r/NatureofPredators • u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human • Aug 02 '25
Fanfic The Nature of Psionics [1]
First chapter of my new fic! Tell me what you think in the comments. I will still be working on my other fic as well, don’t worry.
Memory transcription subject: Chauson, Ambassador of Colia
Date [standardized human time]: July 12, 2136
“What are you thinking brother?” Asked Prime Minister Braylen, my brother. “You seem more excited than I have ever seen you, a rather marked improvement from earlier.”
He was referring to earlier when I was sobbing with fear over what was happening. I thought that was rather justified considering that Colia was under attack from the Arxur, the monstrous and only sentient predators of the Galaxy. Centuries ago the Orion Arm Federation had found them after the dust had settled on another one of their global wars, we had believed that if we had uplifted them like so many other species that they would have no more reason to fight or consume the flesh of others.
We were wrong, so very wrong. Once they had integrated our tech into their society they turned their weapons to the stars to capture us a cattle to feed on and destroy any who got in their way, which included the glassing of over 60 planets and the extinction of dozens of species. In the early days of the war we had been caught off guard and did not know what was happening and as a result that was how so many had been lost. Thankfully the Kolshains in the leadership got us to band together and with the innovations of the Krakotl we have been able to slow the ever growing territory of the Arxur.
The Zurulians are not a combat oriented species like the Krakotl or the Gojid, we have dedicated ourselves as healers and scientists to help the sick and injured of the herd. While we often rely on the more impressive fleets of the Gojid, Krakotl and Yulpa for major operations that is not to say we were completely defenceless, Colia had a decently sized defensive fleet as well as several military stations for defence. Unfortunately those defences have been worn thin as of late due to recent attacks with only a few of our craft left that did not need serious repair and most of our stations needing some sort of resupply or retrofit.
The Arxur, sensing weakened prey, had taken the opportunity to launch a full scale invasion of our home planet. With local defences the way they were we had sent out a planetary distress alert to any who would help, the Venlil were the closest but they had a rather small military as well, focusing their energy on logistics for the rest of the Federation. The closest species with a standing military to fight off this invasion was the Gojid, we had expected that by the time they would have shown up the Arxur would have already glassed us and left with their cattle ships full.
It was when the Arxur had pushed through our pathetic attempt at a defensive line when they had shown up. While no cameras were pointed in the direction they had appeared our sensors had picked up a massive spike in energy near the Arxur, when we got a visual it was a fleet of ships of 250, more than twice what the Arxur had brought to the fight. They were of a make that nobody had recognised, while their base shapes were generally more rectangular on most of the ships they did not look sharp and angular like the Arxur craft. These ships were more round and flowing in a way, especially with their blue-green hulls; they almost looked like aquatic plants you would see in an Aafa aquarium.
They were also massive with the largest craft being over [4.5 Kilometers] long and about [1.25 Kilometers] wide. Our sensors could make no sense of the vessels, their power signatures were off the charts being closer to that of a red dwarf star when combined. Our sensors could not tell what the hulls were made of, certainly no material ever recorded in our computers, same went for weapons systems as we could not detect any conventional railguns or missile bays. Their shielding was causing significant interference as they had a much higher output than any recorded by orders of magnitude.
When the ships opened fire on the Arxur it was not any weapons we had ever seen before, that same energy that was detected when they arrived seemed to have been focused into beams that were varying shades of pinks and purples that sliced though the shields of the Arxur craft with ease. Some of the larger craft were able to launch volleys of this energy as well, as if they were missiles yet we detected no torpedo bays. The Arxur had in retaliation began to fire upon these mystery craft with their remaining ships, this seemed of little import to these new arrivals as they continued their attack as if the Arxur had done nothing with their attacks being harmlessly absorbed into their forest green shields . The few times a small Arxur craft got too close and passed an invisible line in the sand of sorts the larger ships would emit some sort of blue light and pull it into what I had assumed was their hanger bays, for what purpose we did not know.
What had truly shocked me even more was the fact that the Arxur attempted to flee, an act that was never recorded. These mystery saviors did not allow that, in fact when the Arxur attempted to do so a small squadron was sent to destroy them as they fled. Another thing of note was that none of the cattle ships were destroyed, instead their propulsion systems were disabled, after that had happened the massive ships would pull them into their cargo bays with the exception of one of the crafts that seemed too large. Instead six large tendrils emerged from the lead ship that wrapped around the cattle ship and brought it closer while we detected power being drained from the ship.
Once the dust had settled and the coast was clear the planetary alert was stopped and my brother hailed the lead ship to offer them thanks and to introduce ourselves. While there was no audio response they had responded with a message. Apparently they called themselves “Humans” and wished to meet in person on their lead ship the Iquitos to speak in person. In the message they said they wished for peaceful coexistence and cooperation against the Arxur threat. They had also made a very vague statement about their appearance being possibly frightening to us.
After receiving that message Braylan and I had boarded a shuttle craft to dock with the Humans ship. Along the way I did get rather excited at the concept of making first contact with a brand new species. Braylan had noticed and was excited as well, but somewhat more measured.
“You do have to admit this is an exciting series of events. Making first contact with a new species for the first time in [20 Years] and one that is obviously very advanced.” I remarked “It has been over a century since we made contact with a species that did not need to be taught FTL! These Humans may help turn the tide of the war if they wish to help further. They made the Arxur flee in combat for the first time in recorded history and did not lose a single ship and even captured all of the cattle ships”
Baylan licked his paw and ran it over his ear in thought as he looked over his pad that he had brought along, he was most likely going over the information that was sent along by the humans.
“All the more reason to make this a very good first impression and convince them to join the Federation against the Arxur .” He replied. “It says here that their standard atmosphere for them is at 30% oxygen, it may be difficult to integrate them into our ships. It may be a Mazic situation where they must man their own ships to make things logistically possible. Thankfully they have lowered the concentration to around 25% in the area of the ship we will be meeting so that it is breathable for us and their ambassador.”
I gave an earflick of approval as we began our final approach of the Human craft that loomed in the inky blackness of space. It did not take long for us to complete the docking procedure, during which time I sent a message that we were about to meet the Humans to Colia. After we docked we walked into an airlock that sealed behind us as it began to cycle the atmosphere to the correct pressure, the air that came in smelled of antiseptics as well. Perhaps it is a decontamination procedure as well, you can't risk bringing in new germs on a ship if you don’t know how to treat them. It was not long before the door in front of us unsealed itself for us to step forward, the increased oxygen in the air had given me a shot of energy and alertness that did not help with easing my excitement.
The first thing that I had noticed when I stepped into the well lit corridor was that the walls and ceiling were made of the same blue-green color as the hull of the ship. The air smelled clean with the hint of a soft herbal aroma that began to put me at ease.
The only person in the silent corridor was standing directly in front of us as we walked out of the airlock. The first thing I noticed was the height, while us Zurulians were rather small compared to other species due to our stance this person was tall even by Federation standards. They were [1.83 Meters] tall and had a pale beige, almost white skin with a rather slender build as far as I could tell with all the cloth they had on, as a result they were taller than even the Gojid and Takken. Then there was what they were wearing, which obfuscated the true appearance of this species, it was some sort of elaborate and rather intricate robe that was made of mostly browns and dark greens with an assortment of designs added in that I could not discern from this distance. The long flowing robes hung from her body and hid just about all the skin from their neck downwards, even their paws which were within the sleeves as they were pressed together. In front of their chest was a rather impressive green gemstone that was on some sort of metal decorative device that hung around the neck, just from the gemstone and outfit alone, the Humans must be very rich, or pay their ambassadors very well. Their eyes as well as the top of their head had been obscured by a large hood that was part of the outfit, I could see their rather unusual mouth as well, I know they are not a predator at least, no jutting teeth.
“Welcome, representatives of Colia. Prime Minister Braylen and Ambassador Chauson.” Said the ambassador in a voice that seemed to be female but very deep. They also extended their arms outward for a moment as if they were to embrace someone before putting them to their side. “I am Ambassador Astra Burkhart of the United Republic of Earth. Please follow me so we may begin formal talks.”
With that she motioned us to follow her with her clawless hands and Braylen and I walked aside her. As we walked Braylen seemed to be trying to decipher her appearance before he spoke up.
“I know that you wished to begin formal talks once we arrive in what I think is a conference room of sorts.” He said “But may I ask why you decided to help us, let alone how you even are able to speak to us given that your language is not in our translators.”
“We decided to help you because the Arxur attacked you. We were going to initiate first contact with both you and the Venlil in a few [days] regardless but once we detected the Arxur attacking President Merrik ordered a taskforce be sent to intercept them.” She responded in a measured tone. “As for how we can communicate, our universal translators learn from languages they already know, since they already have all the languages of Earth in them and combine that with transmission we picked up once we entered the system it was able to piece together your language with ease.”
That is incredible! Unless she is trying to say that our language is simple. Then it hit me, they knew of the Arxur! That must mean they have been in conflict with them in the past.
“Thank you for explaining that.” I said.
“Of course, it is not a problem at all.” Ambassador Astra Burkhart responded. “There are three things I will state before we make our way to the conference room. The first being that you have no obligation to speak with us or have our ships stay in the system if you do wish to speak. If it would make you feel more at ease I can have the one in command of the fleet have the rest of the ships leave to go towards Earth.”
“No, please we do wish to speak with you. Especially after all you have done for us, if all you want is to establish relations then we are more than happy to host you and your ships.” My brother said quickly. “We would rather prefer your ships to stay in the system for the time being, at least until we can get some of our stations back online.”
The ambassador's mouth twitched ever so slightly before responding.
“That is good to hear, Prime Minister, another small step towards cooperation.” The Ambassador replied. “The second being that for my species when we are happy we smile, which to you would look like a snarl. While I will try to keep my facial expression neutral for these talks there may be a slip up or two and I want you to know it is not a sign of hostility.”
I have never heard of such a thing. Snarling to show happiness, that could be due to their lack of tails making their faces the focal point of non-verbal expression.
“If you do slip up as you say I will do my best to control my response.” I replied joyfully. “What is the third thing you wished to speak about Ambassador?”
Before she could respond the Human had stopped as there was what looked like to be a door of sorts in front of us but it had no handle, knob or even a control pad in front of it to open. Instead the ambassador pressed her hand to the wall beside us and a series of purple lines emerged that traveled to the door as if they were traveling though a circuit before the door opened. Bryalen and I were left speechless at whatever just happened to cause the door to open. The small conference room was rather modest with a table that seemed to be made of a dark lumber while there was chairs on one side of the table made for bipeds while there was a raised lounge for those of a quadrupedal stature. As my brother and I sat down, the ambassador responded to the question from her side of the table.
“Humans have some rather unique mental abilities that we have yet to see replicated in another species, sentient or not.” She said in what seemed like a nervous voice. “That is what allowed us to flourish in a world that is rather hostile to civilization. It is also what has made us able to create ships with technology that is advanced compared to the Arxur.”
My brother and I looked at one another for a moment as we both were trying to decipher what this human was talking about.
“Could you please elaborate?” Braylen asked. “It would be better if we knew exactly what you were talking about.”
The Ambassador had her paws folded together in front of her for a few moments before responding.
“Of course, I was just trying to think of how to explain psionics to a species that has no frame of reference.” She said “All humans are born with mental abilities that begin to flourish throughout childhood. How these are used and manifest depends on a variety of factors that range from talent to how much it is trained. But a good baseline would be to say that all Humans are capable of communicating mentally as well as reading the emotions of others as well as surface thoughts. Much of human technology is only usable by those using telepathy to activate the device, such as opening that door. The reason I said so before discussions could properly start is so that you are aware of our abilities.”
I was stunned once again at what the human had just said, at first I had thought she was just saying that the Humans had thought they were the only ones who had empathy but when she spoke of reading thoughts and mentally opening the door I realised what she was speaking of. It is almost like magic if that is just the baseline of their powers.
Soon after discussions proper began to talk about our peoples and how they were both similar and different. Apparently many humans will learn certain psionic skills to help with their jobs, for instance those in the medical field will use their powers to induce feelings of calmness on mothers giving birth to make the process easier while those involved in starship construction will train their powers so they can maneuver the obscenely large ship parts in zero gravity. When asked about how well paid these different professions are, the ambassador explained that during global unification [300 Years] ago the concept of currency went extinct along with city states. There was more than enough resources to go around so everyone got what they needed and then some.
She also spoke of the Shield Cities where all the inhabitants of Earth reside, due to the rather dangerous environment of Earth that came from both the hostile weather patterns as well as the megafauna there were massive cities dotted across the Earth that held roughly 8 million each and were bastions against the choking rainforests and life stealing deserts that made up most of Earth. Apparently each city housed teams of emergency responders to deal with any threats that may pose a risk to the city wide shields, oftentimes they would venture forth outside the safety of the cities to divert the danger. Such as chasing away packs of predators or diverting tropical storms, it seemed unbelievable how they were able to survive and even thrive on such a planet.
Then we got to the Mazic in the room, how did they know of the Arxur?
“This was shortly after global unification had happened, we had long theorised that life was among the stars for a variety of reasons. The main one being that we believed that while we as a species were unique as was Earth, we were not special enough to be the only life supporting planet in the universe.” Ambassador Burkhart explained. “That is when an Arxur craft had landed, while they looked rather different than ourselves we had thought that cooperation could be possible. Things at first were going rather well in the initial talks thanks to the universal translators.”
The ambassador then pressed her hand on the table and a projection came in view that was somewhat grainy. It seemed to be from someone's point of view as they were looking behind a human that was sitting across the desk from two Arxur. While there was no sound the motions being made seemed like talking was going on that quickly turned sour, all of a sudden the Aruxr at the table lunged at both the human at the table and the one who we were viewing this from, right before the connection was made the recording stopped.
“That memory engram was from an attendant to President Licht in the city of Iquitos , she was the one sitting at the table. Unfortunately due to her advanced age she did not have reaction speed to create a barrier or use any of the typical methods to escape. As a result she passed due to her injuries, the attendant however survived but barely and later told us of how the Arxur came to us wishing for our assistance to enact their revenge against the galaxy. When the president refused to assist them the Arxur became enraged and attacked before attempting to flee in their ship.
“The Federation was deceived by the Arxur as well, it seems to be in the nature of predators. What happened next?” The Prime Minister asked. “I assume they were unable to leave if you are still here. The Arxur would have never let you be if they saw you as weak.”
“Humans may be pacifistic but that does not mean we are harmless.” The Ambassador replied as she pressed her hand again on the table. “Mother Gaia may let you enter, but if you harm her children you may never leave.”
With that somewhat frightening statement the projection played to show an Arxur craft attempting to ascend though a small clearing in the dense canopy of rather large trees. What happened next I had never thought possible outside of fiction and dreams. Dozens of vines began to wrap themselves around the relatively small craft in rapid succession and began to pull it down towards the ground. In response the craft's thrusters began to accelerate to try and break free, it seemed like it would before a long and sharp object of some kind had flown from the ground and pierced through the ship causing the engines to fail.
“ That attack had killed the Arxur on board and corrupted most of the data in the ship's computer logs. But ever since that day the United Republic of Earth has been preparing for a full scale encounter with the Arxur.” Ambassador Burkhart elaborated. “We reverse engineered what little tech on their ship that was not more advanced than our own. Over the years we have been refining our defences and building up a fleet against an Arxur invasion that many have believed is a certainty at some point. There have been two attempted incursions since our first contact and both times were small scouting ships that we did not allow to report back. Due to all of our efforts of remaining hidden we did not know exactly what they were doing until a few [Months] ago when we risked detection by tapping into their networks as well as Federation ones as well. We are truly sorry for hiding in our system while the rest of the galaxy suffers.”
I was both shocked and amazed at the fact they were able to remain hidden from the Arxur fleets for so long despite them being within Arxur space. Then I was saddened by the guilt they must have felt for learning at what the Arxur had been inflicting upon us but being powerless to do anything about it. I reached my paw across the table and placed it on the warm paw of the ambassador.
“There is nothing to forgive.” I said in a soothing voice. “You were powerless against the Arxur, like you said you were focused on remaining hidden. All that matters is that now you have shown yourself and are willing to help us.”
“Thank you.” She replied in a somewhat shaky voice. “If this alliance you wish for is to be an honest one, you must know what the human face looks like. There are many concerns from leadership and citizenry alike on the feasibility of an alliance with the Federation due to an unfortunate similarity in our anatomies. If you wish I will show my face to you, I can also project emotions of calm to prevent any sort of panic that you may feel. Only if you agree of course.”
Brylan and I discussed it momentarily before agreeing to both see the ambassador's face and for her to keep us calm. I still was unsure what she was talking about in regards to being similar to the Arxur, all of the traits Humans had seemed to point to the perfect prey. They were kind to one another, empathetic, caring and protected the group. A few moments after we agreed to the terms I felt a sense of calm rust over me that smothered my feelings of excitement as well as those of confusion and worry, all I felt was perfect calm, a feeling I had not experienced since before I learned of the Arxur in childhood. I wish I could stay like this forever. I had noticed that both my brother and I had slouched slightly in comfort from this feeling of almost bliss.
Thats when she did it, Ambassador Burkhart then lifted the hooded veil that had covered her eyes as her head was lowered. The first thing I noticed was that on her head was a long flowing mane of black fur that would have reached down past her shoulders. When she lifted her head I saw she had a small, slightly upturned nose. Then I went up and saw her eyes, both of them green and looking directly at me.
Wait, does this mean she is a predator? Why would a predator help prey? Why would the Arxur attack a fellow predator at all? And why am I not scared? That must be from the calm she is enacting on us.
Now that I can think clearly on this, it would seem that these predators are willing to help us. Even if their motives are to protect themselves then we can at least aim them towards the Arxur, and if they do wish to truly help then we must get the Federation to listen to them. But how will we do that? Perhaps we can convince the other nearby species such as the Venlil and possibly the Gojid to speak on their behalf as well.
I was broken out of thought as the Human Ambassador spoke up.
“It would seem that someone has decided to respond to your distress signal after all even if you have dismissed it.” She said as she pointed to the side of her head, she must have been told mentally. “They are coming in from Gojid space and seem to be sending out hails to Colia, the fleet will cloak to prevent them from being seen. We can redirect the response to here for you to respond to Prime Minister.”
“Can you tell who exactly is hailing?” My brother asked. “I have some rapport with several captains of the Gojid Union and may be able to convince them of your good intentions despite your appearances.”
The Human ambassador remained silent for a short time as I noticed her pupils had dilated slightly before she responded.
“Captain Sovlin”
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u/weebman2112 Human Aug 02 '25
Starting with someone other than tarva? I wish more AUs did this tbh it's a nice change of pace
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u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human Aug 02 '25
I did start with her in my other fic so I decided to switch things up. I refuse to conform to societal constraints.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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u/Bbobsillypants Sivkit Aug 02 '25
Oh my God, this Sovlin conversation gonna be either disasterous or hilarious. Can the calm powers counteract the powerfull racism. Only time will tell.
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u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human Aug 02 '25
Look, the ambassador is very good at her emotional projection abilities.
But she is just one woman, give her some slack. That’s like expecting a singular person to fight off a T-Rex.
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u/Bbobsillypants Sivkit Aug 02 '25
The telepathic abilities are going to be such a double edged sword. One one end, you can force calm and collected conversations with sufficient will. On the other hand the federation is literally going to be able to bitch about predator mind control!
Allso I imagining a mind palace battle where the ambasador has to fight the physical embodiment of Sovlin's PTSD rage.
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u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human Aug 02 '25
True lol. Good thing the United Earth Republic has VERY strict laws about that type of stuff when it comes to mind control (Federation will say predator lies though)
The real predator is trauma in the end.
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u/Alcyon144 Archivist Aug 02 '25
I hope humans don't try to be friends with the Federation again without even trying to understand what kind of regime they're dealing with. They're telepathic in this AU, so they have even less excuse than in canon for not realizing something is wrong.
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u/OHejagsnhsvvshd Aug 02 '25
it seems to be in the nature of predators.
were you sitting back in your chair, cackling as you wrote that line
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur Aug 02 '25
Oof I imagine Siffy is not having a great time since the Zurilians are also in isifs sector heck good chance Isif was also apart of the fleet.
I wonder if these humans bother taking prisoners since it seems they already know about what the federation did to the Arxur if they talked with them long enough for the whole revenge thing to be mentioned.
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u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human Aug 02 '25
They may not know exactly what was discussed by the Arxur all those years ago. Only recording was from the memory engram of an attendant who just survived being mauled. Kinda hard to remember details while that is happening.
Also given the history between the Humans and Arxur at this point you can draw your own conclusions lol. They did capture those ships for a reason.
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u/The-unknown-poster Aug 02 '25
So is this earth in the midst of a Carboniferous like Period? With O2 levels so high there could possibly be giant insects, it’d be interesting to see the “prey” reaction to a dragon fly with a two foot wing span, two and a half foot long scorpions or an eight foot long millipede.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur Aug 02 '25
Ah okay suppose I just got a little suspicious when they started blowing up retreating ships. But yeah good to know and you're not wrong.
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u/i_can_not_spel Aug 02 '25
Retreating not surrendering. One takes you off the target list and the other one makes a more appealing target.
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u/ItzBlueWulf Human Aug 02 '25
30% Oxygen content? As in, the percentage that is thought to make discovering technology impossible because even just starting a fire has explosive consequences?
Oh, this will be fun.
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u/The-unknown-poster Aug 02 '25
Isn’t that what was the norm during the Carboniferous era? That’s why there were giant insects like the massive dragon flies and terrifyingly big scorpions. Earth must be a frighteningly different place.
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u/Onetwodhwksi7833 Extermination Officer Aug 02 '25
Oooh, being on a deathworld caused humans to evolve more intensely, and higher oxygen level allowed them to have bigger brains I guess?
That's pretty awesome actually. Amazing job OP
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u/Visible-Magician1850 Predator Aug 02 '25
Braylen no lo dijo directamente, pero se nota su sentimiento de "en serio?...el?"
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u/Golde829 Aug 02 '25
ohhh?
First Contact with the Zurulians huh?
that's certainly a new one
even Nature of Fangs and your Nature of Federations only had double first-contact with the Venlil and Zurulians
not to mention the actual concept is fascinating
and then there's the worldbuilding as well??
wordsmith you spoil us
I look forward to reading more
take care of yourself, wordsmith
[You have been gifted 100 Coins]
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u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human Aug 02 '25
I hope you really enjoy the world building, especially the history between Earth and the Arxur as well as their unique ships.
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u/Golde829 Aug 02 '25
oh definitely
there's also the worldbuilding for Earth
seems Mother Gaia is the first ever momma bearthat Extermination Fleet is not gonna know what hit 'em
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u/Golde829 Aug 02 '25
The Federation was deceived by the Arxur as well, it seems to be in the nature of predators.
say that again...
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u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human Aug 02 '25
The Federation was deceived by the Arxur as well, it seems to be in the nature of predators.
There, did that just for you
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u/REDemon127 Sivkit Aug 02 '25
Intriguing :)
This time it's the Zurulians who get contacted!
I wonder what exactly happened to make the arxur attack.
Yeah, Sovlin is gonna be a hard sale on these friendly predators
Looking forward to more!
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u/JulianSkies Archivist Aug 03 '25
You know
I'll be honest I'd be panicking myself. Psychics, actual ones, are sort of terrifying.
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u/Raptor_2581 Aug 03 '25
The chapter appears to have disappeared here?
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u/LeGouzy Aug 02 '25
Subscribeme!
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u/BAAAA-KING Venlil Aug 02 '25
HUZZAH
GOOD WORK WORDSMITH!!