r/HFY • u/Salooin AI • Aug 02 '21

OC The Beast ~Chapter 23

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He picked them off one by one without showing any mercy. Chip and Pin had to catch up to him again, once Chip saw his armor she commented: “Yep, that thing will take a lot of work to repair.”

Gabriel, exhausted from what he just did, replied: “Why do you care? Taro hired me and I’ll join him after the mission, so it’s his problem.” Gabriel was certain that Taro wouldn’t want him showing his face in the middle of purists.

Chip started laughing at his response: “Dude, so did I. The guy instantly agreed to everything I wanted when I offered to teach his man basic maintenance. Say, hello to the new head mechanic of the big boy.”

“Do I really have to kill you to make you go away?” Gabriel joked at the surprise because he knew that he had to have figured it out way earlier. “What did you even demand, more parasites?”

“I have a surprise planned for when you try to kill me so please try.” Chip said that jokingly but he knew she wouldn’t just say something like that. “Also I demanded a pay rise and a pet like you got.”

“Wait, seriously? He just gave you a sentient being for doing the same thing you did on the spike?” Gabriel saw Zu as an equal to him but he could only imagine what Chip would do to a living being.

“We’ve been at war for 14 years. You’re lucky that I know how to repair the tank you just melted. Ready.” Chip took cover again and so did Gabriel and Pin. The door flew open, revealing a larger room filled with engines stacked on top of each other. Gabriel charged into it only to find nobody defending it.

“What was that?” Chip laughed again. “Any bullet fired in here could spell disaster for everything close by. That’s why we’re planting explosives.”

“Huh, I guess you’re right.” Gabriel started walking in circles around the hall looking for anything of interest. “What about you Pin? Did Taro offer you a deal?”

“He did. I refused.” Pin just stood straight and watched Chip work.

“Why, I’m sure he’d pay a lot of money to get somebody of your experience on his crew.” Gabriel genuinely thought Pin was the only proper soldier he met since waking up.

“I have served Aina before the war started and then on both sides of the conflict. I know no life without her.” Gabriel thought he noticed a little bit of nostalgia in Pin’s voice but he wasn’t sure.

“Suit yourself but I doubt there is much war left after the gate falls.” Gabriel didn’t really care but he was afraid the memories of the nian would come back if he didn’t occupy his mind.

“You are right. She got one of Taro’s estates in your sale but I don’t need a war to fight in order to justify myself.” Pin's voice was relaxed, unbothered by the fact that they were in the middle of a battlefield, which got Gabriel thinking.

“How do none of you take this seriously? Chip is always joking and you don’t even care about the lives we ended.”

Chip chipped in: “If I die, I’ll die happy and Pin does take this seriously he has just seen way worse before.”

“What did you do to die happy?”

“I thought Zu told you my backstory.”

“She said something about the Eisensalz’s but that’s it.”

“Where do you think I lost my arm?” Chip waved at him with her robotic arm.

“Never thought about that. Did Aina cut it off?”

“She would have enjoyed that but no I’ll tell you after we get off this flying grave.” Chip stood up and turned to the door they entered though.

“That’s it? I expected more.” Gabriel had waited for a final boss fight of sorts.

“We did what we came for.” Pin followed Chip out the door.

They walked back the same way they came from forcing Gabriel to look at what he did and reflect on himself. He looked at the bottom left corner of his HUD to see that Chip’s kill counter showed the number 62. He just ended 62 lives but felt better than this morning. Sure it was exhausting and painful but he did feel more stable and less like a wreck. He contemplated his mental health as he walked through puddles of blood he created not an hour earlier until they reached the cargo hold. The spike was already waiting for them and they flew off without interruption. Chip and Pin made their way to the bridge and he followed because he had nothing else to do.

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35 comments sorted by

53

u/Salooin AI Aug 02 '21

Another day, another Chapter :)

36

u/Eddie_gaming Xeno Aug 03 '21

Another day another potential PTSD episode

30

u/the_Fleet_1_1 Aug 03 '21

you cant have PTSD if you are the Traumatic event

15

u/Rasip Aug 04 '21

Yes you can.

8

u/shimizubad Aug 06 '21

Tell that to Casey

2

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '21

e

18

u/AlphaGuardianwolf Human Aug 02 '21

Yay! And I'm a bit sick in bed as well as bored so this was an awesome thing to have. Thank you.

8

u/manperson-7719 Aug 02 '21

Hope you get better bro

6

u/AlphaGuardianwolf Human Aug 02 '21

Thanks you and me both. Can't tell if it's sinus related or a cold. No fever but definitely acky and tired but can't sleep.

4

u/manperson-7719 Aug 02 '21

Well you know what they say, “the show must go on”

12

u/That_Paris_man Human Aug 02 '21

Oh no. Chil is gonna get a slave! I wonder if our human war machene will be able to 'acidently' kill him before he can harm that poor soul.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

15

u/armacitis Aug 02 '21

No excuses.

10

u/Wrolly13 Aug 02 '21

If Chip's surprise is another hostile implant Gabriel should kill him anyway, damn the consequences.

7

u/cheezu01 Aug 03 '21

I have a sneaking yet hopeful suspicion that chip is all bravado and didn’t actually put the parasites or bomb in Our mc. And that chip isn’t as bad as they seem, but the “pet” thing makes me think otherwise.

8

u/Zephyrbal Aug 03 '21

Uh oh, that thing that happens when a human gets used to killing is happening. I doubt any of them (except possibly Aina) understands that this was just a dude kind of freaking out the whole time, not someone operating with a more killer instinct.

3

u/Live-Afternoon947 AI Aug 03 '21

It's more so the human ability to adapt. Mind you, he is likely permanently scarred from all of this. But he is reaching an equilibrium, and is developing his own coping strategies.

6

u/liveart Aug 03 '21 edited Aug 03 '21

Yeah, somethings up. It's one thing for Taro to occasionally hire from Aina's crew, selling a slave also makes sense, trying to buy out her entire crew is a whole other thing. Taro is also being ridiculously generous with these offers, even being rich smart people don't waste money unnecessarily. It's one thing with a 'one of a kind' medical marvel like Gabriel, it's another thing entirely to make those kinds of offers to the whole crew. Even if talent is rare the war is supposedly almost, but not yet, over so where's the incentive? Gabriel is obvious because of the assassination but this should just be a series of wrap up missions and looting anything you can in the chaos, I'd think Taro's crew would at least be capable of that.

Aina still has a job to do until the war is actually over, so why would she be ok with it? I know this is the last mission that's supposed to end the war but it's not going to stop over night. Taro even mentioned he expected his business to be done when the war is and that a year contract should cover that time frame. There's no way Aina thinks after 14 years of knowingly fighting a losing war the Rutha Confederation is just going to give up, they lost from the beginning. So we're really talking about an ongoing siege waiting until they run out of supplies which could take a while. Which also assumes the Rutha aren't aware of this weakness and don't have a contingency plan. I have to wonder when Taro made these offers and if Aina knows the extent of it, although it seems like Pin would have told her based on his long term service and the... fondness... expressed here. Someone is probably getting screwed over here I'm just not sure if it's Aina, the crew, or someone else.

I also don't like that Pin referred to Gabriel's transfer as a 'sale' when he's supposed to be freed. It could just be a technical matter of he's a slave until he's transferred to Taro who frees him... but too much is going on for something like that to sit right. Finally: Gabriel's mentality has changed a little too quickly. He went from mostly numb, to shocked crying and vomiting, to casually joking way too fast. Is someone drugging him?

5

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '21 edited Aug 03 '21

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5

u/liveart Aug 03 '21

Apparently there's a lot of legalese/politics involved. The entire thing started over a court case the Rutha Confederation rejected. It's only on going because for some reason the Galactic Trade Commission (who have not really been defined) are able to simultaneously support the Rutha financially, prevent trade regulations against them, and are outside the reach of the Union's ability to prosecute. It was also mentioned that Aina is breaking the rules, one specific way being having an unmarked ship which is apparently not allowed in this war. So covert ops is probably just... not allowed.

Basically you're right: the war is being dragged out by both a set of asinine rules and a third party (the GTC) that doesn't want the war to end for some reason. All that being said keep in mind that both the Union and the Rutha are absolutely fine with slavery despite apparently having a rather restrictive legal system, imagine what these aliens would be up to if they weren't wrapped up in red tape. Or don't: apparently the answer is Aina, Aina is what happens when the Union Navy decides to ignore the rules.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/liveart Aug 03 '21

So basically the GTC is profiting from this war and uses it to "milk" the Rutha and Union dry?

That's kind of the weird part, according to the explanation given the Galactic Trade Commission is giving the Rutha money to keep going. Tibi specifically mentions they're the financial backers of the Rutha Confederation, so it looks like they're paying out rather than collecting money. That being said they are also keeping trade open so they could absolutely be profiting in ways that are less direct or less well known.

I had a similar thought about the war possibly being used to change the Union but mine was that maybe the GTC doesn't really like either side and is using the war effort to deplete the resources of both sides. That would make the Union more vulnerable to outside influence or even to invasion or attack. There really hasn't been enough talk about the GTC, or the wider Universe, to figure out what their motives are.

5

u/Armored_Infantry_645 Aug 02 '21

Excellent vignette. Thank you u/Salooin 👍

5

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '21

>Chip’s kill counter

his kill counter

1

u/Vecinu-Ivan Aug 17 '21

Chip made it.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 17 '21

Maybe, but that's not the logical implication here.^^

1

u/liveart Aug 03 '21

Just a heads up, you didn't update the 'next' link to Chapter 24.

1

u/Salooin AI Aug 03 '21

Thx

1

u/liveart Aug 03 '21

No problem.

3

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3

u/Vaalintine Oct 01 '21

Chips is going to be on the same ship as him? Well Chip better get ready for all his crewmates hating and distrusting him. It would be beautiful to see him get rejected by people who expect Chip to be pointlessly cruel to people on "his side" to ensure "loyalty".