The first in The Reformation series

In, out. In, out.
He tried to breath but it was proving harder than usual.
Amid abated breath, he peered from behind the cover of the dense foliage... looking...but it was impossible in the moonless night.
The night was quiet, too quiet. Or rather it seemed so after the unbearable screams and cries earlier.

Ryan was gathered together with a few hundred men from the detention centre and loaded onto the truck. He recognized a few faces, Jake, Larry and a few others from the resistance. But the rest of the people looked unfamiliar, unfamiliar yet they were in the same predicament.

A voice whispered:" We are going to die..." A young, lanky man standing beside him murmured softly. Ryan nodded gently. That much was expected. The cruelty of the Reptilians had far preceded their presence, striking fear in the hearts of the communities living on New Eropagnis. Tales of bloodthirsty killings and wanton violence spread quickly to the rest of the star system. In response, the local defense either broadcast their surrender upon the approach of the Reptilian space battleships or fight to their deaths, knowing they would be given no alternative. It was total submission or total destruction. For the merchant-warriors of the newly colonized New Eropagnis, the freedom of trade, movement and affiliation was their lifeblood of their existence. It was better to die trying than live under control.
Woken from his stupor by a bum on the trail, he failed to maintain his balance and fell, pulling his fellow captives to the floorboard of the truck. The group moaned in collective agony and struggled to stand up in the jerking vehicle.
A Reptilian star leader, furious at the commotion, closed in and attacked the first man in the row. Lifting the man by his collar, the captor landed a punch on his head and threw him on the ground. Then the truck stopped.