Post by Cetanu on Aug 15, 2008 14:24:31 GMT 1
I can't believe I forgot to post this here....it's a short story I'm writing. Feel free to give me feedback...hatemail.....er...lovemail
?_? Okay? Happy reading.
Ju’a sat in his quarter, polishing his dah’kte. The small pod ship was descending in the Ooman planet atmosphere. He was fully equipped, the Kehrite had been fogged with his musk, and his mind was set. He was as ready as a Yautja hunter could be.
The twin, metallic blades glistened in the dull light of his room.
And then-
The small display screen lit up with the word: REPORT: Report. He sprang off of his cot and took a final glance at his room. On the wall were two of his most prized possessions: the skull of Kainde Amedha and his father’s mask. The mask he wore while Ju’a watched the Queen Kainde Amedha disembowel him and allow her brood to feast on the corpse. It was his only remnant.
Without remorse, Ju’a ran out of his room, ki’cti-pa clanking against the shoulder burner’s energy pack. Soon, very soon, his ship would land on the Ooman planet. But this was no ordinary Hunt. Ju’a’s clan was all about challenge, discipline, honor, so this trip was for one thing: challenge. They would enter a frozen part of the planet and fight Oomans.
He was so impatient, so ready, or so he thought…
The ship was rocketing downward; bumps rattled Ju’a every inch of the way. Hopefully his Elder, Gri’yinde would be ready for the second-hardest Hunt of their lives. The cabin certainly smelled of Blooded musk. Even with only three Yautja there, it smelled like an army.
Ju’a clicked anxiously and stared out the largest window. The planet’s surface was increasing in height and breadth quickly. It’s colors formed a cacophony of greens, blues, and whites, all of which Ju’a’s mask sorted into hot, cool, radioactive, and polluted. But Ju’a closed his eyes to steady himself. Mere seconds later, the pod landed in the middle of Canadian wilderness. Unbeknownst to all Oomans around, there was a new hunter.
Ju’a stretched graciously and clicked to Gri’yinde.
“The Oomans, are there many here?” Gri’yinde stopped fooling with a crooked piece of awu’asa and looked at Ju’a.
“Not from the scans, there aren’t. But surely any Ooman in this threatening wilderness must be a formidable opponent, no matter how few.” Ju’a took the response and decided to turn on his heating system.
It wasn’t long before electro-generated heat wormed threw the mesh he wore all over. It would be short before they left, but Ju’a took the time to make sure none of his gear malfunctioned.
It was short-lived, his checkup. Gri’yinde got them together and discussed what they were there to do and what not to do.
“May Cetanu guide us. We will stay for a day on this planet. We need merely one skull to prove that we braved these conditions. I don’t think it will be as difficult as your Blooding Hunt, but it will be close. If one should fall, may the Black Warrior treat them kindly. Don’t try and stop the inevitable,” Gri’yinde finished with a roar that emitted honor, wisdom, and restlessness. Ju’a and his other companion, Jehdin, roared consecutively and then the three cloaked themselves and ran into the frozen forest.
Rocks, snow, and trees were the only things visible. Trees and snow were more abundant, however.
Ju’a leapt from one smooth branch to another with expert skill and then swung down to the next-lowest level. He had spotted an Ooman vehicle. It was just for transportation, according to the scan, which found no weapons.
The other two had seen it too. Gri’yinde clicked a precautious warning. It meant that the Ooman was unarmed and, therefore, unworthy of trophy taking. Ju’a looked around, perhaps he could score first kill.
Indeed, there were other Oomans. It looked like a caravan of transportation-only vehicles. He could see the heat signatures from the Oomans inside, but they weren’t very helpful.
Ju’a called to Gri’yinde. “Perhaps we can follow them to a settlement!” Gri’yinde, on his perch meters away, responded with a terse nod and then relayed the message to Jehdin. The three Yautja jumped from tree to tree with unmatched stealth. They were almost invisible and the Oomans were unsuspecting. It looked like a good Hunt was arising…
Ju’a was perched nine or ten meters above the snowy ground. Chilly wind barely penetrated the heat that the mesh provided. He clicked anxiously.
The Oomans didn’t lead them to a settlement. They stopped in the middle of the wilderness. Numerous vehicles and two Oomans to each vehicle. And even better: every Ooman was armed.
The scans said that the weapons could do mild damage that, if taken in vast amounts, could lead to death. But the Oomans talked amongst themselves, unaware of the silent hunters that stalked them. Ju’a recorded the Oomans talking, just in case he needed it. He only recorded to things: A grumbling noise that could have been laughter or yelling, and the phrase: “I’d rather run through a meth lab while on fire.” Ju’a also recorded, “When Hell freezes over, Hatchfield.” He had no idea what the significance of each saying was, but he needed the mimicry, he knew he would.
Ju’a recognized the crack of a weapon being fired. He’d heard other Oomans do it. He crouched and looked around. The Oomans were silent and one was holding a weapon in the air. A silencing shot?
Ju’a watched as the Oomans moved into two groups and then set off in different ways. He would have and could have struck, if he felt the need to attract all of their attention. Ju’a was not that careless or suicidal.
He turned to Gri’yinde, who was now on his branch. “We split up. Return to the ship when you’re satisfied.” With that, Gri’yinde jumped down to the ground and landed with a heavy thud that sent the powdery snow flying upward. But it was no matter: the Elder was gone too quick.
Ju’a hadn’t seen Jehdin go, but he figured that he was alone now. The Ooman possessions were far, he jumped down and ran on foot to catch up quickly. It was not simple, evading the Oomans, even though they were far. He had to run off the path and keep an eye on them.
His thick, black “dreadlocks” bounced as he sprinted. His awu’asa clanked and his weapons did too. His feet were chilled, but not unbearable and his mask was constantly switching vision modes to check for all sorts of things.
Ju’a was ready for honor beyond honor.
PART 2
The Ooman group was making raucous noises. They walked at an easily manageable pace. Ju’a had only once been put on edge when one Ooman fired a weapon at an animal. Ju’a leapt into a nearby tree for assured safety and realized that this was a hunting party. Not too unlike his.
Ju’a watched as three Oomans kicked the half-living animal and then fired a shot into the skull.
What a shame, Ju’a thought. The cruel Oomans took no pride in their kill, there was no honor.
And Ju’a smiled inwardly as the three Oomans lifted the animal out of the bloody snow and teetered past his perch. They were alone. The rest of the party continued without them; they walked back toward the vehicles.
Ju’a cloaked himself and crawled along a branch.
He froze.
“Hey, Joel, d’you hear that?” An Ooman voice was analyzed and found to be cautious in tone. Ju’a’s nerves were taut and his musk dissipated in the air. The Oomans heard something.
“Just an animal. Come on, I wanta get this deer back to the truck and get me some more!” Luckily for Ju’a, the scans indicated a relaxed tone.
He wasted no time, the Oomans were almost out of his leaping range. So he jumped straight down like a pod would fall to the planet below. Snow was kicked up and thrown outward in a ring. The Oomans dropped the corpse and toted their weapons directly at Ju’a.
He switched visions to the Infrared spectrum and then extended his dah’kte and ki’cti-pa. The Oomans fired their weapons.
Ju’a rolled to the left, flipped forward, and then jumped over the three Oomans. His unparalleled speed left the three perplexed.
They each turned slowly, tremulously. The closest dropped his weapon and cowered. Ju’a brought his knee up and smashed the Ooman’s face. Then he swiped his dah’kte, which left two jagged tears in the prey’s face.
But then the others screamed, fired.
Ju’a ducked, doing little due to his shoulder width and height, but the spasmodic hunters missed, nonetheless. He then proceeded with his ruthless slaughter of the prey. The last hunters were now on both sides of him.
Ju’a made sure to stay unharmed. He twirled his ki’cti-pa in expert fashion and then adeptly brought it around him in a full circle. One Ooman grabbed his gut, blood seeped through his fingers and then he fell into the powdery, white snow, which was now slowly converting to red.
The other Ooman was luckier. Only his leg had been scathed. Unlike Yautja, he was on his back, waving at Ju’a in a universal motion that meant: “Stop! No! No more!” But Ju’a wasn’t merciful. The Ooman was cruel and brought its fate upon itself. Ju’a was happy to grip the Ooman’s head and slowly, precisely, cut off slice its neck open.
The next few minutes were glorious ones. Ju’a had found himself a perch in a tree and then began to skin his victims, take their skulls and spines, and then hang them up. It was a simple, yet precarious process. Even for the best Elder Yautja it would be precarious.
Ju’a first took the spinal columns and skulls. Then he groped his belt for the small epidermal remover. He opened the compact device and slowly moved it just beneath the skin. For three corpses, it took Ju’a what seemed like an eternity to remove all flesh.
The sanguinary leftovers diffused throughout the snow. The final Ooman was strung into up into the tree, Ju’a made perfectly sure to cut out the spinal column and skull and hang them onto his hunting mesh.
For fear of being spotted, he did not roar the roar he deserved. He did not proclaim his honor: the honor of killing three Oomans in this frozen death-land. Instead, he saved it inside and savored the feeling, waiting to express it during one of his many Hunt-speaks.
Ju’a climbed down, placing each foot carefully, and away from the tree. He was ready to add on some honor to his already growing ego. Little did Ju’a know, though he had killed three, egotism wasn’t an honorable treat and the gods above would see to it that he would be humbled.
High above the Oomans’ home planet, the Elders, Young Bloods, Unblooded, and Technicians orbited in their mothership. They watched each Yautja below and waited for them to send out signals of distress or, maybe, satisfaction.
This Hunt was realistically a trial set in place by the reigning Elders of the clan: T’vor-kdi, M-kyim, and the oldest, Hy’urik-da. They were curious how deadly this planet really was. Would Kainde Amedha flourish on this Ooman home planet? Surely that would take away the option of hunting Ooman and, though that was incredibly bad, give them a planet filled to the brim with Kainde Amedha. Many of the matrons could be hunted down for honor, it would be a planet that could be hunting ground at any beckoning call.
Lij’uka walked down one of the ship’s many, long corridors. It was more of a running stride. The Elders would be pleased to hear about this. One of the Blooded warriors, Ju’a, had sent in transmissions and active weaponry feeds.
The door was already open, semi-arched and oval-shaped. Lij’uka stepped in and was instantly met by the hard, piercing gazes of the three Elders. The noble ones.
“Lij’uka, have we gotten any information of the hunters?” M-kyim asked immediately. As if he didn’t know. The three Elders had constant reports of everything on the ship. They already had the holographic displays of the Ooman planet open before them. Surely they were monitoring the small hunting procession. Lij’uka was forced to do this because he wasn’t chosen to hunt. No, the warrior Jehdin had beaten him in a sparring match. Beaten him by a lot, although it was disgraceful to say so.
“Yes, M-kyim. We have received an animated signal from Ju’a and also a full weaponry and equipment evaluation.” Lij’uka stared into their eyes. Some would take it as a challenge, but not in this clan.
The Elders motioned for Lij’uka to approach and he did. He walked to their monitors and expertly drew his talons across strips and tapped keys. Soon, an opaque image was placed in the air in front of the Elders. It was Ju’a as he massacred three pitiful Oomans. The video kept going until Ju’a spoke while hanging the flayed corpses.
“This planet is fine for hunting. This frozen death-land is horrible; I wouldn’t come back here unless it was for recreational hunting of a Kainde Amedha matron. I find the Oomans on their planet are ignorant and dishonorable and easier to kill, though they are surely stronger in some regions. Perhaps I will kill a few more and find my comrades.” The video broke off, rather, Ju’a shut it off.
Next, Hy’urik-da spoke his sagacious words. “Well, Ju’a, excellent. That’s what we plan on using this planet for. Lij’uka, bring up the weapons and equipment report.” Lij’uka did as he was told, tapping more keys and moving his fingers along more strips. The screen was replaced by a circular diagram of everything the hunters had used.
“It seems,” T’vor-kdi began, scrolling through the images. “That they’ve mainly used ki’cti-pa, none have used shoulder burners. Ju’a is the only one to use the epidermal removal device and the only one to use dah’kte. Reports indicate that Ju’a, while they all used ki’cti-pa, is the only one to take combative action…” A beeping sound echoed in the chamber.
Lij’uka looked at a smaller screen. “Incoming equipment tally from Jehdin.” He instantly pulled up a new diagram.
“It looks as though our other warrior, the young blood Jehdin, has used his medical devices.” T’vor-kdi announced, though it was there for everyone to see.
M-kyim continued, “He is the only one. I wonder how bad his injuries are.”
The room fell silent as the four Yautja were all looking up things on the monitors. But then, Hy’urik-da broke the silence. “Lij’uka, prepare the canister for deployment.”
“Yes, Elder.” Lij’uka walked away from the room and onto the next. The secure hatchery…
Ju’a hadn’t seen any other Yautja or any other Oomans, for that matter. He’d heard gunfire, probably more dishonorable hunting.
But then he heard it. The faint growl, then Yautja clicks, gibberish really. Then a roar. He traced the noise with a Doppler analyzer and found the origin to be quite far away. His mask had amplified the noise tenfold.
It didn’t take long. The snow was a minor hindrance, the ice was avoidable. The tress weren’t dense at all, making it simple to run between them. Ju’a knew that he heard a distressed Yautja, knew that it probably wasn’t Gri’yinde. What he found, agreed with his instincts.
Jehdin was lying in a pool of phosphorescent blood. His medical kit lay scattered about, the materials used. Ju’a ran to Jehdin’s side, kneeled down. He pulled out his medical kit and began to unpack cauterizing materials. He broken branches off of a downed tree and threw them into the mixture, turned on the flame, and then was left with a glowing blue gel.
Ju’a and Jehdin spread the mixture onto the many holes that dotted Jehdin’s torso and abdomen. Though he wore armor, he was always short of the large chest guard.
“How did the Oomans do this to you?” Ju’a kept spreading the gel; Jehdin grumbled with every placement. The wounds began to stop bleeding.
“I was perched, waiting. When…” He grumbled louder as the gel was moved over top of a larger hole. “When I jumped down, the Oomans were waiting for me. I cloaked, but they fired anyway. Their frenetic aiming didn’t allow them to get a good shot but they hit me, nonetheless.” Ju’a nodded and stood up, put the materials of his kit away, and then put Jehdin’s material away. Jehdin looked around and removed his mask, stretching his mandibles. Ju’a situated the medical kit next to Jehdin and turned around.
“Fire! Kill the s.o.b.!” The Ooman yelled. Ju’a instinctively reacted by turning on the cloak and jumping into the leafless branches of a tree. He felt a hot object penetrate his thigh, the pain was bearable. He heard a lot more shots than he felt. Then he heard a faint beep within the fray. He knew that sound, he knew it well. He was intent on getting away that area.
The heavy needles of the trees were swished away as Ju’a jumped, leaped, bounded from branch to branch. His jumps were longer than he though he could ever jumped. But then-
He was thrown, he didn’t jump. He flew forward into a tree’s trunk, smashing his head and falling into a mound of snow. It covered him but melted slowly from the heat that coursed through his mesh.
Foolish Jehdin, Ju’a thought. This was a Hunt with your brethren! You don’t put their lives at risk! Surely honor comes after the honor of your brothers in clans.
Ju’a couldn’t comprehend Jehdin’s thought process before he activated the wrist gauntlet bomb. The nuclear device used for honorable death. All he knew was that their position was just given away to every Ooman in this area and he needed to find Gri’yinde.
PART 3
The small, domed canister rocketed down to the Ooman planet. It looked like a shooting star, but it was secretly a deadly plague that would befall every Ooman. What looked like an innocent streak would cause so much chaos. Make a wish upon a shooting star….
Ju’a ran around charred trees, just trees that were caught on the outskirts. Far from the blast.
[glow=green,2,300]More is coming, what do you think so far? I need feedback!![/glow]
?_? Okay? Happy reading.
Predator: Frozen Death
Short Story by Zach W________
Short Story by Zach W________
Ju’a sat in his quarter, polishing his dah’kte. The small pod ship was descending in the Ooman planet atmosphere. He was fully equipped, the Kehrite had been fogged with his musk, and his mind was set. He was as ready as a Yautja hunter could be.
The twin, metallic blades glistened in the dull light of his room.
And then-
The small display screen lit up with the word: REPORT: Report. He sprang off of his cot and took a final glance at his room. On the wall were two of his most prized possessions: the skull of Kainde Amedha and his father’s mask. The mask he wore while Ju’a watched the Queen Kainde Amedha disembowel him and allow her brood to feast on the corpse. It was his only remnant.
Without remorse, Ju’a ran out of his room, ki’cti-pa clanking against the shoulder burner’s energy pack. Soon, very soon, his ship would land on the Ooman planet. But this was no ordinary Hunt. Ju’a’s clan was all about challenge, discipline, honor, so this trip was for one thing: challenge. They would enter a frozen part of the planet and fight Oomans.
He was so impatient, so ready, or so he thought…
The ship was rocketing downward; bumps rattled Ju’a every inch of the way. Hopefully his Elder, Gri’yinde would be ready for the second-hardest Hunt of their lives. The cabin certainly smelled of Blooded musk. Even with only three Yautja there, it smelled like an army.
Ju’a clicked anxiously and stared out the largest window. The planet’s surface was increasing in height and breadth quickly. It’s colors formed a cacophony of greens, blues, and whites, all of which Ju’a’s mask sorted into hot, cool, radioactive, and polluted. But Ju’a closed his eyes to steady himself. Mere seconds later, the pod landed in the middle of Canadian wilderness. Unbeknownst to all Oomans around, there was a new hunter.
Ju’a stretched graciously and clicked to Gri’yinde.
“The Oomans, are there many here?” Gri’yinde stopped fooling with a crooked piece of awu’asa and looked at Ju’a.
“Not from the scans, there aren’t. But surely any Ooman in this threatening wilderness must be a formidable opponent, no matter how few.” Ju’a took the response and decided to turn on his heating system.
It wasn’t long before electro-generated heat wormed threw the mesh he wore all over. It would be short before they left, but Ju’a took the time to make sure none of his gear malfunctioned.
It was short-lived, his checkup. Gri’yinde got them together and discussed what they were there to do and what not to do.
“May Cetanu guide us. We will stay for a day on this planet. We need merely one skull to prove that we braved these conditions. I don’t think it will be as difficult as your Blooding Hunt, but it will be close. If one should fall, may the Black Warrior treat them kindly. Don’t try and stop the inevitable,” Gri’yinde finished with a roar that emitted honor, wisdom, and restlessness. Ju’a and his other companion, Jehdin, roared consecutively and then the three cloaked themselves and ran into the frozen forest.
Rocks, snow, and trees were the only things visible. Trees and snow were more abundant, however.
Ju’a leapt from one smooth branch to another with expert skill and then swung down to the next-lowest level. He had spotted an Ooman vehicle. It was just for transportation, according to the scan, which found no weapons.
The other two had seen it too. Gri’yinde clicked a precautious warning. It meant that the Ooman was unarmed and, therefore, unworthy of trophy taking. Ju’a looked around, perhaps he could score first kill.
Indeed, there were other Oomans. It looked like a caravan of transportation-only vehicles. He could see the heat signatures from the Oomans inside, but they weren’t very helpful.
Ju’a called to Gri’yinde. “Perhaps we can follow them to a settlement!” Gri’yinde, on his perch meters away, responded with a terse nod and then relayed the message to Jehdin. The three Yautja jumped from tree to tree with unmatched stealth. They were almost invisible and the Oomans were unsuspecting. It looked like a good Hunt was arising…
Ju’a was perched nine or ten meters above the snowy ground. Chilly wind barely penetrated the heat that the mesh provided. He clicked anxiously.
The Oomans didn’t lead them to a settlement. They stopped in the middle of the wilderness. Numerous vehicles and two Oomans to each vehicle. And even better: every Ooman was armed.
The scans said that the weapons could do mild damage that, if taken in vast amounts, could lead to death. But the Oomans talked amongst themselves, unaware of the silent hunters that stalked them. Ju’a recorded the Oomans talking, just in case he needed it. He only recorded to things: A grumbling noise that could have been laughter or yelling, and the phrase: “I’d rather run through a meth lab while on fire.” Ju’a also recorded, “When Hell freezes over, Hatchfield.” He had no idea what the significance of each saying was, but he needed the mimicry, he knew he would.
Ju’a recognized the crack of a weapon being fired. He’d heard other Oomans do it. He crouched and looked around. The Oomans were silent and one was holding a weapon in the air. A silencing shot?
Ju’a watched as the Oomans moved into two groups and then set off in different ways. He would have and could have struck, if he felt the need to attract all of their attention. Ju’a was not that careless or suicidal.
He turned to Gri’yinde, who was now on his branch. “We split up. Return to the ship when you’re satisfied.” With that, Gri’yinde jumped down to the ground and landed with a heavy thud that sent the powdery snow flying upward. But it was no matter: the Elder was gone too quick.
Ju’a hadn’t seen Jehdin go, but he figured that he was alone now. The Ooman possessions were far, he jumped down and ran on foot to catch up quickly. It was not simple, evading the Oomans, even though they were far. He had to run off the path and keep an eye on them.
His thick, black “dreadlocks” bounced as he sprinted. His awu’asa clanked and his weapons did too. His feet were chilled, but not unbearable and his mask was constantly switching vision modes to check for all sorts of things.
Ju’a was ready for honor beyond honor.
PART 2
The Ooman group was making raucous noises. They walked at an easily manageable pace. Ju’a had only once been put on edge when one Ooman fired a weapon at an animal. Ju’a leapt into a nearby tree for assured safety and realized that this was a hunting party. Not too unlike his.
Ju’a watched as three Oomans kicked the half-living animal and then fired a shot into the skull.
What a shame, Ju’a thought. The cruel Oomans took no pride in their kill, there was no honor.
And Ju’a smiled inwardly as the three Oomans lifted the animal out of the bloody snow and teetered past his perch. They were alone. The rest of the party continued without them; they walked back toward the vehicles.
Ju’a cloaked himself and crawled along a branch.
He froze.
“Hey, Joel, d’you hear that?” An Ooman voice was analyzed and found to be cautious in tone. Ju’a’s nerves were taut and his musk dissipated in the air. The Oomans heard something.
“Just an animal. Come on, I wanta get this deer back to the truck and get me some more!” Luckily for Ju’a, the scans indicated a relaxed tone.
He wasted no time, the Oomans were almost out of his leaping range. So he jumped straight down like a pod would fall to the planet below. Snow was kicked up and thrown outward in a ring. The Oomans dropped the corpse and toted their weapons directly at Ju’a.
He switched visions to the Infrared spectrum and then extended his dah’kte and ki’cti-pa. The Oomans fired their weapons.
Ju’a rolled to the left, flipped forward, and then jumped over the three Oomans. His unparalleled speed left the three perplexed.
They each turned slowly, tremulously. The closest dropped his weapon and cowered. Ju’a brought his knee up and smashed the Ooman’s face. Then he swiped his dah’kte, which left two jagged tears in the prey’s face.
But then the others screamed, fired.
Ju’a ducked, doing little due to his shoulder width and height, but the spasmodic hunters missed, nonetheless. He then proceeded with his ruthless slaughter of the prey. The last hunters were now on both sides of him.
Ju’a made sure to stay unharmed. He twirled his ki’cti-pa in expert fashion and then adeptly brought it around him in a full circle. One Ooman grabbed his gut, blood seeped through his fingers and then he fell into the powdery, white snow, which was now slowly converting to red.
The other Ooman was luckier. Only his leg had been scathed. Unlike Yautja, he was on his back, waving at Ju’a in a universal motion that meant: “Stop! No! No more!” But Ju’a wasn’t merciful. The Ooman was cruel and brought its fate upon itself. Ju’a was happy to grip the Ooman’s head and slowly, precisely, cut off slice its neck open.
The next few minutes were glorious ones. Ju’a had found himself a perch in a tree and then began to skin his victims, take their skulls and spines, and then hang them up. It was a simple, yet precarious process. Even for the best Elder Yautja it would be precarious.
Ju’a first took the spinal columns and skulls. Then he groped his belt for the small epidermal remover. He opened the compact device and slowly moved it just beneath the skin. For three corpses, it took Ju’a what seemed like an eternity to remove all flesh.
The sanguinary leftovers diffused throughout the snow. The final Ooman was strung into up into the tree, Ju’a made perfectly sure to cut out the spinal column and skull and hang them onto his hunting mesh.
For fear of being spotted, he did not roar the roar he deserved. He did not proclaim his honor: the honor of killing three Oomans in this frozen death-land. Instead, he saved it inside and savored the feeling, waiting to express it during one of his many Hunt-speaks.
Ju’a climbed down, placing each foot carefully, and away from the tree. He was ready to add on some honor to his already growing ego. Little did Ju’a know, though he had killed three, egotism wasn’t an honorable treat and the gods above would see to it that he would be humbled.
High above the Oomans’ home planet, the Elders, Young Bloods, Unblooded, and Technicians orbited in their mothership. They watched each Yautja below and waited for them to send out signals of distress or, maybe, satisfaction.
This Hunt was realistically a trial set in place by the reigning Elders of the clan: T’vor-kdi, M-kyim, and the oldest, Hy’urik-da. They were curious how deadly this planet really was. Would Kainde Amedha flourish on this Ooman home planet? Surely that would take away the option of hunting Ooman and, though that was incredibly bad, give them a planet filled to the brim with Kainde Amedha. Many of the matrons could be hunted down for honor, it would be a planet that could be hunting ground at any beckoning call.
Lij’uka walked down one of the ship’s many, long corridors. It was more of a running stride. The Elders would be pleased to hear about this. One of the Blooded warriors, Ju’a, had sent in transmissions and active weaponry feeds.
The door was already open, semi-arched and oval-shaped. Lij’uka stepped in and was instantly met by the hard, piercing gazes of the three Elders. The noble ones.
“Lij’uka, have we gotten any information of the hunters?” M-kyim asked immediately. As if he didn’t know. The three Elders had constant reports of everything on the ship. They already had the holographic displays of the Ooman planet open before them. Surely they were monitoring the small hunting procession. Lij’uka was forced to do this because he wasn’t chosen to hunt. No, the warrior Jehdin had beaten him in a sparring match. Beaten him by a lot, although it was disgraceful to say so.
“Yes, M-kyim. We have received an animated signal from Ju’a and also a full weaponry and equipment evaluation.” Lij’uka stared into their eyes. Some would take it as a challenge, but not in this clan.
The Elders motioned for Lij’uka to approach and he did. He walked to their monitors and expertly drew his talons across strips and tapped keys. Soon, an opaque image was placed in the air in front of the Elders. It was Ju’a as he massacred three pitiful Oomans. The video kept going until Ju’a spoke while hanging the flayed corpses.
“This planet is fine for hunting. This frozen death-land is horrible; I wouldn’t come back here unless it was for recreational hunting of a Kainde Amedha matron. I find the Oomans on their planet are ignorant and dishonorable and easier to kill, though they are surely stronger in some regions. Perhaps I will kill a few more and find my comrades.” The video broke off, rather, Ju’a shut it off.
Next, Hy’urik-da spoke his sagacious words. “Well, Ju’a, excellent. That’s what we plan on using this planet for. Lij’uka, bring up the weapons and equipment report.” Lij’uka did as he was told, tapping more keys and moving his fingers along more strips. The screen was replaced by a circular diagram of everything the hunters had used.
“It seems,” T’vor-kdi began, scrolling through the images. “That they’ve mainly used ki’cti-pa, none have used shoulder burners. Ju’a is the only one to use the epidermal removal device and the only one to use dah’kte. Reports indicate that Ju’a, while they all used ki’cti-pa, is the only one to take combative action…” A beeping sound echoed in the chamber.
Lij’uka looked at a smaller screen. “Incoming equipment tally from Jehdin.” He instantly pulled up a new diagram.
“It looks as though our other warrior, the young blood Jehdin, has used his medical devices.” T’vor-kdi announced, though it was there for everyone to see.
M-kyim continued, “He is the only one. I wonder how bad his injuries are.”
The room fell silent as the four Yautja were all looking up things on the monitors. But then, Hy’urik-da broke the silence. “Lij’uka, prepare the canister for deployment.”
“Yes, Elder.” Lij’uka walked away from the room and onto the next. The secure hatchery…
Ju’a hadn’t seen any other Yautja or any other Oomans, for that matter. He’d heard gunfire, probably more dishonorable hunting.
But then he heard it. The faint growl, then Yautja clicks, gibberish really. Then a roar. He traced the noise with a Doppler analyzer and found the origin to be quite far away. His mask had amplified the noise tenfold.
It didn’t take long. The snow was a minor hindrance, the ice was avoidable. The tress weren’t dense at all, making it simple to run between them. Ju’a knew that he heard a distressed Yautja, knew that it probably wasn’t Gri’yinde. What he found, agreed with his instincts.
Jehdin was lying in a pool of phosphorescent blood. His medical kit lay scattered about, the materials used. Ju’a ran to Jehdin’s side, kneeled down. He pulled out his medical kit and began to unpack cauterizing materials. He broken branches off of a downed tree and threw them into the mixture, turned on the flame, and then was left with a glowing blue gel.
Ju’a and Jehdin spread the mixture onto the many holes that dotted Jehdin’s torso and abdomen. Though he wore armor, he was always short of the large chest guard.
“How did the Oomans do this to you?” Ju’a kept spreading the gel; Jehdin grumbled with every placement. The wounds began to stop bleeding.
“I was perched, waiting. When…” He grumbled louder as the gel was moved over top of a larger hole. “When I jumped down, the Oomans were waiting for me. I cloaked, but they fired anyway. Their frenetic aiming didn’t allow them to get a good shot but they hit me, nonetheless.” Ju’a nodded and stood up, put the materials of his kit away, and then put Jehdin’s material away. Jehdin looked around and removed his mask, stretching his mandibles. Ju’a situated the medical kit next to Jehdin and turned around.
“Fire! Kill the s.o.b.!” The Ooman yelled. Ju’a instinctively reacted by turning on the cloak and jumping into the leafless branches of a tree. He felt a hot object penetrate his thigh, the pain was bearable. He heard a lot more shots than he felt. Then he heard a faint beep within the fray. He knew that sound, he knew it well. He was intent on getting away that area.
The heavy needles of the trees were swished away as Ju’a jumped, leaped, bounded from branch to branch. His jumps were longer than he though he could ever jumped. But then-
He was thrown, he didn’t jump. He flew forward into a tree’s trunk, smashing his head and falling into a mound of snow. It covered him but melted slowly from the heat that coursed through his mesh.
Foolish Jehdin, Ju’a thought. This was a Hunt with your brethren! You don’t put their lives at risk! Surely honor comes after the honor of your brothers in clans.
Ju’a couldn’t comprehend Jehdin’s thought process before he activated the wrist gauntlet bomb. The nuclear device used for honorable death. All he knew was that their position was just given away to every Ooman in this area and he needed to find Gri’yinde.
PART 3
The small, domed canister rocketed down to the Ooman planet. It looked like a shooting star, but it was secretly a deadly plague that would befall every Ooman. What looked like an innocent streak would cause so much chaos. Make a wish upon a shooting star….
Ju’a ran around charred trees, just trees that were caught on the outskirts. Far from the blast.
[glow=green,2,300]More is coming, what do you think so far? I need feedback!![/glow]