Evolution

Written when I was 11 years old!

Prologue I: Evolution

Three eons from now, there were only five races of aliens left in a group of galaxies known as the Local Group.                                             The first of them was us, the humans. We have evolved over time, enhancing our strength, speed, agility, and senses. For a specie that survived for eons, our intelligence had to evolve too. We were smarter, and were quicker at solving problems.  After that was a ruthless, power-hungry race called the rexels. On the outside, they looked tough and scary, and it looked like their bodies were only meant for battle, but their minds were very complex and intelligent, and you will be surprised at how smart they are. They had small bullhorns on the sides of their heads and a sharp fin on top, like a shark. Oh, and they were orange.                                                                                        Next up was a race called the trixians. Despite their poor body adaptations, their laser technology was the best, and they build structures faster than any other race. They were lime green and looked pretty much like a human except for their antennae’s.                                                                                  The next race was called the martians. This race was as old as us, and originated from the planet in the first human solar system, called Mars. Their strength was incredible; their four arms could carry elephants. Their technology was more advanced than us, and they lacked nothing. They had four fierce reptilian eyes and were dark green.                                                                                              The last one, oh I don’t even want to talk about them. I’ve had some pretty bad experiences with them. We call them the voidals, dark black and purple sinister creatures with tentacles that only use weapons for magic. Everything else about them is unknown, but what do we know, is that they are very dangerous.                             Now that you know the five races, let’s talk about how we left earth, long, long ago.               Earth was a beautiful planet, everything was perfect, and the atmosphere kept out the UV rays of light from the star they called the sun like it was supposed to. The star was a perfect distance from it. Every animal lived in peace.        Then a meteor crashed, which is scientist’s best theory, and the smoke and debris floated into the air. There was so much dust it covered the sun for ages, and during those ages, and the plants couldn’t get sun for photosynthesis, and couldn’t produce food for them to eat, so they died. The herbivore dinosaurs had nothing to eat, so they died too. The carnivores had no herbivores to eat, so they started eating each other, but soon they all died.                                               The world got so cold without the sun that the ice age started. And then glaciers formed. When the ice age ended the glaciers melted into our oceans we have today.             Then billions of years passed, and the sun grew too big, and it would eventually die, which meant it would turn into a white dwarf, giving us no heat at all. That would be colder than the ice age. But we won’t even get to experience that, because during the sun’s death it will expand, and it will give us too much heat, it will evaporate all our waters, and make us thirst to death. And if that doesn’t kill us, then the supernova or black hole will.                                                                                    But enough negative thoughts now, because I’m about to give you a huge positive one. We have made technology to carry our whole race to another planet. In those three eons, we’ve been jumping planet to planet, finding new homes as old ones get polluted, or our star dies. Now, we can’t find any new planets that were not already used by us, or destroyed by other races.                                                              Until one day we found one planet left in the Local Group. A star called Remedie with a planet called Vanity.                                 Our only problem?                                                                              We have to wrestle for it over four other races who want it as much as us. 

Prologue II: War

I strolled down the Humanity Sk-49 enterprise and tried to find my room. The ship in space was as big as a quarter of earth, so it was really easy to get lost.                                          Luckily, there were intercom phones; addresses for single rooms, and maps of the three floors of the ship planted everywhere.                                                                       And I know there are some science nerds out there. Well, here’s the info. I can walk because the whole ship has artificial gravity. I don’t know how they’ve managed to create it, but they did.                                                                                           I whizzed around a corner and walked by a ton of people. Then I found my room. I typed in a code on a nine-panel keypad and walked in. The first thing I do was try to call my dad. No luck. My dad was the leader of the human race; he was the one who solved all our problems. I think I haven’t talked to him for two years, because he was so busy, but today I really wanted to talk to him. Well, every single day I really wanted to talk to him.                                                              As usual, he didn’t answer. Resentment swelled up inside of me, but I didn’t blame him. He probably had thousands of calls every day, complaining about his leadership, complaining about how he makes decisions, or complaining about other stuff- involving him.                                                                                   Then I called my friend Kyle, and I said I was coming to his room to talk about something. I put back the phone and walked out the door.                                                                                              I went to the nearest map and read the fastest route to Kyle’s room. And yes, he has his own room, far away from his family, like me. The ship is so big it has a small dorm for every human, and nobody lived in the same room unless you were eight or lower. Or you were a couple.                           I streamed through the futuristic hallways. Blue and red lines streaked through the edges. Metal made up the floor in a conveyor belt pattern, the color of a stainless steel refrigerator. It was very cool.                                                                                   Kyle’s room was a few blocks away, and in five minutes I was there. A computer voice conversed.                           “Please state your name.”                       “Mark William Iconic Grey.” I said.               It took a while before the computer executed that I was someone Kyle knew.                                                                       “Mark Grey identified. Welcome.”                                                  Then the door opened. Kyle was wearing a blue pajama robe and looked like he just took a bath. Perfect timing then. He was reading a book on his bed. Before I could see the title of the book he closed it and put it under his bed.                                                                                                “Hey Mark. What can I do for you?”                                            “Kyle I need your help. Do you know anything about how to get past security and into the meeting room?” “Sure. Done it about three times.”                                “How?” I asked, surprised. I was planning to get support from all my friends for help, but I didn’t know I would need to stop at the first. “First tell me why you want to go in the meeting room.”                                “I haven’t talked to my dad in two years.”                               “Who’s your dad again?”                                           “Steve Grey! Leader of the human race! Do you ever bother to listen? I’ve probably told you this like, ten times!”                         “Oh yeah, right, right.” He said. I had a feeling he wouldn’t remember what I just told him.                                                  “And, why do you want to talk to him?”           I started to get angry, although I knew I should’ve been patient with him. I couldn’t force myself to though.                          “Why does it matter? Are you going to help me or not?”          “I will.” He said calmly. He opened the door to his walk-in closet. Every room had one. He took out a cardboard box, with a label on it that said, dad’s spy gadgets.                                                                                         “Um, Kyle, I’m pretty sure you know I’m not a spy.” I said. “Ok, this is a secret. My dad is a gadget designer and builder. I secretly steal his gadgets, because I think they’re cool. Here’s one I’ve got for you.”                                                He pulled out a regular grey sweater. “This is an invisibility cloak. It takes a picture of your back, reverses it, and displays it at your front. Also does it the other way around. It only works when you wear it. This is only to get past the security guards.” He explained, then handed me the sweater.                                                                                            “Wait, what about the hidden laser beams?” I said, remembering what people said about the meeting room’s security.                                                     “Ah, that’s a rumor. There’s no lasers, trust me, I’ve been there.”                     I wasn’t fully convinced, but I trusted Kyle. I eyed the sweater.                                                                                       “Thanks Kyle,” I said, “you do not know how much this means to me.”                                                  “Yes, I do. Now bye, I have things to do.”                                                  

.  .  .

I pretty sure that was a lie, because Kyle never has things to do. It wasn’t important anyway.                                                          I sped walked over to the meeting room. It was far. Though I made it in twenty minutes.                                                             The meeting room was where all the decisions were made about our survival. Everything was talked over in there. Our resource supply, our economy, our services, anything you could possibly imagine about what we needed to survive was communed in there.                                                                       It was round, and a gray wall of carpet spread all across it. Two guards with shades and business suits with earpieces were guarding the way inside. Kyle mentioned a long time ago that they were the top-notch best security in the whole race. But he did also say his dad’s inventions always tricked them. The negative had beaten the positive. I wasn’t so sure now if I could pass them.                                                                     The hallway was long enough so I could open the door without them noticing. That was good.                                             I looked over the corner at the bodyguards. I did my best at giving myself fake confidence. I could do this.                             Here goes nothing. I took a deep breath and put the hood of my invisibility cloak over my head, and I actually turn invisible! I can’t see my hands!                                                                                                          I walked as quietly as I could right past the guards. I opened the door carefully, and slipped in. My mind was racing. I actually got past security!                                                                                              Now I was in the meeting room. It had the same gray walls as the outside, and was windowless. An intercom screen was on the wall, being unused. An oval-shaped glass table was in the middle of the room. Nothing was on it except the clasped hands of ten people around the table. They were all wearing formal business suits. I wondered if everyone who worked my dad wore them.                                                           Then I heard a loud voice, which shook me for a second. It drew my attention.                                                                                  I recognized it. My father’s! I don’t know how I knew it. I haven’t seen him since I was nine. But somehow, I knew. “What choices do we have?” My dad asked.                                                                  “We don’t have a lot.” A man said with grief.   “We can keep looking for another planet.” Another man suggested.                    “Or just use all our fuel to find another planet out of the Local Group.” A woman said.                   “Approximately how long will we last with these resources?” My dad asked.                                   “Three months.” A man replied.                     “Then we can’t get out of the Local Group. It’ll take a year, and we only have three months of resources. And we can’t even do that even if we had enough time and supplies. It is impossible to-“                                                                                    Beep! Beep!                     My head spun around. I saw someone’s face appear on the intercom screen, which turned on automatically. He had warm bronze eyes, hair with different shades of brown, and looked in his late twenties.                                                          “What is it Kyle?” My dad asked, staring at him.                              “Very good news sir!” The man said.                     “Well, what is it?” His voice sounded curious, like what I was right now. Inquisitive.                                                                      “A new star called Remedie and a planet called Vanity has been located!”                                      My invisible jaw dropped. “How far?!” My father slammed his hands on the table excitedly, which startled everyone on the table.                                                                                              “It’ll take two months. We can make it!”                                 “Yes!” My father’s yell filled me with hope.                                  “One thing sir, there is a ship on the other side, and my guess is they want the planet too.” My father’s smile faded. He pondered for a while.              “Okay, we will carry this out with peace. Diplomatic mission at one o’ clock. I want all of you there. Dismissed.”                                                            Everybody got off their chairs and walked out of the room. When I was sure that his dad was the only one in the room left, I took off my hood. My father didn’t seem surprised, as if things like this happen to him every day.                                                                                           “What are you doing here kid? I’ve got work to do.” He said, as he wrote on files that he took out from under the desk.        I couldn’t believe it. Has it been so long he doesn’t remember me? Does he not recognize me anymore?   “Dad.” I said. He looked up and raised his eyebrows. “It’s me, Mark.”                                                                      

.  .  .

My dad and I were at an ice cream shop. It was in one of the many thousands of malls in the ship. I was the one that had the idea of getting ice cream. And the one that brought us to this mall, my favorite one because it had all my favorite stores.                                                                                                            The store was in the middle of one of the mall’s aisles. The name of the store was in a big and bright neon sign above our heads. The ice cream was kept in a refrigerated glass case, like always. Signs told you what flavor each one was.                                                                                                            The store was set up like a bar. We sat on tall chairs leaning against the table that stretched across the whole store. Employees wore clothes with an apron that matched the store’s colors. They had lime green caps on their head.   “Vanilla please.” My dad asked one of them. He always loved the plainest, oldest ice cream flavor in the universe. The worker told us we got a discount, and I think it was because of my dad’s title.                                                                               While he was licking that, I got starfruit ice cream. It tasted so good. The way it melts in your mouth, the way the flavors last a long time on your tongue after each lick because of the coldness...                                                                   My dad looked at me, with one arm on the counter and one on his lap. “You’ve grown so much Mark. I’m so sorry I haven’t seen you in two years. Is that really how long we’ve been in this ship?” He asked. “Yes.” I answered. Why didn’t he know that? I guess business can really boggle your mind.                “So, are you excited?”                                        “For what?”                                          “The new planet. I know you have been listening to our meeting in that invisibility cloak.”   “I’m not as excited. There’s a race that wants the planet too. We don’t know if they come in peace or if they are hostile.” I said.                                   “Yeah well, we will get this thing do-“                                                      Beep! Beep!                                                       “Kyle? What is it this time?” My father half-yelled, and instinctively answered the call on his watch.                           “The ship set up an intercom call with us! You have to change the diplomatic mission to right now!” The scientist demanded. He was talking so fast my brain almost couldn’t calculate.                                     “I’ll be there!” My dad stopped eating his ice cream and put on his beige coat on quickly, which used to rest on his chair. “Mark, I want you to come. I’m giving you access to seeing the first ever alien race we have ever seen. So, prepare your eyes.”                                                                                                         I did what he asked the best I could. This was exciting. My heart pumped blood full of adrenaline all over my body. I was expecting them to be very peaceful. But you know, if this race wants to talk to us in an urgent matter, it doesn’t mean it’s good. But that doesn’t bring me down.                             I left my ice cream too as we trudged quickly to the lab room, which I had no idea why. This wasn’t an experiment. It didn’t matter anyway. When we got there my dad said his name to the computer and the door opened.                             The lab room was all white, which definitely didn’t match the outside of the room. White tiles one square meter big were on the walls. Scientists wearing glasses or safety goggles and lab coats worked on computers and took notes while watching videos or seeing the results of experiments. When we entered they all looked at us like we were kings walking down a majestic road. Everybody from the meeting I had listened to was here too, just like my dad ordered.                                                      My dad and I stopped at a specific point in the room. There was an enormous intercom screen, which made the one at my dad’s meeting room look like an ant in comparison.          It covered the whole wall, or, nearly the whole wall. Underneath were a series of computers and buttons and levers and controls that I didn’t understand. The man who had called us to the meeting was there, managing them. He wore a lab coat like the rest, so he was a scientist.                 Once we stopped my dad started barking orders, looking at each person as he went.                                                              “Finn, prepare the transmitter beacon. Henry, prepare the intercom. Jack, work the translator.”                   The intercom screen activated, and displayed an orange figure staring right at the screen like he prepared for it a minute ago. An alien. The very first sign of intelligent life ever in the history of the humans.                                                                My dad spoke first. “We come in peace.”                                        The creature hesitated, then said, “Oh really? Is that what happened to the animal habitats you destroyed? The lakes and oceans you polluted? The planets you abandoned because it was a wasteland created by you humans? We rexels are smarter than that. We would never do that to our homes. And we know what you have done by simply scanning the planets you went to. We have found the traces of alien DNA samples, which led to you aliens. There are no chances. Prepare your forces, because we are prepared for a big fight already. And there is nothing you can do. Your only choice is to fight us, and if you don’t, you will be known as a coward to the Rexel Empire. But you probably won’t live long enough to remember that when we crush you.” That was candid. As the rexel said the last words, the intercom screen turned off, discontinuing to receive a beacon signal from the other race. The rexels didn’t want peace with us. They wanted bloody war. They want violence all because they can afford to have it, and it’s all because of our reputation.                                                       “Diplomatic mission failed.” My dad said. He looked at me with sad eyes, which decreased my courage gradually.   “This means war.”

Chapter I: Organization

I went back to Kyle’s room.                            The door flew open, and I saw Kyle sitting on his desk searching something about pasta on a computer. Before I could speak, Kyle asked, “What is it now?”                                                      I wanted to tell him everything that had happened. But I knew I had to cut things short. We were in a hurry.                                                          “Kyle, we’re starting a war against aliens.” I said.                                 He looked at me in confusion. “What?”   “Everyone except men over eighteen are supposed to evacuate the ship, because they will use it for war. The men over eighteen will be trained. We will set up a camp at the new planet we found called Vanity. Let’s go.” I said as I made a c’mon motion gesture and began to head for the door.                                                                                              Seconds later, the P.A. system announced exactly what I just said. There was one speaker for that in every room. Just to announce if anything big was going on.                                                                                                   “Hold on, we found a new planet?” Kyle asked frantically. “Yes, let’s go, we have to go now.”                                                He finally realized I was very serious and followed. Accompanied by tons of people, we walked over to the escape pod chambers, which were going to be the escape route to Vanity.                                                                                Alarms wailed through the hallways like a fire alarm. Red lights flashed like an emergency was occurring, which it kind of was one. It made everyone look red, which was funny, but there was no time for humor.                                          We walked for… ugh I couldn’t count anymore. I just knew we walked over thirty minutes and my feet were starting to hurt, begging me for rest. I tried to not feel it. I had to get to the escape pods, and then I can rest.                                          We made it finally. The escape pod chamber was basically a huge hallway as wide as a house and as tall as a gym. It looked like it stretched on around the ship. Well, it had to. If there was an emergency and we had to evacuate the ship, like right now, nobody can run to the same spot in the ship in time, especially if you were at the other end of the ship. The chambers were small, each having an escape pod inside. The pods were white with a blue window that covered the whole top. Yeah, I read lots of books.                                          The small chambers were lined up like jail cells in a prison. Each one touching each other, and one for each person.             I saw lots of families reunite and do a group hug. I decided I needed to find mine too.                                                                   Then I spotted mine, and Kyle did the same.                               “I guess this is goodbye.” Kyle said.          “Oh c’mon man. Don’t make this cheesy. We’ll see each other again.” I promised.                                                                                                         He managed a smile. “Until then, my friend.” He said as he saluted like what a military soldier would do to the captain. Then we parted and went to our families. My father wasn’t here, probably training the men for war. But everyone else was accounted for, and that everyone else was just my mom and my sister Kate. We said our hellos.                  It was time to evacuate. My dad’s scientists made an escape pod for each human, so that would mean there’s ten million. And if you were in a family your escape pods would be connected together to form a ball, or any other strong shape if you didn’t have enough to make a sphere.                                                                                                        We walked up to a doorway with a sign that read: escape pod chamber 788, and my mom typed the number 3 on a nine-panel keypad, meaning we have three in our family. We actually have four, but my dad is not here.                               I could hear the escape pods connecting behind the doors, the loud machinery and metal grinding beating the noise of the emergency alarms.                                                                            After a while, the doors opened. Before we went, my mom said something to my eighteen-year-old sister and then she went in her pod. She walked over to me.                                                                              “Don’t worry Mark, we’ll get over this.” She said it like getting over a war was as easy as doing an essay for school. “Mom, I don’t need reassurance. I’m not scared. Dad will protect us.” I half-lied. My mom put her hand on my cheek.                                          “I knew you would say that Mark. I know you are brave. It’s just; if things don’t work out-“                                           “You want me to stay safe.” I finished. Sometimes I wonder if my mom has forgotten I was eleven. I can do things on my own now. “Mom, I’m going to be with you anyway.”                                                                                              “Yes. Now we have to go. Time is running out.”                                                                     We each went to our own escape pod. The white smooth double-door opened, and inside was all black. I already felt a blast of warmth that the pod was going to bring me during the trip blow into my face. I took a deep breath. This was the end of my life on the ship.                                                                                          I emphasized my mom’s words. Time was indeed running out. I had no time to say goodbye to my old life. I stepped in, and felt the pod move slightly as if it was hanging on one rope and was almost going to fall.                                                                                When my full body was in, the doors closed, disconnecting me from the sounds of the people and the alarms. The pod was so tight that I couldn’t sit. I had to stand until the pod fell into Vanity’s surface.                                                                          The pod blasted away, and I felt the thunderous shaking of it. I watched through the blue-tinted window as we shot further and further away from the enterprise, and into the black emptiness of outer space. Since the pod was so tight, I couldn’t test zero gravity. I wanted to though.                               I wondered how a full-sized adult would fit in the pod, since I could barely. My best prediction was that there were different pod sizes.                                                                                               Then a computer voice spoke.                                                                           “Vanity is one of the best planets ever. It has beautiful landscapes, the best resources…”                                                      Ugh. It sounded like one of those annoying vacation advertisements that I couldn’t stand. I wondered who even had the time to create it if we were in the middle of a crisis. Beep! Beep!                                               Uh oh. That was the third call I have heard today. I wanted to say, what is it now? like my dad always did but I remembered I was alone in the pod, so I had nobody to blame. Suddenly the Vanity advertisement stopped. At first I thought I was just that good at ignoring, but that wasn’t it.                                                                                                                             “Alert! Alert! Sensing asteroid impact! Going to hit in five…”                   That can’t be good. “Four…”                                   A metal casing covered the window for extra protection, leaving the inside so dark I couldn’t see my hands. “Three…” Lights flashed like the pod had an electrical problem. “Two…” The airbags deployed. “One…”              I closed my eyes, even though I was in complete darkness. This was going to be bad.                                                      Bam!!!                             The escape pod shook furiously, and then an alarm sound blared, and it seemed louder than ever. I had the strangest feeling my pod was not attached to my family’s pods anymore. Maybe the asteroid hit the connection beam, and my pod broke off. I had to hope that didn’t happen. I had to hope it was just a minor impact, and I was still connected.                                “Now entering the atmosphere of Vanity.”                                              After a few minutes, my calmness returned. I thought everything was fine and back to normal, but then unexpectedly I felt a sharp crash so hard, that darkness claimed me and I fell unconscious. 

.  .  .

“Mark? Wake up!”                                               My eyes opened up to a bright sun, and a girl with auburn hair and hazelnut eyes was looming over me. Thank goodness, my sister.  “Kate? How did you find me?” My voice cracked.                                    “Shh… The rexels are all over the place. Your escape pod got disconnected from us. Then the camp got attacked, and our guards couldn’t hold them off, so we retreated, and that’s when I found you.” She explained.                                                                                  I don’t know why she shushed me. I wasn’t even that loud.       I got out of the escape pod, and studied our surroundings. The pod was destroyed, the twisted metal and contorted hardware all over the place. It was even smoking.                        I saw the trail the pod made, a huge curved path dug into the earth. Fire was all over it. Trees were snapped in half from the force of the pod crash-land. We were in a forest. The trees swayed back and forth from the wind. The sun’s light was fractured under the tree’s shade. It came to my eyes as shattered pieces, fragments of light seeping through the edges and rims of the leaves.                                                          I smelled the smoke of the pod crash, but also the original smell of nature. And the smell of… what is that? It smelled awful. Like dirty barbarians who hadn’t taken a shower in years.                  Then the truth hit me like a painful sack of rice to my head. My sister was right. The rexels. They were everywhere. Then I heard footsteps. Uh oh. One was near us.                    Kate dragged me by the shoulder behind the escape pod, and we crouched so the rexel wouldn’t see us.                             I heard the rexel sniff. He smells us, like how I can smell him. The hostile alien took a few steps towards us. Kate whimpered. I was as scared as she was, but I didn’t dare show it. I had to be brave, that’s what my dad would say.                                                                                                              Then the rexel smashed our cover to smithereens, like it wasn’t already. Our location had been revealed. The alien roared, probably to signal his comrades, or to scare the crap out of us.               “Run! Go!” Kate yelled as she pushed me the opposite way of the rexel. I immediately got up to my feet and shot into the forest, sensing the presence of Kate following me. I ducked under a branch, and then leaped over a stream. The morning dew in the grass wet my black shoes.                                                                                                                                                  Then my heart stopped cold. Another rexel blocked our path. Kate grabbed my hand and we started climbing a tree. At the top, I shoved my hand away.                                                                                “I’m not a baby.” I reminded her. “You don’t have to do that.”                                                                                                        “Oh sorry, I just couldn’t tell because of your immaturity.”                                       She said sarcastically. “You should be thankful. I woke you up when the rexels were going to find you.”                                                                                                         “I would’ve escaped myself.” I lied, hoping it was true. “You don’t always have to act like I’m a year old.”                               We started arguing like regular siblings always do. Then Kate reminded me we were in danger. In the middle of our conflict, the rexel had pulled the tree off its roots, and we fell off. With a hard landing, we splattered onto the floor, and the rexels that had arrived to the first rexel’s call moved in closer for the kill.                                                                           My sister and I shuffled back-to-back, helpless and defenseless against the deadly creatures. At that point my mind stopped working. No longer did I try to find a way out of the mess. No longer did I try to escape. No longer I had hope.                                                                                                    Fear clouded my mind. It had invaded me even when my mind didn’t let it. I was going to die right now, at this very moment. Nobody could save us now.                                                  Surprisingly, an unusual green alien with antennae’s landed in front of us, with a laser rifle in his right hand, and a proton pistol on his left. On his chest was a steel chest plate for armor, and in the center was something I have never seen or heard of before: a plasma projector in the center, glowing bright sky blue.                   He was so tall. A half-meter taller than Kate.                         A rexel growled at him. He was speaking his own language to the green alien, and the green alien was talking back in his own language. I don’t know what they were saying, and I was sure they probably didn’t understand themselves either, but I’m pretty sure they were insulting each other. Then the rexel charged at the green alien, but the emerald figure pounded his chest plate, and a repulsion shield materialized around him.                                                                The rexel attacker tried bashing through the shield, but all he got in return was a bloody forehead, and the shield died off. The green alien shot with his laser guns, blasting the rexels, and making them retreat. I guess they realized that they were no match for the alien.                                                                                              I took out my Artificial Intelligence device, (a white and blue phone that helps you survive) and turned it into translator mode.                                                                                “What are you?” I asked, holding up the device like it was a microphone. He looked at me like he didn’t realize I was there.                                                                                   “My name is Rano. I’m a trixian. What are you?” The trixian asked. Wait; there are other aliens here? I wondered if he was from the planet or he was just like us: he came to the planet.    “We’re humans. Why did you help us?” Kate asked.                                “I’m a trixian outcast. I don’t work for my race.”                                   Kate and I glanced at each other.                                                                            “Anyways, no time to talk,” Rano said, “the rexels will be back with reinforcements, and they are all over the place. We better go now.”                                                                                  A ship rose from the trees right on cue, and landed near us. It was sparkling silver, and was shaped in a Y shape.                                                                                          We ambled up the laid-down ramp and into the aircraft. The walls inside were plain black. The windshield was curved and narrow, and two trixian pilots looked out of it, wearing headphones and microphones attached to it. Their hands were held tight on driver’s wheels, shaped like an infinity symbol.                                                                                               More of the green aliens were lodged in the seats of the vessel, which were all around and against the walls of it. Unlike Rano, they had only one gun, and they were holding onto bars that hung from the ceiling, like what you would see in a subway or train.                                                                    We took our seats. Instead of seat belts, the seat had bottom-suction cushions, which tended to pull us in tight. It was strong enough to hold us in if we were to ever have turbulence, but not powerful enough to hold us in when we intended to get off it. Very cool.                                                                            We rode in complete silence, until Kate looked at me and whispered, “Can we trust him?”                   “Why are you asking me? You’re older.” I said, slightly annoyed. Why am I the leader?                                                                                         “I just wanted your opinion. Anyways, I say no. If he’s an outcast, he must’ve done something bad to be an outcast.” Kate acknowledged.                                                                         “How about we trust him for now, but then let’s see how he acts later. He seems pretty trustworthy. He saved us from the rexels. He’s like a good outcast.” I said, as I felt the humming vibration of taking off. The ship moved from its original spot, flying off into the sky. My body relaxed at the feeling of it.                                                                                   “There’s no such thing as a good outcast.” Kate said, focused on our conversation.                                                                             “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just stick to my plan.”                                           She nodded in agreement. 

.  .  .

“Sir, heating up weapons and training troops well. Only six thousand three people don’t want to fight. What should we do with them, sir?” Kyle asked. Dad sighed. Fewer troops. “Take them back to their families on Vanity but, do not let the other soldiers know that, or else they will all think they don’t have to fight if some people aren’t. Oh, and please scan Vanity for the nearest rexel base.”                                                                                                                    “The nearest one is a rexel camp with three hundred rexels.”                     “Does the camp have any devices?”                               “There are a few devices the size of a laptop sir, only in some tents. These could carry information about their plans and information about them.”                            Dad contemplated for a minute. That was exactly what he was thinking. That is a perfect plan. If we know everything about them, we can always be one step ahead. He thought.                                                “Kyle, Bring me agent N4-s, I’m going on a stealth/robbery mission at two o’clock a.m.”                                  The scientist called the agent in immediately, and soon the door opened and he was there, with cool black shades, a black leather coat, and dark jeans. His shades were actually a high-tech visor. His black hair was combed neatly, and it matched his coat. He looked like a gangster. He chewed gum as he reviewed the lab room.                                                                       Dad and the Kyle were stunned.                                                                                                         “You guys can’t stand there forever. What am I here for?”                   He asked impatiently.  “Chris Nanotic. I need you to help me with heading into rexel territory and taking one of the devices the rexels have.” Dad said straightforwardly. Then he turned to Kyle.       “I want you to equip Nanotic and I with Mr. Lounston’s latest gadgets.” He looked at Nanotic again. “And Nanotic, I want to see you at two o clock. So take a nap if you need to.”

.  .  .

Kate and I have no signs of our friends and family.                We have been stuck at the trixian outcast camp eating weird trixian food. It wasn’t bad at taste or anything, it just had new nutrients that humans don’t need, so I still felt sick.                                                                                                               So far, Rano has been good to us. He defended us, he gave us what we wanted, and he even said he sent a scout team to look for other humans, and I believed that, but Kate didn’t trust him.                                                                                   All day, Rano has taught us the trixian ways of life, and how all their laser technology worked, although I didn’t understand it very much. They said they were specialized at that.                                                                                                      After a full, long day of learning, it turned nine. Kate and I walked through the whole camp to our own tent.                                  Laser lampposts were placed everywhere around the camp for light. Some trixians were still training, and I watched them. It was very entertaining, watching them fight with wooden staffs.            The tents looked like aboriginal tents. The big sticks holding them up were all in an oblong shaped at the top, tied with a rope. Kate and I went in ours, changed into our pajamas and got ready for bed-, which were two sleeping mats and blankets on the floor.                                                           I tried using my AI device to find a signal to contact my mom, but it didn’t work. I sighed. We were alone with the trixians for now.                                                                              Deep down, I was afraid. 

.  .  .

Dad dreamt of a war.                                               We were losing against a race with magic powers. The creatures had tentacles on their chin, and they had nine purple eyes on their faces.                                                                Millions upon millions of them marched through the desert hills, and our forces looked tiny to them. But we still fought back the best we could.                                                                       No matter what strategy we used, the mysterious aliens always had a backfire counterattack plan.                                                              We use rocket launchers, they use reflective shields to blast it right back at us. We use laser cannons, they just made a portal that sucked all the lasers in, and another portal behind the humans, where the lasers came out and destroyed them.                                                                                                               Then we used a Titonic laser nuke, one of the human’s deadliest bombs. The blast radius reached a total of one million kilometer square.                                                                    But the alien enemy seemed to hack the plane bomber, or better explanation yet, hypnotize the pilots, and it dropped on the humans. The explosion sent a ringing noise in Dad’s ear.                                                                                                       Then he awoke to a start.                                     The noise of the nuke shockwave was actually his alarm clock, ringing to tell him it was two o clock in the morning. That the mission was right at that moment.

.  .  .

Dad called Nanotic into the lab. He came into casual clothes this time, and he was looking sleepy. He had taken Dad’s advice to take a nap.                                                                         Kyle gave Dad and Nanotic the latest gadgets. Then he handed them the latest armor.                                                           It had two dual laser blade holders on the back, a repulsion shield installed, and two laser pistol holsters near the thighs.                                                                                                 They put it on. The weight that was upon Dad’s shoulders didn’t matter because the strength of the armor carried him and stopped him from falling. Each strap adjusted itself to adapt to Dad’s body, not the other way around.                          And of course, they had all the weapons their armor can carry. But Nanotic got extra ones. He got a gum pack with gum that blows up when you stick it on metal after five seconds.                                                                                                  He also got a laser rifle with auto aim bullets, which means the bullets will go directly to the enemy closest without having to aim, which was extremely useful in some cases.                                                                                       Dad and Nanotic waded into their pods, and they shot into space, following the coordinates to the rexel camp on the surface of Vanity.

.  .  .

Bam!!!                           The pods hit the red sand desert near the rexel camp. Dad and Nanotic came out at the same time, looking sick from the ride.                                                                                            They looked at their environment as they stepped out of their pods.                                                                                       “Wow, I’ve never really been on a pod before. I’ve only worked with the government on our last planet, never in space.” Nanotic mentioned.                                             Dad ignored him and looked at his watch. It showed a holographic map of the area. “Ok, the camp is north. Let’s go.”                                                                                                             A while later, they reached the perimeter of the camp. They crouched under the wooden log walls with sharpened tops that surrounded it so they wouldn’t be seen.                                                               “Should we split to search for the device, or not?” Nanotic whispered.                                    Dad looked like gears were turning in his head, as he calculated all the positive and negative possibilities and formulated a plan.                                                                           “Stay together, so we won’t get overwhelmed by them. They say, divide and conquer is the best strategy, because when you divide the power, it’s easier to take them on one by-” Then a rexel yelled in a booming voice in the distance. It sounded like it came from inside the camp.                                 Dad and Nanotic glanced at each other curiously, and then they climbed the wall and peeked above it.                                    Two rexels were having an argument. They yelled above each other, each time being louder than the last. They each had a black coat and a black hat that matched it, like what a general would wear. No other rexel had those clothes.                           Dad and Nanotic had made a mistake. Out of the corner of one of the arguing rexel’s eye, he spotted them spying on them over the fence. He pointed at them and told his comrades.                                                                                                  “Uh oh!” Nanotic exclaimed. “They’ve seen us! What do we do now chief?”                                                                                                                 Dad was thinking. Unfortunately, the rexels didn’t give him time.                   One of them smashed through the wooden fence, and Dad and Nanotic jumped away.                                                             The rexel attacked them. The two missionaries doubled-over the rexel to dodge it, then ran into the camp. They didn’t have time for fighting every single foe; all they came for was for the rexel device.                                                                                       Dad flipped behind a crate for cover, shooting his double pistols at an advancing rexel. The rexel’s thick, scaly hide repelled the blasts, and he continued charging at Dad.     Chris Nanotic chewed gum quickly. He needed time to think. He grabbed a crowbar nearby on one of the crates, and stuck his gum to it. The whole place seemed to be full of the boxes, like it was a cargo town.                                                     He threw it at a rexel, and the explosion knocked him out.                                            Another rexel charged in with a laser rifle in his left hand, and a machete in the right.                                                                              He aims his rifle at the chief, and blasts away. Dad used his repulsion shield, and didn’t get injured at all. He runs backwards shooting his pistols, looking for new cover as old ones get destroyed.                                                                    He didn’t see the rexel behind him, and bumped into him. His shield died off from the impact. Human-created shields lasted for only a minute, and if that doesn’t end it then disrupting the generator would, which was exactly what had happened.                                                                                       Dad was defenseless as he fell to the floor. The rexel got ready to pounce on him for the kill, but Dad left-jabbed him in the jaw mid-air.                                                                                               The rexel behind him fired two blasts at him, and they each fried a pistol off Dad’s hands.                                                                                                  He switched weapons and drew his laser dual blades. The rexel he punched got back up again. Then he heard Nanotic yell, “Duck!”                                                                                         Dad did what he was asked for his own safety. Another flying crowbar with a pink piece of gum on it flew above his head at the rexel behind him, and he got blasted all the way to a water tower’s legs, and it got destroyed.                                  The water tower began to fall. Creeeaaak…                                                                           “Nanotic! Get all the rexels under the water tower! We’ll let it fall on them!” Dad yelled, holding his two dual blades in a cross against a rexel’s machete. The laser couldn’t cut through the metal, like it should’ve had for some reason.                                                                              The rexels didn’t hear the plan, because they didn’t know English. They couldn’t understand Dad’s order.                                                                                                 Nanotic ran under the tower, and the rexels pursued him, shooting a ton of red lasers at him. He shot his rifle forwards, and the lasers zipped around and behind him, blasting away at the rexels.                                                                                                               Dad continued to clash with the rexel’s machete, and then he kicked the rexel, and whipped him at least five meters away.                                                                                                        He quickly ran toward the falling water tower, and held it up for extra time. Nanotic finally brought the remaining rexels under the water tower and yelled, “Now!”                                                                       Dad let go, and the rexels got smashed under the weight of their own water supply. As the foes slowly pushed the tower off them, Dad and Nanotic ran to find the device.                                                                                                 

.  .  .

“Atten…tion!”                   Kate and I woke up to the distressing trixian yell outside. It was Rano. Then he started talking in the trixian language. After he went inside our tent.                                                               “Rano, what’s happening?” I asked, holding up the translator and rubbing off the sleep in my eyes. It was two in the morning. What could be so urgent to wake us up in the middle of the night?                                                                     He looked at me like I didn’t know anything in the world. “An unknown race is attacking us right now. We need all troops.” He explained.                                                                                         “Does that mean-“ Kate began.                         “No, it does not mean you two. I’m going to bring you two to the safe haven just outside of the camp. Once you get there do not go anywhere. Stay there until the intruders go away.”                                                                                                        He sounded just like my mother. Then he walked out of the tent, barking attack orders and formations.                     Enemies? It couldn’t be the rexels. He said it was an unknown race. Could it be that four races had found this planet?   

.  .  .

“There! The chief’s tent!” Nanotic blurted. They quickly ran in before any rexels spotted them.                                         “Way too easy.” Dad said. He took the device. It was mainly black but had orange electrical lines going across it, and was the size of a novel. He took a good look at it, and then stuffed it in his pouch in his armor. “Let’s get back to the pods.” He said.                                                                                                                                              Nanotic got two discs from his back the size of a cup coaster, and they extended into two hover boards. They jumped on them, attached their feet, and zoomed away.                              They hovered over crates, past rexels, and weaved through in between tents. The rexels tried to grab them, but they were way too fast.                                                                               When they came to the red sand desert, they abandoned their boards. They stepped in their pods, and prepared the launch sequence. Soon they blasted away before the rexels found them. The mission was done easily and fast.               Dad felt a huge burst of relief and safety. And happiness. The rexels had invaded the human camp, and now they got revenge for taking something from them that would give them the upper hand.                                                                     Dad spoke in the intercom radio to the other pod.              “Good job Nanotic. Mission accomplished. We didn’t use stealth, but we still did it. Now we can do better the next time, because we have all their information in the device we stole. It will tell us their weaknesses, so we can use it against them.”                                                                                 “Wait, there’s a next time?” Nanotic asked.                                                                                         “Yes, there’s going to be a war too. Our troops still need training though; it has only been one night.” Dad said.

.  .  .

Safe haven was basically a dark and creepy room under the ground outside of the camp. It had a just in case weapon rack on one side of the wall, and a table on the other side. The room was with enough food to feed a hundred people for months, although I didn’t think we were going to stay here that long. Or I hope so.                                                                 Suddenly a dark colored creature crashed through the ceiling of the room.                                                                          Kate screamed. Without thinking, I instinctively grabbed a laser rifle from the weapon rack and blasted away at the alien. He was super disgusting. Purple tentacles sprouted from his back, he had a super psycho look in his eyes, and his face was severely damaged. The laser I shot disintegrated before it even touched the creature. Was it some kind of magic?                                                The alien shot a purple laser from its arms, which we dodged. It blasted through the wall on the other side with tremendous power. As soon as Rano came in from that hole, safety surged through me. He shoved a grenade to the alien, which stuck to his face. He grabbed us and we jumped out of the hole the alien came through.                                                                        A huge sky-blue laser explosion occurred behind us, and the shockwave threw us in the air. We landed hard on the forest ground outside.                                   When we stopped rolling, we got up to face… a huge swarm of the aliens! Rano covered us. Fear strangled my brain. Okay, now nobody could save us now.              To make matters worse, when we slowly got up, in one fast motion, one of the aliens shoved a sharp knife-like tentacle deep into Rano’s sternum, and I hate to say it, but that was the beginning of the end of his life.                                                                            “No!” I yelled, more of rage than sadness. I got back down again to look at his wound. It was nasty. I could’ve sworn I could see the other side of him. I could’ve seen the ground through the hole in his chest if there wasn’t so much blood. Just then trixian reinforcements came, and they had a mini-war against the aliens.                                   Kate and I grasped one of Rano’s arms each, and then we dragged him away into the forest where we couldn’t be seen. I looked down at Rano.                                                           His life was ending. I wanted to hear his last words, so I held the translator close.                                                                  “Rano,” I said, starting to cry, “why did you help us?”                                    He spoke slowly. “I already… answered that question.”                       “That wasn’t a reason. You risked your life for us, and not your own people. And you said it was because you were an outcast, so you don’t work for your race. But that doesn’t explain it.” Kate said.     He exhaled, but it sounded more like a wheeze, like he had asthma. “When the rexels attacked your camp, it reminded me… of when my home village from our last planet was raided by aliens called the Venoq’s. My father saved me from them, but he did not survive. I… wanted to be a hero… like… like…”                                                                                             He died before he finished his sentence. Him, I finished, in my thoughts. I wiped my tears on my sleeve. I took one last look at Rano. Blood was coming out of his mouth, out of his chest, eyes still open. I closed them for him. May he rest in peace.                                                                                                  Then sorrowful melancholy consumed me. I started to cry again. Rano had been taking care of us for only one day. I barely knew him, but to me he was a hero. Him dying wasn’t fair.                                                                                                 I ran into the woods. 

.  .  .

Quarter to seven in the morning, the chief and the agent returned to the enterprise.  They ran to the lab room, and Dad slammed the rexelian device on the table.   “Kyle! We’ve got it! Analyze it please!” Dad demanded hastily into the intercom. Kyle came in the lab room through a sliding door, with his usual lab coat and glasses.                                            “You got it? Awesome! You guys look like you need some sleep. Get some rest. I’ll be in here if you need me.” He said it like it wasn’t obvious.                                                                     Nanotic followed the scientist’s advice and took a nap.        Dad had other things to do. He told Kyle he would be in the meeting room and he sped down to it. He contacted his wife.                                                                                                   “Megan, have you found them?” Dad asked once Mom’s face appeared.                                                                                            “Sadly, no. We have found more people though.”                                     “What do you mean, we? The last time I saw you, you were alone.”                          “I found a group of people. Then we found more. It repeated like that overnight. Together now, we are a total of one million.”                                                                                           “That’s good. About four million to go.”           Mom took it as a compliment, although her face showed sternness. “I found Mark’s and Kate’s friends too. They said they have no clue of where they went. Mark’s best friend Kyle was hiking on a hill with some people, and he says he saw something escape in a silver ship, somewhere west. You never know, it could be them captured. Or the rexels.”                 “Okay, but-“                                Beep! Beep!                            “Okay Megan, I’ll talk to you later, I have to go.”                                     “Steve, wait-“       He turned off the video chat without responding. Then Kyle popped up on the screen. “Chief! I have the information, you’ve got to come here, quick!”

.  .  .

“Mark!”                             I ignored my sister. I was sitting on the floor with my back against a tree. I still couldn’t believe what had just happened. The Venoqs? I’ve never heard of them.                Then my sister found me. “There you are!” She said with contentment.                                                                                  “We’re leaving.” I decided, focusing on a stick on the floor. “What? What are you talking about?”                            I looked up at her. “Rano is dead. Nobody will take care of us. And we have to find the others. We can’t just stay with those outcasts forever.”                                                                                                    As I started to get up, my sister pushed me back down. Dust squandered into the air from underneath me, and it made my eyes water.                                                                                   “No way. That’s way too dangerous. He told us this place was swarming with rexels. Or those aliens hat we encountered.”             “I don’t care.” I got up again, and this time she didn’t stop me.                                                          “This is suicide!” Kate said behind me. It didn’t matter if she followed me or not.                                               “Not if we find the others.” I said.

.  .  .

“What’ve you got?” Dad asked.             “Okay, so here’s the information I’ve found out.” Kyle said. He opened up a hologram of a rexel, looking just as vicious as a normal one.                                                                                           “They have bodies just like us. Their super strength comes from muscles just like us. They are so strong they can carry a house! Their teeth are poisonous, and we don’t have a cure for it. Not even the they have one.” He explained, pointing to the holographic rexel’s parts as he goes.                                                          “Any weak spots or weaknesses?” Dad asked, focusing only on their advantages and not the rexels’.                                       “Yes, there’s a spot on the back of the head where it’s least protected by their strong scales and bone. If you punch them there hard enough, there’s a fifty percent chance he’ll go unconscious.”                                                                                    “Okay, but what about their plans?”                                                  “Oh, actually, I haven’t checked.” Kyle walked over to the rexelian device. Wires of every color and size were plugged into it.                 Then his face turned pale as he looked into the device.  “What is it?” Dad asked peculiarly.                       “Um… the rexels are having a war scheduled at eight against the martians.”                                   “Martians?”                   “Yeah, it’s another race that we found while you and Nanotic were on the mission. They want the planet too.”                                                 “Wait, what time is it?”                                “They are having the war right now.” His forehead was getting sweaty, like he was critically frightened of something.                         “So why are you so shocked? That war has nothing to do with us.”                           “The martians are winning.”                                    “So?”                                   “No matter how powerful the rexels are, they are more powerful than them.”                                                                       The chief’s face showed something clear and undeniable: Fear.  

.  .  .

I sped away from the forest faster than I could ever imagine and into a huge golden grass field. I have heard lots of rumors about how my dad had evolved powers. Now I knew. It was true. Every single person even if they didn’t realize, had amplified strength and speed and senses.                                                                               I was faster than a Ferrari at its full speed, racing through the plains and blowing some flowers off the ground without even touching them. I never got the chance to do this in the enterprise. There just wasn’t enough space.                                   I felt so free. No parents commanding me, no annoying big sisters, and no aliens attacking me right now.                                                                 It was just me, and the planet.  Then I thought of my dad. How was he doing up there in the ship? Has the war already started? Did he know about the evolution too? Well, he must have if the rumors originated from him.                                     Everything seemed to whiz by as I ran. For the first time in my life, I felt freedom.                                                                         But I couldn’t forget the war. No matter what I thought, it was still going to happen. It’s not like you can snap your fingers and Poof! The war is over! No more fighting, no more pain and death, and you have the planet all to yourself!                                                                                                No, that can’t happen. In order to get something you want, you have to work hard for it.                                         I know by myself I can’t stop a war.         I can only try.

.  .  .

Beep! Beep!                       “What is it Kyle?” Dad asked to his watch, while relaxing and watching television in his room. He grabbed the remote and turned it off.                                                                                                       “Come to the medical room quick! Nanotic has been poisoned by a rexel!” Kyle said with anxiety in his voice.   “What?!” Dad yelled. Not Nanotic! My best agent! He thought. He turned off the intercom call and sprinted out of his room and to the medical room as fast as possible. He entered fast.                                                                                          The medical room was all white like the lab room. There was one big TV on the wall for the patients, and medical beds were lined up perfectly.                                                   Nanotic was strapped to one of them. He was not looking very good. His face was a sickly shade of green.                      Kyle and a bunch of doctors were working on computers set up on one of the walls, trying to find a cure.                     “Hey chief,” Kyle started, “I’m going to find a plant down in Vanity’s jungle, and maybe the plants there can be a cure for Nanotic.”                                                                                         “Okay.” Dad said instantaneously. “I just want Nanotic cured. Do whatever you need to.” 

.  .  .

I just climbed to the top of a massive mountain. It wasn’t that extensive, but vast nonetheless. I thought maybe I could get a beacon reception here.                                                                        The cool wind didn’t make me cold, but it stung my eyes. The clouds were so near to me now, I felt like I could touch them. I felt like I was on the top of the world.                                  I held up my AI high in the air and watched my beacon signal go up. One bar, two bars, three bars!                                                         Yes! I can send a message to my dad now.                             I typed quick, making up the letter as I went:

Dear Dad,

If you didn’t know already, the camp has been overrun by the rexels. Kate found me. We are safe.                                           Anyways, the rexels are all over here. Please send help. We are lost and scared. Kate and I are looking for the others.

Love, Mark 

I sent it. I left out the part about the trixian outcasts.                          It’s only a matter of time until we will get help. I started to walk down the mountain to look for my sister.                               Then I heard a scream. That’s Kate!                                                    I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, down the mountain and into the forest to help.                                                                                                    I made it there fast with the help of my augmented speed, but then I saw Kate run past me in the opposite direction.                                         “Mark! Run!” She yelled.       I saw what she meant. An army or rexels were charging after us coming from the forest!  Right now was a good time for my dad’s help.

Chapter II: Being the prey

“I have to save my family.” Dad said to one of the doctors. “You guys take good care of Nanotic.”                                               He sped walked out of the medical room and into the lab room. In mere seconds, he was there.                                                         “Tell me the life signatures in that huge mountain in the west.” He said to a scientist after the door opened and he entered.                                             The scientist followed promptly. “Two running up an active volcano, and a hundred are chasing them.” “Active?” Dad asked just to make sure, though he was pretty sure he heard correctly.                           “Yes. The two running up the volcano are small life signatures, they are probably kids.”                                         “My kids.” Dad muttered under his breath quietly. “Okay, I’m going in now.” He announced. “Operation rescue mission.”                                                                          He went out of the lab room and jogged to the armory. He suited up as fast as he could. He knew each minute longer on the ship his kid’s lives were at stake, greater and greater. When he got his armor on, he chose his weapons. He picked a big and long laser blade shaped like a thick lightning bolt, and a very lethal pistol.                                                                      He sprinted to the pod room. In a few minutes, he blasted off.                                                                 The pod flew through space, on its way to humanity’s future home. On its way to saving the lives of just two children. Two very important children.                                                           In a few more minutes, he landed. The doors opened, and he made his way out. He was in the forest near the giant volcano.                                                                                                   He clicked his watch on, and it showed a small holographic map. After a while two red dots appeared on the map, signaling the two kids he needed to save. He followed them. He smelled the rotten smell of the orange creatures. He could tell there were a hundred of them even if the scientist didn’t tell him, due to the powerful stench.                                                                                      He gripped his laser blade and held up his laser pistol, and ran to find his kids.

.  .  .

It’s getting harder to breathe. The faster we run up the mountain, the less oxygen and the more air pressure we have. The only reason why this didn’t happen to me when I climbed up the mountain earlier was because I went up slowly.  “We have no choice but to fight.” I said, hoping she could prove me wrong. She didn’t say anything, so I knew she knew it was our only choice. If there are rexels here, there was bound to be more on the other side, and as far as I’m concerned, I didn’t want to find out.                  Then I saw a figure on the top of the mountain.                           “I can’t believe it.” Kate said happily.                          “Dad!” I yelled. I ran all the way up to him. We hugged tight. “Mark, I got your message. I came here as fast as I could.” He said.                “How did you get up here? There are rexels everywhere.” I mentioned.                 “There are no rexels on that side of the volcano. I came up there.”              I made sure I heard properly. “Wait, volcano?”                                             “Dad, there’s an army of rexels coming here!” Kate reminded us, looking at them while racing up the mountain. “We have no time to talk!”                      He blasted his pistol at them. “Okay guys, my men are bringing the ship near here. They are going to pick us up. Then we are going to find the other survivors together.”                                             The rexels were nearing us, so we began to run down the other side of the mountain, the safe part.                                      A rexel lunged at me, and my dad pulled me out of the way, and chopped the rexel’s hand off with his laser sword. I know right? My dad is totally awesome.  Another rexel charged at Kate, and at the last second she stepped aside and the rexel fell off the cliff. I just realized the cliff was there, and the rexels were forcing us off it.        We only had a meter between the army of vicious savages, and the cliff. I don’t know why, but my dad didn’t look worried. Does he have a plan or something? Then again, he never looks worried.                                                     Then we got too close to the cliff. My dad yelled, “Jump!”                      It was our only choice, and my dad was never wrong. Well, except for my seventh birthday he got me the wrong thing. But that was another time.                                                                    I closed my eyes, as my feet suddenly weren’t attached to solid ground anymore. I just committed suicide.  But we landed faster than I had expected. I opened my eyes slowly. We were on the enterprise!                                                               My dad opened a latch on the roof, and we went inside. I didn’t even know the ship had latches on the roof. We ran to the lab room. “Where is scientist 134?” My dad demanded.                                                                                          “He’s still on Vanity looking for a plant for the cure for Nanotic.” A scientist said.                                                                                                 “Dang it. Kids, come with me. While Kyle is doing that, we have to find your mom, and the other humans.”                                                        I was surprised. “Wait, dad, you don’t want us to stay here? Where it’s safe?” I asked.                    “No. The last time I did that, your camp got destroyed. Then you guys scattered, and got lost. Even almost got captured by the rexels. Even though it’s more dangerous out there in the planet than here in the ship, I don’t want you separated from me. Let’s go.”                          My dad got us suited up with the strongest armor, and weapons. He told us if we pound the core in our chest plate, a shield would pop up, which I already knew.                          The Humanity Sk-49 landed, and we got out the main entrance. My shoes were back on the familiar red sand of Vanity as it was minutes ago.               Except that it was filled with blood. Rexel blood, I could smell the difference. I gripped my sword with two hands. We weren’t in a plain empty desert; we were in front of a war against the rexels and some weird green aliens.   “Damn. Kids, stay close. We have to get through this war to find the others.” My dad explained.                            “Dad, what are the rexels fighting?” Kate asked squinting at the green aliens.                                                                                    “Those are martians.”                                                           “They’re winning the war.” I commented, as a huge laser explosion rocked nearby.                     “Yes, they are more powerful than the rexels.” My dad said sadly. “We have to get through. Try to avoid fighting them, this is not our war.”                                                                                         We charged in.                         So far we were doing fine, until a martian cocked a laser machine gun, aimed straight for me. Before I could react, my dad turned on his repulsion shield, and reflected the blast right back at the martian. It seemed like I was the one that always needed protection.                                                              Another one cut a hole right through the shield, and grabbed my dad from the inside, and threw him into a rexel. They started wrestling on the floor.  “Mark, Kate, run!” He yelled, keeping the rexel’s strong jaws from biting his head off. More martians were advancing on us.                  “We can’t leave you here!” I said.                             “Yes you can, I’ll be fine. I know I said we won’t get separated, but we have to. Run to the other side. There’s a jungle there. You will find my best scientist there, Mr. Raede. Tell him to bring you to the ship to cure Mr. Nanotic, and if he’s cured tell him to make Nanotic come with you guys to find the others. If he isn’t cured, then tell Mr. Raede to come with you. Now go.”        It was kind of weird that he was talking a lot to us in the middle of a war, but we needed instructions. After he continued wrestling with the rexel.                                                      I held back my tears. I haven’t seen my dad in two years, and now I’ve lost him already.                                                              I looked around. The rexels were starting to retreat. If there were no rexels left, the martians won’t be busy with them anymore. Then they would see us, as we have no cover. Luckily, I saw a straight path to the jungle.       I heard a ship land. I looked up, and saw a flying saucer land in a cliff above us. Martians came out, holding rocket launchers, aimed at the rexels, but one was aimed at us.                     “Mark!” Kate cried. The blast didn’t hit me directly, but it was close enough to send me flying. When I landed, I wasn’t sure I was in one piece anymore.                                                  My sister helped me up, and we ran into the jungle, away from the war.                                                                                           When we were deep into the jungle, my sister said she would look for food and water for me for energy, but I wasn’t sure if that was what she said. I was so drowsy. I lay down against a tree. I tried to move, but my body ached. Man, that was one big explosion. I was so lucky I survived.                                                        Birds chirped, although I wasn’t sure they were birds. This was a new planet after all.                    A flock of them flew from tree to tree. They sang a song that made me want to sleep. When my eyes felt heavy, I gave up fighting the sleepiness.

.  .  .

I dreamt of the planet.                     I dreamt of what it would become if we won the war.         It was a city, with flying cars, tall skyscrapers, and people. Except it wasn’t just us. There were rexels, martians, trixians, roaming all over the city. I even saw some of the dark black and purple creatures that attacked us this morning.                                                                                                     They weren’t fighting. There was no aggressive conflict, and they looked peaceful, as if all the races shared the city.                                    Was this the future? Is this what it were meant to be? For all the races to equally share the planet? Are we supposed to help each other, not fight each other? Will that even work out?                                               Flying cars flew over the roads. People walked through the sidewalks. The buildings were so tall they disappeared into the clouds.                                                                                               Then the scene changed. I was staring into black emptiness, utter nothing. I only heard a voice. My father.                                     You will find my best scientist there, Mr. Raede. Tell him to bring you the ship to cure Mr. Nanotic, and if he’s cured tell him to make Nanotic come with you guys to find the others. If he isn’t cured, then tell Mr. Raede to come with you.                                 His words echoed through my head. His very clear instructions. Then my dream faded, and I was staring into the sky, blocked by trees. Then I realized my eyes were open. I was awake.           I sat up carefully. No pain. No aching. My body felt fresh and new, it was like sleeping had healed me.                                                                    I checked my watch. It was four.                                                  Then I heard a hover board. I thought of what dad had said.                       You will find my best scientist there, Mr. Raede. I think I just found him.                                                                                            Then I saw him. A man was speeding through the forest on a hover board, examining the plants.                                                                        “Mr. Raede?” I asked, projecting my voice loud enough for him to hear me. He looked at me.                                                     “Yes, that’s me. Are you all alone here? Oh yeah, my boss told me the camp was destroyed. You must be one of the survivors.”                      “Uh, actually, I’m your boss’s son, Mark. He told me to tell you to bring my sister and I to the ship, and cure Mr. Nanotic, whoever that is. Then he said to tell you to make Nanotic come with us, to find the others.” I said.                                   “Why didn’t he get you guys himself?” He asked.                                                    I didn’t answer.                     “Oh no, where is he?” Mr. Raede asked full of concern.   “He got stuck in the war with the rexels and the martians. We had no choice but to separate.” Kate said, walking towards us. She held a few fruits in her arms and gave them to me. I chomped on them. The savoring flavor brought me energy and nutrient satisfaction.                                                 “Who are you?” Mr. Raede asked.                        “She’s my sister.” I said.             “Okay, we have to get your dad-“                               “No! He said to bring us to the ship. He’s your boss, right? Those were his orders.” I interrupted.                                         He sighed. “You father is a very big risk taker. What’s he doing there anyway?”    “He was trying to rescue us.” Kate explained.   “Okay. Come, I’ll bring you to the ship. I think I found a plant that can cure Nanotic.”

.  .  .

We went in through the main entrance ramp. It took us thirty minutes to get to the lab room. Yeah, the enterprise is that big.                                               Mr. Raede typed in a code on a pad. I didn’t really get the thing with entering rooms in the ship. It’s either name recognition or a number password.                                          Then we walked in. The room smelled like dentist gloves. I saw a man lying on one of the beds. His eyes were closed like he was sleeping, but he was shivering. His face was a sick color of green.                                                                        “Who is that?” I asked Mr. Raede.                    “That’s agent N4-s, or Chris Nanotic. He’s your dad’s best agent. He’s been poisoned by a rexel.” Mr. Raede explained as he mixed chemicals together in bottles. I guess he was making the cure.                     “Rexels have poison?” Kate asked, more of fascination than curiosity. Maybe because she’s a science nerd. Or I’ve always thought of her that way.                  “Yeah, it’s very lethal. It will take a few minutes until it will kill you though, which is the good thing. We have no cure for it, until now.” Mr. Raede held up the blue potion.                                                                  “Although I’m not sure, my sensors detected it can cure anything.”                  “Cancer?” I questioned.  “Yup.”                                  “AIDS?”                                   “Yup.”                               “Ebola?”             “Anything.”                                    “Sweet!” I said excitedly. This was the new generation of medicine! If it can cure anything then we don’t need doctors anymore! But that won’t be good for the thousands of people that would lose their jobs… “Okay, here goes nothing.” He injected the serum into Mr. Nanotic’s neck. In a matter of time, his face turned back to normal, and he wasn’t shivering anymore.                           “Yes! It worked!” Kate said.                       Nanotic suddenly awoke, sitting upright on the bed instantly. “Who, what, where, when, why, how?” He said. “The rexel poisoned you, the poison almost killed you, the rexel must’ve poisoned you on your mission to invade their camp, it happened last night, he did it to kill you, and I cured you with a plant on Vanity called Chlorophydus.” Mr. Raede said, almost as fast as Nanotic. “New orders from boss. He said to accompany his kids,” he gestured to us, “to find the others- the survivors from the destroyed camp.”             He waited for the words to sink in.                                                Then he ran to an intercom screen, and called someone. My mom’s face appeared on the screen.                               “Mom!” I yelled enthusiastically.     “Mark? Kate? Is that you?” She asked rhetorically.  “Yeah, it’s us.” Kate responded.                               “Oh my goodness, I was worried sick about you guys! I was trying to find you! Did your dad find you?” She asked.            “Yeah.” I answered.                         “Where is he?”                        Again, I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to talk about it. My mom seemed to read my thoughts.                                    “Oh.”                           “Hey, Mrs. Grey?” Nanotic said.                      “Nanotic? Is that you?” She said. I guess she knew my dad’s agent.                                                                   “Yeah. Your husband said to find you guys. How much are you?”               “Two million.”                                                   “Okay, do any of you have any working AI devices?”                           “We have tons.”                “Did you try sending us your coordinates?”                      “Of course we did, we thought of that already. Either our AI’s battery is down or it doesn’t recognize the place.”                                      I tried to read Nanotic’s expression. Was that… fear in his eyes?                 “I knew it. This is a new planet. Our AI’s don’t know the coordinates here. Only our powerful computers on the ship.”                                                            “We’re near a giant mountain.” My mom said. As my face lit up from the possibility that she could be very close to us, the whole ship shook. Yes, I mean the whole ship. The colossal spacecraft that was a quarter of the size of a planet.          Boom! Our feet shook, but we maintained our balance.  “Scientist 212,” Mr. Raede said as he faced him, “what is happening?”                                            His eyes were glued to a computer. “The volcano is erupting.” He said.                                             Nanotic fear vanished. All that was left was seriousness. “How long do we have to find our boss and the others?”  “Around thirty minutes.” He said.                     “Then we can’t waste anymore time. Mrs. Grey, we have to leave to find you. Right now. The volcano is erupting, and this might be the one you’re near to.” Mr. Nanotic said.   “It’s not just that.” Everybody looked at Mr. Raede.                                       “My sensors outside detected a storm. A really bad storm. In Vanity, lightning doesn’t always strike the highest point. Be careful.” 

.  .  .

Dad escaped the war, the same time the rexels retreated. The rexels called us cowards, and look at them. They retreated. If Dad led that war, he would fight to the end.            I should follow them, to see where their real base is. He thought. Then I will find the others, bring them to the ship, and we can launch a full assault on the rexels’ base.                                      He followed them stealthily, hiding behind a tree, crouching under a bush, making sure he was always about ten meters away, and they didn’t spot him. The last thing he needed was to be a hostage.                                                                           The footsteps of the marching rexels were synchronized. Their growls sent fear to every living thing in the jungle.                       Many of them looked bruised and injured, with cuts everywhere on their body, casts on their arms, eye patches, and robotic legs.                            They have the same ideas as us. Dad thought. I thought we were the only ones in the universe to invent those kinds of things, eye patches, casts, and robotic legs. What else have they invented that we had too? Or did they steal these ideas? When we stole their device with information that could have been the same with us. Did they steal our phones and computers when they raided our camp?                                                Finally, he saw the rexels enter a building, a box of metal. Probably their base, but he didn’t know if it was their main headquarters, or not. Whatever it was, it was probably important to them. Unless it was just an outpost.                        He set the coordinates on his AI, and went to search for food and water.

.  .  .

“I still don’t understand why my dad wanted us to come with you to find the others.” I said. Kate, Nanotic and I were walking through the jungle, or forest, whatever.                                                                               “Maybe he thought you guys were safer with me.” Nanotic suggested.                           “No, that can’t be it. It’s way more dangerous out here than in the ship. He only said we would come on dangerous missions if it was him.” Kate said. “How much time do we have?”                                                                                  “Around twenty more minutes.” Nanotic replied.                 “Is that even enough time?” I asked. My advanced hearing caught the sounds of thunder booming in the distance. Although lightning didn’t scare me, it did if I was outside. And if a scientist just told you that the lightning doesn’t necessarily strike the highest point; it could zap anywhere, including us.                                                                                     “What about the rexels? They could be anywhere here.” I asked.   “Shh.” Nanotic put a finger to his mouth. “I heard something.”                                          We listened carefully, and I began to hear it too. Rustling in the bushes. I wondered who it was. Or what it was.              Nanotic touched his visor with two fingers. Then a computer voice spoke. “DNA confirmed.” Nanotic exhaled with relief. “It’s just your father guys.”                                                   “No way.” I said. He was right. My father revealed himself. “Dad!” I said. Kate and I ran up to hug him- again. But this time I was sure we wouldn’t get separated. “We have to cut this family reunion short guys, we have less than fifteen minutes until the volcano erupts.” Nanotic mentioned, looking at his watch.                                                 Then I saw smoke rising up into the air in the distance. It actually didn’t look very far.                                                  “There!” I pointed. “Fire, it must be the survivors!”  “Wait!” My dad said, putting an arm over me, telling me to stop. “It could be aliens.”                                   Nanotic touched a button on his visor. “Scanning.” He nodded with delight. “Clear.”  “Let’s go.” My dad said.     

.  .  .

We ran straight for the smoke. We got closer and closer to it, until we saw where it was coming from. A campfire.   We have found the village with the survivors. It was huge! There were thatch huts everywhere, and the area was cleared of trees.                                                                                        I saw my mom walking up to us with a big group of people, including my friends.                                                                         “You found us!” My mom said, as she threw her arms around my dad.                                 “Yes, and we don’t have a lot of time left. The volcano is erupting. We have to leave right now.” My dad said.                “Yo Mark!” Kyle hollered.          I grinned. “Hi Kyle.”                                                     “Who’s that girl next to your dad?” He whispers, looking at Kate.                 “That’s my sister. Oh yeah, you’ve never met her.”               “She’s hot!” He said, loud enough to show gratification but low enough to not spread disturbance or confusion.   “She is? Um, I guess she is.” I said.  “What’s happening Mark?” Kevin asks, glancing at the massive volcano.                                        “The volcano’s erupting soon, we have to get everyone on board the ship.” I explain. As if on cue, the earth shook, making one thing clear: we’re running out of time.      “Nanotic, how much time do we have left?” My dad says, and I spin my head around and tune in to their conversation.                                                                                Nanotic checks his watch. “Around ten minutes. We need to hurry.”                                                 “That’s not enough time. Call Kyle, and tell him to bring the ship here.”

.  .  .

The massive ship landed with catastrophic force, sending waves upon waves of dust. The door opened, and workers helped the people injured from the rexel attack inside the ship. Millions of people walked through the door. My mom didn’t find everyone. They all came from the sight of the ship.                                                                                         Everything seemed to go fine, and it looked like we had enough time before the eruption. So when a tremendous earthquake began, the eruption wasn’t my first thought of what was happening.  But it should’ve been. The earthquake swept people off their feet. Lightning bolts struck trees nearby, causing them to fall and spread fires.                                                                  Chaos erupted. An explosion from the volcano sent shockwaves of wind, followed by another explosion, and another. Fear and panic spread through the hundreds of people still not on the ship faster than liquid spilled on the floor.                                      Screams filled the air, mixed with kids crying, as the pandemonium was increasing through the crowd.               After all of that, none of those were even the worst part. Purple lasers shot through the thin, cool air; by the unknown purple and black alien fugitives we saw this morning. Some people got shot. Okay, a lot of people got shot.                                                                                                  Newly trained soldiers ran out of the ship, shooting blue lasers into random spots in the jungle, my dad commanding them to do so. Some troops used laser shields to protect people.                                                                                 Then the last explosion detonated. The blast was so powerful it sent chunks of the mountain crashing upon us, sending shockwaves of sound that broke through the sound barrier. The mountain blew up, clearing a lot of space for water from the lake nearby to flow.                                              Tornadoes came from the storm, wrecking most of the trees. And the lava from the volcano ran down the side faster than a peregrine falcon.                                                  That’s right. It was an earthquake-volcano-tornado-tsunami combo crisis! And the alien attack made it worse. They finally came out of the jungle, and there were hundreds of them. People started running into the ship, which caused a lot of them to trip and fall.                                                             The war was the most violent thing I have ever seen in my life. Swords clashed, blood spilled, dazed soldiers were defenseless, unconscious stabbed voidals- the name my dad started calling them literally now.                                                    It kept going. They had magic on their side, we had technology. Their magic seemed to be paying off.                           “Mark!” My dad yelled over the raucous noise of the battlefield. “What are you doing here? Get inside the ship!”                  “No, I want to help you.” I replied. I coughed because of the dust in the air.                   “Are you crazy?! Do you want to get killed?”                                             “You said it yourself today. The safest place I can be is with you.”                                                                                                       The ground shook, and I fell off balance. I got back up as quickly as I fell. My dad had to yell even louder to reach me. “Fine! Get the gear of that fallen soldier.” He shot a voidal right in between the eyes behind him with his proton pistol, keeping his eyes on me.                                                                 “Stay close.” He said. The dead soldier my dad was talking about was slashed brutally several times, with a hole through his forehead, scars on his cheeks and blood spilled all over his chest. Dried blood.                                                              I shivered. I did not want his fate. I took his gun and his hefty laser sword and ran to my father. He was yelling orders to people.                                               “Okay listen Mark, this is very dangerous, don’t-“                  “Do anything stupid?” I finished. He had a concerned look on his face.                “That sword is too big for you! How are you supposed to fight with that?”                I waved it back and forth with my hands. “At least it’s light.”                  “Whatever, just-“                        Kaboom!                                   Debris dispersed everywhere. It took me a while to realize what had happened. An explosion occurred right underneath us. A voidal grenade?                                                      I got up, but I realized my aching legs didn’t move. A voidal grabbed me by the collar! Oh, my death is going to be fatal. But luckily the ground shook again, and there was my chance. He released me, and I spun before hitting the ground, slicing him in half. The light-purple blood spilled on my blue suit. It was not my day for laundry today.           A voidal materialized beside me. Teleportation? How many powers did these aliens even have?                                       Before I could react he tried to strike at me, but my dad shot him at the back, distracting him. His dark skin was strong; it had resisted the impact. My dad told me how powerful those lasers are. That means they were tough.       The alien turned to my dad but didn’t even need to get to him to get revenge. It just flexed a hand toward him, and an invisible force whirled my dad down to the floor meters away. Telekinesis?         As that one was distracted, a second voidal advanced behind me. I could feel his presence. I spun around, clashing our swords, keeping it busy. As the one that got shot by my dad earlier turned to me, in one swift motion I punched it in the face, kneed him in the gut, stabbed my sword into it, grabbed it and spun him around, smashing into the other voidal. Then I grabbed them both and threw them into a pack of voidals. I cleaned my hands and complimented myself. Nice job.                                                                              A voidal sidearm laser was in my path, but my dad deflected it with his sword, and stabbed the one that fired it in the head. He wiped sweat off his forehead. Then he pressed a button on his earpiece.                                              “When everyone is inside the ship, turn on the shield, and fly out of here.” He was talking to Mr. Raede.                                             “Sir, what about you guys? The tornadoes are closing in. The tsunami is approaching. If you’re not coming on the ship, your only chance of survival is running up the volcano.” I hate to admit it, but he was right. “Don’t forget about the voidal army! You better come-“                    “We’ll be fine Kyle! I know what I’m doing here. Don’t object my orders or I’ll decrease your salary by a load permanently!”                       “Ok sir!” I can tell he didn’t like that. My dad turned off the com-link. The force field was building up around the ship. I was worried about us, but I trusted my dad. He knows what he’s doing.                                                                                     “What are we going to do?” He looked at me as if nothing was wrong.                 “Turn on your lava proof boots. We’re going hiking.”                           I groaned. Oh no, this was going to be bad. He faced the army. “Drill sixty-seven!”                                                    I touched a red button on each of my high-tech shoes. As I waited patiently for my dad to organize his troops, a figured there weren’t many of them left. And the voidals? There were still a lot, approaching at our army.                                         I heard the rumbling noise of jet engines. The ship was taking flight. As Mr. Raede took care of his business, we took care of ours.                                                                                 As we ascended the vast erupting volcano, we evaded immense boulders tumbling down.                                          Then the tsunami came. The tremendous amounts of water scrubbed the land below, washing away some of the massive voidal army.                                                                     With each step in the thick magma up the volcano, it got harder to breathe. I also had to constantly look up the mountain for falling rocks and down the mountain for voidal magic bolts. You’re probably thinking: oh, Mark, that’s sooooo easy! Why are you complaining about turning your head?                                                                                               I would laugh if you told me that. Try doing that while you’re climbing Mount Everest, as the gravity pulls you down, and each step goes through thick lava instead of snow, while your lungs beg desperately for more oxygen.        I dare you. Doesn’t sound so easy to turn your head now, does it? Okay, I don’t care if you’re not convinced.                   The mountain I had climbed up earlier was now completely different, and it all happened in just about one hour. The sky was a very dark purplish color, the mountain was covered in molten rock, and rocks rolled down and purple bolts shot up as flying rocks on fire sputtered out from the top of the volcano.                                                                                                    For once in my life I doubted my dad. How are we supposed to get out of this?                                                                     Suddenly, I see the ship. Our only ticket aboard the train to survival because hey, if you can’t go right because of falling rocks, and you can’t go left because of an infuriating alien brigade, then why not just fly up and out of the mess?  Some voidals fired at it, but quickly gave up when they realized there was a force field that only humans can pass. We fired at the voidals too, stalling them as much as possible. A door opened from the substantial aircraft.                                        “Troops, collect your gear, injured allies, or whatever else is important. Get aboard the ship!” My dad yelled over the riot. Him and I weren’t even the first ones on the ship, even if we were the most important. That’s how generous my dad was. He cared for other people’s lives way beyond his.    The hundreds of troops rushed in to their freedom. It was going to take long. Without them shooting at the voidals, the aliens covered ground at a faster rate. Their magic bolts were like a storm. One almost gave me a third nostril. Another was so close to giving me a second belly button.            Our only advantage was the lighting bolts from the storm would hit them instead of us, considering how much more of them there were compared to us.   My dad and I returned blaster fire. When a voidal teleported next to him, my dad was faster. He stuck a grenade to his sternum and threw him to the army. The explosion happened, although none of them even died, due to their thick skin.                                                                              Once our battalion was in the ship, it was our turn.  “Go! Go! Hurry!” My dad ordered. I raced up the ramp and through the force field. The voidal army was so close. My heartbeat was faster than a woodpecker.                       When we were both inside, the ramp closed, and I felt the ship move, and fly into safety. I sat down against the wall and held my knees in close, sweating furiously. I let out a big insignificant exhale.                                                                 That was close.           I was certain that my dad was more tired than me, but he didn’t even rest.                                                                  “Kyle, status report.” He asked, touching his com-link as he paced around the main hallway from the entrance we came through.                                                                                                  “The tsunami will wash the rest of the voidals and the survivors’ village, unless they manage to escape somehow. We lost approximately nine hundred troops. The volcano is showing signs of cessation. It might be dormant now. The earthquake and tornadoes will soon stop too. Rain has also commenced. That’s it.”                                                          “Hmm…” My dad said, stroking his chin, like how he always did when he thought very hard.  “Oh and commander, one more thing.”                          “Yes?”                     “The whole reason to find a new home was because of our resources. We didn’t have enough. So if my data is correct…” He paused gloomily. “I don’t want to talk about it. We have to do something or mass starvation will occur.”                                                              My dad finally sat on the wall facing opposite of me, staring at my feet. He came up with a plan quick.                                                                                                “We’re going to set up a camp at the coordinates I’m going to tell you later at sea level.” He said, looking at a holographic map from his watch. “Set up farms there. Get hunters to catch cattle and raise them at the farms. Set up oil, gas and mineral mines. And for Vanity sake circumstances, I know where the rexel base is. I followed the rexels to their home.” His eyes gazed upon my face. “We’re using the original plan again. Operation peace protocol program. We’re going to try to make an alliance again.”                                                                                                      He had a sly, mischievous smile. “But this time, a little more aggressively.”

.  .  .

Did my dad know about my dream? The dream where we all shared the planet? Is that why he looked at me?                     No. That’s impossible. I never told him. How could he know? It was just a coincidence.           Our original plan was to make peace anyway. They were just giving it another try. Why am I so uneasy?                      As the sun went down, dusk began. It was eight in the evening and I was in my room after I ate dinner.                      I had headphones on my ears and a controller in my hands. Yep, I was playing video games.                                                         I was sitting cross-legged on my bed, and I couldn’t even take my eyes off the screen. My friends were playing with me. We were playing a first person shooter game.                 We played until twelve. Yeah, I should’ve gone right to sleep. The peace mission was early in the morning, and I decided to come. But my friends invited me and I thought I deserved some rest and comfort.                                                                                                      After we played, I put my controller back under my bed and my headphones on my desk, right next to the picture of my family.                                                                                                    It was a photo taken a long time ago, when we were back on our last planet. Like, seven years ago. Back when my sister was my age. Mom held my hand in the photo. Dad rested his hands on Kate’s shoulders. We all had big smiles. It was taken outside in our backyard.                                                                            It filled my chest with warmth. If we won the war, those days were going to be back. The good old days where we worried about nothing except what to have for dinner and if you’ll get good grades in school.                                                                      I yawned. My eyes were certainly getting heavier. I went under the covers of my bed. Then sleep hit me fast. 

.  .  .

The rexel base was not far. The only problem was our stealth. My dad was planning to sneak in, and then fight, but our ship was too big for an assault right away, so we solved the problem.                                                                                        We set up the camp first. Then we suit up, and go. My sister and mom were coming, including me, of course.                                  My mom and I were early. We were in the armory- the big room with racks full of armor and shelves full of an arsenal of laser rifles and swords and grenades and- well, you get the idea.                                                                                              There were benches in the middle of the aisle, which we were sitting on, fixing our armor and boot straps.                                   “You know how to fight?” I asked mom.                 “Yeah. Your father taught me a few moves. The question is, do you?”                I beamed meaninglessly. “At least I have more experience.” I replied, thinking of the battle yesterday with the voidals. I slipped on my boots and pulled the straps tightly, waiting for my mom to say a smart comeback. Instead, she said, “No, you don’t know how much I’ve been through,” as a sad statement. I envisaged my mom’s history, and pondered at what it was like. What did she mean?                                                                                             “I know karate.” Kate bragged as she walked in the armory, pretending to chop something on her hand. “I was a black belt. The top of the class too.”                                                              I rolled my eyes. My annoying boasting big sister.            I grabbed an abundant laser rifle from the rack on the wall and made sure the safety was on. I don’t want to accidently kill somebody.                          At that moment my dad came in. I noticed that he took a shower last night, not that that was important. All his bloodstains were gone. He was all suited up too. That’s probably because he gets his armor and weapons from Mr. Lounston’s office, not here. “Well guys. We’re going on a trip.” He paused for effect. “To the rexel’s main camp.”

.  .  .

I tried to rethink everything that had happened in the past two days. First we found the planet. Then the rexels showed up. Then we set up a camp at Vanity. Then my pod got disconnected from my family, so I didn’t reach the camp. I fell near the volcano. Then the camp got destroyed, and everyone scattered. Then Kate found me. Then the rexels almost killed us. Then Rano saved us, and kept us that day. Then an unknown enemy attacked us, and we escaped. Then they attacked again, while the volcano erupted. We hardly made it out. Then we slept until the rexel peace mission, which was right now.                                   Yeah, it was a rough two days. I felt like I barely got out alive, which was kind of true.                                                         We finally arrived at the rexel dwelling. It wasn’t glamorous or majestic or anything, it just looked like an old metal… box. It was even hard to believe the rexel leader lived in that dump. Maybe that was their plan: you would think the rexel king might be in a mother ship, or a huge castle. But no. They wanted stealth. Too bad it didn’t work.                          At seven in the morning, we set foot on the siege. Our plan was to create a diversion. Two bombs at the front door, then we sneak in at the side.  “Agent, blow em’ up twenty seconds after agent Wilson places them. We don’t want to see a scorched carcass on the floor during our raid.” My dad said. “Got it dude-er, I mean boss.” Nanotic muttered.        Twenty seconds passed.                                                           Kaboom! Rexel alarms resonated around the acre. The diversion had worked. Rexels were gathering at the front, doing a practiced drill and spraying water hoses at the fire aftermath or helping any rexels that got hurt.                                               After a while, my dad sent the signal for the assault, two fingers pointed at the direction we want to go.       “Remember, when your weapons are down, you still have evolved powers on your side. Don’t forget about it. Chaaaaaarge!!!” He yelled. The last part startled me.               In a blur, all the soldiers’ enhanced speed allowed them to charge into the battle kilometers away in seconds. Some rexels were brave enough to attack us, but to most we were rockets, all sprinting to the throne room in harmony, blowing off any rexels in our way. The best part? We were unexpected.                                                                                           Faster than I expected, we barged into the throne room. I took some time to look at it. Although the outside looked so bad, the inside was the absolute opposite.                                          Big banners were hung on the ceiling against the wall, which were red with a yellow outline. There were symbols of rexelian animals on them.                                                           The crown molding was carved and sculptured perfectly. There were gold metallic statues all around the room, which were just rexels in armor. They were probably great heroes.                                                                                                        A red and yellow carpet ran across the whole hallway. Big and thick pillars of white marble were behind the statues and ran along the hallway too.                                                      And there he was, the almighty sublime rexel emperor. He wore a velvet cloak with a white fluffy lining on top with black polka dots, like what a medieval times king would wear. He had a small golden crown on his big head. We raised our weapons and aimed our guns at him.                                            He growled. “Humans? What do you want?” Even the rexels had translators.                                                              “We want to make peace. A truce to never fight each other again. An alliance. Agree?” My dad said candidly, holding out a hand to shake. He got right to the point really quick.          “Make peace? Then what are all the weapons for?” The alien asked.                                                                                                   “Just in case.” My dad explained casually. “Look, we don’t want a war for the planet. We believe we can share it.”                The rexel contemplated. I could’ve sworn he murmured ‘weaklings’ under his breath.                            “What if we don’t?”                           “Then we have what you want. A war. Right now. And we’ll simply kill you and all your troops.”                                                     “This is my empire merciless human. You cannot force us to do anything.”                                                           “Ah, well you wanted a war.”                      The king eyed him deeply and carefully. Then he let out a bitter cold laugh. “Do you really think I was unprepared? Like you can charge in that easily? We rexels are smarter than you think. My real army is camouflaged outside this base, pointing their guns at you.”        “A dead rexel can’t lead them.” My dad pointed his firearm a little higher, which rested on his left arm.  The alien sneered. “A dead human is no use either.” He drew a rifle and pointed it at the leader of the human’s head, which was hidden in his red cloak. My dad didn’t flinch, or show a sign that he was going to.                                                                                     “This isn’t about me rexel. It’s about you. It’s your choice. I have a bomb implanted in your base. I can set it off any time. We all live or we all die.” My dad fibbed so well I almost believed in him. The rexel king knit his eyebrows. “Is that so?” He asked.                                              My dad nodded. “Friends or foes?”              Seconds passed. The king thought about it for a long time, while he had no idea he believed his fate in a fake bomb.                   Then he finally put down his weapon, and so did we.                                 “Allies. I guess peace is the only way with none of us getting killed. Don’t trick us human.” He warned. They shook hands.                                                                                                        I couldn’t believe it. It worked! We actually made an alliance with the most stubborn, ruthless, barbarous, vicious, merciless race! Of course I wouldn’t say that to our new friends. But I didn’t think it would happen in a billion years! I have to say, my dad was the best at negotiating.                                                      Then abruptly, a blue explosion massacred the wall. Lasers rained in instantaneously.                                                                                          “Get down!” The rexel king yelled as he tackled my dad. A laser had almost killed him.                                                                                           “Kyle, plan C. We need reinforcements! I repeat, we need reinforcements!” My mom yelled into her com-link.               Then a torrent of trixians came down on ropes. Yep, you heard me. Not voidals, not martians, but trixians. I knew the only way they could hang on ropes was if their ship was in the sky. We were ambushed.                                 The rexel king helped my dad up and my dad nodded at him. He called for rexel help too.                  “Get outside everyone! Bring the warzone outdoors!” The leader of the human race commanded. We followed his orders. In seconds we were out… to face an abounding trixian army!                                   A laser grenade dropped on the floor adjacently next to me. My mom witnessed it and yelled, “Mark! Take cover!” She aimed her pistol so skillfully it hit the edge of the grenade without blowing up, and it traveled a meter away from my body, detonating and scorching my face slightly. Okay, not slightly.                                                                                                  My dad was the last one to depart the rexel hideout. He looked left, then right, then plummeted into the air staying there for a few seconds, and when he descended his laser blade was in a trixian’s clavicle, killing him instantly.    Another trixian came into his lateral view, and he wallowed him into the air, and at that same moment my mom and I blasted him into oblivion with our pistols. Complete and utter obliteration.                                                                     Assuredly the backup arrived. The rexels were awesome! They tore through the trixian flesh, ripping trixians in their current path. With our new allies, we were unconquerable. The trixian’s army converged upon us, wave after wave. Then my confidence was lost. On second thought, maybe we were beatable. Their lasers cut through our armor, and their shields penetrated our blows and blasts. And dare I say it; their laser tech might be better than ours, which would upset Kyle’s dad a lot.                                                            My father took out a weapon I’ve never seen before. A metal handle. It extended into a long pole. He pressed a button on his AI device tucked in his suit pocket, and solid blue energy sputtered out. It was a laser scythe. Then he threw it horizontally and it magically stayed in the air, slicing trixian souls in half. I see. The AI controlled it.                                                 A monumental influx of enemies flooded in, forcing us to go back in the demented rexel dwelling. They all sprinted towards us, ready to assassinate. All their bodies matched the green trees and bushes of the forest. They looked like one big moving deranged blanket of grass, coming in like a flood. There were just so many of them. We fought the best we could, or at least I think I did. Now it’s clear, their laser tech was top-notch best in the universe. There was nothing left to do but retreat.                                                My dad called it first, like he read my thought. “Retreat! Get in the enterprise!”                                                                                    I finally noticed it. The gigantic vessel was there to get us. I guess Kyle flew it in near us for a quick getaway when things got ugly with the rexels, but we used it for another reason.                                                                                                       Clearly, we couldn’t win. We had to escape.                              The war was over.                                                                                                          The trixians had the element of surprise. Just by not being prepared, the tide of war changed.                                           The craft appeared above our heads. An innumerable amount of soldiers grappled on to it, escaping quickly. The rexel’s export showed up too, and they disembarked the savage battlefield. Of course even if my family was the most important, we would be last. Again.                                                                 We took our last shots at the crude aliens, knowing that trying to break through their laser shields was hopeless.                            I didn’t like fleeing. It made me feel like a coward. My dad told me to just think of it as a tactical maneuver, that it was just part of the plan. I couldn’t think of it that way. I wish we never did it again. 

.  .  . 

“Hey dad, what are we going to do next?” I asked inquisitively.                                                                                              He was a mess. His hair was singed, his clothes were dirty, and blood was all over him, although I didn’t think it was his.                                                               We were in my room in the ship. He just wanted to visit, just to check things out. He played with an action figure on my desk given to me for my seventh birthday, which was the right thing he got me this time. It was back on our old planet, of course.                                                                                   He was thinking. Then he flopped down the action figure, pretending it just dropped down dead. Next he got up and grabbed his black coat.                              “I have to plan something with the rexel king. We’ll drop everyone at the new camp. I was thinking we and the rexels can build a city there, with walls. Like an invincible fortress.” He finished putting on his coat, and typed in the code to exit my dorm. I never thought that was necessary, but I guess my dad and his folks just wanted everyone safe. I don’t think you would like a random stranger coming into your room.                             “So that’s it? You’re just going to leave us? Your family who hasn’t seen you in so long?”                                                                             He sighed and patted my back. “It’s business Mark. You’ll be fine without my army’s protection or mine. I’ll see you in about, two weeks.”                      I crossed my arms. “You know we haven’t seen you in two years, and then you’re leaving us again. Just to do some business and missions. I just wish we could win the planet already. Once we do you don’t have to be the leader anymore. We’ll have governments and countries. You were never into politics anyway. And then we can have a barbecue at our backyard or something. Play catch.” That sounded cheesy.                   “Well, we don’t have the planet yet, but we will Mark. I promise.”

.  .  .

At three in the morning the rexels and humans got to work on building the new city.                                                                      The humans made the blueprints. While the rexels also provided plans, their main job was to collect all the materials for the city and the wall. They owned a strong metal called krangg, which was an unbreakable tough element slightly stronger than diamond. And they had a lot of it. All their swords and buildings were made of it.                                                                                                  Sentries and watch guards were planted around the newly built city, mostly rexels. I recommended it would be a great idea for there to be traps to my dad, because it was unexpected, and it got a great deal of enemies at once. But he thought it wasn’t a good idea, considering the amount of resources it takes, and they need to be reset, which took a lot of work. Some are even only one use. And because he thinks it’s corny. He wants straightforward men; he didn’t want to rely on non-living pits and contraptions.                      My dad officially met the rexel king now. His name was Leroy. He wanted to give Leroy some credit for helping build the city, so they decided to name the city together. But they didn’t have one yet.                                                                                                 The wall around the city was going to be finished in about a week. The next part of the plan was to send scouts everywhere in Vanity, looking for the trixians or the martains or even the hostile antagonistic voidals.                  But we weren’t even planning on wars with them. We wanted to make peace, even if we had to go through war.                                   More and more the real world was becoming like my dream, or vision. When I first heard about the other races, I knew we had to fight. I was right about that, but I was wrong with the outcome. We aren’t battling for the planet; we’re battling to protect the planet. All races want it equally, and if so, then just share it. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.                                         When the walls were finished, Leroy ordered ten of his men to take ships and scout.                                                                                       My dad and Leroy shook hands. The plan was set.

.  .  .

I arose up to a bright light shining in my face. At first I had no idea what it was. But then I realized it was Remedie, the sun. I was in the new city. I was so used to gaining back my consciousness to the black emptiness of space. That’s right, I had the window. I was on the edge of the ship back then, but not anymore.                                                                              The sun glistened at every corner of my room. I was glad it was there. I was glad we found this inhabitable planet.                 Bacon. I smell bacon! My mom was cooking bacon. All these happy thoughts. Safety. Home. Food. It almost made me forget what happened in the past few days. Almost.               We weren’t safe yet. We didn’t have the planet yet. At least the bacon was real!                 I was wearing my pajamas. Not my regular blue suit.                                 I slipped into my slippers, walked into the dining room, and greeted my mom good morning. It almost felt like a dream, everything was back to normal. It was like there was no war. Like I was back home in our old planet, but with a different house.                                                                                       Speaking of the house, the main room was connected altogether. The living room, the kitchen, and the dining room. Right now we were in the dining room connected with the kitchen. I took a seat opposite of my mom’s.                                                                        “Where’s Kate?” I asked her. I munched on a piece of bacon as she combed her dark hair.                                   “As usual. Hanging out with her friends in the new city. Don’t you want to hang out with yours?”                                                          “Yeah, sure. I guess that’s all that’s left to do now. Like, going to school and all.” I joked. I knew that wasn’t going to happen.                                 “Don’t be silly. You know the war is not over yet. We have to reestablish our colony first. We’re not done yet.”              Ugh. My mom was always so serious. She doesn’t even get the point of sarcasm.                                                                                                “So we’re still going to fight?”                              “No. We’re going to stay here for a few days. Progress has been fast. The walls are done. Your dad already sent the scouts. He said one of his scouts thought he saw some alien activity. We’re close.”                           I took a sip of orange juice, then put it back down, making a thump noise louder than I expected.                                                         “I don’t think they’re going to attack us.” I stated.                                       “Why’s that?”                                     “They probably know what we’ve accomplished. We managed to make a city with unbreakable walls. We’ve made allies. They’ll probably think we’re impossible to defeat.”                     “Yeah. Probably. That could be your fatal flaw: underestimating the enemy. We lost that war yesterday.”                 I don’t think my mom discerned anything.                                                           “Because we didn’t have our full army! They did! We weren’t at our best power!” I protested.                                                                                        “No, because they had better tech. Better strategies. Higher ground. They caught us off guard.”                                                                                        I finished my bacon and pushed back against the chair, folding my arms. “How do you know so much about war?”                  My mom stared at a bottle of ketchup on the oak table.                 “You know I was part of the FBI in our last planet right?”              I listened carefully. “Yeah.”                “I didn’t tell you everything. Long before that I was in the military, with your father.”                           “You never told me?”                                 She shrugged. “Personal stuff. Anyways, I was an officer specialized in war strategy.”                            “So why don’t you help dad with that?”                   “He has new experts. Apparently he preferred those instead of me. So then after I quit the military, I joined the FBI. Three nights after, your dad was kidnapped by the government. Agent Nanotic did that. He used to work for the government. So then they explained everything to him. They said he had the necessary skills to lead the human race when the time came to leave the planet. He was courageous, strong, and scared of nothing. And he cared for other people more than himself, no matter how bad to him they were. He trained for a week, and finally they released him, just to tell everyone he knew about leaving the planet, including me. We got ready. Then the next day, we left.” She looked like she was on the verge of tears.                                                 “Leaving the planet was so sad. And scary. We didn’t know what was next on our path. But I knew your father would lead us, no matter how much dangers we come across to.”                    A moment of silence occurred so the words sank into me. So that was my mom’s history. She probably did have more experience than me in field combat. That’s what she said in the armory for the rexel alliance mission.                                                           “I think I know,” I began, “but just to be sure, why did we leave the planet?”                       She exhaled deeply. “It was out of resources. But mostly, it was a densely polluted and destroyed environment. That’s what happens to every planet the human race finds. It gets so poisoned and wrecked we can’t afford to live there anymore.” She paused. “But some planets, like our third planet after earth, we managed to keep it long enough until the sun died and a supernova was going to occur, so we had no choice but to escape. Of course that was very long ago.” We were silent for a few seconds heavily thinking.                         “What happened when you were disconnected from our pods?” She finally asked.                                                                                                 “I was ten kilometers away from the camp. Then when rexels overran the camp, Kate found me. We were chased by rexels until trixian outcasts saved us. They took care of us for a few days until voidals attacked. Kate and I fled, and then dad found us.” I said quickly. I left out the part about Rano. She didn’t need to know that.   “How did we build the city so fast?” I asked to keep the conversation going and flowing.                          “Well-“                                         Beep! Beep!                                    A hologram of dad appeared from my mom’s watch.                            “What is it?” She sounded distressed, as if someone had interrupted our little tea party.                                                               “One of our scouts found a martian base! It might not be the main one, but we still need to investigate.”                        “Roger that.” My mom said.                       “Can I come?” I asked a bit playfully.                                           “Why?!” My dad said fiercely. I rolled my eyes.                    “Cause’ I want to dad.”                   “Fine. Don’t blame me if you get killed.” He muttered. I chuckled. I know my dad didn’t mean that, he just wants to scare me so I won’t go. The proof: how do I blame him when I’m dead?                                                                                                      “I’m coming too.” My mom said, grabbing a reddish leather coat off the wall coat rack beside the light-gray door. “Count me in.”  

.  .  .  

I wanted to go more defense this battle so I took a shield. I suspected that some of my dad’s words were actually rubbing on me.          Of course, I’d prefer melee over range. My favorite sword was the X-377 laseredge sword brand. It was the sharpest, the lightest, and of course was invented by Mr. Lounston, my friend Kyle’s dad. The gadget supplier.           I was ready to go. As I walked out of the armory, I saw… wait, what? Paul?!                                                                            He was wearing the same cobalt armor as me and even had the same weapon. His short brown hair looked recently cut. He was tying his bootstrap, with one leg on the bench. I walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. He turned around, and his face reflected surprise just like mine.   “Paul? What are you doing here?” I asked him.                                                                            He explained right away. “You know my dad is one of the generals of your dad, right?”  “Yeah, so?”                                             “He’s taking me to battle, since he’s in charge of this mission.”                      “What?!” I didn’t want to be cocky, but this was my thing. I was supposed to be the only kid in the battlefield. It was my rep.                                                           “Well, how good are you at combat?” I tried to sound like I wasn’t jealous. My feeling was something like you just built an awesome castle and you’re so proud of it but all of a sudden someone says hey check mine out! And it was a thousand times better than yours and abruptly all your self-esteem evaporates.                                                           He could sense my stiffness. I didn’t hide it well. “Better than you.”                                                                                              “Oh really? You want to go? Right now?” I yelled. I was infuriated that he was bragging.                                                   “You bet.” Before I could react he expeditiously put his sword on my boot, and flipped me over. I landed hard on my chest. That didn’t feel good.                                                                      I jerked back up and threw my shield away. I didn’t need it. We quickly shifted into sword-to-sword battle. I held my sword with two hands. We clashed. His reflexes were good. After my diagonal slash blocked, he spun to add momentum and almost drove me off balance. I left hooked him, followed by my next diagonal slash. He dodged it. Then he saw an opportunity to strike my ribs, and he did. He used the hilt of his sword to avoid murder. I winced in pain.                          “Your weakness is overconfidence.” Paul said like he knew everything in the world.                                                                       “I lack nothing!” I was starting to get really angry with him.     As I got up to beat him up at the duel my mom walked by and spotted us.                                                                     “Stop! What are you doing?” She demanded, making a stop gesture.                                                                             “Uh, practicing.” Paul answered like he tried to come up with a good reply really fast. I gave him a look that meant, really? Is that the best you can do?                “What kind of practice involves lethal weapons?” My mom said as a matter of fact.                   “Sorry.” I confessed.                                “You’re the one who decided to come Mark. So pull yourself together.” 

.  .  .

The attack plan was set at three. We ate lunch first. It was strange but good food from Vanity. The hunters had hunted them.                                                                                                              The plan was all about defense, so good thing I brought a shield. I felt one step ahead of everybody.                                   It’s been told that the martians were more powerful than the rexels, but are can they restrain rexels and humans? I doubt it. But my mom did say don’t underestimate your foes. So I never do.                           The rexels knew a lot about the martians. They say they dig underground a lot. We were predicting the base was just an entranceway to an underground city or something. Either way, we were going to defend any ambush or surprise attack. We had laser shields, high quality armor, and many more. The rexels? Oh they don’t need armor. Their scaly hides will protect them from a laser rocket launcher to an omegaliser sniper pierce. Think of it like their metal, krangg, but even stronger. And they were almost everything proof. Yeah, talk about defense.                When we arrived, we didn’t have much to arrive to. The martian base was just a metal dome. Yeah. Even lamer than the rexel one.                                                                                                 We postponed our position. We held our ground about one hundred meters away, all our weapons raised and ready to fire.                                                                                                          Full on attack was what we were going to do. But also keep it low profile and defend the best you can. Part of the plan was also the snipers lodged on the steep cliffs above us. They had camouflage on them and night vision goggles. The trees went well with the camouflage. Then one of them gave us the signal the coast was clear and the perfect time was now.                                                                                                   A soldier received the message and launched a rocket at the door. For some reason my dad’s plans always started with an explosion. The deadly flying bomb streaked by as smoke billowed out from its thruster. The detonation on the base gave a clear meaning to the martians: an incursion. They spilled out of the cramped demolished doorway. Their four arms wielded white energy swords. They attacked so fast they seemed to be like a whizzing tornado, leaving hordes of human and rexel carcasses behind. They whittled down our army fast. Their four arms worked together in one fluid fluctuation.                                                                                    “Heavy-duty wall formation now!” My dad demanded, eager for a change in the tide of war. The soldiers rushed into position. They carried with two hands big shields, kind of like SWAT shields, with the mini window and all. Together they created an impenetrable wall, thicker than five side-by-side math textbooks.                                                                                        The martians tried to at least scratch the surface. Ha, they don’t know the heavy-duty wall formation. Nothing except maybe the voidals can get past it.             We pushed forward. Combining our exerted strength we managed to push the enemies who continued to slice at our shields back towards their den. Then the snipers above exterminated them all. What could possibly defeat that great plan?                   We moved on. Our enhanced strength carried our hefty barriers like light surfboards.                                                        We finally entered their domicile. Whoa. I didn’t expect this. I don’t think anyone did.                                                                         Although I couldn’t see the full thing, I was certain. The endless hallways, the twisted paths, it all added up.               “Sir, it’s a maze.” I know that voice. I turned my head and saw agent Nanotic. I didn’t realize he was present.                “Yes Nanotic, I can see that. Why don’t you do something useful for once and use the AI maze solver mode?” My dad asked like Nanotic was Captain Obvious.                                                Nanotic’s expression was grim. He took off his shades and pressed a button on his AI that he took out from his black leather coat pocket. “Sorry, it doesn’t work.”                  “What do you mean it doesn’t work?” My dad face palmed. Everyone’s eyes gazed upon Nanotic like he was an alien. He didn’t seem to mind.                                                                                              “The maze walls were created with a material that disallows to use any of the AI’s modes. It corrupts the systems.” Nanotic claimed.                                                              “Can you fix it?” I asked.                       “No Mark, I can’t.” He was hitting the AI several times with his hand and it beeped constantly, like he assumed it would do something.                                                                                   “Well then.” My dad faced the army. “We will have to go through the maze. Gather into groups and split up. Proceed with extreme caution.”                            I yelled in the maze. The sound didn’t bounce. This corporeal was strange. It was starting to creep me out too. My father looked at me sternly. “Mark.”                                               I wiped my nose. “Sorry.”                                 My dad looked back at the crowd. “We will now continue. Remember, defense is key.”                                                           Our group was my dad, my mom, Kate, a few soldiers, and me, of course. Apparently my dad wanted Nanotic to come with a few of his finest troops for the second-most-important exit searching party.                                                    We marched forward. Multiple turns lead to numerous dead ends. It always seemed like we were going the right way, but then it ended in a thorough stalemate.            Suddenly, I heard a yell. A soldier was in vain. The sound was echoless.                                                                           My dad halted us by raising a hand. He paused deliberately. He seemed to be looking at the ceiling, as if that was the thing that caused the problem.                                                   “Move on.” He said, ignoring it.                            A while after Leroy and his troops came from a corridor.                                                  “Not that way.” Leroy informed.   We parted our ways and kept going. The maze implied incessant. It was boundless, limitless, and endless. Most hallways led to an impasse.  More sharp screams. They were getting closer.  “Dad, what if we don’t get out?” Kate asked.                “Don’t think that way.” My dad said, looking more focused on finding a way out as if somehow my sister’s words affected him. Highly unlikely. My dad was absolutely fearless no matter what circumstances.                                       “Can’t we just blast through these walls?” I catechized.                  “No, we used our only rocket at the entrance.” My dad replied, but he sounded like he just said that because he didn’t like my idea.  “No, not just that.” Nanotic said, touching the walls with his fingers. “These walls are made of blast-proof material. I can tell by the density of it, even without using my AI.” He explained. “I was taught in spy school.”  Then an ear-splitting yell shocked us. It was so impending and close my dad finally decided to investigate.                      We came in contact to what I mostly expected. Martians. Even though I shouldn’t be, I was relieved. Maybe because it wasn’t some scary monster picking off at our forces. It was just the usual green aliens.                                                                                                           A mini war betided.                                                                               Our two squads collided and disputed, in the crowded space of the maze corridor. Our rexels were at the front, attacking furiously with all their might.                                      It seemed like we were going to win, and we were pushing the alien forces back, but suddenly they fled and split up into heterogeneous hallways.                  When they were all gone, I was at peace of mind. I felt like nothing could go wrong now. I remember in a lot of cartoons and shows they tell you to never say or think of things like that, like it would jinx it somehow and something would go wrong at that moment.                                                                     A petrifying scream occurred. It almost sounded like it was right next to me. No, it can’t be. But dark thoughts overwhelmed my mind just by my awareness that I was at the back of our group marching forward. If they were to kill me, nobody could see.                                                                   A chill went up my spine. Maybe it was. I turned around. 

.  .  .

A boy scream. The only kids here were Mark and Paul. Paul was here and… uh oh.   “Mark!” Dad yelled. “Hold on! I’m coming!” He abandoned his squadron and weapons in a valiant effort to save his child.                                                                                                      “I’m coming! I’m coming!”                                                             With Mark’s occasional echoless screams, it was more difficult find him. “Soldiers, follow me!” Dad arced his arm over his head as a follow gesture.                                                They all sprinted, pursuing Dad. He slid to a right turn, then a left. He sped away so fast that the soldiers almost couldn’t keep up. He continuously swayed around in a zig-zag pattern, then weaved through the hallways like it was as easy as jumping over a pebble, although the soldiers didn’t see it that way. In time they made it out of the maze, where it lead outside. It was nighttime.                                                There! Dad saw his son. He was adhered by a martian in a black duffel bag held under one of his arms. The alien was running up a hill, racing towards a martian UFO parked on the summit. Normally Dad would admire the view of the meadow, but now wasn’t the right time.                                                                                  “Dad! Help!” Mark screamed.                                      “I’m coming!” Dad used his augmented speed to catch up with the martian. But as he went up the hillside, the martian punched him back down. Tumbling, he ended up at the bottom of the hill again. Dad doesn’t do that good when he’s in a panic status.                                                                           Unfortunately, he was too late. The martian hoisted Mark into the ship, then climbed aboard. It lifted off.                                    “Noooo!” Dad yelled, banging his fist against the ground as hard as he possibly could. Then he grabbed a stone the size of a tennis ball and kicked it a mile away. He was still so frustrated, he ripped a tree off its roots and started whacking another. And then he-                                                    Mom stopped him. “Stop! Steve, stop! You did everything you could! No one blames you! You’re no match alone for a martian when abandoning your weapons.”  Dad breathed heavily. “I know I could’ve done more.”                      Mom put a gentle hand on his cheek. “We will get him back, I promise.”                        Dad slumped against a tree, sweating indignantly, his hands straight on his knees. He rested silently. How can she promise something like that? was what kept going through his head.                         “Um, do you guys want to hear what I did?” Kate asked.                             Mom sighed, obviously annoyed. “What is it?”         Kate almost said she’d tell another time, but she didn’t.              “I put a tracking device on the ship.”                                                 Dad instantly shot up. “You what?!”                  “I put a tracking device on the ship.” She repeated.                Dad wrapped her in a tight hug. “Oh thank you. You might’ve just saved your brother.” He said dramatically. Then he was all serious.                                                          “Nanotic, you’re in charge of this place. I want you to tell Leroy and his rexels to do everything in their power to destroy that maze. Remember, don’t attempt explosions. Then, do a complete scan. Find any information you can.” Nanotic snickered. “It rhymes.”                    “Who cares?” Dad turned on his com-link. “Kyle, drive the ship over the maze, then transport us back to the city.” He looked at Kate and Mom. “Kate, Megan, prepare the tracking device.” He stared at the spot the ship took off from. “We’re going to rescue Mark.” 

.  .  .

After I was in- whatever they put me in, all I could do was feel. It was some kind of technology. I couldn’t see, or hear. I screamed for help as loud as I could, but I’m not sure anyone heard, since I couldn’t hear myself. Then I thought, this is what a blind and deaf person must feel like.                                    I felt the cold arms of the martian, carrying me… higher. The silence was eerie. It was terrifying.                        I was dropped. Then the ground hummed beneath me, as if taking off. I was sure I was in a ship. Finally, my silent and blind life was ended when the martian took the bag off. I heard his steps as he walked out of the room.                                                                         I shook my grogginess out of me. I hated that bag.                         I determined my bearings. I was in a big silver room filled with wooden crates. A green hue of light was all around it, making the room look dark green. The floor beneath me felt cold, unlike the warm touch in the air.                                                                                                        People were all around me. I think some of them were the soldiers that came with us on the martian base raid. They must’ve been taken, like me. They looked scared. They were leaderless.                                                                       “You were abducted too?” A girl beside me asked. The moment I turned to her I was speechless. She was breathtakingly gorgeous. Her deep blue eyes, her flawless blond hair…                                               “Um, hello?”                 “Oh, um, yeah.” I choked. I hate how love can do that to you.             “Great.” She said sarcastically. “My name’s Daniela. What’s yours?”                I felt queasy. “M-M-Mark.” I stammered. I agree, not a very good first impression.                   She glanced at her fingernails. “Oh, so you’re a shy kid.”                          She was actually wrong. I was actually very extrovert, just not to her.  “Where were you abducted?” I asked, trying to avoid awkward silence.                                                               “The city doofus! That’s where everyone is! Unless you’re an alien in disguise. In that case…”                                                         “No, no, I’m not an alien.”                     “Then who are you?”                           “Uh… Steve’s son.”                       Her eyes widened. “Steve Grey’s son? Mark?”                     “Yeah.” I didn’t know I was popular. I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not.                     “No way! How could someone that important like you end up in a dump like this?”                                                                     How could someone as beautiful as her end up in a dump like this? was what went through my head after.                                                                                                      There were murmurs in the crowd. It was probably about me. Although some people didn’t talk, which made sense. I didn’t want the soldiers that worked for my dad to be surprised too.                                                                                         “I went on a mission with my dad. We were investigating a martian base, then I got abducted.” I explained. There were more whispers in the crowd. I was beginning to think my voice was too high. I changed the subject.                                                                “Hey, do you have any food?”                     “You see any food here?” Daniela asked discouragingly.  “No.” At that thought my stomach grumbled like a thousand bolts of thunder in the distance echoing.                                         “Well, what do you know?”                    “About what?”               “About what they’re doing with us?”                                              She sighed which meant that she didn’t like what she was about to say. “They’re experimenting on us.”  “What?” My question didn’t have a tinge of confusion.  “You heard me.” She looked at a bald man on the other wall. He was drooped on the floor. He looked so sick and dazed that he could’ve been there for days.                                                                                                     “That guy lost all his hair, and he’s paralyzed. That guy doesn’t need to go to the bathroom anymore. They messed with his digestive system. And that guy is so tall he can’t walk anymore.” She looked at each one as she went. The super-tall man wore a big white towel around his whole body like a cloak- maybe because regular clothes wouldn’t fit him. He was as tall as an extended ladder! His face showed indisputable emotion: sadness and a yearning for escape and home.                                                                                Even though it was warm in the room, I shivered. “What do you guys do about it?”                                          Daniela shrugged like she didn’t care. “Nothing, I guess. Wait for help, and hope you’re not the next one.”   “You lazy pants.” I insulted as I got up and searched the room for anything that could be an escape or might be useful.                                                                                    “We’ve already searched the whole room. There’s no hope.” Daniela acquainted.                      “That’s because you lost hope. You just got to find it again.” I looked at the ceiling. Nothing out of the ordinary.         Daniela pointed at my blue suit. “That’s the same suit Steve Grey wears.”          “Seriously? You’re thinking about that now?”              “Well, what’s the perfect time to think about it? When you’re trapped in a room with nothing to do is a great time.” She insisted. Ugh, girls. They always care about fashion.                 I scanned the room. It was door-less. There were crates everywhere in piles and stacks; it was almost like we were in a cargo room.                                                                               Then I saw a ventilation shaft. Martians had those? Someone saw me looking at it and said, “We already tried that. The person who went never came back.”                       I collapsed back down next to Daniela. “Have you tried breaking the wall with your evolved strength?” I asked her.                             “Pssh. That’s a rumor. It’s not true.” She sounded like she hoped she was wrong.                                                                      “No, it’s not. Watch.” I was about to punch the wall when suddenly red lights flashed out of nowhere and alarm noise resonated around the room.                 “What’s that?” I asked, thinking that she would likely not have the answer.                                 “Shh! Hide! That’s the signal when they’re going to take someone and do experiments on them!” She pulled me and we crawled behind a huge crate.  “That’s impossible. This room is doorless.”                                             Pssh! I heard a steamy noise as a dark line traced a vertical rectangle on the silver wall. Then a hidden door popped out, and a martian entered, the same one that brought me here, I was sure. From the waist up, he wore no clothes, leaving his chest bare. From the waist down, he wore dark pants but no shoes. His feet only had four spread out toes. He looked so buff and muscular it was like an anvil could drop on his head and he wouldn’t feel anything at all. He looked around the room like he was picking a snack in a cupboard, pouting.                                                                  “Not me. Not me.” Daniela quietly prayed with her eyes closed, over and over again. The martian said something I couldn’t understand.                   He walked up to the crate that we were hiding behind. He grabbed it with his four powerful arms, lifted, and heaved it away, blowing our cover. His intense hostile eyes glared at me, as if he was trying to see through me. I was cowering with fear. And it clouded my mind. I didn’t know what to do. His quadruple reptilian eyes looked back and forth between Daniela and me, like he was choosing.                                      What I didn’t want happened. He took Daniela and lifted her over his shoulder, her upper body over the alien’s muscled back. She was yelling and hollering and banging her fists on the alien.                     “No! Don’t let him take me!” She screamed. I was shocked. Nobody was even helping her. I couldn’t blame them. This must’ve happened every day to them, and they were too scared to do anything. I could even relate.   “Take me instead!” I yelled to the martian, running up to it. Everyone looked surprised, or they looked at me like I was crazy.                                                                                                  “That’s very sweet Mark, but he doesn’t understand you!” Daniela said.                                                                                            I knew Daniela was right, so I punched him to converse in physical form, except it didn’t land. He saw it coming, and whipped around and blocked it with one of his arms, his posture stiff and his chilling eyes intimidating. Then he tried twisting mine, but my enhanced strength worked better than I expected. It didn’t hurt. But his strength paid off too. I balanced my strength with a second punch with my free arm, but he blocked that with an extra hand.         Dang martians with their four arms!                                                     The martian exerted force as a push, and I spiraled like a throwing disk, falling on a pack of crates. The pain was infuriating but bearable.                                                                  Everyone exchanged gasps, although none bothered to help. As I pulled myself up Daniela’s screams were far away now. And the door was closed. I didn’t give up.                                                             “No!” I banged my fist on the hidden door, knowing it was useless and hopeless.                                                                          If I was to have a future with Daniela, now was not the time to think about it.               Because I had to save her.

Chapter III: The peace missions

Dad wasn’t happy.                   The reason of his uneasiness? First of all, the planet. They had found it, but four other races wanted it at the same time. How coincidental was that?  Then, the way his plans crumbled. The human camp that was set up, he didn’t think it thoroughly. He didn’t post enough guards. He was so determined on winning the war that his carelessness brought death and loss to the human race.                                                                                                      Then when the voidals attacked, they weren’t ready, and they had to retreat. He kept reminding himself that it was just a tactical maneuver, even though he knew he didn’t believe it. They had to do it to survive.                                                                                              Now, his son Mark was kidnapped. He was so stupid to not keep him under eyes at all times. His family was his most prized possession, not an overpowering surge to kill every alien and take the planet like a selfish psychopath.                           Dad had wished that this were just all under the effects of bad luck. But deep down, he was afraid that he was losing his touch. He was afraid that he hadn’t been at his best, and he was turning into a bad leader. One that made the worst decisions at the most wrong times. At that point, he hated himself.                                 In fact, he had this suspicion all along, even before they left the old planet. He didn’t know if he actually did have the skills to be the leader. He didn’t know if he always made the right decisions. But then again, does anyone do?                                  When Dad thought that, it just made him guilty for blaming it at other people, which was usually not like him. It wasn’t their fault. In fact, they weren’t involved into this at all.                       When the martian on the hill punched him back down the hill, it confirmed it. His weakness was his determination for what he wants and for what he wants to happen. He shouldn’t care too much, because if he does then he would act at his first thoughts all the time, even if they weren’t the best choices. He had run up to the martian kidnapping his child carelessly, not even thinking about how he was going to defeat him. If he had just made the better choice…            Dad hoped his fear of failure would be hidden by his emotions. He hoped nobody noticed or found out about his bad leadership. He hoped it would not be seen because it was covered with his usual smile and humor.                                   But most of all, he hoped it would subside. He hoped that the fear was nothing to worry about. He was always thought as brave and fearless to everyone, but it wasn’t true. People only thought it was true because they can only read the outside appearance of a person. Inside was where his fear usually was in. Anytime he was scared, he acted like he wasn’t and tried to push down his fear down to the very bottom of his mind which was the thing that decided if he was afraid or not. The only person who could see through his outer side was Megan, his wife. He even began to think that she was having suspicions about his fear.   But after everything Dad has been through, he always reminded himself that it was all worth it, and he was going to get through it no matter what. Even if the odds were stacked up against him and seemed impossible, he knew he would make it, because he had to make it. Nobody would look at him the same if he let everyone down. Then again, they couldn’t if they would all be dead.                                                        The tracking device registering into the lab computer beep sound snapped Dad back to the present.                            “Where is he?” Dad questioned.          Mom’s eyes were glued to the screen. “They’ve taken him north. I can upload the tracking device’s signal into the main computer of one of Leroy’s transport ships. We can follow the signal there.”  Just then the door opened to the lab room, which was followed by Leroy and two of his men. He looked angry.                                              Everyone faced them. Unexpectedly, he marched up to Dad, and right hooked him in the face. He crumpled to the floor, one hand on the floor and one on his mouth, all bloody.                                          “What the hell are you doing?” Mom said as she took a step forward aggressively, fists clenched while Kate held up a proton pistol at Leroy at the same moment. Leroy ignored her. “Your agent Nanotic told me what you were up to.” He growled. “Do you really think I’d risk my men just for one little kid?”                                                                                                     Dad wiped blood off his mouth and got up. “Tell me Leroy, have you ever had a child?”                   He looked away as if it brought back bad memories. “A daughter. I lost her though.”                                                        “Then what makes this different?”                        Leroy snorted, which was actually a laugh. “The difference is we’re in the middle of war!”  Dad looked at Kate. “Put the gun down honey.”                                        She did as she asked, looking a bit surprised.                                    “Listen, our alliance isn’t broken Steve. But we’re not helping you with your son.” He spat. He and his goons exited the room.                        Gloom fell upon Dad’s face. He turned to Kate and Mom.                       “Well then, we have no support from the rexels.”                             “What about our transport? We can’t bring the enterprise just for a rescue mission.” Kate acknowledged.                               “Then we have to go on foot. Megan, how far is it?”                                     “It’s only three kilometers away. What if it’s in the air?”                  “Equip grappling hooks. I’m going to use ten of my finest soldiers, including Nanotic, once he’s done with the martian maze. Meet me at Mr. Lounston’s office at nine. He has manufactured new gear.”                                                                 Kate and Mom left. Dad decided to call Nanotic.  “New news. The rexels aren’t helping us for the rescue mission.” He announced.  Nanotic adjusted his shades. “No transport?”                                  “Negative.” Dad scowled.  Nanotic smiled.                “What is it?” Dad asked suspiciously.   “We mined some of the maze walls. It’s actually very durable but flexible. We can make something out of it.” Nanotic seemed to read Dad’s thoughts. “Like…” Dad began, a smile forming.                      “A blast-proof transport vessel! Kyle doesn’t have anything planned today. He’d be more than happy to build you one.”       Dad’s grin was complete. He felt like everything was going his way again. “That’s great news!” How long will it take?”                        “If you want a big one, that will ought to take a day. If you want one for just fifteen people, that will take four to five hours.” Nanotic said. Great! Dad thought. Cross grappling hooks off the equipment list!  “Excellent! Get to work on it now.”                “Roger that.” Then the intercom shut.

.  .  .

Time to test my theory.                                     I clenched my fist on my right hand, pumping strength into it. One of my hands was on the spot (or door) where the martian departed from. It felt smooth but rough at the same time; it was a very strange sensation. But it was no stranger than four-armed four-eyed verdant brutes.                                                          I aimed my fist right at the door.                                  Bam! The door flew off its hinges and crashed into a wall on the other side. It worked!           I took one step to my freedom, but stopped when I realized I didn’t even bother to help the hostages, which was totally unlike me. I turned to look at their helpless faces. I had to help.                                                                                  “C’mon. Come with me.” I said. I saw the paralyzed man in the corner, and then the giant one. “All of you. I’m getting all of you out of here, even if we die trying.”                                                           Four men carried the two hostages who couldn’t walk. They followed my orders quick, either it was because I punched a door off the wall without effort, or it was respect for being the chief’s son. It was probably both.                                                       In single file we left the hostage room, or cargo room, whatever. The air suddenly smelled of rotten fish, or it was simulated to my brain as that. I gagged.                                         I held my breath to the stench as we ambled through the martian ship’s hallways. The walls looked black but I had a feeling it was just very, very dark green. The only light we got was from the luminous lime-colored neon lights that striped through the hallways in a technological pattern just above our heads. It reminded me of the ice cream shop my dad and I were at about three days ago. It got ruined when Kyle called Dad about Vanity.                                                        After a long hallway, I saw their lab room, where they held Daniela. It was on the corner of two intersecting hallways, with glass for a giant window instead of walls. Why would they do that? Just so any bypassing martians can see how much pain and torture the human subjects had?    Daniela was held on a table, her wrists and ankles trapped in circular bars of steel. Three martian scientists with lab coats surrounded her, working on computers. That wasn’t the worst part. Several needles were attached to robot arms around her head, and they were about to inject into her skull! I had to get there, fast.                                              “Stay here.” I said to the crowd of escaped hostages. “If martians come, fight them the best you can.”                                         Fearlessly, I broke through the glass and instantly regretted it. Martians were on me like flies on a stink worm. Their eyes narrowed, their fists were clenched, and they got ready to attack. I almost ran away like a scared little baby, which is what Kate thinks I am.                                                                                  Two tackled me at once, and I rolled out of their way. Their heads crashed together, and they fell, unconscious. I ran up to the lab table, broke off one of the needles, and stabbed it to the head of the third martian. I rubbed my hands together with satisfaction. But I knew there was nothing to be proud about. I didn’t even fight two of them, and they were only scientists who didn’t know how to fight.                                                    Ok then, time to free Daniela. I grabbed a steel cuff holding her right wrist with two hands, and struggled to pull it off. Finally, I broke it off. One by one, I took them all off. Daniela sat up on the table, holding one of her wrists.           “Thanks. I owe you one. I guess the rumors are true.”                             “Yep.” I said. “Help me get everyone out of here.”                                                         Then the alarm went off. Martians were going to arrive soon, I was certain of it.               “Hurry!” I pushed her out of the lab room a bit forcefully. The hostages were waiting outside patiently.               “What’s that smell?” Daniela asked.                                           “Who cares? Let’s go! That way!” I pointed.                                We jogged through the immense adjacent hallway the opposite way of the room they kept us in.           I wasn’t sure, but I think martians were following us. I didn’t want to check. I just wanted to escape this wretched setting.                  The smell was intoxicating. It was so horrible. My mind was racing. It didn’t matter if they were behind us or not. They would soon find us. We had to hide.                                         Once we reached the nearest door, I broke the lock and opened it. “Everyone, inside! They’re coming!” I let everyone enter first before me. That’s the way my dad would do it.                                                                                         After I was in I shut the door as fast as I could.                               “Great Mark. Now we’re trapped.” Daniela said with tension, folding her arms.                Anger seeped out of me. I got her this far, and she didn’t even thank me? “Well, what else are we supposed to do huh?! Do you want to lead?!”           “If only I could.”                                                                                 Was she saying that I took control without decision? That I was being a dictator? Or did she just mean she couldn’t lead? I hoped it was the second thought.                 “You should be grateful I saved you from that lab room. I didn’t have to you know!”        “Well, you did! Then you trapped us in this room and doomed us all!”                             I was so pissed I punched the metal wall and made a dent.            “It’s not like you can do better!”                  “Maybe I could.” She taunted.                    “No, you can’t!” I slammed my fist on the wall again, without laying my eyes on it. I heard whistling air, and curiosity replaced my anger. It attracted my eyes.                     On the other side wasn’t another room, it was the sky! This room was on the side of the ship!                                               After a few seconds from my discovery the door shot open. The martians appeared! From there I knew there was no other choice. I ripped the wall open, and it revealed the blue sky, including a ferocious wind that blew violently.                   Knowing that time was very scarce, I yelled only a few words. “Jump! Do, or die!”               I don’t care if they thought I was crazy, or if I thought I was. Either way, we were going to die. I would take my chances with jumping.                           I took a really, deep breath. I was going to regret this for sure. But even if I didn’t do it, I knew we would get killed by the martians painfully, or worse, get experimented on. I closed my eyes, and jumped.                              The wind didn’t affect my fall route. For a few moments, all I heard was the strong wind. All I felt was the gravity pulling me down, and me falling into a massive rock that was hard enough to kill me. Everything went by so fast, but yet so slow. The moments were seconds, but each felt like an eternity. I knew I couldn’t get out of this mess, so for the first time in my life I really wanted to die. I wanted to get it over with. I wanted a painless and quick death. But before died, I said goodbye to-                                                           Bam!           I landed? I opened my eyes. I was on a dark steel platform, not land or water. At first I imagined that this was what the afterlife was, a boring dark silver platform. But something told me that it wasn’t.                                                                             I was still alive. I was overjoyed. I couldn’t believe it! Amazingly, a ship caught me and saved my life!                                                                                         A hatch opened on the roof. My dad climbed out with a laser sword and a helmet. He took the head protection off and he clustered me in a tight hug.                 “You’re safe Mark.” He said obviously. I think he just said that to make it clear or to cheer me up.                                                                             “How did you find me? And this is not one of Leroy’s ships.”             “I’ll explain later. But now we have to-“                           “No, wait! More hostages are on that ship, we have to save them.” As I said the words, people disembarked the huge alien craft and emplaned ours.                “Or, they can come to us.” My dad said with a smile. With each hostage being accounted for, a thud followed. Not long they were complete.                                                          “Are you Steve Grey?” A man asked in amazement.                 “Yes, it’s me. Now get inside the ship everyone, where you are safe.”               Just then, a martian jumped aboard our ship! He took someone by surprise and plunged his white, burnished blade deep into its home. Everyone then screamed and ran to the hatch my dad left open. My dad flipped over them with amplified jump boost and clashed his weapon against the enemy’s.            I looked at the man who fell down towards his final resting place, down towards Vanity, his weight overpowering lift and carrying him down to his last concluding sleep of his life. I felt no sympathy, since I barely knew the man.                  When my dad finished off the martian, I took two of his blades, and chucked it at one trying to bound our transport in mid-air.           My dad hit his com-link. “Megan, what’s taking so long? Get us out of here!”                        “Roger.”                                                             The engines roared to life, and the ship set its course to fly smoothly away from the substantial pompous martian aircraft. The martians looking through the ripped hole I made started shooting at us. My dad deflected some with his sword, but he couldn’t protect all of us forever.             People rushed through the little space we had on the roof of the ship, all having one goal in their minds and all going towards their safety and freedom. They pushed through each other as more green lasers fired at people. I helped my dad deflect them too.                                                                                          I could feel my exhaustion rise as I shifted my blades to different spots to block bright blasts of electric matter from killing innocent and defenseless people.                                                         As the ship fled away from the martian aircraft slowly, half a dozen of green aliens activated gliders and flew to us, landing on our ship. With their stop of blaster fire, I fought them with my dad. My mom and Kate climbed out of the hatch too. I wondered who was driving the ship. My best guess was autopilot.                                                 My mom had two laser swords, but she passed one to my dad. Kate had one blade and one pistol, which she fired at the aliens. Together as a complete family we skillfully sliced and hacked our sharp weapons at the tough foes. Carefully, I only slashed when I had the perfect chance, but moved back when the martian got too close. I had to play it safe. I’ve already almost died tons of times.                           Normally, I would’ve been too scared. But after everything I’ve been through, I wasn’t. I had so much experience. It didn’t matter if there was a big chance of dying. All that mattered was that I made it through alive, with my family.    When Paul said my weakness was overconfidence, I was a fool to believe him. I tried to take down that weakness by using what my mom said, do not underestimate the enemy. But I found out overconfidence was a good thing. It kept you believing that you were better than your enemy, which is what you want. Overconfidence isn’t a liability; it’s the best thing that keeps you from giving up when you know you can’t solve the problem.                                                                        Finally, my dad stabbed his sword into the last alien. He stumbled and tried to overtake the pain, but he failed to do so and fell off the ship and towards his doom.                               I knew that for every martian we’ve killed, one family would be crying for the unfairness that was upon their father. But again, no sympathy at all. They don’t know that it’s unfair for us too. They don’t know that unfairness was not upon them; it’s on all of us. To them it’s unfair that a family member died, but it’s not unfair to us. And when our people fall, they cheer and not think about how unfair it is for us.                                                                                                            We Homo sapiens don’t complain that it’s unfair. We just deal with it.                                                                                       When my dad was sure the martian didn’t come back with a cool jetpack and a bandage on his chest that saved his life or something, we all went through the hatch and inside the ship.                                                                The ship was just one big room. My mom and Kate sat on the cockpit’s seats to drive it. There were about fifteen plastic seats all along the sides of the walls. Long white lights were on the ceiling.                                                        Soldiers offered their current seats to the escapees. They instead just held the bars above their heads to steady themselves from the ship’s rocky movements. Each time one occurred, the lights flashed.                                                      My dad and I did the same, although I could barely reach the bar. Everyone I saw in the martian ship was strapped to a seat and was accounted for, except for the man that was killed by the martian.                                                                      “How did you bring all these people out? Did you know our ship was there? So you just ripped the wall and climbed out?” My dad asked.               “Uh, no. We were lucky your ship was there. Or else the martians would get us. We had no choice but to escape through the hole, so we jumped, but then you were there.”                “So you lead them to that room, and you ripped the wall and you found us?” He asked to be sure.               “Yeah.”                                                                                                  “You freed them with absolutely no support! That’s amazing! Who knows, you might be chief someday.” 

.  .  .

“These people were experimented on.” I explained.                            “Ooh. That’s pretty bad.” Kyle fixed his glasses, and took a glance at the paralyzed man on the bed. Then he looked back at his clipboard.               “We might be able to fix them.” He said.                                             “That’s good.” I said. “Work on that.”                                  My dad nodded for approval. Then we walked out of the medical room.                 “Where are we going next?” I asked him.                                      “First we’re going to get some sleep. First thing in the morning we’re going to help Leroy with something. We’ve been leading the past missions lately. Now Leroy wants to lead this one.”                 “What is it?”               My dad’s expression stayed the same. “We found a trixian scout alone in the jungle. We captured him, and gave him a truth serum. He told us everything.”                           That kind of surprised me. I didn’t know we had truth serums. It kind of seemed cruel about drugging a trixian and forcing him to tell their secret location. After all, this was Rano’s race. But it was for the greater good.                                   My dad expertly did a code into the mission control room while looking at his watch. “It’s ten. You should get some rest Mark.” 

.  .  .

The members of the National War Operations Committee, also known as the N.W.O.C were laid across the huge pentagonal table. It was a new organization that Leroy created so that everything was planned before anything took place.                                                                                                  We were in a huge building in the middle of the city, in a newly constructed meeting room. It had an enormous intercom screen that was slightly bigger than the big one in the lab room, and a table in the middle. There was pretty much nothing else in the room than the table and the screen unless you would count gray carpet walls and floors as furniture. If you would, no offense, but you’re weird.            At the far end of the human side was Dad, and on his sides were his best agent Nanotic on his right and my mom on his left. Continuing, we have Kate and I beside them. I was the one beside Nanotic.                                                       The rexel’s side was the rexel king, along with two of his bodyguards and two generals called Scinx and Heiz. They were wearing black general uniforms.                                        The table was big enough to leave lots of space for five members of three more races. The chairs were colored beige and were very soft and cushiony. But I thought they were too big for a kid like me. Well, they were meant for adults anyway. Proof would be when my dad told Leroy I was one of the members; he said he didn’t like it. I agreed with him too. I don’t know what my dad saw in me or why he wanted me one, but I didn’t question his decision. Maybe because I’m important. Yeah, that must be it.                                Anyways, the table had a projector underneath the center, which protruded a hologram of the martian base one of our spies scanned according to the drugged trixian’s location.     It was a huge futuristic castle, and the live count was three hundred. Just from that point I knew raiding was not going to be easy.                                                                                          Not just that. There were laser cannons and heat-seeking laser-guided missile launchers, and a variety of other minor defenses, such as teslas, laser snipers, flamethrowers, magnetic field changers and etcetera all planted around the base. I was kind of jealous my dad and Leroy had to make a city for our people instead of one big castle with strong defenses prepared for a fight while the rest of the race stayed in the ship.                                                                    “We enter here.” Scinx pointed at the rear of the building.            “The throne room is one kilometer above sea level, at the highest floor.” Heiz interpreted.                     “What are we taking?” My dad asked. Leroy looked like he was doing heavy thinking.            “At least one grand of your troops. I’ll be bringing three grand.” Leroy said.            My mom pointed at a strange canal under the building.            “Is that the sewer system?”             “Yes.” Scinx answered.             “Why don’t we enter there? That’s the most stealthiest route.”             “Unlike our sewer system, it is filled with water to the top and we can’t possibly equip all our troops with scuba gear.” Scinx explained like he was born to answer that question. My dad stroked his chin. “Operation defense and stealth, or full-on attack while sending them fear?”                 Scinx looked at Heiz for the answer.                              “We like to give fear to our enemy,” the rexel said, “but it’s highly unlikely the mighty trixians will fear us. And defense and stealth is not a good plan for this either.”                “So we go full-on attack?” I asked.                  “Yes.” Scinx said.                    “It’s settled.” Leroy said. “The meeting is adjourned.”

.  .  .

We entered the land of the trixians. I was getting tired of these missions. I wondered if my dad would allow me to just stay in the city and live my life there like a normal boy, but probably not since I’m now an official member of the N.W.O.C..                                                                       “Are you scared?” Kate asked me while we were marching. I tried to look taller as if somehow that would answer the question.                “Am I scared?” I repeated. “Have you forgotten I singlehandedly saved a group of hostages and lead them myself to their freedom?”                        She laughed happily. From that moment I figured my sister had a sense of humor, unlike her mom (wink, wink).                  “I could’ve done that too.” Kate insisted.                                                                  “No. You would’ve cowered in fear.”                                “How are you so sure?”                  “Because I am.”                 “I never cry.”                      “I never cry either.”                           “So what are you trying to prove?”                 “It proves-“ I stopped mid-sentence. Where was I going with this? “Nothing.” I completed. Kate had outsmarted me again.                                                            She laughed more when she knew I realized that.                                “You smart aleck!” I said, punching her in the shoulder. “How do you do that?”             “Do what?”                        “Make my brain go the other way!”           She shrugged. “I’m gifted.”           “No you’re not.”               Before I realized the contingent had stopped marching, I bumped into someone in front of me. Why did we stop?           I saw my dad at the top of a hill, with Leroy beside him.                                                     Curiosity repulsed me. I pushed through the crowd, being very impertinent and analytical. I wanted to find out what was happening.                      Kate followed me. The hill was big and it took long to climb. It was harder with people in the way. When I was at the top, I rested my hands on my knees next to my dad. I was so tired I couldn’t look up, no matter how much I wanted to. Apparently Kate wasn’t as tired as me. She gasped.                        When my regular breathing rate circulated, I looked up. Whoa.                In front of the trixian city was a massive army. Tanks, triple bladed helicopters, you name it. Trixians were orderly formed in large square squadrons. The most extraordinary thing was the fact that they knew we were coming.                           My dad, who was once beside me, was now walking up to a trixian in front of his army along with Leroy. He was wearing a dark cape on the outside while it was red on the inside. From my sight of view, he was unarmed. Inside his cloak he wore more dark clothes: a black jumpsuit. It was as if he was a lime green alien with who was obsessed with black. He was no doubt the leader of the trixian race.                                                       I saw my dad turn on his translator, and my enhanced hearing made it possible to listen to them.                 “Greetings, trixian.” Leroy began. All of a sudden the trixian’s sinister black cape seemed scarier.                                     “Don’t ever call me that again. Call me Vex, the leader of the trixians. And what do you humans and rexels want?”                           My dad looked at Leroy, and the rexel nodded. I think my dad meant how did he know our race names? but Leroy got the wrong message.                                                                          “We want to form an alliance.”                    Vex’s face formed a grievous smile. I can see my dad trying to show a calmness he didn’t feel. And Leroy looked at Vex suspiciously, obviously not comfortable with the trixian around.                                                                          “What are the benefits, huh? Why have you prepared an army? Were you expecting a war?” Vex asked like he wanted one.                                                                                           Uh oh. That’s what Leroy asked when we tried to confirm peace with the rexels. I wondered what I would do if a war began. Would I be scared? The trixians were so intensely numbered.                         “You gain our trust. And we gain yours.” My dad offered like it was a very great reward, like he was saying, oh, you get fifty million bucks for being friends with us!                                                                            Vex’s mischievous grin was ear to ear now. “Deal.” He said quickly.                                          My dad and Leroy’s eyes locked again. They were probably thinking about what just happened. And why it just happened.

.  .  .

All the equipment and preparing was useless. We were planning to raid their city until we reached the main dwelling, but they saw us coming. It was very strange.               What was more irregular was no war. Nobody fought. No violence or brutality or bloodshed or terrorism.                                                                                                 But the most odd thing was how Vex agreed to peace so fast and so eagerly, like he really wanted it. That could be the case, but his smile didn’t show it.                                          My dad said we gained his trust, but they’d still keep an eye on him at all times. Make sure he was never alone. He could be planning something.                     After the surprisingly successful easy mission, we went home. Kate was in her room surfing the new freshly made World Wide Web. Mom was watching TV in the living room. I was playing video games in my-               Ding Dong.                             Oh, I have to get that. I put on my slippers, paused my computer game, and went through the whole house to get to the front door. I opened it slowly. Suddenly I felt embarrassed in my pajamas.                 Daniela was there, wearing a jean sweater, jogging pants, and a red cap that had her name on it in cursive.          “Daniela?” I asked.                     “Yeah, it’s me.”               “Uh, how did you find me?”                       “Dude, you’re popular all over the net! Everybody knows where you live. After all, you’re the chief’s son.”                                                         The thought of everyone knows where I lived was creepy.       “Come in.” I invited, opening the door fully and stepping out of her way. When she was inside she took off her running shoes while I closed the door and locked it. Then we both sat at the dining table staring at each other. My mom looked at us and turned off the TV. She walked over and put a hand on my shoulder.                                                                                            “May you excuse us for a second?” My mom asked my crush.                            “Of course.” Daniela said.               She brought me over to her room.                 “Who is this?” She asked.                  “My friend.”                  “She’s kind of pretty.” She winked.                                      “Mom!” I rolled my eyes at the same time I said it.             “Ok, I’ll leave you two alone.” She gently pushed me out of the door and closed it. I almost sighed. I fixed my buttons on my pajama robe and headed for the main room. I tried to look like nothing had happened.                   “What was that all about?” Daniela asked.                       “Nothing.” I lied as sat on the chair opposite of her. I drank some water from a glass.                  She made a guess. “Did it involve… love?”         I almost spat the water out of my mouth a billion miles per hour, but then I choked and forced myself to swallow. I wiped my mouth.                   “What? What would make you think that?”                    “You’re blushing.” She pointed out.                   I changed my face. “No I’m not.”                 Then we were silent.                           “You know, if you like me you can just admit it.”                    “I would’ve already.” I fibbed instantly. I don’t care if or how she finds out I just didn’t want it this way.                         “Oh yeah, my parents want to say thanks for rescuing me.” She mentioned. I was so glad she changed the subject.                     “No prob.” I replied. “Hey, you want brownies?”                                     “Why not?”              I got up and walked to the kitchen to make them. I was happy to do something instead of playing secret-secret with Daniela. But of course, she followed me. She leaned over the counter.                                                            “Would you have already admitted that you like me even if you did?” She asked.                     Uh oh. Not this again.                     I stopped chopping the brownie chocolates and exhaled deeply. I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. I felt like I was backed to a corner with only one option left.                     “I do.” I said.                          She smiled. “I knew it.”                  “Yeah it was kind of obvious, wasn’t it?”                                    She detected the sadness in my voice.                                     “Oh, don’t worry, I like you too.”                                 “Really?”                           “Yeah, the very first time you came into my life.”                                  I smiled. We stared at each other for hours- or, it seemed like hours.             Suddenly she moved out of her spot.               “Ok, this is getting weird.”                    “Yeah.” I agreed, as I looked back at what I was doing, and wondered if I was dreaming.

.  .  .

Daniela sat next to me as we enjoyed our brownies together while watching a TV show. We finished them so quick.                              We both reached for the last one, but then I quickly took my hand away.               “You can have it.” I said.                 She giggled. “It’s yours.”                     “No, no, take it.”                            “No, you take it.”                           I laughed. “Let’s just half it.”                   And we did. It was the most perfect and happiest moment of my life. But of course, it was ruined.                           The whole house shook, and dust dispersed in the air. In the middle of our coughs, my mom showed up.                     “Guys, come. Come look at this.” She said.                           We peculiarly followed her into her room. Her TV played a live broadcast of an attack on the city!                                                                I squinted to look closer to look at the assaulters. At first I didn’t understand what I saw. But I knew I wasn’t wrong. They were trixians! The green antennae’s, the cutting-edge laser machinery… it was definitely them.                     My dad was right. Vex was up to something, and that something was happening right now.                                              The whole place was transformed into a warzone. Cars were smashed, windows were shattered, and lasers were erupting from the alien brigade.                                     “They’re attacking the area where dad is.” I noticed. “He must be there.”                                                    Then Kate ran in the room.                       “What’s happening?” She asked. When she looked at the TV she gasped.                “Mark, Kate, get dressed. We’re going there.” My mom said, moving towards her walk-in closet.                   “I’ll get my shoes.” Daniela said.

.  .  .

My mom showed us a secret compartment that opened up from the wall in her closet. She said my dad had put it there, just in case of an attack. We each took a pistol and a sword. Well, except for Daniela.                   “Whoa, whoa, whoa, I’m not interested in violence.”                              My mom closed the compartment. “It’s okay, you don’t have to come.” She said.                 “No, I want to.” Daniela said.                                         We took our car to the seat of war. It wasn’t that far. I figured that’s why our house suffered the effects of a mini earthquake. It must’ve been a bomb.                                        We opened the doors and got out of the car fast.                     The place was a total disaster. Everything was destroyed. The only sounds we heard were laser firing.                                                I saw my dad leading the resisting army against them. Their war with the enemies was not looking good. We weren’t prepared for this. The ambush was coming from inside the city, not outside.                                                                                 We ran across dead soldiers, smashed car doors, stop signs, stoplights, and chunks of the buildings just to get to my dad.                                                                                              “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” My dad affirmed as we reached him. “Trixians are coming in very large quantities. We may have to evacuate the city.” He took one last look at the subsequent trixian forces. “Okay, we have to evacuate.” Then he barked some orders. He turned to us. “Help me get everyone out.”               Civilians were in the middle of the streets, running for their lives. They abandoned their cars, the buildings, and the subway stations.                Buildings were on fire, explosions rocked, and the trixians assassinated anyone who was too slow to desert the urban community. Our soldiers advanced at them, trying to prevent innocent people from dying.                        Trixian tanks fired powerful blasts at our army and buildings. Luckily, Leroy had built war helicopters. They soared in the firmament, firing devastating missiles at the alien legion’s battle vehicles.                      A downpour of lasers corrupted the cold afternoon air. They massacred a tremendous amount of each squadron of each side.                                                                                       Finally, when both armies attained each other in physical contact, they switched into melee combat. Both regiments confronted with blades against blades.                                       The rexels acted as shields, their strong skin bracing permeates of the trixians. Leroy was at their lead. He ripped apart any trixian in his path and deflected lasers with a laser shield. I know, right? The ripping apart part was kind of morbid and gross, but it was true.               I didn’t want to be in the middle of that violence. I was at the back of the contingent, shooting with my pistol at the enemy.  My dad was standing on a car. He touched his com-link, turning around from the battlefield and aiming his eyes at the ground. “Kyle, when everyone is out, shut the wall doors.”           “Already did chief.” Kyle said.                       “Good. Turn on lockdown mode, now.”                          “Sir, are you sure you want to-“                       “Do it Kyle!”                  Then a trixian tackled my dad into a coffee shop.                                                         “Dad!” I yelled. I stepped over broken glass and knocked over patio tables and chairs. When I entered the shop, I saw the enemy who tackled my dad. He wasn’t just a regular trixian. It was Vex.                                 In the middle of their physical conflict, they were chattering.                                                                                          “How did you do this? I made sure you were always watched.” My dad confirmed. Vex had an evil smile that was seriously creeping me out. An uneasy feeling spread through me.                                                                                     “Morse code.” He elucidated. They rolled over, wrestling vigorously. I didn’t understand. My dad should have overpowered the traitor easily.               Then I spotted the bicep strengthulators on Vex’s muscles. While trixians were poor in evolution and lack physical strength, they make up for it with their highly advanced laser technology.                                 My dad struggled to keep up his firm punch to Vex’s block while the trixian exerted no endeavor. His vigor didn’t come from him; it came from his machines. I had to help.                                   I aimed my pistol at Vex’s face, and he didn’t notice at all. I took the shot, but automatically a force field expanded and deflected it, which burned a hole through a painting on a wall. I dropped my pistol and slashed the shield with my sword multiple times.                                                 “It’s useless human.” Vex said, keeping his eyes on my dad. “It’s impenetrable.”                                    “Dad, I need you to turn off the shield generator on his belt. Or else I can’t help you.” I said sadly.                   Vex had a hand on my dad’s neck, disallowing him to talk or breathe. I felt helpless. I couldn’t do anything.                       All of a sudden, more trixians poured into the edifice.                   I knew I was dead. But weirdly, they didn’t attack me! Instead, they aimed their firearms at Vex. One stuck a weird-looking device on the shield, and it shut down. The electronic component that used to be attached to the surface of the force field dropped to the floor once the field was turned off.                                                                                       Vex got off my dad, and he wheezed for air as his face turned from red back to normal.                 “What are you doing? Kill the boy!” Vex ordered.                    “We don’t take orders from you. We are not on your side anymore. We were exiled, remember?”                Now I immediately recognized their faces. They’re Rano’s friends! I wondered how they got in the city when lockdown mode was on. They must’ve been already inside before it happened. During lockdown mode, nothing gets in and nothing gets out unless it gets turned off.        Vex was surprised, overwhelmed, and speechless. He didn’t know what to do or say.                                    My dad regained his ability to speak. “Wait, don’t shoot!”           The one that looked like the leader raised an eyebrow. “Why?”                 “He needs a second chance.” My dad said, holding his throat as if somehow that would relieve it. I knew my dad was super-kind, but I though he was going way too far. I thought he was going soft. Vex deserved to die!                     “What gives you the right to give that order?”                             “I am the leader of the human race.” He announced proudly.                                                              “It doesn’t matter! This man is an evil, selfish, and cruel dictator! He banishes us for the simplest mistakes! Back in our city, I accidently broke off the head of a statue of him. And he banished me with no mercy. Now he has betrayed you. Why should we give him a second chance?”                            My dad got up. “If you think it was unfair that you didn’t get another chance, then this is the same! He deserves one like you did.”               The outcast leader looked confused. But soon he found out my dad was right. He made the signal to lower their weapons.                “Just as long as we get our revenge.” He said. Then he whacked his weapon on Vex’s head. The alien was knocked out cold.

.  .  .

The war was over.                                With nobody leading the trixian army, they fell. Nobody called for their reinforcements. Nobody gave them strategic orders. At least that’s the good news.                   The bad news: Our city was destroyed. All we had built, all we had accomplished with the rexels, was gone. The damage was unfixable until months to come. I don’t know how they built it so fast, but they couldn’t clean up and rebuild as quick, maybe because of the cleaning up part.                                                                                Also, my dad gave Vex another chance to restart fresh, but now most of the trixian population was dead now.                         Despite all his crimes, Vex was sincerely sorry. He promised to never do anything like it again. Although I didn’t trust him still, everyone did. I didn’t like that.                                                    His punishment was prison for a week, including torture. Good. He really deserves it.            Anyways, we had to take refuge in the enterprise again. The amount of resources we had to at least build a town or camp was decreased gradually. And that was the whole point of a new planet. The resources.               I was back in my same old room, reading a book. I was very bored. Then someone called me on the intercom. I answered it, hoping it was something like Kyle inviting me to do something.                 “Hey.” My mom said. I felt a little disappointed. “The N.W.O.C. needs you.” 

.  .  .

“The martians sent us this message.” Leroy said. He pressed a button on a remote, and then activated the intercom translator. A video played on the wall screen, displaying a grim martian.               “Hello.” He began. “I am Magnum, the leader of the martian race. This is a war message. You have two choices. One, you come to the coordinates I sent you along with this video and we have a war. Two, in three days we will attack you. Either way, we will win. We will succeed. We will gain this planet and cheer in victory for the perish of our foes. And with the experiments we have done on you aliens, we have received amazing results. We know your strengths, weaknesses, and the knowledge of your technology, economics, and more.” He paused like he didn’t prepare for the speech and he was trying to make the words up as he went. “So be ready… because we will.”                                                                                                        The intercom shut. We all contemplated for a while.         Leroy broke the silence. “Steve, what do you want to do?”                My dad answered almost instantly. “Wait it out. It’s always better to defend than attack.”               “Can we build any defenses though?” Kate asked.                             Nanotic stared at a tablet he held on the table, which probably showed the amount of materials we have or something like that. “Nope.”                                                               “I vote we should attack.” I said. “What is our maximum amount of troops?”                     “About five million in each race.” Heiz replied. I could already feel a plan formulating in my brain.                           “That’s definitely enough. So let’s attack. Who’s with me?” I asked. Everybody except my dad raised their hand. My dad shook his head.                           “Steve, why do you still want to attack?” Leroy asked like he didn’t want to offend him with his opinion. “We have no defense here. We have no advantages.”                                             My dad shot his hands up in the air. “I don’t know. I really don’t. It just doesn’t feel right. It feels like a trap.”                               My mom put her hand on his arm. “We really don’t have a choice Steve. We have people here. If we go, the war won’t be here; it’ll be there. The people will be safer that way.”             My dad gave up with supporting his idea and raised his hand. “I vote for Mark’s idea. Straightforward violence.” 

.  .  .

My wish came true. Kyle invited us to play sports. Everything was going great until Kevin started a conversation.                 “You have a girlfriend?” Kevin asked. I blushed.                                 “No, don’t call her that.” I said.                       “Sweet!” Kyle said. We were playing soccer in one of the stadiums in the enterprise. Kyle shot the ball through Kevin’s legs and continued down the goalie’s crease. He kicked it at the top-left corner of the net. Paul wasn’t fast enough to catch it.                “Why can’t we call her that? It’s true, isn’t it?” Kyle asked. Ugh. I didn’t like all this girl talk.                            “So Mark, are you scared for the incoming battle?” Paul asked. Why does everyone keep asking me that? I pointed to my face. “Do I look scared?” I said rhetorically. We all laughed.                                                                                                 Paul dropkicked the ball into the air. When it dropped I gained control of it, then flanked right around Kevin, and did a rainbow trick over Kyle’s head, and then shot it in the net easily.                                                                                                           “Whoa,” Kyle blurted, “how does fighting in wars make you any better at this?”            I shrugged. “It doesn’t.”                      “Well you’re freaking good at it!” Kyle exclaimed. He got the ball, and failed to get passed Kevin. Kevin possessed it and fired it at the net. Paul caught it in mid-air.                     “Mark, you look pretty sacred to me.” He said as he dropkicked it again.                    “What?” I asked in confusion.                                    “Ha! I got you there!” Paul joked. I laughed. It was good to finally reunite with my friends. It was my turn.                                        “Hey, you guys know it’s my sister’s birthday this weekend?” I lied.               “What does she like? I’ll get something for her.” Kyle said promptly.                   “Ooooh, looks like someone has a crush!” I teased. Kyle’s cheeks turned red.                                                                           “You weren’t serious!”                                                                         We all laughed hysterically except for him- of course. As we did, he got the ball and kicked it hard. It missed the net, and we all laughed more. He folded his arms.                     “Are you guys just going to stand there and wait until your lungs pop? I mean, what’s wrong with a crush anyway? Isn’t that normal?”                        “Okay, I’ll tell her.” I said.                     “No, no! Don’t!”                    “You just said nothing’s wrong with a crush!”                                              “I said, what is wrong with one?” He defended.                                                    “So you’re saying there is something wrong with one?” Kevin said. We laughed some more. Kyle slammed his hand on his forehead.                       “It’s so difficult to explain things to you guys.” He said.             At that moment, I saw Paul walk out of the stadium. I followed him.                  Before I even reached him, I asked, “Paul? Where are you going?”               He turned around, taking off his goalie gloves. “Oh, Mark! I thought you would’ve remembered. The mission is at six. I’m coming.”                                                                                      “And what time is it?”                   “Quarter to six.”

.  .  .

The martian territory was so far we had to take Leroy’s transports. Well, my dad, my mom, Kate, agent Nanotic, Paul and his dad and I rode the transport made from the martian maze material. My dad named it, the Grey Preeminent. This ship was going to surprise them for sure. They probably never thought we would use their material to build something.                                                                             My dad had said my idea was straightforward violence, but that wasn’t what I meant. I wanted them to negotiate first. So that’s what we were going to try to do. We were going to attempt to make peace with them, although inside I only felt hatred. They abducted me, why wouldn’t I feel that way?                                For the assault, we freed Vex. We told him if he had proven responsible for this war, my dad agreed to take away his penalty. A lot of people complained about that, including me, even though I knew it was for the greater good anyway. If we didn’t have him, who would lead the trixians?                              Ok, I also have to give you my opinion on this war: the martians are complete idiots. They underestimate us greatly.                          One race, against three races with different technology and strategies. It doesn’t matter if they knew our weakness, we would still win no sweat. But I was careful to underestimate them too. In fact, I’m expecting a trap. Not that I wanted one, of course. Overconfidence is key! Okay, now I’m starting to sound like my father.                                 We arrived. I looked out the window of the ship. The martian army waiting outside was humungous! I tried to look brave. I didn’t want Paul seeing me scared. But when I glanced his way he seemed to have the same problem.                             We were terrified.                          As we landed, Magnum strolled up towards us. He wore a black outside and dark green inside cloak with that thing behind his head like a vampire’s cape, with a red suit inside that I thought looked epic. The four sleeves on his shirt had fingerless glove attachments.                                                                                                    My dad, Leroy, and Vex fronted him as we filed out of our transports. The pilots were left in there. It was all part of the plan. War wasn’t about power; it was about strategy. Well, and power. You wouldn’t last mere seconds in the battlefield if you were a weakling.                                           “Magnum, I presume?” My dad asked, holding a translator. “Yes, and you are?” Magnum asked.                                   “Steve. This rexel over here is Leroy. And this trixian to my left is Vex.” My dad answered.                              Magnum narrowed his eyes- all four of them. “So I see you got my message.” He started pacing around. “So you know what’s going to happen now.” Without a warning, he turned around and walked back to his army.                 “Wait!” My dad yelled behind him.                                 “No, I decline peace. We’re going right to war.” Magnum said. My dad looked at Leroy.                                  “We’re not even going to-“                             “You heard him Steve. Straight to war.” Leroy nodded at Vex.                  “Throw them now!” The trixian leader ordered.                                       Everything went according to plan. The soldiers threw the smoke grenades and they filled the area with blinding smoke. Then with our amplified speed, we all sprinted back in the transports. The doors were kept open.                        When the ships took off into the sky, we fired at the enemy. This war was going to be a piece of cake. Our field advantage was in the air. We delivered grenades; we launched rockets, and anything else we could throw at them.                                                                                                    Then the trixian pilots nodded at each other through the windshields. They turned on the force fields around the ships. We could still fire through them though; they were designed to do so. Now we had the field advantage, impenetrable defense, and hope. We were going to win for sure.                                                                But then the martians revealed their true best belligerent. With each of our strategy, they counteracted.                          The shields were unbreakable, but they didn’t aim for that. They shot tons of nets on our frontal aircraft windows. The pilots’ vision was blocked. All our dirigibles fell.                                          The force of the impacts disrupted our defense systems and shield generators. All our strategic assets were gone.            We ran out of our ships with our swords raised to fight the martian battalion as plan B.                                                                                             Three times the size of one, yet, the martian myriad were doing a great job fighting back. Their forces actually tended to push us back and back.                              My dad saw Magnum jaunt back into his own base. He looked at his fellow allies.                             “Leroy, Vex, follow me. We’re going to put an end to this.” They pursued Magnum. I made sure nobody saw me, and then I followed them too.                                When I entered, I bolted around the place to find them. There were dead martian guards all over the floor, the ones that they’ve killed. I followed the bodies.                                                    I finally found them. They were facing against Magnum.                                   Magnum’s four arms carried long, white, electric blades. They spun around in his hands, creating burned marks on the floor.                Everyone had a sword in two hands, either if it was laser or krangg or whatever. But my dad had a pistol in his left hand.                                                                                                     Each arm took care of one person, and I was the fourth. I sprinted to the battle to hand them support, and blocked a sword with mine that was going to slash Vex in the face.                “Thanks Mark.” He said. I was surprised he even knew my name.                            Magnum faltered backwards purposely, and all our swords separated. Then he spun around to add momentum, and did a big cleave. We all slowly moved back to avoid the rest of the rents.                                       My dad and I shot at him with our proton pistols, but his swords deflected them, and they went back the same path they went through, and hit our guns. Our firearms got fried to bits.                     When Magnum stopped spinning, we charged. His four arms moved fluidly as our swords parried each slash as his parried each of ours. My dad jumped up in the air to perform an airborne dashing strike, but Magnum kicked him in the stomach to a wall.                                                             All of a sudden I heard a loud metal clank, as if something snapped in two. My brain processed what had happened. Leroy’s krangg sword snapped in half! Uh oh. That meant his swords were sharp. Really sharp.                                                              Vex turned on his shield. Magnum’s swords bounced off it, leaving Vex harmless. While Magnum was distracted trying to break something he couldn’t, Leroy used the time and tackled him from behind.                       Vex tossed me a new laser pistol, and I knew what it was for. When the martian pushed Leroy off of him, I disarmed him by shooting all the swords out of his hands, careful not to shoot the blade or it would bounce back to me. He was defenseless now.                                                                                  Then my dad got up from the floor and took out handcuffs. Just as fast, he wrapped them around Magnum’s wrists. And yes, he had two of them for the martian’s two pairs of arms.         Then Leroy grabbed him and slammed him against the wall, growling. He bared his deadly teeth. While Magnum showed no fear, I knew deep down he was afraid. Nobody just ignores a ferocious rexel. They were petrifying, no matter how much horror movies you watch.                                          Vex turned off his shield and aimed a hidden laser rifle at Magnum’s head. He was trapped, and nobody could save him now.                            My dad cleaned his hands formally, and then cleared his throat. “Now, how about that peace offering?” He asked.                                         “No. I said I declined. I would rather die than-“                                           “Vex, go ahead.” My dad said. Vex almost pulled the trigger.                  “Wait! Wait! Wait! Can I think about it?” Magnum asked quickly.                                                                                                 “No.” My dad said. “You have to agree now. I know you’re just delaying us. This planet is ours, and if you don’t agree to share it then this will be your last glance at it.”                                     “You offer peace but use harsh violence to gain it?” Magnum questioned.                                        “It’s just how we roll.” Leroy grunted. Magnum looked as if trying to think of a smart comeback, but none came.                           “Last chance.” My dad sounded rushed. I guess he really wanted to get it over with.                                                             Magnum took it. “Ok! I agree to your terms and conditions! Peace and all and allies and blah, blah, blah. Now let me free!”                          Leroy let go of him. Magnum muttered something about how stupid he was to organize a war.                  At least I was happy that he did.

.  .  .

“One more to go.” Daniela said. I looked at her in confusion.              “One more what?” I asked.                                  “One more race to make peace with.” She explained. Oh.                                    I tried to study her face. Her expression was happy. And of course, still beautiful. She was wearing a pink long-sleeve shirt with white hearts all over. Her golden hair fell on her shoulders, her eyes glowed electric turquoise. It made myself comfortable in the couch of one of my dad’s lounge rooms in the ship. Speaking of it, it had a glass coffee table in the middle with an oak stand. Three light-beige couches were in a curved formation around it, all under a big white fluffy carpet. There was a flat-screen high-definition TV on the wall, in the middle of a huge mahogany wardrobe with shelves full of vases with flowers and mini glass bird statues and other decorations. Under the TV were the cable, some DVD’s, and a game console. Inside the drawers were the game discs and controllers.                        There were paintings on the walls, which were actually live broadcasts of the view outside from the landed enterprise. The cameras fed the view into the paintings, so I guess you could call them TV’s.                           The lights were hanging lamps that illuminated the whole room with its brilliant light. There were also lamps on the tables on the sides of the couches. When you clap your hands twice, the lights turn on or off. When you clap thrice, the TV turns on.             And there was room service too. It was basically the room of a five-star hotel, but couches instead of beds. And it was a little bit better.                                                                                 “How do you think we’ll do on that?” I wanted her honest opinion.                                         “You guys can do it.” She encouraged, although I didn’t approve the words.                   “What if we can’t?”                      “You will.”                       “But what if we don’t?”                       “Are you on their side or something?”                               “No.”                                       “Good. So believe in yourself. Believe you can win.”                    I don’t think Daniela understood the power of the voidals.                          “You’re not aware that they are the most powerful race by far. They have one unique thing that we don’t have: magic. I’m not cheering for them, but I’m saying that even with all the help we have they still have a good possibility of winning.”                 “You’re always not saying what you are saying.” She said in a soft voice.                   “So what am I saying?”                        “That they can win.”                     “It’s the truth!”                            “But it’s not one hundred percent certain. If you believe you can win, then you will, because I know you guys can if you do your best.”                        “I do believe in myself.”                                                 “So what are you trying to say?”                                     “All I’m saying is that there’s a chance we won’t succeed. Maybe, just maybe, we won’t win the war.”                                   “But you’re getting this all wrong. This is not about war, it’s about making peace.”                         “Making peace… through war.”                                                                                       She held up her hands in frustration. “Ugh! You don’t get what I’m trying to say!”                         “You don’t understand me either.” I said, staying calm. She looked cute when she was angry.                                               “But you’re not trying to understand me.”                                                            “I do understand you.”                              “So then what are we arguing about?”                                                            “Nothing then.” I finished. We were silent for a long while.                        “What do you want to talk about then?” I asked.                                                         She didn’t answer at first, but then she said, “Let’s just watch TV.”                I grasped the remote and turned it on. Her head leaned on my right shoulder.                Without a word, we watched until eleven. 

.  .  .

Another N.W.O.C. meeting occurred at eight after breakfast the next day.                                                                                         This one was about the peace mission with the voidals. We agreed we would wait it out until they find us or we find them. We were just going to prepare for the war we knew was going to come.                          Vex’s punishment was taken off for proving himself worthy of the last mission. He was a new member of the N.W.O.C. with four of his chosen companions, along with Magnum and four of his selected members. I really trusted Magnum now like how I did with Leroy, but Vex… still working on it.                                         We were already planning the war before it even had a sign of starting. We built the defenses; we built new jets and helicopters, and we even upgraded the old ones including Leroy’s transports and added new weapons designed for warfare.                                                                                           Before, the rexels and us were alone. But now, the numbers have doubled. With four races wired up and hard-working, work was done unbelievably faster. The rate of building a new urban home was way beyond lethargy. We had way more materials and resources now.                                                                          Magnum had a brilliant idea. Before we could start to arrange the city circumstances, he said that his race could build a giant refuge underground. Then we could use the enterprises for the war (yes, I also mean the other race enterprises).                                 We also upgraded the trixian shields. They would no longer get disarrayed if it crashed hard on the ground.                                             Anyways, right now in the meeting, we were discussing about war strategy.                       “Anybody with ideas?” Leroy asked. Silence filled the room. “What about the strategy you used on us? It was a good one.” Magnum said.                                                                           “No. That’s a good strategy, but it won’t work. If you martians can beat it, then the voidals can no problem.”                     Just then my AI rang. I checked who it was. Daniela. I don’t even remember why I gave her my number. She knows and I know that I was always busy.               My dad looked at me reassuringly, even though I wasn’t even embarrassed. “Go ahead Mark. Take it.”                                    I got off my chair and pushed it back in under the table. I trudged out of the room and down the hallway leading to the enterprise rooms while answering Daniela’s call and putting it right beside my right ear.                                                                            I found a quiet spot and spoke. “Why are you calling me now? You know I’m busy!”                “No I didn’t.”                                                 “Whatever. Is this important? If it’s not you can get fined. I’m in the middle of serious business.”                                                  “You’re lying.”                          “Just tell me what you called me for!”                                       “Can I come?”                                        “What-“ The truth it me hard. “No, no, no. You know the answer, this was a useless call.”                                                                      “I thought I could persuade you.”                                                                       I could imagine her making a cute puppy face with her hands clasped and shaking back and forth begging for something with her mouth in a big frown and eyes bulging out of her sockets which were super large like how they always do it in cartoons. I almost smiled, but I remembered what I was talking about. “Even if I wanted to bring you, I can’t.”                                                                                               “Why?”                     “I’m a low-class member. I don’t have the right.”                        “Then ask someone who does.”                                                                                                        I understood her in a matter of time. My father.                                          “No. He’d never allow it.”                                    “I’ll try to persuade him.”                 “No, because if you can’t get through me then you’d never get past my dad. He’s really dead serious.”                                                    “You said he was a selfless, kind, and generous man.”                                 “Yeah, so he wouldn’t let you come. He knows, I know, and even you know that it’s too dangerous.”                                                   “Then why does he let you come?”                                   “I-“ I stopped. I actually didn’t know. It wasn’t like he needed me or anything. I whacked my brain to come up with a smart thing to say, but it just didn’t come. I let out a deep breath that I didn’t realize I was holding.                                      “So can I come?” Daniela asked again. I was going to say my usual answer but amazingly she changed my mind. Was she a witch or something?                                      I thought carefully for what to say, knowing that consequences would some for each choice. I knew she was waiting for an answer.                     “Well?” She said.                             “Why do you want to?” I asked so instead of me saying yes, I’ll just make her say no. “Do you have a death wish or something?”                                  I heard her sigh. “Isn’t it obvious?”                           I scratched my head. “No.”                  “If you die in this battle I want to die with you.”                      I felt really queasy inside. I feared that was what she was going to say. Was her loyalty really that strong? Would she really do that?                                 “You really mean that?” I asked.                           “I do.”                       I was quiet. I really didn’t know what to say. But then I knew if I really cared for her, I would give her what she wanted. I just realized I used the word really in my thoughts like five times.                          “You can come.” I said finally. She cheered happily. Maybe she can get past my dad. 

.  .  .

“We’re making the electromagnetic field chambers.” My dad said at six.                                         “What are those for?” I interrogated.                                “If the voidals ever try to escape, they can’t. These powerful magnets designed by the martians are strong enough to pull back their ship or ships so they can’t escape.” He answered.                           We strolled through the glass wall hallway, above the huge mechanics gym that was as big as five soccer fields and as tall as a five-story building. We looked at the machinery production through it. Mechanical robot arms carried pieces of metal around, passing them to each other, and placing them in the magnet reactors.                           Scientists with safety goggles rushed around busily, either jostling down notes on clipboards or doing stuff on a computer.                    Sparks flew all around the gymnasium. Hot metal carried by big tweezers from scientists were continuously poured in and out of water, steaming. Then once they were done, they were dropped in a conveyor belt, which carried them to the robot arms that put them where they were supposed to go.                                            The whole factory worked in unity. They passed around the materials, people ran across the white-tile floor pushing carts full of supplies, and more. The robots did the most work, building the magnet cores and the restraint chambers.                                                                                    “What are they building here?” I asked as we walked to a new area. My dad said hello to a few scientists that were striding by before answering my question.                            “The weapons and ship upgrades. Without them, we would fall apart. Remember our last war with them?”                  “But we’re not alone anymore.”                               “I’m afraid it’s not that simple Mark. It’s like if you have billions of krill, forming a large army, but it only takes one whale to eat and kill them all.”                       “How does that relate? The voidals aren’t one big monster.”                            “It does relate. The voidals fight as one. It’s like they are all part of one soul, but are split up into millions.”                                              “Why aren’t we like that?”                He shrugged. “I don’t know. Teamwork is not something we are good at. It’s like if you have a group of friends, you can tell them all you want to play a game very easily. But if you are leading ten million people, including three more races, so the total is forty million, then how do you lead that? How do you tell them all what you want them to do and also make them cooperate?”                                        “I don’t know. Why do you use so much similes?”                                   He frowned at me. “Just so you will understand better.”                                             I didn’t mean to offend him. “Whatever. Just keep going with your explanation.”                                                                        He continued to look at the path straight ahead of us. “It’s very difficult to command forty million people. In our very first planet in the human history, earth, we had ten billion people in the year three thousand of the era after Jesus Christ’s death. The era was called A.D. which stood for Anno Domini. Ten billion people! I think that is impossible for one leader. Ten million is way easier to lead and no more than that is fine, but if it increases greatly then that would be even more difficult to make them listen to you. That’s why I never lead any race other than my own. I leave that to my allies.”                             “So that’s why you had to free Vex for the martian peace mission?” I asked.                            He nodded. “That’s why.”                             When we came to the end of the hallway, my dad typed in a code on the door lock and it swung open.                      “What’s this?” I asked.                “Dinner.” He said as he opened the door. Once I heard the word, I didn’t realize how hungry I was. I was starving, probably because it was already eight and it was only now we were having dinner.                      When I looked inside, my mind went blank. I was puzzled. There were no people in the room except my sister and my mom. I was used to eating in a gross cafeteria with all the sweaty soldiers and officers, except I wasn’t next to them, I was next to my family.                       “I’ve decided that we have family dinner night. We haven’t gotten to enjoy our time with each other because of the war. So I organized a dinner for this night. I also told the other race leaders to have one with their families too, if they even have one.” My dad explained.                                                  I was taken aback. Speechless. Finally, finally, my dad actually had time to do something with us! He was usually so busy that I could barely get two minutes with him!                 I took the seat beside Kate and my dad sat on the one right next to my mom. The square table with a white tablecloth on it had lots of different and delicious food on it. There were also some foods I didn’t recognize, which were probably Vanity foods. I made a small promise to try each and every one of them.                                                                    The only light in the room was the triple candle in the center of the table, which the fire blazed brightly and illuminated every square inch of the room.                                             We had an amazing time. The wide variety of foods was distinctively scrumptious! It was also the first family reunion in what seemed like forever.                                           We smiled, we laughed, we talked about stuff, we told stories, it was so much fun!               At the end of the awesome night, after mom got drunk and Kate got a food coma, my dad promised me more of them, once we earned the planet.                                                                     I couldn’t wait.

.  .  .

I had another dream that night.            This one wasn’t about Vanity, or about how we were going to share the planet. Those things were almost certain now.                     It was about an invasion. An alien invasion.                            They wore what looked like bone helmets, and bone torsos with sharp bones pointing in a curved upwards direction from their shoulders, executing the humans with long machetes or giant maces or big guns. Yeah, I mean guns. Real metal bullets instead of lasers. Those were so three eons ago. How could a race be winning a war against us that used old-class weapons, not laser ones?                                                                  The people fell lifeless to the floor. One by two, three by four, they dropped to the ground with no sound, no doubt that they were dead.                    The aliens spread like an infection, killing all humans in their way. They slashed with no effort, stabbed without tiredness, and killed with no mercy. I was scarcely terrified of them.                Then I was in the dream. My consciousness was there, but I couldn’t control myself. All I could do was to watch what I was going to do.                         I took out a metal cylinder the length of a pencil, the width of a sword handle, and it extended into a long pole. A blue laser shot out at the side at the top, forming a curved blade. It was a scythe, like my father’s!                                                                                 I pushed a button on my belt, and it activated a cool laser jetpack on my back, which sputtered out blue energy that tended to keep me airborne.                     Then one of the aliens stood in front of me. He just looked at me, not doing anything. The chaos was all around it. Aliens and people ran around the hostile creature, but he just kept his fear-striking eyes on me. I gulped.                           He looked like any other one of them, but yet he wasn’t. He doubled in size. Flames erupted and covered him from out of nowhere. Devilish wings sprouted out of his back. Then his ordinary mace transformed into a huge staff with an orb of fiery inferno at the tip that seemed to heat up the whole area. Or was it his resentful anger towards me that made me feel hot inside?              Although I wouldn’t in real life, I attacked first. I hacked away at his chest, but it looks like he doesn’t even feel anything.                    He grabbed my scythe and threw it away. It fell to the floor meters from me with a loud clank noise. Then he grabs me by the neck. Even though I knew it was a dream, I felt the intense, brutal heat searing my skin.                 He spoke to me. In English! “You’re mine, Mark Grey.”                       His scary eyes penetrated my last trace of joy and hope. I felt dead already.                                   Then a random kid yelled, “Hey, Titanetrox!”                                Was that his name? The alien dropped me to the floor. I was holding my throat to relieve the heat. I barely had enough strength to raise my head and look at the kid.                                                                           He wore a black long-sleeve shirt and blue denims. He had the same color of eyes and hair as me, but his hair was messed up. He wielded a metal staff on his right hand and a laser dagger on his left.                                                My honest opinion: He looked downright awful. His clothes looked like he got it at a train station lost-and-found. His hair looked as if it were licked by a cow a thousand times in every direction.                       But no matter how bad he looked, I had a strange sensation. An overpowering connection with him. A relation. I felt like he was important to me… somehow.                                 I didn’t get more than a few seconds to stare at him. A girl in a grey sweater tugged on my arm. She had long dark hair, amber eyes, and looked a bit younger than the other kid. Kind of pretty too.  The girl’s mouth didn’t move, but for some reason I got her message. Leave. Right now.                I ordered my people to fly the giant ship that was parked behind me out of here. It was weird that I was leading them, and not my dad. I had the slightest idea that this was the distant future. Was it?                                                                Then the girl screams. I whip my head around.                    The boy was dead. And now the alien was walking towards us.                                He slaughtered the girl first. Then he cornered me against the ship.                            Nothing could save me now.                                                                 He grasped my neck, small in comparison to his hand. He squeezed tighter and tighter. The pain was indescribable, unbearable. I had to wake up. I urged myself hard, pushing not physically, but mentally, trying to snap me back into reality. Someone called my name, and I focused on the voice to help me wake up. It was Daniela.                     “Mark…” She said in a low, soothing voice. “Mark…”                  The pain on my neck got less vivid each time I applied extreme effort into pushing myself out of the border of dreamland. I forced harder and harder, following her voice and breaking through with more strength each time she called my name.                    “No!” The alien yelled, as I achieved my goal and shot up from my bed. I was fully aware of what was happening now. Daniela’s whispers were high-pitched screams now.                “Mark!” She held me by the shoulders and shook, trying so hard to wake me up from nothing. I rubbed my eyes.                  “What? What is it?”                    “The voidals! They’re here!”                     Then my drowsiness instantly vanished, and my eyes widened.                                                    “What?!”                         “Yes! Please believe me! I’m not lying!”

.  .  .

We suited up quick, and ran out of the armory. I looked left, then right in the hallway. Soldiers scrambled everywhere, alarms rang, and explosions were outside. It was complete pandemonium.                        We followed a particular group of soldiers marching their way outside. Their feet stomped at the same pace, and they all carried laser rifles, holding them with two hands.           When we reached the end of the hallway we started walking on a ramp that was hanging off outside… a kilometer in the air! All the troops jumped off, but Daniela and I stopped in our tracks, not wanting to die. My dad must’ve flown the ship into the air during the attack.            Our friction was lost when more troops coming from inside pushed us off, us with no way of surviving the fall.                                                                    Daniela screamed. I was just as frightened.                                                   We each grabbed one leg of the same soldier, and he yelled in the raucous noise of the blowing wind. “What the heck?!”                           He finally activated his jetpack, and it wasn’t enough to keep us in the air for long. Gravity pulled us down to Vanity’s surface. The unfortunate soldier dropped down to the ground while Daniela and I rolled on the dusty floor.                   When we got up and brushed the dust off our legs, I studied the battlefield. It was utter chaos.                              Voidals were scattered all over the place. Four different alien types of soldiers roamed the area too. Both enemies clashed with melee weapons, or had a pistol mini-war.                     No matter how skillful you were at dodging you couldn’t dodge the lasers here. A blizzard of all colors shot in every single square meter.                Martians had green, trixians had sky blue, rexels had red, we had blue, and the voidals had purple, which were magic bolts, not lasers.                                                         The rexels and the martians were at the front of the battle, either hacking away with swords or ripping alien flesh with their claws and teeth.                       The trixians were mostly at the back. They shot with duel pistols or with an abundant laser rifle. Their tanks shot laser-explosion missiles.              We were mostly in the air. I saw our bomber planes drop thousands of small cluster bombs upon millions of voidals. Flying troopers soared in the empyrean with jetpacks with wings like hang gliders, aiming and firing snipers that shot a highly concentrated piercing laser. Our new jets dropped bombs or were armed with laser mini guns. They were the color of a bluish gray, with the only details on the hull being the words written in red paint: Go humans!                 Our helicopters fired mini guns too, but also had an assortment of other weapons, such as missiles, electric projectors, shockwave propellers, earthquake injectors, and long-range flamethrowers. I know, pretty cool. Even their design was cool. The circular front bulletproof hulls had a painted shark face on it, with red inside the mouth, sharp white teeth, and the eyes not pure black but with the white part (the sclera) around it, making the blackness the pupil.                   Those weren’t the only things in the air. The voidal ship was above the voidal army, and our allies’ including ours ships were above our heads, creating a massive shadow that blocked the sun’s light.                                                            The voidal’s ship was huge, and it was basically, undoubtedly, literally… a huge purplish black ball. It had a purple eye in the middle though. I guess that would be the cockpit’s giant glass wall.                                                                The rexel’s spaceship was a giant orange shark-shaped vessel with strange rexelian symbols on the hull.                                 The martian’s aircraft was a huge mother ship UFO.                  The trixian’s was a big cool ship with a giant window like ours and two laser rings surrounded it like a shield, circling and spinning. And of course, ours was the best. It was a big steel-colored ship with a fin on top and huge thrusters. It had big streaks of blue and red lines going across- our race’s colors.                                                                                       They fired at each other with gargantuan laser cannons, like a pirate ship duel, except it wasn’t a duel. Four big ships against one big… sphere, which was supposed to be intimidating, but wasn’t.                                                                                         The blasts made massive explosions on the ships’s outer walls. The trails of smoke were left behind from the paths of the laser missiles.                                                   Most of our ship was destroyed, and the voidal’s vessel barely looked like it had a scratch. I wondered what happened to our shield. People were in there. Helpless and defenseless people. Melancholy consumed me. I had no way to help them.                                       More reinforcements arrived. They skydived off the ships and descended into the middle of the brigade.                  Wave after another of enemy aliens approached. They resembled one unstoppable army, and they charged through our army with swagger but not effortlessly.                        The sounds I heard were bloodcurdling raging yells and war cries, thousands of little or hundreds of big explosions, and millions of lasers heating the area around them.                In the midst of mayhem, I saw him.                    The voidal leader.                My dad was against him. Any voidals that stood in his way didn’t do anything to stop his approach, because they were killed by the three people behind him: Leroy, Vex, and Magnum.                                                                                           When they reached the voidal emperor, they took out their preferred weapons.                        My dad took out two laser swords, and spun them around in his hands with ease. He looked brave and courageous, fearless and confident.                     Leroy brought out two krangg katanas, which were very thin, light and sharp. He looked atrocious, angry, and vicious.                                                                                                                    Vex revealed two chain laser daggers from his cloak. If anything else, he looked happy. I think he knew four to one was not a fair match.                    Magnum drew four hefty-looking curved white energy machetes. They were his longest yet. They looked about one meter long. His face showed eagerness. He was very determined to win this fight.                            The emperor’s turn. He opened his cloak and exposed eight tentacles attached to his back. They each held one purple-colored metal blade. I thought voidals only used magic. I guess rules are different for the king.                             His emotion? Pure evil. His angry eyes stroke horror through the hearts of everyone. He had long ram-like horns that curved in a spiral on the sides of his head. His mouth showed scary jelly-like jagged teeth, which were purple too. His body skin was sinister inkiness. He was terrifying, and he clearly would bring fear to anyone who laid their eyes on him.                                                         I did the math. My dad and his allies had more blades than the foe, just because of Magnum’s extra two arms.                        Any of them didn’t even get a chance to turn on a translator, but the voidal spoke.                    “Greetings.” The voidal leader said. He knew English like the boneheads in my dream! An alien that knew our language wasn’t exactly a reassuring thought.                                     Something tells me that all three other leaders understood him too. I figured it was some kind of spell. Each race heard him as the race’s own language.  “My name is Zenith. I am the voidal race’s king.”                                     My dad spat on the floor, which to be honest I thought was pretty weird and useless. Maybe it just showed resentment and distaste.                       “You don’t need to know who we are.” He said.                                     “How rude.” Zenith said without antagonism. Then he charged.                                He dodged their strikes expertly, and parried at the right times, and landed a painful blow to any open opportunity. The four leaders fought perfectly too. If I were to describe the whole fight, we would be here forever. I’ll tell you some. My dad blocked four of Zenith’s swords while Leroy clashed with four more. Vex spun his chain daggers furiously, and tried to land some hits, but Zenith made him float to the air with his mind, and rammed him into Magnum.                      Leroy ended the parry and jumped on the voidal. Zenith stumbled backwards to dodge, and my dad saw a chance to stab him, except it was fake hope. A portal opened up under him, and it transported him thousands of feet in the air. He activated his trixian shield to survive.                                  Magnum flipped back up after Vex toppled on him, and slashed rapidly at Zenith, but the evil alien jumped straight up, and did an uppercut slash at Magnum’s cheek. When he landed he flanked left from Leroy’s slash and separated his katanas from his hands with his will. Then he kicked the rexel meters away.                My dad charged at Zenith with his shield still on, along with Vex, shield also on.                 The voidal looked as if conjuring a spell. Then he allocated the expletive. When my dad and Vex entered his personal space, he went through their shields!               The two warriors were so surprised and confused that Zenith had enough time to kill them, but Leroy startlingly grabbed him and threw him to the floor, hard.                           The alien jumped back up and slashed Leroy, while Magnum, who recovered from his bloody cheek, attacked, but the voidal turned invisible, went through him, and reappeared behind him, smashing the hilt of one of his swords backwards against Magnum’s back. He crumpled.          I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to help. Daniela watched in horror as I ran to them.                                      “Where are you going?!” She cried.                       “Follow me and you’ll find out.” I replied.                                                     Explosions rocked nearby as I ran. I leaped over carcasses and weapons or other things in my peripheral vision that I couldn’t recognize. All my focus was on the battle with the five race leaders.                I grabbed a trixian shield on the floor and blocked most of the magic bolts, though some skinned my legs, my arms, and my waist. I didn’t care. After I didn’t need the shield I jumped in the air and threw it so far, it hit one of the millions of voidals a kilometer away.   The smell of blood and smoke irritated my nose. Do I need to remind you why I can smell that? Over time not just our physical and intellect capabilities improved, but also our senses.                I ran around a grenade. I dodged a magic bolt. I moved away as an immense scrap of metal hit my exact spot seconds ago. Wait, what the heck? A scrap of metal?                      We made it in time to help. Zenith was fending off my dad’s attack, his shield turned off. Their blades attached, making an electrifying noise, hence the laser sword.                                      I aimed my pistol directly at him, and took the shot. He screamed like a human. At first I thought that that was actually what Zenith sounded like, but that wasn’t his voice. It was my fathers.                                    Suddenly the two bodies switched in places! Zenith, where my dad used to be, had a hideous smile. I couldn’t stand it. He must’ve alternated my vision! He made me see my dad as him and him as my dad! Zenith kicked his face and he fell to the floor. At first I wondered why he didn’t kill him, not that I wanted him to. It was because he didn’t have time. The other fighters were on him fast.  “Dad!” I yelled- again. I ran over to his side and dropped to my knees. Daniela did the same on the other side. We both had frowns.                                                                                                         I examined him. His eyes and his teeth were clenched tightly like he was trying to bear the pain. I quickly found the source. He had a nasty burn on his calf. It seared through his blood-wet skin. A little steam was even coming out, like laser would’ve done.                                “Are you okay?” I asked sheepishly, knowing the answer.                “W-why Mark?” He didn’t sound angry to me at all.  “Zenith did it. He did a spell.” I said, happy to blame it on someone, but I still felt guilty, even though I knew it wasn’t my fault. I hoped blaming it on the voidal would make me feel better, but it didn’t.                                                He put one hand over his eyes and one hand on his calf to add pressure to his blood-spill. “I-It’s okay. I believe you. I-It’s not your fault.” He stuttered, like he had an audio problem.                                                       I looked at the four other race leaders fighting each other, and then back at my dad.             “I’m going to avenge you dad.”                    “Wait no-“                 I ignored him as found the laser scythe retracted into a metal cylinder from his pocket, and ran over to the action. “Daniela, stay put!” I yelled to her behind me as she stared at me with shock and worry. I didn’t want to risk her. Did she even know how to fight?                             As I sprinted I reconnected the scythe with my AI and it expanded, while the laser flashed out.             I dropped my pistol, all of a sudden afraid to use it again. I hated it with my life. I never wanted to see it again. It had hurt my father, and it was going to hurt more, good or bad nonetheless.                               I held my dad’s weapon with two hands. I tried to make the bravest face I could possibly could, although that was probably a very scared face. Hey, don’t blame me! You would probably be like that if you were going to your doom.            I was ready to face Zenith. Or was I? I don’t care, and it didn’t matter. No matter how much my mind didn’t want to, I charged at the enemy.                           I didn’t regret it this time. I jumped into the air, surprisingly higher than I expected, then landed a blow on Zenith. Lucky for me, he didn’t see it coming. I broke one of his blades, cursing myself for not cutting him in half. If my blade were one foot to the left this battle would be over already.                     I tried to make up for it by slashing again, but Leroy was faster. He tackled Zenith very much the same way he tackled Magnum on the martian peace mission and they rolled on the floor. The force of the tackle was so strong all Zenith’s weapons flew off. Then the voidal warped out of his embrace, and appeared next to me. I didn’t see it coming, but Vex did.  “Look out!” He yelled. He reacted for me. He spun his chain daggers and tried to connect his blade with the enemy’s face, but it didn’t. Zenith stomped the ground and it shook, throwing us off-balance.            Magnum saw an open spot to strike. And it was a real one too. As Zenith was stumbled (from his own earthquake!) to maintain two legs on the floor, Magnum didn’t hesitate. He successfully sliced off one of his tentacles.                    The voidal king roared, but not in pain, in anger. The yell startled Magnum. In fact, it startled all of us.                                   The yell was so loud it could be heard across the whole sand-less desert. It was so terrifying, that all soldiers, including the voidals, stopped in full of shock.                                  Zenith was full of rage. Full of it.                                                                     He stomped his foot on the ground once again, but causing a colossal earthquake way bigger than before. We all fell to the ground losing balance immediately. Of course, Vex and I were already on the ground.                The earthquake was epic. It seemed as if the earth was humming a loud tune from underneath the mantle, and the catastrophic effects were gigantic land vibrations. It lasted for an eternity! Nah, I’m just kidding. It was only a few seconds, yet it seemed longer than usual.               When it ended everyone stared at Zenith like he was some freak from a monster show. He didn’t care, and he was sure to show it. He started walking towards us, and his face read: kill them.                    I was absolutely terrified, but I didn’t dare show it. Or was I already? It’s hard to tell without a mirror.                                           When everyone got back up they went back to business as if nothing had happened. Like it was something that came and went in their everyday lives. Well, I guess that’s true if you know a ton of people with anger issues.                                                            We backed up as the outraged alien was walking to us. I wished I never got involved. It now just seemed certain. We were going to die. Well, that’s always certain, you will at some point in your life. But what I meant was we were going to die, right now.                     Apparently Vex had a plan, which didn’t exactly relieve me, but I was still glad. Something was always better than nothing.                      “I think I know how we can stop him, it’s obvious we can’t by sword to sword.” Vex began as his translator clicked on. I see he shared my emotion. The fear of dying, and losing the battle for the planet that so many people desperately want.                                                                                                           He pointed at one of our helicopters. “Just follow my lead.” He took out a radio. Did his cloak even have pockets?                   “Helicopter 279, please launch a missile over here. I repeat, launch a missile here. Do not hesitate!”                   Vex waved his hands at the helicopter pilot he was talking to, who was in the helicopter he was in.                                              “Roger that.” The human pilot shuffled in his seat uncomfortably, getting ready. He didn’t know what Vex was thinking about the missile. It would probably kill them, but he knew the trixian leader wasn’t crazy. Even though he attacked the city and destroyed it, he knew the trixian was doing the right thing, so he should too.                      He flipped the switch and pushed the button without questioning the order.                                                                        The missile dived downwards through the stale, dusty air. The smoke sputtered out of the thruster, soon going to be destroyed when it exploded, when it would hit the ground.              But it didn’t. Vex ordered Magnum to drop all his weapons and catch it. He did what he was asked and clutched the missile with his four, powerful arms. He didn’t seem to struggle to hold it in place.               Vex turned to me and I awaited my order. “Mark, fetch me that grenade from that dead soldier over there.”                         I did. I didn’t trust him with my life, but I followed without a problem. I had no idea what he was doing, and I intended to find out. Apparently Leroy knew.                                                                     “Oh, I see. You’re going to create an electrical discharge. It will stun the enemy for a few hours.”                  Vex smiled coolly. “Exactly.”                             Magnum’s four strong arms gripped the missile tightly, while the fire’s thrust tried to resist his hold. But it didn’t attain its goal: killing all of us.                                                                           Vex took his shield generator from his belt. “This is the containment chamber. This is the most important part, or else we’d all be stunned by the discharge too.”                              He looked at me again. “Mark, I need you to shoot the missile that Magnum will let go at Zenith when it’s close enough. Use the AI’s aim mode to get you a perfect one-time shot.” He tossed me a laser pistol to replace my old one, and I caught it with one hand while I connected it to my AI. He tossed the grenade at Leroy. “Throw this at him when I say go. Same with you Magnum.” He said to him. The martian nodded as he turned the missile around, aiming it right at Zenith. We all looked at him. He was walking furiously towards us, so full of anger that he didn’t care or try to do anything about us plotting something. He was not happy about that lost tentacle. I tried to imagine how much pain that would be if it was me, but decided to stop quickly like it was going to make the voidal angrier. I didn’t want that to happen.                                                                                                 “On the count of three.” Vex said. “One.”                                                        We all got ready. “Two.” I gripped my pistol tighter, like it was going to fall out of my hands, but I knew it wouldn’t. Millions of lives were counting on me. I felt all their weight on my shoulders; they were depending on me. If I mess up things could go horribly wrong. More worse than I could possibly ever imagine.                “Three!”                       We all let go of our weapons. Leroy threw the grenade, Vex threw the shield generator, and Magnum let go of the rocket.                                Vex’s shield was created around Zenith at the same time Magnum’s missile and Leroy’s grenade entered. This was it. It was my turn. My AI automatically fired, hitting the missile perfectly when it was in the shield. The shield closed.                            The missile exploded from the impact of my laser, while the grenade detonated, and the two explosions created a so-called electrical discharge, and it made an electrocution on the enemy alien.                 He screamed again, but this time, in vain.                                                                                      Relief flooded through my bones and swept through my veins. Stress left my body so fast that I thought my heart would burst out of my chest. Everyone had done their job, but I was probably more proud of myself than anyone else. It was so overpowering I almost hooted loudly, but I forced myself not to because that would be totally immature.       Anyways, I was so happy. We had done the impossible. We had gained the planet. The very first day we came to it in the ship my dreams and thoughts never reached this day. I never thought it would be so easy, yet so hard at the same time.                                                                                                        But Zenith wasn’t dead. Vex deactivated the shield, and it gave the voidal room to fall to the floor. Alive, but paralyzed. I had a surge to tell Vex to hurry up and put him in a prison cell, because it only lasted for a few hours. But I didn’t.                                                                                                   When the voidals glanced our way and saw their leader fallen, they instantly lost hope. They gave up. They all dropped whatever they held and fell to their knees. Their master was down, and so they were too.                  For a moment there was no sound. It was so eerily silent that I heard a ringing noise in my ears.                                    Then we all cheered. I only smiled.                                               All explosions stopped, all voidals fell, and their victorious dream of conquering the planet fell with them. Every trace of their faith was thrown away in the trash.                                       Our jets and helicopters landed. Blood was stopped spilling. No more violence, because it was over.                                     There was only one way to explain what had happened.                 We had won the war.

.  .  .

“Why didn’t we kill him?” I asked my dad. I felt really mad at the voidals for ambushing us in the middle of the night, at four. I was so tired that night I thought of going to war with my pajamas and my pillow as a weapon. I snickered at the silly thought.                      “This was a peace mission. Not a kill-them-all type of mission.” My dad said. I knew he made the term up.                 He had a bandage around his leg, around my accidental shot. He also had one on his forehead and a cast that carried his left arm.             Aside my shot, he was very injured, but would soon look fine. Give or take, two to three weeks. I was sure of it.                         “So, did he agree to peace?” I asked. I felt like I was the question machine, and my dad was the walking encyclopedia. As long as I was with him, he fitted my needs.           My dad frowned. “Not exactly. We’ll give him three days to decide. If he still doesn’t agree and we let him go, of course he would still be a potential threat. And he doesn’t deserve to live, even if he does in a filthy cell. So we told him we would execute him and his race if he still didn’t agree to the peace treaty.”               I smiled. Everything was in order again. It was like all melancholy had left the world, leaving us in peace and joy. I hadn’t felt safe like this in weeks. Safety was home. And it was in our home this time.                   The danger moved on to the voidals. Their lives now depended on the choice of their leader. If he made the wrong choice, their death sentence would arrive, and fast.             I didn’t care about them. If they were heartless and vicious to us, then we would treat them the same way.                                       “We’ve got the planet.” I said, as if my dad didn’t know that. “Yes, I promised that, didn’t I?”                                     “Yep.”                                           We walked through the half destroyed enterprise, on the way to my room. During this time people were asked to take all their things and move to the new city that was finished constructing. Well, we forced the voidals to help. Their telekinesis and other magic made it possible to clean up the city quick. After all, they were a whole race. About seven million, less than us, but no less than the destroyed trixian population.                                                                        People walked slowly on their way to the exit, to their freedom, to their new lives. They were going to begin a new age, the dawn of a new era of the humans.                                                With all the new things, they had old things to say goodbye to. Their rooms, the ship, basically their old life. They knew they were never going to see it again.                                                “So, the other races are moving into the city too?” I conversed.                 “Yes. This one will be five times as big.” He paused, as if he was missing something. “But no walls, of course.”                                 After my small chuckle we were silent for a while. We were trying to take it all in. Start our new lives. It sounded pretty awesome, and sad at the same time. All these days I had some pretty horrible and awesome times with my dad, and my whole family, or independently. Or even with Daniela.                   The thought of family jolted me. “Where’s mom and Kate?” I asked.               “They’re packing their things in their room.”                “Oh.” I thought of a new topic, trying to keep the conversation not boring. “So you’re not leader anymore?”             “I still am. They are working on creating a government in the city. Once that’s done I’m retiring, along with the other leaders.”             “So are we going to expand our civilization? Reestablish society around the world?”               “Yes. We are already planning to build new cities around the globe. Anything you think of, we’ve already planned, or we will plan at the N.W.O.C. meeting at four.”               Our conversation ended. We made it to my room. The door slid open after my dad registered his name. He could do it to anyone’s door, and he was the only one who could do it, because he was the highest rank, the leader. He had the right to open anybody’s door. And, why wouldn’t the computer let my dad in? I registered him in.                                     We entered. “Ok, I’ll see you later. I’ll pack your things. Why don’t you help your girlfriend pack?”                               I eyed him grimly. “Don’t call her that.”                      “Why not?” He had a smile on his face.                       “It’s not like we’re dating or anything. We’re just friends.”                                                                         My dad looked like he was holding back a laugh. Then I realized why. My eyes widened. “How did you know?!”                        He let the laugh out. When it ended he explained. “It was obvious. You wouldn’t bring a girl to the war for no reason.”  I also realized that I forgot to ask my dad if she could come. Well, the war was an ambush. It was unexpected. I didn’t need to ask him if she could come if the war was here, not there.                                                                                        “Whatever,” I said, “I’ll go help her.”                  “Wait, don’t get too caught up, there’s a meeting at four.” My dad reminded me.

.  .  .

“I’m so glad.” Daniela said without enthusiasm. I hate it how she just says something but doesn’t say what she’s talking about.                               “Why?” I asked.                               “We have a new home. Duh.”                   I felt like smacking my head. Of course that was what she was talking about! Why didn’t I figure that out?                                                 Daniela was placing all her clothes in a carry-on. I was bringing them out of her closet and laying them on her bed. Her room was nice, I guess. But kind of girly. It had the same color of walls than every room in the ship. Sky blue. But her desk was filled with pink notebooks, a pink lamp, pink… everything!                                               “You don’t have many stuff.” I said obviously. She smiled as if that was a compliment.            “I’m still glad you help me pack.”                            “Because your lazy?” I joked. Her smile vanished as she rolled her eyes.              “You know what I meant.”                As a matter of fact I did. She meant that she liked me helping her, and she was glad I was there. I wonder if she thought like that every day. Well, I see her everyday anyway; she doesn’t have to miss me.                                              Packing was easy, and not stressful at all. When we finished with her clothes we moved on to the things on her desk. A tablet with a fluffy pink case, a pink watch, pink headphones, a pink diary, basically everything you can imagine in her room was pink.             I felt uneasy about touching all her personal stuff. After all, I was a boy. My life never involved so much girl stuff and pink objects. And that diary… who knows what adventurous notes lie in that book.                                                                          “Do you know what the city is going to be like?” Her voice interrupted my thoughts.                   “How would I know that?”                                 “I don’t know. You’re part of that war thingy.”                                           “The N.W.O.C.?”                 “Yeah, that.”                      Who would’ve known? All that lecturing I did about the war committee, she didn’t listen. I wondered if she didn’t listen to anything I talked about when we were hanging out together.                            “It’s a war operations committee. We don’t usually talk about that stuff. Although we might in the meeting at four.”             We finally finished packing, but it wasn’t tiring or anything. It was so simple and easy we only took about ten minutes. Everything we packed was in one carry-on. Thank goodness it wasn’t pink. It was a dark shade of blue, my favorite color.         “I’ll bring it.” I offered.                                                           “Nah, it’s fine.”                          “Where are we going now?”           “To my mom and dad’s room. You can go from there. I’m going with them to the city.”               “I get to meet your parents?” I asked rhetorically. “Sweet!”

.  .  .

Zenith had finally agreed to the peace treaty earlier than expected. I guess he had no interest in getting executed.               The N.W.O.C. table was complete. It had all the five race leaders with their four selected members. I was sure we were going to talk about the city now. Somehow entering the meeting room made it clear. I mean, there’s no war to plan, right?                                                                                        Zenith was directly diagonal to me. I kept taking glances at him, but quickly turned my head away when I thought he saw me. Even though I knew I was totally safe in the meeting room with all its security, I was still scared of him. I just thought he would do something suspicious, and inspecting him every second would do something about it if he did. He still had his magic powers, but was unarmed. I kept reminding myself I was totally safe. Plus, he already agreed to peace. He wasn’t coldhearted anymore. So why was I still nervous?                                                                                         My dad was the last one to take his seat. Once he did, everyone was accounted for. I don’t know why, but I always portrayed that my dad was the leader of all of us, and he even commanded the other leaders, but I knew that all of them had the same rights, and the same amount of power as my dad.                      “Hello everyone.” He began. “This is the last N.W.O.C. meeting… ever.” He exhaled.                                                      Somehow I felt sad, even though I should be happy. The war was over. But I felt sadness because all the adventures were over. All the adventures with my family were over. My life was back to normal. Back to my plain old regular ordinary typical average normal boring life.                               “Today, we will not be planning a war. We will discuss everything that has happened in the past six days, since we had found the planet.”                                                                                   Vex turned to Leroy, and their eyes locked. “First, the people.”                                                            I had a sinking feeling that this was not going to be good.           “The approximate live count for each race excluding the trixians: eight million. The trixians have less than five million, due to Vex’s attack on the city.” Leroy said.                                                                                 I could see Vex being guilty. He was really sorry for what he’d done. It didn’t just cost lives of ours. It cost half of his race too.                                                                                                             I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat too. Is that really true? Two million people in each race died in the wars? How was that possible?                                                                                              “We have lost many of each race during our wars and attacks on each other for the past few days.” Leroy repeated my thoughts. “I know its hard to think of them as individual people, so we will have one big funeral, honoring all the soldiers and innocent people who have recently died.” He paused, and almost looked like he was on the verge of tears. He was probably thinking about all the people in his race that died. Eight million people in total! That might not seem a lot if our race was in billions, but for the circumstances we have today, it was a great amount. One fifth of the population!                                 “Most of them are injured severely.” Leroy said like it was a good thing. It was, in fact. Injury was better than death. “They are kept in our new giant hospital in the city. They will be treated and cared for under the responsibility of Steve’s scientist, Mr. Raede.”                        “That’s good.” Magnum said. “And the city?”                                 “It is almost finished. The human, rexel, and trixian factors are done. The martian and voidals are almost.” Vex said. “After that, when we extend our civilization the cities won’t be divided into factors anymore. Each city will be for one race. And there will be multiple cities.”                                   “What about the name of the city?” My dad asked. We contemplated. Zenith, who had been silent the whole time, came up with one.                “Evolotropolis?” He suggested. My dad managed a smile.                       “I like it.” He said. I liked it a lot too. Maybe Zenith wouldn’t be useless after all.                                 “And the ships?” Magnum asked. He seemed to be the one coming up with the topics.                                                                                      “The ships will be disposed of.” Scinx said. “We will crush them and use the materials to manufacture more buildings or other things.”                                                    I liked the sound of that. Whatever resources we could take, we take it. Whatever we don’t need, we destroy it and recycle the materials. It also helped the environment, so we don’t use up the resources faster.                                                  My thoughts drove me to think about all the planets our race has went to. There were billions. After all, we have been through tons of galaxies. And if we use the resources more slowly and more effectively, we would take more time to replenish the planet.                 “Any other problems?” My dad asked.                     “What about the landscapes?” My mom told him.                      “Ah, yes. We have been seeing a lot of deserts and sterile grounds. What can we do about that?” My dad asked.                One of Zenith’s members spoke. I tried to remember his name. It was something like… Mortum?                         “We have invented a method of terra-forming a long time ago. With a little science combined with our magic, we can change any landscape to what we want it to be in within, let’s say, one to two days.”                     My dad nodded as he went. “Great! You can get started on it tomorrow. I want everyone to get some rest. Is that all we have to talk about today?”                 Surprisingly, it was. The amount of things we needed to review was small. I wondered if we missed anything, but we probably didn’t. There was nothing else.                            “Well then.” My dad said. “The meeting is adjourned, for the last time.” 

.  .  .

There was one last thing to do.                       I told my dad about Rano and the outcasts. I told him the whole story, to how they found us and took care of us to the attack from the voidals and when we escaped.       He had never heard of the Venoqs. We agreed that if we ever find them, we would locate the same person who killed Rano’s dad and punish him to avenge Rano’s death. I wasn’t convinced about that. Try to find one person in a whole race? But I didn’t question my dad. He was always right. Always.                               Even though the trixians were the ones who were invaded by the Venoqs, they didn’t know a lot about them either. They were another unknown alien race.                             Finally, my dad and Vex agreed to un-banish the trixian outcasts. It was a selfish thing that Vex did. Why would you banish someone who just broke a statue? Vex should feel very sorry and guilty, and he already admitted that he was. Good. That settles everything.

.  .  .

It is now the ending of the amazing adventure.    My dream was correct. Everything in that vision… was true. I’m not sure about the other one I had, the one with the bone-helmeted aliens killing all of us. Or the boy I had a strange connection to. I had no idea what it all was or what it all meant. I just hoped it was some crazy dream. A dream where I thought I felt pain, but it was all in my mind. It was just fake.                           But now we don’t have anything to worry about. We all shared the planet. We were all in peace.                      In the distant future, the planet lasted a good, solid ten billion years. When the resources were used, us humans have successfully created the hyperspace combustion engine. It was a powerful drive that costs ten billion dollars to make. And it was because it was powerful enough to take us out of the Local Group.                            It would find us a new home.                   Now we can expand our colony out into the endless universe. All the races, us humans, the rexels, the martians, the trixians, and the voidals lived in peace happily ever after.                 I know it sounds like a fairy tale ending, but it resembled something like that. This was a tale that happened in the future. A tale you can tell all your friends. And it even sounds like a fantasy story. But that could be our secret. Everyone won’t believe you when this happens, but it will. And you will be the only one ready for it.                                                        I am Mark William Iconic Grey. And remember these words fellow human:             This universe will never run out of homes.  

Epilogue: The forthcoming

19 years later

“It’s a boy.” The doctor said with no trace of joyful emotion. He was leaning on the wall, his hands folded behind his back, his face expressionless and blank.                  Then he left the room to give us some privacy.                                                I looked at my no-longer pregnant wife, with my brand-new son cradled in her gentle arms, wrapped in a white blanket.              He was adorable.                 He seemed to glow with an immense powerful aura, like he was going to be a great hero someday. I sure hoped that was it, and not just the smell of his feet.                                                     He opened his mouth wide, as he inhaled air. He was yawning. His eyes were closed. He had brown hair on his head that came from me.                                                                  His scrunched-up curved features and small, contorted face was all that made him cute. He was the size of a kid’s arm. He was perfect.                         Was it just me, or did he look so happy? He seemed he would lighten up everybody no matter how bad their mood was with his amazing cuteness.             Then his eyes opened. His eyes were sea blue, like his mother’s. He saw the world for the very first time. He analyzed the room. His eyes moved back and forth, back and forth.                                     “What should we name him?” Daniela asked me, still admiring the baby, our new son. Before I thought of a name, I said, “Let’s name him after you.”                          I thought hard. I wanted to think of a perfect name. A very appealing name, one that was used for eons, one that would stand out.                  I got it. The absolute best name.                                                      “Daniel."     

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