Rising Son

[Haste]

It was clear the ship wasn't built for the cargo it carried. The abrupt slowdown following the jump had people falling over, dragging others with them as they tried to find something to hold onto.

This, too, happened to Rokuro. The woman next to him stumbled with the rest of the crowd and grabbed his arm as she fell. Another body hit him from behind, slamming him to the deck. His head connected with the cold steel and everything went black as he flashed into unconciousness.

"Wake up. Something hit us. The ship stopped all of a sudden."

He felt a stinging pain in his head. As he opened his eyes, he saw the man who was standing next to him before, now kneeled beside him.

"Good. You weren't out for very long. You'll be alright."

Lights in the ceiling flashed on. Rokuro could now see the man's face. He looked to be in his forties and had a very masculine face, with a broad jaw-line, and small grey eyes. Various scars revealed that time as a slave had taken its toll on him.

The man stood up. He stood at least two meters tall. As he looked towards the far end of the cargo bay - away from the loading doors - the expression on his face changed. His eyebrows lowered. His eyes opened further.

Again, he kneeled next to Rokuro.

"Guards are coming this way. I'm not sure what they're up to."

A combination of anger and fear could be heard in his voice.

The guards could be heard shouting at people to get out of their way as they got closer. Rokuro's pain was slowly fading, and he decided to try and get up. To his own surprise, he succeeded.

The guards were close now. They were passing right through the middle of the crowd, which was also right where Rokuro was standing. As they shouted at him to get out of the way, he could get a good look at them. The men - there were four of them - were suited up for a space walk and carried what looked to be military-grade assault rifles.

As soon as they made it to the end of the cargo deck, they took positions left and right of the loading doors.

"We're in position, boss."