Wolf Heart

Chapter 63

Planet: Kestra, Sanctum Command

First Insurgency War

MAIA

Quadrums of careful planning and bolstering our defenses around high-profile places... the damage is done... and now we're questioning why we fight. The hospital took patients from both sides into its once sturdy walls.

Dreams ruined in explosive fire.

Rayan Falae was right... we were divided, right to this.

Maia stood on one side of General Falae, while James took her other side, his hazel gaze empty of any of Black Wolf's previous arrogance. He kept his hands behind his back and drew his gaze to the space in front of him. Maia held her position in support of General Falae, but weight crushed her spine. Across the massive holotable, General Keaton stared her superior officer down across the pixel galaxy, with the other three general's off to the side in observation with no stake in the war.

"We're out of time," General Keaton said. "You must see that, Falae. We have to set up this quarantine. We know the Insurgency have gathered their primary force in Kalto." He prodded the edge of the table as if that would accentuate the point. "We won't get another opportunity like this."

"You're forgetting several points, Keaton," General Falae said, flat. "Our intel revealed that the First Insurgency split in half."

General Ijuna piped up from her seat, "We've confirmed defection among the ranks of the Insurgency — which means half of their defenses will be weakened. We have a war on three fronts, and we've run out of resources to continue this. We have to finish this if we want to return stability to the solar system, especially with the bioweapon."

General Falae blinked once, then the blues steeled. "I argued against the usage. It was dangerous and we didn't have the full picture of its capabilities. We didn't know what would happen once we dropped it in the field."

"And we had no other options!" Keaton snapped, and Maia bit on her tongue. "If we didn't push out the Insurgents, they'd never come out of their hole. We would be running around while they sat back and picked us off one by one." He shook his head, then rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We can't keep going around in circles, or else we might as well wave the white flag." He narrowed his eyes at the battle map, then sighed. "We can't risk the next phase without something to pin them in place. We won't use the bio-weapon. We'll put Kalto under siege."

Maia opened her mouth, but stopped when General Falae eyed her with a warning. "Keaton, that city is full of people. If you send that strike we'll have civilians caught in the crossfire," she argued. "We have to take this cautiously. Try to evacuate people."

"Celestials sake, Falae," Keaton bit. "I say one thing, you say another."

Poron stood up from his chair. "We have to come to a decision now, Falae," he said. "I have an idea. Why not send the Elites during the siege? We have perfectly engineered soldiers and we can use them. If the Insurgency gets pinned by the strike they won't notice the real weapon among them."

Maia jolted at the faint bell from the door, and a young communications officer stepped in. "General Ijuna? We've just received a new report from ground teams."

"What is it?" General Ijuna asked.

The officer took in a breath. "There's something going on in Kalto. They've bolstered their ranks," she explained and shuffled with her datapad. "They've captured the defectors — Rayan Falae among them."

"Perfect." Keaton nodded. "Two birds with one stone. Rayan Falae is — well, was one of the de facto leaders of the First Insurgency."

General Falae's expression hardened into a threat. "He told me he was a tactician, nothing more."