Mindoir - 2168
'Come on Ara, just jump already!'
I stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the lake that her friends were now swimming in. I hated heights. But everyone had done it and I didn't want to be the only one who didn't. Drawing in a deep breath, I steadied myself when a hand slipped into mine.
'Together?' My brother asked.
'You won't let go?' I questioned nervously.
'Never.'
Mindoir - 2170
When I finally wake up, my head throbs in pain, cold metal presses against my cheek, and my mouth has been gagged. I open my eyes only to darkness, something blocking my vision. My hands are tightly bound behind my back and my bare feet also lay bound. I try to see through my blind but the room is dark, giving me nothing.
I feel the heavy rumble of footsteps nearing, the deep and harsh voices returning. I'm jerked upright by rough hands and the blind is removed from my eyes. The light blinds me for a moment and I blink away the white spots that cloud my vision as the pain in my head sharpens. Glancing around the unfamiliar space, my brother and parents are beside me, as is most of the town.
The batarians speak among themselves before turning back to us and to my horror, pull my parents out of the line. They position them in front of the group, and one of them addresses us.
"You two are too much trouble and have killed many of my men. You have lost and should not have come to this planet. Let this be an example to the rest of you that get any ideas of trying to fight us." The batarian says, pulling their heads back.
My brother and I watch helpless as he takes a knife to their throats. I stare into the eyes of my mother, expecting anything but the usual calm and peace that resides in the deep oceans of her eyes. Tears run down her cheeks as she gags, life leaving her as she falls to the ground. Even near death my father's eyes scream defiance as they fade into the darkness. His words echo in my mind, 'Be strong for us.'
A small stream of their blood trails across the floor to me as my eyes finally relinquish the tears that have building there. My headache forgotten, emotions that I hadn't even known were bottled up inside, explode and ripple through me. Each mounting higher and higher before I can't concentrate on anything else.
They begin moving everyone out of the room, but my eyes never stray from my parents bodies. When they come for my brother and I, their jarring remarks and teases push me off the edge. The world turns blue as my binds break around me and the batarians are flung back.
Electricity surges around me in my rage as I step toward them, imaging their life draining from them as they look up at me in fear. Their eyes widen in pain and I feel strange, all the aches and pain I had earlier vanishing. I watch as they keel over, grasping their heads and their eyes clenched in pain until they slump down on the floor, dead.
I stare at them confounded. I killed them.