The Falaalian War

Chapter 2

I scratched a tally mark into the wall with my overgrown fingernail. As it has been five months since I have been put into this cell and I needed something to mark track of time.

"Food Shaali," a guard said, in front of the lasers.

I glared at him as he slipped the tray of the wretched smelling, rotting food underneath the lasers. I picked it up, trying not to gag and walked towards the far end of the room. The guard watched me lean against the wall and start to eat the food while my eyes watered from the stench alone, before walking away. I spat out the food and I remained silent until I heard the last of the guard's footsteps. 

"Human, you awake?" I asked, hoping for an answer this time.

"What do you want," the human replied groggily.

"Why are you here?" I leaned against the wall, glad I didn't have to live in silence.

The human didn't reply for several moments and I sank to the floor, disappointed.

"I raided one of your ships, I'm a pirate," she replied at last.

I smiled at this, "Pirate? And you call me a traitor."

"At least I am loyal to my crew. You are loyal to no one," she snapped at me.

"Good point," I replied and crossed my arms, waiting for her to respond.

"What exactly do you want?" she asked me.

"What else could I want? I want power over the Falaalian Empire," I responded.

"Of course. That's the only thing one-"

"And, abolish slavery of your kind and mine," I said and smiled when I could picture her surprised face.

"You're... kidding?" she asked.

"Nope. It's true. I hate slavery and I wish to see it gone. But that's not the only reason," I said and tapped my finger against the wall, looking for weaknesses in the steel.

The human was quiet after this and I sighed. I picked up a fork from the previous disgusting meal and stabbed the wall. The wall cracked slightly, but I would have to do this about thirty thousand more times. I threw the now bent fork to the floor. My eyelids began to fall and I quickly fell asleep, while leaning against the wall.

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The next month...

I awoke with a strange fizzing noise coming from the left of the room. I looked towards it and a gas (for what I assumed was cooling) covered the door. I shielded my eyes with my arms and when I felt the chilling gas dissipate, I lowered my arms. I faced the door and the lasers had disappeared. I noticed two humans, one female, and the other male. I recognized the female human as the one who used to inhabit the cell next to mine.

"Shaali, are you willing to fight?" the male human asked.

I nodded, "Of course."

"Then come with us," he replied.

They ran down the hall without another word. I blinked a few times, trying to piece together what just happened. I covered my mouth as I saw the same guard from before, lying on the ground with a massive hole in the side of his head. I picked up the red-stained rifle and quickly stepped around the corpse. I started to walk down the hall, eventually angry began to fuel every one of my steps, as a result; they grew faster.

I reached a guard that the others haven't touched and I put the barrel of the rifle to the back of his head. My hands shook as I tried pulling the trigger, but I couldn't do it. My conscious was too strong. I hit him with the butt of the rifle and kicked him in the chest. I breathed heavily as I waited for his chest to rise and fall, making sure he was alive. My hands left the rifle and it dropped to the floor, I picked up the pistol attached to the guard's belt. I maneuvered it closely to the metal ring that was fitted around my waist and it snapped to the metal. I picked up the rifle and stepped over the guard, before continuing my journey down the hall.

It wasn't long before I reached the main row of turrets, I looked towards the east end of the row and to the west end. At the east end, I saw several Falaalians, Humans and others races I couldn't identify. They had severely low-tech weapons but by only the vast amount of them, I knew who was going to win. I pressed my back against the wall and moved my head around the corner. Several Falaalian officers had taken positions behind corners and crates containing ammo for the turrets. I quickly remembered the other settings on the rifle, as I had been more used to manning a turret. I flicked a small plastic switch on the stock of the rifle. It made a buzzing noise and I assumed that was the stun feature. I took aim at one of the Falaalians and as soon as the barrel reached his head, I fired and a ball of lightning was flung at him. 

When it made contact, the Falaalians eyes widened as he dropped his rifle and collapsed to the floor. His body began twitching and at the same time; the other officers turned their attention to me. I ducked behind the corner and grimaced, as I heard what I assumed an officer getting blown to bits by a plasma weapon. I turned around and as the others forgot about me, I saw a red puddle on the ground. I dared not to look at the walls as I quickly took aim at the nearest officer. He turned towards me and shot a bullet into my shoulder, everything seemed to go a hundred times slower as my eyes widened, when the bullet made contact with the top of my acromion (or the bone at the end of my collar bone) the bullet exploded and I was knocked back into a wall. The air escaped my lungs, at the same time my eyelids fluttered before they closed, the pain releasing me of my consciousness.

(Author's note: two things. First off, I am sorry for the late update, I had other things to deal with, so inevitably, I delayed the update. After this, I hope to update every Tuesday and Friday. Secondly, I apologize for the short chapter, but I feel that this was a good stopping point.)