Freedom Saga 3: The Dawn of Liberty (21 page)

The
Freedom and its Ick-Tckt allies approached the enemy fleets cautiously. The
scanners showed the first of the asteroid bases was acting as the rear guard.
Brian quickly looked it over while the others on the bridge worked away. As he
did so he sent the battle plan to his newfound allies. Afterwards, he put the
enemy base on the monitor.

“That’s
impressive,” Grigon said.

“It’s
like they copied us,” Jesela said.

“Almost
isn’t right,” Myden said. “They did.”

“In
less than a year to boot,” Brian said. “I don’t think our special systems are
going to work against it.”

“If
our cannon can’t crack their shields then what can we do?” Jesela asked.

“We’ll
follow his plan,” Grigon said.

“I’d
rather not,” Brian said. “But it’ll have to do. But before we charge in I want
one last chance to speak to them.”

He
touched the console and activated the intercom system. It automatically
connected to all ships in communications distance.

“To
all forces of the Duchess Klchta, this is Captain Peterson of the Freedom speaking,”
he said. “I have no desire to engage your forces in battle. We were sent for by
the queen of your people as an envoy for peace. We will defend ourselves if
attacked, but it’s not our wish to fight. Please see reason and call off this
attack.”

Silence
filled the air before the first ship from the Duchess’s forces opened fire on
another Ick-Tckt vessel. Once the first shot went the area was lit up by pulse
fire and explosions. After banging his fist in frustration Brian looked at the
monitor and saw Seles and Mira standing by.

“It’s
time to head out,” he ordered.

“Let’s
go,” Seles said.

Mira
nodded as the two flew outside and landed on the hull. A moment later Tctie and
Kyli led the rest outside to do the same.

* * *

The
allies of the Freedom charged from all angles to surround the enemy fleet. The
asteroid base shook from incoming attacks but was otherwise unaffected. The
duchess sat back and quietly watched her warriors directing the defense.

“A
fool to the end, that he is,” she said.

“Are
you talking about Captain Peterson?” her second warrior asked.

“Of
course,” the duchess answered. “To believe that war can lead to peace is the
ultimate folly of his organization. As long as the desire for power exists war
will always reign.” She noticed her third warrior was in a panic. “What’s
wrong?”

“I
can’t find the Artemis or Siren,” he answered. “The Freedom and its mobile suit
forces are currently headed straight for us.”

“Those
two could pose a problem,” the duchess said. “What do our spy satellites say?”

“We’re
picking up nothing,” the second warrior said.

“Strange,”
she said. “Keep an eye out for them.”

* * *

The
Artemis and Siren flew away from the battle and took a position within the
planet’s ring system. The pair landed on a large ice chunk a couple hundred
vetres
across. The Siren turned on its song system for a moment to disable all
satellites in the area.

“That
wasn’t much of a song,” Seles said.

“Sometimes
a short tune is the best,” Mira said.

“You’ve
got that right,” Seles said.

“Did
you manage to leave them all in the right spots?” Mira asked.

Seles
checked her scanners. “They’re all in place.”

Littered
around the battle above them were a number of the Artemis’s reflector plates.
Seles had her mobile suit pop a few more off to vary the origin point of their
shots.

“Shall
we get some target practice?” Mira asked.

“Of
course,” Seles said.

The
two mobile suits started firing into the plates around them. As they did so the
pulse shots amplified and bounced until they reached the ships closest to the
enemy base. One after another was destroyed without knowing where the incoming
fire was coming from.

“I
don’t know what good this will do given that thing’s shields,” Mira said.

“We’re
here to soften things up and keep them on their toes,” Seles said. “And save
Brian when he yells for help.”

Mira
sighed. “I guess we should. He is our captain after all.”

“I
think he’s a little more than that to both of us,” Seles said.

The
monitor flashed when another enemy fleet emerged from a gravity jump. They were
uncomfortably close to the two mobile suits.

“Are
they friend or foe?” Mira asked.

“Foe,”
Seles said.

The
fleet went to attack them.

“Looks
like you guessed right,” Mira said.

“I’ll
take them out with an arrow,” Seles said.

* * *

Queen
Kchlt and Khcha watched the battle as the intelligence reports came in.

“We
have more allies than we thought,” Khcha said.

“I’m
glad,” the queen said.

“Should
we change our plans?” Khcha asked.

“No,”
she said. “Let’s assume the same as before. We can’t be sure the Freedom will
destroy their base.”

The
palace shook when attacks came from outside the city and pounded the complex’s
shields. The forces protecting the capital were successfully driving their
enemies away on the ground. In space, Duchess Mlka made her appearance from the
safety of her asteroid base. The queen’s forces backed away and focused on the
enemy ships and mobile armors.

“They’re
getting more aggressive,” Khcha said.

“Yes,”
the queen said. “I’m sure that’s part of their plan. What surprises me is
they’re attacking us personally.”

“Neither
of these duchess’s are like you,” Khcha said. “That’s why they lost the last
time we did this.”

“If
she’s come to visit then it’s only proper we send her a greeting,” the queen
said. “Let’s have the third orbital tower fire a warning shot.”

“Are
you sure we should reveal that weapon?” Khcha asked.

“They’ve
shown us theirs,” the queen said. “It’s only common courtesy we do the same.”

“Yes
my queen,” Khcha said.

The
warrior tapped the wall and a number of consoles slid out. He pressed the one
for the main cannon on the third orbital tower. From the top of the structure a
cannon as powerful as the Freedom’s emerged and fired a single blast. The enemy
fleet closest to it was vaporized. The Duchess’s asteroid base backed away.

“That
worked better than we thought,” Khcha said.

“We’ve
shown you our cannon,” the queen said. “Now let’s see what you decide to do.”

* * *

The
Freedom led the charge with the Ick-Tckt firing at each other all around it.
Brian glanced at the monitor. He noticed the Artemis destroy an incoming fleet.
Thanks Seles.
He thought as the battle raged.

“Everyone,
make sure your friend and foe signals are functioning,” Brian said. “With the
way this is going chaos could set in.”

“The
only thing we know to shoot at is the base,” Grigon said.

“And
it’s the only thing we can’t hurt,” Jesela said.

“We
won’t know until we try,” Brian said.

“We’ll
be in position shortly,” Myden said.

Brian
sent a warning out to his Ick-Tckt allies. They quickly moved out of the way to
give the Freedom a clear shot. The ship’s engines spun as it lit up and
prepared to fire. The ships near the front of the asteroid base moved away
before the massive beam of light flashed through space. Although it was pushed
back a few
ketres
, the base looked untouched. It started moving straight
for them after it recovered.

“According
to our scans it did absorb the attack,” Grigon said. “But their shield was
drained about ten percent.”

“I’ve
found what you’re looking for captain,”
Tctie said telepathically.
“If we
destroy their control room the shields will go down.”

“Can
you send me the image of where to go?”
Brian asked.

“Of
course,”
Tctie said.

Brian
felt the images enter his mind. He vividly saw the duchess and her two warriors
ordering their forces around. He felt a deep antipathy coming through from the
duchess towards him.

“Did
you get it?”
Tctie asked.

“Yes,”
Brian answered.
“Take care of things out there Tctie, I have something to do.”

“He
must be telling you things again,” Grigon said.

“What
did Tctie say this time?” Jesela asked.

Brian
grabbed the helmet off his chair. After locking it into place and checking to
make sure his
rakna
blade was ready he looked at Jesela.

“Now
I’m worried,” she said.

“Don’t,”
Brian said. “I’m going to take a step outside again. This time I hope the
duchess listens to what I have to say.”

He
touched the chest of his armor before disappearing with a flash. Myden went
down to the console near the captain’s chair and touched it with his hands.
Though
your efforts may fail, the intent is there.
The Grey looked at the battle
as it got worse by the second.
We must find a way to end this.

Brian
appeared outside the asteroid base in space. He concentrated until he saw the
holes he needed to enter. As soon as he stepped inside and landed on solid
ground the alert system went up. He drew his sword and calmly headed for the
command center.

“Rakna
bel de cou,”
he said to activate the blade’s power.

When
a number of drone soldiers ran to meet him he spun the blade above his head to
gather energy. As they ran around a corner and opened fire he slashed the blade
and fired a powerful beam into the Ick-Tckt soldiers. Those who weren’t
vaporized backed away as they continued firing. Brian activated the shield on
his left arm and used it to block incoming pulse fire. He charged the blade by
spinning it again. As he made his way around he saw the number of enemies was
growing quickly and fired a pair of blasts from his
rakna
blade. The
hallway was clear after the surviving enemies backed off to find a defensive
position. He turned to his side and saw a hole and stepped through it. After
skipping through several levels and avoiding most of the base’s defenses Brian
found himself standing outside the command center.

“Time
to take care of things here,” Brian said as he charged the sword up again.

* * *

Duchess
Klchta rubbed her mandibles nervously while she watched Brian make his way to
her. Her two warriors were busy with the battle when the Terran made his way to
the door. The metal door groaned and creaked as its shields were drained and
destroyed. Brian slowly walked in through the smoke to stand before the three
in the room. The second warrior jumped at Brian with an arm blade in full
swing. The human calmly dodge to the side and jumped up. With the spin of his
sword Brian sliced the warrior’s head off. When he landed he looked at the
third warrior. The duchess cackled as she pressed a button.

“I
gave you the chance to end this peacefully,” Brian said. “I’ll give you one
more. We have no desire to continue this battle.”

“It
doesn’t matter what you say,” the duchess said. “We’ve already made our
decision.”

The
third warrior charged Brian and was cut down quickly by the human. The duchess
drew a pair of blades and moved towards him.

“So
you choose death over a future,” Brian said.

“Everything
dies,” the duchess said. “At least I know you’ll be coming with me.”

She
moved in and slashed with both her blades. Brian stepped back before running
and sliding under her belly. The female Ick-Tckt screeched in pain as his
rakna
blade sliced through her gut. She fell over and writhed in pain as she died.
Brian looked at her one more time before checking the controls near her seat.

“I
had a feeling something like this was going to happen,” he said before
switching on his com. “Myden, have everyone clear out. The duchess has the
self-destruct system on and I think it’s going to be big.”

“What
are you going to do?” Myden asked.

“I’m
getting the hell out of here,” Brian said.

* * *

Seles
and Mira continued trading shots into the reflector plates to take out enemy
ships in the distance. Both noticed a huge spike in power coming from the base
on their scanners. Myden appeared on their monitors.

“Seles,
Mira, the enemy base is about to explode,” he said. “Would you be kind enough
to pick up our captain?”

Both
women laughed.

“He
got himself in trouble this time,” Mira said.

“Where’s
he at?” Seles asked.

“Here
are his coordinates,” Myden said as he sent the data over.

Seles
hit the button to have all the reflector plates return to her mobile suit. As
they did so she started charging the cannon for an arrow shot.

“How
are going to get in there?” Mira asked. “I know we’re fast, but I doubt we can
go in there and get him unscathed.”

“Let’s
berserk,” Seles said as the Artemis started glowing.

“Alright,”
Mira said. “Now what do we do?”

“Hang
onto me,” Seles said.

The
Siren grabbed onto the back of the Artemis.

“Now
turn your engines to go in the same direction of where I’m aiming,” Seles said.

“So
you’re going to try that?” Mira asked.

The
Artemis fired the arrow into the ring system of the planet. With their engines
at full the two mobile suits were sent flying towards Brian’s location. The
pair separated on the approach.

“We
have to catch him on the move,” Seles said.

“We
have two chances then,” Mira said.

The
asteroid base started glowing red while Brian slowly plodded away from it in
his exoskeleton. Both Seles and Mira had their mobile suits reach out as they
neared him. The Artemis missed but the Siren managed to grab him tightly. As
the two flew away the base pulsed for a moment and then exploded. After the
explosion all of the remaining enemy vessels either fled or surrendered. The
two mobile suits slowed themselves down by reversing their engines. After
ending their berserks they made their way back to the Freedom.

“That
was too close,” Brian said.

“You
shouldn’t be running around without a mobile suit,” Seles said.

“I
managed,” Brian said.

“Next
time you’re going to take one of us as an escort,” Mira said.

“Given
what happened I have to agree,” he said. “Let’s go home.”

* * *

Queen
Kchlt and Khcha watched as Duchess Mlka’s forces backed away. The battle in
space subsided when the attacking fleets went to regroup. On the surface the
same thing was happening.

“Our
cannon works,” Khcha said.

“We
knew it would,” the queen said. “But this is only a temporary measure. They’ll
test our range and accuracy until they find a blind spot.”

“It’s
a pity we haven’t finished building more of them,” Khcha said.

The
incoming data registered and showed the battle around the eighth planet was
over.

“Our
allies were successful as well,” the queen said.

“We
need every advantage we can get,” Khcha said.

“I
don’t know how that Terran did it but the base is completely destroyed,” the
queen said.

“Let’s
not question providence,” her warrior said.

* * *

The
Artemis and Siren landed with Brian. Jesela was eagerly waiting to check the
two mobile suits over. Brian, Seles, and Mira all made their way to the floor.

“I
hope you three had fun,” Jesela remarked.

“We
did,” Seles said.

“It’s
always a pleasure to try new things out with her,” Mira said while pointing at
Seles.

“I’m
glad one of you grabbed me,” Brian said. His com flashed. “I’d better get back
to the bridge.”

“See
you in a little while then,” Seles said.

“Same
here,” Mira added.

Brian
nodded before leaving the three. He quickly made his way to the bridge and found
Myden and Grigon working with the four droids.

“What
is it?” Brian asked.

“Our
allies would like to know our next destination,” Myden said as he took his spot
back.

Captain
Zkcha appeared on the monitor.

“It’s
good to see you survived,” Brian said.

“We’re
more than capable of living through things like that,” Zkcha said. “Where are
we going next?”

“As
soon as everyone’s drive is recharged we’ll make our way to lunar orbit of your
homeworld,” Brian said.

“We
risk exposing our backs by doing so,” Zkcha said.

“I
know, but we need to end this before it gets worse,” Brian said. “Anyways, the
queen will see what we’re doing and order an attack. The enemy will be caught
between our two forces.”

“Then
it’s a risk worth taking,” the Ick-Tckt captain said. “We’ll be standing by
when you’re ready to depart.”

“Thanks,”
Brian said before the monitor went black.

“You’re
more aggressive then Valis when it comes to battle,” Myden said.

“I’m
not as good at details as she is though,” Brian admitted. “But I know how to
get the job done. We need to take out the enemy leadership as quickly as
possible to prevent this from dragging on.”

“You’re
worried about my people, aren’t you?” Myden asked.

“I
think we have seven or eight years to prepare for them,” Brian said. “That’s
why we need to destroy as little military power as we can. The other factor playing
into this is the fact our foes are much more capable as engineers than we
thought.”

“They’re
equal to us,” Grigon said.

“That’s
why I want to end this,” Brian said. “How long will it be until we can jump?”

“Eleven
hours,” Grigon said.

“Excellent,”
Brian said. “I want everyone to finish preparing and then get some sleep. This
next battle is going to be much tougher.”