'I understand the circumstances, Corbin, but I don't want to give up hope. And don't start that rumor among the men. It won't do anything for morale, and our fight is far from over. Now get the units mobilized, those Baruk aren't going to remain in Thalidi for long.'
It was a fact, the Baruk were mobilizing their ground forces for the inevitable push toward Baeth Periege. For an hour they had seen troop carriers coming down from space into Thalidi. The defense wall was still in place and the Baruk were sitting safely behind it for now.
Somehow they had gotten into the city without disabling it and had apparently decimated the entire team that Tiet had taken to ambush their army. It looked like Kale had failed to protect his brother and considering the circumstances, it really wasn't a surprise. The Baruk were mounting a formidable ground force behind that wall and he wasn't sure whether they could stop it or not.
Frustrated, Wynn tapped the communication panel that was locked in with the Esyia. 'Estall, what is your status up there?'
'We're trying to hold our own up here, Wynn, but we still haven't been able to blast that flagship,' said Estall.
'We've been seeing a lot of troop carriers landing inside Thalidi…'
'I know, but we're completely outnumbered up here,' said Estall. 'We just don't have the ability to guard the surface and try to get to that flagship!'
'I understand Estall. I don't mean to accuse, I know you're doing everything you can,' said Wynn apologetically. 'Bad news. We may have already lost Tiet.'
There was a pause for a moment before he answered. 'Are you sure?'
'No. I can't be certain, but it appears the whole unit was wiped out as the Baruk made their way into the city. We've not heard any word from them. I don't want to believe it, but…'
'I understand. Let's just keep up the fight and hope we can manage to drive them back. It's all we can do…' said Estall.
Wynn tapped the communication panel again. The scans of the city were still inconclusive. The Baruk were jamming them somehow to hide their next move.
'Sir, the units from the other cities have arrived at the staging area,' said Corbin.
'Good. We'll need all the help we can get. It looks like this is where our future is going to be decided.'
IT had been several hours since they had come through the portal into Grod's compound and they were still being confined to the medical lab under guard. Tiet had been relieved to see Grod's aggression aimed at the Baruk, but what was his intent now? He wasn't sure. Kale was pacing and examining the room discreetly, looking for a way of escape.
They had not spoken since their arrival and neither seemed to know what to say to the other. Kale had been the last one he had expected to see coming to his rescue out there against the Baruk, but he was glad to have him.
After all that he had said and after trying to kill him inside his confinement cell, Tiet was unsure what he could say at this point to even begin a dialogue with him.
'How's your equilibrium? Your head hurting?' asked Kale suddenly.
'It's fine. Thank you for saving my life out there.'
Kale stopped his pacing and just seemed to be listening, like the words were something he had wanted to hear but never expected to.
'Look, Kale, I'm sorry for what I said and did when you were in confinement. I just don't know what to make of all of this. I mean, you betrayed us…our parents, our people…how am I supposed to react to that?'
'I know. Believe me, I wish I could undo all that I've done. I would gladly give my life now to undo it, but I can't. You are my brother and I only want to have you forgive me. It's all I have left.'
'I'm sorry. I just don't know if I can give that to you right now.'
Kale looked at him now, there was great pain behind his eyes that Tiet partly wanted to see and partly wished he could relieve, but he just couldn't find it within himself.
Then Grod came into the room flanked by several warriors. They were still outfitted for battle.
'Grod, I'm glad you changed your mind about what we talked about,' said Tiet.
'We can discuss that later,' said Grod. 'Right now, gentlemen, we have more pressing matters. Follow me.'
He turned and led them out of the medical lab and down several corridors to another larger room full of data screens and all manner of technical equipment. Tiet immediately noticed a huge window on the far side of the room and walked past the General to see it.
He could see that it opened up beyond to a huge dome that looked increasingly familiar as he stared. It was the same room to which he had been brought to fight, when he was captured by Grod months ago, but now it was full of various equipment and a huge gateway of some kind that seemed to lead to nowhere; only the other side of the dome could be seen beyond.
'General, this room looks familiar,' he said accusingly.
'You're right, it is the same battle arena where you killed my Teragore,' said Grod matter-of-factly. 'A very impressive display, young Master Soone,' he continued without any note of remorse. 'Come look at this information.'
He joined Kale and Grod before the main tactical view screen in the room. They were surrounded by Horva warriors who were performing data retrieval and sorting.
'Here you can see what is left of your ships still in orbit as they battle the Baruk,' said Grod as he pointed to the display. 'We've been monitoring your progress for some time now and there are very few ships left. We noted that a number of them retreated at once while the remainder has taken to trying to attack the Baruk's main battle cruiser.
It appears that they were able to somehow get through the Baruk shields using a random frequency generator to fire your dispersion cannons; most ingenious, by the way. But you don't have the firepower to take out that ship, and it is essential that you do so.
We know that the Baruk are telepathically controlled by their leaders, known only as The Three. They will be aboard the flagship.'
Kale listened carefully, but he did not volunteer what he knew about the Baruk leaders. The Three were much more than just telepaths. Lucin himself was embodied in those men. It was the Wicked One who controlled the Baruk.
'Grod I don't have any more ships to throw at them,' said Tiet. 'If you have ships to aid us, then we would be happy to coordinate an attack, but otherwise…'
'I don't have any ships like that here, but I do have something else,' said Grod as he looked to the window and the chamber beyond.
Kale and Tiet looked at each other puzzled as they followed Grod to the window.
'That apparatus down there is called a transgate.'
'Is that how you appeared in Thalidi?' asked Kale.
'Exactly,' said Grod. 'We had been working on it to attack your people by surprise.'
'Great,' said Tiet with a roll of his eyes.
'But now we can use it to get a strike team into the Baruk flagship,' said Grod.
'You mean that thing will transport us inside that ship, even through their shields?'
'Yes, but we have one problem: the transgate draws a huge amount of power and we can't send a large force without draining our power reserves past the safety point. We're already down from the mission inside Thalidi,' said Grod.
'Well, I'm glad you did,' said Kale. 'What can we do now?'
'We have enough power to send two or three people through the gate. If we can get inside then perhaps we might stand some chance of destroying their leaders and cutting off the ground army from their coordinated mental control.'
'Without their leaders, we have a real chance against the Baruk,' said Tiet. 'I'm in.'
'I'll go with him, General,' said Kale.
'I will also go. I may not be a Barudii, but I can still fight the Baruk. If you're ready to go, then we don't have
