War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (46 page)

"Who's side are you on?" Kirill fumed. "I
will never assist the Queen, including if it makes an enemy of a
possibly ally."

"They will never be an ally! They want to
take over Orion. They won't share a Throne with you."

"And I'm willing to help them if I know
Jahdiel won't kill me," Kirill shot back. "The Throne will come in
time."

The figure shook it's head. "They will only
use
you as they are using the prisoners they released from
Themis' moons."

"Then let them use me!" he slammed his fists.
"I will use them too! I will find out all of their weaknesses and I
will strike when the time is right. If you don't want to side with
me, then don't, but I plan on striking an alliance with the
Crodillians."

"I will keep you updated then. I hope that
you're right about this, Kirill."

"Hera is coming into view," Jahdiel nudged
Merikh.

"There has to be over ten thousand ships
waiting for us," Merikh guessed. "Fighters are all out of their
mother ships ready for battle."

"We will show them that our past battles were
just the beginning of our capabilities."

"If they fight like the last two fleets, this
will be a quick massacre. Send out the fighters!" he ordered his
crew.

The fighters left the four Colchians and
headed towards the Queen's fleet, prompting the Queen's fighters to
attack. They attempted to swarm his ships like he had ordered his
own to do on Demeter, but it was a failure as his ships were to
quick.

Fighters from both sides swarmed space, and
though it looked like chaos, the Crodillians pilots knew exactly
what they were doing from countless years of practice. Everything
was orchestrated perfectly and the Queen's numbers quickly started
to diminish. In time, the Queen's fighters began retreating back to
their mother ships and the Crodillians returned back to their
Colchian.

"How many enemy fighters are left?" Merikh
asked.

A crew member looked up. "Less than half of
the fighters that were originally sent out. Most of those are
severely damaged and unable to return to battle"

Merikh stroked his chin. "What should our
next move be Jahdiel? You have planned out this whole thing, you
should decide."

"Release the bombers and clear out the
remaining fighters."

"Release the bombers!" Merikh shouted to the
crew. "Have them attack the remaining fighters, but leave the
command ships alone!"
"Leave the others alone?" Jahdiel asked. "The bombers could easily
take them out."

"We have four Colchians with nucannons, it
will be more than enough to destroy all of their command ships. We
will show them the full extent of our weapons and strike fear in
any survivors hiding in Orion who may want to put up resistance
after we have taken over Hera."
The bombers attacked the damaged fighters, wiping them out in mere
minutes, before returning back to dock. All of the pilot's knew
what was going to come next and didn't want to be anywhere near the
nucannons when they struck their targets.

"Fire up the nucannons!" Merikh ordered.

The crew got to work and an officer looked up
to him. "All Colchians are ready to fire on your command!"

Merikh stared at the Queen's fleet as they
approached him slowly, firing their weapons uselessly at his fleet.
They obviously thought they still stood a chance. He'd just have to
show them how much hope was left. "Fire!"

The bright orange lights of the nucannons
struck the remaining Queen ships, taking out almost all of the
ships. Chunks of metal flew through space, colliding with the ships
on the outskirts of the blast radius and taking a few of them
out.

"Send bombers to take out the remaining
ships," he looked to Jahdiel. "Our nucannons aren't as strong as I
thought."

"We still wiped out a fleet of over ten
thousand while only losing a few of our own. The nucannons have
never gone against anything this massive," she said. "Seems like a
massacre to me. Orion will still fear us, all without revealing
your secret weapon."

Merikh and Jahdiel watched as the last of the
Queen's command ships were destroyed by the bombers. Hera's space
was littered with giant chunks of charred metal and torn bodies.
The area was now a graveyard, with very few Crodillians laying rest
in it. Merikh ordered his captains to land all of the ships on
Hera, taking out any enemy opposition on the way if confronted.

"The Crodillians have taken over Demeter and
have burned everything, taking all survivors as slaves," Anlon told
his group of companions.

"My family," Nimesha tried to hold back
tears.

Falcone looked over to her and put a
comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll get them back for this. No
one can do this and get away with it."

"They have also taken over Themis," Anlon
continued. "All the prisoners have been released and will most
likely be helping the Crodillians in the war."

"Is my Mom safe?" Kanti asked.

"For now," Anlon nodded. "But she believes
Hera is next and she doesn't think they'll be able to stop the
Crodillians from taking it."

"They have to have more than enough firepower
to hold them back!" Falcone insisted. "She has thousands of ships
at her disposal."

Camillus shook his head. "I told you earlier,
Orion isn't ready to face the Crodillians. They are just too strong
and powerful, no matter how many ships we have at hand. Experience
and knowledge is a far better advantage than numbers."

"What are we going to do?" Kanti asked. "We
aren't going to stay hidden here."

Anlon sighed. "We have to keep you safe
Kanti. Orion needs to have a heir to the Throne if anything happens
to the Queen."

"What are
we
going to do then?"
Nimesha pointed to Falcone and Camillus. "We won't just stay here
and hide while Orion is being conquered by an alien race. We have
no reason to hide here."

Falcone nodded. "I'm on her side this time. I
refuse to stay here and wait while Orion is being ravaged."

"There is
no
way I'm staying here in
seclusion if you're all going to do something!" Kanti
protested.

"I don't think there is much we
can
do," Anlon said. "If the Queen's fleets can't stop the Crodillians,
there won't be much that we can do to stop them."

"The Queen's Council is here," Camillus
informed them. "They arrived less than an hour ago, maybe they will
be able to help us with a decision."

"You can keep track of people too?" Falcone
asked.

"It's public records and I can access them
wirelessly," he replied. "From the log I'm reading, Adira sent them
here herself."

"Let's talk to them," Anlon said. "It's
better than just sitting here, and they may have information about
what has happened to Hera since the Queen called me."

"Why were you on Keres?" Jahdiel asked
Donnchadh, who she had specifically picked out after reviewing his
background.

"I was working for the Deimos Brotherhood. I
tried to kill the Queen and I was caught. Keres was my punishment
for that, along with many other things."

She chuckled. "And she didn't kill you
herself when she caught you in her Palace?"

"No. She wanted me to face proper judgment
for all of my crimes."

"Didn't you work for the Galactic Special
Operations Unit when I was outcast?" she asked, already knowing the
answer.
"Yes. I worked for the GSOU for quite some time."

"And you left the GSOU for the Deimos
Brotherhood? What caused you to all of a sudden switch sides?"

He shrugged. "I was left to die. It was
either join them or be killed. I obviously chose life over death or
we wouldn't be talking right now."

"A good excuse. I was faced with something
similar," she nodded. "If I let you go, are you going to try to
kill Adira again?"

"No. I no longer want to kill her."

"Interesting. Well, if you kill her after I
let you go,
I
will kill you myself for lying to me."

"I understand," he nodded.

"Good," She flashed a genuine smile. "How do
you feel about leading units of races against rebel forces?"

"I could do it, if that's what you want me to
do. I'll be honest with you though, I don't think I'm fit to
lead."

"Sure you are. That's why I want you to do
it," she observed him. "I believe your time in GSOU and Deimos
Brotherhood more than qualifies you to lead. Air attacks no longer
need to be utilized since we have destroyed all of the Queen's
ships. Now, we need to lead units of Crodillians and other races on
the ground to finish taking over Orion, extinguishing any
resistance that there may be. The Crodillians do not know Orion as
well as you and I and I think you can lead them to victory over the
rebel forces that will surely arise."

"I will lead them to victory as you
request."

"Excellent," She patted him on the back.
"Together, we will take over Orion."

"We can't just hide here on Nesoi!" Anlon
protested to the reluctant Council .

"You do realize that Hera has just been taken
over by the Crodillians?" Bertrade asked Anlon and his
companions.

"Adira thought that there was a good chance
that it would happen. Why do you think she sent you all here?"
Anlon asked. "Are we really going to just hide while Orion is
destroyed and taken over?"
"I like your heart, boy," Reginold spoke. "But what else are we
supposed to do? The Queen's entire fleet was destroyed at Hera. We
have no chance of defeating the Crodillians now that we have no
fleets."

"We can't hide! We are not cowards, we will
not let the Crodillians come to our home and overtake it without a
fight," Kanti spoke up, attracting the attention of the entire
Council. "It is our job as leaders to protect those we serve."