War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (47 page)

"You," Alura pointed. "Are not going
anywhere
. You are the Queen's daughter, and the next heir to
the Throne,
if
we find a way to take Orion back."

"At least I have the courage to stand up and
fight against these monsters instead of watch them ravage my
home!"

"We have no options left," Bertrade replied.
"We have exhausted all of our resources trying to prevent what is
happening right now."

"What if I knew someone we could talk to that
has faced the Crodillians before?" Camillus suggested. "Would you
allow us to leave to speak to them?"

Aldrick looked interested for the first time.
"The Crodillians were outcast centuries ago, there is no one left
alive who has seen them before."

"You are all forgetting about the Ovreans.
The Elders."

"The Elders?" Saidi almost laughed. "The rock
men who hide from us? The ones who want nothing to do with Orion?
Are those the Elders that you're talking about?"

"He's right," Falcone backed him up, in hopes
of getting off of Nesoi. "The Elders have seen them before. They
live for centuries. You couldn't possibly hold us back from
traveling to Ovrea to speak with them and live with yourselves
knowing that there could be a way to defeat the Crodillians."

"Even if you
could
find them and talk
to them, why would the Elders help us?" Aida asked. "They haven't
spoken to us in one hundred years."

"They'll want to save Orion!" Nimesha
shouted, raising her hands. "They live in Orion too. We're not the
only ones who are at risk of being killed. If the Crodillians take
over Orion, they're included."

"They may have important information
pertaining to the last time the Crodillians were defeated. I can
find nothing in my archives that is of much help, but they keep the
histories in their Temple. If there is any chance of taking back
Orion, it lies with them," Camillus kept pushing. "Let us leave and
see. Kanti is the only one you want to keep hidden here, so let the
rest of us leave and try to save Orion while she stays with
you."

"They are right," Hildereth spoke up. "If the
Elders know anything, it is our duty to Orion to find out. We are
supposed to take care of Orion from any threats."

"Kanti must stay behind," Bertrade leaned
forward. "That is the only way we will allow you to leave."

"If the Elders know how to defeat the
Crodillians, there are a few hundred ships at Ares. It's not much,
but it's better than nothing," Hildereth said.

"A few hundred ships is nowhere near the size
of one fleet and the Crodillians have already shown what they can
do with somewhere near ten thousand. The chances of winning are
less than slim," Alura responded.

"There are also Ares' own ships, plus their
military. You know they wouldn't leave their planet undefended, no
matter what the Queen ordered," Hildereth kept arguing. "There is
still hope for us."

Anlon and his companions stood silently,
letting the Council argue. They had gotten at least one of the
members on their side, now they had to wait for Hildereth to
convince others.

"Ares will be a tough planet for them to try
and take if it comes to that," Reginold sounded convinced. "It's a
jungle of a planet and the Quierleons won't let their planet fall
without one hell of a fight."

The Council debated about what should be done
for a couple of more minutes, with most of the Council finally
siding with Hildereth. Bertrade and Alura were still reluctant, but
they too eventually gave in. Orion was being conquered, they had no
other option but to allow Anlon and his companions to try to find a
way to save Orion.

"Go to Ovrea and find the Elders, if you
can," Hildereth told them. "We will be ready for when you return
with information on how to defeat the Crodillians."

"We will get what we need from the Elders and
we will defeat the Crodillians," Anlon smiled. "You can count on
us."

"The fate of Orion is in the hands of a kid,
robot, bird man, and an assassin," Bertrade sighed. "Why don't I
feel any better?"

Kanti stared to speak, but Alura stopped her.
"You are staying here, don't even try to protest against me."

Kanti looked to Anlon for help but he just
shrugged his shoulders. There was nothing that he could do to
convince them to allow her to come along to Ovrea. Even Adira
wanted her to stay here, his hands were tied. If they did find
information that could defeat the Crodillians, Kanti would surely
have to take her mother's place since the Crodillians would
undoubtedly kill Adira.

"We will save Orion, or we will die trying,"
Anlon promised the Council.

He turned around and went back to Kanti's
chambers with his companions. If Hera was already taken over, it
wouldn't be much time before the rest of Orion was also taken over.
Anlon and his companions would have to act quick, or Orion would be
doomed.

Donnchadh snuck down to the dungeons where he
found the magenta force field deactivated. The Crodillians had
opened it by cutting off the guards hand and placing it on the pad,
but saw no use in activating the field again because there was only
one prisoner in the dungeon right now. He slowly walked down,
checking each cell for Adira, finding her in the same cell that he
had been kept in not that long ago.

"Adira," he whispered.

The Queen turned around to look at him. "Of
course they freed you and let you come kill me. What are you
waiting for, kill me and get it over with."

"That's not why I'm here," Donnchadh spoke
quickly.

Adira sensed something in his voice and
decided to listen to him. "Why are you here then? Why would you
risk your life coming down here, if not to kill me?"

"I know I have made mistakes. I betrayed you
and killed one of my brothers, but let me try to make up for
that."

"How could you possibly make up for
that?"

"The Crodillians are going to take over
Orion. Let me help stop them."

"Who's stopping you?" Adira shrugged, looking
around. "Why are you asking me for permission to stop them? I can't
help you from here in this cell."

"They think I'm working for them," Donnchadh
revealed to her. "They have made me a lead ground commander, but I
would rather
die
than let these monsters take Orion. I have
a plan, but I need your help if it's going to work."

The Queen sat a little straighter. "Why are
you telling me any of this? I'm in no position to help you
Donnchadh, I'm a prisoner."

"We both know they are going to kill you, but
I think I can delay it long enough while raising a force big enough
to take them out."

"How would that delay my death?"

"Remind Jahdiel of Kirill. Maybe she'll want
to see Kirill dead before you. If she sends me after him, not only
does it give me time to concoct a plan, but it allows you to live
longer."

"You think she'll send you on a mission to
bring Kirill to her?"

"Yes. I believe that she will if you convince
her that he's an immediate threat to Crodillian plans. I am the
only one with any real knowledge of him, so I'll undoubtedly be
sent out to retrieve him."

"I'll try, but I don't know if it'll do any
good."

"When I come back with Kirill, I may be able
to break you out with the help of some inside friends in the Deimos
Brotherhood. That's only if she decides to postpone your death,"
Donnchadh told her. "The Crodillians will have complete trust in me
at that point and it will be unexpected."

"If you can save Orion, your past mistakes
can be forgiven."

"I can never change them, all I can do is
make up for them, if that's even possible," Donnchadh held back
tears. "I will do everything I can to keep these monsters from
taking over Orion."

"Get ready to retrieve Kirill. I'll convince
Jahdiel he's a threat," Adira told him. "When you come back to free
me, we'll start a rebellion."

Adira watched Donnchadh leave the dungeons,
leaving her once again alone in the darkness. She laid down on the
ground and shut her eyes until she heard footsteps clicking down
the dungeons towards her cell. She sat up and faced whoever was
coming to see her.

It was a tall woman with dark skin and long
black hair. Jahdiel looked almost exactly the same as when Adira
had sent her to the Black Hole all those years ago, though she now
walked as if she had a higher purpose.

"Are you surprised to see me alive after all
these years?" Jahdiel grinned.

Adira knew this was her chance to delay her
death so Donnchadh could carry out his plans. "Yes! And I'm so
sorry!" She forced tears to come to her eyes, but found they came
without trying. "It has haunted me ever since I found out that
Kirill set you up to take the fall. I wanted to bring you back so
bad, but there was no way that I could," Jahdiel seemed to be taken
off guard by her answer and Adira continued. "He was trying to have
me killed to take the Throne, but when I found out it was him all
along, it was already too late to bring you back."

Jahdiel stood motionless. "When did you find
out that he was behind the assassination plots?"

"Not that long after I sent you through," she
sniffled. "I set him up after I had someone tell me it was him. I
got it all recorded. He was going to do
horrible
things.
Complete genocide. He wanted to create a pure Galaxy, free of all
races he deemed unworthy."

"Did you kill him for it?" Jahdiel asked,
taking the bait.

Adira smiled inside to herself and continued
to reel her in. "Yes, well no, I thought I had until just very
recently."

"What do you mean, you thought you killed
him?"

"He's alive," Adira grabbed the bars. "He's
still trying to kill me and he's still trying to take over Orion!
He wants to cleanse Orion in a mass genocide so that only races he
deems pure can live. He's surely going to put up a fight against
the Crodillians when he thinks the time is right."

Jahdiel clenched her fists and gritted her
teeth. "Where can I find him?"

Adira slowly looked up to her, knowing that
she had taken the bait. "He leads the Deimos Brotherhood and has a
base on Erebos."

"I know just who to send in to bring him to
me," Jahdiel turned around. "I will kill him first,
then
I
will kill you."

Adira watched her leave the dungeons and
thought she had seen something change in Jahdiel's eyes, but shook
the thought off. Her death had only been delayed, but with that
came the possibility that the races of Orion could defeat these
monsters. It would take much more than just Donnchadh to save Orion
though, it would take every surviving race to defeat the
Crodillians. There was also Anlon, who she knew wouldn't be sitting
around idly while these monsters were slaughtering innocent races.
He was too much like Armino to stay hidden, he would find a way to
help save Orion.

This would be a long and drawn out war, but
she knew deep down that all of the races in Orion would fight until
their last breath. They had homes to lose, families that could die,
and friends they'd never see again if they didn't win this war.
They had everything to lose if they gave in and didn't fight. Orion
may not have been prepared for war, but she knew the races of Orion
wouldn't lose this war. All of the races would band together and
stay strong to prevail through the perilous times ahead. The
Crodillians had picked the wrong Galaxy to try to conquer and were
about to see the full fury of Orion lash against them.

###

Anlon Valens
- Male
human;

Green eyes, tan skin, brown hair

Kanti Cordula
- Female
human, District of Hassental police officer;

Blue eyes, fair skin, blonde hair

Moran Borislav
- Male
human, member of GSOU;

Tall and built with branded markings
covering body, green eyes

Queen Adira
- Female
human, Queen of Orion;

Blue eyes, radiant skin, blonde hair

Falcone
- Male harkon,
pilot;

Dark golden eyes, brown and white feathery
skin

Camillus
- humanoid,
District of Hassental record keeper;

Silver humanoid

Kirill
- Male human,
leader of Deimos Brotherhood;

Green eyes, dark skin, graying hair

Donnchadh
- Male malak,
assassin for Deimos Brotherhood;

Maroon eyes, black skin with white markings,
horns on head

Ulisse
- Male Arachnid,
assassin for Deimos Brotherhood;

Grey and blue eyes, grey skin from waist up,
blue and grey spider body from waist down

Sanguinarius
- Male
darza, assassin for Deimos Brotherhood;

Black eyes, red and black marked skin, long
slender body