Age of Deception (The Firebird Chronicles Book 2)

by T. A. White

  Kira shook her head and raised her eyes to the ceiling. How had things managed to spiral so quickly?

  “At least she’s making friends—even if she’s planning on eventually luring them from your aunt’s House,” Blue said.

  Wren stepped into the center of the room, cutting short any further discussion. Kira slipped the metal disc into her pocket. She didn’t even know how to begin addressing Ziva’s misconceptions on her advice. She was afraid to even try for fear Ziva would do the same again.

  Wren’s presence had an immediate effect as those in the audience fell silent.

  "You have all done well to make it this far." Wren's deep voice rumbled through the amphitheater. "I want to commend you on your tenacity."

  The initiates sat up straighter.

  "There are those among you who have risen to the challenge, surpassing the limits you've placed on yourself and overcoming every obstacle." Wren paused, his attention shifting to where Harlow and Graydon sat. "Which is why the uhva na has opened."

  The initiates below stirred, their whispers breaking the silence. Even Devon was unable to hide his interest.

  Below them, Wren held up his hands, demanding quiet. A hush fell as the initiates sat forward in their seats, anticipation electrifying the air.

  "You know what an honor this is. The appointment of a formal seon’yer isn’t something we do lightly. Once you pass the uhva na, you will be acknowledged as a warrior and will gain Roake’s sponsorship to the adva ka when it opens," Wren said. "We've been monitoring you since your arrival to determine who is ready and who still needs more time. The next few days will be your last chance to change our minds."

  Kira sat back as the initiates erupted into chatter.

  "A word of warning—I know passing this phase seems like a given with how far you’ve come, but I warn you, it's not easy. There is no shame in waiting until you're ready." Wren's eyes lingered on Kira.

  She stared placidly back. He could warn all he liked, but if she had the opportunity, she was taking it.

  "I caution you to know your limits," Wren continued. "The trial has claimed lives in the past. Once you are in its depths, not even we can easily save you should you stray."

  The lights in the room dimmed as Wren stepped to the head of the stone table, touching it. A hologram formed above it, a planet and stars glittering as they came into focus.

  "Now, let's begin the day's lessons."

  Those around them rustled as they tapped the desks in front of them, bringing up holoscreens as they began to take notes.

  It quickly became apparent why Wren was so revered by the initiates and why Rheya had seemed so interested at the prospect of an apprenticeship under him. He held a strategic mind, his observations of long-ago battles insightful and revealing.

  The Tuann, it seemed, were no strangers to conflict. Their Houses showed a propensity for descending into war over what, to Kira, seemed like inconsequential matters.

  "What have you learned from the engagement during the fourth feud between House Danai and House Asanth?" Wren asked, finished depicting a pitched space battle between the two Houses.

  "Not to leave your supply bases unguarded?" Aeron said with a lilt in his voice, making his statement a question.

  Wren nodded. "That is one conclusion. What else?"

  The initiates looked at each other, none willing to volunteer their opinions. Wren was a harsh critic, more inclined to point out the fallacy of a comment than praise it.

  His gaze found Kira's. She tensed, knowing what he was going to do before he did it. "Kira, you've been quiet."

  Raider hid his snicker beside her. Blue's shoulders shook suspiciously on Kira's other side as she ducked her head, pretending to take notes on the tablet in front of her.

  "Perhaps you have something to add," he said.

  Kira was quiet for several seconds, her gaze lingering on the battle simulation that was still running. "I suppose you could also conclude that any decision you make needs to make sense in both the short and long-term. What might be advantageous today may lead to your defeat in the future. Long and short-term planning are necessary for the survival of any combat force."

  Wren's face was expressionless, his gaze flat. After several seconds, he inclined his head. "Very good. Now, can we think of any other battles that demonstrate this concept?"

  Rheya held her hand up. "I can."

  Wren gestured for her to take his place. She stood and walked over to the stone table, spending several seconds fiddling with her wrist unit.

  Her eyes met Kira's.

  "This should be good," Raider muttered.

  A hologram began to form over the table, a familiar planet and moon surrounded by an armada of ships.

  Rheya took a deep breath, her chin lifting as she indicated the hologram. "I think the battle of Rothchild, where humans lost nearly a quarter of their ships for a non-crucial target, demonstrates this concept."

  Raider looked down. "Well, fuck."

  A pin dropping could have been heard as all eyes swiveled toward Kira, checking her reaction. Her expression was blank, numbness spreading through her.

  She hadn't expected them to take this tactic as a means to hurt her. Rheya was smarter than Kira had given her credit for. And more ambitious. Kira would have to remember that.

  "I take it from Raider's reaction, she chose an emotionally charged battle," Jin guessed.

  His presence in her mind was muted, which meant he wasn’t seeing out of her eyes.

  "It's Rothchild," she whispered.

  There was an audible indrawn breath.

  "Oh, Kira. I'm sorry," Jin finally said.

  Kira didn't respond. She couldn't; her throat was thick with heartbreak. Shards of ice expanded across her chest, deadening everything it touched.

  She was right there again, a Tsavitee war party appearing out of nowhere. Her friends too far away for her to help. Knowing there was nothing she could do to change what was coming.

  Feeling the ship's internal screams as the CSS Vega broke apart, watching the moon disintegrate from a plan she'd put into action, its debris shredding their ships along with the enemies’.

  Kira inhaled slowly, forcing herself to count to three before exhaling. When she'd finished, she did it again and again until she'd stuffed all those emotions in their boxes.

  Rothchild was a very long time ago. How long would it take until a simple mention of its name no longer affected her this severely?

  "That's it, Kira. She wants a reaction. Don't give her one," Jin coaxed.

  Kira hummed softly, letting Jin know without words she appreciated his support.

  She focused. The woman shifted nervously, suddenly not seeming so confident under the hostile gazes of the two at her side as she had moments before.

  Wren waited, his body tense. When Kira didn't do anything, he relaxed. "Rheya, I assume you have data to back up your conclusion."

  She nodded, recovering a modicum of her confidence. She gestured, and the scene shifted, the ships starting to move. "Human media claims this battle was the turning point of their war. I don't understand why. I’ve created a simulation of the battle based on reports and footage I found."

  She expanded the planet, clicking through so the audience was treated to several shots of its terrain. Snow-covered mountains, continents threaded with thousands of rivers.

  Rothchild had seventy-four percent landmass. The primary form of water came from snow caps and the glaciers that riddled its poles.

  A humble city took shape, the buildings simple, most not even topping three stories. The planet was still in the early days of settlement. They hadn't bothered with beauty and form when building their cities and towns, more concerned with function and efficiency.

  "From what I could find, there was little in the way of strategic resources that needed protecting. There was no obvious tactical value in this colony," Rheya continued.

  The hologram expanded to the moon and the armada of ships. Four destroye
rs, each housing nearly a thousand soldiers, escorting one large carrier craft.

  "What about the lives of three million souls?" Blue challenged.

  Rheya paused. "Humanity claims they were in a fight to prevent their annihilation. Three million lives do not justify crippling your fleet, no matter how difficult a decision such as that would be."

  It was easy for Rheya to say. Three million lives of her own people hadn’t been at stake.

  In the simulation, five dots separated from the human ships, streaking across space away from the planet and its moons. Shortly after, several Tsavitee warships, all elite or superior class, moved into view.

  Kira's hand clenched on the desk as she took a slow breath, knowing what would happen next.

  Two of the destroyers moved out of formation, one taking the lead as they raced for the dots.

  "Rather than tightening their formation, several of the human ships broke away, weakening their defenses." Rheya tapped one of the dots, expanding it to reveal a humanoid figure clad in military-grade body armor, standing aboard a device that shared a resemblance to the surfboards of humanity's past. Bulkier than Tuann synth armor, the military combat armor insulated the wearer against space while providing a thin protection against projectiles. It wouldn't stop most missile armament, but it might deflect shrapnel, proving useful when in close combat.

  The board looked like a bristling hedgehog, rail guns and rockets strapped all around it, containers housing ammo rounds on its underside.

  It was a crazy way to fight, yet surprisingly effective against the Tsavitee. Life expectancy for a waverunner pilot wasn't great, but there had been no shortage of volunteers willing to risk their lives on them.

  "I can only conclude their actions were to protect these five," Rheya said. "Though why you would send five craft of this size up against a Tsavitee warcraft, I can't guess."

  "They're waverunners," Blue informed her. "In the early part of the war, our single craft fighters were getting slaughtered. They weren't maneuverable enough or fast enough to be effective against Tsavitee ships. The waverunners gave us a fighting chance. Because they're so small, they're harder to lock onto, and their boards can be used as a battering ram for an insertion force."

  "After that, it's a matter of planting a few bombs in critical areas and then bugging out before the ship blows," Raider added.

  "Clever," one of the oshotas from Roake said.

  "We thought so," Raider said.

  Not to mention they were useful when dropping into atmo for a space to ground insertion. It was easy to hit one big target. Much harder when trying to hit hundreds.

  It was a hell of a ride down, though.

  The simulation resumed with the Tsavitee ship firing. Debris flew from the ship on the right. The McNeil.

  Unlike in holofilms, ships didn't typically explode immediately upon taking a hit. They were built to withstand a lot. When the survival of those inside depended on the air and atmosphere staying where it was, it made you a tad paranoid in the design.

  There were redundancies built into a ship in the event of hull puncture. It was always the vacuum of space that got you in the end. Punch enough holes in a ship's hull, and it didn't matter how good the design, you'd suffocate in seconds if you weren't wearing a pressurized suit.

  That was demonstrated seconds later as the Tsavitee launched scatter bombs, which detonated a hundred feet from impact, the shrapnel shredding the ship's port side.

  The McNeil listed to one side.

  "They should have retreated at this point," Rheya said. "It was obvious they were outmatched."

  Silence fell as one by one, eyes turned toward Kira.

  "Blue, give me your tablet," Kira said calmly.

  Blue flicked a glance in question toward Raider. He hesitated before nodding.

  Blue handed the tablet over. Kira bent, her fingers flying across the screen. A short time later, she smiled. She should have known Blue would have all the mission reports, every piece of information she could get her hands on, stored in her files. It made sense. The Curs had been her family too.

  "Jin, a little help," Kira whispered.

  "Got it."

  Kira flicked the information away. Jin took it and put it on the same device Rheya had been using for her little presentation.

  "What you didn't take into account was the fact that this was the single most important moment in human history," Kira told her, rising.

  In the midst of the three ships that had remained close to the moon, a Haldeel diplomatic vessel took shape.

  "That day, we were in the midst of talks regarding a treaty." Kira descended the steps, her pace slow and unhurried.

  "We couldn't retreat because the Haldeel's ambassadors were planetside. We knew if the Haldeel lost any of their diplomats because we turned and ran, we could kiss any possibility of support goodbye." Kira's lips quirked up on one side, the half-smile not touching her eyes. "Though, I'll admit the prospect of abandoning three million never really occurred to us. I doubt it would have occurred to Roake either, if it had been their people down there. We'd already lost so much. They were ours, and they deserved our best even if the sacrifice was more than we wanted to pay."

  Kira's attention moved to the hologram as she studied it. She thought Rheya had controlled it like this. Kira made a gesture, and the scene rewound.

  "The waverunners were sent out to investigate a stray comet. The Tsavitee war party was using it to hide their ship's signature in a move they learned from us."

  Humans hadn't been able to fight head to head so they'd gotten crafty, using any and all techniques to even the odds. It was one of the reasons the runners had been sent out. The command team had known exactly how a comet could be used to hide unsavory surprises.

  Turns out, they were right to be worried.

  The battle resumed as the McNeil began to break apart, venting atmosphere and water that froze instantly, creating a giant plume around it.

  "You have this part right. The McNeil falls early. Its death serves as a warning to the rest of the fleet," Kira said, circling the table, her gaze fixed on the battle taking place above her head.

  "Outgunned and outmatched, they only have minutes to decide on a course of action." Kira stopped, facing Graydon. He listened; his thoughts unreadable. “The commander of the Vega, Charles Berry, decides to lure the Tsavitee into a trap."

  "How?" one of Roake's oshota asks.

  "Only a few species of Tsavitee display executive functioning skills. Most are a slave to their desires. Enrage them. Distract them, and they're easy to manipulate."

  "They wouldn't leave a force of that size to one of the lower forms," another oshota said.

  "You're correct. A higher form always accompanies a force of this size. Sometimes it's a general; or it can be a mantis, skyling, or yellow, as we call them. The commander opens a channel to the lead ship and offers them something they've wanted for a while." Above Kira, the Vega slowly breaks off its attack, heading toward the moon.

  Soft murmurs break out among those watching as the Tsavitee ships followed.

  "On the moon was a temporary mining camp of a mineral called Smaralta, a compound known to be dangerous when combined with hydrogen. If exposed to heat, it will explode. The more heat, the bigger the explosion," Kira said. "While the Vega and the McNeil buy them time in the battle, the miners start flooding the shafts with hydrogen. They set charges throughout in the hopes of creating a big enough explosion to damage the Tsavitee ships."

  The Vega circled to face the Tsavitee warships.

  "Unfortunately, no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. Those on the waveboards would have been in the path of the resulting debris. Exposed. Defenseless. Their armor would have been little protection; the debris would have shredded it. However, if they veered away to try to escape, they would have alerted the Tsavitee to the trap."

  They weren't the only ones in the path of destruction either. The Vega also stood between the moon and the approac
hing force.

  Above Kira, the moon exploded, a quarter of it disintegrating as a great plume of debris shot toward the ship and waverunners. Everything was destroyed.

  Kira touched the small icon hovering in front of her. The battle scene faded, replaced by hundreds of photos with names under them.

  Rheya stared at them in confusion.

  "I thought you should know the faces of the people whose sacrifice you were so dismissive of," Kira said.

  There was a frozen look on Rheya's face, as Kira walked away, the colored lights from the hologram playing over her as she stepped through two of her fallen friends. She felt almost brittle as she made her way to the door, past caring what anyone might think of her.

  Jagged glass coated her throat as she fought to swallow dangerous emotions.

  She needed be away from here before she did something she might regret.

  *

  The individual photographs scattered to reform into one large group photo. This one was different than the others, unposed. The people in it were relaxed and comfortable, their postures saying they were familiar with each other. Taken on the flight deck of a human destroyer, there were cargo containers and mechanic tools scattered all around.

  That wasn't what drew Graydon's eye, however. It was the devil may care grin spread across Kira's face as she posed with a group of eight others. They looked happy—carefree, despite the rigors of war.

  They wore uniforms, but were clearly individuals.

  Raider had his arm slung around a woman who was half turned from the camera, a hat on her head, the only thing visible the curve of a wide smile. Blue stood on top of a crate holding a blow torch, her gaze directed at a man beneath her. Two others stood next to Kira, caught in mid-laugh.

  "The Curs," Raider said with a sharp smile. "They were the ones who didn't turn away despite knowing it was likely to cost them their lives. The only reason Kira wasn't with them was because of an injury and dumb luck. It was her plan that led to the moon's destruction, the death of her squad, and seventy percent of the Vega's crew," Raider said.

  Rheya paled, understanding and guilt creeping into her expression.