WARNING: INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE FOLLOWS DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU, JADE HAS A POTTY-MOUTH I’M SORRY EVERYONE I KNOW WHO IS FROWNING DEEPLY AT THIS WARNING, BUT THAT’S THE CHARACTER WHOOPS

Never Home

Chapter 1

Where am I? Why can’t I feel my arms? Where’s Aris? Where the hell am I?!

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“Jade, are you ready yet?” Aris’ voice came from the other side of the sliding door. Jade grunted and latched her sleek metal bands around her wrists.

“Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on.” She reached up and grabbed her helmet from where a spider-like bot held it in its jaws. It was a black helmet, with a visor that extended to the ears. There was a red skull painted on the top of the helm, though the paint had drooled down the sides, creating quite the look. Jade grinned at the six-eyed robot and it clicked its fangs happily.

“Are you making eyes at that robot of yours again?” Aris muttered. Jade frowned.

“No.” She turned and pushed her way out of their apartment. This particular complex was cheap, being on top of three shops and four homes, making it closer to the ground than desired. But it suited the two women well, the open plan easing some of Jade’s anxiety and frequent taxis in the area allowed Aris to escape Jade’s constant robotic upgrading. Besides, on their military pay, it was the only thing they could find short of a ground level home.

Hearing Jade exit, Aris, a short blond in a white dress, turned away from the railing to look at her. Then Aris raised both of her brows.

“What?” Jade crossed her arms over her blue-tinted armor. “You don’t like this armor set? I thought it was nice.”

Aris eyed her roommate, who looked ready to charge an entire army—per usual. Though it wasn’t the dress Aris had insisted Jade wear, at least it had a few artistic flares on it the kept her from losing her head. Jade rolled her shoulders back and smirked. Aris let out a long sigh.

“Jade, we’re going to a party.”

“Exactly why I have to wear armor.” She moved her gloved hands to pull her helmet over her face.

“That’s hardly—no, don’t put that stupid thing on!”

“Hey, she’s not stupid,” Jade said, bundling her long red hair in one hand then stuffing the helmet over her face. Its interface started up, the blue screen flickering to life as she pushed stray strands of hair into the helm.

‘It is a pleasure to see you again, mistress. You have gained .01 pounds since we last met. Might I suggest a diet?’

            Jade ignored the comment and turned her face to Aris, who rubbed her brow with exasperation.

“I was almost okay with this ridiculous suit of armor, but now? That helmet doesn’t even match!”

“Chloe matches with everything,” Jade defended. Aris’ shoulders slumped before she smoothed out her dress.

“You’d think you’d be more excited. They’re going to give you a medal. Don’t you think you should at least dress up?”

“I did dress up.”

Aris threw her hands in the air and stormed off to the nearest stair case. Jade snickered and followed, leaving the open floor and following Aris to the main entrance, where they hailed a taxi as it flew through the air. Together they climbed inside and Jade leaned her head against the taxi window. The car rumbled and flew off the platform, into the strings of traffic overhead. Below her, she could barely see Nivar’s natural land, long since made barren and lifeless. She supposed overpopulation did that to a planet.

Factories sat at the lowest level of the towered buildings, long pipes stretching high into the air the pump the fumes away from populated areas and forming the cloud of smog that had dwelled in the atmosphere for decades. Though two suns orbited the large planet, they hadn’t been seen for as long as Jade could remember.

The taxi dipped under a walkway, crowded with artificial trees and small shops. People laughed and waved up at the cars that passed, most noticeably intoxicated. Jade wrinkled her nose at the sight. The higher the car travelled, the more walkways they had to dodge. They became crowded with people in suits and gowns. The politicians and wealthy owned the highest levels of the city through money and blackmail. Jade had never gotten along with any of the ‘Goldies’ she had met; most people frowned upon the Opes. Apparently the Exuro politicians didn’t like their own soldiers. Jade couldn’t understand why.

The view outside her window stalled and she glanced ahead, peering through the front window. A traffic jam through the busiest part of the city.

“You can take the lower levels,” Jade offered. Aris nodded.

“It’ll be faster than sitting here. We’re already late as it is.”

“Misses,” the driver said, his word slow and deliberate. His brown eyes flickered into the rearview mirror. “The lower we get…” he trailed off when he noticed Aris’ darkening expression.

“Is there something wrong with the lower levels, sir? Didn’t you pick us up from the lower levels?”

Jade grinned under her helm and glanced at the driver to gauge his reaction. He was human, like them, so it was easy to tell his discomfort as his lips pulled down. He turned the car out of the traffic and dived lower into the city. The city buildings had to have lights on the outside to illuminate the dark shadows the towers cast and traffic was sparse; most citizens avoided the lower levels unless they had a reason to be so far down. A few of the large pipes leaked, spewing black clouds into the air. The smell leaked into the cab and the human driver frowned deeper. It didn’t bother Jade due to her helmet’s oxygen cleanser, and Aris was used to the smell. After traveling far enough, the cab arched back up at a quick speed, slipping into the flow once more before setting down on a large landing pad near the middle of the main city—and on the top of twenty other buildings.

The party was in the city center, housed in a structure built out of metal but painted with a white sheen over details that created the illusion of it being made from wood. It was ornately decorated, stairs leading from the landing pad to the front doors. Beside the stairs were floating lanterns, suspended by magnets and illuminating the walkway with a flickering glow. The city had enough lights to brighten up the walkway, but the lanterns added a nice touch, Jade thought. Beside the lanterns were artificial trees, which kept oxygen levels high enough for most sentient creatures. They had black trunks with purple leaves and green flowers, something of a normal occurrence on Nivar. Most people had never seen a real tree before, unlike her and a few army buddies, so the switched colors didn’t bother enough people to complain. She frowned at this as Aris and her stepped out of the cab and moved to the stairs. How strange it must be to be ignorant.

The two soldiers moved their attention to the building and Aris nudged Jade with her elbow.

“Jade, look!” She pointed to two large flags hanging over the walls of the massive building. They were light color of red with a gold trim accenting the edges of the flag and they held the insignia of the Exuro’s military branch: a gold circle around a blood-red handprint. Their motto was written in the circle’s band: “We Do Not Bow.”

“Marvelous, isn’t it?” Aris sighed with a look of joy on her face. Jade cast her a side-ways glance—that wasn’t all that effective in a helmet—and frowned.

“They haven’t hung the military flag in a long time,” Aris continued. “Well, c’mon, let’s go in!” She hooked her arm around Jade’s armored one, and started up the steps two at a time. Jade stumbled, struggling to keep up.

It wasn’t often Jade saw the flag of the Opes, seeing as most civilians hated the military. Jade figured many people were still paranoid from the Thrax. After the disagreement on how to run a council of planets, the military had broken off and forged their own empire on the other planets not under Exuro control. The war had been raging ever since, each side holding tightly to their beliefs. If only the Thrax weren’t so stubborn. Who cares if money buys happiness? Isn’t that better than having a war? People dying? Families killing one another? Jade closed her eyes against the thought. Then again, I wonder if their soldiers are even drafted like us. Maybe the Thrax truly are freer like they say.

Aris stopped suddenly, causing Jade to stumble forward. At the large double doors was a small metal circle attached to one of the door’s sides. A yellow light was cast from its middle. Aris smiled to the two guards—both humans—and moved her eye to the light. It made a high-pitched whirring sound, then a green light flashed. Aris glanced back at Jade. Her face scrunched up with a moment of sudden concern and her eyes flickered back to the small circular machine. Jade shrugged. Aris nodded and went inside.

“I’m Jade Cavvar,” Jade said, checking to see if her arm guards were in their proper place. “I want to opt out of the eye scan.” The two human guards glanced at each other, the one with a beard scratching at his chin.

“Corporal?” he asked, his eyes lingering on her helmet. A smile grew through the hair on his face and he chuckled. “How could we not know who you are? You wear that damn thing everywhere!” He gestured to her helmet. Jade shook her head.

“She’s a she, not an it.” She grinned and gave a salute. She bundled both her fists and placed her left fist over her heart, and her right over her left. The two guards repeated it, the shaven male looking somewhat perplexed.

“Sir?” he said, eyes flickering to the man next to him. The bearded one laughed and clapped Jade on the shoulder.

“This is Jade. She wears this stupid helmet everywhere. I think she even sleeps with it on.” He winked at her.

“David knows me from the war,” Jade explained to the second guard. “He’s retired since then—”

“Don’t be modest,” David grunted, scratching his brown beard. “I got out of the draft. I took up guard duty for stuck-up politicians.” He smirked at Jade. “That’s going to include you before too long, if you’re not careful, Jade.”

Jade snickered and shrugged. “Can I go in, David?”

“Of course!” He walked over to the eye scan and opened his brown eyes wide. The light flashed green and he moved out of the way so Jade could enter.

(end of part 1, part 2 is much more exciting, sorry x’D The chapter is just long!)