Chatper 4 Mom and Dad

Chapter 04 Mom and Dad

Titan’s World, 2109;

The metallic sounds of Sampson’s artificial feet hitting the marble floor echoed off the huge glass panes along both sides as he approached Titan sitting on his throne in the large room. Once a couple meters away he went down on his right knee, it also making a metallic clink as it hit the floor. He would bow if he was any other person, but he was unable. His head was supported by a large brace apparatus connected to his chest and spine. He could not lean over.

Beside Titan, their sister stood adorned in the same white scales as her brother. Tall, slim, even to a human’s eyes she was female. Her thin waist lead to slightly wider hips. Adorned in a long loincloth that hung only a couple centimeters off the ground, a well decorated round top covered the upper half of her torso, leaving her flat but defined midsection exposed. He arms were across her chest as she also waiting for information about this alien ship that dared to land on their planet.

Titan sat, appearing bored, his head leaning on his left fist while his right fingers idly tapped on his armrest. Dressed in his religious robes on his upper body while a long white loincloth similar to his sister’s but wider. It was draped from in front of him down his throne and onto the floor. It had been 24 hours since it landed, but he still didn’t really care.

“Rise Sampson” He gestured up with his hand. “What do you want now?”

Sampson took a moment to speak, not because he was thinking about what he wanted to say, but because he did not naturally talk. He had to start moving his throat as if he could speak to trigger the electronics that spoke for him. The voice that came out was natural but the echo of robotics were the main tone. Most of his body was robotic, the organic parts between were also white like his family members’. “The ship was found to be from the colonists that escaped 50 years ago. It was not built by them however, the species that lived on the world they landed on had deported them back to us. However there is only 26,000 of the 50,000 that left. Furthermore half of the dragons that were on the ship were less than 70 years old, meaning this accounts for less than one third of the revolutionist that escaped”

“So we only have 26,000 more to add to the population.” Said the white dragon from his throne. “On this world we at a billion, this was a waste of time. We need to replenish the population and this is a waste of time.”

“Not entirely, Sir. Among those returned to use were the dragons who conspired to start the revolution itself.”

Selena herself was suddenly interested as she spoke up. “You mean Darus and Sorah? Do you have them?”

“Yes, they are in custody, along with one of their sons”

“One of their sons?” Titan lifted his head, delight was beginning to fill his face as he knew he could plan a public example of this family, one of his favorite things to do to exert his rule over the people “When say one of their sons, you mean there are more?”

“Were, Sir. It seems they had two, but one expired on the journey back. The conditions were nearly just as one of your own prisons. Those on board told us there were initially approximately 30,000 at the beginning” He paused to try to control his voice again “The ship seemed to split after landing, as if to return a crew to where they came from. It was shot down and 8 corpses and 4 living samples were recovered, however one of those 4 expired on the scene. The remaining 3 are also now in custody, I await your consent to question them, as this is a foreign race and requires you involvement”

Titan waved his hand away, as this was beneath him “Yes yes, do as you will with them. But keep them alive, I will execute them myself for allowing my property to hide for so long”

“One other thing, Sir” Sampson turned toward the door he came, and waved a signal to the guards. A moment later the doors opened and Gar walked in, now cleaned up and clad in a ceremonial uniform. “This is Master Commander Gar of the stealth operations section, he followed the Revolutionist by infiltrating their ranks. He was responsible for finding your traitors, Sir”

Gar walked towards as Sampson explained his role, and knelt where Sampson had a few moments earlier.

Titan, was now in a great mood. He would have 6 heads to cut off soon, and 3 more sets of wings to have bronzed. He stood from the throne and stepped toward Gar.

“Congratulations Gar, Recently I lost the Master General of, what ever it was, your section of my military. He couldn’t keep his head about a mission.” He nearly chuckled at the joke he made for himself “You are that new Master General”

“Yes, Sir, Thank you, Sir” Proud of himself, and internally happy but showing no emotion in front of the Guild Leader. “I shall make sure you are pleased with this decision”

“I had better be” He walked back to his throne and turned but did not yet sit. “Your first order is to get as much information out of those aliens as you can before I kill them.” He sat down in his throne, his wings hooked onto a part near the head where the “thumb” would hang form to relax his wings. “I want to know where this planet is and who this race is. You have one week. That will be all you can both leave” and he waved his hand at the door. Gar bowed then turned and marched out.

“I shall confirm the condition of those prisoners.” Sampson waved his one organic arm before himself as if to gesture a bow he could not make, then turned and left, the rhythmic sound of his metal feet hitting the floor then fading away.

After the two left, Selena sat down on the arm of he brother’s throne and threw her arm over his shoulders and leaned in.

“I know what you’re going to do, Brother, and I am telling you now it’s not the best time.”

“It’s not your choice to make is it?” He kept his stare forward

“No, Brother, but I never steer you wrong. The population is nearing the breaking point. Your economy has collapsed long ago, there’s little left here but your strong army. It’s still somehow the strongest among the guilds but there is nothing for it to protect. Killing them in front of everyone may breed more sympathy for this revolution and gather more support. More people will will try to leave” She reached out and gently turned her brothers face to her “What good is ruling if there is no one left to rule”

“They won’t leave. They cannot leave. I don’t allow it”

“They are escaping. Revolutionist are regularly taking your people off world, and of the other worlds as well. I want to see those traitor’s blood on the ground as much as you do, and in time we will. We have them and they are going no where” She turned on the arm and placed her thigh over her brothers then placed her hand on his chest and slowly rubbed it. “Patience Brother, will be virtue. Patience comes with it rewards. You won’t beat this revolution with brute force like you think you will.”

Titan grabbed his sister hand from his chest. “My mind is made up! You won’t seduce me into making another decision in your favor this time”

She stood up in a huff “Your mind, is LOST!” and she straighten out her top before storming off. Titan watched her tail sway as she left. Remembering he is never alone in the room he quickly looked at one of the High Honor Guards in the corner, clad in his red and gold armor. The Guard quickly diverted his gaze back to the wall in front of him as Titan scoffed.

They took us to a cell, with steel walls and heavy steel door, there was definitely no escape. It’s strange to say this, but at the time, I could only think of how alien it was. The steel was rusted with an old layer of green paint peeling off, the door had so little gap, as it it fit so tightly it could never be opened. On the second day is when I learned just how important Dad really was.

The slot in the door slid open and a pair of eyes gazed in.

“Ah, Sorah! Darus! First off, here take this for you and your son” the stranger slid 6 packs of dragon food rations through the slot and they fell to the ground. “I’m glad I found you, we can’t get you out of here but we’ve found out that Titan is planning on publicly executing you so-” He was interrupted by a human scream coming from down the hallway behind him “As yes, I haven’t much time. Everyone is distracted as they torture these humans for information”

Mom picked up the packages and threw on to me and another to Dad the she and my father went to the slot to talk.

“Have they tried simply asking them? I going to bet not” She asked.

“I’m unsure, I’ve only gotten in here the last hour” the mystery party said, completely missing the dark joke “Anyway, as I said, some time in the coming days Titan plans to execute you, heads off, wings bronzed, you know, the typical. But we’ve got a pretty good force in the city already to facilitate your escape”

I ripped open the package and started stuffing the food in my maw while slowly stepping closer to hear things more clearly.

“He will likely start with the humans, which will give us some time. There will likely be a security fence between him and the crowd. With enough of us we can tear away at it then rush the platform. The problem being likely all twelve of his High Honor Guards will be there, along with their Captain. They are too deadly for us to take care of, so it will likely be grab and run sort of situation.”

Dad spoke, and for one more time he showed his compassion, even for the human that held him captive for 5 years “Are you sure there is nothing we can do for them? The humans?”

The eyes on the other side of the door seemed confused “Didn’t they hold you for 5 years and get you into this? Why would you wa-”

“They are people too, they are alive, and albeit misguided, but are living beings who don’t deserve to die at this tyrant’s hand” Dad looked at me, then back into the door. “Make our son the priority, if only one of us makes it please let it be him, he is ready for greatness”

My jaw dropped, it was the nicest thing he had ever said about me, with me in earshot anyways “Awwr, Dad, you really do lo-”

“Shut up, Jake” He said smiling and turned back to the hole in the door “If we can think of a way or see any opportunity to distract those guard, even for a moment, we’ll take it”

A rhythmic clanking on the floor started to approach. The mystery party slid the slot closed and turned away from the door pretending to be on guard duty. Sampson drew closer but stopped in front the guard. Incapable of emotion on his face due the missing parts he motioned for the guard to step aside. Sampson slid open the slot and looked inside.

This was the creepiest thing I had ever seen, two glowing red robotic eyes suddenly staring into our cell. I stopped eating and stared back. Mom and Dad gasped and held each other close, shocked that someone this high up were checking on them. After a couple seconds the slot slid closed.

On the other side Sampson stood back, turning his posture to meet the “guard”

“Very good, keep them alive, as Titan wants to keep them that way for now” He leaned in near the soldier’s ear, his face now visibly nervous as the second in command was centimeters away. At the lowest volume his voice box was able to make he uttered a few words.

“I’m sorry, I can’t be of any help right now.”

Sampson turned and walked in the direction of the humans cells as another scream came from that direction.

One the rhythmic clanking on the floor left earshot the soldier turned and opened the slot again.

“I’m sorry, I may be compromised, and now I need to deliver a message”

“Give us a moment” Mom replied

“Mom, Dad, what the hell was that?”

“We’ll tell you shortly” said Dad.

Mom turned to the guard behind the slot “Titan’s satisfaction comes from our deaths, we need to deny him that. We need to challenge his ultimate authority” She looked firmly in the eyes of the solder through the whole in the door. “Anything we can do to show solidarity and give him a show of our strength. His satisfaction will come from killing us but we need to deny him that.”

“We’re dozens strong, more are arriving over the next few days. We have thousands if not tens of thousands of sympathizers and supporters in this city alone. They are not soldiers obviously but they plan on putting on a large show of discontent, and massive protest.” He explained with urgency, he just wanted to leave now. “The plans is the rush, if we can get a few close to the stage and get you out that’s the first plan, if someone can happen to shoot or stab at Titan that’s the secondary goal.”

He closed the slot but it stayed open a tiny amount and I could hear his scaly feet hitting the floor as he ran.

The next two days felt like weeks, or months. Eventually solders came to collect us, and they were not on the side of the revolution. Thick leather bags placed over our heads, chained in every way you could think of, and dragged away. But as we were dragged, I heard the murmurs of a crowd. It grew louder and louder, and I realized this was it. This was the event that would change everything. For some reason in the tension my stomach hurt. I hadn’t eaten much in weeks, since we were running low on food aboard the prison ship. Even those two rations that were sneaked into us was not enough.

The bag was ripped off my head, the light was blinding. I squinted my eyes and tried to see as my eyes adjusted to the daylight. Looking around we were on a what seemed like a stage. I looked behind us to a row of 12 highly decorated soldiers. Dressed in vibrant red and gold ancient looking armor, and to our right, three dragons. One massive muscular dragon, dressed in near religious garb, holding a large blade, and behind him stood the other two. The one to his right, feminine, dressed in the most elaborate decorations, in another situation I might think she was beautiful. She looked pissed. To his left, another dragon, dressed in what looked like a human lab coat, the collar extending up to nearly the bottom of his, well he had only one horn, it appeared the other was missing. That’s when I noticed the eyes, the same red robotic eyes that stared into the cell two days ago. He was also missing his wings as well as his tail. Three of his four remaining limbs were artificial. They were metal with a black material around the joints. He looked like he’s been through hell several times. All three had the same white scales over their bodies.

The three humans recovered from the crash were also on their knees, two males and on female. They were still in their charred uniforms. The one who asked us not to hurt them looked at us. I could see the despair in her eyes, as much as our relationship with humans was rough, I truly wanted to help her, but I couldn’t. The feeling of uselessness made me sick.

To my right, someone I always felt odd about. Gar, in a military uniform. I didn’t know the symbols for ranks, but I assume with how many symbols where on him, his rank was quite high. Larges tassels hung from his horns, now covered in some gold sheathing. He had such a smug look on his face, I wanted to just punch it off him.

Behind us all was a very tall building. The only clean building around us. Surrounded by a wall, the front gates directly to the rear of this stage. The ally was right, we were on public display. I looked around, everything was gray, the sky was orange, this was a filthy world.

Before us a huge crowd of thousands. They were loud, they weren’t here to witness some execution of a criminal, they were here to protest everything, this was one pissed off crowd. In front of the crowd, a 6 foot tall fence of thick steel bars planted firmly into the concrete ground.

Then his voice boomed, speakers, or some sort of public broadcast.

“These traitors have dared to defy me! I’m going to kill them, and make no mistake, that I will kill ANYONE who dares to conspire against me again. YOU ARE MY PROPERTY!”

He spoke with purpose, his voice deep, but somehow, a sense of low intelligence. Perhaps I was imagining that last part.

His words angered the crowd. The drone of jeers and boo’s filled the air, the dragons at the front started pushing on the barrier placed between him and the crowd. I thought to myself, why don’t they just fly over it? It’s barely 6 feet tall, I could easily hope over that with a single flap. Why don’t they just fly?

“These are humans stole my property from me, and they will be punished”

One at a time Titan rose his large blade and swing, cleanly taking the heads off the three humans, they rolled as blood spilled over the stage.

“You are all my property!” he started shouting again, his voice seemed to echo for mile through some PA system “You are all MINE to do with as I please. If you anger me, I WILL kill each and every one of you!” He turned to my father, and raised the blade, the human blood dripping from the edge.

Dad’s head hit the floor.

I screamed for my father.

Time became nothing.

I know I was screaming, but I could no longer hear myself

Somehow I still heard the crowd

“WE’RE NOT YOUR PROPERTY!” they started chanting

Why don’t they fly? They could be up here in seconds. Why won’t they fly?

The tears building in my eyes made things blurry.

But there was Mom

Staring back at me

Staring and not moving

Her eyes filled with fear, but not moving

You’re on the ground, Mom

It’s going to be okay, Mom

But why are you on the ground, Mom?

The rest of her fell a moment later

I screamed again, I think

The crowd broke through, but it was too late

Why didn’t you all just fly?

I can’t hear anything anymore, am I still screaming?

Suddenly my wings hurt, like fire. They stung, I turned to look at my left wing. Oh yes there it is, why does it hurt? Where is it going? I’m not telling it to move. Someone just grabbed me, all of me, and is pulling me away. But my wing, ah yes, I can see the other one now. This white dragon, the one they call Titan, he’s holding them. His blade is so bloody now.

I hear them again, still chanting “We are NOT yours”

I looked at Mom again, her eyes, so full of fear. I need to protect her… I need to protect

I need

to avenge

MOM AND DAD

The pain stopped

The sound came back

Suddenly things moved at real speed again

And I was pissed

I try to run at him, but whoever had a hold of me, and was dragging me away had more strength.

“TITAN!” I scream, with every bit of energy I had left “TITAN I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU” the decorated guard, holding him back, trying to protect him from the crowd now rushing at him “I AM GOING TO BE YOUR DEATH I SWEAR ON THEIR LIVES!”

Some of the crowd was now on the stage, feet from Titan. Then the gunfire broke out.

Some of the solders in the red armor made a line while the rest dragged the three elites away.

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU” I screamed on more time, as everything around me started to turn into a tunnel. “I’m going to kill you” I said, as that tunnel started getting darker and darker “I’m going… to kill…. You” the tunnel closed. And nothing but black. The last sound I heard was more gunfire.

I wasn’t even from here. I wasn’t hatched here. This isn’t my world. This had nothing to do with me.

Why didn’t they just fly?

Where did you go Deakon?

You had to stop and play hero to that purple one.

Why didn’t they fly?

Why do my wings hurt so bad?

I love you Mom.

I love you Dad