Battle of Qari Short Story

Qari

Diary of Mihsah                                                          Lunar Cycle: 233/403/1577

War and misery have struck. This is the reality of the distant planet of Qari. The planet was once the centre of all eastern galaxy life and religion. You should have seen Qari in its prime, thousands would travel to visit. But this once thriving and elegant planet has now been condemned to a constant war zone. The fight against the Nacirema Empire has caused the deaths of so many loved ones… friends, family, wives, husbands, even children. With our beliefs being supressed and our children being forced into the military to protect us from the invaders, the resources here are wearing thin.

The very next lunar cycle I took the space train and went to the planet capital of Qari to join my military group. You should see what the capital has become since the war, there is rubble and debris on the roads all laced with the smell of chemicals and the foul odour of death. There were beggars left and right everywhere you see trying to earn enough space coins to simply buy themselves enough food to get them through the day. The invaders had no right to be here, this was our planet. How dare they call us evil when they are the murderers and the tyrants invading!  They murder our citizens and ruined everything for us. The military signup agent was intense… he didn’t blink and he didn’t smile. Not even once. He had a large scar stretching down the whole left hand side of his face and he had a fake prosthetic leg that he would limp on in order to get around. He probably had a family once. But that must have been a long time ago. I boarded the next rocket that lead to the training space station orbiting our nearest moon.

The station wasn’t much to look at. There was dust in the ventilation that made it hard to breathe and the food was slop and it would be cruel to feed it to even a human. “What are you doing here!” yelled the staff sergeant behind me. “Excuse me?” I replied with a soft and confused voice. He hit me across the face with medium strength and my face went straight back into the slop that I was eating. Everyone began to look. “Did I studder? What is your weak ass doing on this space station?” I got up and stood as tall as I could to give off the impression that I wasn’t scared. The sergeant was one ugly thing. He had sweat constantly dripping off of his face and had a tattoo of the planetary flag on his neck. “I’m here to defend our planet Sir!”  He looked at me with his intense and bug eyes. “Do you have any idea what defending this planet will mean? What responsibilities you will have to take on. I need a grown god damn Qari not a petulant child.”                                                                                                   “You think the Empire will care? They will try to kill me either way.  At least this way I’m going out fighting and letting them know that this planet isn’t for the taking. If I’m going down I accept that, but I will not sit by when my friends and family are fighting for my freedom.  I’m going out with a bang or I’m going out swinging.” There was a deep staring contest happening now between the two of us which ended with a nod that represented an understanding between the two of us.