The general turned his fierce attention on her and a smile flashed on his face. Now that was enough to scare Lana. With Corden gone, would she find herself as the fated of another general?
Merely thinking of his name hurt. Lana was deeply upset with herself for that. Her friends, her crew, the Raptor… but it was the warrior she couldn't get out of her head.
Luckily, Worgen said nothing of the sort. His actual words were even more surprising.
"It looks like this ship needs a new captain," he said. "Someone who understands."
You have got to be kidding me. You're just handing this to me?
"Find the bridge," Worgen said, holding her gaze. "Make yourself familiar with the ship. I will tell you what I need soon."
Before leaving Lana alone with her new command, he said with a grin: "If you please me, this ship might be in one piece when I finish with it."
And just like that, he was gone, taking his fighter back to the Abysmal, the "lesson" taught. Lana was left standing in a pool of blood, not believing a word he'd just said, but willing to make them true.
She looked around. A ship like the Flora carried close to a hundred thousand people. The Raptor had had a crew of two hundred.
Lana crouched down, laying her hand on the deck where it wasn't covered in blood. She felt the ship's beating heart, the sweet vibration of the deck under her skin. Luck hadn't been on her side much lately, but this one moment gave her hope again. The Raptor was gone, but she wouldn't lose this one.
She was a captain again.
CHAPTER TEN
Corden
Corden watched the situation unfold, analyzing it all like he always did.
The appearance of the Flora complicated things, but it still didn't make sense. It was Worgen's plan to attack Briolina, there was no way he could have misinterpreted that. That raised several unanswered questions. One, how exactly did he intend to do that?
Worgen was a formidable general and a warrior with the Abysmal at his back, but there was still only one of him. There were fifteen armies he had to go through, each and every one of them ready to abandon whatever they were doing to protect the home world. Even now, they were bound to hover somewhere nearby, waiting for Corden's word. If there was one enemy the Brions didn't underestimate, it was one of their own. They would hold the perimeter around the Abysmal as long as the fleet surrounded it like a living shield. And as long as Corden found out which parts of the legend were true. One of them said the Abysmal couldn't be damaged, not to mention destroyed.
As good of a fighter Worgen was, did he really expect to beat all of them? Corden counted himself among those who could stand against him, now that he knew he could.
His duel with Worgen hadn't been a sure bet in any way though. There was a very particular thrill that only the other general had brought out in him, the feeling of standing on the verge of death. Corden had seen it slip by him several times.
His analytical mind ensured that he wasn't in fights like that often, ones he wasn't sure he could win. But the Brion blood in his veins had loved it... the way his life hung by a thread. There was no denying the pull of his core, but Corden wasn't going to become a slave to it like Worgen had.
So, Worgen intended to take on all of the Brion armies and win. Corden thought it was insanity, to put it simply. No matter how he meant to do it—by force or persuasion or threats—Worgen was bound to fail. He was a legend, but Corden lived in a time of legends, and he’d found them to only be men beneath the myth.
That didn't make any of them less imposing. For sure, Diego Grothan didn't still carry his title because of luck.
The thought of his fellow general's name made Corden grin and slide his fingers over his braid like he was wont to. Most of the Galactic union had never picked up that grothan wasn't Diego's real name, but a title. One given to every Brion warrior the moment the Elders told their fate.
Unlike other accolades and trophies, that title meant little when it was given, and only mattered when the warrior got older. It meant undefeated, marking out a warrior that had never suffered defeat. Not in combat, not in war, not in any way. Usually warriors lost the title before they got out of the academy. The fact Diego still had his was bordering on the impossible.
And that was only one of the men Worgen meant to simply swipe from his path.
It was madness, but Corden was not going to be the one to point it out to him. Worgen was clearly insane and he had no problem with watching the other general doom himself. The question that bothered him a lot more was why hadn't he set course for Briolina yet?#p#分页标题#e#
The answer had to be because he needed something first.
A gesha? Possibly.
As far as Corden could tell, it helped. An involuntary smile crept over his lips when he thought of Lana. He no longer had to rely on the words of other men when describing the sensation of having a gesha. Now he knew and it had all been true. And Worgen was the man standing between him and his fated.
Watching the Flora hover, uncertain, Corden suspected that there was more. Another thing that Worgen wanted before he could venture on to Briolina.
The carrier was acting strangely. For a ship like that, it was nonsense to try and act tough. It had no weapons to defend itself with. And if anyone with half a brain or at least one functioning eye took a good hard look at who their opponent was... Corden frowned.
Rescue missions weren't his priority, but the union would not look kindly upon him standing by and doing nothing. One fighter was not going to help a lot, though. He sent a message to the Claw, telling his own flagship to move closer, but not to engage without his command.
There was too much Corden didn't know, and the only way he was going to get answers was to go and ask.
He watched as the fighters left the Abysmal. Lana was still out there somewhere, needing him. Corden hoped she didn't know how much.
Carefully, he pulled into formation with the rest of the fighters, making sure he didn't dock in the same landing bay as Worgen did.
After all, he was a ghost now.
***
The Flora was a true beauty.
It wasn't the kind of rough brutality that Brions usually liked, but Corden could appreciate the carrier for what it was. And the home of more than a hundred thousand souls was nothing less than a small city. After the general left the bay and the stolen fighter behind, he vanished from sight, which was much easier than it was back on the Raptor.
The huge carrier was a living, breathing organism. It took no skill at all to stay out of sight. Not even his bulk was a problem on a ship with Torons, huge hunched beasts that worked the physically demanding jobs. Their large heads and powerful upper bodies, all covered in smooth gray fur, hid amazing strength. Corden had seen a few of them move cliffs that should have crushed them. As long as he remained no more than a shadow, he could pass for one of them.
There was panic in the air that Corden caught the whiff of as soon as he stepped aboard. His frown deepened as he cursed Worgen, so close to bringing everything down that the Elders had achieved. If the Flora was lost, the union would not forgive. They rightfully relied on the Brions to handle the matter of Worgen, and Corden was the man whose duty it was. In the course of that, he couldn't lose a ship like Flora, almost irreplaceable even without the massive casualties it would have brought.
There was trouble to come, he knew that. One person was capable of amazing things. They could show great courage and portray stunning intelligence, but put a thousand of them in one room and all you had was a disaster. Crowds were stupid, easily scared, and panicky things. Nothing would stop a riot when the incentive was given. And Corden knew it didn't even have to be a good one, nor a just one.
All the people needed was a little push and the Flora would became a monster that ate itself up.
The people had a good reason to be terrified, he agreed. From muted whispers and terrified chatter, Corden learned of the massacre in the landing bay. Worgen was not out to make friends, then, but that was to be expected. His purpose was as brutish as he himself was.
He followed a large group of Brions, staying carefully out of their hearing range. The Flora helped, masking his steps in the shadows under indistinguishable noise.
They walked with purpose, which only meant one thing. Someone was going to die.
Corden considered his options. As far as he could tell, Worgen thought him dead. That was a huge advantage that he didn't want to risk wasting. Not until he had a clear way to win. The Flora offered more hiding places, but there were also so many eyes to see.
Right then, a voice started talking. Corden knew it, because his heart was tuned to the soft timbre, bringing a pleased smile to his lips. So Lana had found a way to get aboard the Flora too. That made things considerably easier for him.
On the carrier, he was free to find and protect his gesha. Already he was feeling the full effects of the bind, pulling him relentlessly to his fated. Staying put and waiting outside of the Abysmal had been the hardest thing he'd ever done when his very being ached for her presence.
Lana spoke to the Flora as their new captain. Her words were calm and wise. She urged the crew to obey the Brions, not resist them, and keep to their own quarters when possible. Corden listened with a grin, knowing the request was destined to fail. But he understood she had to try.#p#分页标题#e#
Corden liked listening to her. It was clear by the sound of her voice that Lana was not immune to the fear the ship reeked of, but hers was in check. Instead of panicking, she was choosing to fight and try to help the people in any way she could. That was admirable to the general. Brions always admired overcoming weaknesses.