Out of Cruel Space #800 - HFY Humans are Space Orcs Reddit Story

The Pirates “Hello little one. I... I’m your mother.”  Moira says to the tiny Lydris that had been literally bouncing around a playpen with  a holoprojector showing a child’s show to keep her entertained. A series of purple  polyester dresses had been fitted onto her bodies and they were soaked by the deadly  contact poison. The little girl bounces into her and starts examining her all over  the place to try and figure her out. Without the pendants that Franklin had made she would  either be in

a lot of trouble or already dead. “Little... little...” Moira begins to explain before the dam finally breaks and  she can’t hold it back anymore. The body holding onto her child grabs on  and holds her tight. The bodies at the far ends start trying to muffle the scream she  can no longer contain as tears and helpless sobs come from another three bodies, two  start helplessly laughing as the final body just collapses and starts hyperventilating  as she tries to process everything all at once. Sh

e’s lost everything but she’s survived.  She’s been brutalized but she’s made it, she’s endured the blow. Those who’ve hurt her  are all DEAD and deserve to be. But her family is likely gone and she’d have to scour the  galaxy to find any of them that still live, if ANY of them still live. Only  this little girl remains... Years of service, training  and building a camaraderie all thrown away by someone else going  crazy. The child... HER CHILD... pats her on the cheek. Deadly to the touch  and

yet still trying to offer comfort. So much for a super weapon. The little  girl doesn’t want to hurt anyone. The focusing on the child and the sense of  duty and obligation focuses her again. The tide of onrushing emotion is low  enough to be dammed up again and Moira focuses again. “Sorry about that  little one. I didn’t mean to scare you.” The sounds of curiosity are adorable and high  pitched. The lower body legs latch onto her and the little girl starts hefting herself  around, a touch of in

stinctual Axiom use has her sticking to the underside of Moira’s  connective neck. Which means that despite the bright colouring she’s going to be a  downright quiet climber compared to other Lydris who often gouge out their grips  in stone. Effective, but FAR from subtle. “Oh my goodness!” Moira says slackening  her grip so that Liǔ Shù is the one who’s holding onto her rather than the other  way around. “Well, aren’t we inquisitive.” “Are you going to freak out again?”  A voice asks and Moira

turns a body to look back and sees Doctor  Leena standing next to her tail. “No I... I’m fine.” Moira says. “I doubt it.” Doctor Leena says as she  makes sure to tuck the pendant to resist Liǔ Shù’s poison under her shirt so that  it can’t be yanked off by accident. “Still, so long as you can function long  enough to get the help you need to function more then that’s as good  as I can reasonably expect of you.” “I’m not going to just break down  and...” Her protest is very, very hollow. “You alr

eady did. A breakdown isn’t  some huge dramatic thing where a person just abandons everything and goes  catatonic. Which is something you did, while also screaming and weeping  and laughing.” Doctor Leena says and Moira looks away with all her heads.  “Goodness you Lydris are expressive.” “Is there something you want?” “No, I’m just here in case. You and  Liu... Liǔ? You and Willow are in delicate conditions. So you’re going to be  followed around by a doctor for a while.” “... Aren’t you former

pirates?” “And how does that stop us from being  caring and efficient?” Doctor Leena asks. “It doesn’t really fit the image.” Moira states. “Nor does conquering an entire world and then  focusing on Urban Renewal rather than plunder. But we’ve done that too.” Doctor Leena  says and Moira lets out a pensive sound. “Well, I don’t think she’s going to be a problem.  But someone sorting through a literal thousand years of betrayal and a surprise super deadly  child is likely to shift opinions on th

ings fairly quickly.” Agenda notes out loud as she watches  through the mirrored window. The whole area was a repurposed bio-exclusion zone for testing. The  little girl couldn’t be trusted anywhere else. “Well, how about some good news?” Mercy asks her. “Such as?” “Tests came back. The girl’s poison dilutes fast  in water and loses most of it’s effectiveness, and at boiling temperatures it’s only a rotten  stench, not dangerous to anything.” Mercy explains as she stands up further and holds her

self up  while leaning against the glass with one wing hand as she stares into the room. “Standard  laser scouring will take care of everything. But if it soaks into something it’ll need to be  basically boiled. Or have ammonia introduced.” “... Isn’t ammonia in human urine?” Agenda  asks and Mercy suddenly goes still. “You just imagined getting a shower from Ryu  if you get a dose on you didn’t you?” “... I will NOT be answering that question.”  Mercy states which is all the answer Agenda needs

. “Right. Well, it’s not so dangerous as we thought, but if you’re caught off guard by this  poison then it’s deadly.” Agenda notes. “Like pretty much EVERYTHING related to  combat in any way shape or form. Or just, everything really. Ignorance kills.”  Mercy remarks with a sarcasm filled tone. “True enough.” Agenda says before considering.  "Still, I’ll bother Franklin for the designs of these defensive amulets. I want everyone this girl  goes to to be full of the things.” Agenda says. “Or we c

ould have a reverse of the amulet on  the girl herself and stop her from trailing poison everywhere she goes.” Mercy says  and Agenda slowly turns to regard her. “I suppose expecting this little girl to  do what my little girl won’t is a bit...” “Silly?” Agenda asks. “Yes.” Mercy agrees. “How are your little flappers doing today?” “It’s a fight to get them to unhook from anything  they get their claws into. Normally not a problem, but they’re in the habit of dropping down  and landing on their f

ather and hooking into his clothing.” Mercy says before letting  out a deep throaty chuckle. “A couple of them came out as Blood Sonir so they’ve been  getting bitey. Ryu learned that the hard way when he thought little Patience was just  teething and she tried to get his finger off.” “Oh yes, you should see how Miles has  been handling his pups. He looks so annoyed with himself when he gives them  some proper chew toys. Apparently to him treating a baby like a pup is considered  bad form, but h

e has no idea what to do when his baby is a pup.” Agenda says  with a smile. “Of course you know he’s really giving his best when he all but begs  for health under a pile of his children.” “Speaking of... has Jingay... had a  Jingay?” Mercy asks in a worried tone. “No, her daughters are aware on a level  that Jingay isn’t.” Agenda says before frowning. “It’s... it’s strange  and sad to see really. She...” “Yes...” Mercy says in an uncomfortable tone. “She’s happy her daughters will be wise and 

strong. She’s begun the final story.” Agenda says. “... It’s so weird that she’s basing her  life on those stories.” Mercy remarks. “She has some guidance for it.  But it would be nice to... No, no, her life. Not mine. I am not...” Agenda  says and she feels the old scars flare up. “Boss?” Mercy asks in a concerned tone. “Just memories. They’re only memories  now.” Agenda says before turning back to where Moira is trying to guide  little Liǔ Shù into making sounds that’s closer to a proper langu

age than  just the burbles and babbles of a babe. “Much like how The Unrelenting Legion  is merely a memory now. But for them.” “So you’re really going to  offer her a knighthood?” “No better way to give someone reason  to fight for a world than to make part of it theirs. A fort, some fields and  maybe a small village to protect? Even if she doesn’t officially sign up she’ll  still show up at every fight for Vucsa.” “And if she doesn’t?” Mercy asks. “Then there are few better excuses to strip  s

omeone of their rank and standing.” Agenda says. Miles puts down his communicator after  sending the text and clears his throat. “So, cards on the tables boys,  what have you figured out?” “... I don’t think that Jem Finnil is  the original one. There was a preserved Lydris corpse deep in the lair, it’s  mummified and the DNA is badly damaged, but what we’ve pulled out of it matches up  to Finnil’s own code. Meaning either a child, a mother or something.” Marcus  explains and there’s a pause. “W

e need to do a population scan. See if there’s  an entire genealogy of these lunatics. Sins of the father non-withstanding, Prime Mind is  an inheritable condition. I’d prefer to know if we do or don’t have some six to twelve  brained sociopaths with enough physical strength to be a legitimate threat to a tank  while unarmed.” Miles replies and Marcus nods. “Already started those wheels moving.  But unless we want the subtlety of a sledgehammer it’s a few weeks away before  we can even properly

start. Official things need to go through official channels after  all.” Marcus says and Miles nods at that. “There is also the issue of scanning the  damaged and degraded bodies to find out where they are to be buried. Many of them  still have living relatives. It would be prudent to inform them that they can finally lay  their loved ones to proper rest.” Victor says. “There’s also the fact that we’ve  found one military lab on the planet, and where there’s one of a thing there might  be others

. We’re going to have to scan the whole planet bit by bit to make sure we  don’t have another vault of nightmares about to wake up.” Ryu states. “This gets  even worse when we recall that many races are capable of casual survival well beneath  most of our equipment’s crush depth. To say nothing about how the water and the sediments  and life within it can interfere with a scan.” “Not to mention that a felled spaceship  can be easily mistaken as an abandoned lab.” Sai remarks after taking a sip o

f his drink. “So we’re going to be salvaging a lot of things  and finding more and more madness... I think we may need archaeological training on  this for some of this.” Miles says. “That or proper salvage lessons.” Marcus adds. “Delegate.” Franklin suddenly says as he  shows up covered in steam. He clearly took a shower and with how wide his eyes are  he’s drunken something highly caffeinated. “What?” Miles asks and Franklin  gives him a look that should be casual but with how wired he is it l

ooks manic. “Delegate! We’re soldiers, not  omni-skilled whatevers. Look for the people you need and...” Franklin  twitches. “I drank too much. Excuse me.” Then he’s gone. “The hell does that man do to  himself?” Jean-Luc demands. “I caught him empowering caffeine with Axiom once. The man started shaking. I think  he’s done it again.” Ryu says. “Why would he do that again?” Jean-Luc asks. “Maybe he was looking to get the  dosage right?” Ryu asks with a shrug. “Doesn’t mean he’s not right.” Miles

says as he  pulls out his communicator again and then Marcus passes his own to him. “Gallrana University?  I didn’t realize that it had survived.” “I was basically purging it of corruption  to try and get it up to standards. It has an engineering division that could  probably help us, and they should have contacts with archaeologists and  other such researchers.” Marcus says. “How were you rooting out corruption?” Miles asks. “Same way I did it with the police. I try  to bribe people under a th

ousand different names and make a list of anyone who takes the  bribe. Then I take their job.” Marcus says. “No second chances?” “No. I’m making examples, I’m putting the fear of  the bribe into people. If they really need more money they can do the smart thing and ask for a  raise or a loan.” Marcus says and Miles shrugs. “... You’re the reason why there’s been so  much turnover in the police aren’t you?” “Yes, now I get people trying to investigate  me whenever I offer a bribe of some kind.” “

Hunh... Underhanded, but  unbribeable police is a damn good thing.” Miles admits and Marcus  nods. “... What else have you done?” “Relax, just some drills to try and  keep everyone up to snuff.” Marcus says. “Drills with what?” “Shields, non-lethal weapons and other  things. It’s something I want to see, a good strong police force.” Marcus says. “Back to the topic of archaeologists. This  university, you’ve not brought it up before.” “It used to be more of a diploma printing  center and money la

undering joint. Changing it from that into an actual place of learning isn’t  something that happens overnight.” Marcus answers. “But it’s good enough to be  of help now?” Miles asks. “It should be, if not then  I’ll know to put the boot in.” “Alright, get us in contact with them. Geologists,  mathematicians, architects, archaeologists and basically everything you can to try and find a  way to find every possible lab.” Miles orders. “And... what will that look  like in your eyes?” Marcus asks. “

A grid pattern of priority to find the  more likely positions of the potential labs and such. Followed by proper procedures  to do so in the most efficient way possible. The sooner we can start the sooner we  can finish.” Miles says and Marcus nods. “Right, I’ll get on that then.” “With me, I want to take a look  at this university.” Miles says.