Freedom Saga 2: Freedom's Bell (7 page)

“Very
well,” Brian said as the new leaders of the Reiki people ended transmission. He
looked to Seles. “You can have the honor.”

“I’m
more than happy to,” Seles said before touching the console near the captain’s
chair.

The
intercom system of all ships nearby transferred the bell ringing as it spread
throughout the main Reiki system. Over the next few weeks the signal spread
until it reached all corners of the Confederation.

“We
are Heaven’s Light,” Brian started. “We are the light that shines liberty upon
the world. Where tyranny reigns we will strike. Where the innocent are pleading
we will go. Until the day the Freedom’s bell rings eternal our mission will
never end.”

Brian’s
message traveled with the sound of the bell as it tolled once more.

“It’s
a bit dramatic but I think it works,” he said.

“The
tolling of a bell symbolizes something for each race,” Myden said.

“It’s
better than just saying we won,” Jesela added.

“I
have to agree with Jesela,” Mira said.

“It’s
a warning to those who oppose our cause,” Grigon said with a caw.

“So
you’re leaving me in charge?” Seles asked.

“Yeah,
the Reiki don’t trust Veda or Shiken Ka enough to leave it in their hands,”
Brian said. “I’ll stay behind and help them. Until then I trust all of you to
take care of the ship.”

“We
will,” Mira said before pulling him down for a kiss.

“She’ll
be exactly as you left her,” Seles said before doing likewise.

“Thanks
you two,” Brian said before leaving.

Seles
called up the next mission plan on the console near the captain’s chair. Mira
looked over her shoulder as she scrolled through it.

“At
least he won’t be lonely,” Mira said.

“That
he won’t,” Seles said. “Alright, I think I’ve got it now.”

“What
are we doing next?” Jesela asked as she danced over to them.

“We’re
fulfilling Veda’s promise and heading for the Odairan territories,” Seles
explained.

“It’s
about time!” Grigon cawed. “Zaris and his chitter chatters have been exploiting
them for decades.”

Myden
laughed. “That’s an interesting way to put it old friend.”

Seles
looked at the old birdman. “If you know anything beyond our intelligence
reports I’d like to know.”

“Nothing
of substance,” Grigon said. “For almost thirty years Zaris has disguised the
Iron navy as mercenaries, thus keeping the legal status of what they’re doing
in the Odairan territories a question. The Confederation knows this but refuses
to do anything on the grounds that mercenaries don’t have to explain who their
employer is or where their weapons come from.”

Seles
called up the star map showing the twenty two systems legally considered the
territory of the Odairan people.

“How
large are the Malcovin navies?” she asked.

“There
are four,” Grigon said. “Three of them are a thousand ships strong while the
admiral of Gold has a fleet twice that.”

“This
fight will be fierce,” Seles said. “The Reiki don’t have mobile suit
technology, the Malcovin military does.”

“With
Valis as our mission planner we should come out on top,” Mira said.

“And
we have better technology,” Jesela said.

“All
of you are right,” Seles said. “Let’s deliver a victory for the people of
Odair.”

* * *

King
Zaris sat in his throne room surrounded by his advisors. Shakar, the admiral of
the Gold navy, stood next to his king.

“What
do you think my lord?” Shakar asked.

“The
Reiki are weak and feckless,” Zaris said. “We’re not. When they strike we’ll
crush them.”

“Admiral
Regelik is in position as we speak,” Shakar said.

“Vikrit
and Takar will guard the borders,” Zaris said. “They may have superior mobile
suits but we have the numbers to beat them.” Zaris stood and held his Keiker
pike to the domed ceiling. “We are Malcov! We are the last line of defense
between this Terran conqueror and the worlds of Alden. We will fight until all
of Heaven’s Light is destroyed! We will be victorious!”

The
great hall of the bird people was filled with caws of defiance and unity as
they cheered their king.

* * *

Deep
under the city of Jerikai a number of females of the bird people met with pulse
rifles in hand. Physically, the females were identical to the males of the
species save for a slightly small beak and body. The colors ranged from black
to red like their male counterparts. They watched Zaris’s rally after the
tolling of the Freedom’s bell. At the center table sat a red feathered female
named Seka. She had a Keiker pike in hand and rifle on her back. Two others
equipped the same sat with her.

“His
time is coming to an end,” Seka said. “For decades we’ve waited to take back
our rights as sentient beings. The time to act is coming and we must prepare.”

“Is
that why we’re meeting?” one of the other leaders asked. She had brown feathers
and was named Kili.

“Yes,”
Seka answered.

“We
rarely get together like this,” the second leader said. She had black feathers
and was named Teaika. “Is it the coming of Heaven’s Light you anticipate?”

“They’ll
come,” Seka said. “Through their agents Captain Valis Kein has sent us information.
She’s even provided mission plans for us to fulfill while the organization
makes their way to us.”

“Let’s
get to it then!” Teaika shouted before cawing.

* * *

Veda
and Shiken Ka were in the command center when Brian walked in.

“The
battle has only begun,” Shiken said.

“True
friend,” Brian echoed. “Our forces have cowed the enemy but the hard part
remains.”

“Are
the two of you alright with this?” Veda asked. “I can stay if you need me.”

Shiken
pointed to the other two asteroid bases outside. “They’ll stay with us for the
time being.”

“Very
well then,” Veda said. “It’s time to fulfill the promise I made.”

“I
look forward to the good news,” Brian said. “Take care of things Veda; I’ll be
back as soon as I can.”

“As
will I,” Shiken said.

The
two headed for a shuttle.

“You
want them to rely on their own strength, don’t you?” Shiken asked.

Brian
nodded. “The plan the Teacher made has changed. Because of that I want them to
be able to lead on their own.”

“Do
you anticipate death?” Shiken asked as they boarded the shuttle.

“We
must always be ready Shiken, you know that,” Brian answered.

“Of
course,” the snakeman said.

* * *

Mira
and Suv Gar worked in the Freedom’s main medical lab. In the room next to
theirs Seles stared out the small window and watched the shuttle Brian was on
as it headed to the surface.

“Her
heart is distant,” Suv Gar said.

“I
know the feeling,” Mira said. “Love can last the distance but it feels like an
eternity at times.”

“The
two of you cope together no doubt,” Suv Gar said.

“Friendship
helps,” Mira said.

The
final assessment appeared on the screen.

“Nothing’s
changed,” Suv Gar said. “How’s that possible?”

Mira
laughed. “I see you were impressed.”

“Anyone
watching her would be,” Suv Gar said.

Mira
flipped through a number of different scans. “We’re missing something.”

“Between
the two of us we’ll find it,” Suv Gar said. “I recommend stopping for the day.”

“I
was thinking the same thing,” Mira said. “Let’s get together tomorrow at the
same time.”

“Of
course,” Suv Gar said. “I’ll see you then.”

The
Shandi woman left while Mira stayed behind. She looked at Seles and couldn’t
see anything out of the ordinary. When she spaced out Seles knocked on the
window.

“Can
I come out yet?” Seles asked.

Mira
shook it off and opened the door.

“Sorry
about that,” she said.

“My
situation must be dire if you’re acting like that,” Seles said after leaving
the scanning room.

“The
problem is there’s no problem,” Mira said.

“It
didn’t feel any different than a regular berserk,” Seles said.

“Jesela
and her read outs differ on the subject,” Mira said before sighing. “We’ll keep
an eye on you. That’s about the only thing we can do right now. By the way, do
you want me to tell Brian about this?”

“Not
right now,” Seles said. “Let’s focus on the mission.”

“It’s
your call,” Mira said. “I’m beat, how about a bath?”

“I’m
in,” Seles said.

A
fleet of two hundred Malcovin ships appeared over the Odairan home world, a
planet a quarter smaller than Earth with a pair of large moons circling it.
Surrounding the planet was a solar power generation ring and numerous space
colonies. The admiral of the Iron navy, Regelik, stood on the bridge of the
fleet’s flagship. At the same time numerous smaller fleets entered the other
Odairan systems to initiate the crackdown. Regelik looked to his communications
officer before speaking.

“To
the people of Odair,” Regelik started. “We’ve been hired to keep the peace in your
territories for decades and until today that arrangement has been mutually
beneficial. We come today with the intent of snuffing out those who would ally
themselves with the tyrannical organization known as Heaven’s Light. As the
security force hired to protect you it’s our obligation to expunge your world
of usurpers. In doing so we must declare martial law and suspend your people’s
legal protections. In addition, all of your government officials will submit
themselves to arrest. We know this is painful, but it’s necessary to protect
you.”

After
the admiral spoke hundreds of drop ships descended upon the surface of the
planet and colonies. The other fleets throughout the Odairan territories did
likewise. Thousands of Malcovin troops flooded into the cities of the rat
people.

* * *

The
Columbia base was making its way towards the Odairan border when a Malcovin
agent entered the command center and handed Veda a data crystal.

“I’m
sorry I didn’t get here earlier,” he said. “The Iron navy closed the borders
and made things a lot more difficult.”

“It’s
alright lieutenant,” Veda said. She took the data crystal and put it into the
slot on the console. “Have they caught our agents?”

“None
so far,” the Malcovin lieutenant reported.

“Thank
you,” Veda said.

“I’m
glad to help,” the birdman said before leaving.

Veda
put the information on the data crystal on the monitor. It displayed the
numbers and positions of the Iron navy. She then played the message sent out by
Admiral Regelik. Afterwards she sighed and shook her head.

“Classic
invade and blame the other party,” Veda said.

“It
might be old but it works,” Reban said.

“True,”
Veda said. “And given the legal status of their troops the Confederation can do
nothing to them. Even our best agents are having a hard time finding the money
trail back to the Malcovin government.”

“The
next best thing would be to capture their leaders and prove their guilt,” Reban
offered.

“That’s
the only option available for now,” Veda said. “He must be confident since he
spread his troops so thin.”

Reban
scrolled the positions around on the monitor. “If they found us and attacked
with a thousand ships we wouldn’t survive.”

“We
would,” Veda said. “But we’d have to call in our reinforcements earlier than we
want to.”

“What
reinforcements are you talking about?” Reban asked.

“The
Sicily base is waiting on the border of Malcovin space in case we need them,”
Veda explained.

“Should
we call for a meeting?” Reban asked.

“I
think one is needed,” Veda said. “Send this to the other commanders so they can
review the details.”

* * *

Seles
and Mira joined the bridge crew on the Freedom after Veda sent the information
over. After watching, Seles turned it off and looked at the others. She noticed
Grigon was holding back his anger.

“That’s
the current situation,” Seles said. “Veda’s called for a meeting in a few
minutes.”

“Are
you alright?” Jesela asked.

Grigon
cawed to let out his frustration. “Sorry, I don’t mean to lose it, I really
don’t. But seeing my people act like this is infuriating.”

“Not
many enjoy the truth when it’s so ugly,” Myden said.

“If
this makes you uncomfortable I won’t force you to participate,” Seles said.

“I
will,” Grigon said. “Dreka and I are fighting to free our people from this
madness.”

“Alright,”
Seles said. “Mira, Jesela, hold down the ship while we’re gone.”

“We’ll
be waiting,” Mira said.

* * *

Veda,
Valis, Esra, El Kar, Kivi, Seles, Myden, Grigon, and Dreka met in the command
center a few minutes later. Veda put the Malcovin fleet formations on the
holographic display table so everyone could view them.

“I’m
sure all of you had a chance to review our enemy’s decision,” Veda said.

“Not
one of us liked it,” Kivi said.

“Fools
do foolish things,” Esra said.

“And
they are fools,” Dreka said before cawing.

“They
may be fools, but they have a lot of ships,” El Kar said.

Valis
called up her attack plan. It showed the forces of the Columbia base separate
into three units. The first consisted of the Freedom and Vomada in the front
attack position. On one side the Avoni and Raulno attacked a different base. On
the other side the Reinkar and Daevoni attacked a third location with the
Columbia base as support.

“That’s
a bold plan,” Veda said.

“Everything
about it screams Valis,” Esra added.

Valis
smiled. “I had a feeling you’d like this.” She sent the details to their ships.
“You’ll find in this plan each of our attacks should take less than ten
minutes. Because our enemy has a numerical advantage we need to strike quickly
and precisely.”

“Should
we use our special systems?” Seles asked.

Valis
nodded. “It’ll be critical for our victory Seles. You should use the arrow
system to take them out as quickly as possible.” She looked at Kivi. “Hold back
on using yours.”

“I’ll
do my best,” Kivi said.

“Are
we to show mercy?” Esra asked.

“Only
if they surrender,” Valis said. “That includes disarming themselves.”

“We
don’t want them trying anything funny,” Veda said. “And the plan looks
excellent as usual.”

“Thanks,”
Valis said.