“They were soldiers, not civilians,” I need to nip that thinking in the bud.
I put on my heavy armor piece of by piece. It looks closer to riot gear than a military uniform, but my suit is gold, and the helmet is fashioned to resemble a crown. The exterior is comprised of an alloy called mithril, which is one of the hardest metals in theworld, and only mined in Uzrirgard. The interior is soft leather, reinforced by carbon fibers. I could take at least one shot from a tank in this suit, as long as it isn’t point blank.
“Wow,” Clover exclaims. “Now you really do like you’re going to war.”
“I’m going to lead my army,” I say, strapping two rifles to my back and grabbing my axe, which is what I prefer to fight with. “But if there’s a fight, I certainly won’t run from it.”
“Is there any way we could get a message to the people back home? Could we let them know we’re coming?” Clover asks.
“We?” I growl, turning to face her. “You’renot going anywhere. You’re staying here where it’s safe.”
“I’m the face of the revolution. They’re chanting my name,” she pushes back. “I’m the link between humans and orcs right now. If you want them to believe you’re coming to help them, then the message needs to come from me.”
As much as I hate it, she’s right. We put her in front of the cameras and let her tell the truth. It was the fuse that sparked an uprising. She belongs in this fight more than I do.
“Fine,” I grunt. “But you stay in the Mobile Command Center. You’ll be safer there. Let’s go.”
I walk to the door and she hurries after me. “How do we get a message to them?”
“Same way we did last time,” I growl. “With everything going on right now, it should be even easier to hack their television broadcasts. We’ll do it from the ship.”
We go downstairs to the garage. I receive several notifications from the Lords and Ladies. They’re mobilized, in the air, and a few are almost to Concord City. Once the arrangements are made for Clover to speak to the humans again, we get on the ship.
“Lord Frax’mo is routing the signal to the communication system,” I tell Clover, leaning over and pointing to a button. “Hit that when you’re ready to go live.”
“Anything specific I should say this time?” she asks.
“You know what to say,” I try to encourage her. “Speak from the heart, just like before. I don’t think you really needed your notes for anything other than the statistics.”
“Okay,” she replies with the strength of her mettle, taking a deep breath.
Clover hits the button and the screen in front of her lights up. I gesture to the green light, so that she knows where it is. If it goes red, we’ve lost the signal. I doubt the humans will be quick to react this time, considering what is going on in Concord City.
“No more sons. No more daughters. No more Clovers,” she begins. “You’ve turned President Highton’s words against him, and your voices are so loud, we can hear them in Uzrirgard.”
I reach over and squeeze her hand. She’s as nervous as she was the last time, but I can see the determination in her pretty brown eyes. She’s got this.
“Politicians are being held accountable for betraying the people who trusted them. Angelina Markston’s factories are burning. People who should have always been free are finally seeing the light of day again,” she continues. “But the fight isn’t over.President Highton is sending troops to silence you. They’ve been ordered to do it by any means necessary.”
She takes a deep breath, squeezing my hand hard.
“If you’re wearing a uniform and you’ve been ordered to attack innocent people in the streets, listen to me! Those people are not your enemy. They are your families. Your neighbors. Your friends. They are the people you swore toprotect,” she declares passionately. “If you turn your weapons on them, you are not defending your country. You’re defending the men and women who sold us for their own selfish profit. Who betrayed and used us.”
I tap the screen in front of me and show her the live footage of the warships already moving toward Concord City.
“Heed my words, becauseI’m coming, and I’m not coming alone,” she speaks with the strength of her convictions, and it send chills down my spine. “The orcs are already landing outside Concord City. They arenotthere to start a war. They are there to stop a massacre. If you love your country and your families,stand down. Don’t obey a coward who hides behind palace gates while ordering you to spill innocent blood. Don’t?—”
The light turns red and she lets out a sigh.
“Damn it, we lost the signal,” I mutter. “But it doesn’t matter. We’ll be there soon.”
“I don’t know if I got through to them,” she looks at me with pain in her eyes, tearing up. “I wanted to say something to my parents, but I didn’t want to put them in danger. I… I feel like I should have said something different.”
“You spoke from the heart,” I say, squeezing her hand as I turn my ship toward Concord City. “Now, what do you say we cut the head off this snake before it gets a chance to bite anyone else?”
“What do you mean?” she asks, glancing over at me.
“I just got a report from Lord Frax’mo. President Highton is confirmed to be hiding at the Presidential Palace,” I inform my little human girl. “He tried to flee several times last night, but there were too many protesters. That’s why he’s bringing in the military. If he goes off the grid, we may never find him.”
