Chapter II - Zera

"Greetings, Zera," Abu smiled.

Anger overwhelmed me as I stared into the eyes of Abu, a cold-hearted killer. I activated my energy blade, preparing to strike.

"Disable that weapon now," the fleet commander announced. "You are to respect your elders. Meet me at the launch pods at 1900."

I nodded and slowly disabled my blade. I then waited as the doctors ran a final few tests on me, and sent me on my way. I quickly looked over at my watch.

1830. I had thirty minutes to reach the launch pods.

I began trekking to the launch pods when I was accosted by a few dark figures.

I activated my blade and held it up as a light. They were two Tal'darim and had a bunch of terrans chained with fetters.

"We've been waiting for you. You'll help us bargain with your highlord Artan."

"I don't think so," I remarked with confidence.

"What are you going to do?" the Tal'darim laughed.

"The dark ones have trained me well," I replied, and then disappeared into the shadows.

I quickly zoomed away from the Tal'Darim and towards my destination: the launch pods. I slid behind a wall and quickly uncloaked myself. Afterwards, I trudged over to the pods and took a final look at my watch.

1900. I was right on time.

Suddenly, a flash of yellow zoomed in front of me. Within seconds, I had a gun pointed at my head. From the looks of it, the soldier was an terran.

"Good, you were on time. My name is Nox Gyrus. You may address me as sir. Now, let us begin," Nox seemed to grin.

Instantly, I felt a vigorous strike seep into my stomach. Burning pain swallowed my entire body as I was pummeled with more repetitive strikes.

"S-stop," I barely implored.

After hitting me with me with a final thrust, Nox stopped striking. His face was filled with disgust.

"You have failed me. While you were walking here, I saw that you were waylaid. If you didn't have the ability to cloak, you would be in real trouble right now. You need training," Nox shook his head.

Suddenly, I was picked up and thrown on Nox's shoulder. Before I could respond, everything faded into darkness.

When I woke up, I was reposing in a cubical room. I was surrounded by many terran soldiers, each equipped with a blaster.

"Your training shall begin. You will be trained in the ways of planet earth. Your objective is to defeat the Xelg, preclude them from world domination! Is that understood?!" a familiar voice remarked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Abu. I slowly nodded and activated my energy blade.

"Before training begins, take this enchanted watercress. It will help relieve pain.

"Pain?" I exclaimed.

Abu nodded. Suddenly, a giant boulder flew towards me. I instinctively sliced it in half with my energy blade. Afterwards, I quickly bolted towards Abu and struck him in the heart. Abu just laughed. The ground under me began to split apart as another boulder flew in my direction. I lunged my body forward, rolling to weaken the impact. Suddenly, a third boulder struck me in the back. I felt no pain due to the watercress, but I was certain my spine was broken.

"Please... stop!" I wailed.

"If you are out on the field and asked the enemy soldiers to stop firing, do you actually believe that they would?!" Abu exclaimed as another stone slammed into my knee.

Once again I heard a cracking noise. The watercress began to wear off, and pain stabbed at my body. The pain worsened as I attempted to stand up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw doctors begin to shuffle around me. A doctor picked me up and placed me into the ambulance. Before I could say anything, the world faded away.

I awoke as cold medicine swam down my gullet. After lying in bed for a couple minutes, I took a look around. The surroundings looked very different from a normal hospital. A few seconds later, a voice boomed throughout the hospital.

"Welcome to Starship X-12. Today our destination will be Xelg planet Z-3G. Our objective will be to strengthen our relationship with our fellow Xelg. If anything goes wrong, our elite team will take care of our enemies. Please report to your stations."

My eyes zoomed towards a shadowy figure. I stood up, attempting to confront them. To my surprise, I felt very little pain. I quickly bolted towards the figure as I enabled my energy blade. The light from my blade alerted the figure. Surprised, he threw a punch at me. I instinctively ducked and kicked the figure in his abdomen. Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of the figure. It was Nox.

Before I could say anything, the announcements came back on.

"ALERT. WE ARE BEING ATTACKED BY XELG WARRIORS. PLEASE REPORT TO AN ATTACK SQUADRON. I REPEAT, REPORT TO AN ATTACK SQUADRON,"

I quickly bolted to the nearest squadron and equipped a warsuit as well as rifle. I followed my men out the starship doors and onto the planet Z-3G. A few Xelg warriors opened fire against my men, but we easily shot them down. Suddenly, a massive swarm of Xelg warriors attacked us. Too many. There was only one way there could be this many men on a single planet.

"Guys, I think I know what's going on. The Xelg, they're like ants. The only reason they have more men than us is because they can be easily created. These "men" that we're fighting are just husks. They're all being controlled by-" I began.

"A queen!" one of our men exclaimed.

"Exactly. We need to find the queen and eliminate it. Once the queen is dead, victory will be ours," I happily announced.

"I think I know who the queen is," A voice behind me exclaimed.

I looked over, catching a glimpse of Abu.

"Really? Who is it?" I questioned.

"This queen is a virtuoso of war, a powerful being. One that will do anything in his power to be victorious. The Xelg queen… is me," Abu laughed.

Suddenly, my entire squadron was surrounded by Xelg warriors. I watched painfully as each of my men were brutally slaughtered.

"As I mentioned before, I will do anything in my power to defeat you. I will show you no mercy, Zera," Abu sternly announced.

It was at this moment that I did something that I promised myself I would never do.

I surrendered.