Soros: Alien Warlord's Conquest (Scifi Alien - Human Military Romance) (15 page)

It had seemed off from the start for a man like that to challenge the Union. Someone who wanted to live so badly didn't issue challenges to the entire galaxy.

But he was right. After killing Soros, who would dare stand up to him? With the invisible bodyguard by his side, Turian was bound to be invincible.

"Now," the clan lord said, smiling. "We can call Soros. I know you're dying to see him. I might grant you your wish."

T
he change was
sudden and foreboding.

All at once, the armada that had been pinning him down backed away. Soros watched them go, frowning. He could read every battle situation well enough and knew that there was no reason for the enemy to act the way they did.

He and his allies had been forced to stand their ground and fight without a break for almost an hour now. During that time, the pressure had never lifted, although Soros could see clear reluctance on the faces of the men charging him. They knew his blades were the bringers of death. Corgan warriors didn't fear, but it didn't make them suicidal.

Facing him was facing death.

He figured they had been equal. Turian's numbers against his skill kept the battle raging in one place, as he'd intended, keeping the enemy away from the rest of the academy.

And now the enemy was falling back, almost fleeing. The relief was plain to see around him, but Soros sensed a trap. They might as well have opened up a corridor for him to pass through.

The message was clear enough.
You are needed somewhere else.

He exchanged a look with the warriors who had chosen to fight with him and saw that they understood the same. Instead of welcoming the pause in the fighting, they were as suspicious as he was.

Then the transmitter came to life.

Soros felt his heart skip a beat. He had anxiously been waiting to hear from Kat, but the timing was too convenient.

His concern was confirmed when it was Turian's rumbling tone that spoke instead of Kat's sweet voice.

"Have you had enough of a workout, Commander?" he asked.

"What have you done with her?" Soros demanded, growling. "If you hurt her –"

He knew he shouldn't be giving the clan lord any more proof of his feelings towards Kat, but he figured Turian knew already. The Grouvelle mountains and the ice had proven as much, there was no use in denying it. At least this way he could make sure Turian didn't treat his hostage carelessly.

The clan lord had a good imagination. He had to know what Soros would do to him if he hurt Kat.

"She's fine," the clan lord said, confirming his analysis. "Waiting for you."

The trap was so obvious that it was laughable, but Soros supposed Turian wasn't trying to be clever this time. He had the upper hand. Subtlety was not called for.

"Where?" he barked into the transmitter.

"Under the Hall," Turian replied. "You know where she is. Tell me, Commander, between your life, the academy and her, which will you choose?"

The transmission ended.

S
oros was moving
before any of his warriors got the chance to protest. Nothing they could possibly say would stall his steps.

Yes, he knew where Kat was, and Turian too.

Again and again, the clan lord proved he wasn't as simpleminded as everyone may have thought. Soros had never believed that, but even he was momentarily caught off guard by Turian's gall.

Turian had found a way to turn Dolon Hall against itself. Before, Soros had thanked the academy's architect for reinforcing the priests' quarters, but now he cursed him.

The problem was, the priests had to store their equipment and substances somewhere. Dolon Hall functioned as a home for its students until they trained there and therefore it supplied them with everything they might need. The great underground crypt reserved for the priests was filled to the brink with everything they might need to conduct their experiments and surgeries.

Dolon Hall was sitting on top of a non-assembled bomb, but it had never been an issue. No enemy had ever tried to take the Hall, and the priests themselves were very careful. They knew better than anyone what the stuff they worked with could do, which meant that all the dangerous vials and explosives and matter were kept at safe distances from each other.

That didn't mean the bomb couldn't be put together by someone mad enough.

Turian, for example.

Soros couldn't fathom that the clan lord would actually have the nerve to blow up the academy. Yet if Turian saw his victory in that, he wouldn't hesitate for a second. The clan lord's memories from his time there couldn't have been pleasant, and Soros didn't think Turian viewed the academy with anything other than the same hate he harbored for Soros himself.

So now the clan lord had two hostages, and Soros wasn't prepared to sacrifice either. Dolon Hall was his responsibility, and Kat… There was nothing in the world that could take Kat from him.

Turian had managed to hide himself in the shadows for too long, while other men died for him. Soros decided it was time to drag him into the light, no matter what it took.

T
he crypt was almost
empty when he arrived.

Soros hadn't taken any guards or allies with him for the journey down below. No matter what, he would face Turian alone. The clan lord was welcome to hide and avoid him, but Soros refused to stoop to that.

He saw a few warriors standing around and figured there were more hiding behind the crates and shelves and machinery that filled the dark, gargantuan room and those behind it. As he'd presumed, things had been moved.

Soros wasn't a priest, but he had been at Dolon Hall long enough to know which elements shouldn't have been in close vicinity of each other. As much as he could see, there was a messy pile of them in every corner of the crypt. All guarded by Turian's men.

Fighting them wouldn't have been an issue, but going after one left three others to trigger a detonation that would sink the Hall into Hetton's soil.

Saying nothing, Soros moved on past them.

Turian was standing by a great machine, shaking with turbulence. It was intended to grind the practice robots used by the warriors to pieces when they had been damaged beyond repair. There was blood on the floor next to it. And Kat was nowhere to be seen.

It was the hardest thing he'd ever done, forcing himself not to storm Turian right then and there.

If he hurt Kat, I will feed him to that machine inch by inch, limb by limb.

Soros only saw red before his eyes, feeling the way his entire powerful body shook with rage. He kept telling himself it couldn't have been Kat, that Turian wouldn't be so stupid as to discard one of the two shields he held. But his eyes kept returning to the blood on the floor, hearing her screams echo in his head.

"I hear you killed Hux," Turian said conversationally.

"No," Soros replied, hearing the way his deep voice turned feral and threatening, unable to stop himself from growling at the clan lord. "I wielded the blade that killed him. His death is yours."

"Don't be so dramatic, Commander," Turian laughed, turning to face him. "You can't blame me for leading my clan. It is what we do. But perhaps you've forgotten the way Corgans live. After you decided to side with Nadar, I'm not surprised."

"There is a difference between leading a clan and letting the clan take all the blows aimed at you," Soros snapped. "You really didn't learn a thing, Turian. Think what you like about Nadar, but he would have searched me out instead of hiding here, instead of letting his men die."

"Stop comparing me to him," Turian retorted furiously, his temper flaring to life. "I'm not Nadar. I never will be. I will be... better."

That was an odd thing to say. Something sounded wrong.

"You want to challenge him," Soros stated simply, frowning. "You're an even bigger idiot than I thought."

"After you, Nadar is nothing," Turian replied carelessly.

"
There is no ’after me‘, Turian
," Soros snarled, his rage finally taking hold of him. "You still think you're going to walk away from it all. Dolon Hall, me, everything you've done. There is no place for you anymore. Even your own clan will turn against you soon enough."

Turian looked him in the eye for the first time. Then he nodded slowly.

"You might be right, Commander," he said. "But you speak of a world where you win. I won't let that happen. I will kill you and no one will ever stand in my way again."

"Big words," Soros replied. “Especially on
my
world.”

"I suppose you think I won't dare to face you," the clan lord said.

"Experience shows that that is exactly the case. Even now, you hold the academy hostage because you're not man enough to fight me."

Now Turian's easy composure dropped. He might have been a cowardly, conniving bastard, but he wasn't without his pride. Soros saw his eyes flicker to somewhere on his right, appearing to look for something.

Kat
, Soros thought.
Kat is under the Palian cloak.

So that was why he couldn’t see her anywhere. The relief threatened to overwhelm him. Soros had hidden Kat away so he couldn't fight his way to her. She was probably tied and gagged, but alive. That was the only thing that mattered.

Soros wanted to dash out to where Turian was looking, but he remained in place. If Turian knew where she was, so did his bodyguards. They probably had their rifles aimed at her. He wouldn't risk getting her killed so stupidly.

"I have no desire to destroy Dolon Hall," Turian said at long last. "As you said, I would never be forgiven for that. But think of it as reassurance that you won't try to trick me somehow."

"And the girl?" Soros demanded, hating bringing her up.

He didn't want to draw any attention to her, but he needed Turian to say she was okay.

"The girl too."

Relaxing a bit, Soros went on, "How do you think I could possibly trick you? This is your twisted thinking again. In a battle, there is only a warrior and his opponent. One wins and the other loses, it's as simple as that. I have never brought anything to a fight but myself and my swords. What else do you think I have?"

Turian shook his head, smiling humorlessly.

"Nothing, Commander," he said. "That's your problem. You take chances, you rely on yourself alone. I don't. I never gamble with my life. I win my battles before they begin, don't you understand that?"

He gestured to the four corners of the crypt.

"If this room explodes, the Hall will be gone, you know that."

Soros didn't respond, but every word out of Turian's mouth made his blood boil hotter.

"And I guess you already figured out that the girl is here too. Before you make another threat, I know how important she is to you. Don't bother. This will all be over soon."

Soros' eyes flickered to where Turian had been looking before.

"I wouldn't give her position away that easily," the clan lord pointed out, smiling. "Now, Commander. I think we are finally in agreement."

"I doubt that," Soros replied, scanning the room, looking for a place that was guarded without any apparent reason.

"But we are," Turian said, and the sudden change in his voice told Soros that they had come to the end of it all. "I told you. I will win, because you can't afford to. We will duel and you will die, because otherwise Dolon Hall goes down along with her. And you wouldn't want someone else to take the hit for you, would you, Commander? Weren't those your words?"

Soros didn't reply. The situation had gone from bad to worse to impossible in a matter of seconds. He couldn't let Turian kill everyone, least of all Kat. That meant he had to die to protect them.

"There is no guarantee you wouldn't do it anyway," he said.

He will kill her regardless.

"As I said and as we both know," Turian replied almost tiredly. "There is no use in me destroying the Hall. I would rather not. But I will, if you don't obey me."

"And her?" Soros demanded, feeling like a broken record, still looking for any sign of Kat. "She is of no value to you."

"True," Turian allowed. "But I would rather not piss off the Union."

Soros stared, but the clan lord merely chuckled. Then his laughter echoed across the crypt.

"After all those years, you're still so naïve, Commander," he said. "Not everyone has ideals as firm as yours. I merely want everything I can have. And you will serve the realm up for me by dying. First Hetton, and then the rest of the planets."

There were no words in Soros' mind, only hatred. The man before him had opposed him before but without real fire. As long as Turian had an actual reason behind his actions, Soros could almost understand. At least as long there was an agenda, something worth believing in, something worth dying for then Soros could see the thinking behind it all.

Now it turned out Turian had let all those warriors die for nothing. Nothing but his own personal glory.

He couldn't leave the realm to the mercy of that sadistic fuck.

"Shall we?" Turian asked with a smile. "I'd rather that everyone saw our duel, so there would be no doubt about my victory. Keep in mind that if you make it look too easy for me, I will not hesitate to kill her."

An impossible choice hovered before him as Soros turned without a word and begun walking out of the crypts, Turian following him.

Then Kat's voice rang through the air, clear as day, "
Soros,
one of his bodyguards has the cloak..."

He turned around quickly, but there was no sight of her. The last word had been muffled like someone was holding a hand over her mouth, but Soros didn't see any movement. Which only confirmed what she had said – the man guarding her was unseen to him as well.

The machine. The blood.

They weren't the final resting place and the remains of Kat. They had been there to mask the breathing and any other clue they might have given Soros about the guard’s presence.

He had been right. Kat’s voice had come from roughly that direction. Soros thought he could have stood right on top of Kat without knowing it, unable to help.

Turian looked annoyed by that revelation, but he composed himself quickly.

"I told you," the clan lord said. "I take no chances."

With that dark truth, they left the crypt behind. For the first time in his life, Soros was not sure of what to do. All he knew was that he had to protect Kat, but neither of the possible futures bode well for her.