Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) (16 page)

Zarah gathered all the races in the center
of Thermopylae. It’d been a last minute thing and she’d others
spread the word that she'd be speaking to the public for the first
time. Prior to this, she’d spoken to much smaller crowds, though
everyone had heard of her speeches. Not everyone agreed with her,
but none spoke out against her.

She hadn't told anyone one the speech was
going to be about, hoping the mystery would encourage races to come
that would otherwise blow her off. Word of mouth spread quick, and
most races knew she’d gone off with Pyrrhus earlier. Not everyone
may like her, but they would still come to hear what she had to
say, even if it were only to hear about the General. Orion was in
trouble and she was the only leader Hermes had whether they knew it
or not.

Zarah looked out into the crowd from the
balcony and saw that it was quickly growing. It seemed like every
race in Thermopylae was gathering to hear what she had to say, and
that was great news. The more races she could get to come back to
the base with her, the more rebels they'd have to fight the
crodillians. Once the flow of races meandering into the large crowd
slowed, she began her speech.

“You all are probably wondering what I have
to talk about today,” she looked around, becoming nervous for the
first time. “I see many who’ve never listened to any of my speeches
personally, yet you still came today to hear me. I can assure you
that was a good choice, a very good choice that will save many of
your lives. As most of you have probably heard, I talked to General
Pyrrhus today.” She watched silently for a moment as the crowd
started speaking to each other. Some looked surprised and others
just grinned because they had witnessed it. “He showed me
something. Something that changes everything I've been doing here
in Thermopylae. There’s a base hidden in the forest that can hold
thousands of you. Thousands!” She held out her hands to emphasize.
“We must go there to stay hidden from the crodillians until the
time is right.”

“You want us to cower away in the forest?” A
man shouted up to her. “You’ve talked about attacking and now you
want to hide? I bet you want us to surrender our city to them
next!”

A group of races started shouting and she
held her hands up to try and quiet them down enough so she could
speak. The outburst wasn’t unexpected, but she’d hoped there would
be none. Now, she had to convince all without a doubt that her
decision was the correct one.

“We’re not hiding like cowards,” she glared
at the man who’d started the commotion. “We’re buying time so that
thousands may live. I
will not
fight the crodillians when
they arrive here. I won't have the lives of those who die on my
hands.”

“Who said
you
had to order an
attack?” The man shouted back up. “No one made you in charge of us!
You started by giving us speeches of encouragement and now you want
us to lay down our weapons and surrender!
I
will order an
attack if you don't!”

“You will do no such thing,” Zarah stared at
him with rage beginning to boil in her. “You’d be killing thousands
of innocent lives for nothing but pride. There are others out in
Orion, like us, who will be doing this exact same thing. There are
plans being put into motion, but we must be patient and wait for
the time to strike.”

“We are alone!” He shouted. “No one is
coming to save us, Zarah! We’ve been left here to die by the Queen!
I will not surrender. I will fight until one of those monsters
takes my life from me!”

“There are a few hundred warships left to
fight the crodillians,” she quieted the restless crowd with the
revelation. “The Queen didn't leave us alone, or ask us to
surrender. She made it appear that way so the crodillians would
feel comfortable. Our leader bought us time to save lives and
eventually rebel to take our homes back! How is any rebellion going
to be successful if we all act on our own? If every planet and race
must act at the same time if we are to succeed. We have to wait for
the rest of Orion to be ready, not just us.”

“We won't do it,” he crossed his arms.
“You’re being just like the Queen. You're leaving the rest of us to
die.”

“I
am
being just like her. I'm trying
to save lives!” She shouted. “We
must
make the crodillians
think that they've won. If
one
city,
one
city, rebels
when they come to conquer, they’ll expect the rest to do the same.
The rebellion that's being put together will be a waste of time
because you want to be selfish.”

She looked around to see that the crowd
wasn't sure which person to side with: Zarah or the man. She had to
admit, if she were in their shoes, it’d be a tough choice after
losing everything. It was her job now to convince all of them that
she was the right person to follow.

“It looks like there are only two choices
right now,” she looked back and forth between the crowd. “You can
side with me and survive, or side with him and rebel when the
crodillians arrive. Just remember who has promised you life and who
will be destroying any hope of a successful rebellion for the rest
of Orion. Your actions will change the fate of the entire
galaxy.”

The crowd frantically looked to each other,
trying to figure out who to side with. None had ever heard from
this man before, but he was preaching what Zarah had previously
claimed to be the only way. Now, the one who wanted to rebel,
wanted to hide like the woman she’d criticized so much.

“Before you make you decision, I must warn
you, if you come with me there’s no going back. If your family
doesn't come with you, you won't see them again unless they choose
to come later. Only I know where the base is, and only I will be
leaving the base to gather others later. If you don't join me
before it's too late, you'll never locate the base,” she looked to
the outspoken man. “But also know that you will be safe. There are
places to train and learn for war. There is food, weapons, and
vehicles. When it’s time to rebel, we’ll win, but we have to wait
for the rest of Orion. So, if you're with me, then go to the edge
of the forest and I’ll take you to your new, safe, home. If you're
with him,” she pointed. “Then stay here, but I can't promise you'll
survive.”

The races of the crowd slowly started making
their decisions. At first, the crowd lingered back to stay in the
town, but once one race walked towards the forest, others followed
in large clusters. Soon, one turned into hundreds and then into
thousands. Only a few hundred had opted to stay in the city with
the man, and they all stood around him confidently. She was happy
that much of the city had chosen to come with her, but she still
felt she needed to have one last word with this man before leaving
him.

“I can still use your help.”

The man turned up his nose. “I won’t help
you, Zarah.”

“Can't you see if you rebel now that you'll
surely die?” She pounded into him as best she could. “Your few
hundred stand no chance, but you can still help all of those who
have come with me.”

The man clenched his fists. “We could've won
if you hadn't taken all of them.”

“And we still will win, in time,” she
assured him. “But until that time, can you help me?”

“If it means saving
their
lives, then
yes,” he let out in a defeated breath.

“I need you to report to me on the
crodillians,” she said. “Tell me where they are, what they're
doing, and anything else that can help the rebellion. Anything you
can tell me will be helpful. You and your races will be crucial if
we're to lose few lives.”

“I'll do it,” he said.

“Thank you,” Zarah took his hand. “What’s
your name?”

“Dorjan,” he shook her hand firmly.

Pyrrhus' pilot landed the cargo ship at the
Hassental spaceport and was approached by armed crodillians.
Pyrrhus opened the ramp to the ship and walked out with crates in
his arms and a large smile on his face.

“What’s your business here, human?” One of
the crodillians asked, pointing his gun at his head.

“I’ve brought supplies,” Pyrrhus set it
down. “For the survivors. You may check them if you would like or
take what your own need. We’re all in this together now.”

The crodillian stepped forward and ripped
off the lid with his long claws and dug through the crate.

“What is this stuff?”

“It's food,” he said. “Everything here has
been destroyed, so I thought I could help by bringing food. Does
your race not eat this stuff?”

The crodillian glared at him and shoved the
containers over. “Whatever. Take it to the survivors. We don’t want
your food.”

Pyrrhus picked up the crates and walked over
to an abandoned cruiser. He set the crates down on it and started
it up. As he hopped on, a light flashed in his eyes, catching his
attention. It was coming from a nearby building, and looked as
though it was pointing directly at him intentionally. It was a very
small beam, but he was sure it was some sort of message. He lifted
the cruiser up and headed straight for the building.

As he made his was towards the building, he
couldn't help but think about how much life had been lost here.
Buildings had crumbled to the ground and bodies scattered the
streets, staining them with red where they were left to rot. The
smell was horrid, but the sight was even worse than the putrid
smell burning his nostrils. This had once been a thriving,
prosperous District, and now it was lifeless. Nothing like it’d
been only a few days ago. He stopped the cruiser at the building
the light had been emitted from and stepped out of his cruiser with
caution. Pyrrhus walked to the broken front door of the building
and halted when he felt something pressed to the back of his
head.

“I heard that you might be coming here,”
someone said from behind him. “I didn't actually think you'd be so
obvious by coming through the spaceport. Someone of your status
should’ve been a little less obvious.”

“And who are you?” Pyrrhus asked.

He felt the weapon lower from his head so
that he could turn around. He still wasn't sure who he was looking
at when he turned around, but he didn't look like a man to mess
with. A man of tall stature and branded skin stared at him with
piercing green eyes.

“I'm Moran Borislav,” he answered. “No need
to introduce yourself. I know who you are.”

“I figured as much,” he replied. “Why did
you want me to come here?”

“It's as close as I wanted to get to the
spaceport,” he said. “Once I heard reports that a ship had entered
Gaea, I knew it was you. No one else has come since the attacks and
I don't expect anyone else after you leave. We’re in this
alone.”

“How’d you know that I was even coming?”

“I used to work for the GSOU,” Moran
answered. “I have contacts everywhere who give me information. They
said you needed someone to run some sort of rebel base here, I
thought that I may be able to help, so I waited for you to
come.”

“How many are left alive here?”

“A few thousand I suspect,” Moran shrugged.
“Maybe more, but I'm not sure yet.”

“Are they all gathered in one place?”

“You could say that,” Moran smiled. “I've
been gathering up any survivors as I can find. When I find them, I
bring them to my place.”

“Do you know if Xiphos was destroyed when
the crodillians attacked?”

“The military base?”

“Yes. It's on the outskirts of the District.
It's not very well hidden, but it’s far enough away that I think
the crodillians will ignore it.”

“It could be, but I won't know for sure
until we go back to my place and look it up on some updated
holomaps,” Moran walked to the cruiser and got in. “I'll take you
there now.”

Pyrrhus got in and Moran lifted the cruiser
off the ground. He sped over the wreckage of buildings and bodies
that were piled up on the streets. No crodillians stopped them on
the way, but Pyrrhus could see most of their ships were gathered at
the Capitol building. Moran continued on without a glance anywhere
but straight ahead and stopped at a building that looked like it
had once stood hundreds of stories tall. All that was left now was
a couple of stories with the rest of the building scattered around
the street in chunks.

“You're staying here?” Pyrrhus asked.

“Yeah,” Moran got out. “Safest place on Gaea
right now, if Xiphos isn't left standing that is. This place
survived the initial attacks and can survive another hundred more
if it needs to.”

“It looks like it didn't hold up to
well.”

“Not what was above ground,” Moran shrugged.
“But below ground is as good as new.”

“Ahh,” Pyrrhus grinned. “I guess I should've
known you'd be prepared for anything.”

“More like I got lucky I had a place
underground,” he chuckled. “I never really planned for anything
like this.”