Alien General's Beloved: SciFi Alien Romance (Brion Brides) (17 page)

They reminded Corden of the mechanized AIs and mechs he'd trained with when he'd been a child. Programmed to remember basic fighting stances, strikes, and blows, they were easy tools for combat training when a warrior was still building up his speed and strength.

That's what it felt like to fight the cold Brions. They were powerful enough to overcome most of the others, but not Corden. He went through them with a kind of ease that bothered him. Not only were they a disgrace to the Brion name, it had the bad taste of killing enemies who weren't really able to defend themselves.

He remembered the Torons tearing the warriors to shreds, too. So easy. How could it be so easy? They should have been better, but the only one who seemed to have benefited from their long exile was Worgen.

Corden cut, slashed, and pushed through the units he met. Every time, the Brions greeted him with the same reckless abandon, only to pull back a little when they saw he wasn't going down. The general delivered them the only mercy he could, giving them a quick death.

It was a blur of blades and blood and flesh until he recognized a face. No realization dawned in the eyes of the warrior Corden could have sworn he'd killed once before. It was the same man, he was certain of it. The one who had promised him they'd meet again.

But it was too late. In the time it took to see the face of a dead man, Corden had already killed him. In the middle of a battle, a Brion became an unstoppable killing machine, not pausing until all the enemies were dead. Coming to a halt in the middle of it took time, like applying the brakes on a huge machine.

The general was left watching the body of the familiar warrior slump to the ground for the second time. Once again, he was the last one to do so, implying he was better than the rest. Possibly the unit leader, although he barely acted like one.

Corden watched him die, the spear in his hand dripping with blood. As the warrior dragged in his final, rasping breaths, he kept his eyes on Corden. The general half-expected him to say something about his vow, but the warrior didn't seem to remember. Instead, as his eyes closed for the last, he said:

"I will see you again."

Corden had led a very eventful life, but that had definitely not happened to him before. It would have been amusing if it wasn't so perplexing. When someone was killed by a Brion, they usually stayed firmly dead. This was a first.

It couldn't have been the same man, the general knew that. He'd watched the warrior get torn into pieces by the Torons. He was about to check if this one really died when footsteps sounded from behind him.

This time, he encountered the
Levi
's crew. Three men rounded the corner, guns held in shaking hands before them. The sight that greeted them was Corden, crouching over a pile of dead Brions. It should have told the newcomers he was an ally, but he supposed it was understandable he didn't have a calming effect on them. Seeing a man covered in blood and wielding a spear twice their height didn't say
safe
, exactly.

They opened fire.

Despite the obvious terror, the men were trained and their aim wasn't off. Another man might have been cut down in the hail of bullets, but Corden's reflexes were far beyond their understanding. He was moving before the first shot sounded, dashing toward them, staying out of the line of fire.

No living being could have dodged bullets shot at such close range, but as he neared, the men stopped shooting. The sheer shock of someone running headlong into the guns was enough to make them stumble back.

Corden swept their feet from under them in one quick strike, leaving all three lying on the floor, staring up at the razor-sharp blade of his spear.

"Drop the guns," he growled.

They did. The guns practically fell out of their grasps, clattering to the ground. The men seemed to search for words to plea with, but Corden had no time for them.

"Do you want to live?" he asked.

They nodded, yes, they very much wanted to live.

"I will let you stand and you will not attempt to do anything stupid, like flee," Corden said.

Nods were once again the only answer. At least that much was good. Men who wanted to live were usually very susceptible to suggestions on the matter. They stood, eyes nailed to him, or more specifically, the spear in his hands.

The easy part was over. Now came the risk. Corden needed to make sure that the three were not about to blabber about him once they were gone. Worgen was no fool. He would take any risk to his survival seriously.

He sheathed the spear. The eyes of the three crewmen followed the weapon.

"Now," the general said, his voice dropping to a dangerous, savage growl.

The men almost jumped into the air. He had their attention now, but what he needed was their fear. It was not what Lana had had in mind, of course. His
gesha
believed that if he explained to them that he was an ally, the crew would keep his secret.

That was not so; Corden knew that. Honor and loyalty were motivators for brave men, but the fleet had proved it lacked such courage. He couldn't honestly blame them, but it was not something he could trust in. What he needed was pure, animalistic terror.

"You will leave this ship," he said slowly, to emphasize every word to make sure he didn't need to repeat himself. "You will say this to your captain and him alone. Everyone must leave, at once. Take whatever pods or ships you need and fly to the nearest ship. Stay away from
Levi
."

They listened, but Corden had to know they understood.

"Nod," he ordered.

Three quick nods answered him, so insistent the general heard their necks creak.

Corden took a step closer, letting them take in the image of him. Brions had always made an effort to look as terrifying as possible. It was a part of their strategy, to stop potential enemies from ever even contemplating waging war against them. He saw the way they shook, like they were caught in the instincts of a prey animal. Wanting to run, but not daring to.

Corden heard their hearts beat wildly, saw the whites of their eyes, telltale signs of absolute horror. He waited, coming even closer, listening to their rapid heartbeats. Waited, until the general was sure he could order them to stop breathing. Only then did he go on.

"You will not breathe a word about me," he said quietly, to make them strain to hear him. "Not to anyone. Do you still want to live?"

The question was spoken almost as a whisper. The men nodded, puppet-like, barely able to stand. Corden looked each in the eye before turning and walking away from them. The guns were still on the ground, but none of the men moved to grab one.

They stood, shaking, until he was out of sight. Corden watched them from the shadows, hidden from their eyes, but not gone. A grin curled on his lips when after half a minute, they still hadn't moved from there they stood frozen.

"
Now
," he snarled from the darkness, and the three ran like the gods themselves were on their tails.

Corden waited until he could no longer hear their panicked escape and walked slowly back to the Brions. Listening to the ship's inner comm announce that everyone was to leave and head for the nearest ship, he took one more look at the man he'd met before. It was an answer to one of his questions for sure.

Time was running out. The
Levi
had to move quickly after the escape pods blasted off, to draw attention away from their escape. It didn't matter where the nuclear cores were, they would still detonate on impact with the
Abysmal
.

Corden slowly approached the bridge, keeping track of the announcements coming from the speakers. Once he was sure that most of the crew had left, the general made his way to the bridge.

The last crew members rushed by him as he went, close enough to almost touch him. It amused Corden. He'd learned a long time ago that people mostly saw what they believed they saw. There couldn't have been a man standing so close to them in the shadows, so they blocked any small signs he might have given them.

It was truly disappointing that the trick also worked with most Brions.

The bridge was empty when Corden arrived. There was no reason to be heroic when all resistance was already stopped in advance. The captain had left with his officers, leaving only the prevailing smell of fear behind. From the screens, Corden saw the
Abysmal
waking slowly, the huge warship turning to the
Levi
.

He calculated a course for the ship and entered it into the system.
Levi
began to slowly move toward the warship and Corden rushed back to the bay. The ship would pick up speed and hit the
Abysmal
straight on. At least in this the warship's immensity came to their aid. There was no way a ship that big could move out of the way of the
Levi
.

The fighter took off and Corden was out of their improvised bullet right when it began to accelerate. He pulled back to a safe distance and watched the plan unfold. His presumption had been right.

As soon as the
Levi
changed course and headed for the warship, the
Abysmal
focused on the immediate threat, leaving the fleeing escape pods alone. Corden didn't see if any of them had been hit, but those were the risks of war.

The
Levi
was dashing forward. The general could sense the way the rest of the fleet was holding its breath. All eyes had to be on the screens, watching as the lone ship made its attack on the enemy.

But the
Abysmal
was far from helpless itself. The port gun batteries opened fire upon the incoming ship, but they were unable to get a good shot. Corden had plotted a clever course, keeping the
Levi
in the cover of the
Abysmal
itself, so the warship's firing solution was hindered. A few hit home though, knocking the ship-bullet off course.

That was unfortunate, but Corden knew there had been no way to ensure where it hit. He'd aimed it at the docking bay to cause maximum damage, knowing that the bridge and the engines were likely more heavily reinforced. But anywhere the
Levi
hit was good. At least they'd know.

And know they did.

Levi
hit the
Abysmal
head-on, crashing into its obsidian surface. The
Levi
was destroyed on collision, the speed it had gathered tremendous. The engine exploded, setting off the nuclear cores. The force of the impact sent smaller ships hurling that hadn't gotten away. For long moments, everything was a whirlwind before the vacuum of space ate away the flames.

And the
Abysmal
... was unharmed. Corden sat in the fighter, filing away the information almost automatically. He hadn't really expected the collision to do much damage—the Brion warships were built for much worse—but the reality was grimmer than he'd thought.

There wasn't even a scratch on the
Abysmal
. Like Worgen, it lived up to its legend.
 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Lana

Lana watched the
Levi
on the screens.

A thousand thoughts raced through the captain's mind. She wondered if the crew had made it to safety, if
Corden
had gotten far enough. Her pulse quickened when she thought of him, no matter how hard she tried to focus on more important matters.

Silly girl,
she told herself.
The galaxy is going to hell and you're thinking of him.

But the heart wanted what it wanted. As the
Levi
crashed into the Brion warship, Lana watched, hoping that she wasn't costing anyone their life with her plan.

Standing beside her in one of the greater atriums was Worgen. The general was observing the attack take place along with everyone else. Lana had never heard so many people keep silent, but the thousands around them barely breathed.

She'd been right about that, at least. Everyone wanted to know what would happen. Of course, she benefited from knowing there wasn't anyone aboard.

They all saw it happen. The
Levi
colliding with the warship, the detonations, the smaller ships of the fleet trying to run from the explosion. And the
Abysmal
, not even scratched.

If it was a person
, Lana thought,
it wouldn't have even blinked an eye.

Weirdly, she didn't even feel the bitter sting of disappointment. The shock had overridden every other emotion. It was as if seeing the futility of fighting back had killed all her emotions, but Worgen had a way of relighting them again.

When the general moved, turning to her, Lana felt every hair on her body stand on end.

Relax. You prepared for this. You knew this was coming.

Around her, other people were not taking the
Levi
's failing as well as she was. The gathered Palians watched with cold sadness, but many Terrans were openly crying. Lana couldn't blame them. To them, it looked like a suicide mission meant to save the fleet, but all it had done was prove their helplessness once and for all.

"Interesting," Worgen said, the gravelly voice cutting straight to her core. "I would have thought everyone in this fleet had already learned their lesson."

Lana knew she had to speak, distract him, before he managed to ask her straight out. If Worgen read the lie in her, there were no words in any language that could have saved her.

"People are scared," Lana said, nodding her head toward those around them who were pale as ghosts. "What do you expect, General? Desperate people do desperate things."

"They do," Worgen agreed, coming closer to her, into Lana's personal space.

His presence was disgusting to her, but Lana didn't dare pull away. Even when that demonic, smoking, red-hot armor of his got close to almost burn, she stood her ground. It was natural for her to fear. Worgen couldn't hold that against her when he tried so hard to inspire it. But if she ran, it would only prove her guilt.