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Chapter 1-Urie

“Ok troops, we’re cleared for landing.”

“Roger that,” a crackled voice came through my earpiece. “Brace yourself. It's going to be a bumpy landing.”

Traversing through a planet’s atmosphere is always a tumultuous experience. Often there are vast temperature fluctuations that can create chills across your skin. They are so frigid it can feel as though your limbs could snap with the cold. Other times, the descent to a planet can be raging hot with temperatures so high blisters would form across our bodies if it weren’t for our protective suits.

This landing was not to be any easier. One thing you have to get used to is the speed in which you plummet to the ground. It sends shock waves through your body as the velocity batters off your organs. You have no choice but to grit your teeth and grip your fingers into the armrest to steady your body as it tumbles through the air at the speed of light.

I looked across the craft to the ship’s pilot. As per usual, he was taking it in stride, his face steady and stoic with a grim determination pursing his lips together. He focused on the screen in front of him, ready to maneuver the ship at the precise moment. His eyes were steely and gray with concentration. He turned his head at the last minute and touched his fingers to his temples.

“Ready captain,” his voice came through my earpiece once again.

Up here, in the ship amongst the stars, you can be within an arm’s reach of one another but still not hear a word. Outer space speaks its own deafening language of crashing space debris and chaos. To remove one’s earpiece is to hear nothing but static and jarring metallic chattering. Up here, without our earpieces, we would go crazy.

“I hear ya,” I saluted the pilot. “When you’re ready.”

He nodded at me then returned his eyes to the screen.

“3.”

He pulled the lever beside him.

“2.”

He spun the wheel.

“1!”

His voice bellowed as he swung the ship into a steep decline. It roared downward, the air gushing past the windows with such ferocity, I wondered if the glass would break. But it never, ever broke. I’d traveled to other planets a thousand times with this pilot and never, had a single thing gone wrong. He was the best and that was why he was my pilot.

Wild turbulence shook the ship from side to side as we plunged our way down further and further into the atmosphere. Then, out of the stardust and clouds came the ground. It loomed up at us, red and barren. I could see the force of our approaching ship kick up the arid sand into a dusty tempest as we landed. Then the loud crash came, cacophonous like thunder and at last, everything was still.

The sand drifted across the windshield as I got my bearings. My heart thudded hard in my chest and I held a hand to my stomach, took a deep breath, then unlocked the belt that had been holding me into my seat.

I watched as the dust settled and fell around the ship. It was night time but the stars were bright and they illuminated each particle with a glittering radiance. Through the gritty mist, figures began to form on the horizon. They appeared to be growing, coming closer with every passing second. Then they were upon us, my troops, coming to retrieve their leader.

The side door was flung open and the smell of a new land permeated the cabin. The troops were eager to show me their alliance, saluting me the moment they saw my face.

“Our leader,” the biggest one said. “We don’t have much time. We need to transport you to the battlefield immediately.”

“Yes,” I stepped out of my chair and looked out the open door. “We must hurry.”

As I placed an intrepid foot down on the alien soil, I felt the excitement of a new world with all its new smells and textures. But it was not to be my new home, nor was it to be a place I would have the chance to explore. Rather, I was here to save it from invading forces.

The X’Sorians… The bastards. They are a fascist race, one hell bent on conquering what is not theirs. They arrived on this planet with the intention of invading it, of taking it away from our system but that was not to happen. I had arrived to fight back and with my reinforcements by my side, we would soon defeat them. As I was taken from the ship to the battlefield, my Shocktrooper Elite Force surrounding me, I had fire in my heart, a burning desire to crush the X’Sorians.

“Tell me,” I pointed into the distance as I addressed the nearest lieutenant. “How many are there?”

His expression was grim but honest.

“There are thousands,” he bowed his head. “Too many to count.”

His words sent a shiver down into my gut.

“Ok,” I held a clenched fist to my chest. “It does not matter how many there are, what matters is the quality of the warrior. We are the finest, we are the best. Isn’t that so?” I bellowed.

“Yes!” they roared back.

“We are the best because you are our leader,” said the lieutenant.

“Thank you,” I touched a hand to his shoulder. “Your loyalty will never be forgotten.”

In a convoy, we drove fast across the desert with the sound of missiles and explosions becoming louder as we traversed the arid landscape. The battlefield soon came into view with the bright lights of the bombs blinding me. I held my arm over my face to shield my vision.

“They are desperate,” the lieutenant spoke at my right side. “They are taking extreme measures and if I may be permitted to express my opinion, I would say that means they are scared. They are not confident in their own fighting skills so they have resorted to blustering bombs.”

“You are right,” I turned to him. “They may be scared but I also think they are powerful,” I leaned in closer to him. “Don’t spread the word, but I think… I think, we will need to ready ourselves for a colossal fight.”

He looked worried, pulled back and blinked at me.

“It’s true. This will not be as easy as the others but we are strong and you must remember that every challenge changes you for the better. It makes you tougher, stronger, a more valiant warrior.”

“What doesn’t challenge you, doesn’t change you,” he thought out loud as he glanced at the upcoming battlefield.

“My thoughts exactly,” I slapped the side of his arm. “You have been trained well.”

The truck screeched to a halt on the edge of the field. My gun was by my side with my sword secured tightly in the sheath on my belt and my lucky club secured to a strap around my waist. I thought of everything we had to fight for and took a deep breath. I was ready.

“Troops,” I stood up, hanging from the side of the open door with my rifle hanging from my shoulder. “We must advance!”

The battle cries roared in my ears as we ran. The X'Sorians, mighty people almost twice our size, were fearless and angry. It had been so long since I had seen one in person and there was a flutter of fear in my chest as I looked up at the nearest one and saw the look on his face; dark, twisted, sadistic. He was here for the love of death, for the lust for power. His muscles rippled as he waved his ax above his head, his skin red and glistening with sweat. The ax crashed down on the ground beside me and I rolled to escape it, tumbling across the ground as I fired shots up to him. I swung my club and saw as it connected with the side of his head. He bore his teeth at me in rage. They were sharp, dripping in the blood of his victims but I’d hit him square in the chest with my barrage of bullets and he was wounded, screeching in agony. As he staggered from one foot to the other, he stumbled to the ground, but not before he pulled a grenade from the strap across the chest and yanked the pin out with his teeth.

He threw it at me and I glared wide-eyed as it landed a few inches from my face. I ran, sprinting for my life as it exploded behind me, sending a cascade of X’Sorian parts scattering around me.

“Advance!” I yelled to my Shocktroopers.

Now that my first taste of battle had taken place I was truly ready to fight. I wiped the X’Sorian warrior’s blood from my eyes and ran forward, shooting every red being that stood in my way. No matter their size, no matter their will to win, I tackled them. The fighting was desperate with every X’Sorian slain, a Shocktrooper going down beside him. Manic firing and hand to hand combat plagued the field as our bodies became quickly exhausted.

Soon, we were in the center of the battlefield with no way out but to fight our way to freedom and safety. If we ever wanted to return home, see our friends and families and take a breath of Ura-Than air again, we had to win.

The bayonet of my rifle was deep into X’Sorian flesh when I felt it, the rumble in the ground. Then it happened so fast I blinked and it was over. My fellow soldiers were on the ground, lying damaged and in pain on the blood covered soil. Psionic attacks… I had heard the X'Sorians were capable of such a feat but I had never experienced it before, but then… why wasn’t I affected like the others? As I glanced around in horror I saw I was untouched, unlike my brethren who were pained and near death on the ground. What was left of my Shocktrooper Elite closed ranks around me and we proceeded.

We attacked once more, working as a solid unit but once again, as soon as we neared the X’Sorian Elite Squad, my troops were held back, pushed against the ground with a psionic force. All I could do was watch as I stood tall, unaffected by the mysterious rays of psychic attack.

“Advance!” I screamed.

The troops who could, stood up defiant and we carried on pushing our way through the hordes of X’Sorian slave warriors. But again, there was the force. It rung in my ears and made the ground tremble as it shook the airwaves. My troops were sent flying back, scattering amongst the fallen corpses of other soldiers. Yet again, I stood without being harmed.

All I could do was push through and do it alone. Immune to their psionic attacks, I persevered, running with all my might with my sword drawn, swiping at each enemy that came close. It wasn’t long until I had fought my way through the crowds of brutes that were so intent on seeing me dead. Then the slave warriors were gone and it was just the Elite Squad facing me. Once more, they sent out a psionic attack but I lunged at them, swinging my sword until all their heads rolled and there was no one else but me and the enemy commander.

He looked at me with shock and horror etched across his face. I could see his hand quivering by his side. The man, who I expected to be as intimidating as his soldiers, was shriveled and old, crouched down below me with a meager pistol in his hand. Judging from the fear in his eyes, it looked as though he never fought but rather, left the dirty work to his men.

“Be- be quick,” he stammered. “If you must kill me, do it now.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“With pleasure.”

There was a slicing noise, the severing of his spinal column and then he fell like his troops, headless and defeated. A silence reigned across the battlefield. It shrouded the war zone in an eerie sadness. The smell of blood rose from the ground, soaking into my clothes, my hair, and my skin. The smell of death never left you but at least it faded before the memories did.

The enemy commander’s head lay at my feet. If it weren’t for the fact it wasn’t attached to his body you’d think he was asleep. I picked it up by the dry, bristly, yellow hair and held it in front of me. To be so close up to an X’Sorian was a peculiar experience. I ran a finger over his cheek, felt the red skin with the coarse hair. I looked at his flat nose that was so different in shape and size to mine. I wondered if his experience of life had been so different to my own.

In front of me stood a sand dune littered with rocks and dead bodies. Blood ran down one side of it, viscous and crimson. With the head tucked under my arm, I climbed it, sinking my tired, calloused fingers into the dirt to haul myself up. At the top, I looked down at the battlefield. All eyes were on me as I raised the head up high and yelled.

“This is the end of the X’Sorian rule on this planet!”

* * *

Back home I lay in my bed, exhausted by my injuries. During the battle, I was not aware of all the cuts and bruises, or even of the broken rib, but now they caused me much discomfort. From where I lay I could hear the victorious chants outside the palace that were emanating from the city. They cheered at my chamber, shouted that they thought I was a hero. Somehow, however, I didn’t feel like one.

The psionic attacks had played on my mind since the return. They had injured, even killed so many of my troops but why was I spared? Surely I should have been the last person to be shown mercy. My thoughts were soon interrupted by a knock at the door.

“You may enter,” I announced.

The door glided open and one of my servants entered with his head bowed and his footsteps humble and shuffling.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to bring you some libations. I hope this drink will make you feel better. It is crafted from the finest herbs found on the dark side of the Gotan Peninsula.”

“Oh… that is kind of you. Thank you.”

He brought the jug of over and poured me a glass before holding it to my lips. I sipped thirstily, not realizing how parched I was.

“Thank you,” I gasped as I pulled my mouth away. “I feel rejuvenated already.”

“No need to thank me, master,” he waved his hand at me. “It is my honor to serve a hero such as you.”

Hero. That word again. I’d never heard it so much in my life.

“It is my duty to protect all planets within our system,” I explained.

“But you are a hero! All other battles against the X’Sorians have ended in defeat, but you are the first leader to bring us to victory. Your arrival home must be rejoiced, master. It must be!”

I paused for a second, remembering the details of the battle. I remembered the club as it hit the X’Sorian on the side of his head and how his teeth were spat from his mouth. I remembered the sound of the gunfire and the explosions, the screaming and the terror.

“I’m sorry. I’m weary and I feel I must go back to sleep.”

“Yes, master. Sorry to disturb you.”

I watched as the servant scurried away through the sliding doors. The chanting was still continuing outside although the sky was becoming dark. I rolled over and faced the wall. Unable to shake the psionic attacks from my mind, I thought about them in every minute detail. The noise they made as the ground shook and the sound of the force hitting my troops.

“Why wasn’t I affected?” I whispered as I rolled back over and stared up at the ceiling.

At the bottom of my bed lay all my weapons. When I returned home I had torn my suit from my body and left my weapons where they lay. I could see the butt of my rifle standing up against the bed frame with my sword propped up beside it. In the distance, my club was on the floor amongst my strewn clothing.

I remembered the day I carved it myself from the most peculiar of rocks. I’d found it and was immediately struck by its beauty and strength. From the moment I saw it I was enamored with its texture and had carved my beautiful club so I could walk around with a piece of its beauty forever. Often, it had felt like a good luck charm and when I thought back to the psionic attacks, it certainly feels that way more than ever.

With my eyelids growing heavy, I rolled over and pulled the heavy blanket up over my head. For the briefest of moments, my thoughts of the war faded and were replaced with more mundane matters. It was to be my birthday soon. Maybe my family would throw a celebration for the birthday hero.

“Twenty-five,” I whispered into the cold night.

I felt as though I was growing old, faster than I had anticipated.

Chapter 2-Samantha

My legs were burning but I loved it. To me, there’s no better feeling than the pain and invigoration you get from a hard workout. I was jogging on my usual route through the forest at the edge of my neighborhood. The sun was lingering low in the sky, dipping behind the houses as twilight began to descend.

As I entered the dense woods, I reached for my phone to change the tunes. A more natural setting required a more natural soundtrack. Flicking through my playlist I found my favorite Enya song and shoved my phone back in my pocket, making sure not to trip over a fallen branch as I looked back at the trail.

I’m not usually a paranoid person. Actually, I’m the opposite. I love adventure, fear nothing and grab life by the horns. My mom worries about me, though, she’s not like me. When she discovered I was running at night in the forest she gifted me a rape alarm for Christmas. She’s always worrying and fussing over me and I’m always trying to reassure her that I’m ok. Not that she ever listens.

But it was times like this when the air was crisp and the endorphins were pumping that I felt like she was missing out. Life is beautiful when you step out of your comfort zone.

With the music playing softly in my ears, coaxing me further into the woodland I was in a state of pure bliss. The birds were rustling in the trees with the dusky sunlight glinting off the wet leaves. The rain had trailed off an hour ago leaving puddles on the path and I leaped over them one by one, taking them in stride. It was starting to get cold now too and the chilled air lashed against my face as I ran, reviving me and cooling me against the waves of perspiration that were coming over my body.

The most cherished part of my run was the glade that I passed at the halfway mark. It was isolated and although it was only half a mile from the main road that ran through my neighborhood, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the center of a national park. Well, until you got through to the other side and heard the traffic once again.

As I reached it, I took my designated break and leaned against a tree. Pulling my headphones from my ears I took in the surroundings, gulping water fast as I rested. Then something struck me. There was something different, something missing. I couldn’t hear the bird in the trees. The only sound was my throat as it swallowed back big mouthfuls of water. I placed my bottle on the ground and looked around. There was definitely a strange feeling in the air. It was silent, eerily silent with not even the scurry of an animal through the undergrowth or the distant sound of a robin chirping.

I stood still. It was as though time had stopped still. For a moment I cast my mind back to a story I’d heard in elementary school.

“It has been said that animals can predict natural disasters and escape cities days before they occur,” my teacher had told us.

Was that true? Was there about to be an earthquake and all the birds, bees and squirrels had run away? It didn’t feel like that. There was an insidious atmosphere, a feeling of being watched. I was never one for believing in ghosts but this was as good a time as any to start. It felt like there were eyes boring through the back of my head, searing into my soul. I shivered despite feeling hot. It was time to get out of there.

Taking a few slow steps before reaching my natural jogging pace, I made a quick exit from the glade, eager to get away and back to the hustle and bustle of the city. But the feeling only got stronger as I ran. I couldn’t stop glancing behind me, imagining hot breath on the back of my neck as I escaped an invisible attacker. It was so strong it made my stomach flip. I was looking behind me more than in front of me and tripped a couple times as I failed to see where I was treading.

Fuck, what’s got into me?

I gasped as I tried to keep my spirits up and steady my nerves.

You’re probably just tired, exhausted from working and jogging too much. You need to get home and take care of yourself. Think of a hot bath, think of chocolate and a movie, think of your puppy who loves you more than anything.

I started to feel better but the moment of mental respite was fleeting. The feeling was back and even stronger. Something rustled in a nearby bush. It sounded huge, bigger than a fox, almost the size of a human.

Just your mind playing tricks on you. Calm down.

I kept running, picking up a faster pace.

Just calm the fuck down, Samantha!

I was angry at myself. It wasn’t like me to lose my cool, to see or feel things that weren’t there. I was a professional, strong woman, one that wasn’t intimidated by anything but here I was, afraid of a few rustling leaves and a mysterious “feeling.”

But the end of the forest was in sight. I could see the faint electric glow of the distant street lamps. In under a minute, I would be stepping out onto the pavement. Yet, there it was again, the rustling.

“Shit!”

I swerved out the way of a bush and tripped over another branch I hadn’t seen hiding in the darkness. My mom was right. It was insanity to be out here in the dark, jogging like everything in the world was innocent, sweet and lovely. I was being watched and nothing could make me think otherwise.

Just think of the street ahead.

I tried to focus my thoughts on the street ahead. The lamps were getting brighter with orange beams drifting through the trees like warm beacons of safety.

“Just a few more feet,” I said under my breath as I pumped my legs.

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as the blood and adrenaline rushed through my body. I was manic, my body going into overdrive.

Just a couple more steps. Come on….

The bushes rustled again. I jumped, screamed, felt the back of my head hit the ground.

“What the fuck!” I yelled.

My legs were restrained. There were people on me. I was being mugged, attacked or something worse. I kicked with all my strength, the sweat making me slippery against my assailants. It felt like there were so many of them as our limbs flayed in a tangled mess but I could only see two heads. They were struggling to keep hold of me as I struggled. Through the darkness and panic, I couldn’t make out their faces. They loomed down on me as I saw the stars behind them, the crescent moon high above their heads.

I screamed again, bit down on one of their arms. They yelled and recoiled in agony, a strange strangled voice uttering a dialect I’d never heard before. They argued with one another as they held me down, obviously annoyed that I was putting up more of a fight than they anticipated. Their accents were weird, distorted almost with voices that were low and grumbled. One of them held their hand over my mouth and I bit down again, the acidic taste of his blood running between my teeth. It was then, as his arm was close to my face and caught a sliver of the moonlight that I noticed his color. His skin was blue.

Wide-eyed in horror I struggled to free myself again, but this time, they were angrier and held me down to tie my arms and legs. As they stood up, pulling me up along with them I could see them clearly for the first time. It felt as though there were more of them because they had four arms. Dumbstruck into silence and frozen out of fear, I could do nothing but let them drag me deep into the forest.

My heart was hammering hard in my chest, so fast I was certain I would pass out or have a heart attack. In the moment I prayed that I would die before my captors could do anything to me. As my feet brushed through the long grass and they pulled me through the foliage with their hands clutching at my elbows, I listened to them. I’d seen enough crime shows to know what evidence they needed. It was the little things that mattered like what they smelled like and what their accents were. It was the unassuming physical traits that often got criminals caught like whether they had a limp or talked with a lisp. As I listened to their voices and felt the weight of their four arms, I came to the conclusion that no policeman would believe a word I said. Their voices came from no human voice box and their limbs were... Blue and multiple. I was shocked and in fear of my life, paralyzed as I helplessly became the victim of a kidnapping, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized what was happening. I’d been pushing the thought out of my head since the moment I saw the blue skin but the four arms confirmed it. They were alien.

As I looked up I could see something through the trees. It was large and black, almost invisible in the dark. As we approached, the side of it opened and revealed a sparkling spectacle of modern technology. It was the innards of their ship. Dragged inside, I was immediately hit by the smell of an unknown species. There was peculiar beeping all around and the deafening sounds of machinery. However, I was soon dragged far from the buzzing lights and taken deep within the bowels of the ship.

There was darkness all around and cold metal pressing up against my back. I wasn’t sure if there were other prisoners hiding within the shadows. I certainly couldn’t see them but I could sense their breath, feel their fear as though it were my own.

My captors closed the door behind them. I could hear them chuckling as they walked down the long corridor. Then silence. It seemed to last forever and permeate everything around me.

“Hello?”

I spoke to no one in particular in my desperate longing for human contact.

“Is anyone here?”

There was no response. Then suddenly, when I thought the silence couldn’t last any longer, the rumbling started. I felt it in my gut first, then beneath my bottom as the floor began to shake. The engine was roaring into life, growing louder, then louder again until the walls trembled. Then we were off the ground, weightless and free as we shot up through the sky. My ears popped as we ascended and a deep nausea weighed heavy in my stomach. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes, praying that when I opened them I would wake up and discover it was all a dream.

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