"He's hesitated," Elara reported, her face lit by frantic screens. "But he won't stop. He'll override the protests. He's too far gone. We have maybe an hour."
Skodar had made a decision. A terrible, final one. "We don't have an army to storm his ship. But we have a spear." He looked at Kaelen. "And we have a key."
He laid out his plan. It was the most illogical, suicidal, heart-driven plan of all.
They would not attack the Eclipse with armies.
They would take a single,small, ultra-fast ship—a boarding pod stripped of everything but engines and a shield. They would use the planetary chaos as cover and fly straight at the Eclipse during its moment of bureaucratic confusion.
Their goal: Not to destroy the ship. To board it. To reach the main bridge. To face Malakor directly.
"It's a one-way trip," Lyra stated flatly.
"Probably,"Skodar agreed. "But it's the only move he won't expect. He expects a ground defense, or a panicked fleet. He doesn't expect a single pod carrying…" he looked at his chosen team: himself, Kaelen, and Lyra. "…a hybrid, a reformed weapon, and a traitor. The three things his logic can't quantify."
The team was chosen. Makosra would lead Dawnspire, with Sukodar and Vaktari. Elara would coordinate the Echo-Net and the continuing propaganda war from the ground.
There were no grand goodbyes. Only tight embraces, firm nods, and the grim understanding of a duty that went beyond survival.
The pod, nicknamed Skyfall, was launched.