Escape From Redeem, Rise of an Emperor

Planet: Akrioka-Orkra- Orkra Clan World

When the scout ship studied Planet X1, they had marvelled at the advancements of the race they had observed. The green skinned bestial looking aliens had seemed primitive at first glance. Their spacecraft and other technology defied this incorrect assumption. When the scouts had been boarded by the ferocious monsters, it quickly dawned on them that they had grossly underestimated the capabilities of the planets inhabitants.

The crew of the reconnaissance scouting ship had numbered in their hundreds when they had surrendered to the boarding party of the aliens. Who carried very crude, but extremely large blades and colossal guns that looked more like cannons.

The guns seemed to fire some kind of energy that would melt all that it touched, turning every sealed blast door into molten slag that the beasts flooded through, to enslave the unprepared crew, that were all members of Black Watch.

Now the recon task force that was secret to all but General Defoe numbered around twenty five survivors. The death toll had been high, when the beasts had first boarded the ship. None could withstand the ferocity of the rampaging aggressors who used their guns to literally melt any person that showed any resistance.

Some had been hacked to pieces, covering the aliens green skin in their blood and gore. The Captain of the ship eventually ordered the crew to drop their weapons. Some did, and some didn’t follow the order. The result was the same, as they carved their way through the ship with little mercy.

The biggest of the boarding party barked at the others in a guttural language that was aggressive in every syllable. They obeyed the leader and stopped the slaughter reluctantly.

The Black Watch crew were then tied up in wire restraints that cut into them sharply. Anyone that tried to slip out of them slowly peeled the skin from their wrists and gave up immediately in agony. They were then promptly brought down to the planet’s surface that was mainly jungle, occasionally broken here and there with industrial cities that spewed forth smog that tainted the very air they breathed, making it taste metallic and bitter.

They had been there ever since, wallowing in a muddy mesh cage that was open to the elements. Numerous insects would harass and irritate the human survivors, biting them and leaving toxins that would sting for hours. The survivor’s numbers gradually diminished over time. Through illness, infection, starvation and sometimes for the pleasure of their captors, who would slaughter one of them in view of the rest, and then eat the parts that they had chopped off the unfortunate victims. They had not known terror such as this before. Most of them accepted their fate and waited for the time when they would die on the hellish world. Some would even welcome death as an escape from the misery they were now in.

But not all had given up hope. Lucy McDowell had always been a survivor, and she like the others had undergone training, to endure and escape captivity. She was far from breaking and in spite of her young years, was able to rally hope in the hearts of others who were more senior to her. Without her comforting words many would have given in to their despair. Maybe it was her youth that gave her this hope that they would all get out of this alive.

Lucy had always enjoyed the secrecy and adventure of her missions. She always felt lucky to be the one to explore the galaxy. But now as she watched her Captain being returned to the holding cage, whipped and covered in blood, she would have given anything now for a safe office job back on Earth.

‘Are you alright Sir?’

She asked the Captain who winced away from her concerned touch. Lucy had her share of beatings and whippings from their captors, as did many of the captive crew. She did not even recognise some of the highly intelligent members of the Black watch now.

She had been recruited by the secret service that was unofficially called the Watch and graduated top of her class at the technology institute that was formally called MIT in North America. Lucy had climbed the internal ranks within the Watch quickly. At only 22 Lucy was now a full operative in the infamous Black Watch.

The Agency had four branches that would spy and gather information on all of Earths threats, both on and off world. The White Watches’ task was mainly to look and investigate civilian activities. The Red was tasked to spy on the many gangs and Cartels that would pose a threat, and the Blue would keep an eye on any corporate foul play.

The Black Watch would spy on everyone. Sometimes that would include White, Red and Blue Watch. But mainly they would take on the top secret missions that no one would ever find out about. They reported to one man alone; General Defoe, who was also the keeper of secrets, as well as the leader of Earths, armed forces.

‘Captain, are you ok?’ She asked him again hoping her leader, and mentors mind had not been lost.

‘I should have followed the Generals orders and put the ship into self-destruct when they first boarded.’ He looked up at Lucy hoping that his subordinate would give him any comfort.

‘Were you ordered to destroy the ship if we were compromised?’

Asked Lucy surprised at the order. Maybe it would have been a blessing now though, she thought.

‘Yes, but I didn’t have the courage to do it, I thought we could fight them off. Now…’

He choked up, remembering the horror they had endured since being taken.

‘Now we all die slowly or until they massacre us one by one. I am sorry I didn’t have the strength to end us quickly.’ She reached out to hold his shredded hands that were covered in dirt and blood and they sat in silence trying to avoid any glances that came their way from the green skinned captors.

‘You only did what I would have done. We are all in pain sir, it means were still alive and as horrible as that seems right now, I believe we will get through this. I don’t know why I feel that way, but I cannot accept that this is how it ends. We are Black Watch sir. I know I haven’t been with the agency for long, but we are not just selected for our minds alone. You told me not so long ago that we had to be the best physically, as well as mentally. If anyone can escape this situation it is us.’

Lucy had many attributes as well as her intellect. She was chosen before she was born to be enhanced and she had lived up to that expectation. She was destined to become a member of the Guild of Engineers, but during her time at the Technology Institute she showed she had other skills that would be more suitable to the Watch.

She loved to run and was a reputable athlete when she was recruited. Since then her training had been relentlessly extreme. By the time she had achieved the rank of full operative at only 18 years of age, she had been sculpted into an agent of secrecy and death.

She had several kills to her name already, and would always be requested by the Guild of Assassins to assist them with their operations.

Being a spy came easy to her and she would use any weapon available. Including her beauty, that had allowed her to get close to many a target that would spill all they knew, just to get close to her.

She had jumped at the chance to go on the secret scouting mission that General Defoe had tasked them with.

Lucy would not have even been taken on the mission until she had used her flirtatious charms to get her commanding officer to include her. It had not been easy. She was much in demand back on Earth, in infiltrating a potential underground arms dealer. But an opportunity like this would accelerate her career quicker than a shooting star. So she had asked nicely, knowing her commander would fall for her wavy curly brown hair and doe eyes that were irresistible to most men.

This included the ship’s Captain who had kept her close throughout the whole mission, and now squeezed her hand tighter than she would have liked.

She looked over to one of the Aliens, knowing her sexuality could not be used over this enemy for influence. Even if they had been human, her bruised face and mud caked hair that was plastered against her scalp made Lucy look far from attractive.

She noted even though they were bestial in appearance, they shared a lot of characteristics with Humanity. Their ears were pointy but were in the same place as humans, as were their eyes and limbs. They were massive creatures with bulgingly rippled muscles that made them look demonic in appearance.

The Alien slowly turned to look back at Lucy; his bloodshot eyes surveyed her, like someone about to choose their next meal form a selection of prime livestock.

‘Bach Charz Bzarckeras diek vral’

The beast uttered and then licked the tip of one of his larger fanged teeth.

Lucy did not know if she could look into the eyes for much longer before she was taken from the cage and chopped to pieces, like so many of the crew before her.

She had been listening to them talk to each other from orbit using enhanced listing devices normally used spying form orbit on her own race, before they had been boarded. She had been picking up bits of their language and decided she would try and communicate with her captors. What did she have to loose. Death would come eventually anyway.

Her grasp of languages was one of the many reasons she was so valuable in the Watch. She had been observing the Aliens say the same thing every time they greeted each other. She decided she would try that first.

‘jDem Nock Kla.’

She barked at the one eyeing her up, as aggressively as she could. It was a throaty tongue that was difficult to pronounce but felt she had greeted her captor correctly.

His surprised face let her know right away that it had some effect. Whether right or wrong she would now find out, potentially paying for the risk with her life. He slowly picked up a very cruel looking flaying knife and walked to the cages locked entrance.

***

Gaka was Chieftain of a thousand clans and ruled with an iron fist, on the Continent of Rakaza

The pink skinned race in the cages, had been given to him by one of his clan Chiefs, after capturing them in the void of space above the planet Akrioka-Orkra, which meant home of the Orkra. This world was but one of the multitudes of planets inhabited with his race. Some they had conquered from beings like the ones caged before him. Gaka missed the sport of killing other races and taking their planets for the glory of the clans. They had been forced of late, to make war on each other, due to the lack of new inhabited territory found. Such was the way of the Orkra.

He now had at his disposal a batch of creatures that looked vaguely familiar to him. He stared at one of their females, thinking of another fay race that was so similar to these ones, when the female surprised him, with a perfectly pronounced greeting.

He picked up a blade and moved towards the cage. Behind him his under Chieftain Maglak shouted just as surprised.

‘That thing just spoke our words.’

Gaka growled menacingly at the female, deciding how to respond. She just looked back fearlessly. Maybe the males were the weaker of this race. If any of his clan warriors had looked at him the same way, then they would shortly find their severed head at their feet. But this one was different from the rest somehow. He had always been a thinker, something that was strange for the Orkra. Perhaps this was why he ruled, he mused. He turned to his under Chief.

‘They look like Elf meat, but don’t smells like em. I want to show this one to the High Shaman. He may find where the pink things come from.’

Maglak liked the thought of shedding more of this races blood. They had been so easy to kill, and that was just fine by Maglak. They did look like their hated enemy the Elfan, but they would have needed hundreds more ships to take out one of the fay folk’s mighty space crafts. And they would have lost countless more clan warriors upon boarding an Elfan vessel.

‘I will summon him at once.’

As Maglak left, the Chieftain said to the Clan warriors in ear shot.

‘No one touches the pink things. You may eat what is already dead. Leave the rest until I say.’

The Clan warriors smashed their clawed fists on their oval green body armour, to show they had understood the order.

Gaka knew most would obey. He was also sure that some would not be able to stop their blood lust. Then he would have to take a few heads off.

So be it. The one that had spoken their words, he wanted kept alive for now. She would make good sport once they had learned what they needed to.

‘Bring that one to my chamber and secure her before my throne.’

The order was carried out and the pink skinned female was taken away, to the mild protests of the rest of the captives, who had become a pleasing distraction.