Here we go people....part 2 of Zan Faction

Quote:
A/N: All names associated with Red Faction belong to Volition Entertainmenmt and NOT me.

All names associated with the show "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims and NOT me.


Anyway, here is part 2.

I was so tired of my life; so tired that I did the unimaginable. I signed up with an alien company and left my home and everything I had behind. I needed things to change; I just never imagined they would change so drastically.

Let me first tell you what happened on the journey from Earth.

‘The Husk’ was a big ship. It was filled with Thorions, Lokians and Odinons which were residents of the three newest planets to make contact with Earth.

All these people were on their way to Antar to join The Skins Corp. Earth acted as a junction between the space systems.

Most of the travelers arrived a few days ago and had already bunked into the ship.

I saved money traveling on the company’s ship as I did not have to buy a ticket.

Ticket prices were raising everyday, as costs for the fuels required to fly the ship, went up.

I was assigned section four-one-one-r. It was pretty tough to find my room, what with the ship containing about six thousand rooms and all. There were guards everywhere. I should have realized what the situation was going to be like on Antar by watching the attitude of the guards on the ship. The guards were all huge and loved bullying the passengers around. If you were a scrawny human you might as well forget about getting to your final destination without being pushed around and laughed at for at least an hour. It was a good thing I was anything but scrawny. Passing through the cafeteria, I saw that the people there were all scared of the guards. Some of the guards were walking from table to table demanding a kind of protection money.

I was instantly reminded of the era of the mafia back on Earth when they collected money through extortion.

All I can say is these people were much tougher than the Mafiosi. They would act first, answer questions later, if questions were even asked. Before anyone came toward me I was out of there. There was no way I was going to be a mark for them to target.

I always wonder; would I have gotten off the ship if I knew what was going to happen to me on Antar. I think not.

By sticking to the shadows and avoiding anyone in the corridors I finally made it to my room. The room assigned to me was pretty small. It was a room big enough for just two people. I waited to see who my roommate would be. I was hoping it was neither of the aliens on board. That’s when I thought that I was an alien to those people myself.

It wasn’t that I discriminated against aliens. I just did not want the people I had encountered before with me. I didn’t want to share the small confined space; that would be my living quarters during the trip to Antar, with one of them.

Each one of them had a distinct quality. The Thorions were an aggressive race. Strong built and always carrying a weapon.

The Lokions were a very mischievous and naught race. Always searching for fun and committing trouble wherever they went.

The Odinons were by far the better of the three. Wise and old, they were the only race among the three that was older than the Earthlings.

I was brought out of my musing by a loud sound followed by the opening of the door. I tilted my head as I lie on the bed that I had claimed as mine. The man who followed the sound was very peculiar. Initially, I got a feeling that he was a Lokion, what with his dress and all.

He was dressed like a trickster would. He was wearing this brown jacket. To the naked eye it was a simple piece of clothing but the trained eye could have noticed the small knife in his shirt pocket or a radio in the outer pocket. I could make out some guns here and then some. Obviously the contents of his inner coat were not lost on me. He must have made a lot of enemies if he carried around all the ammunition that he did.

He went to the open bed, put his bags underneath it and sat down. Not long after he had sat down the door chimed and some people came in to talk to him. I relaxed and closed my eyes wishing for this trip to be over soon.

With the space as small as it was, it was hard not to eavesdrop. I did everything possible to try not to listen and the first time I thought I had done a good job. I had only caught bits and pieces of his conversation with the others. With the volume of visitors that was coming to our door I thought this guy was pretty popular, that is, until I heard some shouting. I woke up only to find my roommate was being ganged up on by six other individuals.

Three of them were obviously Lokions. I realized this when I saw their appearance. They were tiny in size although I knew they were shape-shifters. Imagine a dress that a clown would wear on the day he did not have to work or had retired. It was slightly formal but with the inner image of a joker imminent.

I thought this was an internal matter but when I saw that the other three were Thorions, I almost felt pity for the poor guy.

Thorions were from the same space system as the Lokions. They always carried around this huge hammer with them. They were dressed in rough clothing similar to the ones worn by Gimli in the Lord of the Rings (remember that movie?) and they smelt as bad as you can imagine they would.

They were obviously arguing about some bet they had made and had lost. Anyway, they were here to take their money back from my roommate. He brushed them off and spoke English with a clear Texan accent. I immediately realized this guy was a human and decided to help him out.

I stood up and discreetly went for the blaster in my duffel bag. “What’s up guys,” I asked casually. The Thorions didn’t even turn but the Lokions immediately noticed me and decided I was a small liability to be cleared off. One of them touched a Thorion and pointed to me. Evidently he needed the Thorion to do his dirty work. The human also looked at me with an expression I could not make out.

However, when he saw the blaster in my left hand, he smirked. He signaled me to look behind him, on the bed under a blanket with the flick of his eyes. I saw a chain gun obviously needed to fend off such situations. He silently begged me to create a distraction so he could get the gun. I was nervous. Having a gun in a duffel bag does not mean you go around waving it everyday.

But I nodded and then without a word kicked the nearest Lokian. He was pretty light because he went flying through the opened door. The Thorions must have been pretty dumb or had slow reflexes because the next thing I knew they were all laying down on the floor in a pool of their own blood. The remaining Lokians fled the room. I didn’t blame them. Taking down three Thorians all at once was something that didn’t happen all that frequently. And whoever dared to do such a thing could have wiped out a Lokian quite easily.

The other human was calm as he went out and called a medic to take away the bodies.

I was still frozen when he came back in to talk to me.

I must have been really frozen because he had to really give me a good shake.

When I breathed again, he visibly relaxed.

He threw his gun on the bed, opened a bottle of whiskey and poured a glass and gave it to me.

“Good job there buddy”, he complimented me.

“Thanks. Nice shooting by the way.” I was trying to make small talk. I had no idea what kind of character he was. I thought if I looked at him the wrong way he would surely blast me so I was nervous.

He must have sensed my discomfort because he told me, “Been shooting for years, my dad’s the sheriff of my town.” That was enough for me. He was a good ol boy from a small town in Texas. Who would be better to have my back than him?

All I could say was, “No wonder,” then I added, “My names Max, Max Evans.”

He grinned and replied,”Valenti, Kyle Valenti.”

I didn’t know if this was a good thing or not. My first friend had just waxed three Thorians. I definitely wanted him in my corner but what caused him to get mixed up with them in the first place? That could be a bad thing. Did I really want to get mixed up in this? There was so much that I didn’t know so many unknown variables to deal with. All I know is that I didn’t have the comfort of being told what to do anymore. All I know is that I’m on my way to an alien planet to change my life from being what it had always been. This time I am on my own, making my own choices and taking responsibility for them.

I was on my way to becoming the Max Evans that I had envisioned being. This was just the first of many steps that I had to take.