Warrior Games

Chapter Seven

The Briefing

Kyle instinctually knew that they had reached their destination without even checking his map. It wasn't hard to miss as it was the only thing that afforded a change in scenery. Whereas the corridors had been empty, this one was filled with people, mostly from Earth, but there were a few guards scattered strategically here and there, all guarding a metal door with its halves slid back to reveal a scene Kyle found improbable.

"Holy molly," Trevor breathed in amazement. Kyle had to agree, it was breathtaking.

What lied beyond the doors, shockingly, was what seemed to be cut out of a forest, with diverse species of plants gracing it; rubber trees occurred in clusters, heliconia graced huge treetops, their bright colours standing out amongst dense foliage. The ground was a litter of ferns, moss and lichen, tall grasses, orchids, and a myriad of other flowers which, strangely, were in bloom, their sweet fragrance enveloping the whole space. The whole place had a really natural feel, except that Kyle noticed no animals. Not even a bug or a worm squirming in the soil. Still, Kyle had to admit, the place was beautiful and he thought of what supernatural force could have been capable of this. How could it have even been possible? It looked like getting shocked was seeming to be a recurring experience for him these days.

Kyle walked slowly around, noticing that while there were guards outside the doors, beyond it were only people from Earth, their numbers staggering as Kyle could not see an end to multitude of heads spreading into the distance. It confused him. How was a spaceship supposed to contain this much with even space to spare. He had seen one in the sky and had a rough estimate on its size. It shouldn't be as big as to be able to contain billions.

A munching sound had him looking to the side only for him to see Trevor munching on some kind of fruit with gusto, his mouth making moaning sounds as he licked his fingers and plucked another fruit from a tree branch overhead.

Kyle's stomach growled as if finally awakening to the thought of food, and he found himself moving to a group of fruits dangling from a tree branch and plucking one for himself.

"Hmmm," he moaned as he savoured the delicious juices of the fruit. It was surprisingly sweeter than any thing he had ever tasted.

Trevor smiled as he looked at Kyle. "Sweet, right? Who would ever think that something good was even here?" He munched on another bite. "Just as they say, behind every cloud is . . . is . . ."

"A silver lining?" Kyle completed for him.

"Ahh yes, thank you."

The two continued munching, moaning every now and then with Trevor trying to come up with words to describe the sweetness but failing. Kyle just focused on stuffing himself full of the stuff, even storing some in the pockets of his overalls. You just never know where your next meal will come from, was his firm believe.

Trevor finally sat down with his back resting against the tree trunk and gave a satisfactory sigh, while patting his stomach. He looked sideways at Kyle who had also sat down.

"You know, in all my sixteen years of existence, I could count the number of times I've felt this full after eating."

Kyle looked at him. "Feels weird to have that feeling on an alien spaceship?"

"That invaded Earth and took us prisoners? Yeah, feels definitely weird."

Kyle looked away and focused on the sounds of his fellow Earthlings for some moments, his mind full of thoughts about the future. He had a feeling that peaceful moments like this would become exceedingly rare from now on.

A huge display appeared above the treetops. It looked to have appeared at a very far distance yet Kyle could still clearly see the image of a stunning lady with blue hair, violet eyes, and a haughty demeanor; the same woman that had asked . . . no . . . commanded him to move to sector D for proper briefing.

"That woman makes me uncomfortable," remarked Trevor.

Kyle was suddenly liking him more. "You're not alone on that one," he muttered.

Most of the surrounding people looked up at the woman in the display with hardly suppressed wrath, while some looked with fear, some with defiance, and some of them with plain indifference. Which made Kyle surprised. Seeing indifferent faces among the crowd made him wonder if the faces truly belonged to citizens of Earth, because anyone with a brain could see that the aliens were not just here for casual chit chat.

"Everyone," the lady's voice boomed across the area. Instantly, all other sounds ceased. "I'll waste no time for introductions, except to tell you that you're now under The Empire."

From where he was, Kyle smiled. This woman is as direct as ever.

Murmurs rippled through the multitude of people as each person struggled to come to terms with what they had just heard.

The stunning lady paused for the murmurings to die down and then continued, "I can guess what each of you is thinking. I know that no matter how you try to hide it, you all feel indignation, anger and malice towards The Empire, but," her gaze turned even more stern, "but all that is useless. In the face of true might, they're nothing. Because in the wider world, might and power is your only protection and your only right to feel indignation. This is why I find you lucky, for you'll be given a chance to take power from the Universe for yourself. A chance, I believe, you all want."

One person from the crowd shouted at the display, "Then why invade us! Why not come to us peacefully and, if as you say, it's a chance we want, we would have agreed!"

"That's because," she said each word evenly and calmly, "The Empire has only a single motto: the fittest prevails." When she said this, the person's face paled. Her eyes, meanwhile, were still indifferent. "This invasion had to happen. The Empire had to separate the strong from the weak. Do you understand?"

No one said a thing. They just stared at the godlike existence in the display above them, their minds going through diverse thoughts with only one thing in common. They all had the nagging suspicion at the back of their minds before but now they knew. They knew that death was surely going to become a common thing from now on.

****

Uliana almost couldn't control herself anymore. She felt like shouting her guts out at everyone of those Earthlings. Didn't they know that the world they were desperately trying to cling to was still going to be changed drastically even without her father's empire invading? The consequences that would result from their not standing up to fight would not only affect The Empire, but the whole Human Domain, including Earthlings.

Although all this turmoil was going on in her head, her face still showed no trace of emotion to the throngs of people below her. Why should she? She was a War Queen, an existence that most people would term as a god. In her eyes, no one was worthy of seeing her emotions. She had to be cold and constantly calculating, she had to be ruthless and merciless. And these Earthlings were going to bend to her will whether they liked it or not.

She made a show of letting her cold, violet gaze roam around the faces of the people, and then continued her speech, her voice still calm and even, "You all have no choice. You're under The Empire now."

When she said this, she noticed that the expressions of almost everyone turned dark. But she was unbothered.

"Now," she said, her gaze more intent, "concerning the power for your taking, like I said, you all have no choice but to seek this power because I tell you, you'll need it. A storm is coming, and not only The Empire, but the whole Human Domain will get caught up in it, and, many, many, more will die if you're not prepared."

She paused to allow the implications of her words sink deep, and also to prepare their minds to take in one more shock.

She smiled coldly.

Below, a lot of people shivered.

Really, this news she was about to drop would probably shock the naive fools badly. At their level, they'll never be able to comprehend the unfathomable power involved in this storm.

"Every once in a while," she began, "there are deadly competitions between Domains, hosted by the Universe itself. These competitions have only one trophy, perhaps the reason why it's so deadly, that is, the taking over of a Domain. Now, these Games are knocking at our doors once again, forcing us to take drastic measures to prepare sufficiently for them because I fear if we do not, humans may as well be extinct."

Everyone, including Kyle, just stared up at the display with blank stares, their minds reeling from shock . . .

And unbelief.