Withheld information

Z P.O.V.

With the result of our success in hand, I radioed for General Adkins to meet me in the Elders chamber. It was time to unveil our findings and devise our strategy of attack and ending this atrocious war once and for all. I couldn't help but smile on the inside. Victory had always seemed so far out of reach and now finally it was knocking on our door. Paper in hand and long strides I opened the door, where General Adkins was waiting for me.

"You have the results?" He asked pointing to the sheet of paper in my hand.

With a smile I nodded and handed it to him. Scanning over the document his eyes grew wide and a smile played upon his lips. He could not contain his excitement. Handing it back to me with a gentle pat on the shoulder we entered the room together. The Elders eyed us both impatiently, peering to one another.

"I am rather surprised to hear from you so soon Z, I had thought it would have taken you much longer than four days to have found a solution." SoZu quipped.

"Well Lord SoZu with the right team and right incentive anything is possible." I retorted.

SoZu rolled his eyes at her remark and silenced himself, clearly annoyed.

"Great Elders I hold here in my hands the results from the simulator, it would seem we have a weapon of our own to end Solarious. With the right combination of my blood, Emily's blood, and silver, this serum is so toxic it will kill Solarious instantly." I continued.

My voice carried nothing short of confidence and sternness. I was so certain in this solution for it to work. That nothing else mattered at the moment, and quite frankly I believe to General Adkins it didn't matter either. If this serum worked, he would support me and my efforts to end this war. After all, to many people have already suffered…to many of my own people have suffered. Along with the people of Numir. Enough was enough, and there was no turning back now. He was coming for us, and the only way out was to fight back and kill him.

"Is that so?" Ocenia inquired.

"Yes." I replied looking at her.

" If all goes to plan, we will have the advantage and can surprise Solarious, by the time he realizes what has happened it will be to late, there will be no coming back from this, once it is injected into his body he will be consumed by millions of little nano bytes. They will cover him in seconds, consuming every ounce of his scaley skin, all the way down to his bones. When they are finished, he will be nothing but a skeleton."

"And what strategy have you concocted to inject him? How are you sure you will be close enough to do it, in the first place? "Arian asked.

"Distance won't be an issue; we can make this into a serum that acts as a dart. Once it hits his skin it will self-inject, we don't have to do anything but keep him distracted while a sniper makes the shot." I replied, having thought this whole thing out.

"Your plan will have to come up with a better tactic than relying on the one shot of a sniper, no body is perfect, if they miss, then that will be the end of us."  SoZu stated.

"That is where I can tell you my lord that you are incorrect." General Adkins refuted the statement made by SoZu.

"OH, how is that?" SoZu barked back.

"I have one such soldier, who is a perfect shot and wont miss his mark at all, Specialists Wharton."

The Elders looked at General Adkins in disbelief.

"How are you so sure of that, might I ask? Last we heard his new ability from the antidote, only gave him a higher sense of smell." SoZu asked with a hint of doubt in his tone.

General Adkins smiled wide.

"Yes, my lord that it did, however, he is a rather remarkable Numirian, in the pass months he has sharpened his sense of smell and after he mastered that it would seem a new ability graced him. He has the sight of a Hawk, never missing his shot. As of now Specialist Wharton can hit a target the size of an apple from 10 miles."

The Elders gasped in disbelief, my mouth fell open and my eyes grew wide. All this time Wharton had developed yet another ability and General Adkins kept it to himself. This was good news and would work out well for our strategy in the final battle against Solarious, but at the same time I find myself rather annoyed or maybe even angry at the fact he had kept this hidden from me for months.

"Very well, you and Z have two days to bring us a solid plan." The Elders chimed and then dismissed themselves.

I glared at General Adkins before turning to walk away.

"Z wait." He called out to me.

I paused and turned heel to face him, my face must have conveyed my full disgust with him at the moment, because he was hesitant to walk towards me for a brief moment.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner-"

"When did he get the new ability?" I interrupted him.

"About- two weeks after he reported he had a keen sense of smell." He replied.

"Two weeks after?! Do you not realize how much the last battle would have benefited if you and him would have disclosed that?! Lives could have been spared!" I shouted at him angrily.

General Adkins shrunk back as my voice rang in his ears. Shame filled his eyes, and he sighed in response.

"I don't expect you to understand how difficult of a decision it was for me to forbid Wharton from unveiling his ability. This keeps us at an advantage if he would have used his ability on Caspia then Solarious would know all our cards." He snaps back at me.

"There would have been another way," I retorted.

With a flash of anger General Adkins took three steps to me and for once we were eye to eye. His face turned lobster red, and his lips pursed. He tightened his fist as he stared me down, trying to peer into my soul.

"I made the call, it was my choice, for the greater good, and I am the one who must live with it!"

Turning away from me, he stormed off in a furry. One foot ahead of the other, leaving me alone in the hallway outside the chambers of the elders. His words still don't change my opinion, there is always another way, a solution that would have saved many lives, while we would have still been able to kill Solarious.

Sola P.O.V.

I was growing restless; Neese rarely spoke to me, and this ship was so small I was beginning to feel claustrophobic. I had walked back and forth in the same line, hundreds of times. Chewing on my fingernails. If this journey to Numir took any longer, I was going to go clinically insane after all. My mind raced with the thought of being able to avenge my fallen comrades, to feel the warm blood gush out of the bodies of my enemy and all over my hands and down my arms. I relished in it.

"What are you smiling about?" Neese spat, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I wasn't," I replied nervously avoiding eye contact.

Sitting in the co pilot chair I looked straight ahead, space seemed endless, the stars twinkled amongst each other not a care in the world. So carefree their only job was to shine bright each and every day and night, until it was their time to die out. I suppose that is what all of us living beings are, stars of the flesh, living, breathing, and just waiting for our time to die. I sighed at the thought, I wish I could be carefree like these pretty white and blue gems that just float amongst this thick blanket of black. No wars, fighting, no hurting or grieving, just endless peace.

"You're doing it again." Neese said annoyed, the second time now he has snapped me out of my own thoughts.

"I was just wondering," I began.

"What?" He replied.

"What is the plan, for when we arrive, it's just us two versus a whole planet of Numirians." I asked as a matter of fact.

He let out a small chuckle and looked at me with a devious smile.

"Right now, our job is recon. So, the plan is, when we land, we sneak our way into the city, once we have done so, we will morph into the first two soldiers we see. And take down the ones we impersonate."

"So, we are not here to kill anyone?" I ask disappointed.

"Relax Sola, that will come soon enough, once we have gathered as much information as we can for Lord Solarious, we can begin with the killing." He patted me on the shoulder and faced forward again.

Deciding, I wasn't going to get anything further from Neese, I leaned my head back in my chair and closed my eyes, allowing myself to drift off into sleep. Hoping that it would help ease my anxiety and make this dreadful journey shorter than it was.

Emily P.O.V.

I re read over all the results both from the failures and the one success we had. It was still hard to believe that my blood worked as a match with Z's. Soon,very soon all of this misery will end and peace and healing will start its ever lasting journey. That end goal makes all of this worth it,everything I have been through, my friends have been through, it wont be in vain. I suppose that would be my nightmare come true. All of the loss and pain everyone has been through on this mission to stop Solarious, ending in us kneeling before him in defeat. It's heart wrenching to think. To even believe that it could still be a possibility, is terrifying.

"Don't do it." Z muttered as the door opened and she walked in.

Puzzled I stare at her with my mouth open attempting to say something in response but falling short. Instead, I let out a sigh and stood up from my chair and leaned against the table crossing my arms. We made eye contact, and I could see something was bothering her, however it wasn't the same thing as what I was just deliberating.

"You are bothered by something aren't you?" I ask softly.

Nodding, Z diverts her eyes away from me and to the empty steel wall across from her.

"Care to tell me, what happened with General Adkins and the Elders?" I positioned myself in front of her, so that all her attention would be on me.

A not so unfamiliar silenced rained down between us, she didn't want to talk, and I didn't know what to say to pry into that stubborn mind of hers. Consequently, we ended in a stale mate. I wasn't going to let it go and she seemed very adamant that she wasn't going to let me in either. As frustrating as it can be I stood my ground and waited. After all this time she was going to learn that I am just as stubborn as she is and eventually, she will have to talk to me. At least I hope she would learn that anyway.

"Its Adkins and his selfishness." She blurts out angrily.

'Finally,' I think to myself.

"What do you mean?" I ask puzzled.

"Him and Wharton…" She paused, with a pained expression on her face.

"Him and Wharton hid some valuable information. Information that would have made a difference in the battle at Caspia." She finished her sentence and left my gaze.

"Z, what information did they hide?" I responded, wrapping my arms around her waist.

"Wharton developed another ability that they had kept hidden, the second ability appeared shortly after his sense of smell."

"And what ability would that be?" I asked.

"He apparently has hawk like vison that he can see a target from 10 miles away and hit it, even as small as an apple."

"What?!" I shout in surprise. Covering my mouth with both hands.

"Judging by your reaction, I think it is safe for me to assume, you feel the same way I do, that if we had known that little bit of intel, and if Wharton would have used that ability during the fight, it would have changed the outcome drastically." Z continues watching me.

All I feel now is just complete and utter shock. Wharton had an ability that he had hid from everyone except General Adkins for months, I wasn't sure if I should be more angry than surprised. But I can't help myself. I agree with Z that if he had used it during the battle for Caspia that the outcome would have been better for us, however I can't help but feel that maybe they were looking at an even bigger picture than all of us combined. Once the shock wears off, I look at Z and nod my head in agreement.

"So, you agree, they were entirely selfish and caused the lives of so many." She adds with hint of disgust in her voice.

I take her hands in mine and caress the top of them with my thumbs. I don't expect it to do anything to calm her down, but it helps me if nothing else.

"I agree that if they would have shared that information, or if Wharton would have used his ability it would have changed things. But I also don't believe they did it out of selfishness, I think they made a tough call and one they will live with, but it was a decision made to look at a bigger picture of an advantage to change the outcome of a whole war and future, not just for a moment."

Z pulls away from and starts to leave the room without a word. I can tell that wasn't the answer she wanted to hear from me.

"Z wait," I plead.

My words fall on deaf ears, and I am left alone in the lab by myself as her footsteps trail off into the distance.

 Neese P.O.V.

It has been a long journey being stuck on this tiny cruiser with Sola. Every bit of me wants nothing more than to kill this Numirian scum, but my blood lust is held back by the notion that seeing her kill the very people she swore to protect would make for such an exciting and satisfying show. The looks of devastation on their faces as they see their killer. Maybe even their cries for mercy of screaming crying out her name for Sola to stop and spare them. It makes me drool just picturing their faces and limp bodies dropping to the dirt one by one. Only then after every one of them have perished would I tell her the truth and let her see the damage and annihilation she brought upon her people.  After she does, she will beg to be killed. Only to live out her days as a slave and remember it was her that killed her own people.

As the images play in my mind in a fast forward motion, the very planet we have traveled days to finally comes into view. I nudge Sola awake and after a few seconds she stirs awake.

"Sola, we made it," I whisper in delight.

Sola jerks upright and rubs her eyes.

"It's about damn time." She says deviously."

"Wait?!" She smacks my shoulder.

"What!" I shout annoyed.

"How am I going to morph, I don't have that ability. Only you do." She replies confused.

I shake my head and smirk at her.

"Yes, I do, however Lord Solarious was able to engineer my ability from my DNA to where all one has to do is drink this substance and they can shift just as easy as I do." I pull the small yellow liquid vile from my jacket pocket and hand it to her.

Taking it in her hands she pops the lid off and throws it back like she was having a shot, not second guessing anything I had just said.

"Perfect, the effects will last for a few days, not a whole lot of time, but if we move quickly, we can obtain what intel we need before it wears off." I added controlling the ship to land off grid. A nearby forest just a couple miles out of the city walls.

"I can't wait to take them down and make them pay for what they did to me and my comrades." Sola says through gritted teeth.

'You and me both.' I think to myself. Trying to keep my head leveled and focused. I have to remember first the mission and then my satisfaction.