Heat rose in her face at the implication: that she, Jace, and the people of her homeworld were somehow luckier than the Varg. She’d lost everything in that invasion.
“It is strange that the Rokkir would let millions of people escape to Elsha while keeping Modnik under lockdown,” Jace said.
“Exactly,” Locke said.
Tayel dug her nails into her cup.
“And what’s worse is they’re abducting Varg,” he finished.
“Abducting them?” Shy asked. “Why?”
“I have no idea — no one does. The Rokkir kill as few Varg as possible. They carry weapons which daze rather than harm, though on non-Varg targets they aren’t as nice. We’ve seen Rokkir soldiers clearing battlefields, picking up Varg and flying them back to the mothership above the capital.”
“They have a mothership here?” Fehn asked.
“Yes. A city-sized behemoth currently casting Cryzoar in shadow. Hundreds of fighters, cargo carriers, and scouts fly out of it constantly. Some land troops, some deliver supplies to the enemy, and others remove still-living Varg from the battlefields. We’ve tried several assaults on the mothership, but it’s impenetrable. Nothing has gotten through the shields, though the Varg war packs are currently working on another plan to destroy it.”
Tayel felt sorry for the Varg, she really did, but they weren’t the reason she was here. “What about a Delta shuttle?” she asked. “We were told one crashed here.”
“Ah, that,” Locke said. “Yes, one shuttle crashed into the capital’s northern city wall a few weeks ago — brought a part of the city down with it.”
His voice dripped accusation, but Tayel didn’t care. If the shuttle crashed here, then maybe Jace’s family made the trip with it. “Has anyone made contact with survivors?”
“You’ve quite the one track mind, don’t you?”
“My family might be there,” Jace said. “Please, if you know anything, we need to know.”
“Red helped your sister off of Elsha as part of an agreement,” Fehn added. “Though I’m sure she understands the gravity of the situation, her and Feathers are here to solve their own problem, not fix yours.”
Shy caught Tayel’s gaze for an instant and looked away, down into the remains of her dinner.
Indecision split Tayel’s thoughts in two. Fehn was right to stand up for her — something she hadn’t expected — but he was also wrong. She didn’t help Shy just to get here. She wanted to stop the Rokkir, but every minute was one more tick toward being too late to reunite Jace with his mom and dad.
“I do want to help,” Tayel said. “But Fehn’s right. We Deltians may have been lucky to escape our besieged planet at all, but we have just as much right as anyone to try and help our loved ones.”
“Yeah,” Jace said.
“Fair,” Locke said. “I suppose it’s easier to see the grand picture when the only loved one I have is sitting right next to me.” He drained the last of his drink. “When the shuttle landed, the Varg diverted a large number of forces to assist any survivors. One revered war pack leader insisted on the importance of the rescue, and so many went — including me. And Itah. We met with the survivors — and there were many — but it was a trap. The Rokkir knew we were coming. The war pack leader had been a Rokkir in disguise, and we lost hundreds of good people to ambush.”
“But obviously you didn’t lose everyone,” Fehn said.
“You’re right,” Locke told him. “I made it back. And many Varg were left to fight the enemy at the crash, but it’s been weeks since we’ve heard anything. Communications were scrambled, and we don’t have the numbers to investigate, much less take the area back. The Rokkir have our already limited forces divided.”
“Would there be a way for us to go there?” Tayel asked.
“Not without significant risk to your life. Rokkir forces were reported constantly in the crash zone, and the truncated communications suggest that our men have lost.”
Tayel understood. It had been weeks. Everyone at the crash site could already be dead.
“Of course, it could also be that the mothership locked onto our transmissions, and cut them short. Bit of a happier thought than assuming everyone is deceased, I suppose.” Locke rapped his fingers on his knee.
“W-which scenario is more likely?” Jace asked.
“I honestly can’t fathom. Both. Either. No one knows for sure.”
“But if the mothership was gone?”
“Ha, well, easier said than done. But yes, if it were gone, we’d have an answer as to the fate of the shuttle.”
“So I’m guessing your plan is to destroy it,” Tayel said. “The mothership, I mean.”
“Yes. It is our last plan. You saw the sizable siege outside when you came in.”
“And the burned villages,” Jace said quietly.
“Kalanie Outpost is our final refuge,” Locke said. “We have until the walls crumble to turn the tides of this war, or we’re all lost. That mothership is their headquarters. It has to fall if we are to survive.”
Tayel rubbed her temples. Every step forward created two giant leaps back. Even if Jace’s parents made it here, they could already be long gone, but she didn’t know for sure, and she wouldn’t — couldn’t — stop trying until she did. She’d done everything for this chance to bring him home.
“So what’s the plan, then?” she asked. “We’ll help.”
Shy’s head whipped up, her grin pulling wryly to the side of her face that wasn’t gouged.
Locke laughed. “I like your enthusiasm, but you won’t likely find a place in the Varg war packs. They’ve allowed me to stay here and help, but only because I have long since gained their trust and am acting in a role their people cannot replace.”
“What do you mean a ‘role they can’t replace’?” Shy asked. “You’re going?”
He nodded. “I’ll be assisting them in the final charge against the mothership.”
Her eyes widened. She shoved his injured side and spoke over his groan. “With this? You can’t, Locke.”
“You’re limping all over the place,” Fehn said. “You’d be committing suicide.”
Locke grimaced. “Rokkir technology is far more advanced than the Varg are used to. When we board the mothership, we need to extract as much data from their systems as possible. With that, we may have more than an end to their siege on Modnik. We may be able to establish their entire war plan, all their leaders — everything.”
“How much do you know about their tech?” Fehn asked him.
“Enough. I’ve got a trick or two up my sleeve, and the Varg will protect me while I gather information.”
“No,” Shy said. “We’ll go.”
“Shy—”
“You can be the boss, the smart guy who came up with the plan — whatever you’d like, but you can tell us how to get what you need, and we will go in your stead. This is why I came here. This is why I travelled all the way from home: to help you. Our throne is seated by a madman, and our people are scared, leaderless, and being sold off to these sick, shapeshifting bastards. I am bringing you back to Sinos alive so you can set things right.”
“Sister—”
“It’s perfect,” Tayel said. “Let us go instead of you. Shy’s the best fighter I’ve ever seen, Fehn’s got the dark aether, and I…” She picked up her mag baton. “I could stand to hit a few things myself.”
Shy smiled.
Jace puffed his chest. “And I—”
“You’re all a bunch of kids,” Locke said, exasperated. “I’m sorry, but it doesn’t feel right putting you in harm’s way.”