Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) (35 page)

Anlon raised his eyebrows. “It sounds
brilliant, but what if all the ships stay here?”

Pyrrhus shrugged. “We don't think they will.
All they'll see is fifty rebel ships. No reason to keep three of
those huge ships here when there’s full scale rebellions on other
planets. All those planets are well equipped for war and once word
gets out that the rebels are easily wiping out ground troops,
they’ll send ships in for assistance.”

“It makes sense. Merikh is clearly over
confident in his abilities and will underestimate the strength of
the rebellion,” Nimesha nodded. “They've never seen stealth fields,
or so we believe, so taking over the command ship should catch them
by surprise. They’ve also never seen an entire galaxy of races band
together for one common cause.”

“Precisely. We used everything the Elders
gave us and more. Attack, run, and use our new technology. That
monster won’t know what hit him.”

“Won't they wipe out the rebel bases on the
other planets with ease?” Anlon asked. “They may be well-equipped,
but even Ares will have a difficult time standing up to a whole
fleet. The only difference between us and them is that we have
about three hundred ships at our disposal.”

Pyrrhus grinned. “Oh, I think they'll put up
a good fight. The two biggest rebellion forces are on Hermes and
Gaea, and they have some pretty good leaders. Not to mention, the
bases are fully stocked for full scale war. They may not have the
air support we do, but they have the ground support.”

“Wasn't Gaea destroyed?” Anlon asked. “It
was getting bombed heavily when we escaped. There can’t possibly be
too much left of it.”

“It did take a heavy beating, but your
friend Moran didn't let that stop him from saving survivors to
start a rebellion.”

“Moran is alive?” Anlon smiled.

“He’s alive and very well. He was waiting
for me when I arrived to set up a base. The man tracked me down and
showed me all the survivors he’d hidden in the basement of some
crumbled building. We were able to find an untouched base named
Xiphos and sent survivors to finish setting up bases throughout
Orion.”

“He'll lead a great rebellion. The
crodillians have no idea what they're up against. Moran is a genius
and will lure them into traps all over the place,” Anlon said.

“They won't know what they're up against on
Hermes either,” Pyrrhus continued. “I put a woman named Zarah in
charge. She's in a hidden underground base with just as many rebels
as Moran, if not more.”

“So there really is a hidden base there?”
Nimesha asked. “I never could find it myself. I went several times
and could never get anyone to lead me to it.”

“There is,” Pyrrhus nodded. “Why were you
trying to find it?”

“Old life. Might've been a high profile
figure or two that Kirill wanted me to take out.”

“Anyway,” Anlon intervened. “Everything is
going well there?”

“Zarah has exceeded my expectations. She was
a high school principal in her old life, and now, she's doing one
hell of a job leading that base. From the reports she's given me,
things are running very smoothly. She's appointed ten officers and
every other race on base has some sort of job to keep them busy.
They'll be ready to rebel the second I give the order, giving the
crodillians plenty of problems.”

“What about the other rebellion bases?”
Falcone asked.

“They're smaller, but Moran sent very
trustworthy men to set them up. They won't be able to stand up to
an entire fleet, but with every planet rebelling at the same time,
the crodillians will have to choose where they go. That means
they'll most likely choose Gaea and Hermes because the rebels there
will have the best chance of taking the planets back.”

“So once Kanti makes her speech, the
rebellion will begin?” Falcone asked.

“Pretty much,” Pyrrhus nodded. “If the
crodillians aren't on their way here right now, they will be after
the speech. We aren't going to hide our location. We want them to
strike us right here.”

“Is there any way I could help?” Fausto
asked. “I don't know much of what's going on in Orion since I've
been on Tartarus for fifty years, but I'm willing to help in any
way possible.”

Pyrrhus looked him up and down. “How'd you
end up there? And how did you
survive
?”

“A raider shot my ship down while I was
carrying out a run. After I crashed, they left me alone. I got
lucky and was stranded in some cave that had everything I needed to
survive: food, water, shelter, and much more.”

Pyrrhus nodded and stroked his chin. “We
could always use more pilots, if you're up for it.”

“You have yourself a pilot then,” Fausto
took Pyrrhus' hand.

“Let's get you all back to the Capitol
building,” Pyrrhus led them towards a second cruiser. “Get some
rest and we'll go over what we need to do after Kanti has given her
speech. There’s still a lot that has to be done and time is quickly
running out.”

Anlon followed Pyrrhus to the cruiser and
sat in the front seat. The others got in the back and the cruiser
levitated off the ground. He looked out the window and saw fairly
empty streets. Races were scattered on rooftops and he knew this
was the last time anyone would see peace like this for a while.
Once the rebellion started, the bloodshed would be endless. It
would consume the galaxy, but it’d only be temporary, and if they
played everything right, they’d come out on top when it was all
over.

A buzzing comlink awoke Zarah from her deep
sleep. It was the first time since taking over the base that
someone was calling her. Usually, it was her waking someone for
instructions or how to do things better.

She picked up the comlink and put it to her
ear. “Hello?”

“It's Dorjan, Zarah. The crodillians are
finally here. They’ve just landed some of their ships.”

She straightened up and got out of bed
immediately. “How long have they been on Hermes?” She threw clothes
on.

“A couple of hours now,” he answered. “I
didn't think it was necessary to call you right away. I thought
it'd be better if my men and I watched them for a while. Try to
scout them out and get a sense of how they act.”

“What have seen from them so far?”

“I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. They
came and attacked, but then turned around and left. It was strange
to say the least, especially since they were supposed to come
peacefully, but it was just another reason I waited to call
you.”

“What do you mean they attacked and
left?”

“It looked like they were going to wipe out
Thermopylae, but for some odd reason they stopped all at once. We
took heavy fire for several minutes and all at once it seized and
the ships left for some time before returning.”

“Did any of your men provoke them to
attack?”

“No. No one did anything. We saw them coming
and got into our positions. I watched every one of my men and not a
single one of them came out of hiding. The enemy didn’t even know
we were here.”

“That's odd,” she thought aloud. “How long
did they leave for again?”

“They came back shortly after withdrawing as
if nothing had happened. They were gone for ten minutes at the
most.”

“What else do you have besides that?”

“They've settled in the upper-class parts of
Hermes. Bases are set up in the larger buildings is what I'm
guessing from where I’m positioned. Ships and vehicles are nearby
and there are a lot of crodillians roaming the streets. They’re
armed to the teeth and look ready to kill anyone that gets out of
line.”

“So, we know where their base is now,” she
grinned. “Can your men do anything else to give us an upper hand
when the rebellion starts?”

“We may be able to help out a little. We can
set up bugs throughout their camps so we know their moves before
they make them. It’d definitely help the rebels, but it may be a
little tricky. The streets are filled with these monsters so we’re
going to have to find other ways in the compounds.”

“How much confidence do you have in your
men?”

“A lot of damn confidence. If they don't
want to do it, I'll do it myself, but I know they'd never turn this
down. We may not be spies, but we know our way around this
city.”

“It's up to you. It’d be a great help for
the rebellion, but I won’t order you to do it. The choice is yours,
but I already know what choice you'll make. You're a warrior, a
fighter, you'll get the job done,” she said.

“We'll carry it out tonight,” he replied.
“And thank you Zarah.”

“For what?” She asked. “I haven't done
anything yet. I’ve been hiding here in the base with the rest of
the rebels.”

“You let me help you. You could've taken the
rebels with you to the base and ignored me, letting me make a
stupid mistake which would’ve killed me, but you didn't. You
befriended me, and for that, I thank you.”

“You're welcome. Everyone deserves a chance.
I couldn’t let my initial feeling towards you get in the way.
Making the choice you did wasn’t easy, nor was mine, but both had
to be made for this rebellion to be successful. Neither of us were
wrong, so I’m glad you stood up to me. If you hadn’t we wouldn’t be
in this position right now,” she said. “Anyway, I'll wait for you
to call me back once you've bugged them.”

Zarah left her quarters and went to get the
officers. They’d chosen not to room separately from the other
races, instead choosing to sleep alongside them. She thought it was
brilliant and would build the bond between the entire base, not
just the officers. When the war started, they’d already be used to
acting as one.

She woke up Ludwig and Yvette, telling them
to wake the others and meet her in the Command Room. It was time to
let them know the crodillians were now residing on Hermes. They’d
then relay it to the rest of the base, and any of the races
operating outside of the base would now no longer be allowed to
leave. Enough intel had been gathered and getting caught wasn't
part of her plan. Too much preparation had gone on to ruin it due
to a careless mistake.

Zarah walked into the Command Room and fired
up the comline. Not only would she be talking to her officers, she
would be talking to Pyrrhus. They’d gotten their rebellion plan put
together for Hermes, and they needed to go over it with him before
proceeding. He was a true General, if there was anything wrong with
it, he’d let her and her officers know. A blue screen lit up and
she waited for the officers. Ludwig and Yvette were the first two
to walk in to the room, with the other eight close behind.

“Hermes has been taken over by the
crodillians,” she told them.

“We knew that it would happen soon,” Ludwig
said. “When will we strike?”

“Not yet. I haven’t gotten word from Pyrrhus
and there is something that has to be done before we strike.”

“We’re ready when Pyrrhus gives the word.
The entire base is ready to take back Orion from these monsters,”
Yvette said.

“Dorjan and his men are going to help us.
They’ve been watching the crodillians and have concluded their
headquarters are in the upper-class section of Hermes. They haven't
done anything yet, but they will soon.”

“They’ve told us where the crodillians are
holed up, what else could they possibly do?” Yvette asked.

“They're going to scout,” Ludwig grinned.
“They're going to learn the enemy we're going to face. Habits,
routines, and anything else that’ll give as an advantage.”

“Not only that. They're going to bug all the
buildings. We'll know what tactics they're going to use and any
commands that are coming in as they come in.”

“Even better than scouting. They’ll
infiltrate their bases and give
us
the upper hand,” Ludwig
leaned back with a grin.

“I haven't gotten a report on their numbers
yet, but we'll know once Dorjan has the bugs placed, along with a
lot more intel.”

“Are we still set on our battle plan?”
Yvette asked. “Nothing has changed?”

“The plan is still the same. In fact, we're
about to go over it with Pyrrhus and see if he wants to give any
suggestions to us.”

Zarah called Pyrrhus on the comline and his
image appeared on the wall. He was surrounded by hundreds of other
races doing different things in the background. She was sure they
were all working on the rebellion and didn't bother to ask who they
were or if they were listening. All that mattered right now was her
base, nothing else.

“What news do you have for me Zarah?”

“The crodillians have landed on Hermes.”

“We’ve seen, but that is good news,” he
smiled. “Three ships left Hera and we were unsure where they would
all be going until coming out of their jumps. We’re pleased with
where they’ve gone so far.”

“I don't know if that's good news. The base
will be on high alert soon and any slip up and the rebellion will
begin earlier than planned,” Zarah crossed her arms. “But if you
say so, I guess it is.”

“It was vital to our plans that they come to
Ares last. If they hadn't, we would've had to strike earlier than
we wanted to. Ares is where the rebellion will begin, but
everything has to be in place in order for us to succeed. Failure
on Ares will mean failure for the entire rebellion. Everything
hinges on a victory here.”

“I understand,” she nodded. “I contacted you
so that we may go over our battle plan for the rebellion. There
were some points I wanted to touch on, but more than anything, get
feedback.”

“I can gather some of the military leaders
right now to help you.”

“We’ve already come up with one we are
confident in. My officers and I wanted to go over it with you. It’s
too late to make any major changes to it, so we’d rather keep them
out of it.”

“Okay,” he nodded, looking impressed. “Let's
hear it.”