Before Camillus finished the sentence, the cruiser was taking heavy laser fire from Nimesha. Small turrets had come out from the sides of her glider and they were firing nonstop. Anlon kept the cruiser low to the ground swerving back and forth, trying to evade her without firing any return shots. Unfortunately, the glider was too quick and nimble, quickly gaining ground on them.
He looked to Camillus. "Grab the wheel!"
"What are you doing, Anlon?" Camillus grabbed it immediately. "We just need to evade her."
"I'm shooting back," he answered, picking up his laser pistol. "If I don't do anything, she'll kill us all!"
"What about attracting attention? There will be cops on us in minutes!" Kanti shouted.
"Too late for that. We have a cat woman trying to kill us!"
He aimed his pistol at her and shot. Nimesha easily shifted the bike to dodge the shot and got right back on track. Anlon continued firing, but every shot was evaded with ease while their own cruiser was still taking heavy fire.
"She's still coming!" Anlon shouted over his shoulder to Camillus, who was focusing on driving. "I'm going to try something else."
Anlon reached under the seat and pulled out a cannon launcher. He rummaged around on the floor until he found the ammo that he wanted to use: electrostatic shock. He pressed the button for the cartridge to open and loaded the ammo inside as Camillus jerked the cruiser back and forth to avoid oncoming fire.
"What happened to stopping Nimesha?" Camillus shouted over his shoulder. "You plan on doing it anytime soon?"
"Yeah, I'm working on it!" Anlon put the cannon launcher on his shoulder.
"That's going to attract a ton of attention!" Kanti protested. "We can't just start blowing things up in the middle of the street!"
"It's a little late to worry about attracting attention, and besides, I'm only going to blow her up not the entire street."
He aimed it at Nimesha and saw the grin almost immediately leave her face. The ammo left the launcher and headed straight towards her, enveloping the bike and a blue mist of electricity before exploding in a cloud of black smoke.
"She's gone," Anlon slouched back in the seat, dropping the cannon launcher.
"You just blew her up!" Kanti yelled. "Of course she's gone!"
"That was the point," Anlon replied. "This is what life is going to be like now. Kirill is going to send more assassins after us and we have to kill them, otherwise we'll be the ones who are killed."
She put her face in her hands. "I know, but I just didn't think we'd actually be killing races. It feels so wrong taking lives."
Anlon kept his hand on her, trying to make her feel better. There was no question that there would be a next time. The Deimos Brotherhood would never give up and everyone on the cruiser knew that. Camillus lifted the cruiser half a mile in the air and applied full throttle, sending their backs into the seats.
When the apartment came into view, Camillus lowered the cruiser to the ground and started grabbing equipment out of the cruiser. Anlon looked at Kanti and gave her a reassuring look that everything was going to be okay as they both got out of the cruiser to get the rest of the supplies.
"Quite a show you put on out there," Moran said unimpressed. "Did you think about being quiet?"
"You know?" Kanti asked, still wiping tears from her eyes.
Moran nodded and motioned them towards the elevator. "Already on the news. You're lucky they haven't found you guys yet. The streets are littered with District police trying to find who caused all of that. It won't be long until they track that cruiser to my place."
"Even more reason to leave Gaea," Camillus said.
"We didn't plan on it," Anlon stepped on to the elevator. "A Deimos Brotherhood assassin came out of nowhere and started shooting. The cannon launcher was the only way to take her out without her killing one of us first."
Moran pressed the roof button on the pad. "Oh, I believe you, trust me. Kirill would only send his best after you now that the Princess is with you. I'm sure that the cannon launcher was the only way to get the job done with no prior experience," Moran patted him on the shoulder. "You'll get better at using your rifles and pistols with more practice."
When they reached the roof, the doors slid open revealing a small landing pad with a ship.
"Who's the humanoid by the way?" Moran nudged Anlon. "Is that Camillus?"
"Yeah. He's apparently worked for the Queen for a long time."
"Just never seen one of those things in person before. I've heard of some of the things they can do. Very smart and very dangerous. You're lucky he's on our side and not the other side."
"He identified Nimesha just by looking at her," Anlon revealed.
"You'll definitely need him along with you. He'll be able to help you out a lot more on this mission than anyone I could send with you."
They stopped at the small stealth craft that was long and slender, obviously not built for long travel with more than two people.
"That's what we're flying in?" Kanti asked.
"Yeah," Moran looked to her. "You got a problem with it?"
"How are we all going to fit in that? There's barely any room for the two that it's designed to fit."
Moran grabbed their supplies from them and stuffed it in storage compartment underneath. "We're all going to squeeze in. That's how we're all going to fit."
Kanti turned to Anlon. "Don't look at me," Anlon chuckled. "I didn't know what we'd be flying in."
"There is enough room for four," Camillus calculated. "It will be a tight fit, but we'll manage for the short trip."
"Thank you," Moran said. "We're only traveling to Hermes anyway, it's not that long of a trip, relatively speaking anyway."
"You still could've got something bigger," She lifted herself in the ship. "It's not going to be fun squished in this ship."
Moran got in the pilot seat. "I'm sorry, your majesty, but last time I checked, time was of the essence. I didn't have time to get a fancy ship for you."
Anlon laughed. "Shut up. It's not funny, Anlon," Kanti shot a glare at him that silenced him immediately.
Anlon sat next to Kanti and Camillus squeezed in on the other side of her, completely sandwiching her between the two of the and she let out a frustrated sigh.
"Everyone comfortable?" Moran turned around. "Excellent," he answered before Kanti could say anything. "Next stop, Hermes!"
He lifted the small ship off of the roof and darted towards the sky. It was a rough ride, but soon they were off of Gaea and on their way to Hermes.
Kirill picked up his comlink, eager to finally hear some good news. He knew he had reached his daughter before the Queen and had been waiting all day for this call.
"When will my daughter arrive?"
There was a slight pause on the other line. "There have been complications."
"What do you mean, complications?" Kirill clenched his fists. "Where is my daughter!"
"Unfortunately, we do not have your daughter. We were unable to retrieve her successfully"
"Why not!" Kirill raged. "What stopped you from getting her? I gave you everything you needed to capture her and bring her here to me. What more could I do for you imbeciles?"
"The Queen's man got to her first and killed Giustino in the process. We don't know anything else right now. We are slowly getting facts as they trickle in."
"Find out where she is now!" Kirill fumed. "I want her brought here as soon as you find her."
The figure nodded. "We are trying, but the Queen knows we are trying. She's putting up quite a fight now."
"Of course she's putting up a fight, she knows I'm alive! Donnchadh's undoubtedly revealed everything to her," he yelled into the comlink. "She knows the Deimos Brotherhood is after the Throne and her daughter, but it doesn't matter! Adira won't stop me from prying the Throne from her cold, dead, hands!"
"She can't, but she is trying her hardest," the figure said. "She sent out a message to the Council saying her daughter is safe. There will
be a meeting tomorrow. I will keep you informed of what she goes over and if she reveals anything of importance."
"You say if, like you think she won't."
The figure let out a deep breath. "I have a feeling that she isn't going to reveal anything that will lead us to her daughter. Ever since she captured Donnchadh, information has been difficult to come by."
"Find out something anyway!" Kirill raged, hanging up the comlink.
His plans appeared to be falling apart around him now. Many years of careful and patient planning now seemed irrelevant. Donnchadh had screwed up everything, all starting with that stupid boy. His men had always been successful, carrying out the most dangerous and unlikely missions with nothing but success. They had all been tests for this moment, and compared to killing the Queen, they were all extremely difficult. Donnchadh's failures had led to all of this and it infuriated him that things could fall apart so quickly after so much careful planning.
Now the Queen knew it was the Deimos Brotherhood who was after her, and more specifically, him. Things were much harder, but definitely not impossible. His plans were falling apart, but they were still hanging together by a small thread. The Throne was still his for the taking, he was sure of it.
Nimesha should be calling in any day now, informing him of Anlon's death and that would be one problem erased. There were still others to fix, specifically Kanti because the Queen would be a little more difficult than finding a girl. That was, if he could find her after Giustino's failure. If the Queen knew where she was, he had no doubt that he would eventually find the location of the Princess. Until then, he would have to wait and make sure that the failures were put to an end by whatever means necessary.
Chapter 24
"What did you have in mind for Orion, Jahdiel?" Merikh asked her in his chambers.
"How many ships do we have at our disposal again?"
"We have four fully manned fleets, all with maximum firepower and fully loaded with fighters and bombers. We have more than enough men to carry out multiple attacks on multiple fronts simultaneously. If we decide to invade on the ground, we also have more than enough crew for that."
"That's excellent," she said. "If taking over Orion is what you want to do, you'll need every last one of the crew in order to succeed. The Queen and her races won't go down without a hard fought fight."
"Oh, we'll succeed no matter how hard they fight," Merikh grinned. "We'll take over Orion one planet at a time. They Queen may try as she will, but there will be no stopping us from taking Orion from her."
"We have to start someplace easy," she warned. "I have been absent for quite some time, they could have gotten bigger and stronger fleets in my absence. Being over ambitious may cost you ships and crew that you don't need to lose."
"You don't sound sure that they've gotten any stronger," Merikh sensed.
Jahdiel shook her head. "Adira is not a war hungry Queen. She has never had a real threat posed to her, and I highly doubt any have risen in my absence . Most of her efforts have probably been directed towards keeping peace, not developing a formidable military."
"Even if she did put together an army, she has never faced an enemy like us. We are far superior to all of these races in Orion."
Jahdiel ignored the comment. "She has never faced much of any enemy besides small terrorist groups. The Crodillians will catch her completely off guard."
"We will be the last enemy she ever faces," Merikh crossed his fingers. "At long last, we will have the revenge our ancestors thirsted for."
Jahdiel nodded. "We will crush her, and her followers, then we will rule Orion with an iron fist in her place. Anyone that doesn't want to follow us, will be annihilated."
"I will get my men ready to attack right away," Merikh started to leave the room. "Which planet does the Queen live on?"
"No. We won't strike her home planet first," Jahdiel got up. "I want her to know who is going to crush Orion and take her spot on the Throne before we show up at her doorstep."
"Is that hatred I hear in your voice?" Merikh asked.
"She outcast me to what she believed was a certain death. I want her to know exactly who has dethroned her and ripped Orion from her grasp," she spat. "She labeled me as a traitor, so I may as well live up to that label."
Merikh grinned. "I will alert the crew to be ready to strike at a moment's notice."
"Good," She closed her eyes. "Orion will be ours very soon."
Kirill tried calling Nimesha on her comlink again. If it was true that Giustino had been killed in his attempt to get Kanti, there was a chance Nimesha could still grab her, but only if she started tracking soon. Silence was all he had heard for days, which was not usual when she was on a mission like this, and he felt like it was too long to stay out of contact. It was his third time trying to reach her and he still hadn't had any luck. He had a bad feeling that yet another one of his races had failed him. What could've happened to her though? She was the best assassin that he had.
Kirill slammed his fists on his desk. "This boy is screwing up everything!"
Moran landed the small stealth craft at the busy spaceport on Hermes only a couple of hours after leaving Gaea. The spaceport was teeming with life from all over Orion. Ships were coming and going every second and cruisers zipping through the sky above them, only adding to the chaos of the spaceport. Moran took the ship down and they all exited, immediately being absorbed in the crowds of shuffling races.
Trade posts were set up right at the bottom of the ramp entering Thermopylae. Makeshift tables were selling things of all types from all over Orion, making it difficult for Anlon to follow the group as he wanted to look at everything. He had never seen so many races in one place, and had never seen someplace teeming with so much diverse life. Past all of the buildings and chaos in the distance, there was a sea of green forest with trees rising hundreds of feet tall to encircle the entire city.
"Keep close to me," Moran shouted, over all of the spaceport noise. "It's not uncommon for young races to go missing here in all of the commotion. Same goes for fancy robots."
"Where is the ship?" Kanti asked, pushing her way through the crowd to keep close.
"It's kept somewhere safe. It's hidden from any thieves that may want to take it."
"Why here?" Kanti looked around. "There's so many races and possible thieves roaming the streets. This would be the last place that I would hide something."
"Planet of trade. It's an easy place to hide a ship and get it out without attracting any attention. There are so many ships here, no one could possibly keep track of which stay and which go."
"That was very smart. I wouldn't have thought of it myself," Camillus agreed with the reasoning. "I can see why the Queen trusted Armino so much. He thought of everything."
"He was a smart man, thought of almost everything. Hopefully his son turns out the same way," He winked to Anlon, who was looking at one of the stands selling exotic meat from another planet.
"Is everything from Orion traded and sold here?" Anlon jogged to catch up.
"Anything, and everything, you can think of. Races buy stuff here and then take it to other planets where it is sold and distributed. There are also some places here where you can buy black-market items and slaves, which is why I told you to stay close. Kids like you are the easiest to turn to slaves."
"And the Queen doesn't try to stop it?" Kanti exclaimed. "That's terrible!"
Moran shrugged. "She's tried, but she can't stop everything that happens in Orion. It's a big Galaxy. Some races just don't care what happens to them, even if they do get punished," He pointed straight ahead. "That's where your ship is being kept Anlon."
Anlon looked straight ahead at a huge circular building in the middle of the plaza. The place looked like a small Palace for visiting royals, but Anlon didn't see any royals roaming the streets of Thermopylae. Other similar buildings were around it that looked just as expensive, but its circular design made it stand out from the rest.
They
pushed their way through the crowds and stopped in front of the building. There were makeshift stands set up out front with traders selling things, but no races appeared to pay attention to the building itself.
"This building comes with top of the line security, so I'd be impressed by race able to get through and steal the ship," Moran approached the doors. "If someone does happen to get lucky enough to get inside, there's still more security to go through until they can actually steal the ship if they know where to look."
Moran stopped at the door of the building and placed his hand on a scanner. A laser came down and scanned his eyes before the door opened.
"Follow me," he led them inside.
Anlon and the others followed him into the dark building. When they stepped inside, the roof retracted, revealing the busy sky above and allowing light to pour in. Anlon looked around the beautiful building made of brown marble floors and enormous pillars. Pictures hung on the walls, many of Queen Adira and other important figures dating back to Exodus Era.
Anlon turned when he heard Moran doing something at a computer on the wall and turned to see what he was doing. All of a sudden, the floor budged and they all looked to the middle of the room where the floor was retracting in a circular pattern to reveal an object levitating up.
A medium sized ship, a metallic black and silver, had appeared in the center of the room. It took the shape of a baby dragon holding its wings in at its sides. They had a unique curvature to them, making them look almost life-like. Cannons and guns were attacked on the wings, that had the ability to be concealed, and revolving turrets were mounted on the top and bottom of the ship.
"Drako Mavros," Moran crossed his arms.
"Drako Mavros?" Kanti asked him.
"Black Dragon," Camillus translated. "It's the name of the ship."
"That's a perfect name for it," Anlon moved towards the ship. "It's beautiful."
"It is one of the best ships in all of Orion," Moran boasted. "It has all of the latest technology, including Sonodrive, force field, stealth field, and many other things that will come in handy when you get caught in tight spots."
War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past Page 23