Chapter 2: Invasion
The sun was shining brightly on a beautiful spring day, glinting off the glass and steel buildings of the city center. Wisps of white clouds traveled across the blue sky overhead. A human girl of about fifteen with long black hair was walking briskly down the street, enjoying the first true day of spring and the anticipation that school break was soon. Only a few exams left and she would be ready for early entry to the academy next year. Her mother was planning a party for her once the tests were over to celebrate her advanced placement and she could not wait.
Losing her father had been difficult for her family and her mother had to work multiple jobs just to keep a home for her and her sisters. But the advanced placement she had earned put her one step closer to a good job so one day they might finally be able to move closer to here, the center of the city where the skyscrapers shine.
A sudden crack of thunder tore the girl out of her reverie and she came to halt, scanning the sky for what had caused the sound. Could it be a storm? No, the weather was supposed to be clear for days and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She dropped her gaze to the crowd on the street, some were still searching for the source of the sound but most were staring behind her and up at the sky. She turned, following their gaze up and up. High above the city far beyond the pinnacles of the massive buildings was an even more massive and terrifying thing: a ship. It floated, hovering so high above that she couldn't fathom how far away it must be yet it was large enough to completely fill the sky with its gray and black facade, shaped like the tip of a spear. The people in the street stared up in horror at a ship that had just appeared as if from nowhere. None had ever seen anything like it before. The girl didn't know what frightened her more the sheer size of the ship or how silently and motionless it hung there. For a moment the people held their breath as one, wondering if what they saw was actually real until it became all too real. It opened fire on the city below. A great red beam silently left the ship then slammed into a building with concussive force, bringing the entire thing crumbling to the ground in an instant. The wonder and disbelief that had rooted everyone in the street in place broke and the people ran. The girl ran.
She ran desperately through the streets as fire rained down from the ship and crashed into buildings. Rubble fell down around her crushing others in the crowd as they ran. She had never seen anything like it before. People who ran next to her one moment were gone a moment later, replaced by a fragment of building as if they had never been there. She ran faster. The smoke and the dust and the rubble grew so thick she lost sight of the other people around her until they nearly collided with each other. The streets she had known so well were no longer recognizable and she lost all sense of where she was going. All she knew was that she was still moving away from the ship, evident by the sound of weapons fire from behind her.
Through the dust a great darkness suddenly loomed up in front of her and she skidded to a halt so violently she nearly fell over. At first it just seemed like a pile of rubble but as she ran parallel to it, hoping to find a way around she realized it was a large, intact portion of a collapsed building. There was no way around, nowhere to go but up so she began to climb. As she ascended the dust gradually thinned and at the top she was able to see some of the city once again. Other people were gathered there as well and staring back toward the ships. She turned to follow their gaze and there it was, still hanging there, unmoving. It had stopped firing for now.
At that moment military aircraft from her planet screeched overhead to intercept the ship but the attackers launched fighters of its own. The people below could do nothing but watch helplessly as their most advanced aircraft were destroyed in moments. Several concussive blasts rent the air as weapons launched from a nearby military base but they too exploded fruitlessly against the shield protecting the invading ship.
In unison, the people realized there was no chance that their defenses could damage the ship and their only chance for survival was to escape the city as quickly as possible. The girl turned away from the ship and saw that the road on the far side of the collapsed building was mostly clear of debris. Through the thinner smoke and dust the bright silver bridge shined off in the distance. Immediately, she reoriented herself and knew where to go. That bridge would take her across the river and out of the city. Then she could reach her family and they could escape together.
She and several others scrambled down the far side of the collapsed building, catching themselves on sharp corners but not slowing. She was thoroughly bloodied by the time her feet hit the road but it did not faze her and she ran toward the bridge. Several blocks farther on, the crowd of survivors began to grow thicker as they all converged on the same bridge, the same means of escape. The dusty, bleeding crowd all carried the same look of exhaustion and overwhelming panic and she could not help but wonder if she had the same look on her face.
"Jon!" she yelled, suddenly recognizing someone but he could not hear her. The closer she got to the bridge, the tighter the crowd became and she had to shove her way through to reach him.
"Jon," she repeated as she grabbed his shoulder. He turned to her but did not recognize her at first through the fear that clouded his vision and his thoughts, but then a light turned on in his eyes and he knew her again.
"What!" he exclaimed and hugged her tight. "I can't believe you're here!"
"You too!" she replied, hugging him just as tightly. "We have to get out of here."
They clung to each other as they crossed the bridge, desperate to not be separated by the throng. Their pace had slowed to a crawl as they stepped onto the bridge and it felt as though an eternity passed in that cruising mob before they caught a glimpse of the other side. Only a few minutes more and they would be out of the city and able to run more freely again. However, just as hope began to rise, a fighter from the giant ship came screaming up from behind them and fired. The far end of the bridge collapsed, sending hundreds of people plummeting into the water below. The rest were trapped. Behind them stood a wall of invading soldiers in shining white armor, blocking their escape. Small armed ships circled overhead.
Soon different ships arrived; big blocky ships with wide doors that resembled something meant to carry cargo. The soldiers barked orders in a language the people could not understand but it was clear they were being directed towards the cargo ships. The soldiers forced the strong and healthy into the ships while the too old, too young, ill, or injured were sent away. Those who resisted were killed.
The girl and Jon were shoved on board one of the cargo containers and packed in so tightly that they could barely move. The container had no windows so when the doors slammed shut, they were plunged into darkness. A loud hiss filled the container as it sealed itself and with a violent jerk they were lifted off the ground. The container shook and trembled as they rose into the atmosphere then suddenly went quiet in the vastness of space.
A loud clunk signaled that they had docked with some other vessel waiting in orbit.
Jon squeezed her hand with fear as the people held their breath expectantly, waiting for the door to open and the next horror that awaited them.
Then it happened; a sound like none other she had ever heard filled the room and seemed to come from every direction. In unison, the people clasped their hands to their ears to hide from it, but it was not enough. It could not be stopped and madness overwhelmed them. Some people tried to run, to shove others out of their way and escape the sound, but there was nowhere to run. In the churn of bodies, she was forced back towards the steel wall of the container and into a crevice between two support beams.
It felt as though an eternity passed in that din. Every thought driven from her mind and only the horror of screams left in their wake; Jon's hand forgotten. She was so consumed by those impossible screams that she did not hear her own and the darkness that filled the container began to fill her mind as well. All awareness slipped away.
Slowly she opened her eyes, her lids heavy and weary. Where am I? She thought as her blurry surroundings came into focus. She was lying on the floor of the container. Soldiers in white armor were shoving people, barely able to stand, toward an open door while others were dragging the bodies of those crushed in the churn toward the back of the crate. One soldier, noticing she was awake, grabbed her, yanked her to her feet and shoved her through the doorway. The ordeal had left her shaken, as if the floor beneath her swayed, and she was unable to stop herself from slamming into the far wall.
The others who had survived were also leaning up against the walls to steady themselves; blank, horrified stares on their faces. She caught sight of Jon against the far wall and stumbled over to him.
"Jon?" she asked quietly so the soldiers wouldn't hear but he looked at her with the same blank stare as the others, completely devoid of recognition, then turned away.
The girl pressed against the wall and did her best to paste the same blank look on her face, hoping to imitate the others so the soldiers wouldn't notice her. As she did so she caught sight of a window on the wall opposite the container they had just been pulled out of, it was shaped like a porthole and beyond was blackness dotted with stars. She was in space!
Just then the last of the soldiers stepped out of the container and into the hallway. The door closed behind them and one soldier slammed his fist against a large red button. Hydraulics roared to life and shook the wall she leaned against. A loud whooshing sound echoed into the hall but was quickly replaced by complete silence. The soldier hit the red button again activating the hydraulics again followed by a loud slam within the container.
The captives were ushered back into the container where the girl noted with horror that the pile of bodies was gone, ejected into space. The survivors were forced to their knees as a man dressed in a white uniform entered the container followed by another wearing gray and some kind of floating, spherical device trailing behind. It was the first time she had seen the face of any of the invaders and she had to stifle a gasp.
Human?! She thought. How is that possible?
The man in gray sat a small table down at the front of the container. On it he placed a metal box and methodically, almost mechanically, pulled several items out of it. The officers spoke together for a moment in a language she could not understand then the man in gray attached a large needle to the floating device and began moving through the crowd, device in tow.
The officer in white began to speak as the device injected the people one by one. The girl had to fight to keep the blank look on her face as the device came towards her and injected her as well. The officer in white began to talk and spoke for several minutes before she realized he was repeating the same thing over and over again. A heat grew across her body from the injection point then a fog came over her mind. Slowly she began to understand the words that were spoken.
"... armor ... helmet ... agent ..."
In the fog she saw the faces of her family appear then fade away.
"I am ... My... my armor ... helmet. My ... is my ... I am ... an agent ..."
Their names slipped from her memory.
"I am ... My skin is my armor ... helmet. My ... is my ... I am ... an agent ..."
Her friends appeared to her and faded away.
"I am a ... My skin is my armor. My face is my helmet. My ... is my ... I am ... an agent ..."
Memories of her life also rose and then vanished.
"I am a ... My skin is my armor. My face is my helmet. My name is my number... I am ... an agent ..."
Jon's face came to her but as he spoke her name his voice became muffled as if traveling through water.
"I am a stormtrooper. My skin is my armor. My face is my helmet. My name is my number. I am ... an agent ..."
She tried desperately to think of her name but she could not.
"I am a stormtrooper. My skin is my armor. My face is my helmet. My name is my number. I am fulfilled, for I am an agent of the Emperor."
She could remember the city, the ship hovering overhead and the buildings falling but what was she doing when they came? What was the name of her planet? Her city?
"I am a stormtrooper. My skin is my armor. My face is my helmet. My name is my number. I am fulfilled, for I am an agent of the Emperor."
What is my name?