The Ex-Invader stepped over the uneven, rocky terrain, his loyal SIR unit in tow. The planet Meekrob, he thought, was terrible to be on and had no idea why anything stayed here willingly. Poe wanted to jump into a freezer right then and there; His brow was sweating and it dripped into his blue eyes, and his legs ached; the sun was beating down on him and there was not a cloud or tree in sight. His armor was making him all the more hotter.
"Yumi, I don't think I can keep on," said Ex-Invader Poe, grunting and sighing with each step. He hated the heat. "Are we almost there?"
"I, uh," began Yumi, scanning her mind for the coordinates. "sure."
"Sure? Yumi, please don't tell me," said Poe, stopping in his tracks. "We're lost? How could you, Yumi?"
"We're not lost! I swear!"
"Then how much longer?"
Yumi scanned the area. As she looked around the mesa-like area, she finally perked up as she spotted the cave entrance they were looking for. "There! We're here," she exclaimed.
"Thank goodness," groaned Poe, rushing over to the cave.
It was cooler on the inside, out of the sun, and as the duo stepped further vines began to appear on the walls and from the ceiling; cave flowers and other forms of greenery sat by pools of water and there were even some strange looking reptiles and amphibian creatures in deeper bodies of water. Poe had no idea life existed like this on Meekrob, but below the surface the planet was teaming with life.
He wondered why the pompous aliens of this planet chose such a place to meet, although Poe was simply happy to be outside of his spaceship and the artificial gravity; it was nice to see real life for once. He hummed a tune from Caparx as they strolled along, a dim light shining ahead of him from a device on his helmet. After twisting and turning through one narrow tunnel, he and Yumi came out into a large unnatural opening filled to the brim with crates and other types of boxes in varying sizes; it appeared to be an old bunker of some kind, and he noticed two familiar Vortian faces were sitting by a few crates playing a card game by a lamplight.
His dear friend Captain Skald, who never took off his formal military uniform, and their mutual associate Huxley who wore simple scouting clothes. Both were armed with plasma rifles and had what Poe called 'lightning blades' on their sides.
"I see we all made it here alive," said Poe, stepping over to his friends.
"Ah, if it isn't the Irken," greeted Huxley, fidgeting with his glasses. "it appears that is true. Not the grandest of councils, eh?"
"It'll get the job done," replied Skald, seeming pleased with his hand of cards. "The Meekrob are late. And so are you, Poe, what gives?"
"Look, I'm sorry, but a certain someone took the long way, I think," said Poe, darting his eyes to Yumi.
"Next time you can lead," said Yumi, pouting.
"I'm just kidding, Yumi. You know I love you," he said, patting the head of his SIR unit. "Regardless, it is really odd for the Meekrob to be tardy. Maybe something came up and they had," and before Poe could finish speaking, the room was increasingly filled with the aforementioned aliens. The Vortians scrambled to their feet, and the whole group of four looked around in awe at the sudden appearance.
"Hello," the Meekrob said in unison, surrounding the group.
"Who's in charge?" one of them said, circling Poe in particular.
"He bears the mark of the Vortian queen," another said, getting close to the Irken and eyeing up his armor.
"I am in charge at the moment," replied the Ex-Invader, growing fearful. He was thinking of how powerful these beings were in numbers. "My name is Poe, Esquire. I'm the Irken you all have heard so much about."
"Quaint," one commented, staring at Poe. "so let us be brusque, dear friends, as we are so very busy. And given the circumstances we all find ourselves in, especially our dearest Vortians, I'm sure you all understand the severity of it all."
"Yes, we do; we are at war," began Poe, speaking for the group. "as you know, Vort has long since fallen. So many other planets have been conquered, races either enslaved or on the brink of extinction, yet Meekrob is on the fence for now. It is a fickle balance, this planet is in, and it won't be for long. Do you know about," said Poe, pausing as the being of energy began to laugh at him.
"About the invader on our planet? Yes, we do, and it was quite inane of the Irken Empire to try and trick us. She made a foolish mistake. Which begs the question, are you trying to trick us?"
"No, I'm not," said Poe, looking to his friends for support.
"Poe saved my life," said Skald, standing proud. "Normally Irkens would kill us Vortian soldiers on sight, but Poe here killed his own to save my squad and I during an unfortunate battle. Huxley here can tell you how he was saved, too."
"The Irken picked me up off of Foodcourtia, oddly enough, as I was forced to work there by the Empire. Ah, what a humiliating moment for me! I was one of Vort's greatest artists and writers; I spoke on theology, philosophy, and the sciences at the greatest halls and universities! And to be sent to that planet of gluttony, bah, it was maddening," said Huxley, nearly getting angry over the mere memory of his experience. "Him and Skald come waltzing in, promising me freedom, and if I could help them get food for the resistance. So I did as they asked."
"Hm, we see," the Meekrob said, appearing to soften their voices. "As you say, this resistance needs help. How large is this organization?"
"Let's see," said Poe, pulling out a small handheld device. Up popped a hologram of a couple different planets. "Caparx, and their two other worlds of New Caparx and Seafar."
"That's… it?"
"Um, the Catians have pledged their support as well," said Poe, beginning to stumble in his words. To his mind, this was a huge deal of an alliance despite their small numbers.
"Catia is a moon world, they are a small, insignificant little Archduchy of nobodies," said one Meekrob. "However, the Caparxitdons...they interest us greatly. A mighty empire of semi-aquatic warriors."
"Yes, and if you joined us we'd stand an even bigger chance against the Irken Empire. We could stop their genocides and enslavement of peoples once and for all!" said Skald, growing loud. He was tired of talking to these beings.
The room grew silent for a few minutes as the Meekrob whispered among themselves. Poe and Skald looked at one another, giving each other a hopeful glance. Huxley sat back down, frustrated with the whole ordeal. Yumi never took her eyes off the beings of energy. Finally, one of the floating aliens broke the silence and said, "We will pledge our entire support for your cause, but only if you get three more races to join you. That is our deal."
"Throw in some of your cultural books and we can all go happy," said Poe, stepping forward. "Deal?"
"Fine, yes, a deal we have," all the Meekrob spoke at once. "However, before you all leave, there's someone you should see, Ex-Invader Poe. Come with one of us."
Poe and Yumi followed a wispy Meekrob as it dashed from area to area; it was hard to keep up with it, but it didn't take long for the duo to arrive where the being was taking them. It appeared to be a prison of sorts for biological beings, and every material was wooden or metallic in nature. Odd, thought the Irken, as Meekrob usually didn't have such structures. He made a mental note.
"You know what to do," said the being as it dissipated.
Poe looked at the cells, each empty and clean, until he finally came to the one occupied cell. Inside was a slumped over, slumbering Irken female in chains. An empty tray of crumbs sat on the floor next to her, and in one corner there were a few empty cans of soda. "At least she's eating," mumbled Poe, fumbling with keys he found on the wall. He opened the door, and it creaked louder than any noise he heard before.
"Huh, wha," said the woman, blinking as she awoke. Her pinkish-red eyes met with Poe's, and she grew a look of joy. "Are you here to rescue me?"
"Quite the opposite, my dear, quite the opposite," said Poe, feeling a bit sad as he stood closer to her.
"What do you mean?"
"I suppose you haven't heard the good news, Miss Tenn; I have an update in rank. I am the first ever Ex-Invader."
Tenn blinked, not sure what emotion she should be feeling right now. "I don't understand. Wait, don't I know you?"
Poe turned on the hanging light bulb from up above; Poe could see the room clearer and noticed it was in a bit of a mess, with papers thrown about and more cans off to the other side of the cell; the buzzing from the bulb was the only sound for about ten seconds as Tenn came to realize in horror who Poe was.
"We're, we're friends," said Tenn, her voice near a whisper. She sounded emotionally destroyed as a tear shed from both her eyes. "we're friends, Poe. What are you doing?"
"The right thing."
"Being a traitor is not the right thing!"
Poe sighed. "I find Irk to be the traitor here, Miss Tenn. To our Vortian allies, to the whole galaxy."
"How could you say such a thing?" she asked, desperate for answers. "What the hell happened on your assignment? Caparx, right?"
The Ex-Invader sat down a few feet from Tenn, hugging his knees as Yumi stood guard beside them. The floor was cold. "I wish this was on different terms, my dear fri-"
"Stop calling me that. We're not friends anymore."
"Alright, I apologize, Miss Tenn," said Poe, feeling his throat clench up. They'd known each other since their smeet days. "When Yumi and I arrived on Caparx, I decided to settle on a disguise that was, how to describe… hidden in plain sight? I called myself a merchant, and told everyone I was looking to make it big outside of the empire for, er, my future or whatever."
"As the days went on, I kept gathering more and more information on the defenses of Caparx. Did you know most of their cities are underwater? Well, I was getting close to figuring out if we could cause them all to flood if they didn't agree to surrender to our might. Until one fateful day, I found a book by the trash chute I was close to. What a sin, I said to myself, the Caparxitdon cares not for its own culture! I picked up this book and was intrigued with its cover."
"What was it?" asked Tenn.
"A fish surrounded by lilies. I read it front to back, Tenn, I admit. It was a collection of plays from some three-thousand year old playwright on Caparx, from before they settled underwater, and the play that changed my perspective on life was the, uh, third one in the collection. It was about this gentle, kind princess who fell in love with a humble fisherman. Long story short, all worked out for them in the end and the king allowed them to marry in the castle."
"And this changed you how?" asked Tenn, growing annoyed.
"It's hard to explain, but it changed me. It awoke this feeling inside me that I kept at bay for my entire life, and there was no going back after that play. It pushed me to tell the Caparxitdons about my true purpose, the empire's plans for conquest, and what I was willing to do to prove myself to them."
"So you betrayed our kind, and me, for a stupid play?"
Poe laughed at the absurdity of it all. "Yeah, I guess so."
"And you came here why? To get me to join you? As if I ever would."
Poe lowered his head, exhaling a deep breath. "Frankly, I was ordered to come here to kill you. But now, it doesn't seem that I have to. Or want to."
It was Tenn's turn to laugh. "You, kill me? With that ancient relic on your hip?"
She was referring to Poe's antique Vortian revolver Skald gifted him. Poe stood up, smirking as she said those words. "You can laugh, but I have something you don't."
"Which is?"
"A working SIR unit."
Tenn blushed and grew silent, regretting saying anything in the first place. She looked away from her former friend, saying "Please just go. I can't stand to look at you."
"Okay. Take care, Miss Tenn," said Poe, turning around to leave.
As Tenn looked up at his back, she grew wide eyed and suddenly cried out, "Wait! You have no PAK!"
Poe stopped walking, and glanced over his shoulder. "I know."
The cell door creaked shut, leaving Tenn alone with the sound of nothing but the buzzing light bulb that hung above her.
Hello everyone, I am sorry to those who liked my previous story for the long hiatus. I have been so busy with IRL crap over this past time that I have not had a chance to get back to my writing. However, now I am finally settled from certain dramas I've had and I can somewhat focus on my writing hobby again. It's not the longest first chapter, but I wanted to test the waters a bit, so to speak, with my rewritten story.
Thank you for reading, and until next time !