Grey War Saga 1: Twilight of Innocence (21 page)

Veda and Reban
worked in the command center like they normally did. The other base leaders
took turns discussing the plans Valis had sent them earlier. Once they were
finished the screens went dark and allowed Veda a moment of peace.

“You look
tired,” Reban said. “Do you want me to take over for a while?”

“I can handle my
shift,” Veda said. “But thanks for the offer.”

“It seems like
each battle gets bigger,” Reban said.

“They are,” Veda
said. “If the Greys bring twenty thousand carriers it means nearly a million
attack ships. That’s not mentioning the planet killers.”

“The people of Kalaidia
will not go down easily,” Reban said.

“I feel the
same, but we need to be there,” Veda said.

Myden walked in
and started working with the holographic table. After sifting through a number
of individual plans for the upcoming battle he turned it off and stared at the
monitor showing outside.

“You look
uncertain,” Veda said. “That has me worried.”

“It should,”
Myden said. “Our foe is Sunadin Malkas, one of my best students. Even though he
follows the machine god I sense hesitation behind his actions.”

“We can use that
to our advantage,” Veda said.

“I know, but I
get sentimental when it comes to old friends,” Myden said. “What we are today I
was with him centuries ago. We fought on the same side in both of my peoples’
wars with the Mylor and the civil war that followed. He is hesitating, for what
reason I can’t say, but I know he is.”

“It does appear
he’s holding back,” Veda said. “If he attacked Kalaidia while we were fighting
the battle here he could’ve won.”

“I think he
wants to be proven wrong,” Myden said. “In his heart Sunadin is an honorable warrior.”

“Does he want
you to fight him?” Veda asked.

“No, I think he
wants a fight Brian,” Myden said. “In his eyes Brian is now my student. If
Brian defeats him it means he’s wrong. Sunadin was a fan of dueling back then
and I suspect he still is.”

“Your people
dueled?” Reban asked.

“Yes,” Myden
said. “To prevent massive casualties the leaders during the civil war would
declare a duel. Two warriors entered the arena and one left. I had to fight my
share in the past to defend my soldiers.”

“Did your civil
war lead to the creation of that god?” Veda asked.

Myden nodded.
“There were eleven factions fighting for power and everything was in chaos. We
agreed that if the majority of factions chose the machine god route we would do
it. I fled with many others in fear of it. I tried convincing Sunadin to leave,
but he was afraid of the fate of our people. Since that day the machine god has
hunted down all of those who fled.”

The monitor
turned on to show thousands of ships from various races of the Confederation
gravity jumping into orbit. The fleets began gathering and moving into their
assigned defensive positions.

“Our
reinforcements are here,” Reban said.

“Excellent, now we
can concentrate on repairs and supplies,” Veda said. She noticed Myden had
disappeared. “I would like to know how he does that.”

“It’s some kind
of magic he uses with his staff,” Reban said.

“That could be,”
Veda said.

* *
*

Brian stopped
when his com flashed.

“The allied
fleet is appearing in orbit captain,” Droid A reported.

“Thanks,” Brian
said before turning off his com.

He and Baeron
began making their way back to the surface.

“The fleet must
be here,” Baeron said.

“It’s a day
earlier than planned but that gives us a chance to get to Kalaidia faster,”
Brian said. “Every minute we can use to set up our defense line will save
lives.”

“My Lance is
charged and ready to go,” Baeron said.

“I thought you
and Siata were staying behind,” Brian said.

“Lord Kris and
the Fourth Mylor fleet will be taking our place,” Baeron said. “They’ve managed
to stop the advance of the Greys on the other side of the galaxy, now we have
to do the same.” The bearman sniffed his uniform. “But before doing anything
else I’m going to take a shower.”

“I know the
feeling,” Brian said.

The two returned
to the sublevel under Mya’s shop and left a number of Minan soldiers to take
their place.

“Are we leaving
tonight?” Baeron asked.

“Given the
situation I’d say yes,” Brian said.

“I’ll prepare my
troops then,” Baeron said.

“Take care,”
Brian said as the Minan left.

Brian looked to
the sky as thousands of relief ships from the numerous races of the
Confederation landed. Mya walked out and stood with him. Brian took his helmet
off and breathed in the air. She noticed he had wrapped the suit in his green
cape to prevent it from getting dirty.

“It feels like
the storm is turning away from here,” Mya said.

“It is,” Brian
said. “From what I’ve seen war is like the ocean. The tides turn and swirl all
the time. Now the waves are with us.”

“I will pray for
your safe return,” Mya said.

“I appreciate
it,” Brian said.

* *
*

The launching
bay of the Avoni was abuzz with activity while everyone prepared to leave.
Engineers and pilots alike tirelessly worked on their Phase Raknas. Meldi and
Daes were inside the Mjolnir doing the same. The systems turned off for a
moment when Daes rebooted the computer. A minute later everything went back on.

“I feel much
better now,” Mjolnir said.

“Things were
kind of buggy in the last battle,” Meldi said.

“It’s the drive
system,” Daes said before sighing. “Sometimes it needs to run full blast
outside of a battle to clean things out.”

“But he’s got a
heavy class drive installed,” Meldi pointed out.

“When you
berserk my drive spins faster and produces more energy,” Mjolnir said.

“The new system
I installed should alleviate the problem,” Daes said.

“Thanks mother,”
Mjolnir said.

“You’re
welcome,” Daes said.

“What did you
do?” Meldi asked.

“Jesela and
Dreka suggested I try this,” Daes answered. “Now that it works I’ll tell them
in a few minutes.”

“Did you see his
Talon in the last battle?” Meldi asked.

“Dreka the
Lighting was blessed twice at birth,” Daes said. “Not only is he my equal as an
engineer, but he’s Brian’s as a pilot.”

“When am I going
to get an upgrade?” Mjolnir asked.

“I’m with him,”
Meldi said with a smile.

“I’ve got a new
rifle to try out, along with an energy storage pack,” Daes said. “Mjolnir,
you’ll be able to fire five to six arrows like the Artemis’s with it.”

“I’d rather use
those then nuclear weapons anyway,” Mjolnir said.

“Why can it only
manage five or six shots?” Meldi asked.   

“You’re not
jealous, are you?” Daes asked.

“No, I’m just
curious,” Meldi said.

“Mjolnir is
designed as the versatile model of the special ones,” Daes said. “He’s supposed
to be able to fill in for any of the others should the need arise.”

“I’m a
generalist and not a specialist, is that what you’re saying?” Mjolnir asked.

“Exactly,” Daes
said. Her wrist computer beeped. “It looks like we’ll have to talk later. The
captain is calling me.”

“I can take it
from here Daes,” Meldi said.

“Thanks,” Daes
said before heading outside.

Meldi got up
from the pilot’s seat to check the panels when a knock came from outside. When
she turned Brian stepped in without his exoskeleton on.

“Pretty casual
this visit, aren’t you?” Mjolnir asked.

“It was covered
in blood and smelled pretty bad,” Brian said. “How are you doing big guy?”

“Daes fixed me
up again,” Mjolnir said.

“What about
you?” Brian asked while looking at Meldi.

“I’m alright,”
Meldi said. “Just a little tired because of all the work. So what brings you to
us?”

“I wanted to
check on Mjolnir first,” Brian said. “It looks like he’s alright.” He looked at
her again. “Can we talk in private?”

“Sure,” Meldi
said. “Mjolnir, could you shut off the systems in the back room?”

“Done,” Mjolnir
said.

Meldi went in
first with Brian behind her. After the door closed on the tiny living area he
could tell she was nervous about something.

“I didn’t come
here for that Meldi, so you can relax,” Brian said.

“I
wasn’t…expecting anything like that,” Meldi said.

He handed her a
small black box. “If you ever find yourself separated from the others, open
this up.”

“What is it?”
she asked.

“It’s a beacon
of light for when things are darkest,” Brian said. He smiled as he looked
around the room. On the back wall a
zenti
axe was displayed. “I can’t
believe I spent so many months in a tiny room like this.”

“It’s bigger for
a Kalaidian,” she said.

“I suppose so,”
he said.

“Why did you
choose me to pilot Mjolnir?” she asked.

“I chose you
because I trust you,” he answered.

“What about the
others?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it be better for one of them to pilot him?”

“Do you believe
in Kali?” he asked.

“Yes,” Meldi
answered.

“All of us have
roles to play in this life,” Brian said. “You doubt yourself and your ability
but it doesn’t change what you must do.”

“This sounds
like a riddle,” Meldi said.

“I can’t be
specific because I’m not sure myself,” Brian said. “Trust in my trust in you.”

“I will,” Meldi
said.

He went to leave
when she took his hand.

“Brian…I…,” she
stopped.

“I know,” he
said with a smile.

Lumiar paced
around the command center of the Meche, the main colony ship of the Braiden
people. Around it were nine other ships of the same size, ten
ketres
in
length and a third as wide. The spinning cylinders gave the interiors of the
ships a sense of gravity and allowed the people inside to live like they did on
their now dead homeworld. A number of Kalaidian warships and their Phase Raknas
surrounded the colony ships when their scanners showed something. The
communications officer in the command center put the image on the monitor.
Three normal sized planet killers and one twice their size moved forward with
over fifteen thousand carriers. Admiral Nia appeared on the screen. She was an
average sized Kalaidian with long silver hair and green eyes.

“Are your people
ready to go?” Nia asked.

Lumiar looked to
her officers as they nodded yes. “We can leave at any time,” she said.

“Excellent,” Nia
said.

“Has everyone
left the other systems?” Lumiar asked.

“Moving billions
of people isn’t easy, but we’ve had enough time to get them out,” Nia said. “Even
if Kalaidia falls the majority its people will not die. Also, we’ve left a few
gifts for the Greys behind to soften their force.”

“Let’s go then,”
Lumiar said.

“Of course,” Nia
said.

The colony and
escort ships gravity jumped away. The solar system was now abandoned of all
sentient life except for the Greys. When the massive fleet moved into orbit of
the nearby gas giant an automated defense system turned on. Hundreds of nuclear
missiles activated and flew into the Grey fleet. Thousands of ships blew up or
were severely damaged as the missiles exploded.

* *
*

General Sunadin
redirected his forces to absorb the nuclear attacks.
The ladies of Kali
planned well.
He thought as another round of attacks destroyed a number of
carriers and attack ships. Nothing came close to the four planet killers or
their escort fleets. Hundreds of normal Greys ran around as they attended to
their programmed duties. Sunadin sent out a thought order before heading into
his private chambers near the command center. He drew his staff and practiced
after the door closed until his mind quieted. As he used his telepathic staff’s
powers a smile came to his face.
For a long time my heart was vacant. Now I
can feel it beating again. The thrill of battle is unlike anything else.

“Is it because
you could die?”
Myden asked when his image appeared.

“You know the
feeling Myden,”
Sunadin
said.
“For too many years our people have simply exterminated those lesser
than ourselves. Now we face a force capable of defeating us. I know god desires
victory but if there’s no challenge then there’s no gain.”

“You know you’re
wrong,”
Myden said.

“I will perform
my duties as one of the generals of the Naerendi Empire,”
Sunadin said.
“The
will of god is too much for mortals like us to stand against.”

“You’re
stubborn,”
Myden said before laughing.
“But you were always like that.”

“I’m only as
stubborn as the one who taught me,”
Sunadin said.
“Next time we meet
will be on the battlefield. I will show you no mercy.”

“Nor will I old
friend,”
Myden said before saluting and disappearing.

The ache of the
machine god filled Sunadin’s mind again.

“I know your
will god and acknowledge you as my master,” he said out loud with a raspy
voice.

* *
*

Queen Celestia
appeared on every monitor and communications device within reach of Kalaidia
Prime. She wore a white and silver exoskeleton with a
rakna
blade on her
belt. She stood before the parliament of the Kalaidian people with Jabril at
the top level in the High Court.

“To all of
Kalaidia, this is your queen speaking,” Celestia started. “Although I gave up
my power to the parliament and through them to you, I still serve as your high
priestess and intermediary to Kali. Before continuing with my speech I’d like
to ask the parliament for permission to take military action.

“The vote is
unanimous,” Jabril said. “With the passage of this emergency appointment we
give Celestia Daevon the position of supreme commander of our military forces.”

“Thank you prime
minister, I will serve the position faithfully until I am discharged from the
service,” Celestia said. She turned her attention back to the camera. “One
hundred and sixty four years ago the last of our male population died. It was
brought to our attention when Brian Peterson first came to our world that the
guilty party of the plague was the Greys. Now, all these years later they’ve
come to finish what they started. Before us is a battle grander than any we’ve
ever seen. Four of their dreaded planet killers and a fleet of nearly twenty
thousand carriers approach as I speak. We’ve successfully moved every colony we
could away from the path of the Grey forces and evacuated the ones we couldn’t.
Now I call on everyone of this world who can fight. We need every able pilot,
soldier, medical practitioner, engineer, and support personnel amongst you. The
fate of this world rests on our survival as a people. As such, I order all
civilian colonies to flee to Dega Jul. Even if our planet falls the heart of
Kalaidia will live on through those who survive. The rest of us will remain
behind to fight. At this moment Heaven’s Light and its allies are heading here
to join us. At their head is our Herald, Captain Peterson of the Freedom.
Thirteen years ago he called for us to act as one. Today, his order stands. We
will fight unto the last woman. Kali has called for us to step onto the stage
and deliver a performance worth remembering.” Celestia drew her sword and held
it to the sky. “If Kali wills it, then let us sing!”

The members of
parliament and everyone who saw or heard the broadcast stopped to repeat their
queen’s words. “If Kali wills it, then let us sing!” they shouted.

* *
*

The eight bases
of Heaven’s Light, along with the Ick-Tckt asteroid base, its fleet, and the
Gold Navy of Malcov moved away from Dega Jul. As they did so several thousand
Confederation ships and the Third Mylor fleet joined them. Brian and the other
senior officers on the Freedom stood on the bridge together. Their scanners
showed dozens of Kalaidian colonies and thousands of nonmilitary crafts with
them gravity jumping into orbit. As the minutes passed the numbers kept
growing. Brian turned to his console and tapped the intercom system to connect
him to all ships and communications devices on and near Dega Jul.

“We are Heaven’s
Light, the light that shines liberty on the world,” he started. “Wherever
tyranny appears we will stop it. Until the Freedom’s bell rings eternal our
mission will never end. To those of the Confederation, we are going to Kalaidia
Prime to end the slaughter of innocent people. This war is unlike any other in
the end goal. The Greys are unlike the conquerors all of us know through
history. They don’t seek glory, wealth, or resources. They seek nothing of the
like. What they desire is our destruction. Through death they plan to purify
the galaxy and in doing so, end war. But in truth their peace is a false peace.
Bowing to a god designed to control you is not peace, it’s slavery of the worst
kind. This was the mistake the Greys made sixteen hundred years ago. Now all
they desire is the death of everyone but themselves. This war is not over the
trivial things we’ve fought over in the past. This war is about survival. If we
lose we die. So we will fight until the day the Greys are left in the annals of
history. Live, and keep on living. For as long as we’re alive victory is
waiting for us.”

The sound of
others cheering filled the airwaves as the forces of Heaven’s Light moved
together with their fleets and gravity jumped away. The bases then went into
rapid response mode and quickly made their way towards the Kalaidian home
system. Brian turned to the others on the bridge.

“This battle and
those that come after it will be fierce and terrible,” he said. “The cost may
very well be all of our lives. But we swore ourselves to this duty because we
have something or someone to protect. We fight not for country, not for money,
not for glory, not for race, nor creed. We fight to save others. This war is
the test of our resolve. Let us not fail it.”

Brian drew his
sword and put it at the center of everyone. One by one each drew their blade,
pike, staff, and whip and touched together with his sword.

“As long as we
fight as one defeat will not come to us,” Brian said.

“Kali blessed us
with this power, let’s not deafen ourselves to her words,” Seles said.

“Long ago I made
a mistake, it’s time to fix things,” Myden said.

“I have great grandchildren
to protect, so let’s do this!” Grigon cawed.

“For my father
and all those who’ve died I promise justice for them,” Mira said.

“For my family
and friends I give my life to,” Kyli said.

“For the dreams
of those who’ve died, and those who live, I give mine as well,” Jesela said.

On all the bases
and ships within com reach each crew member took a moment to say something
similar. After a few seconds they broke the circle to return to their duties.
As they did so the fleet appeared in orbit of Kalaidia Prime.

“Looks like
we’re early,” Seles said.

Brian turned to
the three pilots. “Good luck to each of you. I hope Kali’s watching over you.”

“We hope the
same for you,” Seles said.

“Of course we
do,” Mira said.

The two women
each kissed Brian before leaving with Kyli.

“Not a bad
memory if this is my last day alive,” he said with a smile.