De'AARON'S VIRTUOUS HEART
ALM No.70, November 2024
SHORT STORIES
The war-torn city, once vibrant, had been reduced to nothing but ruins. The air was thick with the smell of black smoke, and in the distance the whistling of mortar shells could be heard along side the rest of the artillery being fired. Buildings stood like broken teeth against a bruised sky, the planet’s streets littered with fallen debris and the final remnants of life once lived. The two suns hung low over the planet of Rygara, casting longing shadows of the desolate planet. Ominous clouds swirled above, promising rain to wash away the blood-stained streets. Pushed to the planet’s edge, the final stand took place. De’Aaron crouched behind a shattered tree, his heart pounding like a war drum. The Menbari’s siege was relentless.
“De’Aaron! We have to move!” a voice broke through the chaos, pulling him from his thoughts. It was Humira, a warrior, his skin dark red marked with war scars, his eyes burned with determination to save his home planet. A friend De’Aaron made after falling onto the planet, now brothers in arms.
“We can’t leave yet!” De’Aaron proclaimed, squeezing the laser rifle tighter. The weight of it felt familiar and comforting. “Not until we kill the rest of these Menbarian scum.”
“There’s too many of them,” Humira shouted. “We’ll be killed if we stay here. We must retreat. We can’t win the war if we’re dead.”
De’Aaron’s throat tightened. The honest words of Humira settled like lead in his stomach. Abandoning the warriors still fighting felt like betrayal to De’Aaron. “I can kill them all, I just know—”
In that instant moment, a larger-than-life shell impregnated the ground, sending debris and warriors alike flying. Instinctively ducking, shrapnel still pierced De’Aaron, but that didn’t stop their retreat.
“We have to go,” Humira urged, dragging him by the shirt collar.
“No, I won’t let them do this to your people, Humira, you know this is wrong.”
Making Humira loosen his grip, De’Aaron galloped back towards the battlefield, but the shrapnel struck too deep into his leg, bringing his efforts to a swift end.
“Why do you insist on fighting a losing battle?” Humira asked. “This planet has lost everything. There’s nothing left worth fighting for, yet you persist on.”
“I’ve seen the faces of dying soldiers on a battlefield just like this before. I promised I’d never let that happen again, yet here I am watching that same movie on replay.”
Extending his hand in solidarity, Humira understood a part of De’Aaron’s heart. Helping De’Aaron to his feet, they continued their retreat deeper to the planets edge, but there was only so much further they could go. Breathing a sigh of relief, Humira could see the rendezvous point ahead. Thinking there was a glimmer of hope left, he smiled. The Menbari embodied the meaning of evil, knowing where the Rygara warriors would retreat to. The trap had been laid. A five-man firing squad and a commanding general. This was no ordinary general. Laced head to toe in slick black combat armor, like the rest of the Menbari army, his suit burns with a bright crimson red hexagon pattern. The hope Humira smiled for had been snatched away, because this was the same general that’d slaughtered his entire family in the previous invasion of Rygara.
“I knew you’d come back to finish the job,” Humira angrily shouted.
The determination to save his planet that once burned in Humira’s eye had turned to vengeance. Raged engulfed Humira. He let go of De’Aaron, clinched his rifle, and rushed towards the general firing madly. Humira quickly lost sight of the mission, only seeing the faces of the fallen. His urge to kill was only intensifying by the second. Barely standing on both feet, De’Aaron tried to stop Humira, but his pleas fell on death ears. Being driven by rage, Humira hadn’t noticed the general’s suit fired off a blast big enough to create a crater in the planet. Springing off one leg, De’Aaron tackled Humira, saving him from the radius of the blast.
“If you’re just going to get yourself killed, you should’ve done it earlier,” De’Aaron said, breathing heavily. “We’ll defeat this guy together. I see this fight means more to you, so I’ve got your back all the way.”
“Thank you, thank you so much,” Humira tearfully proclaimed.
“Don’t start crying just yet. We’ve still got plenty of work left to be done,” De’Aaron said.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the general fired off his next shot, one after the other. It was a relentless barrage, destroying everything in sight, each blast more devastating than the last. Even members of the firing squad got caught in them. That didn’t stop the general’s rampage one bit.
De’Aaron and Humira’s only hope was to run and hide until they come up with a plan. There was a lot more running than hiding, simply due to the general blasting the land to ashes. While running, Humira spotted an enemy battleship unattended to. Making a decisive decision, Humira grabbed De’Aaron’s arm and sprinted towards the battleship.
In a hot pursuit, the general refused to let them escape. Charging his suit past the one hundred percent limit, he prepared to fire off a blast that would send even him to hell. Having reached the battleship, De’Aaron knew they wouldn’t survive. The blast would destroy the battleship even in midflight. Pushing Humira into the battleship, De’Aaron closed the door behind him, saying, “You must survive, for your people’s sake. I’ll finish the rest.”
Pleading with De’Aaron not to this, Humira banged against the door repeatedly, falling to his knees in tears. He knew the right decision was being made, even if he felt it should’ve been him to sacrifice himself for his planet.
Deapplis Williams spent 25 years in the city by the sea Jacksonville Florida. Later served three years in the U.S. military. He now takes courses at Full sail university. His hobbies include video gaming, fishing, and attending sporting events.