The Homecoming

Chapter 8

Leah, Roxy, Stephanie and Luca were sitting in the conference room, waiting for Mrs. Peterson to arrive. Each section was supposed to have a meeting with their custodians, because the changes were being made. Studying theory was going out of the window and tough times were ahead for the future saviors of the Earth. Spacecraft classes were going to be emphasized and it was time for some real war preparations.

No one was ready. Not even after spending almost six years on Hiatune, preparing for nothing but the mission. Leah, at least, did not feel ready. Roxy was full of doubt in herself, especially in her combat skills. Luca was scared of losing his friends in the battle. Stephanie was wondering why she was chosen for the mission, imagining her delicate light skin covered in battle scars and her genteel hands clenching the weapons. No one was truly ready to defend the humanity, no matter how many preparations they went through.

Mrs. Peterson entered the conference room. The soft thump of her heels echoed throughout the silence of the room, stopping the buzzing of everyone's thoughts. Leah looked up from her lap. Mrs. Peterson was wearing her usual, encouraging smile that complimented her usual, formal outfit. She was trying to look strong and self-assured for the future warriors, but the motherly tenderness was showing in the irises of her blue eyes. Her job was to be authoritative, especially at these times of hurried preparations. But for her, those warriors were still children, who were going to sacrifice their lives to save the rest of the humanity. And they weren't just any children, but the ones she deeply cared about.

"Hello, my dears. How was your day?" She asked, her voice cracking. She wiped her palm off her pastel pink skirt, as if she were sweating. Leah could feel her emotions as if they were her own, and understood perfectly the woman's worry. No matter how heroic it sounds to save the Earth, the opportunities, careers, experiences, friendships and every single life candy was stolen from those children when they were taken to Hiatune.

"Good." Luca answered when no one else had the energy to.

"Okay...," Mrs. Peterson mumbled as she went through a pile of papers, "The first thing we're supposed to discuss is concerned with our enemies. Does anyone here have some information about Letanians that they think is worth sharing?"

Although they were studying certain facts about them and their behavior, still not enough information was collected back then, because their Acriea galaxy was very far from Hiatune.

"They come from planet Letania, Acriea galaxy. They have good eyesight and purple skin. They're taller than most humans and distinctively muscular. They understand English amongst other galactic languages, which means we might be able to communicate with them before the battle. That's all I know so far." Roxy said.

"Elder Eudepha said that they didn't develop their own technology, but instead stole weapons like shotguns and swords from other species. He also said both their clothing and combat techniques are primitive, but that we should not turn a blind eye to their strength, regardless of their crudeness. And we're witnesses to that – they wiped out numerous alien nations in such a short amount of time." Leah added.

"Exactly." Mrs. Peterson nodded. "Well, you seem to already know a lot about them, which is good. We must know our enemies in order to defeat them. But, there is one piece of information that you should be aware of, perhaps more than anything else about them."

Leah made herself comfortable and listened intently, her mind sharp and focused.

"There is something that you've already been lectured about in the classes, but our elder Eudepha reserved a right to give us custodians an order to repeat its importance on this meeting. The same weapon codex. The thousands of years old galactic law of warcraft." Mrs. Peterson stated, speaking now more slowly to occupy every inch and every particle of their attention.

Everyone knew about the same weapon codex. It was the universal law that every galaxy respected, whenever a battle took place.

"Use the same weapon on the opponent as the opponent uses on you." Stephanie exclaimed. Leah could sense the pride in Stephanie's voice for remembering something so important in this whole mission. Leah smiled at her childishness and hoped, from the bottom of her heart, that little Stephanie was going to survive this and get her life back.

"That's right, Stephanie. And I want all of you to remember that codex, to be aware of it in every moment of the battle, because it is very sacred for alien species and it should be sacred for you. When Letanians arrive on Earth, we will have already established our military bases. They will be forced to make an agreement with us before every battle and they will have to agree with us about the weapons that are going to be used in each battle. Surprisingly, even they respect the same weapon codex, and so should you."

Leah winced at the words of Mrs. Peterson and stood up. "They respect the codex? How is that so? They killed the innocents and the unarmed."

"Yeah! Why should we respect the codex if we have the stronger weapons and they conquer every planet by spilling innocent blood?" Luca also stood up.

Mrs. Peterson calmly showed them to their seats. "I completely understand your outrage, but this is something that can help us in the battle. Maybe you won't see the point immediately, but you will eventually. If we strike a deal with them to use the same weapons against each other, that might help us be in charge. Think about it. We have built stronger weapons, and when we, for example, agree to use swords in a specific battle, our swords will definitely overtake their primitive ones. Our scientists are currently even working on poisonous swords. I have no doubts that we are coming out as winners, because we use advanced weaponry and respect the codex at the same time."

"But what if they decide not to respect the codex?" Stephanie asked.

"Or if they attack without any agreements?" Roxy joined.

"You're making good points. As I've already said, they do respect the codex when they find themselves in front of a stronger opponent. They may be savages, but they do respect the codex. We don't have much information about whether the battles were organized when they attacked those other planets or whether they attacked without showing mercy or granting them time to react. But what I do know is that they've respected the codex when they encountered the rage of one of the strongest planets in the universe, called Selea, and I don't see why we won't prove ourselves to be as strong as them. We will already be waiting for them when they arrive on Earth and our bases will be located mostly in the deserted areas, because we don't want to attract human attention and panic. Also, it's a fact that Letanians also establish their bases in the deserted areas, since they feel safer there than somewhere near the civilization. And the answer to Roxy's question is: it's possible, but we'll always be ready."

"Are we going to be split up in different locations?" Leah asked.

"Yes. Andrew Robinson is currently tracking their movement throughout the galaxies, and his colleagues are making sure to intercept their conversations, so that we can soon know which places on Earth they are targeting for attack. We are going to build our bases as near those areas as possible."

Leah sighed. As much as she wished to be enthusiastic about the mission, or trust in their ability to win like Mrs. Peterson did, it didn't seem to be enough. In fact, the more she fought to believe in her and her friends, the more she was losing hope. She still felt like a child that needed protection, not a soldier who was supposed to protect.