“How many does her ship hold?”
“I think about five thousand,” Mordjan replied.
Tristin whistled. “That’s a lot. We weren’t really thinking of capacity when we fled the Vengeance.”
“I still have no idea how you pulled off that escape. Plus bringing so many cyborgs with you.”
“It was pretty damned unbelievable,” Tristin agreed. “I’ve locked us in orbit, so I’m going to try all frequencies.”
Mordjan listened with him, but frequency after frequency returned nothing.
“It’s strange. We’re not just missing the resistance frequencies,” Tristin said. “There’s nothing on any frequency. It’s almost like there’s a block around the planet.”
“What could do that?”
Tristin shrugged. “Who knows. A planetary core of lead? Or a heavy concentration of metals in the atmosphere? I mean, unless you’re hiding an enormous cache of crystals attuned to a blocking frequency.”
Mordjan said nothing so he continued, “Well, I’ve run through the frequencies twice and there’s nothing. There’s no point in even broadcasting from here. We could go through the wormhole to a better location. But I’d rather have a plan first. Let’s return to the surface and gather our troops. We can try to contact them on the way.”
“That’s a good plan.”
Tristin took the ship back into the atmosphere.
“Why don’t you land by Renwyn?” Mordjan asked. “It will be easier than portaling to the ship all the time.”
Tristin peered out the viewscreen, switching his ocular to infrared. “All right, I see it.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you switch your ocular device to infrared, you can see the magic emanating from the palace.”
“Really?” He must have done so because he took in a breath. “Wow. I had no idea.”
“Nor I. Kirelle told us how to do it when we were landing the first time. It’s how we found the village in the mountains.”
“Damn,” Mordjan’s brows furrowed in worry. “I hope the Ardaks don’t figure that out. The elves up there have been effectively invisible from all of us until now.”
“I don’t think the Ardaks know yet, but it would be a good idea to think of what will happen when they figure it out. They seem to particularly hate elves, so I’m sure they’ll figure it out eventually. Shall I land next to that other ship?”
“Yes, that will work.”
“Tristin? Tristin?” Corin’s voice came frantically over the frequency.
“Yes?”
“Thank the god you’re back! We need to go! We need to get these ships right now!” Corin replied.
“What’s the rush?”
“X-Blade has a note in here that something is happening tomorrow. There’s a deadline marked in red—we have to get the ships tonight!”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kirelle
Kirelle surveyed the elves, satisfied that at least some of them had picked up the skill of portaling to an unknown location. She turned to Tordan. “The next thing to do is portal while moving. We should get on a ship and practice at least once.”
Tordan nodded, then he stopped moving, his eyes going distant.
“I know that look,” Aielle said. “Someone is talking to him over the frequency.”
A few seconds later, Tordan’s eyes refocused on them. “Mordjan said the timetable has been moved up. We’ll be leaving in less than one hour.”
Aefin turned to the elves. “Who can portal?”
Over twenty elves raised their hands.
“And who can shield?” Aefin asked.
More hands went in the air, some of the same, some different.
“I need you to arrange yourselves into teams of two,” he commanded. “One to shield and one to portal.”
“What if we can do both?” an elf asked.
“I still want teams of two. It’s safer, and we may need both simultaneously.”
Tordan raised his voice so all could hear him. “Grab your armor and weapons and meet us in the throne room.”
Then he was gone, striding quickly toward the palace.
Kirelle ran after him. “Wait. Where is Tristin?”
Tordan paused. “He’s landing in front of the palace. On the other side of the trees.”
She nodded. “I’ll grab him and meet you in the throne room.”
Kirelle opened a portal, guessing how far in front of the palace to exit. When she stepped out, Mordjan and Tristin were sprinting toward her, so she stepped out and created another one to the throne room and waved them through. She stepped in after them, and then Tristin was there.
He pulled her into an alcove, somewhat hidden from the others. “We need to discuss this mission,” he said without preamble.
She didn’t like the sound of that. “All right,” she said, crossing her arms. In hindsight, Kirelle had no idea what had made her volunteer to portal Tristin and Mordjan’s team into the secret moon base. Aefin was probably right about this being a suicide mission.
Most likely she’d be portaling out the few that survived. And if she died, no one would be portaling anywhere.
But once Aielle had volunteered, she knew she had to, if she wanted to be any kind of decent mate to Tristin. This was the act of bravery he’d been talking about.
“I don’t suppose I could talk you out of going on this mission?”
Blood rose to her face in embarrassment. Not only was he worried that she couldn’t portal, he was trying to talk her out of going at all. He might like her, but he didn’t take her seriously. “No.”
Tristin’s eyes searched hers. “Are you a trained warrior?”
“Not like those in the army,” she admitted. “I was a medic. But I have basic combat skills.”
“Right. But we’re talking about fifteen thousand Ardaks. We’re going to be going into a firefight, and you’re not a trained warrior. Plus I have Casin and Corin to worry about. I’d like you to stay with the ship.”
“But my magic can help you,” she argued. “If I do nothing else but portal, that will be enough.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Look, this isn’t personal. I just don’t want you to be captured or killed in this battle.”
“It is personal, or you wouldn’t be here. I can shield as well as anyone, portal, and fight with fireballs. We fought the Ardaks before, remember?”
He turned his gaze to the ceiling. “We didn’t fare too well, as I recall.”
“Traako. We all made it through and my ability to portal saved you.”
“The elven commander said only their elders were good enough to go along. You’re too young.”
“That might be true for the elves from Aurora,” she retorted. “But on my home planet we portaled all the time. I’ll have no problem getting you there.”
He gritted his teeth. “I can see I’m not going to win this argument. Fine. But after we arrive, I need you to be my shadow. Don’t leave my side, or I won’t be able to protect you. Do you understand?”
“Jaffete. I don’t need you to protect me. Just get the ships—that’s the mission.”
His eyes grew hard. “This is not the time for overconfidence. Are you forgetting where I found you?”
Her blood heated another notch. “No, I was the doctor! Are you forgetting where I found you, cyborg? Unconscious on a table in my lab!”
The comment must have hit home because he straightened abruptly, turned on his heel, and strode away, leaving her there, her chest heaving angrily.
She took several deep breaths before leaving the alcove. She remained behind the others, out of Tristin’s line of sight as he tried to speak to his cousins. Tristin was confronting Corin.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
“Yes,” Corin replied. “The note was extremely clear. The Ardaks highlighted the date in red, and X-Blade thought they were going to take the ships and abandon the station tomorrow.”
“When is that, exactly? What is the time d
ifference between here and there?”
Corin thought for a moment. “That would be exactly twelve hours from now. It will take two hours to get there, and hopefully less than an hour to be on our way.”
“Things are never that easy, dammit,” Mordjan growled.
“Yes, but every minute we stay on that base increases our chances of discovery exponentially,” Tristin said.
“And there are no damn warriors in this room but us,” Mordjan growled.
“Give them a few minutes,” Tordan said. “You just put out the call—they have to gather their weapons.”
“We still don’t have a damn plan,” Corin said.
“We’re going to have a plan,” Mordjan assured him. “We can use the monitors in the labs on the ship to view the schematics and discuss specifics en route. I mean, assuming we have more people than ten.”
Casin said something under his breath that made Corin snicker half-heartedly, and Tristin gave them a quelling look. His brow furrowed with worry, although the two younger males blithely ignored it.
Her embarrassment and anger evaporated as she realized how much pressure Tristin must be under to complete this mission. Not only did he have to get the ships, he believed he had to watch out for all of them personally.
Her chin rose, and a new understanding came to her, filling her with warmth. Leaving her behind wasn’t an expression of his lack of confidence in her, it was his way of protecting her, of minimizing the risk to his heart if things went wrong.
But in the time since the Ardaks, they didn’t have the luxury of staying behind while others fought. They needed everyone to fight, and of course, some people were going to die.
One of them could be her.
She strode forward to stand next to him, and his eyes met hers. As she held his gaze, the knowledge was there in his eyes. He knew, perhaps more than most, that they could be captured. That they could die.
She also knew that pain. The pain of losing everyone.
She reached for his hand. She would hold on to him, kiss him one more time before they left on the mission. And that was the best that any of them could do.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tristin
Tristin squeezed Kirelle’s hand, easing up when she winced. He’d have to apologize later for asking her to stay behind. Quite a few more women were showing up in the throne room, making him feel even worse.
“Trying to leave without me?” The feminine voice from behind them stopped Mordjan in his tracks.
“Dammit,” he said to Tristin over the frequency. “I didn’t want her coming on this mission.”
“I believe it’s too late for that,” Tristin replied. “Now you’re just like the rest of us.”
“Fuck you.” Mordjan turned, his eyes lighting up when they fell on the elven female. “I would never,” he said gallantly, holding out an arm and wrapping it around the elf’s shoulders.
Her eyes gleamed with mischief that told Tristin she knew Mordjan too well.
“Tristin, this is my mate, Fayelle.”
“It’s an honor,” Tristin said truthfully. “Your mate rescued me from the Ardaks when I’d all but lost hope.”
“Yes, a mission that was far less dangerous than this one,” Mordjan interjected smoothly.
Her glowing golden eyes took in her husband’s expression. “I know that look, Mordjan. And you know I’m coming with you.”
“Why don’t we just ask every damn female in the castle?” Mordjan growled.
“I believe Aefin’s yelling in the hall earlier did just that. He spat something about a suicide mission and fifteen thousand Ardaks, and I knew we were in for a good time,” she said cheerfully.
Mordjan put his head in his hands. “Good gods.”
Their good-natured back-and-forth continued as Tristin watched a stream of cyborgs enter the throne room slowly, some wearing metal and leather armor, some wearing exoarmor suits. After about twenty minutes, there were about fifty of them, as well as the six that had come with him. It was a good showing.
Suddenly the doors to the throne room opened. His jaw dropped when Aefin strode in. “We decided that if all of you are crazy enough to attempt this thing, we’d better keep you from dying out there. All our best warriors—as well as our king and queen—are already going with you.” Aefin’s voice was clear and sharp as he continued toward the front, followed by two lines of warriors.
He glanced down at Kirelle and saw her expression of shock as the warriors kept coming, and coming, until the line had wrapped around itself. There must be another hundred elven warriors, all impeccably armored with several quivers apiece, as well as knives and swords. Warmth began in his stomach, and for the first time, he wondered if they might succeed.
“I guess we really are going to have an army,” Mordjan said, turning to him. “Do you want to formally run this mission?”
Casin laughed. “Do you really have to ask? When does he not want to be in charge?”
Tristin shot him a quelling glare, then glanced toward Mordjan. “Most of the cyborgs are yours.”
“And the elves are mine,” Aefin said, stepping forward. “But I have no desire to run this madness.”
A portal opened in the center of the room, and another cyborg stepped out. “And the River people would be his,” Tordan said with satisfaction.
Tristin thought he couldn’t feel any more surprise, but he’d been wrong. Another army began to pour forth from the portal.
The cyborg stepped forward on Aefin’s left. He was tall, dark, and muscular like the other cyborgs, but the hundred warriors behind him were much lighter, with blond hair and blue eyes.
“Durstin.” Tordan stepped forward and locked arms with him. “Glad you could make it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” the other man replied.
Blond warriors continued to pour out through the portal, and then elves began coming through. They were different elves, however. Darker, more earthy than the ones he’d seen so far.
“Are those a different race of elves?” he asked Tordan’s mate quietly.
“Garthurian elves,” Aielle answered. “They are older than we are, the first on this planet.”
Kirelle’s eyes widened. “You mean you have elders still alive?” At Aielle’s nod, Kirelle’s expression grew sad. “The elders on my planet died long ago in the wars. You’re lucky to have them around.”
Aielle’s eyes surveyed them, then she swallowed. “Yes, well, it’s complicated. We’ve been lucky in some ways, not so lucky in others. But believe it or not, with a common enemy, things are getting better.”
Mordjan turned to Tristin. “We’d better get started. You’re with the resistance. It’s clearly your mission, you lead it.”
“Let’s give it a few more minutes,” Tordan said. “I think the other cyborgs are on their way.”
“As well as Valdjan and Ithyll.” Simban and his mate had joined them.
Sure enough, more warriors of all types continued to join them until the throne room was packed. The volume rose to a dull roar due to the talking, laughing, jesting, and the slapping of backs. Perhaps they were simply reconnecting with old friends, but he suspected it had more to do with covering up their worry about the upcoming mission.
Finally, Mordjan nodded at him. “It’s time.”
Tristin took a step forward, pushing his long black hair back over his shoulder and drawing himself up to his full height. When he spoke, his voice was that of a commander, and he used both his physical voice and the common frequency to broadcast his words. “May I have your attention, please.”
The immediate silence was deafening.
Tristin took a breath to let the silence reign for a moment, then continued. “Thank you for volunteering. This mission is for the Ardak Resistance Force, also known as the ARF. We’re going to Mepur, a moon around the farthest planet in the Onix star system where the Ardaks are producing their latest model spaceships. Our mission is to steal the ships, and we’re also going to
destroy the base for their future use by distributing this white powder through the air system. It’s poisonous to them.” Roihan handed him a bag of white powder and he held it up. “The mission should be relatively quick. It will take about two hours to reach the moon. For some reason, they are creating these spaceships right in your backyard.”
“Could it be because they want to invade us in the next few weeks?” Tordan’s voice was dry.
Tristin shrugged. “It’s possible. I find it difficult to believe that they would set up processing nearby to conquer just one planet, but perhaps they really want Aurora for some reason. It’s our job to see that they don’t get to use these ships for that purpose.”
“How many ships are there?” Durstin asked.
“We have no idea,” Tristin admitted. “Even many of the Ardaks don’t know. My informant said possibly ten or twenty. That might not seem like a lot, but ten or twenty of their biggest and best models can take out a planet.”
“We’ve seen the damage just one can do on Belavia,” Mordjan said. “The Ardaks took out the entire planet with one shot.”
“One shot?” Tristin raised his brows. “I haven’t seen that.”
“It’s a new high-energy weapon,” Mordjan explained. “They took out an entire battlefield with one shot. But that wasn’t the worst of it. It also set fire to the atmosphere, and since then, it’s been leaking. Ruith’s ARF forces have been helping to evacuate because within weeks it will become entirely unlivable.”
The rage that came over Tristin’s features for a moment was terrible to behold. His face turned pale and he clenched his fists. “Someone needs to stop these bastards,” he finally choked out.
“Agreed,” Mordjan replied.
“Once there, we’ll split into our three teams and accomplish our assigned goals,” Tristin said, recovering. “One team will deploy the poison, the second will steal the ships, and the third will ensure our escape by opening the exit doors. Most of us will be on the second team, led by Mordjan and myself. Are there any questions?”
“Is the resistance going to send reinforcements?” Aefin asked.
Tristin (Cyborg Warriors Book 7) Page 13