Evening 1y11m4d
Visitor’s dormitories, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao
Technician Milt
Milt hesitated at the door, nervously palming a translator. How would he respond? With a deep exhale he scratched at the door. Thundering footsteps heralded the arrival of his visitee. The human opened the door, his eyes widened slightly when he saw his guest. “Milt? What are you doing here?”
“Chuck… I don’t mean to intrude, may I come in?”
Chuck nodded and gestured behind him. “Come, come.” He took a seat on the bed, and gestured towards the chair.
Milt took a seat.
“What can I do for you?”
Milt rocked back and forth slowly in his chair. “I heard about you. About you and the… the Hunters.” He turned his gaze to focus on Chuck. “You killed them. One of them using only closed paws.” He sighed and turned away in shame. “I couldn’t.”
Chuck stood up and sat a paw on his shoulder. Milt was startled by the contact and bolted to his hindpaws. He turned to see Chuck smiling softly. It was, as before, a deeply calming expression.
Milt continued. “They still haunt me. The Hunters… and those that I couldn’t save.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why Whitecrest hasn’t kicked me out. I failed them.”
Chuck stopped for a minute, seemingly lost in thought. He spoke calmly. “No you haven’t. You can’t fail as long as you continue to grow, continue to improve. As long as you keep fighting, you have not failed.”
“But people are dead becas-”
“No.” Chuck interrupted. “You didn’t do that. The Hunters did.”
“But I ran! I hid when I was supposed to fight!” Milt stomped a hindpaw in frustration.
“Would you have won if you had fought?”
“…No… But it was my job to protect them!”
“You ran, and lived. Maybe you were not ready, maybe if you were better you could have saved them. But because you still live, you can be better. Mourn as you need to, but then move on. Think about those that you will save now that you can.”
“But I can’t…”
“Yes you can. You work in R&D now, right? Honor the memory of the fallen by building the tools needed to ensure that no one suffers again.”
“I suppose…”
“Just… think about it. I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning.”
Milt perked his ears graciously. In truth, Milt had already come to many of the same conclusions. He would never have otherwise had the courage to come here. It was just… nice to hear someone else say it. Gaoian or not, he found great peace in connecting with a being that had been through the same ordeals. “Chuck that’s… that’s what I came here for.” He restlessly scraped his paw against the floor. “May I sleep in here? With you tonight?”
Chuck smiled. “Of course.”
Milt grinned. “Thank you, Chuck.”
Morning 1y11m3d BV
Visitor’s dormitories, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao
Chuck
Chuck awoke to the sound of his door closing; That must have been Milt sneaking out. He yawned, stretched, and began preparing for the day.
Several minutes later, a scratch on the door yielded a summons; Thalias wanted another meeting.
“Bring your bag” the messenger yipped as he departed.
Chuck shrugged, and ate a nutrition sphere before heading to his designated cafeteria. Here he was free to sit and mingle with a number of pre-approved Whitecrest, though they still let him eat only a few bland items. Even though nothing Hiron had provided had harmed him, it seemed that the Whitecrest here were not taking any chances. Chuck had a appointment with the Openpaw liaison this evening to get that sorted out.
As he returned to his room to prepare for the meeting, he passed by Bart. Bart was heading back to the HID analysts. Apparently, Bart and the analysts had enough information to share that they could be busy for weeks. At least he seemed happy; Chuck had been worried about his Rrrrtk friend. At times, he regretted dragging Bart along with him to Gao. It was a silly thought; Bart could have left at any time, but Chuck did still feel responsible for keeping him away from his shop.
He still had some time left before the meeting. So, after stopping to ask for directions, he meandered to the hangar where the Silver Sailor was being rebuilt.
Several outer panels were missing, and parts from the ship were lying everywhere. A few Gaoians scurried around, carrying small parts and running wires. He approached one of the workers. “How goes the build?”
The Gaoian froze and slowly turned his head towards the human, ears flattened against his skull.
Chuck sighed. “Let me guess, you either don’t have an implant, or don’t know who I am.”
The poor thing yelped and took off running, drawing the attention of the other Gaoians.
One of them approached and spoke, mildly irritated. “You are not supposed to be here, human. That cub is clanless. He is not to be aware of your presence.”
Chuck winced. “Sorry.”
The Gaoian sighed. “It’s… ok, I can handle it. Whitecrest does have a bit of a reputation for this sort of thing. I think… a projector and a prankster. Yes, that should do nicely. Now, what is your business here?”
“I’ve got some time before a later meeting, I thought I’d stop by and see how Bart’s ship was doing.”
The Gaoian perked an ear in confusion. “You wish to inspect our progress? Why?”
Chuck shrugged. “To see how far along it is, and to ensure you are taking good care of Bart’s vessel.”
“Do you not trust our reports?”
“Well, I do, but I find it helpful to personally inspect projects. Partially to verify the quality of work, but also to prepare myself better for future projects. It’s hard to make informed decisions when the entire process is hidden in a black box.”
“… Interesting approach.” The Gaoian nodded. He gestured to the ship. “As you can see, we have everything well in paw. Now, don’t take this the wrong way, but I would prefer if you leave. I have a lot to do, and I need to get that Clanless back to work. If you wish, we can arrange a tour of the progress later.”
“That would be greatly appreciated. I’ll leave you to it.” Chuck nodded as he left.
1y11m3d BV
Meeting room, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao
Thalias
A repeated percussive impact rang through the room. Confusion set in for just a moment. Oh… right. “Come in, Chuck.”
Chuck entered, carrying his satchel.
“Have a seat.”
“So, Thalias, what can I do you you today?” Chuck asked as he sat in a chair opposite Thalias.
“I wish to discuss a profit sharing opportunity.”
Chuck grunted. “You want weapons.”
“…Yes.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that… those trainees…”
“Do not worry about them. They are fine. I’ve been assured that it’ll only be a few more days until the Associate’s sense of smell returns.”
Chuck fidgeted nervously.
“Chuck, focus. There are two good reasons why, before you leave, you will accept my offer. Firstly, these tools will save lives. New tactics will be brought forward. Where once bloodshed was required, now just… well, agony I suppose. Better agony than death, do you not agree?”
Chuck sighed. “And the second reason?”
Thalias chittered. “You have no choice in the matter.”
Chuck jerked upright in shock. Humans, it seemed, could be quite expressive with their gestures. Every part of the human had tensed up when Thalias spoke. Chuck seemed to be keeping himself under control, but Thalias still had further to push before negotiations could begin.
“We’re building these tools whether or not you choose to accept our offer. Do not forget, the Dominion barely recognizes humanity as a sapient species; You technically have no rights. But, the news is not all bad. I am prepared to offer you a five percent royalty on any immediate derivatives of the devices you provide to us. You provide us the device, we don’t have to reverse engineer it, and you get paid.”
“Are you not worried about the consequences of introducing this weapon?”
Well, that’s a good sign. Chuck seems to have accepted his position and moved on with little difficulty. Thalias actually felt slightly embarrassed for having feared the human.
“More than you know. That pepper spray alone is enough to allow even a clanless to easily overpower all but our best operatives. I fully intend on keeping your tools in the hands of only a few pawfuls of carefully selected operatives. For a few years at least.”
Chuck sighed. “Eight percent. And the rights are non-exclusive.”
Non-exclusive? Did Chuck think he was trying to hijack the design? How could something like that even be enforceable? Regardless, non-issue. Chuck’s counteroffer was well within his projections. “Easily done. Wait here. I’ll have a technician come by shortly to scan any device that you want to earn you money.”
Chuck nodded and sat back in his chair.
Morning 1y11m2d BV
Visitor’s dormitories, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao
Chuck
“Gah!” Suddenly jerked awake, Chuck noticed that he was pinned by a rather large, rather excited puppy.
“Wake up Chuck, I got big plans for today!”
“Get off, ya big lump.” Of course it was Ronovin! Who else would pounce the big, scary human?
“How else was I supposed to rouse you from your slumber? I was scratching for almost a minute, and you never even stirred!” He pant grinned. “Had to be sure you were ok.”
“So, of course, you thought the best course of action was to pounce.”
“Naturally.”
Chuck lay dumbfounded. Yep, the translator confirmed it, Ronovin was not being sarcastic. “Alright alright, I’m up. Let me get ready. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“Don’t be too long. Meet me outside the training hall.” Ronovin released Chuck and left, closing the door behind him.
This was going to be one of those days, wasn’t it?
Ronovin was waiting for him when he arrived. He gestured for Chuck to follow, bounding along beside him.
Chuck tilted his head, confused. “Why are you in such a good mood all of a sudden?”
Ronovin perked an ear in confusion, “All of a sudden? Oh, you mean as opposed to our first meeting. You were kinda scary. I’ve had a chance to figure a few things out since then.” He grinned. “Besides, today will be a good day. An opportunity has arisen that I am actually in a position to pounce on!”
“Is that so? Should I be worried?”
Ronovin dismissed his concerns with a flick of his ear. “Nah.” Ronovin glanced around, conspiratorially. “Between you and me, Father Busani’s knowledge of humans ‘vacuums testicles’.” He chittered. “Your language allows for so much character!”
Chuck raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
Ronovin continued. “I took it upon myself to meet with the Analysts of the Human Investigations Division yesterday. Your clanmate Brrtklklk was there too. He helped me a lot with your idioms!”
Oh god, now there were two of them.
“So, anyways, they showed me this neat database from their archive of the human planetary data network. ‘Your tube’ or something like that. So much content. I generally leave that sort of stuff for the ‘egg craniums’, but I found a little secret; Enter the code passphrase: ‘combat sports’.”
“… I’m not sure I like where you are going with this.”
“Nah, it’ll be fine. Come on.”
Ronovin led him to a small room. “Just stand right here, I’ll only be a few minutes.” Ronovin left, exiting behind Chuck’s back.
Chuck shrugged and looked around. The room was mostly empty. He turned around. The whole wall was a privacy field, and below that the floor… His eyes widened as he quickly glanced around the room. Yep, the whole floor was padded. Goddammit. He sighed and turned to the privacy wall.
He placed one leg behind him, knowing what was coming next. Sure enough, less than a minute later, the wall dropped and eighty pounds of immediately panicking Gaoian was hurtling towards him.
“Fyu save me!” it shouted as Chuck moved to catch the beast. The Gaoian, unsure of what to do, landed in his arms and wrapped himself around Chuck.
Ronovin stood behind, chittering his ass off. “Take em down, Chuck.”
Chuck and the Gaoian looked at each other briefly. Chuck sighed and set the Gaoian on the mat.
Ronovin quickly moved in to join them. “Hang on for a few more minutes Chuck, I’ll explain everything then. Right now, I need to move fast to ensure the others don’t suspect anything.”
“You could have warned me!”
“Now where’s the fun in that?”
“But…”
“Please Chuck, same thing, a few more times.”
Chuck sighed.
Ronovin grinned and quickly replaced the field as he left. The previously-panicked Gaoian stared at him briefly, then moved to the back of the room, muttering to himself.
Chuck again stood ready. The field dropped and another Gaoian hurtled towards him, scrambling in the air, trying and failing to defeat good ol’ Isaac. It landed on Chuck with its claws out, raking them against Chuck in desperation.
Chuck screamed. Ronovin yelped and was on him in a flash. He ripped the Gaoian off Chuck and threw it to the ground. “I told you no claws! Now you’ve gone and hurt the human! A human, I might add, that was reluctant to help us in the first place. You will apologize to the human, you will treat his wounds and you will beg him to continue to help us. Move!” The Gaoian leapt up to his feet and quickly ran out of the room.
In truth, the claws had hurt a lot less than Ronovin’s had several days earlier. Chuck’s response had been more in shock than in pain. The room stood silent for the few moments it took the Gaoian to return with a first aid kit. He immediately moved to treat the shallow claw wounds. Whatever they had in there seemed to work wonders. Or maybe it was simply the adrenaline? Whatever. It helped.
The Gaoian set his kit aside and chittered deeply in regret. “I’m sorry, human. I panicked. Will you help us?”
Ronovin nodded slowly behind the Gaoian’s back, a hint of remorse in his expression. Chuck sighed. “Yeah, sure kid.”
The Gaoian scampered over to where the other one was standing.
Ronovin studied Chuck intently before turning to the offending Gaoian. “Kent, you’ll be having a special assignment to make up for that.”
Kent gulped nervously.
Ronovin turned to Chuck. “You ready?” Noting his trepidation Ronovin continued. “They will not use claws this time. I will make sure of it.”
Chuck nodded, reluctantly, but stood back at the ready. Something told him that Ronovin would be true to his word.
Ronovin left, the wall came up, and a few moments later another Gaoian was shown the wrath of man. Time seemed to run in slow motion. The Gaoian slowly floated towards him, eyes widening as it sailed through the air. This one had just sort of chest bumped him. He must have focused so hard on not clawing Chuck that he failed to come up with any sort of landing plan. He bounced off Chuck and fell to the floor. He pulled himself up and limped over to the other two.
Then a fourth one arrived a few minutes after that. He seemed completely unsurprised, in fact almost satisfied, to see a human. He simply twisted himself mid-flight to land upright, with his forepaws on Chuck’s shoulders, hindpaws on his hips. He even bent his limbs during the landing to reduce his impact force. The Gaoian stood sideways against Chuck for a short moment while the weak gravity pulled him back towards ground level, before simply stepping down onto his hindpaws. He winked at Chuck before turning to nod respectfully at Ronovin, chittering as he joined the others.
Ronovin beckoned everyone to join him. “Alright, we got ourselves a big day today. Trainees, gather in the other room, I need to have a syllable, alone, with Chuck.”
Ronovin approached Chuck and turned the field back on.
“So… do you mind helping out? Just for the morning.”
“What, spend the morning getting my ass kicked? Sure that would be great.”
Ronovin tilted his head. “The translator is telling me that you are being sarcastic.”
Chuck moved his head to match Ronovin’s. “Huh?”
Ronovin paused a moment before coming to a realization. “The translator transmits intent as well as speech, did you not know that?”
“I’m not sure…” As Chuck thought back, it did become rather clear. There was no way he could have been that good at recognizing alien social cues up until this point. “I guess I didn’t.”
Ronovin lowered his ears in concern. “I have not known you to use sarcasm in the past.”
“Oh, uh…” There is no way he had avoided sarcasm up to this point. Wait, Ronovin said intent. Perhaps this was the first time he had blatantly intended for sarcasm to be interpreted? He decided to change the subject, as he had little interest in exploring the joys of satire at this time. There was something much more important to be discussing. “I’m simply not interested in being someone else’s punching bag.”
Ronovin glared at Chuck a short time longer, then chittered and began pacing. “Nah, it’ll be fun. I guarantee that none of these pups will fight like I do. Besides, I didn’t bring you here to be a punching bag, I want you to ‘kick their posteriors’. Put the fear of Fyu in them.”
Ronovin could clearly see Chuck’s doubts. He approached Chuck and ducked down in submission. “Chuck, do you know who we fight? Us Whitecrests that is?”
Chuck shook his head.
Ronovin sighed. “Over sixty five percent of the targets I’ve had have been Gaoian. I’ve been all over the galaxy on assignments, but more often than not, I’m fighting my own people.”
Ronovin straightened his posture, standing tall once more. “Point I’m trying to make is, humans are scary. And if you cubs are anything like us Gaoians, there’ll be a few bad apricots we’ll have to deal with. And, as of right now, we can’t.”
“Ronovin… I’m not a soldier.”
Ronovin sighed, despondent. “I know that… now. I watched the videos.” He whimpered. “I can’t fight like that. It just ain’t gonna happen. That’s why I want you here. I want you to put the fear of human into these pups. I don’t expect them to win. I don’t want them to win. I just want them to get the smallest taste of what they could be up against.” Ronovin noticed his frown. “Come on, I’ll make it up to ya later. This’ll be great!”
Chuck was still hesitant. “Can’t you find someone else? Surely, you have veteran troops available for this sort of thing?”
Ronovin shook his head. “There ain’t nothin like you out there, pup. I’m not gonna let them hurt ya. That’s not what this exercise is for.” He put a paw on his shoulder. “C’mon, don’t make me beg. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”
Chuck reluctantly replied. “Alright, I’ll help.”
“C’mon I need ya angrier than that! You gotta put the hurt down on these guys.”
“But…”
“But nothin. These pups are training to be soldiers. Don’t be holding back.”
“… Alright.”
“Great!”
meanwhile
Training room, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao
Whitecrest Officer Kent, Spec Ops. trainee
Kent and his Brothers waited patiently for Ronovin to return. The room they were in had fully padded walls and floor with several doors leading to other rooms. One doorway off to the side had a rather ominous privacy field across it.
The Gaoians discussed the exercise as they waited for Ronovin to return. One by one, Kent and his Brothers had been led to this room. They were told that a sniper was in the area, and their assignment was to bring the target safely to the ground. Ronovin carefully indicated the target’s location, then, only once they were airborne, dropped the privacy field. Instead of a nice, fluffy target to collapse over and protect, there instead stood a stone wall of a beast, a Fyu damned human! Only one of the Brothers had been ready for that encounter, his contacts within the clan having disclosed the ambush exercise. However, even his contacts did not tell him what the human would do to them next. That the human would do things to them rather than for them was a unanimously agreed upon point.
After a few minutes, Ronovin and the human joined them. “Alright cubs. Wrestling match. Your goal is to pin the opponent. Kent you get to be on defense. Chuck is V.I.G.” He pointed to the human.
Kent nodded. “Can do.”
Ronovin got that… evil look in his eye. “Now, how about we make this interesting.” He turned and left through the secret door, carefully re-engaging the field to block the view of the room beyond. Kent sniffled, concerned. What was Ronovin up to this time?
Ronovin returned, dragging a long pole with heavy padding on each end. “Here Chuck, I had one of my cubs put this together for you. I based it on an archive of one of your documentaries you had on the tube. Something to do with ‘gladiators’.” He chittered as he handed the object over. “These cubs claim to be soldiers. You do not. Maybe this will even things up a bit.”
The human grabbed the pole and gave it a few swings. He then twirled it around in ways that Kent’s own forepaws could never hope to move.
“Will that work for you Chuck? I’m not sure the balance quite right.”
“Honestly, I’ve never used one of these before; I wouldn’t know.”
How could the human move with such grace without practice?
Ronovin nodded. “Alight Chuck, your only goal is to avoid being pinned. Are you ready?”
Chuck sighed and closed his eyes briefly, then with little fanfare or apparent effort he twirled the staff to a readied position, his face hardened in concentration. “Ready.”
“Trainees, Your goal is to pin the opposition. The three of you against Kent and the V.I.G. Go.”
Kent crouched, ready. The other three Gaoians sized up their two opponents… and all turned to Kent. Well… Naxas dung. He dodged the first of the pounces, but was caught by the second. His Brother landed on top of him, aiming to pin him to the ground. Suddenly the Gaoian was shoved off of him, violently. The human had thrusted his pole as a spear, throwing his assailant off. Kent rolled back onto his hind-paws, ready to take the next opponent. Unfortunately, that opponent came from behind, driving him to the floor again.
“Excellent work, Kent, keeping the assailants distracted while your charge remains safe.”
Kent groaned. The human again cleared his path. He stood again, only to be brought down immediately.
“Keep at it, don’t let them get the upper hand!”
Kent had to stop himself from yelling in protest. Controlling his composure was surely part of this test.
Again and again he was brought down and rescued by the human until one of the other Brothers managed to grapple him in a way that the human couldn’t easily dislodge. He was held, pinned, until Ronovin called off the match.
“Good work Kent.” Ronovin pointed to the Brother who held him pinned. “Switch out with Kent, you’re now on guard duty. Oh, and trainees, don’t forget the the human is the target, not the bodyguard.”
Kent shouted, exasperated. “You could have mentioned that earlier!”
Ronovin deadpanned. “I could have, yes. But I didn’t. You should really thank Chuck for helping you. After what you did to him, I’m surprised he helped at all.”
…Oh… right. Kent dropped his head and flattened his ears.
“Yes, yes, I think that’s settled now, I’ll discuss it with Chuck later. Right now you’ve got a human to topple. Oh, and Kent?”
Kent perked an ear.
Ronovin grinned maliciously. “I best not be seeing any claws.”
“…Yes, Brother.”
“Engage!”
soon after
Training room, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao
Chuck
The Whitecrests sparred with him for quite some time. They’d pounce, and he’d deflect them to the ground with the pugil stick. As long as they engaged him one at a time, there was little they could do to beat him, though their ambush and fade style of combat made them far more dangerous when they engaged him more than one at a time.
The four Gaoians continued to rotate in as each defender was pinned. Each one of them was a capable defender; Chuck rarely had to fight three on one. More often the not, the defender kept two of his opponents on guard. Even so, shoving around hundred pound furballs really wears a man down.
Finally, one of the Gaoians managed to sneak around behind and take his legs out from under him. The other two assailants leapt into action. One of them aggressively dispatched the defender, while the other one leapt onto his chest, trying to secure his staff.
Ronovin called the match. “Chuck, I think that’ll do for this round. Why don’t you head over there and retrieve your breath. I brought snacks!” He pant-grinned.
Chuck, too out of breath to speak, nodded and left in the direction Ronovin indicated. The room he entered had a bench, table, and a large viewscreen opposite the seat connected to a camera in the other room. There was a stasis container filled with food sitting in front of him.
On the screen, Ronovin stood with the other four tired Gaoians around him. “While we let Chuck take a break, how about round two? This one is much more simple. You four, simple pin, one target.” He displayed an impressive evil grin. “Me!” He dive-tackled one of the worn-down trainees.
The five of them began to wrestle. Ronovin managed to, repeatedly, pin the Brothers two at a time, before letting them up to brawl again.
Chuck opened the stasis container. Ronovin had helpfully labeled each of the contents. Talamay, nava paste and crackers, a few naxas nuggets, a couple dumpling-type things labeled ‘dough balls’ and a glass of water. He finished the small quantity of food quickly. I wonder where I can get some more of this Talamay. It was no scotch, but it was better than nothing.
Back in the ring, the brawl continued. Eventually, Ronovin began to tire, his pins becoming less frequent and less decisive. A few minutes later, the four trainees dog-piled him. He stayed down.
“Alright, alright, let me up, that’ll do for round 2. I’ll be back in a minute.” Ronovin released himself from the fluff-pile and fell out of view of the camera. He entered the break room and looked over to Chuck, his expression changing to one of disappointment. “You didn’t save any for me?”
‘I… didn’t know you wanted me to. I hadn’t had breakfast yet.”
Chuck could see the realization hit Ronovin’s head around the same time as his forepaw. “Of course you eat more.” Ronovin sighed. “Did you have enough, at least?”
“I could go for lunch when we finish up here.”
Ronovin whimpered slightly, and started to leave. “I’ll get more.”
“No, no, I’ll be fine.” Chuck reassured him.
“…You sure?”
“Yeah, though I could use more water.”
Ronovin nodded and left the room. Looking back at the viewscreen, he saw one of the trainees take off running.
Ronovin returned. “He’ll be back soon.” He studied Chuck for a moment. “You have one more round in ya? This will be a good one.”
soon after
Training room, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao
Kent
Several minutes after his Brother had returned with the water, Ronovin left the break room and walked across the arena to his hidden room, the human trailing behind. A few minutes later, Ronovin returned, carrying four more of the padded polearms.
Kent saw where this was heading immediately. “How are we supposed to wield those?”
“Relax, these use a lighter alloy, you’ll be able use em just fine.” He handed out the staves.
“But… these won’t have the same impact that his does.”
Ronovin chittered, amused. “I believe that you are correct. Come, this way.”
He lowered the privacy wall, and Kent saw the challenge ahead of him. Chuck stood on a beam eight inches wide raised a few feet in the air, surrounded by padded cushions.
Ronovin addressed the group. “Here is your next challenge. One at a time, you will mount the beam. Then, using only your staff, you will attempt to knock your opponent off the rail.”
One of the other trainees spoke. “How is this fair?”
Ronovin chittered. “Pup, who said anything about fair? Do you think your enemies in the field will fight fair? Besides, there’s four of you and one of him, I’m sure he’ll tire eventually.”
Kent wasn’t so sure. Knocking a Gaoian off a beam would take significantly less effort than that the human had exerted shoving him around earlier.
“Alright pups, hop on up, show me how it’s done.”
The human did, in fact, provide an excellent demonstration of how it was done. He was bigger, stronger, and could move in ways no Gaoian could match. The four of them were knocked off the rail again and again. Every time a Brother seemed to get the upper hand, the human would twirl the stick over his head, or behind his back, moving it to where it could not be quickly countered. Every hit he landed was devastating, while the retaliatory hits barely made the human flex his bulging muscles.
Ronovin eventually paired off the Brothers and had them hit from both sides, with Chuck in the middle. This resulted in Kent spending twice the amount of time scrambling up off of the cushions. It took quite some time, but finally even the human started to show the signs of fatigue that the Brothers had been wearing all day. Eventually, a lucky pair of hits, one at the top, and one in the other direction on the bottom, unbalanced the massive beast. A quick jab in the right place shifted the center of gravity just a bit too far. The human fell.
“Alright, calling it there. Good job brothers, you managed to topple the human.” Scanning the proud faces in front of him, Ronovin continued. “One average, untrained human, at the cost of only…” He mimed counting on his digits. “eighty six operatives.”
Well… naxas dung.
“How are you feeling, Chuck?”
Chuck flopped off the mats and stood up, with a grunt. “Tired.”
“…Reeeeally?” Ronovin had that look in his eyes. He surged forwards and tackled Chuck to the ground.
Chuck grunted in displeasure. “Ronovin, get off, you asshole!”
Ronovin jumped back, startled. “Chuck! Are you alright?”
Chuck sighed. “Yeah.”
Ronovin stood, puzzling.
Kent was familiar with that look. He had often worn the same face when talking with other species during one of his trials. Ronovin’s implants were clearly telling Ronovin something profoundly alien about Chuck.
“You convey… friendliness through merciless insult?”
Huh… well that’s… unexpected.
Chuck chuckled. “Yeah, sometimes. Usually only to those we count as friends though.”
The normally stoic legend did something… unusual. He allowed his ears to perk up in gratitude, if only for a moment. Sure, Ronovin wasn’t one of those hardbacks. He played plenty. But he never let himself show anything that didn’t also radiate pure brute strength. Ronovin noticed his charges staring intently, ears perked in all manner of intrigued positions. “Dismissed, we will reconvene later.”
soon after
Training room, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao
Chuck
Ronovin waited for the trainees to clear out before speaking. “Chuck, do I need to discipline Kent further?”
Chuck shook his head and laughed. “No, I think he got the message. Besides, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as when you got me.”
Ronovin winced slightly. “Okay.”
“So, those are your students? Associates training to be officers?”
“No, officers training… further. More than that, I cannot disclose. You’ve helped a great deal today Chuck, even if it does not seem it.”
Chuck grunted. “It really doesn’t.”
“This was much more a mental exercise than a physical one. Operatives like these do not often face opponents that can best them. It is important to keep them humble, to keep them from becoming arrogant. There is always a greater challenge out there.” Ronovin grumbled slightly. “That was a lesson it took me far too long to learn.”
“Can’t you spar with them?”
“Oh I do, believe me. I win most fights. But it’s not the same. You see, with me, they can win. I needed them to fight something that they could never imagine beating.”
“That’s the secret though, isn’t it? They can beat me, they just don’t know how.”
Ronovin chittered. “Quite observant of you. Yes, fighting humans is something that I have been practicing the past few days.” He grinned maliciously at Chuck. “I’ll get there eventually. Oh, and Chuck? Nest early today. Trust me.”
Chuck blinked and nodded. What could Ronovin possibly have planned next?
Evening 1y11m2d BV
Dormitories, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao
Hiron
Hiron yawned as he walked down the hall towards his chosen nest-room. He had spent nearly the full day studying. At first, he reviewed the Whitecrest Officers curricula, but quickly realized that there was little left to learn. So he switched to human works. Lacking guidance, he browsed aimlessly through the archives, until he found legends of beings that almost resembled Gaoians. This led him to the concept of ‘anthropomorphism’ and to the book Animorphs: The Invasion. He was nearly halfway through the book before realizing that this method of searching was simply not yielding useful results. A quick call to Chuck found him curled up with a copy of ‘Influence’ pulled up on his datapad. Now that had been exhausting read.
As he approached his nest-bed, something caught his nose. Someone unfamiliar was here. He turned the final corner and saw the hardest Gaoian he had ever seen sleeping in his nest. The beast perked an ear as he approached, then yawned and stretched as he roused himself. “Hello, Officer. I’ve been waiting for ya.”
Hiron stood a moment longer before speaking. “You have the wrong Gaoian. I am not an Officer.”
The brute chittered. “Don’t count on that. If I like what you have to say, that is.”
“Who… are you?” Hiron scanned the abnormally empty room. “Where are the others?”
“Your nest-Brothers? They’re sleeping elsewhere tonight. As for me, I’m Special Operative Ronovin. I hear that you met a human.”
Hiron perked an ear, interested but cautious. “I may have seen one.”
Ronovin chittered. “Quite the character, isn’t he? So.” The brute began pacing. “How well did you do when you wrestled him?”
“Wrestle a contact? Who would do something so unprofessional?”
Ronovin snorted. “You need to work on your study methods, pup.”
Hiron paused a moment. He was letting the brute distract him. Special Operative or not, he couldn’t think of a good reason for a contact to meet him like this. “Why are you here?” Hiron asked, eyeing the door.
“Don’t trust me? Can’t say I blame ya. Does this look familiar?” Ronovin distorted his face into what almost passed as Chuck’s wide-open grin. “Or how about this?” Quicker than Hiron could respond, Ronovin tackled him to the ground, before wrapping a forepaw around his throat. “Oh, that’s right, you never even tussled with him. This is what he used to bring me down the first time we actually wrestled.” He sighed. “I must say, I am disappointed, I expected more from you.” He chittered softly. “Well, do you have nothing to say?”
Hiron, in fact, had a great many things to say, but could not speak with his windpipe clamped closed.
“Oh, right. I forgot.” Ronovin released his captive. “Effective, isn’t it?”
Hiron gulped down several lungfuls of air before finally recovering well enough to express his anger.
“Put those claws away, I am not here to hurt you.”
“You come to my nest, attack me, and then try to tell me what to do? I don’t think so pup!”
Ronovin chittered condescendingly. “Pup? I’ve been putting people better than you down for longer than you’ve been alive.” Ronovin yelped as claws slashed across his flank. “That’s a dangerous game you are playing, Brother.” He stood up to his full height, leveling his forepaws in a defensive posture.
The two of them stood opposed, slowly circling each other. Ronovin was bigger and meaner than him. Maybe faster too. But Hiron refused to go down without a fight. Hiron considered reaching for his… no, he didn’t need that yet. He pounced. Ronovin moved to counter a head-on pounce, but Hiron was well practiced in this style of combat. With a quick twist of the torso, Hiron turned his haunches to the wall, and pushed off, raking his rear claws across Ronovin’s readied forepaws. Ronovin yelped, but still was able to grab ahold of Hiron’s hindpaw as he passed by. Hiron was jerked to the floor.
His powerful hindlimb muscles were more than enough to break out of the brute’s grasp.
Ronovin again chittered in smug amusement.
Hiron scrambled up and away while the invader was distracted. “Just what do you find so Fyu damned hilarious?” He seethed.
“Oh, just how Keeda damned trounced you would have been if it had been Chuck with his paw around your hindlimb.”
Hiron stopped suddenly. What did this creature know? “You know Chuck?”
“Yes, cub, I do.” He winced, as he tried to take a step. “You got spirit, pup, I’ll give ya that. But you gotta work on your smarts. I’ve been in your nest with you for how long now? Five, ten minutes? And you still haven’t figured out whether I’m a threat or not, let alone why I’m here.”
“Okay… Why are you here?”
Ronovin chittered. “Nope, not gonna make it that easy on ya. Besides, I still owe ya a few scars.” Ronovin pounded Hiron to the ground and took a seat on his chest. He grinned, and began theatrically unsheathing his claws. Then, suddenly he howled and began convulsing before collapsing to the ground.
Hiron carefully tucked away his stun gun before Ronovin had a chance to identify it.
As Ronovin lay twitching on the floor, Hiron retrieved his pulse rifle. He took one more look at the floor. Satisfied that he would have a few moments to himself, he chittered happily and pulled out his datapad to research the Gaoian before him.
His chittering came to an abrupt end. “By Fyu’s whiskers…” This was not the correct operative to anger. It was probably time to play nice.
Hiron realized he had been quite visibly panicking for the past few minutes, and quickly glanced at Ronovin. Phew, he was still down, and more importantly, looking away. Hiron had enough time to straighten himself out before the other Gaoian returned to the conversation. He must not show weakness. Everything was under control.