The Mission - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Prologue

In 2017, man-kind discovered life on other planets in this solar system and the two next to it. Within the next five years or so, people established communications with these aliens. One kind was actually a lot like us, both mentally, physically and emotionally. This was the Quinanee race inhabiting a planet three times as big as our sun; planet Utavia. The Quinanees did not vary in height as they did in weight. They had no eyebrows or lashes. Their noses were red and had three nostrils. Their skin was bronze with a tinge of green. Other than that, they were almost exactly like us.

In 2021, the Gondarin Asteroid, also known as the Hollow Asteroid altered its course. It must have collided into something, because it changed its orbit by nearly 17 degrees. This all occurred so suddenly, the Quinanees never had the chance to fire at it so it can shatter in space. Because of its enormous size and density, their planet was barely chipped. But it was damaged in such a way that the Quinanees could not survive on their planet if they stayed much longer. You see, this hollow asteroid was filled with compressed carbon dioxide, barely in the gaseous state. The carbon dioxide seeped through the cracks caused by the collision and spread across Utavia. It was fatal for those who couldn't leave the planet in time.

Most of the population got away on their ships, but they could not return to their planet for years. The Quinanee emperors agreed that they would find their people's needs on the Human planet. There, like Utavia, water and oxygen was found. It was true that there were also some quantities of carbon dioxide there, but it would not be very harmful in those concentrations.

So, the emperors contacted the Earth officials. Most of Earth's inhabitants welcomed the idea of allowing the Quinanees to share their planet with them. But the officials in power refused vehemently, making an excuse of the over-flowing human population. Now, the Quinanee race had nowhere to go. The oxygen supply on their ships would be enough for some time to come. But the small food and water supplies they had would run out in three galactic days, which is around a month on Earth. Now, the emperors were facing the extinction of their kind. They saw the old, the young, the sick and the weak die in front of their eyes. That is when four of these five emperors decided to go to war to rule Earth. They thought it was their last hope so they traveled with their people to Uranus, where they made a short stop to collect the store of weapons humans had left there in an act of making peace between its nations.

The fifth emperor tried one last time to stop the other four from doing so. But later he was assassinated on his own ship by his second-in-command. Part of the Quinanee population also saw that there was no other choice but to invade Earth. They had seen many of their loved ones die. Some of them had gone to an extreme and pronounced the war as revenge for their dead and labeled Humans born murderers. But some of the Quinanees also thought of honor. Unfortunately their voices were not heard.

Even with the large number of deaths from starvation between the Quinanees, the battle couldn't have lasted more than three days. Humans, at that time had very little fire-power because of their peace pact, while the Quinanees were heavily loaded. It was all a big massacre for humans in the populated cities. The humans tried to get help by contacting the other races, but their request was turned down. Word had spread across the galaxy of the power of the now-armed Quinanees.

Earth had become dominated by the Quinanees. Humans lived in small packs, scattered in the rubble and dumps, and only seen out of their hideaways in the darkness of the night.

Nearly a decade since the invasion, Utavia was, once again, inhabitable. The Carbon Dioxide had reduced to a safe concentration. The Quinanees could now go home. The majority of them did, but the new emperors were greedy and power-hungry. They believed Earth was their planet now. So, they stayed, along with thousands others, most of them Earth-born Quinanees. Again many of the Quinanees objected, but they were silenced by the resourceful emperors with a threat of them following in the footsteps of their dead.

The number of Quinanees Humans had to fight had fallen considerably. But with the ruthless weapons they had, few dared to act against them. Years passed, and more and more humans were enslaved and brutally tortured. The five new emperors built comfortable castles and royal courts for themselves. The Quinanees had five large empires in strategic locations around the world. So, humans had much place to roam without being caught. That is when they started rebuilding what was for so long lost. They proceeded with manufacturing buildings, transportation vehicles and communication devices. They were also greatly concerned with farming and livestock for food. The humans were regaining their power. And when the emperors were alerted of this, they made sure the humans were hunted down. Whoever was caught acting against the Quinanees would immediately be executed in the nearest royal court. They had a special taste for children; if they ever got their hand on one, they would enslave and torment him or her day and night. The humans could not risk another massacre, so many of them decided to go to form stealthy groups targeting the Quinanees in power and planning for their downfall. Unfortunately, many of these brave men and women didn't make it. Two of them being my parents…

My name is Jasmine Derkone. I was born twenty three years ago in year 2049. I love to read books I find under the remains of an old library nearby. The tall blond boy sitting next to me is my comical brother, Jason. He's one and a half years younger than me and is always sniggering about something or the other. See the muscular frowning guy who's pacing the room? That's Scott Hunter. He was brought up by his grandmother since his mother died when he was seven or eight. He's really serious. And last but definitely not least, is my best friend, Stacy Turf. She's the playful red-head with green eyes sitting on the fallen tree branch. Her great great great great grandfather ruled some country I forgot its name in 2010 or so, years before the invasion. She's the youngest amongst us, nineteen, and an only child who was used to cuddling. So the death of our parents must have affected her the most…

Right now, everyone's so serious and tense, even Jason… Stacy is looking hopefully at all of us, expecting an answer. The suggestion she had made just then caught us of-guard. She wanted us to put our parents' plan into action…To accomplish and go through with what even they couldn't…I just don't know what to think…

My parents, along with Stacy's parents and Scott's father had formed a resistance. That's how I met Stacy and Scott. Anyway, they used to meet frequently and keep all information of the meeting from us. They didn't want us getting involved… I don't know the details now, but when the day came for them to execute their plan, something went terribly wrong. After that, we never saw them. It's been two months now and there's no sign of them at all. I've given up hope and so should Stacy and Jason. The Quinanee emperor is simply too ruthless.

--- to be continued ---