Threnosh World

“Damned dirty apes!”

Veronica swept her metal staff over her head like a helicopter rotor.

Horned chimp hoots turned into squealing yelps.

A large specimen came charging in with its head lowered.

Veronica planted her feet into the ground and thrust the end of her staff with all her superhuman strength between the monster’s wicked horns.

“Eww…” she grimaced.

The powerful impact had driven the staff into the monster’s skull. Blood, bone, brain matter and one of its eyes splattered across the forest floor and her faceplate.

Indignant squeaking reached her ears through all the chaotic sounds of the monster fight.

“I know, Twinkle Star… sorry for all the shaking,” she gently patted the reinforced guinea pig compartment at her waist.

A proximity alert rang in her ears. The warning was accompanied by a flashing directional indicator in her display.

Without looking she pointed a finger up toward the treetops to her left. “Bang!”

Heavy thuds hit the ground one after another a moment later.

Veronica spun around and swept her free hand in an arc.

A handful of charging horned chimps suddenly dropped to the ground. Their bodies jerked violently at the mercy of seizures that tore muscles and ligaments.

Another alert.

She whipped her staff overhead and swatted a horned chimp out of the air.

A cluster of horned chimps realized that they couldn’t get close enough to this small, armored terror that was somehow stronger than them. They charged, but stopped short and turned.

“Oh shit!”

Veronica covered her head while turning her body so that Twinkle Star was on the other side just as the horned chimps shot her with quills.

The attack or quill storm, as Johnny had called it, bounced ineffectively off the Threnosh armor.

“So dumb,” Veronica rolled her eyes, pointed at the monsters and sent them into violent seizures with an electromagnetic burst to their brains.

The forest was mostly silent, aside from the whimpering of fifteen horned chimps.

She scanned her surroundings with her eyes and ears and didn’t find any remaining threats. Her display had indicated as much, but her dad had impressed upon her the dangers of relying solely on the tech, as awesome as it was, to confirm her safety.

As a last measure she reached out with her powers and didn’t find any other brain activity in the immediate vicinity. The wildlife had probably fled the area as soon as the monsters had showed up, which was a problem.

The horned chimps should’ve been confined to their zone by the walls and automated turrets.

“Ugh—”

She brought the end of her staff done on a fallen horned chimp’s head with a wet-sounding crack.

“Mom’s not going to let me go camping by myself again,” she sighed.

It was one of her favorite things to do with her day’s off. Just her and Twinkle Star out in an alien forest with all the weird animals and foliage.

She especially liked how weird it was gazing into a night sky that had more than one moon.

How cool was that?

Splat!

Another head smashed like an over-ripe tomato.

“Poor monsters. If only you weren’t murderous…”

A horned chimp grasped for her armored leg.

She kicked and stomped its head until it stopped moving.

Her staff whistled through the air.

Crack!

“What do you think, Twinkle Star? What if I don’t tell Mom about this?”

Urgent squeaking was the response.

“Ugh… I forgot to turn off the automatic combat recorder. They probably already know, which means they’ll be here soon,” she groaned. “This was our time! Stupid apes…” she quickly pulped the rest of the horned chimps. “Ruined my vacation… I should call this in,” she activated her comms with a cybernetic thought, “this is Girl Justice calling base, do you copy?”

“Acknowledged.”

The voice was crisp and clear in her ears. It was as though the Threnosh communicator was next to her. They all sounded exactly the same, at least the standard Threnosh did. It was a little creepy.

“Great. Thanks. So, I, uh, got attacked by horned chimps, er, IO 1413. Standard variety, no alpha or variants. Killed them all, so I’m good. You don’t have to send anyone.”

“Negative. Squad was scrambled immediately upon your trueskin sending a combat alert. They will reach your position in 4:23:23.”

Veronica repressed a shout.

“Designation: Mother Megan instructs that you return with the transport. Immediately.”

She muted her end so she could take a moment to scream.

“Acknowledged. Signing off.”

Veronica trudged the few hundred yards back to her campsite and the nearby stream.

She took Twinkle Star’s compartment from her waist and held it over her head as she dunked herself to get rid of the blood and meat on her armor and staff.

She was in the middle of packing up her camp when the transport arrived. It hovered overhead as a squad of soldiers dropped through the canopy.

Veronica stopped packing up her camp. “You guys didn’t need to come all this way. I took care of the monsters,” she smiled down at them. It was nice to be the tallest one around for a change.

“Acknowledged, Designation: Girl Justice. However, the situation has change,” the squad leader said.

“Oh,” she felt her smile grow wider, “is it a breach? Is that why there were horned chimps outside of their zone?” she felt guilty at the excitement she felt. She blamed her parents. Their fault that she was bored. She wouldn’t have been if they had let her take part in the Orchestral Meridian missions, rather than limiting her to managing the monster populations of the zones surrounding the base. She was too old for daddy daughter time. She should’ve been fighting alongside her sister and the others. She dropped her partially collapsed tent. “Let’s go. I’ll come back for this later.”

“Negative. Designation: Mother Megan instructed for your immediate return.”

Veronica regarded the soldier in their baseline infantry armor.

Not their fault, just the messenger, she thought. “In that case, I guess I can finish packing,” she sighed.

“Acknowledged. We will assist for greater speed and efficiency.”

That they did.

In less than a few minutes Veronica was in the transport and flying back to base.

Home on an alien world.

Veronica practically jumped out of the transport before it had fully landed. She rushed to the armory adjacent to the vehicle chamber and left her armor and weapon to the maintenance crew with a mumbled excuse about needing to feed Twinkle Star. The Threnosh didn’t care.

Clad only in her gray onesie she somehow still felt as fresh as if she had just gotten out of the shower, not from a bloody fight with monsters.

She walked at a brisk pace, just shy of running.

Her eyes darted around her as she scanned down the corridors for the dreaded one.

Luck was with her as she only encountered the odd Threnosh going about their duties.

“Almost there, Twinkle Star… can’t let her catch us,” she mumbled to the black and gray-furred guinea pig in her hand.

The door to her quarters detected her approach and slid open. She barely refrained from diving through.

“Lock door. No access. I’m going to be bathing… and— sleeping— for the next 24 standard hours,” she said hurriedly.

“Acknowledged,” the virtual intelligence replied.

“Okay,” she let out a breath, “that should buy us some time and give Mom time to chill.”

She went over to the far wall of her studio apartment-sized room and placed Twinkle Star into his habitat.

The huge multi-level home was the guinea pig version of a multi-million dollar penthouse. It featured numerous enrichment options for play. An automated fruit and veggie dispensing system. A grassy section for when he felt like grazing. A waterfall with a small animal-sized pond and stream. Not to mention an automated cleaning system with tiny, hovering drones and arms that cleaned around Twinkle Star.

Veronica had to admit that it was perhaps hadn’t been the best use of Engineer Verdant Mechanica 3581’s and Fabricator Riverport 11725’s time and resources like Tessa had complained.

Still… worth it!

Besides, she did all the power testing stuff that the Threnosh had asked for in exchange.

Not to mention her instrumental help in the 38 Flavors Initiative.

Only eleven more to go. Not bad work in the nine or so months she had been on the Threnosh world.

Veronica watched Twinkle Star closely as he slowly crawled up the ramp to where the dispenser was located.

He put a paw on a silvery panel and a small handful of raspberry-like fruit tumbled out next to him.

“Ohhh, lucky day for you!” she brightened, but the feeling didn’t last. She couldn’t help notice that he had been moving slower over the last few months. That there seemed to be more gray fur around his muzzle and eyes with every day.

She knew that the fact that he had been alive for this long was a miracle. An impossibility, really. At around 14 he was only 2 years younger than her. He had been Tessa’s pet at first before becoming hers as she grew older.

“Treasure each day,” she sighed. Her father had told her that when she had brought her concerns up.

She watched her tiniest friend eat while she plotted how to frame a request to the medical team in regards to small mammal longevity treatments.

She wasn’t given much time before the door chimed and her mom’s image appeared as a holographic projection in her room.

“Open the door, young lady. We need to talk.”

“Shit…”

Her mom didn’t look happy.

“Uh… in the shower! Can’t talk right now… maybe later!” she called out as she hurried to do as she claimed.

“Veronica!”

A long shower followed and when she emerged her mom was still waiting outside the door. “Jesus…” she muttered. She took her time getting dressed, which due to the nature of the Threnosh onesie wasn’t nearly long enough for her liking.

Veronica opened the door with a sigh.

“Don’t give me that look,” her mom regarded her through narrowed eyes.

Veronica gave her best neutral stare right at a spot on the wall over her mom’s shoulder. “I’m not.”

Her mom sighed before stepping forward and embracing her tightly.

“Uh… okay,” she patted her mom on the back. “I’m fine.”

Her mom held on much too long before letting go. “You’re taller than me now.”

“So?” Veronica shrugged, “not like that’s a big deal,” she mumbled.

“You’re growing so fast. Sixteen. You should be getting your driver’s license…”

Not fighting monsters, Veronica filled in what her mom had left unsaid.

“But,” her mom took a deep breath, “that’s not how the world is. No matter how much I wish it was different.”

Speak for yourself, she thought.

“I’m sure you don’t think that way… so, what happened out there?” her mom said.

“You already know,” Veronica said as neutrally as she could managed.

“I want to hear it from you.”

Veronica bit back a retort about waiting for the briefing she was going to have to do later anyways. Combat actions always generated a briefing with the base commander and probably her dad and mom. But going down that route led to an angry mom, which was always a painful annoyance. “I was attacked by a bunch of horned chimps, but it wasn’t a big deal. I’m stronger than them and my armor can handle their attacks fine. I could’ve taken down five times the number that attacked me.”

“Why didn’t you call for reinforcement and take a tactical withdrawal?”

Are you serious? Veronica thought. “Horned chimps are dangerous to the standard soldier. Not to mention, they’re pack hunters. Running would’ve only put myself in their wheelhouse. I’m rated to handle them on my own. Bringing in reinforcements would’ve been a waste of resources,” she said.

“We have plenty of ammunition,” her mom raised a brow.

“I’m not a baby!” Veronica had enough. “I’ve proven myself plenty of times. The monsters in the zones around our base aren’t so tough now. Like I’ve told Dad, I’m ready to help out at Orchestral Meridian.”

“A hardened fighter, are you? I don’t believe those sorts do a lot of pouting.” A smile quirked at the corners of her mom’s mouth.

Veronica’s pout deepened before she mastered herself with a deep breath. “I’m not pouting— not anymore,” she sighed. “Mom… I can do it. I can help Tessa and the others. It’s not fair that just cause I’m younger you guys won’t let me.”

“I’m not happy about your sister and your friends fighting those… things… but they’re adults and they can decide what to do. You, however, aren’t. And so, your dad and I think it’s better if you hone your skills here for as long as possible. Besides, you aren’t really good with the whole following orders thing. Caretaker runs a tight ship at Meridian and it is infinitely more dangerous than any of the zones here.”

“I follow orders!” Veronica said.

Another raised brow had the teen pouting before she remembered that she was trying to be an adult about this unjust situation.

“I came back like you ordered, didn’t I?”

“True, but I remember telling you to run awa— I mean, initiate a tactical withdrawal in the event that you encountered hostiles.” Her mom scowled, but not at her. “The commander said that the non-zone areas were safe from monster attacks. I’ll have a word with them later,” she muttered.

“God! Mom! No! That’s so embarrassing. It’s not anyone’s fault that there was a breach. That happens.”

“No, it doesn’t. At least not while we’ve been here. I checked the base’s records. The last breach was the big one a few years ago when your Uncle Cal was here. The Threnosh have diligently cleared the zones on a regular schedule ever since then.”

“I dunno,” Veronica shrugged, “haven’t checked the reports yet. I was gonna do it after dinner.”

“Let’s go together. We haven’t eaten together in awhile.”

“Sure, I guess.” Veronica remembered that she had eaten a meal or two with her mom during the past week, but she wasn’t going to mention that. It was looking like she was going to escape a major lecture, so she didn’t want to push her luck.

As it turned out, fate had other plans.

“Attention.” A flat voice spoke through the base. “Designation: Mother Megan, your presence is urgently required in Medical Chamber 1.”

Her mom let out a breath. “I swear— remind me to punch your father again for sticking me with that. They won’t change it no matter how often I ask them.”

“Will do,” Veronica chirped. Yes! Another target for her mom’s ire was helpful.

The call was repeated as her mom exited the room. “We’ll have to postpone our dinner date. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Yeah, Mom,” Veronica nodded.

She waited a minute to make sure her mom was really gone before she sat down at her desk. “We dodged a bullet there, Twinkle Star,” she said as the ancient guinea pig munched on a leafy vegetable, “you’re eating a lot aren’t you? Weird… well, got a few hours till dinner so I might as well get some studying done.” A wave of her hand brought the holographic display to life above her desk. “More electromagnetic stuff? Or… fight review?” She pondered her choices for quite some time. Her heart wanted to go with the latter, but in the end her head won out and she selected the former.

A few mind-numbing hours passed with glacial speed when her dinner alarm jolted her.

“Ugh… finally, sooo boring.” She shook her head and lightly slapped her face to full wakefulness.

The food chamber was sparsely filled. Her uncle’s influence had led to the development of different types of solid food for the Threnosh, but most of the Threnosh still relied on the nutrient fluid that they could just drink on the move to and from their duties or in their rooms.

One could tell which Threnosh had been at the base the longest by the simply fact that they were seated at metallic tables eating actual food and not simply drinking that gross liquid.

Veronica eyed the food dispensing stations arrayed against the chamber’s four walls. A thought struck her. No Mom or Dad anywhere in sight. A diabolical grin spread across her face. “Dessert first.”

What use did she have for proper food order? She had to eat a lot to get enough calories to fill her superhuman body anyways.

She sauntered over to the ice cream section, smugness oozing out of every pore.

“Hey, Shira!” she spotted one of the so-called special candidates— to what? She was still unclear on that— studying the 29 available flavors.

“I greet you, Girl Justice,” Shira said.

Rust red veins crisscrossed the otherwise jet black surface of the Threnosh’s armor.

Veronica took care to keep her distance from the multitude of razor-sharp blades and spikes on the armor’s surfaces.

Shira’s fearsome, demon-like faceplate was retracted upward to reveal a face that bore a passing resemblance to said faceplate. Especially, with the sharp fangs.

They may have looked like some kind of vampire demon, but Veronica had never gotten that vibe from Shira.

They loved ice cream.

“What flavor are you getting?” Veronica said. “I’m leaning toward coffee.”

“I will select between Fell Grove Berry and Vanilla.” Shira regarded Veronica. “I am confused. I observed that you have just entered this chamber, yet you are at the dessert dispensary. Honor stated that dessert comes after the meal. Have you already fulfilled your main sustenance requirement?”

Veronica leaned forward conspiratorially. “I’m doing dessert before dinner tonight. My parents aren’t around and they can’t stop me. I don’t know why I just thought of it now.”

“Designation: Mother Megan and Designation: Remy will disapprove of this?”

“Oh yeah, totally… parents are lame about stuff like this. I mean, I figure what’s the difference if I mix the order around? Everything will end up in the same place anyways.”

“Forgive me, I was unaware that your parents suffered injuries. Has the medical unit been unable to repair the damage? The former possesses difficult to quantify abilities to repair biological damage. Strange that she cannot repair herself.”

“Huh?” Veronica blinked. “Oh…” she had to explain what she had actually meant by calling her parents ‘lame’ with the addendum that her words were not to be repeated under any circumstances to anyone, especially said parents.

“An expression then. One that does not use the true definition of the word. Honor has explained such in the past. It is still difficult to discern. Though I am learning from continued exposure to your kind.”

“Cool… I mean, good… er… it pleases me to hear that,” Veronica grinned.

Shira slowly copied the smile, though theirs was scary.

Veronica shrugged it off. “You want to eat ice cream together?”

“Acknowledged.”

Veronica turned to the dispensing station. “I would like a triple serving of coffee flavor, please and thank you.”

“Acknowledged,” the virtual intelligence replied.

It was as silent as a library as a few seconds passed before a panel slid open and a gleaming, metallic bowl heaped with light brown ice cream was extended on a thin, metal arm to Veronica. A second arm extended a gold-plated spoon. All she could do was shake her head at the absurd awesomeness of it.

“One serving of Fell Grove Berry… please and thank you,” Shira said.

“Acknowledged.”

The two sat down at a nearby table and dug in.

“So, how’d your day go?” Veronica ventured.

“I drained many monsters of their lifeblood in my sweep of the Fell Grove Zone,” Shira replied.

“Ah, that’s why you wanted the berry flavor?”

Shira thought a moment. “Yes… it appears that is what motivated my selection. Interesting. I was unaware until you referenced it.”

“Yeah, you probably saw the berries and it was, like, in your subconscious thoughts or something like that,” Veronica shrugged.

Shira inclined her head a fraction. “And how did you spend your day, Girl Justice?”

“Oh my god! It was crazy. I was supposed to be on break, so I wanted to camp for a few days with Twinkle Star… you know him right?”

“Yes, that small creature that caused discord between Interrogator Ebbing Tides 2337 and Interrogator Ethereal Loaming 5623.”

“Wait? What?”

“I overheard. The former was against the construction of a habitat for your creature. They stated that it was an improper use of resources. The latter stated that the expenditure was within Prime Custodian 3’s mandates to foster favorable relations with Honor and his family,” the word sounded strange in Shira’s mouth.

Veronica figured that there wasn’t a direct translation in the Threnosh language, so the universal translation system struggled with it. “I should thank Ethereal Loaming,” she said.

“I do not know if that is necessary.”

“It’s just being polite and grateful. No big deal,” Veronica shrugged. “Anyways, I was only two days into the trip when a troop of Horned Chimps attacked.” She relayed the story in a blow-by-blow account of her awesomeness in destroying the monsters. “They didn’t stand a chance. I could’ve taken out, like, five times as much, maybe six.”

Shira’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, but Veronica was more observant that the average non-powered human. “The invasive organism’s zone is cleared on schedule. Furthermore, they should not have been able to bypass the automated defenses on the wall.”

“I dunno, maybe they went under. They’re strong and they’ve got sharp claws. Could easily dig.”

“The wall extends below ground equal to the height.”

“Whatever. We can handle them. They’re basically gorilla-sized chimpanzees… er… with quills they can shoot… okay, so maybe not.”

“Gorilla? Chimpanzees? These are invasive organisms on your Earth?”

“No, no, no…” Veronica said. She had to explain.

“Natural creatures then. The resemblance is interesting. A connection?”

“Maybe, but that’d be weird,” Veronica threw her hands up.

“If we could obtain samples of your creatures the researchers can study it.”

“Yeah, why not… I’ll just message Uncle C— Honor,” Veronica cleared her throat. So lame. “He can send us a gorilla and a couple of chimps.”

“Yes. That will be helpful… please and thank you,” Shira ventured.

Oops, Veronica thought. “Next time I go to the spire, I’ll do that. It’ll be up to him.” Deflect and pass off responsibility, Johnny’s favorite tactic. Time to change the subject. “So… how’s the flavor?” she smoothly maneuvered.

“It is good.” Shire didn’t elaborate. “And yours?”

“Also good,” Veronica shook her head, “it’s so dumb.”

“What do you refer to?” Shira blinked quizzically.

“My parents won’t let me drink coffee, but I can eat the ice cream. What’s the difference? Besides, I’ve got a superhuman constitution. I’d need to drink, like, a gallon of the stuff before I’d feel the effects, oh, and that’s a guess cause I’ve never had the stuff, so I wouldn’t know, would I?” she shook a fist in the air.

Shire eyed the ceiling. “I am unfamiliar with the drink version. Is it not simply the liquid state of the frozen cream state in your bowl?” they gestured to the rapidly shrinking supply in front of Veronica.

“I dunno, probably a little different, but how much is the question? I’d say not much.”

Shira ate in a mechanical fashion. Each spoonful spent the same amount of time in their mouth. They started with a much smaller serving, so they finished first. “Thank you for the interaction— the conversation. It was informative. I have finished and will now depart.”

“Where are you off to?”

“I will investigate Invasive Organ— the horned chimps. If there is a path to bypass containment it must be fixed.”

“Cool. Let me know if you want help. I’m not doing anything else anyways,” Veronica pouted.

Shira peered at her. “Acknowledged,” they said after a moment.

Once the Threnosh departed Veronica wolfed down the rest of her ice cream before heading to the real food dispensers.

She was almost done with her meals when a familiar face entered the chamber.

“Hey, Vee!” Mads waved.

Veronica choked on a piece of deercow sausage before successfully fighting it down. “What’re you doing here— wait! That call my mom got? Who—”

“It was Johnny, but don’t worry. Bastien stabilized him and your mom will take care of the rest. Idiot took a bone spike through the stomach. Got overconfident with his unnoticeable-ness. At least it let me put a bullet through the Inheritor’s eye. Didn’t kill it thought, which was lame,” Mads said. “Let me get some food and I’ll fill you in.”

“So, who else is back?” Veronica said as soon as Mads returned.

“Everyone, except your dad and sister. Caretaker figured the rest of use needed some down time. Putting in a lot of tough work. The whitey’s aren’t much, but the skinless Threnosh are tough and the Inheritors are something else. Good for getting Universal Points and levels though. Gained three in the last month alone.”

“I wouldn’t know since my parents won’t let me join you guys,” Veronica pouted.

Mads patted her on the head. “It’s pretty brutal over there… which means I’d rather hear about the new stuff you’ve been up to. I saw that we’re up to 29 flavors. That’s three more than the last time I was here.”

Veronica scowled for a moment then realized what the look in her friend’s eyes held. She put on a happy face and launched into a detailed recap of what those new flavors were.

Later that night Veronica was deep in her slumber.

She saw her old home. From before it had been destroyed by the fishmen. Scattered toys from her childhood on the living room and kitchen and dining room floors moved out of the way as she walked through and into the backyard. Unseen laughter accompanied the rhythmic depression on the trampoline though she saw no one.

Her eyes fell upon the small, fenced-in area on the lawn that they had used to allow Twinkle Star some free-range grazing.

She noticed something in the air.

It was a song.

A symphony carried on what felt like golden wings.

So beautiful while it lasted.

Everything around Veronica burned and she woke up screaming.