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The Yahg spacecraft glided away from the Mass Relay silently. It had been hundreds of years since the Darkened Ones had come from beyond and decimated the spacefaring races.
The Yahg as a pack had not been united then, they had not been strong as a pack. But they were now, they had watched and waited.
When the Yahg had achieved spaceflight, the Pack Overlord leader of all Yahg had decreed that they would not join the Citadel for the slights against their ancestors. “Leave us alone, and we will leave you alone. Do not, and we will respond in force.” the Pack Overlord had said.
So, the Citadel had. The Asari, Turians, and Salarians had forbidden all interaction with Yahg as a species. This they learned from the extranet; they had learned a lot from it.
Many races had survived the Darkened War. The war with the creatures the rest of the galaxy called The Reapers, huge sentient machines capable of laying waste to a planet single-handedly. The biggest race that had gone missing, the most feared, the most powerful were those called... Humans.
None of the other spacefaring races knew what had happened, according to data reports the Yahg had read, the whole planet had suddenly collapsed without warning. The ground and water had been rendered toxic, the skies choked with poison, the planet had died completely and utterly.
“Pack Leader Xit’hq, we are approaching the planet that was once called Sol.”
“Excellent put us just beyond the atmosphere. We shall see if this dead race is truly dead.” the Pack Leader, the biggest and tough Yahg on the ship commanded and the Trackers obeyed unquestioningly.
The Pack Leader’s eight eyes watched as the planet drew closer on the viewscreen. He wanted to see for himself if the veteran race had truly destroyed themselves, and if they hadn’t, he intended to enslave the survivors and annex the planet for the Pack Overlord.
“No sign of any recent satellite launches. The ones in the atmosphere are ancient.” One of the Trackers told him.
“And what of the planet’s condition?” Xit’hq asked, his deep voice tinged with something akin to curiosity.
“The planet appears to be in pristine condition. It shows signs of different environmental conditions like forests, jungles, and deserts.” He was told.
“Those cowards on the Citadel must’ve gotten their information wrong. That or they haven’t visited the system since their initial reports,” Xit’hq hissed, the Yahg equivalent of laughter. When he was done, he looked down at the Tracker who had been answering his queries. “What about signs of life?”
“There are indeed signs of life, Pack Leader.”
Xit’hq’s mouth flared which was a Yahg version of a smile before he brought one of his three-fingered hands over to the ship-wide communication system that was located on the pedestal that he was standing in front of.
“This is Pack Leader Xit’hq. we have approached the planet once known as Sol and found that there are signs of life contrary to what the Citadel says.” His voice was laced with contempt for the weakling races but it soon hardened again.
“Maulers It’olk and Kmiq’d will lead hunting parties down to quell the inhabitants and claim the planet for the Pack Overlord. Slaughter all who resist you. Pack Leader Xit’hq out.”
It was Lunartide by the time the hunting parties had sufficiently armed themselves with weapons and boarded the shuttles to land on the planet.
It was no matter what tide it was though, the Yahg’s eight eyes allowed them to see in the dark as well as during the day. It was one of the gifts that the Blooded Ones had given the Yahg when they had made them.
Despite how large each of the six Yahg were, they moved silently on the ground. The only major source of noise was them breathing into their respirators.
Two groups of three Maulers each. Perfect for hunting, except this time they weren’t on their homeworld of Parnack, they were going to claim it for the Pack Overlord.
They traveled in silence until they came across a settlement. One pack approached from the north while the other went around to approach from the south. It’olk turned to his Maulers and pointed to the only female Yahg in his pack. “Eaf’o, go investigate. Slaughter everyone you see.”
The slightly smaller female nodded and clicked her mouth. “I obey, it shall be done.” She activated her camouflage and disappeared.
Sun King Jiran snarled as he looked at the report that had come in from a patrol. The entire town of Brightmarket had been slaughtered, no one had been spared not even the youngest of babies.
This wasn’t the only Carja controlled city to be hit either, Sunfall had been attacked first, and whoever had done it had slaughtered the entire population just like they had just done in Brightmarket.
The reports from Sunfall, as well as the reports still coming in from Brightmarket, had detailed horrific things. Things that were so horrific that Jiran, and Helis who were both no strangers to combat, had loosed the contents of their stomachs.
Jiran had sent messengers to the Oseram, Banuk, Nora, and even to the Tenakth tribe demanding that they turn over whoever did this if they happened to know. But none of them had the slightest idea what he was talking about. Each of the three Tenakth clans blamed the others for the killings while the Nora, Oseram, and Banuk each said they had no reason to do so.
Xit’hq’s mouth flared again. The Maulers hadn’t lost a single member and they had collected valuable information. Whatever happened on Sol had seemed to take them from being a spacefaring race of some renown to the equivalent of being back in the 'Bronze Age’ whatever that was.
Conquering the planet in the name of the Pack Overlord wouldn’t be much of a challenge if it was one at all.
“Send a signal to Parnack, tell the Pack Overlord that Sol will do nicely for a colony world.
“At once, Pack Leader.”