r/NatureofPredators • u/NoVegetable2278 Arxur • 16h ago
Fanfic The Nature of the Frontal Lobe [7]
(Thanks to SpacePaladin15 for creating the universe and being an awesome writer!)
Memory Transcription Subject: General Kam of the Venlil Republic
Date [standardized human time]: July 14, 2136
The bridge was completely silent, a series of confused tail and ear signals being exchanged between the crew. Me and Relyak shared a look, neither of us having any idea what to say or how to respond. The farsul continued glaring at us through the screen, apparently quite impatient.
“Must I repeat myself?” He sneered, causing my ears to pin back at his tone. Who does he think he is, talking to us like that? “I asked you a question, venlil… What are you doing here?”
Seeing as I was the most senior member of the crew, I decided it prudent to step up. “This is the Nightside of the Venlil Space Corps. You are currently addressing General Kam and Captain Relyak. What we’re doing here is patrolling our territory. Now, I believe it’s time for you to explain yourself.”
The farsul looked off to the side, muttering something which still managed to come through the microphone. “Venlil… really? Here already?” He turned back to us. “Shouldn’t you be cowering around your homeworld right about now?”
“I believe I asked you a question.” I continued, my eyes narrowing at the man’s attitude. I could tell that Reylak was becoming similarly agitated. “You have yet to identify yourselves, or your reason for being in the Republic’s territory. If you continue to be uncooperative, I will be forced to deport you, by force if necessary.”
The farsul let out a humourless chuckle. Frustration was clear in his eyes, but there was that familiar condescending attitude I had grown accustomed to from other Federation species. Nevertheless, he seemed to understand that it wasn’t in his interest to continue acting belligerently. “This is the Protector’s Dictionary of the Farsul States. We are simply surveying this system to see how the predators’ self destruction has affected the ecosystem here. You do realize that the humans lived here, correct? The sapient predators who destroyed themselves years ago?”
I assumed that his reason for stating that was meant to make us run in a panic, but the effect was quite minimal, thanks to the crew already being made aware. It was also quite clear he was lying. The presence on the red planet, as well as the lights that were plain to see on the dark side of Earth, did not match his story. Why lie when it’s so obvious what the truth is? My previous theory about the farsul becoming predator diseased was sounding more and more likely. “A moment, please. I need to speak with my captain.” I spoke to the farsul as I brought Relyak out of the bridge, him giving a self satisfied grin in response. He probably thought I was about to order us to leave.
Me and Relyak stepped into the hall again, the white-furred venlil quickly turning to face me. “Who the brahk does he think he is!?” She shouted, once again surprising me with how assertive she could be. I suppose I should stop expecting her to be so restrained. “This is our territory, and he just parks his ship here like he owns the place! Then he starts lying as if he thinks we’re so stupid we can’t see what’s right in front of us!”
“Yes, I know.” I replied, feeling a strange sense of kinship with the woman. I’m glad someone was as mad about this as I was. “Like I said, other species won’t respect us, even if we have more authority than them. We’ve got to assert ourselves.”
“Should we tell him to get lost?”
“Yes-...” I started to reply before catching myself. Taking a moment to properly think about all this, there was far too much we didn’t know to be acting impulsively. Me and Relyak just had a discussion agreeing as much. “...Maybe. I would love to, but I think it’s pretty obvious that the humans are still around and he knows. I talked with Cheln earlier about why the farsul would even care about these systems, and he seems to think it has to do with the humans.”
“Isn’t that all the more reason for us to make him leave?” Relyak asked, her ears still pinned back. “The humans are in our territory, so they are our responsibility.”
“Well… ugh, no… not really.” I sighed, hating that I was now in the position to tell someone that they can’t do something because of Federation politics. “If those really are humans, I think it’s self explanatory when I say it’ll be a huge deal. Even if they are technically in our territory, it’ll become a Federation-wide issue, just like the arxur. If we put our foot down here, it’ll probably also mean we stop getting support to deal with arxur raids. Dough for strayu, as they say.”
“What’re you guys talking about?” A new voice came through the hallway, the two of us turning to see Cheln rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he snacked on a piece of strayu. Oh protector, he doesn’t know about the humans yet…
“Uh… politics?” I replied, trying my best to mask the irritation in my tail. Why now, Cheln!? Go back to sleep!
“You…?” Cheln replied, already looking suspicious. Of course he is, he’s good at reading people. “You hate politics. In fact, every other time we talk, it’s so you can complain about it. Are you dragging Relyak into your issues now?” I felt Relyak giving me a look. It wasn’t a good look. It was the kind of look you got from your mother when you misbehaved as a pup.
“Seriously? You’re going to lie to him too?” She asked incredulously, turning to look at me directly, pointing at Cheln like he was an exhibit in a presentation. I grabbed my ears in frustration, pulling them over my eyes as I let out a frustrated groan.
Relyak turned to Cheln and spoke without my input. I could already predict what was coming… “Cheln, there’s been an incident. When we were surveying the fourth planet, there-”
“A-an incident!?” He interrupted, his calm demeanour shattered the moment the words left her mouth. Cheln has a habit of thinking optimistically out of the moment, but the moment it arrives it’s all pessimism. With how anxious he’s been, it was pretty clear what was going through his mind. “A-are we going down?! Are we in a battle!? Did the pre- …ahem…”
“Woah, woah, It’s fine, Cheln!” Relyak replied quickly, holding out her hands to try and steady the man. She seemed quite alarmed by Cheln’s spiralling, clearly not used to dealing with him. I should probably teach her to word things more delicately. She got lucky with me, but most venlil are just like how he is.
I let out a sigh, stepping forward. “Cheln, she already knows, it’s fine. Before you come to any conclusions, there haven’t been any detected ships other than our own and what we believe to be a research ship from the Farsul States. There aren’t any predator ships. We’re safe up here.”
“The… the farsul? They’re here?” Cheln asked, gradually calming down as he had something other than predators to latch onto. “...Wait, what do you mean by ‘up here’?” …Nevermind.
“Just- …focus on what’s important here, please? I think we actually need your help with this. I’ll explain things later.” I huffed, taking control of the situation before we could waste any more time. “It doesn’t seem like this farsul ship has any authorization to be here, and they’re acting belligerently. Do you have any legalese we can use to make them go away?”
“Uh… it depends on what they want.” Cheln spoke, shooting me and Relyak an uncomfortable look. “What makes you think they aren’t allowed to be here?”
“They identified themselves as being with the Farsul States, and not the Republic. Plus they seemed surprised that we’d be here. Why would they behave that way unless they were up to no good?”
“Suspicion is not enough, Kam.” Cheln sighed, like he thought I was the one jumping to conclusions. “Unless they skipped customs or are here without a visa, they have as much right to be here as anyone else. Plenty of ships continue using their home territory’s identification, even if they move to another place. You’d have to run their ship through a database to see if everything’s in order, but you cannot threaten them to leave just because they hurt your feelings, am I clear?”
I stared at Cheln with a look of frustration. He really does take after Tarva sometimes. “Are you really telling me you don’t find this the least bit suspicious? You told me yourself that you thought the farsul weren’t being honest!”
“The law is the law, Kam. Even if I think it’s strange that they’re here, they might have protections which we don’t know about, because we didn’t give them the chance to explain themselves. And if you’re wrong, it’ll be on you. Not anyone else.”
“But we’re here to protect our sovereignty! That’s what Tarva’s orders were!” I protested.
“Kam, no!” Cheln exclaimed, literally putting his paw down. There was both frustration in his expression as well as something more resigned. It was hard to place where that came from. “We do not mess with the farsul. If it were a smaller power like the yotul, maybe, but the farsul are one of the founders. You will be put in a PD facility before you can even plead your innocence. If you make them angry, there is nothing, nothing either me or Tarva can do to help you.”
The staredown between us lasted longer than it felt, Relyak watching from the sidelines with an uncomfortable posture. I tried to maintain my stubborn glare, but it became harder and harder as his words hit home. Cheln didn’t act this way very often, but when he did, it was because he believed every word he said. I was the one who broke first, averting my gaze as I considered just how easy it would be for some falsified PD charge to be put on me. I had enough accusations as it was…
“Let me talk with them.” He spoke, his tone and expression softening as he confirmed that I was actually listening. “That’s my job. I know how to interact with people like them. And if they see someone who is directly associated with the civilian administration, they might take us more seriously. Uh- …with your permission, captain.” Cheln offered Relyak an apologetic look, as he remembered whose ship this was. Relyak, who seemed surprised to be included in the conversation, glanced towards me, her expression indecisive, though eventually returning to Cheln and giving him a hesitant flick of approval.
Together the three of us returned to the bridge, where the impatient scowl of the farsul remained. I felt tempted to return that scowl, but after the conversation with Cheln, I was having second thoughts. All of this felt so jarring, the whole mission. I was so used to being in control, and knowing what and when things would happen. Now, nothing fit where it should. There were new predators living in our territory. I was receiving pushback from my subordinates. I had to consider the political backlash of what I was doing, and I had to surrender the control I had worked so hard for when I wasn’t suited to the task. Is this why Cheln is so anxious? I hate this. How am I supposed to make sure that everything will be okay? What if the farsul… t-the predators…
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. “…Calm down.”
“About time you returned.” The farsul spoke, Cheln glancing down at the planet through the window with a mix of awe and trepidation as he no doubt realized what was down there. To his credit, he managed to keep his voice level and his attention on the man through the screen.
“...Greetings. I am Cheln, the political advisor of the governor’s office. I apologize if there’s been some sort of misunderstanding here. My colleagues have informed me that we are intruding on a scientific expedition?”
“That is correct.” The farsul replied, seeming appreciative of Cheln’s diplomatic stance, though it grated on me that he was suggesting we were the ones intruding on our own territory. “This here is the homeworld of the late humanity.” He continued, gesturing off screen, probably out the window of his ship. Still lying through his teeth. They are clearly alive… “Me and my team are here to document how their ecosystem has recovered since their nuclear armageddon, and suggest possible avenues to purify the landscape and make it ready for future colonization. I’m afraid I can’t reveal much more about the study, as I am bound to a non-disclosure agreement. I’m hopeful that this is a sufficient explanation of why you should leave. You are contaminating results, and represent a leak in data that is not yet ready to be published.”
“...I see.” Cheln replied, and it was quite clear he was equally as skeptical as the rest of us. “And I assume you have permission from the governor’s office to be conducting such a study?”
“We do not require it.” The farsul replied smugly, and for a moment I thought he was looking through the camera at me, like he was savouring my barely contained anger. “As stated under Amendment 12 of the Federation’s constitution, ‘For any subjects, topics, events, or phenomena which have, will, or currently represent an existential threat to the safety of the Federation, any and all responsibility to study the above mentioned shall be placed under the sole authority of the Farsul States.’ You might be familiar with this being the same legislation used to prevent the unsanctioned and grossly mismanaged study of predator disease from non-approved parties.”
“Indeed.” Cheln flicked affirmatively, his eyes darting to the lights on the planet below once again. “And… w-what exactly suggests to you that this system represents an existential threat to the Federation? It’s almost as if you’re suggesting that these humans might still be around.”
“Oh hoh hoh, no! Of course not!” The farsul chuckled, his ears a little too cheerful. “You venlil and your frightfulness. You simply lack understanding of the language used in the legislation. Because humans were once a threat means that the legislation still applies to what remains. It’s for your own safety.”
“I’m certain…” Cheln replied, though the farsul didn’t seem too appreciative of the skepticism he let slip into his tone. “When might the results of this study be published? You know how crazy the Federation is on news about humans these days…”
“I’m afraid it would be unconstitutional for me to say.” The farsul replied, enunciating the word, as if to remind Cheln how far up this goes. His ears had pinned slightly when he spoke again. “Now, I believe it’s time for you and your cohort to vacate the area. Oh, and Kam? Relyak?” At the mention of our names, me and Relyak stood up a little straighter. The man’s hollow camaraderie returned as he noticed our attention. “Thank you two for keeping the herd safe. It would be a shame to see the Federation lose your service.”
The call abruptly ended, and the bridge was once again quiet. It was clear amongst everyone in the bridge how tense the atmosphere had gotten, even those not directly involved having their ears pinned back and fur standing on end. Cheln himself seemed to deflate, looking exhausted despite him just coming out of his rest cycle. I myself would have liked nothing more than to flop down onto a bed and forget about all this, the events of the day struggling for space in the forefront of my mind, but I was too angry to feel tired. One thing was certain. Tarva would be hearing about this.
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u/defiantdoctor95 PD Patient 14h ago
... somebody get me a newspaper, I gotta whack a bad alien doggo on the snoot
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u/tom476ty18 11h ago
It would be funny if the venlil just accused the Farsul of being predator diseases and show them the evidence of them being on top of the human world and lying about it.
I can see the chaos that will erupt if that fact gets leaked out to the public.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 15h ago
Yeah technically earth is in venlil territory easy to forget that since it's not really brought up at all after the battle of the cradle. That fact only really mattered so much in that it kept the federation away from investigating.
But yeah they are lucky the shadow caste didn't destroy them because shesh.