The ship was shaking as it was crashing down towards a green planet with thick clouds. The landing gear were still retracting when Judy said:
"We will be able to land safely if you slow down your speed."
Alecx looked at his controls and saw that he had been going too fast for this kind of situation. He slowed down as much as he could then turned off all systems except life support incase it proves necessary.
Judy appeared as a hologram on Alecx's wrist as he opened the door and walked outside. He felt cold air hitting him like needles piercing his skin. It took some time before Judy's sensors detected any animals nearby. Finally one animal came into view and he got ready to fire at it if need be. But instead of attacking, it ran away from them and disappeared behind trees.
It was too dark to see anything, except the shining eyes of animals eyeing them down. We decided to stay put for the night and wait till morning light comes out again.
Judy suggested using her holo projector to illuminate our surroundings.
"That sounds good," replied Alecx.
So after a while Judy projected a circle of yellow light over the ground. Illuminating trees and rocks all around, and something else that shook him to the core.
There was a large creature lying there motionless.
He did not want to look directly at it because it would probably make him sick, but he forced himself anyway. What he saw made his stomach turn inside-out and left a bad taste in his mouth. It was a big creature that looked like an apex predator of this planet, torn to shreds and dead.
Judy's projection showed the creature; it was covered with black fur and had sharp claws and teeth. Its head resembled a wolf or lion and its tail was longer than most humans arms. This thing was huge! And judging by the smell coming from it, it was fresh.
Alecx stumbled back at the sight and almost fell down as he heard noises from bushes nearby.
Judy told him to hide behind a big rock close to where the beast lay lifelessly. So he hid and waited. A few minutes later a group of creatures emerged from the forest and went straight for the carcass. Alecx pointed his pistol at the closest ones and fired several shots at them but only one of them fell dead as the others let out a fierce cry and looked straight at Alecx.
Judy tried to project herself as a decoy but weirdly nothing happened. Suddenly a loud roar filled the air and the beasts charged towards them.
Alecx pulled his second gun and shot two more times at the charging monsters. One died immediately while the other was wounded badly but continued to charge forward.
As the charging creature came closer and closer, Alecx backed up nervously but hit a rock and fell onto his back. Suddenly a bright flash blinded him and everything turned pitch black. He couldn't hear anything either. Then suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder and helped him stand up. A soft voice spoke next to him saying:
"Are you alright?"
I looked around and saw a girl about 18 years old. Her face was full of freckles and her short brown hair was tied back with a red ribbon. She wore a tight fitting black shirt with blue stripes running vertically across the chest and a pair of shorts that hugged her hips perfectly. There was no sign of injuries on her body.
"Yeah im fine," replied Alecx.
But she noticed that his right arm was bleeding heavily.
"What happened to your arm? You're injured!" exclaimed the young woman.
Alecx held his arm close to his side and saw that it was indeed bleeding.
Must have been from the crash he thought to himself. He quickly removed his sleeve and used his fingers to stop the blood flow.
"Let me take care of that for you."
She offered her assistance once more and placed her hands on his wound. After a couple seconds the pain subsided and the cut closed itself. Alecx was at a loss for words as he didn't believe his eyes.
"How did you do that?!" asked Alecx amazed by what just happened.
"Its a gift I guess," responded the girl smiling shyly. "
"I am called Ria by the way. Whats your name?"
Alecx moved his now healed arm in circular motion feeling no pain at all.
"Oh my apologies, my name is Alecx. Its a pleasure to meet you Ria" He said in a grateful voice and wondering where she came from.
Ria smiled even wider this time.
"It's nice to finally make your acquaintance Alecx. Now come with me so I can introduce myself and my village properly. We must be careful if there is any danger lurking near."
They walked together through the woods and soon arrived at a small village with huts made mostly out of wood. They were surrounded by tall trees and bushes everywhere.
A few people wearing simple clothes emerged from their homes when they heard someone coming.
"Welcome to our humble village young man! How can we help you?"one of them greeted him.
"Well my ship kind of crashed here, mind if I stay a while and figure shit out?" He said with fake confidence in his voice.
"Of course not sir! Come inside and rest for a bit. Your wounds will heal much faster then outside. Please follow me."
Alecx followed the older gentleman into the hut and sat down on a wooden bench. It smelled like fresh flowers and herbs in the air.
"Well my wounds are already healed fully thanks to Ria" Alecx mumbled quitely to himself.
One of the women brought some tea over and poured a cup for Alecx.
"Thank you kindly for the hospitality," he thanked her politely.
After taking sips from his cup Alecx felt calmness wash over him.
"I know I just crashed here but considering what has happened lately, this feels like heaven" he said with a long sigh and a slight smile.
"That's because its true!" responded Ria happily.
People could be heard snickering not wanting to be heard laughing.
Soon enough everyone left leaving Alecx and Ria sitting next to each other.
"So tell me about yourself please? What brings you all the way here?"
"Well about that, do you know the Vortex Corporation?" his expression went from calmness to sadness to anger.
Ria was about to answer when a strong wind came from nowhere confusing everyone. A loud sound of metal scraping against rock echoed throughout the forest making everybody freeze.
Everyone turned their heads to look behind them and saw a big spaceship crashing onto the ground. Everyone looked at it in disbelief before turning to Alecx again with wide eyes.
Alecx stood there frozen watching the ship become one with the earth.
"T-that can't be, it's' a Federation Ship" he stuttered nervously.
The clouds above the village started to disperse and the sun faded away behind something big.
"That can only mean-..." Alecx shouted looking up and saw a big gray and red battle cruiser slowly lowering towards the ground.
We need to go now! There might be more ships coming after us! Judy sent out telepathic messages. Alecx grabbed Ria by the arm and started to run towards cover but just as that happened pods dropped around the village, slowly opening with smoke seeping out. They were filled with soldiers with guns pointing straight at the villagers.
"Drop your weapons or die where you stand!" barked a soldier standing near the entrance of his pod.
"What?! We dont even have any-.." Said a villager, then a loud sound was heard and the man fell to the ground bloody and unconscious.
More gunshots rang through the air as another soldier opened fire on someone hiding.
One soldier approached a person who had fallen to the floor and lifted him up by his collar.
"Who are you? And where is the stranger?!"
Another soldier pointed his gun directly into a mans face and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Hurry up and take off those clothes so we can see if you're hiding something." The soldier ordered with a wicked smile.
"Whats going on?" Asked a young girl with curly brown hair, tears running down her cheeks.
Alecx grabbed one of his guns and hold it tigher and tighter in his hand with nothing but rage on his mind. He was about to shoot and reveal where they were hiding but in just the right moment Ria grabbed his other hand as he snapped back to reality.
"Don't move Alecx!" she said quickly with a stern tone.
A few minutes later everything calmed down. Soldiers walked around the area inspecting people while others gathered supplies like food and water. One soldier took some kind of scanner device and scanned everyones faces. Hours passed and eventually small transport ships came down and the soldiers left taking the rest villagers with them. Nothing left but corpses, fire and smoke in the village as Ria together with Alecx were the only survivors.