Dargox Warrior 'VASSI'

PROLOGUE

"Okay. Let’s get one thing straight; I’m a d*mn psychologist. I am wired to find the logic in everything, to dissect the 'why' and the 'how' of every situation. But this... I don't know if what's in front of me is even real." Aria’s thoughts were racing at a thousand miles per hour, colliding against the walls of her mind as she took in her surroundings. When she had first drifted back into consciousness, the world felt like a fractured mirror—sharp, cold, and utterly disorienting.

The cage where she found herself felt like a fever dream, a cruel joke played by a subconscious she could no longer control. It shouldn't be real. It couldn't be. Just a moment ago—or was it a lifetime?—she had been in the mountains, the crisp air filling her lungs, surrounded by the laughter of her friends. And in the very next heartbeat, she was here, trapped in the bowels of what looked like the cargo hold of... what? A ship? A plane? She racked her brain, searching for a reference point, but she had never seen anything like this outside of the high-budget sci-fi aesthetics of Star Trek...

"No!" she hissed under her breath. Those illogical thoughts were her mother's fault, a byproduct of years of hearing stories about things that simply did not exist. Reality was supposed to be grounded. Reality was supposed to make sense.

As she tried to force her eyes to adjust to the dim, opaque light that seemed to cling to the metal like a shroud, she glimpsed another cage. Inside, a slumped figure suggested the presence of another girl, though the shadows were too thick to be sure. Dragging her legs across the freezing metal floor—a sensation that sent a violent shiver up her spine—Aria pressed herself against the bars, the iron biting into her skin.

"Hello?" her voice emerged as a fragile whisper, a ghost of a sound that she doubted had even reached the other side. She opened her mouth to try again, her throat dry and constricted, but the woman responded before she could find her breath.

"Shhh! Keep quiet. Don't let them hear you, or they’ll get angry. Believe me, you do not want to see them when they are upset."

"Who are 'they'?" Aria’s heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. "This has to be a goddamn dream," she muttered to herself, a mantra to keep the encroaching madness at bay.

"The Lars..."

"The... what?"

"Aliens."

"Aliens?" Aria’s brow furrowed, a mix of disbelief and professional skepticism twisting her features. "That’s ridiculous. Extraterrestrials don't exist. They are a mathematical probability, not a nightmare in a cargo hold."

The girl in the other cage let out a hollow, ironic laugh that chilled Aria to the bone. She shook her head, her matted hair swinging forward like a heavy curtain, shielding her face from view.

"Believe me, they exist. I was abducted by those lizard-men... purple, scaly-skinned horrors. It was... I don't even remember how much time has passed anymore. Time doesn't work the same way here. I only know they brought me to this dark place, and I’ve been with them ever since. I’ve been alone... until now. Until you arrived."

Aria felt the fragile thread of her sanity beginning to fray. It was all too surreal, too far removed from the DSM-5 and the clinical world she inhabited. She couldn't process it. Attempting to focus her vision on the young woman, she realized with a jolt of horror that the girl was completely naked, her skin coated in a thick layer of grime. Or at least, she hoped it was just dirt, though the overwhelming, cloying stench of excrement suggested a much more repulsive reality.

Panicked, Aria quickly looked down at herself. For the first time since waking, she took stock of her own body. She was still fully dressed: her black leggings, her brown t-shirt, and her black sweater were all intact. Even her small crossbody bag was still draped over her shoulder. Once she had finished her self-inspection—and mentally kicked herself for failing to perform such a basic assessment the moment she opened her eyes—she turned her gaze back to the other girl.

"You have to help me get out of here," Arianna implored, her voice trembling with a desperation she had never known. "Please, I can't stay locked in this cage. I have a life. I have people waiting for me."

"I’m sorry," the girl whispered, the words heavy with a crushing weight of resignation. "I’m so sorry I can't help you. But even if I could... I wouldn't."

Aria’s hands froze on the bars. The frantic rattling of metal ceased instantly, leaving a deafening silence in its wake. She went numb, paralyzed by the girl's hollow words.

"Why not?" Aria asked, her voice cracking with incredulity.

Suddenly, the girl lifted her head. The movement was slow, deliberate, and as her face came into the light, a silent scream died in Aria’s throat. She was staring at a portrait of pure, unadulterated cruelty.

"I tried to escape once. More than once," the girl said, her voice devoid of emotion. "The consequences for my disobedience were... not rewarding."

Aria stared in absolute horror. Where there should have been eyes, there were only two jagged, empty sockets. Dark, dried blood streaked down her cheeks like macabre tears. The sight hit Aria’s stomach like a physical blow. Her world tilted, and the bile rose in her throat, thick and acidic. She scrambled backward, dragging herself toward a metal bucket in the corner of her cell, and let her stomach give way to the violent heaving of her body.

"I can imagine how horrible it looks to you," the girl continued, her voice sounding hauntingly resigned. "But at least I’m alive. It doesn't matter how many pieces of my body are missing. I'm still breathing."

Despite the overwhelming skepticism and the sheer terror vibrating through her, Aria felt a tiny, flickering spark of empathy. She couldn't just sit here and wait for the end, even if the knowledge of what had been done to this girl made her sick with a volatile mixture of fear and rage.

"Don't worry," the girl said softly. "We’ll be okay."

"This is a goddamn dream. I have to wake up. I have to get back to my daughter..." Aria’s voice was abruptly cut short by a sound that mimicked a roar of thunder.

The very foundations of the cargo hold shook with violent force. The impact sent Aria flying across her cage, her body slamming into the far side where her head made a sickening thud against the metal bars. White spots danced in her vision.

"They are attacking us... again," the girl whispered, her voice barely audible over the groaning of the ship's hull. "Are you alright?"

"Yes... I think so," Aria groaned, clutching her head. "I hit my head, but I don't think I'm bleeding."

"Good. Hold onto the bars. Hold on tight and do not let go."

"Why are they attacking us?" Aria screamed over the rising din, her body jarring with every vibration that ripped through the floor.

"Not us. They are attacking the Lars. From what I can gather through the device they shoved into my ear... they are at war with another species. The Dargox. They say the Dargox want to steal their females."

"Well, isn't that just poetic irony?" Aria spat, her fear turning into a sharp, bitter edge. "Considering they stole us from our own d*mn planet."

"Yes, it is. But they don't care about irony. We are just caught in the middle of an alien war, floating in a void, waiting to see who claims the remains."

"And what if they blow this whole thing up with us inside?" Aria asked. It wasn't really a question for the girl; it was a confrontation with her own mortality.

"At least we’ll be free that way," the girl replied.

Aria felt the ice-cold grip of fear coursing through her veins. She gripped the bars of her cage until her knuckles turned white, trying to anchor herself against the escalating violence of the assault. The sounds of gunfire—or whatever the alien equivalent was—and massive explosions grew more intense, rattling the ship until it felt like it would tear apart at the seams.

"I can't die here," Aria sobbed, the tears finally breaking through. "I have to get back to my daughter. My mother... they need me." The sheer weight of her reality was hitting her harder than any physical blow ever could.

Suddenly, the dim light was replaced by strobing, aggressive red flashes. A piercing alarm blared through the hold, a mechanical scream that signaled something catastrophic was happening. Then, without warning, gravity simply vanished.

Aria felt her stomach lurch as her body lifted off the metal floor, floating aimlessly in the air. She drifted like a leaf in the wind, completely devoid of control. Around her, the locks on the cages hissed and clicked open on their own, and objects—debris, containers, and the vile contents of her vomit bucket—began to swirl in the weightless void. She watched the mess from the bucket drift past her eyes, the sight triggering another wave of nausea, but she bit her lip, forcing herself to stay focused as she floated in the heart of the chaos.

CHAPTER 1: A FEW DAYS EARLIER…

ARIANNA

Arianna stared with a poker face at the man lying on the black couch in her office as he explained how miserable he was and how badly he wanted to kill himself because his wife had left him for no reason. As a psychologist, it was her duty to listen and help him find a solution to his problems, no matter how many times the man requested therapy with her.

“Pedro, it’s been five years since your wife left you. So… is that really the problem that’s troubling you, or is there something else?”

“You see, that’s why I love coming to you, Dr. Ruiz. You always seem to know when something else is going on.”

Aria tried not to roll her eyes. That would hardly be professional. She glanced at the clock on her wrist and realized she only had fifteen minutes left with her patient. She needed to give him some kind of solution before he left.

“Thank you. But why don’t you tell me what’s really going on so I can help you