Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) (5 page)

There were plenty of prisoners he’d captured
within the Palace, and many were unwilling to accept the
crodillians were now in power. He’d decided to make a showing of
anyone that defied him, utilizing the dungeons. Every captured race
within the Palace had been taken to the dungeons to not only think
about what they’d do, but to witness what happened to any that
decided not to listen. Unfortunately, not a single race wanted to
listen, every last one of them resisting his orders.

After the death of one of his men and the
near escape of several prisoners, the dungeons had been transformed
into a torturing chamber. One problem had arisen from that
decision, it had provoked the even the weakest of the prisoners to
rebel. It had left him with only one option, kill every last one of
them, except for the Queen who was chained in a cell by herself.
She was left alive to live in the dungeons that wreaked of her
future if she followed the others’ lead: death.

Merikh walked through the dungeon, feet
squishing on dead body parts that had slid through the cell doors.
He was used to the smell, it was no different than war, and the
feel of death on his skin invigorated him. It was a feeling he
didn’t quite understand, and he hadn’t always felt it, but once the
war began, it’d overtaken him. He was hostage to the feeling, but
he didn’t want to escape it, for some reason, he craved more. His
foot splashed in a puddle of blood as he reached the cell at the
end. He opened it and stepped in, immediately being struck in the
head from something in the shadows. Merikh lashed out with his
long, claw-like, hands and struck something soft. When he pulled
his hand back, blood dripped down his fingers and he licked it off
with a grin of pleasure. Adira emerged from the shadows with fresh
claw marks streaking across her peach face. The blood dripped down
a draught face hidden by a clump of tangled hair.

“That's no way to treat a guest, Queen
Adira. You're supposed to show respect, especially to one who
traveled so far to see you.”

“I don't show respect to monsters,” she
pushed the mess of hair from her face and spat in his eye. “My
people will kill you. They’ll slaughter every last one of your
kind.”

Merikh wiped the spit off his face and
stared at her, gritting his sharp teeth. “I have a lot of manners
to teach you, Queen. If I weren’t alone, you would’ve left me with
no choice but to kill you.”

“Go ahead, get it over with now. I won’t
listen to a word you say. Killing me now will save you a lot of
trouble.”

“Ah ah ahh,” Merikh held his finger up. “If
you don't cooperate with me, then Orion will suffer very much like
the rest of your Palace staff did, in fact, I’ll make sure it’s
worse than what you saw. You don't want that now, do you?”

“What are you talking about? You'll kill
until you're satisfied, no matter what I do or how well I please
you.”

“Not exactly,” Merikh walked out of the
cell. “I had other plans besides completely eliminating all life in
Orion, though I will admit, it would be much easier that way if all
are like your staff.”

“What's changed since you arrived? Do you
feel sorry for us?”

“I want something to rule: races and
planets. I want
true
power,” Merikh grinned. “I can't have
that if I wipe out all life can I? Who would be left to rule if I
did that?”

“I won't let you rule Orion,” Adira crossed
her arms. “Neither will any of the races of this galaxy, especially
after what you've already done. You’ve made them hate you, despise
you, and the only thing they’ll want to do is kill you.”

“You see, Queen Adira,” Merikh pulled out a
holopad. “You and Orion don't have much of a choice but to let me
rule. What you do have the choice of, is determining
how
I
rule your galaxy.”

He turned the holopad around for Adira to
see. She stared in shock at the images of Gaea displayed on the
screen. The city was completely destroyed and fires were raging on
every corner. She looked up at Merikh with tears in her eyes and he
couldn’t help but grin.

“How can you expect to rule when you do
things like this? Orion will
never
let you rule. They will
rebel until every last one of you are dead. They’ll hunt, torture
you, sacrifice you, whatever they need to do to exterminate you,
they’ll do it.”

“I don't want to rule like this,” he put the
holopad away. “This wasn't my choice. A rebellion was gathering at
the Capitol building, and it was after everyone was warned not to
rebel. I warned them all what would happen, yet they still planned
to defy me.”

“So you kill everyone?” Adira asked. “How
does that make any sense if you want to rule this galaxy? You
killed innocents who were no doubt willing to subdue to you.”

“I had to make a point,” he got closer to
the Queen. “Defy me and you
will
pay for it.”

“That's why Orion will never follow
you.”

“There are still survivors on Gaea,” Merikh
revealed. “We only killed the rebels and destroyed the city,
unfortunately. All of the survivors were let go and told to live
freely, but were warned of the consequences of rebellion. I’m sure
they understand after being so close to all of it, but I’m not
quite sure about the rest of the galaxy.”

“You really expect them not to rebel against
you after you have destroyed their homes and killed their
families?”

“No. I fully expect every last one of them
to rebel,” Merikh said. “But that's why I came down here to talk to
you. We have some things to work out.”

“I won't help you rule Orion,” Adira stuck
her chin up. “If you want them to follow you, you have to do it on
your own.”

“You won't help me rule it,” Merikh started
to close her cell. “You’ll be saving the lives of millions who you
claim to protect. Without your help, I’ll kill every last one of
them.”

Merikh could see the Queen contemplating in
her cell. He’d offered her something she couldn’t turn down. Save
the lives of those she swore to protect, or be responsible for
their deaths. He’d known what her answer would be before he came
down, but she was taking a little longer to agree than he imagined
she would.

She held her hand out to stop him. “What do
you want me to do?”

“I knew that you'd come to your senses,”
Merikh grinned. “I just want you to send a message to Orion. Let
all know that we’re going to conquer Orion, but it’s up to them how
it’s done. Peacefully or not so peacefully. Trust me when I say my
men would rather it be the latter, so I’d encourage you relay to
your people how important it is to take my offer of peace.”

Adira nodded her head. “I can do that, but
what are you going to do to them after you’ve taken over the
planets?”

“Nothing,” Merikh said. “I’ll deploy troops
on the ground, but everyone can live their lives normally. There
will be no killing if there is no rebellion.”

“You can't expect there to be no rebellion.
There will always be a small segment of the population who’ll defy
you.”

“I don't all of them to listen,” Merikh
acknowledged. “But I believe a message for peace and cooperation
will squash any thoughts of a major rebellion. My men can clean up
the small stuff with ease.”

Adira though for a moment. “So, if I send
out a message telling the remaining planets to surrender, you
promise nothing bad will happen to them? You’ll spare their
lives?”

Merikh nodded. “It’ll be as if nothing ever
happened. All pasts will be forgotten and only a new ruler will be
on the Throne.”

“I'll do it,” a smile crossed the Queen’s
face.

Donnchadh looked down at the crodillians and
criminals gathered in the hangar, waiting patiently to hear what he
had to say. Jahdiel and Merikh told him he had to talk to all of
them as one in order to gain the trust of the crodillians. In order
to lead them, he had to prove he was not only a worthy leader, but
not biased towards any group.

He’d promised Queen Adira he would delay her
death by bringing Kirill back to Hera, but that was much easier
said than done. Now that his path had been laid out, he had to walk
extremely carefully and cover up missteps in the process. There
would be countless obstacles in the way, but none would prove
bigger than the crodillians themselves. Not a single man could have
even the slightest suspicion he was a double agent, or he’d be
killed and any chance of a rebellion would be squashed. It wasn’t
just Adira who was counting on him, it was the entire galaxy.

Donnchadh held his arms up to quiet everyone
in the hangar so he could speak. After a couple of moments the
entire bay was silent and all eyes were focused on him. Some were
curious as to why he was speaking to them, but others appeared to
already know and were disinterested, mainly crodillians.

Donnchadh cleared his throat. “Most of you
are probably wondering why
I'm
the one speaking to you today
and not one of the crodillian Commanders,” he stared over the
silent crowd, thinking about what to say next. “Well, I'm going to
be leading this mission. I know it may be a surprise to you, it
definitely was to me, but I’ve been chosen specifically for this
mission because I’m the best fit.” Whispers started to erupt from
the crodillians after the comment and he saw some of the criminals
grin to one another. “I'm only leading you because I'm very
familiar with where we're going. It’s not because I’m better than
any of you, I just have more experience,” Donnchadh spoke louder.
“We’re going to Erebos to detain Kirill and the Deimos
Brotherhood,” he saw confused looks on the faces of the crodillians
and some angry ones on the criminals.

“Why are you
detaining
them?” One of
the convicts shouted at him. “They are the same as us. They’re
criminals. It sounds like you plan on taking them out.”

Before he could answer a crodillian spoke.
“What's so important about them? Why do we need you to lead us to
capture them if they’re the same as them?” The crodillian pointed
to the group of convicts, causing yelling to erupt.

“Merikh wants to speak to the leader,”
Donnchadh shouted over the commotion. “I'm not sure why, but I can
assure you that no harm will come to him or the Deimos
Brotherhood,” he turned to the crodillian. “I used to be a part of
the Brotherhood. Getting to them won’t be easy if you don't know
where they're at.”

“Then you can tell us and we’ll go get
them,” a crodillians Captain responded, stepping forward to be
seen. “We’re more than capable of following directions, and as
you’ve all seen, exterminating anyone that dares stand against
us.”

Donnchadh looked at the scar ridden
crodillian. He was a darker color than most and his skin looked
diseased in many bubbling spots. His black uniform distinguished
him from the others and Donnchadh knew this was one of the ones
whose trust he must have if he was going to succeed.

“It's not that easy,” he replied. “I promise
you, Kirill is already planning for an invasion. Even if you do
win, you’d lose many of your own, and you still wouldn’t take out
the entire Brotherhood. We train to keep hidden and kill any
enemy.”

“We’ve conquered one entire galaxy and we're
about to conquer a second,” the Captain turned to the crodillians
and raised his arms, bringing applause. “Do you think we can't
accomplish this small task?”

“I believe you can,” Donnchadh assured him.
“But they’re a group of assassins, trained killers. Merikh believes
my coming along will lead to no bloodshed. They know who I am, so
they can believe that no harm will come to them. Their leader will
trust me, but he won’t trust you at first.”

“If all Merikh wants is for them to come
peacefully, why do you, an inferior race to crodillians, have to
lead
us?”

“Because I’ve killed more races with my bare
hands than you have behind the controls of your ship,” Donnchadh
glared at him. “Because he wants me to prove my loyalty to the
crodillian cause and the only way to do that is to lead an assault
to capture the only other thing that I’ve been loyal to,” Donnchadh
leaned forward with his hands clenching the podium. “If you would
like to try leading, come up here and kill me, I won’t lose sleep
over one more death on my hands.”

“It seems Merikh may have chosen well,” the
Captain grinned and crossed his arms, puffing out his chest. “But I
don't think it's possible for you to pilot these four ships
yourself. You need our help if you’re to get to this planet.”

“I didn’t count on doing this on my own,”
Donnchadh nodded. “I’ll assign a Captain to each of the four ships,
starting with you. What’s your name?”

“Kellagh,” the crodillian answered.

“Kellagh,” Donnchadh repeated. “You can
choose any of the four ships to command until we’ve reached Erebos.
I won’t interfere with anything you do. I’ll lead silently and let
you do what you do best. I’m here merely to get Kirill to
surrender, nothing else.”

Kellagh nodded. “If I can, may I choose the
other three Captains myself? I know which will be best suited for
the mission.”

“They’re your ships, you choose,” Donnchadh
nodded.

Kellagh turned around and started to push
his way through the crowd as Donnchadh stepped down from speaking.
He wasn't sure if he’d gained the trust of the crodillians yet, but
he knew he’d gained their respect, and that's all he needed. The
trust would come soon, if he didn’t reveal his hand too soon.

Donnchadh walked up to the group of
criminals and stood in front of them silently until they all
focused on him. They seemed restless, which was to be expected.
Traveling with the crodillians wasn’t sitting well with him, but
none of them were left with a choice.

“You’ll get along with the crodillians. You
will not fight with them or you will be severely punished, no
matter who starts the fight. They spared our lives, now we must
follow their rules.”