Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) (37 page)

She turned her back to them and left the
hangar. Jahdiel knew killing the pilot was going to mean her death,
but she didn't care anymore. None of the crodillians would stand
for her actions, and when word spread, plots would be put together
for her assassination. All that mattered to her at this point was
she’d drove a point home. It was her who was the strong one, at
least until she arrived back on Hera. Still, she had time to bend
the crew to her will and prove they needed her in order to
succeed.

She wanted to finish taking over Orion, and
there was only one planet left: Ares. She had to be there for Ares
at all costs and wouldn't let anything hold her back. It was Adira
who’d given her the courage to kill the beast and she had to finish
what she’d started. Adira had taught her many things besides
forgiveness since coming back to Orion. The Queen had shown her to
stand up for what is right, even after making mistakes, and that's
what she was going to do. She was going to make sure that things
were set right, even if she was playing a game of life and
death.

Moran stood near the outskirts of the base,
guiding in new survivors as they approached. The young races he’d
sent out were doing better than he’d expected as several hundred
races had arrived. Space was quickly diminishing within the base,
but he knew it wouldn't matter with the imminent rebellion. All the
arriving survivors had seen the Queen's message and knew why they
were being recruited. Young and old alike were ready to risk their
lives in order to get rid of the crodillians once and for all. Many
looked like they’d been hiding in rubble and a fire was raging in
their eyes.

He saw the young races walking back up with
another group of survivors. They were bloody and injured and Moran
immediately knew they’d run into trouble.

He yanked the young boy aside as the others
went by. “What happened out there?”

“A convoy of crodillians ran into us. They
must’ve seen us gathering survivors and they attacked us. The
beasts came out of nowhere and caught us completely off guard.
Luckily, some of the survivors were good in combat and helped us
kill them.”

“Were you followed back here?”

“No,” he shook his head. “We killed them all
and hid for a while before continuing on. No others came for the
convoy and we moved out by foot after that, careful to keep an eye
out for any of them stalking us.”

“Good job,” Moran put his hand on his
shoulder. “Go get cleaned up with the others. The time to rebel
will be soon. You’ve gathered more than enough survivors to help us
succeed. Any others left out there will join the fight when it
comes near to them.”

The young boy smiled and ran off to join the
rest of his group who’d lagged behind for him. Though some of the
survivors had only just arrived, it was time for him to reveal his
final plan. Time was short and they had to act quickly. Moran
turned around and walked into Xiphos.

The base was teeming with diverse life.
Every corner he turned there were races huddled together embracing
loved ones they thought they’d lost in the initial attack. It made
him happy to see so many reunited, but they would soon be at war,
so the happiness would be short lived. It pained him to tear them
apart after just coming back together, but they knew why they were
here. Each survivor understood the risks involved and were more
than willing to fight.

He walked to his personal quarters, which he
was sharing with others in order to fit in more survivors. He
maneuvered his way through the room and stopped at his desk. A
comline was on top and he put the microphone to his mouth.

“I would like to welcome all of the new
survivors to Xiphos. Unfortunately, there will be no time for rest.
The time to act will be soon and we’re preparing now as I speak. I
need you to all gather in the Mess Hall so I can go over everything
in greater detail.”

He hung up the intercom and made his way to
the Mess Hall. Races quickly pushed their ways down the halls,
trying to be the first one to arrive so they could be up front. He
still wasn't used to the whole General thing, but all the survivors
seemed to love him. He hadn't had any question his authority yet,
but he knew that could change at any moment, especially with so
many new races in the base. There was bound to be an ex-military
somewhere who’d claim to have more experience.

He squeezed his way through the crowded Mess
Hall to get to the front. Moran stood up on one of the tables once
at the front, elevating himself above the rest so they could see
his face. The room was filled up to every corner and lines of races
extended through the hallways.

“You’ve all heard the Queen's message. She’s
told us the rebellion is to start now. I’m still waiting on the go
ahead from Pyrrhus, but in the meantime, we’ll start enacting
Xiphos' rebellion plan. First, I’ll need volunteers to act as
scouts. You’ll hide throughout Hassental to update us on their
position and movements. This part of the plan can start now, so if
you’re interested, meet with me after this announcement,” he looked
around the room to see more rebels trying to squeeze their way in.
“The next part can't be put into action until I receive the go
ahead. Xiphos and every other rebellion force in Orion will strike
the crodillians at the same time. Our plan here is very simple.
We’re still greatly outnumbered, but we know this land better than
the enemy. It’s our home. Hassental lies in rubble, but we’ll use
that rubble to our advantage. We’ll fight on multiple fronts: the
city and the country,” he saw fear on the faces of the rebels, but
he knew when the time came, they'd fight bravely. “We’ll utilize
guerilla warfare tactics in the city. Attacking and retreating,
using the crumbled buildings for cover and hiding when they come
after us. In the country, we’ll face them head on with our war
vehicles. This will spread out their forces, making them choose
which front they want to commit the most soldiers to.”

“How will it be determined who goes where?”
One of the rebels at the front asked him.

“You’ll choose which front you want to fight
on,” he answered. “But we need rebels for both fronts. If everyone
chooses one, I’ll be forced to move some to the other against their
will. I don't want to force you to fight on a front that you don't
want to, but we need rebels fighting in the city and in the
country. We
have
to spread out their men. We can’t take on
that many head on.”

“Who will lead the units?” Another asked,
this time from the back. “You’re the only General we have. We have
no officers amongst us.”

“You’ll choose your officers. You know
who’ll be a better leader than me. Choose the best leader, or
leaders, for your unit. I’ll be leading the strike in the country
because it’ll be the most dangerous. I’ll get updates from the
city, but you're on your own in the decisions that you make, so
pick someone who can lead well,” Moran looked around the room for
anymore questions. “Not all have to fight. I won’t force woman,
children, and elderly to fight, but all are welcome to help. If a
woman wants to fight on one of the fronts, she can. If a young
child wants to, it's up to his or her parents. This rebellion will
help determine the outcome of our galaxy’s war. It’s not my say who
can fight and who cannot. This is your home as much as mine. If you
want to fight, then I stand by your side and wish you the best of
luck.” He looked to all the races. Each of them was staring at him
intently and it was clear none would stay behind from the look in
their eyes. “Those of you who want to be scouts, can meet with me
now. The rest of you, be ready to start the rebellion at any
moment.”

He got down from the table and stood at the
front of the room. He watched patiently as many of the races left
the Mess Hall. It took several minutes for the room to clear, but
several had stayed behind. Scouting wasn't the most glamorous job,
and he didn't expect many to volunteer, but he was satisfied with
the few he saw before him.

A familiar face walked up to him with a
smile. The young boy who’d gone out scouting for survivors now
stood at his feet. Moran put his hand on the boy's shoulder and
smiled back. The rest of the group he’d gone out with were also
stayed behind to volunteer, along with a few other younger rebels
who knew they wouldn't be much help in a fire fight.

“I’m glad you’ve all volunteered,” Moran
said. “You’re about to take on one of the most important jobs in
this rebellion, whether others believe so or not. It’s you who’ll
be assisting the units in the city by calling in enemy positions.
I'm not sure how many units there will be yet, but I don't want my
men ambushed because the cameras we’ve set up malfunction in
battle. Thanks to you, it’ll be the rebels who’ll be doing
ambushing.”

“How will we work?” The young boy asked.

“You’ll work alone. Each of you will all
spread out throughout the city. Try to get to the highest vantage
point you can so you can see everything. There are going to be a
lot of crodillians, and I want you all to see every last one of
them.”

“Who's going to help you?” He asked. “Don't
you need someone to warn you of incoming enemies?”

“I’ll be fine,” Moran assured the boy. “I’m
fighting on open land. They’ll see me because I won’t be trying to
hide. You all worry about the rebel units in the city, not those of
us in the country. Grab what you need now, you’ll be leaving by the
end of the day to find a place to stake out. Once there, get
comfortable. This is going to be a long and bloody battle.”

The group turned around and left the Mess
Hall, except for the young boy. Moran looked at him and turned his
body squarely to face his. He looked like he was ten years old with
his shaggy brown hair covering his pained hazel eyes. That wasn't
the only thing he saw though, there was determination despite the
losses of loved ones he’d seen over the past few months. He wasn't
sure if the boy was going to live, but he knew he would give it
everything he had until that time came. The boy was fighter.

“You're a brave kid. What's your name?”

“Ezio,” he answered.

“You're going to help us win this rebellion
Ezio, I know it.”

The boy smiled and Moran turned him around
so he could get ready to leave. Ezio would now be on his own and
the entire rebellion would be counting on him. What he saw and
reported would directly affect how many of the rebels survived and
just how successful they were. Men and women would be fighting on
the ground, but it was up to the kids whether they stood a chance
or not.

Kanti opened the door to the small home one
of the rebels had offered up for her, Anlon, Nimesha, and Falcone.
She’d urged the rebel that it was unnecessary, but it was a useless
effort. The rebel and her entire family had found out she was the
Princess and had refused to let Kanti decline the offer.

She saw Pyrrhus' big frame standing in the
doorway as she looked up. “Is something wrong?”

“All the other planets have been conquered
now,” he revealed with a grim face. “The Council and leaders are
meeting right now and I thought that you might want to be there.
They’ll surely go over new developments they have arisen.”

“Sure thing,” she said, turning around to
get the others from the house. “Is the plan being put into action
now?”

“Soon. The ships have arrived back at Hera
and they should be here within a day or two.”

“I have to give my speech now?”

“Yes, we need you to do it soon. We want the
message out before the crodillians depart to come here. If it
doesn’t get out quick enough, we may be fighting more of those
things than we want to.”

She walked in the living room to see the
others sitting on couches talking. This was the first time they’d
relaxed since leaving Gaea for the Deimos Brotherhood and they were
all aware it was only for a short time.

“Hey guys,” she said. “Pyrrhus wants us to
go to the Capitol building to sit in with the Council and the
planetary leaders. The remaining planets have been taken over and
the rebellion is about to start.”

Anlon and the others quickly got up from the
couch. “Let's go. I'm ready to do something besides sit around. It
doesn’t feel right with everything that’s going on,” Anlon
said.

“We've barely escaped death several times,”
Falcone moaned with a sly grin. “How could you
possibly
be
ready to leave the comfort and safety of this home?”

Pyrrhus chuckled. “The meeting is about to
start, so we need to hurry if we're going to make it on time.”

Anlon put on a pair of shoes and walked out
of the door with Kanti. A large cruiser was waiting at the edge of
the street and they both go in next to each other. Their bond had
grown much stronger since leaving Gaea and had evolved from a
friendship into something greater. Neither one of them was sure
what it was and didn't think it could be love, but they had almost
died many times together. Each time, bringing them closer. They
were almost always together now and seemed to always know what the
other was thinking, which would be crucial during the rebellion if
they were fighting alongside the rebels.