GLADIATOR | ELYSIUM RISING 1 ✔️

⍢ | 29

The next three days blended into each other like a short-circuiting hologram. He spent them sleeping, eating, and training; he found himself inside the training center for as long as he was allowed inside. The combat dummies caught the full wrath of all his pent-up rage and depression.

He pretended the training dummies were Elysian guards and the emperor. Each strike carried a strength he never knew he possessed. Memories of Tenn teaching him to wield a weapon and use it properly passed through him every time he swung the wooden staff in his hands.

Only once he found himself sitting on the edge of his cot in the dead of the night did it hit him. Ohr-Yahn Tennic was gone. For good. Iggy never thought he'd miss the old man's sarcasm and annoyed stares, but he did. He missed his wisdom. He missed his friend. Tears cascaded down his face as he wept quietly in the shadows. A void grew in his core, rapidly growing with every shaky breath he took.

The emperor had taken everything from him. His father. His freedom. And now his best friend. His mother would be next if he didn't get off Elysium Prime soon. Before Jaxon returned him to the arena days ago, the rebel let him know she received her medicine from his smuggler. She was alive and safe—for now. He wouldn't put it past Voltai to harm his mother to further punish him.

If his plan went smoothly, his first action after leaving Elysium would be to get to Novr as fast as he could. He couldn't save Tenn, but he could still save her.

But he couldn't do that without escaping the arena. That's where the plan came in. The day before, he'd spoken to Noia to hash out the finer details of their plot to kidnap the emperor and flee Elysium.

She managed to get her hands on a tranquilizer that could be administered to Voltai through liquid—making it the perfect agent to hide in a drink. The substance was odorless and tasteless, and once submerged in the emperor's wine, it'd be colorless. Unfortunately, it wouldn't kill him. If he ingested the minimum amount required for the tranquilizer to be effective, it would paralyze him for about an hour—give or take.

That meant they needed to get him onto Jaxon's ship and escape Elysium Prime's airspace within an hour. Everything would have to go right—everything. Truth be told, Iggy's role in the plan was the least significant to the entire group. If he died during the last game, Jaxon and Noia could still complete the mission without him.

But it was imperative he survived. If he didn't, that would almost certainly seal his mother's fate.

Most of their fates rested on the shoulders of Jaxon Gunn, the self-proclaimed best pilot in the galaxy. His skills would be put to the test should they successfully capture Voltai. Elysian pilots would be on them faster than flies on a dead carcass. If they wanted to escape with their lives, Jaxon truly would have to be the best pilot their galaxy ever saw.

Then there was Noia. She was the key to getting close to the emperor. Without her, they didn't have a shot. She had to succeed in neutralizing Voltai and somehow allowing Jaxon to extract him.

That's where the second part of the plan came in.

Jaxon was bringing a crew. And, according to him, it wasn't just any crew. His team consisted of three other "galactic-level badasses". His words, not Iggy's. He didn't care what their reputations were. He just hoped they could help them get the job done.

They'd be tasked with bringing a decoy ship over the arena, breaching whatever security measures the stadium had around it, and rendezvousing with Noia in order to collect the emperor. In theory, everyone would board the ship, flee the arena, and stealthily make their way onto Jaxon's actual spacecraft.

On paper, the plan was solid.

But there were still a few holes that filled him with anxiety.

Jaxon had yet to reveal what kind of ship he'd be arriving in. The entire point of having the decoy ship was to not draw attention to themselves during the games. It wasn't uncommon for aircraft to pass over the arena, but only certain vessels were given the authorization to enter its airspace. If Jaxon arrived in a non-authorized ship, he'd be shot out of the sky faster than he could activate his hyperdrive system.

Iggy suggested he steal one of the ships that displayed holographic advertisements that routinely passed through the sky. They were small, inconspicuous, and would hardly tip off any of the Elysian guards. Jaxon shot down his suggestion like an anti-air defense drone. The rebel claimed one of those ships would leave them defenseless should things go awry. To Iggy's chagrin, Noia agreed with him.

No one had given any alternatives, though. That left Jaxon to make the decision at his own discretion.

He dreaded the moment he would see Jaxon steering his stolen vehicle over the arena. A certain scenario of him getting blasted out of the sky and falling to the ground in a thousand, burning pieces wouldn't leave his brain.

Exhaling deeply, Iggy shook his head. No, the plan would work. It had to work. If not, they were all screwed. The Secret Police were hot on Jaxon's trail, and he wouldn't be able to evade them for long. As for Noia, Iggy wondered how much longer she could maintain her charade around her fiancé before she let something slip. While the priestess might've been an enigma, she didn't strike him as an experienced liar. Sooner or later, the emperor would find out about her betrayal. And, when he did, it wouldn't be pretty.

They had to do this. And they had to do it soon. Their freedom, their lives, and the galaxy itself depended on it.

Perhaps that was a hit dramatic. But in Iggy's eyes, they had the chance to cause a major shift throughout the galaxy. If the Axarian Alliance was everything Jaxon claimed it was, then delivering the leader of the Elysian Empire straight to them would spell the beginning of the end for them. The best way to kill a snake was to cut off its head.

The empire might not have been a snake, though.

It could've been a hydra.

When one head fell, two more may take its place. Iggy grit his teeth. He hoped that wasn't the case here. Kidnapping the emperor would hopefully decapitate their empire. It would usher forth a new era to their galaxy—a better, more just era. That's what Jaxon and the Axarian Alliance promised.

As Iggy sat in the darkness, he wondered if they could truly be trusted.

He didn't know a single thing about the alliance. He'd only ever met one member from the entire movement—Jaxon. The only thing he knew about the man was his name, which often seemed way too cool to be his true name, and his self-described piloting skills. Other than that, the rebel was a mystery. The entire alliance was a mystery.

Tenn once told him about Mossadi Tittanus, the supposed leader of the Axarian Alliance. Mossadi was an Elysian herself. For one of their own to turn against them in such a way suggested their motives were pure. But what if they weren't? What if Mossadi simply wants to take hold of their galaxy for herself without interference from the larger Elysian counsel?

He shook his head.

That bridge would get crossed when it came.

For now, only one thing concerned him: surviving the final game. If he didn't, then his own plan that he'd been brewing in the back of his head would be dead in the water.

Noia and Jaxon might've thought they would be capturing Emperor Voltai au Castus from the arena and bringing him to Xonaru, but Iggy had another idea. The head of House au Castus wouldn't ever make it to the Axaris Systems. He wouldn't even make it out of his own planet's airspace.

Not alive at least.

Iggy had no plans of kidnapping Voltai.

Not all.

Iggy was going to kill him.