The Rebel Faction

As he marched, quickly as was the norm for Clive foot soldiers, back towards their base, his mind was yet again adjusting to the problem of figuring a way to get rid of their president. Knowing something had to be done was one of the only reasons that made his mind work towards the goal at hand. There was also the knowing that someone out there besides him had to feel the same way. His orange fur rippled as he walked, an easy sign to those around him that he was thinking. One of his friends, a fellow warrior but of lower rank, noticed from beside him.

“Nyong hat kar?”{What is it?}

“Dra nyat qree ya’ta da ketre zrad da carn Derence?” {Have you ever thought of getting rid of the president?}

“Zar nyat clat?”{Are you crazy?}

“Linign.”{Possibly.}

“Zar nyat cla?”{Are you serious?}

“Ya.”{Yes.}

Ripples of thought passed over the other warrior’s black and gray fur. Al’Natar could only hope that his friend felt the same way as him. If not, he would surely get in trouble for even thinking about doing what he was thinking about doing. It was bad enough he had asked his fellow warrior. Slowly, the ripples settled down on the other Clive’s body and he turned to face him once more. For a few moments, Al’Natar thought the warrior was going to turn him in for planning to get rid of the president.

“Er dra ya’ta da kar. Le hat sa bren da dreden.”{I have thought of it. He is a menace to society.}

“Zar nyat crene fo herod ne ser nun da dim?”{Are you willing to help me get rid of him?}

“Ya. Nyong fer nyat dra na bene?”{Yes. What did you have in mind?}

The Clive were not like the rest of the galaxy. They also, to be realistic on the issue, didn’t know there was a rest of the galaxy. Although they were well off in the area of space exploration, being located in the unexplored territory meant that the only people they knew of were those that came in contact with them. For instance, the lizardfish. They had been, and still were, the only people to come across the home world of the Clive. Something that Al’Natar was glad of. Should more people come, things would get a lot more hectic and he doubted his plans would go through.

Slowing down to a more normal pace, he lifted to his hind legs again and walked slowly down the street towards his housing complex. The children and their mother were supposed to be home from the park at about the same time he got back. The Clive were not afraid of the lizardfish. Hence the fact that most people went about their normal business while a war was going on. No one thought much of the blue-skinned aliens from some far off-planet. They just weren’t scary.

His son, an aspiring warrior himself, would soon be of age to join the military academy and receive his training. The younger Demovich had a lot to look forward to. His father, Al’Natar himself, was widely known as one of the best warriors in the Clive armed forces. No one had, as of yet, beaten him in battle. Al’Natar intended to keep it that way. Walking into his housing complex, he grabbed hold of the mobile pole while standing on a platform moving up. The platforms ascended to the top and back continuously.

He stepped off at his level and walked down the hall a little ways. A few of the neighbors little ones were playing out in the hall and he took the time to give them a gentle scratch behind the ears before walking off again. His own door stood open and the sounds of cleaning could be heard from the inside. Apparently his family had returned a bit early from the park and had decided to do some cleaning. As he entered the room, he smiled at his daughter and her friend who were playing with their dolls like usual.

“Nah gut. Nyat zar har, Al’Natar.”{Ah good. You are here, Al’Natar.}

Al’Natar embraced his mate as she stepped out of one of the side rooms and she returned it with simple elegance. His son exited a room down the hall as he heard his mother say his father’s name. The boy loved to hear his stories and he knew that his mother would ask about his day almost as soon as he got home.

“Don vas carn battal?”{How was the battle?}

Hours Later in the Neighboring City

Al’Natar walked the long stretch of pavement, pushing through several thousand people as he did so. He had traveled forty miles to get to this city, which, consequently, was the closest one to his own. It had taken him a mere hour to get there on foot. Or, on all fours was most likely the best term. His species had always been fast when it came to running distance. Though they did not know why. They never ran from fights, so their ability seemed kind of pointless. Racing was a fun past time though. It was always fun to beat those athletes.

His purpose for moving between cities was in all actuality quite simple to those that knew it. In order for him and his friends inside the military to overthrow the current government, they first had to recruit people with the right abilities to help them. They would need pilots, soldiers, scientists, spies, and leaders. Not to mention they needed people to secretly house them while they were working on their plans. It seemed like a load, but Al’Natar felt confident that he would be able to make it all come out all right in the end.

Ar’Cree, his longtime friend and fellow soldier, had set them up with a secretive meeting place underground here. Whether this meeting would prove fruitful or not was beyond him. His doubts were high, but so were his hopes. Anything was possible for someone who was determined enough to do what was necessary. Al’Natar was definitely in that category of people. He could do anything if he really wanted to and he believed that. As he walked, he noticed people staring the way he had come from.

“Nyong zar nyat glen neven cla?”{What are you all staring at?}

One of the people in the crowd that pressed into the street pointed and Al’Natar turned to look. The sight that his eyes beheld turned his stomach to ash and his heart to dust. In the approximate location of the city he called home was a huge fireball and mushroom shaped cloud. The president had somehow found out his plans and had nuked the city, hoping to catch Al’Natar in the process. He would pass it off for a reactor failure at the power plant, but nonetheless, all was destroyed. Al’Natar fell to the ground and cried.

The Road to the Capital

The thing that made his people different was that unless you knew someone really well, you couldn't pick them out of a crowd. Ar'Cree's dark fur was common. As he walked along the path to the capital city(running was not allowed on this road because it was dangerous for the dignitaries), he passed a multitude of people that could have easily been mistaken for his one time friend. Al'Natar knew his old friends color patterns, however, and could tell that none of the Clive he passed were the person he sought.

There were many warriors on the road, some still going home from the war, others heading out to man their posts. Al'Natar didn't look out of position while walking along the road. Even the wounds on his shoulder would seem normal with the rest of the warriors he had fought with walking the road. His saber-staff was still clipped to his belt and he had every intention of using it again until the current government was overthrown and a new one, one with a strong and capable leader, was put into place. He still did not know who would be the one to take power. He wouldn't do it, and he had yet to decide who would.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of white light. When he turned to look there was nothing there. A prickly sensation suddenly overcame him and he turned around to continue walking. He froze immediately. The road was completely empty. All of the people that had just been on the road were gone. Disappeared. Vanished into thin air. The fur on his body suddenly began to ripple furiously because he had a really bad feeling. The prickling sensation returned again.

The next thing he knew he was stading in a completely white room devoid of any decorations. In front of him was a single seat. It was empty at the moment but he didn't like it. His orange fur continued to ripple as he looked around to see if he was going to be attacked. The white light returned again and the seat was suddenly occupied by a strange looking creature. Al'Natar grabbed his saber-staff and extended it. The alien simply raised a hand and spoke.

"Hold, friend. I mean you no harm."

He was wary, but Al'Natar felt that this alien meant what he said. Lowering his weapon, he deactivated it and clipped it back to his belt. This little alien was hard to describe. It was short in stature, had grayish skin, two large eyes occupied its head, and it had a very small mouth. He wondered what exactly it was. More importantly, he wondered how he knew what it was saying.

"Don xal er donden nyat?" {How can I understand you?}

"Because we wish it to be so. What we want to do, we do. It's as simple as that."

"Xen wan er har? Wenar hat har?" {Why am I here? Where is here?}

"This is the ship Origin. You are here because we took you from your home a thousand years ago and froze you cryogenically. You have just been unthawed. You probably wonder why we did this. Reason 1: We knew your race was going to destroy itself. Reason 2: You held promise of helping the galaxy in this time period. You are the last of your people."

The alien motioned to a view screen that appeared from the floor of the ship. Al'Natar watched as his home city was destroyed. He watched as Ar'Cree overthrew the government and installed himself as the new leader. He saw the uprising come, the nuclear war that followed a few years later. The last thing the view screen showed was his entire planet being destroyed. The wall behind the viewscreen suddenly became transparent and Al'Natar looked out to see large chunks of the planet floating around.

"Your people destroyed themselves and we saved you. You are the only one left. You will represent your people in this galaxy. You will be the turning point in the war to stop the Empire. At least we hope you will. Whether or not that is true all rests on YOUR shoulders."

"Mommy look at those! I want one of those!"

Jer Grey barely turned his head to glance over at the young boy walking with his mother. About 8 years old if he had to guess just going for a stroll with his mother down one of the many busy streets on Onyx. Jer was a Seargent in the local Police Force and his beat today included the Plaza San Marcos, the street on which he was currently standing.

Suddenly something strange caught his eye and he turned to focus on a strange looking alien standing in the middle of the street looking around. The alien was covered in fur with wicked looking claws and teeth. He'd never seen an alien like that before but that wasn't surprised, hundreds of different alien species visited Onyx, it was no surprise that he didn't recognize them all.

Jer started however when he saw that the alien was holding a....weapon? It was a wicked looking staff with blades on it, the other passerby's must've noticed the weapon because they were beginning to back away from the alien, pointing at the weapon in his hand. Jer jogged over to place himself between the alien and the crowd, drawing his blaster at the same time.

"Put down your weapon!" Jer shouted,pointing his blaster at the alien.