pain, her lips sealed tight against her whimpers, and blood coated her right shoulder.
"Your shoulder is severely damaged," one of the cloaked men said, kneeling by Liara’s side. He pressed a bandage against her shoulder, ignoring her flinch and low moan. "We need to stop the bleeding so your body can put itself into a restive state and start to heal."
"Get away from her," Roderick spat, reaching for the man to jerk him away.
Kira got there first, knocking his hand away. "Stop being an ass. Take a look around; your enemy isn't in here."
Roderick snarled at her, his face a mask of rage. "You're wrong. Maybe my enemy is standing right in front of me. This started when you released the humans."
Graydon's people voiced their anger as the cloaked men kept their silence. Kira noticed Silas as he shifted closer, a hand disappearing into his cloak.
Violence threatened. Again.
You'd think the great Tuann would be smarter than this.
Kira sighed and glanced down.
Roderick's lips twisted in a smug smile.
Kira punched him in the throat. She hooked one leg around his and shoved, dumping him to the ground as he choked.
Graydon and Silas surged forward, forcing the Luathans back. Kira kneeled at Roderick's side. She grabbed the collar of his armor, jerking him up to sitting.
She pinched the tip of his ear. A high pained sound escaped him as she gripped his chin and forcefully turned his head toward the Tsavitee moving around the Nexus.
Their enemy was busy barricading the door as they dug in for a protracted siege.
"Look out there. That's a Tsavitee general. They lead invasions and aren't known for being merciful. Right now, they have the codes to your defense net, which is a bad thing since a Tsavitee warship waits outside your territory," Kira snarled, articulating each word carefully and calmly.
Things were bad. She needed him to understand just how bad they were. Maybe then he would stop this pointless posturing so they could all work together. That was the only way any of them would survive.
"Not quite," Liara said in a strained voice. She tried to sit up but only made it a few inches before her face whitened and the stranger pushed her down.
Kira waited for awareness to return to Liara's eyes before asking, "What do you mean?"
"I didn't change both sets of codes. I only changed the outer net. They won't be able to access the one around the planet. The curtain remains intact," she said.
"If they approach the planet, the defenses will shoot them down," Kira said thoughtfully. She slid her cousin a sideways look. "Sneaky. I like it. Nicely done, cousin."
Liara's expression lightened with the barest trace of a smile before it turned regretful as she faced Graydon. "I set it to the highest level of alert. It'll destroy anything trying to approach."
"Leaving every ship outside the net on their own against the warship." Graydon's expression remained closed off, grief and resignation hidden there.
The same emotions were reflected in the faces of his soldiers.
"Our ship is out there as well," the cloaked stranger attending Liara said.
There was a long silence as they considered the gravity of that situation.
"Can you order them away?" Kira asked.
"The field blocks our communications," Silas said.
"My ship wouldn't leave anyway," Graydon said. "Not while we're here."
Kira frowned in thought.
"None of that matters while we're trapped in this cage," she said. "Liara's subterfuge works in our favor, but they'll figure it out eventually. Then they'll find a way to bring it down."
"The net can't be brought down," Roderick sneered.
"Only an Overlord's authorization will disarm the net," Liara said around a pained breath. "I'll never give it to them. Not even under threat of death."
Kira's smile was humorless, never touching her eyes. "What about the death of everyone else in the Citadel?"
The Luathan looked at her with horror. None had considered that possibility.
"They'll work their way through every single person they can get their hands on until they find your breaking point," Kira said. "Can you watch child after child be put to death? Your friends?"
Liara didn't speak, but Kira saw the answer in her face. No, she couldn't. Eventually the Tsavitee would find the one person Liara couldn't bear to see die, and they'd have her.
Everyone had a breaking point. It was just a matter of finding it.
"We have my men out there," Roderick said. "They'll stop the Tsavitee."
"You're assuming they're alive," Silas said. "One of your own betrayed you. The Tsavitee know how you operate. They'll know your evacuation routes."
"Either