Memory transcription subject: Estala, Prestige Extermination Officer, Krakotl to Venlil Extermination training leader.
Date [standardized human time]: September 29st, 2136
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Three shots, three hits, centre mass, the target disappearing as the bullets ripped through the artificial representation of an Arxur, my actual shots thudding harmlessly into the backstop of the firing range. I’d already moved onto the next target, tilting my head as I focused on the rapidly moving representation of a predator rushing my position.
BANG. BANG. BANG
Three shots, one hit. Not good enough. The target was moving far faster than I normally practised against, at a further distance, near the maximum effective combat range of the exterminator provided handgun. Normal guild rules and specifications didn’t expect this degree of accuracy, but these were not normal times.
BANG. CLUNK.
The weapon misfired as the next simulated attacker grew closer. Entirely as expected, considering the drill required to clear at least one jam at random within 45 shots. Still, even though I knew the attacker was nothing more than a state-of-the-art system of holograms and computer code, I could feel a surge of adrenaline and fear pulse through my heart as the ravenous figure drew near. Fake or not, a predator and all its evils was still a terrifying thing to have rushing your position.
My hands moved quickly, hundreds of hours of practice evident as the intruding blockage was removed, the next round recycled in the chamber, before putting a bullet between the eyes of the attacking ‘Arxur’, switching targets once again as the drill continued.
I was the only one here, which was a shame as frankly the entire guild required far more range time; only a small minority of Exterminators passed the bare minimum required proficiency with the weaponry. Most tended to focus on the far easier to use flamers, ignoring the issues surrounding the weapon’s limited range in engagements and excessive collateral damage in tight quarters. That was an oversight that I feared would be our undoing in these troubled times.
Fear. That’s what drove me on as I blasted away at the targets, knowing just what was at stake. The situation had gone from bad to worse, every day, every moment being yet another horror inflicted upon Venlil Prime and the noble prey who lived upon it. The humans were on the planet now. Not a lot of them, but enough to be potentially dangerous. And dangerous they were.
The Gojid were well known as defenders of the herd, second only to the armies of Nishtal themselves in protecting us against the evils and horrors of the predators. They had been preparing to eradicate the human threat from our planet, but had been beaten to the punch by the bloodthirsty predators. One of the greatest military forces in the federation had been torn apart by the claws and teeth of the brutal primitive primates who had discovered FTL less than a year ago. Working together with the Arxur, they’d torn the Cradle apart until it was no more.
Sure, the predators claimed that they hated the Arxur, that they did not intend for the greys to attack. They’d even created convincing footage of them fighting against the Arxur, showing them evacuating any Gojid cattle they could capture and fighting against the predators who tried to steal their feasts. But anyone sane could see through their lies, see these claims as nothing more than Maltos informed trickery. I couldn’t help but feel my heart break as I wondered just what horrors those poor Gojid who had been taken to Earth as cattle were going through, living upon a blood soaked land ruled by predators.
I fired the last shot, a final target disappearing as the drill ended, giving me a moment to see the results of this drill: 45 shots. 32 hits. All targets fatally wounded. 3 minutes 45 seconds. I wish I could set the drill to use more realistic targets, but training upon human simulations would be considered ‘improper’ and against the Venlil government’s wishes. Arxur would have to do as a vague stand in.
Not good enough.
The assault on the Gojid home world, the supposed ‘defensive action’ from the predators, had given humans the opportunity to set up military installations on Venlil Prime itself. “Cooperation with the Venlil military” they said. As if predators knew what cooperation was. Small pockets of vicious predator warriors, living and training on the same planet as honourable peaceful prey. It made my feathers shiver to think what vicious depravity went on behind those newly erected harsh chain link fences. But what made me truly scared was a glimpse into the pure power of their violence.
From what I understood, a guild member had challenged them. Normally such an action would be considered suicide, to goad a predator into violence, but in retrospect the Exterminators had gained a key insight into the predator's capabilities thanks to this mistake. I didn’t know exactly how such a thing had happened, but I did know of two things.
Firstly, an Exterminator had taken a human soldier to a Guild’s firing range such as this, and had challenged them to a test of combat on a drill similar to this one.
Secondly, the human had destroyed the previous record time for finishing the drill with a perfect score.
That terrified me to my core. The Gojid cradle had already fallen, and it could be any paw that the predators would finally reveal their vicious plans for the Venlil people. It would be up to people like me to stop them hurting the herd when they did, an impossible task. Seeing their military on the Cradle, and seeing the firearm training results of a random predator soldier, I realized just how much better they were at inflicting violence upon those who stood against them. It was a sobering thought, considering their eventual plans had me and the rest of the herd standing against them.
Once again I reloaded my firearm and corresponding magazines, ensuring I had the full 45 pieces of ammunition required, dud bullet included. I took another deep breath, before starting the drill again, for the 6th time this claw. Venlil Prime couldn’t afford for the predators to be better than the Exterminators. While Tarva may be playing a dangerous game kowtowing to their vicious demands and falling for their lies, when their eventual trickery was found out it would be up to us to protect the herd from their predator depravity.
I’m not good enough, I need to be better.
—--------------
Memory transcription subject: Estala, Human Methods Advisor to the Exterminators.
Date [standardized human time]: March 14th, 2137
I felt the feathers on my wing stick to something, causing a feeling of pure revulsion and horror to shudder through my body as I learned I’d leaned on… something gross. The entire Exterminator Guild’s office was a mess, dust and trash lining every possible surface. Well, calling it an office was a bit of a stretch, considering it was basically one big room filled with chairs, desks and storage. It barely even counted as a proper Exterminator’s outpost.
The “Tree Tree Hill” district was an organizational oddity, a small plot of land that lay smack bang in between more conventionally sized districts. Most districts were sized around historical borders: Rivers, hills, valleys. “Tree Tree Hill” however, was situated at the edge of civilization, smack bang in the middle of four larger areas. A strange misshapen plot of land vaguely containing “everything else”.
The entire area was made up of an industrial estate, several unmaintained and unused scraps of land that could, if you were being charitable, be called “parks”, and a total population of around 300 people. Tourists in this district all agreed that the top attraction was the tiny train station that sat at its centre, since the train station offered such fun activities like “Leaving this area and never coming back”.
“Well that’s all the information we need regarding your whereabouts. Although we do have some questions regarding this district.”
There were two total suspects at this guild’s district, which made sense as all four employees of this Exterminator’s office had been suspended before. It was a dead end, a place to put people who weren’t quite bad enough to fire, but not good enough to be doing any important work. This entire guild’s office only existed for the same reason the entire district existed: It was a legal requirement.
Frankly, the more time I spent here, the more I wondered if burning the entire building down and starting again was the correct solution. The entire office was a travesty, poorly maintained equipment scattered in piles and on the floor, confidential data pads just lying on desks and chairs, and everything was…. dirty and dusty. I needed a shower just standing here. I couldn’t imagine leaving my office in such a state. A complete lack of… pride in my work or working environment was something I couldn’t fathom. While I knew many Exterminators were just in it for a pay cheque and a job, this was a lack of care to an extreme degree.
“Yeah, in addition to our research on suspended Exterminators, we’re here because there have been numerous complaints.”
Jkob spoke as he stood to the left of me, a more accusatory tone in his voice than mine. I could see the dislike in the Letian’s body language, the absolute disgust we shared at the unprofessional actions of this district's Exterminators. All four of them sat in front of us, haphazardly slumped on chairs or any seating they could find not covered in rubbish, lacking the self pride required to be embarrassed at what they were showing us. Sure, none of them were the Heartbreak killer, but that didn’t mean they weren’t in trouble.
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“The herd seems to have no complaints with how we keep them safe in these troubling times.”
The grey coloured Venlil called Ravlek spoke in a disinterested tone, the disgrace of an Exterminator being the closest thing to a “leader” in this district. I already didn’t like any of them, so the lack of care being shown made my blood boil internally.
“Well, there have been. Too many for such a small district. For starters, we’ve been told that you’re still using flamers, which the guild has specifically banned in recent paws.” I spoke curtly as I stood up, annoyed, picking up a flamerthrower which had been left haphazardly on a desk. I felt a mixture of horror and rage as I realized the fuel canister was still dangerously attached. “Which should all be in long term storage, not lying around still armed!”
I glared at the group of useless Venlil as I waited for an answer, taking the time to remove the fuel canister and make the weapon I held in my hands safe, in order to avoid burning this pitiful office to the ground. None of them seemed to care, one of the group even giving a flick of the tail that seemed to taunt me.
“Well, they were banned apart from in emergencies.” The deep black Venlil named Glavan, a smug smirk in her voice as she did so, as if daring me to do anything about it. “With the infestation of predators we are currently suffering, our district's situation is an emergency.”
“What predator infestation? And why has this not been reported to head office!?” I gave a confused shake of my head at that statement. “What predators are settling here, there’s nowhere for them to hide, this area couldn’t support a-”
I stopped as Jkob gave me a polite tap on the shoulder, interrupting me as I questioned these idiots.
“Boss, they’re clearly talking about humans.”
I could see the stifled looks of humour on the four Venlil’s features, my glare wiping their merriment off their stupid tails and ears as my feathers flared about in anger.
“Oh you think that’s funny do you! Well let’s see how funny it is when I fire all of you for breaching the Exterminator rules and regulations. We’ve had over eleven complaints of this district harassing humans, which considering that nobody really comes to this shit heap of a district, is a worrying amount of complaints!”
“They’re just lying predators, we haven’t done anything against anyone while protecting the herd. It’s our word against theirs.” Ravlek said in an annoying tone, not bothering to even sit up straight, as they looked completely unperturbed by my threats against his job.
“Jkob, get me the body cam footage from these idiots, and I swear if there’s anything wrong in it…”
“I’m sorry, they’ve not been working for a few paws.” Glavan said more confidently than I liked, her tail swishing nonchalantly. “Nothing records.”
“Bullshit!” I shouted in return as I took an annoyed step towards the four “Do you really think that’s going to work as an excuse?”
“We’ve reported it to head office, I have the report ID if you need it. With the budget cuts and the issues caused to the Exterminators by this Tarva government, we’ve been unable to fix it. It is really a shame.”
I wanted to taze them. I wanted to taze them. I wanted to punch them in their stupid little smug throats and their racist Feddie thinking as they-
“Got the backups boss.” Jkob interrupted my rage spiral, the Letian holding up a data pad triumphantly. “Someone had deleted all the main camera records, but the backups were still working. Also, they really need to update their systems, they haven’t applied a security patch in years.”
“Backups?” Ravlek asked. All of a sudden the calm uncaring demeanour of the failures masquerading as Exterminators changed in an instant, the four all suddenly sitting up.
“Yeah,” Jkob responded with a shrug. “All data gets backed up, just in case it gets deleted. You can turn it off in the settings, but it’s on by default.”
It was now my turn to look happy, staring at each of them as the four Venlil started to squirm, a righteous jury building in my person as I started to shout at them.
“Now, based on what I’m seeing here, I’m going to comb through every single interaction you’ve had with a human, and if I’m seeing anything other than the absolute pinnacle of professionalism, I am going to destroy your careers, do you understand!”
“Well, it’s not-” Ravlek started to talk, before I cut them off.
“No! You don’t get to speak! Look at this place! It’s an absolute disgrace!” I stood above the four sitting Venlil who were not far more alert and sitting back in their seats as I towered over them. “This place is disgusting, you’ve got dangerous fuel canisters just lying about everywhere, your uniforms are a shambles, everything is disorganized, dirty and everything I see is an absolute embarrassment to the Exterminators name. Even if I don’t find anything wrong with your conduct, this stops right now! When I return here, I expect to be able to eat off this floor or Inatala so help me you won’t have to worry about any predators!”
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Memory transcription subject: Estala, Human Methods Advisor to the Exterminators.
Date [standardized human time]: March 14th, 2137
I sat upon my perch back at home once more, a half-eaten mango held in one wing, using the other to navigate through the hours of recorded body cam footage on my computer. The room was dark apart from the glow of my screen, Joseph wasn’t back home yet, leaving me alone with my work.
Which was a good thing, considering I’d spent the last half claw doing nothing but swearing.
The “Tree Tree Hill” district Exterminators reactions against humans were… OK, if I was being honest, it wasn’t the worst I’d seen. Nothing criminal. No assault or property damage, just harassing humans. Normal people going about their day, humans wandering around and seeing what Skalga had to offer, like the curious primates are known to do. It still wasn’t acceptable though, not what the Exterminators stood for, and it made my blood boil.
My efforts focusing on Exterminator reform was an attempt to show the world that the organization I’d put my entire faith and life in was more than just a Federation mouthpiece. It still stood for protecting the herd from dangers and keeping people safe. All that had happened was the definition of herd and danger had changed. Exterminators like these four idiots, holding onto old broken Feddie ideals, were a harsh reminder that not everyone wanted to change.
I finished collating the information for my official report, giving it a final look over before inserting it into the system. Getting these idiots fired would be easy: Multiple breaches of policy, dereliction of duty, lack of proper maintenance. By now, most of the upper levels of the Exterminators were also pro reform to some extent, even if it was for the more selfish reason of making sure the organization survived in these changing times.
Of course, someone else would have to investigate it, confirm the evidence with the harassed people. In addition, before they could be removed, there were the requirements for replacements to be found, which… that could take a while. The guild was suffering a personnel crisis, and you couldn’t just leave a district without an Exterminators' guild without express permission from the magister of the district, which wouldn’t happen since that magister wanted to do the least amount of work.
Putting that together would cause this to last… [months]. What they’d done was bad enough to get them fired eventually, but not enough for people to care to speed up the long bureaucratic process of doing that. Which angered and annoyed me. They could resign, but I doubt they’d do that based on that attitude they’d given…
Unless…
I knew someone who specialized in this kind of thing, didn’t I? A number I had of a very very scary lawyer, or at least his assistant. I couldn’t just tell them outright to go sue someone in the guild, that was probably a major conflict of interest. Of course, if they found out about this lawsuit worth actions all on their own, that wouldn’t be my fault, would it?
Quickly I looked through my pad, finding the contact information I’d saved of the very scary Venlil, and sending a message
From Estala: Hello, it’s Estala. I’m just checking to see if there’s any update on the Mango farm, as I sent the information through.
It didn’t take long for me to get a response
From Venric: Greetings Estala. I must say it’s a pleasure to get an official interested in my case in the sense of me winning it. The local council quite suddenly sent out some emergency assessment fees after receiving the letter, and it caused a minor coup. We are currently waiting for the new council leadership to form for things to proceed, and that’s all I can legally reveal at the moment.
From Estala: Cool. While you’re here, could you provide some legal advice? I’m right in thinking that if required by an ongoing lawsuit or investigation, a Prestige Exterminator like myself would be legally required to provide any relevant information to said investigation (Such as body cam footage, ongoing internal investigations, etc etc)?
I was hoping that this was obvious enough to signal that I had something they might be interested in.
From Venric: For such an officer to give testimony as well as information would have quite a bit of weight behind it. But you should know that by the letter of the law, the only ones legally required to divulge information are the specific District Office and officers within.
Eehhhh, it was probably close enough. I could argue that regardless of the legality, the guild shouldn’t be hiding such evidence regardless.
From Estala: That’s what I thought. I also want to check, that it often makes more sense to focus a potential lawsuit on an individual instead of the guild as a whole, especially if an internal investigation regarding this issue is already ongoing?
There was one issue with this plan I had. Technically there was nothing stopping Venric from suiting the district as a whole, instead of just the four idiots involved in running it into the ground. I also hoped Venric was smart enough to realize what this message meant: If you want tips and information like this again, don’t go after the guild as a whole. Frankly my job would be far easier if Venric stopped stripping Exterminator district budgets and instead focused on the individuals causing the issues.
From Venric: That is quite correct, as an ongoing investigation goes to their character, and specifying the individual in a lawsuit greatly reduces the protections granted to them by being officers. If it can be demonstrated that the actions in the lawsuit go beyond the duties of their job, they can even be tossed entirely and be personally penalized for their actions without blowback upon the office.
From Estala: Thanks for the information. You should check out the human visitors to the “Tree Tree Hill” District. I think they’ll be avid mango purchasers.
That should be enough information for them to work out what’s going there. I wished I was a Laysee on the wall, watching when the group of idiots realized that Venric was after them. A small punishment for the disrepute they had brought to the guild.
Slowly reforming the Exterminators, one Exterminator and district at a time.