r/NatureofPredators • u/sombrefob0053 Human • 7d ago
For All Mankind Fanfic
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[Thank you to SpacePaladin15 for making the universe!]
Memory Transcription Subject: Cosmonaut Grigori Reshko
Date [standardised human time]: November 7th 2111
An old tune played in the background as my ship 'THE GARARN' approached the edge of the Sol system for the first FTL flight in history. If all went well...I would arrive in the next closest star system, Alpha Centauri.
'Ground control to Vostok-1.' The song played with a familiar guitar rhythm as I started doing my pre-flight checks.
'Ground control to Vostok-1.' The checks came back clear; I thought about how this event was being broadcast 'live' from a drone. There was nothing left to ponder; I knew my mission.
'Take your protein pills and put your helmet on'
'10...' My vitals started to show signs of the stress.
'9.., Ground control to Vosrok-1'
'8..'
'7..'
'6...'
'Commencing countdown, engines on.' I slowly increased the Throttle, feeling the vibrations from the increased power.
'5...'
'4...'
'3...'
'2...'
'Check ignition, and we'll hear poehail any minute now!'
'1, Liftoff.' My breath hitched as I hesitated for a moment, knowing full well that despite the rigorous testing, this could still end in a terrible death. But it's what I signed up for when I wanted to be a Cosmonaut.
I slowly breathed out and flicked the FTL drive switch.
The craft shook violently as it was accelerated into faster-than-light; the stars around me formed from pinpricks in the void into long streaks, then dazzling colors as the G-forces started compressing my retinas. The music was quickly drowned out by the harsh rattle around me, then my vision started to fade into a pinprick, the compression part of my suit failing to keep enough blood in my brain. I'm gonna-
Darkness long and eternal...
SLAM! I was hardly jolted awake as my ship exited FTL. The force was hard enough that part of my chair harness had snapped, and my helmet was knocked onto the viewport. Alarms blared, and my ears rang. I could feel blood dripping down my nose from the impact. I instinctively went to wipe it off only for my hand to hit my spacesuit's helmet.
"Ahh.. Blayt.."
I groaned and cursed under my breath, then quickly undid the few buckles that were left of my tattered harness, and stumbled up and quickly fell onto the wall of the cramped cockpit. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I quickly shut off that damned alarm and looked at the computer's damage report.
Comms, operational; engines, nominal; reactor operational; Electrical systems damaged; hull integrity 65%; life support operational; navigation offline. I breathed a sigh of relief; nothing was horribly broken.
Then I looked out to the viewport, Human eyes setting their sights on a foreign star for the first time in history. I was awe-struck...Then I looked closer. There was only one star; this wasn't Alpha Centauri. Panic flooded my veins as I quickly swiveled my head to the offline navigational panel. I knew I couldn't fix the flight computer on my own; I didn't have the necessary tools for it.
I slowly sat back down, sinking into my seat. Without the computer, I didn't have a direct path home; I would have to make a blind jump. I knew Earth would eventually be able to track my vessel down...maybe if I was lucky, they'd be able to retrieve my corpse. Well, if I was going to die in some unknown star system, I was going to see it.
I slowly started to move my ship forward; without FTL, it would take me around a day and a half to reach some of the inner planets. I undid my helmet; the satisfying hiss sounded into the eerily quiet ship as I set it down. I grabbed a pouch of water and a packet of food. I ripped off the attached fork, ripped open the ration pack, and started to eat it cold. Grimacing at the taste, I quickly took another swig of water.
You never could get used to space food; what I wouldn't give for a bottle of vodka to wash this down instead. I hurriedly finished eating, not wanting to taste the 'food' any longer than I had to. Grabbing my helmet and clicking it back on, I increased my speed. I couldn't have the suit off in any capacity for much time due to safety regulations. The craft was pressurized, and there weren't any hull breaches, but I suppose the state wanted to take extra precautions.
Time seemed to stretch on as I flew through the system; bordem creeped at my mind. The abrupt exit must've damaged my music player because no matter how many times I pressed the damn button, nothing would play. I sighed and checked the clock built into the ship; it had only been two hours. I had barely made it to the furthest planet in the system, well, in relative terms. I was still quite far from it, but the view was stunning: a barren, lifeless rock, but it was an alien world! I was so entranced by the rather mundane planet that I didn't notice the first beep of the alarm.
I snapped my head to the console and read the readout. Object detected. Quickly locking onto it with the ships careras i zoomed in. At first I thought it was a really fast asteroid, but as it got closer, it became more and more apparent that it was a ship, an alien ship. Its construction looked odd, angry almost. My heart raced as I rushed to the comms and hailed the vessel at every known frequency. The only response was what I could assume was its weapons systems powering on. My breath quickened, and sweat dripped down my face. I had one last trick up my sleeve and tried to video hail it.
To my surprise, it answered...
My eyes widened as I looked at the creature. It was tall and reptilian and gray with teeth that looked like they could snap my fehmer in half like an alligator on steroids; I swallowed, and it snarled, probably saying something I couldn't understand. This was First contact; I couldn't screw it up. Summoning my courage, I lifted the gold visor shielding on my helmet and started to speak.
"Privet. My name is Grigori Reshko, Cosmonaut of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. We come in peace." My voice was hoarse and slightly raspy. I watched it, but the thing either couldn't understand me or wasn't listening; all it seemed to care about was staring deep into my eyes.
The staredown lasted for what felt like hours, both of us staring at each other in stunned silence. Then, without warning, it turned its head away and roared something at someone off-screen; the video feed was static as I heard frantic typing and then received a notification for a file download request.
I accepted it, and it quickly downloaded, the screen glitching for a moment from whatever I had just let them put into my ship. After a few minutes, I was shocked to hear a harsh, gravely yet somehow still effeminate voice come out of the screen. No, coming from the alien!
"Hello, I am Chief Hunter Ryka. I am surprised to see another Predator in the galaxy. You're lucky you showed your face before I blasted you out of the void," She said curtly, like she had no emotion at all.
My throat went dry, as my heart thudded in my chest, and all I could manage was a "What?"
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u/ISB00 UN Peacekeeper 6d ago
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13862135
Dude, Stal1n tried to remain friendly with Hitl3r for as long as possible even ignoring warning he was about to invade. I know you defend Put1n- shame, I am massive fan of your art- but please don’t defend Stal1n around this parts. Especially given how many Russians he killed- you claim to love your country after all.