Chapter 4 :Birth of a Rebel

"A long time ago, six years ago to be precise, I began working with a small group of rebellious species. For long hours we would sit together, drink coffee, and discuss political strategies that could free those across the galaxy who are enslaved by others. One of our primary targets was the planet of Pluto. On Pluto, A group enslaved a group of aliens known as the Minaosaiz. They were a peace loving people until Andross crushed their defenses and allowed the businessmen to move in and demand free forced labor. The Minaosaizians were chained, their children taken, and woman segregated from the men of that race. Our plan was to infiltrate the base, download the general outline of the building, and take out those who enslaved them." He said normally.

"Who were with you in this team of yours?" Kursed asked interestedly. Neveo resonded calmly saying "Well, There were five of us. There was Shania, Neapo, Max, Jaster, and finally myself. Shania was from the planet Zakiras, Neapo from Kew, Max from Corenia, Jaster from Venom, and me from Earth. I have a picture of each one here. On my chain." He moved his hand inside his shirt and pulled out a small gold necklace with a square medallion. He pushed a button on the back and out came a piece of paper that appeared to be very old. "Here" He motioned Kursed to take it as he held it out in front of her. She took it and unwraveled it slowly.

The first thing she noticed was how much younger looking Neveo used to be. In the picture there was a fox, a wolf, a dog, an ape, and at the far right, was Neveo. "This is Shania" Neveo said as he pointed to the white fox. Upon closer examination, Kursed was impressed at how beautiful she was. Her eyes were green and she wore green shorts, black tank top, and light brown leather boots. Her light pink hair was very long as it laid on her shoulders nearly touching her waist. On her back was what appeared to be a space assault rifle. "She was tougher than she looked" Neveo jokingly replied. "She killed four full grown men without breaking a sweat." He added lightly.

"And this is Neapo" he said pointing to the wolf. The wolf was taller than Neveo. His fur was gray and black. He was wearing a black long sleeved shirt, black pants, black beret, sunglasses, and black boots. The only thing that had any color was the small red star on his beret, which was tilted to the left. Which was a sign of rebellion. Considering, in this part of the galaxy, a beret to the right represented respect for superiors. "He was the thinker. As far as we could tell, He was a genius when it came to formulating strategies. It was him that allowed us to enter a base undetected and leave with minor damage. No one else I know could pull off this kind of a strategy"

"This is Max" Neveo said as he pointed to the dog. Max was not all that taller than Neveo. In fact, they both seemed to be the same height. Max was wearing dark green pants, black shoes, a red shirt, and again, a black beret with a red star topped of with the sunglasses. "Max was our medical official. He was there when Shania contracted a fatal disease from the planet Kew. He put together some earth plants and venom plants and managed to make an antibody. He was also the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet. He ended up falling in love with and marrying a slave that we freed on one of our missions. " Neveo smiled and laughed "Good times, good times" he said in a happy tone.

"And this is Jaster" Neveo said pointing to the ape next to the younger Neveo. Jaster was wearing blue pants, black boots, black dress shirt, and a beret tipped to the side. His smile suggested that he was happy doing what he was doing. "We joined us after we freed his village from slavery in his home planet. He proved to be valuable, especially since he had this will power to free those enslaved. Whether mentally, or physically, he was there to give comfort and provide someone to talk to. Of all five of us, he was the only one who held to his local beliefs and superstitions." Said Neveo in a joking tone.

Neveo was the one who interested Kursed. He looked very young in the picture. He was still wearing the same clothes except his cape wasn't as tattered in the back. "How old were you when all of you took this picture?" Kursed asked eagerly. "I was eighteen and to be nineteen in another 2 weeks" He replied. "Are u serious?" Kursed spoke with confusion. "But what happened to all of them?" Kursed asked quietly. Immediately she knew she hit a nerve. Neveo's expression changed into that of grief and sadness. "It happened two years ago." He said solemely "We on one of usual missions and than something went wrong. Someone must have discovered where we were staying the night before the raid. Our spaceship was stationed on the outer rim. Shania and I were turning the lights off before we went to bed and than we heard gunshots. We grabbed our blasters and headed down stairs, only to find our comrades on their knees with blasters to their heads. We dropped our weapons and followed the crew to what appeared to be a military base stationed ten minutes away.

When we came in we saw a large pig who's name was Garnada. He owned enormous sums of money and enslaved countless planets in order to further his business in energy crystals. He told us that for every planet er freed, he would kill one worker. He pulled a line of people and shot each on in the head until he reached a small girl who was crying as she threw herself on her dead mother and father. She looked at him with tears and blood covering her face. He put the gun to her head, laughed, and than fired. He body fell with a thump on her parents as the blood dibbled from her now half cracked head. Max screamed and broke free. But as he charged . . . he was shot in the head by a sniper who was perched behind us. As his body lay there, his eyes open, and his hand outstretched, Shania started to cry. To make things quick, I was locked in a prison with no food, Shania was taken to be his slave and mistress, Neapo was to become the test subject for countless venom experiments, Max was killed the next day along with his pregnant wife, and Jaster was cryogenically frozen until they could find a use for him." Neveo took a deep breath and looked out at the desert through the window as tears began to fall down his check. "They were more than just rebels. . .They were my family." He said in a sad and quiet tone. " My mother and father were also killed in a similar incident when I was 6. Since than, I had lived on my own and getting what ever I could get in the streets. I slowly learned the ways of my people and the history.

That's how I came to learn about this sword" He said as he picked up the sword. It was a curious thing. Its blade had designs that looked like wings on the side with strange letter carved on the hilt. The handle was covered with black leather. "Where is it from?" Kursed asked. "It is from Earth and has its roots in an ancient civilization known as Egypt" He said with a look of seriousness on his face. "It is said to posses a special ability to channel energy from the human spirit and deliver it out as energy blasts. It apparently only seems to work with humans and. . ." Kursed cut him off as she grabbed the sword. It glimmered a bright blue. Kursed focused as hard as she could but the blue aura did not change. "Its useless" Kursed whined as she threw it to the floor. "don't be so sure."

Neveo picked it up and it glowed green. He closed his eyes and all of a sudden the aura surrounded his body and five more of him appeared. "Handy little trick eh?" He said with a sneer. All Kursed could do was watch with her mouth open as she started into not one, but 5 neveos who were all identical. She had seen this trick before but usually could tell the real one because only one would cast a shadow. But all five Neveo's cast a shadow and moved indepentely. He closed his eyes again and reverted back into one again. "So why do you fight?" Kursed asked with a curious tone. "I fight for love and freedom, and I know that one day I will find what it is I am searching for." He spoke in a soft tone. But before Kursed could ask the onboard computer let out a loud siren. "Enemy troops and fighters approaching" It shrieked. "Its go time" Neveo said as he ran towards the door. Kursed grabbed her blaster and out with him into an uncertain future. The blast doors opened. And the fighting began.