[GZG] [GZG Fiction] The Watcher 2 of 4 - Target Selected

All this considered in an instant, flashing through the deeper parts of
her mind, Si'Buk settled to her meal. She dipped her head, the sharp
ends of her mandibles catching the foot and bringing it to the center of
her mouth. The macerated food slide satisfyingly into her throat sac,
where it would be broken down by digestive enzymes. It would be many
riosh before she would need to deal with the waste pelts left after the
nutritious components had been absorbed. She would spit them out on her
way to the hunt, no need to sully somewhere she may need to come back
to.

Nestling back into a resting nook she began the rituals that would let
her Ano'Fah slip into sus - her Vao'Fah would remain vigilant, warning
her if she were discovered, another useful hangover from her
evolutionary past. Her mind ran of the course of her day. At the start
of the tuosh she had been in a nest-bed with others of the Kra'Bna. She
had left silently, scenting her departure for others to read on their
awakening.

She had engaged her Rns'krans even before leaving the Kra'Bna'Kon. The
stealth suit making her effectively invisible to all but those watching
very carefully. If she moved either very slowly or very swiftly the
distortion in the visual field of any observable typically went
unnoticed. By happy coincidence the Rns'krans had worked as effectively
against the Huu'Mon as Kra'Vak. A Toa'Xau who specialized in electronics
had patiently answered her questions on this once, as he had tinkered
over a malfunctioning control switch she had reported. These scientists
had gained new standing with the assault on the Huu'Mon, their skills
necessary to understand this new foe's unusual technological choices.
The Toa'Xau had explained that the peaks of the Kra'Vak visual range lay
to either side of the wavelengths the Huu'Mon used. He drew a bimodal
diagram, pointing to one peak he identified the Kra'Vak primary peak,
optimal for thermal detection of prey and other heat sources, and then
he shifted his outstretched susi to the secondary peak, which was an aid
in signal formation during the lighter riosh. Across this he drew a
single humped curve, the modal peak sitting between those of the
Kra'Vak. This was the spectrum a Huu'Mon could detect. They contrasted
the wavelengths within this set to form their images. They had no
secondary peak to offset the substantial reduction in their visual
acuity when darkness fell. It was clear to her now why they preferred to
move around at the very time the Kra'Vak preferred to rest. She had
commented that it was amazing the Huu'Mon had survived so long when any
decent Vo could have picked them off easily once darkness had blinded
them. The Toa'Xau had merely grunted and commented that the Huu'Mon
probably wondered the same of the Kra'Vak, after all to them the day was
a much better time for looking about and finding the resting bodies of
large prey. Si'Buk mused over that point as the Toa'Xau went on to
finish his explanation about the Rns'krans effectiveness. The original
designers had wanted a suit that covered all Kra'Vak visible
wavelengths. They had cared little for the wavelengths between. It had
fallen out that the final design was not hampered by covering the entire
band and so that's what it did, catching the human visible wavelengths
up in the envelope designed to prevent detection by Kra'Vak visual
sensors. Therefore there had been no need to redesign them when contact
with the Huu'Mon was initiated. 

She had spent many long hours talking over issues with that Toa'Xa. She
remembered him fondly. She believed they had communicated so well and
enjoyed each other's company because they were both unusual. Most Sho's
were content to become workers in society, to cease to think of
themselves in a gender sense and to become simply Kra'Vak. Si'Buk had
been unable to settle, unable to leave her do'Kon life with the
Kra'Bna'Kon and she had carried her female mental imagery with her into
elder status. The Toa'Xa had made a more stable transition to a Sho's
role, but had reverted to a masculine mental image and the more solitary
habits of the much younger Doo's. Together they had found space and
companionship. She had felt his absence since she was called back into
service this time.

Such thoughts would not see her enter sus quickly however, so she
brought her mind back to the ritual and again began retracing the day.
>From the Kra'Bna'Kon she had slowly picked a path along then ravine
away
from the Huu'Mon advance, back through Kra'Vak held sections of the
Ns'Kra'Vak'Fe'Les, Or'Dunah as the Huu'Mon had called it. Once she was
clear of the built up areas she had turned back towards the coastline.
She had followed the scent of water straight to the coast, staying
riv-tu from the Huu'Mon convoys crossing the open ground. She did not
want the dust they kicked up to coat her Rns'krans and invalidate its
stealth. Following this route she reached the waterline above the point
the Huu'Mon'Kon had crossed from the island during their attack. She
resisted the urge to go and cleanse her susi in the lapping breakers.
She had no time for such luxuries, as it would be the act of a Ano's to
take care of dust but then let water reveal her instead. It was this
careful thought over every action and its implications for the suit's
effectiveness that saw the Kra'Bna given the right to wear these
precious items. They were incredibly hard to manufacture in sufficiently
high quality that they really were effectively invisible. As such they
were not to be entrusted to just any Kra'Vak. Doo's in particular were
not allowed to wear them, they were far too prone to Ro'Kah to be
allowed to wear something that prevented anyone seeing them approach.
No, Rns'krans were only for Kra'Bna and the most skilled scouts in the
Ton'R'Kon.

After the run across the plain she was glad to drop to a slower pace as
she moved amongst the dunes searching for suitable quarry. In the later
part of the dark tu'tuosh she had stopped to watch the Huu'Mon lazying
around their fire. Chittering like Luot. She would not hunt these ones,
simply observe, their habits intrigued her. She had stayed many riosh
with them, but now she was here and she must rest. Giving her thoughts
first to Va'Yua'Zan greatest of the Lo'X and then to Lo'Bat the deity of
the Si'V she finished her meditative ritual by swearing she had not
deviated from Lo'z, the one truth path.

When she woke later, not long before dusk her first act was to stretch
and limber and work the stiffness out of her joints. With a few good
cracks she felt limber and mobile. She straightened away the Ko'Ns
equipment she had used the night before and then engaged the Rns'krans.

Si'Buk slipped up on to the ledge underneath the hatch to the outside.
Cracking it open the barest of distances she tasted the air, straining
all her senses for evidence she was not alone. Satisfied she could
depart undetected she slid back the hatch and jumped out on the plain.
As she slid it shut again, the sand about the hatch quickly fell back
over it, hiding it. 

Moving past the chittering Luot of yesterday, Si'Buk quietly and slowly
pushed on deeper into the Huu'Mon kres. They were all so at ease, so
ignorant of what was about them, sure they were safe here from any
Kra'Vak strike. It would be so easy to reach out and end the vaat of one
of these senseless kaa'zes. 

Si'Buk knew better than to act on such rash Doo's'Ro'Kah impulses. She
wanted to select a worthy prize, even if it was unaware of its stature.
She spent many riosh wandering carefully through the Huu'Mon, stopping
repeatedly to observe before discarding the tentative selection and
renewing the search. Just as she was clearing the far side of the bulk
of the Huu'Mon kres she found what she was looking for. Suddenly she was
spoilt for choice. She settled on a Huu'Mon in a dark Kon'krans. There
were no symbols on this one to show which Do' it belonged to. She
lowered herself to the ground; this would be a long and cautious hunt.
She would need to listen well and plan her moves carefully if she were
to successfully complete this mission.

This was not just some pleasure hunt, out to empty an urge. She had been
tasked with capturing a Huu'Mon and bringing them back to the
Kra'Bna'Kon so they could ascertain which Kra'Vak Kon'krans were most
visible to the Huu'Mon - recent losses showing that the Doo's Kon'krans
provided little beyond protective armour, providing little or no visual
obfuscation at all. They had decided against simply picking up one from
the immediate vicinity in Ns'Kra'Vak'Fe'Les as doubtless this would see
the Huu'Mon push back more strongly in the hope of reclaiming their
do'Kon. Instead she was to capture one far back away from the
Kra'Vak'Kon and bring it back to the Kra'Bna'Kon. This way the Huu'Mon
would be confused as to where it had gone and would not be able to
strike quickly.

Her quarry finished tending to its kit and moved over to a small group
deep in conversation.

"... so I said to Cathy, 'don't stop now darling'..."

"It's not that I don't love that story Mike, but we need to sort out the
brief for the patrol tonight and the insertion-extraction tomorrow. I
don't know how serious they are about this, but they only want nine of
us and we're to cover a six kilometer stretch. From here up to the first
fork near checkpoint delta-sierra. Whittaker, you're with Osbourne and
Campton, you have the two closest to home. Montague you have Winters and
Smith and the central stretch from the dry gully north of the truck
depot up to the case-evac field. Strachan, you and Acres are with me.
We've got the last stretch...."

Si'Buk listened attentatively as they spoke of objectives, rendevous
points and rules of engagement. She did not understand much of it, but
Si'Buk believed she had picked up enough to know that her target would
be in the patrols. Unusually for humans they were moving out by night.
They were scouting for Kra'Vak spies on their perimeter. She mused that
this would be the perfect opportunity for her to strike.

Drawing a little further back into the darkness, Si'Buk watched as the
bulk of the group went to their nest-beds. Only her quarry and vaoikeo
of its Kon joined it in preparing to patrol. Annoyingly at that moment a
suit warning went off, vibrating in her collar. Activating a display on
the top of her susi, the flash of dots and strokes told her that her
suit power was dropping. What a time for things to go wrong. Checking
the sky and wind she judged it safe to continue, the Huu'Mon were at
their most vulnerable in these conditions. 

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