The Fall of Kesler – The Homes We Lost

"Hey brother..." Alatar heard the voice of his sister Lasha in his ear, who was sitting on the seat behind him, but thanks to her long dragonkin neck she could look over his shoulder. "You're still playing this sexist speciesist game game about a dwarven miner slaying a dragon to save a princess? She insults your own kind."

He clenched his jaw in irritation. His sister was a year younger than him, but her favorite pastime was teasing him. He would understand if she was an older brother, but having a younger sister making fun of him and calling him stupid Nerd was unbearable. And not long ago she became a damn defender of the oppressed, especially the Dragonkins. But when uncle Karharot married an elf, she stopped speaking to him along with half of the family.

"It's just a game, a very good game. I don't know why you're looking for additional content there." he explained, trying not to show irritation. If he had shouted at her, she would have run to her parents and complained... Only her parents weren't here, they were in the capital to stop the ship for them. Their aunt was supposed to send it to them so as not to be thrown together with the rest of the evacuees. Personally, he thought the whole evacuation was bullshit, he watched a lot of videos on the infornet and most of them said that the chances of a real swarm attack were minimal, and their planetary defense was strong enough to repel even a strong invasion, and then there was Atrax with his mighty fleet and immeasurable wealth. They even reportedly hired Lord Admiral Antares and his Fearless Armada. After all, their neighbor won't let the swarm consume their main food source. He had also seen some interesting, if slightly speciesist , videos from a couple of Shirens who claimed that there was no evidence that the swarm had ever attacked any planet unprovoked by the inherent aggression of the unchitinoids . They were a bit strange, but their arguments made sense.

And the worst thing was that he didn't even come back with his school friends, only with his mean sister, because their parents insisted on sending them to a culture camp for Dragonkin. His sister found a few friends there and even a boyfriend, a large, athletic Dragonkin with black scales. Of course, she was so nice that she tried to find him a girlfriend among her stupid friends, and when he wasn't interested in any of them, she happily wanted to set him up with her boyfriend's brother... Too bad. Although, of course, she didn't know the truth.

"You know, this game is also offensive to dwarves. All collectibles are beer or mead, you fight by throwing axes, and you also get lives for collecting coins." Lasha said, baring her fangs. He scowled at her.

"Dwarves like beer, mead and axes. It's an element of their culture. And it's not just dwarves who like gold." he explained to his sister as if he were explaining to someone not a year but ten years younger.

"This perpetuates offensive stereotypes about greedy and perpetually drunk dwarves. This is very offensive. And let's not forget about trampling the kobolds. This is a game for speciesists." his sister giggled.

"You're mean, just leave me alone." he turned around and crouched down so that his sister couldn't see what he was doing. "Go coo with your fiancé."

Lasha snorted and left, although he knew he had to be very careful because she was terribly nosy, he had to be on his guard.

For the hundredth time that day he tried to enter the Book of Faces. Of course, he failed. It was irritating at first, they hadn't been able to connect to the internet during their entire stay at camp, so he thought he'd be able to connect while driving to the spaceport, but so far he hadn't achieved anything. He really wanted to talk to his friends. Shiren Kitikie, Kobold Zuruk and Lashunti Grome. They were a close-knit group that played RPGs and computer games together and created the largest Rainbow Scales fan club on the planet, although he didn't boast about it. Being a fan of a cartoon about princesses transforming into a giant five-headed dragon named Tiamat wasn't something to be proud of. If his sister found out about it, she probably wouldn't let him live. After all she recently talked about a law banning magic and technology than can change someone species, because this is the essence of speciesism, at least for people like her. Not to mention that the rainbow five-headed dragon might offend her personally.

There was, of course, another reason why he was so eager to enter the Book of Faces. Silien. She had only joined their class a year ago, but half the school had a crush on her, or almost all the humanoids…. And he. She was a beautiful elf with silver hair that flowed in the wind, shining like moonlight reflected in raindrops. She was wonderful, phenomenal, like a fey from the first world. She was nice to everyone, even losers like them. Even though she was so beautiful, many people teased her for her unusual origins. His sister made fun of her behind her back, the old Veska of sport pushed her harder than anyone else, but the nastiest were Shiren's Pri triplets. They bullied half the school, and they were the children of the manager of a local supermarket belonging to Aspis and an activist of the Public Health Party, so they were practically unpunishable. A month ago, they surrounded Silien and wanted to smear engine oil on her head, but he was nearby and defended her. He threatened them that he would breathe fire on them, and then they got scared and left them alone. Silien then hugged him and told him that he had acted like a real hero. He had never felt so happy... Of course, then he ended up in the principal's office because the triplets lied that it was he and the elf who attacked them for speciesistic reasons, shouting anti- insectoid slogans. Complete nonsense, because his best friend was Shiren , he even invited him to all holidays, but the director believed the triplets because his wife worked in the Aspis store and he was afraid that she would lose her job. At home, of course, his parents made a fuss about him, because as a Dragonkin he should behave responsibly. By scaring others with his fiery breath, he harmed the image of the entire species. He ruined the reputation of all the other Dragonkins! At first, they wanted to enroll him in therapy for aggression and antisocial behavior, but his sister came up with this camp so that they could go there together. The camp wasn't that bad, although of course he was terribly bored there. However, before leaving, Silien added him as a friend on Book of Faces and even talked to him, so he decided it was worth it. Of course, he wasn't going to tell the beautiful elf how he felt, and the very thought that Lasha would find out who he fell in love with made his tail stiffen with horror... If his parents found out that he liked Elf girl... He remembered the story of his uncle Karharoth . Of his closest relatives, only Aunt Xinamey and her wife Taler spoke to him, but dad and mom pretended he didn't exist.

His sister was clearly getting bored, so she was about to start teasing him again. He looked out the window and saw that they had stopped in, there were traffic jams. He decided to go out and play since he couldn't talk to his friends. It must have slipped past his private Cerberus. As soon as he stood up, Lasha raised her head and asked, baring her fangs.

"And you, little brother, where are you going?"

He took a deep breath to calm himself down and said

"And I'm going to get some fresh air" he replied, not hiding his irritation.

"Oh, that's good, little brother. Very good. I just hope you play your stupid speciesistjc games." Lasha said in an innocent voice.

"I will do whatever I like! I'm the older one and I'm supposed to take care of you. That's what my parents said."

His sister looked at him skeptically.

"If you want, play." she said with false sweetness. "But if you don't make it in time because you'll play, you'll have to run after the bus... Although it might be good for you."

He straightened up, angry.

"What are you insinuating!" he growled, and his sister smiled like a snake at a chick.

"You know, I guess that would be the only way to get you to run, which would be good for your fitness. Although if the swarm attacks, it won't be of much use, because the fat guys die first because they stay behind. But you know, then you'll finally become a hero, because when the bugs eat you, they'll get so fed up that they'll fly away, leaving us alone. Hooray." she giggled.

He looked at Lasha, breathing heavily. He wanted to hit her or yell at her, but he just huffed hard and started to leave.

"I'm sorry, Mati. There will be no Captain Rocket today, maybe I'll play something of ours for you? Maybe Shi and Shu?" Lilka said to her brother while looking through their not very large collection of films. Now it was noon, the time when Mati watched cartoons while dad cooked dinner and mom worked on the farm or vice versa. When her older brother Kay went into the army because the bugs were around the planet, it was up to her to take care of her little brother. She was almost an adult, twelve years old, and could help her parents with almost everything. And now that the school was closed anyway, she had nothing to do. Only there was no television, so she had to come up with some way to take care of him and relieve the burden on her parents. So she found her favorite cartoon, about two friends: Goblin and Shiren, who went back in time to the lost Golarion and experienced strange adventures there. It was a wiser story than Captain Rocket, but Mati really liked Captain Rocket, even though it wasn't for kids his age. She looked at her little brother. He was three years old and his parents adopted him two years ago. She was very happy that she found out that she was going to have a new little brother and she loved taking care of him, although when she had school she couldn't devote much time to him, but now, when there were something like holidays, she could be his beloved sister all the time.

Mati grimaced when it turned out that it was not his favorite fairy tale, but when Brong the Strong appeared on the screen he started laughing. It was strange, when she was little, she was very afraid of Brong when he roared and threatened Shu that he would make shrimp soup out of her. Then it turned out that he had a good heart and made friends with girls, but she still had nightmares, although she didn't tell her parents about it because they would forbid her from watching her favorite cartoon.

While her little brother was busy watching the series, she went to the kitchen to help her dad. He told her to peel patatos to make colorful fries. My parents didn't make them often because they were fatty and difficult to digest, but they, She, Mati and Kay, loved them. Dad looked very worried, but he tried hard to hide it. She probably guessed what was making him sad.

"Dad, you don't have to worry. Kay and the other soldiers will be fine. They're just stupid bugs." She said to her dad and he hugged her.

"You are wonderful, daughter. Now go help mommy and tell her dinner will be soon. You can't reheat raimbow fries."

She nodded and went outside. She passed the farm buildings and looked around at her family's fields. It would be harvest time soon and there would be a lot of work ahead of them, especially since with everything going on with the Swarm, few farm workers were willing to work. Her parents were very worried about this. They even considered buying agricultural robots, but dad said that in Kesler the robots were very expensive and they would have to take out a loan, and now no one wanted to give it to them. But it wasn't a problem, she would help them, there was nothing to worry about.

She went to the orchard where the pearaples grew and picked one. They were practically ripe. As soon as the harvest begins, they will make a tart and eat it every day for a month. She ate one more fruit and started looking for her mother. Then she heard a dull bang. She looked at the sky, cloudless and blue. Then she saw lots of flashes on it. They were colorful and bright. Quite nice, but she had the impression that it was something bad...

The birds came. There were thousands of them, whole swarms. She saw every species she knew and plenty she couldn't recognize. There were even Skrats who were now raising chicks, they even took care of one nest with their dad. Now they were all flying west as if something was chasing them.

"Hey, come back for the chicks! During the day I can take care of them, but when it gets dark I have to be at home and now I help my parents take care of my little brother!" she called to the birds, hoping that the pair would hear her. For several minutes she watched the birds fly away, feeling increasingly anxious. Finally they disappeared over the horizon, and then there was silence. Absolute and deafening. Then she felt herself break into a cold sweat of horror.

"It all makes no sense! " Itel exclaimed and kicked the pine cone angrily. She hated her family, her village and her parents. And the fact that she had six mothers and five fathers and thirteen brothers and sisters meant that she had a lot of people to hate. Only now they closed the school and she had to live in this village all the time. Normally, she only came back here on weekends, and the rest of the week she spent studying at the boarding school, studying with normal kids. Only during holidays and celebrations, or at times like this, did she return home, where, of course, she immediately had to deal with skinning fish, chopping wood, or picking forest fruits, as if they didn't care at all about the education she was getting. She felt like she was in a damn open-air museum. Her family came to the great forests of Kesler to "Recreate the traditional lifestyle of the Wood Elves". Did they want to play full-time reenactors? Okay, but why did they involve their descendants in this, depriving them of a chance for a normal future? They taught her how to track, fish, repair shoes, everything she needed to survive in the forest. Only normal residents of Kesler could go to the store and buy these things, spending the rest of their time on worthwhile activities. But not they. They couldn't afford anything because, well, they lived in the forest and played self-sufficiency. And she had to be that poor girl from the forest in the whole school, who had to earn extra money after school to buy things that everyone's parents bought for their children. She was worse than the kids from the slums, because they were city kids. Goodfellas.

And she should be happy anyway, because she was allowed to go to the city. All the households contributed to the education of her and her sister of name, i.e. one to whom she was not related by blod, but lived in the same household, to become a doctor and a veterinarian. Even her future was taken away from her. But she had no intention of complying with their plans. She won't become a doctor. She dreamed of a dance school, but she knew that learning was expensive, so she decided to join the army or become a mercenary. These were the only professions performed by "civilized" people in which the skills she had been taught at home would be useful. And the fact that her family were pacifists, although not radical, because they taught her to fight in self-defense, only confirmed her belief that she had made the right choice. But of course that idiot sister of hers spilled the beans... She shouldn't have confided her plans to that treacherous bitch. When she found out about it, she beat the idiot.

The worst thing was that they didn't even punish her, they just looked at her, not even judgmentally, but with sadness, as if they felt sorry for her. So today at noon she went to her blood father Thisolin, her true father. Why couldn't she have a normal family like her friend Viz , the elf, the most handsome in class, whom she had a crush on. He had two fathers, lawyers, a normal family, instead of a damn commune.

She had recently concluded that Thisolin was the only sane person in the entire settlement. And the only one she talked to of her own free will. He wasn't born here, he just arrived twenty years ago, which explained why he wasn't fooled by the idiotic customs here. He used to be a soldier and was now the village's chief gunsmith. He lived on the outskirts, supposedly because he dealt in hazardous materials, but she suspected it was because he didn't get along with the rest of the settlement. He was a soldier, someone who did useful things. He defended others instead of hiding in the forest like a coward.

His house and workshop were built of real brick and stood near the river, in case a fire broke out... Were they really so stupid as to believe that someone like that would allow a fire to start in his own workshop? She always liked staying in this house, it was a substitute for normal life for her, without being stuck in a wooden hut. However, Thisolin was not inside, so she approached the small dock. She expected to find him grooming the fish, but it turned out he was listening to the radio. Here was the best coverage. When he saw her, he turned off the radio and looked at her with the same concern as the others. She looked down, feeling irrationally guilty. He shouldn't behave like the rest. They stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other, until she asked.

"Are you listening to the news about the war against the Swarm?

"Yes and no." he said, making her purse her lips in irritation. At school, everyone made fun of elves because they wouldn't give a normal answer even when asked how much is two times two. Seeing her reaction, he explained.

TA Swarm is not an enemy you can wage war against, just like you can't wage war against a locust plague or a zombie invasion. Although a better comparison would be a hurricane or even a supernova explosion. You can try to limit the damage, but there is no adversary, no leader to oppose, with whom to negotiate peace."

She frowned

"But you never fought the Swarm, in your times we hardly even knew about it."

Thisolin smiled at her sadly,

"We are not as ignorant as you want us to be, Itel. We are not deaf to the news coming from the great world. We even made some preparations." he said. She felt anxious. She wanted to ask him what he meant, but then falling stars appeared in the sky. Although not entirely. They were brighter and fell much slower… and much closer.

"Itel, get into the boat and go with the current. I run to inform the others." said Thisolin . It was the first time she had seen him absolutely terrified.

"But... what's going on." she asked

"Do what I say!" he shouted at her. For the first time, someone from the settlement raised their voice at her. So she decided to listen to him without arguing. She jumped into the boat moored nearby. Thisolin walked up to her and tossed her two items. One was a heavy revolver and the other was a long knife.

"How you'll have to be strong. You'll have to be brave. You will have to fight with all the strength you have." and pushed the boat away.

B-nation sighed as she listed all her faults that made her fall so badly that she was assigned to this senseless mission. Her task was to collect as many credits as possible from those who wanted to leave the planet on their own, without counting on rescue from the governments of Kesler or Atrax. The problem was that she didn't own a ship, or even anything that suggested she did. Normally this wouldn't be too much of a problem, she'd just find a few desperate hapless suckers and then leave them for dead. It's sad and mean, but when you're one of the Thousand Daughters, you have to be willing to commit the worst crimes or die, there were no other options. This time, however, the situation was more complicated because she had to leave the planet on the same ship, otherwise she would be trapped here in the turmoil of war... at best. She had no knowledge of warfare and the mood was optimistic, but she had a bad feeling. But where the fuck could he find a free ship when everyone who could afford it was trying to escape from this planet cursed by devils and demons. However, she had an idea. So she went to a bar run by a former mercenary called Zrikar , a fearsome Vesk, belligerent even for a member of his species.

The interior was crowded and noisy as if nothing had happened. Well, the local customers were mostly veterans of many wars. They were not easy to break or scare. A beautiful topless half-elf woman approached her, apparently her "family's" preferences were well known here, but she paid no attention to it. She was a professional, and unlike most of her sisters, she was able to control her urges… usually…

"Take me to the boss." she ordered and the girl nodded. For a while, they walked among the noisily partying patrons of the bar. Erotic dancers of various genders and species danced, while Ork metal, Shirean pop and Skittermander rap could be heard in the background . The boss sat in a dusty armchair, and next to him sat two voluptuous and armed Ramiel women, half women, half snakes... They looked like sisters, but she wasn't sure.

"Znikar , we need to talk." she said, but Vesk interrupted her with a growl.

"NO!" she heard and the lizard showed its fangs in an extremely nasty smile.

"But I need a ship." she said, silently praying to the mother of rats that no one would hear the desperation in her voice.

"Like everyone else on this planet, but there are no ships anywhere, and even if I had the entire fucking armada of the Aspis consortium, there would be no room for you there. I no longer do business with the Thousand Daughters, and you are even a pariah among your own people. Jantar has forbidden your sisters and anyone who does not want to make an enemy of him from helping you in any way. Goodbye."

She felt her legs go weak under her. She had known since she was given this mission that she was expected to fail, but she had no idea that things had come this far. She was at the age when the serum slowly wore off. She was also widely respected among the sisters, and apparently her father decided that she should be eliminated as a preventive measure, and this way his hands would be clean, at least in his opinion. But she couldn't let the bugs eat her or Taint kill her. She was about to reach for her gun when she heard a hoarse voice behind her.

"I also need a ship and you will give it to me."

She turned around and saw a fierce-looking Pahtra with black, slightly gray fur, golden eyes, and a screech covered in scars. He had a rifle on his back and a serrated kukri on his belt. Next to him stood a huge orc with a body covered with numerous tattoos. His attire indicated that he belonged to those orcs who wanted to recreate the ancient culture of their species. Significantly, he looked much nicer than his companion. He was armed with a huge two-handed axe. At the sight of them, Znikar jumped to his feet.

"Igzar, you psycho. How did you end up here?" Vesk growled.

"Ship…" Igzar replied, and then there was silence. Their two groups stared at each other for a few moments. It was obvious which side he would choose, but it was not certain whether that side would agree. And then the light went out. She immediately jumped to the side, firing her pistol at the snake woman, and Pachtra shot her companion, and at the same time the orc leapt with his flaming ax and cut Vesk in half. The enemies even managed to shoot. Igzar approached Znikar's corpse and began to search it.

"What is your name?" The orc asked in a friendly voice.

"I'm B-nation number..." she started, but the ax warrior interrupted her.

"Too long, you'll be Bina. Hi Bina, I'm Wagar." said the Orc, smiling friendly. Meanwhile, Igzar stood up and turned to her.

"Are you going with us." it sounded like an order that was best not to be disobeyed.

"Aren't you afraid that you will make an enemy of Jantar? – she asked, smiling teasingly, but the pahtra's eyes glowed gold.

"Jantar made a mortal enemy of me by allying with Felix Antares ." there was such terrible hatred in his voice that it would scare even Daemons .

Alatar stepped out of the large bus designed to carry Dragonkins. There was a traffic jam as far as the eye could see, so he assumed he wouldn't get any rest for the next few hours. And that's good, at least he'll be able to play in peace without the nasty wyvern squawking in his ear. He went to the side of the road, ate a bacon bar, bought a lot at the previous store because they were forbidden at the camp, and turned on the game. He was happy when he defeated another dragon in the seventh castle. He deliberately didn't read about her on the infonet to avoid spoilers, so he was sure it was the last level, but of course at the end there was another princess's maid, this time a high elf, who told him that the princess was in the next castle, he almost threw the datapad to the ground, smashing it. He took a deep breath. He wanted to calm down and de-stress after the "Smart" conversation with his sister, but he got even more angry. He looked up at the sky and suddenly saw countless flashes in the sky. They were colorful and chaotic. Only after a few moments of looking at this beautiful sight did he realize what he was looking at. "Space battle, real space battle. ' he thought unconsciously. Soon the flares began to fade and he saw numerous fiery trails of ships entering the atmosphere. "It's an invasion, a real invasion," he thought. The planetary defenses continued to fire and one of the ships was hit and broke into dozens of fragments. He shouted happily, but then he saw a fragment of a destroyed vehicle flying towards them at great speed. For a moment he thought it would hit him, but instead it hit the bus containing his sister and the other Dragonkin from the camp. He stared blankly at the burning wreck for a moment, and then headed towards the city. "What will I tell the family? I was supposed to take care of her" he thought all the way.

Lilka ran in terror, looking for her mother. Something terrible was happening, and only she could do something about it. She heard the animal's mournful cry and ran towards it. She walked through the bushes and saw her mother and Mr. Tut, Shiren, who had been living on their farm for many years and working for her family. Mom had a shotgun in her hands, and Mr. Tut had an electric scythe. In front of them stood an insect resembling a large and monstrous Shiren with huge jaws dripping with green slime. Next she saw two Cowpotamas, they looked half - dissolved. Mr. Tut and Mom also looked burned.

"Tut, take Lilka to the car and drive as far away from here as possible." her mother ordered him, but Lilka wanted to run to an ax stuck in a nearby stump. But Mr. Tut grabbed her by the waist and started to pull her away.

"MOM" she shouted, but her mother ordered again with a breaking voice

"Just run away!"

This time she didn't resist anymore, she just let Mr. Tut pull her . She immediately heard a gunshot and then a strangled scream. She started crying, but started running with Shiren . After a few unbearably long moments, they reached the family pickup truck and drove away. She never saw the house, Dad or little Mati again.