Chapter 33

Clarke, Echo, and Raven charged into the bridge. Emori, Miller, and Niylah turned to look at them. Jordan came in after they got settled. He'd been checking on the chryo pods.

"What's wrong?" Miller asked seeing the distress in their faces.

"I'll explain it all soon. Right now, we need to know how quickly we can get back down to the ground," Clarke told them. "Jordan, did you wake Jackson as I asked?"

"He's in the mess eating. He'll be here soon. He was a little disoriented," Jordan answered.

"Clarke," Murphy said as he came onto the bridge, followed by Jackson.

"Okay, now that I have all of your attentions. We have some things to do. Echo, go wake any Azgeda that you think you can trust. Take them to the...the gym. Jackson, I need you to check on Kane and Gaia. They were brought aboard injured and I want to know what will happen if we wake them. Go. Raven and Emori, find our next window down. How many can we take down next?" Clarke asked.

"Theoretically...all of us," Raven answered.

"Get it ready then," Clarke commanded.

Raven nodded. Clarke looked at the all. She knew that they were wondering what was going on, but she would explain as needed. First, she had to get everyone awake. Then, they would find out what was happening before they loaded up to go down to Terre Nova.

"Miller, you and Murphy, go wake all of Skaikru except Kane for now. Take them to the loading bay. Niylah, you and Jordan, go wake all of Trikru. Take them to the cargo bay. Jordan, wait. I'll walk with you."

"What about Diyoza?" Raven asked as she was typing away at the computer.

"That's why I'm going with Jordan and Niylah. Come on. Let's go. We don't have a lot of time," Clarke stated as they left the bridge and all headed down to the chryo tanks.

When they entered the room, they all turned and looked at Clarke. She moved with Jordan to the tank with Diyoza in it and started the waking process. As soon as the glass opened, she smiled down at the former Navy Seal. She could see the questions in her eyes. Instead of giving her any immediate answers, she just helped her out of the chryo bed.

"I need you to come with me," Clarke told her quietly. After Diyoza nodded, Clarke turned to the rest of the crew. "You have your orders. Let's do this," she told them as she escorted Diyoza out of the room.

She lead Diyoza to the mess first. She watched at the woman ate some rations and some of the vegetables that Jordan had grown. When she was done, Diyoza looked at Clarke. She could see the worry in her eyes.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Diyoza questioned.

"I don't like this, so no."

"What is it that you need?"

"Not here."

"Okay," Diyoza answered and stood, ready to follow Clarke.

They made their way back to the bridge and then into the Captain's quarters. She sat down behind the desk and Diyoze eased herself into a chair near it. Clarke looked the woman over. She knew that it was wrong to ask her to do this in her condition, but she didn't feel like she had any other choice. She had two options and neither of them were good.

"First, let me tell you that you good for someone of your age," Clarke started, hoping that a little bit of levity would help her ease into her task at hand.

"How long this time?"

"Hundred and twenty-five years," Clarke stated.

"Well, this is got to be the longest ever recorded pregnancy in the history of humankind."

"I am sure it is," Clarke replied

"Earth is gone?"

"Yes."

"Where are we?"

"Monty found another planet. It was the from the Eligius III mission. They were sent to colonize, not mine."

"A second Earth?" Diyoza asked.

"Yes, they call it Terre Nova."

"New Earth...fitting, but there is something wrong isn't there?"

"No, it is habitable. They've made a civilization that they've named Helios because the planets have twin suns, which they have named after ancient gods. The first sun of the day is Apollos. The second sun, which is small and seems to be the farthest from the planet is Lugh. Most of the people seem to be of European decent. I know that would mean more to you than me, because you are from before the bombs, but I am told that they are a mixed people. I haven't met a lot of them yet, but we will be soon."

"So, what do you need from me?" Diyoza inquired. "You made it known that you would only allow those who wanted to reform in your new colony once the Earth was habitable. Has anything changed? I am the leader of killers, rapists, and thieves, who would gladly kill or sell their own mother if they thought they could get something out of it. What am I missing?"

"Even though there is a civilization, it is not without conflict. It seems after they gave up on Eligius sending more resources and people to help the colony, it split into two factions. The Terrens, those below the wall, and the Praha, those above the wall. They fought for resources and land, people and tech, and eventually a wall was built to separate them. It didn't stop the Praha. They continued to pillage even when the Terrens stopped. That was until around a decade ago, they captured a couple from a farm. They tortured the wife and eventually killed her."

"The husband fought back?"

"There was no husband. Palla, their leader, was the woman's wife. She was devastated. She'd watched her wife be brutalized and tortured. She was sent back over the wall as a kind of warning. Her wife's body was sent back in pieces. She broke."

"Any one would," Diyoza offered.

"But, she didn't break the way they hoped. She gathered weapons, armor and a horse, which that call caballos. She crossed the wall and laid waste to the Praha on her own. She devastated them. She didn't pillage. She didn't care for their things. She burnt entire settlements to the ground as she searched for the man that destroyed her life. She didn't care if she died. She nothing to live for but revenge."

"I take it she found him."

"No, she never did. Instead her wife's sister did. They brought her back to Helios and the Village, their capital settlement. They fought her and fought her until she broke again and agreed that vengeance wasn't going to bring her wife back. But, her reputation had already been cemented. The Praha fear her. So instead of wiping them off the face of the Terre Nova, she offered them a peace. They stayed on their side and she would stay on hers."

"I see. And, now the Praha have broken the peace? What do you need me to do?" Diyoza asked.

"I need to know who is loyal enough to you that they are willing to fight."

"Why?"

"We've secured a large amount of land from Palla. She wishes for us to join their people, but she understands that we might want our own settlement. We would have to obey their laws in their settlements, but we would govern ourselves in ours. We would have free trade between us. We would support each other, defend each other, and help each other survive. We would be continuing the human race."

"Peacefully?"

"Yes," Clarke answered.

"That's all I want for her, you know?" Diyoza said as she rubbed her stomach. "I just want Hope to have somewhere to call home and not have to worry. I know that you want the same thing with Madi. Out of the four hundred of us, I believe there are just over fifty or so prisoners. I didn't do a final check before we all went to sleep. I was a little preoccupied with surviving and keeping Hope alive."

"I know. But our total number is four hundred eleven. There weren't as many survivors as we would have liked from the bunker, but we saved who we could against McCreary's attack. I know you did as well. How many of them will still follow you?"

"I don't know."

"How many of them do you trust?"

"Not many."

"If given the option to fight for their right to survive, would they?"

"Probably, but that isn't the problem," Diyoza stated. "Controlling them would be. They aren't going to want to be collared. And, they aren't going to go down their to die only to be put back in prison. You need to know that before you offer them anything."

"And you?" Clarke asked.

"I would fight if I wasn't pregnant. I've seen what you can do, Clarke. I know that you only want what's best for us all now. You fight to keep us all alive, but you are also fighting to protect Madi. I will do the same for Hope."

"It's a mother's prerogative."

"It is. But, I am not sure how I can get fifty-six people to agree to this. They like to fight, but this...doesn't seem like it is our fight."

"They attacked us, Diyoza. They've brought the fight to us. They know we are coming now. If it isn't our fight now, it will be as soon as we get established. I get that it isn't going to be easy, but I would feel better having as many warriors on the ground with me as I can. If you don't think that they can handle it, then we will leave them here until we get the settlement built. We aren't bringing the ship down."

"I agree."

"On?"

"Not taking the ship down."

"So, I need you to get with Jordan and figure out who on the list you want," Clarke told her as she handed her the manifest.

"Wait, who's Jordan?"

"Monty and Harper never slept. They had a child and they put him in chryo with a timer. He woke us up first."

"And, Monty and Harper?"

"Sacrificed themselves so we could have a chance on this planet. I am not going to let it be in vain. I want what you want, Diyoza and I'm will to fight for it. The question is now, are you? You were once an elite fighting machine for the government. Then you became a terrorist. Now, you're a mother. I've held the same titles almost but in a different order. I am going to fight. It is no longer about me and saving my people. This is for Madi and those we lost because if the Praha win, man is doomed. And, I'll be damned if I've survived this long, fought this long, lost so fucking much to let man die out because of I wasn't willing to fight for it. Can you?" Clarke asked her as she stood up.

"I'll look at the list," she answered as she took the list from Clarke. "How long do I have?"

"I don't know. I need to go find Raven. Wait here, I'll be right back," Clarke said as she walked out onto the bridge to find Raven still sitting behind consoles.

"I think I found our window," Raven said without looking up.

"And?"

"We have a little over eight hours before we'll be in a good position. The window will be small. Around thirty minutes and it will take about between thirty minutes to an hour before we land back at the landing pad outside the Processing Center. I could radio ahead and have Abby there ready to check us all in. Palla said that it was ready to use. With Jackson and you helping her there, we could clear people faster."

"Call down. Tell them the plan. Have Indra go with them. If Octavia can get up, have her stay with Bellamy and Palla's family. I don't want them unguarded."

"Got it."

Clarke nodded to her and then went back into the Captain's quarters. Diyoza looked up at her with her blue eyes and saw something that she'd seen from Clarke before: determination. She stood, holding her stomach as she moved towards Clarke.

"How long?"

"Eight hours and we leave," Clarke told her.

"I'll have them ready. I can think of a few that I trust and who will be willing to help. They agreed to work for your second chance before going to sleep. I'll see if they still agree. Where should we meet?" Diyoza asked her.

"The mess."

"Go. Get the rest of the warriors awake. I'll handle the riff raff. I'm good at it," Diyoza said with a smirk and quick quirk of her eyebrow.

Clarke returned her smile and moved through the ship to the gym. She saw Echo standing there with five other Azgeda. She saw that she was standing close to one of them. She was also having a quiet conversation with them. None of them were armed yet, but she knew that Echo would rectify that soon.

"These five are loyal?"

"To the Wanheda, sha," Echo answered.

"Good. You are all apart of my security detail for now, then. Arm up. We have a war to stop or fight and win. Ready?" Clarke asked them.

A resoundingly loud round of Sha, Wanheda's were her answer. Echo stayed by the one man as they left. Before they entered the cargo bay, Clarke turned to Echo. She studied her brown eyes and then she looked at man she'd been walking with.

"Echo," she called.

Echo stopped and turned to face her. The rest of them continued into the Cargo bay, armed to the teeth, but they stopped just inside the door. The man however hung back a little. It made Clarke question her relationship with him.

"Who is he?" Clarke asked her, quietly, as she neared her guard.

"Who?"

"Echo, don't play games. Who is the man you've been speaking with? Do I need to be worried for Bellamy?"

"After what he pulled?" Echo started and then looked back at the man before turning back to look into Clarke's steel grey-blue eyes. "He's my brother. I thought he was dead, but when Raven pulled the list, I saw his name. I knew that he would support me. He was never loyal to the throne but to the family. He moved to Polis to help our standing. He found out that I'd become a spy, so he did, too. He was sent to Ingranrona to spy. He only did the bare minimum, but it was enough to keep Nia happy and him safe. He moved around a lot, tried to keep tabs on me, but lost news of me when I was captured in the Mountain. When Roan became king, he asked to be released and was. But, he never asked Roan where I was. We lost each other and we were so close."

"And, now?"

"He is loyal to you, Clarke. You trust me. Trust him."

"I do trust you, Echo. I will trust him. What is his name?" Clarke inquired.

"Aeolus," Echo replied.

Clarke smiled. Then she moved to enter the cargo bay. She knew that this was just the first of many speeches that she would be making that day. As she stood in front of the remainder of Trikru, Clarke knew that it looked very odd for her to be standing there with Azgeda guards. She was proving a point, even she didn't yet know what it was completely. They weren't just Azgeda. They were Wonkru and they were going to have to act like it.

"Wanheda, what is the meaning of this? Why do you have Azgeda guards? Has something happened to Heda?" one of them asked.

"No, nothing like that. Things are complicated. As for them being Azgeda, Azgeda is gone. Azgeda is no more. Trikru is no more. We are one clan and we are united by Heda's rule. We are Wonkru and we are needed," Clarke told them.

"Needed for what?"

"War," Clarke answered.

"What happened?"

"We've found a new planet to live on. There is a clan there that has attacked Octavia kom Skaikru en Trikru, Heda's Skairipa. As Wanheda, I cannot let this stand. Skairipa is a personal guard to Heda and an attack on her is..."

"An attack on Heda!" the small group answered.

"That is true. Gather your things. Go eat. And, then join what is left of the former Skaikru in the loading bay. We are going to protect Heda and our new lands. As Skairipa told you all in the bunker, 'You're Wonkru or the enemy of Wonkru, choose'."

Echo cocked an eyebrow at that, but she knew that it would light a fire under them. She wanted them rowdy and ready for a fight. And, damn it, if Clarke didn't know what buttons to push to make it happen.

"Aeolus and Echo will stay with me. Niylah will take you to the mess. Eat well. Jordan will show where your things are stored. Pack light. We can always come back," Clarke told them and then turned to leave.

"Skaikru?"

"There next," Clarke said as she moved through the ship, Echo and Aeolus on her tail.