Conflicting Circles : Novel Chapters and short stories

This is where I will post the Novel chapters and short stories. If you feel like commenting or posting your own short story feel free.​

 

Chapter 1
Broken Peace

I woke up in my room, the dim lighting made it easy to see. I sat up and looked around the room, my friends had been over the night before and had left my room a mess. My name is Alastor Trios and I live with my mother Jillian Trios in the Luna Seven Orbital Space Colony, I’m sixteen years old, have brown hair and hazel eyes. I stretched before getting up and walking down to the kitchen. As I headed down I heard the TV on in the lounge room, I looked in there as I headed for the kitchen, no one was there, most likely my mother left it on by accident when she left for what ever reason.

I walked into the kitchen I found it surprisingly clean given my friends had been here, I found a training manual on the book with Alastor Trios on it, which meant it was mine. I got my self cereal and went to the lounge room to watch what ever was on TV. The news was on, it was showing the Earth Empire had taken another space colony from the Earth Federation. The Empire was formed around seventy years ago after uniting the planet under one ruling and started expanding into space. The Federation was formed six months ago to fight against the corrupt Empire, in fact Luna Seven was under the control of the Federation. The Empire had the advantage with its Mobile Humanoid Weapons or MHW while the Federation forces fought with tanks and jets.

I stopped paying attention to news and started reading the training manual for the Mobile Humanoid Machine, a smaller civilian version of the Empires MHW. The manual was for using construction version of the MHM’s, why one had my name on it I don’t know. I finished my breakfast and got changed into better clothes. As soon as I left I saw my friend Hikari Mao waiting out the front of my house, she was eighteen and a childhood friend of mine. She is training to be a doctor. She had short black hair, pale skin and blue eyes. She was also trained to use MHM’s since she was very young.

“Hey there Alastor†she said to me as I walked up to her. I simple waved back at her, this made her slap me in the back of the head. “Morning†I mumbled to her, walking towards the school I go to. She walked next to me, she had a worried look on her face. “What’s wrong?†I asked her.
“I heard Luna Two had been taken overâ€
“Luna Two?†I said shocked, I stopped walking. Luna two was where my father, Todoka Trios was stationed there on the Federation’s flag ship the Birmingham. My father was the captain of the Birmingham and wasn’t home often. I understood why my father was never home, but it made me angry that he wasn’t around, it wasn’t that I was angry at him for being in the federation, in fact I admired him for that. I was angry because he made my mother worry so much, she was always worried that he will be killed in the war.
“Yeah, it was on the news†she even more worried now then before. I guess that was why mom wasn’t home, she probably worried like crazy and ran to the federation base.

I don’t know how long I stood there, I was lost in though about my father. It was what the news had been about. Hikari put her hand on my shoulder and it helped me focus on what I was meant to be doing, I was meant to be heading to school, but now that I had heard about my father I knew I should go find my mother at the Federation base. “I have to go Hikari†I said to her before I started running towards the base. I heard running footsteps behind and I knew Hikari was following me.

When we reached the base we headed to the public relations office, it was both a recruiting office and an office for people to put in request and complaints to the government. I walked in the front doors and looked around the lobby, to my surprise there weren’t a lot of people in the office most of them where the actual workers coming into work. There was a woman at the front desk, I walked up to her, Hikari was right next to me as I did so. “Um, excuse me miss†I said to the woman.
“Yes sir, how may I help you?â€
“My father is in the military, on a ship and I would like to know how he is going?†I asked her, the woman looked at her computer and typed something into it. “Ok sir, someone will be out to help you shortly, please take a seat†she said to me. Hikari and I took a seat.

The woman’s meaning of shortly and mine must differ greatly, it took half an hour for someone to come and see us. He asked my name and the name of the ship, when I told him it was the Birmingham he stopped for a second and asked if my father was the captain of the ship. When I said yes he led me and Hikari to another room, this room was a lot smaller, it has a table and four chairs two on one side and the other two on the opposite side. We sat down and Hikari put her hand on my shoulder. “Are you alright?†she asked me. It took me a minute or two before I replied “Yes†to her but I was lying, she knew I was lying, I could tell by the look on her face. In truth I didn’t know if I was alright.

After another half hour a fleet officer came in and sat across from us. “Alastor Trios?†he asked. I nodded at him. “Your father and his ship the EFSF-0001 Birmingham is currently missing but is believed to be ok†he said to me. I sighed, even though no one was sure, at least there was a chance that my father was ok. “Um, has my mother been here yet?†I asked the officer. He nodded “Yes, she is currently talking to another officer about retuning from mandatory leave.†My mother was also a captain in the federation, but my father pulled some strings and had her put on mandatory leave. Another officer entered the room, this officer was a female and had long brown hair, this officer I knew all to well. “Hello little brother†she said to me. “Hey Relena†I replied to her. She sat down next to the other officer. There was silence between us. After a few minutes of silence Hikari spoke. “I was wondering if I could join the Federation?†she asked. Both me and my sister looked at her in surprise.

“My parents where stationed on the Tiara†she said. I had forgotten all about Hikari’s parents being in the fleet as well, and their ship was also stationed at Luna two. “What?†was all I could ask her. “I feel like I need to do this†she said to me. The male officer stood and gestured her out of the room. I stood up as I watched her leave “Hikari†I said to her, she didn’t stop and kept walking. The door closed behind her. I stood there for a few minutes before a turned to my sister. “I wish to sign up as well†I said to her. “No†she replied to me as she stood up and left. How could she say that I wondered? I walked back to the lobby and the first person I saw was my mother, in a fleet uniform.

“Mom?†I asked her. She walked towards me. “I have been taken of mandatory leave†she said to me. “So everyone is joining the military?†I asked her.
“What?â€
“Everyone is joining, even Hikari, she just asked to sign up†I said to her. “It can’t be helped†she said.
“Then let me joinâ€
“No†she said in a commanding voice, the exact same answer as my sister. “Why?†I asked her. “Because you’re not the type of person to be fighting†she replied.
“But Hikari joined!†I shouted at her, everyone looked at me “Everyone is joining but because of you people I’m going to be left behind!†My mothers face was sad, I had hurt her. My father was missing along with his whole ship, my sister was already a soldier and she probably didn’t want me to get hurt, no, she didn’t want me to die.

My mother sighed before leading me towards another room, this room was different, in side was the same amount of chairs and table, but there was a young girl in there with neck length lavender tinted hair and glasses, she wore a military uniform, she looked about sixteen years old. “Mia. This young man wants enlist†she said to the girl. The girl looked up at me; her glasses hid the colour of her eyes. She nodded and my mother indicated for me to sit down in a chair. I sat down and looked at the girl called Mia she started by asking my name, age and all those type of details. Her voice was very soft and timid I noticed. She then started going on to skills, which was my down point. Apart from writing I have no real skills, I looked away from her, I couldn’t look at her as I answered.

She sighed at my answer and then looked up at me. “Why do you want to join?†she asked. I looked back at her, “I want to join because everyone else is. My mother and father are captains, my sister is an officer and my best friend joined up tod†I said to her firmly. She sat there thinking for a minute before speaking “I will do everything I can to help you†she said standing up and handing me a form to sign. I signed the form and handed it back to her. She gave me a smile as she took it my form and went to leave. Suddenly the building started shaking.

 

Chapter 2
Shattered Reality

I ran threw the building hallways, it was almost like an earthquake, except with explosions in the background. All around me military officers and soldiers ran in all different directions, they where probably as confused as me. I reached an exit and quickly ran out the door. Outside were two rows of hangers on each side. The closest hanger on the left exploded and the shockwave sent me flying back. As I got back up a giant blue MHW landed in front of me, it was bulky and its arms held a massive machine gun. It looked around before it started firing at the hangers.

I ran away towards the nearest shelter as more MHW’s landed in the base, it didn’t take long for the shelter entrance to come into sight, I ran towards it. When I was about twenty metres away the entrance exploded, as soon as it did I changed direction down another line of hangers. As I ran a strange jet white and red was being pulled out of a hanger. I continued to run towards the jet, hopefully someone was still alive around there. As I ran closer a purple MHW landed at the end of the row and shot at the jet, yet it missed. I froze in fear. The jet also stopped moving, the MHW aimed its gun at the jet. Neither moved for what felt like forever. Suddenly something shot at the MHW.

Another jet flew past the Purple MHW followed by a grey and black MHW. This MHW was different in design, it chest and stomach where gone except for the spine of the machine. As the MHW and jet flew past the jet seemed to fold in to a smaller shape and attached itself to the MHW, right where the chest would be. It landed on the opposite side of the hanger line, it aimed a rifle at the purple machine and the two started firing at each other. I ran in between two hangers. I was at the base fence, I started running along the fence line, there had to be a hole or exit along it somewhere. I passed the hangers and now all there was the fence line, I could see the whole base from here, and the whole battle. There where about six MHW’s destroying the base. The grey and purple ones where still fighting. I stopped and looked at them, the purple machine took a hit the head the pilot ejected and landed not far from where I was.

I started to run again, but someone shot at me hitting the ground in front of me. “Turn around slowly!†someone yelled at me, the pilot’s voice sounded familiar. I slowly turned towards the voice to see the pilot who had a gun pointed at me, his pilot suit was the same type that the Imperial Pilots wore, so he was obviously an enemy. He lowered his gun which surprised me, I couldn’t see his face because of his helmet. He walked closer to me which I found confusing. When he was just out of arms reach he stopped. “Alastor?†he asked. He holstered his gun and took his helmet off, he had short brown hair and blue eyes. His skin was pale as well, which meant he was raised on a colony. I recognized his face but not a name. “Who are you, and how do you know me?†I asked him, I took a few steps back.
“It’s me, Joshua Lynch†he said to me. Now I knew who he was, Joshua was an old friend from school, but he and his family left before the war. “Josh, what are you doing here?†I asked him. He went to answer but there was another gunshot, which hit in between. We both looked at who had shot. Mia stood there with her gun aimed at Joshua, who in turn aimed his own gun at her.

“Both of you lower your weapons†I said to them, neither did, they stood there ready to pull the triggers. “Alastor, come over here†Mia said to me. “Alastor, don’t listen to her, run†Josh replied. I quickly moved in between the two. “Lower your guns!†I ordered them, they still didn’t listen. I heard a gunshot from one of them and I quickly moved so they couldn’t aim at each other and felt a sudden pain in my right shoulder. “Alastor!†they both yelled, I’m sure they would be shooting if I wasn’t standing there. The pain in my shoulder was getting worse and it was getting harder to keep standing, “Stop it both of you!†I yelled at them, I was looking at Mia. Josh must have pushed me out of the way and I hit the ground. I could here gun shots as my vision started getting dark. At least my shoulder wasn’t hurting anymore. I closed my eyes as the darkness felt so welcoming.

I suddenly realised I was laying on a bed, I opened my eyes, it was very bright. I looked around the room which seemed to be a medical bay. A Federation Pilot laid on a bed on the other side of the room, he looked like he was asleep, he had red hair. I sat up and put my hand on my right shoulder, I could feel a bandage on it. I had been hoping I had been imagination, but as far as I could tell it wasn’t. The door opened and Hikari walked in, she was wearing a nurse uniform. “Hikari?†I asked. She looked at me before hugging me tightly. “You jerk!†she yelled at me. “What?†I asked trying to push her off. “Everyone was so worried about you†she said starting to cry. “Hey what do you mean everyone? Where are we?†I asked her. She finally let go and stood back, wiping the tears away “Your mother and sister, they where worried. When they brought you onboard with that girl you where almost dead from blood loss†she said.
“What!â€
“You have been asleep for fourteen hours after allâ€
“Fourteen hours?!’ I said in disbelief “Wait, where are we? What happened to Josh? What happened to Mia?â€
“You are on the Ark, the Federation’s newest warship, as for Warrant Officer Sertance she is fine†Hikari said attending to the pilot. I hopped of the bed, stumbling a bit, I realised I was in a patient gown. “Ah Hikari, where are my clothes?†I asked her a bit embarrassed. She turned and looked at me “Well they where blood stained, so your mother has arranged some clothes for you, they are laying back there†she said pointing at a chair that had a pale blue uniform, it also had dark blue around the waist and on the shoulders as well as the collar and the uniforms trim, the long pants where dark blue as well.

“What type of uniform is that?†I asked, the Federation’s normal uniform was white and brown on the shoulders and collar. “An Ark uniform†she replied. I sighed and put the uniform on. “Ok so where is my mom and sister?†I asked her “Your mom is on the bridge and your sister I don’t know†she replied as I walk towards the door, the door opened automatically which was good, with my shoulder I didn’t think it would be easy to pull them open. I turned to my right and started walking. I had no idea where I was going and there wasn’t anyone to ask.

As I walked I eventually came to a window, I looked out and saw that the ship was apparently in the colonies port still, that didn’t tell me what condition the colonies interior was in. I kept on walking and eventually found someone, they directed me to an elevator which could take me to the bridge. When I finally got to the bridge I looked around, the bridge was about one and a half levels in size. My mother walked over to me and slapped me. I put my hand on my cheek “Why?†I asked her. She then hugged my tightly “What where you thinking?†she asked me. “Ah try to survive a situation I wasn’t prepared for†I replied, she laughed at this and let go of me. “I was so worried†she said to me.
“Really? I couldn’t tellâ€
“Don’t make fun†she replied smiling, she walked over and sat down in the captain’s chair. “Ah isn’t that meant for the captain?†I asked her.
“Why do you think I’m sitting here?â€
“Ah, wait when where you appointed captain?â€
“After the attack started, the original captain along with most senior officers died, I was the next and last captain able to e overâ€
“Oh ok, um how is the colony?â€
“Not good, the federation base along with seventy-six precent of our forces where destroyed. Most citizens escaped to the shelters and most of the remaining military forces have assembled in the port. Only a few are still in the colony and they are retrieving the coresâ€

 

Chapter 3
Seeing the Forsaken Land

I sat on the ships bridge, I wasn’t doing anything just sitting there watching. From what I had heard that the Federation fleet only had seven ships left, including the Ark, all in the port. Also apparently the fleet could not tell what was happening outside the port, so everyone was worried. I stood up, I needed to go for a walk. I walked around the ship, it was a large ship. I guess it must have been a top secret project, which would explain why I hadn’t heard about it. I eventually found the mess hall, when I saw the trays of food I realized how hungry I was, so I grabbed a tray and sat down at a table.

After a while Hikari walked in to the mess hall and joined me. “Aren’t you meant to be looking after that pilot?†I asked her. “He woke up and the doctor took over for me†she replied as she started eating. “Who was that?†I asked curiously. “That was Pilot Officer Raxtion Handler, he was piloting a grey and black machine before†she said, I couldn’t help but stop eating. “That was him?†I asked, thinking back to the battle earlier, that machine had been his. “Is he alright?†I asked
“Apparently he launched with out his helmet and when he got shot down by a Hound he hit his headâ€
“Hound?â€
“The main machine of the empire, it’s called a Hound†she said shaking her head at my lack of knowledge. I sighed, so Josh piloted a purple Hound, I would have to keep an eye out for him. “So where is Mia?†I asked Hikari. “Warrant Officer Sertance? Why, do you have a crush on her?†she asked teasingly. I went to reply but Relena walked in “Who does Alastor have a crush on?†she asked. “Mia Sertance†Hikari said before I could reply. “I don’t have a crush on her, I’m just worried that’s all†I said to them, they looked at each other unconvinced, I sighed in defeat.

I walked out of the mess hall and down a corridor. I still didn’t have any sense of direction on the stupid ship. I finally found the corridor that lead to the room they had given me, heading down towards the room the red haired pilot from before, now that he was awake I could see he was about twenty and also had red eyes, which where a little unsettling. “Um, hi†I said to him.
“Yo, how you feeling?†he asked in reply, is casual tone caught me off guard. Being a pilot I though he would be emotionless or blood thirsty, but he seemed so normal. He came up and held out his hand. I slowly shook his hand, he seemed so trustworthy. “So you will be the one kicking me out of my room tonight?â€
“This is your room?â€
“Yeah, the new captain requested I loan it to you for the night before your sent back to the colony tomorrow†he replied. I stood there in disbelief; my mother had agreed to let me volunteer for the military and I even signed the documents to volunteer.

I backed away from him and ran away, I had to find my mother and find out why she was doing this to me, after she had said yes here she was leaving me behind, again. Running threw the ship my anger was starting to boil inside me. When I eventually reached the bridge my mother was sitting in the captain’s chair. “What the hell!?†I yelled at her, she quickly turned to face me. “Alastor? What’s wrong?†she asked nervously.
“You’re leaving me behind! Why? I’m a soldierâ€
She sighed in relief “You are a cadet, not a soldier. An inexperienced cadet has no place on this shipâ€
“What about Hikari? Is she being left behind?â€
“No, she is coming with us, because she is already trained in the basics of her role. You on the other hand have no experience. So you will stay here for three days and then get a transport to Luna HQ†my mother said to me. I felt disappointed, I though I was finally getting a chance to help my family, help find my father and yet I was being side stepped again. Walking back to the room that had been leant to me on my own felt depressing. Signing up for the military, the attack, finding my best friend and being shot felt like it had been over the course of a week and not a single day. When I finally reached the room I jumped on the bed, I felt so tired and exhausted I was asleep in no time.

I woke up in my familiar comfy bed. Everything seemed like it had been a dream, I would have believed it if it wasn’t for the bandage around my shoulder. Looking around the room I could see the uniform I had been wearing on a coat hanger on my computer chair. I yawned as I walked down stairs, I could hear the TV on as I walked, I could also hear voices down in the living room. “Hello†I said as I walked into the living room, Raxtion sat in an armchair watching the TV while Mia was asleep on the sofa. “Ah, what are you two doing here?†I asked curiously “The Ark left this morning.â€
“We are your body guards until you reach HQ, so we though we would make our selves at home†Raxtion replied
“How many of you are there?â€
“Four, Jean Londo and Amy Denarius are on our shipâ€
“Wait, if we have a ship why are we waiting?†I asked, it seemed like simple logic.
“You have friends don’t you? Aren’t you going to say goodbye?â€
My friends, I had forgotten all about them, it seemed like they almost existed in a different world. “So, you will be heading to school today†Raxtion continued.

Walking to school felt weird, even though there had been a battle the other day everything seemed normal, at least the buildings did. The people hurried to where they needed to go and groups of people where huddled together as they went past. School on the other hand was full of talk. Everyone sounded excited about what had happened the last few days. I found my group of friends, Taylor Anastasis, Emma Baxter, Megan Haw and Anna Law. “Hey Al, where were you the other day, you missed the battle at the Federation base. I mean we got a good view from the top of the building†Taylor said as I walked over to them. “No, no I didn’t miss it†I told to him as I joined them. We started walking to our class “So you watched the battle?†Megan asked as we entered the class room. We all sat near each other “Watched it? I was part of it†I told them. They didn’t get a chance to respond because of the teacher entering the class but they all looked concerned and kept shooting glances at me.

As soon as class ended I rushed out of the class before the others and went straight to the buildings roof, out usual hangout spot. I looked out across the colony, smoke rose up from the Federation base and I wondered if anyone was there or if it had been abandoned. I felt a hand on my injured shoulder. “What happened?†I heard Emma ask. “I saw Joshâ€
“What? Josh as in the wired kid that used to hang out with us? That Josh?â€
“Yeah, he was piloting an empire MHW. I saw the battle up close, I ran threw the battle, hopelessly ran threw it. I was powerless to do anything†I said, my voice filled with guilt. Turning to face her I couldn’t see the others, where they spying on us? It didn’t matter at the time, I was lost in though.

“So what happened?†she asked me. “Oh, I got shot†I said casually, she seemed bothered by the way I treated the fact but to me it felt so small compared to everything else. “Why are you here?†Emma asked.
“What? You don’t want me here?â€
“No, I mean why did you come here? Why aren’t you resting at home or in the hospital?â€
“Because I’m here to say goodbye to everyoneâ€
“Goodbye? Why?â€
“Because I am going to fightâ€
“Oh, that’s why†she said as if she was in a trance. She took a few steps back “Why? Why are you going to fight? Josh is fighting, Relena is a pilot and Hikari isne. So why do you have to go and fight?†she asked desperately, she started to tear up, it was heart wrenching to watch, it only made it worse that I couldn’t make her feel better. “It’s my choice†is all I could say to her “Please don’t tell the others†I asked of her, I felt selfish for asking her but I suddenly didn’t want another reaction like Emma’s. ​