Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) (26 page)

“He was more than just a robot. Camillus was
just like you and me. He could think, feel, and knew how to be a
friend,” Kanti’s head hung. “He transformed his image to be me. The
crodillians took the bait and let us go.”

“Nice,” Pyrrhus opened the doors. “So, you
don't know for sure if Anlon is okay?”

“We don’t know what happened to him,” Kanti
shook her head. “I feel horrible. Nimesha forced us to move
forward. I didn't want to leave without him, but I knew it was the
right choice.”

“Nimesha is smart. From what the Council
tells me, the kid is smart too. I have no doubt he’s alive,” he led
them down the stone halls. “Did the Elders reveal anything to
you?”

“They did and you’re going to want everyone
to hear this!” Kanti replied. “The crodillians haven't even showed
their true strengths yet.”

“How could they be any stronger?” He asked.
“They’ve wiped out almost all of our ships and have lost only a few
hundred of their own.”

“They have telekinetic powers, Pyrrhus.
They've just been toying with us,” Nimesha said. “If they really
wanted to, they could wipe out this entire galaxy within a
month.”

Pyrrhus stopped in front of a door. “What
else did they tell you?”

“That the monsters were barely defeated last
time. The Elders seemed to think it was luck more than anything.
Honestly, I don't think they believe we stand any chance,” Falcone
said.

“I believe we do stand a chance.” Kanti
said. “They defeated them using guerrilla warfare tactics last
time. The Elders said big clusters enable them to use their
telekinetic powers. If we don't gather in one place, they can't use
it against us.”

“The Elders also said they didn't have
stealth fields when they first fought the crodillians. That’s
something we can use to our advantage,” Nimesha said.

“They're impatient and overconfident. We'll
lure them into traps,” Pyrrhus thought aloud. “They may not be as
invincible as they first seemed.”

“So you think we stand a good chance?” Kanti
asked.

“I think we stand a decent chance,” Pyrrhus
nodded. “I don't know about those powers, but hopefully we never
get the chance to see them. I have some other things being set up
that’ll help us out tremendously when the time to strike
comes.”

“You're gathering rebels,” Nimesha said.

“Oh, more than that,” he grinned. “There are
rebellion forces being set up on every planet. I set two big ones
up with thousands of rebels on Hermes and Gaea. I believe we can
use them as distractions as we take down their fleets.”

“You mean sacrifice them?” Kanti asked
surprised. “We can't do that.”

“You misunderstand what I mean. They'll be
rebellions. Big rebellions. Every one of the bases these rebels are
gathered at, are well equipped with weapons. They won’t be
martyrs,” he clarified. “From my reports, the crodillians only have
four fleets. Two always overtake a planet while two stay at Hera. I
believe if I order all of the bases to rebel when the two
crodillian fleets arrive here, they’ll only leave one to conquer us
and send the other fleets to stop other various rebellions,”
Pyrrhus paused. “Just thinking out loud, but once I tell the other
military leaders what you just told me, we'll put an unbeatable
battle plan together.”

“Where are they?” Kanti asked. “The
leaders?”

“Right in here,” Pyrrhus opened the door and
walked in. “Let's tell them what the Elders told you.”

Pyrrhus led them to a stage at the front of
the packed room. Tables and monitors were spread throughout the
room and leaders huddled tightly around them. In the upper part of
the room, holoscreens were pulled up, displaying the crodillians
current movements on every planet. Every one of these races seemed
determined to beat the crodillians and Kanti knew the information
they’d just gotten would only increase their chances for
success.

Pyrrhus held up his hands and the room
became quiet. “Someone very important has just arrived on Ares with
crucial information in our fight against the crodillians. The
Princess is here with me right no,” he motioned to her.

Chatter erupted around the room, as some
leaders found out for the first time the Queen had a daughter. Some
had already heard the whispers among higher ups and others knew as
much about it as the rest of Orion. Even so, every one of them was
surprised and didn’t know how to act to her presence amongst
them.

“She and her companions have traveled to
Ovrea to speak with the Elders,” he continued. “They’ve fought the
crodillians before and provided us with a piece of information that
none
of us knew about. They possess telekinetic powers,” he
paused while the chatter got even louder. “We can't attack them in
large groups. We must utilize other tactics. The Elders said last
time they were defeated, the Orion fleets and armies used a type of
guerilla warfare.
This
is how we will defeat the enemy.”

“Our ships are so few!” One of the leaders
said. “How are a mere three hundred or so ships supposed to stand
up to
thousands
using guerrilla warfare?”

“We’ll utilize the rebellion forces being
set up,” he answered. “I believe if we strike on multiple fronts at
a time that they’ll be vulnerable. Right now, I need all of you in
charge of watching the crodillians to closely watch how they take
over planets. We're going to make them think this one is the same
as any other planet when they arrive,” he ordered. “Those of you in
charge of making battle plans with me, utilize guerilla warfare
tactics or things similar. If we are to take back Orion, we must
first win the battle of Ares.”

Kanti stepped forward. “I know this is the
first time I’ve spoken to any of you, but I need you to know that
this
is
possible. We
will
beat the crodillians.
They’ve destroyed both places that I’ve called home, as I'm sure
they’ve destroyed yours. We’ll strike them back,” she looked around
the room, with a gleaming face. “The crodillians think they've
beaten us, but they haven't; we’re still here with more fight than
ever. We now know more about them, than they do about us. We know
about their secret weapon, but they don't know about our secret
rebel forces, fleet, or new technology. They think they’ve won, but
they’re wrong! I can see by looking at each and every one of you
that you'll fight until your last breath. They may have destroyed
our homes, but not our hope.”

The room washed over in deafening applause.
She’d never spoken to a large group before, especially not on with
races as important as these. She didn't know why or how, but it’d
just come naturally to her. Something inside told her to encourage
the leaders and her body had reacted without a second thought.

Pyrrhus led her off of the stage and nudged
her in the side. “I think I just got an idea after that inspiring
speech of yours. How do you feel like inspiring thousands of rebels
throughout Orion?”

Donnchadh stuck close to Leilah as she
lagged behind her father and four other members of the nomadic
tribe. He’d learned that her father's name was Reamonn and he’d
left to travel on his own after his father's death. The man hadn't
been very old at the time, but managed to survive on his own and
quickly gained followers, though not many lasted long.

Leilah revealed her mother had died when she
was young and it’d been extremely tough on her father. He’d gone
into a rage, not caring whether he lived or died for months, which
was apparent by his scar-ridden body. He was missing his left eye
and the right eye had blue fog over it from being cut. Stitches
went from his jaw up to right below his ear and he was missing a
whole chunk from his head.

Leilah hadn't told him she hadn’t reacted
the same was as her father because she understood life on the move,
even at a young age. Every day her mother warned her of the perils
that waited on the land, and that had prepared her for the loss.
Yes, it’d been hard, but Leilah assured Donnchadh that her outlook
on life didn’t change much. In fact, if anything, it became
clearer. She said after her mother’s death she understood things
better, but hadn’t told anyone but him. It was a secret she’d kept
for countless years, afraid of what her father would say if she
told him.

So far today, they hadn't run into any
strange creatures. Traveling with the tribe made him feel safer,
and knew if he did run across anything the tribe would take care of
it. Another thing that hadn’t seemed to be a problem were storms
hitting them. Each time it’d appeared as if they’d be stuck in one,
it blew over as the tribe members had told him. Leilah insisted it
was because they’d learned how to live in the wasteland, but he
didn't quite buy it. If they’d missed one, he could've accepted it,
but not several of them. No one was that lucky.

So far, today was the longest day of travel
since joining the tribe. It felt like hours dragging by, but he
knew from the position of the sun, it had been around three hours.
The walk was exhausting, they were in the mountainous part of
Erebos and had to watch for lava streaming from cracks. His legs
were on fire and the fatigue was wearing him down quickly. He
wanted to tell the others to slow down, but he didn't want to
appear weak, so he pushed his body forward.

Why they were going through the mountains
was beyond him, but it was what Reamonn had ordered the others to
do and they followed without question. In this part of Erebos,
predators and storms weren't the only thing they were fighting
against; they had to fight against the terrain and the lack of
food.

“I don't know how you guys do this,”
Donnchadh panted. “It's dangerous and tiring. How do you live like
this?”

“This is how I grew up,” Leilah answered. “I
haven't known anything else my entire life.”

“Haven't you ever thought about going to one
of the cities? Life would be much easier.”

“We have been to some of the cities. Are you
wondering if I want to leave this life to live in one of them?”

“Yeah. It's much better than fighting for
your life every day. Fighting these creatures, trekking the
terrain, and braving who knows what else.”

“This is where I belong,” she climbed up a
large rock. “I’d find it hard to live like you, like you find it
hard to live like me. I’ve become used to this life. Surviving is
what I'm good and I wouldn't feel right giving it up.”

“I don't think so. Living the way I do is
simple. You don't have to fight to survive every breathing moment,
and trust me, no matter how much you like fighting to survive, it's
a relief to be able to relax every now and then.”

“It doesn't sound that simple with the
crodillians out there,” she jumped from a rock. “Orion will be
fighting for their lives more than us.”

“True,” he followed her down the rock not
quite as elegantly, stumbling at the bottom. “But you've been
facing death your
entire
life. The crodillians will be
defeated in time. Once that happens, the races will be able to live
normally again. They won’t have to worry about if the coming day is
their last.”

“It's not quite that hard for us to live out
here as others.”

“Of course it is!” He replied. “Predicting
when storms are going to hit and being prepared or predators.
There’s no way I could survive as long as you, even with years of
training. Training only goes so far and luck isn’t something
everyone has on their side.”

“And you are correct,” she nodded and came
to a stop. “You wouldn't be able to do any of what we do because
you're not like us.”

“Oh, come on. You aren't going to give me at
least a
little
bit of credit. I did kill that serpent
thing.”

“We have help. But don’t mistake that for
luck. Luck has nothing to do with the way we survive. You survived
that serpent by
luck
.”

“Help?” He asked. “What do you mean you have
help?”

She looked to her father ahead of her and
lowered her voice some. “We have special abilities. They help us be
prepared for things and defend ourselves against threats.”

“I don't understand, Leilah. What special
abilities do you have? Instincts?”

“More than that. We can see things before
they happen, if that makes sense to you.”

“You can see the future?”

“Not like you're thinking. No,” she shook
her head. “We can see and feel danger before it happens. Visions
come to us. It's the only reason we survive out here. Without it,
we'd be like you, and we would die within days.”

Donnchadh stared at her. “Are you serious?
I've never heard of anything like this! It's incredible,
Leilah.”

“And it's why we live out here on our own,”
she continued forward. “We can't live with others. They’d abuse our
powers as the tribes have. If the tribes want to use our powers,
imagine what would happen if the rest of Orion found out about
us.”

“That's the thing!” Donnchadh smiled widely.
“Orion
needs
your help right now!”

“We can't help. Once we reveal ourselves,
then what?” She asked. “The war with the crodillians will end, but
what's to say there won't be another between the races of
Orion?”

“There won't be. There hasn't been a war in
hundreds of years, and even that doesn't count because it was also
against the crodillians.”

“Maybe this is the reason we were led to
you,” she mumbled. “All of us had the same vision of you in
trouble,” she looked at him with worry in her eyes. “And not with
just the chlidorians’ hive, but with what must be the crodillians
and some human man. We didn't know what it meant, but we knew where
we could find you.”

“Then you're meant to help me!” He insisted,
grabbing her arm. “Your visions guide you from danger and you're in
danger of the crodillians, whether you want to believe it or
not.”