Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) (15 page)

“What do you have to report to me? I hope
there was no trouble in taking Ovrea,” Merikh looked bored with the
Queen chained next to him.

“No,” Jahdiel shook her head. “Quite the
opposite, actually. Ovrea has surrendered with their hands in the
air. They didn't even put up the slightest bit of a fight against
us.”

Merikh nodded. “I'm glad to hear it. This
doesn't mean that every planet will be the same. You’re still to
follow your orders. I won’t put up with you defying my direct
orders. Every other General has been briefed with my decision.”

“I understand,” Jahdiel nodded. “I wouldn't
want to be caught by surprise by some little rebellion.”

She could see a slight flash in Merikh's
eyes that she knew was anger. She’d mocked him, but there was
nothing he could do about it until she arrived back on Hera. By
then, she would've conquered every planet and he’d most likely
already have forgotten about it. The Queen on the other hand, had a
smug look on her face after the comment. Jahdiel didn't know if
it's because she’d caught on to what she’d said to Merikh, or if
there was something else going on. Surely there wasn't, she had no
outside contact with anyone. If she wasn't locked up in a cell, she
was chained next to Merikh.

“Hermes will be the next planet that we
take,” Jahdiel told him.

“Aren't there other planets much closer to
Ovrea?”

“It's their core trading planet,” Jahdiel
informed him. “If there is any rebellion brewing, then after we
conquer Hermes, there’ll be no chance of success.”

“Why didn't you go to this planet
first?”

“I wanted to see how a less populated planet
would respond.”

“I see,” Merikh said. “No matter. They’ll
all respond the same. Just get the job done.”

Jahdiel saw the look on the Queen's face
again, but once again kept it to herself. Pointing it out to Merikh
could raise his suspicions about herself and her motives. “If they
do decide to rebel, we’ll be ready for them.”

“Why are you killing your own races?” Adira
spoke up.

“Because you killed me, in a way,” Jahdiel
answered. “It’s only right that I return the favor.”

“None of these other races did anything to
you, it was me,” Adira said. “There’s nothing to gain by helping
these monsters, they'll only do the same to you in the end. After
all, you're just like the races you're wiping out. What makes you
any better than them?”

“Why don't you let me worry about my own
choices and you can worry about what few you have left, if
any.”

“I wonder if you truly have any more choices
left than I do,” Adira chuckled before getting hit by Merikh.

“Continue conquering the planets Jahdiel,
we’ve spoken enough,” he hung up the comlink.

The Queen had just risked her life to talk
to Jahdiel, but why? She knew that Merikh would severely punish her
for the comments, but there was a reason Adira had risked
punishment to tell her these things. She too, must see that Merikh
was only using her. Had he been using her the entire time? From the
minute he’d seen her arrive through the Black Hole?

Since arriving in Orion, her role seemed to
be slowly diminishing with every passing day. The power she’d
wielded in the other galaxy was slowly fading away. Was she really
any better off than Adira now? The Queen may be chained to Merikh,
but Jahdiel was stuck in a ship full of crodillians, with
Maolmordha close by, likely to clean up any acting up on her
part.

She’d made the call to confirm where she
stood with Merikh, and her instincts were confirmed. Adira's
comments only reassured what she was thinking, but Jahdiel didn't
know what to do. She was chained, like the Queen, and had to follow
orders or be killed. The Queen knew something she didn't though,
she had seen it on her face. Something was going to happen soon and
the crodillians wouldn't be expecting it. Jahdiel decided she'd
follow orders until then, once that time came, she'd decide what to
do.

“Something is definitely going on with the
Elders,” Nimesha said, breaking the silence in the room.

“Yeah, Zimran has been gone awhile,” Falcone
said. “He said he'd be right back.”

“He seemed kind of reluctant to tell us
anything alone,” Kanti pointed out. “Maybe some of the Elders don't
want to reveal information to us. He could be lobbying for us.”

“I'm with Kanti,” Anlon said. “If they’re
going to give us anything then they all have to agree on it. If
even one doesn’t want to, it could take some time.”

“They hear whispers from all over Orion,”
Camillus said. “It’s their job to know things. I'm sure someone
leaked that we'd be arriving so they should’ve already gone over
most of this.”

“He just didn’t seem like he want to help
all that much. It felt as if he were holding things back,” Nimesha
said.

“They know what's best,” Camillus replied.
“You have to trust their decisions. If they don't want to help us,
or are reluctant to reveal information, then there’s a reason.”

Zimran quickly came into the room. He seemed
frantic, like something had just interrupted him.

“Follow me,” he motioned. “I’ve gathered six
of the Elders to speak with you. Unfortunately, the others weren't
here and I wasn't able to locate them.”

They followed him down the stone halls and
into a room with a large rectangular stone in the middle. Stone
chairs were put around it and they all took seats at the opposite
end of the table as the Elders.

“I'm sorry, but introductions must be
skipped today,” the Elder seated in the middle of the others said.
“Time is short and I’m told you seek information on how to defeat
the crodillians.”

“Yes,” Kanti answered. “We’ve come to Ovrea
in hopes that you may be able to help us.”

The Elder nodded. “We may not be able to
help you in the way you want.”

“What do you mean?” Anlon asked. “You don't
have any information on how you defeated the crodillians last
time?”

“You see,” he held his hands out. “We barely
defeated them last time they tried to take over Orion. There was
really nothing special we did, it was just mistakes on the
crodillians’ part.”

“Great,” Falcone mumbled. “I’m sure the
Council will love to hear that. It’ll really encourage the
rebels.”

Kanti shot a look at him. “I'm sure that you
can still help us. They're taking over Orion now as we speak.
Anything would be helpful.”

“We know of their recent actions,” the
Elders said. “They’ve just taken over Ovrea.”

“What?” Anlon asked aloud. “They're here
right now?”

“They’ve come peacefully and we told the
cities to surrender. There will be no bloodshed, don’t worry.”

“You can't be okay with this,” Kanti said.
“You must want to defeat them as much as we do. It can’t be
satisfying to give up your home to these monsters.”

“We don't like it, no, but what choice do we
have?” The Elder responded. “The Queen has used every fleet Orion
had, there’s no chance we defeat the crodillians now.”

Nimesha smiled. “Not quite. You may have
missed a little bit of information.”

The Elder looked to her confused. “What are
you talking about?”

“There are around three hundred ships
gathered at Ares ready to rebel once we get information from
you.”

“Three hundred?” The Elder shook his head in
dismay. “That’s still no match for the crodillians. Did you not see
what thousands did?”

“You have to tell us what little you know,”
Kanti insisted. “Even if it barely defeated the crodillians last
time, it could still work this time. They may make the same
mistakes again, who knows.”

Zimran tapped the Elder's shoulder. “She's
right. Their technology is much more advanced than the previous
time we faced the crodillians. It could provide an additional
advantage.”

“Fine. What I’m about to tell you is no
secret,” the Elder said. “We utilized surprise attacks. Their
powers were too much for us to overcome. They almost entirely wiped
us out, so one of the General's recommended guerilla warfare.
Something that we thought would make their powers useless. If they
couldn’t focus in on where we were coming from, how could they
thwart us?”

“What are you talking about their powers?”
Anlon asked. “Those big guns on their ships that wipe out entire
fleets?”

“No. Not those,” he shook his head. “They
have some sort of telekinetic powers that allow them to control
large objects. Did you not know of this already?”

“So they're true,” Camillus said aloud.
“I’ve read about them, but I thought they were only
fictitious.”

“No, they're real,” the Elder assured him.
“This new weapons they're using is something we haven't seen
before. I'm sure they'll resort to their powers soon, if they
haven't forgotten how to use them.”

“How exactly do they work?” Kanti asked.
“And how does guerilla warfare work against it?”

“When we first attacked, we gathered in big
groups, like the Queen at Hera,” the Elder revealed. “They were
able to somehow direct large objects at the fleets. They destroyed
communications and wreaked havoc every time we got close to them.
At first, we didn't know what was going on, but we found it was
them. By that point, the war seemed all but lost.”

“So their powers are what almost defeated
you?” Kanti asked.

“We weren't ready for them. It was something
their race had concealed from everyone,” the Elder nodded. “By the
time we figured it out, it was too late. Their ground troops had
won and we had lost many of our fleets.”

“This helps us!” Anlon said. “None of us
knew about the powers and now we know we must attack using guerilla
warfare.”

“That still barely won it for us and we had
many more ships at our disposal than you do right now.”

“But it’s hope,” Kanti said. “If our
rebellion is to be successful, we need to give those rebelling
something to cling to. If they have that, they’ll stop at nothing
until victory is achieved.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” the Elder
said. “You all would rather go extinct than be conquered.”

“And wouldn't you?” Nimesha asked. “We’ll be
slaves if we don't try to do anything.”

“And you will be dead if you try.”

“We have the new technology you were talking
about,” Falcone pointed out. “You didn't have sonodrive, force
fields, and stealth fields when you fought them. These are all
relatively new to us and we can use them all to our advantage.”

“We didn't, that’s true,” the Elder nodded.
“But how will so few ships be able to defeat their thousands?”

“We lure them into traps,” Nimesha grinned.
“We use the stealth fields to our advantage. Like you said, they
can’t defeat what they can’t see.”

“It could work,” the Elder nodded. “That’s
only if you’re able to get close enough to them without being
caught.”

“Not only that, but guerrilla warfare is
perfect for our numbers!” Falcone said. “All we have to do is
figure out their tactics and then lure them into the right
positions.”

“Then it seems we’ve given you everything
you need,” the Elder bowed his head.

“Are you sure there isn't anything else that
you can tell us?” Kanti asked. “I mean, you keep the histories. All
you know is that you barely defeated them and they have telekinetic
powers?”

“They are a mysterious race,” the Elder
said. “We’ve never had one of our own work closely with this race.
They work alone, only amongst themselves. Maybe if you captured one
of their own, they could reveal more, but I'm not sure. We have
only speculated about them and all we know is they possess special
powers.”

“Thank you,” Kanti smiled. “Though you
weren't able to reveal much, it may have been just enough to save
Orion.”

“I'm glad we could be of assistance, and we
wish you luck on your mission,” the Elder smiled. “We hope to see
you again soon once you've won your war, Princess.”

The guard walked into the room. “The
crodillians have found yet another city.”

Zimran nodded. “Escort our guests out of the
Temple and make sure they get to their ship safely. They have
important information to relay to their rebellion.”

The guard nodded and motioned Anlon and the
others to follow. They quickly walked out of the room and back to
the Temple's yard. He led them to where they’d left their
gliders.

“The weather is supposed to be like this for
another couple of hours,” he said. “You can get to your ship
without worry of getting hit by a storm. Once there, I recommend
you wait for the storm to hit, then you can get off of the planet
undetected. There are bombers all over, if you leave in this
weather, you may get caught.”

“Thank you,” Falcone said. “We'll leave once
the storm hits.”

Anlon and Kanti both got on their bike, as
did the others. They fired them up and started making their way
back towards
Drakos Mavros
. None of them wanted to get
caught outside in a storm, but deep down, they all wanted one to
come quickly. If the guard was right, they could easily get off of
Ovrea and head straight to Ares where the rebellion could
begin.