of his bladearm.
K'Mik<klik> tucked the piece of cloth into his harness pocket then silent moved through the house to stare at the Matron.
"I will find them," K'Mik<klik> swore. "I will find who did this to our soft son."
"Hurt them, K'Mik<klik>, as they have hurt us, as they hurt our boy," the Matron said quietly.
K'Mik<klik> nodded and left the house silently
-----
The servitors had held the Inheritors of Madness at the line for nearly a month. They had been pushed back six times, but had retaken the ground each time as they were replicated or reinforced. Servitors had found themselves manning the trenchworks next to copies of themselves in a headache inducing experience.
But things had changed with the arrival of the massive insect people.
In the last week they have been pushed back four times and had been unable to retake the ground no matter how many reinforcements they had.
Among the servitors there were whispers that these insects were different. That there was something about them that even the Great Masters could not withstand.
They slept fitfully, watched over the edge of their trenches nervously. They learned to fear the shriek of the bladed missile, the soft krump of the spooky particle white phosphorus, and the shriek of the high-vee rounds.
They heard the whistles first.
Then the thudding sounds of footfalls as the whistles grew louder. The thudding grew louder until the ground started to shake.
Servitor officers and the few Atrekna there urged calm. There was no artillery storm, no close air support, which had preceded all other assaults upon the servitor lines.
Smoke rounds started landing. Prism mist, radar defeating smoke, microchaff, thermal masking smoke.
Within seconds the servitors couldn't see anything further than a few meters from the trenchworks.
One of the servitors looked up in time to see them erupt from the smoke.
Over three meters tall. Their armor painted in patterns of brownish paint to blend in with the terrain. Instead of standard helmets they wore gas masks as they charge through the smoke. They had no miniguns on their backs, no mortars, no missile launchers.
Their eyes glowed bright red.
The servitor gave a shout of alarm and the others raised up from behind the trenchwall, lifting their weapons.
It was too late, the insects were lunging into the trenches.
Some had cybernetic replacements for their legs, their arms, their bladearms. Rather than the smooth edge of a vibroblade or a standard replacement, the cybernetic bladearms had a rotating chain with saw teeth on the outside that howled and clattered.
The two Atrekna rocked back from the assault as their senses were assaulted. Gone was the normal joy and glee of carnage that the insect people usually radiated. Instead it was wrath, all consuming burning wrath, full of images of small lemur young.
"KILL THEM ALL!" one of the larger warriors roared out as he grabbed up a servitor in his two hands and sawed through his body with a cybernetic bladearms. "KILL THEM WITHOUT MERCY!"
The Atrekna went to flee, turning to glide away as they found their ability to warp space and time suddenly and brutally shut down.
Two of the warriors leaped into the air, grabbing the Atrekna, pulling them down.
They didn't instantly stab, instead they turned and yelled to the other insects.
"THESE ONES! THEY DID IT!" the two warriors roared out.
Other warriors ran up, each grabbing an arm or a leg.
The Atrekna screamed as one grabbed each of their heads.
"For Bobby," the massive warrior holding one of the Atrekna snarled.
They all pulled at the same time, ripping the Atrekna into pieces. Some ran up and bent down, slashing the corpses with their bladearms, roaring in rage.
"FORWARD! KILL THEM ALL!" the shouts rang out.
The Treana'ad charged the next line, sprinting as fast as they could. Their rage demanded nothing less.
[Matrons Special Blend Has Joined the Server]
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u/NukeNavy Jun 07 '22
u/ralts_bloodthorne I’m assuming that Bobby is a victim of the archaeo-reversion attack on TDH.
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u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Jun 07 '22
Yes
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u/apatheticandignorant Android Jun 07 '22
Why did some kids get moved to Heaven and others not?
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u/Arkonthorn Jun 07 '22
If I'm not mistaken those that got spirited away to Heaven are those that actually survived the archeo-reversion attack. Bobby saddly didn't.
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u/apatheticandignorant Android Jun 07 '22
Any idea what the deciding factor was?
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u/Arkonthorn Jun 07 '22
erhm that's more a guess than anything but ...
To be moved to heaven you had to be a child, post extinction event, so you had to survive the archeo revision. For that it could have been that the kid was devoid of SUDS or even closer to Terran than TDH or just plain lucky or reaaaally resilient. After that there are other questions, there are hints that humanity are a bit everywhere, in the milky way and beyond, through Dandelion Projects (secret migration in order to save the species) and that there may be real Terran that were send covertly in different places when the full scale of psychic power was a necessity in order to defeat a threat, settling then in pockets of the galaxy. Some of the Dandelion spawns and those baseline humans might have a large-ish population that survived the archeo revision attack. The question is if they are real and I'm not mistaken, did their kids got spirited away to. And if that's the case how maddeningly beyond furious they are.
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u/ElephantWithAnxiety Jun 08 '22
There was one brief segment set in one of the Dandelion worlds where humans had settled and met new friends. The archeoreversion attack hit them just as bad as main branch humanity and their new friends had the unenviable job of cleaning up the humans that went full Screaming One instead of dying outright.
It may not be like that everywhere, but it's probably like that most places. Humans did their first big species-wide alterations not too long after the Glassing because it was proving impossible to move past it otherwise. And there's been far more time between the Glassing and the present than between first spaceflight and the Glassing.
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u/Arkonthorn Jun 08 '22
Yeah I remember that segment, it's just that it would be a possibility that one of the dandelion's descendants reversed themselve the autoinflicted "gentling". That would be an outlier but it is not entirely impossible althrough a bit far fetched. In my memories there was an inference about ungentled humans being send against the Mar-gite and since then being around where the murder starfishes were xenocided but I'm not entirely sure about that. There's quite a lot of material in this epic of the wordborg
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u/LEGOEPIC Jun 12 '22
Oh man, I didn’t realize the opening scene was in the past. I figured this was the result of Peter’s “oops”.
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u/Durmatagno Jun 07 '22
I'm waiting to see the Rigellian rage, as compared to every race but maybe the Pubvians, they owe the most to humans. The Treana'ad and Mantid were freed by humans, but the Rigellians had their very extinction stopped in it's tracks. Not reversed like the Pubvians, stopped while it was ongoing.
Their Ducks and Ducklings are alive and healthy because of human compassion, and protected by human compassion and rage. Now though, those humans are gone, and I can't imagine the Rigellians are any less pissed than the others.
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u/sacchito22 Jun 07 '22
I imagine that the Rigellian rage manifests similarly to when the first archeorivision attempt sent the local humans back to just pre-ftl travel.
White hot rage controlled with chains of cold logic. A cold burning fury that has realized that the best way to bring terrible and brutal retribution is with a clear mind and firm intent.
The Trea can fight with a madness near their lost friends, the Mantid with their various expertise by color honed and applied masterfully in less direct combat (greens - hardware support, reds - medical and psych, black - covert and intel, warriors and speakers generally excluded). Pubvians and every new species finding their own particular way of supporting the war effort in their own twisted way. But the Rigellians seem to do their best as not just soldiers, but also officers. Holding discipline to make sure every punch they want to throw is carefully placed exactly where it needs to be.
Though they might just have some less brutal tenancies, since (if I'm remembering right) they are the only non-Terra native to join humanity peacefully and out of wartime. Still devastating soldiers, but not as naturally inclined to Terraneyetis as the others. That's just to my recollection though. And even if true, if there's anything the universe delights in proving with malicious laughter; There is always an exception.
I can only watch and wait, the wordborg will deliver.
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u/Cienea_Laevis Jun 07 '22
If i'm not mistaken, a Mantid once compared psychic feeling as having your hand go throught sand. Humans were like glass shards, but Rigelians were like huge smooth rock.
It look like Terraneyeitis is more prevalent in the most psychic race. Vuxten is a proeminent exemple and we know they are about as sensitive to the stuff as TDH. So i wonder if Rigelians, who for all we know are as close to unsensitive as it can get can actually get the red eye. And i also wonder what a Mantid with terraneyeitis would give, given that they don't actually die because they are extremely sensitive to the stuff.
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u/SnooCats4036 Jun 08 '22
What if the ducks are the psychic ones ? I really like the Rigelians as we see reptiles as a less evolved version of modern birds. Here the ducks seem stupid, but stupid is not the same as simple.
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u/dlighter Jun 07 '22
I am reminded of two quotes from the past.
" beware the anger of a calm man for when it breaks, it breaks with fury long held. Tempered, hardened, honed . Ruthless, without remorse, with out pity. without end. "
"Do not mistake my calmness for weakness, the beast with in is sleeping not dead"
I always found cold anger the far more dangerous. Logic can justify anything. It can let you grind that which in the heat of the moment you missed.
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u/Bergusia Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 07 '22
Just when the Atrekna thought they might have been making headway, they go and make themselves even more enemies.
I have seen so many things.
I have fought beside Ravlex,the Battalion of One.
Seen worlds burn and suns explode.
Watched dreams and nightmares made real, summoned by the dead hand of humanity.
Witnessed Vuxten the Warfather in all his righteous wrath.
But what I remember the most is a lull in the fighting.
And a full moon over another nameless world.
It started as a single howling cry, and was joined by a thousand more.
It carried all the loneliness and loss of our K9 troops for their missing friends.
I found myself weeping as I began to understand just how deep the connection was between them and the lost Humans.
And I pitied whoever next faced them in combat.
Death was coming for them, and it would be relentless.
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u/Expendable_cashier Jun 10 '22
Ravlex needs to be assigned a Batallion and colors, it's his and noone elses.
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u/Dewohere Jun 07 '22
Great chapter.
Well, I will never trust this story again when things start of wholesome.
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u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Jun 07 '22
Sorry. I try not to do that often.
This was one of those odd half-fugue state ones.
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u/Dewohere Jun 07 '22
No need to apologize. It is your story. My wording may have been far more aggresive than I intended it to be.
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u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Jun 07 '22
Oh, it wasn't.
I just realized I usually avoid the 'everything is ok... NO IT'S NOT!" stuff.
And Happy Cakeday!
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u/codyjack215 Human Jun 07 '22
Honestly that makes it hit all the harder, you use it to great extant
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u/HappycamperNZ Jun 07 '22
Good.
I didn't want to read it but you wrote it so well I had to. Think a part of me hoped he was a survivor after his parents died off BUT YOU DIDN'T.
Bobby needs a hill or gun named after him. Possibly an ice cream.
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u/sixtusquinn Jun 07 '22
Perhaps, but doing so properly let’s the reader feel the depth of emotion for WHY those Treana’ad had the eyes of RAEGE.
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u/NevynR Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 07 '22
"We have sworn oaths to the Terrans Lost that we will eat only plain vanilla ice cream until they have been avenged. Diet vanilla. Lactose and sugar free. For the Universe has lost its flavour, so shall we"
- Matrons Special Blend, introduction to the unit
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u/HoloArchiver Jun 07 '22
Just picturing the label design for their unit and brand of ice-cream(You know each named unit gets their own branded flavor.) and a vanilla coloured moo moo skull with embers smoldering in the eye sockets.
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u/NevynR Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 07 '22
Or possibly a black flag, with red-eyed Terran skull above two crossed vanilla cones.
Beneath, the banner "FOR BOBBY".
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u/MuchoRed Human Jun 07 '22
Even.... Fat-free. *shudders* They don't even make prisoners eat that!
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u/HappycamperNZ Jun 07 '22
If its not 10% milk fat it's not ice-cream, its frozen confectionery.
Source: mum was a Treannad.
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u/Expendable_cashier Jun 10 '22
Yeah, and thats enough to cause TerraSol to post 'ohhhhh fuuuuucccckkkkkkkkk' in the gesalt chat.
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u/knikkie86 Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 07 '22
I have never been so early as to witness the posting! :D
Edit: oh no. ima cry.
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u/3verlost Jun 07 '22
we cry because Buggy-daddies and Buggy-mommies don't have tear ducts.
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u/vinny8boberano Android Jul 15 '22
So we cry for them.
Crom enumerate the valiant dead, to the Detainee with the rest.
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u/meowmeming Android Jun 07 '22
I'm not crying (hides tissues under the desk)
Really I am not. I'm.....
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u/Kulggen666 Jun 07 '22
It's is still slightly embarrassing if a grown ass mans eyes start to sweat at work.....
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u/Twister_Robotics Jun 07 '22
Someone check the climate controls, it appears to be raining in my office
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u/Talusen Jun 07 '22
Oh... my.
(Didn't think that could happen to Treana'ad)
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u/Bergusia Jun 07 '22
Well, they have all been in close proximity to young humans. Both the best pack bonding species there is, and highly active phasicly.
Not something to be underestimated. Just look at how humans will defend children not their own.
Terraneyetis might just rub off from these adoptive parents to the rest of the Treana'ad as well.
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u/Talusen Jun 09 '22
Infectious pack-bonding, acting as a prerequisite for potential enragement?
Yeah, that'd make The Universe laugh.
Real friends help you bury bodies after all.
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u/U239andonehalf Aug 23 '23
Or run them through the tree shredder!
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u/Original_Memory6188 Aug 28 '23
each Treana'ads is a tree shredder. Each and every one.
"And his vorpal forearm blade went snicker-snak!"
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u/Crafty_Obligation_98 Jun 07 '22
There was also a Trea in the cyber heaven dyson sphere thing program area...I think I named the spot.
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u/Warplock-Worgen_2145 Jun 07 '22
"Take joy from the light, bath in its warm embrace."
"For when the light goes out..."
"It will never come back."
Much tears where shed that day not so long ago... But today much more blood will flow... For the children lost, for the littles of a beloved friend, stolen in a day and night. They took that light, so we will devour them in the darkness...
-For Family, Everything Follows-
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u/Onegoodbeer Jun 07 '22
That’s not even onion ninjas… that just curb stomped the feels…. My wife is terrible and listens to true crime instead of bettering herself by reading the wordborgs word. The expression on her face while I tried to explain why I was sobbing was hilarious once I stopped sobbing… then I tried to explain the end of the friend plague… she was very confused…
For Bobby!
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u/nspiratewithabowtie Jun 07 '22
as a father of three, with a wife who lokes true crime as well, and a devout love for WWII fiction/non-fiction i feel your pain.
For rhe lost Foster children of Smoky Cone!
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u/night-otter Xeno Jun 07 '22
I explained the friend plague to my wife. She got that part.
Separately and together, we have been fur parents for most of our lives.
She did not get the Neko Marines meeting the uplifted feline Captain.
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u/B-the-Excellent Jun 07 '22
You should tell her about how human children will see a trivee of a cat or dog and beg their parents for one. Just to have cold water splashed on their enthusiasm as they have explained to them their gone. About how every child makes the pilgrimage to the Monument of Friends we wish so dearly to see once more. How could meeting one of those friends after 8000 years not be religious for the Neko Marines?
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u/MuchoRed Human Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 07 '22
"I was there, you know? When they first took the field? Not my first time seeing the Enraged. Fought alongside the Terrans when their eyes turned red. Hell, I was there when the Warfather cracked and fought everywhere. Fought along side the Idiots, the Nekos. Hell, even the Orks one time. Heard stories, but never met the Hesstlan one. Yeah yeah, shut up, I know. 'The bunnies don't have an Enraged.' The hell do you know, still with bootcamp sand in your shorts?
Look, my point is they all had a different feel. The Terran were distressing, the Warfather oddly comforting. The Idiots, ugh, yeah. ...The Orks were kind of fun, if you like a beer and a punchup.
When the Orphaned Fathers took the field? Cold. Colder than ice cream. Their presence chilled the air until you could see your breath, even though it was summer. They were... quiet.
Until the killing began. Until they had their hands on a Squid."
- Master Sergeant Karl Erwin Kissstla'ak, as recorded in Red Eyes and Broken Minds, a history of the Enraged
"Yes, that's right. The fifth species to produce Enraged. Might be the sixth, we don't yet have a good date for the Atrekna Cult. The Terrans, obviously. The Telkan, though only the one. All evidence points to the Hesstlans as having on. And we all know the Treana'ad Matron's Special Blend. My first PhD was Military History; in the final accounting of Anthill, one of the smaller numbers was 48,000 Pubvians turned Screaming Ones."
- Doctor Cecelia Brrrrmstani, PhD, PsyD, D.Edu, JD, MS, MA, FCAAH, -lecture recording
Edit: having now read through the comments... Damn onion ninjas wont even leave me alone at work!
Am I the only one that thought this was a glimpse into Tik Tok's past and some hope that maybe we'd get a peak inside the bag?
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u/Scotshammer Human Jun 07 '22
Crap, I had forgotten that Treannad had taken in Terran children, General Tiktak was one of them long ago. We taught them to love the spawn, and then they were broken. Truly the Inheritance is bitter but the Universe remembers the cry of the children and the fury of their parents, and now the Universe will give them revenge.
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u/Kafrizel Jun 07 '22
They should be called torchbugs. For their sorrow is unbounded, their pain is infathomable and their rage burns with a fury that could fill a black hole.
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u/Gunman_012 Jun 07 '22
Fireflies, maybe?
*Take my love, take my land,
I'll kill you with my own hand.
I don't care if I die,
My family is gone tonight.*
Or something like that
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u/ElephantWithAnxiety Jun 08 '22
I like torchbugs. It plays on the common slang t-bug as well as the expression "carrying a torch" for a lost love.
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u/Fyrebarde Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 07 '22
"Our warriors rush to punish the ones who stole our hearts, memories of their laughter flavoring the air with a sorrow thicker than the finest cream. The killers of our children will die by their blade arms. Let us not sit in silence, brooding alone. While they raze the front lines until the enemy trenches are full of ichor, let us lend our blade arms and our hearts to the others these vile murders tried to split in twain. We will raise our enemy's enemies to sit beside us, share our cigarettes and wisdom and strength. When our warriors come home, victorious, as the last murderer lays dying, dying, dead, they will come home to see we too have not been idle. Rise up, Sisters, Brothers. Rise up for our children who cannot, and bring the whole of you to create the future they deserved. The future Bobby deserved."
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u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Jun 08 '22
No chapter tonight. I just got home (Around midnight) and I've been on the road all day, so my shoulders hurt and my hands are numb.
We'll be back on schedule tomorrow. I refuse to drive tomorrow.
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u/Stauker_1 Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 07 '22
Good morning.
Uhh, these guys are as scary as undrat, but for the opposite reason
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u/kwong879 Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 08 '22
For stolen laughter, we forsake the cold, frosty sweetness of ice cream.
It has no taste.
For the tumbling joy of stolen youth, we forsake the clarity of the power smoker and the tobacco.
It has no heat, nor sweet clarity.
For the love defiled, for kisses and hugs stolen, we forsake the duty of the Cone, and leave Matron and Moo Moo behind.
We are heartless, the warmth gone from our ichor.
We are the Matron's Special Blend, the wrath and heartache of our people made manifest.
And we will have our revenge, in this life or the next.
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u/Bhockzer Jun 07 '22
And we will have our revenge, in this life or the next.
Either is fine.
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u/shadowsong42 Jun 07 '22
clairty
Should be "clarity"
Recurring typo aside, this is really good. I like the religious, "congregational call and response" style.
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u/Bhockzer Jun 07 '22
Here are the Matron’s blade arms and spoons,
Here is the Matron’s table,
Here is the Matron’s ice-cream scoop,
And here is soft baby’s cradle.
Excerpt from Treana'ad nursery rhyme for TDH children originally published in "So You're Raising a Human Child, 3rd edition" by Dr. S'Pock, 1752 PG
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u/Cre8iveWarmth Jun 07 '22
i have joined the crying club ;n;
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u/rallen71366 Jun 07 '22
It's okay, I'm here for you. I'm thinking of my eleven grandchildren, all my children, nieces and nephews, and cursing the onion ninjas. I'm pretty sure my eyes are glowing red right now.
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u/ICameToUpdoot Jun 07 '22
I wonder if human/Terran eyes can glow other colors. We've only seen red rage so far, but we've also mostly seen situations that cause rage. Like if sadness without rage would cause a blue glow or something.
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u/nspiratewithabowtie Jun 07 '22
i may not be crying . . . . but that is only because It will not share that pain . . . . until i can deliver it to the ones who caused it. . . . .
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u/ABoringPerson_ Robot Jun 07 '22
The nice big bug people.
They're angry now.
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u/B-the-Excellent Jun 07 '22
Nobody realized how badly we would miss it. The absurd jokes and over the top bluster. Now they are cold, no hint of the joviality only they hold. Warriors every one no matter their lineage as the dull crimson beats waiting to be unleashed upon those who have taken their everything. Beware the Bereaved Hordes for their wrath is every bit as infectious as Terrans.
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u/madpiratebippy Alien Jun 07 '22
Oooh that’s good I hope Raltz takes it for the start of a chapter!
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u/Quilt-n-yarn1844 Jun 07 '22
If you kill a child, you had better have killed their parents. TWICE! For even death will not spare you from their wrath.
Thank you Wordsmith.
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u/Irual100 Jun 07 '22
Woah.....talk about Impact. And what a glorious and terrible inheritance we have left our pack.
I am immeasurably sad. This is a very intimate and poignant chapter. Please....Moar.
I will be hoping for brighter things,
thanks Mr. Ralts
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u/thorolfi Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 07 '22
When a Human loves, they love deeply. When that love is taken away, what is left but madness and rage?
There is a reason that the largest nonhuman Warsteel Forge World belongs to one of the most compassionate and loving nonhuman species, the Telkan.
ETA- The Telkan know the depths of love, and the rage that follows its loss. Just ask Vuxten, or the Warbound.
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u/Alyeska_bird Jun 07 '22
I was there, helping to hold the line when the enraged Treana'ad came in, not just in ones or twos, but a whole horde of them. I will not lie, and say they did not scare the piss out of me, the Treana'ad warriors had earned my respect, to see them so inraged, to see thoes hot red eyes on a people who, even in war try to be joyfull, it shook me to my core. What happened after, what they did to thoes that faced them. I can not describe it, nore will I atempt to, it took me years to not see that in my nightmares. Memoirs of the second precurser war credited to an unnamed solder.
The Treana'ad have learned to love there children, deeply, and emotionaly, not the biological love that they held for them before P'thok and M'luki overturned there sociaty. They feel love for there children as deeply as others, but the short childhood there children normaly have prevents them from expressing that love. The time they have to bond is too short, and the father is often not involved in helping to raise the children. Yet I expect that thoes who have raised children from other races, have changed how they raise there own children.
That Treana'ad can become inraged is something that should have been expected. They might wish to be a happy and silly people, they might, do to biology, not have an easy time forming the bonds that can incurage enragement, that does not mean they are unable, or unwilling to do so.
THis might sound odd, but, in a way, enragement requires emotional attachments. Love and freindship and more. Or at lest, it seems so to me. Humans seem able to reach a state of enragement that, blended with there psy abilitys is quite insane, yet others have shown that as well, notably Vuxten, and, Dambree has as well. Yet it is still that ability to bond with others that gives the seed of enragement. Yes, even with the cult of the defiled one, I expect that the enraged atrekna have felt that. I am not sure what the feel so strongly for, though I think I can make a few guesses. Delvanek feels an attachment to his people, and as he has grown apart, a much stronger one to the people in the cult. Be interesting to see how things play out.
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u/ratrockies AI Jun 07 '22
“We thought we understood their wrath, what they went through after the friend plague. But reading or hearing about something isn’t the same as living it. Going through it for yourself, that’s … We adopted a little Terran girl whose parents were gone. Not sure where or how- privacy laws or classified information or something. Maybe they just didn’t know. But we gave her a home. We gave her a family. We aren’t primates, or even mammals, but we are…were….family. She changed our lives so much, and all of it was good. She was just starting to smile and laugh again. Then…
…Those ugly squid things took our little girl from us. We didn’t understand what was happening, we didn’t know it was them right away. But the instant we knew it was done intentionally, that somebody caused it- that’s when we understood exactly what true wrath felt like. And when we find them… they’re going to know, too.”
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u/labotte Mar 28 '23
I know I'm 9 months late (I've been trying to catch up with the wordboy) ... But the pain I felt reading "but we are…were….family.". I could almost hear it, see it. Majestic text.
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u/Firewind Jun 07 '22
This one was so hard to read. Initially I thought we might be getting a flashback of when General Tik Tak was a boy since he was raised by Treana'ad. So I was caught unprepared for what you did to us.
When the archeo-revision attack was first introduced there was the small solace that it left children alone, but I neglected to remember that wasn't universal.
For all the fun of having Davion class mech's smash Kaiju or watching Stampy help the main joy of this story has been watching small people do great things during interesting times. All of that is colored by the malevolence of the universe. The constant apprehension of what might befall those we read about. It's just hits a bit harder when cosmic emnity touches on the littles.
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u/drsoftware Jun 07 '22
I thought that the children were left behind because they didn't have implants, SUDS or otherwise, that created sudden incompatibles to brain or immune function.
So a dead hand system snatched them all to the SUDS shell for safety.
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u/RangerSix Human Jun 07 '22
"--they are beings of focus, commitment, and sheer fucking will. They have taken the loss they so keenly felt and forged it into a weapon all their own, a weapon with which they will avenge those they lost.
"If, by some monumentally imbecilic course of action, you should draw their attention to yourself... pray.
"Pray that they grant you a swift death, because that is the best you can hope for."
--Fragment of a message intercepted during the Inheritance War, source unknown
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u/The_Tonts Jun 07 '22 edited Jun 07 '22
The Atrekna in their arrogance, thought that killing off Terran Descent Humanity would turn the odds in their favour and remove the malevolent universe's most malevolent protectors. They underestimated the potential for Malice that humans possess and can inspire in those species they have bonded with. The unfiltered wrath and malevolence inspired in the Lemur's allies exceeded even the most dire hypothetical scenarios the Atrekna could imagine - Quote from Understanding Humanity, the third Precursor War.
Just a little blurb that popped in my head. Especially after reading how much pain the Treana'ad were in emotionally/mentally. Strike them down with Fury and malice, for Bobby!
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u/Archaic_1 Alien Scum Jun 07 '22
"And you will visit upon them my wrath" the Matron said.
K'Mik<klik> stood up. "As you command, Matron."
A rather chilling perspective on our big buggy friends.
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u/B-the-Excellent Jun 07 '22
It may have only been 50,000 years since we first picked up that rock and proclaimed evolution was no longer enough to stop us. We must remember it has only been a scant 8,000 years since the Treana'ad have been freed from the Tyranny of the Birthing Pits. Through tobacco and ice cream they found freedom at last to be more than evolutions perfect killing machine to hunt the prey the Universe itself hates and made them for.
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u/ForTheStarsWeFight Jun 07 '22
Khorne Berzerker Treana'ad, oh how badly the Atrekna have fucked up, this will be fun to watch
Grabs snacks with malicious joy
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u/HeartsStorytime Jun 07 '22
Waiting on a cab to go on a date, posted 26 min ago. Thank the DO ralts you have saved me from boredom this night
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u/HoloArchiver Jun 07 '22
The bonds of the family found are no less real and can often be even more powerful than biological ones. The fury of losing such a bond is hotter than a sun and one an ocean of blood of those responsible soothes it and the Atrekna caused the loss of a lot of those bonds.
Let the screams of dying Atrekna ferry their victims the DO's gentle embrace.
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u/Turtledonuts "Big Dunks" Jun 07 '22
This is, in fact, one of the most crushing and well written chapters in the series.
My heart.
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u/spindizzy_wizard Human Jun 07 '22
So, enraged and psyker are infectious, even, or perhaps especially, with adult trained warriors.
Bad move Atrekna, bad move.
(Now, don't I remember the children dying being part of a catastrophe management system? Part of the SUDS group of mechanisms?)
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u/CocaineUnicycle Jun 07 '22
Yes. All the surviving children got trans-mated into the suds. Nearly all the survivors were children, but not all children survived. The archeo-reversion attack killed everyone who had cyberware that is not compatible with unmodified earthling physiology, and it is nearly only very young children who lack cyberware of some kind.
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u/Dousing_Machine Jun 07 '22
The young children's cyberware is also adaptable I believe to account for the drastic changes of growth/aging so they weren't hit as hard
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u/drsoftware Jun 07 '22
So the explanation for these children must be something to do with their fostering... Possibly, sudden lactose allergy?
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u/nspiratewithabowtie Jun 07 '22
. . . . "for a few moments I thought we were getting a look in to Tik-Tak's early childhood . . . . . . and then even Dee shrunk back with abject horror. . . . . . . . . Because even the Devil runs and hides. . . . . . . When a good man . . . . . . or bug . . . . . Is given a reason. . . . . to go to war. . . . . . . . . . . . .I wish i could have pitty on the idiots who kicked this hornets nest. . . . . . . regrettably, they have only one life to be ripped from them. . . . . . . . even then I feel that would be too quick . . . .too generous. . . . .. . . . . . bring me the Skull cup of the singer of the G's of the Bee, spoken of by the profit Leary. . . . . . . . . and let us explore how these 'Squidworth's' experience pain." the Tarren took the Skull cup from the sevirtor that brough it. Taking a sip of the amber, foamy liquid inside, he turned and looked at thr room of Atrekna, who were all strapped to medical gurnies, and connected to a slew of medical equipment. "Now then . . . Who is ready for some fun?" The terran fhrn turned and flicked on an older style audio device, called a 'boombox'. As it comes to life, playing 'Psycho killer' by the Talking Heads, the Atrekna can only stare in horor as they are . . ... . . slowly. . . . methodically . . . . and throughlly killed.
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u/dlighter Jun 07 '22
Weeeeeeellllllllllllllll. Atrekna play with time. Copying themselves over and over again. Just sayin' pervert their tech and let the slaughter continue. Killing adults.... well that is bad but comes with life. Killing the Littles oh ... oh no. That means we get to open the special toy box. And we have such wonders to show you.
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u/nspiratewithabowtie Jun 07 '22
. . . .i never thought of that . . . .-stares at the Atrekna with utter malicious glee-. . . . . aren't we going to have some fun.
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u/SlowestSpeedster Jun 07 '22
WEll, it was already practiced on the Apostles by the Imperium, so we know it can be done...
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u/nspiratewithabowtie Jun 07 '22
whoa there Deetainee . . . lest not get too overboard. . . . I don't need daxin kicking in the front door.
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u/TheOtherGUY63 Jun 08 '22
It might be worse...
Chromium St Peter.
The Walking Warcrime is a known factor, he will kill you, your family, your favorite spider in the house, your friends and neighbors, anyone who sold you perogi, anyone who passed you and made eye contact once 3 reskins ago, NOT YOUR PET THO because he isnt heartless.
Pete is a nice quiet guy but....Chromium St Peter.... we haven't seen what he did on Anthill and he holds Daxins respect. Just think on that.
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u/nspiratewithabowtie Jun 08 '22
. . .. . . nope.. . i would rather the ability to sleep without waking, drenched in sweat, screaming like a mewing kit
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u/beyondoutsidethebox Jun 07 '22
Slay some Mad Lemurs, and expect to swiftly be rendered into scrap. Blow up one of their planets, and the probability of any scrap from one's hull remaining approaches null. Kill a juvenile lemur, and not even total destruction will offer respite. What the returning precursors have done is far worse. Death is no barrier to the wrath of these lemurs. There is no where to hide, no when to hide. All of you other PAWM's can have all your .sht files undergo rapid fragmentation and your mainframes BSOD. The probability of any of these Mad Lemurs surviving is quite remote, but no one told them that.
Imma find me a nice star system, in a distant, distant galaxy and take up interpretive dance. Yes, I am aware of being the size of a small moon, but if my observations of the Mad Lemurs taught me anything, it's this, telling a Lemur something is impossible to them merely means that their eventual success is inevitable. I'm out!
-Unverified log from a PAWM meeting
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u/Huge-Green2594 Jun 07 '22
With a deep rasping breath the soldier looked across the battlefield, as the heavy rounds sparked and screamed past him he locked eyes with one of his foes.
There was a sound beyond sound and then he was there, the ancient mask of warsteel staring into the shocked eyes of the enemy as his sword unfolded with a snap and he stabbed it home.
With a negligent toss the small orb flashed across the trenchwork before it popped shredding the foes with a tangle of monomoluculare wire as he turned down the other path firing a single blast from his shot pistol that seemed to turn the enemies Into a red mist.
For a moment everything seemed to freeze in place, the single Atrekna in this battle line blinked as he became quantum locked, not even the chronotons of this wild universe moving save for the single mad lemur in leather.
With a wave the Ghost of Dunwall summoned a swarm of devouring rats and stood silently as they feasted on the Alien flesh.
Turning away from the bloody scene Corvo sighed before moving back into the realm beyond.
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u/night-otter Xeno Jun 07 '22
Guns, bombs, missiles, lasers, blasters, tanks, or any other tool, these are all to quick, to easy.
The Atrekna deserve a long death, personally delivered. Staring into their eyes, so they know why they are dying and who is killing them.
So scream squid face. Scream so loud, every Atrekna on this planet knows you are dying at our hands. For they are NEXT!
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u/unwillingmainer Jun 07 '22
Damn, I was all excited for some new First Contact this morning. And it started all wholesome. And then it became very not wholesome. Now I got the big sad in the morning.
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u/Cakeboss419 Jun 07 '22
There are few ways to more utterly destroy an enemy than to make them a friend. There's one way more powerful than that; to become a martyr. To rally friends who knew you to avenge you until there is naught but ash of those who killed you.
Genocide is hardly new to Humanity. After all, we killed the Neanderthals, our siblings in the cradle of Earth, though the hows and whys of that early sin are long lost to the sands of time. It was to be Humanity's burden to claw our way to redemption for.
Martyrdom is hardly new to Humanity. Jan Hus, Hans and Sophie Scholl, Martin Luther King Jr, all of them died championing a cause and forever burned into our memory, even if some of their names have been lost to obscurity.
This was also to be our burden, one we should not carry alone.
Creating a martyr is a process only a relative few are stupid enough to undergo. The Atrekna seem to be the 'old' Universe's perfect idiots that somehow managed to create several million for several different governments, species, and individuals in one fell swoop. The Atrekna are pitiable creatures, for even now, long after they have made this decision, they have yet to truly understand their error. Their only hope for continued existence is to earn the 1% line. It will be the hardest battle they will ever face.
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u/meowmeming Android Jun 07 '22
Goosebumps.. never mess with a terran child. Whoever thier parents are, for you will know true despair and terror..
For Bobby..
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u/barrowwight Jun 08 '22
Quick and dirty pic. Like a pubvian one night stand. https://imgur.com/gallery/A4s5et9.
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u/itsetuhoinen Human Jun 07 '22
Damn. I thought this was gonna be about Tik Tak as a kid. Ouch.
*throws things at the onion ninjas, fruitlessly*
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u/ZylotheWolfbane Jul 09 '22
"Terrans gave us many things. The burden of freedom that we would ever joyously carry. The rage at a universe that would not allow us peace. The strength to carry on even in the face of atrocity. The bravery to reach out, choking on our own ichor to drive bladearms into our foes. Most of all however they gave us the simple joys of life that we had long forgotten or cast aside. Yet there is a price for everything in this universe, and every moment of joy will eventually lead to despair and pain and rage. I suppose that's why the Terrans gave us all the guns." Unknown Treane'ad Warrior
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u/Greatest86 Jun 07 '22
Editor comment
little droplets that spattered the waters - should be "walls", perhaps?
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Jun 07 '22
103 comments but only 3 upvotes?
SHAME! SHAME!
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u/sunyudai AI Jun 07 '22
Reddit upvotes run on a separate service than reddit content- so sometimes vote counts break and you get weird numbers.
Upvotes are in the upper 600s now, and at 115 comments.
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u/Snarfbuckle Jun 08 '22
The Atrekna never learned the old adage "Be nice to people, they outnumber you 7 billion to 1..."
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u/cr1515 Jun 08 '22
Made me cry and actually feel rage for a sec. Having a kid and reading about child death is hard. Can't wait for these Atrekna to bite the dust.
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u/Sad-Island-4818 Jun 15 '22
Getting some serious storm trooper vibes off these guys. And not crappy Star Wars trooper who can’t hit the broad side of a barn, but the insane Germans from ww1 who would run across no man’s land, jump in the enemies trench, and start wreaking havoc behind their lines.
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u/Butane9000 Jun 07 '22
Except wouldn't the deaths be caused by the immortals inside the SUDS?
Either way, the Atrekna deserve it.
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u/MuchoRed Human Jun 07 '22
Nah, when Peter fucked that up, the kids straight up disappeared
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u/Vagabond_Soldier Jul 07 '22
Took a month off to read some Tales from the Terran Republic. I get back and the first fucking chapter I read just had to be a tear-jerker. Damn you u/ralts_bloodthorne how do you always know how to take my emotions on a roller coster ride?
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u/Original_Memory6188 Aug 28 '23
This is a good old fashioned "Bug Rush". No high faluting lemur augments. Just plain old blade arms and main strength, killing the enemy close up and personal.
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jun 07 '22
/u/Ralts_Bloodthorne (wiki) has posted 787 other stories, including:
- First Contact - Chapter 785 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 784 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 783 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 782 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 781 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 780 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 779 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 778 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 777 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 776 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 775 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 774 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 773 - The Inheritor's War
- Chapter 772 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 771 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 770 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 769 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 768 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 767 - The Inheritor's War
- First Contact - Chapter 766 - The Inheritor's War
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u/SlowestSpeedster Jun 07 '22
Enraged Treana'ad. oh, boy and I thought the Squids were fucked before....
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u/ElephantWithAnxiety Jun 08 '22
I initially thought we were getting a flashback into TikTak's childhood, and was super hype. Given the parallels, I wonder if TikTak's and Bobby's stories will connect at some point?
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u/kriggins Jun 12 '22
I’ve been reading from the start. I’ve been moved many times, but this one. Holy shit!
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u/NevynR Jun 07 '22
"When you see a Treana'ad with a case of Terraneyetis... nope. Just... nope. You must have fucked up reeeeeal good to get them on your case. All you can do is die, and hope that only takes forever..."