First Contact
The jungle was quite noisy. The trail split into two. They saw a veloceraptor like creature, but ran off. Then the jungle went quiet. Grendel climbed a tree.
Kovak heard the sound of something big moving through the underbrush. The team scattered, but the Harth scientist and the red shirts remained on the path. A tyranosaur-like beast emerged from the brush. Grendel and Grrr shot it. Grendel took out an eye. Grrr hit is in the torso with a glancing blow.
Grendel moved around to the blind side. Grrr hit it shot it deeply. Kovak heard something human-sized on the other side of the beast. She alerted the others and the noise stopped. Then the tyranosaur went still and collapsed with a spear in the other eye.
Meeting the Locals
Two bipedal, feathered lizards, one of them carrying a spear, emerged from the forest. They were the veloceraptor like creatures. They assessed the team and pointed and seemed to be wary of the humans. They communicated with a whistling sound, then attempted to pull the spear from the beast’s eye unsuccessfully.
They seemed non-plussed by all except the humans. Clearly they had had bad encounters with the Avalonians. This was a native, sentient race, so the Avalonians could not legally colonize the planet according to Collective law. But Avalon was not a Collective world.
More whistling and more of them emerged from the foliage. The new ones seemed focused on Bletherin. They drew a primitive picture of a ship in the dirt. Bletherin crossed out the picture. Grendel drew a picture of their shuttle, then Alex drew a better depiction.
The researcher examined the corpse. Grrr stayed near her to protect her from herself. Bletherin drew a picture of them and the Avalonians throwing spears at each other. The native then drew a picture of them fighting the Avalonians, with the latter having guns. The natives did not like the guns.
The researcher took samples of the creature. The natives did not seem bothered by that. The large white feather that she had collected did not come from that creature nor from the natives. The locals appeared to want to eat the carcass.
The team stepped back, and then the one who threw the spear pulled an organ out and offered half of it to Grendel. He accepted it and then the native ate it. Grendel followed suit and managed not to vomit it back up.
Alex was starting to decipher their language. Grrr pointed at things and grunted. One of the natives pointed and started whistled in kind. The sound was impossible for the team to duplicate, but the natives were capable of reproducing Harth-like sounds.
The natives carved up the kill and wrapped up sections in large leaves to take with them. There was more than they could carry. The researcher made observations and notes. The beast had been female. She hypothesized that the white feather might have come from her mate and suggested leaving the area. The hunting party started to seem anxious about hanging around and beckoned the team to follow them.
Following the Natives
They crossed a stream and continued downstream in roughly the direction the team had wanted to go. After a while they stopped to collect berries. The researcher analyzed some and then ate them, concluding that they were tasty.
They continued on. They crossed another stream and arrived at a primitive village composed of the same type of leaves they wrapped the meat in. The team was surrounded by 40 or 50 more natives, including smaller ones and more feeble-looking ones. They were using tools and weaving baskets. The natives did not react to the team.
The village was part of an established, tribal civilization. The leader of the hunting party and an elderly one walking with a stick whistled back and forth. Bletherin identified shaking heads for no and nodding for yes, like humans. Their communication included more hand gestures.
The children were fascinated with Bletherin. Grrr was also a novelty as nothing native to the world that they had seen had fur. One of the children ran its hand through his pelt. The natives had retractable claws.
The Native Civilization
Grendel examined the colorful local artwork. There were abstract murals on walls, stone statuary, and other kinds of artwork. They were definitely a protected civilization by Collective standards. The Harth researcher attempted to communicate with the artisans, but it was not clear how well it was going.
Grendel examined the engineering and architecture. The village was arranged in concentric circles. There were no indications of temples or government structures. The huts consisted of thatched walls covered with roofs composed of woven leaves. It was fairly sophisticated by stone age standards.
It started to rain, though none of the natives took notice. There were no signs of glassware or pottery. The large, fern-like leaves seemed to be an all-purpose, edible tool.
The natives offered the leaves, berries, and more meat, most of which the researcher said were harmless. She ate Grrr’s vegetables and he at her portion of meat.
Alex noted that none of the natives wore clothing. There was some utilitarian accessories, but no ornamentation, jewelry, or trophy collections. There were cultivated fields nearby and more edible crops near the village.
The presence of this civilization provided sufficient evidence to summon Collective forces to evict the Avalonians from a populated world.
Making Friends
Grendel examined the colorful local artwork. There were abstract murals on walls, stone statuary, and other kinds of artwork. They were definitely a protected civilization by Collective standards. The Harth researcher attempted to communicate with the artisans, but it was not clear how well it was going.
Grendel examined the engineering and architecture. The village was arranged in concentric circles. There were no indications of temples or government structures. The huts consisted of thatched walls covered with roofs composed of woven leaves. It was fairly sophisticated by stoneage standards.
It started to rain, though none of the natives took notice. There were no signs of glassware or pottery. The large, fern-like leaves seemed to be an all-purpose, edible tool.
The natives offered the leaves, berries, and more meat, most of which the researcher said were harmless. She ate Grrr’s vegetables and he at her portion of meat.
Alex noted that none of the natives wore clothing. There was some utilitarian accessories, but no ornamentation, jewelry, or trophy collections. There were cultivated fields nearby and more edible crops near the village.
The presence of this civilization provided sufficient evidence to summon Collective forces to evict the Avalonians from a populated world.
Bletherin used Alex to communicate with the elders. Alex interpreted the natvies as them being suprised that the team had not killed them all. Other outsiders were wantonly hostile to them. They wanted to know if the team could make them go away.
Bletherin communicated that the outsiders had also kidnapped people and brought them to that world. He offered assistance to drive the outsiders further away, but would need more help to remove them altogether. A native who was most familiar with the Avalonians was summoned.
The natives wanted to know why the outsider tribe had come. Bletherin told them that the outsiders wanted to take the land. The elder assumed that they had overpopulated their own home. Bletherin asserted that his tribe did not want their land.
Bletherin said that his tribe had come to get their own people back and that his tribe only took land that no one else claimed. The elder asserted that the outsiders had not know that his tribe was there when they came. Bletherin agreed, but said that they would not care, which the elder agreed since they had made their presence known. The elder noted that the team was composed of members of different tribes. Bletherin explained that their tribes coexisted through trade.
As night fell, the tribe offered a guide to the Avalonian base. Bletherin deferred to the guide, who recommended traveling in the morning as it would be very dark soon. While team stayed in the village, Alex returned to the shuttle and collected knives, spearheads, and other things he had 3-D printed for the natives.
Seeking the Avalonian Base
In the morning, a native party went to scavenge the carcass from the previous day. Others returned to the village with eggs. The team left with their guide down a trail similar to the one they had been following previously, but it had not been a game trail, but rather a hunter trail.
They came upon a swamp, at which point the guide encouraged them to rub berries on themselves. It smelled horrible to Grrr, but it kept the bird sized mosquitoes away. They circled the swamp and ran across another tribe of slightly different colored natives in the distance who were friendly.
As they approached the coast, the swamp gave way to more widely spaced trees and open spaces. When they came upon a herd of kangaroo-like creatures, another native appeared and warned them of other outsiders across the river ahead. Then it returned to the herd.
Grrr and Grendel approached the river stealthily. Alex sent some small surveillance drones to investigate. He spotted jeep heading toward the base. Alex had a drone sneak up and attach to the jeep. He plugged into their communications and used the other drone as a relay while the team continued on their side of the river.