War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (44 page)

"I will send a fleet to Themis as you
request."

"Let me go with the fleet," she urged. "If
they see me, we may get more volunteers because I am a familiar
race to them."

"You may get a fleet ready to leave now," he
agreed. "I am going to go down to Demeter and introduce myself to
all of the survivors."

Jahdiel looked out of the window at the
raging planet below, erupted in flames and covered in a thick
billowing cloud of black smoke. She knew Demeter would never be
able to fully recover from this attack. She also had no doubt that
the Queen's fleet would be here to meet the Crodillian's soon, but
she had another mission to go on. The prisoners could be put on the
front lines to fight the Queen's army up close, without losing a
single Crodillian. Jahdiel called a crewman over and ordered him to
get a fleet prepared to leave. Themis was waiting to be taken over
by the Crodillians.

"We're here," Falcone turned. "But I'm not
seeing any place for me to land
Drakos Mavros
."

Anlon came up to the cockpit and looked out
of the window. Falcone was right, there was no place with
civilization anywhere to be seen.

"Keep flying around," Anlon told him. "Maybe
your friend is waiting for us somewhere."

"Why don't you just call him and tell him
we're here?" Nimesha asked.

"I tried. I didn't get a response."

She plopped down on a chair in the cabin.
"Great plan you had. Let your fish friend take the Princess without
any way to contact him once he was gone," she smirked. "You
would've been better off keeping her with you on Erebos."

Falcone ignored her. "I'm going to land the
ship over there. It's big enough for the ship and that's all we
need right now."

Anlon nodded. "We don't have much of a choice
right now, but to wait."

Falcone carefully put down the ship and
powered down the engines, lowering the ramp to watch for anyone
approaching from behind. It didn't take long before the water
started bubbling and a watercraft emerged from the ocean.

"Look!" Anlon pointed to them. "Something is
coming up from the water."

"Told you he'd find us," Falcone shot at
Nimesha. "We're not all like you assassins."

She rolled her eyes and followed Anlon to the
edge of the ramp. A glass hatch on the watercraft popped open and
Bimisi sprang out.

"Welcome to Nesoi!"

"Why didn't you answer your comlink?" Falcone
asked. "Do you know how many times I called you?"

"Figured you were calling because you made it
here, so I left and waited for you to land your ship before I
showed myself," Bimisi shrugged. "You could've landed sooner so I
didn't have to follow you all over Nesoi."

"Still could've answered," he muttered.

"Who's the pretty lady?" Bimisi shifted his
attention.

"An assassin that works for the Deimos
Brotherhood, who by the way, tried to kill us while we were on
Erebos," Falcone answered. "Not my idea to bring her along with
us."

"
Used
to work for the Deimos
Brotherhood," Anlon corrected. "She's helping us now."

"As long as she's on our side now, I don't
care what she did before," Bimisi smiled. "I wouldn't say I have
the cleanest of pasts."

"I am on your side," Nimesha assured him.

They all got in the watercraft and Bimisi
lowered it under the water, taking them on the short journey
through the crystal clear water to the underwater city. Bimisi
steered the watercraft in the hangar and waited for the water to
recede before allowing the passengers out. He led them out of the
door, down the glass tunnels, and to Kanti's chambers. Shrieks rang
down the halls as he pushed the doors open.

"What is she doing alive with you Anlon?"
Kanti motioned to Nimesha.

Camillus picked up a laser pistol and pointed
it at Nimesha. Anlon stepped in front and held out his arms out to
shield her.

"It's okay!" he calmed them. "She's on our
side now!"

"She tried to kill us!" Kanti shouted.
"Explain to me how
exactly
that makes her on our side. I
would think that's the opposite."

"She works for the Deimos Brotherhood!"
Camillus added. "She can't be trusted, even if you think she can be
trusted. It's her job to deceive and she's clearly done a superb
job on you."

"She
can
be trusted and she
is
going to help us whether any of you like it or not," Anlon told
them angrily. "Things have changed quite a bit since you two were
secluded into hiding."

"I'm sorry I tried killing you, Kanti,"
Nimesha apologized. "That was what I did in my old life. I promise
you I've changed, though it hasn't been very long. Anlon opened my
eyes and I know what Kirill's true plans are. I can't, and won't,
work for a monster like that anymore."

"Of course you'll pretend you're sorry,"
Kanti snorted. "It'd take one second for us to kill you or vice
versa."

"She's telling us the truth," Camillus backed
down. "She'll still have to prove herself to us, but she's being
sincere in her apology."

"How do you know?" Kanti asked.

"My sensors read that she told the truth. My
sensors work like a lie detector in way and they're rarely
wrong."

"I'll make a mental note that that's another
thing the robo-man can do," Falcone said under his breath.

"We found the base," Anlon told them. "And
Nimesha confirmed it."

"Only after trying to kill us," Falcone
interrupted.

"What did I tell you?" Bimisi beamed.
"There's no one better at gathering information like that than
me."

"When I called the Queen she told me some
very disturbing news," Anlon continued. "There is a new, more
deadly, enemy trying to kill her and take over Orion."

"What do you mean?" Kanti asked. "Who could
be worse than my father?"

"Jahdiel has returned from the Black
Hole."

"Should I have heard of her before?" Kanti
asked. "It's definitely not ringing a bell."

"She was a woman Adira wrongly outcast to the
Black Hole many years ago," Camillus told her. "Kirill set her up
to take the fall, which didn't work because the Queen still found
out it was him trying to kill her. It was too late to bring Jahdiel
back at that point."

"
Anyway
," Anlon continued. "She has
come back with an ancient race called the Crodillians. I have never
heard of them, but the Queen said they tried to take over Orion
centuries ago, which is why they were outcast to the Black
Hole."

"And they have somehow found a way back
through to do it again," Camillus thought aloud. "I would never
have thought that possible. The science to do that is beyond
anything discovered in Orion."

"Crodillians?" Kanti looked to Camillus who
seemed to know who they were.

"They're very dangerous. Orion isn't ready
for an enemy like this, not after being at peace for centuries.
They are too powerful and know war. They live for war."

Anlon nodded. "They took out a whole fleet in
seconds from what the Queen explained She doesn't seem too hopeful
that her fleets will be able to stop them either, so Camillus is
right when he says they're powerful."

"They can do much more than just take out a
fleet in seconds," Camillus sounded concerned. "Advanced technology
is only
one
of the weapons they possess. If I'm right, they
have a weapon that should be feared much more."

"What's going to happen then?" Kanti queried.
"What's the Queen going to do about them?"

"We're at war with the Crodillians," Anlon
revealed to the room.

"Orion is in a lot of trouble. We have to do
something to help," Camillus said. "Adira and the rest of the
planetary leaders have no idea what they're up against."

Donnchadh woke abruptly in his cell to the
sound of alarms screeching throughout the entire prison. He hadn't
been here long, so he wasn't sure if it was normal, but he had a
feeling from the reactions of others that it wasn't. None of the
cells unlocked and no warbots came to let them out. It was
motionless inside of the prison, but outside of the prison, hell
had broken lose. Weapons were blazing and explosions rocked the
building.

Huge warships were hovering right outside of
the prison and the warbots were uselessly firing at them. Donnchadh
knew it wouldn't be long until all of the warbots were completely
destroyed, leaving the prison defenseless for the attackers to
enter. Confusion washed over him as the last few warbots were
destroyed and the ships landed on the soft sand. A strange race
filed out of the ship and waited for a figure, that appeared to be
human, to lead them inside of the prison.

Donnchadh waited calmly as he heard cells
being broken open and orders being barked by the race to go wait
outside by the ships. When they finally reached his cell, they
broke the lock, opened it, and told him to follow the others. He
nodded to the hideous race and followed their orders, afraid he
would torn to pieces if he didn't. He walked down the narrow
hallway, close behind the other prisoners, and waited in the sand
near the mysterious ships. It wasn't long before the human, a dark
skinned woman with black hair, led the monsters out of the
prison.

"You are all probably wondering why we are
here and have taken you out of your prison," She shouted it loud
enough for everyone to hear.

There were nods from all of the prisoners and
some had looks of utter fear on their faces, most likely from the
monsters standing behind the woman. Donnchadh couldn't help but
think he knew this woman from somewhere. She looked familiar, but
he couldn't place where he may have met her.

"We are here to free you!" she shouted. "You
will no longer be confined to the hellish moon. On one
condition."

Cheers erupted from the crowd, but Donnchadh
stood silently. He didn't trust this woman, but he didn't trust the
races behind her even more. They were here for more than just
freeing them.

"You must fight with us to take over Orion!
There is going to be a change of power and you have a choice to
side with the victors before the war begins."

These criminals would surely go along with
this race. They hated Orion and didn't care what happened to it,
even if it ultimately meant their own death. He on the other hand,
didn't like the idea, but he would have to play along for the time
being if he wanted to survive another day.

"Most of you are criminals and have been
outcast here to die. Some, like me, have been outcast wrongly and
will never live normal lives again. I was sent to the Black Hole
many years ago to death, but I survived! Now I have come back and I
will make the Queen pay for her mistake. What will you choose to do
with your second chance?"

The prisoners went crazy, knowing that they
were about to be freed from Keres. Not only were they about to be
freed, they were going to get to get revenge on the races that had
sent them here to die. They didn't care about the innocents that
would die in the process, only that they'd be set free to kill as
they wished.

"If you are with us, board the Mother
Colchian!" she pointed. "Those of you who don't want to fight
alongside us, may stay here at the prison, free of harm to die a
slow death on this hellish moon."

A majority of the prisoners rushed to the
Colchian to join Jahdiel and the Crodillians in taking over Orion.
Donnchadh lagged behind them, sensing that she wouldn't let the
reluctant ones live as she claimed. Jahdiel led the prisoners to an
area of the ship that had a view of the prison and the races who
had decided to stay behind. They were gathered in a circle and were
staring up at the prisoners on the ship. As the Colchian lifted,
sonic blasters obliterated them.

Donnchadh pushed himself through the
on-looking prisoners and found a corner to sit in alone. He had
been right to not trust this woman, but he was in a tough situation
now. He was one against thousands, maybe more if this wasn't the
only Crodillian ship. If he was to escape, he'd have to play his
cards very carefully. Being a prisoner hadn't lasted long, he was
yet again an assassin, who was going to have to kill his powerful
captors and prevent them from taking over Orion.