Marcel's a monster and Slanek had something broken in him, so I'm changing shit. This is an AU, so get ready for heavy divergence

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Memory transcription subject: Slanek, Venlil-Human Exchange Program Participant

Date [standardized human time]: August 21, 2136

I watched as the station steadily shrunk into the distance, doing my best to ignore how our escape pod shook.

"We should have stayed," I heard from behind me, sending shivers down my back, "We shouldn't have run, we could have helped!"

"How?" I said, turning to put Marcel in my view, "You're an animal doctor, and I'm a convenience store clerk. How could we have helped defend the station?"

"I'm an expert in non-human biology, I could have helped with the wounded!" He said as he put his head in his hands, and though the growling tones of his predator-bass voice made my legs feel ready to give out, the desperation in his tone reminded me that this was Marcel, my friend.

My terrified friend, who needed me to be strong for him right now.

Firming myself, I turned around fully and padded up to him. Trying to still my shaking, I put a paw to his shoulder.

"Marc," I said gently, surprised at how steady I was holding my voice, "It's a fightercraft battle. There wouldn't be any wounded to help."

He pulled his head out of his hands to stare at me with those sharp, forward-facing predator-

With those Human eyes, I chided myself. Eyes that were starting to tear up.

"I. . . I had a friend up there, Slanek." He said, letting more of the fear into his voice.

"Tyler, your soldier friend, right?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"He was so excited to get picked as one of the guards for the station. He's going to be out there, Slanek, and I just left him behind!"

"Marc," I said, laying my tail on his back as my heart bent, "We're civilians, we had to go. It's been standard procedure forever that civilians are evacuated from orbital stations to planetside during fights, and neither of us are important for an exception. When we get down-"

DONK

I was thrown from my seat as the pod suddenly rocked, Marcel yelling in surprise.

"What happened!?" He called from the other side of the pod.

I got up, grabbing onto the side as my head spun, and looked through the viewing window.

We were off-course, rocketing away from the planet and further into space, but there were no Arxur fighter pilots coming after us, at least.

"Either a stray shot or debris," I said, "Must have clipped us. Thankfully, it looks like we were the only ones hit."

Silence held for a moment, making me look to Marcel.

He was staring at me wide-eyed as his face turned pale.

"We're-" He started, voice sounding small, "We're going to be okay, right?"

"We should be," I reassured, looking to the pod's status screen next to the door, "So long as our locator beacon-"

The screen was black.

We both stared at the dark screen for a long moment, the reality of our situation setting in.

"Oh," Marcel muttered, chest rising and falling faster, "Oh god!"

"Marcel, it's okay!" I said as I moved for him.

You're stranded, you're alone with him, you're alone with a Predator and it's only a matter of time before he gets hungry-

I ignored the thoughts. I knew better, I knew Humans weren't like that, Marcel wasn't like that.

He didn't need my instinct right now,

"It's going to be okay," I said as I pulled him closer to me with my tail, resolutely ignoring how my heart sped up and my instincts screamed as he wrapped his arms around me in a desperate hold, "I'm right here with you, Marc, it's going to be okay!"

He needed me.

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