Heaven Saga 2: Sands of Aquarius (26 page)

“Kalaidian,”
she said as she pressed the button and opened a secure com channel. “This is
Lieutenant Seles of the Avoni. Please respond.”

“Oh,
thank the goddess,” a number of voices responded. Ahead of their position they
detected three Novaguards hiding on the near side of an asteroid.

“This
is ensign Delis, and the other two are ensigns Jaes and Raeka. We’re from the
resource colony of Dega Six under the ownership of the Kein family.”

“What
condition are your Novas in?” Seles asked.

“All
systems are working perfectly,” Delis answered.

“Please
tell us everything,” Seles requested.

“After
our base fell our forces surrendered. That was when Ick-Tckt closed in and fired
on us. If it wasn’t for that Talon stopping them we would’ve died,” Delis
reported.

“Are
you saying the Duchess’s forces fired on surrendering forces?” Seles asked.

“Yes
lieutenant,” Delis said. “What’s your command?”

“The
three of you are to fly to this designated point,” Seles said before sending an
encoded message containing the coordinates.

“Thanks,”
Delis said as the three Novas lit up and flew away.

“Do
you think it was Dreka that saved them?” Seles asked.

“Yes.
We’ve only met through fighting twice, but that’s enough to understand the character
of a person. Dreka’s proud, but not a murderer. He wouldn’t stand by and let others
be killed like that,” he said, closing his eyes for a moment.

“But,”
Seles said bitterly, “If what they say is true the Ick-Tckt is going too far.
Firing on surrendering foes isn’t just cowardly, it’s illegal.”

“I
know,” he said. “That’s why we’re taking them back with us to report to the
Confederation the actions of the Duchess’s troops.”

“Yes,
we definitely will.”

The
invisible Mjolnir and Zero approached the fallen asteroid base to find numerous
destroyed crafts. A moment later they spotted the fleet of Ick-Tckt and
Malcovin ships stationed at the base.

“Kali,”
Seles said.

“This
is awful,” Brian said. He turned on his scanner.

Seles
did likewise to survey the damage. “How many do you think died before he
intervened?”

“Too
many,” he said. “This is the price of war.”

“I’m
detecting something,” she said.

Flying
in a patrol was a squad of eleven Talons. Both Brian and Seles readied their weapons
system.

“Calm
yourself Seles; we’re not here to fight.”

“I
know but I…” she trailed off.

“I
understand,” he said as the patrol passed them by. “I think we have all the
data Valis needs so let’s go.”

“Sure,”
she said. The two invisible mobile suits turned around and flew away.

* * *

Valis,
Kivi, and Zae stood by in the strategy room while they waited for Seles and
Brian to return.

“No
matter how many times I look at it, we’re still outnumbered three to two,”
Valis said.

“That’s
counting the forces Shiken Ka will be sending us?” Zae asked.

“Yes,”
Valis answered flatly. “I can only hope they don’t try something as bold as
attacking us while we’re on Dega Jul.”

“That
kind of fighting will attract the attention of the Confederation,” Kivi said.

“I
know, we don’t want them involved,” Valis said. “If the Confederation gets
involved nobody wins.”

“We’re
back,” Brian said over the com. “We returned with three surviving Novas from
the base. What orders should I relay to them?”

“Tell
them to take a few hours and relax,” Valis said. “I’ll debrief them later on
what happened.”

“Yes
captain,” he answered.

Outside
the Kein family estate nearly a hundred Shandi vessels landed. One by one each
ship opened its main door and let out a captain and their escorts. The first to
the gate was Shiken Ka. Waiting for them was Veda and Valis. Brian and Seles
stood nearby.

“Greetings
Lady Veda,” Shiken said while saluting. “After long discussions with the other
noble families I come to ask for a peace between us.” He took the blade off his
back and tossed it to his guards behind him. “Not just between us and your family
of course,” Shiken looked to Seles. “Negotiations with the Kalaidian homeworld
will begin shortly after this meeting.”

Veda
smiled after hearing those words. She put her hand up and waved for her guards
to let the Shandi through.

“I
welcome you Shiken Ka. Long have our peoples been at war, but today that ends.
The time for peace between Kalaidian and Shandi is now. I hope the celebration
tonight will suit you and your peoples’ taste,” Veda said.  “I’m sorry but I
have many things to attend to. For now, please go with my granddaughter Valis.”
Veda left with a number of advisors pestering her.

“I’m
glad we met Lady Veda,” Shiken said as she left.

Veda
turned back and saluted. “I’m glad you’ve chosen the same path as ours.”

“As
am I,” Shiken said. He turned his gaze to Brian. Seles held his left arm while
Valis stood to his right. He moved forward and reached out with his hand. Brian
shook it gladly. “Thank you.”

“No,
thank you for coming Shiken,” Brian said.

Shiken
turned to Seles. “You must be Princess Seles Daevon. Your resemblance to your
mother is striking if I may say so.”

“Thank
you,” Seles said.

He
turned to Valis. “For a century our peoples have warred over territory,
resources, and because of our differing beliefs. But today that’s coming to an
end.”

Valis
smiled. “It has,” she said. Valis turned to the Shandi captains entering the
gate as each gave up their weapon. “My grandmother has many preparations to
attend to so for now I have the honor of planning our strategy.”

Each
Shandi bowed with honor before following Valis into a large open plaza. A
number of Kalaidian guards came out and handed each of them a tablet. Valis
took her position in the center. On one side were the captains of the Shandi
forces while on the other were the Kalaidian captains. Brian and Seles stood in
the back with Shiken next to them.

“Before
I begin, are there any questions from either of your forces?” Valis asked.

“Shiken,
I’ve been meaning to ask something,” Brian said.

“Yes.”

“Why
do your people call her Lady Star?”

Shiken
chuckled. “I was the first to call her by that name. It was after she completely
defeated me in battle.”

“You
fought her during the war?” Brian asked.

“Yes,
it was almost nine years ago. Her force had been reduced to two ships and both
the captains had died during the battle. My side had eight heavy class ships,
but that mattered little for the fact we couldn’t see outside.”

“What
do you mean?”

“Valis
clustered her Novaguards together in such a manner that they appeared to be
large ships on our radar.”

“You
couldn’t see outside? Why?” Brian asked.

“Our
ships in those days were completely sealed from space. We relied heavily on our
radar and scanning systems to see anything outside. Now we know better. But the
illusion of equality is what drove me to enter battle against her as a standard
battle. I thought we were about to rout them when one of the Kalaidian ships
inverted its gravity drive and destroyed six of my ships. Thinking we were now
outnumbered I was forced to retreat.” Shiken watched as Valis delivered her
battle plans to the captains. “Captain Valis’s tactics are what wins battles.”

“True,
I seem to be on the winning side more often than not,” said Brian.

* * *

“I
don’t know about this,” Seles said. She looked uncomfortable in a silvery blue
dress. Valis stood behind her, adjusting its tightness. She wore a purple dress.

“You
look great,” Valis said.

Seles
stared into the mirror. “Why are we playing dress up anyway?”

Valis
sighed. “This is an official event tonight. I rarely get the opportunity to
dress up, so of course I’m taking advantage of it. As for you, remember your
noble rank.”

“I
really wish my mother was the one to do this,” Seles said.

“Remember
what tonight signifies,” Valis said. “You have the chance to sign the treaty
and end an era of war.”

“I
know,” Seles said, still uncertain.

Valis
looked out the balcony to the stage set up outside. Veda and Shiken Ka were
ready to sign the treaty. She took Seles’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

* * *

Baed
and Zae sat at their consoles on the bridge of the Avoni while keeping a close
eye on the party. A few minutes of silence passed between them until the door
to the bridge opened. Brian walked in.

“What
are you doing here?” Zae asked.

“I
requested to be here for this,” he said. He walked over to the captain’s chair.
Seeing its size he opted to stand.

“What
brings you to the bridge?” Baed asked as she turned to face him.

He
paced about the bridge. “The treaty signing between the Shandi and your people
should be without my presence. Also, it occurred to be me I spend little if any
time on the bridge.”

“That’s
true,” Zae said.

“I
think I’ve been avoiding this place for a number of reasons,” he said. “So show
me what you two do here all day long. I’ll be honest in saying I don’t have a
clue.”

“Sure,”
Baed said.

“Hope
it doesn’t bore you,” Zae added.

Dreka
watched the treaty signing between the Shandi and Kalaidia from a monitor in
the engineering room. The others ran about while working frantically to finish
installing Q-Drives in three more Talons.

“They’re
really making a spectacle of this, aren’t they Lieutenant?” ensign Vrekt asked.
He was a little shorter than Dreka with brown color in his feathers.

“You’d
think our chances were slim to none by the way they’re making it look,” ensign
Rait added. He was the same size as Vrekt but black in color.

“We
still have the number advantage by far,” ensign Malke said. He was taller than
all of them with red feathers.

“Once
these three are upgraded that Terran will be history,” Vrekt remarked.

Dreka
looked at this subordinates before cawing with impatience. “He’d destroy you
three by himself.”

“I
think you’re exaggerating how good he is,” Rait said.

Dreka
cawed again. “No, I say it because I could beat the three of you by myself. Get
back to the simulator and work on your piloting.”

“Yes
lieutenant,” the each said one in order before leaving Dreka alone. He turned
back to his work.

The
fools have no idea just how great a pilot he really is.
He watched the
monitor again, seeing Seles signing the treaty on behalf of Queen Celestia.
It’s
hard to believe she’s the one piloting the other mobile suit.
The Talon
bay’s main door opened. The plumed captain Riga headed straight to Dreka.
Noticing how engrossed he was with his work, he patted Dreka on the back.

“How
goes the work?”

Dreka
seemed startled by the sudden contact and turned about. “It’s going to take a
few more days to finish this. But…”

“What’s
wrong?” Riga asked.

“To
be honest my subordinates are subpar mobile suit pilots. Even though I can hold
my own I worry about the other mobile suit we spotted.”

“The
Phase Rakna,” Riga said. “I think that’s what the Kalaidians are calling it.”

“The
pilot of that mobile suit is nearly as good as Brian,” Dreka paused, “Even
outnumbered three to one I have confidence lieutenant Seles would win.”

“That’s
pretty damning for our pilots,” Riga said. “The thing that concerns me more are
the rumors Valis is ready to roll out more of them.”

“There’s
nothing we can do about it other than continue on the path we’ve chosen.” Dreka
turned to the three Talons being modified for Q-Drives.
Why did my
grandfather appear to me like that? And why did he tell me to believe in Brian?
That Terran stole my grandfather’s work and I’m supposed to help him? I don’t’
understand.

“What’s
wrong Dreka?” Riga asked.

“Nothing
captain,” Dreka cawed, “I’d better complete these as quickly as possible.”

“The
best way to win this war is to destroy the Avoni,” Riga said.