Winters beginning Ch12
Location Yeager one
Time stamp six months since being selected as Wolfs apprentice.
Located inside one of the many bunkers, Wolf prepares a log for both the council and Elder Lance, current overseer of Yeager 1.
Every Yautja has a coping mechanism, despite our violent nature this mechanism is the same for all life in general. Winter has proven to be a quick study but then every yautja is, given our ability to adapt and change. However Winters different mindsets are truly unique, when he is around friends or combat he generally operates with lethal effectiveness. However that is his normal state of mind, its the other two that seem to be constantly at war with each other.
Whenever he is around females at least those he finds mating material his focus falters and his emotions become an open data pad. He suddenly turns into a semi aggressive pup again and when the female either rejects him or wants him for something else he becomes a useless wreck, if he is to become a true Elite then this part needs to change or he may end up becoming aggressive with others or himself for that matter and loose focus.
Winter doesn't take rumors for fact instead he generally ignores them but I can see it in his eyes, its not the rumors or insults that affect or even hurt him.
No, he blames himself most of all because those insults are usually half true, his self confidence needs a lot of work. Now his other mindset, designated soldier mode by Striker is one that is truly something to look at. In this mindset his emotions are fully contained behind thick mental armor and he becomes a true killing machine and anything dumb enough to be designated as a target is terminated in short order.
Had that human commando faced Winter instead of a yautja bent on playing with his prey. Then he would be very dead and his unit too for good measure. However this mindset does have a flaw in that that it suppresses everything including Winters ability to speak or give orders. Instead he just goes silent ignoring all distractions save the goal. While in his normal state he is a great deal more social, easily capable of leading and operating with others, mostly. Unlike Nova's son Scar who seems to be getting proud from all the attention, Winter is his polar opposite, While he does attract attention, he is not proud of it and prefers to attempt to keep a low profile.
Attempt being the key word here since no other yautja that I know of uses human style weaponry or is covered in enough armor to give the impression of a walking tank. So the first thing I did was force him to focus on agility both at dodging and grappling, this will make him more effective in close combat. I made sure he was in full armor when doing this, so as to see how well his stamina holds and range of movement.
Then I had him focus on meditation, he actually thought it was a human thing when it was the Yautja who started it. He was not used to having his brain cells worked like that but grateful as meditation is yet one of many forms of relieving stress and being truly aware. However his real test is going to be with Nova's clan.
After reading up on Winters history its clear his parents are both very intelligent and sadistic. Since Winter is their only child they went to great lengths to ensure he turned out the way he is now. However his weariness around females unless something bad is happening is one very few yautja have.
This can't be taught out of him he needs to overcome this himself and using his parents own secret tactics may just be the best way to do it. Since spying on his medical examination, Nova's clan would fit that challenge since Snow herself is a hybrid, while lethal at close range, she could easily turn into a bad blood given the right trigger and the last thing I need is for Winter to automatically kill her should she be declared exile. Blasted Enforcers, If I can give Death credit for anything, it would be his ability to drill the code into anyone to the point of muscle memory.
That however is just a theory but then I thought his alternate mindset was just a rumor, or the council was exaggerating.
Surprising Winter however proved it wasn't, no wonder this meatbag has a reputation of being cold, in the little over two hundred years he's been alive he has no record of skinning anything except critters for food and trophy's, never to send a message to the locals. He doesn't really give any opponent time to adapt and isn't afraid of using prey weaponry to improve his chances of survival. He is by definition a soldier and a survivor and as such continues to improve upon the weaponry of other races. Quick, clean and effective, not to mention flexible.
That is why Nova's clan is the perfect proving ground, it would force Winter into his most vulnerable state and confront his biggest insecurities. At the same time Nova's style of running his clan by skirting the code more then even Striker does will surely piss him off.
The other part of this plan would rely on Winters old friend Scythe, Scythe will keep me informed discretely with only Elder Nova knowing about it. His recent report showed that some in Nova's clan have the showings of a potential security risk combined with the fact Nova's mother ship carries three queens. Odd even for a mother ship.
Still should Winter overcome His shyness or better yet finally find a mate, Then not only will this cause him to focus in any environment but give him something to fight for.
I've never had to do this with my other apprentices and Elder Lance who now oversees Yeager 1 will surely find the new drama entertaining.
Despite the fact that I myself must adapt to a different teaching style, none the less at this rate Winter will be fully cleared in six months time. I've also discovered ways to trigger his soldier mode and am happy to report thanks to new training. That when focused Winter is quite capable of matching me to a stalemate and that is with his armor slowing him down. In soldier mode however, he has the capacity of being just as cold as me if the situation demands it.
His destruction on Serth242 proves this enough. Current training will now focus on Winters ability to operate solo for long periods of time and honing his reflexes followed by leadership training as Elites are meant lead on top of solo ops. In six months time Winter will be granted the title of Elite then the real test begins. End log.
Location: Yeager 1 southern continent Base 11
Elsewhere on the planet, Elder lance was inspecting the recent development and production of the latest ground vehicles. Deployment of warships aside from the Stalker Class corvettes was a rare affair but deployment of ground vehicles was even more so. Three areas were explored and all had pros and cons, tracks allowed for greater armor and firepower at the cost of limited mobility on land. While anti grave had insane speed and mobility but lacked armor, firepower, and redundancy. Lastly legs while slower and more complex, these could sport heavy armor, firepower, ability to cross nearly any obstacle, and could be out fitted with any number of weapons.
The trick however came with the cannons and this worried Lance as the plasma beams on the heavy tanks while potent had a limited range as they could only shoot line of sight. The Council has since decreed that said vehicles will now be used as mobile planetary defense cannons. As such a new heavy tank had to be designed and low and behold Striker did not disappoint.
Thanks to experiments by his son the new heavy tank has a weight of two hundred tons, thankfully the anti grav system reduced the foot print on the dirt from the tracks to a quarter of that. Armed with two 155mm MK-XXV rail guns or macs these weapons could fire projectiles into orbit or across vast distances. Each round had a variable yield of 5-50 megatons of destruction and to increase flexibility the two guns could combine into a single plasma lance. Sporting four plasma machine guns, for anti infantry and VLS for air threats, she made the last heavy tank look light by comparison since the armor and shields were also more advanced.
Mandibles smiling, Lance could now see why these machines put smiles on everyone's faces on Yeager 1. They are truly terrifying and awe inspiring, shame just like our ships and our selves, all ground vehicles have cloaking devices. Then again like the ships they have to decloak in order to fire, at least their main guns. To see the look on a prey's face if only briefly would be worth the price of going in uncloaked.
" Here I thought I was in love with my work, are you going mate with it or make it your pet, Lance?" Striker stated while looking at the two with a twinkle in his eyes
"There was a time I would have reprimanded you Striker but that was long ago, before I was made overseer of this world. Tell me do you have a name for this new death machine and how long before we can transport them in numbers to Yautja prime?" Asked lance, ever since the skirmish with the Ez'is, Yeager 1's production and RnD was increased by nearly twenty five percent and is why the older Reaper class heavies were re-purposed. A dedicated Battleship and carrier variant of the Wolf Class planetary assault ships were also created as a response. Designated Shadow and hawk classes respectively.
"PCT ( Predator Council Tank) 903 Wraith heavy or just Wraith. The first batch of four hundred, will be sent to Yautja prime along with one thousand 904 main tanks, the Wraiths smaller counterpart. Two thousand FAVs ( fast attack vehicles). An impressive number of 915 fighter bombers and lastly five next generation cruisers and destroyers in the now reconstituted First fleet. The next generation of cargo ships are still being built but when completed will have the capacity to carry entire defense platforms, accelerating deployment and reducing vulnerability should Yautja prime or a heavily populated colony world come under attack" Striker listed off
"Sigh... good, now then while we are here I recently received an update from Wolf, not many are suppose to know this but since your his father, I'll tell you. Winter is doing very well to Wolf's training and will be granted Elite status in six months time. However he intends to put Winter too the ultimate test by using your playbook Striker and its one Wolf has never had to use on any of his apprentices before." Lance now gauging Strikers reaction with a critical eye.
Striker thought about this for a moment knowing his playbook was Kima's idea that he just expanded upon. Winter through out his life never new or knows that he was guided very carefully into what he is, at least not to the full extent. He knows about why Kima and I had our friend Death do what he did but that's about it, as such the only logical test for Winter is one he is least comfortable with, females. Winter has been subjected to many tests without him knowing and this would be his biggest one yet.
Elder Lance couldn't help but twitch a little as Striker put the peaces together.
"Which clan will Winter be sent to in order For him to combat his greatest weakness?"
"Nova's, Striker, the excuse being they suffered two KIA and Winter will be sent to fill in for the losses. Only Nova himself and Winters old Friend Scythe will know, with Scythe sending his observations across encrypted channels to Wolf. Wolf will in turn will pass his own notes to me and the Council, since Winter has no clan mark and you are not an Elder it falls to me as overseer of Yeager 1." Elder Lance replied in a tone usually reserved for funerals.
Striker for the first time in many decades looked ready to explode. "Your telling me the meatbag who threatened the security of our race for a hybrid, who has a son who achieved fame for surviving not just impalement by a queen but by a chest burster as well. Will be given the difficult challenge of getting my only son to focus around females and grow a back bone around them?" Strikers anger was now very palpable and every Yautja in range decided to take their leave not wanting to be around if Striker turned the base into a crater.
Elder Lance didn't hesitate. "yes".
With ear splitting roar Striker screamed then immediately drew his plasma casters and began blasting at the Wraith. Once the heat caused the weapons to shut down for cooling, Striker used his wrist blades only for them to shatter then finally the power fist function on his wrist comp. The force generated from the punch didn't leave a mark and instead busted the device. Overall the armor on the Wraith was scorched but undamaged.
"Is there a history between you and Nova, Striker?" Lance inquired
"No there isn't but I know his history, I know his son was coddled into a perfect hunter, how he has his family with him wherever he goes despite knowing it puts them in harms way. Or the fact Nova keeps three queens on his ship as if tempting death itself. I also see favoritism, as that meatbag will put his son above everyone else. Winter will be in an environment, where rumors, females and everyone else will be against him. All that's left is a female he may like and want to pursue a life with and you have a recipe where the only time he will be himself and relax is on missions doing what he does best.
However since there is no female that attracts Winter on that ship then there isn't a proble-," Then it clicked, "The hybrid" Striker now realizes.
"Very astute Striker, even you must admit that Nova's clan is the best proving ground there is for him. Winter is a soldier, Scar and many in the clan are hunters as such Winter represents order while a clan is best described as carefully controlled chaos. If Winter can adapt to that and even find love in the process, then he will have become a true Elite. At least by Wolf's standards, out of twenty or so apprentices he's had, only two have have met his standard as they overcame their weakness." Lance shrugs
Strikers mandibles twitched, his left arm was beginning throb from the impact, yet he couldn't deny the logic in it. If Scar was placed in Winters environment, there is no telling how he would react. In fact Nova's mothership hasn't visited Yeager 1 for quite some time if at all. We're not the only world with shipyards, in fact Yautja prime is where clan motherships are built. Sigh... grabbing his med kit Striker injects a numbing agent into his arm.
"Your right, I really hate to admit it but your right Lance, but for the sake of both Kima and I please promise us Nova won't deliberately try to get Winter killed." Striker pleaded
Elder Lance was shocked, Striker the one who blew up Pandora went from a rage monster to the most caring parent he had ever seen in just a few nano cycles. Despite the sadistic guidance the pair did to their son, its clear, now more then ever why they did it. Because of the Human emotion called love and the fact they only had one son and simply wanted to maximize his survival.
" I can't make any promises Striker, as this is Wolfs operation, however I can send you the messages that will detail his progress. That said, you must not tell anyone, not Death, not Kal, not Zuza, no one but your lifemate about this. Is that clear?" Lance specified in a stern tone, knowing the consequences.
"You have my word Lance, thank you. Now onto the walkers I believe you'll find many improvements in the new generation, they aren't as slow as they use to be." As Striker and Lance continue on with the inspection.
" Alright you unblooded meatbags any questions before we begin preparing you all for your chiva?" Asked Death in one of his classes at base zero.
Dagger speaks" Is it true Wolf has a new apprentice and its someone you trained?"
"Wolf" The room went dark. " Glad you asked young one and I have to say yes, it is true but make no mistake, if I ever see him near my daughter ever again I will personally make his life a living nightmare. I will first lock him into a room and watch with satisfaction as he gradually goes insane from listening to the most annoying sound I can find, Kewi's mating. Then when he has had enough and is about ready to bash his head in, I'll stop. Only for me to introduce a song that is so evil and annoying the humans use it for torturing their own badbloods." Deaths mandibles smiling with a sadistic glint in his eyes.
"Thanks to Dagger here, you all get to be the first to experience it for a quarter cycle as I happen to have the video that goes with this song." Bringing it up on the holographic projector the unblooded could see what appears to be a purple dinosaur with pups around him, it, she. "the video is short so I put it on replay, the doors will be sealed, so there is no escape, I look forward to observing how long you last." Death proceeds to hit play and swiftly exits, locking the doors behind him.
The sounds of a song briefly escaping out the door with him. I love you, you love me, we're a happy family.
So much for being the final chapter, I was half tempted to do the same thing with ten but figured its best to use that in the beginning, After all even I know long chapters can get too boring plus doing perspectives no matter how brief from different groups is fun to write.
Also still learning so if anyone has any input on improvements, just pm me. As it sits hopefully this story will be reedited to perfection. Now if I can just figure out a proper ending, since my original goal was ten chapters. As you can see that has come and gone.
As always, like, review, and share.
Also I present to you mans greatest gift to the galaxy, any ideas on what the poor unbloods are thinking after four to six hours will be added and credited