Earth

2017

Sparks of electricity danced across the bright blue sky in a web. Morfrain shielded himself against Vehru's attack, deflecting the strike into a high arc. With their attention solely upon each other, Rory had to move fast to take advantage of the situation.

"Really?" Morfrain called out. "You're using your Replica on me now? It can't help you defeat me. Don't draw her away from important operations for a battle you will never win."

Rory did not know enough about how the Replica worked to know just how vulnerable this would leave Vehru's operations. Certainly, much of what the Replica did must have been automated, and programs must have run independently at all times. But the more advanced processes would be affected by this distraction. Perfect.

Vehru fired another explosive beam of electricity with one hand while holding the other hand toward Morfrain, her palm shimmering as if a thick gas floated around it. Morfrain's body shook as it was pulled toward Vehru. The deployables all shot at the same time.

Something had to hit.

Morfrain cried out and unleashed what looked like a gust of wind in a perfect sphere around his body, pushing it out in all directions. The electricity slowed, but pushed through, while the shots from the deployables scattered in the wind. Morfrain twisted to the side, catching only the edge of the sparking beam. His face twisted in pain, but it didn't slow him down as he rushed Vehru. At the last second, he flew straight up instead, leaving what looked like a perfectly round, dense black orb in his place.

Vehru dove for the ground.

A powerful wind ripped at Rory and Jace, managing to knock her over and drag them both across the ground. Leaves and then branches snapped off the tree and raced toward the orb. It was sucking everything into its center.

Vehru aimed her palm and slowly the orb began to collapse, though it still dragged everything in the surroundings toward it, until finally it disappeared.

It was hard to turn away from the commanders as they flew toward one another again, their hits as loud as thunder and powerful enough to shake the ground. Rory had to act now though.

Jace had loaded all of the data he brought onto her handmods and Theo had taken the box of handmods she had built with him. The technology in the ones Jace had brought her would not hold up against the Replica for long, but it could get the job done for a short time if she used the stealth mode. Even though Rory could not do nearly as much as Trin had been able to with such functions, hacking her phone to get connected to a more secure network connection was easy enough. Keeping the Replica out, now that was a different matter. She'd ping locations from dozens of countries to hide the best she could. Even with her efforts, the most time she could buy would be five minutes, and more likely only one.

Fortunately, their technology for compressing data was incredible and so Theo could receive it quickly. It should take less than a minute. Rory hoped, at least, that it would and that her homemade mods would function as expected. Using her phone to facilitate the connection, Rory began the data transfer.

Beside her, Jace had fallen unconscious again and didn't appear to be rousing this time. He needed medical care soon. Kneeling down, Rory pretended only to be shielding him from the intensifying fight, while really she withdrew her phone and connected it to her hand mod.

When she hit record, she kept her voice low and the phone out of sight. "I don't have long. If you see this video, try to save it." Her livestreams always picked up views immediately and she could only hope given the state of the world, even more would see it. "Theo, check what I made. I love you." Her voice thickened even though she tried to prevent it. Already, Rory missed him, and needed to see him again.

"My first husband from Lumiea is a general for Commander Vehru. He tried to help Earth and they nearly killed him for it." She glanced behind herself to make sure she hadn't been noticed and then switched cameras on her phone to capture Jace. "There's resistance within the Lumiean forces because even Vehru's own troops know she is not a liberator but a conqueror."

A few more seconds and the data would be done transmitting. Rory swallowed hard as she switched the camera back to herself.

"Don't give up and don't believe the Federation's lies. There is help–"

Her screen went black. She cursed and looked at her handmod, hoping the data had finished sending.

The sounds of the battle ceased. With a deep breath, Rory rose and lifted her face to see both Commanders staring at her with a look of shock.

"What did you do?" Vehru asked.

Transmitting the data must have worked, because Vehru would not have looked like that over one video. Time for the next, and arguably, hardest part. Rory steadied herself so she could speak with a strong voice and defied the resistance within herself by closing herself off from what she felt. This was the last thing that Rory ever wanted to do. Looking back through her life, though, from the time when she had to leave home to train, to when she dedicated herself as a young soldier, to realizing everything she'd known was a lie, Rory saw how it had all led her here. The rest was even harder. Loving Jace and Levi. Losing them. Building a life on Earth despite having nothing, not even her own memories. Making a home with her best friend only to remember the one she left behind. All along the way, Rory had fought against Vehru and Morfrain. At every turn, they'd proven untouchable.

Now, it did not look promising for Earth and Jace lay broken on the ground. Nothing would change if Rory did not seize power for herself and have the opportunity to actually fight. All this sacrifice would be in vain if she didn't do this. So, it didn't matter what she wanted, or even believed, or who she was. Rory needed to become more than she had ever been.

With her eyes on Vehru and then Morfrain, Rory spoke.

"We'll do it."

Her stomach tensed at her own words. Vehru and Morfrain both continued to stare as if they hadn't understood what she had said.

"Jace and I will take the biomechanical bodies. We'll do it together."

Vehru drew her head back. "You don't know what you're saying."

"I think you should give us our new bodies soon," Rory said. "You could use our help cleaning up the problems I just made for you here on Earth."

"The insolence," Morfrain said.

Then, both commanders hesitated, their focused eyes looking like they studied something. Vehru's eyes closed and her head lowered slightly. Maybe she had just seen the video, or she just now had received all the information on what Rory had done. Vehru would not be able to connect with those handmods. They were made on Earth and had never been paired with any Lumian tech. Theo would have the data now and he could give it to the U.N. Rory just hoped that he could stay safe while doing it. The fear of what could happen to the people she felt like the sky above them, the air around them, the ground beneath her feet. Encompassing and never-ending.

Morfrain growled and darted through the sky straight at Rory. She braced herself, expecting this, but at a loss for how to defend herself against him.

Vehru slammed into Morfrain, grabbed his shoulders, and screamed as she drove him back.

"What are you doing?" Morfrain shoved her and raised his palm to her face with energy glowing from his palm. "That bitch just dropped classified intel–"

"I'll deal with her."

"This is the problem. You've been left alone with these humans for far too long."

"It's your fault that she did this. You brought this on us by nearly killing Jace and distracting me by not returning to the base like I told you to. Do you not realize that if you push someone too far without breaking them you're only fueling their battle against you?"

This was not too different from what Rory had told Vehru the day she'd regained the rest of her memories while the troops invaded Fort Freedom. Had Vehru learned her lesson from this or had she tried to do this to Rory all along? No, she couldn't give Vehru credit for everything. The woman could not anticipate and plan for everything Rory would ever do.

Although, Rory did not claim to understand the capabilities of the Replica and what she could determine by studying Rory's behavior for decades. It made her stomach feel queasy to think about.

"Then I'll just have to break them this time." Morfrain snarled.

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"They've been through too much. It'll take too much to steal their fight and they'll be of no use anymore. A person can only handle so much."

"You will say anything to protect your pets."

"We don't have time for this." Vehru raised her finger at him. "We need to clean up the damage before it gets worse and get back to work. Our battle can wait. The Federation will not accept failure."

Morfrain's hand shifted and the blast erupted from his palm in Rory's direction. Her shield materialized around her, but it was too slow. Heat engulfed her the moment before it hit, the energy so hot that it singed her entire body.

A feeling like falling filled the pit of her stomach when she expected the pain to hit her. Trees towered over her with Jace at her feet.

Vehru had moved her. Why was the commander protecting her?

Shadows passed over Rory. She covered Jace and looked up to see both Commanders hovering above her, their faces tense and eyes narrowed. No one attacked this time, though.

"I want everyone here to understand that this is not over," Morfrain said. "We cannot spare more time and since you're being difficult, Commander Vehru, we will have to pick this up at a later time."

"Five minutes," Vehru said. "My Replica is managing right now but we need to get moving."

They lowered to the ground and Rory erected a shield to block Jace and herself, though she knew it would not do much good against these two if they chose to attack.

"I don't believe you have any intention of conquering worlds," Morfrain said. "However, I still hold out hope for Jace. After what you did, I cannot leave you alive unless you give me a good reason to do so."

"Neither one of them are going to do it, you imbecile," Vehru said. "They're going to come after us. And I'm not going to let you kill my Witness either way."

Morfrain snorted. "The only reason you worry is because you're deluded enough to believe that you can actually defeat me or change the Federation. Perhaps, you even think you can fight them. Biomechanical bodies will not help you take me or anyone else at the Federation on."

From what Rory saw, Vehru and Morfrain seemed evenly matched. Where did Morfrain's confidence come from?

"Why do you have no fear of giving us bodies?" She looked at Vehru now. "What is different from her body than yours?"

Morfrain smirked. "It's no secret to Vehru. This body belongs to the Federation as long as she's still serving her tenure. She could lose it as quickly as your friend Trin lost hers."

"And yet here I am." Vehru stared Morfrain down. "You don't speak for the Federation."

"Trust me, by the end of this conquest, they will see what you're doing and turn on you."

"I'm protecting their investments from a crusty old commander who doesn't know when it's time to retire."

So, would taking on new forms leave them in the same exact situation? Where they could instantly be killed? How could it always turn out to be so hopeless?

Rory could say plenty of things about Vehru, but she couldn't call her naively idealistic or stupid. Morfrain would never accept Vehru as a threat because he truly believed in his superiority and his control over her. But no one knew better than Rory what a serious danger Vehru could be.

The Federation favored Vehru. She'd been manipulating the situation for hundreds of years. Rory wanted to ask her if biomechanical bodies would mean that the Federation could alter their mind, except that the neuroweb already did that. Trin had lost her mind and body to the Federation and to Vehru.

Jace had denied Morfrain's offer for her sake. She had no doubt of that. He knew that she would never live with any complicity in conquering planets and he was smart enough to know that the Federation could force them. Still, the Federation could do that now. They could take over Rory and Jace's minds, give them mechanical bodies, and have an AI work through them. That was convoluted and ridiculous. The benefit of recruiting real humans as commanders came from their individuality. Morfrain and Vehru both had wildly different approaches, which had led them to war, but also benefited the Federation previously.

The way Rory saw it, taking the biomechanical bodies gave them hope. It could kill them in the end, but weren't they dead anyway? Right now, Jace could hardly breathe. Surely, he needed oxygen soon or he'd be in trouble. Rory was done living beneath the heel of these commanders who had synthetic forms.

While Vehru knew not to underestimate Rory, Morfrain didn't. That sounded like an advantage to her. And if Vehru was scared for Rory and Jace to have a better form, then it only pleased her.

"If you think you can't handle us, then leave us like this," Rory said, eyes on Morfrain. "With your training, we could be the greatest conquerors you've ever recruited, even if I don't believe there's any chance of that happening."

The grin that crawled onto Morfrain's face shone with arrogance and pride. "I don't know about you, girl. You seem awfully soft-hearted. Jace held back because of your weakness. What makes you think you can stand against me."

"It's not weakness," Vehru said. "You don't understand people. It's a mistake to give any of them a body, especially Rory."

"You're afraid of this child?" Morfrain asked. "Then you're even less of a match for me than I realized."

"I'm telling you." Vehru faced him. "If you give Rory a synthetic body and I have not yet killed you, then she will. You tortured her husband."

"It's never going to happen. None of you can kill me and even if you could…" He shrugged. "These two have each other and you have your mother."

A dangerous look sparked in Vehru's eyes. "Did you just fucking threaten her?"

"Don't be so sensitive. Of course, I fucking threatened her. You're going to declare war on me and think I won't destroy everything you love out of the pure spite of it." He shook his head. "I know you two have your little agreement. Leave Levi out of it and your mother will be left out too. You should all remember that I have not made such promises."

While Rory expected vitriol to erupt from Vehru, she instead became very quiet and very still, so much that Rory realized that she may have briefly seen the real Vehru just now. The commander played so many mind games, it was impossible to know what was real and what wasn't. That silent but lethal look she gave Morfrain most certainly was authentic.

It was the most frightening Vehru had ever looked, even though Morfrain did not appear to even notice. Apparently believing he'd won the match, instead of realizing that he'd only pushed Vehru into a more deadly position, Morfrain walked toward Rory.

The five minutes had almost ended and she could not cower behind this shield. Leaving it up for Jace, Rory stepped around it to meet Morfrain head on.

"I am curious about you, after your stunt today," he said. "Knowing what it could cost you and Jace, you still threw a bone to the Earthlings. It must have been you who pushed Jace to visit me when I'm certain he would have put your safety first." He seemed to consider her. "Understandable, given that you are still getting to know me. I will pay you back in due time and Jace won't be able to help but come around."

"Believe whatever you want as long as you give us the biomechanical bodies."

"So, Vehru was right about what you plan to do."

Sudden flashes of Morfrain pummeling Jace's ribs flooded her mind so she could hardly even think.

"Is it true?" Morfrain lifted her chin with a single finger, seeming delighted by anger he must have seen etched into her face. "Will you kill me?"

Rory gazed into his cold eyes and though her insides burned hotter than any blast of energy he could ever release, she kept her expression as cool as his. "I might let Jace do it."

He tilted his head back and laughed loudly as he dropped his hand. Took another breath and then laughed again. "Oh," he said. "That's incredible." His stare shifted to Jace's unmoving form. "It will be such a pleasure to win you both over to my side. I may get five hundred years out of you like I did with Vehru. Plenty of time to find a replacement."

Sliding back so he could also see Vehru, Morfrain shrugged.

"I hope you all enjoy playing your game together. You deserve entertainment in your final days, Vehru, and it will be a learning experience for you, Rory."

The bitterness, anguish, and hatred Rory had so often felt for Vehru always seemed as powerful as the sun, radiating over her whole world. Nothing could have been more powerful than that. At least, she'd believed that. Rory took no pleasure in taking life, but Morfrain tempted her.

"I will leave the boy out of it for now," Morfrain said. "He can be our last resort if Jace has not come around by the time I need him to."

If Jace had been awake to hear that, he would have lost his temper, even though he couldn't breathe. Rory wanted to, but she wouldn't give Morfrain the pleasure.

"When will we have our bodies?"

"I'm the one who recruits new Commanders. The Federation has never denied me. They'll be willing to give you, Jace, and Levi a body. I suppose you'll want one for your scientist. I'll see what I can do."

"Just like that? You hand us an incredibly advanced new form?"

"Understand what you're accepting." Morfrain lost the glint in his eye and the smirk. "You'll be committing to one of your serving as Commander for at least eight hundred years. Failure to honor your agreement will result in all of you instantly being removed from the bodies. That's death. For you, Jace, your son, likely Theo."

Hearing it so plainly made her thoughts fuzzy with panic. What was she doing? Rory clenched her teeth, refusing to give into weakness. "We'll take the bodies."

"And the commitment."

Rory said nothing.

"The High Commanders will want to speak with the whole family. It's a process. They don't need to know anything about what is happening down here. Understand?"

"Yes."

"I don't want you embarrassing me. So, if you can't cut it, then back out. I'll make sure you suffer a very long time if I send you to the Federation and you make me look bad."

Rory could feel Vehru's stare. She looked over to the woman, unable to draw in a breath. Insead of anger or frustration, Rory saw only fear. Commander Vehru looked frightened.

A shuddering breath escaped. Had Rory taken her family from an impossible and hopeless situation only to push them into one that somehow was even worse? "We can handle ourselves." Rory managed to sound so confident that it shocked her.

"We'll see." Morfrain's fist flashed like a lightning strike, so fast she barely caught it. He socked her in her stomach, making her body cave in on itself, forcing all the air from her lungs.

Rory slid onto the ground, choking on a gasp of air.

"Morfrain," Vehru warned, sliding to a stop beside her.

"Don't toy around with my conquest anymore, you fucking pathetic bitch."

Her blurry vision made Morfrain split into two.

"What you did won't stop us," he said. "It'll only get more people on Earth killed. I'll make sure of that." Then his attention shifted to Vehru. "Relax. It's just a warning."

"Leave," Vehru said.

The pain and weakness of that one hit immobilized Rory entirely. Jace had undergone more enhancements than she had, but still it crushed her to think of how many times Morfrain must have hit him.

As soon as the Commander disappeared, Vehru reached for Rory. "Sleep." When Rory tensed, the commander sighed. "I promise, I'm only going to take you someplace safe."

"Why did you help us?"

Vehru didn't answer.

Calm came first as a warm blanket and then the quiet followed, as Rory drifted to sleep.