I barely got a wink of sleep the whole night. If Lucian noticed, he certainly doesn't bring it up while we have break fast together in taut silence. He sleeps much better nowadays and barely has nightmares ever since we started talking them out but I noticed he shifted in his sleep a lot last night.
"What's on your mind?" He finally speaks and I shiver slightly. I cast a glance at Cyscus who is packing our uniforms and essentials into Lucian's pocket sized suit case.
"Just nervous and excited for our mission today," I reply after I swallow a bite. More like tortured and shaking with fear at the thought my Earth being turned to the next version of the hell it is here but he doesn't need to know that.
Especially since he is one of the leaders supporting that very plan.
Just thinking about it makes me nauseous and I put down my cutlery and take a large gulp of my oxygen infused drink.
"Excited?" Lucian raises his eyebrows at me. "Well that makes one of us."
"Why? Should I not be excited?"
"A planet who rebels against the Plutonian empire has always met with ill fate. I am actually dreading this mission, Aria," He sighs and pushes his food away. I notice he barely ate anything as well.
Cyscus brings us the pocket sized case and Lucian attaches the small thing to his uniform when he gets up. I stand up as well and Cyscus looks at both our plates, looking disappointment with the amount we ate.
I sling my bag over my shoulder and he immediately rushes to me.
"Mistress Aria, let me pack your belongings into a pocket sized case as well. They are much easier to carry around and you can carry more at a lesser weight," Cyscus gushes and is about to take hold of my bag when I whip away defensively.
If he saw my finger pad, I would be as good as dead.
"I'm fine. It's very light, I just took a book to read during the flight," I say while I try to keep my breathing steady.
Cyscus casts a wary glance at Lucian and Lucian just nods his head.
"Let her take her bag if she wants to."
We head to the entrance and Phillius is already in the official Trinity glider, waiting. He takes off the moment we are seated and I notice he doesn't head to the army base. Instead we go through the city and exit the North city gates.
I turn to look out the window and see us heading down a pathway that leads to the South. Phillius suddenly takes the turn off that leads to the Eastern border which startles me slightly. I look at Lucian curiously and he gestures for me to look past the Eastern security check point.
Once we pass through the check point Lucian instructs us to turn on our breather suits as we exit the protective atmosphere. I stare out of my window, taking in the vast expanse of dull grey and blue that reminds me of the Western border.
Phillius makes a turn, passing by a large slab of rock and that is when I see something I never expected to find out here.
The vast strip of land before us looks like the landing site in the army base, only a hundred times larger. The ships here are massive, each of them are shaped like round discs and they are about the height of some of the buildings in the city.
One ship could fit an entire fleet of soldiers. Phillius stops outside the nearest ship and I notice many gliders parked here as well. I see the General's gliders as well as two other gliders carrying the Trinity symbol.
There are about a dozen Plutonians carrying weaponry inside and I see General Lyra standing by one of the vehicles, talking to Lazarus and Luna.
Someone knocks on our window and then I see Remulus's smiling face. I suppress a grin as we get out of the glider and join him outside. Seeing someone familiar somehow calms me down a bit.
"Pleasant day, PG Lucian," He brings up his hand and bows slightly at Lucian and then he smirks at me. "Hey minion."
"Hey," I say and the cheeky look on his face forces a smile to my face despite the shitty night I had.
"Where's the rest of the squad?" Lucian asks him.
"There are all inside."
"Take Aria in and show her to my room. I'll join you later," Lucian instructs and then he walks over to join the rest of the Trinity and his mother.
I follow Remulus up the magnanimous ramp that looks large enough to allow numerous Black Star's to pass through at once.
"These ships are huge," I murmur in awe as we enter what looks like a landing base inside the ship. I spot a few bottle space crafts lying idly inside.
"The hugest in the universe. Trust me no other ship can compare to the size of a Space Splitter," Remulus tells me.
"Space Splitter?"
"It's so large that it splits the space we travel through. I know it's a lame name. Blame the loser who came up with such a title." He leads me down a weaving path through the smaller ships and we reach a small lighted archway. We head down this lone, white corridor and reach what looks like a set of lifts.
We get into one and Remulus presses on a button.
"How many floors are in this thing," I ask him.
"Just four. The bottom one houses the warp drive, engines and most of the machinery needed to work this thing. The third and second floor mainly consists of rooms for us to stay, eat and exercise. The top floor remains exclusive to the Generals and Trinity and the control room is located on the second floor which is where we have our meetings."
I nod my head as we reach the top floor.
"Did I mention there's a bar as well," Remulus sneaks a sly grin my way. "But since you're staying with PG Lucian you get off here."
"Can I just hang out with you for awhile?" I peer out into the empty hallway at the top floor, not wanting to spend the rest of my time here alone.
"Let's head to the bar then," Remulus says eagerly and I quickly shake my head.
"I want to see the control room."
"As you wish, madam." He presses on the button to the second floor and I follow him down the narrow pathway. The walls are smooth and white, it feels like I am walking through an endless tunnel and when we reach the end my mouth falls open slightly.
The control room on this ship is huge. There are many Plutonians rushing about, some keying in details into the built in computers on both sides of the room and others are pressing buttons and pulling levers on the large dashboard that overlooks the clear window.
A speaker blares announcing that the Generals and Trinity are on their way. The Plutonians move even faster after hearing this and I hear the soft sounds of the engine thrusters thrumming in the air.
The ground below barely moves, I don't even have to steady myself as we lift off into the air and then speed off into outer space.
"The Space Splitter doesn't travel through hyper drive? Isn't warp drive much slower?" I ask Remulus.
"Our warp drive engine is just the back up. This ship travels in hyper drive through our hyper lanes in the galaxy. We can't use the side lanes due to the ships size so our journey will take longer than usual even though the Pleiadies solar system is only around 136 parsecs from our Sun." Remulus walks to a computer screen and points to a cluster of dots at the edge of the screen.
"This unique star system is one of the closest star clusters to our solar system. We call them the "Seven Sisters" and our seven day cycle on Pluto is actually based upon these seven stars," He points at seven haphazardly arranged stars on the screen and a Plutonian officer sitting by the computer leans in looking interested.
"Thanks for the mythology lesson, half blood," Lazarus sneers at him as he walks in with Luna and Lucian in tow.
Lucian joins us and I watch Lazarus scowl my way before heading to the front of the control room.
"How many cycles till we reach Taygeta?" He asks an officer standing by the control board.
"Around five, PG Lazarus," The officer stands up straight and answers quickly, looking afraid.
"Call for a meeting. We need to discuss a few matters," Lazarus instructs and the Plutonian rushes off to do his bidding.
The room fills up soon after and Lucian leaves us to join the generals and the trinity at the center of the room.
"Let's begin," General Lyra stares at the rest of us with a tired look on her face. She briefly describes the recent events on Taygeta - a rebel force took out the Plutonian bases on both of Taygeta's moons with the help of the Taygetians themselves. Apparently Taygeta has been under the Plutonian empire for five hundred Plutonian years and this is the first time something like this has happened.
"As previously discussed I suggest we burn down half of their planet before we reach and then swoop in to save the day. Make them bleed with guilt and beg for our forgiveness after betraying us," Lazarus announces with pride and my hands shake with the temptation to grab his neck and snap it in half.
My head whips to Lucian's face and I can already see him getting angry.
"It didn't make sense then and it doesn't make sense now. You burn down half of their population and it takes away half of that planets productivity. I say we cut off their trade for a fair amount of time and only punish the ones directly involved in the ambush," Lucian is quick to counter Lazarus's suggestion.
"We can't be sure if we've caught all of the Taygetian rebels and the ones who blew up our forces escaped," General Grievous answers crossly. "I agree with PG Lazarus. We told them we would protect them from the fires but if they choose to side with the rebels then why should we care about their well beings. Let's see if the rebels are able to save them from our fire bombs."
I cast a querulous glance at Remulus. "Fire bombs?"
"The Plutonians planted fire bombs all over Taygeta awhile ago without them knowing and lied to them about needing protection from the fires. It was done to keep them in check. The Plutonians created the problem and then offered the solution and the Taygetians accepted our help," He whispers to me, looking rather disappointed.
"Shall we take a vote then?" Lazarus licks his lips in anticipation. "All those in favor for the fires kindly raise your hand. We shall assume that the ones who don't automatically agree to the second weaker option of cutting off trade."
The way he says those last few words makes my blood boil. He is obviously making fun of Lucian and I really wish I could punch that smug smile off his entitled looking face.
I watch as General Grievous, General Ursae, Lazarus and Luna raise their hands. It is pretty obvious that our votes don't matter because every soldier in their squads follow suit.
That leaves General Lyra, her squad, Lucian and us. It is obvious who won the vote and something inside me churns like a boiling pot of hatred as I see Lazarus skip to the control board happily. Thanks to him half of the Taygetians will be killed before we reach their planet.
"Begin the set up," General Ursae instructs. "We shall start the fires once we are ten light years away."
I watch her squad type furiously into a computer after her command.
"Which button has been programmed for the bombs set off?" Lazarus stretches his arms out eagerly and I watch Sergeant Commander Physus point at a small red lever on the control board.
Lazarus leans in looking excited and then he pauses. His head suddenly whips in my direction and my blood freezes in my veins.
"Let's follow tradition. The newbies get to do the killing as an informal induction into the army," Lazarus suggests. "What do you say, officer Aria?"
I stiffen under his scrutiny and everyone turns my way.
"I think officer Aria has done her fair share of killing serpents," General Lyra is quick to counter.
"But it is tradition for all of us to kill traitors. I did it, so did Lucian," Lazarus says innocently.
"Enough! She's not doing it," Lucian almost shouts in anger and General Grievous cuts him off.
"I think it's a perfect way for officer Aria to show her loyalty to the empire after her little debacle of a speech that lead to the rebellions. It's not so hard to pull a lever. If she needs help the half breed can help her," General Grievous narrows his eyes at me and most of the soldiers nod their heads in agreement. "We shall meet here ten light years before we land to watch Commander Remulus and officer Aria do the deed."
He walks away with his wife in tow and I stand rooted in place, my hands shaking like I'd just been electrocuted.
Fun fact: The Pleiadies star system is one of the closest star systems to our solar system, they can be seen from Earth and the myth of the Seven Sisters (stars) is based on greek mythology.
I don't know if u guys can hate Lazarus any more than you already do but I'm sure pushing ure limit lol. Just incase u guys are curious, the next chapter will take place in Taygeta and I know most of you are curious about who S is but that will only be revealed at the end.
And I'm trying to wrap things up but I don't thing we are near the end yet hehe