Heaven Saga 2: Sands of Aquarius

by Marcus Johnson

  Valis turned back to Zae. “How long will it be until the enemy reaches us?”

  “Ten minutes.”

  * * *

  Shiken watched the Mjolnir fly away from the main Kalaidian forces into the eastern desert.

  “What are your orders?” El Kar asked.

  Shiken narrowed his eyes. “Send everything after the Mjolnir.”

  “Why focus everything on that one?”

  “If we can capture the Terran’s giant we can become a lot stronger.” Shiken turned to El Kar. “Prepare my ship for battle.”

  “Yes sir.”

  * * *

  Kivi looked behind and saw the mass of fighters chasing the Mjolnir. Brian moaned before rolling over and opening his eyes.

  “Since you’re with me now, could you switch the controls over to Kalaidian?” Kivi asked. She turned the com on. “Seles, it’s time you get out of here.”

  “What about you?” Seles asked.

  “We can escape on our own. As soon as you’re off the planet we’ll hide in the desert,” Kivi answered.

  “Alright commander,” Seles said as she turned her Nova towards space.

  * * *

  “Is everyone else in the air?” Mira asked her subordinate, an ensign named Jaeli.

  “Looks like everyone except our shuttle and one other.

  “Alright, get us off the ground and back to the Avoni.”

  “Yes lieutenant,” Jaeli answered. A number of the remaining ground troops ran onboard and packed the shuttle to its limit. As the dust kicked up from the engine starting Mira checked her scanner once more.

  “Are we ready?” the pilot asked.

  Mira turned and nodded. “Let’s go.”

  The shuttle took off behind the line of other shuttles with one other heading out at the same time.

  “Where’s the Mjolnir?” Mira asked the copilot as she went to the front of the shuttle.

  “It seems to be flying away from the battle field at full speed lieutenant.”

  “What about our Novas?”

  “They’re just up ahead of us.”

  At that moment a flash of light filled the air around the shuttle and pushed it to the ground. Behind them were a number of Spits as well as a light class Shandi vessel in the shape of a floating diamond. Two more shots hit the shuttle and forced them to crash into the desert. For a few minutes everything went silent as the Shandi closed in on their position. Mira laid at the front of the transport ship and shook her sand covered head before standing up. Seeing the wounded and dead around her she ran to the nearest officer.

  “Are you alright lieutenant?” Jaeli asked.

  “I’m alright.” Mira looked around. “Please tend to the wounded.” She looked up at the sky as the others flew away. That’s right, go. She ran outside and saw a large force of Shandi ground troops surrounding them. The light class vessel landed nearby. Mira held out her hands as a sign of surrender. “Drop your weapons,” she ordered her soldiers.

  From the Shandi vessel emerged a large snake man wearing a falchion on his back. He slithered forward to see Mira standing with her hands out. His troops followed behind him.

  “I’m lieutenant Mira of the Avoni.”

  Shiken raised an eye. “Really?” he asked.

  “Yes, that’s my name.”

  Shiken turned to El Kar. “Treat her and the others well.” He turned and looked down at Mira. “You’re the Avoni’s Reiniere, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Worry not young lady, you’re worth far too much for my men to cut you apart and eat you.”

  “I guess I should be happy to hear that.”

  “My you look angry.” Shiken saw the look Mira shot his way. He moved over, pushing her chin up with his massive scaled hand and looked down into her blue eyes. “You must have been the one to train the Terran how to be what he is.”

  “And what if I am?” Mira pulled away from his grasp.

  “Nothing really,” Shiken grinned, “I’m surprised your people still remember how to make a Maigar. My troops will escort you and your companions onto my vessel.” He motioned towards the landed ship. “As I said before, we’ll take good care of you.”

  Mira motioned to her subordinates. “You heard him,” she said as she walked towards the Shandi vessel.

  “I hope to hear you sing lieutenant Mira, if only once,” Shiken said as she walked past him.

  “Not likely Lord Ka.”

  * * *

  “All Novas and shuttles from the surface have reached orbit,” Zae reported.

  “Good,” Valis said flatly. “As soon as they’re onboard get us out of here.”

  “All shuttles accounted for except the one lieutenant Mira was in,” Zae said.

  “Mira,” Valis said with fear in her voice.

  Baed turned to the others on the bridge. “I’ve received a call sign from Mira.”

  “Good girl,” Valis said. That means she was able to surrender. “Zae, contact the other ships and tell them to escape to the planned point.”

  “Yes captain,” Zae said as she turned back to her console.

  Chapter 16 - Flight into a Sand Storm

  “Are you alright?” Kivi asked while piloting the Mjolnir.

  Brian braced himself against the wall and held his head. “I think I’ve got a concussion.” He slid to the floor, looking quite out of it. “Mjolnir, set command systems to Kalaidian,” he said before slipping back into unconsciousness.

  “Thank you.” Kivi watched the systems switch over to the Kalaidian language, while the pilot’s seat shrank. She checked the radar and saw fifty enemy fighters chasing them. Kivi checked the drive systems and noticed few of the meters showing red. It doesn’t look like this we reach escape velocity. She turned the Mjolnir about and fired a pair of shots at the enemy formations, destroying a dozen fighters. Thirty eight remained when a light class vessel joined them. She glanced over at Brian. Who did he piss off for them to be chasing us like this? She fired another pair of shots into the enemy formation and took down six more. They closed in with pulse blasts skipping off the sand near the Mjolnir. An alert came up on the radar from something heading towards them from the east. She smiled, seeing weather interference. A sand storm, thank the goddess. I can lose them in there. She turned the Mjolnir and flew at full speed towards the swirling wall of sand covering the horizon.

  * * *

  Seles stepped out her Novaguard, seeing the dejected looks on her subordinates’ faces.

  Myli looked to Seles. “Do you think they’ll come back?”

  Seles nodded with confidence. “Remember, the Mjolnir can gravity jump by itself.”

  “Are you alright lieutenant?” Kaela asked.

  “I’m sure they’re okay. I need to go see the captain right now. And remember, even though we’re back in the Degan system our enemies may have allies nearby.”

  “Yes lieutenant,” her subordinates answered.

  Not bothering to remove her flight suit Seles quickly made her way to the bridge. The crew was visibly down. Rarely had a battle planned by their captain gone wrong, and even more rarely was she handed a thorough defeat. They had escaped, as well as most of their allies, but no one doubted this was a defeat on their part. Seles was close to the bridge when Jesela stopped her.

  “Did Mira make it out?”

  Seles lowered her head. “Her transport was shot down.” She could tell Jesela was worried. “I’m sure she’s alive.”

  “Why did this happen?”

  Seles took her hand and looked her in the eye. “That’s what we’re going to figure out. Before leaving orbit Mira sent out a surrender call. She might be uncomfortable in the hands of the Shandi, but her position on the Avoni is likely known to the enemy.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Jesela said, still looking worried.

  * * *

  The Mjolnir flew into the sand storm as Kivi took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Remember to long ago, when I lived in the desert. The Mj
olnir spun through the wind and sand, flying through without any effort. A series of blasts from their pursuers came through and knocked the giant to the ground. Kivi turned the mobile suit around and aimed. I won’t let them take us prisoner. I can’t let the Mjolnir fall into the hands of my enemy. She opened her eyes, now glowing light blue. Time slowed down for her. She aimed the cannon and fired, knocking a score from the sky. The sand began to kick up fiercer than before as she aimed for another shot. While the Mjolnir aimed, a large pulse blast coming from a light class ship hit the rifle, blasting it in half. She gritted her teeth while drawing the sword from the back of the Mjolnir.

  “Use the storm as cover,” Brian said as he pulled himself up. He looked at her eyes.

  “I want to…,” Kivi was stopped by Brian.

  “I know you want to continue fighting.” He stumbled over and put his hand on hers. “Let it go and run.”

  She looked at the enemy formation stopped at the edge of the sand storm. She blinked a few times before the glow faded from her eyes. “What was I doing?”

  “I didn’t think it was possible but it appears that it is.”

  “What?”

  “You can enter the berserk just like me.” He looked at the enemy formation. “You can lose them, right?”

  “Yes, our phase cloak is fully functioning.” She activated the cloak, with the Mjolnir disappearing into the storm as it flew away just above the ground. “You said berserk, how is that possible?”

  He shook his head. “From what I’ve heard Seles and Mira both entered it when I was taken by Delne. For a long time now I’ve suspected that many of your kind can enter the berserk state, not just I.”

  “Why was I snapped out of it so easily?”

  “I think it has to do with something like hearing a friend’s voice telling you to stop. Seles was able to calm me.”

  * * *

  Seles walked onto the bridge and saw everyone at their consoles. “Where’s the captain?”

  Zae looked up. “She went into the planning room,” Zae turned back to her panel, “I’ve never seen that look in her eyes.”

  “I think it’s the first time we’ve ever been driven away from battle like that,” Daes said.

  Baed quietly steered the ship, looking quite distant. “I hope they’re alright.”

  Seles put her hand on Baed’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, they’ll come back.” She turned to the planning room and went inside. Valis stared at the planet Kalmar with great intent, flipping through a number of hypothetical battle scenarios.

  “I had a feeling you’d come to see me.” Valis turned the hologram off. She stared into the air with darkness in her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Valis laughed. “Tell me Seles, do you know what we’re fighting for?”

  “Money,” she answered.

  Valis struggled to hold back her tears. “I sent scores to their death for money. It wasn’t even for a righteous cause. They went to their deaths to fill the coffers of the House of Kein, and nothing more.”

  Seles hugged her. “They’ll be alright Valis.”

  “I know. But still…” she trailed off.

  “Have faith,” Seles said. “Kali brought him to us and I can’t believe she’d let him go so easily.”

  * * *

  Mira and the twenty two surviving soldiers from the Kalaidian group were escorted far underground into a holding area. Although the space was small, the Shandi provided reasonable accommodations and food. After a long wait Shiken Ka came down to see them himself. Standing outside the main force field and flanked by a pair of guards, he called for Mira to come to him. Looking annoyed, she made her way to the front.

  “Make sure all of you stay alert,” Mira commanded. “We don’t yet know what they’re going to do to us, so be ready.” She threw her white sash on, the sign she was a medical officer. “Why did you call me?” she asked.

  “I don’t wish for you to look like that.” Shiken looked quite smug. She shot him an even dirtier look. “Well, if that’s how you’re going to be I can’t help it.”

  “Are you here to mock us?”

  “No my young Kalaidian, I’m not here to mock you. I came to inform you your ship has successfully fled and our scouts have spotted the Avoni in the Degan system.”

  It must have gotten pretty bad to leave us behind. Mira thought while standing silently.

  “Worry not, for you will fetch a high ransom. Tell me, do you know anything about the Terran? Brian is his name, if I remember right.”

  “What about him?” She couldn’t hide the concern in voice and face.

  “I’m curious to know more about him.”

  “You won’t beat him. Even if he has to fight a thousand of your troops alone he won’t be defeated by you.”

  “That’s some confidence you have in him. What if I told you I had my best me working him over for information?”

  “It wouldn’t work,” Mira answered flatly. “A few months back I healed wounds on him so terrible that it would’ve have killed ten of your best men.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He was subjected to the Kai. He survived a day alone with Lady Delne Raekar.”

  Shiken narrowed his eyes. “If what you say is true than I have much to fear. No Shandi ever survived a single night with that witch Delne‘s kiss.”

  “Then you know of the Kai?”

  “Yes young lady, I know of it. It’s said anyone who survives that darkness is doomed to enter it themselves. If your Maigar has survived and not gone mad, he’s indeed stronger than I suspected.” Shiken then turned and started towards the elevator upstairs.

  An ensign came from the group. “What was he getting after?”

  Mira smiled. “They didn’t catch Brian, now I know it.”

  * * *

  Far from the Shandi complex Brian and Kivi rested inside the Mjolnir. The sand storm raged outside while the giant was half buried in sand. Ahead, a small mountain range stood on the horizon.

  “What do you think we should do now?” Brian asked as he checked the Mjolnir’s systems.

  She noticed a number of system gauges reading red. “Assess our situation.”

  “It looks like our enemy’s hit something important.” Brian sighed, scratching his head. “We’re going to have to find somewhere with cover.” He looked to the back. “I need to open up the gravity drive to see why we’re losing particles.”

  Kivi joined him, looking at the back. “That’s not good. Without Aldenite the gravity drive is nothing more than a fancy gravity engine.”

  “You fly,” he said while shaking his head. “I’m still not right.”

  “Alright,” she said as she started up the engine. She shrugged the sand off of the giant and flew towards the mountains. It took her a few minutes to find a shrouded area where they could hide. He put his helmet on.

  “I’ll go outside and open up the back,” he said.

  Kivi took the moment to stretch.

  Brian went out the front hatch with a howling wind filled with sand blowing all about. Climbing his way around the waist, he moved up the back of the Mjolnir near the top of the back, just below the neck and shoulders. After pressing set of buttons in a specific sequence the engine cylinder popped open. He examined the glowing engine inside. Looks like the second and third conducting lines are torn. He held himself against the wind and reached in with to shut the lines off. Closing his eyes, he felt the right spots and shut the engine down. Taking a look, the glow was gone. He closed the back hatch and made his way back into the cockpit. Closing the door behind him, Brian took off his helmet. “Try rebooting the engine system.”

  “Sure,” Kivi said as she flipped the switch, turning the systems off for a moment, with darkness filling the room for a few seconds. The lights came back on, and the red started to disappear from the gauges. “Looks like whatever you did is working.”

  “I had to disconnect the second and third conducting lines to the main drive. That m
eans we’ll only be able to go up to sixty percent of full power.”

  She put a hand on his shoulder. “You rest for a while, I’ll stay on watch.”

  “Sure.”

  Chapter 17 – Searching for a Reason

  Brian woke up in the room behind the cockpit and banged his head against the wall. Dammit Kivi, can’t you fly more gracefully? He thought as he opened the door to the cockpit.

  “It’s good to see you awake,” Kivi said as she flew the Mjolnir through blazing desert.

  “Next time, take it easy,” he pointed at the wound on his head, “You nearly killed me with that last move.”

  She laughed. “Sorry about that. I was flying a bit low and ran into a tall sand dune.”

  “So where are we going?”

  She called up the map system on the monitor. “There’s a small oasis nearby that would make a great place to rest.”

  “Thanks to the phase cloak all we have to do is make sure we’re not seen,” he said while pacing.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “Did you bring your rakna?”

  She pointed to the room in the back. “I left them in the storage locker. Why?”

  “We might have to fight some hand to hand combat.” He drew his rakna and held the blade straight forward, looking down the blade. “Also, I think there’s a way to learn to control the berserk.”

  “What’s your theory?”

  “From the literature I’ve read about the Maigars of old the best way to learn to control it was by sparing with someone else who can enter that state of mind. I think we should spar.”

  “Isn’t there another way?”

  “No, I’ve tried a number of things and still can’t control it. If I’m going to do this with anyone I’d prefer someone who can fight me on an even level.”

  “I think you’re overrating me a bit.”

  “No Kivi, I’m not. You have much more potential to reach for.”