Grey War Saga 1: Twilight of Innocence (11 page)

The eight bases
of Heaven’s Light appeared near the Grey forces the next day. All of them
deployed their ships and mobile weapons before closing in. Veda and Reban were
at work on the Columbia base as the battle commenced.

“It’s nice to
finally be the attacker in this war,” Veda said.

“Reacting is
usually harder than acting,” Reban said.

“Ready the Hades
system,” Veda said.

“You look really
strange when your eyes are glowing,” Reban said.

“You would too
if you did it,” Veda said.

She watched as
the bases sent their ships forward into the swarm of Grey carriers. The eight
bases stayed together and pushed their way towards the planet killer. The ships
and mobile suits equipped with the last batch of nuclear missiles fired and
cleared the surrounding areas of enemies. The Grey ships moved to encircle the
eight bases.

“They’re too
predictable,” Veda said.

“Shouldn’t we be
happy about that?” Reban asked.

“Yes, but I’m
always cautious when charging forward,” Veda said.

Brian appeared
on the monitor from the bridge of the Freedom.

“It’s because of
their command structure they act this way,” Brian said. “Only a few of them
have individual thoughts, the rest are basically biological robots.”

“True, but they
seem less reactive than I’d expect,” Veda said.

“The likely
scenario is that their leader was on the supply base when the Artemis and
Mjolnir destroyed it,” Valis said from the Minerva.

“In other words,
they can’t change orders,” Veda said.

“Which means
they’ll follow their last order,” Brian said. “Defend the planet killer and
await further orders.”

“The only
advantage we have is our individuality,” Valis said. “But let’s focus on the
task at hand. Sink the planet killer and destroy as many of the other ships as
we can.”

“Then we’ll do
just that,” Veda said.

* *
*

The Maidens kept
their mobile suits together as they flew in front of the eight bases. The
Artemis and Gemini both had their cannons on spread mode while the smaller
attack ships tried swarming them. The shields of the Aegis proved to be an
excellent defense while the five moved forward.

“Our goal is to
get close to the planet killer and then dig a hole,” Valis said. “Because we’re
running out of nuclear missiles our Hades cannons will have to be used to their
fullest.”

“What I’m
wondering about is why the Greys haven’t used nuclear weapons,” Kivi said.

“The Minerva’s
system predicts they will if we enter their territory,” Valis said.

“So they’ll end
up using them like we are,” Celi said.

“In a way,”
Valis said. “Remember to keep an eye out for the gravity drives and power
systems. It’s very likely they’ll self-detonate their ships in upcoming
battles.”

“It’s good to
know,” Seles said.

“Is it time for
me to sing?” Mira asked.

“Of course it
is,” Valis said. “Given the situation we’re using formation F-1.”

“That’s an
interesting choice,” Kivi said. “It’s all yours Seles.”

“I’m on it,”
Seles said.

The five mobile
suits lit up as their pilots berserked. The Artemis’s reflector plates moved
into power position and charged up for a barrage of arrow shots. The Siren’s
song system extended outward in all directions and began disabling Grey ships
in mass. The Aegis’s shield extended outward and intensified, forcing the
incoming pulse fire back on enemy ships. The Minerva pushed its precognitive
system to its limit. Using it, Valis was able to see what the enemy was going
to do before they could. The Gemini split into two separate, smaller mobile
suits before moving to the rear guard to defend against any incoming enemy
crafts. The Aegis stayed in the center with the Siren while the Minerva joined
the Artemis in the forward position. Valis linked the Minerva’s system to the
Artemis.

“I can only
share the precognitive system to one of you,” Valis said.

Seles blinked
her glowing eyes. The enemies outside seemed to be moving in slow motion as she
carefully shot them down.

“Is it working?”
Valis asked.

“Yes,” Seles
said. “Normally I react faster while berserking but this is clearly different.”
She felt a power fluctuation coming from the planet killer. “Valis, did you
feel that?”

“Yes,” Valis
answered. “Concentrate on piercing the shield and the bases will take care of
the rest.”

“Of course,”
Seles said.

The Maidens made
their way to the edge of the planet killer’s shield. The Artemis led the way
while Seles searched for a weak spot. After a minute of desperate scans she
found what she was looking for.

“It seems their
weak areas are right above their main cannons,” Seles said.

“I see the same
thing,” Valis said.

* *
*

The Freedom,
Avoni, Daevoni, Reinkar, and Raulno glowed with energy as their commanders
berserked. The five ships were followed by the Vomada. Their mobile suits
stayed close and used their ships’ defenses to attack the enemy with little
incoming damage. Behind them the fleet of Heaven’s Light followed with over
five thousand mobile weapons deployed. While the main bases continued their approach
the fleet of ships and the mobile weapons drew the majority of the enemy fleet
away from the planet killer. When the Grey carriers moved together to resonate
their defense shields the five ships in the lead unleashed their Hades cannons.
The powerful blasts of pulse fire carved a hole in the Grey line. Instead of
diving into the middle and getting surrounded the fleet of Heaven’s Light
stopped and continued pounding the enemy forces.

“How does
everything look?” Brian asked.

“The Hades
system still has five minutes left,” Grigon said.

“We haven’t lost
any units, but the standard ships in the rear are taking some casualties,”
Jesela reported.

“Myden, can you
sense any of your kind onboard the planet killer?” Brian asked.

“No,” Myden
said. “They are acting completely according to their program.”

“Did you hear
that Valis?” Brian asked.

“Loud and
clear,” she responded. “Have the fleet pull back and be ready to gravity jump
away. They’re going to fire the main cannon any moment now.”

“We’ll do that,”
Brian said. He hit the com to contact the other ships. “This is Captain
Peterson of the Freedom speaking. All forces are to return to their ships
immediately.”

The planet
killer turned and aimed its cannon at the fleet. Before it fired the ships
collected their mobile weapons and gravity jumped away. As the Freedom flashed
the planet killer’s main beam fired. Although it missed the ships the beam
continued and vaporized an icy moon orbiting the gas giant. The ships of
Heaven’s Light appeared in a star system adjacent to the one they fled. The
five ships returned to normal.

“That went
well,” Grigon said.

“I hope the
others can handle it,” Jesela said.

“They will,”
Brian said. “Remember to keep an eye out for the enemy.”

“Yes captain,”
everyone said.

* *
*

The Maidens
reached their target point over the planet killer. After its beam missed the
fleeing fleet the remaining Grey ships swarmed the bases. Each of them was
using the Hades system and fired a series of multidirectional attacks. While
they cleared the way Seles took aim in the Artemis and let the Minerva guide
her shots. She fired seven consecutive arrows to open up a hole in the shield
array. She fired three more to open the way inside the massive vessel. When it
charged up to fire the eight bases closed in and fired their cannons. Beam
after beam of energy slammed into the weakened planet killer. As explosions
filled the craft it sank towards the gas giant. Both Seles and Valis felt what
was coming next and turned about. The Maidens and the bases gravity jumped away
at the same time the remaining Grey ships did. The planet killer descended into
the gas giant and ignited the core as it exploded. The Maidens and the bases
appeared next to the fleet of ships and began taking them in immediately for
repair. All of the people berserking ended it and returned to normal. Seles
looked at her allies and noticed their numbers were a bit smaller.

“How many of us
will be left by the end of this?” she asked.

“An unfortunate
reality of war is death,” Valis said.

“If it wasn’t
for our special systems we’d be dead by now,” Mira said.

“True,” Celi
added.

“It isn’t our
time yet,” Kivi said.

“Are you alright
Seles?” Mira asked.

“I’ll be alright
Mira, don’t worry,” Seles said.

“Everyone should
return to their ship for now,” Valis said.

“Yes Valis,” the
other four said.

* *
*

Commander Baeron
was piloting his Lance in a star system near Dega Jul. He and a dozen other
Lances were patrolling the area when they detected a fleet of ten thousand Grey
carriers. Baeron growled with disgust when a pair of planet killers appeared
behind them.

“Sir, we should
report back,” a Minan lieutenant said.

“You’re right,
let’s return to the ship,” Baeron said.

The thirteen
Lances landed on a Confederation ship before it gravity jumped back to Dega
Jul. Baeron quickly made his way to the bridge of the vessel and opened the
com. Before speaking he noticed the number of colonies and ships around Dega
Jul had grown rapidly since he left a few days prior. The other thing he
noticed was the Galactic Confederation Headquarters in orbit.

“Captain Siata,
I have some bad news,” Baeron said as he sent over the data.

“I see what you
mean,” Siata said.

“How’s the
effort on the other front going?” Baeron asked.

“Badly,” Siata
said. “The Mylor and Avar are holding their territories, but the Daemos have
lost their homeworld. On this side of the galaxy the Saeki are looking at
annihilation. The Rendi have finally sent in their ships as well.” Siata paused
while thinking to herself on the bridge of her ship. “We must defend Dega Jul.
For those without a home to return to this is the only place left to them.”

“How many do we
have?” Baeron asked.

“Half the Third
Mylor fleet, two thousand Viken ships, fifteen hundred Reiki ships, a thousand
Shandi ships, our stationed forces, and the surviving garrisons from
Confederation Headquarters. Heaven’s Light is also on its way here.”

“We can only
pray for survival at this point,” Baeron said.

Brian was
working on the bridge when the bases of Heaven’s Light gravity jumped back into
orbit of Dega Jul. He looked up from what he was doing and shook his head.

“Am I seeing
that right?” he asked.

The only person
on the bridge other than the droids was Jesela. She left her console and went
down to join him.

“That’s a lot of
ships,” she said.

“Captain, we’re
receiving an emergency coded message from the Confederation forces,” Droid A
reported.

“Put it
through,” Brian ordered.

“Of course sir,”
Droid A said.

Siata appeared
on the screen from the bridge of her ship.

“I doubt you
called with good news,” Brian said.

“No,” Siata
said. “Two more planet killers and a fleet of carriers are on their way here.”

“How long do we
have?” Brian asked.

“Less than eight
hours,” Siata said.

“Why did you
contact me?” he asked. “Veda is the one you should be talking to.”

“Veda doesn’t
have Myden onboard,” Siata said. “Tell the old Grey I’d like to speak with him
as soon as possible. I’ll talk with Veda in a minute.”

“It’s done,”
Brian said after closing his eyes for a moment.

“Thank you
Captain Peterson,” Siata said before ending transmission.

“Looks like it’s
no rest for us,” Jesela said.

“I figured as
much,” Brian said. “I’m going to brew some tea before doing more work though.”

“Is tactical planning
that tough?” she asked.

“It’s like
building something,” he said. “But the end result you want is victory.”

“On another
note, are you feeling better?” she asked.

“I am,” he
answered. “What about you?”

“Of course,”
Jesela said. “The other two are jealous though.”

“That’s why I
don’t sleep around,” Brian said. “Although I imagine the first few generations
of Kalaidian men will have the same issue when they’re finally born.”

“We’ll worry
about that when it happens,” Jesela said.

“As for the
other two, well, I’ll figure that out someday,” Brian said.

“It’s
complicated, that much I know,” Jesela said. “Now go get your tea so we can
keep working.”

“Would you like
me to grab something for you?” he asked as he went to the door.

“I could use
some juice and pastries,” Jesela said.

“I’ll be back in
a few then,” he said as he left.

* *
*

Seles headed
into the main launching bay of the Freedom. She noticed the engineers were
performing maintenance as quickly as they could while the pilots did their best
to help. Grigon squawked orders all about as he checked his subordinates’ work.
She found herself next to Kyli’s Rakna while the mobile suit leader ran a
diagnostic on the craft.

“You look
tired,” Kyli said after looking up from her wrist computer.

“You’re the same,”
Seles said.

“Has he always
been like that?” Kyli asked while pointing at Grigon.

“That old bird
hasn’t changed since I met him,” Seles said.

“I see,” Kyli
said.

“I came here to
see how all of you were holding up,” Seles said. “From what I can see
everyone’s alright.”

“It’s been
awhile since we had to push ourselves like this,” Kyli said. “What about you
Seles?”

“I’m alright,”
she answered. “Thankfully planning for battles is taken care of mostly by
Brian.”

“Are they
meeting again?” Kyli asked.

“Yes,” Seles
said.

As she went to
leave Kyli grabbed her arm.

“When are you
and Mira going to put on a concert?” Kyli asked.

Seles sighed.
“After this next battle we’ll do something. We have to remember who we are
after all.”

“Thanks Seles,”
Kyli said.

“Take care,”
Seles said.

* *
*

Mira and the
other medical officers were performing routine checkups for the crew members in
the main sickbay. After a few hours the flood of people thinned to nearly none
when everyone returned to their duties. Mira took the opportunity to step into
the med lab and check a few things on the computer dealing with Brian. Suv Gar
slithered in a moment later.

“It’s good to
see the crew in high spirits,” Suv said.

“They’re holding
up better than we thought they would,” Mira said.

“So how close
are you and your fellows to making males?” Suv asked.

“We’ve isolated
the Y chromosome that makes Brian male,” Mira said. “The trick is splicing it
into our genetic structure without his genes. Otherwise we’ll end up with
millions of Brian’s children running about.”

“If he were
Shandi that would make him proud,” Suv said. “The thing I question is why your
people haven’t used your own males’ to do this.”

“It’s because of
the plague,” Mira said. “It did more than just kill the male half of my
species. Celi and I discovered it did something far more sinister.”

“I don’t like
the sound of this,” Suv said.

“The male plague
infected our genetic structure so that if a male fetus is conceived it’s
programmed to miscarry immediately. The Y chromosome native to my people has
been infected throughout the entire population. The only option now is to use
an outside equivalent to replace it.”

“And that would
be Brian,” Suv said.

“Yes,” Mira
said. “The truth is many of us would prefer it if we had more Terrans than just
him.” She noticed Suv looked more subdued than normal. “Did you lose anyone?”

“My brother and
mother were on the homeworld when it was destroyed,” Suv said.

“If you need to
talk don’t hesitate to say something,” Mira said. “Losing those you love is
difficult.”

“I’ll mourn them
when we have some time to rest,” Suv said. “Seeing what happened and now
knowing what occurred with your people, the Greys are to be feared.”

“Fear drives us
to excel,” Mira said. “At least, that’s what my father used to say.”

“Is it true you
slept for a hundred and fifty years before being found?” Suv asked.

“That’s what
happened,” Mira said. “Most don’t believe me when I tell them.”

Suv grinned.
“You look good for a lady of your age.”

Mira laughed. “I
know, don’t I?”

The two laughed
together for a moment before going back to work and preparing for the upcoming
battle.

* *
*

Valis and Myden
were in the Avoni’s planning room with the holographic table lit up. It showed
the image of the two planet killers attacking from two sides of the planet.
Valis stared at how the enemy was deployed compared to their defense.

“It was easier
when they weren’t doing new things,” Valis said. “Are you sure they’ll attack
us like this?”

“With
certainty,” Myden said. “Sunadin is not a fool when it comes to things like
this. He knows they have to switch things around or take massive casualties. If
we do this right we should survive.”

“What about Dega
Jul?” Valis asked.

“The risk of
fighting planet killers is always high,” Myden said. “All we can do is hope the
planet holds out. Remember, even a direct hit from one of those things won’t
effect Dega Jul the same as other planets. The atmospheric processing plants
will make sure of that.”

“You sound
confident in them,” she said.

“That’s because
I was one of the leaders who built them over two thousand years ago,” Myden
said.

“The issue is
how we should divide our fleets,” Valis said.

“Heaven’s Light
and half the forces stationed on the planet will defend the sun side of the
planet,” Myden explained. “The other half and the surviving fleets from the
previous battles should suffice for the dark side.”

“It looks good
to me and the Minerva says it’s our best chance at victory,” Valis said. “But I
can tell something’s bothering you.”

“Call it a
hunch, but we should prepare the ground troops for battle,” he said.

Valis nodded. “I
see what you mean.”

“Let’s get a few
hours of rest before showing this to the others,” Myden said.

“Agreed,” she
said.

* *
*

After several
hours of explanation Myden looked to the other leaders in the command center of
the Columbia base.

“Are there any
questions?” he asked.

All of them
looked to each other before shaking their heads.

“You were pretty
thorough,” Brian said.

“More so than
even Valis,” Esra added.

“I did assist in
the plan,” Valis said.

“I’m surprised
he could last through one of your sessions,” Kivi said.

“I’ll let the
rest of you discuss the matter amongst yourselves,” Myden said.

While the
leaders talked Myden made his way to the other side of the room where Siata was
waiting patiently.

“You wanted to
talk?” he asked.

“Of course,”
Siata said. “But first let me complement you on the defense strategy.”

“It’s been over
sixteen hundred years since I last did something like this,” Myden said. “So
thanks.”

“We may need it
on the other front,” Siata said.

“I heard about
the Daemos,” Myden said.

“No one was
surprised the younger races would take some hits,” Siata said. “But the news of
the Daemos is setting panic amongst the people.”

“I can sense the
anxiety out there,” Myden admitted.

“What we need is
to do is hold the line on this side of the galaxy,” Siata said.

“What about the
Saeki?” Myden asked.

“They’re putting
up a good fight, but if we don’t pull something off here I fear the worst,”
Siata said.

“Then we’ll put
up a good fight and win,” Myden said.

“Are you
prepared to use your power?” Siata asked.

“Always,” Myden
said. “Brian is as well.”

“As long as we
have a few moves to play our chances increase,” Siata said. “By the way, Lord
Kris would like to meet you after the battle.”

“How’s that old
man holding up?” Myden asked.

“Better than
most of those a tenth of his age,” Siata said. “How old is he anyway?”

“Lord Kris is a
century older than I am,” Myden said with a chuckle. He noticed the others were
having an issue with the defense plan. “I’d better get back to them.”

“I have a few
questions of my own on this,” Siata said.

“Then let me
explain them in great detail,” Myden said as they joined the others around the
table.