Heaven Saga 2: Sands of Aquarius Read online

  Sands of Aquarius

  By Marcus Johnson

  Text Copyright © 2012 Marcus Johnson

  All Rights Reserved

  For all those who dream of a better world

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 - Surprise! Fight for Your Life

  Chapter 2 - Surrender or Death

  Chapter 3 - Salvaging Victory

  Chapter 4 - Reprieve and Assessment

  Chapter 5 - A Night on the Town

  Chapter 6 - Being Drunk, Being Bugged

  Chapter 7 - Char Dom

  Chapter 8 - Matron Veda Kein

  Chapter 9 - Night Visitors

  Chapter 10 - Time to Themselves

  Chapter 11 - The Festival

  Chapter 12 - Illusions or Truth

  Chapter 13 - Doing What Mercenaries Do Best

  Chapter 14 - The Desert Snake

  Chapter 15 - Cut Off

  Chapter 16 - Flight into a Sand Storm

  Chapter 17 – Searching for a Reason

  Chapter 18 - Oasis Battle

  Chapter 19 - Dust In the Wind

  Chapter 20 - Escape and Capture

  Chapter 21 - Ransom and Relief

  Chapter 22 - Honor and Understanding

  Chapter 23 - Sold Out

  Chapter 24 - The Sandy Wind of Change

  Chapter 25 - Brothers in Blood

  Chapter 26 - We Won’t Back Down

  Chapter 27 - New Beginnings, New Alliances

  Chapter 28 - Awkward Moments

  Chapter 29 - The Hawk and the Hammer

  Chapter 30 - Politics as Unusual

  Chapter 31 - Uncertain Departure

  Chapter 32 - The Knight of Aquarius

  Chapter 33 - Message of the Teacher

  Chapter 34 - Dreka’s Triumph

  Chapter 35 - Troubleshooting an Asteroid

  Chapter 36 - The Honor of Lady Star

  Chapter 37 - Mental Preparation

  Chapter 38 - The Battle of Dega Six

  Chapter 39 - Spiraling into Control

  Chapter 40 - A Moment to Regroup

  Chapter 41 - Battle over the Crystal Moon

  Chapter 42 - The Boiling Point

  Chapter 43 - Digging In

  Chapter 44 - One More Tranquil Moment

  Chapter 45 - Battle Over the City Skies

  Chapter 46 - Brian’s Vision

  Chapter 47 - Dreka’s Epiphany

  Chapter 48 - Birth of the Degan Republic

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Alone in the dark a young Shandi boy slithered cautiously through a labyrinth of ancient tunnels and chambers. He stood at nearly six feet, the average height of a child by the standards of the serpent people. In place of legs was a massive scaled tail. The color matched his upper, more humanlike torso and was devoid of hair. Instead it was covered in thick plated scales of brown and dark green. His face vaguely resembled a human’s, with a round flat nose, slanted crimson eyes and a pair of fangs showing through his lower lip. In his three fingered hand he held a light torch, while on his chest he wore the sash of a noble. Below the sash was his belt and on it held a slender scimitar-like sword in an encrusted scabbard. A blast of wind screeched from the rooms ahead, causing him to reach for his weapon with the look of fear in his eyes. It’s just the wind. He thought to himself. Sighing, he continued forward. Why did I have to take that bet? My friends are long gone by now and I’m completely lost. The hallways were flat sandstone bricks built nearly thousands years ago. After the Great Awakening most of the temples on Shandi Prime were destroyed when the priesthood was eliminated. This complex was buried under the sand for over a thousand years and still in pristine condition. Other than a few cracks the hallways and rooms were in perfect condition. As the young boy entered a hypostyle chamber he gazed upon the stories of the ancients. The walls were lined with murals of the great battles before his people traveled the stars. Etched onto the massive columns were depictions of the ancient gods.

  Since the Great Awakening two hundred years prior, the gods were cast out of society as the Shandi embraced atheism. No god controlled their destiny, no god created them, and there was no life to live after this one. Now they believe in the power of thought becoming reality. Thoughts begin as fragmented concepts. When joined they become true ideas. Ideas lead to action and action changes reality. Thus the cycle of existence begins with each new thought in turn leading to a change in the world.

  He marveled at the beauty of the murals. In ancient times they were warriors of the gods and fought for the cause of their mythical immortals. Today they still fought, but each fought for individual glory. As he wandered the massive chamber he came to a sealed door. Holding the light torch he noticed a strange symbol carved on the door. What is this? He thought to himself as he touched the symbols. It reminds me of star constellations. But I don’t ever remember seeing this one in our skies. As his hand brushed against the door a rumbling began to sound. He started panicking and looked around quickly. When he was about to flee the sealed door in front of him grinded into the walls and a new passageway opened up. So it wasn’t a ground quake after all? Before he entered the dark and narrow passageway he checked his light torch once more. I still have a few more hours with this light before it runs out. Hopefully I’ll find a way out of here before then. He slithered tentatively down and noticed a colossal room at the far end. As he entered he noticed the stone floor was glowing lightly. At the center of the chamber was a statue set on a base. He went up to the statue and gazed upon the visage of a being he’d never seen before. It’s not Kalaidian. It looks like a male. And his ears, they’re round. As the statue came into his torchlight its features showed more clearly. The statue resembled a human man wearing the armor of the dragon with a straight blade sword in one hand and a set of scales in the other. On the base was something written in ancient hieroglyphics. He brushed away the dust and read the symbols out loud.

  “In the days of twilight a great warrior will come. As the Teacher spoke, he will be the two tailed Knight of Aquarius.”

  * * *

  Shiken Ka awoke in his chambers and sat up. He looked out the window and saw the moon shining brightly on his fiefdom, a desert planet on the outskirts of Shandi territory. The sand sat silently as no wind could be heard. He turned and placed his falchion on his back before heading out to the balcony to watch the night. That dream again. It seems like I’m having it more and more lately. Why? That happened fifty years ago. He stared into the night and looked up at the stars. A knock came from the door in his room. He went back inside and answered the door. Outside stood another Shandi clad in armor and wearing a green sash, signifying his rank as commander. He closed his eyes and bowed before saluting.

  “I apologize for waking you at this hour my Lord, but I must deliver this information to you now,” the commander said.

  He nodded. “It’s alright El Kar, I was awake anyways. So what could be so important that you must tell me directly?”

  “Our contacts on Dega Jul have been informed that the Odarian merchants are planning on hiring Kalaidian mercenaries. Normally I wouldn’t be too worried about it, but this time it seems they have their hearts set on Valis Kein.”

  He shot El Kar a nasty look. “Never address Lady Star so casually. She may be an enemy but Captain Valis is worthy of our respect.”

  El Kar bowed again. “I’m sorry my Lord, in my haste I forget to address the captain properly. To be honest I’m more concerned with the Terran Rakna Maigar she keeps under her thumb.”

  Shiken smiled. “I look forward to it El Kar. To fight Lady Star and the Terran is a great challenge. After all, isn’t it the way of our peopl
e to seek out new challenges to remain strong?”

  Chapter 1 - Surprise! Fight for Your Life

  The Avoni flew alone through a light asteroid field at the center of the Degan system. On the bridge Valis sat in her chair. Kivi stood at ready next to her. In front of Valis sat Zae and Baed at their respective consoles. Kivi checked the ship’s defenses one more time.

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Kivi said.

  “I agree, something’s not right,” Zae added.

  “I know,” Valis said. “I anticipated this trap a long time ago. That’s why I’ve got a plan.”

  Kivi turned to Valis. “Would you care to tell us more?”

  “Last week I received an offer from captain Krigik,” Valis explained. “He seemed quite interested in making a deal with me and as our history isn’t the best, I figured the stupid bird would set a trap out here.”

  “Why would he do that?” Baed asked.

  Valis pushed a button on her chair’s computer and played some recorded video on the main monitor. “Remember when we fought the Rigika at the frozen moon to save Brian and Seles? It’s been almost two years but I doubt he’d forget so soon.”

  “He’s seeking revenge?” Kivi asked. “Normally the Malcovin aren’t interested in vengeance, just money.”

  “Not true,” Valis countered. “I’ve known Malcovin that hate losing profit over anything else. They’ll seek any way to avenge the loss of wealth even if it doesn’t bring them profit.”

  “All they lost was a drop ship,” Baed said.

  Valis looked at an image of the Krigik from the Degan registry. “No Baed, they lost a whole lot more than a drop ship and thirty soldiers. They left the schematics for the Talon for our Maigar to find and allowed us to develop our own mobile suit. On top of that they lost out on the profit they would have made from Seles’s return to Kalaidia. And the final factor, the Terran they would have recovered. Dead or alive, Brian’s more valuable than any space ship.”

  “In other words, get ready for battle?” Kivi asked.

  “That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Valis answered.

  “So what’s the plan?” Zae asked. “You seem quite calm, but I’m not sure the rest of us are.”

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” Valis said.

  * * *

  The Rigika drifted behind an asteroid, watching the Avoni pass by through the field. The Malcovin ship was a Geld class cruiser, heavy class, the same as the Avoni. But its shape was very different. The Malcovin preferred a cube style vessel to the Kalaidian cylinder shape, and as such, the Rigika appeared to be a large cube like ship with shaved edges. Inside a large number of the birdmen worked hastily at the behest of their captain, Krigik. He sat on the bridge with the rest of the command crew. He wore a sash of golden silk and a crown of white and gold feathers. He tapped his claw on the arm of his chair with impertinence in his eyes.

  “What is the status of the operation!?” Krigik shouted.

  His commander checked the monitor once more. “All ships have reported in. All we have left to do is to wait for the Avoni to enter the appropriate area of the asteroid field.”

  “Good.” Krigik stood up and paced around the circular bridge. After a few minutes the Avoni entered the target zone for the Malcovin.

  The commander turned to the captain. “The Avoni is in position.”

  “Great!” Krigik shouted. “Open a channel. I’m going to give the great Lady Star a chance to surrender first. I’d rather recover a ship like that in peak condition.”

  * * *

  Seles stood in the cargo bay while others were running around frantically making adjustments to the Mjolnir. At the open hatch halfway up the robot sat Brian, dressed in his exoskeleton armor. He was working on the final adjustments of the attachment system for Novaguards and the Mjolnir. Next to Seles stood a quiet Ensign Kaela, another beautiful Kalaidian with long lime green hair and crimson eyes.

  Seles’s patience ran out as she paced below him. “We had a month of leave time to do this, so why is this taking so long?”

  After a few seconds he looked up and shouted across the room. “Everything’s done on this end Daes! Is everything else ready!?”

  Daes turned from her monitor. “Yes! You can leave anytime!”

  He lowered himself to the floor using the Mjolnir’s elevator cord. As he set foot on the ground he noticed Seles glaring at him.

  “You still haven’t answered my question,” she stated flatly. Kaela stood by and watched as many of the others did.

  “There was a lot going on,” he said with an insincere smile. “Do you have any idea how much paper work the Degan authorities made me go through before they issued me an ID?”

  “That took a whole month?” she asked.

  He flipped out a part of his armor and showed her the electronic ID. “Because I’m a nonstandard species I had to go through a whole more than most. They forced me to give genetic samples and tested me in every way imaginable. Now I’m forced to make these adjustments at the last minute. I’m sorry Seles; I just didn’t have the time beforehand.”

  At the other end of the cargo bay Daes sat at her monitor trying not to laugh at the situation going on. One of her ensigns whispered a question to her. “Is it just me, or has the lieutenant been in a bad mood lately?”

  Daes turned and looked over at Brian and Seles, with Kaela shadowing them. “Maybe she isn’t getting any. That could be the problem,” she said sarcastically. A number of officers nearby laughed.

  Seles sighed and put her hands up in defeat. “Alright, you’re forgiven. Now is it finished?”

  “Would the two of you please join me up there?” he asked while pointing up to the Mjolnir’s hatch. “We’ll be attaching the Novas in a moment and it’ll be much easier for you to board them if you’re up there.”

  He braced himself on the elevator cord. Seles and Kaela both firmly held onto his arms as they went up to the hatch on the mobile suit.

  “Kaela, would you stay our here for a minute,” Brian said. “There’s something I need to discuss with Seles.” He moved inside towards the private room. Seles followed slowly.

  “What is it you’d like to discuss with me?” she asked as the door closed behind them.

  He turned to face her. “What is it Seles? Something’s wrong and I don’t know what it is. Level with me, what is it?”

  Her gaze fell to the floor. “You’ve been so distant lately. It’s like you’re going out of your way to avoid me,” she looked into Brian’s eyes, “And what disturbs me the most is the way you look at me.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  She pointed at his cold and distant eyes. “Whenever you look at me I see a cold, dead stare. It’s like you’re not seeing me even though I know you can. I can see it when I look at you, the pain you’re holding inside yourself. What happened to make you this way?”

  He closed his eyes and turned away. “Seles, you know I endured the Kai when I was captured. What I didn’t tell anyone was that she had used more than physical torture on me. The Greys gave her a gift of telepathy. She toyed with my body, that I could live with. But she toyed with my mind, and that I can’t.”

  “What did she do to you?” she asked as she tried to embrace Brian. He backed away.

  “She used her power to project your image over herself. Even though I know it was her, the image I see is you.” He slammed his fist on the wall.

  Seles slowly hugged him from behind. “Brian, close your eyes and listen to my voice.”

  He closed his eyes.

  “We’ve both fought to protect each other. I didn’t realize what I felt for you until I was standing over your dying body. You were willing to give up everything to save me. At that moment I realized what my feelings really were. I love you and I’ll do anything to protect you.”

  “What do you mean Seles?” he asked as he held her hands.

  “No matter what it takes I’ll heal your wounded heart,” she said, closing h
er eyes and holding him close.

  “Thanks Seles.”

  * * *

  “We’re receiving a hail from the Rigika captain,” Zae reported.

  Valis smiled. “Put them through.”

  The image of the bridge of the Malcovin ship came onto the screen; at the center of the screen stood the tall and dark captain, Krigik.

  “Krigik, why did you want to meet me out here?” Valis asked.

  “You know well what it is I want Valis Kein!” the birdman cawed.

  “Are you after my surrender or my ship? Which is it Krigik?”

  “I don’t want your ship nor do I care for your surrender. What I want is the due compensation for the loss of a drop ship, thirty veteran soldiers, and the unlawful theft of our technology. In short, I want the Terran who serves you and his mobile weapon called the Mjolnir.”

  Valis stared into the monitor. “What would you do if I say no?”

  Krigik cawed. “Then you’ll be destroyed.”

  “I’ll give you one chance Krigik,” Valis said. “If you don’t surrender or withdraw I guarantee your lives will end today.”

  He pointed at the monitor. “Let us see who dies!” A moment later the image left the screen.

  Valis turned to Kivi. “Prepare the ship for battle,” she turned to Zae. “Scan for other ships. I have a feeling they didn’t come out here alone,” she turned to Baed. “Use the asteroids for cover. Krigik chose this battlefield to gain an advantage, but it’s just as useful to us.”

  “Yes captain,” the three said in unison.

  Valis opened the computer on the arm rest and opened up a communication channel to the Mjolnir.

  * * *

  As Brian and Seles embraced a light started flashing on the monitor on the wall.

  Valis’s image came up. “I’m sorry to disturb the moment. But it looks like we’ll be going into battle today.”

  The pair split and saluted the captain.

  “Please take your positions. We’re unsure of their strength right now so be ready for a fierce fight,” Valis added.