Winters beginning ch9
Many years later.
Location outer most edge of the Milkyway Galaxy, planet unknown.
Crank was running and hiding trying to get away from a seemingly unknown attacker.
I don't know how much longer I can run. Ever since we came to this world after finally creating an FTL engine, this was the first world we encountered. Turns out it had a primitive bipedal race that would make for excellent slaves. To bad we never considered the fact that another race stronger then us would consider our operation an issue.
Rumors had been around for a long time in the higher echelons of the Hegemony of a race of Hunters who would challenge the best of us. Unfortunately all this info came from civilians who only saw some of the carnage from these Hunters. Even the best operatives we had lost to them and so it had been decided to always operate in large groups covering all vectors of attack when training and when in the field.
With our four eyes such an ambush should have been impossible yet here I am, the last one left out of an entire company of a hundred twenty five souls perhaps more. All the rumors indicated these hunters only went after isolated groups, taking their time to kill them one by one, causing gradual panic among the group. This Hunter, assuming it is one has instead caused mass confusion and hysteria.
First it some how blew up our ship despite its advance security and before it was even loaded with slaves no less. Then like a swarm of bugs seeking light Commander Tarak ordered the entire company to converge on the site to find out what happened. What came next was nothing short of a bloody nightmare and for the first time in my life while serving under Tarak, fear gripped me.
Hours earlier we began to investigate the wreckage to find out what happened. Everything was going well when out of the blue it all went to piss.
Out of nowhere the area exploded in blue flame and blood. My first thought was Hegemony artillery or ship based cannons as I saw entire squads get blown to pieces from just one shot or was it multiple. The rate of fire, accuracy, and death made it difficult to fully understand. Those who attempted to get to cover or aim at the area the fire was coming from were blown to meaty pieces instantly. Tarak ordered everyone to run and scatter a bad move but the terror on his four eyes could not be unseen.
After all this didn't fit with the rumors, so I ran but not before seeing Tarak's face and body getting blown apart, the shock wave causing me to be thrown a few feet but picking my self up off the dirt, I ran for all I was worth.
Its night now and all I can think about is, where is everyone but then their screams and random gun fire told me where, only for it to go silent. The new slaves were not advanced enough to pull this off. It could be the Special Intervention Unit but none of their ordinance emits powerful blue signatures. It has to be a new species or not as none of the rumors identified what these Hunters looked like.
"Ah!" Crank screamed. "Come out and face me you Pyjack!" Rage coursing through his veins, tired of being scared.
It landed right behind me with a loud thud, turning I kept my gun lowered. A faint shimmering dispersed as I couldn't see it at first but when it finished I saw something large. If Fear could be described as a creature then this thing was it.
Standing at eight feet tall this creature was enormous, from head to toe it was covered in some form of advanced armor tinted a darkened silver grey to prevent sun reflection. Even its hands were covered in armor and I couldn't identify any skin showing but given the lack of light right now that is understandable but the Moons reflection did paint a very clear picture of this thing.
If that wasn't bad enough it carried weapons all over its body, and other devices I couldn't even guess as to function. In short this creature is a walking tank, though the moons reflection gave me the scene more akin to a blueish demonic monster, this creature wasn't just fear, it was death incarnate.
Two blades came out on one of its arms, clearly this thing has responded to what I can only assume as a challenge. I don't know how strong that armor is but I guess I'll find out.
Crank readied his weapon and armed a grenade. "Now Die you Pyjack"! dumping the clip into the Creature or at least tried.
Faster then Crank could comprehend the Creature moved at incredible speed despite the heavy armor and swiftly twisted Cranks hand, breaking it in the process. As Cranks main assault rifle fell to the ground the grenade ready go off as it was swiftly removed and tossed out of the way.
Just as the grenade exploded two blades ripped into Cranks heart.
"how?" This thing knew exactly were to stab with Lethal efficiency to its target, furthermore it wasn't confused at the grenade design at all and some how knew it couldn't be disarmed once pressure was let off. The last word to enter Cranks mind before succumbing to the after life was Hunter.
Targets eliminated one hundred fifty, trophy's taken four. These so called Batarian's are truly interesting, relying on a slavery system is barbaric even by our standards. As such the code would dictate these meat bags should fall into the bad blood category and thus accepting a challenge is not needed to kill them. Since this was the last one left I wanted to see what he would do and I was not disappointed.
In fact seeing the mass hysteria coming from them earlier was most impressive. At just one mile away they never did see me. Their ships crew was more of a challenge as I had to cut them apart one by one before setting their own charges near the engine core and blowing it sky high.
Their weapons however were quite pathetic, shooting a measly 4.5mm round at high velocity just out of their main rifles. The 5.56 round used by American forces on Earth is more lethal then this peace of crap. None the less I grabbed two of them on top of two still intact skulls and a few grenades.
Studying different races and their weaponry has proven very useful as such a tactic was heavily used in Earth's Vietnam war and seeing the batarian would try to kill me in such a fashion it was necessary to intercept and discard the grenade before he became a useless trophy.
None the less, the Browning fifty has proven why I chose to make my own version, shame I didn't get the chance to use its plasma feature yet. Despite having it for nearly fifty years now, the enemies have not been numerous enough to dump all of my ammo. However one thing has become clear, a rifled version for the .50bmg is needed for more precise work.
"Guess its time to go hunting for more kit from Earth" Winters mandibles clicking with barely contained glee.
PCS Phantom, Corvette class fast attack vessel. Cloaked on unknown planet
Not as streamlined as its contemporary's the wedge shape of the new Stalker class was designed with versatility in mind.
At 145 meters long and sporting a small arsenal of forty missiles, six dual purpose PDC's, and a small bow mounted plasma lance. Being two decks high and running the length of the ship the First upper most deck held crew quarters, armories, bridge, mess all, medical bay, and parts of engineering. The lower deck held drop pods, landing gear, engineering, cargo holds, and a small vehicle bay.
Since the simpler design made it easy to configure for various roles, from stealth reconnaissance to heavy gunship. Its standard crew capacity is 20 yautja but can be operated by as little as two.
Right now Kal was overlooking the mission through the ships sensors on the bridge.
Well that didn't take long, the Batarians will think twice now before sending slavers here. Still, Winters lack of a life mate concerns me as he recently passed the record for oldest yautja to not have either a mate or mated at all. Sigh... even I have a few pups of my own now with my life mate Xetis.
Beep beep "oh this can't be good"
"Elder Lance what do we owe the pleasure." Kal's mandibles clicking sarcastically.
"We lost a young blood on Earth and since Winter has a reputation for unauthorized kit shopping on that planet, the council requested that I send you two to investigate." Lance said with a serious look.
"understood, Kal out."
Door slides open, "Ah perfect timing, hey Winter we're going to Earth to investigate a young blood that didn't check in." Kal said with the biggest smile he could muster with his mandibles.
"Good, I need to scan a new weapon called a Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle. Also who's sending us" asked Winter.
"Elder Lance why?"
"Nothing just the last assignment was from Elder Pussy, I mean Puss now lets get going" as Winter climbs into the pilots seat, prepping for take off and setting a course for Earth.
Since that incident with a drunk blooded, Elder Puss has had it out for Winter, both for humiliating one of his clan and himself in front of it. Thanks to Winter's reference in those days, many on Yeager one now laugh every time he shows up. Lately his anger has reached legendary status. Pondered Kal as the ship entered FTL.
Location Earth orbit.
Well I'v scanned the area and honestly this was a waste of time. Scans reveal residue from a wrist bomb going off, only peculiarity is its yield was smaller then normal. Must have been an older model. Also radiation residue from some place called Pripyat, according to the human news it was a nuclear power plant accident.
Meanwhile, Winter took one of the pods and deployed near a US military base just so he could hunt weapons of all things. However in order to make sure it wasn't a total loss Striker sent a message that everything has to be thoroughly scanned. As such Winter will be a while, likely busy for most of the cycle if not longer as he has to sneak around prey.
In the mean time I might as well scan everything else useful the Humans might have from Orbit while Winter does more detailed scans. Honestly the Humans advancement only makes studying them easier. However their ever increasing satellites may detect the pyramid activation come next chiva which isn't far off. Even now Elder Nova has a promising group almost ready to take their rite of passage.
None the less, Elder Nova's clan has certainly made a name for its self, not from the number of life mates on board but from the threat they sent across Yautja space. Declaring any who would hunt down the hybrid known as Snow, will face their wrath.
Upon looking her up, I discovered something, her life is a sad story of strife and pain, however the details of her mate status only say unknown. Most likely she doesn't have a mate and if confirmed then her estimated age of being a virgin would trump even Winter. If true then I can see why, while her voluptuous body is indeed something to behold despite her lower then average height for a female, it states her eyes have no pupils
The image of her face is not there but there is one of her fathers, if the human aspect wasn't a big turn off then those eyes very much are. White almost like they are staring into my soul, if Snow has those which is likely then know wonder no one wants to mate with her. Her social status is limited guess she likes to keep to herself hmm.
Many hours later
Paya from what I can find so far about this female, she is a polar opposite to Winter, name not withstanding. However the similarities are also there, not many friends like Winter, stand out a great deal, like Winter, and a couple of potential enemies like Winter. Honestly I must give Elder Nova's technicians credit, despite many attempts to get into their systems for more info, I would get blocked. Not an easy feat since I helped improve the cyber defense systems for Yeager ones security net and Council Warships.
Coms start beeping. "Pau'k this isn't good "Kal opens the com channel and upon seeing who it is gulps in trepidation.
"Com IFF shows you to be a Council Warship, yet all I see is a lone blooded hunter responsible for attempted hacking of my clan ship. State your reasoning for the attempt or I'll hunt you down and mount your head on my wall." Said none other then Elder Nova himself.
"I am blooded hunter Kal sir and I do apologize for the intrusion but I have no intentions of hunting Snow, just the data you listed was not enough."
"That was the idea young one, if your interested in her then a simple message would have sufficed" Nova deadpanned.
"I already have a life mate sir, no this is for a friend of mine as I believe him and Snow would be an ideal team for high risk missions and a good pair." Stated Kal with utmost humility trying not to show how much this Elder was making him sweat.
"Snow has already proven to be capable team mate for my son Scar, in fact they may even become mates once Scar passes his Chiva."
"With all due respect sir, is that peace of information based on rumor or fact?"
"I'll let you figure that out" Nova then cuts the transmission.
Letting out a breath and breathing for what felt like the first time in ages, Kal finally relaxed.
"Here I thought half jaw was scary but Elder Nova makes my chiva look like a vacation and that was just from talking to him. Scythe I swear your clan may lack firepower compared to home but they certainly don't lack in the intimidation department. Oh great I'm talking to myself out loud."
Ship sensors picking up a beacon. "Huh, looks like Winter is ready for pick up. how long has it been, lets see" Kal reads the time stamp as two cycles since coming to Earth. "Pa'uk! Xetis is going to have my head for this after I promised to contact her at least once a cycle when out doing missions."
Meanwhile Xetis was pacing inside their living room waiting for her life mate to call. Like many others she bought on to the whole lifemate craze instead of giant orgies. Kal had been quite the catch as he considered his prosthetic the best trophy of all and didn't hesitate to woo her with what he could do with it. Instead of challenging other Yautja for her affections he instead made them look like morons. Since he was one of the first to get the new bone reinforcement he felt the best test was to have someone punch him in front of her.
Suffice to say many broke their hands on his back and ribs and he just stood there. To add insult to injury he would just say I'm thick boned and better luck next time. It was clearly a joke that I couldn't help but laugh at while others who were smarter just shook their heads knowing he was just fooling around. To top it off he challenged a few to a cooking contest.
On of the best that I knew took him up on that offer and while Kal lost, upon trying some of his grub, my heart melted. After that I knew he deserved the chance and before I knew it we fell in love and the records now show us to be life mates. Pity about his friend though as I made it clear to Kal I get really horny when an audience is around. At least I wanted to try it to show that Kal was mine, there are many others like him but he is mine.
"However now he is on numerous mission with his friend, these missions are often short and only last a few cycles. Even so my heart aches when he is out there so we made a habit of contacting each other every cycle. However this time its been four cycles and I swear if he doesn't have a good reason for this, I'm taking his arm off and using it as my personal pleasure toy while he watches and doesn't get any pleasure for at least seven cycles. Xetis bellowed with barely contained anger."
"mommy, whats a pleasure toy?" asked one of Xetis pups
Xetis gulps only now realizing she said those things out loud.
Now that Acceptance is being updated again, here is number 9. Also if you haven't seen the Expanse, its worth the watch as I based the Stalker class on the MCRN Corvette only larger for obvious reasons.
Also in this new edit I expanded upon Xetis to make her feel more fleshed out. As for the time discrepancy, that was intentional.
As always, like, share and review. Thank you.
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