Rixon and Dr. Sentio were running into the tree line as ships began to fly over them with searching lights. Rixon used his gestures to communicate with Sentio rather than speak because the patrols for them had become heavy as they worked their way to the city.
They passed over streets in the cover of darkness, traded clothes with homeless people to blend in, and ran almost every part of the way. When they finally made it to the city, they changed clothes again. They wore hoodies with jeans, kept their heads down, and put on quarantine masks.
The patrols were not as bad since they were in the city controlled by the planet of Helfahcta. Rixon found the nearest shadiest hotel that took Pinoracs. When they got into the room, they both took a deep breath and plopped on their beds.
"Now, don't get me wrong. I don't mind an adventure, but this was a little extreme even for me. Like, to be that quiet for that long was a struggle. I felt that every time we thought we were in the clear, there they were with their rifles or ships scanning the area for us." Sentio said as he rose up off the bed.
"Yeah, and my team just sent me the coordinates. We will try to make it to them before the week is over. Any longer and the Yornkata Empire may get jurisdiction or help from city officials to come and get us. We have to get weapons. To think we will be able to get through this without killing anyone is a death sentence in itself. I'll scope out tomorrow and go to a nearby gun shop and weapons store." Rixon said as he kicked off his shoes and started going through his social feed on his glasses.
Sentio grabbed the duffle bag with clean hoodies and cargo-like pants they could wear. "Look, I need to know something. When I told you my name, your eyes bucked open. At first, that was a sign for an alien like myself to be worried about because that means you know I am not from this part of the galaxy. So I thought to myself ‘Why are you protecting me and escorting me to your crew?’. AtI thought first you may be looking to experiment on me, but you don't move like the exploitation type. You looked at me like a ticket out of here. Am I right, Rixon?"
"Yeah, Doc, you hit it right on the head. You are my ticket out of this hell of a system and my ticket to raise a real family that I can actually be a loving father to. I will show you what it's like to live on this side of the galaxy. Yours could be hell, and I still would want to run to it and away from here. I've had to kill beings and species just to live, and all for what? Just to breathe another day." Rixon said as he took his glasses off and put them on the side table in the hotel room.
Doctor Sentio didn't respond but gave a look of understanding where he almost didn't mind being used as a ticket to get out.
He took a shower, and when he came out, there was a written message on Rixon's social glasses.
'Watch and Learn of this Hell'
Doctor Sentio sat on the edge of the bed across from a sleeping Rixon. When he put them on, they activated in guest mode and began playing newscasts that were all over social media about the attack on the party. The news anchors reported that "The Onpi Family is wiped out, and the Yornkata Empire is taking credit for slaying all 5,000 attendees, from children to elders. If they were there, they were killed."
Doctor Sentio was pissed at how even media outlets had no respect for the dead or the sensitivity of the story. More so, they were just happy that this mob family was hunted, killed, and murdered. People in the comments were just as bad, as they felt the family deserved it.
When that video finished, he tilted his head up and blinked, not knowing that would trigger the next video. It showed the Yornkata Empire going into the capitals of Helfahcta and putting the leaders of their world at gunpoint. And placing this planet under their control. What made it worse was that the Empire attacked on the planetary holiday that was meant to be without violence and to bring the new members into your family with love.
The same users that commented eight hours ago on the news post, he saw a couple of them also wish that the Onpi Family was still around, as they realized the family had protected them from the Yornkata Empire.
Doctor Sentio peered over at Rixon and nodded as he understood why the man who seemingly looked close in age with him seemed to be wearing a weight seemingly of 300 years. He took off the glasses and went to sleep.
Doctor Sentio was not awakened by the sun breaching the blinds but with explosions in the city going off and sirens erupting throughout the streets. Rixon walked in almost on cue and threw Sentio a gun while he had a sword and pistol. When they got downstairs, the city had erupted with people marching in the streets, people shooting at the Yornkata troops and others looting as they see it as an opportunity. It had turned into full-blown war. And the whole time, Rixon's eyes were still and cold as he moved over dead bodies and shot at anyone that tried them. Whether they be Yornkata or a Helfahcta being.
They even came across a battle where they were trying to get to the other side of the city. The local police of the city were in a full-blown battle with the Yornkata Empire and were pinned down badly against them. Sentio, in this moment, saw Rixon for who he was as almost without a care in the world, ran and grabbed three fallen police officers and pulled them to Sentio's position so they could be out of the line of fire and first respnders could get to them. Sentio didn't want to be helpless, so he gritted his teeth.
"Yo, what the hell do you need from me? I got a rifle, and I'm ready to use it. Watching you play protector is getting boring."
Rixon looked up as he dropped off the last person. "Look, I'm going to help these guys, and we are getting out of here."
"That's cool. Now what do you need me to do?" Sentio said as if his voice had dropped to be deeper and more profound while being around rubble and shots roaring off in the background.
Rixon smiled. "Alright, Doc, I can get this done if you can cover me. Your rifle can go from sniper mode to assault rifle. I need you to get to that spot without being spotted and clear a path for me to create an opening in their formation—" Rixon pointed at a spot that was across the battlefield in a home with a hole that was barely visible to the Empire troops.
Without allowing Rixon to finish, Sentio darted off and ran into the house with shots just barely missing him. The moment he got in the house and started firing off shots, Rixon saw the path that he'd opened, and he began to smile.
The officers saw nothing but a mirage and shadow of Rixon as he cut down and headshotted all the remaining Yornkata troops. When it was all over, Rixon was sweating and had no scars, as Sentio made sure he didn't get hit by any sneak attacks.
The sergeant of the squad asked them what their names were, and Rixon didn't know what to say, so Doctor Sentio spoke up.
"Voss... We are the Voss Family." Doctor Sentio said as he made eye contact with Rixon.
Rixon was about to denounce it, but he looked at the eyes of the officers and first responders. And just nodded in agreement.
The sergeant, seeing an opportunity in front of him, said, "Look, we have over twenty-five extinct species from your planets and others in the next squad. They wear masks so no one knows who they are. If you are going east, could you help us retake the city in the next three days and take the guys in? We can't protect them, but you come off as the type that can."
"Aye, I'm not here to—" Rixon grabbed the red-skinned male by his collar.
"Rix, chill. We're going in that direction anyway. Look, we will take them, and we will free you guys, but understand that the Voss Family is not here to stay. We will free you guys, then leave. Understood? Boss here is nice, but don't think his kindness will stretch that far." Doctor Sentio said as he grabbed and looked at the sergeant and Rixon in the eyes.
Rixon released him and told them to show him the way to that squad and how they planned to win back the city in the next three days, because that was how long he planned on being in this city and no longer.
They showed him, help the squad five miles up the block that had the Hellfire squad of extinct masked species, then they could reconnect their left and right flanks and cut off supplies to the Yornkata Empire unit that was supplying them as they hold downtown capital region of they city.
Rixon and the group moved out, but as soon as they moved without keeping their eyes peered on them, Rixon seized the moment to confront Sentio.
"Who do you think I am? Some sort of savior? These people might be the next thing extinct, and I may be giving them this sort of false hope that is deadly to those that are actually looking for something just to be happy about." Rixon said as he turned and peered into Sentio's eyes with anger and energy to crush his skull.
Sentio didn't back down. "Look, your muscles may have muscles, but a bullet does the same to all. No matter how much you work them out, you can be put down. I don't know who you think you're scaring. I came across the galaxy, and I ain't been scared since I been here."
"Now look here, you never asked me what you would be walking back into if—and that's a BIG 'if'—you went back to my realm. Well, I'm letting you know now, this is a part of it. You think I ran from paradise? Ain't nothing sweet, so don't expect it when you step into my shoes of where I'm from. Consider this me helping you understand the trials that are ahead, okay, muscle head." Sentio said as his eyes went cold and stared back into Rixon's eyes.
Rixon stared back coldly, then a smirk slowly crept back onto his face. "Alright, Doc, I'll take your trials, but I want to hear more about what I will be heading into when it comes to this realm you speak of, especially since we are family now."
Rixon threw over his head to the sergeant some food that he'd got from the first responders. They both, instead of using this moment to be at each other's throats, came together and accepted the challenge that both were proposing to each other. And it was almost like a quiet understanding that only they knew what they were both putting each other through.
When they made it to the squad, they were in the thick of battle, and the only people left were the Hellfire squad, as they were seemingly left behind—no bodies were around them. Rixon had Sentio go above on one of the buildings and lay waste to the Yornkata soldiers. When Rixon saw that their attention was drawn to Sentio, he had the police rush in and told them, "Go win your city and stop expecting these aliens to do it for you."
Almost like a gut punch to the face, the officers that were once pinned down had a fire in their stomachs and outgunned the Empire, laying waste to them and having their awakening similar to the one Rixon had when he first killed someone and experienced a battle.
When the battle was over and the officers were screaming to their lungs in happiness, Rixon took the masked crew up on the roof where Sentio was keeping watch and drinking water.
"Take off your masks and sit down in a circle, not like some little kids on their first day of primary." Rixon said as he rested his back on a roof cabana that had rubble all around it.
When they took off their masks and helmets, Rixon was in momentary shock. Out of the twenty-five of them, ten of them were Delisurian, and the rest were a mix of Vernesa, Fernecta, Cerlitza, and Quixler.
Rixon tilted his head up to the sky where he could see the battles right on the edge of the planet's atmospheric boundary,dogfights playing out above.
"Look, if you want to stay in this godforsaken place, that's fine with me. Some of you are older than me, and a couple are about my age. If you want to follow me and become partners to join the rest of our family, that's fine. But I'm saying this now—I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU FEEL A WAY BECAUSE I'M YOUNGER THAN YOU. Don't come if you can't do it." Rixon said as he stared them all back in their eyes.
The Delisurian female took out a smoke and started smoking as she lay back on her back. "Oh, I know you, and man, have you changed. Look, we will follow you, son of General Nifre Xunic."
Rixon stopped, and his eyes froze as he noticed all their eyes locked in colder on him. "Wait, how do you know my father? Were you in the military?"
She laughed and scoffed as all of them began to become more comfortable on the roof.
Before she could respond, Sentio said, "Yeah, we are in the clear for the night. They just gave the signal. We will set up camp here tonight."
"Appreciate that... my good sir. Don't know what to call you." She said, talking to Sentio.
"Call me Doctor Sentio, and y'all can continue your conversation. I need to know how y'all know Rix here." Sentio said as he put his backpack under his head and laid his rifle down to his side.
"Easy. We protected this pipsqueak all his life from the shadows. We were his protection detail on the entire family. Your father and your mother were almost as important as the planet's chancellor. She was the head of the planet's entire military, and him the head of the continent's defense in case of war." She said as she looked around at her squad.
"So tell me, how did y'all make it? Because I heard they didn't let anyone leave the planet alive after we got shipped out and have hunted every ship that did escape except ours." Rixon said as he shook his head, replaying the story of his life in his mind as he stared at the warring skies.
"Well, all twenty-five of us were a part of your protection detail, which is why they are with us. Your mom was the first to realize what their plan was to do when it came to those being hunted by the Empire. So the same way you were sent out, so were we. But she sent us out on a goose chase for a full year to hunt down someone who was never real. We got a message, as I'm sure you did too. At least, that's what she told us before she ended our transmission with us—that she was calling to record y'all's message next." She said as a tear slowly rolled down the side of her face, and others looked disgruntled.
"Seems like y'all got similar treatment to me. Well, I'm glad you all made it safe, but you never answered my question. Are y'all okay coming under my leadership, or looking to stay here?" Rixon said as he closed his eyes, preparing himself to go to sleep while he could.
"Well, let me put it like this. Your father told us on the transmission that if we stay alive long enough, we will see his son and help him on his journey. And I don't know if you noticed, but we don't have much purpose right now, so I think we will kick it with you." She said as she put out her smoke.
"Perfect. Just know—there is no protecting me. It's protect the person next to you. My 'family' you are joining, not just protecting it. Consider us all brothers and sisters in arms. Now get rest. Once we save this city, we're getting out of here." Rixon said with his eyes closed and everyone laying down to sleep.