Page 22 of Cheating Fate

“True,” Vahl conceded. “But that’s if we think in terms of the base having been set up with the deliberate intention of conning trainees. My gut says that this wider entrance at the other end of the closed off area might be some kind of ship hangar. The smaller doors on the side seemed to be the perfect size for a small shuttle to dock for someone visiting only to drop off something or someone.”

“So you suggest we go in one of the sides?” Trehvus asked.

It was Vahl’s turn to purse his lips as he pondered the matter. “Not one side but both,” he said at last, taking us by surprise. “There’s eight of us and three prisoners to rescue. I do not feel confident about splitting us into three teams, but two equal teams of four would allow us to cover a lot more distance faster.”

I nodded. “Smaller teams will also reduce the risk of detection instead of one big group. Do we have any scans of the base available?”

Vahl shook his head. “I looked for it when I was zooming and rotating the base. This exterior view is all we have.”

“We can perform some scans as we approach with the shuttle,” Rhadames said, echoing my thoughts.

We all nodded.

“Zhara, you will take the eastern entrance with Lenora and the twins,” Vahl said in a commanding tone while pointing at the left side of the secret base. “I will go to the western entrance with Rhad, Reyes, and Sylvius.”

No one even considered questioning his order. As frustrated as I was with my brother right now, I truly respected and admired him as a natural born leader. It had nothing to do with the prophecies that stated he would be the Great General leading the galaxy into the bloodiest war in memory. He just had this aura of authority that we instantly wanted to follow. That he was extremely smart, powerful, protective, and humble in his ability to listen instead of throwing his weight around played a big role in us choosing him as our leader.

Everyone adored him.

“While I agree with you that these side doors probably act as hatches to dock small vessels, I don’t think we should do that,” I said carefully.

Rhadames nodded. “I was just thinking that. It might be safer for us to just fly to the entrance with our jet suits.”

“Good idea,” Vahl said, smiling at his Gem while the rest of us nodded. “We should also not hack the doors open but create our own passage. Each team has a kinetic. You can make quick work of getting us inside.”

Lenora and Sylvius both smiled their agreement.

We discussed our plans for a few more minutes before Vahl enjoined us to go get suited up. We hurried to the armory and picked up our respective belts, which we attached around our waists before activating their deployment.

The nanites immediately kicked into action, deploying over us almost like an oil spill, covering each centimeter of our bodies with one of the most impenetrable armor in the galaxy made of celesium. It was a metal engineered by the Veredians which had the entire universe drooling with envy. Our army, the Tuureans, used to be the only one to enjoy this amazing technology. But now that my father led the Sentinels—who were bound to Veredia—this new peacekeeping force also got to benefit from it.

The intelligent suit was truly a marvel. It interfaced with our brain waves to anticipate many of our needs and actions. If we were about to punch something extremely hard, it would reinforce the support around our bones and articulations, creating a dampening effect to reduce the risk of injury to ourselves. If our environment got too hot or too cold, it would regulate the temperature inside the suit to keep us comfortable. If we sustained any injury or became poisoned, the medical nanites would kick into action to promptly start mending us or use mitigating measures until we were able to be properly tended to.

We didn’t close the helmet over our faces just yet. Once we did, to the whole world, it would look as if we had a tinted glass visor covering our faces. While they couldn’t see us, we could still see each other through the visor. It also served as an overhead display with various tactical information about our environment, nearby targets, and our own status.

In the case of the females, closing our helmet would also deploy the armor around our braid, tipping it with a delightfully vicious blade. Like all my Sisters, I loved using my braid in combat. There was something primal and raw about it. Strangely enough, although our males also tended to grow their hair fairly long to the small of their backs, they didn’t use the armored braid.

When I questioned Aunt Lee about it, she explained that at the time the Tuurean army was formed, we no longer had any surviving Veredian males. Our species had been on the verge of extinction, and the complete armor with tainted visor had been devised to give the illusion that the Tuureans were a mysterious species with both traditional genders. At the time, had people realized that the powerful army they believed to be cyborgs was actually just a handful of female Veredian survivors, they would have wiped us out.

After Vahl’s birth—the first Veredian male in over one hundred and fifty years—they didn’t adjust the male armor to now accommodate the armored braid. I suspected that would not change in the future.

I was attaching my weapons to my belt when I noticed Vahl discreetly gesturing with his head for the others to get out. I frowned, instantly annoyed when they quickly complied. Before I could make a swift exit of my own, Vahleryon stood in my path.

“Now is not the time,” I said sternly with a glare before attempting to circle around him.

He sidestepped and raised his arm to prevent my escape.

“I’m sorry for my part in it,” he said.

I froze and gaped at him. Of all the things he might have said, I never expected this sincere apology. Although he had no qualms recognizing when he was in the wrong, in this instance, I genuinely thought he believed they were right to act the way they did.

“We are all sorry,” he repeated in an apologetic tone. “After you left, Tharek gave us an earful. I won’t lie, it was quite distressing watching our fathers getting a dressing down from that little brat and then me having to sit there getting berated by him as well.”

I couldn’t help but snort as my vivid imagination replayed that scene in my mind’s eye. My mischievous little brother was usually the one getting a stern talking to for constantly getting in trouble or pulling stunts he shouldn’t. Seeing a role reversal would have been epically entertaining.

“Just so you know, we meant no disrespect to you. We’re just overbearingly protective, and we hate the thought of losing you.”

I rolled my eyes with exasperation. “You’re not losing me, you dummies!”