6. The Hunters

Bounty Hunter Seth pov

It was just a routine trip to collect some ewok meat. simple right? thats what i thought too, at least at first. Zeger, Trillo and i were just a few ewoks shy of our quota when we heard it.

Buzzing.

Two large black bugs burst out of the trees, hurtling right towards us. we tried to fight them, to gun them down, but they seemed to know where we were going to shoot before we fired.

These bugs were the bane of many an E-wok hunter, and were vaguely humanoid in shape, with two large arms and two long legs, but thats about where the similarities stop. they had a thick black chitinous exoskeleton, like most insects do, and had two sets of eyes. one set was almost predatory, like the eyes of a dragon snake, while the other was set higher up, and further spaced. this s3cond set was what appeared to be compound eyes, like thos of most insects.

What was most disturbing was the way its eyes glowed with feral hunger, and we knew its clawed hands were tough enough to leave marks on even pure beskar. the mandolorian arm gaurd we found outside the nearby E-wok village was proof enough of that.

The bugs stopped thier approach and hovered there, as if deciding what to do. each one had a small metal cylinder in one hand. I heard Trillo whisper, "are they Jedi..?" when he too saw the cylinders.

th bugs seemed... curious, i suppose i should say. as if they had heard the word before, but didnt quite know what it meant. they glanced at each other, then lowered their massive forms to the ground. one approached, pointing at us then at the dead E-woks, and chitter-clicked something, seeming angry, as if demanding to know why we were killing them.

i wasnt sure how to explain it to them, due to the language barrier... i decide to lower my weapon, placing it on the ground and holding my hands towards them, palm out.

"Seth, what the hell are you doing?" Zeger demanded.

"They want an explanation, Zeger. they want to know why we are hunting the E-woks." i said pointing a finger to the carcasses.

one of them buzzed its wings, as if warning us to answer.

I knelt brushing aside the loose stones and leaf litter, then explained in drawing that our people where asked to come here, kill E-woks and bring them back for food.

i wasnt sure if they understood or not, but they seemed to be very agitated by the time i was finished. They chitter-clicked, one constantly gesturing to us and making the same sound over and over again.

They froze, as if listening to something only they could hear, then the less aggressive one of the two approached and pointed at the drawing i made of our ship, pointing at us and them then back to the ship.

"They want us to take them to our ship? Are they mental? Theres no way we're gonna do that!" Zeger shouted.

The angry one turned on its cylinder, which we could now clearly see was a light saber, and struck Zeger down, killing him.

It then turned to me, raising the blood-red blade ever so slightly, and stared. I got the message.

I backed away a step, and held out my hands in a gesture they understood, and the angry one turned off its weapon. i turned, and led them to my ship, which they spent many days looking over. i eventually offered them schematics, and they accpeted them, after confirming it was the same ship.

the friendlier one gave a slight nod upon receiving said schematics, which i returned. they then turned and left, flying away, the dull buzzing of thier wings fading.

It was a sound I would not soon forget.

Back At The Hive

Two of my warriors approached me, a strange flat device in their claws. i was wary at first, but when i heard what they had to say, i was giddy.

They had brought me the blueprints for a ship. i imediately went to the Rainbow Caverns and started meditating while studying these schematics. i instructed the Gatherers to switch to locating metal, as we had plenty of nutrient syrup stored in the Repletes. i also informed the architects that i was making a slight change to the nest. several large tunnels would now house ships and whatever salvage we could find.

Upon leaving the Caverns, the Gatherers brought me a corpse with a metal shell on it, so i carefully removed the things it was wearing and set them aside. i then proceeded to munch on the body without really thinking.

i went through their memories, and found that those two had each developed a rudimentary personality. i restricted them from the greater hive, using myself as a sort of buffer, to ensure the spread of this 'sense of self' did not continue. if it did, the hive might not be able to function as a cohesive unit.

i shuddered at the thought, as it may make the hive stronger, or it may destroy us. i would need to reinforce the concept of the 'the good of the hive' just in case. this sense of self must not be allowed to destroy us.

i went off to check in with the gatherers, and to my surprise, the had found many small pieces of wrecked ships. i asked why they didnt bring them here, and they said they were too heavy for the Gatherers to move. i called the 6 warriors i had here atthe hive, and told them to assist the Gatherers in bringing the salvage to the Hangar Tunnels.

Then it hit me. We dont have a name for our species.