Read Monsters Win Wars: A Novella for Free Online Page B

behind him, and pressed his
ear against it. He was listening for when Aric and Henry left. “You
know you guys are making a mistake.”
    Rand turned around to Sallis. His yellow eyes
stared at him with contempt.
    “I didn’t mean that you can’t win.” Sallis
added quickly. “I just mean that, you’re wasting your time with
this Patrick. Why not join up with me?”
    “I am loyal to Aric, who is in turn loyal to
Senator Patrick.” Rand pulled himself from the door, and faced
Sallis.
    “Oh c’mon, be reasonable.” Sallis said. He
smiled nervously as the lizard man approached. “I am the most
powerful man in the solar system. I can be an incredible ally to
you.”
    “Not interested. Take off your clothes.”
    Sallis eyes went wide. He watched as Rand’s
clawed hands undid the fabric belt around his torso. The red dress
robe slid off his body, and fell the ground, revealing his skinny,
scaly, naked form.
    “What are…?” Sallis began, his heart racing
in his chest.
    “Take off your clothes.” Rand said, walking
toward him.
    “Oh god.” Sallis muttered.
    “Do you need me to do it for you?” Rand
asked. Sallis didn’t answer, and instead tried to make a run for
the door.
    “Help! Help!” He said. Rand stuck out a foot,
and tripped him. He then threw himself on top of the president. His
scaly chest pressed against his back.
    “Scream if you wish.” Rand said.

CHAPTER III
     
    Six months later, and the rebellion could
finally say it had the upper hand.
    They were on Mars, on a stretch of
uninhabited desert. They’d abandoned the Titan base, and had
instead begun to use the saurian ship as a mobile base of
operations. Using the frequency codes that President Sallis had
given them, they’d been able to prevent themselves from being
found, as they nomadically traversed the solar system.
    With Sallis as their prisoner, Rand was able
to extract tons of vital information; security codes, and the
locations of targets with strategic military value. Armed with this
information, the rebellion was able to deal strategic blows against
the government, crippling their armies, and weakening their
leadership. Using pure guerrilla tactics, and the skill of the
saurian soldiers, the rebellion seemed well on its way to
liberating the solar system. Henry himself had trouble at times
believing their good fortune, and frequently suspected that
something might be amiss. He didn’t have any concrete evidence, it
was just a feeling.
     
    Rand and a few of the other troops were in
the hold of the saurian ship sparing. Henry walked onto the balcony
that overlooked the hold, and stood watching the training session.
There were four of them, all circling around Rand. They were
wearing the black commando suits they wore in combat, but they had
forgone the helmets for the training. On their hands were black
gloves that covered their claws. Henry had seen a few sparing
sessions before, and he always found them impressive and
disturbing.
    It was different from watching them fight
with human soldiers, who were slower, and relied on rifles. The
movements were quick and precise, the scaly limbs blurring past
each other almost too fast for the human eye to detect them. They
liked to get right up to their opponent, assault them head on. They
pummeled, kicked, clawed, elbowed, and threw each other all about
the hold. As he stood up there, watching the inhuman battle before
him, he felt some of his conviction leave him. But he remembered
the folder in his hand. Before he could leave, he forced himself to
speak.
    “Rand!” he said. Almost immediately, the
sparing stopped. Some of them lay pinned on their backs, some were
crouched, and preparing to pounce. Rand and one other were
standing. They all slowly turned and looked up to face Henry. The
rebel leader picked out Rand’s scarred face. A line of blood ran
from the temple to the chin, and another ran just under the right
eye. A few of the others had blood on their faces. In the last