The interior of the drop-ship was a mass of confusion. The lights sporadically flickered on and off. The entire ship rocked in all directions. Any equipment wasn't strapped down was being thrown about, hitting the ship's passengers. The section that separated the head of the ship to its "tail" was teetering on the brink of being torn away. Had the ship been of any lower quality, it would have surely been destroyed by the stress of near light-speed.
Ridley checked the bio-readouts of his teammates. All of them read normal, giving the situation, with the exception of Alic-til. He looked over and discovered, much to his disgust, that he had vomited inside his helmet. Ridley shook his head at this disgrace. Any good commando would've been able to stomach such turbulences. He would need to reevaluate the commando's credentials, along with that pilot. It was most strange that a Pirate of his age to still be on duty.
Ridley shook his head; there would be plenty of time for speculation later. He checked the estimated time left to planet-fall. Ten minutes and forty-three seconds.
He focused on the clock that was fixed in his lower, right-hand vision. Each passing second made him all the more cold, more hateful, and blood-thirsty. The fire in his eyes grew in their intensity as he was once again given a chance to torment the people that caused him so much suffering. It had been too long since he had such a rush before battle.
Unlike many of the Space-Pirates, Ridley did not harbor a blind hatred towards the Galactic Federation. He tended to a well-founded spite for the cursed tyrannical government. Slowly, the vicious tentacles of old memories wrapped around his mind and cast him back into that fateful day.
He forgot how many years it had been since then. But the wear of time had no affect on this particular recollection. Visions of his childhood home-planet flooded his mind. He clearly remembered how far the fertile, green fields stretched on and on, and met with the clear sky that he would soar for hours in. The water of the lakes was like sweet, sweet nectar to him. Countless animals ran across the ground, providing him with a near endless supply of food.
He lived on the small planet with his mother. It was the perfect place for the young space-dragon to grow up. He would swoop up and down the deep canyons that covered the planet. The sun would shine down on his wings as he soared over the endless plains of his home. Life was perfect for him. For a long time he did not yet know of the evils that plagued the galaxy as he soon would.
"Not bad. Soon enough we can start flying in the upper atmosphere at this rate," shouted his mother as they were soaring high over the ground, "then we can get started on space-flight."
This statement puzzled Ridley. Was his mother crazy? Why would they ever want to leave this place? "Why would we want to that?" he asked innocently.
For a moment her face turned grim and tormented. The yellow light from her eyes quivered slightly. Then she swept the expression away and just stared straight into the oncoming clouds.
"Who taught you to fly?" He asked.
"My father did." she stated with a strong hint of sadness and resentment mixed into her voice. "That was a long time ago though. This is a flying lesson, not history."
Ridley scoffed under his breath at the comment. He knew next to nothing about his history. He asked his mother countless questions about the past, most of which dealt with his father. The only thing that she told him was that he gave everything he had to make sure that they lived like they did, and she would love nothing better for him to have known him. Everything else she either gave him a vague answer, or ignored the question completely.
His mother took a deep dive, and Ridley followed her. They went into a deep canyon with large trees jutting out from the sides and a strong river flowing at its base. She weaved in and out of the gaps of the twisted vines and branches. Ridley did the same with slight difficulty, they had been practicing this for four days already and he was getting better.
She pulled up and out of the canyon, looped, dived straight for the water while dodging the branches, and pulled up right before she hit the water. With some skill of the wing and a bit of luck, Ridley was able to pull this off as well.
The two dragons skimmed along the river and flew towards the sky. Ridley was starting to get tired. His mother had been increasing his training lately. He would definitely get cramps later.
His mother looked at him lovingly. "Very good, you're getting much better. I think we should take a-"
Her voice was drowned out by the screech of laser fire. Ridley turned his long neck and viewed a bulky, metallic-blue and silver ship that was at least twice the size of his mother. It had two fan-shaped wings, with double-barreled laser cannons, that were attached to the ship on their centers. Its front was a reflective dome with single-barreled cannons on either side. The strange, foreign object awakened some deep fear within him.
He looked at his mother for some kind of reassurance. Her eyes were glowing intensely. Her expression was one of rage and fear.
"Go to the canyon," his mother said firmly, "now."
He was about to reply, but seven blasts came from the ship when his mouth was halfway open. He then flew towards the canyon as fast as his then-small-wings could carry him. He was constantly glancing back towards his mother.
He saw her turn around and fly toward the ship, and fire several balls of flame from her mouth. The ship performed a sharp turn to its side, dodging the flame, and responded with a dozen laser blasts.
Several of them hit her leg and she let out an ear-piercing screech of pain. She quickly recuperated and flew under the ship and lashed her tail against the bottom of the ship. The jagged razors of her tail barely scratched its armor.
The ship swerved around and charged at the space-dragon head-on. It unleashed a torrent of laser-fire, several of which hit Ridley's mother in the chest. The silver mechanism pulled up and fired its double-barreled cannon into her back and out her stomach.
The last Ridley saw of his mother was her twitching body fall strike the ground, he then dove into the canyon and didn't see the rest.
Ridley landed beneath the canopy of the trees and perched on a thick branch. Large, orange, steaming drops of tears streamed down his beak. He had to figure something out. He had to get things together. He was about to cry out when a second ship swooped into the canyon and opened fire.
His eyes widened at the threat. He paused momentarily and lurched off the branch and down to the river. The ravaging waters were scarcely ten feet below him. After a few moments went by, nothing could be heard except for the raging waters. He thought he was safe, and then the ship broke through the trees and sent huge branches falling into water.
One of the branches hit him across the back. He cried out as a sharp pain bolted up his spine. He faltered and tried to regain his balance. That was when the ship sent fired several times and hit his wings.
He plunged head-first into water. His small body was tossed about in the rapids. Water was being poured into his lungs. He began to lose all of his senses. Slowly, he grew calmer, he didn't fight as much, and he comfortably blacked out.
A raspy voice made its way to Ridley's ears. "What type of damage does he have?"
Another voice, slightly muffled responded. "There are several blast holes in the wing membrane. . There's also a broken leg, two fractured ribs and he's missing some teeth.
Ridley came opened his eyes and tried to jump back. He found that he couldn't do that because he was strapped down to a table.
He shook his head wildly. He was surrounded by monsters. They were green, beaked, insect-like beings with long, pointy claws. One of them approached him and inserted a syringe into his neck.
After a while he calmed down a bit and nervously asked, "Who are you?"
One of the strange beings sat next to him and explained to him everything that had happened and then some.
As it turned out, the ship that shot down his mother belonged to the Galactic Federation. The organization said that they existed to promote ideals and peace among the galaxy, but it was just a lie. This "government" had turned many species into outlaws. It had ordered the "complete obliteration of groups deemed hazardous for the good of the galaxy."
But one particular group rose up against the cruelty of the bloodthirsty government. It was a collection of several races that had the courage and technology capable of overthrowing the Galactic Federation. The Federation called them "Space-Pirates," and convinced the ignorant members of their empire that they were evil.
Ridley's race was one of those who were scheduled for genocide. The space-dragons were on the brink of extinction. In their precious few, the race pledged allegiance with the Space-Pirates, and fought along their side.
The Galactic Federation then launched a campaign specifically for the destruction of space-dragons. Hundreds more of them died terrible deaths. His mother was able to escape to a planet that she thought she was safe. There she stayed for years, raising her son.
Eventually, several Galactic Federation ships found the planet. They came down and killed his mother. Luckily though, an Assailant cruiser was also in the system had tracked the ships and shot them down. A surveillance team located Ridley, who had washed up on a bank, and took him back to the cruiser.
Everything that happened after that was exactly what Ridley could've hoped for. They nursed him back to health, and raised him. He excelled in combat and quickly won the respect of his peers. He immediately applied for field duty after he was old enough. He would never forget the satisfaction he received after his claws were stained with Federation blood.
His ruthlessness in the field earned him the respect and acknowledgment of the Mother-Brain. He was placed on missions where his simple desire for revenge would be put into the most effect. He relished the crippling blows he had dealt to them.
But still…
Ridley looked up and saw Karolyn turn her head and cover her eyes.