Chapter 2: The invasion
"Mother! Father!" Rin yelled as he raced back into the house, "Get up! We're under attack."
"What are you blabbering about," his father groaned.
"We're under attack! These things from the sky are attacking us!"
"Things from the sky," his father chuckled, "Rin, I think that you were just having a bad dream."
"It's not a dream!" Rin insisted. Why wouldn't they believe him?
Outside the window, Rin could see that the space objects were getting closer. Many of them had bright lights at the front which hurt Rin's eyes. The lights shone in the window and the whirl of the objects was getting louder.
"What is going on out there," Rin's mother asked sleepily.
His father finally looked out the window. His face paled and his jaw went slack. "Miko, we need to leave. Now."
Rin's parents quickly pulled on their shoes and coats and hurried outside. Other families were already in the street trying to see what was going on. The objects were landing around the town, completely surrounding it. These were different from the large ones in the sky. They were long and flat. Each one was three times as wide as a road and as long as Mr. Sato gava tree fields.
"What's going on?" Rin's neighbours wondered, "What are those things?"
Rin decided that he should take a look. He wanted to see what was going on.
"Rin, where are you going?" his mother demanded.
"I'm going to see what is going on," he answered, "We need to see what were up against."
Rin rushed off down the road and his parents reluctantly followed. Others had a similar idea as he did because the roads got more crowded the closer he got. When Rin could no longer push through the crowd, he climbed to the rooves and went along from there.
Rin reached the edge of town. Light flooded from the objects and nearly blinded him. It took him several minutes for his eyes to adjust to the light. He had never seen anything so bright.
When his eyes finally adjusted, he was shocked at what he saw. There were thousands of them. They were lined up perfectly straight and stretched out around the edge of town. They were all the same. They had thin tan bodies with a pack on their back and a black thing in their hands. The faces were long with slits for eyes and mouth. There were no movements in the face. It was unsettling. None of the things were moving.
"What are those things?" Rin's father asked. Rin was surprised that his parents could keep up with him.
"They look like they are made from metal," his mother observed, "That's not possible."
"Not possible for us. But possible for them."
"It's the chief," Rin announced pointing towards the front of the crowd.
The town's chief made his way through the crowd and approached the metal men.
"Who are you?" the chief demanded, "What do you want?"
None of the metal men answered.
"Will any of you speak to me?"
Still no one answered. There was movement from the craft behind the metal men. Another metal man appeared from inside the craft. This one was different than the others. It was larger and was dark grey. The head was flat with larger eyes and unmoving mouth. The body was also thicker though the arms and legs were still thin.
"Are you the one in charge," the chief asked the new arrival.
"I am TV-137," the metal man said in a male voice. It spoke strangely. The words were clipped. As it spoke, its mouth lit up. "I am here to claim this planet and all residents for the Confederacy of Independent Systems. If you cooperate, no harm shall come to your people. Should you resist, then you will be forced to submit."
"I don't know what you are or where you come from, outsider. I know not of your Confederacy of Independent Systems or what they want to us. But know this; my people will not go quietly. We answer to no outsider. You can take your army and leave because you are not welcome here," the chief announced.
Rin couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did the chief not see that the town was surrounded? He might be confident in their people's ability to defend themselves but Rin wasn't.
"So you are not going to cooperate. That is a pity," the man said, "I encourage you to rethink your decision. Are you willing to risk your people's lives?"
"Are you willing to risk your men's lives?" the chief countered.
"If I lose a few battle droids, I can always get more. Can you do that with your people? I understand that organic organisms cannot be manufactured as quickly as droids."
What was a droid? Was that what those metal men were?
"We will stay strong," the chief said, "You will never take us."
"As you wish." TV-137 walked back to his craft. "Begin the invasion."
"Roger, roger," the thousands of smaller beings squeaked in unison.
The droids raised the black things in their hands and began to advance. The chief waved his hands and caused a dozen or more droids to hover in the air. He closed his hands and the droids were crushed. Sparks flew from their bodies as they fell to the ground.
The droids started to attack the town. Streaks of red light came from the black things in their hands. The lights left scorch marks on the buildings that they hit. Those who were hit by these lights were struck down.
The Yokios were picking up anything they could use to defend themselves and attacked back. Many of them could push back the droids which took several droids with them. The stronger and more experienced Yokios were able to shoot lightening at the attackers. No matter how much the Yokios threw at the droids, more continued to come.
Rin was shocked at what he was seeing. This had to be a dream. There was no way that this was happening. His home was under attack by metal men from outer space. This couldn't be real.
"Rin, you need to get out of here!" his mother insisted.
"What? No."
"Rin, don't argue with your mother. Get out of here. Get to safety."
"But I can help."
"You can help by staying safe," Rin's mother kissed him on the forehead, "Now go! You're father and I will find you when we can."
Tears started to swell in Rin's eyes. This could be the last time he would see his parents. He embraced both of them before running away. He climbed over several rooftops before he looked back. Smoke and flames filled the air. His parents were already gone. He ran towards the centre of town with tears streaming down his face. He tried to stop the tears but they kept coming. He stopped when the sounds of battle were off in the distance. He jumped down into an alley were he tried to compose himself.
This was real. They were really being invaded by creatures from space. In all his years of dreaming about other life, never had he imagined it would turn out like this. There had to be something that he could do. But what could do he do? Rin couldn't fight. What could he do against these beings?
A craft flew overhead. It dropped several things that crashed through the houses. One landed a few houses from him. Rin climbed back to the roof to get a better view. The house was completely destroyed. Dust rose from the ruined house. Two droids emerged from the rubble of the house. They were trying to surround them. Make them fight on two sides
Rin creeped closer to get a better look. As he moved a pebble came loose and rolled down the roof. The droids looked up. They had spotted him.
"There's one up there!" one droid squeaked.
"Get him!" the other squeaked.
They fired upon him. Rin jumped to the other side of the roof. The red lights blasted through the roof. Rin was sprayed with pieces of wood and tile. They shot at him relentlessly. There was no way that Rin could move without getting hit.
"What the? Ahhh!" The droids squeaked.
Rin heard the sound of metal crumpling. The shots stopped so Rin poked his head over the peak of the roof.
"Koda? What are you doing?"
Koda and his gang were on the road next to the compacted droids. He had several smaller children with him. Many of them were still in their night clothes.
"Quit staring and get down here, runt," he hissed, "We need to get going."
Rin slid down the roof and landed next to Koda. "Going where?"
"We're going to the great hall. We have to keep these kids safe."
The great hall in the centre of town seemed like a good place to hide. It was the strongest building in town. The town would often converge in there if there was a bad storm. Despite the logic behind going to the great hall, Rin had a feeling like it was a bad idea. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he didn't think that going to the great hall was the best move.
"I don't think that we should go there," Rin said.
"What? It's the safest building in town. Our job is to protect these kids. What better place to do it than there?"
"I know. But I don't think that we should go there."
Rin could see that Koda was getting frustrated with him. "And where exactly do you purpose that we take them?"
Rin hadn't thought of that. He quickly thought of all the places that they could go that would provide them protection and give them an edge over the invaders.
"Exactly you don't know where to take them," Koda snapped, "The chief told us to take the kids to the great hall and that's what we're doing. So you can either come along or wait here for more of those things to show up."
Rin admitted defeat and decided to follow Koda.
He was surprised how kind Koda was towards the children. He tried to reassure them that it would be alright and kept them calm. He had one child in his arms with another holding his tail. It was a common thing for a child to hold onto the tail of their parent to avoid getting lost and for protection. From all the times that Koda had beat him up, Rin never considered him to be much of a protector. The role suits him.
"We're in the clear," one of Koda's friends who had scouted ahead called to them.
The group rounded the corner to see that the great hall was still alright. It was a tall building made of stone. It was a strong building with very few ornaments. It was made to provide shelter from storms not be pretty. If they got in there they should be safe.
"Get down!" someone yelled.
Rin and everyone got low to ground. Another craft flew overhead. There was a slight whistle and then a large explosion. The light was blinding and the sound was deafening. Dust and rubble were thrown everywhere as the great hall was consumed in flames. Rin used his body to shelter two younger kids nearby.
His ears were ringing and his vision was blurry. Smoke burned his nostrils as he gasped for breath. Rin's vision slowly cleared only to be burned by the blinding light of the fire.
The great hall was gone. If they had gotten their a little sooner, they would all be dead. Rin's hunch was right and that argument that he had with Koda probably saved everyone's life.
Rin was pulled to his feet by the collar. Someone was yelling at him but he could not hear what they were saying. A child was handed to him. The child was crying but Rin couldn't do anything to calm them. He found himself running. Others were running alongside him. They ran down a side street and kept running.
After what had felt like an hour, they had finally stopped running. The adrenaline was wearing off and Rin was tired. His hearing was returning though his ears were still ringing. The little boy in Rin's arms was still crying so he worked at calming him down.
They were hiding under the canopy of a small fruit stand. It didn't look like anyone was seriously hurt. There were a few scrapes from the debris but nothing major. Everyone was covered in dust and looked tired.
"What do we do now?" Koda's friend, Pita, asked, "The great hall is destroyed and the town is surrounded. Where can we go?"
"I don't know," answered Koda quietly.
"Well we can't just stay here," another friend of Koda, Hano said, "If those things find us, we're goners."
"We could head to the woods," Rin suggested.
"Uh, did you not hear the part that the town is surrounded?" Pita said, "We'll never be able to get out of town in one piece."
"Yeah Rin, if it was just us, we might be able to get out," Hano added, "But we can't get out and protect these kids at the same time. Most of them don't even know how to channel their spirit energy."
"We could fight them," suggested a younger boy that Rin did not recognise.
"Yeah, we took down the two things earlier," someone else added.
"There were only two," Koda said quietly, "We would not be able to go up against the thousands that are out there."
"But-"
"No. It wouldn't work," Koda snapped, "Our parents are struggling against those things and they are a lot more powerful than we are. Rin, Pita and I are probably the strongest ones here and we would not be able to fight those things while protecting all of you. Our best option is to find somewhere safe."
"Did you just give me a compliment?" Rin asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, don't get used to it."
"Hey, I thought I heard something over there," a droid squeaked in the distance.
"Let's check it out," another said.
They sounded close. Rin guessed that they were only at the end of the road. The group looked for a place to hide but there was none. There was the fruit stand and that was it. It would shield them from the end of the road but if the droids walked by the stand they would be spotted.
Two droids appeared at the far end of the road. They slowly walked down the road towards them.
Everyone was as still and quiet as they could be. A child nearby started to whimper. Rin put a hand over the child's mouth. He hoped that the droids didn't hear the child. His heart was pounding. It sounded so loud to him the Rin thought for sure that the droids could hear it too. Rin looked at Koda who looked like he was getting ready to fight these things.
The droids reached the fruit stand. One looked over the cart at them. Rin could have sworn that the droid was looking right at him. They were done for.
"See anything?" the droid checking the other side of the street asked.
"No."
"Alright. Let's move on."
The droids continued down the street and turned down the next one. As they went down the street one of them tripped over a stick in the street.
"Watch were you're going."
"Sorry. It's hard to see here. It's so dark."
Rin couldn't believe it. That droid had looked right at him but it didn't see them. How?
"What just happened?" Hano asked, "They didn't even see us. How could they not see us? It looked right at us."
"Those things can see in the dark," Koda concluded, "How else could they not see that stick in the road?"
"How could they not see in the dark?" Pita asked.
"Because they come from a world that is brighter than ours. They must be used to bright light," Rin said.
"That still doesn't explain how they couldn't see us," a little girl said.
"We must blend into the dark," Koda said, "Our skin is so dark grey that it is almost black. As long as we're not in the light, we may as well be invisible to them."
"Then why did they spot me earlier?"
Koda shrugged. "You made noise."
"We might be able to make it to the woods after all," Rin said, "If we are quiet enough, we might be able to sneak through their lines."
"But why do you want to go to the woods?" Hano asked.
"The woods will provide us with shelter. I can hazard a guess that these things are not suited for rough terrain," Rin explained, "They may have an advantage in town, but no one can beat us in the trees. According to history, our ancestors used to live in the trees before they were able to build buildings. This will work."
"How did you come up with this plan?" Koda asked.
"It was part of the plan I had to beat you."
"Alright then. Let's get going."
The group of them headed for the woods on the east side of town. Those woods were the thickest as well as the closest to town. They quietly maneuvered the streets and were careful not to run into any more droids. The plan proved to be more difficult when they reached the edge of town.
There was another craft with hundreds of battle droids patrolling the area. They were not near the real action and were probably making sure that no one left town. The area was brightly lit and had a spotlight that was moving back and forth along the town walls. There was no way that they could all make it unseen.
"Well so much for that plan," Pita said after they had hidden from the lights, "We can't get past that."
"Yes we will," Rin insisted, "We just have to think of a way."
"Rin, it was a good idea, but I don't see how we are getting though there," Koda said, "There is just no way that we all can get past them. It's too bright."
The group continued to chatter about what they were going to do next. Rin drifted off in thought as he watched the light pass back and forth across the walls. There was a pattern to the movement. There was a five second gap that the road was not covered in light. It wouldn't be enough time to send everyone out. There wouldn't even be enough time for one person to make it all the way to the woods. But it would be enough time for one person to reach where the lights were stationed. There was a small section where the stationary lights didn't meet that someone could make their way to the lights.
"I have an idea!" Rin announced. He explained his thought to the group. They did not look overly impressed with his idea.
"So one person can make his way to where the lights are coming from. So what? What good does that do us?" Hano asked.
"Once they are there, they will be able to turn the lights off."
"Do you even know how to shut off those lights?" Koda asked him.
Rin shrugged. "Well, no. But how hard could it be?"
"Whoever goes will have to be fast. And be small enough to fit in that space."
"I know. That's why I'm going," Rin said.
"Are you crazy?" Koda demanded, "You wouldn't last a moment out there. I should go."
"No. Like you said it has to be small and fast. I am the fastest one here and I should be able to fit in that gap. They will never see me coming."
"Alright. Go. But make sure that you come back in one piece. I will still need someone to pick on once this is through."
Rin nodded.
He set himself up to make the run. He watched the light make several more passes. It was going to be tight.
Rin waited for the light to make its third pass before taking off. He leaped to the gap in the light and ran as fast as he could. The light was coming back around. He wasn't even half way there yet. Rin quickened his pace. His legs were starting to tire and his knee started to ach from that afternoon. He had to keep running. Only a little more left to go. The light was almost to him. Rin slid to safety just as the light passed over his head. That was close. It didn't look like he had been spotted.
Before Rin could stand, two droids came out from behind the base of the light. He froze in his spot. He didn't dare move in case they heard him. He didn't even breathe.
"Did you hear something?" he heard a droid ask.
"Probably just the wind."
The droids walked past Rin and behind the other light. When they were gone he finally allowed himself to breathe. They didn't see him.
Rin got up and went over to the light beside him. It was large, about the size of a one story building. Behind the light there was a panel with a screen and buttons. It looked like the controls for the light. But how was he supposed to turn it off? There was a picture of a light on the screen. Rin tapped the picture and the light turned off.
"Hey! What was that?"
"Someone turned off the spotlight."
Rin crushed the controls before racing to the other stationary light. He did the same thing to that one and the moving light.
The droids were running around lost. They couldn't see where they were going. They were bumping into each other and tripping over their own feet. It was a comical sight until one of the droids started to shoot the red lights. One of the lights nearly hit Rin. With a wave of his hand, he crushed the droid.
Koda and the others were already at the tree line. Rin raced after them. None of the droids followed them. They were home free.
