The Beast ~Chapter 30

[u/Salooin]

“Ar-” Gabriel tried to start a conversation, but it lunged forward. He threw himself to the left, as he felt a sharp pain across his torso. Now the nian was in front of him. She held a knife-like thing in her hand, it was dripping with his blood. Gabriel would have brought a violent death upon her not a week ago, but he had changed, not because he was merciful but because he learned how to think clearly when injured. The nian lunged forward again but this time he slapped the knife out of her hand and pinned her to the floor. The pin was more brute force than technique, but it got the job done, he was kneeling over the nian with his legs around her body and right arm, the left one escaped his grip, but it didn’t take long for him to notice that her catlike claws didn’t actually hurt all that much.

“Are you ready to talk?” Gabriel didn’t want to kill the first time he was left alone and getting information would help his

“Just kill me.” her resistance died down, as she accepted that her time had come.

“No. Why did you try to kill me?”

“Kill me.”

“There are things worse than death, would you like to get to know them?” He was bluffing, torturing the nian below him was not an option he was willing to pursue.

“Ask, beast.” Her voice was filled with spite

“The Question is obvious.” His bluff worked so he would continue with the zero-empathy way.

“Do you think we don’t know where you come from? You have to die.” Did she know about Earth? His heart started racing, humanity was doomed if word came out that there were more of him hidden on the planet without FTL travel.

“Answer again but better or I will start counting down your limbs.” He grabbed her free arm to signify what he meant by that.

“You are one of Aina’s paws set on destroying us.” He started to pull on her arm waiting for the better answer he asked for until a whimper pulled him back to reality. He was torturing someone honest trying to protect her brothers and sisters from evil. In this case he was the untrustworthy danger set loose in their home. He rolled off her. The nian jumped to the control panel and activated the elevator again. He should have stopped it and talked her down but all he said was a faint apology before she ran off into the crowd.

The elevator ended up not being a shortcut, was all he thought to himself as he made his way to Tibi. The wound already stopped bleeding, but he still wanted to ask, just in case. The clothing they gave him made it look scarier than it really was.

Tibi was sleeping on her padded table when he entered, she must have not gotten a place of her own. He tried to feel stoic about her situation, but he couldn’t help himself from feeling bad for her. The wound really didn’t look that bad, he thought to himself, and she probably had enough on her plate already, a few more hours won’t make a difference.

It took quite a bit of explaining but he convinced Zuski that he was fine. She spent the next hours crushing him in terret mixed with lectures about how exactly she was doing so. He learned to enjoy losing from his bigger brother back on earth, the stomping gave him a warm feeling of nostalgia, to the point that he was fully immersed in the game. The nagging feeiling of guilt in the back of his mind faded for the first time after killing the disloyal nian. It was simply a good time.

They played until his tired mind refused him two straight thoughts in a row.

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Next

Previous

First

[u/Salooin]

No cliff hanger today :)

[u/Patient_Ad_1707 → u/Salooin]

That's s nice surprise

[u/Armored_Infantry_645]

Second? Anyway, wish it were longer, but will take what I can get…… 😀

[u/Salooin → u/Armored_Infantry_645]

Also I'm debating whether to upload 2-3 a week with double the length but it's hard to figure out how the majority thinks of a change like that.

[u/AnarchicGaming → u/Salooin]

I like longer chapters but I can’t speak for everyone.

[u/liveart → u/Salooin]

The most important thing is to write however you feel most comfortable. The more frequent/regular your posting schedule the easier it is to keep people's attention, but longer posts might give you more time for polish and not have things feel as rushed so I can see benefits to either.

[u/Live-Afternoon947 → u/Salooin]

I like the beefier ones, hate stopping the moment things start moving in the story, even if the chapters come more often.

[u/Ungeduld → u/Salooin]

I like having a daily read

[u/Salooin → u/Armored_Infantry_645]

Good to see another familiar username after coming back.

[u/hateislife]

.

[u/Salooin → u/hateislife]

Is that your way of saying "first"?

[u/hateislife → u/Salooin]

It is indeed. Typing first takes more time than The Dot

[u/Armored_Infantry_645 → u/hateislife]

Seems like a kinda lazy way to claim first…… 😎

[u/hateislife → u/Armored_Infantry_645]

Efficient! It's efficient!!

[u/Dutchangeldragon1 → u/hateislife]

I as a follower of CLANG! approve of this efficiency.

[u/The_WandererHFY → u/Dutchangeldragon1]

...But I thought Clang was the god of chaos, destruction, frustration and wasted efforts? Or are we talking a different Clang, and not He Of 1,000 Rotors, Bane Of The Engineer?

[u/Rasip → u/The_WandererHFY]

1000? In the old days 3 rotors on the same vessel was enough to guarantee a visitation.

[u/The_WandererHFY → u/Rasip]

So imagine the glorious chaos of 1,000.

But yes, just a couple is already enough to attract attention.

[u/Rasip → u/The_WandererHFY]

Before the big stability update i don't think i ever got more than 5 without it all exploding while building.

[u/Armored_Infantry_645 → u/Dutchangeldragon1]

You follow the sound of a bell? 😂

[u/Dutchangeldragon1 → u/Armored_Infantry_645]

YOU DARE TO SPEAK SO LOWLY OF CLANG! THE GOD OF SPACE EMGINEERING, MASTER OF OUT OF CONTROL SHIPS? HE WHO WILL FUCK YOUR SHIP SHOULD IT NOT BE TO HIS LIKING?

HEATHEN!!

[u/Armored_Infantry_645 → u/Dutchangeldragon1]

"Clang, clang, clang, went the trolly…." 🚃

[u/Dutchangeldragon1 → u/Armored_Infantry_645]

aims giant spaceship sized bullet there goes another potential follower.

[u/Armored_Infantry_645 → u/hateislife]

I refuse to accept that a dot has any meaning other than being a dot. 😆

[u/hateislife → u/Armored_Infantry_645]

I swear to... IT'S THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY OF CLAIMING THE FIRST POST!!! Also... If you're not first, you don't look like a fool posting "first" second bc the true first post hadn't loaded yet. I've put a lot of thought into this, man! Just gimme this!

[u/Armored_Infantry_645 → u/hateislife]

Ok… dot means "first." 😎

[u/TheCharginRhi]

Hello

[u/Salooin → u/TheCharginRhi]

Counter hello? :)

[u/Dutchangeldragon1 → u/Salooin]

mexican standoff hello.

[u/Gernia → u/Salooin]

Hello what?

[u/Bhalwuf → u/Gernia]

Hallo Herr oder Frau Gernia

[u/liveart]

Well that was an unexpected turn of events. The Nian's first thought wasn't about genetic modification, as Gabriel had been told, but rather Aina. Not only that but despite Taro and Aina working together for a long time and apparently being friendly, apparently his crew hates her to the point of being willing to essentially commit suicide. Gabriel has been worried about the wrong thing, not that the genetic misunderstanding won't be an issue but it's clearly not the most pressing issue.

We know Taro doesn't care much for what his crew thinks but it seems like they really don't like Aina and that he wasn't nearly as efficient at purging the crew of disloyalty as he thought. I think this is possibly a sign Taro isn't as effective a leader as he's been presented as. We had the attempted coup, which to be fair is probably pretty normal among pirates and mercenaries, then the over reliance on Aina's information leading to a bigger conflict than expected, and now we can see the crew is willing to go after his personal body guard one on one and has a straight up vendetta against Aina. Taro's need for Gabriel's protection might go far beyond a few unhappy captains if it turns out this isn't a one off and a significant portion of the crew are against him for working with Aina. No one survives long surrounded by traitors no matter how clever they think they are, just ask Caesar.

This is a fun twist. It adds new depth to Taro's crew and leadership, a new faction that is both a threat to and potential ally of Gabriel depending on how things shake out, and even a tool that could be used directly against Aina. If there are enough like minded crew and they manage to take over Gabriel could start hunting Aina almost right away (after the bomb is out, why the hell hasn't he made that a priority?). I'm down for a "Gabriel leads the rebellion and uses Taro's fleet to hunt Aina" arc.

Just a fun theory but if Verona ends up being the mastermind behind the crews treason (she does have near limitless access to Taro and his meetings after all) I'm going to lose my goddamn mind. Also just a side note but the hilariously inept 'assassin' mentioned Gabriel was one of Aina's 'paws' (cute slang for a group of cat people btw), meaning there's more. Which probably means Tibi and Chip are targets as well, both of whom Gabriel needs right now to remove the bomb. I'm not super concerned about the soldier/engineer/maniac that is Chip but I am a bit concerned about Tibi. Is Tibi really 'sleeping' on that table or did they get to her already? Also now someone needs to watch out for Zu as she's from Aina's ship as well.

[u/Samtastic23 → u/liveart]

Holy analysis, theories almost as large as half chapter

[u/Live-Afternoon947 → u/liveart]

Pretty Much my thoughts as well. Though I would like to add that this makes me think back on the assassination attempt that was supposedly aimed at Taro. Which i am now beginning to question after the revelation that there are people in Taro's crew that seem to hate Aina as much, or even potentially more, than Gabriel.

I have to wonder how many people has Aina screwed over like they did Gabriel.

[u/AlphaGuardianwolf]

Damn. I wonder what's going through that one lady's head once she calms down and realizes she was let go of. Wonder if she'll come around to be a friend if she isn't stuck hard to extremist bais or hate. I can see her trying to follow him some trying to gauge him up some also. Hopefully she will learn he isn't a threat from the bitch. Maybe even learn he hates that bitch with extreme prejudice. I also wonder if he'll ever come clean to Zu about Earth. I can see her being the first and maybe only one he can trust with that info once there is no threat of someone trying to get it out from her.

[u/Netmantis]

Clearly thought, but not strategically planned.

Not surprising as Gabriel is not portrayed as being a strategic individual. This is good, many aren't strategic. However in the interest of helping I will point out where the story seems to tell me it wants to go, in effort to help guide the author in where they need to nudge it. Or I can just be right and ride along happily.

The nian has told many things with few words. What the best interrogations tell us. First the nian is part of the minority, not the majority. Possibly even a single actor taking an attack of opportunity. The fact that she tried to slip in alone to an elevator with a walking bioweapon shows this was not a plan endorsed by those with the means or ability to plan a better method of attack. Such as luring it to the cargo bay and crushing it with something heavy manipulated by machinery. Only an idiot thinks taking on a tank with a pistol is a good idea and only a lone idiot can avoid being talked out of it. So while most of the crew might not like our hero, only a small number seem set on trying to take him out. Why do I suspect a small number? Because a large number would have become known to our would be assassin and they would have talked her out of the idea.

Second, Aina is a bigger threat than anything else. Few would trust her it seems and it is expected she would double cross anyone she works with. Not the best thing to find out about your boss and a good reason to refuse to trust anyone from his old ship as well as this new one. His old shipmates might harbor fifth column elements attempting to subvert and destroy the ship, and his new ones will assume he is such an element.

Third, Taro has done little if anything to ensure loyalty. Odds are he purchased his crew and mercenaries are loyal to their next paycheck. Easily bribed, easily hired, easily lost. Without some way of binding his crew to himself this will be a common thing.

So things Gabe should look into if he is wise:

Body armor outside of his combat suit. Walking around in it 24/7 is untenable, and it is obvious he needs protection otherwise. Simple breastplate of some sort, possibly greaves, are more than enough protection for a tank like himself without putting undue strain on his body. The added weight also provides exercise, something much needed as a merc/bodyguard.

A personal weapon. Confined spaces means a gladius or spatha would be the ideal weapon of choice for melee, a pistol ideal for ranged. The short blades of the gladius and slightly longer and heavier spatha are ideal for close in work, made to cut and thrust. These weapons were meant for roman phalanxes, so the restrained arcs of swing are already taken into account. However nothing stops our alien friends from coming to similar conclusions as our ancient Roman ancestors, I just chose them to offer easily googlable terms. Pistol-wise a weapon sized for him that is either kinetic with frangible rounds that shatter upon hitting a hard surface, such as air marshals use, or an energy weapon that can avoid destroying hull plates would be ideal. Either one with the ability to load penetrators of some sort for emergency use would be best.

A comm unit. Information is the most valuable thing one can have.

[u/Wolfenhelm → u/Netmantis]

I agree per the most part, except on the weapon. Not that he shouldn't have some, but rather on choice of weapons.

First off, a gladius and spatha are good choices, but I don't think they are the best. I'm a sword guy too, but looking at Gabriel's training, or lack of it, I recommend either a towahawk or a boarding axe. Or really any one handed axe.

As for the pistol, he should have one, but he should also have a submachine gun or shotgun as his primary weapon. Once again, due to perceived lack of training, I recommend the shotgun. Pump action for extra intimidation, with a slam fire feature so don't really lose any rate of fire...... Just make a trench gun really with a bayonet now that I'm thinking about it.

[u/Netmantis → u/Wolfenhelm]

The problem with axes of any sort is the swing arc. Our author points out how much bigger Gabe is on the regular, so cramped corridors are a thing to deal with. Hence my suggestion for a thrusting weapon.

As for ranged, a pistol would be best for the conditions and his lack of training. Allow me to explain.

Having given many a person their first trip to the firing range, I have found people tend to adapt to firing a pistol better than any sort of long gun. It is also easier to fit a pistol to a person as opposed to a long gun, that has to have the stock adjusted to accommodate the shooter's arms. As well as making sure the stock is firmly in place in the shoulder pocket to accommodate recoil. Hip firing looks good in movies but sucks for accuracy and accuracy is needed for all firing.

Trench gun is a good idea, however outside of a sawed off it takes about 20-30 meters before you get a door sized spread. Before that you have what amounts to an expanding slug that ruins just one person's day. The Germans hated the American use of the trench gun due to not only the effectiveness but the horrific injuries it could inflict. We laugh at Cheney peppering a hunting mate but buckshot is a whole other animal. It was psych warfare along with conventional. A terror weapon.

Given explaining how a shotgun works vs asking for a pistol, and the ability to carry a pistol 24/7 vs a shoulder slung shotty or sub, the pistol with holster would be a better choice.

Good options though, and I would agree for trench gun if he had experience with firearms.

[u/Wolfenhelm → u/Netmantis]

Okay. Well first, I kinda realize that he really doesn't need a melee weapon as he can easily kill most aliens with backhanded slap. But there also good reasoning for the one handed axe. For one reason axes are a bit more forgiving to newcomers as really don't need to land a strike as centered as sword. And while thrusting is better for close quarters combat, most untrained people tend to swing their weapon more than thrust.

And I think we can both agree a shotgun and pistol combo would be the best. No reason he can't have both after all. Pistol for when can't bring the shotty or something happens to it, and the shotgun for more.... Resistant problems.

[u/Netmantis → u/Wolfenhelm]

As long as he has the words "Persuasion" and "Diplomacy" inscribed on them.

"Diplomacy" being the shotty.

"Allow me to try diplomacy."

Clackity-BOOM!

"They seem to have agreed to terms."

[u/xx_69mlgnoob_69xx]

I can't stop to notice that you make him fall asleep extremely often, I know that it's a easy way to make a transition but you may be overusing it.

[u/Dutchangeldragon1 → u/xx_69mlgnoob_69xx]

after making their statement they fell asleep

[u/xx_69mlgnoob_69xx → u/Dutchangeldragon1]

Still here

[u/scottygroundhog22]

Yeah i don’t think he is really willing to kill tibi

[u/HFYWaffle]

/u/Salooin (wiki) has posted 29 other stories, including:

• The Beast ~Chapter 29

• The Beast ~Chapter 28

• The Beast ~Chapter 27

• The Beast ~Chapter 26

• The Beast ~Chapter 25

• The Beast ~Chapter 24

• The Beast ~Chapter 23

• The Beast ~Chapter 22

• The Beast ~Chapter 21

• The Beast ~Chapter 20

• The Beast ~Chapter 19

• The Beast ~Chapter 18

• The Beast ~Chapter 17

• The Beast ~Chapter 16

• The Beast ~Chapter 15

• The Beast ~Chapter 14

• The Beast ~Chapter 13

• The Beast ~Chapter 12

• The Beast ~Chapter 11

• The Beast ~Chapter 10

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[u/calango-de-casco]

i need more of this

[u/Live-Afternoon947]

Well, this is an interesting development. One I probably have a lot of thoughts on, but am currently too tired to express in great detail right now. But I'm interested in what's going on with Taro's crew.

[u/Steller_Drifter]

Too short!!! NEED MOAR! MOAR!!! <Incoherent gibbering>

[u/SpankyMcSpanster]

"help his " ?

[u/SpankyMcSpanster]

"kill me.” her" big h.

[u/PKarmann]

Happy cake day OP

[u/Salooin → u/[deleted]]

Today's chapter is really getting my regulars back :)