Alura picked up the call. “Anlon? We weren't expecting you to call us so soon. How are things going?”
Anlon looked over to Kanti. “Well, we haven't gotten to Ovrea yet to find out how to defeat the crodillians, if that's why you thought I was calling.”
“Then why are you calling?” Alura cocked her head. “Has something happened?”
“Uhhh... you could say that a few things have come up that none of us were expecting,” Anlon shifted the comlink to get Kanti in the picture. “First off, we have an extra passenger.”
“Kanti!” She shouted. “What is she doing with you?”
“That’s probably a story for another time,” Anlon said.
Alura turned around to face a guard in her room. “Get Bimisi in here immediately!”
“I wanted to come along, Alura, it's not Bimisi's fault,” Kanti tried to calm her down. “I ordered him to bring me to the ship. I’m the Princess, therefore, he couldn't deny my order.”
“This isn’t what we agreed upon Anlon Valens!”
“No one on this ship knew that Kanti was on board until we landed on Gaea,” he defended himself. “If we’d known earlier, we would’ve come right back and dropped her off.”
“Well, that's exactly what you're going to do right now!” Alura replied. “Turn the ship around and come back here immediately.”
“No,” Kanti took the comlink. “I'm not going back. I'm helping Anlon with defeating the crodillians. If I die, then I die. I will not stay hidden while the rest of Orion is slaughtered like animals. If I’m truly the Princess, I need to be leading the races of Orion against the crodillians, not hiding like some coward.”
“And how do you propose you lead these races if you're dead?” Alura asked. “A leader has to be alive to lead.”
“I won't die, that's how I'll lead,” she replied. “I'll show every race in Orion the crodillians are not to be feared. If their leader stands up to them, so will the rest.”
Anlon moved so he could be seen. “Even if we did want to bring Kanti back, that's not a possibility right now.”
“Why is it not possible? What's happened?” Alura’s voice became filled with concern.
“The crodillians have just attacked Gaea,” Anlon informed her. “We barely escaped, and when I say barely, I should probably say luckily.”
“This is why Kanti is supposed to be here! It's too dangerous out there right now.”
“There's no way we can take her back now, we'll take the risk of getting caught,” Anlon told her. “We were being chased and Falcone initiated sonodrive. He disengaged a couple seconds later, but we still aren't sure if they have capabilities to track.”
“I don't like this, Anlon. Kanti needs to be here where she's safe, not out there where the crodillians are attacking, but if there's a risk they could capture you traveling back here, then continue to Orvea. Finish the mission.”
“We're headed there right now,” Anlon smiled. “We'll all be fine, don't worry Alura.”
“It's not you I'm concerned about, it's Kanti. The crodillians will surely kill Adira and Orion needs the Princess to take her place when they do.”
“She'll be fine, Adira, we've made it this far.”
“Bring her back when you've gotten what we've agreed upon,” Alura hung up the comlink.
“Guess she's not too happy I snuck off Nesoi,” Kanti laughed.
Anlon turned to her. “It's not funny, Kanti, this is serious. Alura is right, you really shouldn't be here. The danger is incredible, but I also think you’re right too. Orion needs to know you’re fighting for them. As much as I hate to say it, this is probably the only way.
Anlon and Kanti walked to the cockpit of Drakos Mavros. Anlon stood over Falcone and looked out the window to the endless blackness with speckles of white. There wasn’t a single planet in sight, just a vast expanse of emptiness.
“So, I just got done talking to Alura,” Anlon told Nimesha and Falcone.
Nimesha started laughing. “What'd she say about Kanti? I bet that she wasn't too happy with you when she found out.”
“She wasn't,” Kanti smiled. “But I think I reminded her that I'm the Princess and I can make my own decisions. She’s just an advisor, she can’t force me to do anything.”
“Oh?” Falcone said. “I bet she liked that too, taking orders from someone half her age.”
“You don't even know, Falcone,” Anlon put his and on his hips. “After that little spat, I had to take Kanti completely out of the frame so Alura wouldn't tell the crodillians right where we were.”
“It wasn't that bad. I just had to let her know the Council can't order me around like I'm some kid.”
“I have to admit, it was pretty inspiring the way you talked,” Anlon winked. “Who knows, maybe you could actually lead the rebels when the time comes.”
“Before she can lead any rebellions, we have to get to Ovrea,” Nimesha reminded them. “Right now, it's looking pretty hopeless, inspiring speeches and all. By the time we get there, there might not be a galaxy left for Kanti to rule.”
“Well, I don't feel safe initiating sonodrive right now,” Falcone told them. “If there's a fleet at Gaea, who knows where all their other fleets are. I really don't want to come out in the middle of a battle.”
“So, we're traveling the old way?” Kanti leaned on his seat. “There has to be another way.”
“No, we'll use sonodrive, but I don't think it's safe right now. Let's wait a little while before we make the jump. I’ll start listening to the comms to see if there’s any activity out there.”
“Falcone's right,” Anlon agreed. “We may lose some time, but we don't have much of a choice after what just happened on Gaea.”
“Get comfortable you two,” Nimesha said over her shoulder. “Neither of you have traveled the old way yet. Long story short, it’s boring.”
Anlon turned around. “It's okay, I have some holovideos that I can watch. I’ll work on some fighting techniques.”
“Me too,” Kanti turned around to follow him.
“Make sure to watch those videos and actually learn something useful,” Falcone chuckled before picking up a comlink.
Chapter 3
“It's done, Jahdiel.” the Captain told her. “We’ve wiped out all the rebels and we have kept the building intact.”
“Thank you. I want you to take the Colchian and all of the other ships down to the ground. Don't kill anyone else. I want races to rule when this is over,” she ordered him.
The Captain walked back down to the deck of the ship and Jahdiel watched as he ordered the crodillians to land the ship. The Colchian began to descending to Gaea soon after he left them and she got up from her chair to go to the bay. She was going to be the first one off the Colchian. Every survivor would know she, a human, was responsible for this.
She made her way down the hallways and into the bay. The thud of the ship alerted her that they’d touched down and she swung her leg over the glider. When the bay doors opened, she sped off into the terror struck streets of Gaea. Burning buildings zipped past her and dead bodies lay sprawled across the ashy streets. The sight was heart-wrenching, knowing thousands innocents had been slaughtered, but she was now at the point of no return and shook the thought from her mind. She’d betrayed her own and now she had to live with it.
Jahdiel brought the glider to a stop and got off, standing the in the streets, wiping ashes from her face that were raining down from the black sky. Crodillians were rounding up survivors up ahead like they were animals being led to the slaughter house. She wasn't sure what the significance of this building was, but apparently it had meant something to these races or they wouldn't have chosen it for the start of their rebellion. As she neared the building she saw hundreds of survivors gathered in a group with crodillian weapons focused in on them. None of the survivors were putting up a fight and stood in a circle helplessly, holding hands and crying.
When she reached the steps of the building, she stopped a
nd took a deep breath. If these people didn’t view her as a villain yet, soon they would. Soon, every race in Orion wouldn’t have a shred of doubt in their mind who the real monster was. She ordered the crodillians to get a crew ready to film her victory speech. It was time for all in Orion to know Gaea had been conquered. The death and destruction would be filmed for all to see, along with the survivors. Seeing survivors might prevent any further rebellions from starting.
When she reached the top, she watched curiously as one of the survivors left the group and approached her. The crodillians aimed their weapons at her, but Jahdiel held her hand up.
“Don't shoot!” She ordered them. “Let her come up here and speak with me. We have invaded her home, it’s the least we can do.”
The crodillians looked at each other, unsure whether to take the order, but lowered their weapons. A girl covered in black grime walked up the steps and stopped directly in front of Jahdiel. Tears were streaming down her face, smearing the dirt down her cheeks.
“You're brave to leave the group like that,” Jahdiel told her. “If I hadn't have been here, they would've shot you.”
“I don't care if they shoot me,” the young girl told her. “I wanted to ask you why you're doing this. Why would you help them destroy our home? You're one of us. This is your home too.”
“Ha! One of you?” Jahdiel put her hand on the girl's shoulder. “I used to be one of you. A lot of things have happened since then. That was an old life, but I’m no longer the person I was, nor am I one of you.”
“But you're still human. Those are monsters,” the girl pointed at the crodillians. “You're not one of them.”
“You're too young to understand. You don’t have to look like a monster to be a monster. I can assure you, I’m worse than every one of them combined,” Jahdiel pushed her back in the direction of the crowd. “Go back to the others.”
The girl turned back around. “I'm not too young understand! You're a murderer! Look what you've done to my home!” She pointed to the burning buildings. “You killed my parents! You’ve taken everything from me.”
Jahdiel could see the crodillians staring at her in the corner of her eyes. “Go back down with the rest of the survivors.”
“No!” The girl shouted. “I won't go back! I refuse to let you do this.”
Jahdiel pointed to a crodillian. “Take her back to the crowd. I'm about to give my speech.”
The crodillian walked forward and picked up the screaming girl. “You're a monster, just like them, if you keep doing this!”
Jahdiel shifted her attention to the cameras that were now being put around her. She waited for the crodillians to give her the go ahead to start her speech. When she began, the young girl was still causing a ruckus below, but she was with the rest of the crowd. The girl had seen what had happened to the last races to put up resistance, why would she want to risk death too? Shouldn't someone her age be afraid?
One of the crodillians gave her a nod to begin her speech. She straightened and looked into the camera.
“Hello Orion, this is Jahdiel. As most of you may already know, I came here with the crodillians. It was made very clear that we would be ruling Orion, and not the Queen, after we destroyed her fleets at Hera,” Jahdiel looked around to the burning city around her. “We’ve now taken Gaea, but with many more casualties than were necessary. Your races defied our orders and rebelled.”
The cameras shifted to show images of the death and destruction that had befallen Gaea not even an hour ago. Fires were still raging and thick black smoke was billowing in the skies, blocking out all sunlight. Gaea was lit dimly orange and black dirt was sprinkling down from the skies.
“A rebellion was being organized right here, at this very building. We warned if there was any sign of rebellion, no mercy would be shown. That’s exactly what was done. We killed every last rebel there was.” She held out her hands to show all of the dead bodies scattering the streets. “Is it so hard to listen to what you're told? Thousands of deaths could've been avoided, but races wanted to rebel against us! Have we not shown our strength and dominance? The Queen can't save you and we are far more experienced in war than any of you.”
The cameras swung around to show the thousands of crodillians now gathered around the buildings. Ships were scattered in the streets and more were still flying in the sky, looking for any signs of rebellion and firing weapons at any slight sign.
“We’ve been merciful though,” Jahdiel continued. “We’re gathering survivors and we’ll let them live their lives as normally as they can, as long as they don't rebel. We have a small group of survivors here with us now that’ll be let go as soon as we know there will be no more rebellions.”
The cameras zoomed in on the small crowd that had been gathered before the building. The little girl that had been talking to Jahdiel earlier was still resisting, but was now putting up an even bigger fight that the cameras had focused in on her. It was like she knew all eyes were on her. Jahdiel quickly motioned towards the crodillians to take the camera off the crowd, but it was too late.
The girl ran towards Jahdiel, shouting at her wildly. One of the crodillians lifted his weapon and carefully aimed at the girl. Jahdiel waved her hands frantically to stop him, but he shot her anyway, a grin crossing his monstrous face. The girl's lifeless body dropped at the edge of the white steps and blood trickled down from her head into the streets. Jahdiel stood motionless and stared at the dead girl laying at her feet. Her stomach twisted in a knot and tears began to come to her eyes, but she clenched her fists and held them back as best she could. After taking a deep breath, she looked back up to the cameras with fury in her eyes, trying to keep all of her emotions bottled up.
“This is what happens to rebels,” she pointed, gritting her teeth. “No matter the gender, race, or age. All rebels will be killed! We want peace and we’ll kill every race that doesn't want the same thing we do. The crodillians rule Orion now. Fall in line, or be killed.”
The cameras cut off and Jahdiel dropped to her knees. She picked up the little girl off the ground and held her tightly in her arms as she took the body to the group. Rage filled their eyes, but none of them were going to rebel against her now, not after seeing a little girl killed.
She set the girl down at their feet. “Bury her properly,” she hung her head. “I didn't want this to happen. I'm sorry.”
The group stared at her confused and one of the older men spoke up. “Why do this if you know things like this will happen? You surely know that we’ll rebel, no matter what we say to you now.”
She took in a deep breath. “It's too late to go back now. I won't be accepted after what I've done. I have to finish what I've started and live with myself for as long as I can,” she turned back around and walked back up the steps to the Capitol building.
Merikh walked down to the dungeons which had changed quite a bit since his arrival on Hera. When he’d first taken over the palace, the dungeons weren't even in use. In fact, they didn't look like they had been used in years, at least not how they were meant to have been used. He’d changed that. Now, they were put to good use on a regular basis.
There were plenty of prisoners he’d captured within the Palace, and many were unwilling to accept the crodillians were now in power. He’d decided to make a showing of anyone that defied him, utilizing the dungeons. Every captured race within the Palace had been taken to the dungeons to not only think about what they’d do, but to witness what happened to any that decided not to listen. Unfortunately, not a single race wanted to listen, every last one of them resisting his orders.
After the death of one of his men and the near escape of several prisoners, the dungeons had been transformed into a torturing chamber. One problem had arisen from that decision, it had provoked the even the weakest of the prisoners to rebel. It had left him with only one option, kill every last one of them, except for the Queen who was chained in a cell by herself. She was left alive to live in the dungeons that wreaked of her futu
re if she followed the others’ lead: death.
Merikh walked through the dungeon, feet squishing on dead body parts that had slid through the cell doors. He was used to the smell, it was no different than war, and the feel of death on his skin invigorated him. It was a feeling he didn’t quite understand, and he hadn’t always felt it, but once the war began, it’d overtaken him. He was hostage to the feeling, but he didn’t want to escape it, for some reason, he craved more. His foot splashed in a puddle of blood as he reached the cell at the end. He opened it and stepped in, immediately being struck in the head from something in the shadows. Merikh lashed out with his long, claw-like, hands and struck something soft. When he pulled his hand back, blood dripped down his fingers and he licked it off with a grin of pleasure. Adira emerged from the shadows with fresh claw marks streaking across her peach face. The blood dripped down a draught face hidden by a clump of tangled hair.
“That's no way to treat a guest, Queen Adira. You're supposed to show respect, especially to one who traveled so far to see you.”
“I don't show respect to monsters,” she pushed the mess of hair from her face and spat in his eye. “My people will kill you. They’ll slaughter every last one of your kind.”
Merikh wiped the spit off his face and stared at her, gritting his sharp teeth. “I have a lot of manners to teach you, Queen. If I weren’t alone, you would’ve left me with no choice but to kill you.”
“Go ahead, get it over with now. I won’t listen to a word you say. Killing me now will save you a lot of trouble.”
“Ah ah ahh,” Merikh held his finger up. “If you don't cooperate with me, then Orion will suffer very much like the rest of your Palace staff did, in fact, I’ll make sure it’s worse than what you saw. You don't want that now, do you?”
“What are you talking about? You'll kill until you're satisfied, no matter what I do or how well I please you.”
“Not exactly,” Merikh walked out of the cell. “I had other plans besides completely eliminating all life in Orion, though I will admit, it would be much easier that way if all are like your staff.”
Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) Page 3