Plutonian soldiers bark orders while we run through the darkened corridors. The flickering lights above are a solace but they aren't enough to hide us in the shadows as the soldiers shoot at us.
Luna leads the way but we have to hide behind corners ever so often to avoid getting shot down. Laser beams fly down the corridors towards us like a rainfall of cascading lights. One of them singes my sleeve just as we turn a corner to catch our breaths.
My arm stings slightly but the overriding adrenaline rush in my system blocks out the pain. I barely feel a thing except the pounding of blood in my ears.
We get a few shots in but we are painfully outnumbered. Luna leads us down another dimly lit corridor, murmuring that we are getting closer.
We stumble along the walls, taking cover when we need to but mostly running away from the Plutonians who have been pursuing us.
Vix is amazing, his accuracy is astounding and his short stature is perfect for shooting at their legs causing them to stumble. I do the same, aiming at their knees where the reinforcements are less.
A few of them curse but they still manage to keep up with us.
Luna stops once we turn another corner, catching her breath and pointing to a small room. We bundle ourselves inside but soon the Plutonian voices are coming from all directions.
We are being surrounded.
I turn to her in panic and she looks just as bewildered. The only calm one seems to be the tiny mushroom looking Cixin refugee with us.
He points at a vent by the wall next to his feet and his stubby fingers latch on to the screws by the sides, undoing them expertly.
The stomping of boots stop and the slits in the door darken. The Plutonian soldiers have gathered outside our door. I hear them lifting their charged guns, the small thrumming of their loaded chambers pierce my ears.
Sweat rolls down the side of my face. There is no way we can outrun them even with Vix halfway through the vent.
"Two lefts," Luna whispers and then she takes off her helmet.
"Don't fire. It's me," She says, her voice clear and commanding.
My eyes widen and I want to protest but she pushes me towards the hole and all but kicks my butt till I am fully inside. My body shakes in fear for her while Vix fastens the vent's latch silently, shutting us off from Luna.
"She, tall, no fit," He explains in a whisper.
The door opens, flooding the room with light.
"Precursor General Luna," A soldier stutters in acknowledgment. It is as if they have forgotten that she is on Lucian's side and still address her with her previous title.
"Yes, it is me. I want to speak with Commander Q. I know he is here and I want to meet my squad member."
"Ex squad member," Another throaty voice says. "Immobilize her. We're taking her in. Find her accomplices."
A ball lodges in my throat but Vix is already scurrying along the narrow vents, getting further away from the chaos. I follow him quickly, the sides of the walls grazing my shoulders slightly.
Vix is right, Luna would have never been able to fit in these enclosed spaces. Which means neither would the other Plutonians.
Finally something we can use to our advantage.
We crawl surreptitiously along the passageways and take the two lefts just as Luna instructed. The sound of the hyperdrive engines buzzing beneath us is like music to my ears. The back up warp drives would be just beneath.
There are one or two Plutonians scurrying about between the large metal contraptions and the control boards but they are not soldiers, only technicians.
We move fast, not wanting the Plutonian soldiers to barge in before we do. I kick the latch open from the vent and jump down on a control board to ease my landing. Vix does the same and I help him get down as the technicians stare at us in shock.
I aim my gun at them and they freeze in place, lifting their hands quickly in surrender. One of them tries to press a button by the wall but I shoot at his fingers making him yelp.
Vix takes out the small timed bombs from our ship and attaches them to each engine. We force the technicians to lead us to the warp drive engines below and do the same to them.
We activate the bombs with a twenty minute window to get out of here and I am determined to find Luna before I do so.
I'm not leaving without her. Not leaving behind yet another person to die.
"Come on Vix, let's get arrested."
The mushroom looking alien nods and gestures for the technicians to walk in front of us with his gun.
They do as instructed and become our temporary shields once we exit the engine chambers. It doesn't take long for the Plutonian soldiers to find us, we are surrounded the moment we turn a corner.
"Both of you, put down your guns or we fire all at once," A soldier instructs and Vix and I do as told.
"Where is General Luna? Take us to her." I ask when one of them grabs my arm roughly.
He scoffs in response. "A prisoner making demands. How comedic."
The soldiers tower over Vix like giants but he holds his head high as they surround him.
"You're going to want to get off this ship in the next fifteen minutes give or take," I say but they just ignore me.
It is only after a long moment of silence does someone ask me what I mean.
"They planted four bombs on our engines. They are already activated," Someone answers for me, looking down at a scanner in his hands.
They receive a message from their control room and are instructed to bring us there. The Plutonians alert their command about the bombs and all but run to the control room, their legs are so long it becomes hard to follow their frantic pace.
A Plutonian has to carry Vix to move faster and they drag me along, making me stumble ever so often.
I expect to see Luna bounded in chains in the control room or something along those lines.
What I don't expect is to see her standing front and centre, with Plutonian soldiers conversing with her like they are on the same side.
"Finally," She says once she sees us.
"What?" I stutter in confusion.
"Commander Q has agreed to side with us. Some of the commanders here have served me from the time I was inducted into the army," She explains smiling.
"But," I am at a loss for words. Weren't these the same soldiers who sided with Lazarus anyway? They chose his side over Lucian's, Luna's and General Lyra's.
How can we trust them?
"You can release them," A broad shouldered Plutonian commander steps forward and the soldiers around us do as instructed.
"Umm, General Luna are you sure?" I ask.
"Our empire is being crushed, imploding from within under General Lazarus's rule. He has been so focused on this war and the transition to Earth that he has imposed the worst sanctions on all other planets under our rule. The planets are either dying out under these new demands or rebelling and we don't have the manpower to fight the war and manage these planets. It appears no amount of gold or silver in the universe is enough for General Lazarus."
