Freedom Saga 1: Heaven's Light (10 page)

Baeron stared out
the bridge’s window while Siata hovered by his side.

“What was that
light?” he asked before looking at Siata. “You know what’s going on, don’t
you?”

She floated
passively for a moment. “He’s changing faster than normally would be allowed.”

“What do you
mean?”

“I’ll tell you a
secret commander,” the female Mylor said. “It takes one of my people over a
century of practice to master their powers. There’s a reason it takes that
long.”

“Go ahead,” he
said.

“If an awakened
being manifests their powers too quickly the body will decay,” she explained.

“He’s awakening,
right?”

“Yes,” she said.
“There’s no other way to explain how he passed through your soldiers like they
were air.”

“Then he’s
dying,” Baeron said.

“We can’t afford
to lose him yet,” Siata said. “If he dies we won’t be able to obtain another
sample until Terrans can travel between stars.”

“They’re
treating him like an experiment, not a sentient being,” Baeron said.

“It’s not my
will on this,” she said. “I’m just following orders.”

“As you say,” he
said.

“Commander,” the
science officer said. “We’ve found them.”

“Good,” Baeron
said. “Put it on the screen.”

“Yes commander,”
the officer said.

“This is too
easy,” Siata said. “Valis wouldn’t pick this place unless they have a plan.”

“It’s possible
they’re flying blind,” Baeron suggested.

“I don’t believe
in such things,” the Mylor said. “We’re being strung along.” She turned to the
image on the screen. “Bombard them. I want to see how desperate they are.”

“As you
command,” Baeron said. “All ships begin bombardment on the asteroid the two
ships have taken refuge in.”

“Yes commander,”
the other captains responded.

The ships opened
fire with their pulse cannons and deployed their Lances to do likewise.

“I hate this,”
Baeron said. “When his mobile suit turned red I felt something.”

“It was his
mind, or will, or soul if you wish,” Siata explained. “For a brief moment his
consciousness reached out and touched ours.”

“What I felt was
the desire for peace above everything else,” Baeron said.

“That’s because
he’s a good man,” she said.

“Are we on the
wrong side?”

“Only time will
tell if that’s true,” Siata said.

* *
*

Valis and Brian
joined the others on the bridge when the bombardment began. The ship rocked as
the asteroid around them started turning. El Kar appeared on the screen.

“I don’t like
this,” he said. “Doing something is better than waiting forever.”

“I agreed,”
Valis said. “Zae, ready the Avoni for the second phase.”

“Yes captain,”
she said as she input the data.

“Vae, ready to
take us out the second exit,” Valis ordered.

“Yes captain,”
Vae said.

The Avoni moved
slowly to another opening to the asteroid’s exterior.

Valis turned to
Brian. “Do you think you can handle one more performance like the last?”

He placed the
contact back in his glowing eye. “Yes,” he said.

“I’ll leave the
attack in your hands then Brian,” Valis said.

He nodded and
left the bridge.

“We’ll deploy
our Fangs then,” El Kar said. “Are you sure about this?”

“A frontal
assault is the last thing they’re expecting,” Valis said. “After the last
display Brian showed they’re going to be on the defensive and attack him from a
distance. But by focusing their entire force on one mobile suit they’re leaving
themselves open in other locations.”

“So misdirection
is our game?” El Kar asked.

“Of course,”
Valis responded. “The key to victory are the small details that so many
tacticians believe aren’t important.”

“What small
detail is going to cost them?” the Shandi captain asked.

“I’m sure they
know this asteroid has a second exit and have deployed a force to guard it,”
she said. “What they’re not expecting is our reinforcements are ready to
strike.”

“Who’s waiting
for us?” El Kar asked.

Valis smiled.
“The Daevoni’s overhaul is long finished and Esra can’t wait to try it out.”

* *
*

Brian ran into
the launching bay and waved for all the pilots.

“Everyone deploy
immediately!” he shouted.

Everyone did so
as he stepped onto the Mjolnir’s elevator cord. When he sat down in the pilot’s
chair Meldi and Myli appeared on the monitor.

“What
formation?” Meldi asked.

“K-1,” Brian
ordered.

Myli laughed.
“No difficultly knowing what to do now.”

“I’ll spearhead
the attack,” Brian said. “Every Rakna and Fang will follow the wake.”

“Got it,” Myli
said.

“Alright,” Meldi
said.

“Let’s go old
friend,” Brian said as the Mjolnir took off and flew outside.

The Phase Raknas
flew outside a moment later. All of the Raknas from the Avoni followed the
Mjolnir when twelve of the Fangs joined them. The image of a Shandi pilot
appeared on his monitor.

“I’m Lieutenant
Rak Nal of the Reinkar,” he said. “What are your orders Commander Peterson?”

“Kalaidian
formation K-1,” he said.

The Shandi pilot
called up the plan and grinned. “Direct and to the point,” he said. “Thank you.”

The Mjolnir flew
to the head of all the mobile suits and mobile armors with cannon in hand. The
Raknas formed V formations with a Fang at the tip of each group of five. The last
mobile armor flew behind the Mjolnir and turned its shields to full power. The
smaller crafts came to the entrance they first entered. Brian closed his eyes
and concentrated.

“Focus the mind
and keep moving forward,” he said. He glanced to the side before looking
forward. “I know.” His eye began glowing red as the Mjolnir was covered in red
particles. “Let’s dance my friend. Just follow my lead.”

The Mjolnir sped
out of the asteroid at twice its normal speed and fired a number of pulse
cannon shots into the Confederation fleet. A pair of Lances and a medium class
ship exploded before the fleet turned its attention to the glowing mobile suit.
A moment passed before the formations of Fangs and Raknas followed the
Mjolnir’s wake. As their forces took casualties, the Confederation fleet backed
away and separated into two main units. Most of the ships and Lances focused on
the Mjolnir as it danced between their ships and slashed through them one by
one.

* *
*

The Reinkar and
its remaining Fangs took position in the front as it and the Avoni neared the
second entrance. When they flew outside a number of Lances pounded their
shields from all sides. Valis sat on the bridge of the Avoni with a relaxed
look on her face. Seeing the apparent weakness, the Confederation mobile suits
took to space and charged the Avoni. A moment later the flash of dozens of
pulse shots destroyed or damaged a number of Lances. Coming out of a phase
cloak were forty four Phase Raknas and the Daevoni, a ship identical to the
Avoni save for its darker coloration. Captain Esra appeared on the Avoni’s main
monitor. She was the same size as Valis but had silver white hair and blue
eyes.

“Looks like we
made it just in time,” she said.

“I was worried
you’d keep us hanging,” Valis said.

The Lances outside
retreated. The Raknas only pursued them a short distance before returning to
guard the three ships.

“All that’s left
is a little clean up duty,” Esra said.

“That’s what my
first officer is for,” Valis said. “Baed, send him the signal.”

“Yes captain,”
Baed said.

* *
*

“Order all ships
to retreat,” Siata said.

“Of course,”
Baeron said. He pressed the com to reach the other ships and mobile suits. “All
units are to return to base.” He turned to Siata. “Now we know what her plan
was.”

Siata laughed
with her strangely robotic voice. “Having an extra ship standing by is an old
trick if I say so myself. Very well, we’ll continue pursuit until our forces
can pin them down.”

“So the plan is
to overwhelm them with sheer numbers?” Baeron asked.

“If we don’t
have any other means then yes,” the Mylor said.

* *
*

“Brian, the
order to return has been received,” the Mjolnir said.

Brian’s eye
continued glowing red as he slumped motionless in his chair.

“Brian! Brian!”
the mobile suit shouted. It opened a com link to lieutenant Meldi’s Rakna.
“Lieutenant, this is the Mjolnir speaking. Something’s wrong, please come
immediately.”

“I’ll be there
in a moment,” Meldi said. “Myli, look after things while I take care of this.”

“Sure,” Myli
said.

She led the
Raknas and Fangs back to the Avoni and Reinkar. Meldi’s Rakna approached the
glowing Mjolnir as it floated motionless in space. Using the arm of her craft
she made sure it wasn’t between dimensions. She locked her helmet into place
before grabbing a med kit and linking the two mobile suits’ hatches. She opened
the hatch and floated over to the Mjolnir. Its hatch opened automatically to
let her inside.

“I don’t know
what’s wrong with him,” the Mjolnir said. “He’s not responding to anything.”

“It’s alright,”
Meldi said. “I’m here Brian.” She tilted his head and stared at his red glowing
eye. She felt his consciousness reach into hers before slapping his face.
“Brian!” She slapped him again. “Wake up!”

His eye stopped
glowing as his gaze met hers.

“What happened?”
he asked.

“You went weird
on us,” Meldi said. “It’s time to go home.”

“Can you fly me
home?”

“Sure,” she
answered.

Celestia waited
in the throne room. The palace around her was busier than usual with officers
of many different ranks preparing. The door opened to reveal Prime Minister
Jabril Hopart, flanked by a pair of guards. She smiled when she saw Celestia.

“It’s been a
long time,” Jabril said.

Celestia hugged
the former leader of her royal guard. “You look well Jabril,” she said. She
pulled away and led her up the stairs to the throne. “How was your trip?”

“Uneventful and
fruitless,” Jabril said. “The High Council is worse than the nobles before
Brian came to us.”

Celestia shook
her head. “I didn’t think they’d change their minds easily.”

“Neither of us
did,” Jabril said. “But one of us had to go.”

“And you drew
the short straw,” Celestia said.

Jabril shrugged.
“I agreed to it. On another note, how many nobles showed up to the last
meeting?”

“The heads of each
of the families,” Celestia said.

“The pride is
gone,” Jabril said. “Now that the people are educated, employed, and a lot
better off the nobles know just how useless they are.”

“You do remember
you’re one of us,” Celestia pointed out.

“True by blood,
but not in my heart,” Jabril said. “I always felt populism was more important
than elitism.”

“I won’t argue
that anymore,” Celestia said. “In less than a year the House of Commons takes
over all sovereign power.”

“Despite that
you’re keeping busy,” Jabril said.

“That’s due to a
foolish Terran who wooed my daughter,” Celestia said.

“He’s got
everyone involved,” Jabril said with the hint of sarcasm in her voice.

The two paused
when they heard the sound of cloven feet walking towards the door.

“It looks like
she’s here,” Celestia said.

“The Braiden are
easy to spot by ear,” Jabril added.

The door opened
and through it came the High Priestess of the Braiden, Lumiar Wavecrest. She
stood the same height as a Kalaidian with a human face and upper body. On her
arms and goat like legs was short red fur that matched her long red hair. She
wore a loose fitting red dress and carried a pulse pistol on her belt.
Escorting her was a unit of Braiden soldiers armed with pulse rifles. They waited
outside as the door closed.

“It’s good to
see the two of you again,” Lumiar said before making a sign of prayer. “The
gods of air and fire have been moving a lot these days. Even those of us
removed from the fuss sense something is going on.”

“The
Confederation has given its verdict,” Jabril said. “Brian’s been charged with
conspiracy to overthrow, piracy, and disseminating lies and inaccurate
information.”

“A stupid charge
if ever there was one,” Lumiar said. “Nothing the sojourners brought back was
inaccurate. I noticed the High Council didn’t call any of my people to their
meetings on this matter.”

“Despite its
appearance the High Council is anything but a democratic body,” Celestia
explained.

“If we are ever
needed you can call upon us,” Lumiar said.

“Thank you,”
Celestia said.

“Thanks,” Jabril
said.

“On another
matter,” Celestia started. “How are things going with your people?”

Lumiar handed
each of them a data crystal. “We’ve begun construction on the fourth and fifth
colonies. It was kind of you to take us in as refugees. For that you have our
eternal thanks. The Braiden have spread over a number of your star systems in
groups of about ten thousand. Once we have enough space onboard all the
colonies most of them will return to aid in the atmospheric engineering of the
planet we’re orbiting.”

“It may take you
a thousand years,” Celestia said. “But someday your people will have a new
planet to call home.”

Lumiar smiled.
“The issue at hand these days is the number of children we’re raising.”

Jabril laughed.
“We’ve been having the same problem for years. Normally an advanced race tries
to keep their population stable. But for both our peoples’ it’s important to
grow. Much more so with the Braiden though.”

“We share much,”
Lumiar said. “That’s why he brought us together.”

* *
*

The pilots
trained tirelessly in the simulators while Seles and Kyli led their battles.
After another virtual skirmish Seles called for everyone’s attention.

“For the last
few days I’ve been running you ragged,” she said. “I know the training has been
difficult but the battles before us are harsher. For now I’ll slacken the pace
so you can get some rest. You earned it because your skills are improving
faster than scheduled. You may return to your training now.” She turned to
Kyli. “Keep them on their toes.”

“I’ll do that
commander,” Kyli said.

Seles went to a
bench and sat down to pat herself off with towel. She noticed Mira and Jesela
as they came in the room and headed over. She took a drink of water before
standing up.

“What brings the
two of you down here?” she asked.

“Do we need an
excuse to see our friend?” Jesela asked.

“Not really,”
Seles said.

Mira pointed to
the other pilots. “You’re keeping them busy.”

“They need it,”
Seles said. “What I find strange is Brian’s insistence that our pilots be
trainees. I’d think he’d want the best of the best from the other ships.”

“He probably
didn’t want to drain the talent pool,” Jesela said.

“True,” Seles
said. “I can see that.” She looked at Mira. “How goes your training?”

Mira sighed. “I’m
still getting the hang of it,” she glanced at the simulators, “Because of the
new medical staff I’m busy showing them how to do things, so I haven’t had a
chance to get down here very often.”

“I see,” Seles
said.

“Being in charge
is draining away all of our time,” Jesela said.

The three of
them laughed together.

“I’m on break
now,” Seles said. “Do the two of you want to get something to eat?”

“I’m starving,”
Jesela said.

“I’m feel the
same,” Mira said.

“Let’s go then,”
Seles said.

She led them to
the mess hall a few doors down. The room was large and had chairs and tables
for numerous species. At the moment the room was dark and empty.

“Looks like our
cooking staff hasn’t arrived,” Mira said.

“What’ll we do?”
Jesela asked. “I’m not eating rations.”

Seles went into the
storage room behind the serving counter. After digging for a few minutes she
emerged with a multitude of ingredients. Mira and Jesela ran over when they saw
her fire up the oven.

“What’s that?”
Mira asked.

“I’m not a chef
but I think I know what it is,” Jesela said.

Seles started
mixing the ingredients in a bowl. “I’m a fair cook myself,” she said. “But if
there’s one dish that’ll chase away the fatigue I know it by heart.”

“Is it pizza?”
Mira asked.

“That’s right,”
Seles said. “Brian says if he’s remembered for nothing else it’ll be the fact
he brought this to us.”

“Even the Shandi
and Malcovin have taken to it of late,” Jesela said. “Amongst Kalaidians it’s
considered a gourmet dish.”

Seles rolled the
dough out before spinning it above her head. After a few minutes she spread it
into a circle. She then spread some red sauce on it and sprinkled some plant
based cheese substitute on top. Checking it over one more time, she made sure
the pizza was perfect before sliding it into the oven.

“I haven’t had a
chance to try your cooking,” Mira said.

“That would be
both of us,” Jesela added.

“It took me a
few tries to get this thing right,” Seles said.

“The crust toss
did it for me,” Mira said.

As the pizza
cooked the aroma filled the room and started seeping down the hall. Kyli led
the curious trainees and crew in the area to the cafeteria. A number of them
stepped forward and looked to Seles.

“Would you make
some for us commander?” one of them asked.

Seles looked
over the numbers as they grew.

“You’ve got some
fans,” Mira said. “I’m kind of jealous.”

“Listen to those
stomachs moan,” Jesela added.

“Alright,” Seles
said. She looked at Mira and Jesela. “But the two of you are going to help me
out. We’ve got a hungry crew waiting for us.”

“Thanks
commander!” one of the crew shouted.

“Thanks!”
another added.

Seles turned and
worked on a number of pizzas while Mira baked them. Jesela cut and served them
until everyone onboard was satisfied.