Heaven Saga 3: Sojourn Into Despair (19 page)

On
the surface of Braiden Prime the people watched in awe and fear as their skies
were lit up with pulses of energy flying towards space. At the same time
numerous missile silos opened up and delivered their payload at the enemy out
of sight. A feed from satellites in orbit began running across every video
screen in every household and place of business. A strange feeling came over
the masses of people on Braiden, with many of them running outside to see what
was happening. A few seconds later the broadcast changed over to a government
emergency message. The image of their High Priestess appeared on the video
screen and her voice echoed across every radio wave.

“To
all the people who call this planet home, the crisis I warned of a month ago is
occurring,” Lumiar said. “The Strangers, who up until this point have showed
little interest in our world, are now in orbit with a fleet of attack vessels.
In this time of crisis brave aliens have come to our aid and are fighting as we
speak. They gave to us the ability to defend ourselves, which are the pulse
blasts you see leaving orbit from the surface. Presently the Strangers have
sent over a thousand attack ships and now approach with deadly intent. At this
time we’re using everything at our disposal to fend off this threat to our
existence. Even so, our numbers are not ideal for this situation and although
our defense is strong we can’t avoid taking massive losses during this battle.
Our chances of surviving are not good, that I must be honest about. I ask those
of you who’re not combat personnel to retreat to your designated shelters. Our
warriors, along with those who have come to our aid are doing everything in
their power to save us from this terrible tragedy. Know that I and your leaders
are doing everything possible to help, but sadly, now all we can do is pray.
Please stop to give a prayer to all those fighting today. Pray to the gods of
this land we can survive my people.”

* * *

“It
doesn’t matter what direction I fire I’m going to hit something,” Meldi said
over the com.

Brian
and the thirty Raknas created a defensive shell around the Avoni. All around
their small fleet pulse blasts from the surface tore into the Grey ships. They
exploded one after another. But for each one damaged or destroyed it seemed two
took its place.

“Keep
your cool Meldi,” Brian said. “I know how much you’d love to do that. But we
have to stick to the plan. Otherwise we’ll be swallowed up by their numbers.”

“I
second that!” Myli said. “Anyways, it looks like the Braiden are holding them
off on their own.”

“They’ve
downed over a hundred smaller ships and two carriers so far,” Zae reported.
“The pulse blasts can kill the smaller ships. But it’s obvious the larger ships
can only be taken out by something more powerful.”

“I’m
betting the use of those weapons will get our enemy’s attention,” Brian said.
He looked at the monitor and saw the two missiles attached to the Mjolnir.

It
will be another minute or so until we reach the back of their formation.
The Mjolnir
wrote.
I’m ready at any moment to do what is asked of me.

Brian
patted the screen. “That’s right old friend,” he said.

“Who’re
you talking to?” Meldi asked.

“The
Mjolnir had something to say, that’s all,” Brian answered. The Avoni and the
Vomada arrived at the rear position of the Greys. In turn, each ship and mobile
suit flipped direction while arming their weapons and shields to full. “This is
Lieutenant Commander Peterson calling all allied crafts. We’ll commence the
attack now. Remember not to stray from the designated zone of space we’re in.
The Braiden are under orders to shoot anything flying outside the safe zone. You
have permission to use the weapons we’ve added to our mobile suits and ships as
you wish. We need to destroy as many enemy ships as possible. May the goddess
watch over us and deliver victory to our side.”

“Yes
commander!” all of his subordinates answered.

One
by one each Rakna and Talon deactivated their cloaking shield and fired into
the Grey ships with their pulse cannons. They downed a number with each
barrage. When the Grey ships began turning about to fly at them each Rakna and
Talon fired a nuclear missile into their formation. The first wave destroyed
over two hundred smaller ships and three carriers. Most of the Grey fleet continued
towards the planet. The Avoni’s forces tightened their formation around the
ship and attacked any Grey ship flying too close. The carriers stayed out of
range while flying towards the planet. The pulse blasts and missile strikes from
the surface devastated to the Grey fleet as it came close enough to return
fire.

“It
looks like they’re ignoring us completely,” Brian said. “All ships approach in
our present formation.”

The
Avoni and Vomada, along with all the mobile suits slowly approached the planet.
Once they reached the back of the Grey fleet, a number of the smaller ships
diverted to attack them. Because of the tight formation they held none of the
Grey ships got close enough to deal damage. From orbit the Grey ships bombarded
the surface of Braiden Prime. They targeted the pulse cannons and missile
silos. Brian and the others watched as the two sides exchanged fire while still
blasting away at the hundreds of enemy ships flying around them.

“This
is the largest space battle I’ve ever seen,” Grigon said. “I hope those on the
surface are holding up.”

“We
still have three hundred and twenty two pulse cannons functioning,” Lumiar
reported. “Our casualties are heavy but not unexpected.”

“Keep
it up on your end Lumiar,” Brian said. “I have a feeling the main actor has yet
to enter the stage.”

The
Avoni and Vomada attacked with their pulse cannons. After an hour of constant
fighting the Grey fleet was reduced to less than half its original number. The
price on the surface was great, with over half the pulse cannons destroyed.
Numerous locations on the surface of the planet had received heavy orbital
bombardment and were covered in a mix of smoke from the fires and dust kicked
up by the amount of energy behind the energy blasts. Much of the population on
the planet was hiding underground in the emergency shelters, while a few brave
and foolish stayed on the surface to observe the battle. Calm came as the Grey
fleet, now reduced to eight carriers and a little over three hundred smaller
ships, and backed off for a brief moment.

“The
first phase of the battle has ended,” Brian said. “I don’t know what to expect
next but I believe the second phase will be their attempt to finish this.
Everyone is to remain on standby, but take a breather while we have it.” He
sighed and took a deep breath before pulling out an injector from a compartment
in the Mjolnir. He put it at his neck and injected the liquid. Celi hailed him
over a private channel.

“Is
everything alright?” she asked.

“I
used the cocktail you prescribed,” Brian said before stretching. “I feel like
crap. But I’ll survive.”

“If
you need more I put a number of them in the back of the mobile suit,” Celi
said. “I wasn’t sure how long this battle will last.”

“Thanks
Celi, I appreciate your concern.”

“Contact
me if anything strange occurs, alright?”

“Sure,”
he said before her image disappeared.

Brian
reactivated his com system. “Zae, what are our casualty figures?” he asked.

“There’s
a lot of damage on the surface of the planet,” Zae said. “They have two hundred
and six working pulse cannons. In space we’ve suffered few casualties. A few of
the Raknas suffered minor damage and a few of Grigon’s Talons are having
similar issues. Lighter than we anticipated.”

“That’s
good; we’re going to need every ship we’ve got to win this battle,” Brian said.

* * *

On
the bridge of the Avoni Baed and Zae worked tirelessly to keep the ship moving
according to the plan. A half an hour had passed since the first phase had
ended and gave everyone a chance to rest. Jesela ran into the room and
activated her console. She began working on something in haste.

“What
is it Jesela?” Zae asked.

“A
moment ago the sensors detected a massive gravity jump nearby,” Jesela answered
before putting an image on the main monitor. She sent it to all their allies
and to the Braiden on the surface. “This appeared a moment ago outside the
orbit of the moon of this planet.”

On
the screen appeared a colossal, sphere shaped spaceship with a diameter of five
hundred
ketres
. At the center of six evenly spaced points were metallic
towers standing over a depression below. From the surface a swarm of smaller
ships numbering around a hundred moved into defensive positions around the
sphere. The defensive shield of the sphere was so powerful it was emitting red
and purple particles.

“In
Kali’s name,” Baed said.

“That’s
certainly an intimidating thing to see,” Zae said.

“How
is that thing able to even move, let alone gravity jump?” Baed asked.

“I
can’t decipher how,” Jesela said.

“It’s
simple really,” Grigon said. “They’re able to power it by using a massive
gravity drive we haven’t developed.”

“How
far can that thing jump then?” Brian asked.

“Given
the amount of power it’s radiating, it’s at least a thousand times more
powerful than a heavy class drive,” Jesela reported. “It’s possible we’re
seeing the first ship that could jump to another galaxy.”

“How
much damage do we need to inflict to penetrate its shields?” Meldi asked.

“Given
our current strength there’s a zero percent chance of penetrating its shields,”
Grigon said.

“It
doesn’t matter,” Brian said. “All ships are to head for the sphere and open
fire. We’ll sink it or die trying.”

From
the surface of Braiden Prime the pulse cannons continued firing at enemy ships
it orbit. The Greys returned fire and destroyed one pulse cannon after another.
The Avoni and Vomada, along with their mobile suits, headed straight for the
moon sized Grey ship. The mobile suits continued in their tight formation
around the two vessels. Once the small fleet closed in the two ships and mobile
suits began exchanging fire with the ships guarding the planet killer. Each of
the Talons fired their last nuclear missile into the thick of the Grey ships
and destroyed all but a few of them. The remaining ships were destroyed as the
Raknas closed in. Pelting it with a few shots from the Avoni and Vomada, the
shield of the sphere seemed impregnable.

“We
can’t let it get any closer,” Brian said to everyone.

“Our
weapons can’t affect its shields,” Meldi said.

“Should
we use the last of our missiles?” Myli asked.

“Myli,
have your squad fire them,” Brian ordered.

“Yes
commander,” Myli said.

She
and the nine Raknas under her command fired their missiles. It looked like they
were going to reach the sphere when a series of powerful pulse beams blasted
each missile one by one. The moon sized ship suffered little damage.

“It
doesn’t look like this is going to work,” Meldi said. “What options do we
have?”

“Concentrate
all of our pulse blasts onto a single section of the shield,” Brian ordered.
“We have to see if we can weaken its shields another way.”

“Yes
commander,” the pilots answered.

Each
of them aimed at a single section of shielding and bombarded the planet killer.
A moment later the Talons joined them, along with the Avoni and Vomada. After a
dozen barrages of attacks it was evident pulse weapons alone weren’t going to
work.

“That’s
enough,” Brian said. He closed his eyes.
I’d rather not pollute the space around
this planet with radiation but our options are running low.
He opened his
eyes.  “Grigon, it’s time to use our special trick.”

“I’ve
already got three of them prepared for this,” Grigon said. “I don’t think we’re
going to be able to use this after this battle though. The Greys will catch on
and jam the engines from inverting like this.”

“We’ll
worry about that bridge when we have to cross it,” Brian said. “Meldi, ready
your unit to launch missiles as soon its shields are down. Set the warheads to
remote detonation and prepare to close in.”

“Yes
commander,” Meldi said. After her subordinates checked in she spoke once more.
“Everyone’s prepared.”

“Good,”
Brian said. He looked at Braiden Prime before turning back to the battle. He
noticed that Grigon had launched the ten spare Talons at the planet killer. The
front seven activated their shields to full capacity and acted as a wall. The
three Talons readied for self-detonation closed in directly behind the front
seven. As they closed in to the flickering shields, a massive amount of pulse
fire emerged from the planet killer. It blast into the Talons’ shields and
forced them back. The three Talons advanced while inverting their drives and
flew straight into the sphere’s shields. Three blasts of light, as bright as a
star, hit the planet killer. The colossal ship was stopped in its tracks with
its shields down. The seven Talons in front aimed and launched fourteen nukes
into the unshielded ship. A moment later Meldi and her unit launched their
missiles. The ship appeared to tilt as explosions chained along the side the
Avoni’s forces were on. The Raknas and Talons backed off to watch as the
massive ship started exploding.

“Did
we get it?” Myli asked.

“It
doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere,” Meldi said.

Brian
looked down at the ship as his eyes turned blue. “Squadron one, fire all
missiles immediately!” he shouted.

As
the final ten Raknas and the Mjolnir fired their missiles a massive amount of
light began emitting from the moon sized ship. After a few seconds it righted
itself one last time before firing a colossal beam of energy straight at
Braiden Prime.

* * *

The
few Braiden on the surface looked into the northern hemisphere sky and saw a
massive beam of light slam into their planet. The wave of superheated energy
flowed from the beam’s landing point to the rest of the planet instantly.
Within moments every living thing on the surface was vaporized. Those below the
surface immediately felt the heat outside reach fatal levels. It suffocated and
burned those hiding in underground shelters. The oceans boiled away from the
heat. The underwater observatories domes and protection melted way as scalding
heat burned those hidden under the water. The cities and signs of civilization
were burned away one by one. The surface of Braiden Prime was left a lifeless
desert covered in scalding steam. The only remnants of the Braiden civilization
were a few satellites in orbit and a few of the stronger structures built on
the surface. All electromagnetic and communication activity ceased immediately.

* * *

Brian
and the other hundred and eight members of the Avoni, along with Grigon,
watched helplessly as the planet killer’s beam struck the planet. With its
shield down, each of the remaining nuclear missiles struck the moon sized ship
with impunity and caused explosions all over the spherical ship. Although the
moon sized vessel didn‘t completely explode it was obvious from the explosions
inside there wasn’t anything left alive. A wrenching feeling overcame Brian
while his eyes glowed blue. He coughed up a small amount of blood as a tear
falling from his eye. He gathered up the last of his strength to fight back the
emotions.

“All
remaining forces retreat to the dark side of the Braiden moon,” he ordered.

* * *

Far
away on the bridge of the Raulno, each of the Maiden’s eyes began glowing bright
blue. Dreka stood in the main launching bay and felt the same wave. Myden sat
alone in a dark room and shuddered. On the bridge Seles tried to stand but fell
to her knees in pain.

“What
is this I’m feeling?” Seles asked. Their eyes and hers began fading back to
their normal color. She used the seat next to her as a brace. “It feels as if
all the light in my heart went out.”

“I
felt the same thing,” Mira said.

“As
did I,” Kivi said.

“Something
terrible has happened,” Valis said.

Dreka
entered the bridge looking flustered. “Did the rest of you feel that?” he
asked.

“All
of us did,” Kivi said.

“What
caused all of us to feel the same thing at the same time?” Mira asked.

“His
despair,” Seles said. A tear fell from her eye. “Brian’s seen something so
awful words can’t describe it.”

Myden
appeared on the bridge with a hood over his face.
“What each of you felt was
a ripple of Brian’s consciousness,”
he said telepathically.
“He and the
others on the Avoni have witnessed something that defies all emotion, to the point
of emptiness.”

“Do
you know what happened?” Seles asked. “Please, tell us.”

“A
few minutes ago I felt a scream cry out from the darkness of space. Within a
few seconds the screams stopped. It was the hearts and minds of a people who
deserved better. Long ago I remember observing them from afar, with the hope
they would join us one day. But now that will not happen.”
Myden paused
and let the sadness within his mind flow to the others on the bridge.
“The
people who called themselves the Braiden are no more.”