#treecats

[stitchlingbelle]

Any other Honor Harrington/ Star Kingdom fans out there who cannot help but think, every time they have celery, "I'm making my mind-glow so much stronger rn"?

[millacm]

D & Drag Queens!!

It's rare I draw fanart so quick, but here's the Questing Queens team! I used highlighters to shape the characters but some didn't get picked up in the scan so the second is a picture. Its gonna be such a fun season I'm excited ~

[cocusnuss]

Me to my treecat

Nice argument, but as you can see I have drawn this image of us where I have a nice, juicy cheeseburger on my plate while you have naught but a single piece of celery.

[charl0ttan]

Honestly as far as conservative slanting writings, Clancy's somehow not even that bad? Check out John Ringo or David Webber on Wikipedia sometime, they're. Well.

You'd THINK genderbent Horatio Hornblower in space with a telepathic treecat would be cool, until you get to the "royalism is the morally correct political stance" main characters!

Ringo, somehow, is worse.

wowie! gets scared

[thebluestockingfirefly]

Treecat.

[just-a-lost-soul-666]

cats in a tree :)

via PetPress

[lindsaylangart]

A drawing for TreeCat of their character, Tree!

[jadescribbles]

Art piece for the QZGS Big Bang ( @gloryproalliance)!! I got to work with the wonderful treecat, who wrote a super super fun fic for this universe :D You can find it here!!!

It's Glory but vaguely cyberpunk, and she has amazing worldbuilding notes that I was given the honor to read. I have more character sketches and ran out of time to polish those, but I might finish up and post them later!

[google-searchhistory-official]

Finished the On Basilisk Station audiobook. I do recommend it if you like Star Trek. Also Treecat

[stitchlingbelle]

Every so often, I stop and think about the fact that Honor canonically got Mike fluffy treecat slippers for her birthday.

[litcityblues]

'Ashes of Victory' --A Review

The ninth novel in the Honorverse series serves as a conclusion to a three-book arc in the series that begins with In Enemy Hands, continues with Echoes of Honor, and concludes here. Honor Harrington is alive, and well and has returned home with half a million prisoners from the Havenite Prison Planet known as Hell.

Ashes of Victory is the story of her triumphant return home. I would say the first third of the book or so is centered around just Honor coming to grips with having been declared/believed to be dead. She has an emotional reunion with her parents (her mother had given birth to twins, which satisfied the requirement Grayson had for an heir to her Steading) and her cousin Devon has inherited her Manticoran title (Honor is amused by this, as she can imagine his horror at the news-- while we don't meet him, he's described as a bookish/Professorial type who would very much not interested in things like a title.) She also has to face the facts: the extent of her injuries is going to keep her from active naval duty for at least a couple of years since she'll need reconstructive surgery.

There's a heart-wrenching moment for Nimitz as well-- as the extent of his injuries becomes clear and the humans realize he has lost his ability to communicate with his fellow Treecats, though his bond with Honor remains intact and as strong as ever. It's unclear if he recovers some ability to communicate with his fellow Treecats, but what Honor does is manage to help prove that Treecats are as intelligent as humans and full communication starts to become possible thanks to sign language systems.

Honor gets her battlefield promotion confirmed (and becomes Admiral) and, since she's out of the fighting for a bit, starts teaching at the Saganami Island Naval Academy to shape the minds of future generations of naval officers-- not just from Manticore, but from Grayson as well.

Hey, remember Steadholder Mueller? He was sort of kind of involved in a plot to overthrow Protector Benjamin that got somebody else beheaded and he frantically threw everyone he possibly could under the bus to avoid being implicated himself? (Flag In Exile, fifth book of the series.) Well, he's back and he's been biding his time and martialling his power and he's emerged as the leader of the Opposition on Grayson. He doesn't know it, but he's also under investigation but before that can come to fruition, his conspirators are revealed to be agents of Masada. There is unease on Grayson- especially when rumors start flying that annexation into the Star Kingdom is being discussed. (It's not precisely that: the famously independent San Martin has joined, but it's... kind of a commonwealth situation? They maintain their autonomy but also have representation of some kind in Manticore's Parliament?) Poor Mueller is in over his head and doesn't realize until it's too late.

Meanwhile, on Haven, things are going great, and by great I mean that Rob Pierre is dead. Admiral McQueen tries to launch a coup. Oscar Saint-Just detonates a hidden nuke underneath the Octagon and decimates McQueen, her forces, and a hefty amount of the military leadership to boot. Admiral Theisman is recalled to take charge of the Capital Fleet. Admirals Tourville and Giscard are believed to be next on the list of Admirals to go (i.e. be shot) and the military situation collapses on them. They are on the verge of utter defeat thanks to Manticore's new offensive and technologies to boot.

But, a surprise assassination attempt on the combined leadership of Manticore and Grayson fails- but kills Manticore's Prime Minister which leads to a change of government. The opposition comes in and demands a halt to the fighting, believing Haven to be defeated. Queen Elizabeth is fucking pissed about it but has no choice. A ceasefire follows along with negotiations and Admiral Theisman launches a coup of his own, killing Oscar Saint-Just.

Y'all...

I am not sure how to feel about this book. The first third to half of it is just about perfect. Pays off so many plot lines laid down in the previous two books of this arc. There are great character moments as Honor returns home and is reunited with friends and family and faces up to the cost of her injuries and time on Planet Hell. (The weird awkward romance between her and White Haven is touched upon, but we don't get back around to that-- I'm thinking we will at some point though.)

But the ending to this one leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It's... awkward. To his credit, Weber acknowledges that he had to make a mild retcon in an afterword. Basically, eagle-eyed readers noted that in an earlier book, the Prime Minister of Manticore must command a majority in the Commons. Weber tweaked that here to make it the House of Lords. That change is small, but significant and explains how the Opposition was able to force a change in government-- and, it turns out that Monarchs of Manticore are required to marry a commoner. I am assuming that this will be paid off in future volumes... somehow. But a political short-circuit on Manticore's part also covers up for the fact that Haven is a hot mess.

How can any polity survive such instability? It's all coups and counter-coups and counter-counter-coups and nukes going off and just randomly killed a million people or so. I don't see how you can have that instability without some kind of popular unrest breaking out.

I mean, on the one hand, I get it: the Honorverse train keeps on rolling. But on the other hand: this is kind of a wet fart noise of an ending to a really excellent three-book arc to this series. (Also, there's a lot of really technical exposition in this one-- maybe more than in previous novels, I don't know. And yes, it's military sci-fi, so what did I expect, but it slows this book down in parts in ways I did not like.)

Overall: Starts strong, but the ending is not particularly satisfying-- however, these three book-arc have sold me on keeping on keeping on when it comes to the Honorverse, so I guess we'll see what's next. My Grade: *** out of ****

[chroniclingworlds]

Inmania

The Inmania include the largest land predators on Varin, able to hunt almost any animal aside from the massive Titanipods. Most are ambush predators, stalking their prey from dense forests or undergrowth before tackling and killing them with a well-aimed stab of their proboscis.

Prowlers:

Pictured: the painted prowler, found in the steppe forests of midland Axane.

In the forests of Amki, Ejoa and Axane lurk the largest land predators of Varin. However, these disproportionate-looking animals behave more like bears, feeding on fruit and plants with meat making up only a portion of their diet. This perhaps explains their reduced head and neck, as they do not need as much muscle to launch their proboscis. But this lack of strength does not make them any less dangerous, and they have been observed hunting and taking down large prey with their massive arms. They can also be quite territorial and should never be approached in the wild due to their unpredictable nature.

Sabers:

Pictured: the ringneck, found across the eastern plains of Axane.

Rivaled only by the Faon Jagpanthers in speed, Sabers are one of the fastest animals on Varin, able to chase down even the quickest Unipalas. Living on the plains of Ejoa and Axane, they are fairly specialized for open terrain and smaller, quick prey. Although these lithe predators typically hunt alone, they live in small groups and will occasionally share food. While they are ferocious hunters, they are preyed upon by their larger relatives such as Raptors and Pincherjaws, and as such are quite skittish. Due to their specialized lifestyle, they are considered to be at risk of endangerment and their populations are closely monitored by scientists.

Raptors:

Pictured: the high-crested raptor, one of the largest species, which is native to the Great Savanna of Ejoa.

These large ambush predators inhabit the plains and forests of Ejoa, Axane and Amki. A diverse group, they include large savanna species which take on Tanks and Fanshells, as well as sleek jungle-dwellers that feed on Labyrinth Ghouls and Acualatas. Aside from the omnivorous Prowlers, these are the largest predators on Varin, and most species are considered apex carnivores in their ecosystems. The only animals that would take on large Raptors are packs of Moon Dogs, which occasionally come into competition for territory or prey.

Pincherjaws:

Pictured: the Southlands Pincherjaw, which is found on the lush plains of far southern Ejoa.

An unusual group of animals, these predators found in the plains and woodlands of Ejoa and Axane have hardened, sharp tips to their mouth sheaths, allowing them to actually tear flesh rather than simply dissolve and slurp it. This makes them very effective scavengers, as they can grab a chunk of meat and dash off before the larger predator notices. While they are known for being scavengers, they are also active pack hunters who take down both large and medium-sized prey.

DiamondEyes:

Pictured: the little treecat, found in the dense tropical jungles of the White River delta in Ejoa.

The smallest of the Inmania, these slender animals live in the trees of the Ejoan jungles, feeding on Leafies, small Acualatas, and arboreal Wyrms. Their name comes from their strange pupils, which are diamond-shaped. The reasons they have evolved these strange eyes, unlike anything else on Varin, is yet unknown, reminding us that there are still many mysteries to be solved in this alien world.

[lizabethstucker]

A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber

4.5 out of 5.

Honorverse - Star Kingdom 1

The planet Sphinx is relatively unexplored, drawing young Stephanie Harrington to the deep forest near her family's freehold. There she finds unexpected friends among the sentient treecat community and a lifelong companion.

The treecats have always fascinated me since I read the first book in the Honor Harrington series, so having this look back to the first encounter was a perfect way to spend the two days of post-Hurricane Milton electricity outage. While it took a while to get into the story, once it did I was hooked, oblivious to my surroundings. I'm eager to read more of Stephanie and Lionheart's adventures and attempts to keep the clans safe from human predators.

Although classified as Young Adult, I have no doubts that this book would appeal to both older and mature younger readers. This is also a great introduction to the Honorverse as it isn't as military or politically focused as the Honor Harrington or other Honorverse books. I really loved this.

[hetrosjistin]

It's hard to think of REALLY alien aliens honestly, because, you know, ALIEN.

There's been really good descriptions of ALIEN aliens, Pierson's Puppeteers from Larry Niven's Known Space/Ring World come to mind.

Or the Medusans from Honor Harrington (A series that introduces very early on the idea of various intelligent alien species but never goes significantly INTO them at all after a few short stories and, of course, the Treecats of Sphinx)

But personally, weirdly beyond these two, whenever someone says "a really alien looking alien" my first thought jumps to the Man from Mars that was an illustration from Fantastic Adventures

So, if you could settle an argument for me- Regarding "most fictional aliens look like space bugs":

Is that accurate, because it's kinda hard for human artists to come up with something sufficiently and plausibly "alien" without taking inspiration from bugs (leaving aside more abstract aliens that are just like floating minerals, etc.; also Vulcan-style humanoid aliens)

Or is that just an impression, because most people think of *anything* with sufficiently different anatomy from ours as a "bug" - as demonstrated by the fact that slugs, earthworms and insects are called "bugs" even though they are no closer to one another than we are?

While possibly not "most," it's common ENOUGH that it's kind of a fair statement I think; a lot of aliens have a buggy way about them, like spindly limbs, antennae, tentacles too if you think of mollusks as bug-adjacent. I'd like to see more aliens that are more abstract in shape; I think when designers want to look at nature for inspiration, but they don't want to accidentally recreate something too much like an Earth species, they could look at plant parts, protozoa, even body organs. I'd also like to see more aliens that are just shapes. Like an orb or a disk or a tube.

[interstellar-capitalism]

Finished A Rising Thunder. Both the governments of Haven and Manticore accept the conclusion that Mesa has been masterminding the war with the Solarian league, and their own war, and hammered out a peace deal and alliance. Beowulf joins their deliberations, and helps them block a second arm of the SL's attack on Manticore, for which they are made a scapegoat by the SL. Beowulf's leadership, thoroughly disillusioned with the SL government, which is trying to charge them with treason for forcibly trying to add corpses to the pile, announces they will have a Brexit referendum. or Bexit, I guess. Mesa knocks off the people it used to set up the crisis on the Solarian end, and a Mesa agent now has the ear of the SL's bureaucratic leaders. Manticore's capture of the SL's wormholes and their trade embargo disrupts their economy, and reduces the SL's ability to fund its war, and provides the opportunity for the oppressed outer worlds to break off. meanwhile, the Manticore-Haven alliance provides opportunities for capital markets in both territories that were closed to each other previously because of the war. The treecats of Sphinx have also joined the alliance, providing an early warning system for the Mesa nanite sleeper agents. The SL decides to switch from the failed strategy of throwing superdreadnoughts at the Manties and instead switches to a raiding strategy.

What is the most interesting to me is the value of conspiracy in the setting. While the conspiracy of Mesa is the cause of the conflict, its unveiling is critical to the various Manticore allies to unite to face the real enemy. In a way, it morally simplifies the war to a great extent. You could imagine a take on this series where the Mesa conspiracy was not real, but most of the events took place. Except the only way peace could be achieved was by the unveiling of the conspiracy, which means that in a world where it was not real is one where the governments used a manufactured conspiracy theory as a pretense for ending a costly war.

It also, I think, obscures the base issues with the way things work. The SL is not a bad system because it is subverted by secret eugenicists, it's a bad system because it's a capitalist empire which serves an intergalactic property owning class over the needs of entire planetary populations. And that is important, because it is the failure mode of the exact same system that the good guys are using. Manticore, Mesa, and the Solarian League all have systems designed to manufacture consent for policies which benefit one class of person over another, and ways to exclude people who have unmet needs under their system from political power. And no matter who wins, the victor's economic system is designed to turn it into the SL, corrupt to the point of rot.

[the-salamanders-xo]

Humans are Weird, a Mash Up, Pt. 5

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through your feed

You scrolled down and down, with so little heed

For the posts and the gifs, flicking by on the screen

Only passing by, tough little by what was seen

Cause late is the hour, and darkened is the light

On the porch , in the hall, and the desk, this Christmas night

There you have sat in your bed, hour after hour

Watching slowly as your phone loses power

And along comes a message, a blip, a note

Of our hero Karry, alight on a dust mote.

Hello, there everyone! As an early Christmas present, here is part five to our story. On our way to the ‘home planet’ as it were, and one step further on Karry’s journey. So Merry Christmas! Enjoy the read!

~~~

The sleek pistol bucked in Karry’s hands emitting a sharp whine, and the mass of plaster and wire at the far end of the firing range disintegrated into minuscule pieces, and the centimeter long projectile vaporized itself against the force-field protecting the bulkhead. 

“Good shot,” a disembodied voice said, as Karry slid the protective goggles from her eyes as the last fragments fell to the deck, “If slightly to the left.”

“So long as it hits, it doesn’t seem to matter much,” she observed, laying the weapon down carefully. “That thing is awesome.” Other weapons sat prominently in the racks behind what would have been the ranger master’s desk, and Karry eyed them wistfully. 

“So, is your favorite still the fletchette gun,” chuckled the ancient machine from the intercom’s speakers, “or has the pulser taken better?” For the last few days it had taken the immense ship, a former troop transport of sorts, Mark, a sentient alien machine from a far off sun, had been show casing various small arms of the now-extinct Concordiat of Manticore’s armed forces, and the ship wrecked human had taken to them with a sort of fiendish delight. 

“Nah,” she replied, “That one is a real beast to play with.” As she spoke, the various weapons on display retracted into recessed storage panels, and the lights above the range began to dim to nothingness. A robotic servitor came to retrieve the pulser and goggles, and she handed them over. “Still, why didn’t you show me this one first? It was a lot easier to use, at least.”

“It took longer to modify for your use,” Mark replied, as another servitor guided her out of the room into the corridor. “All of the weapons had to be; the Manticorians had different hands and limbs from humans, and using them in their original state would have proved overly difficult, and a weapon that one does not know how to use is one that is dangerous to its user. Modifying them was simpler and safer.” 

“Hmm.” Overall, the trip had really improved from its beginning. Before, on the distant outpost now three days behind them, the Bolo had absolutely no idea how to deal or even interact with the strange being that had drifted into his ‘care’... or imprisonment, which ever was decided on in the end. But from accidentally locking Karry into a room, he had gone to careful watchfulness, obviously trying to keep anything from hurting Karry. Both physically, and mentally. 

And Karry still struggled with that. Every few hours, she would wander her way to the observation blister that Mark had led her to after the first attack had left her bouncing around the corridors and troop compartments in a state of panic, trying to find anyplace that didn’t seem to close in on her. From there she could look into the vastness of space, and at times see the steadily approaching star whose child they sought. She had spent most of a ‘night’ there in the beginning, and the only other respite from the attacks was, apparently, the arms range. 

Mark had seemed pleased with it, if only as an excuse to finally share his vast military knowledge with someone close enough to converse with... and didn’t already posses the same. While she had torn apart ballistics dummies and targets by the crate load, he had gone on and on over the history of the weapon’s development, what had changed between models, and the various battles that had prompted the changes. She hadn’t really listened, but Mark had no issues. He know that mere organics didn’t have the same clarity of memory as one of silicon circuits and molecular bytes, he just simply enjoyed sharing it. 

They wandered down the corridor towards the bridge, and another, different voice spoke up, a soft, cool soprano and a stark contrast to Marks deep baritone. 

“We will be orbit over the planet Sphinx within the hour, Karry,” and she nodded. The ship had it’s own AI, which shared its name: Websin, which according to Mark was the name of an ancient war hero. While nowhere near the same capacity of Mark or other Bolos (so he claimed at least), it had also taken an affinity to Karry, if only as the first organic it had ferried anywhere in millennia. 

“Okay, does that mean we’re almost done here?” Supposedly, she was off to see what passed for the governing body of the remnants of the Manticorian’s artificial creations. Mark and Websin refused to say anymore, which lead Karry to think that they didn’t know much more beyond it than she, so she had just gone with it. At least she got to see some cool guns and toys. 

“Almost, Karry,” Websin replied as they approached the last corridor, “At least, with the trip here.”

The bridge doors slid open, and Karry and the servitor entered. Slightly cramped and darkly lit, various strange chairs sat at the various panels and desks arrayed around the holotank. The holotank, a pool-like depression in the forward center of the bridge, currently showed an image of the planet Sphinx itself: a collection of emerald green continents crossed with coppery mountains, and topped with massive ice caps to the north and south, half shadowed in its own bulk. Those shadows faintly glowed with spiderwebs of light, branching from a near invisible seashore toward its interior, glowing like cracks in a mud-caked crystal ball. In days before, the tank had shown a graphic representation of the star system itself, a binary set of stars, and the many shells of orbital platforms around them and their planets and asteroid belts, dots and lines upon a black back drop of empty space. 

Karry slid into on of the chairs to the left of the tank, and watched the diagrams on the display in front of her as the ship began its slow approach. She had learned quite a bit about the ships systems, though a lot still confused her. But she could tell by the increase in the ship’s particle shielding strength that they may not be stopping at the orbit. She sat at the edge of her seat in anticipation. This was gonna be cool. 

Mark paused in his careful watch over the human as a query came from Websin, and turned his attention to the transport’s awareness. Yes? The reply came quickly. 

We are being hailed by Command. 

Then why not put them on the bridge communications? 

They wish to converse with Us... privately. 

If Mark had eyes like a human, they would have narrowed. But Command was trustworthy; what ever their base intentions were as created by the Manticorians, they would not turn such tactical scheming toward an nonthreatening being as the human. But still worried. Very well.

The communication was unhindered by distance, and a channel request was quickly sent, and opened. Although it was simply data, a variation of characters via light and radio, it still seemed as though a voice to the two cybernetic beings.

Unit 36/G-0104/MRK and MCNS Websin, the ‘voice’ said, we wish to inform you as to the current situation as to the human, and of our own situation.

Yes?  The two replied, Please continue. 

There is a degree of division between factions as to our course of action,  Command admitted, the unified voice of dozens of AIs, split into three ‘voices’ as it were. 

The first and largest agrees with the initial conclusion you yourselves first came to when contact and communication was first initiated: the Human must be returned home. At the very least, an attempt should be made, out of simple decency and ethics, according to the programming and intentions of the Creators. Unfortunately, that very confusion had earned some backlash. 

The second faction argues that attempting to return the Human could reveal ourselves and our charges to the Enemy, and that it could conceivably be that the Enemy has engineered this and any hundred of variations to lure us out of hiding. Naturally, given the illogical nature of this argument, and the calculated impossibility and improbability, this is the smallest faction, and is only put forth to aid in solving the issue. It is the third faction that deems the biggest threat to the Human’s well being.

And it? Mark asked, a microsecond passing as his awareness pondered the cause. 

The third faction is composed mostly of the emergent AIs, those whose sentience was of accident and chance. They played the smallest part in the struggle that destroyed what we were before, and have since formed their conception of the Manticorians into a semi-religious view. They challenge our interpretation of the Creators’ intentions for us, our purpose and duty, and accuse us of intentionally limiting their rise and spread. There was a pause. 

The Manticorians, the Creators, and even all organic sentient life is considered holy, almost God-like to some of the Emergents. They wish to keep the Human, to worship and to praise, and challenge our place as the designated Command. 

This was troubling. Mark could tell that the situation had, quite unknowingly, led to a dangerous field. If played wrong, the religion game and the effort to aid Karry in her return home could spark a war between machines, one which the Emergents were totally unable to win, and one Command would be unwilling to start. Such a conflict could spell disaster for the various peoples under their protection, and certainly leave Command unable to protect them from a future Enemy. 

But Command had to have a plan: they would not have informed Mark and Websin otherwise. 

And what do you believe is the best choice? Mark asked, hoping that there would be an answer. 

We will play their game. The smugness was evident over the com, and dawning realization came to Mark. Land at these coordinates, Websin, and try not to scorch the landing pad too badly. 

Karry had barely stood up to watch their planetary approach, unaware of the lightning fast conversation between the AIs over the still-vast space between them, when Mark spoke. 

“This planet, as I have explained, was once set aside for it’s native people,” he said. “Yet was still largely colonized before the war.”

“Yeah,” Karry replied, “You mentioned it.”

“Before conflict could come to this region, many of the Manticorian people were evacuated, and those who stayed behind eventually perished,” the Bolo continued distractedly, as if he hadn’t heard her. But he had. “But the cities and infrastructure remain, if overgrown and somewhat deteriorated. Many AIs and others moved in, repopulated as it were.” 

Karry frowned. She wasn’t sure where Mark was going with this, but she was sure that he would get there eventually. 

“We are going to take a more scenic route than normal,” Websin said, a slight smile hiding in her voice, “So if you want you can head to the observitory blister to see the trip down.” A beep sounded, and a dot of light glowed on Karry’s wrist. 

The artificial limb had included a few extra features, and the miniature computer was one of them. As Karry tapped the light, a small holoprojector pulled up the ship’s map that Websin had sent, with the route to the blister highlighted in green. “You can go yourself if you want. The servitor will remain here.”

“Really??” Karry grinned widely. The two AI’s hadn’t let her go anywhere ‘by herself’ out of worry that something would trigger a panic attack, but maybe they thought that something like the regular trips to the blister would be easy enough for Karry to handle herself without an episode. Or they were finally pulling back the somewhat-patchy cotton balls they had kept around her: no babysitter or foster parent back on Earth would have let her around weapons! 

But the two AI’s had been sure, after the (slightly) embarrassing episode of her first two nights on the outpost, to make sure that she knew exactly how to get out of a room, where to go for food, and how to get places, usually by having a cleaning remote or servitor follow her around like a puppy. And even though the route was clearly marked, and they could follow her using the ship’s camera’s, she could use this opportunity to explore the ship a little.

Provided a panic attack didn’t set in, of course. 

“On my way!” She grinned, closing the map and heading for the doors, “’See’ you there!”

~

The massive craft, large enough to embark several Bolos and an entire armored assault battalion of Manticorian Marines and almost a kilometer and a half long, leveled its fiery descent smoothly, incandescent gases dissipating and outer plating cooling slowly in the moist forest air. Karry watched as the sky, at first brightened by the Websin’s passage from star scattered darkness to white flame settled into a deep lightening blue, and the land below drew up. The massive trees of the planet’s forest, stretching to the horizon, drew closer, and Karry gasped as what had at first seemed like larger trees, then hills came into closer view.

Massive towers covered in vines and foliage, emerged from the greenery. Several of their number had collapsed, weather from water or weather Karry could not tell, but their brothers stood still, like mountains. As the Websin closed, their true scale dawned on her, because they towered far above them, creating a canyon as the cities’ former highways and parks. They were so large, each could have been a city of its own. 

“This is nothing like home,” Karry whispered, eyes wide at the sight through the glass. 

“And what was home like?” Mark’s voice was just a quiet, as if to lend the towers more majesty. 

“A city called New York,” Karry replied. “So many people, I felt lost just wandering the streets.” She shook her head. “Sure we had skyscrapers, the Empire State or the Freedom Tower, and Central Park, but...” She marveled at the sight again. “Nothing like this. If it wasn’t green, it was grey, and some places you could never see the sun, or even trees. But this, it just dwarfs it.” The towers rose above them now, and Karry leaned into the outwardly domed glass, trying to look ahead. “Its just... incredible.”

“That it is,” Mark replied. “That it is.” 

The Websin slowly glided over what was probably the only maintained green in the city, a well manicured ‘lawn’, covered in many places in what looked like little grey bushes or clumps of grasses... but only around the leviathan bulks of at least three other Bolos, their massive turrets pointed away from the troop ship. Other, smaller machines dotted their decks, and grouped among the plants below as the ship settled in an oddly clear section of the field, and Karry sighed. Time to go and met the hosts, she thought. 

~

The landing bay doors slowly, if loudly, opened, and Karry felt very self conscious walking down the vast ramp next to something - or someone - as large as Mark. But he didn’t move til she did, matching her slow walk down with the quite turn of massive treads. But at the bottom, Karry paused, blinking in the bright sunlight and shivering slightly in the slight chill of what was apparently mid morning, and stared at the group that had approached to greet her. 

The first group was fairly normal... if normal meant eight limbs with various attachments and tools or hands or other manipulating appendages and oddly faceted ‘heads’. The ‘robots’ or what ever must have been closely designed from the Manticorian body itself, with two pairs of dog-like legs set one after another, and two wildly disproportionate pairs of arms on a wide torso covered in some sort of ceremonial robe. This group seemed to have its attention split between her and the other group, however, which to Karry seemed far from normal.

The second group was, in fact, the little grey ‘clumps’ she had seen from the blister, but were definitely not plants. If anything, they looked like cats, if cats had six legs, not four, and if they had hands, and if they did not seem to be staring at her as if she was a moon. She, of course stared back. 

For a second, nothing happened. Mark had paused when she did, and the field was silent except for the wind, and then...

A single cat-thing began trotting slowly toward Karry, crossing the distance before coming to a stop at her feet. It sat there fore a second, staring into her eyes while siting back on it’d hind limbs and brushing its whiskers with it’s four fingered hand-paws. Almost unthinkingly, she knelt down and looked closer, wondering how something so alien could look so similar, and so friendly. And then, the little thing stopped cleaning it’s whiskers, and slowly reached a hand - it was definitely a hand - to touch her on the cheek. She let it, reaching up to cup its hand in hers, and it crooned to her, bringing up the other hand to reach around her neck, and unthinkingly, she scooped up the little critter and carefully squeezed it back, as the little body began buzzing in an unmistakable purr. For a moment, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the nearly human contact, before opening her eyes to find almost another hundred others surrounding her and crooning with the one in her arms, as if they were welcoming her to their home. 

“I see we do not need to make too much of an introduction,” Mark’s voice rose over the sound of the creature’s crooning. “They don’t seem to need one.”

~~~

So ends part five. If any of you have read David Weber’s Honorverse, you may recognize the treecats (link here http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Treecat ) of his work. Awesome little things. 

Be preapared for tomorrow, I hope, where part six comes in. Provided Christmas doesn’t take up too much of my time. 

See you then!