These creatures are DANGEROUS, don't even think of challenging them, are you mad?? They eat POISONS for fun! They drink ACIDS for refreshment! Their bodies are made so they can run for MILES before they even begin to get TIRED! DO NOT FLAKKING CHALLENGE THEM! -- Anon Guest
Who could possibly believe that a rubbery hairless biped with an internal skeleton could also be the most relentless killing machine in the known universe? Certainly not Thrith Wout, who was running for hir life from the unstoppable Deathworlder horror.
It was an unbelievable series of regrettable incidents. And a lot of regrets. Wout should never have flown into an area marked with several Human sightings. Having flown into the area, ze should have ideally turned tail and run upon spotting another ship. Having flown closer for identification, ze should never have opened fire on a Human vessel.
Ze should never have set off the EMP after realising that regular mass projectiles had no effect[1]. Having set off the EMP, the automated systems of both ships put them in the same hospitable planet for the softest landing that passive systems could permit.
Wout should never have believed hirself safe once ze spotted the plume of distant smoke from the Human ship's direction.
A week into salvaging ship parts for a beacon, ze woke up to find a Human at the edge of hir campsite.
"Hey," said the Human. "How you doin'?"
That was some hours ago, now. Wout had learned a lot of things. Ze could gain a very temporary distance advantage by scurrying up a tree and gliding away, but the Human could catch up. The Human always caught up. There was barely enough time to catch hir breath after ze made it up the next tree.
The Human had no fur and no feathers. Surely a wide enough body of water would stop them.
Oh sweet Powers be merciful, they can SWIM!
The next gamut was scrambling up a crumbling cliff face in an act of inspired desperation. They had no claws. Their feet were in flat, rounded containers. Surely the cliff would flummox them.
Great. Great. Just great. These unstoppable killer monkeys can flakking CLIMB!
Wout waited until they were three-quarters of the way up before taking wing, gliding most of the way back to hir campsite. Ze had to leave NOW! Gather up everything of import and haul it as fast as possible to the beta site. If ze was quick, then the hazardous monkey would never know where ze had gone.
Four days later, there was a large basket on the edge of the beta site, and a message in GalSimple, scratched into a piece of bark.
You no wanting leave tracks? Gliding with things in this.
Now that was just insulting.
Not only had the Human found hir, but they had had the time to engineer a useful tool out of local materials for hir. One that could help hir leave less of a trace for the Human to follow, next time. The caveat to this being that there was no guarantee that it would work in Wout's favour.
The slow, creeping realisation dawned.
The Human was somewhere in the area.
A package launched from a nearby bush, rolling to a stop some distance from Wout's feet.
They had made string to tie up something in some wide and harmless leaves.
Wout used a knife on the end of a long stick to cut it open.
It was food.
Good food.
The Human had gathered and hunted things that Would could safely eat, and then cooked them up.
Flakking when? Did this Human have nothing but spare time? When did they sleep?
Did Humans sleep?
The Human stood up from their hiding place. Weapon in hand. Which they also threw towards Wout's feet.
Wait. What?
Empty hands by their head, the Human said, "Peace meaning. Self having big bada-boom. Much wreck. Needing comms. You having. Self gather food, self use comms? Yes?"
There was further horror in this, but the Human was proposing a trade.
On one hand, it would make survival easier. On the other... they would be calling more Humans.
[1] This is the Galactic Alliance's first recorded sighting of the Hungry Caterpillar.
[Image by Ibrahim Rifath on Unsplash]
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