Shairek was a dangerous planet. Marika U’shivo knew most of all. Ever since the Tryptozians, the ‘’predators’’ of Shairek joined the Alliance, they became even more arrogant than ever. Most treaties that had kept the Tryptozians and the Crabarks friendly were broken. The Alliance was swift and brutal. Mutual friends became hated enemies. The Tryptozians and The Alliance destroyed the Crabarks underwater cities mercilessly.
Once it was over, few Crabarks survived. Marika was one of those few. Her parents had been killed in the year 1002, which the Crabarks came to know as “Hyak’d fae u’da r’sata” or “the year of blood.” Marika was a loner, living on the sad, mostly abandoned streets of Tako’mara, which had once been a beautiful kingdom for Crabarks and peaceful Tryptozians. That was until the ruthless Alliance came in and destroyed every shred of evidence of the Crabarks’ existence. The saddest part was that most Tryptozian younglings, the next generation, didn’t even know about the slaughter of Crabarks. All evidence of the existence of her kind was removed from the younglings’ history books. They lived in ignorance. She sighed.
But, as usual, she was letting her mind carry her away. She had to focus. It was the time of day where she needed to find food. Food was a commodity for anyone other than the privileged Tryptozians.
She also had to avoid the constant patrol of three Tryptozians that would shoot any Crabarks on sight. As you can see, neither races were on good terms, though Crabarks were only trying to live a peaceful life. Now, only the tough survived.
She plugged her nose and swam quickly down an alley filled with piles of litter and toxic Tryptozian excrement. This was a time when she always appreciated the pincers on her arms that could plug her nose especially well. She emerged from the alley, her pincers still tightly gripping her nose.
“Halt!” A light flashed in Marika’s eyes. A patrol has spotted her!
“Shi’afa!” she swore. She had been too careless! In the age she lived in, carelessness could be a fatal mistake. She knew she had about two seconds before the Tryptozian patrol opened fire. She looked around her for a possible way out. There was none. She closed her eyes, ready to join her parents in aetha. A trigger was pulled and a blaster fired.
Marika realized she wasn’t dead. Rather she was very alive. She cautiously looked up. As her eyes made their way up, she noticed two smoking Tryptozians on the ground. A worried-looking Tryptozian smiled nervously.
“Hi, I’m Armak. I’m here to rescue Crabarks. We should go.” Using his blaster to beckon the direction to follow him, he took off swimming. Marika wasn’t sure whether to trust this Tryptozian. All her life she had hated and feared them. Now one had saved her. She didn’t have too much time to think about it though, because the one called Armak had almost disappeared from her sight. She decided she would follow, but be extra cautious.
It was times like these that Marika was glad she had kept herself in good shape. Tryptozians were the fastest swimmers on Shairek, and even Marikia, who was at her fittest, could barely keep up.
As they swam quickly through a maze of destroyed buildings, Marika, out of breath, shouted. “Where are we going?”
Armak looked back long enough to say. “I’m getting you off this world.”
Marika was taken aback. She realized this kind-hearted Tryptozian was willing to risk his life to help out a Crabark, their enemies. It was an act Marika would never forget.
Finally they reached just an ordinary building that was caving in at the ceiling. Armak beckoned for her to follow him in. “How do I know I can trust you?”
Armak looked at her, and for the first time, Marika got a good look at him. He was a small Tryptozian, with a blue eye, and skinny limbs. Marika caught her breath. This Tryptozian was just a kid!
“All I have is my word. I know what my kind did to your people. My parents took part in that brutal massacre. They told me about it, expecting I would sympathize with them. I couldn’t bring myself to agree with genocide.” Armak bit his lip. Marika could tell he was holding back tears.
“After that, I swore I would undo the tragedy my parents had helped cause to the greatest of my ability.” The moment had passed. Marika became silent, thinking about the sacrifices this kid must have made to do what he was doing.
Armak directed his attention to a window, where he attentively looked out. Marika looked out and saw an older model of spaceship–one that could go in water and space. Three Tryptozians stood guard around the ship, hands on blasters set to kill.
“There’s this ship out there. It has enough fuel to get you to Earlex if you wish. Once we get past the guards, go. There are more Crabarks hiding there already, but the guards don’t know. You’re the last one. I’ll distract the guards, and you swim as fast as you can to the ship.”
“What about you?” Marika asked, a twinge of sadness in her voice.
“I must continue my work. Crabarks deserve better, and I intend to help them. I’ve been working with a foundation known as “The Liberators.” We work to get endangered Crabarks off the planet. There are many more than me.”
“How can I ever thank you?” Marika said.
“No thanks required. This is our fault, we fix it. Now let’s do this.”
Armak got up and swam through the window. “Hey, guards, come here for a minute!”
The guards grunted a little bit, but neither moved. This isn’t working, Marika thought.
“Hey, I want a word with you!” But nobody moved. Suddenly, Armak pulled out a blaster and shot one of the guards. The Tryptozian dropped to the ground, dead. “I said, I want a word with you, mufotas!” The guards immediately opened fire on him. He vaulted behind a crate, not before being clipped in the tentacle by a stray blast. The guards started advancing on him, as he sat behind the crate fighting the pain.
“Armak!” Marika yelled. The guards turned to Marika who had passed through the window.
“Marika, go! I’ll hold them off! There are many lives that will be saved today.” Armak yelled through clenched teeth. Marika fought back tears. She had barely met this young Tryptozian who was sacrificing himself to save many Crabarks. She knew she had to go. She swam faster than she had ever swam towards the open doors of the ship.
The guards were now swimming at her firing wildly. They were only thinking about the rewards they would get if they brought in a Crabark and a betrayer's head to their boss. However, Armak shought another guard in the tentacle, causing them to take cover behind some more rubble. They opened fire on Armak again.
Marika made it to the door of the ship and looked back. Armak had killed another guard, but two more patrols had arrived.
“Go!” Armak yelled. Marika brushed away tears and swam into the ship. Crabarks emerged cautiously from hidden compartments all over. But Marika went straight to the controls. She had flown a water vessel before, but there were many more controls on this ship. She used her limited knowledge to turn on the ship, and begin the ascent. She looked through the glass and saw as a patrol finally reached Armak and killed him. He had sacrificed his life to save many Crabarks.
The Tryptozians started firing at the ship, but it was too late. The Crabarks were safe. Because of the sacrifice from a young Tryptozian. Marika vowed that once she got these Crabarks to a far away planet, she would return to Shairek and continue the work of Armak and The Liberators.