The Deian War: Conquest (32 page)

   “My Lords?” Volanquis asked. He wasn’t fazed by
the presence of three Apostles in the same room, but he could tell the same couldn’t be said for all of his peers.

   “Speak, Commander” Oz replied.

   Volanquis stepped forward, his helmet under one arm. He saluted to the Apostles as a group before continuing. “If these Promethian ships are heading here with the Phantom fleet, what preparations can we make? It would have been a tough battle before these increased odds and I fear the balance is now more than tipped against us”.

   Novus was the first to answer. “What are your questions digging towards Commander? Do you think we should now abandon this world
just because the battle looks tough?” She knew she was taking her unstable emotions out on him, but it didn’t make her go any easier on what she thought he was suggesting.

   Volanquis remained stoic under her stern reply. “My Grace, I know not what we should do. I see two paths before us; we can stay here and defend this world and pray that we have the strategy to fight a fleet we have no experience against, or we can take as much of the resources available to us here now and support another world.”

   “It won’t be that simple” Solitaire said joylessly, a stark change of tone accompanying the strange smile which she now wore. “Such a thing would take a week. We have…maybe…36 hours?”

   Oz had been taking in the opinions of all three and
realised he was siding with his Commander. Though Solitaire seemed cold to his Commander as well, he directed his speech to Novus. “Volanquis gives a strong argument. If the purpose of the Promethian ships was to overwhelm the Phantoms, they will be a match for us. We don’t have the numbers to meet that threat just yet”.

   Novus
began to pace slowly around the table. She didn’t meet anyone’s eyes and no-one wanted to be the first to interrupt her thoughts. It was her turn to speak and they respected that. “Akurei…” she finally said.

   “My Grace?”

   “With our current forces, how many resources can we acquire before the enemy’s reinforcements arrive?”

   Akurei was quick to answer, ever conscious of the purpose for their occupation of
Kraxus; to forge weapons and ammunition to fuel the legions’ war efforts until the war’s end. “With what we have in storage aboard our fleet already, we can take enough in the time we have to last us another two years.”

   “Does that take into account every legion, including those serving with the other Apostles?” Oz thought to
clarify.

   “Yes, my Lord, it does. Of course, if further missing legions have been rediscovered
that we don’t yet know about, that duration would be mitigated…” Akurei explained.

   Novus looked at Volanquis, but she wasn’t as harsh as before when she said “You’re right about two paths Commander, though I can’t share your optimism about the more obvious of choices. Both
it seems now will allow our downfall, though one is more gradual than the other. It would take a lot for us to overthrow the Great Enemy in two years”.

   “No-one can guess
the future” Solitaire told her with a degree of seriousness on her face that belied the innocence of her voice.

   Novus sighed. They had fought so long to maintain control over Kraxus that it seemed a terrible sacrifice to give it away at the first sign of defeat. She believed in fighting to the end, not in giving the enemy the few key resources that they had
, even if it did mean saving the lives of her legions. “Need I confirm what you think, Oz?” she asked.

   He walked over to her, almost to share a private conversation and
answered “We have to leave, Novus. It’s the planet or ourselves; we can’t save both.”

   She frowned, hating to admit that the right choice was to retreat. “We should at least consult the Lion, no matter how hard it could be to contact him” she protested.

   It was then that Akurei spoke without prompt. “My Grace, that problem is already solved” she said, gesturing to Florian. The Recon Master seemed to be busy communicating with a miniature hologram of another legionnaire that hovered from his wrist-guard. “The First has already made contact with
us
”.

NOVUS TOOK THE Lion’s call in the same room that she had sought the comfort of her own thoughts many times before. He appeared as a lone hologram, projected into the centre of the room from a plate-like device centred on the floor. The darkness was partly illuminated by the blue light of his semblance, but the symbolism didn’t escape her attention even if it wasn’t intended by him.

   The Lion had told her he wanted to talk to each of them alone. Novus was to have the first communication and she felt an ounce of
honour at the fact. Part of her tried to persuade her heart that, against all appearances, he remembered their friendship after all. The rest of her denied that tempting version of reality, however.

   “Hello, Lupus” she smiled. Her hands were clasped in expectation behind her back. She was in her human form and the only light in the room came from his hologram
, which served to remind her once more of how long she had been waiting to talk to him again in private.

   He smiled back. “Novus! It is good to see you again, even if only like this…How have you fared?”

   Novus couldn’t help but feel heartened by his question. There was a war waging across the galaxy and the first thing the Lion asked her was how she was doing. “Oh, the same as always…but I’m alive” she laughed. It was a phrase she had gotten used to telling him when they talked like this.

   Lupus mimicked her light-heartedness
, but it was shorter and seemed wearier. There was a subtle, yet noticeable change in his mood when she gave her answer. “You’ve always talked about life and death like they’re separate things, Novus. Death is so close to life that it isn’t enough to just be alive. You’re Phoenix, you don’t simply live…you
shine
.”

   Novus lowered her eyes to the floor in embarrassment. How did he always have the words to
pass through her walls? “Do you truly believe that? About death, I mean” she asked.

   “I mean everything I say” he replied
seriously, but reassuringly. His eyes were honest, yet she would have believed him even if they weren’t.

   She suddenly found herself desperate to know the answer to a question that faced every living human. For some reason, she thought he would have it. “
Lupus, do you think…that life goes on, that it continues after the last sleep?”

   “Well, I like to think there’s never an end to anything. Everything is a form of energy and energy transforms, it doesn’t die” he
said.

   “What do
we
become?” she asked. “I think it would be an injustice if you didn’t change and persevere”.

   “I don’t know
what we are after all this. I’d like to think I know what I’ll become”. She waited for him to explain and after a moment he realised he should. “I don’t think lions simply die and fade. No…rather, I think they regroup wherever they go to…and then they return as wolves, as a pack. At least, that’s the fate I would like if I could choose one”.

   The idea warmed Novus more than her own fiery form ever could. As strange as it seemed, she liked the concept. “I think that would suit you” she said. “Given your attachment to Calla, it would only be fitting…any other change wouldn’t be you”.

   Lupus dipped his head in appreciation of her sincerity. “I am genuinely honoured to hear you say that, old friend” he replied. When he called her that, she felt a sense of closeness to him shiver through her. He might not have ever openly told her he knew about their past, but now she knew at last that on some level he knew there was a connection. She had only ever heard him refer to Sabre, his legion’s Commander, as an old friend. Others might not have noticed the fact or thought much of it, but to Novus it was significant even she was just imagining things.

   “Lupus, as great as it is to see and hear from you again, I
know you more than you realise. You did not call just for a catch-up” Novus said, a friendly curve to her lips to make him believe she was grateful nonetheless for his care. “Tell me, what do you need?”

   “Honestly, to see
that those I care about are well does wonders for my mind, Novus. The war has taken us all so far away from each other; it’s hard to keep track of us all now. I won’t let that get in the way of the truth that we are one family, however. By answering my call you have done all I need from you” he told her.

   There was silence in the room for a long moment. She trusted him, but she could tell that even if it wasn’t from her, there was something he did
need from one of the others. “Then it’s Oz, isn’t it?” she figured.

   Lupus sighed, reluctant to let that matter dissolve the nature of their own discussion. “Yes, it is, but that can wait…” he insisted.

   “Lupus, no matter how we fight it or how hard we try to keep ourselves together, this is a war and things must be done. If you need something from him urgently, why didn’t you say?”

   He raised an eyebrow in surprise
of her aggravated voice. “Who said it was even urgent?”

   “Oh, come on. You can fool the others, maybe even Calla, but you can’t fool
me
. You always put others first before your own desires, even if those are far more important and bigger than you” Novus breathed, biting back her frustration at his inability to realise his flaws.

   He said nothing, but just let his hologram exist in
its admonished state. “Look, I’m sorry but you have to accept it…” she began, regretful of her tone. “Nothing’s simple anymore. You have to be selfish in times like this, especially with what we’re up against. If you don’t force the conversations that need to be had, in the order of priority they deserve, who else will? I know you want to make sure we’re all alright first, but when it comes to our own hearts and minds, they can wait…The Empire and the war comes first now, they always have” she finished.

   “Novus, I-
” Lupus started to say, but without warning his hologram completely cut out mid-sentence. A second later, a different form appeared. It was of another Apostle, but one that Novus did not expect to see again unless it was in person.

   “Valkyrie?” she
said, but her sister didn’t seem to notice Novus had spoken to her. Instead, the only reply was a recorded message, one that was powerful enough to be sent across whole sectors and override any communications that were already in play.

  
Hear me, brothers and sisters! Apollia is in peril. I know not which form that takes, or when, but it will burn but for our intervention. We must abandon our campaigns and regroup at Hydron; if we fail, if we delay…we will lose everything dear to the legions. I have seen Apollia’s death. I know that fate awaits it if we do not act now. Meet me at Hydron and spare no legions behind.

   The message
ended abruptly and the light from the hologram device vanished. Novus was once again in complete darkness without even the light of her Apostolic body to combat it. She tried to activate the communications plate to link back to the Lion, but it refused to grant her a channel.

   When she stood back up, a dread came over her that she didn’t know how to prevent. Now, more than ever, she wanted to be with the rest of the Chosen.
Yet fate, it would seem, had every intention of making that happen.

A
LOUD VOICE drowned the Great Auditorium in its authority and presence. “Please be seated!”

   Jun turned from his conversation with Alex to see a figure standing on the stage at the centre of the room. It was the Lord Governor’s apprentice, Advisor Krayle. The man had been a Senior Senator, much like Alex, but had ascended through the ranks to be one of the Lord Governor’s closest associates and confidantes
of the Inner Circle. The Advisors only appeared in public to the rest of the Senate on very rare occasions, usually during a time of great change like an election or a change in state of affairs. Jun suspected the present was very much a case of the latter.

   Following the crowd, Jun took his
place. Given his position as a Junior, he had to sit at the rear of the room whilst the Seniors would sit closer to the stage. It was symbolic of the Senate’s hierarchy, with the Seniors more readily able to challenge or confer with the Lord Governor than the Juniors were. It was all about experience and the right to a voice, though Jun wondered where the democracy was in all of that.

   Once he sat down, there was a short applause as the Lord Governor
himself took to his podium. He immediately caught the attention of Jun, but for many different reasons than the other Senators, it appeared. The Governor’s eyes bore heavy bags, his brow was in a constant furrow and his frame seemed frail yet he had a confidence in his posture that revealed a dearth of inner strength. He looked like a man that was weary of fighting a battle that only he knew about.

   The Governor
adjusted the microphone and began to speak. “Senators, I greet you all and welcome you to this session” he announced, holding the stand firmly. “We have many matters to discuss this day, least of all the movement of our fleets once more to the Frontier!”