Chapter 5
Zharina
Still fuming on the third day of the secret mission, I continued to give my twin Vahleryon the silent treatment.
The part of me that wanted to feel bad seeing his miserable and guilty expression systematically retreated as soon as I even contemplated cutting him some slack.
Although he hadn’t given the order to whisk me away on the day of Gavin’s arrival, I didn’t doubt for a minute that Dad had discussed the matter with him and that he had been on board.
Countless Seers and Oracles prophesied that Vahl would be the Great General who would lead us through the deadliest intergalactic war in generations. Therefore, Dad made it a point to empower him as much as possible and involve him in most of the relevant important decisions.
In a way, with him being not only my brother but also my fraternal twin, the betrayal cut deeper than my father being the typical overly protective parent.
Ignoring Vahl had been easy on the first couple of days as our respective tasks on the mission had involved mostly individual work gathering intelligence.
Today, the search and rescue exercise we would perform required two different strike teams. As petty—and somewhat childish—as my treatment of him could be construed, I would have to put our differences aside over the next few hours for the sake of the mission.
It angered me even more knowing that in the next few minutes, Gavin would participate in a series of drills, including marching, weapons, and combat.
This would conclude his basic training before the candidates would find out whether they’d done enough to earn a place as a recruit for the Sentinels.
I should have been there cheering him on.
It was one of the rare activities opened to public viewing.
They had cheated me of that special moment with my mate.
“Round up, everyone,” Sohr ordered, gesturing for all of us to take a seat around the large boardroom table where he would give us the final instructions before the mission began. We complied and swiftly settled, filling barely half of the twenty seats of the imposing table.
Looking at the Second Officer revived the flame of my anger. It wasn’t aimed at him, but I couldn’t help the jealousy that reared its head that he got to see Gavin the morning he arrived before he joined us on the mission.
My cousin Lenora—Ghan’s adopted daughter, and my best friend—sat to my right. The Dervhen twins Trehvus and Dhaxius settled to my left. The siblings Sylvius and Reyes took the two spots next to my brothers Vahl and Rhadames.
“Today, you get to enjoy a rescue mission with an estimated 95% failure rate. However, to this day, not a single trainee team ever managed to pass it on the first try. They usually get steamrolled at least five times before coming even remotely close to succeeding,” Sohr said with a shit-eating grin.
He couldn’t have chosen better words to prod our collective competitive nature. A single glance at the faces of my companions confirmed that they were all thinking ‘challenge accepted.’ What greater bragging right than to return home victorious?
“The mission takes place on an old pirate base located in a re-engineered meteor,” Sohr explained.
“You must use stealth to infiltrate the base and extract three prisoners held in different locations inside. You must not alert the guards or trip any of the traps. Note that some areas will be affected by psychic disruptors so your psionic powers will not always be available.”
He turned his attention to Rhadames, who instantly stiffened, anticipating the crappy news that would follow.
“Naturally, you may not teleport in and out of the base,” Sohr added mockingly.
Right on cue, Rhadames scrunched his face and muttered something under his breath, making all of us laugh.
Obviously, with his insane ability to teleport pretty much anything over a great distance would make completing such a mission far too easy.
It just sucked for him that his principal power almost systematically got excluded from any of our missions and trainings.
For all that, he was grumbling more out of principle than out of any real displeasure.
It took a lot for my brother to express anger or irritation. Like our sire, Rhad was one of the sweetest souls I ever met.
“There will be holographic drones patrolling the premises,” Sohr continued.
“You are not to kill anyone. If you get detected, try to subdue them by any means necessary, but no executions. Note that one of the three prisoners is psychotic. They will probably scream and even try to fight you. That prisoner suffers from deadly allergies and therefore cannot be sedated. So make sure you come up with a creative approach to keep them from exposing you.”
“What happens if we get detected?” Vahl asked. “Does the mission automatically end?”
Sohr shook his head. “Even if they detect you, you must still attempt to complete the mission. However, detection will trigger a twenty-minute timer before reinforcements arrive. If they reach the base before you manage to exit with the captives, then you will have failed.”
“We’ve got this,” Dhaxius said smugly, his older twin Trehvus nodding in agreement.
We gave him an indulgent smile. Each of us shared the same competitive spirit and would do everything in our power to come out on top. However, knowing Sohr wasn’t prone to exaggeration, we understood a true challenge awaited us.
And we fucking loved it.
“Where are the prisoners located?” Vahl asked, echoing the question crossing my mind.
“That’s for you to figure out,” Sohr replied mockingly. “There are three possible entry points to the hidden base. I will fly you to the location, but how you go in and come out is your decision to make.”
“Of course, you wouldn’t make it easy,” Reyes mumbled.
“Of course,” Sohr replied smugly before gesturing at the 3D holographic display located in the center of the table. With a vocal command, he activated it, and a huge meteor appeared before us. “This is your destination. You have thirty minutes to strategize. Once ready, meet me in the shuttle bay.”
Without waiting for our response, he tapped something on his bracer—likely activating the timer—then walked out of the boardroom.
Vahl immediately reached for the remote sitting next to the projector and started rotating the secret base, zooming so that we could get a better look at the three entrances.
They were almost at equal distance from each other, one on each of the longer sides of the oval-shaped meteor, and one at the widest tip.
The opposite side was completely sealed off.
“I bet the prisoners will be located in that area,” I said pointing at the latter.
Rhadames nodded. “I agree. There are no exits nearby. They would want us to be forced to travel the longest distance before they could get out. The question is do we go in by one of the side entrances that are closest, or at the one on the opposite end that is the farthest?”
Lenora pursed her lips. “My gut says one of the closer sides to reduce the amount of distance we need to cover while avoiding detection. But then it could also be a trap as they would expect us to want to take a shortcut.”
“True,” Vahl conceded. “But that’s if we think in terms of the base having been set up with the deliberate intention of conning trainees.
My gut says that this wider entrance at the other end of the closed off area might be some kind of ship hangar.
The smaller doors on the side seemed to be the perfect size for a small shuttle to dock for someone visiting only to drop off something or someone. ”
“So you suggest we go in one of the sides?” Trehvus asked.
It was Vahl’s turn to purse his lips as he pondered the matter.
“Not one side but both,” he said at last, taking us by surprise.
“There’s eight of us and three prisoners to rescue.
I do not feel confident about splitting us into three teams, but two equal teams of four would allow us to cover a lot more distance faster. ”
I nodded. “Smaller teams will also reduce the risk of detection instead of one big group. Do we have any scans of the base available?”
Vahl shook his head. “I looked for it when I was zooming and rotating the base. This exterior view is all we have.”
“We can perform some scans as we approach with the shuttle,” Rhadames said, echoing my thoughts.
We all nodded.
“Zhara, you will take the eastern entrance with Lenora and the twins,” Vahl said in a commanding tone while pointing at the left side of the secret base. “I will go to the western entrance with Rhad, Reyes, and Sylvius.”
No one even considered questioning his order.
As frustrated as I was with my brother right now, I truly respected and admired him as a natural born leader.
It had nothing to do with the prophecies that stated he would be the Great General leading the galaxy into the bloodiest war in memory.
He just had this aura of authority that we instantly wanted to follow.
That he was extremely smart, powerful, protective, and humble in his ability to listen instead of throwing his weight around played a big role in us choosing him as our leader.
Everyone adored him.
“While I agree with you that these side doors probably act as hatches to dock small vessels, I don’t think we should do that,” I said carefully.
Rhadames nodded. “I was just thinking that. It might be safer for us to just fly to the entrance with our jet suits.”
“Good idea,” Vahl said, smiling at his Gem while the rest of us nodded. “We should also not hack the doors open but create our own passage. Each team has a kinetic. You can make quick work of getting us inside.”
Lenora and Sylvius both smiled their agreement.
We discussed our plans for a few more minutes before Vahl enjoined us to go get suited up. We hurried to the armory and picked up our respective belts, which we attached around our waists before activating their deployment.