Arachne's History
�??Move it! Get on, get on with it! Come on!�?� yelled Warga, her voice so loud it drowned out the roar of the engines. �??We�??ve got moments left to finish disembarking, and you�??re all just crawling around like a bunch of Hoortha slackers! Everybody follow Arachne! Move it!�?�
Wind and rain joined as one lashed wetly across the faces of the fighters. Vice Commander Arachne Zenth-ar settled her hair and frowned. Since morning her heart had beat uneasily, a troubled rhythm of problems to come. The girl chased her gloomy thoughts away. Why waste time brooding in the face of a waiting battle, one of the greatest joys in any Hoortha mercenary�??s life.
The powerful engines of her jetpack gently settled Arachne on the rocky surface of the planet Tarus. �??Code 4!�?� she ordered. Arachne couldn�??t match Commander Warga�??s force of conviction by a long shot, but the fighters heard and acknowledged her call. Hundreds of elite Hoortha system soldiers moved forward, bringing death and destruction to every adult specimen of the local race. Hoorthians were mercenaries, just following orders.
But then things went sideways: for some unfathomable reason, the denizens of Tarus, well known to carry and rear their younglings on a separate, artificial satellite, decided to bring all of their females and progeny planetside. It was the start of a true bloodbath! Mothers grabbed their children and the male warriors forgot to defend themselves, trying to protect their families. Something snapped in the once merciless and invincible vice-commander...
Arachne turned to her subordinates. �??Stop the attack!�?� shouted the young warrior. Flabbergasted, the fighters looked at Arachne in confusion, but still lowered their weapons. �??We will not kill the younglings - that was not part of our orders. Do I make myself clear?�?� she looked around, her gaze questioning. �??Hold the high-handedness!�?� Warga herself appeared from behind the fighters. The commander�??s steel limbs glinted dangerously in the light of the moons. �??Continue the operation!�?� Several warriors hesitated, but in a minute they were back to their bloody business.
Warga smiled. �??Good for them, they will go a great way yet.�?� she deactivated the safety on her weapon. �??But what am I supposed to do with you now?�?� �??I�??m carrying out my orders. Nothing more, nothing less.�?� �??How sensitive, would you look at that! You�??re just peachy with butchering the whole planet, but as soon as we get to a bunch of blubbering newborn babies, all your courage just dries up? What happened to the woman that planned to displace me at the helm?�?�
�??Warga, I�??m just a fighter. It never occurred to me to claim your position. That said, I�??m sorry, but I refuse to kill children.�?� �??Oh, why are you humans all so delicate!�?� �??Humans?�?� Arachne tensed up.
"And this is already getting interesting..." Warga answered with a smug smile. "Do you think that these people are Hoorthians? How can you be so dumb? We all even look different! The children you protect, just like you once did, will become our soldiers. This is the goal! Hoortha system is an artificial intelligence that gathers children into the best army in the galaxy to change them, to make them unquestioning killers who do not ask unnecessary questions. We have sent a fake signal to trap the offspring of Tarus. Well, which of these little a**holes will survive today, who will be honored to fight in the Arenas of Death for the title to become a Hoortha soldier and maybe even get into my squad?"
For the next two hours, the bound Warga writhed in pain in toothless rage - incisors, fangs, and sharp thorns were knocked out by Arachne Zenth-ar, once an obedient Hoortha fighter. The rest of the soldiers, obeying the hierarchy, did not dare to disobey the order of the rebel superior in rank. To be honest, they did not even pay attention to the fact that Arachne was gathering the children of Tarus on ships - Hoortha fighters were mercenaries and carried out orders, massacring the entire adult population of the planet.
Many years have passed since that incident. The children rescued on Tarus were taken to another planet of this race. Arachne herself is still hiding among the infinity of worlds. Now her home is the Dominion. But for how long, if not - who knows?
