“This a dead-end!” Jenny cried.

“Hold on!” The alien girl exclaimed. “There is a sky train coming toward us!”

“Sky train?” Jenny looked down from the rooftop edge. She spotted the train hovering through the wide alleyway. Indeed, it was flying instead of moving on rails.

“Jump!” When the train flew below the roof, the pink alien girl jumped off and landed in one cart.

Jenny, Huntar, Zena, and Torag leaped next to the rooftop without hesitation. All of them landed together in the fifth cart while the train speeded away from the alien apartment complex.

Jenny got up and coughed the black, sparkly dirt from her throat. The dirt was very dusty, and it smelled sweet and musty.

“Are you alright?” The alien girl leaped toward Jenny from the other cart. She sat low as the wind breezed through her purple hair, releasing a tropical lychee aroma-like scent. “I am sorry what happed, but those Krawls would have killed you without remorse. They don’t like unregistered species here.” She held out her hand. “My name is Krysta. What is your name?”

Jenny shook the alien’s hand, feeling the slippery, wet rubber-like texture on Krysta’s pink skin. “I’m Jenny, and my friends are Huntar, Zena, and Torag. We are from Earth.”

“I never heard that planet before.” Krysta widened her eyes. “Oh! Don’t tell me the Krawl are attacking it!”

“Trust me, you are not wrong.”

“How are you speaking our language?” Zena asked.

Krysta tapped her skull. “All registered species have translator implants in here. It also sends a psychic link to species that don’t have them. I can understand you while you can understand me.”

“I’m glad I can always talk to someone.” Jenny stared at the cityscape while the train flew over it. “Where are we?”

Colorful neon lights of various styles coated the entire city. The skyscrapers were all rectangle shapes, just like human modern style architects. Holographic signs with alien runic words drifted through the purple skyline as if Jenny were inside a virtual reality world. The train wasn’t the only flying machine traveling over the sea of lights. Hundreds of flying cars and bigger transports decorated the sky in separate traffic lanes. It was genuinely like a cyberpunk setting.

“This is Planet Dargis,” Krysta answered, “and this city is Zroport, the capital of Dargis.”

“It looks beautiful,” said Zena under her breath.

Krysta glared at the city. “Not when you are a citizen here who isn’t a Krawl.”

“Why were you running from the Krawls?” Huntar asked.

Krysta nodded. “I was trying to help my people fight against the Krawls’ mining corporation.”

“They have a mining corporation?” Jenny asked, sitting cross-legged on a short dirt pile.

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“It is their form of government. They run everything while immigrants and second class races like me are forced to work in harsh labor.” Krysta sniffed with a frown. “Our world used to be a beautiful place. There were jungles, gardens, and breathtaking wildlife. But after the corporation took over, they urbanized our entire world. No more plants, trees, and clean water. They forced my people to work as slaves to mine their conquered planets. But it is unfair!" A tear dropped down her cheek, and she wiped it off. "My parents died in a gas explosion in one of the mines. The more we worked, the more deaths we faced. I soon finally knew my people will not survive as long as the Krawl ruled our planet. We Volkians rose and fought for our survival. I established a small freedom fighter faction here, hidden from the Krawl authorities. We raided their security complex to steal their data. I was the only one who escaped before you appeared."

Krysta pulled out a blue crystal disc from her leather coat. "This data contains a plan to a weapon they built, called the Devastator. I think they are going to use it to harvest a planet."

Jenny widened her eyes. "I heard about that thing at our world. A Krawl named General Cluster planned to use it to wipe out the Beastmen."

"Are they your race?"

"Our race," said Huntar, "Jenny is a human, not a Beastman.”

"Well, that is still terrible," said Krysta. "no species should face genocide by the Krawls. The weapon must be destroyed!"

Zena nodded. "We agreed."

Krysta smiled. "That should give you the reason to help me out."

"Torag?" The rhino asked.

Krysta beamed her green eyes at him. "Excuse me?"

"Don't be fooled by him," said Zena, "he can only speak his name."

"Oh….. Well, can you please join our rebellion? Your weapons and skills can be a significant benefit for us." Krysta held Jenny's hands up. "And your power is amazing! You could destroy an entire Krawl army! How can you do that?"

Zena crossed her arms. "That is exactly what we want to know."

Jenny stroked her hair as if they embarrassed her. "It is some kind of power I got from my father's Star Crystal. Cluster said it is Starium when he examined me."

"Great Kronos!" Huntar exclaimed.

"I heard about Starium," said Krysta, pointing her finger up. "The Krawls have been mining the energy source for egos. It is very rare and powerful. But I never heard it can give someone power to shoot lightning."

"It can do more than that," said Jenny, "and Cluster wants to use me to power up the Devastator.”

Krysta sneered. "That is horrible, too! Geez, the Krawls never cared about other species unless they can use them for their own selfish needs." She pointed her finger at Jenny. "This is why you should join our rebellion! With your power, we can destroy their weapon and their corporation."

"But we only want to return home," said Huntar, sitting up straight.

"And I slightly don't know how to use my powers," said Jenny with her hands up.

Krysta rubbed her chin. "Okay, but helping my freedom fighters first is the only way to get you back home. The Krawls are in control of all the transportation to their mining outposts on different worlds. And I know where they are keeping their weapon."

Jenny nodded to her friends as they nodded back to her. "Okay." She glanced back at Krysta. "We will join you to stop the Krawls, if it means saving our world."

Krysta shook her fists in the air, cheering. "Yaaaaaaaaay! I can't wait to see you in action!"

"So where do we go from here?" Zena asked.

Krysta pointed to the left. "To my freedom fighters' secret headquarters. It is in the entertainment district. We must first study the data and come up with a plan for an attack. I will give you whatever you need there."

Huntar smiled. "That sounds good."

Krysta smiled at him. "In the meantime, I would like to learn about your world. Deal?"

Jenny shrugged.

This was the second time she appeared in a strange new place. But at least it has an advanced city and civilized people who shouldn't be worse than the savage Beastmen on Earth. Although the Krawls were bad, it was good there were friendly creatures Jenny and her companions could rely on. Hopefully, that was true.