Naoka was numb when she received word at first Pei was overdue and then of her death. They found her frozen corpse near death rock and brought it back to Io Station. She was fuming inside, but knew the traditions of her fellow sisters and she already sacrificed Pei many years ago on Triton, her death was merely delayed.
But her personal anger was towards her daughter Mei who made her own bargain with the daughters of Olivia to choose Felicia over me. She knew that eventually her time would come to pass as well, but had fallen in love with her charge and did everything to assure she would be the lone survivor of Ninya's bloodline.
Naoka warned her that neither Enya nor I were dead yet. I had been bartered with by Sophia and the others to prepare for the coming war with the mechanical brain and his Loyalist followers. Mei made it clear she would not accept any other alternative that did not include Felicia being the survivor and would do everything at the disposal, even defying her own mother and sisters.
She agreed to a new bargain and instructed Mei that she would have to eliminate Enya and that would be that. Neither of them expected she would survive as Enya had grown into a very capable sister marine and to assure a successful assassination, she would destroy the stealth ship that they would both be placed on for a new mission to Despina.
Mei was to leave immediately and arrived on the same ship captained by Lydia. Enya was onboard and they were briefed on the important mission to Despina. There had been no contact for some time and relations between the sisters and the Proto-Artesians were strained. Onboard, Enya became more acquainted with the sister of her mentor Shil Yun. She was already aware of her intent and invited they make for a duel at their earliest convenience.
They were both pleased that it would be more fair to be aware of Mei's treachery. To show she was ready and had no remorse, she let it be known she had killed her own mentor. Enya had suspected for sometime the entire Linst clan were treasonous and she would take them out one-by-one. After Mei it would leave only 2 surviving daughters of Naoka, but at least she would be tied with Anna Three on body count.
Enya hoped this revelation of Shil Yun's death would enrage and possibly imbalance her. Naoka already knew of her death and was her reason to agree to send Mei on this foolish task. She didn't want to risk her other favored daughters for someone as worthless as Mei, even more worthless than Pei.
She smiled, she could sense the anger welling up inside. They readied their blades and began pacing the small room. Mei lunged first and clashed, Enya deftly moved more quickly and slashed the back of her suit, leaving a deep gash. Mei reached for her side and felt the dripping blood. She screamed and lunged again.
The door to the room opened as Lydia and the other sister marines rushed in. They separated the two and sent Mei to the infirmary to be patched up. Lydia sat down with Enya and she had suspected Mei's treachery, but now had proof and assured she would be dealt with after their return to Mars. They placed Mei in suspended animation as the ship arrived and began orbiting Despina.
Lydia and several sister marines accompanied Enya by a small shuttle on the far side of the moon. They could sense no activity and other than the power signature of the nuclear core, they sensed no living beings. Finding an exhaust hatch, the sister marines entered and made their slow crawl to the main labs. An overwhelming stench was confirmed as they found hundreds of dead bodies huddled in various parts of the lab. The floors were still sticky with dried blood and it seemed like some remnants of a recent massacre.
Bullet casings were strewn everywhere and someone had hastily executed all the scientists and support staff. Nearly 300 people. The eerie glow of a blue liquid near the center of the room rested the cybernetic brain in a glass vat. Enya felt it first and the brain communicated by Hsiang's interface it addressed her as my sister and warned me not to linger for long here. He asked for only one favor to be disconnected from the life support machines and allowed to finally die.
Enya instinctively reached for the cables and felt the brain brighten with anticipation. She stopped and then asked what had happened here. It grew angry and refused to speak anymore with such lowly creatures. Enya smiled and walked away, with the brain increasingly despondent and in a rage demanding they kill him. She laughed and told him to kill himself.
The sister marines delved into the computer systems were able to find out what had happened. A virus in the form of tiny worms had infected several researchers then spread quickly. The Proto-Artesian military stepped in at the last minute and killed everyone, then for added measure they killed their own soldiers before departing, destroying their shuttle.
After completing their reconnaissance, Lydia ordered everyone back to the ship. Lydia assured Enya she would make sure Mei was punished. No sister marine should ever betray their own. As the shuttle docked, there was a bright flash and Mei's bomb that she was still carrying on her body detonated. She had set a timer during the fight to ensure even in death, she would succeed. The shuttle was blown from the hanger deck and began spinning wildly towards Despina.
With a struggle, Lydia seized control and made a hard landing back on the lab hangers. They watched as the wreckage of their stealth ship disappeared in the bright explosion. Lydia and the others were a little shaken, but unharmed. They decided to find safe quarters and find a way to contact another sister marine ship for help.
No comments:
Post a Comment