Grey War Saga 1: Twilight of Innocence

by Marcus Johnson

  “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.

  Chapter 21 - Victory Without Rest

  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 n
eed 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.

  Chapter 22 - The Second Battle of Dega Jul

  After every ship capable of fighting launched from the colonies, Confederation Headquarters, and the surface of Dega Jul, the two planet killers and their fleets appeared. On the light and dark sides of Dega Jul each planet killer had a fleet of six thousand carriers and swarms of smaller attack vessels. The Grey forces were intercepted by a coalition of ships on both sides of the planet. At the front of the forces of Heaven’s Light the Maidens led the charge into the enemy formation. The first wave was a swarm of over fifty thousand attack vessels. Both the Artemis and Gemini used their heavy cannons in spread mode to destroy their foes as quickly as possible. The sheer number of Grey ships forced them back with their fellow ships and mobile suits. Even with the Aegis’s shield the five mobile suits were taking hits.