June 10, 2621
Kjon's Audio Diary Log
It's ironic just how much our visit to Yatja Prime just kept getting so much worse. But you already know how it is, karma's a btch even when you do nothing to deserve it. Then again after every thing I went through just to get to where I was, what should I have expected? Although I never expected that I would have to fight the fcking Drukathi!
The Drukathi are an advanced race of aliens with far superior technology to Oomans and even us Yatja, who conquered and destroyed other alien races they encountered. The Drukathi are also much older and stronger than we are, and to make matters worse they were also very interested with the fcking shadows. Now I should mention that these guys aren't much of a problem for us as they used to be, but in the earlier years of my species civilization, we had fought with these creatures, despite the fact that ,because of reasons previously stated, we were fcking terrified of these guys. Now we Yatja contend with numerous species like them, however, in the case of the Drukathi, they were the closest species that ever came to actually sending our species into extinction. However, with the rise of warriors like the Yatja who went by the name of "Protector," Kalakta, and the more noteworthy Grand Leader, we weren't just able to fight them back, but hunt them like any other species we would. While these brave warriors allowed our kind to fight them back, the true victor against them ,unsurprisingly, were the shadows. While the Drukathi had managed to control them, that control didn't last and once the shadows broke free of the Drukathi's control they overwhelmed them and nearly drove them all to extinction. With their numbers dwindled to a few small groups, the Drukathi were forced to stop their fighting against us and retreat. Since then, very few Yatja have have ever even encountered a Drukathi, and eventually we thought they were all dead. However, my clan had to contest against a group of them many years ago and thankfully a young noble Predator was able to drive them away. My mother was there when it had happened, and she told me the amazing story of how this Yatja fought with the Drukathi warlord, and saved our whole clan from destruction. But now they were back, and they were pissed.
You can imagine what my response was when I heard the Yatja soldier say their name. I didn't know what to do in this scenario. I didn't know how to respond. The only natural response that came to me was to take Jenny and get the hell out. It had been a long time since I'd felt fear like that, and boy oh boy...
Once we made it outside the colosseum I was met with the terrifying sight of the Drukathi as they slayed my clan's military left and right with ease. They were huge, about twelve feet tall in height, and covered head to toe in hair. The Drukathi were like the centaurs of Greek mythology, only their lower half was dog-like in appearance while their upper halves were more Ooman like, but only in shape as their actual form was very alien when compared to the Oomans. Their arms were thin and long, although despite their frail appearence they were very strong. I watched one of them pick up a eight foot tall Yatja soldier effortlessly and throw him like he was a football. Their faces were shaped like that of a Ooman skull that had a thin layer of skin wrapped tightly around it, revealing eight large ghastly fangs on both their upper and lower jaws. They lacked noses, ears, and the defining hair coat that covered the rest of their bodies. Their heads had these massive horned crests on their heads that resembled the horns of a dragon or a demon.
The Drukathi's technology, as I already stated was far more advanced than ours was, and was easily the most terrifying aspect of them. They had these powerful rifles that shot concentrated beams of plasma energy that rendered our buildings to indescribable rubble. They had these swords that had blades that looked like they were made of pure electrical energy. They also had whips that could strap to their gauntlets that were made from the same energy as their swords were that they used to capture and incapacitate Yatja with an electrical discharge. Their gauntlets had multiple chemical canisters in them that shot different types of projectiles depending upon the chemical in the canister, which ranged from a fiery napalm spray, to liquid nitrogen, and even a toxic gas. I saw three Yatja run into this gas as it was being fired at them and choke on it for several seconds until their bodies began to convulse before stiffly falling to the ground. Their golden armor also looked to be superior to ours, as I saw two Predators fire two fully charged plasma shots at this one Drukathi's breast plate, and the armor take the blasts like they were nothing. Their ship was by far their most advanced marvel in their arsenal. It looked like a kaiju-sized armored slug with thrusters underneath it however, it didn't seem to need to use them to stay airborne, as it had this weird, thin, mucousy skin flap that extended all around itself except for the front of it, which moved in this wave like motion. It was also able to fire the same energy blasts the Drukathi's rifles could, by opening small circular mouth-like holes on it's side that were lined with razor sharp teeth that focused the beams energy before something inside discharged the shots. With such powerful technology at their disposal, it's no wonder they were able to conquer so many alien species before they met us.
Now although the Drukathi were stronger and more advanced in their firepower, my kind had the advantage in numbers. This group of Drukathi was small, less than a hundred individuals by my guess. This allowed some of the Yatja soldiers to overpower a few of them and kill them. Although this did very little to quell the invasion as they were easily picked off just the same.
Jenny and I made it back to the room we'd been kept in the night before without getting killed and got our stuff together.
"What are we going to do ,Jon?!" Jenny asked me in a panic as she put her plasma caster on her shoulder. She'd seen the carnage that was going on outside, and was just as scared as I was.
"I don't know, but one thing's for sure, we can't stay here!" I said as I pulled my camo pants back around my waist. I already mentioned before that I was scared shtless, but that's one of the things that I was most afraid of, being scared. When your afraid you tend to act out of pure instinct, you don't think straight, you just do what you do because you're so worried on staying alive that you can't make proper and logical decisions. Not to say I wasn't also worried about my clan and Jenny, I was, they were who I was most worried about, but the shear shock of the situation itself ,that our most ancient and feared enemies had returned to finish what they'd started, it just overwhelmed me. It was an indescribable feeling of horror I hadn't felt since I was just a suckling. "If we can we need to regroup with Ph-rills and the elders! They're our best option right now!" I told Jenny as I strapped my machete, smart disc, wristblade gauntlet, and pulse rifle to me. "Are you ready?!" I asked Jenny.
"No, you?!" She asked as she racked the slide on the 4506 I'd given her. She was decked out head to toe in her armor with the exception of her elongated bio-helmet, but even with all of her stuff strapped, she was still scared. She'd seen first hand what the Drukathi were capable of, as had I.
"No!" I told her truthfully. I was so scared I didn't even put my bio-mask on. "Please be with us guys!" I whispered hopefully as I held Taylor's crucifix tightly in my hand.
"What?!" Jenny asked hearing me speak but not understanding what I'd said over the intense noise happening outside.
"Just praying!" I told her before our room was blown in half right down the center by one of the Drukathi's powerful plasma beams. "Jenny!" I called out for her as I got back to my feet.
"I'm alright ,Jon!" She responded. Luckily she'd been standing at the opposite end of the room just like I had, so she was unharmed. I drew a relieved sigh as I saw that she was okay. I looked outside from where the projectile had blown apart our room to see the massacre that was still going on.
"C'mon!" I screamed for her. She leapt over to me and latched herself to my back like she had before. "Hold tight!" I told her before rushing out into the streets that had become littered with corpses and debris from the surrounding buildings. A Drukathi soldier saw us and went to take a shot with his rifle, but I was able to dodge the plasma beam before it could reach us. This continued on as we blindly ran looking for Ph-rills, all while dodging falling and exploding structures, plasma beams, and chemical sprays from the Drukathi warriors. Eventually we managed to find Ph-rills and what remained of his court, who were all held up in the temple.
"Schaefer! Weyland!" My clan leader regarded us with pleasant surprise. "What happened to you both?! I thought you were among the dead!" He said.
"We got held up!" I replied.
"Who are these guys and why are they attacking?!" Jenny asked Ph-rills.
"They are the Drukathi! Ancient rivals of ours who nearly drove us to extinction, but we managed to push them back. They were eventually decimated by the kiande amedha, and have long since thought to be dead! They are far stronger than we are and they're technology is far more advanced than ours is! I feared they would return for us someday!" Ph-rills explained.
"Wait?! You knew these guys would return?! But you said they were dead?!" Jenny said.
"Thought to be. Our clan had a run in with these guys a little while back, but a young noble Yatja from managed to drive them off." I explained.
"How do you know of this?" One of the elders asked me suspiciously.
"Look, there is no time to explain! What can we do to help you if we can?! I asked Ph-rills.
"We do not need you ,Abomination!" The elder told me.
"Listen to me ,Damn it! We're on your side! Can't you see that! Can't you put aside your hatred for him long enough to see that we have bigger problems right now?!" Jenny exploded on the Yatja.
"The Ooman is correct! We need them." Ph-rills spoke in our favor. "We would be grateful to receive your help ,young Schaefer."
"What's the plan ,chief?" I asked with a hopeful look in my eyes.
Ph-rills proceeded to explain that the clan's mother ship had been destroyed, and that all of our distress signals that had been sent out to the rest of Yatja Prime had not been answered, but thankfully the clan had an emergency escape ship that could carry the clan to one of the neighboring planets, where we'd be able to receive support from the other clans. The clan's military was currently holding them off while others were gathering the young and weak, and evacuating them to the escape ship. Before every thing else could be explained a soldier barged in.
"What do you have to report?!" Ph-rills asked the soldier.
"The Drukathi have destroyed the escape ship sir, along with all of the other emergency vehicles we had available, and our forces are dwindling fast!" The soldier replied.
"What of those onboard the ship?!" Ph-rills asked with a worried look on his face.
"They've been taken captive ,Sir!" That bit of news seemed to set the clan leader at ease. "What shall we do ,Sir?!" The soldier asked Ph-rills. My clan leader was about to respond, when suddenly a plasma beam exploded into the room tearing a massive hole into the wall of the temple, and hitting the soldier in the process, killing him. The explosion sent the rest of us to the ground. I went to see if Jenny and Ph-rills were alright, which they were, however, a piece of the stone wall had gotten in Ph-rills' leg after the explosion.
As Jenny and I went to help him and the rest of the court, I heard two Yatja struggle against a Drukathi soldier. One was a male and the other a female. The male had a smart disc, which he was using to melee the Drukathi's attacks, while the female had a combi-stick. The two were quickly overpowered and decapitated by the Drukathi soldier with a swing from his sword. I then watched as the Drukathi tore into the structure beside him and removed two small sucklings from inside. They looked almost identical to the two Yatja who'd been cut down by the Drukathi soldier. The two Yatja who'd been killed must have been fighting to protect their children.
"Jon! What are you doing we need to go!" Jenny screamed at me, as I watched the Drukathi remove his facial armor and laugh at the two crying sucklings as they struggled helplessly in the soldier's hand.
Time slowed down as I watched the horrifying scene play out, all the while I stood there and thought to myself. "What are you doing ,Jon!" I asked myself. "These are my people! They need me, and I'm just running while their dying to protect their families?! What the fck is wrong with me?! I'm a marine, I risk my life to save other people's lives and I'm just running like a coward!" I told myself mentally as I watched the Drukathi slowly toss them to the ground, as I had my moment of recollection. "They need me! C'mon derelict! Grow a fcking pair and save them." I felt my eyes crease in a hateful frown as I saw the Drukathi continue to laugh evilly as he rose his blade slowly to cut the two weeping sucklings down like their parents.
"Jon?!" I heard Jenny call for me again, before I jumped out of the hole in the wall and ran towards them as fast as I could.
"Hey!" I bellowed catching the Drukathi's attention, distracting him long enough for me to dive at the two crying sucklings. The Drukathi quickly saw what I was doing and went to take a swing with his massive energy sword. Before the blade could reach us though, I managed to grab the kids and roll away from the sword's path and go under the Drukathi's four legs. The Drukathi began to move to catch us, but I quickly kicked an area in his front legs that wasn't covered in armor, around the area the carpus bone should have been, which is a bone in a dogs front leg just above it's foot. I was able to kick it hard enough that the Drukathi gave a shrill scream of pain before falling over, crushing a building beneath it. I took that opportunity to run into an alley with the kids in hand, dodging a few crumbling structures and some plasma beams as I went. I should also mention that I was still weak from my fight with Ph-rills and the elders, but I pushed past the pain I was feeling and got the kids to safety. I found a group of Yatja soldiers held up inside a small house along with a group of other Yatja who were hiding and tending to the wounded. The structure had a basement area that they were able to successfully hide in.
"The Abomination!" A female Yatja called out as I entered. The rest of them looked at me in amazement as I held the two sucklings in my arms.
"Take them, and stay hidden!" I said handing the kids to a Yatja soldier before rushing back outside.
As I scanned the streets, I saw a several female Yatja in white dresses getting whipped and beaten by two Drukathi. I leered at them before giving an enraged bellow. They heard my roar, and saw me charging towards them at full speed. I unsheathed my machete, as I saw them bring their whips up to strike me with them. My blade cut through their whips cleanly, allowing me to continue my push. I leapt up onto one of them and vainly tried striking at his breast plate with my machete. My blade bounced back as I struck it. I saw this energy field warp around the area I'd hit the armor. "It's like a force field. Maybe their armor is generating it, allowing them to absorb the hits." I thought as I dodged one of the Drukathi's long arms as he tried to slap me with it. "But it isn't perfect It can only protect them around the areas of their bodies that are covered in it." I continued to think as I leapt up to the top of the Drukathi's breast plate. "In that case..." I told myself before plunging my machete into the Drukathi's neck causing purple fluid to spray into my face. The enormous alien began to cry a gurgled scream as I force my blade through it's throat. The other Drukathi, a female, tried to help her friend out by swinging what was left of her whip at me. I backflipped off of the Drukathi, allowing the female's whip to wrap around the males throat, before it began to discharge a powerful electric shock. After a few moments of watching the males body spark under the shock, he fell to the ground dead. The female was visibly astonished by this, which intensified as she saw me leap at he face with my machete in both hands, before I drove it through the front of her face killing her instantly.
The female Yatja had seen this amazing display and stood aghast as they watched me remove my blade from the alien's face. I'll admit I was a little impressed myself. I'd just killed two Drukathi on my own without taking a scratch. I gave the same astonished look the women were giving me before I saw another Drukathi barge through the alley, and aim his rifle at me.
"Go!" I bellowed at the female Yatja before I began running myself. I managed to make it a few feet away, before I was blown back by the explosive force of the plasma beams shot, sending me face first into the side of a wall. As I recovered I felt my arms forced to my sides as the Drukathi's whip wrapped itself around me, before expelling a painful electric shock that made me fall to my knees. The Drukathi then ripped me towards him and caught me in his hand before slamming my body to the ground. The Drukathi soldier then swung me into another building causing the whip to release me. Thankfully I broke through a window pane instead of the rock wall, and the building have very comfortable furniture for me to break my fall on, so that didn't hurt as bad. I got my exhausted body up fast enough to avoid a particularly powerful swing from the Drukathi's whip. The whips energy was charged to such a strong level that it tore the side of the structure clean off, despite last time it only shocked me. "It's energy must be regulated on his gauntlet. Not good!" I thought as I narrowly avoided a horizontal swing from the whip.
I leapt onto the top of another building as the Drukathi went to take another vertical strike at me with his whip. The Drukathi then tried to spray me with it's toxic gas. I did the only thing I could to defend myself and clasped my hands over my mouth so I couldn't breath the gas. I was astonished to find that I was still alive. "The gas must only be toxic if breathed in." I continued taking notes. I quickly sheathed my machete and reached for ST, which thankfully hadn't been damaged when I was smashed into the ground. I took a grenade out of my pocket and put it in the grenade launcher which I lobbed into the Drukathi's protected face. I watched as it blew his helmet off and cause him to fall to the ground. The Drukathi then began to choke as he breathed in the gas he'd tried to intoxicate me with, before dying shortly after. "Apparently it's toxic to them too, unless they have their helmets on."
After exiting the toxic mist I gasped for air before continued to help my clan. I continued rescuing members of my clan while also fighting and killing the few Drukathi I was able to. Before long I found myself fighting along side my clan's military. I offered them what information I had found out about their technology, and created effective strategies with them which helped us to save more of our clan, and bring a few of the Drukathi down. This continued for some time, and although my clan was still taking a beating, we were giving as good as what was being given to us.
After incapacitating another Drukathi, we were about to attack another group of Drukathi. Right as we charged to fight we heard a loud crackling sound that arrested both of our attention. Their ship began firing these flares out that sparked like firecrackers as they were dispelled out from the top of the ship. The Drukathi in charge of this group spoke to the rest of his posse in their language, which caused them all to run towards it. My group and I were more than a little confused by this unexpected turn of events.
"What is happening?" A soldier asked as he saw our enemies retreating.
I watched as our enemies fled to the ship which finished firing off it's payload of fireworks, before slowly descending to the ground. "Could we possibly have damaged their ship somehow? Or was this something else, like a signal flare, or maybe even a white flag?" While I had doubts on that last notion, I didn't think it's ship was damaged as I saw no smoke coming out of it, and if we had damaged it I would think it would've fell a lot faster than it did. Perhaps it was a signal.
"Jon!" I heard Jenny call my name as she appeared out of nowhere and ran towards me. She had been with another group of Yatja who were also fighting back against the Drukathi. She had her combi-stick in hand and was covered head to toe in the Drukathi's purple blood. I embraced her gently, but firmly and protectively in my arms. We didn't comfort each other to long as we turned our sights to the Drukathi's ship, which slowly continued it's descent.
"What's going on ,Jon? We were fighting them just like you were, and then they just retreated?" Jenny asked.
"I don't know." I answered her.
"What should we do?" One of my clan's soldiers asked.
I carefully mulled the idea over in my head, before giving my answer. "I'm going to check it out." I said.
"Are you mad Abomination?! What if it is a trap?!" Another one protested.
"I said I was going. You can stay here all you want." I told him.
I felt Jenny clasp my hand in hers, before giving me a stern look telling me she was coming. I thought it over before replying, "Fine, but if this is a trap like he says I want you to get out as fast as possible got it."
"Yes." She shook her head affirmatively.
"Anyone else who want's to come they can." I told the rest of my group. Some from my group and Jenny's followed while some of them stayed behind.
As we approached the biomechanical spacecraft, we met with Ph-rills the elders, and a few other Yatja, who'd been following him. He was limping on his left foot that had the stone shrapnel stuck in it but, judging by the purple covered on him, he'd managed well against the Drukathi himself.
"Schaefer." My clan leader said pleasantly as he saw me.
"Ph-rills." I addressed him respectfully.
"My army, your Ooman friend, and I took courage when we began to see your amazing display of bravery and strength against the Drukathi. I see that you managed to slay many of the barbarians." Ph-rills said noticing the purple on me and Jenny.
"I noticed. I see you had a little bit of action yourself." I replied.
"Indeed. It has been a long time since I've had a hunt like this." He said.
"Have any idea what's going on with them?" I asked.
"Yes, I know exactly what is happening." Ph-rills responded with a frown.
"What's happening?" Jenny asked.
"They have seen our strength and are calling their forces back. They also wish to speak with us. I believe it is me they want."
"How do you know that?" Jenny asked.
"Because I've fought them before." Ph-rills answered. I was a little astonished by that little revelation. My clan leader had been the noble warrior who drive back the Drukathi and preserved our clan from destruction. I didn't express my amazement for to long however. I was still curious about what was up with the Drukathi and while Ph-rills knew what was up I was still cautious. We all followed closely beside Ph-rills as he bravely approached the Drukathi's ship which had gently settled itself down onto the ground, and was now surrounded by the many Drukathi who'd flocked towards it.
After seeing Ph-rills, the Drukathi immediately stood aside to let him approach their ship. They also allowed us to go forward, but stopped us after a certain point. Once Ph-rills was at the ship, it's side began to open. Looking at it you wouldn't have thought it was an entrance. The ships entrance creased open on three sides allowing the inhabitants inside to exit. More Drukathi soldiers stepped out with their weapons in hand. The last two however looked important with their darker armor and their more muscular bodies. One seemed younger than the other and the older one had large gorilla arms, that were much different from the rest of his species, and his left horn had been broken off.
As they approached the younger one held back, to allow the other to meet Ph-rills. This one that must have been their leader. As he stepped up to my clan leader, he spoke to one of his soldiers, probably to ask him something about Ph-rills. The soldier answered and also pointed to us as well. The Drukathi looked at us a little with interest before turning his attention back towards my clan leader who was dwarfed by the size of this massive alien.
"It's been a long time." Ph-rills spoke.
"Yes, it has," The Drukathi warlord said as he removed his helmet to reveal his scarred face, "Ph-rills."