Alien Warrior's Trophy

Chapter 1

Allia

“There you go.” Placing an extra loaf of bread into the paper bag, I smile at Vallena, the elderly woman standing in front of me. I give her a small wink, and then watch as she ambles down the busy street market, disappearing into the crowd. Running one hand through my hair, I look down at my display counter, and frown as I realize that we’re already running low on fruit and bread. 

“We’d have more if you didn’t give so much food away.” With his legs dangling over the counter, his scuffed knees peeking from under the hem of his shorts, Mika offers me a business-like smile. For a seven-year old, he sure spends a lot of time thinking about our profit margins. And, of course, by profit margins I’m talking about the small credit purse hanging from my belt. 

“Maybe I should stop giving you food, then,” I throw back at him, smiling as I mess up his dirty blonde hair. Frowning, he starts finger-combing his hair. “Besides, Vallena is a friend.” 

“I don’t eat that much. You don’t have to—”

“Nonsense,” I cut him short. “You’re growing, Mika. You need to eat.” 

“I’m already grown up.” 

“Sure you are.” Laughing, I grab a bright red apple from one of the baskets on our tiny stall and toss it to him. He grabs it with one hand, but then hesitates before taking a bite out of it. It’s been like this for months now. He should be just a kid, but he’s always worrying about our lack of money and how sparse food has been. “Go on, Mika, it’s just an apple. It’s fine.” 

Smiling, he finally tears into it, moaning softly as the juices run down his chin. Satisfied, I turn my attention to the customers lining up in front of our stall, and start filling up their shopping bags as they point at the products they want. Whenever I meet some of my regulars, I slip some extra food into their bags, knowing that most people in town are struggling. 

Sabbeck is a little town in the middle of nowhere, located right between two of the largest cities on Luvon—Hela and Sannar. Life here went on as usual after the Kraaj took over the planet, but things took a turn for the worst when the IHC tried to fight back. They unleashed a horde of savage droids onto the continent, and the metallic beasts laid waste to everything in their way. After that, food shortages started happening here on Sabbeck regularly, and the Kraaj’s military presence increased exponentially. 

I don’t care much about the Kraaj—they did save Sabbeck from being destroyed by the IHC droids—but they’re not making life easy for anyone. They keep a tight grip on supplies, and have recently started demanding for anyone with a stall on the street market to have a vendor’s license. I’ve applied for one, but was turned down.

As it is, I’ve become an illegal merchant, and I’ve started to rely on smugglers to get my supplies. It’s hard to make a living like this, especially with the large cut the smugglers take, but it’s not like I can blame them for it. They’re risking their lives on a daily basis, bringing food and supplies into town via the abandoned sewer system. If the Kraaj lay hands on them, they’re as good as dead. 

As for me, I have no idea what might happen if they find out I’ve been selling without a license. I try to keep busy, keep my head down, and not think of it. Even if I’m risking myself, I don’t really have a choice—Mika has no one else, and it’s my duty to look after him. 

“Move outta the way,” I hear a deep voice ring out from the far end of the street, and my stomach lurches as I see the townsfolk jumping to the side to reveal a three-men Kraaj patrol. They march through the street, their heavy black cloaks trailing after them, and they all have an air of self-importance. They’re carrying heavy rifles, and all have a large serrated blade hanging from their belts. “Alright, ya bastards, pull out your licenses. It’s time we see ‘em.”

Jumping out from the counter, Mika tugs on my apron and looks up at me, his eyes wide with panic. “What do we do?” He whispers. I’ve tried to shelter him from the truth, but he’s a smart kid. He knows that we are in trouble. “We don’t have a license, do we?”

“It’s fine,” I reply, doing my damn best to put a smile on my face. It’s hard. My heart is racing, and my palms are sweaty. “You don’t have to worry, I’ll take care of this. Now, go onto the back and start doing your homework, alright?” 

He gives me a quiet nod, and then disappears past the tent flaps beside me. I take a deep breath then, and straighten my back as I ready myself for the inevitable confrontation. I have to think of something, and I have to do it now.

“You deaf or something?” The tallest of the Kraaj asks me, standing right in front of my stall. His bald pate glimmers with sweat under the midday sun, and his silvery-skin almost seems to be glowing. “Where’s your license?”

“I, huh, must’ve misplaced it,” I stammer, immediately turning on my heels and moving a few empty crates around to pretend that I’m looking for my non-existent license. “It has to be somewhere. If you just give me a minute—”

“I’m not paid to stand around, ya know?” Casually, he reaches for one of the apples and takes a large bite out of it. Not pleased with the taste of it, he merely throws the apple onto the ground. By now, his two buddies have joined him, and the three of them are staring at me intently. “Well?”

“I...I can’t seem to find it.”

“Do you think this is a fucking game?” He thunders, and then sweeps all of the baskets on my display counter to the floor. My stomach sinks as I watch my remaining loaves of bread strewn across the dusty floor, the fruit rolling onto the street. “Show me your license right now, or I’ll tear this shitty stall apart.”

Suddenly, a small rock flies from inside the stall and hits the Kraaj soldier right between the eyes. He blinks twice, surprised, and then brings his hands up to his forehead, his fingertips brushing against the blood trickling down to his nose. 

“Leave her alone, you monsters,” I hear Mika shout, and then he bursts out from inside the tent, a sling in his hand. For a terrifying moment, I think that the Kraaj are going to go berserk and take it out on a seven-year-old kid, but they just burst out laughing. 

“This little shit has some guts,” the bloody Kraaj cries out, much to his buddies' amusement. Wiping the blood off his nose, he marches into the stall and shoves me to the side. Mika places another small rock on his sling, but the Kraaj just slaps it out from his hands. Picking up Mika by the scruff of his shirt, the soldier holds him so that their eyes are on the same level. “You must be very brave, kid…either that, or you’re terribly stupid.”

Slowly, the Kraaj puts Mika down on the ground, and I immediately pull him toward me and wrap my arms around his body in a protective gesture. Shrugging, the Kraaj that picked on Mika glances at the other two.

“Torch this place,” he says. “She doesn’t have a license.”

“No!” Before I can think things through, I let go of Mika and charge against the Kraaj. Which is the same as saying that I’ve decided to tackle a concrete wall. He doesn’t move a single inch, and just laughs as my tiny fists hammer down on his reinforced vest. “Don’t do this. I’m begging you. This is everything we have.”

“Do I look like a give a fuck?” Without any warning at all, he cocks his arm back and then slaps me hard. There’s the coppery taste of blood and, next thing I know, I fall back and land on my ass. “C’mon, boys, let’s tear this shit down.” With a savage grin, he kicks down my display counter, the other two tearing the canvas off the stall and pulling the wooden stakes up from the ground. 

Desolate, I watch as the soldiers destroy my livelihood. I look around, hoping for someone to step in, but it’s obvious that’s not going to happen. The remaining merchants on the street all look away, relieved it’s not their stall that’s being destroyed, and the few customers still wandering around all give us a wide berth. 

Mika, though, lets his anger bubble up. 

“You stupid monsters,” he shouts, running toward the Kraaj soldier who’s closest to him and kicking him in the ankle. Immediately, the soldier spins around and hits Mika with the back of his hand. I step in front of him before anything crazier happens, but it seems like these soldiers have had enough. 

“You don’t want us to punish that little shit, huh? Well, maybe it’s time we’ve taught you a real lesson, you bitch,” the tallest one growls, and then he grabs me by the wrist. Slamming it against the only counter they haven’t kicked down, he pulls my sleeve up and bares my forearm. Then, he grabs the blade hanging from his belt. “Let’s see how life goes for you with only one arm.”

Oh, God, no.

This can’t be happening.