"One hundred forty-seven dead Borials and 28 dead Virgos," announced Jonathan slamming his fist against the marble table.
Neklus sighed. "And the battle inside the palace cost us only one head priest." He looked at Dana and sighed again. "How could I have been raised by a Lorean. I am so ashamed."
Johnathan Valdago tried to comfort him. "There was no way you could have known..." He knew what it felt to be in league with an evil person, or android as the case may be.
"Should we include Stephen and Dweezle among the casualty lists?" asked Benton. "After all, they are missing."
Jonathan answered, "No. They're alive. They were captured by the Horde."
Richard argued, "I saw our 'captain' leaving right next to a Horde as if they were longtime buddies! He wasn't captured. He betrayed us!"
Jonathan shook his head. "No. He must be planning something."
Dana nodded. "He couldn't have betrayed us! He wouldn't!"
Neklus agreed. "Kalmar never lies. He said I was to trust Stephen as his heart was pure."
Richard retorted, "Your god couldn't figure out your own damn priest! How could he presume to know anything about Stephen?!"
Neklus could only bow his head in shame.
Jonathan slammed his fist against the table again. "All right, listen! Last month Stephen pulled off some damn good trickery to save us from the Dominion Totalitarian Force. He has to be planning something similar now. He must be working on a way to get us out of this mess." He paused. "We cannot let this matter separate us. We have to come through. Is this understood?"
The senior officers all yelled, "Yes, sir."
"Good. Now, Richard, you suggested hunting to the captain as a way to teach people to kill. We'll organize hunting parties. That will be one of our priorities."
Richard nodded in agreement.
"Neklus, we need all your forces to meet at Stonefist in two weeks time. We can't risk bringing them all here. We will close off the Horde little by little until we take Stonefist. We have to plan a full attack on the city. Before three weeks, I want that Horde capital in ruins! We'll organize training courses. Anyone who doesn't know how to use a weapon will learn. Is everything clear?"
"Yes, sir!" yelled the crew.
"All right then. I REALLY want to take a sonic shower so let's end this damn war!"
The crew dispersed to carry out their commands.
"You have to know something, damn it!" Stephen backhanded his twin.
The good Stephen would not speak. His face was terribly bruised. His chest was bare, and his back was marked with lashings.
"You're making it really hard, you know?" Stephen kneeled next to his twin. "Just tell me. How many people are in Noran? Weaknesses in the wall surrounding the city. There must be something you can tell me."
Stephen looked at his evil twin fixedly for a few seconds. Then, he spit on him.
Stephen stood up quickly. "Not too smart, bro." He wiped off the spit and turned to a Horde guard. "Again. Ten blows."
The Horde headed behind the good Stephen and whipped him, hard. Stephen could only shout out in pain. After the lashings had been expedited, he looked at his twin. "Why are you doing this?"
The other Stephen kneeled next to his twin again. "Because it's fun, you know? It really is. It releases some type of secret fantasy of mine. I always wanted to be a bad boy. To hate those damn Cardassians for killing my parents. To hate the Kirusans for killing Lili. To hate ANYTHING! But you wouldn't let me. You and your 'pure mind'. What a crock." He kicked Stephen in the stomach and turned away.
The good Stephen gasped in pain. "You have some good in you." He gasped. "You can come back to the light."
"I don't want to, bro. And you know why?" He paused, expecting answer. "Because it's boring. I like having no conscience. I'm glad to be free from you." Stephen looked at the Horde. "Put him back in his hole. We'll try again tomorrow."
The Horde untied the barely conscious Stephen and carried him back to the dungeon.
"Captain! Captain!" Dweezle was shaking Stephen, trying to wake him up.
He was slowly waking up. "Ow. What happened?"
"The guards and the other guy that looks a lot like you beat you again."
"That would explain the blood on my face." He winced after touching a bruise on his cheek.
"What are we going to do?"
"Wait. Jonathan is planning something. I can feel it. He's going to stop them and take Stonefist. Then, I'm going to pay back that twin of mine."
After two weeks of training, they were ready. The Borials and Virgos were prepping for their full-scale attack on Stonefist.
A herald suddenly arrived at Noran's gates. Neklus quickly went to meet him. "Open the gate!" He took the message from the herald. Neklus quickly gave another and sent him on his way. "Close the gate!"
Jonathan and Dana ran to Neklus. "The armies are ready. We will meet at Noran in two days when the sun is at it's highest point."
Jonathan asked, "How big are your armies?"
"Each army has 1,000 men. There are twelve armies."
"We can't lose." Jonathan faced the palace and some grouped Virgos and Borials. "We leave when the second sun sets. Prepare yourselves. This time, we finish it."