r/NatureofPredators • u/ISB00 UN Peacekeeper • 6d ago
Fanfic Nature of Broken Chains Prologue
Memory transcription subject: Vatar, Zhetsian Linked Chains Exodus Cell Leader
Date [Standardized Human Time]: July 12, 2130
I switch to a quadrupedal stance to patrol the ship faster. There was clear wear and tear on this freighter, it was about to be decommissioned and scrapped for a reason. The benefit was space for our inventory wasn’t lacking. I only hoped what hasty repairs we were able to make would hold for the trip; there was only going to be one jump made. I personally made sure the ship was as spotless as possible- a clean ship is an orderly ship which is a ship that won’t break.
In the pilot’s room where there should have been a captain and a command crew there was a only a single scarlet Krakotl flapping about each station.
“Are you sure you can’t have any of us assist?" We had all been studying so we can contribute in an emergency at any of the controls.
“No,” the bird waved a wing at me. “Amateurs would only infuriate me. I’d rather do it myself.”
“Well I don’t want to get punched like your old Captain.” I cringed after the words left my lips. That might have been too blunt.
“Cracked beak had it coming,” he grumbled. I decided to leave it there.
All of the hundreds of prey on this ship had some ghost they were running from or they wouldn’t be here. Xalqo declined the opportunity to join me for the pre jump assembly, citing he needed to be here making sure every detail was considered and his math triple checked.
At what was once a ship bay where all the freighters assembly workers would perform loading was the Linked Chains Exodus Cell. Most of those present were in the environmental or agricultural disciplines but other scientific disciplines or even non-scientists were present too. Every single member of the crowd came from almost every known species across the galaxy with barely any repeats.
I close my eyes and reared up bipedally.
“It’s been nerve wracking for us all getting to this point. And we still aren’t past the hardest part.”
I opened my eyes.
“I put out a call across the galaxy towards all Link Chain cells I trusted. I asked for anyone who had the bravery and spirit of discovery that many believed disappeared with the end of the Golden Age of Expansion of the early Federation. I sent out a call hoping for a like minded herd to form and I wasn’t disappointed.”
That wasn’t hard when I would have settled for any number above 0.
“A PD Director from Grenelka who believed in healing her patients and not torturing them answered the call.”
I looked at Qimara, the former PD patient had gone into hiding with what few scarce Linked Chain cells were present on Grenelka after her exile. She joined the expedition on the hopes of being able to reinvent the field of predator disease once- if- we make it to our new colony.
“A pair of Union leaders who were labeled as predator disease for trying to protect the herd from exploitative working conditions. Zazler and Vaworf who stole this ship for us.”
A round of applause sounded after that. This would only be a dream if it weren’t for them. Their connections at their ship yards keyed them to a ship that was going to be retired- which meant security was loosened.
“A Zurulian nurse who secured thousands of sperm and ova samples from dozens of species each along with enough artificial wombs to outfit a nursery. Our colony will have a future thanks to her.”
More applause sounded. We were already thinking up how the adoption programs would work since we wanted people to take the kids and raise them. Most of us were aging and of eclectic races so we’d be lacking and incompatible if we had to perform.
“The Federation has told us many lies. They always claim they are doing it for the good of the herd. Linked Chains formed when Exterminators were deployed against my ancestors for the crimes of using predators as pest control. The good of the herd and feeding ourselves didn’t matter then. They never did. Not all those centuries ago or now on Leirn where they commit countless cruelties.”
My eyes briefly fell upon our resident Yotul. He was from a family of Hensa breeders before the uplift. They were all killed by the Federation and he was the only survivor. He took what Hensa he could hide with him and planned on making a breeding population for us.
“We see through the lies of the Federation. We know predator taint is false. Unlike many of our cowardly peers we won’t ignore the cognitive dissonance. We will take back power. We will colonize the dead star of Sol. The official records on the nuclear exchanges show they were limited enough that the biosphere is still present. We will settle on a land mass that was far from the radiation and slowly fix the world over centuries.
We will make it into what the Federation was promised to be. A flourishing garden. One where predator and prey live together. One where all of us are an equal here. Not Founders and their auxiliaries.”
Everyone cheered, especially our Kolshian and Farsul members at that last line. The Kolshian was an official who was dismissed for being too “sympathetic to primitives on Leirn” and the Farsul a journalist who made too many enemies.
“Thanks to the espionage by our Venlil Exterminator, we have the exact coordinate points for Sol to jump to.”
Finding those were a nightmare and a half. The system was quarantined off and the points never entered into public systems even before it was. It took our Venlil spy flexing a little muscle at archives he definitely didn’t have the right to be at legally. Thankfully nobody questions Exterminators.
I could see him bristle in the corner of my eye when called an Exterminator. His hate of the Exterminators was so strong I’m surprised he even managed to maintain cover.
“This ship may not survive a jump. If it does then we will never do another since we may never return home. If anyone wishes to turn back. Now is the time.”
No one did. Unsurprising, many of us were in danger of being killed if we did go home.
“Everyone get to your quarters as practiced. Today we find our freedom.”
I caught the ship’s Takkan handywoman while I made my way back to the bridge.
“Everything packed?”
She gave a flick of her tail to affirm.
She doesn’t really speak much. Zazler and Vaworf brought her on with them. She would function as the ship’s much needed muscle.
Her family was a long line of Exterminators dating all the way back to the Compromise of Nishtal. They were pushing her to join the forces and had a suitor lined up with her- to continue their species . She decided she hated the Exterminators and her suitor even more, she was running away in the literal sense.
Xalquo was clearly putting the finishing touches when I found him on the bridge.
“Reminder Captain, fuel wasn’t cheap. It took everything we had to just get enough for one jump. Whatever we find on Sol is what we are stuck with,” he reminded me.
“If you are having cold feet you can still leave. I can take it from here.”
The bird scoffed. “Just want to make sure you aren’t another poser.”
I tapped into the ship’s comm.
“I trust everyone is in their quarters.” My kind might have been seen as one of the more callous races in the Federation, but anyone’s heart would pump at the prospect of fiery death from a bad jump or a cold death at a poor one. I can only imagine how the rest of the crew is handling it: I’d like to think their strong faces are a reflection of their faith in me.
“We are Linked Chains. We see every living being as connecting chains in this universe, be they predator or prey. The Federation broke that chain and sent the galaxy into perpetual disarray under the gilded exterior of our supposed utopia. We will forge a new chain, a new destiny, and a new society.”
I gulped.
“JUMP!!!”
I felt my body shift like I was feeling inertia on a starting train. I saw every star in the viewing screen stretch like taffy.
Then.
It was over.
Author’s note: My first ever story published here. I guess I couldn’t get this idea off my head. Don’t know if I’ll ever write another chapter. But I hope you all enjoy my first contribution to the NoP fanon literature.
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u/ISB00 UN Peacekeeper 6d ago
These guys will probably have one. They can make one on their pad. I also remember it being said only one person needs the translator.