Dear Stranger,
I guess you remember how I became the Dark Lord for my troops last time.
I did not have much choice, to be honest. Two of my troops and one of my zones were poached by Kylo Ren and the Dark Lord was not helping matters. He was pushing me to use fear as a weapon. He has been pushing me for some time to start the Inhuman Project from Zone VI.
To take his mind off things, I took the conscious evil decision of informing on Kylo Ren based on Lord Snoke’s visit in my zone last week.
Well, right now I was driving. I have been driving too much for some time. Airships don’t do well on the ground so I had got out my wheelbike. A Martian party was coming. The spot was in Zone VI and it was a long drive. This was supposed to be a bulk weapon sale. My numbers would zoom up hugely if this deal worked. And with this zone rudderless because of LTA’s defection, I had to pull in quite a lot of strings to make this deal happen.
The decided hillock was at the far end of the city. The sky was startlingly blue which was a bit weird since I expected this part of the sky to have changed hues. A spaceship was incoming.
“Any comms from them?” I called up a ground soldier.
“Yes, My Lady. They said they would be at the meeting point on time.”
“Okay. Have you two reached?”
I had assigned two of my best soldiers from this team for the task and was myself reaching there to clinch the deal.
“Yes, My Lady.”
“Are they there?”
“Not yet, My Lady.”
“Okay, I will be there in some time.”
I parked my bike at the foot of the hill and started scaling it. It had been so long that I had been out in the sun that even a little hike as this got me all sweaty. Before I was even halfway up, I started panting. So much for endurance. I badly needed some work out. Besides, I was not dressed for a trek. Wearing formal wear, with mask in place and gloved hands, it was even worse. The sky was clear but the sun was punishing and my face had sweat droplets all over it. Stupid choice of meeting place. Stupid Martians, I cursed aloud. Of course, I had never met Martians before. I mostly dealt with Earthians, different countries, different mutants…I had even liaised with a party from the Moon. But Mars was my first. And of course, I was new to the business.
“Aaaahhh!!!” I screamed as my heel suddenly turned and I slipped hopelessly down the way I had come. Everything started whizzing past me and I tried frantically to find a hand- or a foothold but there was none. I don’t know how I stopped but I could see the sky turn reddish above me and back to forget-me-not blue in the instant it took me to realize that I was in the arms of a man who had broken my fall. Holy hell.
The moment I was sure I wouldn’t die to my death and my pulse returned to normal, I sprang right up from the guy’s hold and put on my characteristic frown.
“Thank you!” I shouted at him, both relieved and annoyed. Relieved that I hadn’t fallen to my death (damn my balance) and annoyed that I had fallen into some stranger’s arms at a time when the virus that had strangled the Earth’s defences prompted all to keep away from anyone and everyone.
“It’s okay,” he said. His voice was a little strange and his tone sounded a bit amused and there was something else. His eyes…his eyes were bloodshot.
“Well, it’s not okay,” I snapped. “At a time when the planet is grappling with the virus, unverified physical contact with strangers is totally not okay.”
“Is that so?” he sounded concerned now.
“Seriously?!” I made a face. “Are you from this planet or what?”
He better not ignite my sarcasm.
“I am not from this planet.” He spoke seriously. “I am here as an ambassador for a procurement.”
And then it hit me.
His eyes were not just bloodshot. They were red all over. Not just the pupils. But the cornea itself. I had heard about the red planet, Mars. Of course. This was the Martian sale I had clinched. Damn.
Well, two things were for sure. First, I had not been exposed to the virus since he was not from Earth. Second, I had made a pretty clumsy impression in front of a wealthy party.
Damn.
Seeing red all over,
The Rogue Stormtrooper
