When Xarvar came to his senses, the first thing that he felt was the biting cold, gnawing at his bones relentlessly. The cold seeped underneath his skin, making him feel like he would never feel warm again. Quite an impressive feat, considering that he was born and raised on the icy tundras of Naxor X, where even normal metal would be too brittle for practical use.
He opened his eyes and gathered his surroundings. He was in some dark narrow cave. The rocks around him were too smooth to be natural. Thick primosteel bars prevented him from going out, the telltale of frost could be seen clinging on its surface. The bars had to be freezing cold, and Xarvar made a mental note not to touch it unless he wanted to lose a part of his skin.
Across to his cell was an empty one, with a purple panel blinking on the wall outside. The text on the screen was obviously Vaidessian, he recognized.
This had to be another base of the Vaidessian Hegemony, then.
A hiss of a door opening and closing, followed by some muffled cries, made him turn. A rather bulky Vaidesse warrior walked in, dragging another male Vaidesse with him.
The Vaidesse were feline-like beings with bluish-purple fur. Some of them have patterned fur, while others have plain colored fur. Their stature towered against Xarhossians, and this particular warrior looked like he was on the taller side.
They belonged to Vaidessian Hegemony, a highly militaristic government entity which was even more parasitic in nature than the Axocarian Empire. They subjugated the majority of the galaxy, and destroyed nearly the half of it in their endless pursuit to find a suitable planet to call their new home. Their own home planet was destroyed many millennia ago, and their people were scattered to every corners of the galaxy, until the Hegemony united them all.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. There was an elusive resistance group fighting against the Hegemony, Xarvar briefly remembered, though their presence couldn’t really be confirmed. Every other government entities in the galaxy were trying to recruit them to their side, but so far their contacts had been ignored or rejected.
“Now you stay here, you terrorist scum!” the Hegemony warrior yelled as he shoved the Vaidesse into the empty cell and closed the bars. “And look, I even gave you a friend to suffer together! Xarvar Tervatex of the Xarhoss”, he spat, finally turning his attention to Xarvar. “So, you’re awake.”
“Unfortunately”, Xarvar answered coolly, crossing his arms and gave the goon the most unimpressive stare.
“You have guts poking your nose where it doesn’t belong, Tervatex, I give you that. But your crew and your allies will never find you here”, the warrior grinned wide and wicked.
“We’ll see about that”, Xarvar returned, tilting his head in a challenging way.
The Vaidessian warrior sneered before stomping away, ears folded back in annoyance. He was clearly disgruntled that threats and tough talks didn’t seem to affect his captive. Honestly, Xarvar would’ve felt more threatened if the words were not basic textbook villain speech. Nothing that he never heard before in his years of career as a Xarhossian Astronaval Captain.
The Vaidesse captive in front of him, though, looked like he had frozen from fear and cold. Xarvar didn’t blame him — though his purplish fur looked thick enough, he dressed plainly, more like a refugee instead of a resistance fighter. The pale purple hood he wore certainly couldn’t seem to hold against the freezing weather.
Thankfully, Xarvar still had his thermal uniform, although he couldn’t find his communication badge. The Vaidesse who captured him probably had it removed or destroyed when he blacked out from the ambush. It’s fine, he tried to reassure himself. His crew was more than capable to find him. They always did, whenever he was captured.
After all, he still had his luck with him.
But first and foremost, he wouldn’t let himself sit idly by until his crew came to rescue him. He had to try and break out first, at least. He was quite confident that he was a resourceful and lucky man. A chance to escape would present itself sooner or later.
Right now, he had to pay attention to his new ‘friend’.
The Vaidesse captive was curling in a fetal position. Xarvar was worried if he was injured or ill — it would be harder for him to recuperate while also fighting the freezing air. It would also make escape impossible, when it came to that.
“What”, the Vaidesse said suddenly, his gruff voice sounded like acid. “Never seen a Vaidesse being hurt by one of their own?”
“I did. Several times, actually”, Xarvar replied with a frown. Throughout the years of him in the Imperial military, he had seen how beings from all over the galaxy had the capacity to hurt their own. But all of those were pale in comparison against what the Vaidessian Hegemony did to their own people.
Though Xarvar liked to think that he was a reasonable man, he loathed the Hegemony with all his guts. Their queen was a cruel and prideful tyrant. She didn’t care who she hurt under her rule. Her attack dogs were no different too. The Hegemony would even experimented on their own like their lives were as worthless as those under their subjugation. Those who went against them, they would destroy with all their might.
The Vaidesse was quiet, so Xarvar asked, “Are you with the resistance?”
The Vaidesse shook his head. “They tried to recruit me once, after my colony was destroyed. I refused.” Then, he added weakly, “I just wanted to be left alone.”
Xarvar knew enough about the Hegemony to know that they didn’t care if you were with the resistance or not. As long as you were not a part of the Vaidessian Military, then you were an enemy.
“Which colony?” Xarvar asked instead.
The Vaidesse eyed him cautiously, before answering, “Selavent.”
Oh. “My condolences”, Xarvar said. He was assigned to investigate what was left of Selavent Colony two days ago. There was nothing but planetary debris where the colony used to be. It was hard to imagine it as a prosperous planet before the invasion forces hit three days prior to that.
Something seemed to flicker in the Vaidesse’s eyes. It was gone before Xarvar could decipher it, and the Vaidesse turned his back to him, huddling onto himself for warmth.
Well, that was that.
With nothing to do, Xarvar closed his eyes and decided to meditate.
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