Sunset

The Warrior

It had been a long and brutal fight, but it was finally over. High Commander Vorbox could finally rest, and he'd chosen his home planet, Elora. As he put his space-pod on autopilot, he reclined in his comfortable chair, and reminisced about his planet. 

The lush fields of purple grass, the two satellites circling their planet,  and the Star at the center of the system, Sol. He sighed as he remembered his wife and the two children he'd left behind to go fight the war. And Gob... A tear trickled down his wrinkled cheek as he realised his pet would now be dead, having lived its short life of 50 years.  Everything would have changed. He wondered if his elder son had become the scientist he'd always promised he'd become.

His eyes opened as the comms blared, "We have arrived at Elora, commander Vorbox." He jumped up and looked out the Plexiglass window. 

His jaw fell slack as he beheld the terrible sight. 

The Wheel of Progress (he always thought it a rather pompous name) had been demolished, its top half thrown into the River Heflin. He jumped off the spaceship, using a maneuver he'd learned extremely thoroughly as a soldier in the Space Corps, as he tucked and rolled, landing on the grass. 

The grass... He looked at it again and saw that it was yellow and coarse, due to the heat emitting from the flames. He ran for miles, still remembering where his family's hut was, despite all the landmarks having changed almost beyond recognition. That's when he saw it, abandoned, upon the small mound. 

"NO!" he screamed, and ran faster. 

He smashed the door open, and saw a frail old woman cowering in the corner. 

"Ple-please... I have nothing more to give your kind. I gave you every last food item!"  she screamed shrilly. 

Vorbox peered closely, and had a staggering revelation. It was his wife! "Lorena? What happened to you??" he gently asked. 

The old woman looked at him, and blinked in disbelief. "It can't be... they told me Vorbox died in action" she stuttered. 

"I'm not dead, darling. Where are Histrion and Kilium?" he asked, concerned. 

"Didn't they tell you? They came to fight in the war, and they-" She broke into tears, jerky and hard. 

Vorbox moved forward and helped her up, wrapping her in his arms. "They died?"

"Yes!" 

Both of them cried softly, but soon, Vorbox recovered. 

"Who did this to my planet?!" he roared.

"The G- Gr- Gretts"

Vorbox looked at her, and laughed. "The Gretts? Why, the government of Elora exterminated that scum ages ago!" 

Lorena shook her head. "They had gone underground, and had organised a movement against the Elorans, and set it in motion one month before you came here. They raided our homes and took our food, and killed those who didn't comply. I am one of the only survivors." 

Vorbox looked out at the sun slowly setting, and gravely said, "They'll pay for this."