Earth's Last Days: The Invasion

Niki stood on the bridge, looking at the planet below them. They were cloaked, unseen by the inhabitants of the planet.

She turned to Fleet Commander Lerian. "Is the sedation cannon ready?"

"Not yet. We are still setting the targets. I think it would have been easier if we had the entire fleet. We could have surrounded the planet and pinpointed the cities all at once," he told her.

"Now you tell me," she said, groaning. Pressing a button, she spoke into a small device. "Guard Commander Drevick. Please escort Drell to the bridge."

Lerian chuckled. "I'm just happy I'm not the leader. That was a tough call. We needed to protect our own planet, yet come to this one. I'm not even sure what we would have come up with."

Niki turned to Fleet Commander Lerian. "We have too many families aboard this ship. There are no dwellings for any of them. I didn't want to chance putting them in the middle of anything if something doesn't go right."

The wide double doors slid open, preventing Niki from saying more. Drell walked in. Guard Commander Drevick was beside him.

Niki, now called Council Leader Niki by those aboard the ship, turned to Drevick and then Drell. "Drell, I need to know which city is the governing city of the masters. I think if we take out all communications on the planet and then target that city first, you and your people can take out the leaders. It might make it easier to take back the planet. Unless, of course, you choose to bring your people to safety instead." She turned her gaze back at the sphere in front of her. "I also need to know the extent of your planet's technology. That includes weapons, armor, shields; All of it."

Drell looked out at the planet below them. "I want to take over the planet. Your technology is far superior. We do not have plasma shields and cloaking devices as you do. Our weapons are blasters, knives, and projectiles. We do not have replicators. Our food comes from dirt patches and hunting in the forest, and fishing in the water."

Niki sighed inwardly. She wished he would bring his people to freedom instead of killing the leaders while they slept. It was dishonorable. A coward's move. His information on the technology wasn't very good. It didn't really help. "Where is the governing city? The one where they would set an example for the people. We need to make sure we prevent them from executing innocent lives."

"It is on the opposite side of the planet," Drell said, pointing down at the sphere below.

Fleet Commander Lerian immediately moved the mothership around the planet. The two fleet ships were attached. They wanted to make sure they stayed together until it was needed to separate them.

"There," Drell pointed. "That cluster of lights is the governing city."

Niki stared down at the cluster of lights. "I need a close-up visual," she ordered.

The bridge officer quickly pressed the button and then zoomed in on the cluster.

"Scan the city. I want to get a view of what's going on down there," Niki ordered, her gaze scanning the large screen in front of her.

As they watched the screen, they saw in the city square a group of people being herded to its center. "Shit!" Niki hissed. "Cut their communications and flood the city now!" she yelled quickly. They were already getting ready for the executions.

In the town square, they were preparing to execute the thirty slaves for Drell and his people's escape. There were several children and infants in the mix of slaves. The communications suddenly darkened on the surface. The sedation cannon spat out the blast in the center of the city where the executions were about to take place. They watched on the screen as an explosion hit just above the crowd. A mist flooded rapidly through the city. The people suddenly fell to the ground. All of them.

"You're up," Council Leader Niki told Drell. "Have your people suit up and wear breathers, or you'll sleep along with them too." Niki pressed a button on the panel. "Is the shuttle team ready? Make sure they are suited up. The air will sedate them, so wear breathers."

"Ready," the pilot stated through the communications.

Drell rushed off the bridge and headed for the hangar bay. His group had been waiting for the shuttle. They were suited in armor. They each had blasters on their side, large knives strapped to their backs, and blades hidden in their boots. They were given palm shields to protect themselves.

Niki watched the screen. "Flood the city again. I don't want them to wake up too soon," she ordered.

Another blast shot toward the city. It exploded just above, and then a mist washed through the streets.

Drell's shuttle smoothly soared through the atmosphere, landing near the city square. Niki and everyone else on the bridge watched as the doors opened and a dozen men with their large ram horns exited. The doors closed them out. The group rushed into the square, heading for their masters, slicing through necks and stabbing through hearts. Niki's face paled as she watched.

"I would never normally condone what I'm seeing. Killing unconscious people is wrong. But it's that small group against so many. I don't know of any other way to liberate them from slavery. I'm open to ideas," she said, turning to Lerian, who was just as pale.

Fleet Commander Lerin looked over at Niki. "I can think of no other way, either," he said. "I am thankful that our people are not asked to help with that."

Niki turned to Lerian. "It is their fight, not ours. I would not ask any of our own people to do what they're doing. They could have easily bound their masters while they remained sedated and imprisoned them instead. I gave them options. That was one of them. They chose this rather than the other."

Fleet Commander Lerian nodded. "I know. I was in the meeting when you offered that choice. I wished they had taken that option, but they didn't. You also told them that we would leave them if they harmed one of the children. No innocence. You warned that you would call their shuttle back and leave them there. This is only one city. It would be easy for the remaining masters on the planet to take control of the situation if we leave. I only hope they listen."

Niki looked at the city's parameters. "The governing city is enclosed. The boundary can contain the free people on the inside of the city once they take control." Folding her arms, she studied the gates and the boundary. "Scan the barrier. I want to know how it works. If there are controls, I want to change the settings so that Drell and his people can keep those from outside the city out. It will give them a safe place. We can send the cargo shuttle with the rest of Drell's people once Drell and his men finish with the city."

The bridge officer scanned the boundary. "It's a simple setup. It requires an access code. That can easily be broken. The problem is, anyone can break it."

He pressed a few more buttons. "Worse, it's only four digits, making it even easier for someone to break into it."

Council Leader Niki sighed. "Idiots," she mumbled.

Fleet Commander Lerian heard, making him chuckle.

"Scan the people in the city." Council Leader Niki ordered. "I want to know if the masters and the slaves are the same race. They look nearly the same. The male's horns are missing from the masters. They could have removed them, or they are different races."

The bridge officer scanned the city. Moments later, he looked up. "They are different races altogether."

"I'm curious to know which race actually belongs on this planet. I'm wondering if Drell's people were brought to this planet or if they were invaded, then enslaved," Niki spoke aloud to no one in particular. Then she turned to Lerian. "I need one of the elders of the group that stayed aboard with the females and children to be brought to the bridge. I have questions that I need answers."

Fleet Commander Lerian called the guards to send for one of the elders. Moments later, the double doors slid open, and one of the guards with an elderly man entered. Council Leader Niki looked at the elder. "You are a different race from the masters. I want to know if your people were brought to the planet or were you invaded?" she asked.

The elderly man looked nervous. "We are all from this planet. It was neither scenario," the man stated.

Niki pressed a couple of buttons. The door to the bridge slid open, and a medic entered. He quickly injected the elderly man. On their travels, she had the medics create a truth serum for the people of Gorgen. She told no one but those involved. She wanted to avoid another issue with contaminated serum.

Niki moved in front of the man, waiting for his face to go slack, his eyes unfocused. "What is your name?" Niki asked the man.

"Hem," the man said. His voice was monotone. No emotions were present.

"Were your people brought to the planet, or did the masters invade?" Niki asked him.

"Neither," the man stated. "We lost our home, and we invaded Gorgen. There weren't enough of us, so we failed. They bound us and made us slaves."

"How did you lose your home?" Niki questioned.

"Our resources were depleted. It became unlivable."

"Why didn't you tell us the truth when we asked about taking back your planet?" she questioned evenly. This was new information. It was information that changed everything.

"We wanted a home," he told her, his voice monotone.

Niki turned to the bridge officer. "Tell me the ratio between the masters and the slaves. I also want the ratio of those who are of both races," she ordered.

The bridge officer pressed a few buttons, and then the readout shot across his screen. "The masters are seventy-five percent of the population of the planet. Twenty-three percent are slaves. Two percent are half-breeds from both races."

"Let the sedation lift," she ordered evenly. "Call back the shuttle and Drell's group."

The bridge officer immediately followed his order. Drell and those with him were pissed. They wanted to finish.

"Close the cockpit doors, locking them out. Flood the shuttle with sedation chemicals. If there's a monitor to see inside the shuttle from the cockpit, use it. I want to be sure that all of them are sedated." Niki stated. Her voice was hard. Anger swelled through her features.

"Yes, Council Leader Niki," the pilot stated.

They waited for the shuttle to return to the ship. Lerian looked over at her in question. "We saved those who were going to be executed. I refuse to do more." Niki said evenly. Looking over at the bridge officer. "How many slaves are there? I need more than a percentage."

"Ten thousand," he reported.

"How fast can a dome be built? One that will accommodate that many people?" Niki asked.

"With or without dwellings?" Fleet Commander Lerian asked.

Niki looked at Lerian, her eyes like steel. "Without."

"Three days," he told her. "The dwellings take two days each. One to set the dwelling, and another to set the technology inside it."

"We have four options. One, remove them from the planet and take them to an uninhabited planet; two, build them a dome they can protect themselves with," then looked at Lerian. "I am worried about the children, not the adults; at this point, or three, bring them back to Ramesia, or four, leave them to their fate."

Fleet Commander Lerian looked at Niki. "What are you willing to give them?"

I am willing to build a dome for them with the dwellings. However, the replicators will be made not to copy anything at all. If it's not already in the replicator, they don't get it. I also want to remove all fighting implements from the replicators they get. No weapons, no armor, no cloaking, and I will not under any circumstances give them a ship."

Fleet Commander Lerian nodded. "I agree with you. So, we need to decide where to take them or leave them on this planet they chose for themselves."

"What if we surround the governing city with a plasma shield? They can use the dwellings already in the city." Aleigha suddenly asked from behind them.

Niki nodded. "I like that idea. We aren't giving them any technology. They can stay safe inside the city. If we alter the replicator we already gave them by removing the ability to copy things not on the menu, it will give them things they need, yet hinder them from attempting to create things to massacre the planet's population. We can either help bring their people into the dome, or they can bring their own people into the dome after we leave."

"Sounds good to me," Fleet Commander Lerian stated.

*** *** ***

The wide door to the hangar bay opened, and the shuttle entered. Guards in full armor surrounded the shuttle. They waited for the shuttle door to open. When it did, the pilot and co-pilot exited, both wearing face masks.

"After they were all sedated, we injected them with another sedative to ensure they stayed that way," the pilot stated, pulling off his mask.

"Strip them of their armor and weapons. Make sure all shields and weapons are accounted for," Council Leader Niki ordered.

A group of guards entered the shuttle, following Niki's order. Once stripped, Drell and his men were taken to the cells.