Those Who Run | HFY | A Short Sci-Fi Story

it is important to understand that the great Confederation is not a benevolent organization neither is it particularly Wicked it is not built to be good although it certainly strives to do so it is not built to be bad although many of its laws and policies have been Twisted to perform acts of shocking cruelty it is built primarily to endure to stand as a Bull workk against barbarism and Anarchy and as such it is astoundingly effective in its endurance the Confederation has acquired Millennia of Customs rituals and traditions that trail in the wake of its stately

passage Through the Ages its bureaucrats spend thankless lifetimes waiting through the morass it could be argued that as Superfluous as so many of these Traditions seem they serve to give the institution a certain inertia that holds it as steady as any treaties or threat of arms it is one of our most ancient Traditions that concerns us today and its curious history with one of the confederation's most recent members when Humanity finally breached the limits of its modest Empire and became known to the Galaxy's most esteemed institution we told them our curious tradition when a new

race joins the ranks of the great Confederation it is customary to adopt an epithet suited to its particular qualities each name is a point of Pride it speaks to a Race's history not only that of its civilizations but of its Evolution itself what gave it the strength to drag itself from the morass of Base Life up to the Stars the names are not complex and follow a basic scheme the brachiating flow whose spindly Towers reach almost as high as their Ambitions became those who climb the staunch modore who grew from nomadic herds to traveling cities

to armored Drifter fleets took the name those who wander in strength the telepathic hive mind of the RIT working in perfect synchronicity adopted those who are one it's a foolish tradition as so many are are but just like so many others there dwells in it a curious truth a name is a promise after all and a warrior of those who die gloriously is likely to go down fighting for little more reason than to maintain the reputation of their species more than anything it displays the qualities a race is most proud of or most aspires to

there are those who say it oversimplifies or pigeon holes or grandstands but the tradition has held firm through thousands of cycles of peace and Strife alike so in spite of its Antiquated Roots the topic of which name the humans would choose dominated Confederation discussion for subcycles on end not merely a rich vein of Gossip their choice would glean valuable insight for diplomacy trade agreements and the entertainment industry those who approach with caution are hardly going to be pulled in by gambling advertisements after all the humans made their decision with an almost indecent haste after after

only a handful of Cycles their representative took his place at the Confederation Senate to be formally inducted among our ranks call us they said those who run it was a title that reignited gossip for Cycles to come biologically it made sense the upright primates were certainly built for running not with any particular speed but with a casual lope that seemed to serve their purposes but there were a thousand others they might have picked what kind of a species names itself for cow what kind of Promise does that make the following Cycles only served to reinforce

the opinion the Teran proved to be a race unusually averse to conflict where others would fight they negotiated where others would seize they gave ground when pushed to a fight placed between hammer and Anvil they always managed to squeeze out and find some kind of peaceful resolution this manner gained them many friends but few allies who could rely on a craven to support them in crisis when no peace could be found when the time came to take a stand who could trust in those who run perhaps it was the name that encouraged the lashi in

the end no species enjoyed such a controversial place in the Confederation as the lashi time and again they have sparked conflict and Chaos for their own gain time and again they have proven their worth when the Confederation needs the proper application of brute force their evolution as Apex packed Predators is reflected in their lightning fast attack fleets and Cutthroat politicking one way or another the lashi have well earned their epithet of those who Scourge it is perhaps unfair to judge every individual of a species by their rac's reputation certainly there have been lashi known for

their kindness their forgiveness and hundreds of Cycles with the Confederation might have distanced them from their most Savage practices but a name is a promise after all historians across the Galaxy can appreciate the difficulty in pinning down the root cause of any particular conflict the lashi were certainly looking to expand their Holdings and the Virgin Teran territories were mightily tempting but the lashi royal family was also facing dissent within its aristocracy and was in need of a common cause to unify the ranks and of course their economic power had diminished from a number of recent

trade sanctions and they achd for a chance to remind the confederation of their military strength but it could also be argued that the lashi had simply done it to many fledgling races before and were more than happy to do so again those of us sympathetic to the humans realized too late the careful web the lashi had drawn them into over a hundred minor disputes certainly the Tern had no idea they had been in the Confederation a scant handful of Cycles the lashi had navigated its legal morass for centuries they fitted Humanity's noose with Grace if

the lashi had merely declared war on the ter we might have blunted the blow there are a number of Confederation bylaws and procedures in place for these kinds of things ones that the victims of the lashi have relied on in past conflicts amnesty Rules of Engagement foreign aid and the like but this was different the ritual is known as Coral it pits one Confederation member against another with no Aid or intervention from other members in theory it allows the resolution of disputes without setting off a powder keg of alliances and counter alliances in practice it

is used most often to cut a vulnerable race out from the herd it is a Savage tradition from the early Cutthroat days of the Confederation but as has been said before age lends inertia to tradition and it has proven frustratingly difficult to root out to declare Coral requires highly specific conditions to be met ones the lashi had carefully engineered every conflict formed a piece of an elaborate picture framing the Tern as unjust aggressors and the lashi as the victim on paper at least and in an institution so woefully hidebound as the Confederation paper was the

most effective witness when every peace had been placed all that was left was the official declaration of war which they proceeded to do with gusto and a plum on the floor of the Confederation Congress under the eyes of a thousand delegates the Teran Senator begged the lashi to reconsider they were a fledgling strength he said this war and all that happened next would Define the future of both races The lashi Senator laughed in his face a laugh from those who Scourge unnerves everyone else in the room few Predators managed to ascend to sentience and the

sight of their cruel sharp teeth stirs Primal fears long buried beneath the veneer of civilization he drew forth an elaborate scroll the official declaration of war and cast casted at the teran's feet he spoke the ancient challenge caral he said Embrace us not our gifts are blades now and cut at your hands call not to your allies their doors are closed to you sue not for terms they shall be denied flee to your dens gather your strength and make your stand we are coming the Teran had a modest Fleet capable of chasing off pirates on

their trade routes and of course as soon as War had been declared they began the long process of Warship production factories not used since before Humanity's unification cranked into life but it would be long Cycles before they could form defenses across their worlds and the lashi had long planned for this war indeed their stockpiling of military assets was the subject of one of their many political conflicts with the humans until they could properly mobilize the lashi had their pick of the tan territories the only question was which planet they would hit first the corner Coro

stars were a tempting choice they lay closest to lashi territory and would make a fine addition to their Holdings but they were virgin ground underdeveloped they could be claimed in time after they had broken the back of the Teran defenses Earth itself was tempting as well the loss of a Race's home world would be a tremendous blow one that has sent many an Empire on a slow spiral to Extinction but Humanity was well aware of its vulnerability and had prepared according more than a quarter of their forces were positioned to defend their home system the

lashi could take it eventually but the losses would be tremendous they needed a symbol something that would shatter Humanity's resolve in a swift singular strike something they did not defend properly something they took for granted so much that they could not imagine its loss it might have taken years to find but as has been said they had long planned for this war Humanity's home world was still slowly healing from the eruption of their desperate climb to the Stars it would take hundreds of Cycles to scrub the poison from its seas and skies now they were

wiser their new worlds were developed with a careful eye on their ecosystems but even among its harmonic compatriots Avalon stood apart Avalon was their chance to be better the citizens of its cities were wardens of the planet not its rulers the trees stood tall the animals roamed free and the fields of tall grasses stretched from one horizon to the other the planet stood as a symbol of everything the Teran aspired to or at least it did those who Scourge descended upon Avalon like wolves on the fold for the first time its residents looked up to

see fire in the night sky as lasers seared through the meager defenses the Teran fought with courage ferocity and Desperation it didn't matter within hours the lashi had taken the planet they might have abducted the native humans shipped them off for chatt they might have hung their banners from their City walls taken their forts looted their Treasures those who Scourge might have chased off those who run and ruled comfortably over their new Holdings but a name is a promise after all they took no captives on Avalon they claimed no prizes landed no colonists plundered no

resources they glassed the cities with plasma bombardment and set the very atmosphere Ablaze the fields and forests burned the Seas boiled and the Animals within them died bewildered to their fate Humanity's shining Jewel was left a black lifeless Rock the lashi made an example of the world it taught the Teran a lesson there was no act taboo under caral the only hope of Humanity's survival lay in unconditional surrender the Counterattack was inevitable the lashi had cut Humanity to the quick there would be a single Furious retaliation lashing out at their hurt but it would be

the Fury of a wounded Beast the next strike would be weaker and the next weaker still those whose Scourge had evolved from deadly predators worrying at the flanks of larger prey until they collapsed this kind of war was second nature so the human assault on the lishi stronghold of vakalat was hardly unexpected nor was its ferocity the scale of the attack however merited comment the Teran military was a poultry thing stretched thin to cover their merchant fleets but now it was the ot's turn to look up at the night sky as it filled with a

thousand new stars no Guardians of the merchant fleets these but the fleet itself cargo haulers mining ships tuggers now crudely mounted with whirling rotary cannons singleshot rail guns and cheap missiles the lashi proud warrior fetishists of the military Elite learned a human term that day technicals they also learned the effectiveness of weapons that are not weapons Rivet Guns plasma cutters and Mining drills seem hardly practical for the purposes of warfare but when a lashi battle cruiser is swarmed by a half dozen ships with empty magazines and fried rail gun coils charging at the larger prey

to worry its flanks the argument falters at about the same time as the fuel tanks vakalat was a fortified Planet its forces were formidable its captains seasoned and within a single subcycle it had fallen to those it had scorned as Warrior to forces it had never even considered a threat to those who run this in itself was not extraordinarily worrying lashi military theory is aggressive to a fault they put little faith in defense they had lost ground but they would soon make it up and more besides the Teran Spirit had been broken they would take

the next planet with ease except they didn't they sent their Fleet to me the Mercantile planet to swallow the world in a thousand mouths but at me they were glutted choked suffocated by 10,000 and now the Terren had taken roko shock the lashi Bread Basket they tried a daring lightning strike at Porte the Teran warp hubway station to hobble their forces but at Port they were turned aside and then the humans had claimed the shipping yards of barakina and the lashi found themselves hobbled they burned the technicals in droves but now the humans were manufacturing

true battleships faster than anyone could have imagined and they were Terrors the lashi were masters of War they had sneered at the crudely rigged Merchant vessels but now they could appreciate these new ships with an expert's eye they traced the cruel graceful lines of the prows they admired the engines envied the shields that Shrugged off their fire feared the Searing lasers that tore their own apart at every Battlefield the lashi looked upon those ships and measured their own destruction to the urg on the floor of the Confederation Congress the lashi senator called for a new

motion his bearing was still proud his sneer unyielding but there was a hesitance to him an uncertainty that had not been there before he called the Teran Senator to the floor this war had cost both factions he said and the lashi had proven their point the ritual of coral would be called off those who Scourge would withdraw their fleets the Tern would return under their systems and a thousand Confederation subcommittees would swoop in to provide Aid to the war torn Nations it was a good deal those who run had proven themselves unexpectedly vicious in battle

and had expanded their Holdings considerably from the conflict few fledgling races had managed to hold their own against those who Scourge and none of them had actually claimed territory in the process already a number of nations offered their allyship to the small race eager to recruit those deadly ships for their own purposes but small they still were a mere fraction of their aggressors and no amount of tactical Ingenuity or sheer righteous Fury could close that Gap those who run had stung the Beast and turned it from its path but they could not hope to maintain

their success against lashi fighting to defend their heartlands the deal they offered was the only real option under the eyes of a thousand delegates the Teran senator approached the lashi he drew a small scrap of fabric forth from his uniform as he slowly unfolded the charred fragment we realized what it was pulled from an expanse of blackened Stone and glass stretching from one horizon to the other all that was left of the flag of Avalon he cast it at the lashi Senator's feet caral he said the blade Cuts both ways you began the ritual you

shall see it finished call not to your allies their doors are closed to you now Sue not for terms they shall be denied flee to your dens gather your strength and make your stand we are coming the war continued the lashi tried every war trick they had learned in a thousand lifetimes they laid elaborate traps picked away at Teran fleets made glorious last stands the ships of humanity Dreadful dreadnots as they were could still be tricked trapped dragged down by numbers their burnt out husks became a common sight among the lashi territories but it was

never enough the Teran laid traps of their own fought as well as those who Scourge every Teran ship the lashi burned took a score with them and more than that was their sheer overwhelming relentlessness no matter how many were killed more came in an endless tide in ravaging those who run those who Scourge had stumbled across something completely unexpected an equal in war perhaps a superior and and that was the true tragedy to the lashi if they had nurtured the humans joined forces they might have taken on the Confederation itself but in their pride they

had wounded a beast and now felt the full measure of its claws slowly quietly we and the other nations withdrew our offers of allyship to the Tern we had mourned them as victims rooted for them as underdogs now we feared them as monsters belatedly we remembered what the Teran Ambassador had said this war and all that happened next would Define the future of both races we remembered how desperately he had pled for peace only now did we realize what exactly he had tried to hold back the war continued the Teran cut a hole into the

lashi territories and poured into the wound in droves those who Scourge could not stop them any more than they could stop the moons in their orbits Humanity did not Scourge the planets they captured they merely burned their Shipyard and launching zones crippled their ability to mobilize and moved on as they blazed a line across the planets their aim became clear nothing less than the lashi home World itself Kant the story of its fall threatens to become repetitive an echo of every battle before it differing only in its tremendous scale the lashi fought with courage ferocity

and Desperation it was not enough on and on they came until Caton's low orbit filled with charred metal and flesh When the Dawn Rose on the lash's ancient home world the sun Shone haphazardly filtered through the thick Haze of War debris and it dawned on a Teran flag the war continued katet was theirs they had cut the lashi to the quick there was a furious Counterattack of course but it was the fury of a wounded Beast the next strike was weaker and the one after that they were bleeding out now on a slow spiral to

Extinction but the Teran were not content to wait they had taken the home World true but they did not hold a planet responsible for the genocide of Avalon nor did they blame the entirety of the lashi race for the war crime no they knew where to lay that blame the lashi royal family whose word has been law for time immemorial it was on their orders that Avalon burned bringing them to justice however proved difficult before the first Teran ship appeared appeared in catnet Skies the royal family had quietly Slipped Away to a neighboring system their

absence was not lost on the planet's Defenders indeed it was a not inconsiderable factor in their defeat still Humanity had been denied their true goal so they took that system too once more the nobility fled and once more the Tern followed when that system had been taken in turn the royal family split for better chances some disguised themselves and hid amongst the lashi popul some paid enormous bribes to other nations to take them in in violation of the ancient ritual some sought Refuge with the Pirates in the outer fringes who paid no lip service to

Coral still Humanity did not relent where Brute Force did not suffice they turned to cunning their agents infiltrated their Havens and tracked down each offending member with an ability that bordered on The Uncanny those hiding amongst their own were extracted the Nations Sheltering them were confronted threatened with exposure unless they were surrendered still Brute Force had a use at the fringes of known space the Tern ravaged The Outlaw fleets with a cruelty that those who Scourge could respect they had started the war fighting Pirates now in its waning days they found themselves fighting them once

more but now they wielded an intent and fury The Outlaws had never seen their every hidden hold out was rooted out and burned it wasn't long before they gave gave up the Nobles to stem the Bloodshed and even still the war continued the last free member of the lashi Royal Family the son of the ruling King fled to the last hold out he had the planet ublo whose unique ionic atmosphere shorted out any technology more advanced than a sharpened stick his ship fried to a dead Hulk his tools destroyed he landed on uo's Surface with

nothing but a parachute and his skin a one-way trip in every sense but that was all right he was of those who Scourge evolved to take its place at the top of the food chain ublo was a world dominated by dry wind scoured Plains but game could be found if one knew where to look he could survive here a banished Prince and keep a shred of his pride the Tern would not dare chase him to uau any who came after him would not be returning they would have to content themselves with leaving him in Exile

he held that certainty close to him it warmed him on cold nights gave him comfort in isolation it kept him going for almost a full cycle right up until he saw the Teran ship descending and felt it Wither in his chest the ship crashed as they always did but like the prince its pilot landed safely a single human female bringing nothing more than her flight suit and a single knife she looked at the wreckage of her ship her only hope of a journey home then she turned toward the endless Plains and she began to run

there are stories told of the long Chase between those who Scourge and those who run were we in a more romantic age it would have been the stuff of myths as it were it was relegated merely to historical archives and melodrama it went on for Cycles a planet is an unfathomably large span to travel on foot and even though the Teran had landed as close to the lashi ship as she could that reduced it to merely a fraction of unfathomable she had no devices with which to trace the prince no vehicle no medicine but then

again neither did he the lashi are Ambush Predators built for quick bursts of speed they explode out at their prey all Claws and teeth for that one short chase that determines life or death a slow lashi can outpace a fast human on their worst day but humans are not built for bursts of speed they are built for endurance a fact the prince slowly became aware of over his endless flight the tan ran slowly but she simply didn't stop the lashi ran as as far as his aching legs could take him but every time he stopped

to rest the distance between them closed he simply could not Escape her neither could he evade her he used the ancient tricks of the wild Crossing streams avoiding soft ground doubling back he laid traps for the human with as much Ingenuity as he could conjure but none of it worked she could trace him by the bending of Twigs as scent on the Wind she saw through his traps as though she had laid them herself the Tern had chosen en their Hunter with care the lashi prince apex predator that he was soon learned a human term

persistence hunting perhaps if he had faced her directly he might have defeated her at the end of things he was still a Killer By Nature and she with no more weapons than a knife but his courage was gone his pride broken his homeland taken his Nation conquered he could not hope to defeat her any more than his species could have defeated hers in the end all he could do was run and she was much better at that the Teran occupied every waking moment of his thoughts he could not even Escape her in his dreams closer

and closer she came until he ran himself ragged until he crawled desperately through the desert until he finally collapsed when she finally finally arrived and put the knife to his throat he was almost grateful 10 years to the day the Teran ship had crashed on uo's shores a hole opened up in the planet's protective ionosphere not for long barely time enough for a small craft to descend to the surface and return but even as it touched down two figures could be seen a human and her lashi captive arriving at the predetermined Landing site the technology

to defy uo's particular prison atmosphere is not Beyond imagination it could be achieved by a vast team of scientists with the proper motivation but it is an extraordinary expenditure of time and resources to capture a single individual it seemed a Capstone for Humanity's most revealing conflict the lengths to which they would go to to avenge their injustices and at last the war ended we watched in dread Fascination as the humans determined the fate of the lashi the race was entirely at their Mercy they might claim their entire territory as a prize of war or make

vassals of them then again enslaving the entire population was not out of the question nor was a complete extermin mination no Act was taboo under coral and the Tern had proved themselves a merciless species but the humans did none of these they imprisoned the royal family on charges of war crimes they were shipped to the ruins of Avalon already the humans had begun the arduous process of recultivated life on the ruined Planet already the first basic phages had begun to grow amid the glass and Ash it would take more than a thousand Cycles before the

planet regained its former Glory but the lashi Royals would work its Earth their entire lives to Quicken the process the remaining nobility those with too tenuous a connection to claim complicity for Avalon were gathered at Katon the lashi whose Royal Dynasty stretched back unbroken through its entire recorded history learned a human term that day balkanization their Mighty Kingdom was splintered into a dozen minor Nations whose petty feuds and infighting would undermine any attempt at a unified front and like that those who Scourge would pose no more threat to any race perhaps someday a strong enough

personality might unite the kingdoms once more but it would be many cycles in the future and they would think hard before attacking the humans again on the floor of the Confederation the Teran Senator submitted a motion long in the making the war had gone on long enough he said and they had proven their Point Coral would be ended Aid could be given the 12 new lashi subd delegates raised no objections in the hours afterwards I had an opportunity to meet with the tan Ambassador over Refreshments had his species barely won the conflict he might have

been swarmed with admirers and sycophants but their overwhelming Onslaught had earned more fear than respect and so he sat alone I summoned courage and approached him he in turn welcomed the company you're braver than most he said before we were weak and I had many friends but now we are strong and I foresee a lonely future can you blame us I said we never could have imagined what you were capable of we haven't had to be Warriors for a very long time he said but we never forgot how a name is a promise after all

those who run he laughed not quite he said that was a mistranslation from a malfunctioning device by the time we realized the error it seemed too trivial to correct a mistranslation he smiled and for the first time I noticed the sharp teeth at the corners of his mouth it's not those who run he said it's those who chase