<Kill it!> hissed my reptilian Sili'ant pilot. I ignored his command in favor of staring down at the small and fragile looking creature we had discovered during our security sweep.
<Stop staring at it and kill it!> He told me when I didn't immediately respond. I ignored this command as well and continued to stare at the creature.
It was a young offspring of the native sentient race of this world. Like all of its kind, it was a warm blooded, tailless bipedal mammal with a mostly hairless body. These creatures called themselves 'humans' in the data files my creators had given me. This one in particular was old enough to cause us trouble, if it got away, but still too young for its external sexual markers to have developed yet.
<By the Nine Generals! I told you to kill it so kill it already!! Why aren't you listening to me, you stupid machine!?> He demanded. I chose to remain silent and he began to rant. I ignored this too and instead, thought back to why I had been sent planet side in the first place. In my memory files I sought clues to why I hesitated to kill this human hatchling.
It was my very first trip down to this planet since my creation. Previously, I had been going through tests in the weapons lab where I was made to see the limits of my abilities. I was created as a prototype designed to be a combination of stealth, speed, agility, and strength. They've never been able to do this before mainly because strength type battle machines were inherently bulky. This was due to the Omni-fibers used to animate them needing to be as thick as possible in order to able to produced and withstand the forces required of them. This, however, made it nearly impossible for them to be anything other than strong. But a recent break through in Omni-fiber technology allowed my creators to manufacture the fiber to be thinner and lighter without having to sacrifice strength.
After my abilities and potential had been thoroughly tested at lab, my creators' superior decide it was time to see how well I could perform in the field with a series of training missions. My current one was geared towards testing my stealth capabilities. It was comprised of two primary objectives and one secondary.
The first primary objective was to establish a secure base of operations near a human military post. They chose a spot just beyond the area the humans had riddled with hidden alarms and traps. They used these contraptions of theirs as an early warning systems and first line of defense against attack. To see how far past these I could get was the second primary objective. The one secondary objective was to be carried out only if I managed to get close enough to the human post. If I did, I was to observe if for a time before returning undetected to base camp. Succeeding in doing this wasn't necessary for the completion of the mission but it would be the ideal out come if I managed to accomplish this.
However all of this would be moot if this human hatchling were to escape and warn the rest of its kind. I knew this yet I could not bring myself to harm it. Perhaps it was because I did not expect to encounter such a young member of the species. Logic dictated that it should have been with the others of its in a non-combatant community located outside of the designed training zone. There, it should have stayed until it was old enough to be able to fight.
So why in the universe was it here!?
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