Mia shook her head. “No. The Titans are too small. As far as their ship is concerned, you’ll be space debris, a pebble bouncing off the hull. Even their defense system will ignore you until you start tearing things apart.”
“But we do get to tear them to pieces?”
“Absolutely.”
Lily made an odd gesture with her hand in a rolling motion that caused Mia to smile as she continued. “Once the Titan team attaches to the cruiser hull, you will target one of the two grav generators that power their thrusters.” She adjusted the nav grid screen so that a schematic drawing of the cruiser filled the entire wall. Mia pointed to two distinct areas on the cruiser’s exterior. “Here’s where things get dicey.”
“Dicey?” I asked Lily.
“Dangerous.”
I grunted. As if the rest of the mission up to this point was not.
“The Titans will be carrying modified IPBM triggers recovered from the production facility on Xenon. The triggers are not as powerful as full IPBMs, but will be more than enough to start a chain reaction that will cripple the ship, perhaps even destroy it.”
“And how does the Titan team evacuate?” I asked.
“Booster reserves will be used to launch the Titan toward a previously designated set of coordinates where you will await retrieval by a shuttle.” General Romulus’s tone did not invite comment. “The Titans have a critical role to play in ending this war. The Starfighter pilots will be needed to engage with the Scythe fighters. Our MCS team and their support crews will be working to hack into the attack drones’ communication systems as well as fight to keep our satellites and comms operations. Shuttle pilots will be evacuating civilian targets as well as moving ground forces and supplies. Our entire fleet has been recalled and ordered into defensive positions around Velerion, the moon, and Xenon to protect our people and repel the attack. We cannot lose this fight. Do you understand?”
Dea, the Titan whose sister was recovering from burns, spoke softly. “What about our families on the surface? Does the public know? Can we call them? Warn them?”
“Not yet. Queen Raya is being very careful to keep her ships in the dark zones, outside of our normal scan or patrol areas. If we alert the public too soon, her spies will report back that we are aware of the attack. As of right now, the only people who know are in this room, and it needs to stay that way until we have Titans in place on those cruisers.”
Dea nodded. “When do we leave?”
General Romulus inclined his head to Dea in respect and thanks. “I have already spoken to several Titans who have volunteered for the mission. We need six Titans. With your addition, we have five.”
“I’ll go,” Lily offered before I could stop her. “I volunteer, assuming I can take your sister’s Titan?” She looked at Dea, who nodded.
“Of course. She would be honored.”
“No.”
Lily turned to me. “You don’t control me, Darius.”
“You are not going on that mission.” I looked up at General Romulus. “I’ll go instead.”
The general shook his head. “Negative. The mission positions are assigned and filled. You will report with the rest of the Titans tomorrow at twelve forty to go over ground support on Velerion.”
“No.”
“Are you refusing a direct order?”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. “No, General, but respectfully, it doesn’t make sense to split up a pair-bonded team. They work better together, more instinctively. I should go.”
“I’ve already spoken to Dea’s family. Provided she volunteered, I told them she would be mission approved. I understand you were just pair-bonded, but you’ll have to sit this one out.”
I stared into General Romulus’s eyes. Fuck, I hated politics. There would be no mission beside his pair bond. The General had made the decision before entering the room. I straightened. “Very well.”
“Excellent. Titans heading for the cruisers, be back here at zero eight twenty tomorrow. We’ll go over the ordinance and booster fuel options. Mission details will be available to each of you on your personal devices. Study them. Memorize everything. You launch at ten, sharp.” He looked around the room. “This is the end, Starfighters. We live or we die. But we fight to the end.”
A collective shout went around the room. I raised my voice with the rest, but I could not accept what had just happened. And Lily? She stood, turned on her heel, and walked away from me without a backward glance.
What the fuck was happening here? How was I supposed to protect her if she fought me at every turn? This was unacceptable.
Lily was going on the most dangerous mission I could ever imagine. Alone. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop her.
I glanced over my shoulder to watch the Starfighter Titan, Dea, speaking to one of the pilots.
Maybe there was something I could do after all.