Hycn by D.S. Foliche

CHAPTER 1: XERLA

    “This little exploration quest of yours
shouldn’t take eons Kocz. I’m damn tired and need rest.” Xerla
Crpye massaged her eyes but promptly reverted her concentration to
her spacecraft’s controls. She nonchalantly shoved forward the
lever on the left side of her cushioned seat, the small craft dived
in response, losing its height by a few feet, and then straightened
once more.
    “Kocz, engage me.” She spoke again. This
time in an authoritative tone of voice, her voice a tad louder and
ruder than previously. There was no response or acknowledgement
whatsoever to her earlier statement. The fatigued outlandish
warrior princess glanced outside to her left for the first time
ever since she left The Maztica, Cede’s fighter craft’s
lights were flashing wildly in the dark of space sixty or so meters
to the left, but again she received no response like before.
Regretting her decision to come along with Kocz, she returned her
attention back to the monitors in front of her and sank further
into her seat. She was utterly exhausted and sleepy.
    “You induced me to come along with you
against my will, the least you can do is respond when I talk to you
cunt.” Xerla barked lazily in Ekcyrien . Her native tongue.
She was a very proud and somewhat arrogant Ekcyrien with a very
short temper and a sharp tongue.
    Ekcyriens were an alien race of beings that
looked and were “human” in everyway imaginable; the only slight
difference was their long green hair and reddish skins. This race
of technologically advanced beings resided in the many strange
planets and sun systems within the Hycn galaxy. Originally
Ekcyriens were from a huge planet with five moons and two suns
named Ekcyr but due to overpopulation and other expansion reasons,
this alien race was scattered throughout the entire Hycn galaxy
now.
     
    “Fuckin' asshole, I said talk to me.” Xerla
growled like an enraged mad dog about to sink its crooked and sharp
'saliva dripping' teeth into flesh. She loved and adored Kocz like
a brother, but right now, she hated him with all her being. How he
succeeded in getting her to come along with him to explore the
wandering alien planet she wondered. She was exhausted, she should
have been relaxing in her cozy quarters aboard The Maztica at the moment; immersed in comfort and bliss, far away in other
Hycn worlds within her dreams killing dangerous wicked aliens. But
Kocz had to bring her out here.
    “Yes! Finally! I wonder what is down there
waiting for my eyes to feast on.” Kocz exclaimed excitedly. Their
short flight from The Maztica had taken only about 3 minutes
but to Kocz it had seemed like eternity. He was eager to explore
the spinning planet. Exploring alien worlds and cultures was more
his ‘thing’ than being a soldier.
    “Come on lets do this so we can head back to
the carrier Xerla.” Kocz shouted ecstatically. His fighter craft
sped and entered the dead planet’s atmosphere.
    A smile flickered across Xerla’s face as she
realized why she’d agreed to come along with him. She’d agreed
because it was an excuse to fly her anti-gravity fighter craft. She
didn’t give a damn about exploring dead worlds and wandering
planets. She was not the touring kind; there was nothing
interesting in exploring dead worlds. Not for her anyway. There
definitely wasn’t anything worth writing home about down there on
the dead planet, only ruins of an alien civilization long dead. She
too increased speed and followed Kocz.
     
    Darkness devoured the entire Okavango Delta
whole, relieved that the Eskadet sun had finally retired, and it
had for the umpteenth time, reclaimed its rule and supremacy over
this vast patch of wasteland, which once upon a time was filled
with all kinds of wildlife. This marked the beginning of another
extremely long night. Seventy-four hours long the nights were, and
very cold and dark they were. It was the same for the whole of
planet earth. Not that it mattered anyway; nobody