Hunter, Warrior, Commander

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Hunter, Warrior, Commander Page 1

by Andrew Maclure




  Hunter, Warrior, Commander

  Andrew Maclure

  Copyright ©Andrew Maclure 2018

  All rights reserved.

  Contact [email protected]

  www.andrewmaclure.com

  First Edition, November 2018

  Contents

  Chapter One

  First Hunt

  Chapter Two

  Leaving Home

  Chapter Three

  The Station

  Chapter Four

  The Train

  Chapter Five

  Aa Ellett

  Chapter Six

  Field Trip

  Chapter Seven

  The Journey Out

  Chapter Eight

  Signs in The Sky

  Chapter Nine

  The Remains Of The Day

  Chapter Ten

  Surveying The Ruins

  Chapter Eleven

  Sor Tan Returns

  Chapter Twelve

  Return To The City

  Chapter Thirteen

  City Camp

  Chapter Fourteen

  Reunited

  Chapter Fifteen

  Demons

  Chapter Sixteen

  The Village

  Chapter Seventeen

  Demon Hunt

  Chapter Eighteen

  Escape

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dust

  Chapter Twenty

  The Abomination

  Chapter Twenty One

  Awakening

  Chapter Twenty Two

  The Remnant

  Chapter Twenty Three

  The Past Is Gone

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Primer

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Sor Tan

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Meeting

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Ker Din Ser Forn

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Life With An AI

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Change Of Plan

  Chapter Thirty

  Starting The Training

  Chapter Thirty One

  Preparation

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Reunited With Traf Dek

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Return

  Chapter Thirty Four

  Unasked For Help

  Chapter Thirty Five

  The Galactic Savior Army

  Chapter Thirty Six

  Check In

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  Sergeant Si’ir Monnen Dak

  Chapter Thirty Eight

  The Hospital

  Chapter Thirty Nine

  The Evils Of Alcohol

  Chapter Forty

  Encounter with Ranesh Ett

  Chapter Forty One

  Making Friends In A Bar

  Forty Two

  The Krendor

  Chapter Forty Three

  Weapons Training

  Chapter Forty Four

  Betzel

  Chapter Forty Five

  Colonel B’Erren Tek

  Chapter Forty Six

  Departure

  Chapter Forty Seven

  Arrival on Orn

  Chapter Forty Eight

  Peace Keeping

  Chapter Forty Nine

  Contact With The Separatists

  Chapter Fifty

  Ren Deel

  Chapter Fifty One

  Sergeant Dorsh

  Chapter Fifty Two

  Hostile Friendlies

  Chapter Fifty Three

  Night Out With Seltet

  Chapter Fifty Four

  Catattack

  Chapter Fifty Five

  The Separatists

  Chapter Fifty Six

  Unfolding Events

  Chapter Fifty Seven

  Verdict And Sentence

  Chapter Fifty Eight

  Leaving Orn

  Chapter Fifty Nine

  The Cell

  Chapter Sixty

  Four Days

  Chapter Sixty One

  “Training”

  Chapter Sixty Two

  The Krendor And the Rinquit

  Chapter Sixty Three

  The Advantage Of Agility

  Chapter Sixty Four

  Back In The Medical Center

  Chapter Sixty Five

  New Training Regime

  Chapter Sixty Six

  Remorseless Training

  Chapter Sixty Seven

  Return of a Friend

  Chapter Sixty Eight

  A Quiet Night Out

  Chapter Sixty Nine

  No More Accidents

  Chapter Seventy

  Shooting Pains

  Chapter Seventy One

  A Team Game

  Chapter Seventy Two

  The Exercise

  Chapter Seventy Three

  Good News, Bad News

  Chapter Seventy Four

  Return To Quarters

  Chapter Seventy Five

  Early Call

  Chapter Seventy Six

  Barden Three Four

  Chapter Seventy Seven

  An Open Door

  Chapter Seventy Eight

  Combined Units

  Chapter Seventy Nine

  A Word From The Major

  Chapter Eighty

  Reconnoiter

  Chapter Eighty One

  Executing The Plan

  Chapter Eighty Two

  Gratitude of the Rescued

  Chapter Eighty Three

  The new Colonel

  Chapter Eighty Four

  New Mission Orders

  Chapter Eighty Five

  Celestial Heaven

  Chapter Eighty Six

  The Savage Attacks

  Chapter Eighty Seven

  Heavenly Hospital

  Chapter Eighty Eight

  The Core

  Chapter Eight Nine

  Battle Of The Freight Dock

  Chapter Ninety

  Medivac

  Chapter Ninety One

  Forness Two

  Chapter Ninety Two

  Return To Betzel Base

  Chapter Ninety Three

  Major Change

  Ninety Four

  Battle Orders

  Chapter Ninety Five

  Encounter With An Ant

  Chapter Ninety Six

  Preparations

  Chapter Ninety Seven

  Logistics

  Chapter Ninety Eight

  Landfall On Forness Two

  Chapter Ninety Nine

  Assault On The Buildings

  Chapter One Hundred

  Mixing It With The Ants

  Chapter One Hundred And One

  Final Push

  Chapter One Hundred And Two

  Showdown

  Chapter One Hundred And Three

  Aftermath

  Chapter One Hundred And Four

  The Generals

  Chapter One Hundred And Five

  New Beginning

  Chapter One

  First Hunt

  Sah Lee was now twelve, just old enough for her first real hunt. Tef Dor, the hunt leader, led the pack forwards in the dusk, through the thick clumps of sharp-bladed grass. The dry sandy soil beneath their bare feet was still warm from the blazing midday sun. The cool dry breeze brought the musky scent of their prey toward them. Sah Lee edged forward through the pack with an impetuousness that had often got her into trouble as a cub. “Get back!” hissed Sah Lek, her mother’s sister, but Sah Lee pretended not to hear her.

  The pack slowed as they approached their prey. They needed to get as close as possible before the Imaya they were h
unting noticed them. Sah Lee dropped to a crouch as they inched their way forward. The scent of the prey was now heavy in the air, bringing back her earliest memory of her mother, Sah Krin, returning with a fresh kill to their village.

  Just a few meters away the Imaya stood grazing, with a calf at its side. They were lucky to have found them separated from the herd. The pack paused, then, as one, they exploded forward and pounced. The Imaya cow and her calf went down immediately, not standing a chance of escape from the tearing and slashing of teeth and claws.

  Sah Lee was the first of the youngsters to reach the calf. She sank her pin-sharp teeth through the thick fur of the calf’s throat and tasted the sweet metallic tang of its young blood. The calf fell, its lifeblood pumping through the great gash that Sah Lee had torn through its neck.

  The prey were dead. The pack lifted the two carcasses aboard sledges. Eager hands grasped the poles to drag the sleds back while Sah Lee danced at the front to crow about her part in bringing down the calf. They would soon be back at the settlement and eating fresh meat; no need to chew on roots to keep away the hunger pangs tonight.

  The sun had left the sky now, but the light of the moons was enough for them to see their way. The rings of icy particles they called the Necklet that circled their planet were sparkling high above as the sun shone on them from below the horizon.

  This was a joyous day for Sah Lee. Her first kill on her first hunt. The taste of the calf’s blood was still on her lips; the blood covered her from chin to feet. These memories would stay with her for the rest of her life.

  It was fully dark when they arrived back in the village. By the light of the dim lamps that lit the open area in the center of the village, the carcasses were quickly skinned, and the hides stretched across frames ready for scraping and salting before being made into leather.

  The fire in the shallow pit in the middle of the village was already burning, casting a flickering light across the gathered villagers. The children helped the adults butcher the carcasses into joints ready for the night's feast. As Sah Lee was now a fully blooded hunter, they excused her from the preparation work and she sat with the other hunters, swapping exaggerated stories of their part in the hunt.

  When the fresh meat was laid out on tables, the four youngsters on the hunt were each given a quarter of the calf’s heart to mark their participation in their first successful hunt and proudly ate their share with the still warm blood dripping down their chins. The elders presented the cow's heart to Tef Dor to mark the honor of leading another successful hunt. Then, the whole village took their turn cutting lumps of flesh from the joints laid out and sat around the fire to eat them. The elders collected slices of liver and portions of the best parts of the Imaya cow and took them to the enclosure where the males were kept. Sah Lee didn’t know why they bothered to feed the males. They did nothing useful for the village, but whenever she questioned why they were given precious meat from the hunts, her mother and aunt dismissed her complaints, saying that the males were ‘necessary’ but never explaining why.

  At the end of the feast, they packed away the remaining meat. In times past the remains would have been wrapped in leaves and buried at the base of rocks in the shade, but now they stored the meat in plastic boxes in the community refrigerator. They wouldn’t eat this raw, but they would cook it over the communal fire and eat it with leaves, fruits and tubers.

  Sah Lee laid back with her belly full of meat and looked up at the sparkling rings that shone in the clear night sky.

  She knew she wouldn’t have many more feast nights like this. She would soon make the long walk to the station and take the train to the city. In just two years she would leave her home and family to spend the next six years at the University in Aa Ellet, which meant Sun City, where she would learn about the technology that underpinned the economy of Aarn. She knew that more than half of those that went to the University chose to stay in the city and feared that she may make that same decision to abandon the traditional plains hunting life of the Aarnth, and part with her mother, sister and aunt forever.

  Chapter Two

  Leaving Home

  Now fourteen, Sah Lee had reached the age to leave the village for university. She was the only one from her village going this year. Her three closest friends were all older than her and had left last year.

  Ten days before she was due to start the long walk to the station, where she would board the train for the city, her mother, Sah Krin, took her for long walks, each day visiting one of her favorite places on the surrounding plains.

  She took Sah Lee to the water holes she had splashed and played in when she was a child; where she had swum on the hot summer days when the sun beat down from the cobalt blue sky and when the air was still, the sound of chirring insects came from nowhere and everywhere. She took her to the small stands of trees where she had climbed with her friends and made small shelters from the withered branches that had fallen on the ground. To the rocky plateaus where they had taken food and drink, with her aunt, Sah Lek, and sometimes with her friends, and where they often stayed in the warm evenings until it was almost dark. She took her to all the other places which held special memories for Sah Lee when she was growing up.

  While they walked, they talked. Sah Lee asked her mother: “What is the university? You’ve always told me it’s where I’ll go when I am fourteen to learn things, but what is it? A village? A camp?”

  Sah Krin smiled at her. “The University is in the city of Aa Ellet. It takes up a lot of the city. It is many buildings made of stone and each of the buildings has many rooms. The rooms are stacked one on top of the other, two or three high and connected by stairs. Look,” she said pointing to an old outcrop where the stone was weathered and broken, “see how those rocks are piled up so you can walk up them, a step at a time? The stairs in the buildings are like that.”

  Sah Lee stopped to look at the pile of broken rocks and tried to imagine what it would look like. Rooms like their tent, but made of stone, all put together and piled up on top of each other, with broken slabs of rough rock that had to be climbed to reach the rooms piled up on the top. She shook her head, half wondering if her mother was teasing her, but she looked serious as she spoke. She decided not to question her mother any more on this, and instead asked, “What will I learn there? I know a lot about hunting already. I know how to find my way in the day by the position of the sun and the length of shadows, and at night by the Necklet and the position of the stars. I can find water by its scent and I know what plants are poisonous and which can be used to heal. I know I don’t know everything yet, but how can it take six years to learn everything else?”

  “You have much to learn Sah Lee. For instance, do you know where we live?”

  “Of course I do! We live in the village!”

  Sah Krin laughed. “Yes, we do. But do you know where the village is? Do you know what lies beyond the plains? What happens if you keep walking north or south? Do you know of the sea and ships? Do you know of the other people of Aarn, who do not live on the plains? Do you know where the knives and plastics that we trade for skins come from?”

  “No, but that’s not important, is it?”

  Sah Krin laughed again. “All knowledge is important Sah Lee. It may not be useful today, but only the Makers know what will happen in the future. We live simple lives now. We didn’t always. Thousands of years ago, we chose the life we live now, to abandon all but the most basic technology, and to keep the males separate. We gave up all technology then and lived the life as our ancient ancestors did. We are changing again now. Only a little, and slowly, but we are rediscovering our technology, being careful to not let it change our lives, but just to make it a little better. Now we are on this path, we do not know where it may lead.”

  “That sounds boring. I don’t care about that. But where is the village? Isn’t it on the plains?”

  “Of course it is, but the plains aren’t the entire world. Our world is called Aarn, daughter of Aa, the sun. Y
ou have heard the histories, told by the Elders when we sit around the village fire, in the evenings. The histories speak of The Four Makers, who made Aa, the sun, and gave her the gift of life. They made Maaren, the small innermost planet, and made it the home of the demons, who they imprisoned there. They placed it close to Aa, so she could guard it. Maaren is so hot that the rocks melt. Then they made beautiful Aarn, Daughter of The Sun. They were so pleased with the beauty of what they had made that they gave Aarn a shiny necklet, a ring of ice that circles the world to show they loved her. They then each made another, lesser planet, Tair, Fairn, Lar and Mehen, to keep Aarn company in the vastness of the void. Aa looked upon Aarn, and so loved her daughter that she blessed her with the gift of all the living things in our world. The Aarnth then, were primitive hunting animals, not much better than vulpen, but Aa saw the Aarnth and made us stand upright on two legs. She gave us the gift of speech and intelligence. We loved Aa for what she had given us, and we always will. The Makers saw that Aa had made us, then they each made a moon, to watch over us and protect us.

 

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