Gift - Skatz115
Gift Story - Skatz115
A Short Story By: G'lek
Done For: Skatz115
Legal Crap: The story, while mine, contains content originally created by Skatz115. As such, the main character, species, general story universe, and whatever else I might have forgotten belong to her and are used with her permission.
Skatz leaned back against the sun-heated rock behind her. Her thoughts drifted around, jumping from place to place like the wind which was changing directions every few moments. She liked this spot on the mountain which overlooked the primary city of her homeworld. The view was stunning. The vast city sprawled out in all directions at the base of the mountain. Beyond, lush plains as far as the eye could see. The sky that filled the rest of the view was a deep red, bordering on purple towards the horizon and a ruddier red towards the top. A pair of binary stars hovered in the sky, one a firey orange, the other tinged blue, even through the red sky.
Sitting there, alone, she mused to herself what her ancestors had been like. Skatz was a K'ava, a race of beings created by mixing the DNA of humans, saber tooth tigers, and Siberian tigers. They had been created by beings they referred to as Creators. The Creators had, for many millenium, explored the galaxy, experimenting on various species and archiving their DNA for later. When humanity had elected to end itself in a nuclear winter close to 15,000 years ago, the Creators had decided to mix human DNA with a few choice animals with the intent of making a new species. One that could survive on the world chosen for them to live on.
The K'ava were strong, and had been called warriors by some of the other species of the galaxy. This was mainly because all of them were taught, from birth, to defend themselves if the need arose. The reasoning behind this was the fact that their homeworld was extremely rich in minerals and resources. It was also in close proximity to several systems that also hosted sentient life. As a result, the Creators spent a great amount of time defending the planet from would-be conquerers.
Despite needing to leave a small defense force behind, the Creators also spent a great amount of time looking for another home for the K'ava or another world that could be exploited by those needing the resources. So far, all potential worlds had been dismissed because of a lack of key resources or for reasons of distance.
Skatz sighed. Why did people need to fight? Why couldn't they talk things out? Some called her a gentle soul. It had led to some thinking she was soft. They'd quickly found out the error of that assumption. She wasn't a fighter by nature, but she had been trained from birth, as all K'ava had been. She could defend herself. Even with her small size.
Skatz was smaller then most. Unofficially, she was one of the smallest K'ava ever born. It didn't bother her. If anything, it worked to her advantage. She was light, fast, and just as strong as her kin. The wind seemed to part before her when she ran, where others would have to fight it.
With a sigh, the K'ava let her mind wander again. Humans. What were they like? She wasn't interested in her tiger ancestors. They were boring. Humans lived in groups of millions, social creatures whos interactions were infintely complex and yet deceptively simple.
Skatz opened her eyes, looking up at the sky. Something caught her attention. A bright light flared in the sky before vanishing. There were other flashes, all in a tight grouping. The Creators often came in their starships, running lights on to let the K'ava know it was them. These were not running lights. She tried to figure out what they were when it dawned on her. Explosions. The lights were explosions, which meant there was fighting going on in orbit.
She hopped to her feet and took off down the mountain, relying on her tiger genes to guide her feet down the mountain without tripping or falling. The wind rushed past her fur, rustling it. She charged down the mountain and into the city, rushing for what passed as the headquarters for the local government.
She burst into the council room, breathless. "Explosions... In orbit..." She gasped, trying to catch her breath. The room exploded into confusion before the lead council member called order. "Calm down, everyone. If something is going on in orbit, we'll simply call the Creators and they will come to our defense as they always have."
The council room was large. It was built in the tradition of their human ancestors, a large square room made of concrete and decorated with carved wood, giving it an antique feel. The room was light by gentle blue-green lighting. Skatz didn't like it, she was more used to the darker purple lighting of her own home. The blue-green color was bright and, in some ways, hard on the eyes. It was, however, very good for making things readable, which was a necessity in a council chamber.
A page came into the room, breathless. "Sir, there's no response on any channels. The ships are entering our atmosphere." Panic errupted again, voices talking to one another. The Creators always responded. Where were they? Why didn't the answer? Again, the lead council member called for order. To the page, he said, "Keep trying. Tell the militia to prepare for the event that the Creators cannot come to our defense."
The K'ava in the room looked to each other. The Creators had left a network of ground-based Magnatic Accelerator Cannons, meant to destroy ships in orbit from the ground. They were a last resort if all other defenses failed. To use them meant the situation was serious.
Skatz wandered out of the chamber, not wanting to hear any more. This meant lives would end, people would die. She understood the need, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She looked up as the first wave of ships dropped through the atmosphere. There was a loud rumble and the lead ship suddenly aquired a hole through it, squarely amid-ships. There was a moment of silence, followed by an explosion as the ships reactor breached from the damage.
The next few weeks were spent living in fear. The ships had retreated into orbit, out of range of the MACs, but they were still there, looking for a way to get past the guns. Skatz checked the sky every couple of hours, hoping the Creators would show up. They had never been defeated in combat thanks to vastly superior technology.
At the beginning of the third week, a buzz ran through the city. The Creators had responded. They were moving into orbit to engage the enemy fleet. Explosions again lit up the sky and the MACs picked off any ships the came into range. Before long, the invasion was over.
The Creators sent a single shuttle down to the surface, to the capital city, to explain. The explanation soothed many fears. They had been on the other side of the galaxy, and the distance had taken time to cover. Their ship-based transmitters couldn't send a signal across the galaxy, not like the planet-based ones the K'ava used. They'd returned as fast as their drive systems would allow.
That evening, the K'ava leaders and the deligates from the Creators stood on a stage. The Creators looked a touch ridiculous next to the K'ava. They were small, only half the height of a K'ava. Their pale grey skin and thin figures were a sharp contrast to the muscular form of a K'ava.
They announced they'd launched a series of satillites into orbit. These satillites would create a web of EMP cannons around the planet, disabling any ship that tried to pass it without identifying themselves. The activation of this defense grid would bring the Creators to investigate.
Skatz sighed happily in her home. Their world was safe, and better yet, their defenses didn't mean instant death for those who crossed them. Lives could be saved and people could talk instead of kill.
The hunt for a new, resource-rich world continued, but the K'ava could live their lives with a little less fear.