War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (20 page)

"No. If you say she can be trusted, then I
believe that she can be trusted."

"Thank you," He hugged back. "Where is the
clue that I need to get in order to find your daughter?"

"The clue is on Gaea," she answered. "You'll
be able to get to it very easily once you arrive back home. It is
buried at my old house near the tree Armino first said he wanted to
protect me when I became Queen."

"How long did you two know each other?"

"For as long as I can remember. We did almost
everything together. I guess that's why he did everything he could
to protect my life all of these years."

"I'll find the clue for you Adira. I
promise," He repositioned his feet. "How are your daughter and I
weapons though? I don't quite understand that part."

"Well, you will find the Deimos Brotherhood
for me. That is the most important thing right now. Once you find
them, we can destroy them once and for all. You're a silent weapon
that they aren't expecting which is why you'll ultimately
succeed."

"What about your daughter?"
"In the case that I die before the Deimos Brotherhood is destroyed,
she will take my spot. Hopefully if it comes to that you'll have
already found the Deimos Brotherhood so she'll be safe from any
further harm. That will undoubtedly destroy any plans with whoever
wants me dead."

"You won't die," He assured her. "I will find
them before they have the chance to try again."

"I hope you're right Anlon," She forced a
smile.

"What are you going to do with Donnchadh?" he
asked.

"Proper trial. We'll send him to Themis for a
fair judgment like all other criminals."

"Are you going to question him yourself
before you send him away?"

"Of course I will! We'll get as much
information as we can out of him before we send him away."

"How much do you think you'll get out of him?
It surely won't come easy."

"Nothing, to be completely honest with you,
but it'll be interesting to see if he breaks or not."

"May I talk to him before I go back to Gaea?"
Anlon asked. "There are some things I want to find out."

"Why do you want to talk to him?"

"Just to find out why he did what he did. I
just can't come to understand it without his explanation. They used
to be so close. I want to know what drove him to kill my
family."

"If you think he'll talk to you. Go for it,"
she said. "You can't kill him. I know how much you want to, but you
can't. That's too easy of a way out for him. He needs to suffer for
what he's done to us."

"I won't Adira," he promised. "I have more
than revenge to worry about now. I have to make sure the Deimos
Brotherhood doesn't kill you and put the individual they want on
the Throne. Who knows what they would do if they took your
spot."

"You're so much like Armino, Anlon," she
smiled. "Go talk to him now, before you leave."

Anlon turned to leave the chamber. "Oh yeah,
can we also keep my departure quiet? I don't want anyone to know
I'm back. It'll make things a little easier as far as people spying
on me when I get back."

"Sure thing," she winked.

Anlon opened the door and left the Queen's
chambers. It didn't occur to him until after he left the room that
he didn't know his way around the Palace. He followed a curved
staircase and roamed the halls aimlessly until he ran into one of
the Queen's guard.

"What are you doing here? I don't know you,"
The guard stopped him.

"I'm Anlon," He informed the guard who
immediately seemed to recognize the name. "The Queen told me I can
go to the dungeons to speak to the prisoner."

"Yes, sure thing," he said. "Right this
way."

Anlon followed the guard down the seemingly
endless marble halls, wondering how far away the dungeons were
kept. After several minutes, the guard approached a staircase and
they descended down into darkness. When they reached the bottom,
Anlon saw a dim magenta light illuminating the hallway and as they
neared the end he saw it was some type of force field. The guard
stopped in front and typed a code on keypad and the magenta field
immediately flickered off.

"What was that?" Anlon asked.

"It's a force field. Impenetrable with any
type of normal weapon. I'm not sure about all of the science behind
it, but it's pretty much like a wall," he said. "Only certain
weapons can bring it down and the inmates don't have any weapons,
so it works well at keeping them inside."

"Cool. Where is Donnchadh being kept?"

"Last cell at the end," The guard pointed.
"Be careful not to get to close."

Anlon walked down the musty dungeons to the
last cell. The only thing that seemed to have been updated in the
dungeons since Exodus Era was that magenta field. The cells were
made from steel bars and the floors and walls were made out of dull
cracked concrete with the only light in the room coming from
torches mounted next to each cell. When he reached the end of the
dungeons, he stood in front of Donnchadh's cell waiting for a
violent response, but received eerie silence.

"Hey Donnchadh, get over here," Anlon tried
to sound tough.

Donnchadh just looked up from the floor in
his dark corner and glared at Anlon silently. After several
moments, he turned around and went further back in the cell to be
masked in the darkness.

"Do you know who I am?" Anlon asked. "I'm
Armino's son, Anlon."

"I know who you are," Donnchadh finally
spoke. "If you're here to mock me, you can leave now because I
won't listen."

"I'm not here to mock you," Anlon assured
him.

"Why else would you be here, boy? You have no
other reason to speak with me."

Anlon cleared his throat. "I want to know why
you killed my father and the rest of my family," Donnchadh turned
back around. "Why did you kill my family! You betrayed everything
you were supposed to stand for and killed innocent people!"

"What would you know about what I stand for?"
He replied over his shoulder.

"I don't," Anlon said. "But I know you used
to be a part of the GSOU and that means you served next to my dad
and the Queen. Why would you betray them to work for a band of
criminals?"

"Because they betrayed me first!" Donnchadh
stood up. "They left me to die! But that wasn't enough, no, then
they try to
kill
me after I tried to make myself a new
life!"

"What are you talking about?" Anlon asked.
"They never betrayed you."

"Who leaves their brother to die and comes
back only to kill him?" Donnchadh asked rhetorically. "I don't
blame them for leaving me Anlon, in fact, I would've done the same
thing. A concussion rifle was used on me and it knocked me out,
making me look dead. Your father had every reason to leave me, but
what he did after was still wrong."

"That doesn't answer why you killed my
family."

"Do you really want to know how I got to
where I am now? How I turned and became the enemy I swore to
protect the Queen against?" Donnchadh asked. "Of course you do
because you couldn't possibly understand from anyone else."

"Then tell me what happened to make you
betray the Queen and my father. Tell me why you hate them so
much."

"After Armino and the rest of his men got
out, a man approached me," he started. "I wasn't sure who he was,
or what he wanted, but I was sure he was going to kill me. He took
me to a room that was filled with devices I knew would only be used
to torture me until I told them everything they wanted to know. I
told myself I would die before I told them anything."

"Yet you didn't and you ended up becoming one
of them," Anlon interrupted.

"Let me finish," Donnchadh spat. "I was
tortured for days, maybe weeks, I'm not entirely sure, but it felt
like a long time. I gave them nothing, not a damn thing that entire
time!"

"What happened then? Why'd you give
in?"
"The leader told me the truth," Donnchadh answered.

"The truth?" Anlon asked confused. "The truth
about what?"

"The truth about everything. The truth about
why he started the Deimos Brotherhood, who he used to be, and who
turned him into the man he became."

"What's this truth that you're talking
about?"

"A truth that only those in the Brotherhood
know, and the select few who work on the inside for him."

"You're willing to die with that secret?"

"I never promised him that I would keep it,"
Donnchadh replied. "Do you really want to know the truth?"

"Why wouldn't I want to know the truth? Tell
me Donnchadh."

"I'm not telling you," he grinned. "I want to
tell the Queen first and see the look on her face when it comes
from me. She'll tell you soon enough, don't worry, I have no doubt
about it."

"What makes you think that the Queen will
even come to see you?"

"I know the Queen. She'll come to see me
right after you leave. She won't give up the opportunity to torture
me for the choices I've made."

"Why'd you kill my family?"

"I'll tell you why, but that's all."

"Donnchadh, our attack on the Ares military
base was a success," A man informed him.

"What is the report?" Donnchadh asked, not
looking up from what he was doing.

"Thousands dead," The man replied. "We were
able to wipe out the entire base in one sweep."

"Nice work. I'm putting together another
mission right now that will be very similar. Do you think you can
lead it?"

"Yes sir!" he nodded.

"Alright. I'll call you back to my office
once I have all of the details finished."

Donnchadh waited for the man to leave his
office and immediately took out his comlink to call his boss. A
blue holographic image shimmered to life.

"What is the latest report on the Ares
mission?"

"They aren't sure on the death toll in exact
numbers yet, but the damage was a critical blow. They took out the
entire military base and thousands along with it."

"Excellent," Kirill beamed. "You are proving
to be an excellent leader for the Deimos Brotherhood."

"Only because you gave me the chance," he
replied.

"What are you planning for your next
assignment?"

Donnchadh shuffled the papers in front of him
on the table. "There is a ceremony being held on Hera in a couple
of days. The Queen won't be there, but there will be leaders and
royals from all over Orion attending."

"I don't think I need to know anymore," he
stopped him. "Keep all the details as a surprise for me."

Before Donnchadh could reply the entire
building shook, followed by pieces of the ceiling crashing down on
his desk and cutting off the comlink's connection. Another tremble
shook the walls and a loud bang erupted, almost like an explosion
going off above him. He stormed out of his office into the hallway,
only to see other races also trying to figure out what was going
on.

"What's going on?" He demanded to one of the
men running by him.

"We're not sure. It sounds like we're being
bombed, but we've lost all communication with the men posted above
us." He informed. "We have lost all contact!"

"Initiate the warbots!" He yelled at one of
the races in the control room he was closing in on.

"The whole upper level is destroyed," The
controller informed Donnchadh. "There is nothing left."

"What does that mean for the warbots?"

"They've been destroyed with the rest of the
upper level," He pulled up screens and adjusted them so that the
screen projected on the entire wall. "Those six ships have taken
out the entire upper level and have left it in rubble."

Donnchadh squinted at the images being
projected on the wall. "They have phoenixes on them."

"Queen ships," The controller nodded. "What
do we do? Our first line of defense is destroyed. We can't fight
them off from down here, we'll surely all die."

"Get the men ready for a full scale
invasion," Donnchadh replied as he walked out of the room. "Armino
has finally come back at long last for his brother."

The controller sounded the alarms and the
hallways dimmed as red lights came on and started flashing.
Donnchadh continued walking as races flew past him to stop
intruders from getting past the stairs. He knew he would best be
able to command his men from behind and he'd also be safer in the
back from enemy fire.

When he reached the group of men, he ordered
them to get ready. "They'll be coming down anytime now! The Queen
has sent them to kill us all! Show the Queen what happens when you
mess with the Deimos Brotherhood!"

The races pulled out their weapons and
readied them for intruders as a hole blasted open, revealing the
stairs to the enemy. Instead of running down though, they threw
grenades through the opening to the bottom.

"Back up!" Donnchadh shouted. "Let them waste
their grenades!"