Hylias

Posted on Sun Nov 1, 2015 @ 3:11pm by Commander Caden Aldrex

1,665 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Things Past
Location: Orcan-Sceptri VII
Timeline: 367 Years Ago

[ON]

It would be easy to fall asleep like this, Aldrex thought to himself. He was slumped against a large stone with his legs drawn up to his chest. He put his forehead against his knees, closed his eyes, and immediately began to doze off. The conditions for sleep were perfect. It was quiet and the sky above him was dark, save for the abundance of stars on this clear night. The blissful pleasure of a good night's rest beckoned to him from the edges of his consciousness.

He wanted so much to sleep but knew he shouldn't. Now was not a good time. The Sheliak were always punctual. Therefore, they would be arriving soon. So he shooed sleep away by thinking of his wife.

"I'll wait for you," she had said, before standing on her toes to kiss him goodbye. He still remembered the touch of her lips and the scent of her perfume. Then she had smiled that smile of hers. As if he were only going to the market for a few minutes. She was good at being strong, or at least acting like it. Her dazzling smile was still in place the last time he had seen her from his window seat on the shuttle. The smile contrasted with the more mournful faces around her. If she had cried over him then he had never seen it. She wouldn't let him see it.

Then came stasis. And the long flight out to Orcan-Sceptri, where a nucleonic mine had promptly blasted the troop transport out of orbit. Half the people aboard had been killed in the attack. Some never even woke up, never knew what hit them. The module containing Aldrex and the rest of his unit had miraculously come down in soft marshland. Since then it had been mostly about survival.

How long ago had that been? Aldrex resisted the urge to think about it. The Sheliak had sent wave after wave to dig the Trill defenders out of this planet they claimed as theirs. Every wave had been repulsed.

Was she still waiting? Could he really expect her to wait? To still have that smile in place after all this time and no news?

He heard footsteps approaching him. He was not alarmed. It was only Captain Tarad. "Sir, I see them. On the horizon."

Aldrex opened his eyes and shot to his feet, instantly alert. He reached for his plasma rifle. It was purely instinctive. The spacecraft was making a low approach from the horizon, just as Tarad had said. It was visible only by its navigation lights.

He started walking that way. "Wait for me," he said quietly, still thinking of her face.

Tarad heard and replied. "I think at least one of us should go with you, sir."

Aldrex turned to Tarad and the other troops that had come as his protective detail. They were armed with a variety of weapons, large and small. "Oh, right. Tarad, come with me. The rest of you stay back and cover us. Stay out of sight."

"Your rifle, sir," Tarad reminded, nodding to the weapon in his hands. This meeting was supposed to be under a flag of truce. No weapons allowed. Aldrex handed the rifle to the nearest subordinate. "Let's go." With Tarad next to him he made his way to the craft, which was now setting down.

The place they were walking on had once been a forest. Now it was a blasted, desolate moonscape full of ash, rocks, and craters. It almost made Aldrex wonder why they were still fighting over this place. This planet that had once been alive and pristine, but was now dead. The colonists they had been sent to defend had been evacuated. Those still alive, anyway.

Aldrex and Tarad stopped just short of the craft. Its ramp came down with a whirr which abruptly stopped when it touched the powdery ground. The two Trills put on grim, hardened expressions to mask their apprehensiveness. They waited.

A lone Sheliak came down the ramp, its outline difficult to make out in the darkness. They preferred the darkness, these mysterious, xenophobic creatures. It appeared to be the only occupant of the craft. Coming to a stop at the bottom of the ramp it said, "I speak for the Corporate," through its translator. If it had a name it didn't offer it. They never did.

"My name is Hylias Aldrex, 422nd Guards Legion. This is my adjutant, Captain Tarad. I am authorized to speak for our side."

"What terms do you propose?" the Sheliak asked.

"We propose extending the cease-fire for another ten of your cycles so that we can tend to our dead and wounded. We will also return your dead to you that we have recovered. As a gesture of goodwill."

The Sheliak was silent for a moment. Then asked, "What else?"

"After that, if you're willing, we propose a phased mutual stand-down within our current positions to allow--"

"The first part of your proposal is acceptable," the Sheliak interrupted. "The second part is not. The Trill infestation will leave this planet immediately following the ten cycles we have granted. If it does not we will continue our operations to cleanse the planet of said infestation."

Aldrex narrowed his eyes and said, "Understand that we will not leave this place. It was our colony long before you ever arrived in this region of space."

"Your claims have no validity with us."

It was the same thing they had said the day they arrived in orbit and bombarded innocent civilians with nucleonic pulse charges. He could feel his blood rising to a boil. "And we're not concerned with your validation. If you won't acknowledge our attempts to make peace then we'll be glad to speak again with the barrels of our weapons."

"Your fighters continue to be exterminated in great numbers," the Sheliak countered. "You have no more support vessels in orbit. Your supply chain has been cut off."

Aldrex shot back with his own intel. "You, too, are nearing the limit of your logistical support. Most of your ships are too heavily damaged to break orbit. It will be at least two-hundred and eighty of your cycles before your relief arrives. Our reinforcements will be here before then."

"Sir," Tarad said quietly, placing his hand on Aldrex's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

Aldrex balled his fists at his side. Tarad had communicated everything he needed to without words. Having this argument with the Sheliak again was pointless. And besides, it was unwise to offer up information about the reinforcements coming from Trill. They were cruising just as fast as their ionized plasma engines could propel them, but it was still agonizingly slow.

"We could end this," Aldrex said. It was almost a plea. "Why should this war should continue? Why can't we reason together?"

The Sheliak didn't care for reason. "This planet is ours. You have no choice but to accept it. This is our counter-offer. We will grant you passage through our blockade if you embark your remaining ships and set course for your own space."

Aldrex scoffed at that. Their forces had only a handful of shuttles left, with not nearly enough accommadation or fuel to carry everyone home. "And what of those we'll have to leave behind?"

"Any remaining infestation will be neutralized when we reoccupy the planet," the Sheliak said with no trace of regret. "Do you accept?"

"Such a generous offer. We'll answer after we teach the children of the village to sing songs of your kindness."

The sarcasm was lost on the Sheliak. "Do you have anything further?" it asked.

"Just one more thing," Aldrex said. "We ask for us a status update on our commanding general, whom you have captured. Is she being treated well?" It had been two weeks since the Sheliak had captured the Trill force commander in a surprise raid on headquarters. Since then they had had no word of her fate.

"The creature is being nourished and kept alive. The parasitic lifeform within is also being kept alive for study."

Aldrex tilted his head. "What do you mean 'being kept alive for study?'"

"We have surgically removed the parasite so that we may conduct additional tests. We were unaware that certain elements of the Trill infestation had this biological feature. It warrants further research so that we may exploit potential weaknesses."

Aldrex traded a look with Tarad, who had his own look of disgust. "This is an outrage!" he yelled at the Sheliak. "It's not a parasite! It's a sentient lifeform that shares a symbiotic relationship with its host! By removing it you have committed an atrocity!"

"You are a lesser lifeform," the Sheliak replied calmly. "Your concept of morality does not interest us."

Tarad spoke up. "We demand the return of our general and her symbiont for immediate medical attention. They will both die if they are not rejoined. Time may be very short." He was not joined but understood well the dangers of separating a symbiont from its host.

The Sheliak's reply was cruel and straightforward. "No."

If Aldrex could have he would have killed the alien right there. The mixture of hate, grief, and helplessness was overwhelming. So he just stood there and screamed at it. A primal, guttural howl that came from a place he had never opened up before. Then he turned around and placed his hands atop his head. He couldn't even look this monster in the eye.

As expected the Sheliak was unmoved by the gesture. "Do you have anything further?" it asked again.

"Yes, I do," Hylias Aldrex said, his voice strained and hoarse. He turned to face the Sheliak. "Tell the others of your kind that we'll kill you all if you come down to this planet again. This negotiation is over." He walked back to his soldiers at a brisk step.

[OFF]

Hylias Aldrex
Soldier/Former Host
(NPC Bert)

 

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