“Jad-Os Eric Rama, Osar Baratuu am I of genetic/hereditary Dagyam Urgan, give/pledge you my Life Oath.”
Their hands still clasped, Eric studied the xenoform kneeling before him, taken aback by its declaration of fealty and unsure how to react.
The xenoform; no the man, for it was obviously a man regardless of its species, was generally humanoid in form, with smooth grey skin and an expressive face. His thin lips, pointed teeth, red-brown eyes, and some sort of tubular, one-inch long fronds of skin underneath its broad chin underscored his alien nature. He was not the weirdest looking xenoform Eric had ever interacted with, certainly nothing like the translucent Scopaia or the jellyfish-like Magor, but he was certainly the first to do anything remotely like offering Eric a Life Oath.
On the face of the offer, Eric was understandably confused: He had helped the man not through any sense of altruism, but because he needed a native to question in order to learn more about the universe they had found themselves stranded in. Surprisingly, it appeared that giving the man healing, despite using the experimental healing elixir he would have used earlier on Serra, was enough to gain this warrior’s Life Oath, whatever that meant.
Which seemed an absurdly exaggerated response to a simple act of healing.
Realizing the man was still waiting for his answer, Eric decided to put off deciding until he learned more about this man and the circumstances surrounding their presence here. Was this Osar secretly an enemy? What was his true agenda? Did the man have enemies that might turn their attention to Eric? Perhaps he was a criminal on the run? There was just no way to be sure, and Eric was no idealistic fool. It made no sense to commit himself into an unknown situation that might turn around and bite him in the ass later.
“I do advise caution, sir.”
Eric agreed with Pig silently as he pulled the man up to his feet.
“Hold on there Mr. Baratuu was it? I just got here, and I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
To his relief the man didn’t press the issue, instead settling for bowing his head apologetically.
“Osar can you call me,” The man said, his voice low and somewhat growly, probably because of the shape of his pointed teeth. “Is big decision yes? Later is okay to consider. For now, I may?”
“What?” Eric blurted out as Osar gestured vaguely toward his damaged and bloodied armor.
Seeing Eric’s incomprehension, the man made a gesture, and the armor he was wearing began to peel away in sections, folding and refolding, growing smaller and smaller until the entire suit was compressed into a vaguely oval, metallic box about the size of Osar’s palm, which he stowed away into his own spatial ring. He then moved over to pick up his fallen sword and disappeared that one too.
“Cool.” Serra breathed beside Eric, fascinated by what the man had just shown them.
“Is battlesuit and much damaged, yes?” The man replied in his jumbled way of speaking, stretching his limbs and examining the healing wounds clearly visible through the rents on his blood-stained clothes. “Damage will heal in time, but no can use until then.”
“Is he saying that folding battlesuit of his will heal?” Serra said, almost giddy with excitement. Eric chuckled as he stowed his sword back into his ring. On operations he had seen Serra ignore expensive jewelry, luxury items, and even beautiful clothes, but show the woman a new weapon or a new piece of military tech and she was all smiles and attention.
“I can keep your hammer for you Jakobin,” Eric said. “I don’t think we’re in any immediate danger right now.”
“Hah! Is always danger!” Osar exclaimed loudly, looking savage with his shark-toothed grin and his damaged clothes. “But much less with me here, yeah?”
Serra smiled back, baring her teeth at the man in a gesture that seemed to take him aback. But she handed her hammer to Eric, an exchange that Osar watched with interest.
“You not have a spatial ring?” He asked curiously.
“Not at the moment,” Serra replied, looking askance at the big man.
“Come follow me,” The man said, walking over to a door at the back of the room that Eric and Serra had not noticed. “I have one for you.”
Intrigued, the two humans followed.
Osar opened the semi-hidden door with a touch that sent it shooting up into its well-hidden head jamb. Eric took a moment to admire the way the automatic door was engineered; not only was its movement smooth and soundless, when viewed from the entrance where they had fought the beast, this second door was nearly impossible to see. It was a powerful indicator of the sophistication of the people who had built this asteroid complex.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Walking through the sliding door, the two humans found themselves in a room that was similar to the one they had just left. Directly opposite from where they had entered were the bodies of three more of the beasts that they had just battled, bearing cuts and slashes from what was likely a bladed weapon.
Their attention was immediately drawn though to the other objects that occupied the room. In one corner, furthest from the door, two humanoid bodies were laid out, one of which looked shockingly familiar.
It was Cid Arth-Veda, the Halden-Xiao scientist who had volunteered to help them kill the dragon.
With a startled cry, Serra pushed Osar aside as she rushed to Cid’s prone body. Eric pulled out his sword in an instant, leveling the blade at their guide. For his part Osar just took several steps back, surprise showing on his face, his hands lifted to show he held no weapons.
“He’s alive,” Serra pronounced, listening with her ear to Cid’s blood-spattered chest. Eric breathed a sigh of relief. “But he’s got a lot of injuries… broken bones mostly and a lot of bruises.”
“This you can use,” Osar said from where he stood, holding out a bluish-green ceramic bottle. “Is standard healing potion… not experimental stuff like you give, eh?”
Eric’s eyes narrowed. Osar had taken the potion from his spatial ring so quickly that Eric hadn’t even seen him move. The big warrior raised an eyebrow, and Eric immediately understood the message the other fighter was trying to convey.
I could have killed you there, the Urgan warrior was saying, but I’m giving you a healing potion instead.
Eric nodded once as he took the bottle from Osar’s hands. He was wary, but the xenoform just leaned back against the wall and crossed his huge arms over his chest, willing to let things play out.
Serra propped Cid up against the wall and held his shaggy dark blonde head upright as Eric forced the scientist’s bearded lips open to pour down the healing drink, much like they had done to Osar earlier. The potion took longer to take effect on Cid than it had taken for Osar, but in a few minutes Cid was showing signs of returning to consciousness.
“More of the juice needed?” Osar rumbled from where he stood, offering two more health potions with his black-nailed hands.
“I think I got something better,” Eric replied, remembering how he had helped Serra recover.
Cid’s awakening proved to be milder than Eric's or Serra’s by far, although whether it was due to him having less severe injuries than Eric or Serra or because he had been dosed with healing potion instead of awakening alone or being forced awake with ultradrenaline, no one there could say, but at least he did not wake up screaming.
Eric switched up with Serra as Cid groaned, the scarred woman taking position to keep an obviously suspicious eye on Osar.
Soon Cid’s eyes snapped open, helped along by Eric with several stinging slaps on the scientist’s cheeks.
“Be cool, Cid,” Eric said as the man’s eyes focused on his face. “You’re safe and with friends.”
“Captain?” Cid asked, with just a slight quaver in his voice. “Yours is not the face I expected to see after dying.”
“Well, that probably means you’re not dead yet, right?”
“I-I, guess so…” Then the big man’s eyes widened as he remembered something. “The dragon! Did it… did we…?”
“Shhh, calm down, man,” Eric said softly. “Right now, I need you to focus on that message screen in your field of vision.”
“What… oh.” Cid’s eyes refocused to look at the screen only he could see. “That’s strange, I never applied for visual augmentation…OW!”
The sound of the slap Eric gave the scientist resounded through the small room. “What does the screen say, Cid?”
“It says that my Gens has reached the required parameters for Integration!” The aggrieved scientist answered, rubbing at his reddened cheek. “Was that really necessary, Captain?”
“Answer yes to the prompt Cid and this will soon be over.”
“Okay! Done… now what?”
“Now we wait.”
“Never have I seen a similar transition while am living.” Osar remarked casually from his corner as the golden glow enveloped Cid, healing him of any other injuries the potion hadn’t cleared up.
“We can help you pick out a Core…” Eric began, when suddenly a long, drawn out howl echoed through the corridors, raising the hairs on the human’s necks. Osar’s demeanor changed in an instant, from relaxed insouciance to sudden readiness, a heavy sword and a large black shield appearing in his hands as he turned towards the door.
“Hey!” Cid exclaimed, seeming to notice Osar for the first time. “That’s the man who rescued me from a monster… one that sounded just like that!”
“He rescued you?”
“Did you save this man?”
Osar grunted in assent to the last question, looking down both sides of the outside corridor warily. “I found him bleeding on floor, dragged him here for safety.”
Another howl rang out.
“What is that thing?” Serra asked, snatching her hammer from the air as Eric flung it towards her.
“That is a female Sesang,” Osar answered her without looking back as he maintained his watch from the doorway. “Probably getting ready to give birth.”
“That’s good isn’t it?” Cid said from the back as he got to his feet, his face morose as he looked down at the sorry state of his clothes. “It’ll mean the mother will be incapacitated for hours.”
“Is not good.” Osar answered grimly. “The birthing is taking moments only, and there are usually three to four beasts to a birth.”
“That shouldn’t be much of a problem, right?” Eric asked as he came up, taking a position to the right of the big warrior. “The mother would be weakened and its babies wouldn’t even be a factor.”
“Sesang beasts spawn drones as adults and ready to hunt.” Osar said with a snort of amusement, though he noted how Eric had naturally positioned himself to guard his unshielded side. Good combat instincts there. “The one you fought was born less than a day ago.”
Serra sucked in her breath at Osar’s revelation. All of them recognized the danger the mother beast’s fecundity posed immediately: They could be flooded by vicious, ravenous beasts in days!
Not seeing an immediate threat, Osar took a step back from the doorway to check what equipment he had available in his ring to help bring down a Sesang broodmother. His current options were not great: The sword and shield he had taken out were likely the best armaments he could use since his battlesuit would not be serviceable any time soon. The Urgan looked up when Eric voiced a question.
“How do you know that’s a female?”
“Those are drone Sesang’s Jad-Os,” Osar answered, pointing a finger at the sliced-up corpses of the beasts that crowded the doorway. “Where there are drones, there is always a gravid female.”
“Okay,” Serra said, bringing the head of her hammer down on her palm. The scars on her cheeks stood out pale against her dark skin as determination blazed in her eyes. Another spine-chilling howl echoed along the corridors.
“How do we deal with her then?”
Osar’s feral answering smile matched her mood.
“We hunt her down and kill her.”