It is an epic scene of a battle. Grey skies and dark clouds form above. There is nothing but bodies, both human and Reptilian, stacked up on the barren land, while soldiers fight with swords and laser guns in combat. The crows are swarming over the black soil and the smell of putrid flesh is in the air, as well as the smell of steel and sweat.
Chief Sergeant Major Bryan Orion, or Icee as he is called, wakes up horrified in a real life nightmare. He is lying on the battle field, aching and rigid, starring up at the dark heavens. His face and hands are fresh with blood and scars, and sting like hell. Bryan can faintly hear the grunts, gun fire, and clanging metal of war adjoining him. The explosion from the grenade that scarred his face, the left side of his torso, and hands temporarily made him partially deaf. Orion’s vision began to get blurry while trying to lift his head up to check out his surroundings; his tear ducts are filled with blood and sweat—making it hard to make out what was going on around him. The sounds that he did hear told him that he was still on the battlefield—still alive.
Orion, struggling, turned his head to the left; where he was face to face with a dead, seven foot, winged Reptilian—a warrior that Icee had killed with his sword before a grenade was thrown close to him, causing the damaging explosion. He took out his dagger, with the faint bit of strength he had, and stabbed the guy in both of his hearts through the cavity which Orion had previously dug into the Reptilian warrior’s chest, to make certain that he was dead.
It was okay to rest and be vulnerable now, at least for a few moments, so that he could evaluate his wounds and gain his energy back. With the little bit of energy left in his body, Icee touched his face with a shaking hand to discover that his face was covered in blood and his left eye, and the skin surrounding it, was barely attached to his face. He clenched his teeth at the stinging that his dirty, bloody hands gave as he touched his wounds. Bryan was not dead, but he was really messed up. If he was not wearing his Intergalactic Human Federation compression armor suit, he would be dead from the detonation of the grenade. The suit he was wearing is torn and shredded to bits, but it was still functioning enough to bring his vitals back to normal and keep him somewhat stable.
Bryan started to feel numb. He could not feel anything from the waist down. His lips trembled as he was fighting to stay conscious. Bryan was losing too much blood and was starting to black out again. He was at the end of the road. He had lived a hard life anyway, and part of him just wanted to let go. But Icee had always been a fighter. He was adopted as a baby by Sirian arms dealers, and beaten by his alcoholic father on an almost daily basis. There was never a time of peace in his life, and rarely a chance for him to let his guard down. Growing up hard had left him broken and cold, hence the moniker “Icee,” given to him when he first started out in the family hustle dealing illegal weapons as a twelve year-old.
Icee’s life was flashing before his eyes as his body began to feel lighter and disembodied. He saw his old neighborhood in the inner city of Tmu, Hutankten Planet, of the Sirius star system. He saw everyone from back home, followed by Lana, is daughter’s mother, and his daughter, Ariya—his heart. And April Moon, the love of his life, it had been almost two years since he had seen her, but not a day has passed by that he hadn’t thought about her. Bryan could not deny that he was still in love with her, and would be forever. She had made him feel again—melted his cold heart. As he lay dying, he prayed that The Source God would let him see her again. Their love was so passionate and brief that it had hardly seemed fair, but that was how Bryan’s life was—unfair.
Tears started to stream down his face, stinging and burning his torn skin and eyes from the wounds and scars, as he thought about April and his promise that he would come back to her. He was letting her down if he died, pitifully, on the battlefield like this—in a battle that he was not even supposed to be in. It was his love for his daughter and April that was keeping his body animated this long. The pain was beginning to be unbearable and Bryan’s ears were ringing from the laser gunshots whizzing past him from a fight a few yards away. He was holding on, but it was beginning to feel impossible.
Just when he could not hold on any longer, he could feel a presence—like something was approaching him—and tilted his chin up with every fiber of his being to see what was coming. Bryan could see the glint of gold in the dim, clouded sun and a long, flowing ivory dress. It was the ghostly figure of a woman calmly walking through the battlefield. Her dress was A-line and sheer with white angel wings split down the middle, covering her breast and over her shoulders. Gold was wrapped around her neck and wrists, adorning her beautiful, bronze skin. When he saw the kinky, curly hair blowing in the wind, he knew that it was April.
Bryan assumed that he was hallucinating before dying. He closed his eyes shut, but for fear of actually dying, he quickly opened them, and she was still there. She strode closer to him and stopped a yard away, looking at him compassionately. “You can’t leave me just yet,” she said. “I need you, my love.” She then walked closer and touched his suit where his heart was. He could feel his cold flesh begin to feel warm. When the pain went away and he could feel his legs again, April kissed his lips, and just as she appeared she walked away.
Feeling rejuvenated, Bryan jumped up to follow her, reaching out for her hand trailing in the wind, but it went black behind his eyes and his legs gave out as he fainted. He panted consumed by anger, fear, and undying love for his woman. His world stopped. The battle continued around him and soon the field was empty of the living.
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Jaaz sat at her desk, pounding away at her holo-computer—her clawed, reptilian fingers moving feverishly. Her advanced studies paper for quantum physics was due in mere hours and of course she had procrastinated so long, as usual, to the point where she was just starting on the paper that morning. She was in advanced studies for medical school to become a doctor in the Darko Army.
Jaaz was a commander in the Xem Reptilian Army, but as a female that was the highest that she was going to get as an officer. The highest job a female Reptilian could get was a doctor in the Darko army, and being the overachiever that she was, Jaaz was going to reach the top by any means. Once at the top, she then could find a way to break the glass ceiling for females and actually become a Darko warrior—which in all of history have been all male and mostly of the Dragonian race.
Kitnah, Jaaz’s mother, burst through her bedroom door without knocking. She was panting and covered in red and green blood on her smock. “We’ve got a live one,” she said breathless. Jaaz knew exactly what she meant; Kitnah had found a live human whom was left for dead on the battlefield. Kitnah worked clearing the battlefield and assisting in other types of medical clean-ups for Darko Corporation. She enjoyed her job only when she found the living—Reptilian or Human—with a chance to be helped. It also helped her daughter, Jaaz, practice her medical skills on both Reptilians and humans. Kitnah had always taught her daughters to be tolerant of all life forms, and to shun the racism that the Darko preached. She believed that humans were just like them and deserved to be treated as such, not just as slaves or a source for exotic food. Kitnah had met some nice humans while working as a medical assistant, and believed that The Source would repay her one day for her kindness.
Jaaz followed Kitnah to the basement were they kept the medical equipment. There was a young man sloppily stretched out on the examiner’s table. Jaaz flipped on a light switch and the man’s brown fingers twitched, yielding animation in the rest of his body. He arched his back and slid up on the table properly. The human grimaced and groaned with every movement, then fell limp.
Moving the overhead light on the human’s face, Jaaz could see the damage to his left eye. She sighed, “Momma, I need to do surgery to save his eye. Get the restraints.”
Hearing this, Bryan opened his good eye and began to struggle to get away. He saw the two tall, terracotta-skinned lizards and screamed in horror. The women were too strong for him and strapped down his arms and legs on both sides. Jaaz pulled out a scalpel, while Kitnah tightened a strap around his forehead.
“We are not going to eat you, if that’s what you think. We are here to help, human,” Jaaz said flatly.
