Author's Notes: I gave Roman an Atrian name, Sondan. Sorry if this confuses but my love of/obsession with accuracy would NOT let me call him Roman when he couldn't have had that name yet. My sincerest apologies if someone doesn't like the name.
Panic
Nox crouched behind the trees with his son. Sondan stood stock-still, occasionally glancing up at his father, eyes full of a child's complete faith that his father could resolve this situation, simply by being there.
Other Atrians knelt or stood throughout the trees, warily viewing the alien species- no, the native species- approaching them. The beings approached with caution, step by step, carrying what Nox assumed to be weapons. He couldn't blame them, of course. He and his people, they were the aliens now.
He crouched down next to his son, who remained standing, eyes absorbing everything. Nox briefly considered yanking him down, but decided against it. He might scream, and besides, he was no higher standing than Nox was crouching.
Distracted from his son by a motion, his and all the Atrians' eyes- and the other beings' weapons- were drawn to the Iksen as he emerged from their hideout. His hands were out and empty, his steps slow and cautious.
In the blink of an eye, one of the other beings braced and fired its weapon, directly hitting the Iksen, who fell to the planet's soft ground. Sondan fidgeted wildly at the sight; Nox hushed him.
He knew his own people were preparing to fire back. He wished he could tell them to hold off, for just another moment, to stay still, but no one would listen to him; and if he moved or spoke, the natives would shoot again.
The bombs they'd brought with them went flying toward the natives, and detonated upon touching the ground, causing little fires, next to the large ones from the ship's debris.
In that moment the Atrians charged- stupidly, Nox thought; they didn't have any weapons for close combat. Several more were cut down, but some made it to the native people to fight. He stopped watching the altercation then, his only interest now the protection of his son.
He ordered Sondan to run, and hoped fervently this wouldn't be the last time he saw his son.
Nox tried to shake off thoughts of his son. He needed to focus now, but he could barely think straight. The sheer chaos of the situation was beginning to get to him.
He'd been injured, hit his head sometime during the crash. His friends were being shot down like animals, their journey had been long and exhausting, there were bombs and the natives' weapons going off everywhere, creating constant noise.
They'd crashed the ship, Sondan was gone, and he'd lost sight of his wife and daughter- it seemed like hours ago, but it was only seconds. Worst of all, his initial hopes of a peaceful introduction to this world, a pleasant counterpoint to the violence of wrecking the ship, had been thoroughly dashed.
They were alone here. What if they had survived the death of Atria and the crashing of the ship only to die here at the hands of the inhabitants of this new world? No one else from Atria could come to save them; no one was left.
Nox felt his panic skyrocket. He felt completely out of control. He stared at his own feet, hoping looking away from the violence for a moment would clear his mind. He saw…water. There was a small depression near where he was standing, and some water- or at least something that greatly resembled it- had puddled there.
In an instant his mind fled back to Atria, to more peaceful times, times spent swimming with his beautiful family. He remembered the feeling of strength and peace that swimming gave him; water was as much an Atrians' element as air.
Another of the Atrian bombs detonated, snapping Nox out of the happy memories. But now he somehow felt more capable. He glanced around himself, saw Atrians falling left and right. And he remembered there were still some, including most of the women and children, behind them, better hidden in the dense bushes.
He called out to the others to surrender, recognizing they would never win this fight. If they submitted, maybe at least their children would be spared.
Shockingly the other Atrians seemed to listen to him. Maybe they were just out of ammunition, but the ones still in the trees ceased tossing bombs, and the ones who'd ventured out were mostly dead or unconscious already.
They stilled, and the other beings immediately were everywhere, binding the unconscious, herding the injured and surrendered into a small circle. Nox slowly stepped from the foliage, hoping with everything he had that he wouldn't be shot immediately, like the Iksen.
Instead the guard just jerked the weapon at him, indicating for him to get in the nearest little circle of Atrians. Nox obliged and sat near a very tall woman. She looked powerful and fierce out here, even subdued as she was by the guard, but just a day ago he'd seen her tenderly holding her sleeping child, a little girl about Sondan's age. She was probably as terrified as he.
The guards hovered over them, talking in a unfamiliar language over some form of communication device. They sat there for hours, no Atrian daring to speak or move.
Around them more Atrians were brought to the area, all herded into little circles and seated, just like his group. After a while the sun came up, and, for whatever reason, everyone seemed to relax slightly.
During this time, Nox observed their captors. They looked identical to Atrians, except they had no markings. Their clothes were all dark and very bulky, and seemed to contain an endless supply of devices and weapons. They didn't smile, laugh, or even relax once around the group of Atrians.
But the thing that stood out the most was their fear. It was in every glance, every motion, every foreign word they spoke to each other. They were terrified of his people.
Upon some reflection Nox decided it could be worse; they could be overtly aggressive, their violence motivated merely by a lust for war. Hopefully once they were convinced Atrians were harmless his people would be allowed to stay. His people had, after all, only fought in self-defense.
A twinge of hope appeared in his weary mind, and he decided to hold onto it, no matter what happened after this day. He would be cautious, sure, and slow to trust absolutely, but he would always believe their two races could live together peacefully.
He thought about this and other things, anything and everything really, anything to avoid thinking of his family and his friends. More time passed, while the Atrians sat in circles on ground, guards looming above with weapons.
This pattern seemed to continue forever, until a large vehicle, clearly for carrying passengers, pulled up nearby. Nox watched warily as one small group, then two more, were loaded onto the vehicle, guards accompanying them.
The vehicle left, and he was again left to his thoughts.
The sun was going down again, and Nox had begun to think those Atrians were the only ones who would ever leave this spot, and his group and the others would just die here, until another vehicle came. This time his guard was communicating with the two others who had brought the vehicle, and suddenly all the weapons were pointed at members of his group- no, just him.
The guards gestured at him to stand, then to walk toward the vehicle. One minute ago, Nox would've given anything to leave the site of the crash and its stench of burnt flesh; now he was terrified to move away from it. Somehow he did, though, his body apparently obeying his captors' orders rather than his own.
He was made to walk to the end of the alleyway in between the vehicle's seats, then to sit in the very last seat. One guard stayed, weapon aimed at him, as the others left and more Atrians were brought in.
The tall woman walked stiffly, as if she would dearly love to knock the weapons out of the guards' hands and kill them all. Nox smiled slightly- he didn't dare smile enough for the guard to notice- at her, and she relaxed a bit before she settled into her own seat.
A few more Atrians followed. Nox recognized them all not only from the ship, but from his own circle and a couple nearby groups. The guards' devices all squawked again, and the vehicle started to move.