Heaven Saga 3: Sojourn Into Despair

by Marcus Johnson

  “You sound like you’re reading from a statement,” Zae said.

  “She’s right,” Jesela said. Her eyes began to glow. “Whatever Brian is doing it started awakening all of us.”

  Zae felt a strange power emerging from within. It’s like time is slowing down. I can clearly see what’s happening now.

  * * *

  Meldi and the other twenty six pilots continued their defensive barrage when the Mjolnir flew into the teeth of the Grey forces. With each slash the Mjolnir blinked and passed through the ship’s shields and then materialized long enough to slash through the hull of the enemy ship. As the minutes passed the Mjolnir made its way to the carrier ships. The Avoni moved towards the gas giant and watched as the spectacle occurred. In the launching bay Grigon held a clawed fist in the air.

  “Show them,” the old Malcovin said. “Show them why they must feel fear once more.”

  “Could you explain what’s happening?” Zae asked over the com. He went to the console nearby.

  “Brian has successfully activated the system I put in there a long time ago lieutenant commander,” Grigon answered. “The Mjolnir’s drive system is very different from the system we’re used to. But it can only be activated by a fully awakened Terran. A more appropriate term for the device is a dimensional drive. As you can see Brian can now pierce their shields and avoid their weapons without dodging them. He simply perceives another dimension or two while passing through the three we know as standard.” He looked over to the Aegis. “Now all that remains is for her to and fly this one out.”

  Chapter 47 - The Maiden of Life Awakens

  Tears came to Celi’s glowing eyes as she finished preparing the final serum to save Brian. I can save him! She turned to the com. “Is Brian still in his room?”

  There was a silence for a moment. “He’s gone,” Zae said. “He left on the Mjolnir before ordering us to escape without him.”

  “No!” Celi shouted as she pounded her fist.

  With her eyes glowing she took the vial and ran out of sickbay. The crew stopped and stared as they saw her eyes. Celi made her way into the launching bay. I know he left it here for me. She thought as she made her way to the giant. Grigon was still running tests on it. He turned to see Celi with the elevator cord in her hand.

  “You will allow me launch this,” Celi said.

  He looked at her glowing eyes. “It seems the Terran was right for me to make this,” he said as he backed away. “Everything should be functioning. But you haven’t had a test flight yet.”

  “It doesn’t matter Grigon,” she said. “I have the only thing that can save him here in my hand.” She showed him the vial of fluid.

  Grigon squawked in approval. “You’re just as crazy as he is. The giants name is the Aegis. It’s the equal of the Mjolnir in every way. But its shielding system can defend against any attack. Make sure you call it by its name before activating its systems.”

  Celi took the elevator cord of Aegis and went inside the mobile suit’s cockpit. “Aegis, give me the power to save him,” she said.

  The mobile suit’s eyes flared up as all its systems came online. The Aegis’s gravity drive started to speed up before enveloping the giant with glowing blue particles.

  * * *

  “He’s broken through their defense line and is moving towards the carriers,” Baed reported.

  “Now I know what Grigon was talking about,” Zae said as she narrowed her eyes.

  A moment later a glowing silver mobile suit flew from the Avoni and sped towards the Mjolnir. A wave of energy pulsed through the Avoni and Raknas outside. Those whose eyes weren’t glowing yet started.

  “Celi, what are you doing?” Zae asked.

  “No matter what orders he gave you Zae I won’t abandon him,” Celi said. “He’s the one who’ll lead us into the next era. I was born to save him. It’s the only reason I exist. If he dies the dream dies with him.”

  Zae touched the mark behind her ear. “I understand,” she said.

  “As do I,” Baed said as she touched the mark on her breast.

  “Meldi, shift to formation A-17,” Zae ordered.

  “Yes commander,” Meldi answered.

  “Grigon, I want the Vomada and Talons to assume the same formation,” Zae ordered.

  “Of course,” Grigon answered. The Vomada and Talons matched the Avoni.

  Zae held her head and heard all the voices of the crew in her mind.

  “We all feel a bit strange right now Zae,” Jesela said. “But right now all of us are one mind.”

  “You’re right,” Zae said. “Let’s save him. If we can’t save one life, how can we expect to save any others?”

  The Avoni and Vomada, along with their remaining mobile suits, turned from the gas giant and started flying after the Mjolnir and Aegis. Celi noticed each attack fired upon her mobile suit reflected back on the attacker.

  “I’ll save you,” Celi said.

  * * *

  After the Mjolnir slashed its way through the fourth carrier Brian felt something inside him stop. His eyes stopped glowing as his body went limp. That’s all I can do for you. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more. He thought as he fell into unconsciousness. The Mjolnir stopped moving and began drifting in space. The ships around the mobile suit pummeled the Mjolnir with blasts of energy. The Aegis flew in a moment later as its shields reflected the attacks. Celi linked the two suits together and extended a barrier to link their cockpits. Checking to make sure she had everything, she programmed the Aegis to enter full defensive mode and not move at all. With the injector in hand she floated her way over to the Mjolnir’s cockpit and opened it from the outside.

  “Brian!” she yelled. Celi went to him and injected his body with the serum. She checked his pulse and found there was no heartbeat. “You’re not going to leave me, not now!” She tore his shirt off before grabbed a pair of electrodes from her med kit. She made sure their power was working before hitting him with some electricity. She did this a few times and finally heard a faint heart beat when she put her head to his chest. She put her equipment away.

  “It doesn’t look like he’s going to make it,” the Mjolnir said with sadness in its voice.

  “Don’t worry,” Celi said. “I know how to save him.” She kissed Brian and started glowing with blue energy. Celi then hugged him close and concentrated. “Come back to me. Come back to all of us,” she said as she fell unconscious.

  * * *

  What is this place? Brian thought. He saw nothing but the pitch black all around him. He heard no sounds and felt nothing in the empty void. So this is what it’s like to die. I feel as if I’m fading into nothingness. I can’t feel anything anymore. Maybe it’s time to go. In a few short years I lived a lifetime of experiences. I fell in love with a number of great women. I helped change the course of two worlds. I think I’m ready to leave. He closed his eyes as he felt darkness wash over his existence. After a moment of drifting he thought he heard something in the distance. He turned as he felt the dark void part in front of him. Looking forward with his hand in front of his eyes, Brian saw the faint outline of someone coming towards him.

  “Are you the goddess?” he asked as he watched the figure fly towards him. It looked like a Kalaidian wrapped in an aura of white light. “Have you come to take me to the afterlife?”

  “I thought you said you didn’t believe in such things,” Celi said.

  “Why are you here Celi?” he asked. She floated to him and embraced him tightly.

  “I’ve come to take you back,” Celi said. She looked into his eyes. “Everyone’s waiting for you.”

  “Did you save me?”

  “Just in time,” Celi said before she kissed him passionately.

  “Then what is this place?” he asked after she parted and held onto his hand.

  “Both of us have awakened,” she answered. “This is the place beyond what we were. I was afraid to lose you, but now it’s time. The Aegis is shielding us as we speak.” She took B
rian’s ethereal hand and flew back to the light. He followed slowly, almost as if his body was made of lead. As they came closer and closer he felt his senses explode as the pair entered the light.

  Brian opened his eyes. Pain wracked his weakened body. His sight had not returned but he sensed he was onboard the Mjolnir. He felt something warm on top of him as it filled him with energy. Brushing his hand he could tell it was Celi. Her body and eyes stopped glowing as exhaustion overcame her. She looked up to see he was moving again.

  “Thank the goddess,” she said.

  “No, thank you,” Brian said as he held her close. “You saved my life. For that, I owe you much more than thanks.”

  “I’ll be expecting payment when we reach home,” she said.

  “Alright, I’ll do that.”

  Outside, the Aegis continued clinging to the Mjolnir with its shields deployed. The Avoni and Vomada with their mobile suit forces opened fire at the remaining Grey ships. All of the Raknas moved much faster than usual. They moved at speeds unseen as one mind and soul. She and Brian felt their desire as they fought. Each fought with the two of them on their mind.

  “I can see the stars dancing,” Brian said. “They’re burning brighter than I ever imagined.”

  “They’re fighting to save us,” Celi said.

  After a few more minutes the battle ended in victory. The com on the Mjolnir activated.

  “Celi, Brian, are the two of you alright?” Zae asked.

  “I’m alive,” Brian answered.

  “We’re alright,” Celi said.

  Chapter 48 - The Drum Beats On

  “This is the point where we lost contact,” Valis said as she and the others looked at the moon the Avoni had used for shelter a long time ago.

  “Checking it again proves that the Avoni wasn’t destroyed,” Daes said as she scanned the area.

  Kivi sat in the captain’s chair with Seles at the helm. Dreka put an image on the monitor. “We’re picking up a signal,” he said.

  On the Raulno’s main monitor appeared the faint image of an old Malcovin ship, a massive colony class ship of unknown origin, and the battered Avoni. The front half of the Avoni had taken severe damage. The original material had been replaced with different metals and caused the ship’s coloration to be off.

  “Send a signal immediately,” Kivi ordered. Seles complied without a word.

  “It looks like they’ve seen a lot of fighting,” Valis said after looking over the scans. “She’s being held together with a hope and a prayer.”

  “At least it’s in one piece,” Mira said as she entered the bridge.

  “What are those other two ships doing with them?” Kivi asked.

  “I’m getting a response!” Seles shouted with delight in her voice. “I’ll put them through now.”

  On the screen appeared an exhausted Zae in the captain’s chair with Baed at her console in the front. Jesela stood at the back console hard at work.

  “It’s been a long time Captain Valis, Kivi, and everyone else,” Zae said. “Thank Kali you came for us.”

  Valis put a hand on Kivi’s shoulder. “I’ll take care of this,” she said.

  “Of course, it’s your ship after all,” Kivi said.

  “Give me a report on the situation Zae,” Valis ordered.

  “Of course,” Zae responded. “Currently the Avoni is operating at sixty three percent of its normal output. Our crew has been reduced to a hundred and one, including Brian and Grigon of course. Our mobile suit forces have been reduced to twenty seven Phase Raknas. There are ten Talons left on the Vomada. The other ship with us is the last of a species attacked and wiped out by the Greys, called the Braiden. They have just over two hundred and fifty thousand refugees onboard the Meche.”

  “What happened?” Valis asked.

  “Too many things,” Zae said. “What we’ve seen words alone can’t describe. We’ve collected a large amount of data on the Greys and their territory. Some of the evidence we bring the Confederation won’t be able to ignore.”

  “I’ll look at it as soon as I return to the Avoni,” Valis said.

  * * *

  Brian awoke to the sound of excited chatter. When he opened his eyes he saw nothing.

  “He’s awake,” Celi said as she took his hand in hers. “Brian, how do you feel?”

  “Like hell,” he said as he grimaced in pain. “But I feel a lot better than when I fell asleep. I still can’t see.”

  “The disease took its toll on your body,” Celi said. “I’m going to put you through regenerative treatment when we get back to Dega Jul. I’ll replace the other parts as needed.”

  “Take your time,” Brian said with sigh of relief. “How long have I been out for?”

  “Two weeks,” Celi answered. “I was really worried at first. But as time passed I could tell your body needed time to recover.”

  “Thank you Celi,” he said. “I owe you my life. And I’ll take you up on the promise when we reach Dega Jul.” He turned his head towards the others in the room. “I believe Valis is in here, and I’m going to request some time off.”

  “You and the others have more than earned it,” Valis said “I’ll let the rest of you have at him soon enough. I want to speak with Brian alone.”

  “Yes captain,” Mira, Seles, and Kivi said as they stepped outside the medical lab. Celi nodded to Valis as she checked him over once more and stepped out. Valis sat down next to him.

  “I don’t know what to say right now,” Valis said. “I’m glad you and the others came back to me. Now that I know what you went through.”

  “No,” he said. “No, you don’t Valis. I don’t say this as an insult but as a fact. The video evidence doesn’t show everything that happened, just what little we could record.”

  “It sounds like you traveled through hell to reach home,” she said.

  “No, the place we were in was worse than hell,” Brian turned his head away, “In hell only the guilty suffer. But what we witnessed was a place where the innocent suffered, not the guilty.”

  “I gathered as much reading your journal.”

  “The Greys are the greatest enemy our galaxy faces,” he said. “No, it’s actually not the Greys; it’s their machine god that’s the problem. In a brief moment my mind made contact with it and I saw things no one should see. I saw things that shouldn’t exist and yet, they do. It was the deepest and darkest chasm of moral damnation imaginable. Worse because it’s real.”

  “It sounds like all hope is lost when dealing with the Greys,” Valis said.

  “Not all hope,” Brian said. “They’re a people in chains, chains so powerful their will has been subdued. Their god is mad with the desire to destroy all that exists other than itself. They will come soon and try to destroy everything we hold dear. And they won’t stop until the last of us is gone.”

  “Is there anything we can do to save ourselves?” she asked.

  Brian reached out and took her hand. “Read my journal entries again,” he instructed. “Only then can we create a society that extols life and happiness above order and power.”

  “I’ll do that,” she said. Valis noticed the others were impatient. “I’d better let Seles and Mira in. They’ve been dying to see you for months.”

  “I’m glad they didn’t have to see me in those months,” Brian said with a laugh. “Let’s just say I wasn’t myself.”

  “No, but you are now,” Valis said as she opened the door and signaled for the others to go inside.

  Kivi looked at Brian once more and decided to leave Seles and Mira alone with him. Each sat next to him, unsure of what to do next.

  “It’s been awhile ladies,” Brian said with a stupid grin. “I must look awful to you right now.”

  “Awful doesn’t begin to describe it,” Mira said.

  “We worried about you,” Seles said. “Every day and night it was all I could think about. I’m sorry we didn’t make it to you sooner.”

  “There’s nothing to apologize
for,” he said. “I ordered the two of you over to the Reiki ships and the Reinkar. What happened was something no one expected. In a strange way I’m glad it happened.” Brian paused. “Although those lost on the way back I mourn the most.”

  “What did you see?” Seles asked.

  “Yes, please tell,” Mira added.

  Although he couldn’t see them Brian looked at the pair. “All the evils of the universe, I have seen, heard, and now spoken,” he said. “You’ll see soon enough after Valis has a chance to look through it. But to sum it up there are things worse than death. It was a journey through a place worse the hell, filled with despair and terror. If the small amount we were exposed to was enough to make me speak like this I can only imagine what the rest of the territory they call home looks like.”

  Seles squeezed his hand. “I wish there was something I could say to help but I can’t think of anything right now.”

  “I feel the same,” Mira echoed.

  Brian smiled. “It’s enough that you’re here,” he said. “And for the first time in forever I feel safe when I sleep tonight.”

  * * *

  Dreka landed his Talon onboard the Vomada and marveled at the vessel’s old fashioned design. He walked off the suit and met a number of the maintenance droids down in the engineering section. He quickly made his way to the bridge.

  “I can’t believe you’re still alive!” Dreka shouted with joy as he ran to his grandfather.

  “Yes young man, I survived,” Grigon said as he turned around. “So how are things back home?”

  “Pretty much the same as when you disappeared twenty years ago,” Dreka said. “I didn’t think you made your way to this part of the galaxy to escape though.”

  “No, that was my intention Dreka,” the old birdman said. “I had to see the home of Terrans. The Mylor would never have let me through so I had to take scenic route.”