The year was 2072 and Leah moved with purpose through the labyrinthine corridors of the U.N. Defense Force base, her gaze fixed on the holographic display showing the topography of the expansive border post. A six-month long mission lay ahead, guarding the boundary that separated the sprawling human cities from the confined zones housing the alien lizard beings.
A decade ago, their ships had crash-landed in the heart of South America, jettisoned from their crumbling home world. Over 100,000 of these reptilian refugees were granted asylum by the United Nations. Large swaths of Chile and Argentina had been carved out to house them, transforming into sprawling, makeshift settlements surrounded by towering walls.
Leah had witnessed the initial days of cooperation, the promise of unity and shared knowledge. The confiscated alien crafts had been reverse-engineered, leading to a technological leap for humanity. Energy, propulsion, and weaponry advancements had reshaped the global power dynamic, with the United Nations taking a more prominent role in the governance of Earth.
However, the alliance was not as harmonious as promised. The lizard beings, despite assurances of citizenship and integration, were confined to the humanitarian zones. No nation wanted them; their superior intelligence, strength, and speed made them a potential threat, and suspicions lingered about their motives for fleeing their home world. Rumours of criminal backgrounds and overpopulation-induced planetary collapse circulated, leaving the reptilian refugees in a perpetual state of scrutiny.
Two decades later, their numbers had swelled to over a million, the majority being teenagers and young adults. A skewed birth ratio further complicated the situation, with men outnumbering women four to one. In their patriarchal society the females were relegated to the role of broodmares. For this and many other reasons the alien race struggled for acceptance in human society.
Leah found herself in the armoury, checking her gear before the upcoming border assignment. As she adjusted the straps of her uniform, her squad leader, Sergeant David Gray approached, his gaze reflecting a mix of determination and wariness. "Leah, are you ready for this?" David's voice was steady, but an underlying tension lingered.
Leah nodded, examining her sidearm. "As ready as I can be. Those lizard beings, they're getting restless. Rumours say their numbers are swelling faster than we anticipated."
David leaned against a nearby crate, his eyes meeting Leah's. "Yeah, over a million now. We were supposed to integrate them, not confine them like prisoners. It's not sitting right with me."
David was a liberal with a soft spot for those he felt were hard done by. It was one of the things that actually attracted Leah so much to him. But it wasn't how Leah saw the world. Leah was Israeli, so she grew up on stories of atrocities committed by groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, the so-called disenfranchised. Her grandparents had been members of the Israeli Defense Force, had fought in the uprising of 2023, and would still tell stories of the mass murder and rape committed by their enemies.
Due to her grandparents' sacrifice, Leah had never known war. Israel had fought fiercely and finally, through strength of will, crushed her enemies such that they were forced to sue for peace. Israel had maintained that peace for fifty years with a policy of zero tolerance and disproportionate response to any act of aggression by an outside actor.
Leah holstered her sidearm, her eyes meeting David's with a resolute intensity. "We're not just guarding a border, David. We're guarding the consequences of decisions made by people who might not fully understand what they've set in motion. These lizards can't be trusted. They do not share our values and I for one do not buy for one second the explanation of how they ended up here."
David just rolled his eyes before reaching across the armoury floor to grab Leah by her waist and pull her into his muscular chest. Leah just smiled as David kissed her passionately while grabbing her butt through her combat pants. "Such a hard ass," he joked, the double entendre not at all lost on Leah.
David was married but Leah had been seeing him in secret for just over six months now, managing to keep their relationship from the rest of the ten-man squad. Leah figured some of the members suspected something was going on between them but, to date, they hadn't been caught.
In fact, the only other person who had even said anything was Sarah, the other woman on the squad. Sarah had transferred to their unit two weeks ago and had very quickly asked Leah if she was seeing David. Leah said that she wasn't and then had to watch as Sarah openly flirted with her man. Sarah wasn't subtle about pursuing David, despite the fact that fraternising within your squad was not allowed. Leah didn't mind though, watching David being pursued by another woman made her secret relationship that much more exciting.
Leah and David walked from the armoury to the briefing hall where the rest of the squad was already waiting. They took their seats and talked with the rest of the squad until the captain arrived to give them their brief.
It was the same briefing they had heard a dozen times before.
The Lizards were promised citizenship and integration by the UN after crash landing in South America. But a decade later they were still effectively prisoners in the humanitarian zone where they resided. Humanity, as it turned out, was generally xenophobic and so no nation was willing to take them en masse.
As a race, the Lizards were generally more intelligent, or at least more technologically advanced. They were also stronger and faster than humans, significantly so in fact. Their society was patriarchal in nature. Women were little better than property and men competed fiercely for the right to breed with them.
The species was guarded as to why they fled their world and many suspected they were criminals or their world died of environmental collapse due to gross overpopulation.
As the briefing concluded a display in the corner of the room blinked to life, projecting a live feed from the border post. An urgent voice echoed through the room, "Attention all units, unauthorised movement detected near Sector 7. Possible breach. All squads report to your positions immediately."
Leah exchanged a quick glance with David, rolling her eyes before they both rushed out of the briefing room and into a waiting drop ship - these "possible" breaches always turned out to be nothing in the end. As the squad moved towards Sector 7, the sprawling wall separating humans from the lizard settlement loomed ahead, and the distant sounds of commotion grew louder. As they arrived, Leah observed the situation unfolding -- a group of lizard beings, all young men, stood defiantly in front of the 40-foot wall.
The group's leader, a charismatic lizard named Xarnak, addressed the UN Defense Force with a hissing voice. "We demand our freedom! The promises made by your leaders have proven empty. We won't be confined any longer, humans!"
Leah's squad took defensive positions, weapons raised, as negotiations began. Tensions escalated, with Xarnak insisting on equal rights and access to human territories. The situation reached a critical point when a sudden movement among the lizard beings caught Leah's attention. A young female had wandered past a large group of males and drawn their eyes.
The female lizard quickly found herself surrounded by a group of lizard men who quickly started fighting amongst each other for the right to breed with her. The female tried to leave but was quickly grabbed by some of the men and held in place while the two largest lizards fought.
The lizards were ferocious, both seven feet tall and probably three hundred pounds of muscle, they fought with tooth and claw, tearing each other apart until the one finally was victorious over the other. Having asserted his dominance, this lizard quickly claimed his prize, mounting the poor female of his species in front of the large crowd.
Leah couldn't make out exactly what was happening due to the crowd surrounding the rape but it looked bad. Moments later the Public Order Tactical Unit arrived and disruptive gas and shock canisters were fired into the crowd. Soon the lizards all began to disperse, the gas causing them to hack and cough violently while the electric discharges caused severe muscle spasms.
Leah could see the female then. Her clothes had been torn from her body and she was weakly crawling away back toward the settlement structures.
"Fuck those big bastards are brutal," commented Sarah, who had claimed a place on the wall between Leah and David. "I sure as hell wouldn't want to be caught alone with a group of them."
