Aaaaashsh, I finally finished chapter 1 of the latest draft. Feels SO goddamn good. Anyways without further ado, here's Chapter 1: Primeira Chuva

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“Kestrel,” a soft voice whispered behind me. It was all I could do to stop myself from turning, not wanting to face a single person. My actions were still ringing loud and clear in my own mind, the high brought on by bloodshed fading. “Kestrel!”

My head tilted up to the sky, orange in the midday sun. The ground was dusty, billowing up against my legs. Then my mouth opened, at first silently as it tried to form words. A second try, and then finally a third. “What did we do?”

The smoldering wreckage of a ship was in front of all of us, spanning as far as the eye could see. Every now and then we could hear a groan, a cry for help. In silence we stood, unable to move.

Again, I managed to speak up. “What did we do?”

I wanted the question to be rhetorical. I really did. Looking at the wreckage, seeing the devastation I wrought up front, hit me hard as it could. By no means was I new to seeing destruction, but this was beyond the pale. This was a whole new level.

A hand fell on my shoulder. My friend didn’t give any words, just a knowing look. “I don’t know,” she told me with her eyes. “I don’t know.”

My own eyes began to water up, the dust stinging them. Eventually I couldn’t take it, having to shut them. And as I did, the question kept rumbling in my head. Then, more questions. Not just what, but why. How. Every single little thing that shaped the road leading us here. For some reason, I felt inclined to reflect, made pensive by all the chaos. My mind started to drift off then, dreaming of my past.

Even then, I still remembered where things started, right down to the day. Hard to forget, really. The fact is I had the luxury of a single event impacting my life, the memory sticking right up like a sore thumb. It was years ago though, feeling like ancient history.

I lived on a small planet for all of my younger life, Emet. It was on the edge of the frontier, a lot of mining corporations taking up residence to extract minerals. My father worked for one of them, a G-Net technician, keeping most of their machines in prime condition. Mother was a pencil pusher for some business or another. Me, I was young and still in school, sixteen at the time everything went down. Despite my darker plumage, they named me Kestrel. I think my mother told me it was something to do with my eyes, that they reminded her of a hunter. I don’t really know, and to be fair, she was probably just trying to justify an odd name.

Our home was in a fairly large city for a frontier planet, able to afford a fairly nice apartment. It’s weird to think about, but before I remembered the apartment, or even my mother and father themselves, I thought of the rain first. The smell of it, getting caught in it all the time. Wet asphalt filled my nostrils almost every time I left the house, Emet being a planet filled to the brim with storms. Floods were commonplace, a part of life.

I loved the city, I really did. It wasn’t anything special, not even that big in comparison to so many others. But from a mixture of hometown pride and just uncaring adoration, I really did love it. I just wish I could remember the name. It pains me; being able to recall Emet, able to think back to the smells, sights, and sounds, and yet simple facts elude me.

The morning things took turn for the worst wasn’t anything too special. I’d woken up, yawned, stared out the window. The sky was still dark as night, a storm pounding at the window. My face curled up in a smile and I threw my legs over the edge of my bed.

Clothes were thrown on, and I stepped out of my room. A bit down the hall I could hear the sounds of cooking, the smell of eggs strong in the air. My mother loved them, cooked them every day before she left for work. True enough, when I walked into the kitchen, an apron was tied around her power suit, spatula in her hand. Father was sitting down at the table, a tablet in his hand as he probably read that day’s headlines.

I took my seat across from him, Mother pausing to glance over at me. “Good morning Kestrel,” she said happily. “Sleep well?” Her feathers were a light grey, eyes a murky brown.

“Yeah,” I gave a bit of a yawn, before resting my head on my hand. My eyes drifted over to Dad. His plumage was darker than Mother’s, a solid black. “Anything big happening today?”

His finger swiped to the right. “No, nothing in particular.” Dad glanced up at me, his glasses catching a bit of light. “Any plans for today?”

Mother came up to me with a plate, eggs and toast on it. “I was thinking about going over to see Maya,” I said, picking up a piece of toast and taking a bite out of it. “Probably do something with her for the day or so.”

“Sounds nice,” Father mused with another swipe of his finger. As he saw my mother approach him, a glimmer showed in his grey eyes. “Thanks dear,” he added after Mom set his plate down in front of him.

I scarfed down the rest of my breakfast quick as I could before standing up. Then, with a quick goodbye and parting wave to both of my parents, I was out of the door as fast as I could manage. We didn’t live very high up, and it was only a dash down the stairs before coming outside.

My hands were on my wrist as I went into the darkness outside. The G-Net band on me was lit up, fingers typing away in an effort to communicate with Maya. The band was a miracle of modern technology, by far one of the biggest innovations Terrans made next to G-Net itself. While I didn’t understand what the hell G-Net really was, my father’s explanations of quantum mechanics flying over my head, the band was a simple thing. It took the signal put out by G-Net and used it not only to create a sort of intra-solar communications network, but also a myriad of other features. Holograms on more expensive brands, interacting with other technologies, among dozens of other things. They were practically a requirement to live in the modern world. Only on isolated planets in the frontier would you find people without them, really.

My right hand went into my pocket while my band connected, taking out an earpiece. A second after jamming it in, Maya showed up on the screen. “Kestrel?” She asked in a tired voice. “What the hell time is it?”

I would’ve said she looked worse for the wear, but with her, that was what she always looked like. The woman had more caffeine in her body than blood, and even on the tiny screen I could see countless cans of some energy drink brand lying about her.

“It’s eight Maya.”

“AM or PM?” One of her hands rubbed her eye for a moment. “Let me guess, AM?”

I nodded. "Yeah. Listen, I was going to come over in a few. That alright with you?”

She grasped at her hair, pulling it back into a ponytail. “Uh, sure, sure. See you then.” Without giving me much of a chance to say goodbye, her end of the call flickered out.

Maya was always like that; pretty much defined who she was. Ever since a young age she’d lived on her own and was in a constantly frazzled state of being. Her mother died during childbirth and she never spoke much about her father beyond the fact that he died due to some accident. Always a sore subject with her. She survived via her technical wizardry though; the woman was able to work wonders with bands and other things, making enough money to survive on her own. Left her in a permanent state of tiredness though, constantly spending days at a time awake in a rush to meet deadlines.

I glanced up at the sky. It was still as dark as when I had woken up, a fine drizzle coming down. I could feel my feathers getting wet, but I didn’t really mind. The rain was something I’d learn to grow used to. Not really love, not really hate, just take it like some people to snow or clear skies. It was just what I really expected whenever I walked outside.

The apartment complex Maya lived in wasn’t too far from home, a couple of blocks at the most. I remember passing by a couple of stores, neon lights showing off their goods. Emet had been ruled over by the Brazilian Kingdom decades ago, and a lot of the culture still remained. Most of the shops were offering native foods and a few others antique symbols of the old rulers.

I came from Brazilian descent, naturally. Probably why my parents gave me my name, now that I think about it. But, a while before I was born, all the separate powers of government came together and unified. One Council to preside over everyone, to put a stop to countless wars over land and resources. Still, despite living under a unified banner, I still felt a strong connection to my heritage. A lot of people did.

At the time though, patriotism wasn’t on my mind. Instead I just kept up at a jovial pace, hurrying through the rain to get to Maya’s. Wasn’t too long before I was outside of her building, quickly opening the door to get inside. I headed upstairs, sixth floor, and knocked on her door.

“Just a minute!” She called out, and I heard a bit of crashing follow her voice. A minute or two later, she finally came to the door with a bit of a bedraggled look on her face. Her hand held a can and she rose it up as she greeted me with, “Hey Kestrel.”

I filed inside, Maya shutting the door behind me. Her living room was the usual mess; computer parts scattered into various piles, crushed cans, and an unhealthy amount of coffee cups. Her workbench was on the left side, a behemoth of a computer next to it. But on the wall, on the wall hung a massive web of monitors, some blank and others displaying various video feeds. It was a source of pride for Maya; a multimedia setup she built herself over the years.

“You need anything?” She asked as I sat down on her couch.

I waved a hand. “I’m fine, thanks.” Glancing towards the workbench, I nodded a bit. “Working on something?”

“Oh, yeah.” Maya sat down, rubbing her face a bit. “Nothing big. Someone just wants a faster band by Thursday. Easy job, decent payment.” She took a long drink. “How are you, anyways?”

“Can’t really complain. Just woke up a while ago.”

Maya nodded to me. “Well, what did you want to do today? Could see a movie, go for a walk, eat.”

“I just had breakfast, why don’t we just get some coffee or something?”

She leapt at the idea. “Awesome.” Maya walked off to the right, going into her room. “Actually been meaning to try this new cafe a little while from here.” When she returned, she had on a coat, zipping it up. The lioness was a little thick, but nothing too bad. Mostly from all the sugar she consumed and time spent behind a computer, if nothing else. “Sound good? It’ll be my treat.”

“Well, I was thinking something more like a Helios Inn, but I’m game for a new place.” I stood up, glancing back over at her table. “You sure I’m not distracting you from your work?”

Maya shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Like I said, it’s an easy job. Guy had a Unity band so, just a few minor adjustments and a special control chip.”

There were all sorts of different brands for G-Net bands. Oxen made heavy duty, no-nonsense bands for industrial labor, Niagara was a line of speedy entry-level bands, and Le Mans were mainly used by socialites and politicians. Expensive, and with only a holo-interface. What most people considered the most desirable though were Unity bands. They were fairly standard except for the fact they could receive control chips. Ordinarily the chips were used to replace an object’s normal innards and run let it run solely off G-Net. A toaster would have a chip designed to let it toast bread when connected, for example. They saved so much space and materials, and were nearly in everything. But with Unity bands, control chips could give the peripheral new features, as well as improve its specs if one kept the chip in.

I shrugged a bit. “Well, if you say so. Come on, let’s head out.”

We left her apartment and went back into the cold rain. It wasn’t letting up, skies still darkened. People had begun to file onto the streets though, umbrellas popping up all around. I shivered a bit, kicking myself for not having the forethought to wear anything with a hood. At the very least, it was a summer rain. I might’ve gotten pneumonia but at least I wasn’t as cold as I could be.

“Kestrel, you’re shivering.” Maya noted. “Why didn’t you wear a sweater or something?”

“Because I really love getting my feathers soaked through?” I said with a shrug.

“You feel like a big boy with your sarcasm?” She said with an eye roll. “Big man so tough he can survive the rain without a coat?” I stopped for a moment and stared at her. “Sorry, I don’t know where I was going with that.”

We went back to pounding the pavement. Despite the cold, I had to admit it was nice at least just hanging around with Maya. I’d known her since I first started school, meeting when we had third grade together. We had hit off and stuck around since then, even after her father’s accident. I was worried that without a mother around social services or something would’ve taken her away, but somehow she managed to fly under the radar. I wasn’t really too certain of all the finer points. Even as her best friend, Maya didn’t talk a lot about her early life. It was just the way she was, something I didn’t question terribly much.

Eventually we ended up outside the cafe. It was a small affair, windows showing a bit of a morning crowd inside. A bell tinkled as we entered, the warmth a welcome change to the rain outside. A perky young woman was at a podium in the front, greeting us as we walked in. “Hi, welcome to the Ashworth Cafe. Two of you?”

I nodded and she took us to a table off to the left. Leaving us both with menus, she walked off. I don’t really like much of what was on there. Didn’t really care at the time either. We weren’t there for food, just drinks. And really, all I wanted was a normal coffee. I looked across at Maya though, who seemed engrossed in the menu.

“Anything you like?” I asked.

“Thinking about a latte. But on the other hand, I could really go for a lemonade.” She set down her menu and folder her arms. “Is that weird? That I want a lemonade?”

I glanced at the window we were next to, looking at the droplets of rain on it. “Well, on one hand it’s summer. On the other, it’s raining. On the third hand, it’s always raining.”

“Exactly! Maybe I’ll get both. Couldn’t hurt, right? My treat after all.” She nodded to herself. “Yeah, a lemonade and a latte sounds great. Plus, then I get some caffeine too.”

I frowned a bit at her. “Wait, you’re getting both? But then you’re mixing hot and cold drinks. That doesn’t sound like a good idea at all.”

“Well, maybe, but think of it like a wine tasting. I’m not saying I’m going to spit out my drinks, but I want to try all of what they have to offer. New place and all that, you know? Probably means I’ll have to get a water too. So I can clear my palate.”

An exasperated sigh came from me as the waitress returned to us. “So, are you two ready to order?”

“Just a plain coffee, please,” I told her.

She scribbled it down and looked over at Maya. “Can I get a vanilla latte, lemonade, and a glass of water?”

The waitress arched an eyebrow but wrote it all down anyways. Then, after picking up our menus, she turned on her heel and after she left I glared at Maya. “Look, if you want to try the menu, you need more than two drinks.”

“What? Oh come on Kestrel, I’m not that thirsty.”

“But you said you wanted to try everything they had to offer. If you’re going to have a taste test, go big or go home. I’m just saying that two drinks is nothing. Especially since if it’s a taste test, you’re supposed to just have a little bit of each.”

She shook her head a bit. “But I don’t want everything, just a few things. You can taste test a few things in larger quantities, can’t you?”

“I don’t think so.” I leaned forward a bit, resting my cheek on my hand. “I mean, if you got every single drink then yes. Or I suppose if you aimed just to try their coffees or lattes. But you said you wanted to try what the restaurant has to offer. That includes more stuff.”

“It’s a cafe! For God’s sake, I’m getting a latte and some lemonade, what else could I try?”

“Like I said, straight coffee, pastries, tea.” I said, ticking each one off on my fingers.

Maya’s glared at me for a moment. “Kestrel, I swear to God. I’m the one paying, I’m not going to buy all that just for me.”

I shrugged. “Then don’t call it a taste test when it’s not one.”

She pinched her eyes shut, opening her mouth to say something when the waitress returned. The woman had a bemused expression on her face as she set down our drinks. Her uniform was a strange shade of lavender, standing out among the earth tones of the cafe. The name tag was slightly askew, proclaiming her to be Belinda. Or Melissa. It’s hard to say which it was.

“This is just my opinion,” the waitress said to us as she put down our spoons. “But I think two drinks counts as a taste test. Not a thorough one, but you’re able to get a grasp on how a place tastes generally.”

I was a bit flabbergasted, meanwhile Maya gave me a smirk. She didn’t need to do anything for me to get the message. “I told you so,” she more or less said as she rose her latte up.

The coffee wasn’t anything special. Not great, not terrible. Standard fare really. From what I remember of Maya’s face as she drank, it was much the same case. But, it was still a nice time. We had some more idle chatter and just enjoyed ourselves.

After a while though, my band started to vibrate. I looked at it, a call from my parents coming through. “Hang on,” I told Maya, putting in my ear piece. “Yes?”

“Kestrel? Could you come home soon?” It was audio only, but I could tell something was up. My father’s voice seemed seriously worried about something. “And I mean, as soon as you can.”

“Uh, I’m with Maya right now. But yeah. I’ll just finish my drink and come right home. I’ll see you then, alright?”

“Alright. But please, be quick.” Then he quickly added, “And bring Maya too.”

I finished my goodbyes and frowned at Maya. “That was weird. My dad really wants me to be home fast. I have no idea why. Also wants you to come with.”

Maya took a long, last drink of her lemonade. “Huh. That is odd. Must be important, I guess.” She rose, wiping her mouth on the corner of a napkin. “Well, come on. Let’s get the bill paid and head out.”

As we made our way up to the hostess, I started to hear something outside. Cocking my head a bit, I walked up to a window. It was hard to really make anything out, glass fogged up with rain. Blurs of color would go by now and then, but that was the extent to what I could observe. I figured it was nothing and turned back to Maya.

“Here you go,” Maya held out her arm, the hostess scanning her band.

She smiled at Maya politely once she had finished. “Thank you. I hope you had a nice time.”

As she finished her sentence, a loud crack rang out throughout the cafe. I saw the hostess slump over her podium, a second passing before my mind finally registered just what had happened. Screams rang out all around us as a cadre of men began to storm the entire place, shouting at everyone to get down. I was about to do as they said, when I felt something slam into my back. The air was forced out of me and I went crashing down, gasping and seeing stars.

I rolled over off of my front, coughing hard. When my vision finally came back from being red, I was greeted with the sight of a rifle’s barrel being aimed directly at me. “We said get on the ground,” a man growled at me. Fear welled up in me and I began to shake. He walked over me, and then began to shout to the entire restaurant. “Listen up everyone! In a few seconds, you’re going to all be getting a message. I’d advise you to listen to it!”

The other men began to sweep the place, pulling people out from under tables and tossing them onto the ground. Some went into the kitchen, a few workers being dragged outside as well. I glanced over at Maya, who was looking at me with the same expression of abject horror. Seconds passed, then minutes, with the men wandering around keeping fear instilled in all of us.

And then the lights flickered, before turning off. We were left in darkness for what felt like an eternity, until finally, every band in the room began to vibrate.