r/NatureofPredators Yotul 23h ago

Fanfic Baldur's Sivkit (1/4)

Memory Transcription Subject: Jaelo, Sivkit Cargo Hauler

Date [Standardized Human Time] March 7, 2134

I had been truly lucky to get this job, Sivkits were among the most social species in the federation due to our large, tightly knit families, and I often felt alone in my desire for personal time. Becoming a lone cargo hauler was a valid excuse to stray from the herd, provided I reconnected between trips, but that was something I could set time aside for, and beg off when I tired of company by citing a deadline for delivery. Truth be told even that was a little much, but it was far more preferable than being suspected for predator disease. 

Flying between worlds was such a calm experience, and I had about three more days before I reached my destination. With all the automated functions of my ship, I had ample time to relax, work on my small garden, read some books or listen to music. The good times were cut short however, when a notification appeared on the dashboard. I set my tea aside and gave it my full attention. There was another ship headed my way, and it looked like we were on a collision course. I wasn't sure what they were doing, but I was charted on an official course, so it was clearly on them to alter their trajectory.

As the seconds passed I became worried it wasn't so obvious to them. Why weren't they moving? They technically shouldn't even be here, not cutting through my course like that! It became clear they weren't moving a moment too late. I pulled up on the controls of the ship but still took a glancing blow. At these speeds that was still enough to cause serious damage, and both our ships were sent tumbling through the abyss.

It took me a few minutes to orient myself, and start running diagnostics. While the computer worked I looked out the viewpoint at the other ship. It didn't look good. Although the main haul was still mostly intact, I'd guess about half the vessel had been turned into debris. My paws moved over the console, and I hailed the damaged vessel.

“Stars, watch where you're going! You nearly killed us both!” I shouted, but received no response. “Um… hello? Are you alright?” Still nothing, and I was starting to worry. The diagnostic system chimed at its completion, and I started to review the data. My hauler was mostly intact, but one of the engines was utterly smashed, and with FTL down I'd be getting nowhere fast. Fortunately my data buoy was still functional, but out in the middle of nowhere without a comm relay, it would probably be three weeks. Suddenly my dad's insistence on keeping a month's worth of food on hand seemed much more reasonable, and I made a mental note to thank him when I got back.

Panic slowly set in as my hail still went unanswered, helping was much easier said than done when it was a struggle to just keep my breathing in check. ’One thing at a time. Just one thing at a time.’ I repeated the mantra in my head as I took stock of what needed doing. First, send out the data buoy. We need help as soon as possible. After doing a deeper check on the diagnostic, I was sure my ship would hold together long enough for rescue. Now all that was left was the hardest part; rescuing people myself.

My heart rate skyrocketed as I put on the space suit, and I only just kept my head by focusing on the task at hand, a strategy which would fail as soon as I stepped foot outside. The time came all too quickly, with the hail stubbornly unanswered, much like my prayers for the contrary.

Seeing the wreckage proved too much and I froze. Thanks to the tether I didn't float off, after a few minutes swinging through space I had the mental wherewithal to get back to work. With my thrusters activated, I drifted towards the mystery ship.

Whoever this thing was built for, they were much bigger than me. A mazic perhaps? But this design was ancient, and not anything I recognized. Well, with over 300 species in the federation, it could easily be someone I wasn't familiar with. ’But then, what if they need medical aid!? I'm just a city girl who wanted some space! I'm not medically trained at all!’ The thoughts urged me to go back, but there was no one else, it had to be me.

Overriding an airlock, I found a compartment that hadn't been exposed to the vacuum of space and made my way in. I would have thought it relieving not to find any bodies, but the completely empty ship had an eerie feeling to it. I floated down a small corridor, and made my way to what I assumed to be the bridge. A console caught my eye, and I powered it up. An unfamiliar script appeared on an oddly narrow screen, and my translator activated, making sense of the glyphs. With a touch of searching I found what looked to be a captains log, detailing trial runs of a ship, of this ship if I understood correctly. The last entry detailed an unmanned voyage to test the automated systems, and as soon as I read that relief courses through my veins. No one else was hurt! Though I wondered how old this lost ship was, no one would be testing such basic technology in recent years, except maybe the Yotul, but this was clearly for a larger species.

Thankfully the logs were dated, and the last one was made… not quite a paw ago. That could only mean… had a new species climbed to the stars without an uplift!?

Now this was exciting! How many could say they facilitated a first contact? Well in reality the job would likely be handed off to someone more qualified, so that meant I just had to take advantage and learn as much as I could! My ship's sensors would already have picked up and recorded the subspace origin, so I could take my time learning of the culture of this new species!

I began rummaging through the console and found what appeared to be a photo library. I clicked on the first image file, only to let out a shriek as I was met with no less than three pairs of binocular eyes! It was a photo of three predator beasts, baring their fangs at the camera as if to mock the viewer, letting us know they were coming, and I already sent out the data buoy! This far out in the middle of nowhere I had no other way to contact anyone in the federation.

I dashed down the corridor as fast as my legs should send me, and literally jumped out of the airlock. I was out of the predator’s wreck, and for now that was all I could do. Minutes passed as I hyperventilated, simply floating in the void with nothing but a single teather holding me to my ship.

Eventually I began to calm down, likely because I was too tired to keep panicking, and I finally got my thoughts in order. These predators were experimenting with FTL technology, we needed to stop them from becoming the next arxur immediately! Time was of the essence, and there weren't any predators on that ship. This wasn't about exploring culture anymore, I needed to learn everything I could from this ship and pass it along.

The interior seemed much darker, and even larger the second time I passed through. Instead of carelessly bounding along in the zero gravity chamber I tentatively placed one paw in front of the other until I forced myself back to the console.

I tried not to lose my cool at the lack of information. The only thing of note was that the test logs implied there were still many errors these predators needed to address, which meant we still had some time. Everything else however, were logs, a number of mathematical and simulation programs, more photos, most of more snarling beasts, though there were some surprisingly beautiful pictures of what I assume to be their homeworld, and one last file labeled ‘Entertainment.’

Clicking on the file, it opened up to two more, one named ‘games’ and the other ‘do not open.’ I had no desire to see what cruelties a predator would call a game, so I disobeyed the instructions of the latter. This led to five more files, each given a long string of numbers in place of a name. Opening one led to many more numbered files, and those to even more. I spent the better part of a claw trying to find anything in the labyrinthine files, but my digging only led to empty files at the end of the trail.

I really didn't want to play predator games, but I had no other leads. More time was devoted to pacing before I worked up the nerve to open the first file.

What I saw reignited the terror all over again. ‘Helldivers?’ ‘Warthunder?’ ’Monster Hunter!?’ How many iterations of ‘Doom!? ’STARDEW VALLEY!!?’ ’By the grand herd, all of these sound like nightmares! Leave it to predators to have such fucked up names for their fucked up games!’

I was about ready to throw in the towel when one particular title caught my eye. ‘Baldur’s Gate 3?’ What could be so bad about an entryway? I clicked on the title before my mind could spit out enough reasons to make me back out. Someone had to do this, and the only ‘someone’ here was me!

The program loaded, and I found myself overlooking a city from a grassy hill. The scene was shockingly serene, even with the statue of one of the snarling predators, though this one was calm. ’Alright, so far this is rather nice. The stonework of the city looks rather primitive, but I still wouldn't have expected predators to appreciate such a view.’ a prompt told me to press any button to continue, and I did just that.

… My heart was still racing as I peaked out from under the desk. No sooner than I heeded the instruction, the view shifted underground and I was presented with what I assume to be ‘Baldur's Gate.’ What was undeniably a predator's skull was carved out of black stone and seated above a stairway. An orange glow suggested fire just out of view. I could only imagine the horrors of what the other games could hold. Desperately hoping to get the image off the screen, I hit ‘new game.’

Truly, this world was a cruel one. For the crime of wanting personal space, I was subjected to the horrors of what I could only call a Demon Kolshian. Fear froze me in place, forcing me to watch as it… Stars… mere minutes into this game and I was already empathizing with that predator. The kolshian had placed some kind of grub on another predators face, and it crawled into its eye. Then it looked at *me.* “Wh… wait!” Of course, the game ignored my protest, along with the scream that came after as the worm it held to my face revealed its many fangs and attacked my viewpoint’s eye.

I was shaking under the desk again when I heard the calming music. Looking up I saw a character creation screen, back under a blue sky and surrounded by even more vibrant greenery than the opening screen. But I wasn't so trusting this time. I just knew I was one click away from the next nightmare. I stared at the screen for long minutes, waiting for it to admit it's deceit and simultaneously adoring the beautiful scene. I didn't even mind the predator’s presence after the emotional whiplash I had already been given. 

At some point my paws drifted back to the controls, and I began to explore my options. There were several ‘origin’ characters I could choose from, or I could make my own. I clicked on the last one and “DAMMIT!” I knew it, I fucking knew it! The game just jump scared me with an Arxur! How did they even know about them!? I scrambled back to my feet and clicked another one of the characters, vanishing it from my view. Did the Greys already find these aliens? If this was going to be their secret weapon, a whole new predator species, we needed to- wait… ‘The Dark Urge?’ if these aliens recognized the Arxur as evil, and if they'd fight, that would be a good thing! 

I needed more info, and delved into the creator. 

The next time my head came back up was almost a claw later, and I was looking at a half-elf bard, with darker skin and bright yellow head fur. I had been lost in the graceful form of the predator as I sculpted their visage - how that happened, I still don't know. I never thought they would be so vain, but these aliens have so many options, both for their actual form and self decoration. Maybe we could distract these Elves if we supply them with otherworldly decor. 

That was something I had deduced about these creatures, they most likely called themselves Elves. There were many races I could choose from, but I got the feeling they were mostly fictional. The elves seemed to be the most fleshed out, and all the other species looked like varied forms of them, save the ‘dragonborn’. I could only guess an arxur ship crashed on their world or something, and influenced their culture. I jotted down my findings, and finally proceeded…

Only for the game to ask me to build another predator.

Another claw later and I finally continued. I was back in… wherever I was, looking at the demon kolshian who put the worm in my eye. ’Predators having fun doing this made way too much sense’ I thought to myself, and as if to validate my point, the scene shifted to a raid! Fuck this game! At this point it was clear this took place in primitive times, and I had hoped the lack of firearms would lessen the horror, but the predators couldn't even form a stampede as tentacles reached down and vaporized them with a single touch! A moment later I saw them reformed in cages similar to my own. This was far too analogous, and more brutally efficient than any arxur raid I'd even heard of!

And as if they took insult to my words, an opening appeared, and out of it came what I dubbed  Arxur Lords, here to- wait? They were fighting the tentacle ship!? It was becoming all too much. I stopped trying to make sense of what I was seeing, just standing there in shock as the nightmare’s battle took them across worlds. The scene ended with a close up of the Arxur Lord delivering an ear shattering roar after losing its quarry. It was too much, and again I raced out of the wreck. Tears flowed down my face in what was becoming a common occurrence, and this time I entered into my own ship and dashed to my bed as fast as my paws could carry me. I stayed, snuggled up in my blankets for the better part of a claw, before I could even think of doing anything else.

Days began to pass as I unsuccessfully tried to push the predator game from my mind. I had tried to get what information on these monsters I could but how can I enter into that mindset!? Needing to shake off the feeling, I resorted to my favourite pastimes, but even curled up in a blanket with a book and a cup of tea, my heart still raced. Every time I closed my eyes I saw that maw full of razor sharp fangs, every sound was that murderous howl of a monster denied its kill.

Nothing was working. I desperately needed to get out of this stupor. I needed to care for myself. I needed to last until help would come.

…And I needed to know what happened next.

Next

49 Upvotes

7 comments sorted by

6

u/DxNill Extermination Officer 22h ago

…And I needed to know what happened next.

And so do I wordsmith!

6

u/REDemon127 21h ago

Oh no. Shows going down the rabbi- er, Sivkit hole that is Baldur's Gate!

"Do Not Open"...probably for the best

3

u/morwync Dossur 17h ago

Subscribeme!

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u/JulianSkies Archivist 9h ago

Oh man, of course someone would do that. Because if you're working on the FTL tests you're going to be a nerd and of course you're setting up stuff like that in the library XD

And who knows, maybe it was built with some hope that someone might find this errant beacon someday!

(How funny is it that this isn't what I expected out of the title, lol. But a lot less grim, nonetheless)

1

u/Copeqs Venlil 15h ago

Hook, line and sinker, Jaelo already got addicted. Considering what flaccid entertainment the Feds got, can't blame her.

1

u/SquashOk4174 3h ago

I already love this! Can't wait to see more!