'The orders, you ask?' the huge reptile moved his large head and pretended to think for a few moments. He looked outside and saw the inhabitants of the planet – a human colony – picking up arms. They weren't going to go down easily. 'Isn't he obvious? Kill everyone out there!'
The horde of red-skinned alien creatures gave a cry of approval and quickly ran out of the ship and towards the defenders, preparing to slaughter them all. The space pirates' leader wasn't interested in such matters, so he flew away and landed on a tall building, then started to calmly observe the battlefield. Hundreds of people, both humans and pirates, were being killed in front of him.
He didn't even move a muscle.
Ridley has been taking colonies over for a long, long time. He was used to death. A hundred lives, a thousand, or even a million lives didn't matter to him anymore. But the creature didn't realize that sometimes just one can make a difference.
After a few minutes of observation, he felt a laser beam striking his wing. It barely hurt, but was enough to get his attention.
A tall man was shooting with a plasma rifle. 'Go away! You and your kind are not welcome here! Leave us be!' the man shouted. Ridley sighed.
'What a bother… Know your place, human! It is YOU who are not welcome here!' the reptile said and picked up the man.
'RUN!' the defender could only say before he was cut to shreds by Ridley's nails.
The leader threw the corpse away and looked around himself. He couldn't see anyone else.
'Who did you shout at, human?' he asked and looked at the body.
And he got an answer.
A small boy, maybe five or six years old, was hugging the bloodied man. 'Father! FATHER!' he cried.
'Hey there… Why didn't I see you before…' Ridley mumbled, not expecting the child to hear him. He opened his mouth, preparing to incinerate him with his fire breath.
But was surprised when he felt a few shots in the back.
The reptile screamed and turned as fast as he could to where the shots came from. 'What the-'
The boy was standing in the opposite end of the rooftop, holding his father's rifle. And, in a matter of moments, he was gone again.
'What the… How can you be moving so fast?' Ridley yelled, desperately trying to locate his opponent. The shots were coming from all directions and, although they weren't strong enough to even scratch him, caused some pain and were definitely a bother. Finally, the leader saw the boy and opened his mouth to incinerate him. As expected, the boy quickly ran away… into Ridley's palm.
He lifted his prey up and looked him in the eye.
'Now then, you little brat… How old are you?'
The boy didn't respond. Instead, he desperately tried to break free.
'I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!' the creature yelled.
'Fi-five…' the boy shook.
'Then tell me this – how can a baby that can barely walk be so damn fast?'
'I… I…' the boy realized struggling is futile, so he stopped.
'You know, us pirates aren't very fast… We compensate with force and weaponry… Actually, we could really use someone as fast as you are…'
The kid was crying. He didn't realize what was happening.
'What's your name, boy?'
'Ja-Jaden…' he said through his tears.
'Fine, Jaden. I'm going to give you a choice… Come with us! Become a pirate! Or… die here! What will it be?'
The child was shaking. A few seconds passed without an answer.
'Oh, why do I even bother…' Ridley commented and squished his palm.