Page 52 of Wrath

“The Vanguard remains the peacekeepers of the Galaxy,” I argued. “The Coalition also maintains a peacekeeping fleet. You could have called either of us for aid.”

“And whose side would you take?” Osanu challenged. “This isn’t the Kryptid War where everyone is fighting a common enemy. Both our species are members of the Coalition. You would do what has always been done: sit on the sidelines and let us slaughter each other, only slapping the wrist of the side that uses the occasional means deemed unfair.”

I nodded slowly. Conflicts between Coalition member planets were always delicate to handle unless one side clearly violated the ‘accepted’ rules of engagement. Aside from mediation, we could only do some minor policing.

“So, what did they offer you?” I asked.

“I’d been told that if I worked with Marcelle, she could help me with our defense problem,” Osanu replied, her shoulders sagging. “I had to help her recover the contents of the base first, and then she would tell me everything.”

“The Jadozors were to be your defense system?” Dread asked, disbelieving.

“Yes,” she responded stiffly. “We aren’t a wealthy species, and our numbers have been decimated by the war. Having controllable, essentially invincible ‘warriors’ to keep our enemies at bay was a blessing. I’ve studied the General’s mind control implant for months and knew how to improve on them to make their compulsion irresistible. Marcelle wanted my expertise because I’d worked on her other implants.”

“So,youwere the one that falsified her records to show them as being civilian implants instead of military grade?” I asked, my tone hardening.

Osanu nodded stiffly. “Yes. I logged into the database using my mother’s credentials, as she had a high-level clearance. But I didn’t do any of this for personal gain,” she said, her voice taking on a pleading tone. “I just wanted long-term protection for my people. When Marcelle broke us out of the brig, none of us knew what she had done. It was only once we took off that we saw the Jadozors coming out of the air vent chasing after your team. We were horrified. She told us to suck it up. That’s when we started realizing maybe she wasn’t all there.”

“Where did those Jadozors come from?” I asked. “Mogor only knew of the five or six eggs that were flown out of the base before our arrival. But we fought seven creatures here, all of them fully mature.”

“I don’t know where they came from,” Osanu said with an air of discouragement. “The Jadozors were delivered by one of the rebel science vessels that rendezvoused with us at the edge of the Edoorian space. But that location was only because they had previously made a detour on Strajuc to recover something Marcelle needed.”

I stiffened and forced myself to keep a neutral expression on my face.

“Isn’t that the planet where Legion’s mission is taking place?”Dread telepathically asked me.

“Yes,”I answered psychically.“And according to Chaos, all hell has broken loose there.”

“What was it?” I asked the Lenusian female.

“I never saw what it was,” Osanu replied with a haunted look in her eyes. “My task was to work with one of their surgeons to place the cybernetics in the mature Jadozors so that Marcelle could control them. This was supposed to be the test run to confirm that we could control an entire ‘fleet’ of those creatures. Our orders were to go on a primitive, mostly uninhabited planet to proceed with the test to minimize casualties if things went belly up. But Marcelle disobeyed. She wanted to recover the eggs you had taken from our ship so that she could breed her own army of Jadozors, instead of having to beg for more of them from the leadership.”

“But when did she become like them?” I insisted.

“While I was performing the surgery on the Jadozors, the other doctors on the science vessel were operating on Marcelle,” Osanu said, shuddering. “She mentioned that she had been to Strajuc and found proof there that Jadozor DNA could make any species immortal, including humans or Lenusians. By the time I finished with the seven Jadozors, she was already up and about, fresh as a morning bloom. But they said she had brain surgery. It should not have been possible.”

“Are there others like her?” I asked, my voice tense.

Osanu shrugged. “I don’t know. Apparently, Marcelle volunteered for this. Getting the first run of the Jadozors was her reward for being their Guinea pig. I believe that human female was crazy, and the surgery sent her over the edge.”

I cast a look at Pallax. The Tegorian still looked completely out of it. The poor bastard was broken.

“He has nothing more to offer,” Varnog said, guessing where my head was at.

I nodded. “And the Lenusian?” I asked.

“She spoke truthfully,” Varnog confirmed.

“Anything else you want to add?” I asked Osanu.

“Only that I’m sorry,” she said in a defeated voice. “I didn’t mean any harm to the Vanguard, or anyone else. I was doing this for my people. I had no idea how far they were going. Be warned that they have been collecting data and research for a whole year now. During cleanup duty, after the Vanguard had wiped out most of the Kryptid armies, our troops occasionally took a few Soldiers to ‘question’ them about other bases. That’s why we’ve been reaching them before you. We already knew where to go the minute we were released from our war duties by the Coalition.”

I cursed under my breath. That explained a whole lot.

“You will be kept in the brig until another team from the Vanguard takes over this vessel,” I said, rising to my feet.

She nodded sharply with resignation while the Tegorian continued to stare out in space. After securing them in their cells, we left Varnog and Linette aboard the Nomad. Although we didn’t expect any foul play from the two prisoners, we felt safer with Varnog being able to read their minds for any signs of evil intent.

It took three days for Fury’s team to catch up with us aboard a chaser. After parking in the Nomad’s hangar, his team took over the frigate, liberating Linette and Varnog. I’d never been happier closing the door on one chapter, even though I knew there was still more shit to come. My only hope was that, having heard of Marcelle’s spectacular demise, the ‘rebels’ currently in possession of more Jadozors wouldn’t use them. Without Osanu to build the cybernetics necessary to control them, the rebels would hopefully give up on that project, like Khutu had.

---