Thank you for choosing to read my story. This tale uses mostly original characters, but will include characters and events from the movie and other online resources. I will update as often as I can, as I think the D9 universe is a grand one with plenty of stories to tell. Since most of this first chapter is told through poleepkwa's side, I nixed the use of italics for separation of speech types, but in later chapters there will be separation.
Chapter 1
Four knocks rang on the old wooden door to a rusted shack in the heart of District 9, each knock was spaced one second apart so as not to confuse friend from foe. The poleepkwa checked his immediate surroundings to make sure he wasn't followed, but other than the helicopters that swooped around in the distance, there was almost no sign of life anywhere. The MNU had enforced a strict curfew after the outstanding events of the afternoon. The poleepkwa looked skyward, but the comforting sight of the mother ship was now gone.
The door opened to the sight of a tall poleepkwa whose chitin body was rigid and muscular, an intimidating sight even to others of his own kind. His name was Nasir, and he stood watch to protect the members of Pro Forma during gatherings. Nasir poked his head out and looked around, before looking back to the poleepkwa in front of him "Come Dante, quickly, the humans are almost overhead."
He was right; the helicopters the MNU used to patrol District 9 were flying closer to their position. Dante hurried in and turned towards the door, Nasir closed it quickly behind him as a spotlight flicked over the entrance and then beyond. The big alien applied the lock back to the door, it wouldn't hold against someone who wanted to enter forcefully, but it hindered those who might be curious (and dumb) enough to snoop in the shack.
"Good thing you answered when you did, or I might have accidentally brought them on us all." Dante said, moving towards a pile of sheet metal.
"Need more than helicopter to get past Nasir. Nasir smush them all." He chuckled darkly; Dante had no doubt in his mind that Nasir wasn't all just talk. The big alien moved to the pile of sheet metal and lifted it with a short grunt, revealing a hatch leading underground. Dante opened the wooden hatch and slowly made his way down using the handholds installed in the wall.
"Don't fall asleep on the job, Nasir." Dante joked.
The alien laughed "Nasir ever watching!"
Dante made his way to the bottom of the descent and stood on the solid ground, stretching his frame a bit. His body was colored a dark green with bits of black splotches. He turned towards the hallway, which was lit barely by several candles spaced apart on the ground and continuing towards his destination. Dante was born here on this planet towards the first years of their arrival, but his parent had perished from disease aboard the mother ship. A poleepkwa named Falk took in Dante shortly before the humans moved them all from their ship to the planet below, and raised him during those years of turmoil. Falk began Pro Forma once the abuse of aliens began to become more frequent, aliens were being paid less than humans in the same job, and other offenses to their people. The ultimate goal of Pro Forma was the liberation of the poleepkwa from the MNU who, by human laws, owned them and their technology. They began with sabotage, mainly to those who hired alien workers only to abuse and take advantage of, and then soon moved into the big leagues of ambushing MNU military and convoys. However, a botched mission that destroyed a human café populated by innocent humans turned public favor against them. Their quarrel was with MNU personnel, not against unaffiliated humans, but the MNU saw the opportunity as providence and took advantage of the situation. As a result, even more control and hatred was leveled against them, taking the wind out of Pro Forma's sails. They've been struggling ever since.
Dante made his way to the large gathering room, which all fifty of the Pro Forma members had already gathered, a large orb of light taken from the mother ship illuminated the dank room. Falk stood in the center of the room, giving a respectful nod to Dante as he moved to find a seat.
"Now that we are all here, we can begin." the elderly poleepkwa said. Their kind could live almost twenty to thirty years beyond normal human expectancy, but due to the harsh standards of living in District 9 few live beyond sixty five. Falk was seventy two, and still working in the mines, despite it all.
"MNU has given us all eviction notices that we are to leave for District 10 within twenty four hours. However, given the events that transpired today, MNU has announced that the move will be postponed till next week."
Everyone in the room looked relieved to hear the news.
"However, there is still the problem of our technology cache. We have managed to gather a decent supply of our weapons and even three biosuits, but the MNU will be inspecting everyone and everything before they head out to District 10. Transporting all of it will be impossible to do, especially the suits."
Murmurs began to break out from the crowd, some wondering how they could fight the MNU with no weapons, some worried that this move spells the end of Pro Forma.
"We must come up with a viable solution to bring these items to District 10, or in the very least, prevent the MNU from finding them."
One poleepkwa stood; a tall, dark red skinned creature with a thick build similar to Nasir. His name was Salus, and he spoke with a deep growl "Why should we move to District 10 at all? Moving there means we lose all of the advantages D9 gives us and more. We should stand our ground and fight the humans off!"
Some looked to agree with Salus, after all he is correct, Pro Forma would be at a distinct disadvantage with having to learn the ins and outs of a new area. Dante shook his head though, noting that he said humans, not the MNU specifically. Salus hated the humans as a whole when his mate was killed and drug through the streets of Joburg during the riots, and the beatings and mistreatment he's suffered through the years only served to stoke the flames.
Falk shook his head "No. Such an act would be too dangerous. We do not have enough members to attempt it."
Salus grunted "Ridiculous. If we all attacked humans head on, surprise them, once we show the others how strong we are they will come and fight!"
"And then what, Salus? We celebrate our momentary victory and perhaps get a few hundred to join our cause then and there. Then when the helicopters and tanks roll in, what then? Their planes and their bombs? Our biosuits are strong, and some of our weapons can penetrate their armor, but we cannot deal with such heavy weaponry for long." Falk reminded everyone, which seemed to sober everyone of the idea. They've all have heard of the devastation humans can be capable of, some have even seen old footage of such weapons themselves.
Salus, however, wouldn't hear of it "If we take the fight afterwards to the MNU themselves, the humans would be powerless to stop us. They wouldn't dare risk bombing us once we are in the city!"
"An open war on the humans is pure suicide, Salus! If we attack the humans like that they will all come down on us like a firestorm."
"You don't know until you try, old one." Salus stated, stepping towards the front. Dante's blood started pumping harder, ready to pounce on Salus if he so much as made one hostile move towards his parent. "I think you are scared of the humans. Me? I am not scared. I am ready to die to free our kin from the oppression of the humans, to spill their blood in their streets. You want to be their servant slave, and act as though you want freedom!"
Falk's voice lowered in anger, a rare thing for him to show "How dare you. Your ideal is to claim this planet for our own through war and murder. We seek equality and understanding until we can go back to our true home!"
"This is our only home now! The mother ship is and with it any hopes of returning to our planet!" Salus spat out angrily. Dante stood up and took one step forward to silence Salus, but Falk caught him and held a halting hand toward him. He did as he commanded.
"Leave this place, Salus, and never return. Your sorrow from your loss years ago has blinded you with rage, and I will suffer your mindlessness no longer." Falk commanded, in a strong and authoritative voice that echoed throughout the hall.
Salus growled "Enjoy your lives under the heel of the humans, however long you can hold onto it for." He turned and left the hall, stomping off towards the entranceway. The gathering hall was dead quiet as everyone began looking to one another, as if none of them could believe what transpired.
Falk let out a ragged sigh and continued "We must come up with a plan to move our technology safely, securely, and secretly. Tomorrow night we will hold another meeting to discuss and finalize our plans. That is all, good eve."
Everyone began to slowly file out of the room, some stopping to converse with friends and colleagues on the way out. Dante stood and made his way to his parent's side "Don't worry about what happened. Salus is always like this. He just can't see the bigger picture."
Falk smiled lightly to his adopted child, placing a hand on Dante's shoulder "He does see, however it is a picture that no poleepkwa truly wants. He wants the roles to be reversed, the humans under our feet. Someday I hope he sees the error of his thinking before it dismantles him completely."
The younger poleepkwa smiled back "Someday, the whole planet will hear our voice, and they will listen."
"Indeed they will, my child. Now go, you must rest for work and another gathering tomorrow." Falk pushed on Dante's shoulder playfully, despite his age he still surprised him with his strength.
As Dante left for his shanty, keeping an eye and ear out for any helicopters coming, something that Falk said replayed in his head: "Someday, I hope he sees the error of his thinking before it dismantles him completely."
The idea hit him suddenly: Dismantle.
One week later
Dante hefted a heavy bag onto his shoulder and looked at the empty hut he had called home for many years. If it wasn't in the terrible state that it was in, he'd almost miss it in a way. All those miserable winters struggling for heat at night, cold rain coming in and almost flooding his shack, bugs and critters sneaking in and biting at his chitin. He spat onto the floor and slammed the door shut, deciding once and for all that he would definitely not miss it whatsoever. He shifted his pack around to get more comfortable as he moved towards the 'check out' zone of District 9.
Poleepkwa were shuffling about, some trying to head to the zone, some trying to scavenge from empty huts, and MNU agents were around trying to herd them all towards the exit area. Helicopters trained their guns on the crowds overhead as the circled like vultures, armored vehicles stood ready for disturbances. Crowds of alien supporters and MNU supports gathered near the checkpoint, some shouting hateful things, some throwing bottles and rocks at the aliens as they waited to have their items inspected. Those who passed and were capable of moving through the desert path the MNU had carved out with signs, flares, and parked armored vehicles under their own power did so. Those who could not such as the elderly, the newborn, and the crippled got on buses that had no air conditioning escorted by armed guards.
Dante revealed his pack to the checkout officer and his armed guards when it was his turn. A jug of water, several hunks of raw peppered meat, a shattered clock, bedding materials and some junk he placed in there for looks. Underneath all of that was a hidden sewn compartment that contained pieces of guns and power sources for them. Every Pro Forma member had something similar with them, no matter what they took to hold the items in. The ruse wouldn't hold up to a thorough inspection, but the MNU guards had no time to inspect all 2 million aliens thoroughly.
"Clear. Next!" the inspector yelled, and Dante moved through. The plan had worked.
Reassembling the weapons was an easy task, especially since a lot of the members of Pro Forma were trained in the use and maintaining of them. However the biosuits were a different story, they took a lot longer to assemble and machinery in order to reconnect the computer work inside. So they hid the biosuits in the gathering hall shortly before they caved in the entrances with small explosives. The ceiling of the hall was also reinforced to prevent an accidental cave-in. Everything so far was going according to plan, Dante hoped it stayed that way.
Dante looked around at the crush of poleepkwa moving their way through the desert, looking for Falk or someone from the group to at least travel with.
"There! Dante! Yoooooo!" came from the crowd behind him. Dante turned just in time as a white poleepkwa with black smudges all over and a set of yellow sun goggles on his eyes embraced him with a tight hug. He wasn't familiar with this sort of greeting, it must have been a human thing. Ichabod, Pro Forma's foremost expert on human social studies and technology, was constantly learning things about human culture and sometimes they rubbed off on him. Actually, most of the time it did.
"Gah, Ichabod, okay! Good to see you too, friend." Dante said, trying to pry him off.
He let go, shifting his backpack on his back "Hey, I found Nasir too, he helped me find ya."
Nasir snorted as he walked over to them, carrying two bags on his shoulders "Humans stop Nasir, say Nasir look funny. Nasir tell them he like to taste human flesh someday. Humans let Nasir through."
Dante grinned slightly "Nothing ever seems to restrict you, Nasir."
Ichabod thumbed to the big guy "He even offered to carry all my computer gear for me, I forgot how much stuff I had!"
Dante looked around the area "Did any of you see Falk anywhere? I haven't seen him since last night and he said he'd meet me here."
"Nasir see him. Humans think Falk no can walk to 10, so they put Falk on bus. Falk say to walk, but humans say Falk go to bus. Falk told Nasir to tell Dante Falk meet at 10." Nasir told him, lifting a hand and pointing to the buses that were beginning to leave.
"Number 236." Ichabod confirmed "That's the one he said he would be on."
Dante shook his head "Typical MNU. Try to be nice and friendly in front of the crowds, and then beat you over the head with a gun when you're alone…" he said, getting no reply from either one.
The three comrades began the long trek to District 10 along with almost two million other poleepkwa under the hot South African sun. Dante was glad to have met up with Nasir and Ichabod, as it provided a much needed distraction from the heat and the constant hike. The MNU along the way made sure no one strayed or even rested, as they made their march towards D10, anyone who was too weak to continue was either left to die or thrown onto an overcrowded bus. A few times the group passed by bodies of fallen poleepkwa, some of them being ravaged by animals in search for food.
Late afternoon, the sun was slowly beginning to set, cooling the temperature a bit as the three noticed that the buses had stopped ahead. They were at a virtual standstill as they passed by, but eventually they began to move forward. After a few minutes, they noticed one of the buses had broken down, as some MNU were near the engine area trying to fix it.
"Think Falk is on that bus?" Dante asked the two
"Huh? Not sure, hold on. Nasir, binoculars please." Ichabod requested, holding his hand out.
Nasir stopped and began fishing through them "Uhh, Nasir don't know what them are."
The smaller poleepkwa sighed and walked over to the green bag, where he dug out the item he looked for "See? Bi-noc-u-lars."
Nasir grunted "Bi-no-clears."
The smaller alien rolled his eyes and looked towards the bus. "Hrmm, I'm not seeing…oh, wait, there it is! 236, that is his bus!"
Dante nodded "Thanks. Let's go over there and see if he wants to walk the rest of the way, it's not too much farther."
The three walked towards the bus as they watched the man repairing the bus stop and move to the entrance of the bus. After a moment, he walked out as did the armed guards on board. They all walked away from the vehicle as the three approached, each wondering what was going on. Dante moved faster ahead of the others to try and reach Falk.
The calm African evening was shattered as the bus twisted and ripped from the force of a powerful explosion starting at its engine section. The cries of surprise and intense pain were silenced almost as fast as they started as the flames claimed every poleepkwan life on board. Dante was spared hearing the cries, as his ears popped momentarily from the concussion of the blast, and he found himself flat on the ground. Panic began to surge through his body as he could only see the flames and burning bodies inside the mangled wreckage. Without thinking, he got up and ran towards the flames, screaming "Falk! Falk!" in blind hope that he somehow survived. He couldn't hear Ichabod or Nasir yelling for him, nor did he notice them running for him, he could only try and search for some sign of life from his parent, the one that raised him and taught him the values that he promised to hold true to. The fire licked at him, the heat was intense, but Dante had to know.
Please be alive, Falk.
A second, smaller explosion erupted from the wreckage from some combustibles that had been on the bus. The force of this blast sent Dante back as shrapnel embedded in his shoulder and side, the flames jumping onto him and ate away at his body. He screamed from the pain as he flopped to the ground, agony consuming his mind. He felt two sets of hands swat furiously at the fires to put them out, and then suddenly a splash of water as the rest of him was put out by Nasir, Ichabod, and three other poleepkwa that saw what happened. Someone had a long black cloth that Ichabod used to try to put to good use.
"Falk! Faaaaaalk!" Dante screamed as Nasir and Ichabod helped him into a sitting position, sound was beginning to come back as the siren of an MNU vehicle pierced through the commotion, stopping close by as several armed soldiers exited with guns leveled towards the aliens.
"Disperse, now! Go! Continue on to District 10 and don't stop!" One of them commanded.
Nasir looked as though he was going to stand up and crush the offending officer's throat, but Ichabod caught him with a quick hand "No Nasir, don't!"
"I said disperse! Last warning!" The soldier said, firing a round from his assault rifle into the air. The warning spoke loud and clear to the other poleepkwa as they immediately moved onward, not looking back in case the soldiers didn't like that either. Ichabod tried to slowly help the wounded Dante to his feet "C'mon Dante, we gotta go, get up!" he pleaded.
Dante could only manage a choking cough as he tried to stand "Falk…" he whimpered, collapsing under the weight of his body. But Nasir caught him, helping him up as they moved away from the site. Dante struggled, the pain of his burns were seemingly endless "No, I can't leave! Can't leave him…" he said.
"Falk wouldn't want you to die out here too, be quiet and mourn him later, we gotta go!" Ichabod reasoned. Nasir could only nod his agreement as he picked up the bags they had dropped. The three continued their hike to District 10, the burning wreckage behind them providing light as they ventured on in the night. Dante's sorrow pierced through the night's silence for the remainder of the trip.
Thank you for reading.