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  Bot City is ready to rise. The weapons are ready, the aliens are coming, and the bots are ready for action, but what comes next?

  The pilots of Bot City have been focused on securing the safety of their people, and incidentally the human city, for the last few days.

  With one final battle to expunge the Tokkel before they can try and get a foothold on Hera, the bot pilots are ready to take up the customized weapons and use them to show the alien invasion who is in charge.

  Their goal is clear. They have to repel the Tokkel and learn the actual history of the valley as not one version of the tale has rung entirely true. The Nine have their version, the elders have their version, the city has their version, and then, there is the truth. It is past time for the truth to be heard. The pilots have earned it.

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  Blend and Defend

  Copyright © 2018 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-0583-0

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

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  www.eXtasybooks.com or www.devinedestinies.com

  Blend and Defend

  Innate Wright Book 6

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Duel was leading Kabriuk to the elders’ conference chamber when she noted the flow of folk to the amphitheatre.

  “Kab, am I taking him to the right place?”

  “Yes, Duel. The elders are arranging a briefing for the valley before we go to war. You are still to go to the conference chambers. I believe they want to confine the males to the chambers during the briefing.”

  Duel groaned. “They are going to lie to the population.”

  “Probably. This is not the time to discuss genetic heritage.”

  Ah. That was it. The members of the Nine wanted to speak to their descendants, but the confusion that would ensue would be a distraction. It was going to have to be dealt with clan by clan.

  “Who are you talking to?”

  She looked up at him and smiled. “Kab. He’s chatty.”

  “They named the bots after the donors of the AI print.” He smiled slowly.

  “They did. Didn’t you know?”

  “No, I was never introduced to my imprint. None of us were. The ladies were there and told us that it was successful.”

  “I thought that the father of pilot Otta designed the bots and the AI casings.”

  “No, it was his wife, Marya, who drew up the bots, and she did the calculations to use the imprint from our ship as a template. The ship was sacrificed in the early attacks, but we saved the main hard drive. I wonder what happened to her?”

  “I will look into it once we are near a terminal.”

  He blinked. “A terminal?”

  “Sure. Your clan status determines what you can access, but we use them from the time we can walk and in everyday life.”

  “May we access them?”

  She frowned. “I think Nyvett would be able to set you up. She has administrative privileges.”

  “She is Iffendro’s blood.”

  “Correct.”

  He nodded as if he was putting her appearance into place in his mind.

  Duel sighed and flexed her hands. “Well, we are here.”

  She nodded to the security officers and moved between them, opening the door to the spot where the elders usually gathered to create special task forces. The room was nearly at capacity when Duel and Kabriuk stepped inside.

  Lameera looked up from her desk, and she nodded, “Right. Thank you, Duel, for your assistance. You can go now.”

  She paused, and Kabriuk grabbed her arm.

  Kabriuk stated, “I would like her to stay. There are nuances to your language that me and mine have trouble keeping up with.”

  Lameera looked at Duel, and Duel realized that she was the only pilot in the room. “I can go.”

  Lameera shook her head. “Stay. You can explain this to the pilots.”

  Lameera stood and looked at the men. “As we are hours from battle, we are not going to tell the population who you are. We wish to get through this with our morale intact, and knowing that the history has been cobbled together to be feasible is not what we want to tell them today. Tomorrow is another matter. The light of truth can blaze tomorrow.”

  She nodded to the elders. “We have discussed it, and we agree that when the battle is over, the ships vanquished, and the prisoners dealt with, we will tell our people about you. They will know your story and that of the women who founded the valley.”

  Kabriuk nodded, but Aikoro raised a hand. “Prisoners?”

  Lameera nodded. “There was an attack on this place by dozens of small vessels. We kept those alive that we could. They are in one of our dead-end mines right now.”

  Ciotan piped up, “They can chew through rock.”

  Lameera nodded. “We guessed at that. They are in a lined underground corridor that doesn’t go anywhere. They have only managed to chew through six inches in the last eight hours. By the time this is over, they will be reaching the second safety lining.”

  The members of the Nine looked at each other, and slow smiles crept across their faces. They said something in a liquid language, and Kab translated for Duel.

  She grinned. “They say we are much like our grandmothers.”

  Lameera inclined her head with a grin, and she nodded at the rest of the elders. “Stay here while the speech is going on. I am going to try and build up a little bit of the morale and get folks ready for a big change. I don’t want the distraction of the males in our midst.”

  Duel blinked. “I understand. I think. We will remain here.”

  “Good. When the meeting is over and everyone goes to their stations, make sure that you are in your bot without hesitation. We need all of you up there.”

  Duel smiled. “I will be there. Kab wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Kabriuk frowned and asked, “What will become of us during the battle? We want to help.”

  Lameera paused during her exit, but Duel waved her to leave.

  “We can head to medical, and I am sure that at least a few of you can run scans. Do scans to see if you made it through your long sleep without issue. For now, we just have to wait. After the meeting, there will be a rush as folks get to duty stations.”

  Kabriuk cocked his head. “Don’t you have to get to your station?”

  “No, he comes to me.”

  She grinned at their alarmed looks. “The med centre is near one of the entrances for obvious reasons. I will have him meet me there.”

  As they spoke quietly about what they would do in medical, Lameera began to address the citizens of the valley.

  Duel sat
at the council table and listened to Lameera’s speech.

  “Citizens of Bot City, thank you for your attention.” Lameera was an excellent public speaker.

  “In the past hours, we have seen our most honoured celebration turn to a battle, and what we considered to be symbols of a bygone era were suddenly called to fight. We fought, and we gained the time we needed to prepare our city and our people for the incoming invasion.”

  Duel waited while the pause came through the speaker.

  “The ancient aliens have come to our world once again, and they want our presence on this world eradicated. In an effort to learn what we can, we have woken a group of ancient allies who were held by the city. They have given us information on the incoming army and are to be treated with the greatest respect. They are not our enemy. They have never been our enemy. Are we clear?”

  Duel waited until she heard the murmurs and shouts of agreement.

  Kabriuk sat next to her. “You looked like you just got a stay of execution.”

  “No, you did. Some of our clans are on the blood-thirsty side.”

  Lameera continued. “Now, the Tokkel are expecting us to give them a signal at midnight, but we are going to burn their dead now. I want each of you to man your battle station as our bots and pilots go out to put their lives on the line for us once again.”

  Her voice climbed in enthusiasm. “Today, we will fight and Bot City will rise! We will rise above those who would destroy us, and we will take our place on Hera. We will remain in the shadows no longer! Today, we rise!”

  Duel blinked. “Shit. Guys. We have to go.”

  The Nine were befuddled.

  Aikoro asked, “What is going on?”

  “There is about to be a wave of women running to their stations the moment that she finishes talking, so we need to get you somewhere where food, water, clothing, and communications are available.”

  She stood up straight and shouted. “Now! We are going now!”

  She headed out the door and ran down the halls, listening and hearing with some relief, the sounds of footfalls behind her.

  She paused at each crossing in the halls and had Kab do a quick count.

  It was a desperate ten minutes of running through the city, but she managed to get them into the main med facility.

  The men looked amused, but their faces sobered as they heard the thunder of footfalls in the city. The walls vibrated with the pounding of thousands of feet around the underground city.

  Duel closed the door to the med bay. “See? I told you. You have everything you need here. There are rations, food, and a com station here. You can look up our history or contact the elders or one of us if you need to.”

  Kabriuk nodded. “Just one thing before you go, what did they mean that you were burning the bodies of the Tokkel?”

  “They lied about their favourite means of burial, so we gathered their bodies and are about to set fire to them.”

  “The Tokkel bodies break down quickly. They use them for fuel.”

  Duel blinked, and she got an open link to the com centre, “I need Lameera now!”

  The com officer sounded confused. “Duel?”

  “Now.”

  The line went quiet and then Lameera spoke. “What is it, Duel?”

  “The Tokkel bodies are explosive. We need to set that blaze from a distance.”

  Lameera’s voice went tense. “You go and light it. I will call back the cycle.”

  Duel swallowed. “On my way.”

  She turned to Kabriuk and squeezed his arm quickly. “Thanks for that, Grandpa. See you when this is over.”

  He inclined his head and smiled at her touch on his arm. “Go and do what you have been chosen to do.”

  “This is what I was born to do.” She smiled slightly and left the medical bay as some of the doctors were arriving.

  A woman held her hand up. “We know. We will take care of them.”

  Duel nodded and ran as fast as she could. “Kab, you know where to meet me.”

  “I do. I am nearly there.”

  “Great. See you in sixty seconds.” She ran to the exterior door and keyed it open with the master code. When it swung open, she squinted into the daylight and the shadow of Kab crossed over her. His hand extended, and she closed the hatch behind her before stepping up.

  “Did you tell the others about the explosives?”

  “Yes. We are working to get someone to make sure that the cycle doesn’t make it. If you can tuck in, we can run.”

  She was sitting in the cradle and putting her headset back onto its hook. She settled her head back and put her hands on the armrests. “Ready when you are, Kab.”

  Her senses mixed with his, and they were on their way to the field where they had buried the Tokkel. Time was definitely a factor.

  Chapter Two

  Hima waved at a few of her family before she ran for the exit closest to Len. The message came through the com unit, and she bolted into the light, heading for Len. He was still crouched down with his hand extended, so it was a very easy jump to get into his palm and lifted to the hatch.

  “Are you ready for some exercise?” Hima asked Len as she climbed into the command deck.

  “I am. Are we trying to intercept the cycle?”

  “We all are. Whoever gets there first stops the citizen who has been assigned to start the blaze.”

  “Right. So, stop and don’t crush. Got it.” Len’s amusement rippled through the room.

  Once she was settled and plugged in, he started moving, and the small figure on the cycle was streaking across the desert.

  “She is still heading for the pyre.”

  “Yup. Let’s stop her.” Hima aimed the pulse blast for fifty feet in front of the cycle, and when the sand exploded, the woman wobbled and skidded to a halt.

  Hima walked Len up to the woman, and she scooped her up carefully.

  The hatch opened and the woman scrambled inside, spitting mad. “What the hell was that?”

  “The Tokkel are flammable. If you had lit the pyre, you would have exploded.”

  The woman sat on the floor. “Oh.”

  “Len, can you let the others know that we have her?”

  “Done. Shall we take her to the city for safety?”

  Len was silent for a moment. “The distant sensors have been tripped. We don’t have time to take her back.”

  “We can drop her off at the munitions area.”

  “Good idea.” Len turned and moved rapidly toward the munitions area around the edge of the city.

  The young woman hung onto the straps and kept trying to pull herself upright. “What is going on?”

  Hima paused and turned Len toward the pyre. It was tiny in the distance. She raised the pulse blast again, and she fired. There was a delay of three seconds, and then, the pyre went up, the explosion sending debris upward in a tower of green flame.

  “Right. That’s done. Now, on to munitions.” Hima turned, and they continued their mission to pick up one of the special guns.

  “What? Where are we going?”

  Hima answered her. “You are going to the munitions lab. I am dropping you off and then sprinting in this bot as far away as I can toward the incoming warship. Just like the other pilots and bots are doing. When we see the ship, we are going to shoot it and try to get it under our control.”

  The woman looked befuddled.

  “Never mind. Just call Lameera and confirm that you are safe and the pyre has been lit.”

  The woman nodded. “Thank you, by the way.”

  Hima smiled. “You are all right. Now, the hatch is going to open when we stop. You jump into the palm and we will set you down.”

  “Will do.”

  True to her word, when they stopped, she rose to her feet and got out of the hatch. Hima set her on the ground and reached over to grab one of the guns and a set of three bullets.

  Armed, she followed the figure of Ka
b heading for the horizon, and Hima could see the figures of the others right behind her, in line for their weapons.

  It was time to take the fight to the Tokkel.

  * * * *

  Duel ran Kab as quickly as she dared with the ammunition in one hand and the gun in the other. The purpose of their run was to get to the warship when it was as far away from the valley as was possible.

  They didn’t know the distance at which the remote controlling would be effective, so they were shooting for as far away as possible and hoping that the controls would be able to gain access before the warship proved a danger.

  This mission was about directly protecting the valley, and finally, Duel could do something that involved taking action instead of working on preparation.

  Kab asked, “I can get them on my sensors.”

  “How far away are they?”

  “On the other side of that distant rise. What I would suggest is that you wait here and start firing when they cross that boundary.”

  “Sounds fair.” Duel took the gun, checked that it was loaded, and she waited.

  The other bots arrived, and Kab spread the word that they were waiting for the warship to show itself.

  The other six pilots agreed, and they waited.

  It was a game of nerves to wait for the huge object that was lighting up her sensors, but Duel waited as the bulk used its atmospheric engines to crawl through the sky at low altitude.

  “They dropped down the moment the ionic shield went up. They have been clawing their way across the landscape since that moment.”

  Duel nodded. “I know.”

  She bared her teeth and kept her focus as the ridge of stone warped and expanded. They were crossing the range.

  The ship was flat grey and rather ugly, though it could have been Duel’s opinion clouding her judgment.

  She kept herself ready and prepared to fire.

  * * * *

  Kiida left the great meeting hall, and she sprinted through the halls with hundreds of other active participants. Once they saw her headset, they made way, but it took a lot of shouting from those she had already passed to get the ones ahead of her to make a path.