Chapter 10

  Battle Rehearsal

  The energy seared through her veins. Mira laid the nebulant atop her bed, releasing a hazy purple exhale.

  She had been assigned her own private room at the TA77-C 1 station. It was polished, the bed was at least semi-comfortable, and there was furniture: a desk, chair, and dresser. From her visit to the bunk room, she knew the average soldier wasn’t given the same. These rooms were a luxury, usually reserved for centurions, legates, and other high-ranking officials.

  She was adjusting to the new environment. Her ears no longer rang, and she was learning to walk without losing her balance. One aspect did feel wrong, though. It was the guilt, primarily for leaving without saying a word. She wondered what Stephen told everyone, how Atlas was taking it. There was nothing she could do to dull her thoughts but pace around her room.

  Castor had instructed her not to leave and that if she did, the guards would have to be by her side at all times. She attempted to take a deep breath but spat in a coughing fit, inhaling the methane-rich air. Groaning, she fell flat on her bed.

  There was a knock at her door.

  She sprung up. Pulling the door open, she was met with the face of Legate Apollo.

  Mira routed her fist to her chest.

  “I have a few questions for you,” he started.

  “Of course, Legate.” She waved him in.

  He entered the room and walked past her. “Our mission to reclaim this outpost is an important one. Arcturus is hoping that with the reveal of yourself, we can scare the Ruber deeper into their territory. That only works if we can win. Failure means they will push further into the Taurus region. The major population centers are being defended by the Taurus legion, but they are the last line of defense. I understand this will be your first experience on the battlefield. Are you ready to fight for this civilization?”

  “Of course I am,” Mira replied. “Always have been.”

  He stared her in the eye, holding a finger to his lips. “Are you ready to kill for this civilization?”

  “Yes,” Mira tried to respond with as little hesitation as possible. She wasn’t sure if he noticed.

  His blue eyes squinted. “Do you believe you have the proper skills to fight a ground battle? Given your recent lack of true gravity training.” He said it with almost a spat of disgust.

  “I’ll be ready.”

  “You will be or you are?”

  “I am.”

  Apollo nodded in acceptance of this answer. “Come with me.” He headed back towards the door.

  Mira followed.

  Two guards were waiting for them outside the door and joined them out in the grand hallway.

  Apollo walked with his hands held behind his back. His boots clacked on the floor. He moved through the grand hallway and towards the staircase, walking down and to the left into a thin passageway. They approached a room with double doors, and Apollo opened it with his blue flame.

  Inside Mira could see an assortment of weapons lining the walls as well as stands, some holding armor, others empty.

  Apollo turned to Mira, stepping into the room. “This is our armory.” He brushed the shoulder of one of the armor stands. “Most times your own shields will be sufficient, but a few properly placed armor pads could be the difference between your core exploding or not.”

  Mira looked around the room. She had never seen such an assortment of weaponry. “What do I need to know, Legate?” She tried to sound professional.

  Apollo ran his finger along a pointed weapon on the wall and unclasped it from its holder. “Most of the Red Alliance use these sphincters.” Rubbing the stabbing bit of the weapon, he mentioned, “This bit pierces your core, and with just a second of charge…” He pointed to the spherical component of the weapon. “...they propel enough energy to initiate a nova in the cores of even the strongest stars. This may include you. May I?” He held out his hand, seeing if she’d take it.

  She hesitated but gave it to him.

  He flipped it over to the palm. At the tip of her index finger, he pointed the weapon down, pushing against the skin.

  She could feel the sharp needle-like tip as he tried to force it to break through. Streaks of blue flame escaped his arm, and eventually there was a piercing sting. Mira tried not to show a reaction, but very few times in her life had she been pierced—had blood been drawn. Purple flame wafted from the wound, fading to ash as it touched the heavy air. He nodded and motioned for her to take her hand away, clasping the sphincter back against the wall.

  “So what does that mean?” Mira asked, rubbing the ash on her fingertip.

  “Hard to say, your skin is tough, as expected. All it takes is enough momentum or a hit to one of your soft points.” He pointed to the spot on his chest where the ribcage split. “Still better safe than sorry. We have created some prototype armor to prevent direct stabs, but the weight can be detrimental. More importantly, it affects your ability for pulse and flare attacks.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  He removed a metal belt from a nearby stand. He held it up to Mira and unclicked it, wrapping it around the base of her chest. A thick circular component covered the center point. Apollo was right—it was noticeably heavy.

  “Arcturus specifically told me he wants you to be as protected as possible. Arcturus, however, won’t be there. I leave it up to you whether you want to wear it or not. It's a decision all of our soldiers get to make after all. Just remember. If your core explodes, we all pay the price,” he said.

  Mira reached behind her back and unclicked it. She looked at the piece of armor and then at the stand. To show them her true potential, perhaps the answer was to remove the inhibiting band. But maybe Atlas and her friends would be less upset if she wore the protection. She held it back up to herself. “I’ll wear it.”

  Apollo nodded. He motioned towards the weapon wall. “Trained in anything specific.”

  She ignited her lower arms. “I have these.”

  “However you prefer. Feel free to search around. I need to prepare the rest of my soldiers. I think Castor wanted to get some training done soon; afterwards, I will be assigning you your responsibilities for battle.”

  Mira nodded.

  Apollo motioned for a guard to stand outside the door. He left with the other.

  Mira scanned the wall of weapons. It ranged from swords to pulse guns to fire poles to batons. One sword in particular caught her eye, with clear veins running through it. She looked over to the guard and unlatched it from the wall. As she held the hilt, she ignited her fingertips, and the veins of the weapon pulsed with purple energy. She watched it sizzle for a moment before latching it back on the wall.

  **BREAK**

  The atmosphere had changed since Mira had left. Well, frankly, it had changed a few days prior. Atlas, Stephen, and Yue had all noticed the way Rigel had acted. He had returned to practice as they had hoped, but his demeanor was all off. The last time it happened, they remembered Castor had something to do with it, so they figured the same this time around.

  The three of them were in the dormitory: Atlas pacing, Yue sitting on her dresser, and Stephen floating below the skylight.

  “I just wished he talked,” Atlas sighed. “It's bad. It's got to be.”

  “You think they’re taking him away?” Stephen questioned.

  “Yeah, or worse,” Atlas replied.

  “Probably why he won’t talk about it,” Yue added.

  “Stars, I hate this place,” Atlas groaned. “Don’t you just wish sometimes we could just leave?”

  “Start that squid shoal we were talking about?” Stephen mentioned.

  “They’d never let us out of here willingly,” Yue said. “And I don’t know if I want to run.”

  “Yeah, I’m just dreaming,” Atlas replied. “It's a risk I don’t know if I'm willing to take. I got it good with the energy program, and besides, it's not like Mira would want to go with us. I can’t leave her.” He looked up through the skylight. “Even though…”

  Yue pushed off of the dresser, breaking his line of thought. “Let’s get answers—stop sitting around and moping. Let’s demand something from the old man.”

  Atlas wasn’t sure if he enjoyed the direct approach. He worried Rigel was holding things back for a reason. Still, he nodded his head. The anticipation was killing him.

  **BREAK**

  Mira’s body was encased by an envelope of purple flame as she came crashing down towards the moon’s surface. This was her fifth attempt at learning the landing technique. It's how they would get to the battlefield.

  The ground crept up below. She pulled up, flipping from headfirst to her feet. The aerial drag of the winds forced her to slow. As the surface approached within mere yards, she felt she could feasibly land it this time. Her feet struck the ground, and she wobbled, almost falling over. The rock below her fractured, cracks spreading out from her feet.

  Castor looked down upon her, floating just over the valley she landed in. “Good. Show me you can do it consistently.”

  Mira nodded, content. She glanced around at the craters around her from her less successful tries. Orange wind spiraled around the holes in what appeared to be small vortexes.

  “Afterwards, we have Apollo’s meeting to attend.” He glanced at his watch. “Let’s finish this up,” he instructed.

  After around 30 more minutes of training, they both headed inside the station. Descending into the lower hallways, the war room was located closer to the back of the facility where they first passed through.

  The first thing she noticed when she entered the room was an ominous blue glow emanating from the floor. Maybe Apollo just liked the mood of it, or maybe it served some moralizing purpose. She wasn’t sure. The medium-sized room had an assortment of screens and maps along the walls.

  Apollo stood in the middle of the room over a round table. On it was a holographic map of what she could guess was where they were meant to be landing.

  He looked up to them. “So,” he started, not giving a moment to take it in. “This is our landing location.” He pointed to a deep quarry-like structure on the map where a cluster of blue lights shined in. To the east, beyond a ridge of cliffs, sat a large complex. Speckled around it were several depictions of other quarries.

  It threw Mira off. She thought this place was solely a military outpost. They indicated otherwise. Mira tried to ignore it. They served some purpose she wasn’t sure of.

  What appeared to be small towns were located at the intersections between the mines. A plethora of red lights were lit over them. Most were concentrated within the towns and central complex. From the map, Mira guessed the scale of the community to be about 100 square miles. Most of it consisted of the quarries.

  Apollo continued, “We’ll fall in from above from an emergency bridging outlet shot up during the raid. Mira, you’ll be moving in at the tail end of the group. A few soldiers will be there to provide backup if needed. As far as the both of you are concerned, I want you away from the primary battle. I will be in the 2nd wave—we’re providing cleanup for the main squads.”

  He turned a switch on his side of the table. A simulated battle performed on the screen. The blue lights and red lights clashed. Some disappeared as they connected. Mira saw a couple of red lights blink on in the landing quarry.

  “You’ll probably catch a few strays. We know there’s an elaborate tunnel network between the quarries, which they will move through. We fully intend that you can handle them and hope it gives proper beginner field training.” Apollo looked up to Mira.

  Mira didn’t like that beginner phrase, whether it was her first time or not.

  “I’ll give you all the signal when I want you to leave the valley. Our main purpose for you is to send a message that we have a star as strong as theirs, and if the Purple Comet happens to still be there, you're our best defense. We don’t expect it, though.” He clicked his fingers on the board and flipped another switch. All the red lights turned to blue. “That’s how we win.”

  There was a moment of silence.

  “So that’s it? I just wait till I'm called upon?” Mira questioned. “And you all do everything else.”

  “Pretty much,” Castor said. “I know you want to do more, but you need to prove yourself first.”

  Mira nodded, somewhat upset but not surprised. “What if you’re losing, and you need me?”

  “Doubtful,” Apollo replied. “But take this.”

  He handed an earpiece over to her. She took it. It was similar to the earpiece she had at Helyx with a couple of dials on the side. “If there’s an emergency, I'll call you, or vice versa. Turn the dial to 13. I've reserved that frequency for you and Castor only. Any other questions?”

  “No, I guess not,” Mira replied, looking up to Castor.

  He turned to Mira and nodded. “Give us the room, please,” he asked her.

  She raised an eyebrow but did as told and left the room.