Raven Tide

I stuck to the rooftops cloaked while Chyani entered the streets through the public gateway.

She disliked my decision to steal equipment but being that we possessed no Iddril currency and it was the policy of my people to seize resources and tech from lesser and unworthy species she had no choice but to yield.

It was forbidden for me to reveal myself to outsiders unless I was hunting and dueling one-on-one to the death.

I agreed with her assessment that it would be safer for me to simply enter unnoticed and gather the items solo but I had to decline. I couldn’t leave the human alone unprotected. Even if it resulted that there was nothing unique contributing to her survival, my transgression was worthless if she died.

No, until we arrived at the medical outpost, Chyani was under my protection. I had to insist that she remain nearby and under my surveillance at all times.

Fortunately, humans resemble the Iddril at a distance. It was easy to mask her lack of yellow eyes and the addition of fingernails with a basic medical UV visor and a pair of gloves.

The Iddirl tech sustaining the small metropolis was dripping in radiation and smog. I wanted to outfit her with a half-face ventilator but wearing yautja tech would have drawn attention.

She’s already conspicuous.

Ninety percent of the inhabitants in this podunk town were grisly mercenaries and undoubtedly the network of street urchins were already buzzing reconnaissance of her movements back to their underworld overlords.

We need to move quickly.

I provided her with a radiation filter wristband and a translator but instructed her to avoid communicating with anyone in the streets if possible.

“Turn right at the next juncture,” I whispered through our comm-link.

She dipped her head nonchalantly in agreement.

At least she’s following orders.

Our destination was a mechanic depot connected to a junkyard in a sleazy-er part of town. I hated every aspect of this plan, even with her revisions.

Like before, she would be the object of misdirection but she was free to improvise and ask questions in case I had difficulty procuring any specific item.

I armed her with a small vibro-blade so that she wouldn’t be completely vulnerable but from this distance, she still looked like chum in the water.

The depot was obviously a front for secondary criminal enterprise.

Such pathetic vocations were pointless in the Nexus. Our clans operated without the clutter of monetary currency as the only thing of value in our society was honor.

Hopefully, they don’t attack her onsight.

As a precaution, I leaped down to street level to observe the cluster of goons loitering in the front lobby. According to my bio-mask scans, there were a dozen more gangsters lounging in the back warehouse.

I preferred not to expose my presence but I was poised to execute the front wave swiftly if necessary.

Chyani entered the building and her heart rate skyrocketed.

She’s surprisingly disciplined for a human.

Based on her pulse and breathing, she was furious when I disclosed my age and genesis for my arrival on her colony but none of that was visible on the surface.

The radiation filter wristband gave my bio-mask access to her vitals as she entered the garage. Abura Below...She wasn’t kidding when she said she experienced social anxiety. Her posture was rigid and her internal temperature was fluctuating wildly but without the internal read-out transmitted from the wristband, it was impossible to perceive visually.

The group of men inside regarded her milling through the parts and tools displayed on tables and counters but they didn’t move.

Very well, it’s my turn.

I vaulted up over the roof and sprinted to the junkyard, all the while monitoring Chyani through my bio-mask.

Before shutting down Venom Heart’s primary sensors I performed a comprehensive scan of the city and plotted out the locations of all the materials. Three of the items were in the furthest corner of the back lot.

I spotted and bypassed the security devices and collected the first of the supplies. The next was a liquid compound secured inside the warehouse.

Stalking prey in a variety of terrains while maintaining complete silence was a skill I mastered early, however, it was the synthetic lifeform standing guard and the backdoor that gave me concern. My active camouflage was state-of-the-art but the Iddril had a nasty habit of cutting corners with their tech. Where other civilizations instituted safeguards to assure safety and stability in their machinery, the Iddril freely engaged in the opposite.

There was a very high probability that the scanners built into the android contained no stabilizing capacitors and would simply burn into my cloak.

“Someone is approaching,” Chyani spoke into the comm-link.

I couldn’t respond verbally but before separating I made sure to adjust her comm to let me listen in on everything around her.

Remain calm, human...

I enhanced the thermo-spectrum through the walls and zoomed in on Chyani’s rainbow-colored figure while crawling into the warehouse through the ventilation in the ceiling.

“Looking for anything in particular?” A large man strolled up behind Chyani.

Translators were common in this sector and relying on one wouldn’t raise any concern. It might even serve as helpful in creating the illusion of an inexperienced traveler.

Chyani turned to the man and bowed deeply with a peculiar flare.

Shit, if he strikes her I’ll never reach her in time.

I sped up and shimmied down a wall away from the android and followed the blinking beacon in my bio-mask highlighting my objective.

“Excuse me,” Chyani spoke haltingly to the burly man. “I am hoping you are to be helping in looking for a Necronomicon?”

Why is she talking like that? Her translator is top-quality, I updated the matrix last month.

“A Neco-what?” The man scratched his head.

“Is Kaltu,” Chyani held out her arms in the shape of a rectangle. “By Barata.”

If this was her buying me time and pulling Iddril eyes off the security network, the tactic was either recklessly insane or suicidally brilliant.

“You might want to run a diagnostic on your translator, Missy,” another man got up to provide assistance.

Not wanting to waste the effort delivered in the woman’s performance I sprinted to a locked janitorial closet, crushed the handle, got in quickly, and siphoned an ample sampling of the chemical compound on my list.

“My Chief,” Chyani chirped like a perky little bird. “Is needing you in Nicto.”

“Jetor,” the big man called out to the group behind him. “You got a spare translator?”

The final item was located in a single sublevel below the building. I followed the stairs and found the hallway blocked by two gorilla-sized Iddril sentinels guarding a locked door.

I had to move slowly between them and hope that there weren’t any conspicuous scents clinging to my skin.

Silence...I exhaled and closed my eyes. The world around me flickered into full infrared as my skin cooled and I dialed my cloak’s prismatic shimmer up to maximum.

One of the sentinels responded to the comm-link built into his cufflink and nearly bumped my arm as I squeezed through the empty space between their broad shoulders

“Arwaor, you there? We got a lady up here who needs to borrow a translator,” the voice of the big man upstairs rang out through the intercom. “Does Bregi have one?”

The sentinel turned and unlocked the reinforced door behind him, giving me just enough space to slip into the sealed backroom.

“Bregi,” The big sentinel stood casually in the open doorway. “You know if we gotta spare translator?”

“Maybe,” a scrawny clerk hopped up from his desk and went to a bookshelf by the entrance. “Lemme check...” The little man plucked a large headset out. “I got an Unoo translator.”

The sentinel responded on his intercom. “Will an Unoo translator work?”

“Nah,” the big man upstairs answered. “Her ears are too small...”

Keep it up Chyani, you’re confusing the shit out of them.

Though I imagine she could have had them scrambling like headless chickens with one flash of her venomous angry eyes.

My bio-mask lit up a red triangle around a big pile of black metal bars branded with official-looking insignias stacked up against the wall. I think it was Iddril federal currency.

No matter, it belonged to the Nexus now.

I tucked three bars into my satchel while the two men were ensnared in Chyani’s goose chase.

“How about a Carrera coupler?” The clerk dusted off a pair of helmets. “It’s only one-on-one but they’re dependable.”

“Yeah,” the big man replied. “That might work.”

I sidestepped the clerk and the sentinel and then tiptoed into the hallway.

“Done,” I whispered to Chyani once I made the turn at the staircase. Then I hurried back out the ventilation shaft while a lackey went to fetch the spare translator.

Now for her to get out of there without causing alarm.

I kept watch from the street through a window as the big man made the handoff with the lackey and returned to present Chyani with the helmet.

“Here’s Miss,” he raised the translator over her head. “It’s a little big but there’s an adjustable clamp.”

“No touch! Is forbidden!” Chyani started crying in terror and clenched her fists. “Chief is to be most upset! Is punishment coming!”

What the...? I twisted my head sideways.

“Miss, please, I mean no harm,” the big man withdrew the helmet and then raised his palms in the air. “No touching, I promise. Please stop crying.”

“Balder-Balls,” another man stood up in frustration. “I hate it when these asshole warlords send slaves to do their shopping. No one lay a hand on her, otherwise, her master might kill her and send someone tougher to nose in our business.”

“You’re ok,” the big man put the helmet down. “How about you, TELL CHIEF, WE SELL, BUT NEED TRANSLATOR.” He spoke loud and slowly. “No more crying.”

Chyani sniffled and sucked back her tears then flitted out a tiny nod.

Wow, these males are surprisingly susceptible to this type of dramatic performance...

My concern for Chyani’s safety persisted but I also wanted to laugh at these morons.

Chyani gave the men a deep formal curtsy then whisked herself out the front door. Once on the street, I appraised her of the fastest route for exiting the city.

“Did you get everything?” She spoke softly into the comm-link.

“Yes,” I leaped across the rooftops. “Their facilities possessed everything we required. I will meet at the tree line.”

I reunited with Chyani behind an outcropping of boulders. She was trembling to the point of her teeth chattering.

“Are you harmed?” I uncloaked and hurried to her while simultaneously triggering her radiation filter wristband to begin an in-depth scan of her vitals.

I couldn’t see or hear any injury, only her heartbeat vibrating like a hummingbird.

“I’m ok,” she feigned a half smile. “New places and new people make me shaky. It’ll pass.”

“Breathe, Chyani,” I shoved my hand behind her back and forced her back straight. “In and out, slowly.” Then I handed her my canteen to finish off the water.

She complied and in time her heart rate settled down.

“You didn’t appear frightened while in the presence of those males,” I pulled my hand away and helped her up once she was stable.

“I’ve developed good coping mechanisms,” Chyani wiped the dirt from her pants. “But freestyling conversation and idle chit-chat are two of my biggest personal nightmares.”

“Not giant moths and weird aliens who kidnap you?”

Chyani chuckled and nearly spit out her mouthful of water. “Oh, I’m sure I have a restless night waiting for me in the future.”

My mandibles were left agape by the sudden appearance of her smile.

Me fucking up and getting her riled up had become the standard. I’d even been tempted to provoke her on purpose on occasion. However, accidentally making her laugh was a thousand times more troublesome. Human noses weren’t as sensitive as yautja’s but I decided there and then to only position myself downwind to conceal any unwanted physical reactions.

“But playing the lost damsel in a room packed full of burly gangsters,” she wiped her lips with her delicate fingers. “That’s a new and a special form of torture.”

We trekked further into the jungle in search of dry clearing to spread out the materials and fabricate the replacement parts.

“Is it customary for your people to steal all of your tech?” Chyani spoke over my shoulder while I carried her on my back.

“No,” I shook my head. “Though, for the Nexus, when hardware and intel are seized it isn’t defined as theft.”

“That conveniently pedantic,” Chyani snickered.

I lowered her into a small low lit glade and put down my satchel.

“There is a code that guides my people in every aspect of our lives,” I spread out and began organizing our supplies. “We understand not all societies share the same values but respect is only given to those who are worthy. Diplomacy is pointless for those who don’t even grasp the basics.”

“And what is fundamental according to the Nexus?” The human knelt next to me.

“Do not kill for bloodlust. Do not exploit the weak and informed,” I nodded my head back in the direction of the Iddril town. “Show reverence for one’s planet and sacred hunting grounds.”

“Hmm..” Chyani bounced her brow. “Those do seem like they should be no-brainers. Guessing humans don’t rank well in that perspective.”

“They do not.”

Chyani rubbed her soft fingers over her synthetic arm apprehensively.

“However, we understand individuals often stray from their society’s overarching principles,” I amended. “Which is why humans remain among the list of species we hunt.”

“You hunt us?” Chyani craned her neck back.

“Not me, personally... yet,” I explained. “One must prove they are worthy for the right to have that chance.”

“Would you hunt someone like me?”

“No,” I chittered and shook my head while activating the priming cycle on the portable fabricator. “You are stronger than you appear but you are not a warrior. The hunt demands a fight to the end. Do you believe you would be prepared for that?”

“Oh, hell no!” Chyani twisted her eyebrows into an exaggerated cringe.

“That is for the best,” I removed my bio-mask and sat down cross-legged to begin the fabricating.

“What’s first?” She sat up on her knees eagerly.

“The fluid,” I pointed to the canister in front of her.

Chyani passed it to me carefully with her synthetic hand.

My thoughts slipped to that night when I first tried to control her.

I couldn’t get a solid grip on her without risking ripping off her prosthetic arm. In hindsight, drugging her immediately would have been the prudent course of action but even that option entailed hazard, as none of the sedatives available in the med bay were calibrated for humans.

“These look expensive,” Chyani inspected the metal bars imprinted with the galactic Iddril seal

“I imagine so, they were heavily fortified in the basement,” I inserted the bars one at a time. “Now watch as they become worthless.”

Chyani’s brown eyes danced over the fabricator as the materials descended through the machine’s multiple compartments. She requested a detailed explanation of how the compounds were disassembled at a molecular level and reassembled into usable objects with the enthusiasm of a pup receiving its first novice weapon.

“That’s it?” Chyani ogled the first item to plop out the bottom of the cylinder. “What does it go to?”

“It will be inserted into the environmental network,” I held up the human-hand-sized object. “It will help recycle the air we breathe.”

“No going anywhere without that!” Chyani beamed at me.

She was only a few cycles older than me but Chyani possessed the resting composure of an adult seasoned beyond her decades.

According to my oldest father, my performance and aptitude in combat were well above average but there was one skill I couldn’t accelerate, the experience gained after centuries of combat.

I wasn’t a pup anymore, I had proven worthy in my Blooding. And though I may have copulated recreationally during the Convergence celebrations last cycle I wasn’t yet ready to compete in the Joust and claim my place in the Eternal Bloodline. My parents and Blooding Mentor advised that I take the time to increase my trophy collection in order to attain a higher debut ranking.

I was still a long way off from bringing true honor to Jahaa and the Nexus and my path was only just beginning.

“This piece will be inserted into the cloaking matrix,” I held up the next completed item and let Chyani hold it. “The capacitors are what exploded in the back of the bridge.”

“How long will it take the drones to repair the ship?”

“I expect only a few hours after the parts are added,” I opened a menu on my wristcomm and showed her a chart of the drone’s progress.

On the surface, my actions were governed by a desire to aid my clan and the war effort but there was no denying my core motivations were selfish.

“Chyani,” I closed the menu on my wristcomm and raised my eyes to hers. “I am sorry... For scaring you and taking you against your will, and for putting you in further danger.”

She sat there frozen and silent, leaving me to twist in scenarios of what she might have been thinking.

A branch snapped to the west of us.

“Quite!” I shushed her lips and put my helmet on. “No matter what happens, do not move from this spot!”

I tossed out a one-time-use cloaking bubble around her and our supplies then went up into the trees to quickly reposition away from the clearing.

Thirty separate Iddril heartbeats were approaching as well as a dozen unfiltered android power cores. There was also an aircraft hovering nearby armed with something odd resonating in dense metal that I couldn’t identify.

I should have known getting in and out of the city was too easy.

Heavily armored soldiers belayed from the treetops while battle-ready androids shot at me from below.

I bounded through the canopy and glanced Chyani’s way to confirm she was cloaked and unnoticed. Inside the temporary bubble, she could see out but no one could see in.

They mustn’t find her!

I hacked through the first wave of Iddril soldiers with my wrist blades and took out two androids with my plasma cannon then shimmied down a trunk to dispatch the remaining synthetics with my combistick.

“Cut him of–!” A soldier marked with commander stripes howled to his squadron. Then I pounced behind him and ripped his spine out before he could finish his sentence.

A fine trophy, but it’ll have to wait.

I spun and launched a self-constricting wire mesh net across the way and pinned two soon-to-be-dead soldiers together. Then disemboweled an incoming android while the mushed pair of soldiers screamed in unison.

Confident that the Iddril’s attention was focused solely on me, I flipped on my cloak and set to the task of stealthily whittling down their numbers one by one.

“Where’d he go?!” One of the soldiers screeched, flailing his weapon back and forth wildly.

C’SHINK

I sliced his head off then swiftly moved on to his neighbors, chopping the number of living soldiers in half.

“Target lost,” an android intoned as it scanned the area.

I impaled it through the chest with the long shaft of my combistick and threw the non-functional body into a group of huddled soldiers, and then systemically mowed through the final eight androids

“What the fuck? This isn’t what I signed up for!” A lone soldier broke from his squadron and tried to run away. “I thought these razkur-things were all depraved and sing-songy!”

I swooped in and decapitated him and then climbed into the trees again to throw my prey off balance.

So that’s what got their attention.!

The Iddril have always been a detestable flavor of xenophobic. They were indifferent toward humans and yautja barely registered but razkurs sat at the top of their ever-growing undesirable list. A third of my heritage must have triggered DNA sensors concealed in the city.

Once the remaining soldiers were hunkered defensively I dropped into the center of their firearm phalanx and dispatched them expeditiously with their deluge of gunshots nicking my skin like bug bites.

Four I shot point-blank with my plasma cannon and three lost their skulls to my wrist blades before the final three soldiers ran away shouting.

The aircraft above was hovering just out of firing range and I didn’t like that it was sitting there doing nothing.

I need to end this.

I tracked one of the fleeing soldiers and banked through the trees above his head. He could hear me closing in but failed to spot me when I landed in front of him. He never saw me pierce his eyes with my wrist blades and bisect him in half down to his crotch.

The last two hurried off together.

At least they’re putting more distance between this mess and Chyani.

“He’s coming right for us!” One of the soldiers shouted.

I utilized the trees and giant vines once again, taking my time in case they spit up or tried something tricky.

My Blooded Mentor drilled it into me that the most dangerous moments in a hunt were the last few before the end.

This wasn’t a true hunt, but my prey was raw and on the precipice of death. Reckless reprisal was to be expected.

—BEEEEEP—

Out of nowhere, an agonizing high-pitched tone tore through the jungle.

The unknown metal object attached to the aircraft had opened and was bombarding me in a weaponized anti-resonance specifically designed to penetrate the protective membranes of my highly sensitive inner ears.

Another squadron of soldiers emerged from the vegetation and began firing large tranquilizer darts into my skin.

Shit, if I activate my self-destruct failsafe Chyani will be killed in the blast radius.

The pain and surge of pressure in the air made it difficult to breathe.

“Chyani,” I gasped and opened fire on the swarm of Iddril. “Return to the ship once everything is quiet.”

“Quiet!?” Chyani responded over the comm-link. “Raven Tide! What’s happening? Why will things be quiet?!”

I tossed my belt and gauntlet into the bushes and activated my subdermal tracking beacon. “Use my gauntlet in the red bush by the skull. There’s a switch to activate Venom Heart’s cloak and distress signal once you’re safe inside. Help will come.”

My vision was blurred and my knees gave out but I managed to take down another dozen soldiers before I lost my grip on my combistick.

I fell on my back.

Dark nebulous shapes move around me, wrapping and lifting me into an electrified cage hanging from the aircraft. I tried to roar in defiance but it came out haggard and barely a groan.

The wind picked up and I realized I was being airlifted away from Chyani.

“Raven Tide! Answer me! Raven Ti–..................” The connection garbled out and went dead.

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VOCABULARY:

The Joust: The main event in the yautja mating season.

The Convergence: yautja mating season

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A/N:

So perhaps some of you are wondering why some of Raven Tide’s physical details are a little different than the average yautja.

Those who have read The Hunter’s Song know exactly why. Don’t worry, I will explain everything when the time is right.

For now, sit back and enjoy the mystery.