TO ALL APPLICANTS OF THE INDOKANI EXAMS.
The first stage of the exam will take place in the IK-CADCOM HQ at seven D.C. tomorrow. You must present yourselves alone at the accorded time and place. Failure to comply will result in automatic elimination.
*The following note was only added to Irken aspirant's message*
This goes double for YOU.
Indokani
Chapter 11- Adapting
Midosis, OTF Hangar.
"Okay, Tenn, let's begin with introducing you to the Kurokran."
Tenn took a deep breath. She was led back into Midosis's OTF hangar, wearing the anti-acidic suit in both her real and holographic forms. She saw most of the Kurokran were out of their pools being tended to by the maintenance workers. Maintenance consisted mostly of pouring cold water on top of the creatures; whenever the water touched their scaly bodies, it released steam. They reminded Tenn of the overheated ships in the Academy that had to be cooled down this way.
"The OTF units are ordinarily deployed from here, Hangars 5 to 12." General Abilk motioned to one of the sobrekt near the pool to come closer. "This is Airman Konoga, the OTF maintenance leader."
"Nice to make your acquaintance, miss!" the croc said with a youthful, happy voice. "I must say, you're very fortunate for being chosen!"
"Why are they kept in pools?" Tenn couldn't help but ask as she leaned in at the edge of the pool where her Kurokran lay at the bottom.
"Oh, that. You see, to disperse their intense metabolic heat, Kurokran need to fly. But even when most of the heat is released, the temperature continues to rise when they are on the ground, so they rest inside the pools to keep it from going too high." Konoga glanced back at the one pool that was still occupied. "That one, however, hasn't accepted any kurokani for the past fourteen years. Without a kurokani, Kurokran can't fly much less navigate an emergency situation. It has to stay all the time in the pool to keep itself cool, but even with that it's at its limit."
"So you are its savior." Abilk finished. "Raise the Kurokran!"
"Raising Kurokran on the lift!"
Tenn stepped back when the ground vibrated and waves formed on the pool's surface as the Kurokran was raised out of the pool. Giant black, leathery wings spread out from beneath the water, sending droplets flying everywhere. The wyvern-like creature emerged, looked down at Tenn with its toxic green eyes and shook the excess water off, creating a massive gust of wind that nearly sent her flying. She could now take a better look at it. It looked like the rest of its kind, but she noticed there were lighter patterns on its wings and chest.
"He's actually behaving today. Usually, he's like a spoiled brat." She heard one of the maintenance workers say.
"Okay, now you may try to touch it." Abilk pushed her forward. "Just imagine you're about to pet your frill-neck, except this one's big enough to swallow you whole."
Tenn stepped forward. Her gaze never left the Kurokran. His eyes were interlocked with hers. She found herself mesmerized with those large ocular orbs. The Kurokran tilted his head with a purr and lowered his head, arching his slender long neck in the process. Tenn felt a shiver down her spine when it snorted right in her face. His breath was very hot. She heard more workers murmur in awe that the creature had made the first move, a clear sign that she was the 'real deal'. Even Konoga cried out that she was amazing.
"Okay, before starting the flight training, the first step is to learn how to camouflage the Kurokran as aircraft. Prepare for embarkation immediately."
The hangar was bathed in green light. All the kurokran went stiff and spread out their wings. A series of green lasers materialized pieces of armor on their bodies. Tenn found some parts reminiscent of the sobrekt aircraft she had seen in space battles against the Sobrekt in the past.
"OTFs are set up and ready to go," Konoga announced.
"Okay, Tenn, just do exactly as directed in the training videos we sent you," Tenn smirked internally. She had already downloaded those videos into her PAK, so it would be a piece of cake. All she had to do was to stand in front of the Kurokran and-
Before she knew what was going on, the kurokran opened its jaws and ate her, sending her back into his intestines. This time, the suit protected her from the stomach acids, but she still shivered in disgust. Before she even had time to get in the proper position, the kurokran started moving. She was abruptly sent backward by a strong movement, followed by loud roars and cries from the kurokran. This continued for a few moments before the movement stopped. Her lekku tingled under her holographic disguise as she heard someone on the communicator.
"Tenn! You okay?!" She recognized Konoga's voice.
"I'm in a bit of a helter-skelter, but I'm fine! What the hell happened?!"
"Looks like he's really excited to go flying again. As soon as he swallowed you he ran out of the hangar and took off."
Bann took over. "Remember the videos. Start up the PT-V2 module."
Right. Tenn tentatively searched for the button on the back of the helmet. When she pressed it, some colorful 3D triangles appeared on the visor. Tenn looked at the tiny yellow sobrekt characters next to said triangles until the found the one she was looking for.
To her astonishment, the dark, nasty inside-meat surroundings disappeared and were replaced by a holographic display showing the exterior. Tenn momentarily panicked as she saw they were very high until she recalled she was actually inside the kurokran. She saw a few holographic buttons and lights in front of her; according to the training videos, those were sensitive spots within the stomach that caused the kurokran to react in a certain way.
Currently, though, the kurokran was flying on his own. With a happy shriek, it spread out its wings and started gaining altitude with graceful twirls. "Hey, would you mind going a bit slower?!" Tenn snapped, though she wasn't sure if he could hear her at all. The only response was a loud roar.
Tenn saw other kurokran beneath them. They all looked alike, though some were bigger than others. The smaller ones were probably younger.
"Are you still in one piece?" she heard a new voice in the communicator. Probably one of the other pilots. She confirmed she was. "Okay, if you paid attention, then you should know how to get your kurokran into Asola mode. Do so and get ready to fly in formation!"
Tenn watched as the other kurokran shifted their bodies while their pieces of armor extended and covered their bodies, transforming the animals into the sobrekt battleships she had often seen during the war. Okay, she had to press a particular button...There it is, the green one. She pressed her hand against the circle. Her kurokran roared, but otherwise, she couldn't see what was going on or if he had changed. She did feel a small temblor, though.
"Not bad, newbie! Now come down here and get into formation!" Tenn carefully pressed down the corresponding part of the stomach. Her squeedly-spooch sunk in discomfort when the surroundings around her changed as he descended. She had taken part in holographic simulations back on the Academy, but this one was completely different.
So this is how the sobrekt did it. No wonder the soldiers who managed to make it alive out of those battles often said the kurokran appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They probably shapeshifted in-between these forms to hide their numbers. The pilots' location inside the stomach protected them from any harm, and just like Captain had said, an animal couldn't be hacked.
They practiced different formations for an hour and a half before Bann gave them permission to return to the hangar. The Kurokran were required to land in Asola mode; admittedly, Tenn had a bit of difficulty for this part. She was used to landing spaceships, not flying beasts! After a shaky landing, her Kurokran stretched out his limbs with a mighty roar that gave Tenn another headache.
"Alright, newbie, see that button on your feet? Put pressure on it to be expelled!"
Tenn did as told, but to her utter dismay, the Kurokran's stomach acids pooled all around her. Like the last time, the Kurokran expelled her via vomiting. Tenn gagged in disgust as she got to her feet and wiped the vomit off her suit. "Is that necessary?! I'm all covered in your stomach acids again!"
The Kurokran purred and tilted his head. Was it an apology?
To her confusion, the other pilots weren't vomited out by their Kurokran. The beasts merely made a regurgitating gesture and opened their jaws, allowing their kurokani to step out of their mouths, covered only in a mild coating of saliva. "How come you weren't vomited out?!" She almost shrieked.
Bann chuckled as she stepped closer. "Experienced kurokani can trigger regurgitation without excessive fluid. You'll get the hang of it, eventually." She smirked. "It wasn't that bad for your first time, newbie."
Tenn returned the smirk. "Thanks, ma'am."
"Well, have you thought of a name for him?"
"Name? Doesn't he have one?"
"Here! Eat up!" Tenn raised her lekku under her disguise. A vermillion kryvtor covered in large pieces of green meat dashed into the hangar and stopped right in front of her Kurokran. He waved his arms, trying to catch the animal's attention. "I'm here!"
The other pilots and the maintenance workers groaned, exasperated. Even Bann seemed anything but happy to see the newcomer. The only one who seemed actually concerned was Konoga. "Zaku, not again!"
"He only chose Tenn for her green skin, right?!"
"He sure is persistent," Konoga muttered under his breath.
Zaku ignored him and kept waving his arms. "Come here and eat me! Come on! Eat me!"
Her Kuroran lowered his head and sniffed at the kryvtor. He ate him for a few seconds only to spit him out towards a group of maintenance workers who caught him in the air. If she didn't know any better, Tenn would think this had happened a few times already if they knew where Zaku would land. She noticed the meat was gone. Guess her Kurokran only wanted to eat something.
"That's Zaku," Konoga explained. "He's applied for being a kurokani a few times already, but he's never been eaten before. He's been trying to get this one to choose him, but as I said, he refused to eat anyone else... until you came along, that is."
"So, Tenn, have you thought of a name for him yet?"
Tenn looked up at the Kurokran again. "Could I give it a thought?" In reality, she had no time to think of a silly for a beast. She had a report to give. The Tallest would certainly be pleased.
Sobr
The first day of the Indokani exams finally arrived, and with it, the two hundred aspirants to the rank. The next morning, at seven D.C. sharp, the IK-CADCOM HQ was overcrowded with sobrekt and kryvtors of all sizes, ranks, and colors. Most of them were young soldiers fresh out of Midosis, others were more experienced individuals who wished to go up in ranks, or others simply wanted to train Indokuros because they had seen how cool it is. The aspirants were gathered in one of the auditoriums, chattering amongst each other. Many of them had met in Midosis, so a few groups of old training partners gathered to talk and catch up.
The only empty area was the spot where Purple was seated. As he imagined, his attendance wasn't… well-received by the others. A few even tried to kick him out, only to bitterly retreat when they saw the cut on his hand, similar to their own. So that's what it is for! Even so, he could feel their disapproving, resentful stares every now and then. He even heard some of the whispers in between the nearest soldiers.
"What is an Irken doing here?"
"I think it's one of the Irken Leaders."
"The selection process is going soft if he was allowed to participate."
The message was clear: he wasn't wanted there. Purple ignored them. He didn't care about what they thought. He was here for Cheesecake and the Massive. He had no time to worry about such trivial matters. There was one particular female sobrekt, though, that didn't stop staring at him with slit pupils. She didn't even bother to dissimulate it. He had already caught her glaring at him. She almost reminded him of Echo, but with yellow scales and blue eyes.
He glanced at the clock on the wall. Eight D.C. "Does anyone know at what time this will start? I'm hungry!"
"What? You can't spend five minutes without gorging yourself in processed sugar?" a young sobrekt snickered. This prompted the rest to explode into laughter.
A kryvtor snorted. "Don't you want your cookies and a glass of milk too?"
"Oh, maybe we should bring him a stretcher for when he goes comatose from lack of doughnuts!" A third one cried out in-between snickers.
"Hey, leave the doughnuts out of this!" Purple snapped at the lizard who made that last comment, but this earned another round of laughter. The Irken had to bite his tongue to stop himself from ordering someone to throw them all out of the airlock and adding more fuel to the fire. Remember that you're better than them, Purple. Don't let them get to you. The yellow kryvtor was the only one who kept her serious demeanor.
A loud voice echoed within the room. "Quiet!" The laughter died down as a female kryvtor clad in light armor with a dark green sash around her waist stepped atop the podium. Most of her chest was exposed in a v-cut; Purple spotted a sort of black tattoo in the left side. All the aspirants (minus Purple) went stiff and stamped their tails.
"Okay." The kryvtor glanced around the room. Purple felt a shiver down his spine when she fixed those orange eyes on him for a few seconds longer. "So you think you're good enough to become an Indokani? Or that raising and training an Indokuro is like raising a clutch of frill-necks? Well, let me knock you out of that stupid fantasy of yours."
She snapped her fingers. An indokuro with a deep blue stripe went on stage and sat down next to her. She stroked its head. "An Indokuro is like your own child. In order to successfully train it, you must teach it discipline, and in order to do that you must earn its respect-"
"Lady, would you save us the intro speech and just tell us what the exam's going to be about?" The rest of the aspirants looked at Purple as if he had gone insane. "What? You're going to tell me you don't want to get this over with too?"
The kryvtor raised an eyebrow at him. "I suppose you're the… 'special guest' talked about." She chuckled. "You wish to go straight to the point? Fine by me." She glanced at the rest of the aspirants. "I am sénior indokani Bann, and I will be the judge of the first stage of the Indokani Exams. Now you better pay attention because I won't be answering any questions." Bann tapped her talon claws. "Now who can tell me what is the first step to training an indokuro?" She saw a hand raising. "You."
The female with the yellow scales stood up, her back straight and her hands behind her back. "The first step to training an indokuro is to form a connection with it, and the best way to do this is to incubate the egg, simulating a mother raising her children, ma'am."
"Ah, it seems someone here did her homework. Very good." Bann nodded in approval. "Indeed. If you pass, you will be given an Indokuro egg to raise. So naturally, the first stage of the exams will consist of this."
Bann walked towards a conveyor belt on the side of the room. She pressed some buttons on a nearby panel on the wall. The conveyor moved. Purple saw lots of incubators coming forward. They were just like the one Cheesecake's egg had been in before hatching. Speaking of which, each incubator had an egg inside, all of them black. Were those…?
"Don't get your hopes up, these aren't real indokuro eggs. They are too valuable to be wasted like this. These…" Bann tapped one of the incubators. "Are unfertilized Caggor eggs. Your first task will consist of taking care of these babes for one day."
"That's all? That's easy." Purple shrugged. This earned him irritated looks from the other aspirants.
"You think so? And if told you that these eggs require a constant temperature to hatch and the slightest change can cause the embryo to die? Or that a single crack can cause the yolk and fluid to leak out, killing the fetus because its lungs are underdeveloped?"
Purple gulped. So that's what could have happened to Cheesecake on Hoth.
Bann continued. "As I was saying, you will each be given one incubator with an egg inside. You must look after it for an entire day cycle and return it completely unharmed. Now listen carefully," Bann picked up one of the incubators. "The egg must be kept at a constant temperature of 20º- 25º Celsius, no more, no less. If the temperature is higher or lower than that, the incubator will sound an alarm. If you don't fix the temperature before the timer runs out, the incubator will mark the egg as 'dead'. Additionally, another alarm will sound to let you know it's time to change the egg's position."
"Why must we move the egg?" Purple asked.
"Because eggs must receive warmth in both sides equally, Irken." the yellow female frowned.
"Exactly," Bann nodded her head approvingly at her. "Listen carefully. If your incubator marks a dead egg, you will fail. If the egg has one single crack on its surface, you will fail. If you try to tamper with the incubator, you fail. Understood? Good, then form a line, take and incubator and I'll see you tomorrow here at the same hour."
One by one, the aspirants grabbed an incubator and left. Purple made sure to hold his incubator carefully in his hands. He remembered Cheesecake's incubator back on Hoth, and how he had to help him hatch after accidentally cracking the egg while he was supposed to look after it. He couldn't make that same mistake here. He'd keep the egg in his sight all the time and follow the instructions. It couldn't be that hard, right? He just had to make sure the temperature was unchanged, keep certain defectives-prone-to-destroying-everything-they-touched away from it and everything would be okay!
X0X
"Purple, that thing is beeping!"
Groaning, he had to place his doughnuts aside and press the buttons on the incubator. The light went back to blue, which meant everything was okay. Damn it, this thing was like the alarm clock back on the Academy. The main difference was that this one would sound every half an hour, and he just couldn't leave it because it was annoying. Oh, right, and he needs it to pass the indokani exams.
"Doesn't that thing have a mute mode or something?"
"It can't modify anything or I'm disqualified."
Red groaned. "Then take it somewhere else! It's annoying!"
"Not a good idea. With how clumsy he is, he might drop it."
"Who invited Captain?" Purple muttered.
"He has the tendency to self-invite himself," Okotto said. "Wanna hear about the graduation party?"
Captain bristled his spines. "Don't you dare!" He snapped with green cheeks.
"Aww, you're cute when you're embarrassed!"
Red coughed uncomfortably. The last thing he wanted was to witness the lovelizards getting too affectionate. Captain rolled his eyes. "So what's the next pre-wedding step thing?"
"Ah, well, the bride and groom engage in a duel to determine if they are equals. To pass, neither must defeat the other, both have to keep standing."
"This is the most important part of the pre-Kekkonshu. Should they fail, it means they aren't compatible with one another."
Red and Purple exchanged a surprised glance. The former asked. "Wait, so their engagement is not official yet? We can still call this off if either of them loses this 'duel'?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes," Okotto responded.
Red's eyes lit up. "Think you can take get Blue drunk before the duel?"
Captain narrowed his eyes. "Forget it."
He felt a shiver down his spine when Okotto's tail brushed against his. "Hey, Capi, remember our duel?" Okotto whispered as he lay his head on his shoulder.
"How could I forget? You literally tore my hand off." Captain murmured. True, Sobrekt tended to get a bit too violent during their fights, especially their pre-mating rituals. "I spent two weeks in the reggel clinic, remember?"
"Ah, come on, sweetheart. You've had it worse. Besides, you already got even."
Red coughed uncomfortably. "I'd thank you if you stopped reminiscing about your masochistic love life." The incubator started beeping again. "Purple!" No response. "Hello, Pur? Purple!" He saw his co-Tallest was staring at the Irkpad intently. Red grunted. "Captain, do you know how to turn that thing off?"
Purple didn't listen to the following scuffle. He was trying to find Cheesecake in the reserve through the drone, but he was nowhere to be seen. He spotted some indokuros who also had white stripes, but it didn't take him longer than five seconds to figure out none of them were his Cheesecake.
Was he doing okay? Was he eating well? Had any of the other indokuros hurt him somehow? Did he miss him? All these questions were buzzing around in his organic brain. He had never been apart from Cheesecake for so long. What if something happened to him? He had thought of going to look for him a few times, but he was so worried about the indokani exams that he hadn't gotten time to go. Maybe he could drop by after the egg phase just to see if he was okay.
The next morning they reunited with the rest of Fury's pack, and the latter greeted his pack-mates with chirps and croons. Cheesecake stayed behind Fury timidly, but it seemed like Hornet had no interest in him. Cougar, on the other hand, greeted him with an irritated snarl, prompting Fury to snarl back, telling him to back off. With that, they departed the nesting area
Cheesecake was terrified of Cougar. He was mean. He was always bullying him or looking for any excuse to attack him. If he got too close, Cougar would bite him. If he tried to grab food from big prey, Cougar would chase him away. In fact, Cheesecake couldn't even get close to the others without Cougar coming after him. Fury merely watched the aggression exchange and did not intervene unless Cougar went too far. Whenever Cheesecake tried to go to him for protection, he'd step aside.
Hornet and Panther were mostly indifferent to the quarrels, preferring not to take sides. Cheesecake wasn't really part of the pack, so they let Cougar chase him away… but unfortunately he was still attached to Fury, so they were stuck with him.
Cheesecake watched bitterly as Fury was allowed to step closer to the carcass the other three indokuros had just hunted. The scent of blood was enticing him to go closer, but Cougar's divided attention between him and the carcass made him stay in place. Instead, Cheesecake kicked the newly-acquired bite marks on his back.
Cheesecake observed how the other indokuro communicated. Growls mean 'stay away' or 'you're making me angry', but they were similar to purrs, which mean 'this feels nice, I'm happy'. The difference was in the body postures. Growls include bared teeth, slit pupils and stiff demeanor. In fact, most of the communication and mood shows involved body language. He learned the 'thirteen inches rule': keep this distance from other indokuros and they won't bite you.
His stomach growled again. A few minutes went by until he couldn't help it anymore. He tried to creep his way around the carcass, looking for any blind spots where Cougar wouldn't see him coming. Behind him? No, too risky, he'd have to creep close to him to get close to the carcass, giving him a chance to bite him at the neck. Cheesecake had learned that his throat was a vulnerable spot; Hornet had pinned him down by digging his teeth into it, and Cougar always targeted that area, in particular, so now he tried to keep his head away from their teeth.
He saw a window of opportunity when Cougar snapped at Panther, moving his gaze away from the carcass. Acting fast, Cheesecake sped forward and grabbed a big piece of meat before speeding away as fast as he could. Unfortunately, Cougar was faster and went after him with angry shrieks.
Cheesecake ran from Cougar for a few minutes, but the shiny rope attaching him to Fury made it harder to escape; it limited how far he could go. He cried for Fury to help him, but he didn't lift a claw. Eventually, Cougar caught up and brought him down by a hard bite on his leg. Cheesecake tripped and fell to the ground with a painful thud. But it didn't end there; instead of merely grabbing the meat and moving back to the carcass, Cougar went after his throat. Cheesecake tried blocking him with his front legs to no avail; the older indokuro's started digging his claws into his arms trying to force them away from his neck.
Cheesecake cried out for Fury again, and once more he didn't move. He was merely staring at the scene intently as if waiting for something to happen. He wasn't the only one. Hornet and Panther were watching Cougar savagely attacking Cheesecake. The younger indokuro shrieked in pain as Cougar finally breached his defense and dug his teeth into his neck.
Something inside Cheesecake snapped. His fear turned into rage. Something in the back of his brain awoke, telling, no, screaming at him to respond. His vision turned red as his pupils became thin slits for the first time in his life. The shrieks of fright and pain became angry snarls and growls.
He kicked Cougar in the stomach with his hind legs, sending him flying. Then he got to his feet and lunged at him without giving him time to counterattack. Despite the difference in size, Cheesecake managed to get the upper hand for some time, digging his teeth into Cougar's arm and trying to pin him down, but it didn't take the bigger indokuro long to get free of his hold to finally retaliate.
Cheesecake fought against him for a few minutes. Sadly, soon his lack of stamina caught up and he grew tired of sparring, allowing Cougar to finally subdue him. Instead of whimpering cowering in fear, however, Cheesecake continued to snarl and growl at him, unconsciously bristling his spines in the process.
Fury finally intervened. He pushed Cougar off Cheesecake with his head and snarled at him to make him back off. Cougar growled, but Hornet's warning (which consisted of baring his teeth and snarling loudly) was enough to make him back off for now. The green-striped indokuro glared at Cheesecake in contempt as he stalked away from the pack to lick his wounds.
Cheesecake's anger shifted targets as he snarled at Fury for not coming to his aid earlier. Fury growled and smacked him in the head with his head; this time, Cheesecake did submit by lowering his body to the ground and purring. Fury snorted in approval. The younger one still had a long way to go, but he was learning. In order for him to do so properly, however, he needed to awaken his dormant aggressive instincts.
Indokuros are, by nature, aggressive and territorial, but also had a need for social interactions. As hatchlings, their indokani would take them to play with other young indokuros to play with. The tug of war, sparring and jumping on top of others was actually honing their future hunting and fighting skills. Then they learned the social interactions and 'the Law of the Fang' from the older indokuro.
It's during this tender age when an indokuro's survival instincts awaken, and these instincts became stronger as time went on thanks to spending most of their time in the wild, feeding by themselves, sparring with their pack mates and defending their hunts from other packs who wished to steal it.
Younger one, however, never had any of these experiences. Fury could tell it from the very beginning. He had never been around his own kind, so he not only failed to learn the corporal language and etiquette rules, but his instincts never awoke. This resulted in him lacking the killing instinct and blood lust that drove their kind. The younger one was a hatchling in an adult's body.
Fury let Cougar attack because he knew this would trigger younger one's dormant instincts, and he needed to learn that he had to defend himself. The younger one couldn't just expect his master to come to save him every time he was in trouble, Fury himself wouldn't either. They wouldn't be able to save him in the fight against Sendou. He had to stick for himself.
Hornet approached. Cheesecake lowered his gaze and lay his body close to the ground, showing submission. Hornet was purring and growling softly in a non-aggressive manner. Cheesecake contained the urge to flee as he felt his hot breath on top of his head.
Seconds later, Hornet returned to the carcass, tore off one of the legs and dropped it in front of Cheesecake. He looked up at the alpha suspiciously. He nearly rejected it until his stomach growled again. He made sure Cougar wasn't around before he started to eat the meat ravenously. It was tasty, even tastier than the last time. To Cheesecake's surprise, Panther and Fury brought him more pieces of meat, which he happily ate. As they returned to the carcass, Hornet turned back to Cheesecake and beckoned him to come closer, allowing him to come to feed to the carcass alongside them.
He had been officially accepted into the pack.
*The entire scene with the kurokran was from Dragon Pilot (yes, I'm obsessed), as well as most of the information. I strongly recommend it if you like series about dragons.