Epilogue.

The Lacertine General was sipping a hot cup of Grulo. The beverage wasn’t as good as back on his home planet, but it was the best he could get here on this miserable mud ball called Earth. He sipped the thick, bitter beverage as he prepared to leave his office for the day.

General Slidrian had been stationed on this planet for three years now. His forces were only supposed to initiate the reaping, infiltrate the planet using the terraforming orbs as transport hubs, and prepare for phase one.

Phase one consisted of building temporary infrastructure that would act as rally points for the incoming invasion force. The General's advance force consisted of approximately 10,000 lacertine troops concentrated on the North American continent. This location was chosen because it had been the center of military and technological force on Earth before the drop.

Of course, the Orbs had done an excellent job of eliminating any real threats in the three years they had been active on the surface, but one could never be too careful. There would be pockets of resistance even without the primitive technology the Humans had before the drop.

Things had gone as planned for the first two months. The Dungeon to name the victor of the Right of Reaping was underway and the Lacertine Empire had invested considerable capital to ensure they were the favorites to win. There would be competition, of course; the Rereks and Lycoans had been very aggressive during the last few reapings and would surely try to secure a victory here as well. Fortunately, the Lacertine emperor had made sure to line the right pockets of members in the council to ensure they had an appropriate, although not blatant, level of assistance.

In the end, if the Lacertine empire did prove to be unsuccessful in the dungeon, they would still turn a small profit by acting as a security force for whatever species did win. The preparations for a reaping weren’t cheap, and they would also be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in preparation for the reaping.

Nobody could have foreseen what happened, though. By all accounts, the Human known as Andrew Dawes managed to win his first dungeon level. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Dawes managed to somehow cause the entire dungeon to malfunction. The pocket dimension that held the dungeon and all of its participants collapsed, killing hundreds of thousands in the process.

At least four members of the Council were present when the dungeon collapsed. The four junior members of the 12-seat council were always present in reaping dungeons. The council tried to ensure that the process was smooth and perceived as fair. Having a presence during the dungeon helped assuage any doubts about its authenticity.

Everything went to hell following the collapse. The universal economy was in shambles, and several species were vying for the vacated council seats. To show dominance, these species were declaring open war against their rivals. The universe was at war, and General Slidrian was still stuck on Earth.

After the collapse, the Lacertine Empire provided reinforcements and ordered General Slidrian to assume command of the Earth invasionary force. The reaping had been halted and was now held up in litigation. Still, the Council had more significant issues to deal with, so, in the meantime, the General was tasked with improving infrastructure and beginning to round up and transport livestock off the planet. It was unknown if the Lacertine Empire would be awarded the right of reaping, but the emperor was determined to recoup his losses.

Almost three years after the collapse, General Slidrian had made some progress, but he was now finding that these humans were cleverer and more resourcefuld than he first thought.

The First year had gone well enough; almost one million Humans had been transported off the planet and sold to the highest bidder. After that, things got more complicated.

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The Humans had established a resistance; they had managed to raid supply lines, arm themselves, and wage a sophisticated rebellion relying heavily on guerilla tactics. Lacertine troop movements had been studied, supply lines had been intercepted, and the humans had gone on the offensive during the second year.

General Slidrian had more pride than to request additional reinforcements to quell a technologically inferior foe, or he did until the last few months. Three forward operating bases had been attacked and raided by human forces. The weapons and ammo were seized, the Lacertine troops were all killed, and the food stores were burned. The humans couldn’t consume the Lacertine food, so they burned it to ensure the Lacertines couldn’t recoup it later.

Several Lacertine troops had been captured, tortured, and interrogated over the last year. The troops were unprepared for the brutality of the Humans and were easily broken. More raids followed.

At this point, the humans had a communications and supply network that the Lacertine Empire had fully supplied. The rebellion grew stronger every day.

Today, the General had been briefed on the capture of a squad of human rebels. One of the prisoners was marked as high value, and the general would be heading over to the containment cells to see how the interrogation was going before finishing his day.

“I can’t imagine a human with high value,” the general said as he got up from his seat to walk to the containment area.

“General, I am sure that you will see the value in this prisoner, if you deem it necessary, I have prepared a brief that can be relayed to the home fleet at your order,” Colonel Aku said as he rushed to catch up to the General.

“Colonel Aku,” Slidrian turned to face Aku as Aku stood and held his arms out in an X pattern in front of him.

Slidrian returned the salute as they began to walk again.

“Is there something I should know about this prisoner? I can hardly imagine a human being of interest to the home fleet. I am not in the best standing with my superiors right now and bothering them with trivial information isn’t going to improve my standing,” Slidrian said, cutting his eyes at Aky as his forked tongue flicked from his mouth.

“General, it is best you see for yourself. I am confident home fleet would be interested in this information,” Aku said.

After a few minutes of walking, Slidrian entered the containment facility, where two of his soldiers were busy interrogating the prisoner.

A total of 8 humans had been captured, six males and two females. Unfortunately, they were attempting to raid a supply shipment and had been fed bad intel. The supply shipment was faked, and the trap had been set in advance.

One of the Lacertine interrogators slammed his right fist into the face of the human that was tied to a post in the middle of the room.

“Ugh,” the human groaned as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

“I told you; I don’t know anything. I thought he died during the drop,” the Human said weakly as the blood continued to drop from his wounds.

General Slidrian approached the human, observing the wounds on his body. The humans were brutal in their interrogations, but the Lacertines took joy in breaking their enemies. This would most likely drag on for weeks.

The human was average-looking, about six feet tall, with dark brown hair and a matted beard. He was approximately 40 years old by the looks of it and dressed in a camouflage uniform; although there was no official military uniform, the humans often pieced together whatever they could find.

“I am told there is some value to you, human; don’t disappoint me,” General Slidrian said as he grabbed the human by the hair and lifted his battered face.

“Oh, I would hate to disappoint a lizard; what kind of livestock would I be if I did that?” he smiled and spit blood on the general, splattering his face and immaculate uniform jacket.

“Just as wild and unsophisticated as the rest of your dirty race, aren’t you?” Slidrian said as he took his clawed index finger and raked it across the human’s bare chest.

“Aaargh!” the human screamed.

“I would say you should see to that wound, but I don’t believe it will do you any good. I’m sure my soldiers will do worse once I leave.” Slidrian leaned down and hissed in the human's ear.

“Would someone like to inform me exactly what makes this human any more valuable than the rest of the stinking livestock that we are shipping off the planet?” Slidrian turned and faced Aku as he spoke, obviously losing patience.

“His name General, his name makes him more valuable,” Aku said as he grabbed a tablet from a nearby table and handed it to the General.

Slidrian tapped the tablet and was taken aback at what he saw. The earth records of the human were on the file before him. Date of birth, military service, time served in the United States Navy and National Guard. Information on his immediate family, but most importantly his name….

Michael Jared Dawes

It seemed they had captured the brother of the infamous Captain Andrew Dawes; now, it was time to get some answers.