Invasion

by L. E. Thomas

  Nat smiled. "So sorry to ruin your grand night, Captain."

  "What did you mean by your message?" Tox asked, ignoring Nat's comment. "How has the resistance resurfaced? I thought your sister was the head."

  "She was," Nat said, turning to the window. "But her closest followers are very angry for what is happening to her. They are going to carry out retaliatory strikes. Imagine how disappointed the rest of Yesro Vraun would be to find out you have not been able to destroy the resistance. Instead, you've stirred them into a fury."

  The blood drained from Tox's face as he slid across the room and gazed out the window. Folding his arms over his chest, he took a deep breath. He stood in silence for a moment before looking at Nat, studying his battered face.

  "The resistance did this to you?"

  "Yes, because I betrayed my sister and their leader."

  "Why did they let you live?"

  Nat smiled. "Because I promised to help them. That's why I wanted to meet with you."

  Tox seemed to appraise Nat in a different light as if his value suddenly increased. "I cannot allow news of this to get out, Hodges. I told my superiors we had taken down the resistance leader promising deliverance and freedom to the natives. This was supposed to be over."

  "I know. It's why I contacted you."

  "I see. What should we do?"

  Nat looked out at the base, watching as a cargo shuttle landed in the distance. "I had to tell the resistance I could help them get the system disruptor—the one taken from Sapphire—on board the Justice, or they would have killed me. They want to disable the ARC's engines and fire off the disruptor to scramble sensors across Yesro Vraun so they can mount their attacks, and I could help them get on board."

  Tox eyed him. "And why would I let you do this? How does it help me?"

  Nat smiled. "Because the agents I bring aboard the Justice will be the highest remaining leaders of the resistance. I will tell you where they are and where they are going. You can close the noose and capture them all in one operation. Later, you can make up whatever story you wish or have them disappear. Otherwise, they are going to start renewed attacks on our people. The quicker we act, the less time they will have to coordinate the attacks and ruin your esteemed reputation."

  Tox nodded. "I see, Lieutenant Hodges. I see I may have misjudged you. If you are successful in this attempt and the resistance is destroyed once and for all, I will make it my mission in life to make sure I see you in an Interceptor cockpit."

  "It's all I've ever wanted, sir."

  "It'll happen." His face hardened. "What do you need from me?"

  "I need permission to take the shuttle with the disruptor to the Justice. I will bring the rebel agents onboard, tell you where they are, and you'll have the final leaders of the resistance."

  Tox hesitated, staring out the window for a long moment. His data palm beeped, and he opened his fist to reveal a holographic message Nat couldn't read. He sighed.

  "I'm late," he murmured, closing his fist. "I fear I have little choice in the matter, Hodges. You'll get your flight. I want those insurgents."

  When he turned around, his cold eyes bore into Nat. "Once I'm finished at the Ball tonight, I'm scheduled to fly to the Justice. I will be there to apprehend the rebels personally before we depart for the Prime Systems. I want this done quickly and quietly." He jabbed a finger into Nat's chest. "Don't disappoint me, Hodges."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Nat stared at the cargo shuttle manifest for his run to the Justice in two hours, the words blurring together. The assignment had been transmitted by Captain Rod Killian, his new commanding officer who would be accompanying him on his flight. His stomach turned at the thought of dealing with a new officer on a day like today.

  The dim morning light filtered in through the blinds. The other pilots inside the administrative building seemed sluggish, shoulders drooping over computer screens and tablets as if the entire base was hung over from the celebration. The whole of Molah and the surrounding suburbs had partied the entire night, reveling in the destruction of the resistance and capture of the rebel leader. His sister.

  All he had wanted to do was save her life, and all he had accomplished was signing her death warrant.

  "Trash, sir?"

  Nat turned, his eyes bulging at the sight of Viper Skaggs standing over his desk wearing a faded red coverall streaked with grease stains.

  "Ah, yes," he said, handing his wastebasket over to the so-called janitor. "Thank you."

  "Of course," he said, dumping the basket's contents into the receptacle and whispering, "Less than two hours."

  Nat glanced around, but no one else in the room appeared to hear Viper. He nodded, and the "janitor" went on with his duties.

  Swallowing, Nat looked back at the flight plan as his palms started to sweat. He cycled through all the possibilities. Kad and Viper had said all he needed to do was fly, that they had contacts within the base and all over Molah ready to strike the reservations, but that didn't make him feel any better. Flying into the Justice with intentions to incapacitate the sign of Imperial power on the planet wasn't the kind of action to make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Viper and his team would carry out their mission while he waited in the shuttle prepared to flee. Kad would await news of the system disruptor being fired before he would begin the attack and the resistance cruisers would prepare to lift off. When Nat had asked about the details, Kad only said it was better he shared as little as possible in the event Nat was compromised. It was a sweet sentiment, but Nat knew the truth: Kad didn't trust him, but he had no choice.

  "Lieutenant Hodges?"

  Nat looked up to see a captain standing over him who he hadn't heard come into the room. He was a handsome officer with broad shoulders and a well-defined chin as if carved from wood.

  "You must be Captain Killian," he said, standing at attention and saluting. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

  "Pleasure's all mine, Lieutenant." He gestured to the flight tablet. "That our flight plan?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "I see," he said, leaning over to look at the tablet. Nodding, he looked at Nat. "I know this isn't protocol, but nothing has been since Tox's Triumph yesterday. Command has pulled me from the flight today and reassigned me to another matter."

  Nat clenched his jaw. "I see."

  "You're only a few hours short of being qualified for solo flight, and I've been authorized to grant you permission to carry out this routine matter on your own. I know that's a bit bizarre. Truth is, I found it odd myself. It's just a short flight to the Justice and back. You should be fine."

  Nat tried to refrain from smiling. When he had met with Tox, he had been worried about carrying out this mission and being forced to somehow incapacitate another commanding officer. It seemed Tox had cleared the route for Nat to deliver the resistance agents into his trap.

  "I'm happy to hear it, sir," Nat said with a smile. "I'm sure we'll get other chances to fly together in the near future."

  The sun ascended over the Molah skyline, casting rays through the transparent tube system crisscrossing the expanse between the buildings. The maintenance crew left the cargo shuttle not far from where he had parked it on the tarmac near the main hangar for support craft. Two Interceptors were parked nearby, looking ominous and threatening in the dawn light even when powered down. Tox had obviously trusted him to apprehend the resistance leaders. Now, it was up to Nat to carry out this mission.

  He looked up into the brightening sky, seeing the Justice in orbit near Alpha Station. He would be there shortly, and his sister would be saved. Or they would both die.

  Footsteps fell in behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder. Viper strolled ahead of three other resistance agents dressed as janitors. Nat gave a sharp nod and continued to the cargo shuttle, no other officers or enlisted men giving them a look. After all, the resistance was over; there was no longer any need for high security.

  Nat opened the cargo bay and made his way to the cockp
it, passing the black crate containing the system disruptor. He could still feel Tressa's presence in the ship, the memory of their brief struggle in the cockpit returning to him in vivid flashes. Shaking his head, he strapped his helmet into place and began preflight. Viper and his "janitors" assembled at the rear, closing the ramp behind them. They quickly took off the coveralls, revealing an assortment of flashbangs, grenades and extra packs for the weapons they carried in the duffel bags. A woman near Viper tied her red hair behind her head as she slapped a fresh pack into a repeating laser rifle of a make Nat had never seen.

  Nat had the engines warm in minutes as the crew behind him assembled their weapons of war in silence. He checked in with the tower as scheduled, receiving clearance for takeoff. Once he shut down his communication, Viper finally poked his head into the cockpit.

  "I can fly this thing myself, you know," he grumbled, glaring at Nat. "I'm a pilot if I need to be."

  "Your point?"

  Viper lowered his brow. "Kad said I have to trust you. Said I had no choice. But I do. You try anything funny—you even think about betraying us on this flight—I'll gut you like a pig and let you bleed out in the cargo bay before I drop you out of an airlock."

  Nat sighed, turning back to the cockpit. "I assure you that won't be necessary."

  "Yeah?" he asked, his voice rising. "That's probably what Tressa thought, too."

  “You threaten me again, I’ll kill you. All that matters is getting to Tressa. I’ll get you to the Justice. The rest will be up to you. Do you have everything?"

  Eyeing him, Viper nodded. "Got the explosives to finish this up and the Whisper-thingy Kad said we can use to communicate. I'll let him know when it's safe to begin the party on the ground and get our people out of here."

  Nat shook his head. "Whisper-thingy?"

  "Some tool we got from our contacts with the others fighting the Zahl. Masks our communications." He pointed at the crate in the back. "That thing back there’s really going to blast sensors across the entire system?"

  "That's the plan."

  "Does it work?"

  Nat snorted. "If it doesn't, we've gone to a lot of trouble for nothing. Shut up, will you? I've got to take off."

  As Nat lifted off, he shot a glance toward Molah, remembering when it was his home, Greeva, and the day it all changed when the Zahl invaded. He didn't know if he would ever see it again. Turning toward the sky, he pulled the shuttle back and lifted into the atmosphere toward the Justice.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The cargo shuttle left Yesro Vraun's orbit, the final wisps of blue fading to the void of space. Gravity left them, replaced by the shuttle's systems, the adjustment swirling against Nat's stomach. Of course, it might not have been the gravity. His hands trembled on the stick as he adjusted his course, swinging slowly around to bring the Justice into view. It lurked near Alpha Station, the ominous ARC cannon growing in size as he approached. A chill shot down his back. For the past two years, the capital ship had been the constant reminder of the Zahl's power and might on the planet since the invasion. Only a pair of Interceptors, flying away from him across the northern pole of the planet, patrolled—a stark difference from the military force surrounding the world during the first year.

  But the Justice continued its looming presence over Yesro Vraun, the final remnants of an Imperial invasion force that had destroyed the people and culture of Tarrafa. Now, Nat approached it on a secret mission with revolutionaries behind him in the cargo bay. He shook his head. How had it come to this?

  "ETA?" Viper called from the bay, his voice low.

  "Twenty minutes." Nat swallowed. "We just got clearance to land in the primary hangar. Are you ready?"

  "We've been ready for two years," Viper said, slapping his chest and fiddling with the device he claimed would shroud him from view. "You keep her running."

  "That's the plan."

  Nat dropped the shuttle under the Justice's bow, marveling at the power of the ARC. The impressive ARC Cannon under the bow of the ship had been used to bombard several Oshuan military installations during the initial invasion. The cannon ran the length of the bow, aiming slightly downward at the planet as if casting a silent warning. Two anti-ship torpedo tubes passed his view as well as multiple-point defense laser batteries. Knowing more than a thousand crew and an entire fighter squadron was also on board made Nat's fingers tremble, the sheer power of the ship he approached making him shiver.

  Swinging the shuttle around, he dropped into the approach vectors for landing. He passed through the shields and entered the hangar larger than anything they'd had on the port planetside. Parked Interceptors waited for attention from the dozens of the maintenance crew. Modular Utility Dropships lined the other side of the deck, flanked by a platoon of Marines attending some kind of briefing or training seminar on the deck. Nat stared at the impressive military might surrounding them as he drifted to his designated landing for a supply delivery.

  "Are you sure about this?" Nat whispered, exhaling slowly.

  Viper appeared over his shoulder. "You just take us where we need to be. We'll do the rest. The target’s going boom."

  Tightening his grip on the stick, Nat nodded and brought the shuttle to his landing zone. The robotic service drones would unload the cargo supplies on the manifest, and naval protocol would require him to wait in the cockpit for twenty minutes, giving Viper precisely that long to carry out his portion of the plan.

  Nat dropped the shuttle to the deck at the rear of the hangar bay and transmitted that he was ready for unloading. He looked back at Viper.

  "We're ready."

  Viper held his gaze. "I hope I was wrong about you."

  "Doesn't matter now. The shuttle will be warm and ready to leave when you get back."

  "See you when we're done?"

  Nat grimaced. "Sure. Stick to the plan. I’ll have the disruptor ready shortly. Once it fires, commence with your plan and destroy the target.”

  Viper smiled, glancing at his people. "Let's do it."

  Nat stared at him, remembering the punk biker at Tressa's school on the day of the invasion and trying to connect that appearance to the grizzled guerrilla fighter in front of him now. So much had changed, gone forever.

  "Lowering the ramp," Nat said, flipping the switch. "Good luck."

  Viper and his three well-armed companions slapped their chests, vanishing into thin air as the ramp lowered. Nat could hear them departing the shuttle but saw nothing. He waited for several minutes before leaving the cockpit and moving to the cargo bay. Bypassing the system disruptor, he moved to his satchel. Unzipping it, he removed the unique boots he’d packed for the trip and placed them on, verifying they had the power to do what he needed them to accomplish, and slipped the other devices into his cargo pants. He secured the instrument to the system disruptor's control panel, verifying it had a signal. Checking his sidearm, he stared at the deck. Taking a deep breath, he paused in the cargo bay as the drones moved to carry out the supplies.

  It was time.

  Pulling out his tablet, he contacted Captain Tox who he knew would be waiting for the message. He was on his way.

  Nodding, he left the shuttle in the Justice's hangar bay.

  Nat marched with purpose toward the onboard security room as Tox had instructed in his previous message, weaving through the corridors full of the crew scurrying from one place to the next, murmuring conversations full of official terms and discussions.

  He didn't listen to any of it, only focused on making his way to the security annex. When he entered, Tox stood flanked by two heavily-armed Marines watching the security feeds across the Justice. He still wore the sash and the fine suit he adorned during his Triumph on Molah.

  Tox spun around, his beady eyes narrowing at Nat's entrance. "Where have you been?" He thrust a finger toward the screens. "I haven't seen any rebels going to disable the engines as you said they would. Where are they? Did they not come with you?"

  Nat smiled. "Oh, they're h
ere, exalted one."

  Tox frowned. "And what's that supposed to mean? You promised to turn over the final leaders of the resistance. I have men stationed in the engine room based on the intelligence you gave me, but no one has arrived. Did you fail?"

  Nat shook his head, pausing for a heartbeat. He thought of Ma, dying at the hands of the Zahl. His thought of Da, fighting every day since the invasion to rid his world of the Zahlian influencers. And then he thought of the idea of the hundreds of thousands still held inside the reservations, awaiting the promise of deliverance or a mass exodus away from the world no one recognized.

  "I didn't fail," Nat said, kicking his heels together and activating the mag boots. He put his hand in his pocket, his heart racing, and wrapped his fingers around the system disruptor’s remote. He locked eyes with Tox, staring without blinking. "For Tarrafa."

  Tox stared in silence for a heartbeat before Nat activated the device.

  An energy wave rippled through the ship, the security feeds flickering to black. The interior lights extinguished, replaced by the dull red of the emergency lights.

  "Traitor!" Tox snapped, slapping the closest Marine on the shoulder. "Kill him!"

  Nat was faster.

  Drawing his sidearm, he shot both Marines in the head. Their bodies slumped to the ground just as an explosion rocked the Justice and the ship lost gravity. Viper's team had destroyed the ship's artificial gravity and backup systems. Tablets and desk items lifted into the air.

  Tox lifted off the deck, waving his hands in a frantic motion to grab onto anything as he drifted and twisted to clutch something to prevent himself floating across the security room. Nat took aim, raising the pistol onto Tox's face.

  "Wait a minute,” Tox said, holding his hands in front of his face as if it would shield him. “You can't—"

  "I'm weary of listening to you tell me what I can and cannot do," Nat said through his teeth, taking a step closer with the gun still trained on Tox's face. "Let me show you what a Tarrafa native can do."