Heaven Saga 2: Sands of Aquarius (2 page)

“Good.”
Krigik stood up and paced around the circular bridge. After a few minutes the
Avoni entered the target zone for the Malcovin.

The
commander turned to the captain. “The Avoni is in position.”

“Great!”
Krigik shouted. “Open a channel. I’m going to give the great Lady Star a chance
to surrender first. I’d rather recover a ship like that in peak condition.”

* * *

Seles
stood in the cargo bay while others were running around frantically making
adjustments to the Mjolnir. At the open hatch halfway up the robot sat Brian,
dressed in his exoskeleton armor. He was working on the final adjustments of
the attachment system for Novaguards and the Mjolnir. Next to Seles stood a
quiet Ensign Kaela, another beautiful Kalaidian with long lime green hair and
crimson eyes.

Seles’s
patience ran out as she paced below him. “We had a month of leave time to do
this, so why is this taking so long?”

After
a few seconds he looked up and shouted across the room. “Everything’s done on
this end Daes! Is everything else ready!?”

Daes
turned from her monitor. “Yes! You can leave anytime!”

He
lowered himself to the floor using the Mjolnir’s elevator cord. As he set foot
on the ground he noticed Seles glaring at him.

“You
still haven’t answered my question,” she stated flatly. Kaela stood by and
watched as many of the others did.

“There
was a lot going on,” he said with an insincere smile. “Do you have any idea how
much paper work the Degan authorities made me go through before they issued me
an ID?”

“That
took a whole month?” she asked.

He
flipped out a part of his armor and showed her the electronic ID. “Because I’m
a nonstandard species I had to go through a whole more than most. They forced
me to give genetic samples and tested me in every way imaginable. Now I’m
forced to make these adjustments at the last minute. I’m sorry Seles; I just
didn’t have the time beforehand.”

At
the other end of the cargo bay Daes sat at her monitor trying not to laugh at
the situation going on. One of her ensigns whispered a question to her. “Is it
just me, or has the lieutenant been in a bad mood lately?”

Daes
turned and looked over at Brian and Seles, with Kaela shadowing them. “Maybe
she isn’t getting any. That could be the problem,” she said sarcastically. A
number of officers nearby laughed.

Seles
sighed and put her hands up in defeat. “Alright, you’re forgiven. Now is it
finished?”

“Would
the two of you please join me up there?” he asked while pointing up to the
Mjolnir’s hatch. “We’ll be attaching the Novas in a moment and it’ll be much
easier for you to board them if you’re up there.”

He
braced himself on the elevator cord. Seles and Kaela both firmly held onto his
arms as they went up to the hatch on the mobile suit.

“Kaela,
would you stay our here for a minute,” Brian said. “There’s something I need to
discuss with Seles.” He moved inside towards the private room. Seles followed
slowly.

“What
is it you’d like to discuss with me?” she asked as the door closed behind them.

He
turned to face her. “What is it Seles? Something’s wrong and I don’t know what
it is. Level with me, what is it?”

Her
gaze fell to the floor. “You’ve been so distant lately. It’s like you’re going
out of your way to avoid me,” she looked into Brian’s eyes, “And what disturbs
me the most is the way you look at me.”

“What
do you mean?” he asked.

She
pointed at his cold and distant eyes. “Whenever you look at me I see a cold,
dead stare. It’s like you’re not seeing me even though I know you can. I can
see it when I look at you, the pain you’re holding inside yourself. What
happened to make you this way?”

He
closed his eyes and turned away. “Seles, you know I endured the
Kai
when
I was captured. What I didn’t tell anyone was that she had used more than
physical torture on me. The Greys gave her a gift of telepathy. She toyed with
my body, that I could live with. But she toyed with my mind, and that I can’t.”

“What
did she do to you?” she asked as she tried to embrace Brian. He backed away.

“She
used her power to project your image over herself. Even though I know it was
her, the image I see is you.” He slammed his fist on the wall.

Seles
slowly hugged him from behind. “Brian, close your eyes and listen to my voice.”

He
closed his eyes.

“We’ve
both fought to protect each other. I didn’t realize what I felt for you until I
was standing over your dying body. You were willing to give up everything to
save me. At that moment I realized what my feelings really were. I love you and
I’ll do anything to protect you.”

“What
do you mean Seles?” he asked as he held her hands.

“No
matter what it takes I’ll heal your wounded heart,” she said, closing her eyes
and holding him close.

“Thanks
Seles.”

* * *

“We’re
receiving a hail from the Rigika captain,” Zae reported.

Valis
smiled. “Put them through.”

The
image of the bridge of the Malcovin ship came onto the screen; at the center of
the screen stood the tall and dark captain, Krigik.

“Krigik,
why did you want to meet me out here?” Valis asked.

“You
know well what it is I want Valis Kein!” the birdman cawed.

“Are
you after my surrender or my ship? Which is it Krigik?”

“I
don’t want your ship nor do I care for your surrender. What I want is the due compensation
for the loss of a drop ship, thirty veteran soldiers, and the unlawful theft of
our technology. In short, I want the Terran who serves you and his mobile
weapon called the Mjolnir.”

Valis
stared into the monitor. “What would you do if I say no?”

Krigik
cawed. “Then you’ll be destroyed.”

“I’ll
give you one chance Krigik,” Valis said. “If you don’t surrender or withdraw I
guarantee your lives will end today.”

He
pointed at the monitor. “Let us see who dies!” A moment later the image left
the screen.

Valis
turned to Kivi. “Prepare the ship for battle,” she turned to Zae. “Scan for
other ships. I have a feeling they didn’t come out here alone,” she turned to
Baed. “Use the asteroids for cover. Krigik chose this battlefield to gain an
advantage, but it’s just as useful to us.”

“Yes
captain,” the three said in unison.

Valis
opened the computer on the arm rest and opened up a communication channel to
the Mjolnir.

* * *

As
Brian and Seles embraced a light started flashing on the monitor on the wall.

Valis’s
image came up. “I’m sorry to disturb the moment. But it looks like we’ll be
going into battle today.”

The
pair split and saluted the captain.

“Please
take your positions. We’re unsure of their strength right now so be ready for a
fierce fight,” Valis added.

“Yes
captain,” the pair responded. Seles went back outside while Brian remained.

“Is
there something else you wanted to tell me captain?”

“Be
cautious,” Valis said. “Krigik has his sights set on destroying you and the
Mjolnir. Depending on how many ships they have, we may have to switch to
formation C-3.”

“What
about the Talons?”

“We’ll
draw them in and destroy them,” Valis answered. “Daes’s installed the same
scanning system you have in the Mjolnir in the Avoni, so detecting them won’t
be a problem.  All Novaguard squadrons are standing by to attack. I‘m ready to
call Seles back should the plan go awry.”

“Alright,”
he said before turning off the monitor. He headed back outside. The two Novas
were now attached to the Mjolnir. Seles sat in the cockpit, facing the ceiling.
Her hair dangled towards the floor. She looked over at Brian as he stared.

“I
know this looks funny, but I’m sure you asked us to do this not just for a
laugh,” Seles said.

From
the far side of the Mjolnir came another voice, Kaela’s. “I agree with the lieutenant.
Why are we doing this?”

“There
are two reasons,” Brian said. “First, we need to test the system. But the
second reason is much more important.”

“And
what would that be?” Seles asked.

“The
Mjolnir has the capability of attacking at range like a medium class ship, but
I can’t fight in melee at the same time very effectively. With this system in
place, I can have the two of you fire your ranged weapons while I use the
rakna
blade.”

“Is
that the plan?” Seles asked.

“Yes,
that’s it,” he answered.

* * *

Valis
and the others on the bridge watched as another Malcovin ship appeared on the
screen.

“It
looks like you guessed right Valis,” Kivi commented. “Besides the Rigika, there
are three additional Geld class ships encircling us.”

Valis
sat calmly. “These foolish birds think they can trap me with a simple
encirclement. Either they vastly underestimate me or they really are idiots.”

“How
do you plan to get us out of here?” Zae asked.

Valis
pointed at the Malcovin ships. “The Avoni is heading towards our entry point.
No doubt the enemy thinks we’re going to try and break the encirclement to
escape. Our real objective is to feint the enemy ship we’re heading towards.
Brian will launch the Mjolnir and destroy them. Instead of using this
opportunity to escape, we’ll circle around and attack the second ship. Krigik
will probably panic and either attack aggressively or run away scared. Either
way this battle will end in our victory.”

Krigik
watched closely as the Avoni moved to escape.

“What
do you think she’s trying to do?” Krigik asked.

His
commander looked up from the weapons systems for the ship. “The simplest escape
is to punch through the Meku and run for it.”

“Launch
the Talons and Claws. Tell the other ships to do the same,” Krigik said as he
stared at the monitor. “She’s got something up her sleeve, I know it.”

* * *

“It
appears that the Malcovin are deploying their Talons and Claws,” Zae reported
as she called up the image on the monitor.

Valis
looked down at her chair’s monitor. “Are you ready?”

“We’re
ready to launch.”  As Brian’s image disappeared as Myli’s appeared.

“Are
the Novas ready?” Valis asked.

“Anytime
captain,” Myli responded. “I’m a little nervous taking command of all four
squadrons.”

“Don’t
worry, once Seles and Kaela detach from the Mjolnir they’ll help you out,”
Valis said.

“Thanks,”
Myli said before ending transmission.

Valis
stared at the Malcovin ship before her. “Alright, it’s time to show them why
the Avoni is the most feared Kalaidian ship in the galaxy. Zae, give the order
to deploy the Mjolnir and the Novas.”

“Yes
captain.”

“Baed,
turn the ship aft and head to this position,” she pointed to a location on the
monitor, “This is where the third ship should emerge.”

“Yes
captain,” Baed said as she turned the ship.

“Kivi,
ready all gun batteries and the magnetic shields. Load all HV cannons with
Spinning Death missiles.”

Kivi
grinned. “Someone’s feeling aggressive today. All gun batteries standing by and
the missiles will be ready in two minutes.”

“Our
first objective is to destroy the Carron. We must destroy it quickly; otherwise
the Rigika and the Sheldik will encircle us.”

“What
about the Mjolnir?” Zae asked.

“Brian
should be able to take out the Meku and the smaller ships flying around it.
Afterwards he’s to circle and attack the Rigika on their flank. By this time we
should be ready to engage the two remaining ships. Our objective is to split
the two ships and destroy them,” Valis explained.

“I
like the plan,” Kivi said.

“It
hinges on the surprise the Mjolnir has in store for them. Krigik doesn’t know
we can detect their Talons.” Valis looked at the timer. “It all begins in two
minutes.”

* * *

The
cargo bay opened up the main door above the Mjolnir. Brian activated the phase
cloak, enveloping the giant and the attached Novaguards with invisibility. He
checked the systems before looking to Daes on his monitor. When she gave the
signal he flew the giant into space. As the mobile suit moved away the Avoni
turned aft. They also noticed the other forty two Novaguards taking up
defensive positions around the ship.