Atropos.

A short story by Oranos116

I had gotten an email the other day.

A naturally everyday mail for some, but to me it was rather special.

It was from an old friend from college, and I didn’t have many friends back then.

No one back then for the most part, unless you counted superficial ones you made just to get through the damn course.

But then I was kind of a loner still. I just had a couple undesirable traits that the more ‘cultured’ Yeoman (being the most common species in the college) disliked, mainly coming from my distinct ‘lack’ of decency for their complex social behavior that not many humans could actually deal with.

Like standing completely fucking straight in the cafeteria.

In any case, the mail was an announcement of a reunion party of sorts for our old Volunteer Society. Those were strange times to say the least, having to deal with so many vastly different cultures in such a small and academically underwhelming campus (although that was one of the main reasons why I managed to get in). We had our ups and downs, but in the end the half-dozen or so that remained became good friends.

At the very least it would be a good way to spend some time to get some free time away from Peace Keeping.

A trip into space was always a hard one.

Despite all of the advances into tourist friendly space travel, it was still a nerve-wracking experience that not many could really stand first time.

I was used to it to some extent, my job entailing considerable amounts of interstellar travel, but nonetheless it was always going to be scary once you hit the atmospheric resistance border.

Transferring over from the space shuttle to the actual passenger freighter was actually rather easy once you got the feel of low-G.

This time, the freighter that Redal had boarded was relatively quiet for the most part, save for a young Yuzhi couple and their chickling.

Children of any race always cried loudly and the parents of any race would always try to keep them quiet (although the cry and method differed from culture to culture rather dramatically as Redal had confirmed on his past journeys, such as Sylics. The crying of a proto-Sylic was something that could be best described as listening to multiple high-pitched modems hooked up to a megaphone.)

The Yuzhi had their own custom of singing their children to sleep in their avian tongue, so thankfully Redal had the privilege of listening in on occasion through the seven Terran cycles of the journey.

In minor conversations that he had a knack of starting, Redal found out about their plans after dropping in a line about how he was going to this ‘opera’ of sorts on Aeter, as Travis had so expertly mentioned in the email.

“OH, you’re going to Yumetre too!” The mother exclaimed.

“Is that what it’s called?”

“How could you not know! It is perhaps one of the most impressive events for all Yuzhi! I mean you may be human, forgive my use of the term, but surely a traveler such as yourself would at least have heard of it.”

“Wait, how did you know I was a traveller?”

“Oh, forgive me. You just appeared to have that expression on your face is all, the one that did not seem utterly scared out of their minds to go through the atmosphere.”

“Yeah, I’m kinda used to it. But yeah, I honestly have a lot more experience on the outer and rim worlds and their cultures as opposed to the inner sectors of the galaxy.”

“Ooh! Might you be some sort of adventurer or explorer? I have always wanted to listen to their stories of all sorts of civilizations.”

“Ah, well I’m sorry to deceive, but I’m actually a Peace Keeper. I get the hate that the practice entails and sometimes it might just as well be justified.”

“Forgive my trespassing then, I did not realize you would be one of those people. My husband isn’t exactly fond of them, Yuzhi already having to deal so quickly with Yeoman threats and such, so we don’t often have time to listen in to news about the outer worlds.”

“I don’t blame you at all, it’s not very pretty out there in the slightest. Definitely not something that really want to talk about considering its nature and the controversy it can very quickly start.” Redal said, prompting the conversation along.

“So, if I may, where were you stationed last? What sort of planet was it like?” The female inquired.

“Most recent one was Atropos if I remember correctly.”

“By the Ancient Songs! Is that the world where so many colonists got killed?”

“Yeah. They managed to mess with some cultural sight and the natives got angry. Like atomic warfare angry. Didn’t go on the frontline though. One of those cultural support managers you see, the ones that help out with villages and other small establishments caught in aftermaths.”

“That must be incredibly dangerous.”

“Yeah, it really is. Gotta be wary of fanatics and the like every waking moment over there. Not to mention the whole fallout clearing business. The Techs really wanted it to get over as soon as they could and so we had to hold off all sorts of protests suggesting that we’re ‘sucking the life’ of the planet out while they spend three Terran months working on it.”

“Forgive me, but I don’t know much about the whole radiation and such, so how hard is it to remove this ‘fallout’ from a planet?”

“Very, VERY hard.” Redal started as he explained more about the process.

The week flew past as the first glimpse of Aeter appeared through the porthole of the dormitory to the fascination of its passengers.

Even Redal had to stop to admire the thin marble-like clouds that dotted the long dry grasslands and the nest-like cities.

So much better than the rocky arid wastes of Atropos.

The rest of the flight was rather uneventful, as the crew confined the passengers to their respective cabin cells in preparation of space-born docking.

From there, the passengers would pass through two layers of customs and checking, in space and when they finally reached the ground (well the respective ground of each planet. One could not call oceanic planets such as Humi as having ground in the first place).

It was unnecessary from what Redal had experienced, but the additional checking made sure that the local populace were put at relative ease that the government were concerned about immigration laws to an under populated planet and poorly smuggled contraband.

Being a Peace Keeper meant certain privileges though, including a rather useful Fast Track option available during leave and the ability to carry a small astral firearm (often limited to a small energy pistol or plasma blaster, both of which could barely melt civilian hulls without significant and dedicated effort, in order to reduce the probability of breaching incidents). Atropos had drilled the thought of carrying his own blaster by his side on all occasions, even to something so innocent as a reunion.

Naturally, he was a bachelor as a result of his behavior and current duties.

Travis had set a time and date for the meet-up before they would take their seats in the Yumetre, mainly just for the sake of meeting everyone once more.

Redal didn’t care that much, his natural apathetic self barely capable of comprehending the concept. But such was society.

“Ahah! If it isn’t our old friend Redal! How have you been, Razzle?” A grating yet cheery autonomous voice called out.

That old name… That irritating old name…

Originally a misspelling, the Volunteers Society had spun the name into a long myriad of nicknames. We did that a lot.

“Travis, how’s it going?” Redal replied to the heavily modified man, who had acquired both a third leg and a second pair of arms. And that was only the most outstanding.

Travis boasted visible augments to his eyes, an air filter with a combined voice manipulator, and all sorts of doodads that buzzed beneath his heavy clothes without pause. All for the sake of his augmentophilic cravings.

Redal had two augments of his own, both though were extremely practical and easily hidden, meant mainly for breathing aide on death worlds.

“The beard grows well on you, Frizzle. Perhaps being an ape would have suited you better, no?” A Yuzhi male known as Chipper (for obvious reasons) chatted from his owl-like beak.

“Guess’o, I’ve never had a problem with it after the first few months. You kinda learn to live with it like your poor feathers.” Redal jibed.

“Oooh, please do not say such a thing, Rizzle, you know how much feathers mean to me.” Chipper pleaded.

“Well maybe if you actually knew how to preen them properly, then they would not always be in such a poor condition.” His mate replied.

“Heiyu, do you mind? These are old friends!”

“Who probably know about your cleaning habits already. There is no shame in that now, is there?”

“Ha, getting wrecked by your mate. How does that feel, Chip?” A small snarky female voice mocked him.

“Pix, do you mind?”

“It’s Pisaelle or bust, chickadee. So now we’re only missing one so that we can avoid all this awkward waiting around and get to the fun, food-filled, part.” The Fae Pisaelle replied. Fae were a small elfen-like people with frilled shoulder blades from an evolution path that had once given them wings, something that still remained in their nymph state. Fae also boasted slight skin tone differences from their birthplaces and surroundings, including but not limited to Pisaelle’s own marine hue.

“I thought we were six?” Redal dropped the line.

“Sadly Kichin can’t come. The Yeoman have been on edge recently.” Travis’ vox blurted out.

“Oh, I wonder why.” Chipper jabbed.

“I wonder who started that shit in the first place?” Redal remarked.

That had shut Chipper up, for once.

After a few moments of silence, Travis chimed in with an announcement.

“Well… Looks like the Sylic won’t be coming. Grimm’s stuck in very heavy traffic in orbit and says that he won’t make it to the Yumetre in time.”

“Well that’s a disappointment. Thought his old thrumming voice would actually bring up the discussions we used to have.”

“As if you could call those ‘discussions’.” Pisaelle commented.

The Yumetre theater was a relatively small theater compared to the sky-hives that Yuzhi were famous for, but it could easily fit several thousand people in exquisite luxury.

Originally a festival celebrating the birth of their ancient prophet, Kulu Omwy, it was a sacred sight that few could glimpse their eyes for the original theater. There were television productions and so on, but it was supposedly something completely different to watch it in person.

Turned out Chipper had planned this several months in advance, but Redal had heard of other events that took years to decades to prepare.

He didn’t care that much though.

He had heard enough about prophets and religion from Yoh and Atropos to give much of a damn.

The theater was constructed into a sort of ring, a similar stage from where the ancient councils of Yuzhi had glanced down at the young Kulu and scoffed at his wisdom that there were others in the stars above. For he had met one of these star travelers, but the traveler would not meet with any in fear of breaking his honor code.

This was around the time that Mankind had started accelerating into the furthest stars, so most human scholars would chuckle after hearing the story in an awkward fashion.

Kulu then orchestrated the Wingless Vessel to soar over the capital in defiance, the old UEN Cruiser Galapagos, in an epic fashion (to the amusement of humans and their meta jokes).

Then they left, leaving the Council in awe, the human crew in awkward laughter, and Kulu gaining a dozen mates per hour.

It was a poor story overall, but Yuzhi pretentiousness was legendary throughout the galaxy, making the entire story and occasion even worse.

It was around two hours into the epic that his stomach started to growl.

Radel didn’t exactly believe in large meals, preferring the ‘first, second and third’ approach, allowing himself time to properly digest the smaller portions while still being able to fill in duties in the meantime.

It was incredibly flexible, but it hadn’t gotten him good reputation from his bosses when he had to coordinate with others, including dinner parties.

In his usual quiet footsteps, he made his way to the impressive wooden door and turned the door handle in an attempt to make his way out to the lobby.

“Oh hey Redal.” Pisaelle whispered from behind his back.

Redal jumped slightly from the sudden appearance of Pix, something that they each had their habits of

 “You goin’ out to get some stuff?”

“Yeah…” Redal trailed off like a kid getting caught fumbling for the cookie jar.

“Mind if I come with?”

Turns out that he had just found an ally to open it.

“Kinda boring, ain’t it?” Pisaelle asked, waiting in line for a hot dog (it quite literally was).

“Yeah, I already get enough religion with the outer planets and all.”

“Oh yeah, you’re a Peacer now, ain’cha?”

“Yeah, pretty hard job.”

“Well just don’t die on us, okay? It’d be a hell of a lot more boring if you died before any of the other idiots do.”

“Don’t count on it. Keeping the Peace is hard, especially for tribes who have no idea of the concept.”

“Knowing the stuff you did, I know you’d be able to work anything out in the end. Hell, you just got my word on it, and you know how big a Fae’s words are.”

“Word my ass, Pix. We all know how much your word counts for.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Pisaelle said before thanking the stall owner.

Surprising that hot dogs would be considered so gourmet in Aeter. Really weird considering their reputation back on Earth.

Redal’s eyes suddenly peaked as if he had found an old friend.

“Oh hey Sziwiu! Fancy meeting you here!” Redal called out.

A tall and well built Yuzhi suddenly stood on watch in the empty lobby room before meeting eyes with Redal.

“Ooh, if it isn’t the human adventurer from back on the flight! How goes you?”

“Very well thank you. I knew that you would be at Yumetre, but I didn’t think we’d get to meet again! Oh by the way, this is my friend Pisaelle.”

“Hi.” Pisaelle managed to blurt out awkwardly.

“Might I ask whether that room there is yours? The 106 room?”

“Yeah that’s us.”

“My wife and I had booked room 105! The Songs guided us together then!”

“Aha, wow! Talk about coincidence! Is Suyre and little Kilu doing fine?”

“Kilu is loving the show so far, I can’t believe he’s growing up so fast! When my father gave Kilu his blessing he was amazed at how strong his feathers had become!”

“Takes after his old man then!” Redal chuckled, all the while Pix was quietly chowing down on her hot dog.

“Oho, yes! Let me just tell my wife about this. She won’t believe this at all-“

Suddenly a wave of force carried Redal meters across the lobby.

He felt lightless for a moment, until the hard floor broke the fantasy of Low G.

There was a dull ringing sound.

Like a strange warbling of sorts.

I’ve… I’ve just been caught in a bomb?

Yeah… Yeah… That was a bomb.

Redal’s vision was blurry, with dust covering everything in sight.

His limbs felt weak at first, but they soon responded to his demands.

He had been caught in the shock only, not the actual blast, which was good enough.

Instinctively he reached his hand around his spine and temple, the lack of that warm wetness coming as a great relief.

‘Huh, and I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with this in safe space.’ Redal chuckled to himself.

His exhausted face looked over to Pix’s dust covered form.

She was still alive, and there was none of her blue blood anywhere, thankfully.

But she was visibly shaking, muttering something in that lightning quick tongue of hers.

“I don’t want to die.” She repeated at a pace that could be measured in Hertz.

Shit!

“PIX! Pix, you’re okay! Don’t worry, it’s me, Redal!” He cried, rushing over to her side as quickly as his still numb legs could, cradling her in his arms.

She only repeated her words over and over, the frequency of it and her shaking increasing drastically.

“Fucking hell Pix, snap out of it! I’m here! You’re fine! I’m here for you, okay?”

Pix’s eyes motioned upwards towards him. Although she had stopped repeating, her breathing was frantic and her twitching were still there.

Her eyes, already red from her tears, flooded out once more. Pix wrapped her arms around him so incredibly tightly.

She was so damn scared.

He felt powerless, to remove the damage and pain.

As fucking usual.

He tried to comfort her more, but it wasn’t enough.

There were other screams and cries that echoed through the Yumetre, telling him all he needed to know.

All of this shit because of Atropos.

All because of some fucking idiots planting a Yizhu fucking nuke on that fucking Yeoman colony.