My e-mail address has changed. If you wish to write me about...well anything please send it to xengab01@hotmail.com. I promise that I'll respond.

Part 5

Chapter 12

Devic turned to Elena her face showed no signs of sympathy. "You have most likely just offended our liege."

"Liege? The Force are ruled by a monarch?" Elena truly had no knowledge of this. She had always been taught that the Force had a council, similar to the Human Council, and that their government was made up of governors. There was no information given on a monarch.

"What was it that Kournva taught you, Elena?" Devic was irritated. "What has she taught you about your family, because by the look you're giving me I could almost swear that you don't know that you're part of the royal lineage."

Devic felt a rush of emotion stream through her. She could easy tell that the emotion originated with her linkmate. "You really don't know do you?"

Elena turned away from the dark eyes of her linkmate, unable to deal both with her newfound knowledge and Devic's disapproval at the same time, not that she should care about Devic's disapproval in the first place.

"You don't even know who you are. Nothing but a common mercenary for the Humans." Devic walked up behind Elena and placed her hand on the small of the taller girl's back. "You are a disgrace."

"To whom?" Elena turned abruptly and pushed Devic away from her, very uncomfortable with the Force woman's presence. "Tell me, Devic, who do I disgrace? The Force who have enslaved and tortured Humans for centuries and enslaved me as well or the Humans who bred and trained me to kill the Force; who all the while were depending on my own Force heritage to make the war possible." Devic's black eyes only stared at her offering her no answer. "Devic, who do I disgrace? You? Me? Tell me who?" The question was meant to be said in anger but came out as a true plea. Elena had yet to be on the surface for an hour and already she was more lost than when she had come.

"Your full name is Ziyi Elena Sol. That woman who you practically shoved out of here is your grandmother the Empress Katine Ziyi Sol; you were named in honor of her. She recently has taken her seat as the Empress. Your grandfather, the Emperor Bo'Leath Sol died only a few months ago. I believe it was at around the same time you began your preparations for the Great War." There was no emotion coming from Devic's thoughts. She was only sharing the facts she knew; the cold heartless facts that she knew. "Ever since his death your grandmother has been awaiting the return of her daughter, Kournva, who still shows no signs of leaving the Humans. Her other daughter, Averla, your aunt, sits on the Force's council. She is the head of the council, as she has been for many years. Averla has been awaiting your arrival. She was not here to greet you because her welcoming would have been tainted with her thoughts to discuss the business of the war you know so much about. It would have been the highest insult to you if she had been here. Averla will greet you at a later time."

Elena looked around the room seeking a place so that she could sit down. She had suddenly become lightheaded and she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to stand. Her vision was blurring and she wasn't sure it was because of the emotion that had besieged her or if it was because Devic had reached so far into her mind she could not handle it. Her bondmate had not only sent her the information but she had also provided detailed visions of each person she spoke of. The room began to spin and Elena felt like she was going to crash to the floor but deceptively strong arms wrapped around her. The only words she managed to say before she fell into unconscious were, "I don't want any of this."

Devic looked down to Elena and felt, for the first time ever, sympathy. This was only one of the new emotions she had been exposed to since her joining with Elena. It was one of the many that she didn't like, because with it came another new feeling of helplessness. She could not ease whatever it was Elena was feeling, because she didn't know how. She didn't know what to say to her linkmate. She didn't know what actions she should take.

It was all very disconcerting. This weak half Force woman had made her experience so many new things in such a short period of time, that Devic didn't know what she should do anymore. She had been given her orders. She had been instructed on how to deal with Elena. She had been trained on how to respond to the emotions she had felt. It was simple really. All she had to do was to push them back and make them roll off of her like the wind that blew against her skin; it touched her but didn't penetrate her, it never became part of her.

A sudden lethargy brushed over her. Elena's unconscious state surely had something to do with it. A portion of Devic's mind had followed Elena into unconsciousness and her body wanted to follow. It wouldn't hurt her to rest.

Devic took Elena in her arms and carried her to the portion of the quarters that served as the sleeping area. There was a shrine in the far back corner of the room honoring the Sun Angel and next to it was a few small statues that represented a Force being offering tribute to the Great Light. A few feet to the right of the shrine was a huge bed that occupied most of the room. Not taking notice of anything else, Devic immediately laid her charge on the bed then took a place beside Elena. She was asleep within moments.

********
There were both in the same meadow again. Elena was lying on the grass with her body spread out haphazardly. Devic stood beside her and let the wind blow through her hair, immensely enjoying the feeling of the cool air against her skin. This was a calm and peaceful place. It made all the chaos fade away.

"I've only passed out twice in my life," Elena airily commented from her place on the solid earth. "You've been the cause on both occasions."

Devic stood and faced the wind for a moment more than took a seat beside Elena, choosing not to lay in the grass beside her because she liked looking down into the other girl's eyes. She loved Elena's eyes. "It's not my fault that you can't handle me."

Elena chuckled. "I suppose it's not. I'll have to learn to do better in the future then."

"What do you see as our future?" Devic asked seriously. "What do you think we could possibly have? In case you haven't noticed we're fighting on different sides of the same war."

It wasn't an easy question to answer so Elena took her time to formulate her response. What could be their future? What could possibly become of two young Force women who fought for different sides of the same war?

"Who says we have to have anything, Devic. We're not friends now and we weren't before. I came to you out of necessity. I thought I was going to die, and I eventually would have. We don't have a future Devic, all we have is the here and now." Elena sat up while she was talking so that she could look straight into her bondmate's dark eyes. "Every time I try to picture the future for myself, past the years of the war, I always see myself as dead. My future has always been death."

"And mine has always been one of deceit." Devic replied softly. "You do know that I'm going to betray you, don't you?" Her words were still soft but the certainty of them made them stronger than volume could have.

Elena nodded. "I know that you will try."

Devic took a deep breath of the fresh air and slowly released it. "We have brought tension to this place." She pointed to the sky where a cluster of dark clouds had made an abrupt appearance.

"Our environment is something out of our control. This place does what it wants," Elena disagreed. "What we do or say has no effect."

The full Force girl shook her head. "You're wrong. We control everything here. This place is us."

"What do you mean?"

"We are not separate even in our dreams. Our thoughts are always together, and this is the place we wish to meet when our bodies and minds rest. This is the place our Ke'Taha meet; we build it, we control it, and we can destroy it."

"Ke'Taha?" The word fell roughly from Elena's lips. "What is Ke'Taha?"

Devic smiled and reached out to take Elena's hands in hers. "Our eternal souls. Only Ke'Tahahi-soulmates-are able to connect in their dreams as we do."

"The Sun Angel has no Ke'Tahahi. I'm sure you know that, Devic."

Devic only smiled at her bondmate's comment. There was so much that Elena didn't know.

********
An annoying beeping sound penetrated Elena's conciousness forcing her to leave her dream world. She couldn't remember all that was said in the dream, but she did remember the word Ke'Tahahi and it's meaning, which was something she was greatly unprepared to deal with.

The annoying beeping again made itself known, effectively pushing back Elena's thoughts. She looked around the room, a room she didn't recognize, and tried to pinpoint the exact area the beeping was coming from. She looked over to Devic to see if her companion had heard the beeping, but Devic was still very much asleep.

Eventually Elena realized the beeping was coming from a screen on the wall, she guessed it to be a communications port. Not sure how to exactly operate the device she just began to push buttons until finally a face that looked very much like her mothers appeared on the screen.

"Mother?"

The woman who looked back at her shook her head. "No. My name is Averla. I am…"

"I know who you are," Elena not too gently interrupted. "What do you want?"

"First, I would like to offer my greeting to you from the High Council and an invitation to meet with us at your earliest opportunity. Secondly, I would like to tell you how good it is to finally see your face, niece." The woman sounded kind enough. Actually, she sounded a lot like Kournva. Elena didn't like her.

"Thank you for the greeting," Elena responded diplomatically, "it is much appreciated. I would love to meet with the council. Don't ever call me niece again though. I'm tired of people calling me their friend or family just so that they may gain my favor or use our relationship for their benefit in the future."

A snicker came from behind Elena. It would seem that Devic had awakened and was amused by Elena's conversation with the leader of the High Council.

"First you insult our liege then you insult the High Council," Devic's thoughts were amused. "I'm surprised the Humans were actually going to leave you in charge."

Elena ignored the comments that penetrated her own thoughts and kept her attention to the woman on the screen. Averla appeared to be unfazed by Elena's blunt admonishment, but the young half Force woman could easily recognize the slight tension that had suddenly appeared in the lines of the older woman's face. "If you wish, ma'am, I'm sure I'll be able to meet with the High Council after I meet with the Empress, again."

Averla nodded her head slightly keeping her posture perfectly erect. "We only wish to be in convenience with your schedule."

"Good." Elena turned away from the screen, rudely dismissing a woman who was quite used to getting more respect from…well from everyone.

Devic jumped off the bed in a hurry and approached the communications port. She needed to make sure Averla did not get too offended by her bondmate's actions. "Elena does not feel well, ma'am. I apologize greatly for her abruptness. I personally will make sure that Elena makes time to meet with the Council not only at a time of her convenience but at a time convenient for the council as well."

"You do that, Devic." It was an order from the leader of the High Council and Devic was sure to take it seriously.

The screen flickered once and Averla disappeared. Maybe she was a little angry that her only niece had treated her worse than any person had ever dared treat her before.

"You didn't hurt yourself when you jumped out of the bed did you?" Elena stood behind Devic with a smirk on her face. "It was a surprise seeing you move that fast for a diplomat."

Devic was no longer amused. "You do realize that you are dealing with people who have authority over everything. They are nothing like dealing with your measly Human council. For each one you upset that's another death added to the count of already dead slaves."

"They will punish those underground for what I do here today?" Elena wasn't quite sure why, but that surprised her. She kind of thought that the world she had entered had no connection to the world she had left underground. The people here treated her with respect, even if she didn't return it.

"I swear you know nothing," Devic yelled. "You've been the cause of Human's deaths ever since the day you were born."

"I don't understand what you're talking about." Elena responded evenly.

"Of course you don't. You don't understand anything, because you don't know anything."

"Okay, I don't know anything," Elena sighed. "I'm ignorant of all things pertaining to the Force. We've established that fact nicely, so why don't you tell me what I need know."

Devic stood in front of Elena, her body rigid. She had been ordered to block Elena off from anything that would potentially help the Humans in their fruitless war. She was to tell her bondmate nothing about the Force, but if she told her nothing than most likely Elena would end up dead; and if Elena died well she would be soon to follow.

"The first thing you should know is that we are not the Force."

Elena closed her eyes and bowed her head as she released a hopeless sounding chuckle. "Not the Force," she said to herself, "of course you're not the Force. I'm royalty and you're not the Force. It all makes perfect sense now."

"When Earth was first attacked, centuries ago, there were two clans striving to conquer this world. The Force, or the Defki - as they are more commonly known - was the first clan to attack. They were the ones who enslaved the Humans. The Defki needed them to build their weapons as they fought a war. The second clan, the clan you are part of, came later. We were stronger the clan."

"So let me guess," Elena interrupted Devic's tale, "the stronger clan takes over the weaker clan and presto we have the new Force who aren't the Force but really just another clan who keep the Humans enslaved. I'm in love with this second clan already."

"When our clan took over we knew of the enslaved beings that the Defki kept underground. Originally it was the intent of the second clan to just eradicate the beings because they would serve no purpose in the second clan's lives, but when Humans were discovered to be sentient the clan leaders decided not to kill Humans but to instead invoke an evolution of the species. So far, we have not been successful." Devic finished explaining acting like Elena had never interrupted her.

"Invoke an evolution?" Elena was genuinely curious about how the Force or second clan had planned on doing that.

"Humans are violent creatures who must be controlled. They don't understand the value of life. We have only sought to make them better beings."

"By enslaving and killing them?" Elena asked incredulously. "I think you need to reevaluate the way you go about your plan again."

"Humans must be controlled. When our ancestors first stepped foot in front of a Human they offered nothing but peace but were met with hostility. Such violence must be controlled." Devic's voice was in monotone and she had effectively cut Elena off from any emotion she might be feeling.

Elena tipped her head back took a deep breath then slowly released it. "I loathe to sound too redundant, but I don't understand what you're talking about."

"That's because…" Devic started but was quickly interrupted by Elena. "Because I don't know anything. Yes I understand that."

Devic smiled at her bondmate but it was fleeting. "When our ancestors first beat the Defki they were going to help the Humans isolate and control their violent tendencies so that the destruction of their species would no longer continue, but when the Humans were first approached they attacked our ancestors; killing a few of our brethren. That was when it was decided we would keep them in the positions they were fit for; as slaves."

"I've never heard this story before."

"Of course you haven't. Humans only tell the part of the history that suits their cause. They would never speak of the time the Force offered friendship."

Elena couldn't argue with that. It had always been in her experience that the Human history was never told the same way by every Human subculture. Of course the Humans had worked out their differences in history a long time ago. The Force's presence had made all people let go of past wrongs. They had to join together if they were ever going to fight the Force.

"So what have you done to evolve the Humans?" Elena asked instead of commenting on Human history.

"Created you," Devic answered simply. "We don't know if you're a success or failure yet."

"What?"

Devic walked up to Elena getting well within the half-Force girl's personal space. "The Humans have created you to start a war and we have created you to prevent one."

Gray eyes bore into Devic's black orbs. "What?" Elena asked again carefully.

Devic stepped away from her bondmate and turned her face away. "I've already said too much. There's just so much you still have to learn." She turned and faced Elena's still confused expression. "You should get ready to go see the Empress. I'm sure she's expecting us." With those final words Devic walked away and left Elena alone in the foreign room.

Elena watched her bondmate go. Her only coherent thought was still the ever enlightening 'What'.

Chapter 13

Elena had officially left three hours ago. Ezra was now in charge. The Council had broken. These were the major points that ran a constant loop through Melissa's mind. When broken down so simply the current situation didn't seem that complicated, but what it seemed and what it was were two very different things.

As soon as Elena had officially left, Ezra had set about making sure no one decided to panic at their leader abandoning them to join the Force. Of course that's really not what had happened. It was more complicated than that. Melissa didn't quite understand all the intricacies of the situation, but it was more complicated than their leader abandoning them to join the Force.

Melissa trusted Elena implicitly and if Elena said she needed to go above ground then that was the end of it. She didn't need any other explanations. If Elena decided to break up the Council before she left, then that was okay too. If Elena wanted her to form some weird connection with Ezra, then that was okay as well. It was all just okay and fine. Elena had her reasons for everything she had done and Melissa really didn't want to say it was because their leader was selfish.

If Elena was the only one that thought she was a little confused about who she was, then she was sadly mistaken. Melissa was only a teenage girl, as was their leader, but still she was younger and plenty confused about who she was. Her whole identity had been given to her, but what was given to her and who she was didn't exactly coincide. More and more everyday, Melissa felt like she really didn't want to fight at all. She would fight if she had to, but she didn't want to kill anybody. She never wanted to hurt anyone. Ever. But how could she fight a war without hurting anyone?

Melissa had briefly confided in Elena about her newfound feelings before she had joined with Devic, but Elena offered no true insight. Actually Elena told her that it would be something that Melissa had to deal with alone. When it came time to raise her weapons intent on harming another, she would be the only one able to decide whether she could fire. So she had to deal with her feelings alone why Elena went to the surface and let the whole entire Force nation help her out with her little identity crisis.

"You have an incoming message from the Center's High Commander," The lackluster computer animated voice announced filling the silence of Melissa's office. "Do you wish to accept?"

"Yeah," Melissa sat straight in her chair and looked into the small viewscreen that was atop her desk. Ezra's face appeared moments later. She looked tired and Melissa could easily tell that the day's events had had their effect on her older companion.

"How can I help you High Commander?" The blonde smiled warily at the screen hoping that she wasn't about to get any bad news.

Ezra gave a wary smile back. "Guess who wants to talk to us?"

Melissa thought a moment. "I would say Elena but…" The blonde's voice trailed off. "Why don't you just tell me so that I can make an excuse of why I can't go to any other meetings today?"

"The Honorable Lester Patrickson, former leader of the Human Council wishes to discuss with the new command personnel about the most recent events concerning…" Ezra's voice drifted off and she turned her head. Melissa could faintly hear another person's voice in the background and hoped that whatever Ezra was being told was going to make them miss their scheduled meeting with Elena's father. She couldn't even imagine how a meeting like that would go. It would be awkward at best.

Eventually Ezra's eyes focused once again on the screen and Melissa saw mild unhappiness there. "The Honorable Patrickson is here now. I suggest you hurry. Franklin and Erin are already here." With that the screen went dark and Melissa was left staring at the blank screen. Ezra was pissed off. That couldn't be a good thing.

The young blonde stood from behind her desk and straightened her clothing. With one deep cleansing breath she walked out of her office already mentally preparing herself for what she might be facing in the next few minutes.

****

When Lester Patrickson was shown into Ezra's new office she immediately stood at attention as did her subordinates Franklin and Erin. Lester acknowledged this show of respect with a slight bow of his head putting Ezra as ease.

"Where is Melissa?" The aristocrat asked. "I thought I had requested to meet with all of you."

"Your call for this meeting was short notice, sir." Ezra crisply replied. "We can not always come running when you call."

Lester's deep brown eyes looked intently at the young defiant teenager that stood before him. Maybe talking to Melissa with her in the room would be a mistake, but he couldn't break the ranks. "I apologize for the short notice, High Commander, I understand the inconvenience." The middle-aged man grinned self-deprecatingly. "We have all had a long and eventful day. If I thought this meeting could have waited until tomorrow then I would have scheduled it for then."

Ezra was formulating her response when Melissa stepped into the office. The blonde stopped herself from walking fully into the room until Lester acknowledged her and motioned her forward. Melissa had always felt that the man deserved only the highest form of respect. He had successfully organized the war efforts, almost single handedly and had sacrificed his only daughter to the war. The council may have broken, but Lester Patrickson would always be treated with the most sincere respect. He was a hero.

"I apologize for being late, sir." Melissa addressed Lester respectively. "I didn't know of the meeting until only a few minutes ago."

Lester waved away the girl's apology. "It isn't a problem. Why don't we all take a seat and get this little meeting out of the way." He motioned for the teenagers around him to take seats than took the seat behind Ezra's desk that she had conspicuously left open.

"I'm sure you all know by now that the council has broken and I'm sure you wonder why." All heads in the room nodded and genuine interest showed on all the teenagers' faces. "I'm sure that Elena has informed you that the we dispersed because there were differences in the Council's opinion on how to handle her unique situation." Lester looked carefully into the faces of each teenager who faced him. It would be important that he didn't say anything that countered what Elena had already told them. They would believe her story before his. So far, it looked like he was on safe ground. "What she says, of course, is true. It is hard for some of us to accept that a known Force spy has become a partner - if you will - to our most trusted leader.

"I personally trust my daughter no matter what circumstance she must be in, but I do believe she has acted somewhat irrationally. She has left her people - although in very capable hands," He added quickly, "she has still left her people to go to a place we haven't been able to see freely in centuries. Elena has stepped foot into the Force's lair and has put us all at risk by doing so. We have no way to contact her if we need help. She has abandoned us to fulfill her own selfish desires."

"Sir, I think you speak too harshly about the situation," The nervous voice of Erin spoke up. She surprised the entire room by doing so. Ezra or Melissa had seemed the more likely to interrupt first. "I..I believe that Elena has acted with honorable intentions. She is going through a very trying physical experience, sir, and she needs to be with people who can heal any unforeseen physical ailments that may befall her. We aren't equipped to do that. If she stayed here then she might have died."

"I assure you all that Elena was in no danger of physical harm," Lester spoke slowly. "The Link she shared with Devic healed her. It did not and could not harm her."

"Yes it could," Ezra argued. "I was there when she first linked with Devic. She had passed out and her body appeared to be very weak. Although the words weren't said directly, it was my understanding that link could have killed her."

"Ezra, child," Lester addressed the new High Commander in his best fatherly tone. "The link did put strain on her physically, at first, but it does nothing to her now. I know you all don't want to realize this, but Elena has been selfish. The Force welcome her into their world because they can control her now. While we live down here as slaves she is above living as royalty. It pains me greatly," Lester brought a clinched fist to his chest, "that my daughter has abandoned us all so readily. But you understand I don't blame her and neither should either of you. She is under the influence of the Force." The older man brought his fist down and rested his open palmed hand on the desks surface. "Those of us who care about Elena on the council wish to get her back by any means necessary. I have been chosen to ask you to order a small assault on the Force. We know we will lose, but we will have shown the Force that we are willing to fight for our own. It will be the first assault of many small strikes all aiming for the Great Link. We must break it to break the Force's hold on my daughter."

"No." Ezra responded. "No strikes. No breaking of the Great Link. No rescue missions. No turning our back on our leader."

Lester bowed his head and took a deep breath then slowly released it. "I figured you would be hesitant to agree."

"That wasn't hesitance sir," Melissa spoke for the first time. "That was a flat out refusal. We aren't ready to attack and we won't attack the Great Link."

"You've seen the projections for the war. You know we have a very small chance of winning whether we strike today, tomorrow, or within the planned year, we will probably lose." Elena's father wasn't a great man. He had done many things that kept him up late at night, but he believed always in what he was doing. Being a slave all his life had made him callous in ways that no one, but those who had been slaves with him, could understand. The Force had taken his youth, his strength, and slowly they took his mind. Now, they had taken his daughter and with it the only hope for revenge he ever had. Lester knew that whatever fight the Humans managed to put up would be smothered within days. All the council members knew this. All the military faction leaders knew it, but still they fought. Lester knew they fought because of Elena now he would have to convince them to fight for her.

"We can win," Ezra was full of confidence. "I do not accept defeat. I especially will not accept defeat for a war that hasn't even begun."

Lester nodded. "I urge you to think about starting that war now then. They won't think you will attack while your leader is with them, vulnerable."

The comment gave Ezra pause. Now would be the perfect time for attack. The Force would not be expecting it and the only spy that the Force had in the Center was gone. If Elena was willing she could actually be serving as their spy above ground. Once the first attack had gotten underway, Elena would surely figure out what is happening and would be able to gather the information they needed to defeat the Force once and for all.

"Your advice will be taken under consideration." Ezra spoke neutrally. "If anything is decided you will be contacted." It was a dismissal but Lester didn't mind. He had accomplished what he had set out to do. They may not have turned on their leader - but that had never been his goal - he needed them to seize the opportunity presented to them.

"Thank you all for your time," Lester rose slowly from his seat. "I don't want you to question Elena at all, but in times of war it is hard to know who you can trust." He spoke as he walked towards the door. "Be well all of you." With that he exited the room leaving the three faction leaders and the new High Commander in air full with slight confusion.

When Patrickson had mentioned making their attack now, Melissa had noticed that Ezra had considered it. She had considered it as well, but she couldn't support it. She wasn't ready for a war yet. She had just been sitting in her office, not thirty minutes ago, thinking about whether or not she could kill a person. This was not the mindset one needed to be in to lead people to war.

Erin and Franklin remained seated in the corner of the office. They went unnoticed by both their superiors; of course that wasn't anything too unusual. Both were very much used to sitting in the corner waiting to be told what to do next. It was a position they were very comfortable with, especially since they knew they had only become faction leaders because they had scored just high enough and the Center wanted another two factions. They weren't the first choices for the job, so they would follow orders just as well as any of the other soldiers. It was very easy to leave the thinking to Elena, Ezra and Melissa. Let them have the stress of trying to save the entire Human race.

"We're not going to attack the Force now, Ezra." There was no questioning the fact that these words that came so softly from Melissa's mouth were orders. There could be no confusion on where she stood on the advice that Lester Patrickson given.

Ezra took a quick look at the quiet duo in the corner of her office and did a mental shrug. "Melissa, he had a point. We exploit our enemy's weakness and we might have a chance at winning this thing."

The young blonde woman sighed heavily. "By taking that chance we assure Elena's death and we most definitely almost assure our own. I believe that you can be a great leader, Ezra, but you're not ready yet. When we start this attack we must do so with Elena by our side not in a place where she is completely unreachable to us."

It was true. Ezra wasn't ready to lead the war. She was fully prepared to lead the effort to prepare for the war, but she wasn't ready to lead it. Still, she had always been taught to exploit the opponent's weakness and the Force hardly ever showed any weakness whatsoever. Now they had. For some reason, they wanted Elena with them.

"They probably wouldn't kill her, actually," Franklin said softly. All the attention turned to him and he suddenly was very uncomfortable in the strong gazes of both Ezra and Melissa. There looks almost felt like they were burning through him.

"What do you mean, Frankie?" Melissa asked, sort of surprised that he had spoken up. She fully expected to have this debate with Ezra alone even if the lower faction leaders were in the room with them.

"Well," Franklin cleared his throat, "If they wanted her dead then why did they take her away to do it. They've left her alone her entire life while she was here and they knew she was our leader - obviously since Devic was a spy and all. I just don't really think they want her dead. She's valuable to them in some way." Franklin's eyes roamed over the silent figures of both his superior officers then he looked to an interesting spot on the floor. "At least that's what I think."

"He has a point," Erin spoke up. "They want her for something. Maybe we do need attack just incase they have something…I don't know, bigger planned for us soon."

Melissa could hardly believe it. With Franklin and Erin, finally speaking up, she had been outvoted. The final decision was of course left up to Ezra, but with Franklin and Erin backing their leader's decision, Melissa had been heavily outvoted.

Ezra looked up at the ceiling of her office letting her thoughts race around in her head until one became solid enough so that she could hold onto it. Eventually it came. "I think it would be in our best interest to do a small strike. The Force just took our leader away from us and we sit back and do nothing. That just doesn't seem right."

"Elena wanted us to do nothing," Melissa was quick to point out. "She wanted us to wait for her return. Remember that."

"How do we know that's what she really wanted?" Ezra motioned wildly with her hands. "Devic was inside her head at the time she left. We don't even know if Elena was in her right mind."

"She stopped Devic from killing you didn't she?"

"Could have been just for show."

Melissa shook her head. "I don't support this."

"You don't have to," Ezra pointed out coolly. "I'm the only one that has to support anything. Elena left me in charge."

"So she was in her right mind when she did that, but she wasn't when she told us to wait for her?"

Melissa had made a good point and Ezra was going to respond to it but suddenly sirens and alarms starting to sound throughout the Center. They weren't the good type of sirens and alarms either. As a matter of fact they were the very bad sounding sirens and alarms that had only been installed a few weeks before; these alarms were the alarms that signaled an attack.

"What in the name of freedom is happening?" Franklin's voice could barely be heard above the sirens. Ezra looked at the panel on her desk where reports were suddenly flooding in. "The Force have walked into all the underground caverns armed with Thrill rifles. We've been neutralized." Ezra's blue eyes scanned the room. "They've asked for our immediate surrender and demand to speak with the one we call our High Commander."

"There's an escape passage in this office you can take Ezra," Melissa needlessly informed the tall brunette. "If you escape now we can regroup later. I'll meet with the Force."

For a moment she thought about running, but Ezra couldn't ask Melissa to meet the Force alone. It's not like the Force negotiated with anyone. When they called for someone to step forth that most certainly meant death.

The Force had done raids before and on every occasion that Ezra could remember they called forth members of the Center and executed them in front of all to see. They had killed the teachers, the scientists, the young soldiers with the most potential, and they slowly tried to kill all hope that the Humans had.

So now, they had come again to raid their homes and their lives so that they could take away one of the most important individuals in the resistance. They had already taken Elena away - with a veil over her eyes that kept her from seeing what was going on - and now they intended to take Ezra. Later, they would probably try and take Melissa as well. Then, of course, it would be Franklin then Erin.

Within a month everything they had accomplished could be wiped out.

"I want everyone to take up arms," Ezra spoke almost to herself. She looked up and saw the surprised faces that surrounded her. "If either of us are taken today," she turned her attention to Melissa, "then they will only take another tomorrow and then another and then another. We fight and die now or we just die."

Melissa stared at this young woman who she had considered to be her best friend. She wasn't ready for a fight and she wasn't ready for a war but… "I'll see if I can contact some of our fleet leaders. We need to see how many people out there we have that are still hiding."

"We'll call in the soldiers that are hid in the Center and tell them to prepare for attack." Franklin spoke while moving over to a control panel on the wall next to Ezra's desk.

Ezra sighed heavily then nodded her head. "Alright people let's get working, we don't have that much time."


Continued in part 6