Deep, sad eyes looked at him. Corden met their gazes, unflinching. This was it, the moment that he'd find out whether his plan would work.
"Come to the bay on my call," he ordered. "Other than that, you know what to do."
"The dark general," the Toron leader said. "We will get his head."
"You will," Corden promised.
He watched them stomp away, their huge bodies swaying as they went. The general could feel the floor shake under their footsteps. No doubt they would scare the passengers, especially after the events in the atrium. In fact, he was hoping that would happen.
Worgen had to have a reason to come aboard and the more originals he brought with him, the better. The Torons would take care of that. A horde of the beasts were on the move now and they were bound to draw every Brion patrol to them. Especially after it was clear their objective was the lab.
It would be a vicious fight, Corden didn't doubt that, but he wouldn't be there to witness it. He trusted the Torons to be an equal match to the clones. No originals were aboard at the moment. Lana and Yarel had made sure of that. They'd carefully questioned Worgen about it, finding that all of the originals aboard had left with the mad general.
That only left Tuven, Ilen, and Arben.
Corden headed their way, ready to reveal his plan to them at last. He'd kept them in the dark on purpose as well, not willing to risk them turning against him. His tests had proved they really did want to be real Brions again, but that was easy when he was around. The thing Corden was about to ask of them posed a great threat that Worgen would win them back.
The general would have taken any other option over putting their loyalty on the line, but he saw none. That was the way it had to be.
The three warriors were waiting for him when he arrived at the agreed meeting spot. The wounds on their necks had been dealt with, mostly thanks to the Brions' naturally quick healing factor. All three stood on guard when he approached, saluting him fist over heart.
"Your general is coming soon," Corden said.
"Our general is here," Tuven replied, his voice still ruined by the cut on his neck.
Corden wondered if it would ever really heal, but maybe it was better that way. It was a mark, a sign like the valor squares. Only this one served two purposes. It showed a man had been weak, siding with a traitor to all Brions. And it also proved he was taking steps to make up for it. Both were equally important.
Their answer was good, but it didn't banish his doubts.
"I will kill him today," he said, searching their eyes for a reaction.
The result surprised him, honestly. All Brion warriors were loyal to their commanders; it was impossible to follow without it. As such, Corden had expected some sort of protest to the idea, but the valor squares all pulsed joy. Relief, even. Hope.
At a later time, when he had the moment to spare, Corden wanted to know what had happened on the Abysmal during its long exile. Worgen had clearly driven his men mad, one way or another. In some, it manifested in insane obedience, like the warrior who had laughed at the idea of penance. And in others, like the three men before him, it had bred a deep-seated hatred.
They wanted Worgen to die, and were looking forward to it. Any one of them might have challenged the mad general, but Corden doubted they were good enough.
He was and they knew it, that's why they greeted his words with genuine delight.
"I shall do that," Corden said, "while you have a chance to prove yourselves."
They nodded, waiting for his command.
"This is not a test like the one yesterday," the general said, deep and threatening. "I promise I will kill every last one of you myself if you decide to betray me and scrape your names from the annals of our people."
That got their attention. They didn't look hurt by his distrust, knowing they didn't deserve his trust, not yet.#p#分页标题#e#
"We will do as you order, General," said Arben.
You'd better, or there will be no corner in the galaxy dark enough to hide you from me.
"You will take the shuttle you came with and return to the Abysmal," Corden said.
The looks in their eyes told him exactly how little they wanted to do that, but not one protested.
"You are not to leave before Worgen is on his way here. Unlock the other fighters and shuttles in the bay. I won't be coming alone. As for the real task, I don't care what you have to do, but once you are on the Abysmal, you will take control of the station that monitors approaching shuttles," Corden continued.
"Once I have killed your former commander, I will follow you to the Abysmal and conquer it. All of this has to happen before the flagship hears of his death. Under no circumstances is it allowed to shoot at the fleet and the Flora."
The trio nodded now, understanding.
"You can lie or fight your way through the enemies, but you must be quick," Corden said. "I don't expect Worgen to go down easily, but I can't have the Abysmal shoot me to pieces on approach. I will have no way to contact you after this moment. Do you understand what you need to do?"
"Yes, General," they chorused.
He nodded, watching them leave. It was all he could do, to set the pieces in motion. Corden had to trust himself now, above all. Trust that he had made the right judgment calls about all of them... Yarel, the Torons, his new warriors.
He grinned, knowing he had. It wasn't in his nature to doubt himself, but putting Lana on the line shook everything else in his life, made him consider every aspect twice as hard.
Corden didn't have to wait long to hear the ship's intercomm start to report the Toron attacks. Slowly, he started making his way back to the landing bay. And finally he heard the announcement he'd been waiting for.
Worgen had taken the bait. He was coming.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Lana
It was the most nerve-racking thing Lana had ever done.
She stood in the landing bay with Yarel, waiting for the mad general to arrive. Before, he had terrified her as a figure of malice. Worgen had that effect on everyone. That wasn't news. But Lana had her own individual reasons now to want to keep as far away from him as humanly possible.
The Torons were attacking the lab. That was what the report had said that came to the bridge. Lana had felt her heart drop, thinking that it would disrupt Corden's plan, but Yarel calmed her. The Palian looked neither worried nor surprised, so it had to be a part of what Corden had in mind. Lana resisted the urge to try and figure out what was going on. She was bright enough to do it, but purposefully kept her mind blank.
That, of course, left it wide open for the memories of Worgen to flood back. Lana had never before felt so helpless. If the mad general decided he'd honored the gesha fighting tradition, it was all over for her. She didn't know where Corden was, but if he didn't reach her in time, Lana would be out of his reach on the Abysmal.
She didn't even want to imagine what would happen there.
Worgen's fighter landed and the general approached, flanked by his warriors. Lana noticed there were quite a few of them this time, clearly ready to defend the lab.
The mad general's eyes were burning with promise of violence. Lana prayed to any god that could hear her that Corden's plan worked, because if it didn't, a lot of people were about to die.
"What happened here?" the general growled at her, the venom in his voice forcing Lana to take a step back.
"I wasn't there, General," she began, "so I know what I was told. The Torons attacked the lab and managed to kill some of your men."
The roar that escaped Worgen's lips was almost inhuman. Lana exchanged a quick look with Yarel, who was similarly shaken. The captain honestly didn't think Worgen cared that much about his men, but their deaths were an irreplaceable loss.
"That is impossible," the general said, the dark eyes beaming with fury. "My men are Brions, real warriors. The Torons are beasts, nothing more than animals. They might hurt the clones, but these were real fighters."
"The Palians tell me the men were sedated at the time," she said, wincing when Worgen's gaze became outright murderous. "They were in the middle of a procedure."
The mad general stomped closer to her, his fiery armor engulfed in red flames. It wasn't the first time Lana thought he looked like a demon straight out of hell. Only this demon was real.#p#分页标题#e#
"You were responsible for the safety of my men," he growled.
"With all due respect, General," Lana argued, despite the fact her heart was beating so loudly she could almost hear it. "You just said it. I didn't believe your men were in danger. And the Torons seemed to have calmed down."
"Clearly they did not," Worgen said, coming closer until he stood right in front of her.
Lana didn't dare back away further. It would have practically meant running away from the general. She forced herself to stand her ground and face whatever came.
"Yes," she said. "I didn't know it would happen."
"You should have," the mad general said. "Now the Flora is going to pay for this."
"No," Lana protested at once, but Worgen was done listening to her.
"Do not worry," he said coldly, "I will not hurt you."
"That is not what I meant," Lana countered. "The ship has done everything you asked. This is not their fault."
"A lesson must be taught. No one disobeys me."