The first type of alien was a massive, bear-like creature almost twelve feet tall.
I studied the corpse. It looked very similar to a grizzly bear - if a grizzly was purple-skinned and covered in sharp, spiky needles like a porcupine. The creature’s belly and groin were smooth and soft, though, with a magenta hue.
The eyes were eerily similar to human eyes, with a reddish grey iris. The glassy stare of the dead creature unnerved me a little.
“This one was involved in an attack on a U. S. Navy base a year ago,” commented Goldman. “A single troopship split off from the main enemy assault force and hit the docks at Port Blair.”
I frowned. “Isn’t that in India?”
“We have a fleet base there, as do the Russians. It’s a joint basing agreement that’s been in place for about fifty years. The aliens split into three forces and tried to hit all three bases at the same time. Their weapons left gaping big holes in a destroyer, but we got most of them before they escaped in their ship.” Goldman paused. “We still don’t know what they were hoping to achieve. We were hoping you could tell us what they wanted.”
“I don’t think I can figure that out from just a corpse,” I replied. “Maybe if you have some equipment recovered?”
Fraser pursed his lips. “Mostly pieces of armor. Try your best.”
I used Observe.
GRIZZELLOID WARRIOR CORPSE
NEW ENEMY IDENTIFIED: GRIZELLOID WARRIOR
THE GRIZELLOID ARE A FEUDAL SPECIES, WITH EACH GRYZELLOID WARRIOR OWING ALLEGIANCE TO A LORD. EACH WARRIOR SERVES FIERCELY IN BATTLE TO EARN HONOR MARKS, WHICH ARE GRANTED BY THEIR LORD IN THE FORM OF RITUAL SCARS ON THE BODY.
THIS PARTICULAR WARRIOR LACKS ANY OF THE HONOR MARKS OF A RESPECTABLE GRIZELLOID MALE. THIS SUGGESTS IT IS A ROOKIE ON ITS FIRST MISSION.
LEVEL 18
HP: 1000 ARMOR: 100
TOTAL HP: 1100
ATTRIBUTES:
STR 50 DEX 18 VIT 50 INT 9 WIS 1 CHA 8 PER 15 ATT 8 LUK 5
WEAPONS/ATTACKS:
PLASMA RIFLE +100 DAMAGE/HIT, 6 SHOTS / MINUTE
COMBAT MORNINGSTAR +100 DAMAGE/HIT
CLAW SWIPE +50 DAMAGE/HIT
CRUSHING HOLD +100 DAMAGE/SEC
INFORMATION ADDED TO BESTIARY.
Huh. I was lucky I’d run into a Sarnak and not a Grizelloid my first time out.
I explained the details to the officers, who noted the information down.
“The combat morningstar sounds interesting,” said Goldman. “A weapon that fits such a description was found on the corpse; we thought it might be an unsanctioned weapon.”
“What’s an unsanctioned weapon?”
“Something a soldier carries which isn’t regulation,” explained Fraser. “A nonstandard combat knife, a blowgun, a dart thrower; stuff that you don’t get issued from the official armory.”
“Is the weapon here?” I asked. “It might give me some more insights.”
“It’s in the specimen room,” Shapiro said. “We’ll check it out later.”
I nodded. “Any more Grizelloids?”
The officers shook their heads. “There are reports that some have been seen in combat, but this is the only body the U.S. has recovered. Other militaries have recovered five or six more.”
“Five or six?”
“A lot of the bodies were in very small pieces. We’re showing you the intact ones only.”
The second creature had a catlike body with sleek muscles. Four feet from tip to tail, it was covered in soft fur that had stiffened under the effect of prolonged refrigeration. Its dun coat showed scars and tattoos all over. These ones were more recognizable - what was unmistakably a knife tattoo covered its shoulders, and the chest was decorated with the motif of a moon rising above the surface of a blue-green world.
LYNXIAN SOLDIER CORPSE
NEW ENEMY IDENTIFIED: LYNXIAN SOLDIER
ONCE, THE LYNXIANS WERE A SOCIETY OF PROUD ARTISTS, SCULPTORS AND CRAFTSMEN. NOW, THE ONLY ART THEY CREATE IS THAT OF WAR. VESTIGES OF THEIR TRADITION REMAIN IN THEIR BODY PAINTINGS, EACH SYMBOLIZING THE ASPIRATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL WHO WEARS THEM.
THE CHEST TATTOO REPRESENTS THE CROWING ACHIEVEMENT OF THIS LYNXIAN SOLDIER, WHILE THE ARM TATTOO REPRESENTS THE SERVICE BRANCH. THE STABBING KNIFE IS FOR GROUND FIGHTERS, AND THE RISING MOON ABOVE HIS HOMEWORLD REPRESENTS HIS SERVICE IN SPACE-BASED TROOPS.
LEVEL 12
HP: 500 ARMOR: NIL
TOTAL HP: 500
ATTRIBUTES:
STR 12 DEX 25 VIT 20 INT 13 WIS 8 CHA 14 PER 18 ATT 10 LUK 5
WEAPONS/ATTACKS:
LIGHT PLASMA RIFLE +60 DAMAGE/HIT, 4 SHOTS / MINUTE
INVESTITURE KNIFE +50 DAMAGE/HIT
STRIKING CLAW +24 DAMAGE/HIT
STRIKE FROM THE SKY +100 DAMAGE ON HIT, REQUIRES HEIGHT ADVANTAGE
INFORMATION ADDED TO BESTIARY.
HIERARCHY LORE HAS LEVELED UP! NOW LEVEL 4.
YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED THE LYNXIANS AND THE GRIZELLOIDS, TWO MORE OF THE SPECIES THAT MAKE UP THE BONES OF THE HIERARCHY.
As I narrated the details to the soldiers, I added the bit about the Bones of the Hierarchy. “I think they’re some sort of faction within the Hierarchy - a multi-species alliance, perhaps.”
“Factions within the enemy?” inquired Shapiro. “Perhaps they are not so united, then. That is possibly good news.”
“We don’t know that yet,” pointed out Fraser. “But it’s still valuable intelligence. Thank you, Belessar.”
“My pleasure,” I replied. “So where’s the last of the alien species? You said there were three.”
“It has its own room,” Goldman said. “But be prepared… it’s a bit of a shock.”
Goldman wasn’t kidding about the corpse needing its own room.
A sixty-foot Carnotaur corpse deserved at least that much.
The entire room spanned nearly two hundred feet. The corpse was sprawled out on a massive metal tray and secured in place by plastic ropes.
The temperature was minus forty, which was necessary to keep the body from rotting. The kaiju’s massive bulk was coated with icicles, but that did nothing to reduce the unsettling stare of its massive eye - as large as a human head.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
I shivered, and not just from the cold.
Major Fraser’s voice was muffled beneath the furs he’d put on. “This one was killed at the Battle of Seattle. Sixteen thousand dead civilians, four thousand soldiers and one hundred and twenty ultrahumans. We lost a great deal that day - but Seattle stands.”
I nodded. “That was three years ago, right?”
“Yes. The corpse has been preserved as best as we can. Want to work your magic?”
I stared at the corpse, trying to take it in, and invoked Observe.
LESSER CARNOTAUR CORPSE
NEW ENEMY IDENTIFIED: LESSER CARNOTAUR
VORACIOUS, HUNGRY, AND DETERMINED, CARNOTAURS ARE THE DEADLIEST HUNTERS IN THE GALAXY. THE CARNOTAURS HUNT MASSIVE PREY IN THE SWAMPS OF THEIR HOMEWORLD, WORKING TOGETHER IN PACKS LED BY THE LARGEST AND SMARTEST.
THE LESSER CARNOTAUR IS THE FOOT SOLDIER OF THIS PACK, STRIKING WHERE HIS LEADER COMMANDS, SEVERING TENDONS OF THE PREY AND HAMSTRINGING THEM AS THE GREATER MEMBERS GO FOR THE THROAT. OVER TIME, THE LESSER MAY GROW INTO A MEDIUM CARNOTAUR, AND EVENTUALLY - WITH ENOUGH FOOD AND PROWESS - EVEN EVOLVE INTO A GREATER CARNOTAUR.
THIS CARNOTAUR HAD SOUGHT TO SPEED ITS EVOLUTION BY MEANS CONSIDERED ABHORRENT TO ITS PACK MEMBERS. AS PUNISHMENT, IT WAS SENT ON A HUNT AGAINST THE PRIMITIVES OF EARTH, WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT SURVIVAL WOULD COUNT TOWARDS FORGIVENESS.
LESSER CARNOTAUR
LEVEL 40
FACTION: SPINE OF THE HIERARCHY
HP 1,000,000
ATTACKS:
CLAW SWIPE +40,000 PHYSICAL DAMAGE
TAIL STRIKE +20,000 PHYSICAL DAMAGE
GROUND STOMP +200,000 PHYSICAL DAMAGE + CHANCE TO INSTAKILL ANY COMBATANT WITH LESS THAN 100 STR (BY STEPPING ON THEM).
INFORMATION ADDED TO BESTIARY. HIERARCHY LORE IS NOW LEVEL 5.
I turned to Fraser. “We’re in deep trouble.”
----------------------------------------
Colonel Goldman invited me to dinner. Fortunately, I’d packed the helmet with the detachable jaw, so that worked.
The dinner was at a small canteen on the base. Like every room, it was guarded by a couple of sentries who stood silent as statues as an orderly laid out a multi-course meal in front of the four of us.
“I want to thank you for your help today,” the Colonel told me, as we dug into a hearty plate of potatoes. “It took a lot to share with us the details of how your tech works.”
“I understand you’re going to keep it confidential,” I replied.
“Just within the four of us,” replied Fraser. “This is clearly need-to-know.”
“And on that note,” said Shapiro, “I want to get to an understanding of how the numbers for damage and health points work.”
I nodded. “I’d like to know that, too. It seems fairly arbitrary to me.”
“Arbitrary units can still be useful. How precise are your measurements?”
“Meaning?”
“Do you, for example, have a damage rating for your weapons? And do they always do the same amount of damage to an enemy?”
I nodded. “Consistently.”
“And do your enemies always go down with the same amount of damage? For example, did each Sarnak go down when exactly 600 damage was done to it?”
“Yes. Every time I’d have to get to exactly 600 damage to kill a Sarnak.”
“Fascinating,” muttered Shapiro. “Do humans also have health points? And the same amounts every time?”
“Yes and no,” I replied. “Some humans have more health points and others less…..” I trailed off.
I hadn’t realized the implications of what I’d just said.
Colonel Goldman was staring at Shapiro. “You’re over the line, Lieutenant-Colonel,” he said mildly. Very mildly.
Shapiro gulped.
It was Fraser who came to the rescue. “Belessar, the U.S. Army is not concerned about any combat actions that you’ve been a part of in the civil space,” he said reassuringly. “You have our word that we won’t be sharing anything you tell us with law enforcement. And what you do off base is your business.”
“Thanks,” I replied weakly. “Let’s just pretend I didn’t say that?”
“We can discuss theory,” suggested Fraser. “Hypothetically, if you were to observe a human being with your power, what would their health points be?”
“Hypothetically,” I said, “most humans would fall between 90 and 120. I’ve met a few who were at 80 and at 130. Children are lower. As you grow older - around when you hit adulthood - health points peak. They’re governed by an attribute my power calls Vitality - it ranges from as low as 8 to as high as 13 in some individuals I’ve seen.”
Dr. Shapiro nodded. “That makes some sense. Most of the population falls in a range of health. I wonder - could you tell me what my health points would be?”
“Uh…. I’ve never tried to measure the HP of a U.S. Army soldier.”
“I’d like you to do so. At least with the three of us? With your permission, Colonel?”
Colonel Goldman nodded.
I took a deep breath. “Please don’t hold anything I say against me?”
Goldman smiled. “If you find out my vitality is lower than it should be, I won’t hold it against you. My wife’s been saying the same thing for years.”
I laughed. “All right.”
MAJOR DOUGLAS A. FRASER
LEVEL 8
CLASS: SPY
FACTION: U.S. ARMY
HP: 120/120
ATTRIBUTES:
STR 11 DEX 14 VIT 12 INT 14 WIS 16 CHA 12 PER 14 ATT 11 LUK 11
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL DR. DAVIEN SHAPIRO
LEVEL 7
CLASS: MILITARY SCIENTIST
FACTION: U.S. ARMY
HP: 110/110
ATTRIBUTES:
STR 11 DEX 11 VIT 11 INT 16 WIS 10 CHA 10 PER 12 ATT 9 LUK 9
COLONEL AVI ‘SNAKE’ GOLDMAN
LEVEL 8
CLASS: MILITARY OFFICER
FACTION: U.S. ARMY
HP: 120/120
ATTRIBUTES:
STR 12 DEX 14 VIT 12 INT 15 WIS 13 CHA 12 PER 13 ATT 9 LUK 11
“Mostly 11 and 12 vitality. Colonel - why are you called Snake?”
The other two officers froze momentarily. The Colonel chuckled. “It’s a monicker given to me from my days as a field officer. Sadly, those are in the past.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. According to my power, you’re the strongest of the three.”
Goldman grinned at his subordinates. “Hear that, boys? I’m the strongest. Go on, Belessar. What else can you tell?”
“Well - you and Major Fraser have dexterity scores of 14, so I’d say you’re the most flexible.”
Dr. Shapiro nodded. “Exactly as I suspected.”
“And what did you suspect, Doctor?” asked the Colonel.
“Both you and Major Fraser hold black belts,” pointed out Shapiro. “I’d say that this Dexterity attribute is a measure of how good someone is at unarmed combat.”
“At anything requiring agility,” I said. “Basically, the more flexible and agile you are, the higher your dexterity score.”
“And the vitality scores seem to be about average,” nodded Shapiro. “It seems a 10 might represent the human average for each attribute - and your power is actually assessing each individual on a scale of how close they fall to the human norm.”
“I never thought of it that way,” I admitted. “Actually, since you’re all soldiers, it makes sense that your strength and vitality would be above average - although it seems a very small increase compared to the norm.”
“That’s also because we’re a long way past our prime,” muttered the Colonel. “Though I can do a quick test.” He gestured to one of the sentries. “PFC Miller, can you come here please?”
The sentry saluted and stepped forward.
“Can you tell us this man’s attributes, Belessar?” asked the Colonel.
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS BOB MILLER
CLASS: SOLDIER
FACTION: U.S. ARMY
HP: 140/140
ATTRIBUTES:
STR 13 DEX 11 VIT 14 INT 10 WIS 10 CHA 10 PER 12 ATT 11 LUK 10
I recited the soldier’s attributes for the officers. “Sorry, Private Miller - I hope I didn’t share too much personal information of yours.”
“My medical information is U.S. Army property, sir,” replied the soldier.
“Can you also take a look at his weapon?” put in Shapiro. “I’d like to know if you can tell how much damage a bullet from it would do.”
I nodded. “Would you mind showing me the weapon?”
“Do you need to actually touch it to do what you do?” asked the Colonel.
I shook my head. “I doubt it. Let’s try without touching.”
“Private, safe your weapon and demonstrate its workings to the gentleman here,” ordered Goldman.
The soldier maintained a blank expression as he removed his assault rifle and held it up for me to see.
M22 ASSAULT RIFLE
+30 DAMAGE / HIT, SUSTAINED RATE OF FIRE: 15 ROUNDS / MINUTE
MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 100 ROUNDS
“The bullets in that do 30 damage per hit,” I told Shapiro.
“Thank you, PFC,” nodded Goldman. He turned to Shapiro. “Well?”
“The energy content of a rifle bullet is about 5 kilojoules,” explained Shapiro. “By that scale, 1 kilojoule is about 6 damage in your units.” He jotted down some numbers on a tablet. “You said that the human body has about 100 to 120 health points - that means it would take three or four bullets to kill a man. And twenty to kill a Sarnak.”
YOU HAVE LEARNT A NEW INSIGHT ABOUT THE NATURE OF WEAPONS FROM AN EXPERIENCED MILITARY SCIENTIST. YOUR EXPLOSIVES SKILL IS UPGRADED BY 1 AS A RESULT. DON’T FORGET TO THANK HIM.
“Thank you, Dr. Shapiro,” I said. “The Raptor Heavy Sniper carried a weapon capable of doing 12,000 damage….”
“By my calculations, that’s about 2,000 kJ. Hardly a fraction of what it would take to destroy a tank.”
“The tanks that were hit by the snipers,” the Colonel pointed out. “They don’t get destroyed outright.”
“The snipers hit the fuel tanks,” explained Shapiro. “Which is enough to set them on fire - and the fire does the rest.”
“There’s a condition called Burning,” I commented. “My power identifies it as when something is on fire.”
“So does the English dictionary,” quipped Goldman with a smile. “Does it identify how fast things burn?”
“Yes - it varies, though, and the damage is done over time. Plasma rifles tend to hit, do damage, and then set things on fire so they burn to a crisp fast.”
Shapiro nodded. “That’s consistent with the forensic evidence we have.”
“How about the Carnotaur?” asked Goldman.
“40,000 damage with a claw swipe,” I said.
Shapiro nodded. “A tank shell - our best kinetic penetrators - would be around 25,000 kilojoules. That’s roughly 150,000 damage.”
“So their rifles aren’t actually as powerful as our tank shells,” said Goldman. “That’s reassuring. And the Carnotaur hits - slightly less hard than a tank shell.”
“Well, its Ground Stomp ability does 200,000 damage,” I suggested. “Which is more than a tank shell.”
“What about artillery?” Goldman asked Shapiro. “How does that compare?”
“A single artillery round of forty kilos would be about 100,000 damage,” the scientist replied. “After that it scales up depending on the size and yield of the shell."
"That's useful," commented Goldman. "An accurate estimate of the firepower of the enemy weapons."
"Plus confirmation on the genetic engineering," added Shapiro.
"What genetic engineering?" I blurted.
"You say that the attributes for different people vary," replied Shapiro. "But attributes for all Sarnak troopers are the same? There would be some variation in the numbers, even for soldiers across the spectrum. And there's a variation amongst the three of us. Not amongst the Sarnak, not amongst the Raptors. Not even in health points." He shrugged. "That suggests very high biological similarity. Too much for a randomly distributed population."
"We shouldn't jump to that conclusion," pointed out Fraser.
"Four Army personnel, and strength varies from 11 to 13," observed Shapiro. "That's a twenty per cent variation within people with the same standard training. Dexterity from 11 to 14. Thirty per cent variation. Intelligence varying from 10 to 16, that's sixty percent. Contrast that to the Sarnak troopers? No variation in strength across more than thirty corpses you saw, Mr. Belessar. Not even one point. No variation in vitality. That's too much similarity for a random population."
"That's… actually a very compelling argument," mused Goldman.
"Don't you have DNA from the corpses?" I asked. "Wouldn't that tell you if there's genetic engineering or not?"
"They don't have DNA like us," explained Shapiro. "We do have biological samples from many of the corpses. But until Watson and Crick discovered DNA in 1953, we didn't even know that there was a code for each lifeform. We don't know what their analogue of DNA is - or where to look for it." Shapiro shrugged. "We don't even know what their non-combatant population looks like."
"And we won't, until we figure out their equivalents of Watson and Crick," mused Goldman. "Well. This is ….. significant. Thank you for your help, Belessar."
YOUR ALLY HAS DEDUCED THAT SIGNIFICANT GENETIC ENGINEERING IS BEING PRACTICED WITHIN THE SARNAK AND THE RAPTORS.
HIERARCHY LORE UPGRADED TO LEVEL 6. YOU ARE NOW CONSIDERED FAIRLY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE ALIENS AND THEIR MOTIVATIONS, THOUGH THERE IS STILL MORE TO LEARN.
QUEST COMPLETED: LEARNING TO LEARN.
NEW CLUE UNLOCKED: THE BONES AND SPINE OF THE HIERARCHY ARE FACTIONS WITHIN THE GREATER ALIEN ALLIANCE. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT INDIVIDUAL SPECIES.
I waved my fork in the air, quietly swiping away the notifications. "What about the other species - the Grizelloid and the Lynxians?"
"We'll need more corpses for that," pointed out Shapiro. "But if it's culturally acceptable to genetically engineer one species, why not others?"