A/N: Here's chapter fourteen! This chapter's a little different than the others, it's a backstory chapter. See, some Rimworld backstories I found so interesting, that I thought it'd be a neat challenge to go into them for an entire chapter. So here it is, the past of one of the colonists, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rimworld

Since the faction was getting bigger and bigger, group breakfasts and dinners were getting less and less common. Everyone had their own schedule, their own things to be doing. This was further exacerbated by the fact that two out of the eight of them were night owls. It led to a more individualistic way of life. If a pair or a group of them ended up in the wedding/dining hall, then so be it. But that's how they socialized, in small groups over larger numbers. Maybe if they expanded even more, some people wouldn't even know one another. Only very rarely, like at the current moment, were everyone in the dining hall at once, getting a head start at their breakfast.

The lights suddenly flickered out, as power surges failed across the colony. Everyone mildly flinched at the light went out. At the surface, it wasn't a big deal, since they had the daylight to see, but nonetheless, it caused them all to pause in confusion.

"We…we lost power…" Genevieve said.

"Don't look at me." Cadmus crossed his arms, "If five wind turbines and four batteries aren't enough to power this whole damn place, then I don't know what is. One of the turbines must be blocked, that's all."

"It's probably just a solar flare." Toni said, leaning her head on her fist in a bored fashion, "Remember when I said the moons here were batshit crazy?" She asked, "Well…the sun can be too. The radiation from a solar flare can knock out power for a while. But it should last for about a day."

Cadmus rolled his eyes, "Still…seriously? That's going to completely mess some of us up…I mean…unless a lot of us are working outside…" He said. All these circumstances were annoying. Three of them still had Fibrous Mechanties, impairing their work, the psychic drone was still zapping all the women straight in their subconscious, and now they had this solar flare too. They would all prey that a raid or man animal pack wouldn't fall on top of this.

Redfields cleared his throat and stood up, "Perhaps I can entertain y'all a little bit. If you're willing."

The seven other colonists stared at him, "Entertain us?" Cadmus asked.

"I find it strange that you never asked me where I came from. Where I grew up. Where I was raised."

He shrugged, "I mean, you were never a prisoner, so we never had a reason to really pry into you." He said, earning brief glares from Toni and Meowski.

"Well…then…maybe I'll tell ya the story of my life, and heck, by the time I'm all through, the power might be back on." He said, "If you're willing to listen, that is."

Childhood for Garen at the surface seemed similar to everyone else's. His was characterized by the lush green fields that his kingdom lived in. And the large amounts of flora and fauna that occupied the landscape. The kingdom was vast, a rich empire, yet there was plenty of room for nature to survive and thrive.

In his youth he ran a farm with his father, tending to the livestock, primarily muffalo, but it was usually an entire host of barnyard critters. He took pride in his work, doing anything to make his father proud. When he reached adolescence, he would join the king's army and serve him at his side.

"Father, I'm home!" Garen called, giddily running inside, "Is mom making dinner yet?"

"Of course she is, let her take her time, my boy." Garen's father said, giving him a brief hug, "How're they? All fed, right?"

"Uh-huh." He nodded, "All happy muffalo."

"Very good, son. You do your father so proud." He said, heading towards the kitchen. He then heard his son say something that made him freeze in place.

"I visited my friends today…in one of the other villages…how come their muffalo look different?"

He played dumb, "Different? How different, my son?"

"They're just…blue puffs of fur. With four hooves and a face…it's kinda boring…"

"Um…boring…you say?"

"Yeah. Where are their seven arms. Every muffalo have seven red arms coming out of each side, like this." He gestured, "Helps them grab their prey. And they have two sets of jaws. But…the ones I saw all the way over there only had one…weird…"

His father took a labored sigh, "Son…"

"And their plants are boring too. They just…grow…and grow. Our plants are much cooler. They got vines and stuff!" He jumped up and down. "They're friendly vines though…unless you step on them funny."

"Son…the…uh…the soil…around this country…well…it's richer…much richer…than any of your friends' places. So rich that it gives the wildlife here…extra evolutionary tools…to grow, you see. That's why everything here looks different."

"Really, that's so cool! I love it here!" He ran into the kitchen, "Mom, is dinner ready yet?" He yelled, while his father just sighed. One day his son would learn the truth.

The king, in his golden throne, was actually a bit more modest a king than most. Practical, honorable, and fair, he reminded Garen of his father in a lot of ways. He respected the king a great deal, and because of that, he rose up through the ranks to not only be the king's bodyguard, but his spy, and hunter as well. Garen effectively controlled the entire army, and he followed every order his king had, down to the letter.

The king took a deep and restful sigh, it wasn't uncommon on nights like these for he and his faithful bodyguards to stay up for long nights discussing the morality of certain things, or the meaning of life. (Hell, maybe it's why Redfields was such a night owl now). "What do you think of our…situation…here?"

"Situation…sir?" Garen asked.

"About the genetic manipulation."

"Oh…that…" He said, "I'm not sure…when I found out the truth…it really shook me…I thought…that was just how nature was…I didn't know that we were tampering with their genes…their codes…their lives." When the king didn't respond, Garen swallowed hard, "Of course, I don't mean anything by it. Forgive me, sir."

"No, it's quite alright. It is a messy practice, not overseen by myself."

"You seem to be perturbed by it too…if you don't mind me saying, sir."

"I am." He said, "Garen…I've had to watch my kingdom…go from its natural state, to what it is now." He said, "First, he said that he was just going to boost their immune-system, make them stronger and more durable, so we could use them as efficient livestock…or…heaven forbid…mounts if a war broke out. Then he started adding 'evolutionary equipment', things and body parts that just didn't belong. He was meddling in their DNA! Their very DNA! And what was I to do?" He trembled in his throne, "And then for some godforsaken reason he wants to turn the plants into monsters now too…"

"'He', sir? Who is this person? You're not in charge of these decisions?"

The king shook his head, "No. There is a head scientist on an island not too far from here. He's completely mad. I had trusted his judgement decades ago, when we first met. He promised me that his research will better the kingdom…but I see that it's only himself who will benefit…"

Garen narrowed his eyes, "Would you like me to take action, sir?"

The king hesitated, knowing that sending Garen alone would risk his safety, and yet sending anything more would be a declaration for war. "He requested that island for privacy…but…I'm through with it all. Spy on him for me and tell me what you discover. If it's anything even slightly atrocious, I'll banish him from the kingdom, and prepare all the troops for war when he refuses to leave."

Garen nodded, "Yes sir, it shall be done."

Sailing to the island was quick, almost too quick for Garen's cover. He wasn't afraid of battle, no, he was more nervous about what he would find inside this dastardly lab.

Luckily, the head scientist's paranoia seemed to extent towards not having many allies or subordinates, because Garen was easily able to sneak in. He pretty much concerned himself with following the strange noises that echoed around the lab. Most of the sounds consisted of painful shrieks, and electrical charges.

At the end of a long and narrow hall, was the central room, where all the scientists were. Garen would be spotted if he wasn't too careful. So largely he would have to hide and play it by ear. Only occasionally would he be able to take small peeks.

And every time he did look, he was repulsed. At the center of the room, was a muffalo, coated in strange growths and extra limbs that made the seven-armed muffalos at home look like child's play. The poor thing looked beyond sick, too many things had been stitched onto it at once, and it's body seemed to be failing. A wing hear, a few dozen arms there, and a few extra legs, which didn't even bother to match the four original hooves.

"Sir…" A scientist said, "It seems to be dying…no matter what we do…we cannot change it's relatively peaceful nature, to a violent one. It seems to betray the herbivores keen instincts."

"Be quiet." The head scientist snapped, and old, thin, and wiry man. Owning a screeching, high-pitched voice. If nothing else, the voice and looked portrayed mad scientist quite well, "Stupid animal. Expose it to more radiation. See which types it reacts to positively. Then put the centipede casing on it. Before the stupid thing dies on us."

"But…sir…radiation…will make it worse off—"

"Shut up! I'm the genius here, not any of you! What do I pay you for, do as I ask, and do it now!"

The other scientist complied before the head scientist would get any angrier. Making sure they had their protective suits on, they sprayed the beast with a large level of multi-colored gases. The muffalo mooed over and over again, coughing when it couldn't moo anymore. It tried to thrash about, but it was largely too weak.

Garen's eyes widened with horror. "Well, hurry up! Put the casing on!" The head scientist yelled.

The other scientists obliged, surrounding the muffalo with al large steel case of armor. The eyes on the new metallic body lit up. And the centipede brandished a large death machine that would make the machine guns Garen used back at home look like a child's toys.

Garen swallowed hard, now all the extra appendages suddenly made sense. (Or at somewhat made sense). He ran away, looking hastily around as tears burned into his eyes. All those animals, those plants. What he called 'cool' as a kid. They were all suffering. Genes were not meant to be tempered with, at least not to a stage like this.

The head scientist chuckled and folded his hands, "Good…very good…it seems to have dexterous grasp on the weapon. This may be our best unit yet, as long as the smelly animal still has brainwaves, we can benefit from it! And I can have another hundred shipped out soon. I'll be rich! And no one will ever mock me again, I have the most powerful army a man could hope for!"

Garen meanwhile did some last minute exploring, he eventually found a large storeroom where hundreds, if not thousands of muffalo were being kept. He knew it, he knew that there would be others. Maybe if he could free them all, it would at least hinder the head scientists progress for a little while.

"Hey, listen…" He patted one's backside. Thank heavens it was unaltered, "Time to go, we gotta get outta here! You're gonna die!" He said, "Worse than that, you'll be enslaved to a metal monster forever!"

The muffalo turned to him, giving him a blank stare for a while. Then its three sets of jaws opened up, and a pair of red insect claws sprouted out from the sides, grabbing Garen and holding him into place.

"Ah!" He screamed, thrashing around in its grasp, "Hidden genetic manipulation?!"

The head scientist perked up, "What the hell was that noise?" He asked, turning to some of the guards with gas guns, "Go search the outer section. Now!"

The muffalo started consuming him, and all the other muffalo turned towards the commotion, smelling the fresh blood. They were carnivores now. They wanted in on the free meal.

Garen snapped the two arms away from him, now coated in blood. He ran for his life, heading back to the boat was his only option. That was a fierce hold, if it weren't for his intense combat training that every soldier had, he would have been dead right there.

Worse still, the muffalo were chasing after him. And while they were slow normally, these ones seemed quite speedy. And he eventually heard voices of the guards in the mix.

Making it to the boat was not an easy ordeal. His wounds were large and deep, he needed medical attention right away. But worse still, was what was yet to come. This meant war. And it was a war they would probably lose.

He warned them all, warned them that it wasn't worth their pride, this impending war. That it would be over so quickly. But the king and his subjects didn't listen. Either roused by guilt for allowing it all to happen, or stirred by anger for the head scientist, the king wanted to fight, now more than ever.

A strange thing, quickly noticed in the beginning of the battle, was how much bigger the king's army was compared to the head scientist.

"Any last words?" The king asked.

"You…simpering buffoon…" The head scientist smirked, "I don't even need to use the centipedes against you…you'll all die soon before that…"

"Centipedes?"

The head scientist laughed and laughed, "I control all the wildlife in your land! You death will come straight from the very land you cherish and love!" He said, as his squad released a chemical gas that sent every animal in the control into a rabid, mutinous rage. Any mutation they had exaggerated itself even further.

"Charge!" The king yelled.

Garen led the assault, cocking his light machine gun. But his fellow soldiers were down left and right. The dogs had three heads, the muffalo had seven arms, the cobras were three times as big as they usually were, the flightless ostriches and emus were now scaled like dragons, even able to breathe fire. Garen shot at anything that moved in front of him.

He tripped on a vine, and the plant grew in size and came to life, roaring at him, with its now three huge sets of flytrap jaws.

Garen screamed, barely able to escape the grasp, as he gunned down the plant. The plant screamed in pain and wilted.

By sunset, the outcome of the war already looked present. The king was dead, and so were most of the civilians. Garen couldn't even see any other soldiers.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I win! I win you old fool!" The head scientist laughed.

Garen seethed with rage, trembling with fear, and shook with sadness. As tears dripped from his eyes, he held his gun firmly, "Back to zero…we need to start…all over again! We need to wash all this away! Wash it away with blood!" He reloaded and yelled as he started killing everything in front of him with a barrage of bullets.

Without anyone else to focus on, the muffalo and other enraged animals charged towards Garen. He grit his teeth and fired back. The nearby muffalo took advantage of their many limbs, slashing a claw right through his chest. A large section of his chest ripped open, causing a lot of blood and gore to fall out. Garen screamed, his vision blurred as he fell to his knees, shooting until he couldn't see ahead of himself anymore.

Tribes could be mobile, it was commonplace, especially on Garen's home planet. He welcomed their culture, and found that there was a lot to learn from them.

"Shall we continue hunting?" One of the tribal woman asked, "We already have such a large haul."

"Just a bit further." Another warrior said, "Than we shall head back."

The first woman nodded, then her eyes shrunk when she looked ahead, "Sister, look…" She tugged on his ally's furs.

"Hmm?" She looked ahead. The fields ahead of them were red. The grass was red, the soil red. None of them could conclude a reason as to why it was this way, until they progressed further and saw all the bodies, human, animal, and plant alike.

"What happened here?" One of the women asked.

"Seems to have been a great battle…no… a war…" Another said, "Everyone…they are lost…"

One man gave a spare cough of two, raising a hand up in the air, "H-Help…"

They all gasped, "A survivor, sister!" One of them ran towards the man, "Please, tend to his injuries at once!"

She nodded and it wasn't long until the entire tribe was surrounding the man. Once he come to a bit more, the first girl held his arm, "You are the great survivor, my friend. You have won the war…"

"War…? The…the war?"

"Yes. You are the lone survivor…you have conquered man and beast alike…Redfields…"

He sat up, the massive scar on his chest now stitched up, "Redfields…"

Not five minutes later, they were beset by bandits, and kidnapped.

00000

The sound of multiple voices conversing woke Redfields up from his daze.

"This one's nice…" One of the criminals said, aboard their starship, "He's a man of war. He's strong, young, nice-looking. He'll fetch a high price." He said, "Civilized too. Rest of 'em…I don't know. They got that whole 'ooga-booga' thing going on, kinda fucks with their prices, ya know what I mean?"

"If we sell them all as a set…it won't matter." Another bandit said, "Make him the lead piece." He nodded towards Redfields.

Redfields clenched his fists. No way was he going to go from casualty to slave without a fight.

He sprang up and body slammed the nearest thug, his eyes darting around. Luckily, the other tribal members were nearby, "Wake up! All of you! Run!"

"Hey, what are ya doing?" One of the bandits snapped, "You're handcuffed…just make this easy on yourself before we kill ya."

He charged into that thief as well, "All of you, run! Just scatter! I'll show you where all the escape pods are…and we'll all escape together!"

The lights came back on, but hardly anyone noticed it during Redfields's story.

"Holy shit…" Cadmus said, like the others, his jaw was agape, "All that stuff really happened to you?"

"Yes sir." Redfields nodded, "Though I'm sure it's nothing to all the trouble you've been through."

"Yeah, not so sure about that."

Genevieve's eyes looked distant as she stared at the table, "Everyone should try and get some work done while they still can." She said, looking up at Redfields, "And make sure you thank Redfields for his tale."

A/N: This one was a bit different to write, since it barely had anything to do with Rimworld at all. That muffalo is a centipede idea isn't really mine either, I got it from a few pictures on the internet, basically suggesting that inside the metal casing of the centipede is a muffalo. Sounds creepy, but that's about par for the course with Rimworld cultures. Also, I would like to thank TheGamerTwilight for the review and the kind words. Bah, I was supposed to thank them last chapter, but I forgot…I'm good for that. Anyhow, belated gratitude, and I hope everyone's enjoying the story!