T.P.C. Chapter Six
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Nrak'ytara stared into the empty sockets of the berserker's skull, lost in thought over the events that had transpired on the colony. She sat with the others in the shuttle, waiting for the autopilot to bring them to the clan ship.
'Why would a berserker lead bad-bloods? Why did they take Oomans? It just doesn't make sense.'
The sound of laughter brought her away from her thoughts. The Ooman known as Sergeant Trent was telling of their travels and missions. He was describing the last mission they were on. She didn't catch the beginning but she knew he was talking about Kainde amedha.
"We were making our way through the halls," he said. "We knew what those bugs could do to us. We were scared shitless at every gap in the wall and mouse running between our feet. That's when the cap stopped us. We listened in trying to figure out why he stopped." Al'nagara and Hul'tah leaned in to focus on the Ooman's tale. Vor'mekta sat back indignantly as always along with the other Oomans. They sat casually ignoring Trent, obviously having both heard and lived the events. P'kya'uha was sparring with Dah'nagara, there blades clashing together. "That's when we realized; the halls were dead silent. Not one of us moved. It was quiet . . . too quiet."
"BOO!"
Al'nagara jumped in his seat in surprise. He was so engrossed in the story he didn't notice the female Jaz move between them. Every one of the Oomans grabbed their sides in laughter. Al'nagara crossed his arms in annoyance while Hul'tah joined them in their laughter. Nrak'ytara couldn't help but move her mandibles in a Yautja smile.
"What's the matter Al'nagara?" Dah'nagara called out to his brother. "Your senses dulling so much you let a human sneak up on you?"
Al'nagara grunted in further annoyance as the others laughed at his expense. Nrak'ytara's smile left as she turned to reprimand her son. P'kya'uha beat her to it as she swept Dah'nagara's legs out from under him planting a foot firmly on his chest pinning him down. They laughed even harder as the poor hunter struggled fruitlessly to get free. This time the chieftess laughed along with them. P'kya'uha clicked at the human under her foot.
"Don't let your guard down Dah'nagara. You never know when someone will sneak up on you."
At his grunt of annoyance the volume of the laughter seemed to increase. As their mirth quieted down, a beeping alerted them of their destination approaching. Vor'mekta got up and left for the pilot's seat while the others walked towards the wall. Hitting a few buttons on the chieftesses wrist device, the wall opened to reveal a large window showing the expanse of space. After a minute, the Oomans gasped at the sight before them. Nrak'ytara smiled again at seeing her clan ship. The main hull was long and wide resembling a shell. Smaller components of the ship such as the engines hung below its large armored top. All across the sides and front were holes going into the ship were its plasma weapons waited to fire upon anyone foolish enough to target them. The same clan symbol the Yautja proudly bore was carved into the front of the hull, marking it as the home of the Blood Hunter Clan.
"Kjuhte N'ritja," Dah'nagara said to the awed humans. "It means the Dance of the Void."
"It's huge," the private stated, the others nodding in agreement. The chieftess suppressed a chuckle. If she recalled correctly, Kjuhte N'ritja could hold a clan twenty thousand strong. Even with their measly number of 129 members, they were able to run the ship perfectly. It grew in size as the shuttle landed in the bay lining up with the other dozens of shuttles. The bay of the Kjuhte N'ritja was so large; it could hold hundreds of shuttles larger than theirs. Nrak'ytara glanced down to see Na'deha, along with a few other warriors, walk towards the shuttles ramp. She groaned. Why did it always have to be him who greeted her? Muttering a few curses, she and the others made their way down the ramp. Na'deha tilted his head in confusion at the sight of the Oomans following but growled as he saw Samantha. She crossed her arms in response.
"Na'deha."
Ignoring her greeting the Yautja turned to his leader.
"N'yakde, new recruits have arrived."
She smiled. This day was certainly getting interesting. She nodded to him to lead the way. He turned and led them in the direction of one of the other shuttles.
"What's going on?" she heard Joshua ask.
"New members," Dah'nagara answered him. 'You'll find out soon enough that we are not like most clans."
They arrived at another shuttle, this one drawing a crowd. The Yautja parted for their chieftess giving her room to make her way to the center of the crowd. At the center of the crowd were four Yautja. Three were bound and weaponless, while the other was armed to the mandible, all of them baring the same green markings on their bodies. She made her way to the armed one, him nodding in respect. She walked in front of the three bound Yautja examining them carefully.
"Tell me about them."
The warrior gestured to the smallest Yautja that stood in front of her, who kept his head down avoiding her eyes. Whether in fear or shame she could not tell.
"This one abandoned his Chiva. He had ran away and left his hunting brothers to die." The growl in his voice was obvious. Nrak'ytara reached out, the young unblooded recoiling from her hand but let her raise his head to meet his eyes. As she gazed into his green eyes she could indeed see fear, but what she also saw confirmed her suspicions. What she saw was shame.
"Do you have any skills aside from retreat?" He was caught off at the question, the slight laughter from the crowd causing him to almost forget to answer.
"Uh I-I am good with m-maps," he stuttered. She didn't hesitate in her next sentence.
"Your name will be H'dlak. You will work with our navigators, understand?" Again he almost forgot to answer.
"Y-yes, of course! T-thank you N'yakde!" he nodded his head vigorously in relief.
She moved on to another of the bound Yautja. This one was taller and had a haze in his eyes, one that conveyed regret. Unlike the one before, he bore a burn mark on his forehead.
"This one killed two fellow Yautja in a rage. He found another Yautja, one of a higher rank bedding his mate. He killed them both." Thinking for a moment, Nrak'ytara gazed into his empty eyes.
"Your name will be M-di H'chak. You will be with the hunters." Turning to the last Yautja he scoffed at her.
"Is the Lou-dte kalei going to judge me now? Oh what a sad clan this must be to have a female as a leader." The group of Yautja behind her growled but the chieftess's demeanor never changed from her calm state.
"This one," the warrior growled, "stole three kills, seven trophies, and joined two hunts without permission of the hunter."
"That is all I needed to hear," she stated. Before the Yautja could react, her cloak was moved aside and her blades were plunged into his skull. As his body fell to the floor, she sheathed her blades moving her right arm once again under her cloak. She didn't need to think about her decision. While in the other's eyes she saw shame and regret, in his she saw nothing. The other two Yautja were led away from her, the warrior bowing to her and entered the shuttle. She turned back to the Oomans, who were being eyed by the other Yautja. She stood tall before them as they turned to their leader.
"These Oomans are here by my request. Until they leave they will not be harmed, understand?"
The group bowed their heads to their leader. She began to walk away from them.
"Dah'nagara, give them the tour, and then show them to their quarters," she said without looking back. Her son turned to the group with his hands clasped.
"Alright then, follow me."
-0-
"So what was that all about?" Joshua asked his tour guides. P'kya'uha had decided to join them on the tour. She walked ahead of the group of humans alongside Dah'nagara dwarfing him with her towering figure. The smaller hunter looked back at his blood brother.
"New recruits," he said as if it was the most obvious thing.
"I think you'll need to go into more detail," P'kya'uha said while chuckling at the Oomans' confused looks. All of them except for Samantha had confusion painted on their faces.
"As I have said before, we are not like other clans. Due to our small numbers we accept the criminals of other clans into our ranks. Most of our members are from other clans and have violated the honor code in some way. Normally, they would be killed on the spot, but we offer them a second chance. Join us and live."
"What did your leader say to them?" Joshua asked. Dah'nagara looked at him a moment before remembering they did not understand their language. Sometimes it was confusing to be bilingual.
"When a Yautja is banished from his clan, he is stripped of his name and his clan mark is burned off. When they join us, Nrak'ytara gives them new names."
"So," Jaz began, "You're all criminals?"
"Not all of us," P'kya'uha answered her. "Some of us, such as myself, were born into the clan although my father was a criminal. Some of us, like Dah'nagara, were adopted into the clan. Even though we accept violators of the code, we do have limits. We refuse any one who has murdered for sport or those who disrespect the chieftess, as you have already seen. Those Yautja always become bad bloods."
"Those creatures at the colony?" Bill asked.
"Yes," she continued. "We as a clan have made it our duty to destroy all bad bloods. That is why to join our ranks completely; you must hunt and kill a bad blood successfully."
"I killed my first bad blood four seasons ago. Wasn't much of a challenge, but that doesn't mean I don't have his mask on my trophy wall," Dah'nagara chuckled.
"Anyway, we have been hunting bad bloods for the past four hundred seasons, ever since Nrak'ytara rebuilt the clan."
"How long is a season?" Trent asked.
"About one human year," she answered.
"Wait 400 years?! How old is she?" Jaz asked amazed.
"About 500 seasons, why?"
"No reason."
"What do you mean rebuilt the clan?" Joshua asked.
Dah'nagara smirked under his helmet and under her mask; P'kya'uha's mandibles formed the Yautja equivalent.
"Allow us to show you," The human hunter said.
-0-
They led the group along several halls, passing by countless doors and only the occasional Yautja. Eventually, they stopped at a large grand door. Statues of Yautja warriors bigger than P'kya'uha stood at attention by the door. Pushing their way through, the doors opened revealing a very long hall. On their right was a carving of what looked to be Earth, but lacked any smooth curves every detail being jagged and sharp. On their left was a carving of three Yautja warriors standing on a mountain overlooking a valley filled with humans with spears. Dah'nagara turned back to the humans.
"Thousands of seasons ago, three clans discovered a backwater world, filled with intelligent apes capable of using tools and language. The world was Earth and the clans were the Jungle Hunters, the City Hunters, and the Blood Hunters."
He began walking further down the hall. As they continued, it was if watching history play out before them. The carvings depicted battles between Yautja and different humans from history. Samurai, Zulu, Celts, Spartans, Egyptians, Persians, Praetorians, Scots, Knights, Sioux, Aztecs, Conquistadors, Red Coats, Revolutionaries, Navy Seals, and even colonial marines.
"All throughout human advancement, the three clans have hunted humans as the greatest of prey. They have far more ingenuity than Kainde Amedha and have intelligence that rivals a Yautja. The greatest of civilizations, such as the Greeks, Romans, and Celtics were given the highest respect for they often killed our hunters."
As he said the last part, he gestured to a carving of a Spartan holding the head of a Yautja. Joshua noticed another carving of Yautja and humans standing together. The Yautja held their smart disks while the humans held what seemed to be boomerangs.
"What's this one?" he asked. Dah'nagara looked at the carving before answering.
"Some ancient humans we took in as friends, teaching them hunting methods and the like. If I recall correctly, we are still friends with a small tribe in what you know as Australia."
Samantha choked for a second in surprise.
"Australia? How have you managed to go to Australia unnoticed?!" Dah'nagara stared at her for a moment before she realized.
"God Damn cloaking."
"Anyways, now we get to more recent events." The next few carvings showed fighting between Yautja and bigger Yautja.
"Berserkers," P'kya'uha explained. "A large group had gathered their strength trying to retake the glory they once had before being banished from the home world. The Blood Hunter clan took it upon themselves to wipe them out. While they did so, it did not end well for them either."
"The clan had less than twenty members left," Dah'nagara continued for her. "The clan fell apart, until four hundred seasons ago. While on a hunt, Jehdin, Nrak'ytara's sire and former clan chief of the Blood Hunter clan, along with her younger brother, were attacked and killed by bad bloods. In rage, Nrak'ytara wished to hunt them down, but due to her being a female, she was forbidden from doing so."
"What do you mean forbidden from doing so?" Jaz asked with an annoyed voiced.
"In Yautja society, females are forbidden from hunting," P'kya'uha said with an equally annoyed voice.
"Typical."
"Yes well, obviously, she did so anyways. She slaughtered over twenty bad bloods before she found the ones who killed her sire. When she finished with them, there was nothing left to take as a trophy. She returned to the home world in triumph, boasting proudly of her conquests. In return, the high council banished her!" Dah'nagara nearly screamed his last sentence, voice dripping with contempt. He took a breath to calm himself before he continued walking.
The next few carvings showed a female Yautja, obviously Nrak'ytara, fighting through groups of Yautja. It also depicted a ship rising from water with her small form standing on a cliff. P'kya'uha approached the carving as she continued the story.
"When she was banished, she, her brothers, and Na'deha who had chosen to follow her, left the home world in search of purpose. They eventually came across Dha-viath, a planet formerly used as a base of operations by the Blood Hunter Clan. They found the Kjuhte N'ritja at the bottom of the sea. For the next 200 hundred seasons they worked to rebuild the Blood Hunter Clan to its former glory. With the help of the Jungle and City hunters, who remained allies with the clan, they managed to raise the ship, and run it with no more than 100 members."
Going back to the wall, it showed another battle. This one was of the Kjuhte N'ritja fenced in by smaller ships. Next to it showed a small group of Yautja completely surrounded by other, rougher looking Yautja. Dah'nagara continued.
"Roughly 200 hundred seasons ago, a large bad blood clan attacked us. While they were defeated, they killed over half the clan, along with Nrak'ytara's mate, Al'nagara's sire. From that moment, she declared the Blood Hunter Clan would hunt every last bad blood for as long as they exist. This eventually led to the band of murderer killing thieves and deserters that stand before you."
The group of marines was speechless. The amount of information that was just given was difficult to process. They were brought out of their stupor when the female hunter clapped her hands together.
"Now that our history lesson is done, it is time we showed you to your quarters."
They followed the two hunters, going down even more hallways and seeing even less of the alien hunters. Eventually, they arrived to a circular room with doors to the rooms lining the walls. Dah'nagara moved to one of the doors and P'kya'uha moved to the one across from it. Dah'nagara turned to the rest of the humans.
"The rest of these rooms are empty, so decide among yourselves who gets what room. Also, entering an occupied room without permission will most likely get you killed. Get some sleep, we will show you to the great hall when you wake."
With that the group of hunters and soldiers entered their rooms, leaving the halls empty and quiet once again.
Glossary
chiva-trial
H'dlak-Fear
M-di H'chak-No mercy
Kjuhte N'ritja-Dance of the Void
Lou-dte kalei-Derogative term for females meaning child bearer
Jehdin-individual
Dha-viath-disaster
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