Renjik (Ka’atari Warriors #8)

Previously in Ka’atari Warriors

PREVIOUSLY IN KA’ATARI WARRIORS

A brief recap of the story so far…

TWO WARRING ALIEN factions—the Denchui Alliance, which encompasses a peaceful union among most sentient species, and the Scozid, who are a race of intelligent, technologically advanced humanoids with tentacles for legs (colloquially known as "squid")—drop out of a hyperspace jump mid-fight directly into Earth's atmosphere.

Their arrival destroys the Russian space station and irreparably damages the United Nations Space Station Shangris.

A small boarding party of Alliance warriors from the Ka'atari system rescues nine human women, intending to return them safely to the ground.

Instead, their shuttle is pulled through another jump and into Alliance space.

With no reference points to map a course back to Earth, the women are stranded.

The Ka’atari system has three inhabited planets of warrior races, all descended from a common ancestor.

Occupying Scozid forces began genetically manipulating that common ancestor, resulting in five specific types of Ka’atari today.

Those on Kifoth, with its orange atmosphere and constantly shifting tectonic plates, were left as a control group, and the blue-skinned warriors still closely resemble their ancient ancestor.

On the ice planet Kocylite, they first spliced warrior genes with large feline-like predators that hunt in the planet’s distinctive dark crevasses.

To some, they added cunning and strategy from the smartest prey animals, creating the black-skinned, bronze-striped Okan.

Others became silver-striped Azars when they were given the added ferocity of apex predators of land and sea.

On Kadeya, a temperate planet whose native flora and fauna are deadly, they spliced the genes of a sturdy beast which sports large plates of bone armor into the population, and the brown-skinned Rucieth were born.

But not all bodies accepted the beast’s genes.

Those who rejected it faced a slow, painful death.

Unwilling to lose their lab rats, the Scozid began implanting those individuals with technology to not only overcome the rejection but also to augment speed, vision, and strength, creating the beige-skinned Trelxak cyborgs.

The Ka’atari leadership soon learned that humans have a higher rate of rhun than any other known species.

This biological and chemical response evolved after a virus severely diminished the population, ensuring diversity among their offspring.

Ka’atari can only reproduce with a rhun partner.

The rate of rhun in the known universe is one percent.

The human rate of rhun is theorized to be as high as seventy-five percent.

The exact mechanics of rhun are unknown, and although there is certainly a genetic and chemical element to the process, there is something more at work scientists have yet to understand.

All attempts to synthesize the connection have failed thus far.

Among the human survivors, seven have found mates: Cora with Kiran, Stephanie with Craix, Anela with Brak, Zoranna with Droscal, Emily with Turo, Gabriella with Vrik, and Razili with Calyx.

Some chose Earth. Others built new lives in Denchui space.

All remain bound by what happened aboard the Shangris.

The Scozid threat continues to spread. Their plans for Earth were stopped, but the war with the Alliance escalated.

They developed a biological weapon capable of reducing organic life to dust, while Alliance forces created tuppu, a compound that neutralizes Scozid technology and renders their biological weapon inert.

The first field test of tuppu succeeded, but a Scozid counterattack left the team captured on a barren moon.

Renjik, the Rucieth warrior serving with Calyx on the test team, suffered the worst. Calyx kept him alive long enough for rescue, but Renjik lost an arm. The Alliance returned home with a working weapon, a wounded warrior, and the first real chance to end the war.