The first contact with these native fugitives went more smoothly. We decided not to stand in the rain and went to rest under one huge tree branch, introducing ourselves to each other, telling our names and, unfortunately, the language barrier did not help us communicate freely and, in principle, maintain contact. We were somehow able to exchange gestures and did not always understand this or that meaning, so we started with something simple, namely with names.
So, what are the names of our fugitives? A pale-skinned beautiful girl with long dark hair and blue eyes introduced herself to us as Alza. Another girl, more attractive and healthy in appearance, bore the name Niana. She was the same brunette as Alza, but was slightly shorter and had expressionless gray eyes.
Ripun is the name of the guy who saved me during the execution of native soldiers by plunging a spear into the enemy's throat. He had uncut, long dark hair, but also had distinctive red eyes, or rather red-orange irises. It looked very strange, even though I understood that I was dealing with aliens of the humanoid type, but it still seemed that in front of me there was some kind of proximyrian whose eyes simply turned off.
And the last was Zaden, just a mature-looking man with a small bald spot on his head, but unlike the girls, he had beige skin and brown eyes. The external features of their facial features, skin color and other things told us that they were not family, but were natives of the same region and we could only guess why they were persecuted by other natives.
After our introduction, we also learned that they were very hungry judging by their growling bellies and weak physiques. While resting, the guys decided to search the corpses of native soldiers and found something like medieval rations in the form of some kind of hardened meat and leather flasks with fresh water.
«I wonder... since all the water here is poisonous from the rain, where do they get clean water from?»
I thought, surprised that with the existing supplies they could last here no more than a few days, which means they somehow filtered this water.
«Or could they safely drink this water? Although Fred said that it is dangerous for any non-plant life form. We'll have to discuss this with him later.»
The fugitive natives were resting and eating, it seems for the first time in several years, and at that moment Will decided to ask me a question:
"Is it okay that we killed so many natives? Will there be any scolding from the lieutenant?"
"It will be,"
I admitted, taking a bite of a ration pie.
"But it was necessary, otherwise they would have found us... by the way... is their food edible?"
All my guys became thoughtful.
"In theory, this will be much better than cutting up some kind of creature."
Said Forn, looking at how the natives were densely eating the meat that they took out of the bags of the native soldiers.
"It's better to consult a doctor."
Esko added on his own behalf.
"This is alien food; in any case, it may be completely unsuitable for us."
"Fine."
I nodded and rose to my feet.
"Then stop sitting around and go collect their rations. As soon as you do this, get ready and return to the shuttle."
"No-o-o-o-o!"
They grumbled dissatisfied.
"Why are you doing this to us?"
Will asked with sarcasm in his voice, but I was adamant.
"That's an order."
I added sternly and the guys silently began to carry out the order.
The natives, seeing that we were searching all the corpses of the native soldiers in search of dried meat, also began to collect food. At least they helped us in some way. At this time I was searching the sacks and bags of the natives. Inside, in addition to rations, there were light clothes, and also something like money in the form of copper coins and much more.
Having examined the dead bodies, I realized that our shells had caused serious damage to their polished metal armor, but apparently the bullet wounds were not fatal for everyone. In some places the bullets even miraculously failed to penetrate the armor, leaving just a small dent, and in others the bullets inflicted non-fatal wounds in the arms and legs.
I approached one killed, as I initially thought, an archer and realized that he was moving and quietly groaning in pain while continuing to bleed profusely. He took off his helmet, where I saw the frightened face of a fair-haired young native, almost a teenager.
His face was like this before he saw me. For some reason he was already terrified, and I couldn't understand why. He seemed to be looking into emptiness and muttering something, but what he said surprised me when I realized what exactly he was saying.
"So-o-od... Sod... paynitet..."
«Wait... Sod? I've already heard this... name... that blind sergeant muttered the same thing... how is this... what's going on?»
I stepped aside in shock and, in fear, took my pistol out of my holster, ready to shoot the native at any moment. The wounded soldier continued to mutter the name Sod, but then, trying to get up, he simply hit his head on a root and fell silent, this time forever remaining lying dead, bleeding with the last drops of blood.
My hand holding the pistol grip was shaking. I only now realized that I was in real horror.
«What's going on here? Why are they both talking about Sod?»
I began to remember the words of that blind man, trying to somehow understand what was happening around me.
«He said Sod is our God, but what does that mean? No, it's some kind of nonsense! There are more and more strange things... Holy crap!»
I know too little information to make even initial conclusions, I just didn't understand what was happening here. This anomalous planet concealed not only many questions, but also a lot of anti-scientific mysticism. Ashwani missing, Sod, shuttle crash, what next? And I don't want to know the secrets of this planet anymore, I just want to go home!
"Sir, we're done!"
Will shouted over the radio, causing me to almost go deaf.
"Shit! Do you want to make Beethoven out of me or something?"
I said sternly over the connection, after which I heard the friendly laughter of the group on the air.
"Sorry."
Will said and added.
"It looks like these natives will come with us. They helped us gather supplies and seem to no longer fear us."
«That means we won't have to eliminate them since they will come with us. Let's extract information from them about the local civilization, establish contact, resolve many issues, and only then will we be able to get out of here.»
"Fine. Wait for me. End of connection."
I said and went off the air, adding grumpily to myself.
"Mom's loudspeaker. Crap!"
I looked at the dead native again and simply could not pass by, or rather, I could not leave, exposing my back to it. I leaned over the corpse and grabbed the native's head with both hands, after which I sharply twisted the corpse's neck just in case, and then searched the native's bag and quiver of arrows. Having found nothing useful, I then returned to my soldiers.
Esko, Will, Forn and Itami were lifting their asses off a large root, hiding all their supplies in the bushes, and Alza, Niana, Ripun and Zaden hung a bunch of bags of rations and water flasks on their backs. We were finally ready to head to the shuttle.
"East."
Esko pointed in the direction.
"Esd."
Alza repeated after the sniper.
"West."
Esko pointed in the opposite direction.
"Vezt."
Will seemed to feel very embarrassed listening to the native's ridiculous English speech.
"Enough. Have you become an English teacher?"
Will reproached the sniper.
"I already have experience as an instructor."
Esko said proudly, throwing the sniper rifle over his shoulder.
"To avoid boredom along the way, I think I can start teaching them English."
"Don't waste your time."
Itami already spoke while listening to the broadcast.
"There is no connection."
"Nu connekshion."
Ripun tried to speak, and then pointed his hand at the station on Itami's back.
"Connekshion?"
"Communication station."
Itami answered Ripun, and then began to explain a little with gestures.
"To talk far."
"Mitso."
Ripun nodded.
We all hardly believed that the native could understand anything from Itami's words. It is quite strange that these natives are not even afraid of us, deciding to follow us. It seems they sought protection from any strangers they encountered in order to escape their armored relatives.
"Boris!"
Alza sang with a smile on her face when she saw me, and then she looked east.
"Chu manady iro Easd?"
"We. Let's go. To the East."
I answered according to the words, indicating each word I said with a gesture of my hands.
«I'm sure it's better to teach the natives to speak English since we made first contact in such an inhumane way. We need to resolve this misunderstanding while Platoon C1-2-2D1 is on its way to the cargo shuttle... and won't Leo encounter some problems along the way since there is civilization here? This is unlikely due to the abundant forests and mountains, but anything can happen.»
I decided to discuss this with my guys, but a little later.
"Okay, guys, let's go."
I said and we went to the shuttle.
Of course, the natives followed us, sloshing through the water. Who knows what is going on in their heads and why they are not afraid of us. Are we gods for them or alien saviors? We didn't know this, we didn't know anything about them, and they didn't know anything about us.
Meanwhile, making my way through the downpour through the jungle, I decided to start a conversation myself and started with theory.
"Guys, since there is a civilization here, what do you think the first D's will stumble upon?"
"But it's true."
Forn thought. The natives listened to our conversation with curiosity and talked about something themselves, following us. They tried to keep up.
"Hah~! Well, the first D's will be found here by the native tribes, probably burned to the ground, and the locals will leave stories about gods on a winged car in the caves."
Will laughed in his usual manner.
"And after this you call yourself a Republican?"
I grinned, like all the other soldiers in the squad.
"What does this have to do with it? We are just human and we know how to adapt."
Will justified himself.
"Since burning the natives is an adaptation, then what about the black protocols?"
Asked Forn.
"Black protocols operate primarily when controlling the situation."
I began to explain.
"That is, in an uncontrollable situation where the priority was placed on survival, we can neglect it."
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"Okay, but what if they don't burn them?"
Itami asked, returning to the question about the C1-2-2D1 platoon.
"Well then we risk becoming a monolith for the locals."
I answered, spreading the bushes.
"If we can preserve references to ourselves in the best light, then this can provoke the cultural development of civilization or even its death."
"You're so smart,"
Will responded cheerfully.
"But I think that the general will simply order to clear the continent of primitive states as such in order to... uh... so as not to provoke anything."
"General may well order the occupation of the planet to begin."
As always, Itami suggested seriously.
"Just one army?"
I grinned.
"Do you know how many soldiers were needed to conquer Proxima during the sectoral war?"
"How many?"
Itami became interested.
"Twenty million and that wasn't even enough. What can we even do with an army of almost one hundred and fifty thousand people?"
"So the occupation of the planet is impossible?"
Forn suggested.
"You can only occupy a small region."
I answered, trying to put myself in the general's place.
"In any case, we will have to come into contact with the indigenous abodes of the planet. I hope the main army is now looking for a way to contact the Republic while we survive here."
"Let's not forget about «Zeus»."
Itami added.
"He was guaranteed to destroy all life on the other side of the planet. Not all locals can be friendly towards us after this disaster."
"You are right."
I agreed with Itami and looked towards the natives.
Then I began to remember what the general consequences of the fall of a large object on a habitable planet are.
«Increasing temperatures, tsunamis in the seas and oceans, monstrous hurricanes, changes in the composition of the atmosphere... I'm afraid to imagine what will happen here in a week.»
While I was thinking about this, we continued to walk, and the natives followed us, also talking about something. Forn and Itami decided to play «planets», a modern analogue of the outdated «cities» thousands of years ago, but it seems Forn had more knowledge in terms of astronomy, since he had already beaten Itami several times.
"Boris?"
Alza ran up to me and pointed her hands at her green spots on her skin.
"Isekray?"
"Cure?"
I guessed about her question to me.
"Don't know."
I shook my head, and Alza was upset by my gesture. Zaden approached her and began to calm her down, stroking her shoulders, but at the same time the man himself looked at me with some understanding.
«Perhaps due to the backwardness of their medicine, the issue of disease is a matter of life and death. They are worried and understandable, but even Fred doesn't know whether it is possible to recover from the alien infection. You need to take care of yourself first.»
Meanwhile, approaching the shuttle, communication was gradually established, as Itami happily reported:
"We're on the air."
"Finally."
I said seriously and decided to contact the lieutenant.
"Sir, can you hear me?"
The natives watched with curiosity as the animated bushes talked to themselves.
"I hear you."
The lieutenant responded.
"You haven't been in touch for a long time. Something happened?"
"Yes."
I confirmed.
"We found the natives. Humanoids."
"We, too."
The lieutenant responded.
"Return to «Persia» immediately."
"The order has been accepted. End of connection."
We were all surprised by this news.
«More natives?»
I thought and looked around at the fugitives, guessing something.
«And if these are their pursuers, then... they need to be hidden...»
"Sir,"
Will responded.
"What will be the orders?"
I frowned and immediately gave the order:
"Let's hide our new friends and our disguise."
"Yes, sir!"
All the guys agreed in unison.
«I hope there won't be any problems.»
We continued on our way to the shuttle. The natives followed us trying to establish contact with us. Somehow we teach them simple English words, but often they speak with a kind of sarcastic childish accent, which is why even Itami began to get annoyed:
"May be enough?"
"Hm~?"
Alza looked at Itami strangely, and meanwhile I answered him:
"We killed fifty natives. They probably know their language. We need to quickly establish contact before they send an entire army here. We simply don't have enough cartridges for everyone."
"Hah~! What makes you think that they will send an entire army here at once?"
Will grinned.
"And really why?"
Esko already asked. Before answering, I thought about it:
«Our weapons, even if they are police-type, are intended for conducting narrowly targeted tactical combat operations in urban environments. Our weapons are capable of penetrating any cover, including the skin of passenger cars. However, the armor of these natives was not as primitive as I initially thought, it was much stronger and therefore was not always penetrated by high-speed projectiles. That is, these natives had the technology to smelt and process a light and durable alloy. This level is similar to the beginning of the space age, which is simply impossible!»
"Those we killed were a battle group prepared for battle. Not only were they not afraid of gunfire at first, but they were also engaged in tactical planning. Remember how they tried to surround us."
"I'm worried about something else."
Forn responded.
"How did they know we weren't bushes?"
This question worried me no less. I looked away at Ripun, who surprisingly looked very calm both then and now. Unlike the others, he seemed to trust us by default. This person could know the answers to our questions, but until we can understand each other, we will not learn something new that we wanted to understand.
"What's the difference. They are already seven."
Will grinned.
"Well, they'll make some noise, so what?"
"You really don't understand anything, Will?"
Itami asked.
"What do we mean here? We defended ourselves, we had the right to kill them in the process of defense."
"Wow. Just iron logic."
Forn responded.
Meanwhile, we were approaching the crash site of the shuttle and came out onto the strip of fallen trees that the «Persia» had left behind. Meanwhile, the rain, as always, did not stop, and the skies were darkened by black clouds, making it always seem like it was just a stormy night.
The lieutenant said that he had made contact, which means we need to hide the fugitives from sight for a long time, and I figured out how we can do this.
"Let's undress."
I ordered and began to take off my camouflage, leaving behind only a dark blue uniform with a helmet, body armor and a rifle in my hands.
So I looked, albeit vulnerable, but easy. The main thing is not to use up all your ammunition in case of danger, since we had quite a few cartridges. My guys carried out my order without question, apparently guessing what I was up to, and then we offered our camouflage to these natives.
"Get dressed."
I gestured to the camouflage folded in my hands and to myself.
"Ged drezzet."
Alza repeated and took the robe from my hands and began to dress her somehow.
They talked about something else among themselves and the whole four of them began to change into camouflage. The only one of us who had not yet taken off his bush was Esko. He will have to remain invisible from prying eyes when we approach the shuttle, although I don't think this is necessary.
If the lieutenant made contact with those natives we missed, then we will again be in trouble, but if it is another group, then we are lucky and we can sneak our new friends on board and at the same time carry out the first contact process normally.
"Let's go, guys."
I ordered and we moved forward.
The natives, dressed in camouflage, clumsily followed us, squelching through the dirty water, stepping over large branches of roots and getting wet from the poisonous rain.
"Be silent."
I said to the natives and showed a closed mouth gesture.
«I hope they understood what I wanted from them.»
I hoped, seeing no reaction from the natives.
Soon we approached the shuttle, which was surrounded by those same natives in white armor.
"Everyone be on guard."
I said and we squeezed our rifles in our hands as we slowly approached the shuttle.
The natives, apparently noticing who we were approaching, slowed down their pace, but seeing that we continued to walk silently, slowly and confidently, they began to catch up with us. At that moment, John called us over the communication line. His voice sounded in my earphone:
"Boris, you should see this."
The guys and I looked at each other, and I hastened to ask the lieutenant:
"What exactly?"
Instead of an answer, I heard quiet joyful laughter.
"Shit. Oh shit. This planet is simply paranormal. I'm waiting for your arrival. You just have to see it."
«What the hell is he talking about?»
I was perplexed by his strange words.
When we got to the shuttle, the white knights stepped aside to let us onto the shuttle ramp. This time there were hundreds of them here, and they outnumbered the current crew by four times.
They settled around the shuttle and carefully studied the crash site in the rain. At this time we went onto the lowered ramp, where we saw a delegation of natives in the landing compartment.
Lieutenant John and Junior Lieutenant Uwon with senior medic Fred stood opposite a group of natives, the leader of which was a certain woman in a light robe, covering her face with her hood. She looked like a clergywoman, but at the same time she stood at the head of this delegation.
John, seeing us, hastened to introduce us, pointing at me with his hand:
"This is junior lieutenant Boris Kipito."
The girl raised her gaze to me and looked me straight in the eyes, revealing her white glowing eyes. To my surprise and the surprise of everyone else, she suddenly spoke in English:
"Greetings."
She said in a beautiful, even voice.
«What? Does the native speak English fluently? How is this possible?»
I was no less surprised than the others.
Me and my guys were surprised. The native fugitives who followed us and who seemed to be mistaken for members of our detachment seemed to be much more surprised, but continued to remain silent, not attracting attention to themselves.
Meanwhile, John continued talking to the girl:
"We're all assembled, now we can get acquainted."
John looked strangely at the native fugitives in camouflage and approached me in a whisper and asked a question:
"Who are they?"
"I'll tell you later."
I answered in a whisper. The lieutenant, apparently realizing something, decided not to pay attention to the new guests and focused on the delegation of a native woman who somehow knew English.
«How does she know English? Maybe she is a descendant of people who also ended up on this anomalous planet? Is that why she knows English? Or maybe these people are not another species of intelligent beings at all, but the same "homo-sapiens-sapiens-modis"?»
There were too many questions to answer right away. The shuttle fighters, armed with light small arms, took up positions in the landing compartment covering the path to the rest of the shuttle. In the event of aggression from the natives, an effective defense would be built here, but there was one problem and it was that the natives could penetrate the shuttle through a hole in the casing.
Moreover, not all sixty people were on our feet, so the natives still had the advantage, as they strangely laughed about something in their own language. At this time, the lieutenant and the girl sat down at one prepared table with improvised chairs, after which he introduced himself to the girl:
"I am Lieutenant John Christ, commanding the C1-2-2-D regiment of the Republic Armed Forces of Mankind."
The girl, with her bright white eyes, ran over the lieutenant's face, looking for facial expressions on his face, and the first thing she said was:
"Not a lie."
After this, the previously pleased lieutenant suddenly frowned. It was difficult to find the words to properly establish the first contact with another civilization, especially since it was more primitive than ours.
John didn't tell her that we came from other planets only because it could shake the worldview of the inhabitants of this world, so he started with what he could share in principle. The girl, having finished examining the lieutenant's face, took off her hood, revealing her snow-white long wavy hair and introduced herself:
"My name is Yasmi, I am known as the holy, brightest daughter of Sod, and His sons, the paladins of the Order of the White Moon, protect me."
"Nice to meet you."
John nodded in response and after a short pause decided to ask the first question.
"We noticed that this forest is unsuitable for life and we would like to know what you are doing here?"
However, instead of answering, the girl only snapped, frowning on her face:
"You dare, you insignificant barbarian, address a saint so rudely? You are just the lost son of Sod, dirt under your feet, respect the power of the mighty of this world and even more please respect the wisdom of Sod as long as you walk, breathe, drink and speak on His lands."
«As I thought, she knows about Sod, or rather, their culture is connected with this Sod.»
Meanwhile, I thought, watching the negotiations unfold and already starting to get a little nervous.
John also became nervous when he heard such harsh words from this young girl. The white knights had already begun to draw their swords one after another, hearing the stern tone of their mistress, and our guys also began to prepare for battle, removing the safety of their small arms.
"We... didn't want to offend anyone."
The lieutenant said, raising his hands higher at shoulder level.
"We just wanted to know who you are and what are you doing here?"
"We ask questions here."
The girl answered sternly and finally asked her question.
"And the first thing we want to know is: do you believe in Sod?"
John took a deep breath and was clearly nervous. It seems that these natives were terrible fanatics that were ready to go to war against absolutely any infidels that stood in their way. At this time, a soldier suddenly put his hand on the lieutenant's shoulder. The lieutenant turned around, seeing a blind soldier who had often raved about Sod before.
"Sod is in our hearts, in our souls, our heavenly father, He is our God. And we no longer need anyone or anything except His hand from His heavenly abode under the gaze of His eyes."
«Wow... he said it like he really believed in him. Or does he actually believe in it?»
I wondered if he was pretending to be crazy.
The girl, seeing the blind soldier, also examined his calm expression and answered the lieutenant more calmly:
"So you believe in Sod?"
The lieutenant nodded nervously and replied:
"Yes."
The girl smiled in response:
"This is good news for us. We are glad to see His children on the lands of the Empire."
We all breathed a sigh of relief. The white knights sheathed their swords and the fighters lowered the muzzles of their rifles. A little later the girl asked another question:
"Second question: why does your tribe live in dark ruins?"
John and everyone else were surprised by the question. It seems that this planet is strewn with the wreckage of alien ships, which the local inhabitants perceive as some kind of dark ruins. This is just a guess, but what if these people really are not the original inhabitants of this planet?
"This is our house."
Answered the lieutenant.
"We live here."
The girl was satisfied with the answer and asked another question.
"Third question: have you seen the heretics?"
"Heretics?"
John frowned.
"You are the first people we meet here."
Now the contentment disappeared from the girl's face, and after a short moment of silence, she collected more air in her chest and angrily uttered one single word:
"Lie."
After this, the situation around suddenly became chaotic. The white knights quickly took their blades out of their sheaths and rushed towards us, and the RAFOM fighters pointed their muzzles at the natives and opened fire.
John jumped up from his seat and tried to run to the side so as not to get caught in the crossfire, but he was immediately knocked to the floor by a blind fighter, shouting all sorts of nonsense:
"REPENT SINNER! DIE!"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET GO!"
Chaos began to happen everywhere. I, my squad and the native fugitives headed deep into the landing compartment at the airlock where we quickly took up positions, turning over the fragments of the ceiling as shelter from possible arrows.
"What the heck? Why did they decide to attack us?"
Shouted one soldier, reloading his machine gun.
"This is on the conscience of our lieutenant."
Another fighter shouted in response, shooting the natives on the heads.
"Devil! How solid they are!"
The bodies of the white knights were torn into pieces and bled to death, falling dead, while others, climbing the ladder one after another, immediately met their death from oncoming fire. They tried to run to us, but instead of reaching us, they laid a bloody trail of corpses, which then rolled down the lowered ladder into the dirty water.
That girl Yasmi continued to sit at the table and simply closed her eyes, muttering something under her nose. I pointed my rifle in her direction and was going to, if not shoot her, then wound her, but then suddenly my field of vision was suddenly blocked by a flash.
"What the?!"
Suddenly the blind fighter and John flared up like matches. A bright flame enveloped their bodies and almost blinded us. They were burning alive, screaming loudly in agony. One of the fighters thought of turning on the extinguishing system, which immediately filled the compartment with cold steam escaping from the ceiling, which immediately put out the fire, but now we did not see the advancing natives.
"Take the lieutenant and let's leave! Start closing the floodgate!"
Uwon shouted, giving an order to the soldiers of his platoon.
Four fighters ran into the fog and picked up the lieutenant and the blind man while the rest of the fighters kept up blind suppressive fire, hoping to hold off the natives.
At this time, the airlock was manually closed by the remaining soldiers, and soon we all reached the next compartment with the wounded and breathed a sigh of relief. But the sounds of shooting did not stop and were heard behind our backs, and we realized that the battle was also taking place near the hole near the bow of the shuttle.
"Let's go, guys!"
Uwon and I practically said these words in unison and rushed towards the bow of the shuttle. While we were running, Uwon decided to ask me something:
"Who did you bring with you? Are they really natives too?"
"Yes."
I answered briefly.
"They fled from these."
"Who are they?"
"No idea. They don't know English. The contact is very weak."
"So they are not enemies?"
"Friends for now."
We didn't talk about anything further and ran to the bow of the shuttle, where two firing points filled the hole in the casing with the corpses of the natives.
"How difficult it is to kill them!"
One soldier complained, firing from a machine gun.
"One ate the whole store!"
"Oh you're right."
Agreed another soldier who helped the machine gunner with reloading by loading a machine gun belt.
After some time, the natives stopped pushing forward, cooling the muzzles of our weapons with their silence, and only the sound of rain and the smell of gas from our weapons filled the interior space of the shuttle. Outside, in addition to the rain, the conversations of the natives and the noise of their movement could be heard. It was as if they were laying siege to our shuttle.
At that moment, over the connection we heard the voice of the chief physician:
"What have you done? Why did John almost die?"
"How should I know?!"
Uwon cursed.
"This fire came out of nowhere. The power was off and I don't know where the flames came from. Maybe these aliens threw an incendiary grenade?"
"He died."
The doctor's words shocked us all. The death of Lieutenant John at the hands of these natives quickly filled us with a feeling of anger and a thirst for revenge.
«So that some bastards dare not just injure, but kill a person? Let them just try to beg for mercy!»
I thought furiously, gritting my teeth.
"Let's go for a breakthrough."
Uwon ordered with a stern expression on his face.
"Let's take up defenses around the shuttle and finish off all these natives! And no mercy for them!"