Karn Tribe Warrior Regar had seen twenty years of savage battle in the Service of his Emperor. He had fought in the searing heat of the Halindar Desert and had seen most of his command perish in the sub zero wastes of Deros IV.
- He could not remember the number of times he had swallowed his fear to lead an assault, and the faces of those who had fallen under the swath of his slugger had melded into one. The carnage and debris of battle did not shock him, and he could not clearly remember if they ever had. His life had been one long campaign, a continual trial of combat to which he was accustomed.
Yet here was a new foe and the nature of it had awoken his fear.
- Regar checked his weapon and recovered extra frag bombs from the bodies around him. These had been good warriors-his warriors. They had been ambushed on the way to the escape capsule and it had been over in a matter of seconds.
These creatures moved with speed and purpose. Their attacks were well co-ordinated and yet.. (Regar puzzled trying to find fault in his recollections) they made no sound. That they communicate with one another Regar had no doubt, for their combat awareness and speed of reaction were too highly tuned to be pure instinct. They fought without fear or hesitation. They had openly charged armed warriors. The sluggers had made little impression on them, for they had total disregard for even the most grievous of wounds.
- Having gathered what he could from the dead, he considered his next move....it stll had to be the escape capsule. That was at the end of the corridor. He stood and loaded the last of the storm cartidges into his slugger. Regar steadied his breathing, formulating his best means of attack. Stealth or Blazing Fury? He chuckled to himself, "When have you ever gone for stealth?"
Regar finished his report: The mad, blind assault down the corridor;The Explosion that had destroyed his left arm; and the loss of memory during the weeks he floated alone in space.
- The three council members had listened intently to Regar's account. The room was dark, and Regar sat on a simple chair in the middle of the floor bathed in the only light. The three Generals had not seemed disturbed by his account.
General Forst stood and walked round the table towards Regar. Throughout his report the three had whispered to each other, and consulted with a multitude of papers and data-cells. "This was not the first encounter was it?" Regar's question was direct. The two generals sat before him, stared angrily at him, but did not answer. "You now of these creatures don't you. General Forst?"
- General Forst stood behind Regar and laid one hand on his shoulder. "Answer me, damn you!"
"We know of them, warrior. They are the Pteravore. The Karn have fought them before, during the years of the "The Terror", a time before we built the Empire. You are not the first to have encountered them in recent years, and you will not be the last...." Regar knew nothing. A momentary flash and a jump of his heartbeat as the shell exploded into the back of his head. His body slumped forwards then sideways onto the floor..................FILE TERMINATED.
Interrogation by General Forst
A quick dispatch