Freedom Saga 1: Heaven's Light (21 page)

Brian laid alone
in his cell for a long time while the Zakar made its way back to the massive
station in the Kailion system. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling
when he heard the door open. He sat up while Siata floated in with Baeron at
her side.

“It’s time,” she
said as a pair of guards came in and turned off the force field.

Brian stepped
outside with the prodding of one of the Minan guards and looked at the Mylor
and Baeron. “If this is the last time we see each other I’d like to say
goodbye. Take care Siata and you as well Commander Baeron. The Confederation’s
survival depends on people like you.”

“Thank you,”
Siata said.

“I will pray for
your fate Commander Peterson,” Baeron said.

“Thanks,” he
said as he was escorted out.

Another pair of
Minan guards waited outside the door and surrounded him as they made their way
to a shuttle. Once they boarded the rectangular craft the door closed and the
shuttle flew outside. Brian looked upon the massive space station as it spun
its way around the planet below. The shuttle landed in the center ring of the
station where most of the docks were. The four guards prodded him once again as
he was escorted through the station until they reached the lower levels of the
complex. There, he was brought into a series of small hallways filled with
cells and guards. After reaching the lowest level he was thrown into a cell with
the door locking shut behind him. The electronic cuffs on his wrists beeped and
blinked before falling to the ground. As Brian rubbed his wrists he looked
around the cell. It was a small room less than five
vetres
in all
dimensions. There was a bed hanging from the wall with no mattress and only a
small pillow. On the other side was a small sink and toilet.

“Not very homey,
is it?” he asked himself. He sat on the bed and looked at the ceiling. “You can
see me, right?” He pointed his finger and feigned shooting a gun. “Come on, you
can tell me.”

A light came on
from the ceiling and flashed red. “Brian Peterson of Terra Prime, you have been
charged by the High Council with conspiracy, piracy, and numerous violations of
the Law of Exclusivity. In addition, you’ve been charged with violating the
Edict of Geluke Don. How do you plead to these charges?”

Brian laughed.
“I refuse to answer any questions or submit a plea without a proper defense.
Also, it’s rude to charge someone with a capital crime through a camera and
microphone. I know my rights as a citizen of the Degan Republic. Unless you’re
making up the law as you go you must grant me certain privileges. Until then
I’ll just take a long rest in this cell.”

The light turned
off and silence ensued. A few hours of tedious boredom were killed by Brian
when he rolled over on the bed and fell asleep. As he woke up, the door opened
and Jabril Hopart walked through the door.

“You look like
hell,” she said as she stepped inside. The door closed behind her.

“I feel like it
too,” Brian said. “So what’s going on?”

“They were
testing to see if you knew the law or not,” she explained. “Unfortunately for
them you passed the test.”

He stood up.
“I’d offer you a seat and a drink but under the circumstances that won’t be
possible.”

“I’d take you up
on that Brian, I would,” she said. She started pacing around the small room.
“But we have business to discuss.”

He pointed to
the ceiling. “Are we being watched?”

“No, I asked
them to turn the monitoring systems off,” she said. She glanced at the ceiling.
“And if they didn’t they’ll be in trouble soon enough.”

“Why are you
here?”

“To represent
you of course,” she said.

“Why you?” he
asked. “I’m sure there were others just as qualified.”

“To answer your
question it was my choice,” she said. “I know others could’ve done the job just
as well, but the people of Kalaidia wanted their representative defending you.
You also have Lord Ka on your side, as well an excellent witness.”

“What about
Heaven’s Light?”

Jabril smiled.
“In all legal instances it’s nothing more than a private security force. If
they try outlawing it using the current definition then they’d put every
Malcovin and half the Minan people out of business. No, the legal ground the
High Council is standing on is tenuous at best.”

“Can they pass
something to outlaw it?”

Jabril shook her
head. “They could try, but in order to do such a thing they’d need a two thirds
majority, something they don’t have. You’re the one to worry about.”

“I sense that,”
he said. “So what do you need to know?”

“Most of my
questions were answered when Veda Kein sent over the data,” Jabril explained.
She noticed a look of helplessness in his eyes. “Brian, all of the things
you’re charged with are impossible to prove or impossible to enforce. The Law
of Exclusivity is impossible to enforce. The charges of piracy are trumped at
best and the conspiracy charge is the biggest lie of them all. Saying all that,
the last charge is impossible to enforce as well.”

“You sound
confident,” he said.

“I have to be,”
Jabril said. “The High Council’s greatest weakness is that it isn’t a unified
government. The best they can do is put you in prison for life.”

“That doesn’t
sound good,” Brian said.

“No, I imagine
it wouldn’t be,” Jabril said. “But it’s better than death.”

“They wouldn’t
kill me even if they could,” he said.

“Your death
would spark far more strife than your capture,” she said. “The High Council
can’t risk alienating Dega Jul any further than they already have.”

“How long do we
have to prepare?”

“Two days at
most,” she said.

* *
*

The Mjolnir
landed in its spot in the launching bay of the Avoni. Daes shook her head as
the mobile suit knelt on its good leg and rested itself. Other than the blade
and upper body, the mobile suit was covered in black and damaged more than she’d
ever seen before. She signaled for the engineers to get to work on it. As she
drew closer the hatch opened and the elevator cord descended to her. The
Kalaidian pilots stopped as they landed and looked at the Mjolnir. Meldi got
out of her Phase Rakna and ran over as Daes was grabbing the elevator cord.

“Can I join
you?” she asked.

Daes nodded. “Go
ahead.”

The two took the
elevator cord to the cockpit of the mobile suit and found the interior was
undamaged.

“Oh Mjolnir,
whatever am I going to do with you?” Daes asked as she ran a diagnostic.

“At least the
interior looks alright,” Meldi said.

“I don’t feel
very good Daes,” the mobile suit said. “Meldi, watch out for the mess back
there.”

“What are you
talking about?” Meldi asked as she opened the door the back room. She noticed
the bed was mess up while ration wrappers covered the floor. “What happened?”

“Brian is what
happened,” Daes said. “Whenever he’s out on his own the back room ends up a
mess.”

Meldi grabbed
her nose. “It smells like body odor too.” She noticed the dirty clothes piled
in the corner. “He needs to get his act together.”

“Agreed,” the
Mjolnir said. “By the way, Brian had me record signals from Earth up to the
Terran year of 1974. All of the data files are organized by language, medium,
and genre.”

Daes checked the
database. “This is amazing.”

“Other than what
he’s told us we know next to nothing about his people,” Meldi said. She looked
at the music files. “What should we do?”

“We can browse
through it later,” Daes said. “But I’ll leave the decision to Valis.”

“Alright,” Meldi
said. “So, how was the journey?”

“Brian wanted me
to see the universe through the traveler’s eyes,” the mobile suit said. “I
don’t understand what he meant by that. We watched comets as they moved through
space. We floated in the rings of gas giants and gazed at the stars in the
distance. Brian told me his dream when he was a child was to be an astronaut. I
think for the first time I ever saw contentment in his eyes.”

“Do you have a
picture of Terra Prime?” Daes asked.

A detailed image
of Earth appeared on the screen.

“It looks just
like Kalaidia,” Meldi said.

“There are seven
or eight billion of his kind living there,” Daes said. “I hope I can see it
with my own eyes someday.”

“As do I,” the
Mjolnir said.

Veda, Valis,
Myden, Grigon, El Kar, Esra, Kivi, and Seles stood in the command center of the
Columbia base. The forces of Heaven’s Light had moved through two star systems
since the last battle. Now their monitors were filled with a fleet twice the
size of the last. The base was currently at the edge of a star system where ice
and rock mixed together as comets made their way in and out of the main system.
Valis put the plan on the monitor.

“This isn’t
going to be easy,” she said. “But if we do this right the battle will go our
way.” She zoomed in on some large chunks of ice and rock close to their base.
“Seles, take Mira along with you on support for this mission.”

“Alright,” Seles
said. “What is it I’m doing so far away from the others?”

“It’s time to
test out the Artemis’s arrow system,” Valis said. “By using the reflector
plates you should be able to fire at targets well before they reach us.” She
looked at Kivi. “You’ll be doing the same from this position with Celi as your
back up.” She highlighted a different chunk of ice.

“I think the
Gemini can handle it,” Kivi said. “What about you?”

“I’ll stay
behind with the Avoni as support,” Valis said. “Our goal is to destroy as many
of their ships before they can close in on us.”

“What about the
rest of us?” Esra asked. “Are we going to sit back and watch?”

Valis smiled.
“No, phase one is to snipe their numbers down as much as possible. Phase two
involves the rest of us.” She highlighted a number of positions around their
base. “Each of our main ships will take these positions. Our mobile suit
formations will be defensive at first to absorb their attacks. When they reach
the target point, half of our mobile suits will shift into this formation.” She
highlighted the mobile suit and ship formations and had them slide into a V
shape with the Confederation’s head moving straight into it.

“So we’re going
to draw them in and attack from all sides,” El Kar said. “What are the special
mobile suits going to do in the meantime?”

“That’s where
phase four comes into play,” Valis said. She highlighted the future positions
of the four mobile suits at their sniping positions and shifted them. The four
suits flew around the back of the Confederation fleet and continued sniping.
“They’ll do as the monitor shows until the enemy’s center begins to crumble. At
that point they’ll charge straight through the Confederation forces.” She moved
the suits position as well as their ships. The four mobile suits and V shaped
formation met in the middle of the enemy fleet. “By this time their fleet will
not only be divided but in chaos. Given the situation they’ll likely flee.”

“What if they
persist?” Veda asked.

Valis turned the
simulation off. “Then they’ll be destroyed.” She looked at everyone. “I’ll send
the details from the Minerva. That will be all.”

* *
*

When Seles and
Mira activated their mobile suits Kyli appeared on the Artemis’s monitor.

“When do we get
to do the fun stuff commander?” she asked with a funny smile.

“You’ll get your
chance to earn some stars this time around,” Seles said. “I get that playing
defense can be boring at times.”

“I’m glad to
hear it,” Kyli said. “One more thing, do you have the latest on the status of
Brian? I know the Mjolnir returned to the Avoni but other than that the rest of
us are in the dark.”

“He’s currently
being held in the Confederation headquarters,” Seles said. “His defense team is
working to free him as we speak.”

“Thanks,” Kyli
said. “I’ll relay the information to the others with your permission.”

Seles smiled.
“Go ahead lieutenant.” The Artemis’s systems were ready. “We’ll be heading out
now Kyli. Keep an eye the Freedom for me.”

“I’ll do just
that,” Kyli said before ending transmission.

The Freedom,
Avoni, Daevoni, Raulno, Reinkar, and Vomada all moved out of their respective
docks and headed outside. The cannon ports and HV missile batteries on the
Columbia base opened up and aimed at the Confederation fleet as the six ships
moved into their planned positions. The Freedom and Reinkar took the lead
position with the Avoni and Daevoni on one flank and the Raulno and Vomada on
the other. All ships launched their mobile suits and mobile armors. Valis flew
the Minerva out alongside the Mjolnir while the Aegis joined the Gemini from
the Raulno. Seles and Mira flew their suits out to join the rest before
separating and heading to their assigned position.

“So it’s just
the two of us,” Mira said.

“That’s what it
looks like,” Seles said. “Ready your special systems Mira, we’re probably going
to need them for this battle.”

“Readying them
as we speak,” Mira said.

The two of them
hid behind the ice chunk. The Artemis charged its cannon while deploying the
reflector plates. The plates moved into various positions further away to hide
the angle the attack would come from. The Confederation fleet pushed forward as
Seles aimed the cannon at the first plate and fired. The pulse of energy
bounced off the plates and into the approaching fleet, destroying a number of
Lances and damaging a ship. From the other position the Gemini fired its
ultra-heavy cannon and destroyed five Lances while finishing off the already
damaged ship. The two teams traded shots firing into the fleet, damaging and
destroying a number of ships and mobile suits as they approached.

* *
*

Siata and Baeron
watched the fleet from afar from the bridge of their ship. Around them was a
small support fleet. They saw the long range shots being fired into their ships
on their approach. Baeron banged his fist on the wall to channel some of his
frustration.

“Even though we
chased the Terran for months it meant nothing,” the angry Minan commander said.
“How is their technology so much more advanced than ours? What the hell are our
engineers doing?”

“Calm yourself commander,”
Siata said.

He growled with
frustration before calming down. “Of course, I’m sorry I acted like that.”

“It’s not your
fault,” Siata said. “The power of Heaven’s Light is amazing. Our fleet hasn’t
even closed and they’ve reduced our numbers by a third.”

“Tell me, why
are we doing this?” Baeron asked. “I know the law as good as any advocate and
what we’re doing right now is illegal. Arresting the Terran was perfectly in
the bounds of our authority, but attacking a private security organization is
not.”

“I’m not worried
because this will likely be the last idiotic battle,” she said.

“What makes you
say that?” the Minan asked.

“Either we
destroy their main base and win by default or we lose in the courts tomorrow,”
she explained.

* *
*

Valis sat in the
cockpit of the Minerva and watched the pieces move about the battlefield. The
calculation systems kicked in as the mobile suit’s computers displayed
probabilities. She glanced at her scanner and noticed the Mjolnir next to her
craft. She pressed the com.

“Meldi, are you
in there?” she asked.

“I’m here
captain,” Meldi responded. A long pause passed. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Valis
shook it off. “I’m just used to Brian being in there.”

“I know what you
mean,” Myli added from her Phase Rakna. “By the way captain, when do I get
one?”

Valis smiled.
“Not any time soon Myli. We don’t have the budget to mass produce special
models at the moment.”

“I figured as
much,” Myli said.

“Are the two of
you alright with the current setup?” Valis asked.

“I’d say so,”
Meldi said.

“Having two
pilot leaders takes a lot of the burden off each other,” Myli said.

“I’m glad,”
Valis said. “When Seles left I was worried the two of you would end up fighting
over it.”

“I doubt that
captain,” Meldi said. “We’ve been friends since our academy days.”

“All too true,”
Myli said. “We go way back. Don’t worry captain. There are no issues to speak
of.”

“Good,” Valis
said. “Keep your com channel open ladies. I’m going to have a lot of things to
relay.”

“Of course
captain,” Meldi said.

“Acknowledged,”
Myli said.

Valis gathered
the data in front of her and closed her eyes to focus her energies. When they
opened they were glowing light blue. “I see,” she said. “Esra, move your ship
to the following position and have your mobile suits move to the front.”

“We’re on it
Valis,” Esra said. “My, your eyes are glowing beautifully.”

“It feels really
strange,” Valis said. “It’s like time is slowing down and I can hear everyone’s
thoughts.”

“You’ll have to
show me some time,” Esra said. “We’re in position.”

“Great,” Valis
said. “El Kar, please move the Reinkar into the same position.”

“We’ll be there
momentarily,” the Shandi captain said.

Valis stared at
the Confederation as it closed enough to begin opening fire. She bit her lip in
frustration. “A useless battle if I ever saw one.”