CHAPTER 1
THE SLAVERS COURT

A dark figure sat against the wall of his damp cell. The cold atmosphere did not bother him much, but it was better than the freighter that brought him here. This creature was a mantrin. A mantrin unlike any other to be exact. His black skin covered every inch of his lean and muscular body, from the tip of his long sharp pointed eliptical ears, to the tip of his whip-like tail. Loose black pants clung nicely to the mantrin's double jointed knees as he stretched. A combat vest rubbed against his smooth skin while his arms raised above his head.
Pecacetus was the main attraction for a slave auction. If there was one thing he hated, it was slavery. Why should beings be sold or bought for the pleasure of others who cannot even stand to get their breakfast? It was primitive.
The cell itself was damp and dark. Slaves were not kept in cells very long unless they were weak. Peca was relatively strong, perhaps too strong to be captured, but it still happened. Kidnapping can happen to anyone, regardless of their atmosphere. As he looked around the cell he noticed a skeleton, a hideous one hidden in a dark corner. Judging by its skull Peca knew it was a mantrin; Sogowan by its structure. The beatings recieved by the creature did not bother him because he was used to seeing carnage and savageness. The skull had been bashed in, legs disfigured, and the sternum was still speared by a slaver's dagger. Adrip sound pinged in his ear. It appeared there was a bad water leak across from him. A cold draft swept by him, making the mantrin shiver slightly. All he could do for now was wait for the auction. He did however show a little care to the remains of the Sogowan. Secretly he took the dagger from its chest, "Don't worry...I'll make them pay for what they did to you."

Stith had been through many troubles in her life, but finding the weapons shop in this place was a lost cause. She had been in the colony for hours looking for the store. Constructed of old spaceship hulls and scraps the colony resembled a ghetto on Solbrecht rather than a settlement in space. The smell of fresh retro food hit her olfactory cells as hot steam rose from the stoves. Delicious! As she passed by another food store she bought something called Chinese fried rice, a human food. It hit the spot.
The Sogowan female trod through more steam inhabited areas when she came upon a crowd of aliens. It seemed there was an auction of some sort. The aliens were crowded around a square arena where an ugly Akrennian stood, testing the microphone. Stith never did like auctions, too much trouble. 'What sort of crap are they trying to sell this time?' She thought . To her extreme discomfort the so called item they were selling was a male mantrin, one of unknown descent. Well, to her atleast, his racial factor was unknown. The black mantrin looked as if he was ex-military, not yet broken into slave life. She could not believe the length of his tail. She guessed it was about two meters in length. She saw he had a muzzle over his beak, cuffs binding his wrists together, and it seemed unbeknownst to the slavers, he had a dagger on him under the vest he wore. Maybe he was planning on escaping. She heard the auctioneer, a four armed Solbrechian alien make an announcement.
"First slave of today's auction is this Natpan mantrin! He's strong, well built, but a little agressive as most mantrins are! Bids begin at 30,000 credits!" he yelled. Peca looked at the crowd, making them believe he was harmless, which was far from the truth. He was a trained specialist in combat: Mantrin martial arts, special demolitions, weapons expert, pilot, interrogations, and medic. He noticed Stith, another mantrin. He looked at her. Somehow she was reassurance to him. Stith herself was not sure what to think. The auctioneer continued calling out the numbers as the two looked at each other. Stith and Peca seemed to be communicating with facial looks as the numbers increased. Finally the time came.
"9,760,000 credits! Going once! Twice! Sold! To the Akrennian with the overcoat!" At that instant Peca's growl began to tear through the muzzle. A whip struck him on the back to silence him. He thought to himself. 'I'll show you a whip...' Peca's tail curled around the ankle of the whip-driver quickly, taking him off his feet, snapping the ankle in the process. As the driver screamed in pain, the mantrin snapped the chain links on his cuffs as he whipped his tail once again, slitting the throat of his new owner. Ripping the muzzle from his beak, he glared at the security guards that had gathered around him. They had their rifles charged and ready to fire.
"Freeze! Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air!" a human yelled as he aimed at the mantrin. Peca dropped the knife on the floor slowly, keeping his eyes on that one human guard. He was not about to let a human command him and keep him from freedom. Peca brought here against his will from his own home after being shot with a tranquilizer. "Put your hands in the air!" the human yelled again. "You will be executed-" he was cut off by the Natpan.
"Can it human." This was all Peca said. Without warning the mantrin lashed out with his tail, snatching the handgun from the human's shoulder holster and bringing it into his own hands. His eyes locked on his target: The forehead of the human. The rustling of guns could be heard, the guards aiming their rifles at the 'slave.' "Drop your weapons or else I shoot him!"
"Do as he says...drop your weapons." The cluttering of firearms against the steel floor echoed through the air as the black mantrin glared at them. He stepped silently towards the walkway which was roped off so the crowd would not block the entrances to the square. One by one, the powerpacks of the firearms were removed by Peca; he was not taking chances.
"I will keep these if you don't mind."

LOOK FOR CHAPTER 2 COMING SOON, THE EMPIRE OF KUDOS