War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past

by Conner Walworth

  "What happened?" Kirill shouted, slamming his hands on his desk. "What went wrong?"

  "The boy, Anlon," The contact replied. "He saw your men and warned the Queen before she could receive the poison."

  "Why did you let this happen?" Kirill fumed. "You said you would take care of the boy!"

  The contact had already been prepared for Kirill to take the blame off of himself, so the contact had already come up with something that would place all of the blame on Kirill's men.

  "Your men were careless. They let themselves be seen by the boy. How am I supposed to prevent that Kirill? The carelessness of your men is the reason this mission was a failure, it had nothing to do with me."

  "Donnchadh!" Kirill clenched his fists. "I'll have his head when he gets back! I told him how important this mission was!"

  "That may be a problem Kirill, but you will most likely get your wish in the end."

  "What do you mean it will be a problem?"

  "Donnchadh was captured, though the other two were lucky enough to escape. Donnchadh will die at the hands of the Queen, I can assure you that."

  Kirill shouted curses and cut off the comlink. The contact smiled and silently chuckled, loving to be correct. Maybe next time Kirill would listen and not blow off suggestions from someone with experience in things such as this. Only time would tell, and right now, other things needed attending because other plans still needed to fall into place.

  Chapter 12

  Adira stood in front of Anlon in her personal chamber with the curtains pulled closed. She had heard that the other races had evaded capture of her guards, but she didn't want to take the chance that they were still lurking on Palace grounds. Anlon had been brought in her chambers for more than just thanking him, there was something she needed him to do now.

  "Thank you again for saving my life Anlon."

  He just smiled. "I think it was pure coincidence, and luck, that I was able to save your life. I was lucky to survive that attack at my house and I was only able to save your life because you brought me here after that. If you hadn't have brought me here, you'd probably be dead right now."

  "There is no question that I'd be dead right now if you hadn't have come. Whoever was behind this definitely wasn't expecting you to be here. I still can't help but think that there is someone on the inside helping the Deimos Brotherhood. There's no other way they could've gotten so close to me within my own home."

  "Who do you think is behind it all? I mean, who on the inside do you think is helping them?"

  "It has to be someone on my Council," She told him. "With how much the Deimos Brotherhood seems to know, those are the only possible suspects. If not one of them, it's someone whose being given inside information, which is all the same if you ask me."

  "Your own Council ?" He asked stunned. "They're supposed to be your most trusted advisers."

  "They're supposed to be my most trusted," she shrugged. "But after recent events, and some past events that I've kept silent, I have no doubt that it is one of them."

  "But why work with the Deimos Brotherhood?" Anlon shook his head. "What would anyone get from helping them? They're an organization of terrorists and assassins. There can't be any benefit helping them with anything."

  "Maybe, whoever it is, made a deal with them to take my spot on the Throne," she said.

  "You don't sound very convinced," he sensed.

  "I'm not. No one on the Council would take my spot if I died, not without force anyway. That's why I can't narrow it down to any one member. Not one of them has anything to gain from my death that I can see."

  "Maybe the leader of the Deimos Brotherhood has an idea who will take your spot," he suggested. "They could've teamed up with yet another race who could claim right to the Throne."

  "If I knew who the leader was, I could probably make a list of individuals they would want in my spot. Without knowing who the leader is though, I can't figure out who would gain the most from my death."

  "You're forgetting something," Anlon grinned.

  "Donnchadh."

  "Exactly," Anlon nodded. "He knows who the leader is, and probably who is leaking information too."

  "I don't know," Adira hesitated. "I don't think we'll get much of anything out of him. He killed your family and then tried to kill me. He won't want to help us."

  "Do you think they're linked?" Anlon asked.

  "Your family's murder and my attempted assassination?"

  "Yes. They happened so close together. Could it really be a coincidence in how close they took place?"

  She pondered a moment. "I think they might just be linked. You know about Donnchadh and who he was before the monster he is now. He must've come up with taking out Armino because he knew I'd never die as long as Armino was alive."

  "So my Dad really was your best man?"

  She nodded. "Undoubtedly, and that's why they must've had him taken out. They knew it would leave my vulnerable, or so they believed."

  "Why kill my whole family though? It doesn't make sense to kill them all," Anlon asked.

  "I'm not sure, but letting you survive was their first and most fatal mistake," She hugged him. "You may just save Orion."

  "Save Orion?"

  "They want me dead to take my spot on the Throne. Whoever wants my spot, wants power. If they're willing to kill for that power, it can't be good for Orion or any of its races."

  "They're not going to stop until you're dead."

  "They won't," she agreed. "But I know that and I'll warn my guards. They don't know about my two weapons though, so I'll be at an advantage."

  "Two weapons?" Anlon asked confused.

  "Yes," she smiled. "You and my daughter."

  "Where is she?" Anlon asked. "I found some papers in my dad's study, but there was no location on any of them."

  "I have a clue. Problem is, I can't go get it after what has just happened today. The Palace is the only place I'll be even a little bit safe at the moment."

  "So you need me to find her?"

  "I do Anlon," she answered. "I should've asked you when we first talked, but I didn't know if I could trust you or not. After you burst into the room and saved my life, I knew immediately you would protect me with your life, just as your father did his whole life."

  Anlon blushed. "I understand why you didn't tell me. I haven't told many people the truth about what happened the night my family was killed. How could you possibly trust me with a secret like yours?"

  "I should've trusted you," Adira replied. "You're Armino's son and you watched your family get slaughtered because I allowed the wrong people access to the database."

  "It's not your fault. We don't know if it's someone you even allowed to have access to the database. Someone could've broken in and gotten the information. I know it's possible because someone told me they were able to get in undetected to search for people."

  "Someone broke in and Giustino didn't know?"

  "Sort of. You can't tell Giustino though, she was only trying to find her family."

  She looked at him worried. "You can't be sure Anlon! Maybe that's who revealed where your father was!"

  "It wasn't," Anlon said, with no shred of doubt in his voice. "She wouldn't do something like that."

  "Are you sure? This could be the race that we're looking for."

  "I am confident that she revealed nothing to anyone. She's the only friend I have now and I trust her with my life," Anlon replied.

  Adira hugged him. "You have me now too, Anlon. You're not alone in this anymore. We're going to stop whoever is behind all of this together."

  "So you won't tell Giustino?" Anlon asked.

  "No. If you say she can be trusted, then I believe that she can be trusted."

  "Thank you," He hugged back. "Where is the clue that I need to get in order to find your daughter?"

  "The clue is on Gaea," she answered. "You'll be able to get to it very easily once you arrive back home. It is buried at my old house near the tree Armino first said
he wanted to protect me when I became Queen."

  "How long did you two know each other?"

  "For as long as I can remember. We did almost everything together. I guess that's why he did everything he could to protect my life all of these years."

  "I'll find the clue for you Adira. I promise," He repositioned his feet. "How are your daughter and I weapons though? I don't quite understand that part."

  "Well, you will find the Deimos Brotherhood for me. That is the most important thing right now. Once you find them, we can destroy them once and for all. You're a silent weapon that they aren't expecting which is why you'll ultimately succeed."

  "What about your daughter?"

  "In the case that I die before the Deimos Brotherhood is destroyed, she will take my spot. Hopefully if it comes to that you'll have already found the Deimos Brotherhood so she'll be safe from any further harm. That will undoubtedly destroy any plans with whoever wants me dead."

  "You won't die," He assured her. "I will find them before they have the chance to try again."

  "I hope you're right Anlon," She forced a smile.

  "What are you going to do with Donnchadh?" he asked.

  "Proper trial. We'll send him to Themis for a fair judgment like all other criminals."

  "Are you going to question him yourself before you send him away?"

  "Of course I will! We'll get as much information as we can out of him before we send him away."

  "How much do you think you'll get out of him? It surely won't come easy."

  "Nothing, to be completely honest with you, but it'll be interesting to see if he breaks or not."

  "May I talk to him before I go back to Gaea?" Anlon asked. "There are some things I want to find out."

  "Why do you want to talk to him?"

  "Just to find out why he did what he did. I just can't come to understand it without his explanation. They used to be so close. I want to know what drove him to kill my family."

  "If you think he'll talk to you. Go for it," she said. "You can't kill him. I know how much you want to, but you can't. That's too easy of a way out for him. He needs to suffer for what he's done to us."

  "I won't Adira," he promised. "I have more than revenge to worry about now. I have to make sure the Deimos Brotherhood doesn't kill you and put the individual they want on the Throne. Who knows what they would do if they took your spot."

  "You're so much like Armino, Anlon," she smiled. "Go talk to him now, before you leave."

  Anlon turned to leave the chamber. "Oh yeah, can we also keep my departure quiet? I don't want anyone to know I'm back. It'll make things a little easier as far as people spying on me when I get back."

  "Sure thing," she winked.

  Anlon opened the door and left the Queen's chambers. It didn't occur to him until after he left the room that he didn't know his way around the Palace. He followed a curved staircase and roamed the halls aimlessly until he ran into one of the Queen's guard.

  "What are you doing here? I don't know you," The guard stopped him.

  "I'm Anlon," He informed the guard who immediately seemed to recognize the name. "The Queen told me I can go to the dungeons to speak to the prisoner."

  "Yes, sure thing," he said. "Right this way."

  Anlon followed the guard down the seemingly endless marble halls, wondering how far away the dungeons were kept. After several minutes, the guard approached a staircase and they descended down into darkness. When they reached the bottom, Anlon saw a dim magenta light illuminating the hallway and as they neared the end he saw it was some type of force field. The guard stopped in front and typed a code on keypad and the magenta field immediately flickered off.

  "What was that?" Anlon asked.

  "It's a force field. Impenetrable with any type of normal weapon. I'm not sure about all of the science behind it, but it's pretty much like a wall," he said. "Only certain weapons can bring it down and the inmates don't have any weapons, so it works well at keeping them inside."

  "Cool. Where is Donnchadh being kept?"

  "Last cell at the end," The guard pointed. "Be careful not to get to close."

  Anlon walked down the musty dungeons to the last cell. The only thing that seemed to have been updated in the dungeons since Exodus Era was that magenta field. The cells were made from steel bars and the floors and walls were made out of dull cracked concrete with the only light in the room coming from torches mounted next to each cell. When he reached the end of the dungeons, he stood in front of Donnchadh's cell waiting for a violent response, but received eerie silence.

  "Hey Donnchadh, get over here," Anlon tried to sound tough.

  Donnchadh just looked up from the floor in his dark corner and glared at Anlon silently. After several moments, he turned around and went further back in the cell to be masked in the darkness.

  "Do you know who I am?" Anlon asked. "I'm Armino's son, Anlon."

  "I know who you are," Donnchadh finally spoke. "If you're here to mock me, you can leave now because I won't listen."

  "I'm not here to mock you," Anlon assured him.

  "Why else would you be here, boy? You have no other reason to speak with me."

  Anlon cleared his throat. "I want to know why you killed my father and the rest of my family," Donnchadh turned back around. "Why did you kill my family! You betrayed everything you were supposed to stand for and killed innocent people!"

  "What would you know about what I stand for?" He replied over his shoulder.

  "I don't," Anlon said. "But I know you used to be a part of the GSOU and that means you served next to my dad and the Queen. Why would you betray them to work for a band of criminals?"

  "Because they betrayed me first!" Donnchadh stood up. "They left me to die! But that wasn't enough, no, then they try to kill me after I tried to make myself a new life!"

  "What are you talking about?" Anlon asked. "They never betrayed you."

  "Who leaves their brother to die and comes back only to kill him?" Donnchadh asked rhetorically. "I don't blame them for leaving me Anlon, in fact, I would've done the same thing. A concussion rifle was used on me and it knocked me out, making me look dead. Your father had every reason to leave me, but what he did after was still wrong."

  "That doesn't answer why you killed my family."

  "Do you really want to know how I got to where I am now? How I turned and became the enemy I swore to protect the Queen against?" Donnchadh asked. "Of course you do because you couldn't possibly understand from anyone else."

  "Then tell me what happened to make you betray the Queen and my father. Tell me why you hate them so much."

  "After Armino and the rest of his men got out, a man approached me," he started. "I wasn't sure who he was, or what he wanted, but I was sure he was going to kill me. He took me to a room that was filled with devices I knew would only be used to torture me until I told them everything they wanted to know. I told myself I would die before I told them anything."

  "Yet you didn't and you ended up becoming one of them," Anlon interrupted.

  "Let me finish," Donnchadh spat. "I was tortured for days, maybe weeks, I'm not entirely sure, but it felt like a long time. I gave them nothing, not a damn thing that entire time!"

  "What happened then? Why'd you give in?"

  "The leader told me the truth," Donnchadh answered.

  "The truth?" Anlon asked confused. "The truth about what?"

  "The truth about everything. The truth about why he started the Deimos Brotherhood, who he used to be, and who turned him into the man he became."

  "What's this truth that you're talking about?"

  "A truth that only those in the Brotherhood know, and the select few who work on the inside for him."

  "You're willing to die with that secret?"

  "I never promised him that I would keep it," Donnchadh replied. "Do you really want to know the truth?"

  "Why wouldn't I want to know the truth? Tell me Donnchadh."

  "I'm not telling you," he grinned.
"I want to tell the Queen first and see the look on her face when it comes from me. She'll tell you soon enough, don't worry, I have no doubt about it."

  "What makes you think that the Queen will even come to see you?"

  "I know the Queen. She'll come to see me right after you leave. She won't give up the opportunity to torture me for the choices I've made."

  "Why'd you kill my family?"

  "I'll tell you why, but that's all."

  "Donnchadh, our attack on the Ares military base was a success," A man informed him.

  "What is the report?" Donnchadh asked, not looking up from what he was doing.

  "Thousands dead," The man replied. "We were able to wipe out the entire base in one sweep."

  "Nice work. I'm putting together another mission right now that will be very similar. Do you think you can lead it?"

  "Yes sir!" he nodded.

  "Alright. I'll call you back to my office once I have all of the details finished."

  Donnchadh waited for the man to leave his office and immediately took out his comlink to call his boss. A blue holographic image shimmered to life.

  "What is the latest report on the Ares mission?"

  "They aren't sure on the death toll in exact numbers yet, but the damage was a critical blow. They took out the entire military base and thousands along with it."

  "Excellent," Kirill beamed. "You are proving to be an excellent leader for the Deimos Brotherhood."

  "Only because you gave me the chance," he replied.

  "What are you planning for your next assignment?"

  Donnchadh shuffled the papers in front of him on the table. "There is a ceremony being held on Hera in a couple of days. The Queen won't be there, but there will be leaders and royals from all over Orion attending."

  "I don't think I need to know anymore," he stopped him. "Keep all the details as a surprise for me."

  Before Donnchadh could reply the entire building shook, followed by pieces of the ceiling crashing down on his desk and cutting off the comlink's connection. Another tremble shook the walls and a loud bang erupted, almost like an explosion going off above him. He stormed out of his office into the hallway, only to see other races also trying to figure out what was going on.