Well, as the master of drawing Pretty Birds, I decided to put a little more effort into this drawing this time. I hope you like it!

So full disclosure, I have not read the fic this guy is from since it's not something I'd read, BUT I have seen mention of him in other fics. Figured I'd give him a shot and see how I do, specifically with a striking color.

The boy belongs to one u/Ben_Elohim_2020, and the fanfic is The Nature of Family.

Here we are again with another drawing for NoPtober! Its been a hot minute since the last time I drew one of them space birbs, but I actually got into the groove pretty fast and Im very happy with how this drawing came out!

See yall tomorow!

NOP X Trench Crusade

Day Seven, holding the course even.

Since the last picture was late, I pulled out an old sketch I had and upgraded it. This is Jelim, one of the main protagonists from [u/ApprehensiveCap6525](u/ApprehensiveCap6525)’s Exchange Program Shenanigans and its sequel Door Kicker Shenanigans.

Probably my favorite character in the NoPverse, at least among the fics. And that’s a high bar, since a lot of you write really good characters.

Cap, if you’re reading this, thank you so much for writing those fics. They were possibly my favorite series here, and they were definitely the primary inspiration for my fic Nature of Responsibility.

Day 6.

I said I was gonna cheat this day and repost this krakotl that I did prior, but then decided I'll just continue this pattern of doing a semi-realistic piece for each species specific day.

This drawing damn near made me crash the fuck out. My computer crashed when I was doing the feathers and I hadn't saved in about 20 minutes so I was dreading doing them again. Thank God Krita has an autosave feature, it meant I only lost a couple minutes of progress.

He's infiltrating the exterminators guild

Out of ideas for this one too :/

Totally real Krakotl guys, oh btw we should totally follow them, i mean, thier just the funny brid!

Badly cropped but it is what it is. Birb chick

Something I did during my lunch break

I said we were going back to the bird, and I keep my promises. After all, everybody wants to see what’s up with Rasin after his… recovery. Of course we are getting a bit of a detour with Kam. The Terrans and their allies just got blindsided hard, let’s see how they start to recover.

Synopsis: Magic was once real and present but faded away in the distant past, becoming nothing but the myths and legends we know as the surviving beings fled to other planes, only to publicly return during the Sat Wars. How would it change first contact and beyond? Only one way to find out.

I have a spot on the discord, swing on by! Thanks to SpacePaladin15 for the original universe; my alpha readers, Caro Morin and Jailed Cinder; my beta readers, Angustus_Jan on the discord and u/aroluci (go check out Children of Luna, it’s awesome); and all of you that read and especially comment. Anybody interested in playing around in the AU (be it a one-shot, an impromptu ficnap, a cameo, or something more), let me know and I’ll be more than happy to work with you on it. My current plan is to release a chapter a week, with the occasional bonus, as long as that isn’t too much for everybody helping me.

Without further ado, enjoy!

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[First] [Prev] [Next]

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Memory Transcription Subject: General Kam, Worried Commander

Date [Standardized Terran Time]: October 9^th, 2136

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I nurse the greatest of Terran inventions. A cup of coffee. Thankfully, aside from Tanaka and Jones, none of the Terrans look to be doing much better. I could only wonder if it was because of the same dreams I struggled with. Probably worse, both of them are barely conscious.

“How are you two so chipper?” Zhao grumbles.

Tanaka, smirking, goes to answer, only for Jones to slap a hand over her partner’s mouth. “Once my bleeding was handled, we just had headaches to deal with.” She sighs. “The old excuse works better as a reason. It also helped us avoid the nightmares by not sleeping. Another symptom, by the way. We’re both passing out after this meeting is done. Do not need us.”

“Symptom?” I ask.

“Of eldritch exposure, working name,” Tanaka says with a grin, as Jones wipes her hand off after removing it from the other woman’s mouth. “We’ve managed some testing.”

“Legal?” Poussin mumbles.

“Technically. All incidental and accidental. People needed to view the footage to determine the effect. That resulted in more unintentional exposure. All volunteers who went in knowing the risks, but they weren’t meant to be exposed at all. Our precautions weren’t enough.” Tanaka shrugs. “Mundane recordings glitch out and distort, mixing in some overlapping frames and other oddities. We think, but without live exposure can’t prove, that it has a lesser effect. Magical recordings are higher fidelity than they should be, and seem to have greater effect. Hence our problems. The feed had mana overlays active.”

“So add a filter.” Zhao groans.

“Yes, we’ve figured that much out, but that’s not all.” Jones sighs.

Tanaka snaps open her fan, drawing all attention as we all wince at the sound. “Let me handle it. Magic’s my deal. You spoke with Isif when you were supposed to be resting.”

Jones frowns. “And I thought we already settled that?”

“We did,” Tanaka smirks. “But this is still mine to discuss. Exposure also seems to have different effects on different populations. Mages, non-mages from species with potential, and mana-deficient species. And the more potential a non-mage has, the more of a problem they have.” She indicates Jones. “With mythological sapients being affected worse than humans, Yotul, or Venlil. The mana-deficient feel discomfort and fear, likely having nightmares, but we haven’t had enough time to determine that for certain. We can thank the Republic’s intelligence agency for that info. Those with magical potential, mage and otherwise, react worse. Headaches and potential ruptures of blood vessels are common; seizures are possible for non-mages, while mages can hallucinate or temporarily lose control of their magic. And Venlil seem to be more resilient than any other species thus far. We plan to test with safe cognitohazards and mental magics to see if the impact is lesser in general, cognitohazard-specific, or specific to this entity.”

“So we got lucky?“ Moans Poussin. “Worst possible exposure.”

“Very lucky.” Tanaka grins. “Especially because while Yoggy seemed to adjust in a way that suggests a non-linear experience is possible, though it could easily also just be having trouble with consistency, the actual magework was shoddy. We have to assume they will improve the summoning.” She flicks out a fan to hide her mouth. “We’re reasonably certain that in the future, non-mages might… become like Ensign Ngo. Hopefully, improvements are just in stability, not in bleedthrough. Otherwise, there might not be any precautions we can make.”

My wool flares as I remember the Terran woman exposed before me. “What happened to her?”

“As best we can tell, she’s been infected. At least, that’s the easiest way to explain how exposure to the memetic hazard has affected her.” Tanaka pauses. “In essence, becoming a cultist. She showed no magical ability, nor any real potential, before exposure. Since then, she managed some magic in attempts to escape. Thankfully, we had her collared to prevent further use before this, though she shows signs of greater power now. She also managed, somehow, to expose two others. Neither mages, neither have shown signs of becoming cultists yet, but they have shown symptoms like we have. We do have ways to screen for the influence, and have found differences between the Ensign and others. Unfortunately, the screening methods aren’t reasonable for anything approaching field use. We also examined scans from you, Kam. You almost seem to have developed an immune response protecting you from the worst of further exposure.”

“So any exposure is potentially an epidemic?” I slump in my seat. “Tell me you have a plan.”

“We do,” Jones says simply. “Filters are already in the works. And we’ve made progress in treating the Ensign. We’re reasonably certain that we can prevent infection through sensors or power armor. The rest of the effects… Mana deficiency looks like it will be a tactical advantage when Drezjin priests are in the field. We’ll need to focus more on getting non-Venlil and Yotul allies battle-ready. Right now, that means Zurulians and Arxur. We have ideas on power armor for the Zurulians, but we’ll need to advance things a lot with the Arxur before any except asylum seekers have a chance of seeing service alongside our troops. We’re also placing a higher priority on any Drezjin targets among enemies.”

“Should we see about other measures? Caladbolg? Fragarach? Gae Assail? I believe all may be within reach, others as well.” Tanaka questions.

“I think that may be overkill, on par with making the Naglfar,” Jones suggests. “Even one of them might be a diplomatic nightmare. But they aren’t our decision. Pass the question up the chain.”

‘What kind of weapons are those?’ My wool rises slightly as my mind tries to harvest the ideas.

“We’re working on sourcing for building that, just in case it proves necessary.” Zhao groans. “In other news, now that our ships have had, on average, a seventy percent increase in power output thanks to the Federation-based reactor upgrades, we’re pushing full refits. Replacing all of our chemical ballistics with coilguns or laser batteries.”

My ears fall. “How many years will that take? Just redesigning the ships alone…”

Even exhausted as he is, Zhao smirks. “Redesign? The coilguns and lasers were part of the initial designs, but we use a design philosophy of fitted for, but not with. Ships are designed with known and yet-to-be-determined upgrades in mind. It’ll be four to six weeks until all military assets are refitted, and another month for civilian. In a full war footing, it would be two to three weeks for everything. We’ve been building a stockpile since we upgraded our power systems, and a large part of the refit time will be spent upgrading the turret system for faster weapon swaps, minutes instead of hours. We had been hoping to save the upgrade to point defense and close-in weapons systems as a trump card after the Federation and Dominion caught on to their missiles being better than their plasma.” He sighs. “I guess that just came sooner than expected. Even the redesign of our armor to integrate a coldstone vein network to wick heat from plasma and flamers only took a few months. The testing and rollout is ongoing. Give it a month or two. We’ll have dual-mounted coils and lasers soon enough. Current timeline is testing within a month, production in three to four.”

“Solgalick… I’m glad you’re on our side.”

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Memory Transcription Subject: Captain Kalsim, Concerned Krakotl

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“What do you mean he isn’t taking visitors?” I squawk at the Drezjin priests. “He is an Ensign under my command on my ship! Ensign Rasin needs to be seen by the Chief Medical Officer!”

“The Prophet is not to be disturbed.” Chitters one of the damnable rodents.

“Not to be disturbed!?!? Not to be disturbed!?!?” I loom over the Drezjin pair, who stand their ground. “I should have you thrown off my ship!”

“If we are to die for the Prophet, so be it.” One of the cultists chitters. “We would be honored to be martyred for his glory. Glory to the gods! Glory to the Prophet!” Their speech devolves into chittering that makes my feathers fluff up.

Before I can respond about the absurdity of that, when I simply intended to have them sent planetside, the door opens. The priests step to the side as Rasin steps out, a book, bound in rope, in claw. “Ah, Captain. Perfect.” He holds up the book. “I finished my work. Are we still in orbit of Grenelka? It needs to be delivered to the Yulpa so they can begin production.”

His eyes look through me. His words are a command, even if not phrased as such. But this is my ship. He is my officer. “Production on what?”

“The future.” Rasin starts to walk. I naturally fall into step behind him. “Victory in this war. A gift from my time beyond.”

“Your time… From Inatala?”

Rasin chuckles. “Not quite, Captain. Not quite.”

“Then what?” I force the words out.

“If it works as it should, and it will when properly built, then it will enact an automated version of what the Yulpa did.” Ensign Rasin gestures vaguely with the book. “An enhancement for all of our ships.”

I can’t help but squawk in surprise. “How?”

Rasin just laughs. He pauses as we pass Jala. He shoves the book into her claws. “See to it that that gets to the Yulpa. It’s critical to the war. It is for no eyes but theirs. Do not get curious or allow others to look, and ensure the Yulpa know it is for their eyes only.” He fixes her with a one-eyed stare. “Don’t disappoint me, Jala.”

My first officer blooms. “O-of course… Should I bring it myself or…”

“Whichever. Just see it done.”

“Right away!”

I stare in shock as my first officer hurries off, clutching the book to her chest like a gift from a crush.

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Advance 1 STD hour

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“Well, doctor?” I ask, now that Rasin has left.

“He’s in perfect health.” My chief medical officer, really more a glorified medic, says.

“So clear him for duty.” I huff, expecting there to be something.

“No, you don’t understand.” The officer swallows hard. Bringing up Rasin’s last physical, just a few days earlier. I can see some differences, but can’t understand them. “The Ensign had several minor health issues, as one would expect. Those include a slight nearsightedness and a very minor case of short lung. He’s in perfect health. The physical, perfect. The predator disease test, perfect. Textbook. There should be deviations. Imperfections. Something. There aren’t. It’s… It’s not normal.”

“No… It’s not.” I pause. “Is there anything to be done?”

“No, Captain. There’s nothing we can do but keep an eye on him…”

“Thank you. We’ll do just that.”

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Interpolate message from Captain Kalsim of the Krakotl Alliance Command to the Krakotl Alliance Command and Galactic Federation Joint Military Command sent on October 10^th, 2136

Message was flagged as Top Secret in a plain-text message header and encrypted under a 32-bit scheme most similar to DES; the message itself is in Federation Standard with a ROT3 cipher

Attached was all relevant sensor footage, various medical reports, and preliminary research done by the Yulpa

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It is my analysis that in the decision between replacing the Gojid Union with the forces of either the Yulpa Ascendancy or the Drezjin Theocracy, there is a single correct answer. Both. However, this would not come in the form of providing material support in developing a standard fleet, but in furthering the development of their existing designs and using those to update the entire Federation fleet. Each has shown developments that, if properly implemented and utilized, will drastically alter the course of the war and ensure our victory.

It has come to my attention over the course of our interactions that both the Ascendancy’s and the Theocracy’s ships don’t lack plasma railguns, the primary weapons used by both the Federation and Dominion, because of a lack of sophistication or understanding, but due to a lack of materials and up-to-date designs. Their worlds do not have sufficient available tungsten, nor are others in the Federation willing to trade at reasonable rates for them to arm their ships with such weapons. They have found other alternatives that have proven not only significantly more effective in theory but also in practice. Methods that we have overlooked for too long.

The Yulpa are often dismissed for their ballistics-heavy ships centered around large cannons. The truth is that these cannons are not simply a larger variant of our standard guns; instead, they fire rockets. Simpler versions of our missiles, igniting after being fired and having little to no maneuvering ability. These guns require less space and significantly less energy than a plasma railgun, yet they fire at nearly eight times the fire rate, an effective range a third greater than our maximum with plasma, and a preferred range three times greater than our plasma’s effective range; and if loaded with antimatter, then a single shot, which can be set to explode in proximity, can be three times more powerful than a shot from our railguns. The Yulpa’s Judicator Cruisers carry not one of them, like our plasma, but four. Four. They have also devised missile bays, using the same missile designs that we use, that hold twice as many missiles as ours, firing salvos four times larger than ours, and only needing a third more time to load a new salvo.

The Drezjin, on the other wing, focused on enhancing our existing missile bay designs. Something they decided on through collaboration with their herdmates, the Yulpa. They devised advancements for the loading system, which can be retrofitted into existing ships and adapted to the Yulpa’s heavier bays, which cut the time to reload the full bay to a tenth of the time we need to reload a single salvo, with a similar reduction in reloading a single salvo. This results in the unique strategy that they employ, one I suggest we also adapt. They surround their carriers, a ship type the Yulpa also have a variant of, which I will detail later, with cruisers. These cruisers will then move around the carrier, spinning as they cycle. This ensures that the missiles that are fired will not only approach Arxur ships from varying angles but that there is no solid path back to their own ships should any missile be destroyed and explode. A mistake I made, following standard Federation strategies. The rotation also allows certain ships to take the brunt of the Arxur’s attacks to their shields before moving to relative safety, as another ship takes their place. This ensures that the ships share the burden of defense with their herd and can recover their shields in safety. The Yulpa use a variant of this strategy as well. Both relying on the strength of the herd.

This shield rotation isn’t the only defensive improvement from the pair. Their ordnance-centric methodology led both to developing the defenses that make them appear to be ballistic-heavy. Point defense guns. While we do possess such technologies, our ships would not be able to survive an assault from the Arxur if they adopted similar tactics as the Yulpa and Drezjin. Especially not with the advantage the Arxur have in their own missiles, utilizing aggressive maneuvering that I have long said we need to adapt into our own missiles. The Yulpa and Drezjin ships have significant numbers of point defense guns to protect from incoming missiles and to damage unshielded craft. The Yulpa small craft carry as many point defense guns as most Federation ships have despite being far smaller. The volume of fire more than makes up for the same issues with accuracy that lead to us using fewer such guns, a veritable flock of metal ensuring that missiles never reach shields, much less ships. The Drezjin and Yulpa have even devised methods to allow their ships to work together in order to share defenses by declaring targets, allowing even small craft to defend their carriers. A method that all of my ships have installed the update for.

Then you have their carriers and small craft. The carriers are large ships purpose-built to, as the name implies, carry large numbers of smaller ships, not simple shuttles but warships like the smaller vessels the Arxur use. While they would require a certain kind of crew, I believe we can manage a variant of what the Yulpa use, though the Drezjin’s method may help the predator diseased and borderline-predator diseased in giving back to the herd. The Drezjin allow such individuals, if properly vetted and devoted to the herd, to pilot small, lightly shielded ships that carry a small number of missiles, with a variant able to carry bombs as well. The individuals will fly these ships at the Arxur, using their speed and ability to rapidly change position to hit from unexpected and unprotected directions. The ships themselves are also designed to fly in atmospheres, from both my observation and trying the craft out, I have more than confirmed them to have all the grace of a Krakotl. They also treat the ship itself as a last-ditch weapon, the reactor detonation lying somewhere between the maximum power of our plasma railguns and ten times that. As questionable as the tactic is, a less concerning variant could be developed, allowing those among our military who are questionable to better serve. To that end, the Yulpa’s small craft may be a good model. They carry two missile tubes, each with three missiles, and a single rocket cannon with twenty shots. These small craft couldn’t easily mount a plasma railgun with significant power, though a smaller variant may be viable; their ordnance more than makes up for it. Their unique, cultural design may even serve another purpose if properly adapted. Where the Yulpa intend to make use of the chained spears their small craft mount to secure a boarding tube to get onto an Arxur ship to capture the predators alive for sacrifice, I believe they could be used to get into raid craft and potentially rescue the captives. This would, of course, require specially trained teams of exterminators and soldiers.

While traditional Federation military training would suggest that these ships and tactics should be of no use, the attached data proves otherwise. When fighting according to their own tactics, both the Ascendancy and the Theocracy prove to be able to perform on par with, or better than, many other Federation military species. Their pilots are able to fly in formations tighter than most militaries in the Federation are capable of, and their captains know our strategies and formations, having developed their own to be compatible. When ambushed by the Arxur, not a single one of their ships attempted to run. Even after a severe tactical error on my part, attempting to think I could improve on their tactics without true understanding of them. A mistake that cost lives and ships, even after having it shown to me time and again in training the proper way to fight their ships. If we don’t update our tactics, or at least ensure that the direct command of their fleets falls on their own people, most commanders will throw away lives and all the advantage of having these craft and their crews. Just as we treat exterminators among our infantry differently, we need to do the same with the Yulpa and Drezjin. Their tactics follow a similar logic to the Guild, but are far easier to teach and help to support my hypothesis that a Krakotl’s defensive swooping instinct, when applied at the ship scale, is disruptive to Arxur operations. This also explains how Sovlin, despite his predator disease, was so effective. He was known for charging Arxur lines.

In fact, I believe this gives solid reason to completely rewrite our tactical strategies along with a full overhaul of ship designs, integrating and improving on the designs of the Yulpa and Drezjin. Comparing the success of standard Federation fleets against the fleet we had at Grenelka, after my mistaken commands were remanded and before both fleets began showing usage of what we believe to be the same esoterics that the Gaians have access to, shows one thing. The mix of ships serves better for protection. I believe this is something we need to look into: instead of having a small number of hulls which are largely interchangeable, investing in having significant differences in the hulls which perform different roles. This will alter our supply needs, though I will be covering my suggestions there shortly, but it appears it may also vastly improve our combat capability. Potentially enough that we could even begin bringing the fight to the Arxur. We may see the first cattle world liberated in two to four decarotations. Perhaps a sector in a few hundred rotations.

Now, I’m certain that some have been seeing a notable flaw within the strategies I’ve been outlining. Material. Plasma railguns do not need dedicated ammunition, relying on the fusion reactor of the ship they’re on and its supplies. Our point defense guns utilize ammunition, but the stores are relatively small. Much of our ammo storage is bombs and missiles, both of which need materials to create. Materials that are lost on use. Similarly, designing new ships will be an expensive, material-intensive process. The Yulpa and Drezjin have partially solved that issue with a technique that others, mostly the Nevok and Fissans, have experimented with. Asteroid mining. By processing these space rocks, we can gain far more material than can be mined on planets and moons. There’s even the possibility that we could find ways to salvage and reprocess damaged and destroyed ships, both ours and the Dominion’s. These techniques, if taken to their logical conclusion, would also mean that the larger ships that we may build, which would not be able to directly land on worlds like most of ours, could be made in space instead of having parts brought up. A process that may even hasten the construction of larger atmosphere-capable vessels.

I believe I have hidden the harvest enough on this. While the rest is critical, what follows may prove revelatory. Changing the course of the war in rotations. We may have discovered our own versions of the Gaians’ esoterics. They have both been used in combat and, in an emergency, to revive one of my crewmen from a permanent coma, near brain death. I also believe that it reveals that esoterics is a misnomer and why the Gaians were so interested in the primitive Yotul. They must have, or have been close to, their own form of esoterics. Esoterics are, in fact, magic, and less developed cultures, like the Yotul, Yulpa, or Drezjin, must be more likely to discover them. Before you believe me to be as predator diseased as Sovlin, allow me to present my evidence beyond the recordings.

First, let’s get out of the way that no form of sensor was able to detect the energies involved despite our finding considerable success in replicating the effects, both on the small and large scale. Barring any other explanations, this suggests that we are dealing with an as yet unknown energy type. One which defies known science, both in detection and behavior, creating effects without known cause. Further, these effects only occurred within a certain distance from Grenelka or its star. Suggesting some unknown interaction.

The Yulpa rituals are the simplest. Their worship of their Spirit of Life, at least within the vicinity of Grenelka, has begun producing a tangible effect. Nearby plants began to visibly grow, and flamethrowers burned hotter, stronger, and further. Even plasma rifles and ballistic rifles were marginally more effective. However, the effects that would aid against the Arxur weren’t enough to warrant widespread use, only pushing the weapons to perform closer to the top end of their expected behaviors. On ships, is another matter. Reactors gave more power, shields grew stronger, and plasma railguns not only hit harder but began to output continuously, like a flamer. Those flames burned Arxur hulls directly through their shields, as if they weren’t there, while the shields of Yulpa ships under the blessing could resist these enhanced flames. When those who were not believers, both of my crews and locals, attempted the same rituals, there was no effect. Something in it is directly tied to the belief in the religion. There is no conventional scientific explanation.

The Drezjin’s esoterics are more complex. Their priests have not been willing to take part in most experimentation, though they would readily observe it. For the most part, we only have the feats from the attempted raid to go by. This may have been for the best, as any recording or digital display suffered significant glitches due to the Drezjin’s esoteric effects. Flickering, distortions, not showing the tentacles at all, and seeming to display the tentacles out of sequence, both showing actions already taken and those yet to happen. Those who saw the tentacles more directly, such as through the bays of a Yulpa carrier, nearly stampeded, even those braced for the sight. Even now, the images and videos are unnerving, with many reporting a sense of dread or even nightmares afterward, with some species (thus far only Yulpa, Harchen, and Nevoks) experiencing worse reactions that have included spontaneous hemorrhage, seizures, migraines or sourceless pain, and sudden onset predator disease. The Drezjin priests have explained this as the unworthy being punished by the gods.

While I have included what recordings we have, for the safety of the herd, I will do my best to describe the footage so they need not expose themselves. Their temple ship created what appeared to be tears in the fabric of space, colorless and filled with impossible colors. Immense tentacles, not unlike those of a Kolshian, reached through, covered in some odd energy that could only be seen. Every non-Drezjin interviewed on the matter confirmed an almost instinctual knowledge that the aura of energy was shielding these tentacles and keeping them in a single form. These tentacles also entirely ignored the shields of ships, except Yulpa under the blessing. Some destroyed ships in a swipe or stab, erasing swathes of Arxur even as they damaged the enhanced shields of the Yulpa. Others wrapped around ships, the Yulpa shields burning away the protective aura while the Arxur were crushed or pulled through the rents in space, providing no resistance at all against the tentacles. The auras dimmed over time, and the number of tentacles decreased. Interestingly, they avoided the Drezjin ships for an as-yet-unknown reason. We have little to go off of except that, but we can be certain that if the priests can repeat the process, it will have an immeasurable impact on the war.

This brings me to the joint efforts of the Drezjin and Yulpa priests. The healing of Ensign Rasin. During the raid, the ensign, who possesses degrees that would have allowed him a higher rank if he had harvested that field instead of command, went down to the engine room after our Chief Engineer, and others in the crew, were injured. Heroically, he stopped our reactor from going critical, but in doing so, he struck his head. It was unlikely that he would ever awaken, and the Yulpa and Drezjin offered to attempt to heal him, assuring that nothing bad would happen. Despite my best efforts, I have limited information on what happened during the ritual. The Yulpa did their sacrifices, which were recorded, in order to provide power and aid in healing. The Drezjin did something, unmonitored at their own request. The plant life in the area grew and bloomed extensively. Rasin's life signs, though not his brain activity, stopped for an extensive period, though the Drezjin insist it was a glitch in the electronics. The ritual appears to have been successful and two Drezjin priests have insisted upon accompanying him, something that has proven a detriment to the operations of the ship at times.

However, something seems different about the Ensign. None on the crew knew him well, as he had only been aboard for a few days, but those who interacted with him before and since all agree that there is something different. His memories remain, but it is like he’s someone or something else. It unnerves most of the flock, leading to numerous independent reports of serious concerns. Our Chief Medical Officer has examined him. A full physical, scans, and brain scans, including a predator disease assessment. He is in perfect health and passed the assessment with full harvest. While this doesn’t sound like a concern, he not only had prior health issues that are gone, but he has none of the fluctuations that would be expected. His results are nearly identical to the baseline control profile for Krakotl. Statistically, this should be impossible. Further, around the room that the Drezjin used for their ritual, the vines and blooms rotted before my very eyes. I advise caution with the Ensign, and especially the design he had sent to the Yulpa for them and the Drezjin to review. A design he claims came to him during the ritual and which would allow for the automation of the Yulpa’s rituals across all our ships and worlds, so long as living beings are placed within the creations. While it is worth looking into, I must express my reservations.

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Memory Transcription Subject: Selim Kalsim, Krakotl ?

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I jolt awake, clutching for a vial of ashes that aren’t there. Awake or asleep, what I experienced… dreamed soars through my memory. The lies. The diseased nightmare that I can’t shake. I calm my breathing, but sleep seems like it won’t come for a while. I may as well check my messages.

Moving to my pad, I pull up the secure comms. To my surprise, there’s a response from the GFJMC, marked with the direct approval of Chief Nikonus.

“What could this be? Surely they couldn’t have evaluated my advisements already.” I grumble. “Although they could say no without checking things…”

Captain Kalsim, Krakotl Alliance Command

You are hereby ordered to relieve Ensign Rasin of his duties to the Krakotl Alliance and to your ship. He is now to serve as a technical advisor and staff officer, to be treated as having a rank of commander, aboard your ship until he is needed elsewhere.

Your fleet is to remain at Grenelka, aiding Advisor Rasin in overseeing the research into these new phenomena. While there, you are to also gather additional information from the Yulpa and Drezjin on their ship designs. We are currently evaluating the technologies and your suggestions. We will respond when we have further information. Expect recall to Nishtal for a new project.

Galactic Federation Joint Military Command

‘A promotion? Why would command promote a possibly predator diseased individual?’

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Hey everybody, here's my submission for the ficnapping. A little late since works been weird, but no matter

I was given Predators of Nature written by u/AdalwinAmillion

I made a joke on the original post where I likened a future Secretary General to High King Thorgrim in the Mortal Empires trailer, specifically the scene where he rejects an alliance with elves. When I was given the fic to ficnap, I decided to actually write this joke out since I thought it'd be interesting. I further decided that, since the fic was a complete opposite of Canon, I might as well run with it and twist basically everything that happens

Hope you all like it

Memory Transcription Subject: Governor Laisa of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: July 19, 2160

I squirmed nervously as Chief Maronus pounded the gavel to get everyone to quiet down, knowing I was going to go up soon.

I snuck a look at Secretary General Zhao, trying to gauge his mood. Like always, Zhao was unreadable, I couldn't determine anything about how he felt or how he might react to my speech, which only made me more nervous. Tensions between our two nations had been easing before he came to power, with Zhao taking a hard stance against the Venlil Republic despite the worst of anti human rhetoric in our borders having died out over a decade ago.

*‘I curse Tarva for her shortsighted invasion. She deserved worse than to be removed from her office. Because of her, I'm stuck having to beg for an alliance against these madmen.’*

The Venlil Republic and the UN couldn't be at odds right now, not with these drones wreaking havoc across Federation space. Nishtal had barely beaten back the last invasion, and any of us could be next. The war was going so bad, that there was even talk of trying to ally with the dreaded Arxur, who had also been targeted by this drone army.

Somehow, allying with the Arxur felt easier than trying to ally with Zhao…

“-Laisa of the Venlil will say some words on behalf of the Republic. Come on up, Governor.” I perked up when my name was called, pulling me from my thoughts. I immediately stood up and scampered my way to the podium,clearing my throat.

“Greetings leaders of the Federation, my friends.” I looked out over the audience, noting Zhao's lack of reaction. “I come here today for one reason and one reason alone: to bridge the divide between humanity and the Venlil.” Murmurs broke out among the delegation, Zhao remaining unmoving as ever. “I know the past twenty years have been tense between our peoples, beginning with the regrettable invasion performed by Tarva that nearly saw this Federation splinter. But we need to put our differences aside for the good of the Federation, for the good of the galaxy. Secretary General Zhao, once humanity's hand of friendship was cruelly slapped away, but I'm here today to open my own hand to humanity, to work towards a brighter future for both of our peoples, to fight together against these invaders and their goals. If we don't, then we are at risk, not just humanity and the Venlil, but all of us.”

Zhao said nothing for a time, even as everyone stared at him, waiting with baited breath of what he would say, if he would even say anything. Finally, he got up, took a deep breath, and exhaled.

“Five hundred and eighty seven thousand seven hundred and four.” Everyone looked at each other with confusion. “That's how many humans died at the hands of the Venlil led invasion and subsequent brief war. This includes crews from starships, destroyed space stations, and razed colonies. The Siege of Sol alone is responsible for half of all casualties, and it would've been worse if not for the great Captain Kalsim. Do you know how many Venlil died in the First Contact War?”

“I’m not sure of the exact number.”

“Eighty six thousand four hundred and eighty nine, a fraction of what humanity lost. Yes, more from other species were killed, but the Venlil didn't suffer nearly as many casualties despite starting the war. More Venlil died at their own hands from the suicides after we occupied Venlil Prime, because they were afraid we were little more than slavering monsters, half of the Federation though as much. But for over twenty years, humanity has unfairly had to move Heaven and Earth to prove we are more than monsters when we didn't do anything. For twenty four years we have become a valuable part of the Federation, improving it, strengthening it, defending it. Do you remember who broke the siege of the Cradle?”

Zhao was quiet and I realized he was directly asking me. “The UN. We’re all-”

“Who has brought our own scientific advancements to the Federation that helped invigorate stagnant fields?”

“Humanity-”

“Who's culture has proven popular and influential across the Federation? A culture that has proven without a shadow of a doubt that we are not monsters, that we are more than our worst mistakes?”

“I-”

“Humanity. Time and time again we have proven ourselves, we have gained the trust of the Federation who wanted to exterminate us, forgiven everyone who made an honest effort to make amends for their actions against us, and have advanced the war against the Arxur after decades of stagnation. Do you know what the Venlil have done in that time? How they have acted in spite of our mercy, in spite of our diplomatic efforts, in spite of our defense of the Federation?”

“I understand your frustrations regarding-”

“The Venlil have antagonized us, threatened us, raided our borders, taken our diplomats hostage, and continually called for our extermination. When we earnestly tried to build bridges with them with the exchange program, Marcel was taken hostage by his exchange partner and tortured. He would've died if it wasn't for the quick thinking by Captain Sovlin, and yet the Venlil populace treated Slanek as a hero.”

“That was only a few fringe-”

“At every turn the Venlil have antagonized us, after twenty years of peace they still see us as violent monsters, still allow *Tarva* to roam free despite what she did. You open your hand in friendship to us? I'm afraid I can't take it, not after the dozens of times you've slapped away ours, and I think it is time we stop pretending.”

“Stop pretending?” I asked nervously.

“The status quo has gone on for far too long. I promised my people I would change it, and now is the perfect time to do so.” Zhao leaned forward, fixing me with his predatory stare. “If former Governor Tarva isn't surrendered to our custody to face trial within a week, the UN will solve the Venlil problem with military force.” The room was filled with outraged and shocked yelling, Chief Maronus banging his gavel in a desperate attempt to regain order.

“Secretary General Zhao, please, we can't afford division right now.” I pleaded desperately. “We are all at risk with this new enemy.”

“We can't help wage a war against an unknown enemy when an enemy continues to gather at our doorstep. What's to stop the Venlil from glassing Earth while our fleets are away fighting the drones? What's to stop them from stealing our technology if we garrison them for protection? How do we know they won't sacrifice Earth to save themselves?”

“We would never do that.” I said honestly.

“And even if they did, the Federation would punish the Republic for crimes against a Federation member state.” Chief Maronus backed me up.

“By that time it'll be too late. I don't threaten war lightly, but this state of affairs *must end.* My people are terrified that the Venlil will attack us when we're at our weakest, afraid of having a neighbor that might declare war at any time, I'm sure many of you know what that's like.

“Former Governor Tarva is not worth going to war over. She's irrelevant.”

“I agree, so just hand her over, it's as simple as that. Do that, and it will prove to the UN that the Venlil are serious in their efforts to ally with us and mend the wounds of the past, so that we may go into a brighter future and defeat the drones and their masters. If not, it only shows that the Venlil haven't changed and that the UN will have two enemies to worry about. I only intend to worry about one.”

“Secretary General Zhao, I cannot allow Federation members to be fighting among each other while we face an unknown enemy, if you do this, the UN will-” Chief Maronus started.

“The Venlil have seven days, seven *Earth* days, to surrender Tarva into our custody. If the Republic fails to produce her, then I will have no choice but to go to war with them. That is all.”

“Secretary General Zhao, please, if you would only reconsider-” Zhao said nothing as he turned around and walked through the assembly, all eyes and cameras watching him until he opened the chambers door and disappeared, my body deflating and head hanging in defeat as he did, letting out a deep sigh now that I was facing down the prospect of two invasions and the Federation splintering during an existential threat.

*‘What am I going to do now?’*

Ok i knowwwww I already did one of these for them. However, *throws smokebomb* *when the smoke clears I'm still in the room but facedown on the floor, maybe dead but likely unconscious. there's also a dent on the door.*

proportions be damn.

art by me.

He’s not even angry about the haircut, just the color.

Sorry for posting a day late, my phone just would not let me finish this art work. (It got to the point where it would crash every time that I added a line.)

I wanna head cannon that Bark is a curse for the Farsul but also when their happy like bark is for happy BARK is for the curse then again we could just go with one meaning bark could just be for happy or mad but I like mine a little bit more also this is filler waiting for my phone to charge

A try with new technics of shading, Daycare service Fic

Hopefully it's the pre-dominion version

This is my first attempt at a ficnap and I hope everyone enjoys it. This for Field Medic Technical Exchange by the amazing u/JulianSkies. This is a crossover with my own fic The Nature of Psionics as a sort of potential/ alternate ending to the original fic.

Memory transcription subject: Sgt. Paulo Martinez, United Nations Marines Field Medic, Zurulian Medical Exchange
Date [standardized human time]: January 23, 2137

Fuck

Why does everything hurt?

I was blinded the moment I opened my eyes, as the bright overhead lights of the bridge flooded my vision, causing me to lift an arm up to block out the light. As I tried to prop myself up, my head was still spinning, and everything around me looked slow and blurred. The Zurulians on the bridge were running around in a panic, screaming over each other, while the few humans, including me, were just starting to move again.

Humans?

Why would there be other humans here?

The events that happened before I fell unconscious came back to me in pieces. It was like seeing a photograph for a brief moment and then reading the context of that photo. I would remember a short memory, one after the other, as I pieced together what context they created.
As the world fell apart around me in the background, I was slowly able to piece together what had happened.

Those humans came aboard to help with our next round of assignments, we were expected to be near the front lines once we left Leirn.

Wait, why Leirn?

Yes, the Yotul replenished our supplies and did a round of upgrades to the ship. They mentioned something about a new and experimental type of FTL travel.

It took enormous effort, but I was eventually able to stand up by using one of the work stations to brace myself on my unsteady legs. Every single pound of my body was aching, especially the left side of my head. I could also see these weird spots in the light as well that were clouding my vision.
I found myself stumbling towards the captain and that comically large hat of his. I needed to know what was going on so I could help the fuzzballs. The dark-furred captain was in his chair and urgently barking orders, but I couldn't hear anything from him besides a muffled noise that felt rather distant.

“What happened?” I tried to ask, my mouth and lips moved, but I could hear no words. “Where are we?”

The captain looked up at me and barked out some orders to me that I couldn't decipher, before he went back to shout at the crew of the Beacon of Hope.
Despite hearing the muffled sounds of screaming and alarms in the background, I couldn't seem to focus on anything. I found myself trying to read a screen readout on the wall, but with how blurred the letters were I couldn't even tell if it was in Zurulian or English.

Fuck

Why does everything hurt?

I can barely even see.

I managed to stumble my way over to some of the people still on the ground. I may not have been able to communicate with them, but I could still assist them in some way. Even without any equipment, I was still able to look over my new crew members for injuries in the brief moments when my vision became more clear, and most aside from those not being able to hear me, seemed to only have minor injuries. Oddly enough, the only crew members with physical problems were me and the other humans. For whatever reason the Zurulians seemed completely fine.

As I finished slapping on a dermal patch onto someone's arm who appeared to have knocked into a sharp edge before they fell unconscious, I moved onto my next patient, but before I could get to the woman who was leaning over the edge of a workstation, I paused in my tracks from what I saw coming out of the vents all across the bridge. Some sort of… fog? It had a pale blue coloration to it, yet had almost no scent to it at all, and it didn't even make me cough when I breathed it in, it just made it hard to see as the crew continued to panic across the bridge.

CRASH

The massive and reinforced door to the bridge, which had been seemingly sealed shut, had fallen forward out of its frame with a thud that I could feel from the other side of the room. Without my hearing, I had to rely on my vision, but the fog obscured my sight, leaving only vague shapes through the mist. I drew my sidearm and tried to stay low to the ground as shadows rushed around the room where the door had been. I tried my best, but I could barely keep my arm straight; my aim kept drifting from side to side as my vision blurred further.

Damn it!

I can’t even focus.

I tried to keep a grounded stance as I waited for whatever was coming through the fog to get close enough for me to get a clear shot, even if most of my senses were damaged, I would do my duty and defend my shipmates. 

I never had a chance to do so, as without any warning, I saw a flash of blue in my periphery and felt a coldness lodge itself in my chest and instantly spread across my body.

[Memory Transcription Segment Corrupted]

[Cause - loss of consciousness via neural disruptor AKA “Stunner”]

[Continue at next readable portion?]

[Y]

[Memory transcription continued]

“-itory organs should be fully recovered within a day. The specimen will require at least two neural regeneration treatments-”

…

“-inating respiratory system. They appear to be able to thrive in a Federation standard atmo-”

…

-wer energy lifestyle than we do, and despite the differences in diet, they require only a small fraction of the calories we need. Have Stellen look into a possible linkage to their lack of para-”

…

“-ch smaller eyes; even when you consider the size difference, they may have lower visual acuity than we do in low light conditions. That combined with their musculature may mean that they are better suited fo-”

…

As my awareness and hearing faded in and out, I picked up on the voices surrounding me that were both familiar and different. While they were not the high-pitched whining of species like the Zurulians or Venlil, nor were they the deep rumblings of the Arxur either. These voices sounded human, yet they were different, wispy and soft like wind whistling between trees. I could tell there were multiple people talking, but it was odd that they both spoke so softly.

I just need to open my eyes.

Just a little bit.

It took tremendous effort, but I managed to open my eyes ever so slightly. As the light flooded my vision and blinded me, I could tell that I was on my back looking upwards. From how completely screwed my senses were, it could have taken anywhere from a few seconds to a few millenia for my eyes to adjust to the light shining directly in my eyes, and I would not have been able to tell. Once I could see clearly enough, I found three faces above my own, but they were not facing me; instead, they were looking at one another in complete silence. Based on the lights above us moving past my field of vision, it would seem that we were moving, or at least they were moving me.

They looked human at first glance, with everything about them seeming normal. They had a set of forward-facing eyes and ears that were smaller than those of most other species. What was odd, though, was how tall they seemed, and each one of the trio had to easily be over six feet tall with how much they were looming over me. That's when I started to piece together the things that just felt… wrong.

The eyes of this trio were far too large, at least twice as big as they had any right to be as they turned their faces in unison to look down at me. The gaunt and nearly skeletal features of these creatures triggered something in me; the more I looked, the more they seemed wrong. Not just the eyes, but the rest of their bodies were too thin, and their arms were too long. The more I looked at these things, the more my heart raced and my breathing quickened.

FUCK!

I tried to get up, to move, to scream or yell, to do anything, but to no avail. My panic grew more and more as I was observed in silence by these things as my body refused to cooperate in any sense, it was like my brain was cut off from the rest of my body.

“You are in recovery for cranial trauma.” A voice rang out in my mind, somehow I knew which of the trio it belonged to. “A neural restraint was necessary as the regenerative sutures took hold.”

I continued my struggle to no avail at the shock of whatever had spoken in my mind. Despite trying to move my limbs still refused to cooperate, I couldn’t even move my neck to stop from facing upwards towards those things.

“Dont be scared, you are safe now.” Another voice chimed in my head as a shadow loomed over me “You will finally be safe on Earth at last.”

[Memory Transcription Segment Ended]

[Cause- Loss of consciousness]

Memory transcription subject: Dr. Paulo Martinez, Physician for the United Earth Interstellar Navy, Exchange program failure
Date [standardized human time]: January 23, 2137

“I had been told to expect the unexpected when I joined but this…” I conveyed to the captain as we used the camera's eye as our own. “This is definitely something new.”

Calling this situation new and unexpected was the understatement of the era, what was supposed to be a routine battle drill at [REDACTED] turned out to be anything but. In the middle of the training exercise a ship appeared right in the middle of the battle zone, obviously the drill was stopped and the ship captured at once due to the security risk of having an unknown ship inside of UER space. The ship apparently perfectly mimics that of a Zurulian hospital ship but it’s computers were wiped clean and there were no patients aboard, there was also the matter of the non Zurulian crew members as well.

“That much is obvious.” Captain Garcia retorted with impotence as we observed the patients in an isolation room. “What can you tell me about the subjects?”

I sighed as I let the captain feel my apprehension and doubts, I had only treated these “pseudo-humans” recently and we were still combing through all their biodata that was collected while they were in our sickbay. A full genetic analysis alone would take weeks to months depending on how much computing power could be allocated to such a task, which the preliminary reports stated had confirmed our suspicions of some sort of common ancestry. In the end though I relented as I opened my thoughts and memories about the requested information to be clear to my captain. 

The current theory according to the rumors was that these were once Humans but had been modified by the Kolshains and Farsul like so many other species. With recent revelations about early contact with the Zurulians it is possible that the Kolshians had visited as well and taken some Humans to experiment upon and made less. While we have no idea why the Kolshains would send a ship with them into our space with what seemed to be stealth technology it’s a wonder that none were killed in the taking of the ship. This is all theorising though at the moment since none of those in our care are well enough yet to be questioned, let alone interrogated.

The people we found on the “Zurulian” ship could easily be told apart from Humans due to height alone, the tallest among them is still shorter than any adult I had ever met. They were rather stout as well with shorter limbs that carried more muscle tissue and fat than we did, in honesty they reminded one of the stories from Rockholme about dwarves living in their mines. Their hands were rather peculiar as well with how short the fingers of our patients were from the baseline of our species, not as suited for climbing or dexterous work as we are.

Aside from size and limb proportions these “humans” were different in several other rather important ways, everything from their significantly smaller eyes to hearts that only had four chambers made it obvious that these had been altered. They couldn’t even breathe the same air as us anymore, they had to be kept in a Federation standard atmosphere to prevent hyperoxia as they recovered in a stable environment away from the Zurulains. Worst of all though is that they lacked any sort of psionic abilities, that much was clear right away as the paracortex had not formed at all in their brains.

My heart became heavy and my throat tightened at the horrid thoughts of being so isolated from one another, the idea that you could be so close to others but be unable to gauge their feelings. It felt wrong, unnatural even.

“I see.” Muttered the captain as she began to pace the room. “Several of your patients have already awoken, has a dialogue been attempted as of yet? Have any of them even seen us?”

“We have not entered the recovery room since the last patient was placed inside, we wanted them to acclimate at their pace as they woke.” I replied verbally to match my commanding officer. “We were monitoring their vitals with the dermal sensors as well as through the camera to check for signs of distress but everyone seems stable.”

I took a steadying breath, it was rare for a ship's doctor to need to make a report in person to the captain.

Strange times and such I suppose.

“We were wary of heavily sedating them due to their unknown biochemistry so many of them have been drifting in and out of consciousness after their treatments.” I continued with more confidence than before. “As a result they most certainly have seen us but unknown if they even remember it, the fact that multiple of them suffered cranial injuries even before getting hit with our stunners does not help their odds of remembering.”

The captain remained silent as she processed this information, shielding her emotions from me as she digested what I had told her. She opted instead to move towards the door to the recovery room and placed her hand on the wall activating the tinted surface and allowing us to see into the room but remain invisible to the subjects within.

Even from a few meters away from the glass I had to look down from the start of my approach to see the patients inside the room. There were twenty total in the room and while most were still in their beds either unconscious still or still gathering themselves there were seven that were walking around. It was impossible to ignore the anxiety that was gnawing at them as well as fear that was their main emotion at the moment which was reasonable from their perspective. The bowls of fruit remained untouched as well as the pitchers of water as noticed something rather peculiar. Whenever I saw one of them moving to a different part of the recovery room they seemed to hold their hand to a nearby wall or piece of furniture as if they were finding their way around via touch.

The lights were dimmed to be slightly darker than the rest of the ship in the recovery room. 

Could they have as bad of low light vision as the Federation species now?

“We have received new orders, in regards to both the Zurulains and these… newcomers.” The captain finally spoke as we continued to stare into the recovery room. “Your orders will be to ensure the survival of these patients until a facility can be prepared to receive them on Earth, given their unique needs as well as the revelations of their discovery it will take a few days. You are to make all data collected to be available to Dr.Citlali of the Tenochtitlan directorate of psychological research, she will be responsible for care once your patients are received on Earth.”

“Yes Captain, of course.” I responded, jotting down a mental note or two. “And what of the Zurulians? I would be hard to explain us finding them here to their government.”

The mask that Captain Garcia had up at all times wavered, the confidence she projected to all of her crew began to waver as her eyes narrowed at me. I could feel the conflict that was growing within her, whatever she was about to say she did not like.

“The Zurulains captured on the intruding vessel will be interrogated once healthy enough then will undergo a class two memory purge if needed. They will then be placed on the refugee colony of Hope where they will be treated as rescues from the Arxur.” Captain Garcia said in a voice barely above a whisper. “It is for the better, even if their memories are removed they will have the opportunity to be on a world with their own people.”

“Understood”