I am Penec’rie, a member of the Askelden species, and the co-founder of one of the most well known associations in the Galaxy. We call ourselves the Qeunel’ck’dk’, which, in my language, translates to “The Feared Ones”. I am noble, battle hardened, and, as the name of my association implies, feared. I have been venturing in the vast, emptiness of space for a while now; this current ‘session’ has lasted about 5 ricatos (10 months), and I haven’t had so much as a pit stop off of my glorious ship, the Icepick. This ship, she’s a beautiful one, indeed. She’s gone through thick and thin, and various upgrades after all this time I’ve spent handling her. What was once a 10 bay cargo ship now hosts over 150 of my crew, with various weapons installed, such as some top of the line Plasma Batteries. The time that it outran a Celzi Corvette after we did a little trespassing on a kidnapping mission was one of the only times I really worried that we’d ever lose it.
Her crew is probably one of the most versatile things about her. 150 handpicked crewmates of various different species such as a few Ruibals, Robalin (most of which I believe are involved in a downright terrorist group), and Vzk’tk. Speaking of the Vzk’tk, my personal assistant, Rek’zhalde, is one of them. They’re known for being a tall, idiotic species. Personally, I can’t stand Rek’zhalde, but Hehknahn (the other co-founder to the Qeunel’ck’dk) insisted I keep him on grounds that I would find his stupidity amusing.
I don’t.
About half a rictos (1 day) ago, the Icepick recieved communications from one of our smaller scouting teams. As it turns out, Jehnahglen, one of our minor commanders, chased down and blew open a ship belonging to some Corti defectors who, about 6 ricatos (1 year) ago managed to abduct some primate species from a Deathworld that not many people are even really aware of. Immediately, I thought of the opportunities. We could capture it, bring it to the Dominion and say we found it aboard a crashed ship, and get a whole load of credits for discovering a new species. Perhaps then we could wander off with it and bet on it in a fighting ring, seeing as it was a Deathworlder, I’m pretty sure it would win. I’m also certain that, being a Deathworlder (again), it’s pretty stupid and would go on to attack anything in its sight.
The Icepick was not too far away from the planet the Corti ship had crashed on. It was covered in dark green landmasses, and bodies of water. Positioning just close enough, I turned to my left toward the tall blue creature next to me, and nodded.
“Rek’zhalde, activate our planetary scanning module. Make sure it’s as accurate as it can be, I don’t want to walk on a planet like Nightmare.” he glanced over, and shook his head, looking back at his console and typing away.
“Yes, right away, Boss.” he muttered, almost so quiet I couldn’t hear him. That was the fifth time in just 10 rics (5 hours). I was infuriated, does this invertebrae ever learn?
“I told you to call me by my name!” He whimpered at my hostility, but it was long due at this stage. “Y-yes, Penec’rie.” He said, as the details of the planet flashed onto our holoscreen. Our scanners detected that this was a Class 12, and a high one. It hadn’t been discovered until now, and at the day, its temperatures were a little too warm for my tastes. I didn’t even think that any planet could be (102° Fahrenheit) and still support life. According to the scan of the axis and distance from its star, the night dropped to about (-0.4° Fahrenheit). Ridiculous! What kind of creatures could even survive on such a monstrosity? I don’t even think the Hunters would touch this one, and the Hunters can even put a scare into us!
I was in total shock. Expected to go down there? It was suicide! Absolute suicide! But did I really have a choice? The Qeunel’ck’dk were actually in somewhat of a rough spot. Credits are low, crewmen dropping out. I knew that nobody would dare want to command a task group down there. Thus, if you want a task completed when nobody else can, you must accomplish it as an individual. My Nest-Leader told me that a long, long time ago. In this circumstance, he was right.
“Rek’zhalde?” he flinched immediately after I had said it, and rotated his head to face me. I could see that he was terrified since I recently had hollared at him. He gulped, and nodded.
“Y-y-yes, Bo–Penec’rie?” He asked, shaking wildly as though he were some manner of kinetic reverberation device. This was hilarious, I’m going to tell Hehknahn all about it. He was right about Rek’zhalde being amusing, and I hadn’t realized it until now.
“Assemble 15 of our greatest Warriors, I want a small dropship from Cargo Bay 9 loaded and ready for planetary re-entry immediately. And tell them that I require some sustenance.” I barked. He almost shrivelled into a ball, and retreated down the hallway, dissapearing out of sight.
[45 Minutes Later]
My squad of ‘infantrymen’ were lined against the walls, buckled into their seats. These were men I could trust. Rek’zhalde actually grew a brain stem this time and decided to even add Pronel’kep, one of our finest Gaoian soldiers. Unfortunately, that brain stem miraculously disappeared halfway through recruitment, because he added himself to the roster. The moron was sitting next to me. He seemed excited about his ‘first mission’.
I did not find him amusing anymore.
The dropship began to rattle as we entered the atmosphere of the Deathworld, and I could see the dismay on everyone’s faces, as if they felt as though they were ready to die. They were probably right, these dropships were almost (28 years) old, and to add onto that, they were built by those disgusting morons the galaxy so fondly calls the Celzi Alliance, but they were all we really had. And they were the cheapest.
I could hear a hissing sound emanate from the dropship, which meant that it was slowing down. There was a long silence, and with a thud, the dropship set itself down on the surface of the planet closest to where we calculated the wreckage may be.
Confidently, I stood up, and then fell right back down. The gravity here was nearly twice the Galactic Standard! After a few more attempts, I got to my feet and made my way around a few of my men, pressing my hand against the control panel next to the large metal ramp. With a buzzing sound, the door opened, and the ramp glided out, slamming against the dirt below. Rek’zhalde eagerly followed behind. I hope that when we step out, he gets tackled by one of the Deathworld creatures.
Stepping into the ramp told me two things. One, the Deathworlder we were about to search for is probably already dead from the insatiable heat. Two…. this place was hot. The scanners certainly had made no mistake. To add to it, the light was almost blinding, especially from the dark of the dropship. My first words were fairly textbook.
“This is terrible. The gravity on this planet is far too high,” I paused for a moment, then remembered that my bumbling assistant followed me out here. Sadly. “Rek’zhalde, do you have the anti-tank rifle?”
Sure enough, he stepped out onto the ramp with an AT Rifle in his hands. Perhaps he could be useful ONCE in a while. When he is, it’s cause for celebration. He was still too elated about this whole thing, didn’t he know he was walking to his death?
“Yes Boss, I have it.” He replied. I couldn’t believe it. He messed it up AGAIN? How many times to I have to tell him that he should just call me by my given name? It didn’t matter as much as some other pressing concerns, but I was sure that I would address it later. I waved one of my arms at him, and he shuffled a little in response.
“We heard that ship Jehnahglen shot down yesterday had a primate species on it. We find it, take it to the Dominion, claim the discovery, and we’ve got a lot of credit in our pockets. And how many times have I told you to call me by my name, you lumbering idiot?!” I lost control near the end, but it was well worth it. He was absolutely quivering, and I was filled with glee. He was funny when he was scared, and no other time but then.
In a look of shame, he responded after just a few moments. And his response? Absolutrly pathetic. “Sorry Penec’rie.” was all I got. Fine, be that way. When we return to the Icepick, I’m ejecting you into space, Rek’zhalde.
I nodded with some inert statisfaction, now glad that things were finally settled. “Good. Get the rest of the team and fan out, I want it found. If it becomes a danger, kill it.” Just as Rek’zhalde was about to turn around, we heard a sickening crunch come from the bushes about (20ft) away.
There it was. The Deathworlder we were looking for. It fit the exact description that Jehnahglen had given us, but never had I laid my three eyes on something so ugly.
To put it in understandable terms, it was something like an incredibly short Qini. It was about (6ft 5in) tall, and had dark brown hair at the top of its head. It had two, bright blue eyes and something of a (pale, light) skin color. It was unlike any other species I had seen. Or to put it simply, it was just ugly.
“…or not…” I said, filled with shock and, simultaneously, wonder. Its mouth was agape, and its eyes were wide with surprise. I guess it knew who we were. Perhaps one or two of those incessant Cortis survived the crash.
And then, it spoke.
“…oh, hello.”
It was almost shivering. It was afraid of us? It has been in space for nearly six rictos (a year), how is a Deathworlder afraid of US? Anything, ANYTHING that evolved on a DEATHWORLD just HAD to be leaps and bounds deadlier than even Pronel’kep, and he was our greatest Gaoian fighter!
Since I could understand it, then it must have also had some kind of translator. Just my luck, now I had to deal with TWO bumbling idiots… Well, probably.
“You’re coming with us. Let’s go. I’m not staying on this Class 12 cesspool any longer.” And with that, there was an odd, almost scary silence. It didn’t seem to react to what I said.
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The red, slender alien just stared at me. It was kind of scary, almost. An alien just said “You’re coming with us.” How often does that happen to your run of the mill 19 year old Average Joe? Not very fucking often. Also, apparently Apollyon was a Class 12, not Class 14 like Squiggles had said. I didn’t know the difference between them, so I brushed that one off pretty quick.
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I watched attentively as Penec’rie bartered with the strange creature below. I’d never seen anything like it. The sight was almost frightening. Then, Penec’rie spoke up again, clearly annoyed like he had been with me before.
“I said; you’re coming with us. What don’t you understand about that, you Deathworld freak?!”
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This red little shit did NOT just call me a freak. No fucking way am I gonna let that stand! This fucker just waltzed out of his flying sau–spaceship, and just goes “You’re coming with us.”
I guess it’s time for my first tango with an alien.
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As if it were some gust of wind, the Deathworlder launched forward. Petrified, I raised my Anti-Tank Rifle, barely even able to track it. It was only (5ft) away from clawing Penec’rie to shreds when I fired, and miraculously, landed a blow right into the thing’s stomach.
It let out a guttural cry, grabbed its middle region, and collapsed to the floor. Then, there was an unnerving silence. I guess that was it, time to pack up, and bring this thing to the Dominion for some credits.
Well, we would have, if it didn’t climb back to its feet seconds later with the most predatory glare I had ever witnessed in my life. It was clutching what appeared to be a pipe in its hand.
Uh-oh.