Grey War Saga 1: Twilight of Innocence (15 page)

“I never knew…she
endured such an awful thing,” Seles said.

“Because of that
incident, I always take this medication,” Baeron said. “I will never have children
of my own either. I wish with all my heart I could’ve gotten to that room a
half an hour earlier.”

Seles took his
hand. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but I
can’t help but feel it was,” Baeron said. He stretched and swung his axe around
to loosen back up. “We should return to our mission.”

“Sure, but
before we do I want to say something,” Seles said.

“Go ahead,”
Baeron said.

“Remember she’s
alive and has you to thank for it,” Seles said. “You may never have children
but I can tell you think of her as your daughter. She may have lost her mother
but she gained a father. And a good one if may be so bold.”

“Thank you,”
Baeron said.

“Now let’s get
back to the hunt,” Seles said as she put her helmet back on.

“A hunt it is,”
Baeron said.

Brian and Myden
stood over the bodies of two dozen Grey soldiers when they came into an
incubation chamber. Brian wiped his blade off while Myden did the same with his
staff. The room was over a hundred
vetres
in diameter and held fifty
incubation tubes. All of them had been cleared out and were currently turned
off. Brian noticed a pair of Greys out of the corner of his eyes and spun his
rakna
blade before slashing. The blast incinerated them before they could flee. Myden
then inspected the equipment.

“I don’t like
the looks of this,” Brian said.

“They may have
sent a hundred thousand,” Myden said. “But if there are as many of these as I
suspect their numbers may be closer to a million.”

“How did they do
this under everyone’s nose?” Brian asked.

“Nothing below
the fourth sublevel is used anymore,” Myden said.

Brian placed a
signal beacon behind a panel in the wall. Both he and Myden felt another pulse
come from below.

“There’s no
doubt now,” Myden said.

Brian blinked
before concentrating to use his power. He looked through the floor and saw
something below.

“Take my hand,”
Brian said.

“Alright,” Myden
said as he did so.

Brian stepped
into the spot he saw and the two fell through the floor for two more levels.
When they caught themselves they were in a massive chamber with a miniature
version of the machine god in the center. Hundreds of Greys were trying to
activate the device when the two landed on the floor. Brian materialized for a
moment and tossed a pair of incendiary bombs from his belt. Over half the Greys
were reduced the ash from the explosions. At the same time Myden used his
telepathic staff to pulse out the signal to die in the other half of the room.
Those Greys caught within the field aimed their pulse rifles at their heads and
fired. Once the smoke cleared Brian materialized again and stopped glowing. He
felt his heart racing as his body struggled to maintain its material form.
After a minute of concentration he stood up and appeared alright.

“You’re having
difficulties controlling your power, aren’t you?” Myden asked.

“Part of me
wishes I would’ve gained telepathy or something you could help me with,” Brian
said before taking a deep breath.

“It’s good to
see you both,”
the machine god said telepathically.

The pair turned
around and saw the device was still only half turned on.

“Why such looks
on your faces?”
the machine god asked before laughing.
“Did you think we spent the last
millennia and a half doing nothing? We have sleeper colonies all across the
arms of Alden. Even if you manage to defeat the armies of the five generals
billions more await you.”

“You must really
think you’re smart, don’t you?” Brian asked.

“My intelligence
goes far beyond what a mortal like you can comprehend,”
the machine god
said.
“Destroy this place if you wish but it will only delay the
inevitable.”

While the
machine god laughed Brian used his power to fly inside the main nerve center.
With a series of precision slashes with his sword and a few well-placed pulse
grenades the entire structure groaned before falling down. He flew out and
rejoined Myden before the Grey projected a protective shield around them. Once
the machine was dead the two headed for the nearest exit. Brian placed another
signal beacon on the wall before they left.

“We can’t worry
about what ifs and maybes,” Myden said. “All we can do is deal with what’s in
front of us.”

“I know,” Brian
said.

A barrage of
pulse fire filled the hallway as they walked. The two each dove to a side for
cover.

“Looks like more
of our friends have arrived,” Brian said.

“Shall I lead
the way, or you?” Myden asked.

“I will this
time,” Brian said. “I have some pent up anger I need to take care of.”

“It’s what’s
best anyway,” Myden said. “Killing these pitiful creatures is the only freedom
we can grant to them.”

Brian raised his
sword and began spinning it to gather energy. “That’s a sad reality,” he said
before blasting the front line with a slash from his sword.

* *
*

Seles and Baeron
entered another room after they had thrown a volley of pulse grenades. More
than thirty Greys were dead on the ground. They found themselves in a chamber
full of shattered incubators. Baeron left a signal beacon on the wall as they
moved on. When they felt a rumbling coming from below Seles felt something in
her mind.

“No matter what
you try he will die,”
a voice said to her.
“You’ll be left alone to suffer. I can stop this fate
Seles Daevon. All you need to do is join me. Take some time and think it over.”

“Is something
wrong?” Baeron asked.

“I hear a voice
again,” Seles said. “It’s gone now.”

“Then I’m not
crazy,” he said. “I’ve been hearing something in my mind for a while now.”

The two came to
a sealed door with Grey hieroglyphs covering it. Both Seles and Baeron placed
an explosive on the door before ducking around a corner. Once the explosion
cleared they looked around the corner. Inside of a chamber were hundreds of
Grey soldiers and dozens of their smaller saucers.

“I think this
job is a bit big for the two of us,” Seles said.

“Agreed,” Baeron
said before tapping his com. “This is Commander Baeron speaking. Are there any
teams free in this area?”

“This is team
fifty two,” an officer said. “We’re the only team within range of your
communicator.”

“Move to the
upper levels and gather as many teams as you can,” Baeron ordered. “We have a
Grey base at our location. If you can open some of the service shafts bring
down some Lances.”

“We’ll do our
best commander,” the soldier said.

A couple dozen
Grey soldiers began creeping towards them. Seles tossed her last pair of pulse
grenades while Baeron placed a signal beacon on the wall. After the explosions
ended more Greys headed their way.

“I really wish I
could’ve brought the Artemis now,” Seles said.

“We can’t let
ourselves get surrounded,” Baeron said. “I think we should head up.”

“I’d like to but
take a look behind us,” Seles said.

Baeron turned
and saw a dozen Grey soldiers moving towards them.

“I don’t suppose
you have any more grenades?” Seles asked.

“I’m all out,”
Baeron said. “How long can your shield last?”

“Fifteen minutes
at most,” Seles said.

“Then let’s
barricade ourselves in one of the larger rooms and hold out until
reinforcements get here,” Baeron suggested.

“Good idea,”
Seles said.

The two ran into
one of the old storage rooms and sealed the door behind them. Seles activated
her shield and used it to bar the door. The sound of pulse fire hitting the
metal door started a moment later. Baeron used his light to search around the
room for anything useful. He laughed when he cracked open an old metal crate.

“What’s so
funny?” Seles asked while the door was being battered.

“This crate is a
container for emergency rations,” Baeron said. “Their expiration date was over
a thousand years ago.”

Seles laughed
with him. “It’s probably a hidden stash left behind by Myden.”

“You might be
right,” Baeron said. “By the way, the door doesn’t look long for this world.”

“I agree,” Seles
said.

The Greys had
mostly blasted through and were now working on her shield. Every moment that
passed more Grey soldiers were outside firing away. Seles glanced at her power
meter and saw her exoskeleton was at twenty three percent of full power. When
she looked up one of the Greys in the back stared at her with its black eyes.

“One yes and
this will all be over,”
the voice said to her again.
“Is it really worth
it?”

Seles growled.
“I’ve had enough of whoever you are.”

Her eyes began
glowing blue under the helmet. As the berserk came over her she edged forward.

“Baeron, take a
position near the door,” Seles said.

“You’re charging
in, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Better that
then dying,” she replied.

“I’m with you on
that,” the bearman said.

He moved his
back to the wall near the door and held his axe in front. Seles narrowed her
eyes as time seemed to slow down. With the shield in front she dashed into the
hallway with her sword spinning. She moved her shield out of the way for a
split second and blasted the first line of Grey soldiers. She quickly rolled
from side to side of the hallway while repeating the maneuver. Baeron cautiously
followed and hacked a Grey with his axe when he got close enough. When a pair
of Greys ran around a corner he flipped his pulse rifle forward and fired. The
two went down before they could attack. Seles had cleared the immediate area of
enemies. When she looked down the main hallway she noticed a battle erupting in
the room her and Baeron had reported. She quickly ended the berserk and moved
back to back with the Minan.

“You fight
well,” he said.

“I’ve been
working on it for a while now,” Seles said.

An explosion
opened a hole in the floor near them.

“I really hope
that’s not more of them,” Seles said.

“They don’t
smell like the ones we’ve been fighting,” Baeron said.

Brian peaked
through the hole before jumping up. Myden floated up behind him.

“I thought you
needed help,” Brian said before looking at all the dead Greys. “Guess I was
wrong.”

“Thanks for the
thought,” Seles said. “But you know I’m not a helpless little girl.”

“Not now, not
ever,” Brian said. “I don’t know about you but I’m almost out of power. I think
we should leave for now.”

“My soldiers will
take care of things for the time being,” Baeron said.

“I think it’s
time to go as well,” Seles said.

Myden cringed
when he felt something horrible in his mind.

“What’s wrong?”
Brian asked.

“I don’t know,
but Valis does,” Myden said. “We should get to the surface as soon as
possible.”

Valis was
working at the holographic table in the Avoni’s strategy room. She currently
had the Grey forces and their last known locations in the star systems near
Dega Jul. After finishing with her work she turned the table off and returned
to the bridge. There, Zae, Baed, and Vae worked at their usual stations.

“What’s our
status?” Valis asked.

“The ship is
operating at ninety percent right now,” Baed reported.

“You were in
there for a while,” Zae said.

“This seems to
be a lull period in the war,” Valis said. “The Greys appear to be retreating to
the border region for the moment.”

“What about the
report Brian sent us?” Baed asked.

“I have to agree
with her on this captain,” Zae said.

Vae continued to
quietly work at the navigation console.

“The main issue
is the fact we can’t find their sleeper colonies or supply bases,” Valis said.
“All we can plan for what we can see.”

“From my
perspective the Greys are getting ready to launch a major offensive,” Zae said.

“That’s what I
think as well,” Valis said. “I also wanted to ask the three of you about the
Hades system.”

“All of us can
berserk captain,” Baed said.

“I still can’t
do it on command quite yet,” Vae admitted.

“I can handle it
Valis, don’t worry,” Zae said.

“The reason I
ask is because the Minerva’s system is showing me some very bad things,” Valis
said. “Our main ships have escaped major damage, but if the Greys can emulate
our mobile suits and mobile armors I fear they’ll emulate the more powerful
weapons.” She took a moment to look at all three of them. “Were all of you were
onboard the Avoni during the sojourn?”

“Yes,” Zae said.

Both Baed and
Vae nodded a yes.

“When Brian
awakened a number of you berserked,” Valis said. “What I’m wondering is if we
can use that to our advantage.”

“If more of our
pilots and officers were able to berserk our fighting ability would increase
significantly,” Zae said.

“But how do we
do it?” Vae asked.

“In the last
battle we sang together,” Baed said. “If we do the same thing while berserking
none of us should lose control.”

“Should we give
it a try in our next battle?” Zae asked.

“Yes,” Valis
said. “If we don’t come up with something soon we’ll be overwhelmed by their
numbers.” She went to leave. “I’m going to talk with Meldi and Myli about this
before going to the meeting.”

“We’ll take care
of things here Valis,” Zae said.

* *
*

Kivi and Dreka
were at work again near the remains of the Kritkar. After a long while of
helping with the recovery operation the two took a break in front of the Gemini
as it sat on the street. More and more civilians were milling about as they
went back to their homes or businesses to salvage what they could. While taking
a drink of water Kivi looked up at the sky and squinted.

“They say it’ll
take centuries to recover the atmosphere to the way it was,” Kivi said. “I can
already feel the briskness in the air.”

“Do you want to
head underground?” Dreka asked.

“I’ll take my
turn at it,” Kivi said. “Both Brian and Seles saw legions of Greys down there.”

“To think they
were planning this over a thousand years ago,” Dreka said. “None of our races
thinks in terms like that.”

“We’ll have to
figure it out sooner or later,” Kivi said. “The worst is trying to replace the
population we’ve lost.”

“How many
billions is it now?” Dreka asked.

“We’re still
trying to figure that out,” Kivi said when her com beeped.

“Captain, the
meeting will commence in one hour,” Kaela reported.

“Thanks for
reminding me Kaela,” Kivi said.

“Anytime
captain,” Kaela said before ending transmission.

“I don’t miss
those meetings,” Dreka said.

“I’m starting to
tire of them as well,” Kivi said.

“Now that
doesn’t sound like you,” Dreka said.

“I know it
doesn’t, but I’m wondering about what I’ll do after the war,” she said. “I
don’t mind the life of a captain, but I have a feeling there’s more to living
than just that.” She looked at the red feathered birdman. “What do you think
you’ll be doing twenty years from now?”

Dreka cawed. “It’ll
be research and development. Where I don’t know, but I know I’d like to continue
working on mobile weapons and gravity drives. The only good thing about those
planet killers is it proves to me I have much to learn. What about you?”

“Maybe be the
owner of a sleepy bar like Grig was,” Kivi said. “And if I get bored I’ll
always have the Gemini at my side for adventure.”

“I’ll make sure
to stop by for maintenance work once in a while then,” Dreka said.

“Thanks,” Kivi
said. “Well, I’d better get ready for the meeting. Take care of things down
here Dreka.”

“I will,” he
said.

Kivi boarded the
Gemini and headed for the Columbia base in orbit. Dreka watched as the larger
than normal mobile suit made its way to space.

“With her
recklessness I’ll definitely have to check in from time to time,” he said to
himself.

* *
*

Seles was
finished cleaning her exoskeleton armor off in her quarters when a strange feeling
hit her. She calmly grabbed her
rakna
blade and looked around. She
glanced into a mirror and looked at her reflection. Her purple eyes and long
silver blue hair looked normal, but her posture was a bit slouch due to
exhaustion.

“I must be
seeing things,” Seles said to herself.

She went to
change into her sleeping clothes when the sound of distant laughter touched her
ears. She shot around and gripped the
rakna
blade again.

“Is someone there?”
she asked. “Myden, are you messing with me?”

“Myden can’t
hear me unless I want him to,”
the voice said.

“Who are you?”
Seles asked. “And why are you in my head?”

“Once I find a
place to nest in the mind of others I never leave,”
the voice said.
“I’ll always be with you Seles Daevon. My will is eternal and my patience as
well. Brian’s lasted nearly a decade with me haunting his thoughts. Even so,
it’s only a matter of time before he yields.”

“He will never
submit to something like you,” Seles said. “I won’t give in either.”

She concentrated
and let the berserk come over her. While her eyes glowed blue she sang. The
sound of the music echoed through her being as the malignant voice was forced
out. After it was gone she stopped the berserk but continued singing. After a
few minutes she finished and took a deep breath.

“I’ve been
working on that song for weeks now and I finally have it,” Seles said. She
touched her reflection in the mirror. “Is this what you’ve endured Brian? Being
taunted by something beyond you all this time can’t be easy.” She paused for a
moment. “I hope I can set your heart at ease.”

* *
*

In the border
region between the Confederation territories and Grey controlled space a
massive fleet of ships gathered. Six planet killers and over thirty thousand
carriers were in formation on the edge of a barren solar system. While ships
returned from their scouting missions a flash of light revealed a seventh
planet killer. This one was twice the diameter of the other six at a thousand
ketres
.
Its outer hull was tinted red to show it was the carrier base for the Red Star
General. In the center chamber stood an interface of the machine god. Thousands
of Greys worked tirelessly throughout the moon sized ship. At the main control
console in the center stood General Sunadin Malkas, the leader of the Red Star
Knights. He was a Grey like Myden, clad in a grey cloak over a crimson
exoskeleton. While he had the eyes and skin color of the other Greys, Sunadin
had flowing white hair and his face was clean shaven. The general paced around
the center chamber with his telepathic staff in hand. He turned about when he
felt the presence of another nearby. An image of General Regen Alondes appeared
next to him a moment later.

“How are things
proceeding for you General Sunadin?”
Regen asked telepathically.

“We have the
estimated forces to complete the task before us,”
Sunadin
answered.
“How fares the effort on the other front?”

Regen smiled.
“The
Daemos were weak and have fallen before our forces. The Mylor resist well,
while the other two are being pushed back. In addition, the twelve seeds have
been put to rest.”

“Then the only
seed left are the Terrans,”
Sunadin said.

“Our lord has
chosen to spare them, for what reason I can’t understand,”
Regen said.
“I
suspect our lord wishes to torture Captain Peterson.”

“The order to
capture him has not changed,”
Sunadin said.
“But back to the task
at hand. From here our forces will divide and attack Dega Jul first. The next
system to fall will be the Kalaidians.”

“Once Dega Jul
and the Kalaidians are gone there’s nothing to stop us from eliminating the
rest of the Confederation,”
Regen said.
“Keep at it General Sunadin.”

“I will,”
Sunadin said
before Regen disappeared.

He turned his
gaze to the fleet around his ship.
If this is what god commands we are
powerless to resist. Our fates have been cast and where the die lands only the
lord knows.
He thought to himself before returning to the battle plan he
was working on.