[Short Story] A Mantis' Mission

[stylesrj]

A few months ago I got a request to make a story set from the perspective of a Mantis. So here's an attempt at one. This probably won't become a full story like my other fanfics. But I might do others like this one from different perspectives.

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A solitary Mantis walked through the engine room of the FSS Kestrel. The walls and floors were stained with blood and debris. A glorious battle had recently ensued with heavy casualties on both sides. The bodies of both foolish meatsacks and Mantis were strewn about.

He wondered how it happened. An entire Mantis crew boarded the Kestrel, looking for slaughter and plunder. “It should have been easy” the Mantis said, checking for lifesigns. Only two signatures were left and they were at the forward section. “But if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

He passed by the bodies of two meatsacks, surrounded by the bodies of Mantises. “Humans… pathetic, weak creatures” he remarked. The meatsacks had died with their backs to each other, blasters in their hands “Not even useful slaves.”

The Mantis stopped by a set of open blast doors into Life Support where the body of another foolish meatsack was lying. The meatsack was slumped against a wall, one hand clutching a blaster pistol tightly, the other clutching at their guts, trying to keep them in.

He couldn’t tell whether the meatsack was male or female; usually he could tell them apart by their dying screams but even then it was dubious.

A trail of ichor indicated that the meatsack had wounded a Mantis warrior before being eviscerated. The Mantis found the body of his fellow warrior shortly afterwards in the Kestrel’s Weapons Room, a pile of chitin and ichor as if something big had crushed him.

The Mantis assumed that a Rockman was onboard as he looked over at the control panel and examined the ship’s weapons. The Kestrel had been packing some impressive firepower, with two triple burst laser cannons and a Hermes Missile Launcher.

“Looks like these meatsacks made some real progress” he chittered excitedly.

Apart from the bodies, the Weapons Room was relatively intact. The same couldn’t be said for the next room however. Blood stained the walls as well as pieces of gravel. The Mantis chittered at what happened to the Rockman – he was slumped up against the blast doors on the far end as if he had tried to block them with his bulky body. “How disappointing. I was hoping he’d be one of the survivors.”

The Mantis went to check the closest set of blast doors only for a helpful readout on the panel to indicate that there was a hull breach and no oxygen. The vicious insect knew better than to walk into an air-free zone and suffer the consequences. Instead he crawled over the body of the Rockman into the next room.

Medical equipment had been scattered all around along with the body of an Engi, arms still set into tool configurations. The smell of blood was especially strong even though there were few stains. There was a slight green tinge indicating that maybe a Zoltan or two had exploded before dying.

Those weaklings thought they could fight in the medbay. Smart, but altogether foolish.”

Here was where things had turned strangely for the Mantis. The doors at the far end of the medbay had been clawed open and burned with searing acid, revealing the security room for the entire ship. He briefly considered taking some time out to disable the door controls when he noticed several Mantis corpses strewn about, their bodies torn apart as if by claw.

“There must be an exceptionally powerful Mantis warrior in there!” the Mantis exclaimed, skittering over and leaping into what appeared to be a hangar for automated drones. Two massive metal drones rested on tracked feet, blaster cannons powering up as they aimed at the insect.

Brandishing his claws, the Mantis leapt forwards at the closest Anti-Personnel Drone and in a few swipes and some acid, had destroyed the metal meatsack. The second had already opened fire but the Mantis was too quick for its targeting computer as he closed the distance and tore it to pieces.

He shook off the pieces of metal and circuitry and remarked “Those Mantis warriors all couldn’t have been defeated by those pathetic machines. Their mercenary must be very strong to have defeated them.”

Then he heard the sound of a claw striking metal behind him and the Mantis leapt and turned to face the enemy. “You will not harm my Captain!” a hoarse, frightened voice shouted.

The Mantis found himself staring into the beady black eyes of a green Mantis warrior. The insect was much smaller than him and covered in ichor and blue warpaint. “What’s a hatchling like you doing on this ship?” the Mantis laughed at his opponent “Especially one from Charlie Hive?”

The hatchling raised his claws in what the Mantis recognised as a traditional war dance. It was something instilled in everyone since the pupal stage and it spoke a very powerful message.

“A fight to the death is it?” The Mantis asked as he raised his own claws and performed his alien haka “Foolish hatchling, you should not be challenging me.”

“You will not go any further! I will cut you down like I have to the rest of your hive!” the hatchling shouted, leaping towards the Mantis.

The Mantis countered the blow with his claws and went on the counterattack as quickly as possible. “I doubt a hatchling like you could have slain my elite warriors” he taunted back.

“I may be young but the Humans have taught me everything I need to know about fighting!” the hatchling said, blocking the Mantis’ claws and moving backwards “You wouldn’t understand! You’re just a bully and a monster!”

“This monster has been fighting weaklings and meatsacks for much longer than you have hatchling!” the Mantis taunted “The only thing they can teach you is how to die.”

He swung his claws at the smaller insect and cut off one of his legs in the process. “If you submit to me now, I’ll teach you how to fight like a Mantis” he said to the hatchling “Charlie Hive is too soft, just like the meatsacks I’ve killed.”
The hatchling clutched at his bleeding stump with one claw while staring at the Mantis with grim determination. “I will never surrender to the likes of you!”

He surged forward, claws raised for another attack. The Mantis leapt aside and swung at the hatchling only for him to counter and strike back hard. He found himself on the defensive; and he did not like it one bit.

“Our Captain taught me that bullies like you only know how to attack and attack!” the hatchling said, his chittering voice sounding more smug “That’s how I killed your so-called elite warriors. They know nothing else on how to fight properly.”

“They were weak” the Mantis countered, leaping out of the way of another strike. The hatchling did have a point though. If he kept trying to dodge, he’d eventually tire himself out and leave himself open.

As he dodged yet another blow, he had to come up with something. He jumped onto the body of one of the drones he had destroyed, taking the higher ground above his opponent. The hatchling tried to do the same, only for the Mantis to spit out a wad of corrosive acid straight into the insect’s eyes.

The hatchling screeched in pain and fell onto his back as the Mantis then leapt off the drone, knocking it over onto him. “Do you submit now?” he asked the pinned hatchling, claws raised for a finishing blow.

The hatchling tried to spit at him in return only for the Mantis to put his claws in the way, the acid only giving him a slight burn. “Very well” he said, stabbing the hatchling in the head with his claws and cutting him to pieces.

“How anticlimactic” he chittered, dragging the body out and placing him with the others. He’d have the Engi slaves clean them out later before selling the ship for scrap. With the whole Rebel/Federation conflict going on, there was a buyers’ market for Kestrel class cruisers.

The smell of meatsack blood and Mantis ichor filled the air along with the scent of burning circuitry. It was time to finish of the crew of the Kestrel; only one lifesign remained and it was behind a set of blast doors.

“Finally, the Captain” the Mantis said excitedly. He didn’t know how such a small crew managed to beat so many Mantis warriors, but if that hatchling had anything to go by, the Captain probably was someone quite strong. Maybe a Rockman or one of those crystalline beings they kept talking about.

“It’s the battle royale. Winner takes it all!” the Mantis said, slicing at the blast doors, spitting corrosive acid on the plating to help weaken the frame. “This ship will make a mighty fine prize and the Captain’s head will make a good trophy.”

He could hear the meatsack on the other end scrambling for something. Maybe he could wound the Captain and sell him off as a slave instead. There was a high demand for skilled trainers after all. His next clutch of warriors could use some defensive training.

He wedged his claws in the gap in the doors and pulled, forcing the barriers between the Drone hangar and the helm to open. Several blaster shots resounded and for a second the Mantis thought the meatsack had tried shooting at him. “Foolish move” he taunted, scurrying in to grab the weapon only to find…

“Coward” the Mantis chittered angrily, looking at the slumped-over body of the Captain. Like the other meatsacks, he couldn’t tell what they were. There was a blinking red light on the console and the words “Highly Important: Federation Command.”

Slightly curious, the Mantis placed a claw on the console and the holographic image of an elderly Human appeared. “Congratulations on your promotion Captain. There isn’t much time to explain but you are on a mission of high importance.”

The Mantis laughed “That meatsack thinks I’m going to carry out their mission?”

“The data you are carrying is vital to the remaining Federation fleet. You’ll need supplies for the journey, so make sure to explore each sector before moving on to the next. But get to the exit before the pursuing Rebel fleet can catch up!”
The Mantis laughed “Even better. I can sell this ship and the intel to the highest bidder!”

He shut down the hologram and prepared to return to his ship when he received a warning on the sensors. A Rebel Fighter had entered the system, guns deployed and charging.

They immediately hailed. “It looks like you’ve made our job much easier, Mantis scum. We’ll make your death quick” said a very snooty-accented meatsack.

“Foolish meatsack! Do you know who I am?” the Mantis taunted.

“I don’t know who you are but no one defies the Rebel Fleet!” the meatsack replied with a laugh “You all look the same to me.”

The Mantis screeched loudly. How dare that meatsack not know! A hundred years of looting and plundering ships built him quite the fearsome reputation across the stars and that meatsack had the audacity not to recognise him or his ship?
He was about to head back to his ship and teach the Rebels a lesson when an explosion rocked the Kestrel. Red debris flew past the main screen which meant that his ship had been destroyed.

Angry, the Mantis pushed the body of the meatsack Captain off their chair and took control of the Kestrel. He had some engine power left as he flipped the ship around and returned fire with the weapons, tearing up the Rebel ship.

“Who the hell are you?” the snooty meatsack hailed, coughing from rising smoke coming out of his console.

The Mantis laughed “The very last Mantis you’ll ever mess with!” He opened fire again and destroyed the Rebel ship.

Satisfied, he took stock of what he had left. His ship was destroyed and the Kestrel was devoid of life and badly damaged. His chances of survival seemed rather slim, especially with the Rebel fleet moving in. “And they’ll want me dead when they take over.”

He looked at the body of the meatsack Captain. In his hundred-year career, he had seen many ships sacrifice the lives of their crew for their Captain. Even that hatchling from Charlie Hive gave his life protecting the life of a meatsack.

He couldn’t say the same for his own crew. If he didn’t kill them himself for disobeying instructions, they’d die in droves to enemy crews. He was under the impression that they were expendable and could be replaced at the next hive colony.

But now… he couldn’t do that, not while flying a Federation vessel. He’d have to find some way to survive until he could reach their command. “And then they might just pardon me…” he chittered to himself “And then they’ll give me a new ship built to my specifications! Yessss, it’s all so clear now!”

He entered his name into the console of the Kestrel so the computer would recognise him by name. “I never thought I would see this day” he remarked “But it looks like I’m going to have to carry out the Federation’s mission if I am to live through this.”

The FTL drive was charged and he prepared to jump. He chittered with excitement as the computer system said “Please choose your destination, Captain KazaaakplethKilik.”

It was going to be a good run.

[tremor3258]

This is a great start piece - very vivid.