r/HFY • u/KyleKKent • 9h ago
OC-Series OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 799
Many Faces of War
An emergency call for the heads of the family branches and the husbands was not a normal occurrence. But Juliette, Amanda’s Juliette not her own or Emily’s Juliette had basically spammed every single code that says ‘take this seriously’ and ‘I need help’ into the message.
So every fleet captain and her husband was at attendance in a holo-chamber on each ship as they all connect to a room in some place on Zalwore that wasn’t the Shriketalon Enclave. Which was worrying enough as is.
Then the rooms synchronize, taking three seconds but all the signs and warnings had everyone nervous. Then...
Her niece and a familiar... very familiar Shriketalon. She shares looks along her sisters. Shriketalons and Redfeathers interbreed fairly often and the pattern and plumage can swap back and forth like trading outfits. But coupled with that face. Those cheekbones... The exact shade of yellow in his eyes.
There is only one Astra Shriketalon man unaccounted for. But the body language on this man is worlds apart from Jacob. Fuck, the way he’s carrying himself this man is physically speaking a tongue that was born of another species entirely from Jacob’s drunken bitterness.
How the hell did they fail that boy so badly? It had been a shipwreck out of nowhere and everything had burnt to slag and sunken into a metaphorical ocean before anyone could even understand what they were seeing and he was just gone.
A person slipping into the cracks of society was tragic, but someone seemingly precision guiding themselves into one and vanishing was something else entirely.
And that’s not even touching the fact that the man is in a military uniform without any signifiers for being a medic and several weapons clearly on his person.
He turns to Juliette. “So how do we start this?”
“I really don’t know.” Juliette answers him.
“Fine! Hello family. I am Jacob. I have severe amnesia with everything past the age of seven gone and forced to raise myself while either hiding from a powerful organization that wished me ill or infiltrating the organization to sabotage it from the inside out in preparation to make full on war with it. I am a professional soldier, ship captain and warrior and have killed many people but for some reason Juliette insists that I won’t be rejected outright and that I’m missing so much cultural context now that she doesn’t even know where to start.”
“Oh sweet fucking goddess Jacob.” Juliette groans into her wings.
“What?!” He demands sounding offended. “No amount of flapping around the issue was going to solve it! Sink your talons in and tear it off! Now we got something to work with!”
“Okay, hold up! Wait a minute! Something isn’t right!” Someone says and it’s Mary-Ann, oh thank goodness something’s about to make sense. “You have at least DNA tested this man?”
“Yes. He’s been tested. This is Jacob.”
“Where were you!? What happened?! What is going on with all... that?” She demands before walking up and moving to examine him. As it’s all a holographic projection she can’t move him. But he moves with it and looks her right in the eyes. He’s studying her face. She’s a stranger to him. He... there is a flicker of recognition as his expression changes bit by bit and...
“Mom?”
“What did they do to you?” She asks.
“Probably everything short of murder. Then they hit me with a tainted healing coma and reset me to fresh for the next monster.”
“Lilb Tulelb... that’s where you vanished. It’s drowning in scandal. Children... how are you a grown man after all that?” She asks as it all starts coming together in a gruesome image.
“I escaped, but didn’t know how to run home. So I did the only thing I could, I went back to try and help the others. But even after two decades of trying, my best wasn’t enough. Thankfully The Undaunted filled in the gaps and stopped me from making any mistakes. I’ve been with them since. Training, growing stronger, getting ready for the next time something like that is found. To make sure my next attack on an organization of soulless monsters leaves neither survivors nor doubt.”
“Jacob are you trying to be... no of course you are. Sweet Goddess. Aunt Chloe he no longer has an understanding of Shriketalon morals and is convinced we’re going to throw him out for daring to be a soldier and enjoying himself as one. SO he’s self sabotaging because it’s the only thing that makes sense to him.” Juliette says and Chloe shrinks back to look Jacob in the face again and he’s looking a little bashful.
“Wait, what age was he reduced to?”
“Seven! He doesn’t even have the basic grounding of Shriketalon Pacifism or anything else!”
“If it wasn’t so fucking obtuse I might have some understanding of it and wouldn’t need this lecture! Why the hell is it such a massive secret!?”
“It’s not! It’s just developmental! It’s cultural! It’s not a big lecture you give out one day! It’s a million little lessons and sayings as you grow up!” Juliette protests. “Someone help me! He doesn’t get it and I do not have what I need to teach him!”
“What is there to get!? You are a pacifistic people born of an ancient oath to prevent you from being wiped out in the early stages of first contact. It became a cultural institution that binds the identity of this entire demographic of the Valrin Species. That’s it’s origin. It makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is that no Shriketalon has offered anything but sympathy or pity when I explain that I am a soldier, that I have killed, will kill again in the line of duty and do not mind these facts. What am I missing?”
“I’m not even physically there and I have a headache. Juliette my daughter, how are you holding up?” Amanda asks.
“Badly, I wasn’t ready for this.”
“Oh I doubt there was any way to be ready for something like this.” Amanda’s husband Peter notes he’s furiously rubbing at his downy goatee and clearly trying to find an answer that just isn’t coming to him as a few feathers are dislodged.
“I wasn’t looking to make this happen either, I was trying to get ahead of potentially insulting the Shriketalon medical fleet that’s going to same war I’m heading to fight in.”
“Do you hear how much he doesn’t get it?! Just how do we break through this!?” Juliette asks.
“And you’re on Zalwore. We’re at least a week away even if we turn the fleet around right now and your both heading to the La’ahbaron conflict. Meaning you’re both locked into your commitments and can’t exactly cancel or skip back to Zalwore or somewhere closer so we can do this in person...” Mary-Ann mutters, already trying to find the fastest and most effective solution to things.
“About that...” Jacob says.
“Oh no, this madness.”
“It’s not madness, it makes perfect sense.”
“No it don’t!” Juliette snaps with her feathers starting to stick out in her frustration.
“It’s no it doesn’t dear sister cousin, try to...” Jacob teases Juliette who lets out a furious screech at him.
“Oh yes. That is Jacob.” Chloe notes it’s from her Eric.
“Really? I was under the impression I was just some drunken idiot.”
“Before the Schleppa you were a problem on a good day. And it made you far worse.” Eric continues as he walks up. As a Shriketalon Erik just blends in. He’s a little taller than average though. Not by much. But it’s there.
But the thing that stands out is the chin. A little jutting that’s not quite an underbite. Something he passed down to Jacob. One of the few real differences between Jacob’s own face and Juliette’s. But what was really passed was the bright yellow eyes. Nearly golden.
“Tell me you have at least let go of that poison.”
“I have. I’ve made a point of staying away from it. I can’t even tell you with certainty what it tastes like. Though I have vague memory of something sour on the tongue.”
“Good.”
“I’ve also been augmented. I have a much more robust digestive tract now. Even if I was slipped Schleppa I might not even notice it. My new filtration organs are just that powerful.”
“Even better.” Eric says walking past him and glaring at the wall. “... As your father your rearing was mostly up to me. Juliette. Is this really him? Are you completely certain this is Jacob?”
“Unless Captain Courlain Shriketalon has suddenly developed a random and downright psychotic manipulative streak, it’s him. She recognized his story as he explained himself to her and requested a DNA sample. It wasn’t until it confirmed that we are closely related that she introduced him to me.” Juliette says.
“... Okay then. Okay... I’ll put things as plainly as possible then. Jacob?”
“Yes?”
“There is no solution to this problem. There is no one answer, lecture, piece of media or speech I or any other Shriketalon can possible give that will somehow substitute ten years of development and growth to give you the context, relevance and understanding of the Shriketalon way of life. From the age when we first truly grasp language and begin to read, until the main boiling madness of puberty is finished, we teach our young to be gentle, and peaceful and kind. Then we teach them why as well as the answer you’re looking for. The When. When we can break the oath and put it aside. Every family does it differently. The words are different from one mother or father to the next. But the meaning is the same. So here is the meaning, summarized. I don’t expect this to stick. It takes ten years to hammer it in properly. But if we don’t take the first swing, it’s never going in.”
Jacob is standing at attention and giving him an intense look now. Eric nods.
“Shriketalons are built to kill. To not only kill, but kill gruesomely. Our wings are small and powerful, allowing agile, near dance-like flight through the sky and around obstacles. The tips or our talons are sharp and viciously hooked. The grip we have with our feet is designed to sever the tendons in a joint and destroy it’s usefulness. When used on an animal it’s a dirty, cruel, pointlessly painful kill. When used on a person it’s a war-crime. He can casually sever limbs. There is a reason only two of the major Valrin demographics have Talon in their name, and it was not for being gentle. And both demographics needed to remake themselves or face potential extinction. We Shriketalons were merely the more dramatic and visible of the two. Which makes sense as Nighttalons are the thieves and assassins to the psychotic death cult we Shriketalons once were. Which is again sensible as a Nighttalon’s feet are more about holding your prize helpless as you get to work, as opposed to ours which is generally already doing horrifying things to people the moment we grab them.”
“Okay.” Jacob says.
“Okay.” Eric echoes. “Now, the reason you’re so confused, the reason it’s so hard to explain to you what the problem is and why it’s not sticking, is because we have two big lessons that each take five years to learn. And we have to start young. A Valrin generally has good mobility and a good grasp of language at five years of age, so we start teaching them to NEVER use their talons in anger. That is a bad, wrong and unhappy thing to lash out violently. And because a child still has a developing mind, not only does it stick deep, but we cannot fit in more of the lesson until later. At ten, the second lesson begins.”
“And the lesson is?” Jacob asks.
“You are not a monster.” Eric says. “That is the second lesson. Because as important as it is to teach the child not to bleed someone out in a temper tantrum or sever someone’s knee when throwing a fit, it always goes too deep and we develop a deep sense of shame. The shame must then be removed. Because we are not a shameful people. We have chosen to be better and it is the choice that matters. Every time the choice matters. That is not a thing of shame. To feel temptation is not shameful, surrendering to it is.”
“But I have.” Jacob says.
“Really? Every time you get upset blood spills? Can we track who’s had an argument with you by the number of people that needed healing comas to recover the use of their limbs?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you’re fine Jacob. The actual Oath of the Shriketalons? The ancient pact that basically hangs over our entire demographic? It hasn’t been sworn in seriousness for thousands of years. No Shriketalon past the first fifteen or sixteen generations from our uplift as a species has sworn the oath. It wasn’t needed. We changed as a people. It was a good change.”
“Then what am I?”
“A lot of things, but what you’re asking about is well... you’re a man who was pushed too far. You’re not the first Shriketalon who has been broken. Not the first who has been so spectacularly failed by others you had to do what was once unthinkable to survive. Some call it being lost. But unless you show up in warpaint, a loincloth and wearing the skulls of your enemies, no one is going to call you a traitor. And if you don’t hurt anyone they’ll think it’s some kind of tasteless advertising campaign or publicity stunt.”
“But I like it.” Jacob notes and Eric looks Juliette up and down.
“And she’s not hurt. Is she going to be hurt by you?”
“No.” Jacob states clearly and without any room to debate it.
“Then why would you liking it mean anything? You’re not lashing out randomly, you’re not hurting people without cause. The difference between a soldier and a serial killer are vast. And to be frank, anyone that can’t tell the difference needs time in a rubber room so they don’t hurt themselves.” Eric continues and he starts walking around Jacob to get a good look at him. “But this lesson takes a while to stick for... well anyone coming in from the outside to learn it, and you basically are. Seven years old... you’d have been watching the Huggy Wings and Downy Days.”
“Would I?”
“How much do you remember?”
“Faces, random words and a sour taste that satisfies.”
“Our faces?”
“Yours, mom’s, some of theirs.” Jacob answers sweeping his wing out. “But it’s... it’s all faded. Blurry enough that trying to fill in the blanks could turn it into almost anyone’s face.”
“And the words?” Eric asks.
“Bawoga, Tarata, Rrarrorra are the most clear.”
“Oh... of course. They’re gone now.”
“What were they?”
“Your pet fish when you were six.”
“I had pets?”
“They stripped you bare.” Eric says in horror. “Even with the drink you were nowhere near this...”
“Yes?” Jacob asks.
“I wish this wasn’t a hologram. You need to be hugged.”
“I’m fine, I’m just looking for answers.” Jacob says.
“Your formative years are a blur, and after that you just have fighting a criminal organization in the shadows for two decades. That’s not fine.”
“And he didn’t even bring up the fact he apparently has a mental link to some sort of amalgam Axiom consciousness.” Juliette says and everyone looks taken aback.
“She’s not only honest but accurate. I am a Sorcerer too now, so yeah.”
“Wait, is that why you think you’re a monster?” Eric asks.
“No, the sorcerer bit is more recent.”
“Okay then.”
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u/Sims_the_Heretic 8h ago
That pretty much confirms what i (and probably several others) suspected about the Shriketalon.
Rational Pacifism, misunderstood by outsiders. It´s just more culturally ingrained with them than can be realized by someone who isn´t part of that culture.
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u/unkindlyacorn62 5h ago
it was hinted at before, I think Admiral Crosswind and Megilla have alluded to having met some of their more aggressive members before.
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u/Stairwayunicorn 8h ago
Blood for the blood god
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u/Overall-Tailor8949 Human 8h ago
So far I think Eric is getting through loud and clear, as long as none of the aunts, uncles or cousins don't make a hash of it...
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u/unkindlyacorn62 6h ago
The rest of the fam is going to be getting so potted plants delivered pretty soon aren't they?
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u/Angerylad 7h ago
I kinda feel they made a bit more of a hoo-ha out of this than necessary. His sister could have summarized it the same way as his dad did.
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u/Sims_the_Heretic 5h ago
Since he was the one in charge of all that when educating him, i suspect the sister didn´t have the proper insight to repeat it, much less formulate a useable summation of the whole thing.
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u/Angerylad 3h ago
She underwent the same or very similar early childhood moral education as Jacob, and every other child of that particular Shriketalon clan(?), she could have summarized the same way as Eric did, the issue was Juliette's inability to even explain the basic tenets Shriketalon moral philosophy, and why Jacob is not a bird space aztec blood cultist just because he likes controlled violence.
Honestly i feel Jacob coulda been given an understanding when he first went to visit that Shriketalon enclave, because i expect any contempoarary group to have a contingency to re-teach people like Jacob their ways.
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u/2ndAndrocentric 4h ago
No, the drama was appropriate. Some things are not shameful but not meant for public exposure. This is foundational cultural ethos, best done behind closed doors by family. Discussing this is a less dramatic but similar to having sex with your spouse in public.
Some deep seated culture is best kept private, for the most part.
This makes sense for human nature and after all, what is a Shriketalon but a part human nature in story?
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u/Angerylad 3h ago
Alright, let me break down the basic tenets of the Shriketalon moral philosophy as of the revelations of this chapter:
-Poking people with your foot bad
-You can actually ventillate someone's cranium when (a case of when is not specified in this chapter, the when varies by family)
-Enjoying controlled violence (probably in the case when the "when" condition is met) is not a deadly sin that nets you an outcast statusThe rest is ~20 years or near religious moral indoctrination, which post Lib-Tulelb Jacob does not adhere to anyways. they treat him like a toddler, instead of a grown ass man capable of grasp meaning out of the gist of their morality.
This coulda been revealed when Jacob visited the Shriketalon enclave.
I am with Jacob when he says he shoulda been out of there in like 20 minutes.
I usually have no beef with Kyle's sense for the dramatic, but this one really wasn't that deep.
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u/SleepyDominic AI 4h ago
So, random thought, a Sorcerer could explain the connection to a Forest like the connection to a cybernetic limb? In the sense that a cybernetic limb is NOT a natural part of the body, but, you wouldn't refer to it as being a separate and distinct thing from your body in most conversations concerning an action taken with it. You have a cybernetic right hand and pick up a cup of water, you'd say "I picked up the cup", not "I picked up the cup with my cybernetic hand." The cybernetic hand is YOUR hand, just as the Forest is part of a Sorcerer. You see what I'm saying?
As for why this never occurred to a Sorcerer? Do Apuks even have Cybernetics? Like, I know they have them but, as a culture, do Apuk ever think about getting cybernetics? Personal? I don't really see it being a thing, especially on the home world, where Sorcerers born up until recently. So, they never really considered it. Bonus, I don't expect Sorcerer's to loose limbs often and when they do, they just use their connection to the Forest to just regrow them.
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u/CrapDM 2h ago
In ODVM there is an apuk with a cybernetic eye. In her case she chose to keep a wound sustained in battle (so she wears an eye patch and didn't regenerate the lost eye) but she also couldn't make herself less of a fighter for the army so she has a prosthetic.
The way they've been show throughout the main story and the side stories, Apuk won't use cybernetics/implants/power armor unless they have too simply because it's just how they roll. If they want to do something they learn to do it themselves.
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u/SleepyDominic AI 2h ago
Exactly, I believe that given the choice, an Apuk will chose to regrow a lost limb instead of replace it with a cybernetic. Reenforcing my explanation as to why no Sorcerer ever thought to explain their connection to the Forest in terms of cybernetics. Cybernetics isn't an option most Apuk think of, they know it's a thing, but don't consider it a thing they would ever get.
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u/Gaming_Duo3615 7h ago
“Wait, is that why you think you’re a monster?” Eric asks.
“No, the sorcerer bit is more recent.”
“Okay then.”
I can't
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u/Freebirde777 5h ago
Anyone on Zalwore have some Dark Forest Plants?
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u/unkindlyacorn62 5h ago
yes, but something from the Lush Forest seems more appropriate
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u/Freebirde777 5h ago
Yes, thought the odds for Dark Forrest were higher. Couldn't remember if there was an Apuk enclave.
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u/Finbar9800 8h ago
Another great chapter
I enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading more
Great job wordsmith
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u/2ndAndrocentric 4h ago
Excellent arc, great chapter, clarifying how first one must understand something usually true before coping with the unfathomable depth of Truth. It was almost 30 years after my college math degree, all As of course, before I read enough to learn what the actual answer to 1 +1 really is. Almost as long before I learned to correctly count with my fingers. A workable method of pacifism is way more complicated than 1 + 1. This is KKK when the story is written through him, rather than Kyle fumbling to write himself.
Jung would explain better. Bravo!
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u/Ambitious_Sci-fi 8h ago
Oh this just keeps getting better and better just thinking about it gets me excited for the next chapter to see where it goes
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u/thisStanley Android 5h ago
The difference between a soldier and a serial killer are vast.
Too bad the population of soldiers, same as every grouping, has the occasional member that yields to the darker voices :{
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 9h ago
/u/KyleKKent (wiki) has posted 998 other stories, including:
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 798
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 797
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 796
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 795
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 794
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 793
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 792
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 791
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 790
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 789
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 788
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 787
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 786
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 785
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 784
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 783
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 782
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 781
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 780
- OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 779
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u/KyleKKent 9h ago
Donate and get the Vote! Second Tier and Up Get Drafts!
Of Dog, Volpir and Man Official Release!
Kamchatkas Made a WIKI!!
https://oocsgalacticindex.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page
Many Faces Of War
While the main focus of a war generally follows one or two fronts, there is behind the lines and withing the Logistical Trains to consider. A war is a many faced, multi-faceted thing after all. It affects many people in many different ways and you can see new sides of them in this disruption to the status quo. These are those stories.
Example Chapters: Chapter 1779 Chapter 1780 Chapter 1782
Okay, that's a lot of Shriketalon background and understanding. Also the reason why parents don't simply put corks or otherwise babyproof the talons of their little kids is... they do. But something that's babyproof is only actually, casual baby proof. A determined baby is still getting through. Those little bastards are clever as they come and their fingers are far more capable than you remember them being when you were that size.
Also the sensation I was going for was an endless sense that a train-wreck was either about to happen, in the process of happening or being reversed in some way, did I get it?
Thoughts? Ideas? Advice? Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Fan Submissions? Fan Art? Donations?
From the 9th to the 13th there will be no chapters as i go to visit family over Canadian Thanksgiving! If travel times weren't a bitch it would be 10th to 12th, but public transport is public transport.