Mitah stood watch in the shuttle. Its radar’s ability to monitor vast distances made it possible to differentiate each single movement of anything that approached the compound. He knew that Ni’yell was on his way to rendezvous with them and hoped to get here before there was any danger. He suspected the reason that there had been no threat to date was the machinations of Max.

  There were as few who were as capable of information subterfuge as that wily fox. Mitah chuckled. Their team was small, but that did not make them any less fierce. Help from mercenaries had arrived late the night before and gave them added protection. Rennick had vouched for their ability which translated to they were trusted allies. Ni’yell was bringing a contingent of Keliv soldiers that had chosen to sign up with Micha rather then re-up with the military. There were others that had been purchased for their fighting ability that were also on the shuttle with the Shawling. He was taking no chances with Alpha’s safety.

  There was approximately eight weeks left before the protocol was completed. Mitah hoped everything went well. In the meantime, he was going to do what he could to ensure that she was alright. Just as she had done for him. Mitah had been raised to be a fighting force that was unstoppable, but had proved to be a failure at every turn. Fighting was not something that he wanted to do. There was no drive, no desire to achieve the same thing that every other Renshaw had done. He tried; tried hard. Not that it made a difference.

  After it had been weeks of recovery, that day he had met Micha, and months before he was considered physically fit. During that time, she had encouraged him to try different courses until he found one he really wanted to explore. That had ended up being piloting. There were not a great many vehicles in the galaxy that he was unable to navigate. He had a great deal of experience with anything military and most nonmilitary vehicles were not much different. It had worked out well. Micha’s team had had to beg to get where they need to go. Those days were over. Some teams attempted to steal Mitah from her, but quickly discovered he was immovable.

  An alarm sounded.

  Mitah shifted in his seat and checked to see what it was. He had been about to shut off the warning when a second one bleated. With a grunt, he radioed Rennick. Whatever was coming was not the natural wild life.

  “whatcha got for me?” Rennick requested.

  “Did Max say how many we were expecting?”

  Purity is not a large organization. He figures less than a thousand…Why?”

  “Um,” Mitah hedged. “I think his numbers were off…by thousands. The radar is estimating more than five thousand.”

  “…Shit.”

  Prince Mikael Phara’ahari Etarendi

  Prince Mikael Phara’ahari Etarendi was leaning against an abandoned building, around the corner from where Makyla was housed. It seemed that any time he had a moment he was watching her and in his heart of hearts dreaming of more with the spunky woman. He wanted to get closer but did not want to increase the risk to her. At the back of his mind, he knew that it was all excuses. The reality was he did not trust himself to stay away from her if he got any closer.

  Behind him Kirjya waited for instructions. Stepping out of the shadows he approached the older of the wolf warriors. Ipino did not even flinch as he was approached. The prince was not in doubt that the warrior had not only known he was there, but likely known who he was. With him came soldiers from the palace. Equipped and ready to defend the compound. He had only brought thirty, but in connection to the forty that were being paid and Micha’s own team, they were in a decent place. Short a full assault from an army this band of warriors should be able to protect the compound and the woman inside.

  “Your majesty,” Ipino leaned against the wall, his fingers laced behind his head, in a parody of relaxation; but his eyes were alert. The kind of alert that came from too much time on the battlefield. “We weren’t expecting you.”

  “Let’s just say, me coming might not have made your job any easier, but I can defend myself. And I’m betting extra soldiers would not hurt either.”

  Ipino shrugged. “Rennick is in building 4C with Mahoag and Hazperson discussing the best locations to protect if we get overrun. Mitah is on watch in our shuttle. It’s been quiet, so far, but my gut says it will happen soon.”

  “I will go find out where my soldiers will serve best.”

  Ipino nodded as the prince made his way through the compound.

  “Such disrespect,” a soldier growled.

  The prince paused to turn and face the warriors he had brought. “Respect is not something to be demanded. It is earned through action. Ipino did nothing to disrespect me or you. If you want to stand equal to someone who has lived his life on the battlefield, start by understanding what he had given up. Alpha Bailey and her small band of warriors have spent the last nearly seven years in and out of battlefields. They have lost much and gained little. Then my father decided to make her an alpha, which means warfare on a grander scale. At which point should they be expected to kowtow? We as a galaxy have given them no reason,” Mikael growled. “To believe we can be trusted.”

  Without another word he stalked away; leaving the shocked soldiers to catch up. It angered him that people believed he was somehow better than others because he was in line for the throne. The truth was his position was less important than the lesser servants. An empire requires people in order to survive. Those same people did not need the reining power to continue on. Convincing others of that fact was not always enlightening. Neither was getting angry. It was the reason he believed his sister would have been better as the one to inherit the throne. Halting in front of the door to 4C, the prince knocked before he opened the door.

  “Come,” came the command.

  Mikael stepped through the door. Inside the room there were two men and a woman. The woman was humanoid with coper colored skin and onyx black hair in a tight bun atop her head. All three were looking at him curiously. He knew the instant the two mercenaries realized who he was. “Please do not bow. I am not here as the prince, but a supporter of the new alpha. Was not able to do much but I brought my personal security and I am able to assist with the defense.”

  “How many did you bring?” the husky voice was out of place with the stern face that the woman carried.

  “Thirty.”

  “We’ve,” Rennick stated. “Decided that defending the entire compound is a foolish endeavor; though your soldiers will give us more room to breathe. So far, we have three place that need to be secured,” Rennick pointed at the map on the table between them. Joining them, the prince listened to what was being said. “A3 is where the program specialists are, D9 is the generator. Max is attempting to create a bypass that will allow us to not have to protect the entire power junction. And B2 which is housing alpha at the moment. There are five us capable of leading teams that can be spread out to cover those three areas with some overlap. Three teams will stay at each site and two teams will flex between those three as needed. That’s five eleven-man teams.”

  Hazperson arched a brow.

  “Alpha said that war is the great equalizer, and the one place no woman wants to be treated like a lady. Here there is one gender. Not because men are better but because Alpha says so. On the field her gear hides her gender, not out of fear but out of caution. She knows what happens to women on the battlefield.”

  At Hazperson’s nod, Rennick continued. “Ipino is already at B2 might as well move him to decoy location.”

  Mahoag pointed at the generator. “My team will keep the power running.”

  The prince looked at the map and pointed between B2 and A3. I will take this corridor. It gives me the best access to both the programmers and your alpha. If,” he looked at Rennick. “That is acceptable to you.”

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  “Then everyone knows their place.”

  “Before everyone leaves,” Mikael murmured. “I brought some heavy infantry power suits and mines. There is not much, but the heavies will help at the generators and the mines can be spread out to reduce getting overrun.”

  “Great,” Mahoag grunted. “I’ll see that the mines are placed. Any chance your back up will arrive in time?”

  “Ni’yell is in a slower shuttle. I was going to send Mitah but we need the shuttle’s sensors…”

  “No, I agree. Yours isn’t the only gut say something is coming.” Mahoag stalked away like the predator he was.

  “I’ll go inform Kirjya of the decision. Here is the list of specialties I brought. Go ahead and divide them as you see fit. I’ll be right back.”

  Mikael slid from the room as easily as he had entered. Kirjya slipped from the shadows at his side. With quick words he told the infiltrator what was going on and who was getting what. Kirjya said nothing as he listened. The prince was confident in this plan. There were flaws, but it left the prince mainly covered. For so little preparation the little pack had done a great deal. The damage to the Purity For All was impressive.

  In the next hour, the warriors were shuffled around to get each team the best chance at success. The prince ended up with four of his own soldiers, four from the mercenaries and the healer from the little alpha’s pack. He explained their task quickly and had each member of their team double check their gear and weapons. Mikael was prepared for a long night and nights to come until either the attempted assault happened or Alpha Bailey emerged from the fluid tank she was in.

  The first assault came with too few men and was put down by Mitah alone. If they were attempting to determine the strength in the compound they got more than they bargained for. No one snuck up in the fading light that was normally difficult to see in. Mitah had set the shuttle back down and settled in to wait again.

  The second assault came two days later. Again, they picked a time that left the compound with poor visibility and out of range of normal sensors. Mitah however was not caught unaware. This time however there was also an attempt to cut the power. While Mitah had been at the other side of the compound, Mahoag had been fending off poorly armed attackers armed with weapons designed to do a generator some major damage.

  After the fail of the second attempt there was almost a week before they were approached openly. Three members of Purity For All decided to attempt a diplomatic approach. Rennick listened to their shpeal with as neutral an expression as he could manage. They had brought money and offered anything, within their reach, to walk away or end the abomination themselves. Rennick’s tail twitched in agitation. Pointing the assault rifle he held at the weakest Purity member, Rennick growled. “Run.” As they fled. Rennick spoke on the open comms. “Let one of them go. Take the other two hostage.”

  Cries of pain and fear suddenly came out of the shadows. Then the compound was once again silent. Rennick kicked the case of money at Hazperson. She accepted the money, half of which promptly found its way onto their shuttle—the other half was given back to the panther. The calm of the land around them was as disconcerting as the cacophonous dissonance of a battlefield. It kept the warrior wound taught and ready for anything. Like everything left that way for too long, things got tense. So Renick rotated each team into down time. They were ordered to sleep and eat every four hours, then were back on.

  Rennick received word that Ni’yell was three days out. He was certain they could hold that long. It was the other side he had doubts about. The majority of the compound was surrounded by desert and one side was a sheer cliff. It made approach dangerous if not taken seriously. Fortunately, Purity were not soldiers and were unprepared for an extended stay out in the waste. His only hope was that they had underestimated the climate. That might buy them the time they needed.

  Max

  Needing to stretch his legs, Max decided to go on a short walk about. He attempted to come up with a work around for the power system, but the ancient relic refused to play nice. He was having to rewrite the code that dictated how the power-flows worked. He had had it; almost. The AI had offered to assist, but he was not willing to risk exposing it until, Micha was awake; just in case it all went to shit.

  In his wanderings he spotted the prince staring longingly at Micha’s shelter. For a moment he stood watching the prince in fascination as the struggle of emotions washed over like torrent from a waterfall. Max recognized another wayward soul looking for a sanctuary to belong to. It made him chuckle. Micha somehow acted like the flame that drew in the moth, but never seemed to burn up the very souls that were drawn to her. Instead, she sent them back into the world in better shape than she had found them. He was fascinated with her ability to know the true state of another being’s soul and mind.

  As expected, the prince was standing where he was able to monitor the building where Micha was floating in an unconscious state. From the look on his face, he was struggling with something intense. It made Max hesitate to approach. Then he considered what Micha would have done. Sucking up his courage he moved alongside the prince and stood silently watching.

  “I can’t seem to get her out of my head.”

  Max nodded. That was a feeling he understood. She was constantly there at the back of his mind.

  “I keep feeling like I’m… I don't know… trying to impress her?”

  “Yeah,” Max scratch his ear. “You’re not alone there. Something about her makes me want to be better, smarter, faster. It’s like…” he shrugged. “She makes me more then I was.”

  The prince looked thoughtful. Then he nodded. “That makes sense. That is what a good leader should do.”

  Max tilted his head to the side and frowned as he opened his eyes wide. “Well, that is true, but for us it more…like… we are connected at a deeper level. I don't know how to say it right. That’s Rennick’s bailiwick. For me it’s like working code. To me Alpha is like a master passkey. There is nothing wrong with wanting more from Alpha. She will give you what she can and more. She will encourage and support you in ways I sometimes think she is the only one who can. Not because,” he considered. “She is better than others, but because she takes the time to see the person in front of her.”

  “I,” Mikael frowned. “don’t just want to be with her. I want to ‘be’ with her.”

  Max shrugged. “You’re telling the wrong person.”

  “Pft,” was the pathetic attempt at a laugh. “I know that. That does not make my position any more tenable. I am supposed to be impartial. I can’t do that if I am entangled in her.”

  “Says who?”

  Mikael looked at Max like he was speaking a foreign language. “Emperor’s…”

  “Are just high ranking people. They need someone to be real with too.”

  The thought had merit. So much so that Mikael was unable to dismiss it out of hand. There was room for some kind of relationship. His father had one with an alpha. It was not as intimate as Max was suggesting, but it still gave same degree of favoritism based on where you stood. No one was impervious. It was just a matter of balance. Right? “I’ll think about it. How is your work around going?”

  Max grimace. “That archaic beast just wont…”

  Chaos erupted as the two men stood there.

  Mitah

  Mitah worked reflexively as the two shuttles in front of his attempted to pin him down. He had already taken two out of the fight and was confident he was able to do the same with the two left. The pilots were not half bad, whoever they were, but that was not going to be enough to beat him. He had too much time fighting against the odds against bigger predators to roll over. He was aware that he needed to deal with them quickly and get back to assisting his team. That did not mean that it was going to go that easily. He was not going to shoot them down over the compound. That was too dangerous. So, he was playing a game of cat and mouse. There was always a way to get to where one must with a little efficient maneuvering.

  The shuttle he was in responded smoothly to each of his commands. Slipping through the air as easily as a fish through water. He dipped, and swerved. This way and that. Leading a merry chase. All the while he targeted the ground forces. There were far more then Max had expected, which was odd. Max had stated that there was some high roller flexing financial influence. It was possible that they threw together some extra muscle. It was a complete waste of personnel as far as Mitah was concerned. He had no doubts that there were likely some warriors in the attackers. But they were up against some very big diehards.

  Energy blasts reflected off his shields, as Mitah launched mini missiles at two armored transport carriers. He was not trying to blow them up since he was uncertain about the capacity of the new shuttle but he was hoping to slow them down or force them to move in on foot. Every minute he was able to buy his team the better it was. When the missiles hit their targets, Mitah was surprised at the size of the explosions. The craters left behind were no joke. It made him glad he had not gone with a larger option; of which there were plenty.

  The crater left in the wake of the explosion affected the attacking force far more heavily then Mitah had been trying to do. Not that he was not trying to stop the assault on the compound, but he knew Micha hated excessive waste of life. However, at that moment her safety was paramount. He was not above killing if needs must, but he still had to look his alpha in the eyes when done. On the flip side, the disruptive force of the explosions had stymied much of the assault force. Some were even falling back. It did not halt the attack but Mitah had managed to limit the scope of the attack. The shuttle was not geared to handle ground assault.

  As though responding to Mitah, the shuttle shifted like liquid metal adjusting itself to his needs. Once it completed the shift, the Renshaw had access to even more fighting power. Now that he no longer needed to limit himself to space battle he leaned into the capabilities of the mini war vessel. He was clearly going to have to explore in more detail the limits of his new baby. Flipping like a coin, the shuttle repositioned swapping places with the two shuttles on his tail. The sudden change of direction nearly caused a collision. He was uncertain if it was his ability to pilot or something to do with the shuttle, but it reflexively dodged below the oncoming rush.

  Mitah let out a rumbling laugh. Piloting had never been so fluid, so responsive. It made the battle all the easier to dominate. In the distance he was able to see another round of air shuttles approaching, even as he dealt with the two in front of him.

  Knowing that he was going to have his hands full with the five shuttles approaching, he radioed Rennick and let him know what he was seeing. There was no way for him to halt this assault on his own.