Note: I'm surprised there aren't more Xindi fics out there, soooo I decided to write one up myself. XD Ehm...I didn't really have anything in particular in mind, but I tend to lean towards stories that are kind Enterprise book I bought, so I'm not necessarily making this reptilian OC soft out of no where. ;-D
Also, I'm thinking that when this happened, the Xindi have never seen humans before, considering that in the episode (was it Strategem?) Degra asks Archer what species he is, thereby concluding that he's obviously never seen a human. But I'm not gonna be using many characters in this one, so...bare with me? 3
Kreschar, the Xindi-reptilian under Commander Vek'nel's order, clutched strenuously at the padded seat in the not-so-small shuttle pod. The craft was half operating, and the low, almost-peaceful buzz of the electronic devices whirring and churning would have brought pleasure to Kreschar's mind, under normal circumstances. Kreschar was remarkably young and less experienced in the knowledge of the mission that his Xindi betters had chosen him to perform; a job that would take millions of lives, were the mission successful...and chances are it would be. His betters, Arboreal, Primate, Acquatic, Reptilian and Insectoid alike, had all agreed that Kreschar would best suite the job. Kreschar himself, from then on, had always found this slightly difficult to believe for he doubted heartily whether anyone, save for his family, even knew his name before that or any of his history. All anyone seemed to know of him was that he worked for the Xindi, reptilian like himself, Vek'nel.
But no...now nearly everyone knew his name, and not just the reptilains, but the other members of his race. And it was all because of the assignment he had been appointed, and volunteered, to do. It was simple enough; he was to travel to the distant planet, Earth, and launch the cleverly designed weapon that the Xindi-primate, Degra, had constructed. As young as Kreschar was, and as little as he knew, he was very well aware of the future danger his people were in (or so they all believed) from these humans, so the creatures were called. Kreschar had never seen a human, but his people had found a decent amount of information on the creatures. Evidently, they were rather similar to Degra's line of Xindi. Kreschar couldn't help but wonder if there were any other kinds of these humans, rather than just one type. So many questions filled his mind.
He now observed the nifty shuttle, through and through; it must have been his sixth time doing so that evening. Two days from that day, he would carry out his task to launch the test weapon onto Earth, but Gods knew, he wouldn't live to see if it succeeded or not. He sighed. No...he would be dead for sure, even if the weapon wasn't powerful enough to destroy much of Earth, it could and would certainly end his life.
The soft light of the control pads reflected vividly off Kreschar's green scales and made his eyes brighter than they already were. With an inward breath of thought, he stood up, flexing his muscles, and exited the craft. The large room that the craft was parked in was still and empty, but full of technological devices, which perhaps made the room not completely silent after all. Kreschar took four slow steps across the hard floor, feeling neither angry, nor sad...in fact, he felt rather hollow. It was not like his people, the reptilians in particular, to feel hollowness when they are about to strike at an enemy, before that enemy has the chance to strike. Still, Kreschar was young. They had already carried out his death ceremony the previous day, and already he had constructed his will, with the help of family members, all who were proud of his important roll in the well-being of the Xindi people. It was almost as if he had already died, like the spirit of Kreschar was no longer inhabiting the body. Maybe that explained his empty emotions. Maybe, even, the ceremony itself was the plug pulled from the drain, and like a whirlpool, Kreschar's passions and aspirations had, so to speak, been drained away.
Who knows. Maybe it wasn't even, necessarily, that Kreschar was afriad. He shrugged in response to his clouded thoughts and drew a shining, scaley hand across his face. He couldn't help but wonder why he had been chosen to carry out such a delicate, but important, procedure. From what he knew, none of the members of the Council knew who he, Kreschar, was. He tried to imagine himself through their eyes. Young, experienced enough for a warrior, naive possibly...then another part of his mind questioned whether they thought of him at all.
The Xindi shook his head. 'Stop your idle thinking, Kreschar,' he thought to himself and proceeded to walk out of the shuttle room. The doors opened and closed behind him with a soft zheeng!
X X X X X X
The very halls and quarters throughout the area seemed to be near to deserted, save for an occassional passing ensign of some sort. They all gave Kreschar a respectful nod each time they passed. Kreschar nodded back, without smiling, his hands folded professionally behind his back. The Xindi was so used to these halls being full, and now his footsteps seemed ten times louder than usual walking down it. There were small lights that illuminated the corridor. It was a fair walk down to his own quarters, and yet again, he found his mind wandering to other things. Things concerning the Xindi and their threat.
Surprisingly enough, the Xindi had been able to take captive, a human from the wreckage of an abandoned ship. A female to be precise. Quite frankly, no one knew how she had survived the wreckage, nor who had caused it. They found a male as well, but he died before they could keep him alive long enough to question him. And question her, they tried many times. The Xindi-primates attempted getting answers from her, but only one she had answered so far, and that was that she was human. The primates, naturally, sought out to demand answers verbally, but after an entire week, they gave up and finally, reluctantly let the reptilians have a hand in squeezing information out of her.
She herself knew not that the Xindi were planning to eliminate all of humanity, but she had a hunch, from the way they acted around her, that these creatures ought not to know anything. So she kept quiet, even after the persistence of the Xindi-primates and even from the blows and swipes from the Xindi-reptilians. She disliked both of these creatures very much, but preferred verbal assault, rather than physical. By now, she had bruises on her face and arms and ribs. She knew her ribs were considerably damaged by the way they felt when she breathed in too sharply.
Though the reptilians were quite fond of torturing their captives, they eventually grew tired trying to gain answers from the human in vain. None of the Xindi, however, were so easy to give up. They would stop at nothing from getting what they wanted from their future enemy...and at the moment, that consisted of answers to their questions. As little as they knew about humans, it was necessary to know how, mentally and biologicall they adapted, what their home world was like, and what it consisted of.
Kreschar, being still of youthful mind, was curious as to what the enemy of the Xindi were like, but he never had the opportunity to look in on questioning, or observing, not even to ask questions...until now. He paused in mid-stride, as if deciding whether or not he ought to go through with this. He was sure there were cameras of some sort in the brig that the human was in...but for all he knew...and if he could get answers out of the filth himself...he might be acknowledged greatly for it. With a new eagerness rising in him, Kreschar quickly made his way to the second floor where the prisoner was.
X X X X X X
Kreschar took extra care in being silent when he came to the brig he was seeking out. He inhaled deeply, and let it out slowly. He might get in trouble for this (though for no reason he could think of.) Still...if he managed to get her to talk...
That settled it. Besides, Kreschar was rather curious about humans. In a way, he truthfully hoped that the human wouldn't answer to his questions; it would amuse him more if the creature were to resist...then that could only result to physical persuasion. He could have the human under his fist, cowering from each blow he delivered, begging for mercy, pleading for compassion, yes...
Here it was, the door to the steel cell that held a horrible being inside its keeps. Kreschar tensed himself for what was to come, gathered up his boldness, and pressed the code into the electronic pad to open the door. With the ever-familiar soft zheeeng! the metallic door opened in one swift motion...and there it was.
Her wrists were scratched up badly and chained to the wall. She was lying in a kneeling position against the wall and appeared to be asleep. Bruises caressed her face and arms, and her dark brunette hair was coming undone and falling loosely over her face, which at the moment Kreschar could not see. But even from that position she was in, Kreschar knew and could tell, that she had undergone severe punishment from the questioners.
He tilted his head and squinted his eyes. So this is what humans look like...at least basically. They did indeed resemble the Xindi-primates, save for the face ridges that all Xindi shared. No...this humans face was smooth and...well...very un-Xindi. The reptilian frowned, any more than he could, and strode up to the human. He paused for a moment, looking down at the being before him, then gave her a harsh kick in the ribs. She let out voice-filled gasp of surprise and looked up at Kreschar. She stood up, however difficult, and stepped as far away from him as possible. If Kreschar knew anything about his Xindi-primate cousins, he believed that this human's face would be considered attractive to them, were she Xindi. Yet she was anything but that.
"Listen, human," Kreschar snarled, "my people need information from you, and from what I have heard, you have not complied so well to their...requests." He kept his voice low, but menacing...calm, but commanding.
The female narrowed her eyes and looked, in Kreschar's opinion, silently incredulous. "Requests?" her voice sounded all in all, normal...but there was a hint of solid venom behind it. Kreschar couldn't blame her. If some alien species whom he had never heard of nor seen, captured him and brutally questioned him about his people for no apparent reason, he would be angry too. "Requests indeed," she muttered viciously under her breath. Kreschar considered prodding her once more, but she spoke, "Listen you...well...whatever you are," at that point she gave him a wary look, "...I'm not telling you anything" She said her last sentence slowly and effectively. Though she knew that Kreschar hadn't been a questioner before, she knew that eventually he would resort to hitting her, and that she would simply have to brace herself for the impact.
Kreschar didn't wait to carry out what he so wanted to carry out. He moved, quick as a serpent, towards the human and seized her by the throat, making her gasp again and cling, uneffectively, to his arms as if to push them away from her throat. Her expression was still bitter, but with a tinge of fright etched in it. Kreschar did his best to appear intimidating to her, and it worked. He knew, before he even interrogated her, that she would not answer. She hadn't answered anyone else, so why would she make things easy for him?
The Xindi stared the human down, and eventually said, "You have no idea what you're up against, human. Before long, you will wish you could tell us more than you probably already know." He seethed and shoved her away from him violently.
She just barely managed to push against the hard, cold wall to keep herself from falling from the Xindi's impact. She breathed heavily and rubbed her throat with her free hand. The lights in the brig shone as bright as ever...almost as if appearing to enjoy her torment as much as the Xindi. "I highly doubt that," she managed, "I'll...I..." she coughed, "I'll never comply." Kreschar took ecstatic delight in seeing her pain. Forget the question and answering session, this was fun enough as it was. The female seemed to regain her composure, if only just, and looked Kreschar in the eye.
"I don't know what you guys are, I don't know why you want to know about...humans so much, but...you've made the mistake of breaking my trust...not that you ever had it," she added as a quiet afterthought, "but it's..." she shuddered, "clear that you're up to something no good!"
Kreschar straightened up and met the human's insolent stare. "Your planet," he stated impatiently, as if he hadn't heard a word that the human said, "what matter does it consist of?" Outwardly, he presented the image of a calm-collected youth, like a graduate ready to recieve his diploma. But inwardly, his impulses were on edge, waiting to spring forth and fulfill their wishes.
The girl shook her head, and Kreschar backhanded her face so hard, that this time she did fall. He pinned her down to the ground before she could raise herself up again. "We can make this easy...or we can make this hard," he seethed close to her ear. She tried squirming out from under his arm held painfully on her back, but to no avvail.
"Let me go you fool!" she yelled, though clearly her face was screaming uncle! "Let go I say!" she yelled louder. Kreschar roughly lifted his arm from her back, with amusement, but when she struggled to stand up, he kicked her in the ribs, sending her back down on hard floor.
"It is you who is the fool," he retorted, "if you do not obey, I will inform my Commander, and he will see to it that you have a miserable time here, indeed." The girl seemed unphased by this. She was nurturing her rib as best she could. She seemed under great strain to keep her arm free from having to hold her rib, but it clearly caused her too much pain, because she'd keep drawing her arm back..should she remove it.
Kreschar somehow found it odd that this creature, this human, dared to show such defiance when it was his people who had the upper hand. At least when matters came to eliminating the human's homeworld, they did. If any one of the Xindi had an 'upper hand' with the human captive they held, she would be answering questions. But no, it didn't go as they had expected. The Xindi, of course, never expected to find a human anywhere, under any circumstances at all. And when they had found one, they were so sure that the 'thing' would succumb so easily to mean beatings, that she would answer their every question...overflowing their cup of knowledge about humans, which at the moment was half empty. None of them, however, really expected her to flat out answer them if they merely asked. Humans certainly couldn't be that weak, if they were supposed to destroy the Xindi in the future. And that, they certainly would not do, not if the Xindi could help it.
And help it they could, with Kreschar's willingness. At the moment though, Kreschar had nearly forgotten his mission to be carried out the next day. Perhaps that's why the halls seemed so empty. Usually, even at night, hardly anyone ever slept who had a job revolving around the Council, because there was always something that needed to be done. But now, of course, they were obviously busy elsewhere...preparing for the launch tomorrow.
"I'm already having a miserable time here. You don't need to make it worse," she scowled, and flinched with the pain in her rib.
"I can see you're in pain," Kreschar answered as pleasantly as he could, and kneeled down, "why don't you be a good little villian and answer me." His voice was far from gentle, but it was his hands that put the captive on edge. He mercilessly nudged her ribs, and tried to contain his mirth when she seemed to be using every once of strength she had not to cry out. "It surprises me that my people haven't merely intoxicated you into telling them what they know," he stood up, "but it's hardly my business...I've no doubt that the thought has crossed their mind."
"Speaking of business," the girl managed, despite her obvious distaste for the Xindi standing before her, "what business do you have with...my people?"
Kreschar folded his arms and studied the human carefully. She looked in horrible condition, a dark streak across her face telling the reptilian that the last questioner had been particularly cruel. He looked into her eyes...the color of his scales... with hatred, and she met his with equal force. "That is our business," he said, "and yours. I won't tell you a thing, however." Kreschar thought it wise not to let this human in on the Xindi's goal, for a number of reasons. One was obvious, because if she knew, it would make it much harder to get anything out of her than it already was. Two, was because Kreschar felt that his higher ups had a good reason for not filling her in, and the latter was obviously why. Still...in a way it might not make much difference whether they told her or not, considering the villianous creature had already guessed the nature of the Xindi's intent. Not through their words, but through their very actions, through the feeling of hostility they had towards her.
The human shook her head now, almost in an exasperated manner. She felt something hard hit the side of her face that wasn't bruised, and this time she did cry out in pain, her hand impulsively reaching to the spot where she was struck. Kreschar glowered over the human. "I can do this all night if you like," he hissed, though he obviously had no intention of spending his time that way, "I'll make your thoughts swirl with pain, you miserable human!"
"Have at it," she said shakily. She withdrew her hand from her face, and knew, before she could see it, that she was bleeding but only slightly. Kreschar struck her face again, once...twice...three times...the female suppressed her pain as much as she could, but a slight groan escaped her lips whether she liked it or not. The Xindi kicked her hard in the ribs, causing her to breath out in shock from the surge of fiery pain she felt race through her ribs. Kreschar raised her by the shirt and searched her eyes. He was met with silent fury and yet...and yet there was a sense of hopelessness in those eyes. He then slugged her, though not with full force, in the stomache. Her mouth was bleeding now, but she wiped the blood away, leaving a faint red streak across her face.
Kreschar peered down at her, delight rising inside him like a volcano in seeing his enemy lying on the ground at his hands. "I am not the one hurting you," he said, "you are. If you would simply reply to our wishes, things might be a trifle easier on you." To his surprise, the female managed to stand once again, and face the reptilian.
"And if I were you, I'd just give up now. You'll not acquire a thing from me."
"Scum," Kreschar murmured and shoved her roughly against the wall. He didn't like to admit it any more than the rest of his people, but maybe she was right in suggesting that they just give up. The girl was horribly stubborn, despite the fact that she knew less about the Xindi's motives than the Xindi did about humans, and Earth. If ever there was anything that Kreschar could possibly admire about the human captive (and humans in general, assuming this was a common trait among them) it would have to be her stern attitude. It was practically enough to match the iron will of the aquatics. For some unknown reason, Kreschar wondered how she would do in battle under extreme circumstances. He could tell, clear as day, that there lingered something vicious inside her. Something similar inside him, that he felt for the humans.
He folded his hands behind his back and paced the room. "You know it is a shame, that boldness such as yours is wasted on you humans." She remained silent, for an even quicker moment, the young Xindi felt that maybe his treatment of her had paid off. "Not talking now, are we?" he poked.
"I have nothing to say to you." She stated firmly, "I refuse to cooperate." There was a dark mark above her eye, making her look rather pitiful and grim.
"Why you-" Kreschar took hold of her face with one hand, and brought it close to his face, making it unable for her to move away. "I could kill you now and you'd never know what we would be planning to do to your people! How would you like that?" His voice penetrated through her.
"You...dare still speak to me!" she fumed, as if it were a royal subject putting shame upon a peasant.
"Foolish girl!" Kreschar answered and let go of her face. He walked out of the brig without another word, leaving the human female to her wounds. He had gained sickly amusement in beating the living daylights out of her, but nothing more. She said nothing, literally, that could possibly ever help the Xindi in their innermost goal. Kreschar hardly dared to expect her to, but due to his young way of thinking, he couldn't help but hope, just a little, that she might see the light (or rather, the dark) and give in. He underestimated her greatly, and continued to simmer in his livid thoughts for the next several hours or so, before he began to remember that the day was drawing forth, and that day, he would die for the sake of his people.
X X X X X X
The flaring orb of fire poked it's blinding face between two canyon peaks, spreading warmth and light unto the massive valley before it. Sun warmth came creeping, swiftly and silently, across the land. Before long, the planet was enveloped in sunlight, and things began to happen. Kreschar gazed thoughtfully out of the window in his quarters, his eyes scanning the beautiful vision set before his very sight. He knew it would be the last time he'd ever see it again, lest some chance of a miracle happened. It was this thought, and this thought alone that made him wish there was no conflict between the humans and the Xindi. He would never live another day to see this planet, and he would never again see his family. No...no thoughts like that! Kreschar must keep his mind focused on duty, instead of wishing in vain for things he knew he could not have.
His yellow eyes took in the sunlight and shone with pride, despite the fear, for his people. Folding his arms in front of him, and tilting his head slightly, Kreschar felt his heart beat faster with every minute that passed by...another minute ticking on his life meter. Soon, soon enough he would be operating the shuttle craft alone...the craft that held the powerful weapon to test its effectiveness on Earth. He was to leave shortly enough.
"Kreschar," came a sharp voice from the young reptilian's door. Kreschar turned to see his Commander, Vek'nel, approaching with his armor on and a determined look set upon his scaley face. The armor shone with all its vigor, as if the owner himself were the one to perform the kamikaze mission that Kreschar would carry out.
"Sir," Kreschar straightened himself presentable to Vek'nel.
"It is time. Report to the launch area." He made the sentence short and fairly curt.
"Sir," he replied, but with slightly less sharpness in his voice that Vek'nel clearly took notice of.
"You lack enthusiasm," the Commander stated in a somewhat drawling manner as Kreschar made it three paces past him. Kreschar halted and turned to Vek'nel. "I can sense it in your voice...in your very being." He fixed his slitted eyes on Kreschar, who said not a word.
"With all do respect sir," he started, "it would be hard to harbor enthusiasm when one's life is coming to an end...no matter what the cause," he added timidly.
Vek'nel turned to face his young officer, eyes blazing silently with contempt. "In that case, I'm glad you'll be the one to carry it out." And with that, he swept past Kreschar, never to be seen by him again for the rest of his days. Kreschar stared, a little dumbfounded, at the spot where Vek'nel had vanished. His Comander had expressed no remorse for Kreschar's prepared sacrifice, and it stunned the Xindi to no end. He had always believed Commander Vek'nel to have held him in high regard, but the past several minutes had proven his assumptions otherwise. But things like that hardly mattered now. Kreschar had a job to carry out, and he would see to it that it be done properly.
He walked passively down to the launch area, where several Xindi, one reptilian, one primate, and two arboreals awaited him. They gave him brief instructions and walk-throughs concerning his task, and he understood fully. With a final solute, and a brief farewell to his fellow Xindi, Kreschar kept his eyes locked on his people for as long as he could, until the shuttle door closed with a cruel snap! and the faces were gone. With a sigh of finality, he took a seat on the chair, setting the main course on the electronic pad: Earth.
The shuttle took off in flight once the huge doors to the launch room opened, and Kreschar couldn't help but admire how lovely the world looked before him. And all of this blotted out by the nagging knowledge in the back of his head.
You're going to die...
You're going to die for your people...
You'll never live to see another day...
You'll never live to see the outcome of the war...
A voice rang in his head. Kreschar ought to be proud that he was chosen for such a delicate task! Not to say he wasn't, he was. But he was also afraid. That was what peeved him the most...he was a Xindi warrior, he shouldn't be afraid of dying, much less for his people! It wasn't like the Xindi, much less the reptilian string, to feel how Kreschar did for the past few days.
And then...as if a suddent string of logic came, unbidden, into his mind...Kreschar realized: it didn't matter a single bit how he felt. He was going to die carrying out something that would forever be beneficial to the Xindi race. Nothing mattered now; he was going to die. He was going to die, no matter how he felt.
X X X X X X
Blue...green...brown...white...
Mother Earth herself was unaware of the enemy lingering so dangerously close to her atmosphere...and her children were, indeed, unaware of the sentence that the seven million portion were soon to recieve from this enemy craft.
Kreschar's nervous system was up and running like never before. His scales felt hot and sweaty beneath his armor, and his hands shook slightly as he rested them next to the control panels. He wanted to get a good look at the planet Earth before he launched the weapon down there...way down there.
There was no mistaking that the amount of water on this Earth greatly exceeded the amount of land. Kreschar didn't like to admit it (and certainly he never would before any members of his species) but Earth was, in fact, a beautiful thing to look at. Aquatics. That was the first thing that came to Kreschar's mind when he first beheld the human's homeworld. If he were any other person, in any other space craft about to carry out any other ordeal, the young reptilian would have wondered what kind of water Earth harbored...what the lands were like...maybe even more of what the people were like. But no...they were his enemies. The planet Earth was his enemy...and he must damage it. It was his duty.
Kreschar, Xindi-reptilian under order of the Council, outstretched his arm onto one of the levers. He gulped.
There were life forms down there...men, women, children...in his mind, Kreschar could see perfectly a phantasmagoric explosion of light and fire, of people dying, trees caving in, structures torn down...millions of people would die.
Millions. 'That's a big number,' said a voice so small inside Kreschar's head, that it might as well have not been his own voice. 'That's a lot of people.'
It came out of nowhere...or so the people of Earth thought. Explosion. Explosion. Explosion. That was what rang through panicked minds as people fell from the impact of the defeaning noise, and from the heat, and the light. No one asked themselves where it came from, who it came from, or why.
Most who saw it had fallen. People in the streets, in buildings, out swimming, who knows what else. They were being attacked. Earth was being attacked. Seven million people, at the mercy of one space craft, had died a brutal death.
Mission accomplished.