29 November 2015, New York Time Square
"Everyone down! We got a gunship incoming! And someone take down these dropships coming from the flank!" Yelled a Blackwatch officer, just as three sleek, silver aircrafts flew overhead and dropped eight capsules each. Smoke and debris were thrown into the air as they impacted the ground. In seconds three black figures rushed out of the smoke and dashed towards the nearest soldiers. Right behind them four aliens carrying shields and energy spears walked out slowly, giving cover for another nine grunts, all wielding pulse rifle. The Blackwatch soldiers tried their best at pushing the incoming assault squad back, but were unsuccessful.
Some of the soldiers at the higher ground tried sniping the incoming aliens, but they forgot about the gunship flying overhead. Very quickly they were pushed back behind cover as the aircraft opened fire with several scatter missiles that obliterated the building they tried to hide in. Back down on the streets the soldiers were pushed back behind the makeshift walls they build. The officer that was yelling commands to his subordinates met a swift end to his life when a massive blue crystal impaled him and threw him several feet back. The culprit of the attack was a Ceph Mastermind that was leading the attack. He spread his arms and the crystals that were encircling him turned towards the soldiers and launched. All impacted the walls with such force, that some actually penetrated them and killed the humans hiding behind. The massive Ceph made a quick gesture and more crystals materialized around him. It spread its arms again readying to launch his projectiles again, but a sudden sound of someone whistling a calming tune brought him to a abrupt stop. All the Ceph soldiers lowered their weapons and saluted. The Mastermind turned around and bowed its head to the approaching figures. Flanked by two insect like humanoids, was a group of some humans lead by a young girl wearing a plain civilian outfit reminiscent of a school uniform and a small silver crown on her head. Her long pink hair were a feature that confused some of the soldiers. Following her was another, much younger girl that was wearing a matching, yet darker outfit to the one worn by the leading one. Flanking the small one was a hulking armored monstrosity of a Evolved and a boy wearing a plated armor and black cloak. Just as they reached the Mastermind the girl stopped whistling her song and opened her eyes which were red as blood. Only now did the humans notice that all of them had horns on their heads.
"Lilium. A beautiful tone isn't it? Some say that it calm down even the most ravenous beast." She said and looked towards the human soldiers. All of them were scared and confused. And all of them were aiming their weapons at them. "Now, now gentlemen, let's not be aggressive. I just got here." She said and out of nowhere, their weapons simply crumbled into pieces. Now completely defenseless, the humans raised their hands into the air, signaling their surrender. "Good. Now, we are looking for a person called Saito Kurama, so I suggest that you tell us where he is and we might just let you go." At first they were hesitant to answer her, but a growl coming from the Mastermind quickly changed their minds.
"He is held in the prism, our fortress on the isles! They force him to do research for us or something!" Said one of the grunts, earning a wide smile from the girl.
"Thank you! Our search will be much easier now. Soldiers, kill them." She ordered and watched as the Ceph raised their weapons and the Mastermind prepared his crystals for launch.
"Wait! You promised you would let us go!" Screamed one of the soldiers with clear fear in his voice.
"I promised you nothing. Besides I hate Blackwatch. Serves you right" She said while smiling even wider. She raised her hand and lowered it signaling the Ceph to fire. One of the humans managed to survive and dashed towards her grabbing her by the hand with a pleading expression.
"Please! I have a wife and ch..." He could not end his sentence as his head exploded, painting both her and her surroundings in blood and gore. She closed her eyes and winced at the bloodbath she was offered. She looked down at her younger companion and shivered at the sight of her sadistic grin.
"Do not touch my queen you dirty pig." She said and walked off followed by the boy and the Evolved. Kaede sighed at that and turned towards the general direction of the Prism. The time has come for the first siege of this war to begin
Meanwhile, rooftops
"Since when do the squids listen to human girls?" Asked a hooded man while looking down at the scene unfolding beneath them. A fully armored Blackwatch soldier approached him and rubbed his chin trough his gas mask.
"Looks like something changed. Also they have some new weapon that can explode people." He pointed out as he saw one of grunts below get ripped to pieces literally by air. "I say that for now we leave them be. If they become hostile, remember our deal." Said the man as he pushed a small button on his gauntlet. His suit then slowly turned nearly invisible and he walked away. The hooded man nodded and dashed towards the other end of the roof.
"We shall soon see how strong you are, little wasp."
Later. Central NYZ Hive
"Absolutely not. We cannot risk your wellbeing just to save one human."
"He is not just some human! He is my dad!" Yelled Mariko towards the avatar of the reapers. The insect raised one of its arms towards the small girl as she was enveloped by bright yellow aura. She was then lifted off of the ground and slammed into the ceiling.
"We are not talking to you, pup." It then started to slowly squeeze its grip, but then the arm was simply cut off by the useable force of the Empress.
"Enough! I order you to let her go!" Kaede yelled at the insect. It screeched in something akin to fear and allowed the girl to drift back to the ground. "I will go and you have no say in this matter." The collector scowled.
"Normally you would have been correct, and your single order would have been able to override any of our basic programs. However, this time it is different. Till the invasion, the Ethereals allowed us to do anything that is necessary to hold you here with us. Attacking the Prism facility will be a huge undertaking, and we already allowed a huge change in our plan to occur by letting you travel to New York and assisting the Ceph in their campaign. No more changes can be allowed for your safety."
"Then she will never truly rule, Dark Machines." Said a distinct voice, with a strong cracking accent. Kaede turned to see who was speaking, and to her astonishment, she saw the huge figure of a Ceph Mastermind looming over her. It walked slowly towards the avatar with its four arms crossed behind its back. "To rule, one must be both strong and wise. At the moment she has both these qualities, but she needs to prove them to her subordinates. My kin are already untrusting of her orders, believing her to be unworthy of ruling." It spoke again calmly while gesturing with one of its tentacle like arms. The collector narrowed its eyes and looked right at the new comer.
"And who you might be to know the virtues of a true leader?" Asked the reapers while carefully watching every movement the creature made. It made a common Ceph salute of slamming one of its tentacles into its chest plate and bowing its head.
"High General Overlord As'mu Kel. I was leading the entire New York campaign and was handpicked by the Alpha himself to oversee this operation. Of the notable battle you might have heard off, I devised the strategy that won us the battle of Ishkaar during the Dark Wars." All the reapers instantly realized who they were talking to. The infamous battle that cost them thousands upon thousands of capital ships during the Ceph harvest. If this was truly him, then they were talking to a walking legend among the Ceph people, the right hand of the Alpha, and the most powerful psionic of their race. "To prove her worth to my kin, she has to lead the assault. She has to be wise in her decisions, and strong in face of danger. Not cower behind you like a scared kid she is not. By the orders of the Alpha, our craftsman have already forged the best piece of armor for her and her pupil." He said and motioned towards Mariko who was still laying face first on the ground.
"She is not prepared for a true battle scenario, she cannot be allowed to..." The Kel shook his head and pointed towards her.
"So she is going to be just your puppet? The glorified Empress that is told to save us all from destruction will just be used as a symbol? An icon? I do believe she has her own opinion. Does she not?" He turned towards her and lowered his head so that his eyes were on the same level as hers. "Tell me child. Are you ready to lead? To fight for your people and their freedom? Are you or are you not?"
"She does not have to answer to you. Her safety is our priority and she must sta..." A loud sound of cracking armor, bones and ripping flesh could be heard as Kaede snapped her head in the direction of the collector. Mangled and broken, it turned around and let out a ear shattering scream as it turned into dusk from the damage it took.
"I know you can hear me so listen up! I'm not your pet or puppet that can be ordered around! I have my free will and I am supposed to lead here not you! So you will now listen to my orders as I storm the fortress of our enemies with my troops! I do not need your approval!" She then turned towards the Mastermind who looked slightly amused. "Take me to the armory and notify the siblings about our mission." The Ceph smiled at that order.
"Per order, my Empress."
30 November 2015, 0:29 Roosevelt Island, Outer Perimeter of the Prism facility
When the shuttle finally landed and the ramp opened, she was greeted by the sigh that could be considered hell by some. The outer walls of Blackwatch main base of operations in NYZ were stormed by hundreds of Ceph troopers. Human soldiers were desperately trying to stop them, but even the high tech walls of the facility and automated heavy machine guns were not able to stop the horde of Alien troops that used their superior strength and agility to simply jump over the human fortifications and then use them against the original defenders.
After seeing her, some of the remaining human soldiers opened fire and tried to kill her. Concentrating, she raised her vectors and caught all the bullets mid air. With a swing of her arm she turned the projectiles by 180 degrees and launched them back towards the hostile soldiers. Stunned by the display, the soldiers had no time to react and were shredded by their own bullets. After that, she heard a metallic clapping behind her. She turned her head to see Kel standing there, surrounded by metal shards and crystals that levitated around him, clapping at her show of strength.
"Great show milady. You really know how to make a assault on human fortifications interesting. I must also say that you look very graceful in that suit of yours." He said with a tint of amusement in his voice. She had to agree with him, the armor the Ceph scientists and craftsman made for her looked rather good and fit very well with her figure. It consisted of a skin tight black suit, additional armor pieces made out of the same light metal all Ceph Exo-Skeletons were made out off, a long white sleeve and some metal plates for her left hand and additional plate armoring for her right hand, a black skirt with additional metal plates attached to it, long black cloak that was attached to her shoulder pads and a very futuristic gas mask that fitted tightly with her head. It was made so that it looked a little bit like a cat's head, which she liked. The mask was also made so that her long pink hair could flow freely from beneath it. The visors gave her a very simplistic HUD, showing her information like her heart rate, state of the suit, a simple colorless map of her surroundings. It also highlighted allies and hostiles so that she could see them trough thin walls and on the map. She must admit, the Ceph knew what they were doing designing this thing. Not only was it comfortable and did not limit her movements one bit, but it also enhanced her strength, agility, perception and concentrated her powers. She felt much more powerful and could easily control her vectors. She looked towards the general and gave him a big smile under her mask.
"Thank you for the compliment. Now what's the plan?" The Ceph tilted his head slightly to the right and chuckled.
"I was assigned to lead this invasion, but I hoped that you will show us how you can lead. So unless the situations is strongly in our disadvantage, I will allow you to freely give orders to our forces." Kaede was slightly taken aback by that comment. She would have to lead the entire assault? Well this is going to be hard is it? She concentrated, and connected herself to the Ceph hive mind. After that was done, she scanned the battle field and memorized all unit types that were at her disposal. Alright, she had at least two hundreds of both Grunts and Stalkers, three dozen Paladins, several Brutes, four Gunships equipped with anti-land weaponry, approximately sixty Scouts, more than a hundred Drones, Two Pingers and one Hunter. The perimeter wall was already breached and taken over by her forces, but the second line of defense was much more heavily fortified. From what she knew, they had multiple AA guns stationed all over the second wall, multiple artillery posts, sniper towers and dozens of automated HMGs all over it. If they used the same tactic of brute force, a lot of her soldiers would die assaulting it. After several minutes of thinking she turned towards the general and smiled under her mask.
"I have a plan."
1:04, Second line of Defense of the Prism facility
"Sir we've got company! Seven squids have been sighed inside the far side building!" Said one of the soldiers while rushing towards the HMGs to calibrate them for combat. Commander Lockhard looked outside of his window and saw multiple soldiers rushing towards the front wall. What were these fucking aliens trying to accomplish? They have tried assaulting this facility for some years now and they always failed. Maybe they had something new that might tilt the tide of war to their favor. Suddenly, a massive quake rocked the entire facility, followed by the all to familiar screeches of the alien armored vehicles. He turned his head slightly to see two Pingers walking out of the water on the side of the facility.
"Attacking from the flank I see? Redirect all soldiers there and bring these fuckers down. I want the wall intact do you hear me?!" He yelled at his subordinates. Clearly afraid of their commander, they saluted and rushed towards the incoming, walking tanks that were the Ceph tripods. Lockhard however had no idea this was just a distraction. From the other side of the complex, alarms rung out as several dropships and Scouts flew overhead and dropped multiple Drones, Grunts and Stalkers. He wanted to make small change in his plans and divide his forces in two so that they can deal with both groups of foes at once, but before he could give orders to his soldiers, a explosion obliterated the front part of the wall. He looked towards it and to his shock he saw a very pissed off Hunter ripping his forces to shreds.
"Medic!" Shouted one of the wounded soldiers, right before he was stepped on by the hunter. Roaring, it launched its singularity canon at one of the more persistent automated turrets. The explosion quickly took it out, alongside a major part of the wall. It then turned left, just to be hit with several RPGs right in the face. Roaring, the pilot clicked several buttons and watched with the closed thing to a smile he could muster, as the machine opened its mouth and fired two bright blue beams at the hostile troops. When the icy mist created by the impact subsided, ten human ice statues could be seen, as well as the entire part of the wall they were standing on being covered by frost and ice.
Below several Stalkers rushed forward, striking down any soldier that was still alive after the Hunter took down the wall. With deadly precision, they took out every single one of them with controlled bursts from their MOACs and stabs with their wrist mounted claws. Following them were several Grunts accompanied by two Paladins. Suddenly, four survivors of the attacked jumped from behind cover and sprayed enough lead to tear the unlucky Grunts to shreds. Reacting quickly, the Paladins jumped back and activated their energy shields, blocking all the shots while slowly advancing with their spears drawn and ready for combat. Uprepared for this turn of events, the Blackwatch soldiers tried to run away, only to be exploded as Mariko jumped down from the Hunter right in front of them. She then unleashed her vectors and carefully, not to harm any firendlies, she launched a massive assault at one of the towers the enemy soldiers used as cover. Withing seconds the walls became so damaged, the tower simply crumbled under its own weight, killing dozens of Blackwatch soldiers. Smiling, she grabbed a red barrell that stood next to her and hurled it towards another ground of foes. They were killed nearly instantly by the resulting explosion.
"All soldiers retreat towards the Prism facility! I repeat! Retreat towards the Prism facility! That is a order!" He yelled into the microphone. He then grabbed his rifle and turned around to shoot a Stalker that managed to get into his office. To his surprise, the bullets bounced off of a invisible barrier that surrounded the alien. Thinking quickly, he grabbed his knife and ducked just in time to evade a blade that the squid had attached to its armlet. He then used the opening and imbedded the knife into the creatures throat. It shrieked in anger and delivered a powerful kick to his stomach. It then took out the knife from its wound and dropped it to the floor.
"Regards from our Empress." It said in broken english, before jumping out of the window and clicking something on its bracelet. A quiet pinging was the only thing that warned him about the grenade it left behind. Lockhard screamed in anger before following the alien and jumping through the window. Following only few seconds after, a massive blue explosion devoured the office he occupied just seconds ago. When he finally hit the ground he felt a burning pain extending through his entire arm. He looked at it to, just to see it being bend out in a unnatural way. He hissed trough his teeth and looked up after he heard a roaring sound of engines and felt the ground tremble beneath him. He was horrified to see a Ceph spire rising from where one of the sniper towers was a few seconds before. He then heard some saying something in language that sounded a lot like japanese. It also had a female voice, so that could not have been one of the aliens. He turned his head left, to see a feminine humanoid approaching with a Ceph Mastermind fallowing closely behind. She then looked at him and realized he was still alive. She approached him slowly, and then everything became dark in matter of seconds.
"Gomen'nasai..."
"Sorry..." She said and made a hard swipe with her vectors, cutting every single neuron and blood cell in his brain causing him to die instantly.
"Why did you apologized to him milady?" Asked Kel as he approached the corpse. Seeing the Blackwatch badge and Commander insignia, he realized who the men was, and left him where he died. He had no interest in honoring a trash like him.
"I simply pains me to take a life." She said and turned towards the Hunter that was now finish its job of annihilating any heavier defense the humans might have set up. "Still, it was much easier than I though."
"Superior technological edge give a massive advantage. That's how the Dark Machines managed to beat us. When you have weapons that are hundreds of years more advanced than your adversary, even the simplest of tactics will work perfectly." He said while holding one of the carbines use by the humans. "Crude contraption." He grumbled and threw it away.
"Okay, how long do we have till the Spire fires?" She asked while still looking at the Hunter.
"It has still not even been primed. I will activate the countdown after you and your squad enter the building, then you will have ten minutes to find doctor Kurama and give him one of our gas masks before the entire area becomes a complete dead zone for any human." He answered and started to slowly walk towards the entrance.
"How large is the kill zone?"
"Any human within the radius of one thousand seven hundred fifty seven meters that will take a single breath after the span of half a minute will die nearly instantly due to heavy bleeding, problems with breathing and severe necrosis. The Spore Spires were designed to deliver several times the lethal dose of our spores in as little time as possible. A perfect bio-weapon if you ask me." He then looked back at the corpses of Blackwatch troopers that were piled up near the entrance. "Thought it takes the honor in the fight." He said and walked away to attend to his duties. He was too big to fit into the building. Besides, it was the Empress job, not his.
1:27 Prism Facility Office levels
"Whatever happens do not let any of these squid bastards to get anywhere near this door! Am I clear?!" Yelled a Blackwatch officer to his subordinates. The six rookies trembled and saluted.
"Yes Sir!" They yelled in unison, tough all of them were scared shitless of what was about to happen.
"Good! Now you stay here while I try to unfuck the situation. Though with how hard Lockhard screwed up, I do not think the situation can be saved." The Officer then walked into the room and the six of them were left alone.
"Dude we are so fucked right now. I don't think we can kill even a single squid, yet a full army of them." Said one of the rookies manning the MMG.
"Stay positive man. We got to do our job and we all are going to be fine." Said the other one cleaning his rifle.
"Hell you are optimistic. At least there are no evolves here." Just as he said that a loud roar echoed through the corridors and a massive armor covered beast walked out from behind the corner. "Well shit. I stand corrected." He said and all six of them raised their weapons. The beast looked towards them, and its fanged mouth warped into a cruel smile. It hissed at them and let out a girlish giggle, before dashing towards them at enormous speed. All the soldiers opened fire, but the bullets either jumped off of the monstrosities armor, or stopped mid flight and fell to the floor. Before it reached them, they managed to see three other figures walking out from the hallway. A boy, a girl and small kid, all wearing some kind of a alien armor. Then a bloodbath began and the corridor was painted red by the human entrails that went flying everywhere as the creature tore into their flesh.
Kurama tensed up when he heard the noises of ripping flesh and breaking bones on the other side of the door. This is not how the Ceph fought. They used rifles, shotguns and SMGs, worst case scenario wrist blades. No, the ones fighting their way in were the Evolves, the living embodiment of the most dangerous bio-weapon ever created. It was created long ago to fight the aliens, but after Mercer released it on Manhattan, they learned that they never truly controlled it. It was supposed to be harmless to humans, but turned out to be the complete opposite. The only disease more deadly right now are the Ceph spores and they are theorized to be created as a response to blacklight. Suddenly, the doors burst open as a body of a dead soldier flew inside. Wait these wounds. They are too precise. Only one thing could have done this.
"Shit! We've got Diclonii here! Sound the alarm and open the valves!" He heard one of the soldiers scream. He confirmed his suspicions. If the Diclonii were fighting here what did it meant? Did the Ceph release the test subjects from the lower floors? Or was this a completely separate event of a containment breach? His train of taught was cut short by a explosion rocking the room. He looked back to see one of the walls completely obliterated by something. Now he was sure that he was dead. From one side angry Diclonii that were most likely after his blood and from the other, three Ceph grunts, shooting the remaining guards.
"You smell familiar..." He heard a distorted, feminine voice coming from behind him. He turned very slowly and felt a chill running down his spine when he saw a mouth full of very sharp fangs and two pairs of bloody red eyes. "Are you Saito Kurama perhaps?" Asked the creature and licked its claws clean of fresh blood that most likely came from the soldiers it killed. He nodded slowly, too afraid to say anything.
"Daddy?" He heard a voice of small girl ask from behind the monster he was facing. It smiled devilishly and stepped aside, revealing a girl covered in a metallic armor with pinkish highlights. The girl sobbed and quickly threw away her mask to reveal...
"Ma-Mariko?" He asked with pure shock in his voice. Tears running down his cheeks as the girl dashed towards him and threw her arms around his neck.
"Daddy!" Screamed the girl. Smiling he hugged her tightly and started to slowly rub her head.
"It's okay pumpkin. I missed you so much." He said with tears filling his eyes. He then looked up slowly to see the monster still kneeling beside him. It was watching the scene with amusement and... sorrow...? Even though it's terrifying body dwarfed him and it could easily kill both of them with one swing of its arm it simply watched silently.
"Hate to interrupt this heartwarming reunion, but we have to go. The spore will annihilate any living human in this facility in matter of two minutes." Said a male voice from behind the creature. It turned its head and nodded. It then raised up from its kneeling position and slowly walked up towards the exit, alongside three Ceph troopers and a cloaked figure. One more diclonii walked up to them and took of its mask. It was a rather young woman with long pink hair and a fair complexion. Her red eyes however, were full of hide sorrow that he could easily spot.
"Mariko go with the others, you will have the time to talk with your dad after we are safe." The girl tensed up and hugged him tighter after she said that.
"But I want to stay with daddy!" She screamed with tears still rolling down her face. The woman smiled and gently touched the girl.
"Do not worry, after we get him out of here, you will have all the time in the world." She said and gave her a warm, reassuring smile. Slowly Mariko nodded and released her father from her hug. She then followed the Ceph soldiers out of the building. The woman looked at him and extended a hand to him. "Hi! My name is Kaede, leader of the Diclonius revolution. Now put this on please." She said after he shook her hand. She handed him a rather futuristic looking gas mask and put on her own. "The Spire will soon activate so you better put that on. We did not save you, just for you to die here right?" She said and waited patiently for him to follow her request. Not understanding what was happening he simply did what she said and put on the mask. Instantly he felt better and breathing became easier. "Ceph tech allows you to breath 100% clean air, that is why it might feel strange at first." She explained and pointed towards a watch on his hand. "We've got few seconds before the spire activates. When it does, take slow, deep breaths. Otherwise you might overload the mechanism and let the spores get to you." She said as she started to walk out of the room. Confused, Kurama yet again did what she told him and followed her.
"Where are we going?" He asked and the girl turned around and started to levitate backwards.
"There are a lot of my kin beneath us. I'm going to free them and you will help me."
"How?"
"Well you know the entire facility pretty well so you must know where everything is." She then clapped her hands in happiness. "So you are going to lead me to the main control panel."
1:32 Outside Prism Facility
"Run!" Screamed one of the soldiers just as a Hunter stomped him into the ground and fired a massive blue ball of energy that eviscerated a nearby armored truck. All the Blackwatch soldiers were scared shitless when the machine turned towards them and opened its maw, revealing a light blue glow that slowly grew in size and freeze air itself. However, it was interrupted by a distant roar and the ground shaking beneath their feet. It closed its mouth and turned towards a black and red spire that slowly started to glow. Suddenly another roar shook the earth and black clouds slowly began to come out of every hole in the spire. What followed was a booming sound as black clouds exploded outwards, quickly blackening the air.
At first, the less informed soldiers had no idea what was happening, until it was too late. Every single man started to feel pain radiating from their chests and started to cough out blood. Then their eyes started to slowly lose vision and bleed. Then blood came from their noses and they started to lose feeling in their legs and arms. After fifteen seconds it was all over. Every single human soldier died on the spot and fell to the ground, as the spores that got inside their blood stream began to process their bio mass into nothing more than a bloody puddle of meat and jelly.
"That was anticlimactic. I though you said that this place was actually a impenetrable fortress." Said a diclonii boy as he approached one of the corpses and kicked it, as if to make sure it was dead. Kel walked past him and said something in its strange language to the Hunter that stood there and listened to him. After hearing him out, it turned around and roared loudly before slowly walking back into the sea. The Mastermind sighed and turned to the boy.
"Before, we never had any strategic importance in this place. The two attacks you heard about were just simple raiding parties I send to check how well defended they were." He then pointed to the Spire that was now letting out whirling noises and was pumping out a lot of black clouds. "Besides, if I did not order the Spire to be fired here, we would still be trying to get inside the third defense circle, so I believe it can qualify as a fortress." Kel then walked to him and grabbed his arm lightly and placed one of his claws on the boys veins. "Just like I thought, you are one of them are you not? The undead I mean. Tell me what's your story kid? How did you and the three others ended up under the command of our Empress?" Asked Kel as he walked back and gazed upon the horizon. The boy sighed and took of his mask and hood to reveal his porcelain like skin, black eyes with red irises and a single fang poking out from under his upper lips.
"It all started after we were brought back to Lingshan. I was by all means and purposes dead, but Emily shared her memories with me so I know what happened."
Several days ago, Lingshan Litho Ship
She woke up in complete darkness, feeling cold and alone. No longer did she feel the comforting warmth of Mariko's or her brother's presence in her mind. She tried to move her hands, but she found out that she was bound to the wall by metal chains. Growling, she closed her eyes and imagined that she could see in the dark. Suddenly, her eyes felt warm, and when she opened them she could easily see everything in bright blue colors. Instantly she realized that she was contained in a small room with several tubes attached to her arms. This was all to familiar. Was this all for nothing? Was she again in the cell? No, no, no! They will not contain her again! They will not experiment on her again!
She began to shake and tears started to flow from her eyes. She then roared and turned her head towards her left hand.
"I refuse to be your test subject again!" She screamed and her arm turned into a long tentacle that slipped out of her restrains. She then used the tentacle to break the other chains and she growled as she allowed her armor to grow over her body, covering her in a massive, sturdy and protective cocoon. She then raised both her arms and charged towards one of the walls, slashing as hard as she could. Instead of the desired effect of breaking right trough, she felt her claws breaking. Slightly confused, she growled, backed off from the wall and latched at it with her tail. Yet again, instead of breaking right trough the metal wall, she felt the spikes and bones of the tail shattering into small pieces on impact. Snarling, she looked around the room to try and find any way to get out. When she finally saw something that looked like a door frame, her eyes were briefly blinded when it opened and let in massive amounts of bright light.
"Hi, my name is..." She heard someone say, but did not allow whoever it was to end the sentence. Growling she launched herself at the person, only to hit a wall seconds later. Confused, Emily shook her head and looked around. She instantly saw three squid like creatures pointing their guns at her and a young woman wearing casual clothes. "Well I wanted to avoid doing this, but it seems, you are much more beastly then Enigma though." Suddenly, Emily felt a weight of thousands of tons bearing down on her. She yelped in fear as her armor was smashed into the ground and crushed, until it dissolved and she was yet again left naked and cold. "Sorry about that." Said the woman as she yet again tried to approach her. Seeing this, Emily snarled and used her vectors to launch herself at her with intentions of tearing her throat out the second she got to her. That was plan was however foiled, as one of the squids rushed forward and brought it arm up. Seeing no option of backing out, she simply allowed herself to fly towards the creature and when she got to it, she clasped her fangs onto its arm. It shrieked and brought its arm up, but she simply dangled there, looking hatefully towards the woman.
"Thanks for that Kil'Roth." She looked her dead in the eyes. "As I was saying. Hi, my name is Kaede and I'm a diclonius just like you. Me and my subordinates brought you here after they saved you from dying during your escape attempt." She said and pointed to her horns. Emily eyes widened as it hit her. All three of them were mortally wounded, now she remembered. The last thing she remembered was falling to the ground and the sounds of strange flying machines attacking the humans. "Could you please let go of Kil's arm? He really needs it and I would like to talk to you like civilized people, not monsters as the humans paint us to be." She said and smiled towards her. It was a genuine smile, first she ever got since that faithful day she captured and closed in that facility. Finally realizing her situation, she eased her muscles and allowed the creature to take its arm out her mouth. Remembering she could not really stand, she used her vectors to ease herself to the ground and sit down. The Ceph looked at its crushed gauntlet and let out a sighing sound as it walked off with the other two squids.
"What is your name little one?" Asked the woman as she crouched next to her. Emily growled after she heard her call her little, but decided to let it go.
"My name is Emily." She said and turned her head towards the woman. She smiled and put a comforting hand on her head.
"That is a very nice name. Now come, your friends are waiting for you."
"I can't really walk you know?" She asked and looked towards her. Kaede smiled and gave her a hand.
"Then transform, I don't mind." She said and turned towards the room she escaped. "Just don't wreck another room please." Emily nodded and focused on creating herself a new body. Instantly black tentacles shot out from under her skin and consumed her, forming a completely new armor. This time however, it was much less weaponized as it was shorter and much more humanoid in nature. Her head also lacked the gaping mouth and consisted only of a armored mask, big, purple eyes and horns. After the transformation was complete she uneasily stood up and limped towards Kaede. Even in this form her legs felt weak and she sometimes stumbled, so using her vectors she tried her best to stabilize herself so as not to fall flat on her face. She looked towards her companion and saw that her expressions became much more stoic.
"Let's start with this. We saved you all these days ago, but you are the first to wake up. The youngest girl, Mariko I believe? She was hit pretty hard. She has a major concussion and she is still in a coma. She is in a stable condition so no worries." She then sighed and made Emily freeze in place when she realize what is coming next. "The boy however? Damn, it is a miracle he is still alive. The only thing keeping him that way must be his sheer determination to live and Reaper technology." Feeling tears stream down her actual face, she turned towards her and grabbed her hand.
"Please! There must be a way to save! Please save my Nii-san! He is the only thing I have left!" She yelped and fell to her knees. The woman smiled and hugged her comfortingly.
"There is a way, but you are not going to like it." Emily looked at her and began to plead again.
"Please! Anything, just save him!"
"Very well."
"Is this the only way?" She asked while looking at his body. He was in every bad condition, floating in some blue substance inside a tank with multiple tubes attached to him. His chest was also bandaged and he had a massive bloody wound on his hearth.
"Yes, we either kill him and bring him back as one of us or he is gone." Said the doctor as she wrote something on her laptop. Fearfully Emily looked at the vial and then towards her brother. Would he want this? To live as a monster like she was? Remembering all the happy times they spend together before their capture, she closed her eyes, took a big breath and handed to vial to one of the squid like robots.
"Do it." She said and watched as the robot took the vial and inserted it into one many machines that surrounded her. After few seconds, she saw the deep red liquid from the vial stream past her in one of the tubes, and into her brothers body. Slowly his face warped into that of pain, then agonizing pain until finally it turned into that full of peace. She looked towards the machine indicating his vitals and felt her hearth skipped a beat when it showed that he died. The doctor looked at it too, wrote something down and sighed.
"Now we wait." She said and walked out of the room. Confused, Emily followed her and exited the room. She entered a very wide area with one huge window, showcasing a massive pillar of pure energy. It was surrounded by dozens of very big squid robots and Ceph troopers, all going by their daily routines. She quickly caught up with Vahlen and looked her deep in the eyes.
"What do you mean wait? How long? How do we know it worked?" She asked fearfully. Vahlen sighed and began to answer her questions.
"First, transformation is a lengthy process. Takes about two to four days. Secondly, I'm a walking proof that it works." She then opened her mouth and pointed towards her two fangs. "See? Nothing to worry about."
"What if it does not work?" Emily asked.
"Do not worry, it will."
Complete darkness surrounded him as he opened his eyes. He tried to move or say something, however he was unable to act in any way. A bright flash of light blinded him for a second, before the scenery changed into that of a beautiful beach. For a moment he laid there on the sand, unmoving. He could tell that sunrise was near from the state of the sky. He turned his head slightly to gaze upon the rising sun. However, something was wrong. It was much brighter then it was supposed to be. He saw many sunrises but none were so bright that he could barely even look at them. Suddenly, the first rays of light shone upon him and instead of the comforting warmth, he felt burning sensation all over his body. Raising one of his hands he gasped in shock and pain as he saw his skin slowly turning black as it was literally roasted by the light. He screamed in agony just as he started to turn into dust.
He opened his eyes again to gaze upon a dark room, with a familiar figure sleeping peacefully in a rather comfortable bed. It was Mariko, sleeping surrounded by toys and pink sheets, sucking her thumb like a small child would. He wanted to smiled as the scene filled him with happiness. However, yet again he was interrupted by the doors slowly creaking open. He saw a dark figure wearing a black cloak walk in. He froze when he saw bright red eyes gazing at the girl hungrily from underneath the hood. With fear he watched as the figure leans down and sinks its sharp, white fangs into the girls neck. The girl winced in her sleep as the creature slowly sucked her life away. Finally, the figure rises and glances at him while taking off its hood. Xirion eyes widen in shock and pure horror as he recognizes the porcelain white face of the creature. It smiles at him wickedly, with blood still dripping from its mouth, down towards its chin and onto the floor, staining a blue carpet red.
"That's right. I'm you." It said and laughed as darkness yet again consumed him.
"Doctor Vahlen, we have positive readings." Said one of the Ceph while typing in commands into the strange computer.
"What does that mean?" Asked Emily as she looked at Vahlen nervously.
"Confirmed reading means..." She said and paused as she looked at the now moving boy within the tank. "That he lives."
Emily was still very nervous. She was now sitting here for two hours already. After they took him out of the tank they laid him in a bed and said to wait with him till he wakes up. She glanced to her right to see Mariko sitting there as well, with fresh bandages still wrapped around her head and cracked horn. After she woke up, she immediately wanted to know where the twins were. Looks like the bond between the queen and her servants in not just one sided. She thought as she looked back at her brother.
"Nii-san... Wake up already." She said with a tearing voice. Tough her voice was distorted and deeper thanks to her transformation, she still sounded a little bit like herself.
"Yeah what is taking you so long! I'm ordering you to come back to us!" Said Mariko in a commanding tone. Tough she could not say for sure, Emily thought she saw a single tear roll down the little queen's cheek.
"Okay... Okay I'm up... Jeez... My head hurts like hell..." Said a very hoarse and cracking voice. Both girls eyes widened when they turned back towards the bed and saw the boy sitting there and smiling.
"Nii-san!/Xirion!" They both yelled in joy and jumping towards him to hug the boy. For a short while they sat there happily until Xirion's expression changed and he pushed Mariko off of him. His eyes then widened and he started to shake violently. He raised his hands up to his face and yelped when he saw the white color they now were.
"What... What happened to me?!" He screamed and covered his eyes.
"What was necessary to save you..." Said Kaede as she entered the room.
"That is rough kid..." Said Kel after the boy finished his story. "How to you cope with it?" He asked and turned towards him. Xirion raised a brow at that question.
"Cope with what exactly?" He asked, not sure what the Mastermind meant.
"The hunger I mean. I heard that the undead have that urge to drink the blood of others. Besides you already told me you are afraid of biting Mariko, that is why you pushed her of off you the last time right?" He asked and Xirion sighed.
"I just try not to think about it. It's much easier to deal with it after drinking some blood beforehand. But sometimes, when she is close to me and I see her neck... I just... I don't know. It's like I was starving for days and she was the most delicious pie you can imagine." He said and cringed at the comparison he made.
"I do not have a slightest idea what a 'pie' is, but I get your point." He turned towards the city and saw some explosion near the bridge leading to the isle they were now at.
"Anyway, after that, we spoke with Kaede for some time and all three of us agreed to serve her. She appointed me and Emily as Mariko's royal guard and ordered her to be by her side at all times. So me and my sister are royal defenders and Mariko is our Empress right hand." Xirion said and slowly walked off towards his sister and the little queen he now served.
1:41, Prism holding area control room.
After reaching the control room of the facility he suddenly had some second thoughts. Right now he was helping out a diclonius that was commanding the Ceph units assaulting the facility. He was assisting not one, but two enemies of humanity at once. Mariko might be one of them, but still it did not change what they are. Homo Novus, the new strain of intelligent life that was supposed to replace humanity. And the Ceph were aggressive invaders with no moral bounds. They killed simply because they were superior and wanted earth for themselves. What if they were just leading him into a trap? Making him help them and then when his usefulness was drained, they would simply kill him? No he refused to believe that his daughter, his little Mariko would be that deprived of any morality. Ever since her birth, he taught her the value of life.
But maybe the time she spend in the lab changed her? Maybe she no longer regarded him as her father, but just as another human to kill like so many other diclonii did before her? No he had to have faith in her. He had to believe that she was not like them. That she was different. Like the one he was following. The Kaede girl was truly the exception from the rule. They encountered many soldiers along the way, yet she did not kill even a single one of them. She either smashed them into a wall causing them to lose consciousness, allowed the Ceph to take care of them or she simply used her vectors to dismantle their weapons and walked pass them. Any other Diclonius would already have killed dozens if not hundreds but she never harmed them very badly. But he knew that it was all for nothing. Even if they were left there the spores would soon kill them. The gas masks might delay it, but there was no escape after a Spire shot nearby. He was only alive thanks to the superior Ceph tech that filtered the air clean, allowing not even a single spore to enter his body.
"We are here doc! Which of the buttons opens the cells?" She asked after she walked inside and looked at the console. He took a big breath and pressed a small red button with warning signs all over it. He then input a seven letter code into a small console and turned to the girl.
"All done. What is left is to open the cells by accepting. I give you the honors." He said and walked away pointing towards a small green button near the console he input the code into. She nodded and casually walked towards the button, pressing it without any second thought. Suddenly all lights went off, replaced by alarms and blinking red lights. Kaede quickly focused and connected herself to the hive mind. She felt all the children trapped in here question their situation. Most of them wanted to kill every single human that was in the facility, while some simply wanted to get out of here. Just like Enigma taught her, she focused and yelled her commands into the minds of the other diclonii.
'Kill every human you see! Get outside as fast as you can! Follow me and you will be safe! On the surface I will explain everything!' Instantly she felt all the diclonii rearing up from their positions and walking out of their cells. Some questioned the orders, but followed them anyway. 'Huh... So the unquestionable obedience was not a joke. I actually can control them. That will come in handy. Although it feels kinda wrong...'
"Alright doc, we can go now." She said and started to slowly walk outside.
"Wait there is a thing I must do first." He said and walked past her. He approached a elevator and clicked the button to go to the lower levels. She raised a brow at what he was doing and approached him.
"What are you doing? I just ordered my kind to kill every human down there. They will kill you on the spot if they see you!" She said and grabbed his hand. He looked at her and walked into the elevator.
"Then come with me. There is a diclonii in here that I have to take care of." Kaede was dumbstruck. A human caring for a diclonii? Mariko was a different case, she was his daughter, but a diclonius that had nothing to do with him? Realizing she had no other option, she walked in behind him and pushed to button to go down with her vectors.
"What is her name?" She ask and looked at him.
"The scientist in here call her Number Seven. I however..." He stopped for a second and turned to look her in the eyes. " Nana. Let's say that she is my, adopted daughter."
Just like she thought, it was a massacre. The corridors on the lower floors were all painted red with human blood. There were body parts, bones and used up ammo laying everywhere. They even passed some diclonii that were escaping. All of them tried to actually attack Kurama, but thanks to her constant guard, the children only achieved to push themselves back from the much more superior vectors of their empress. Every time, it only took one bad look to make the diclonii shrink in fear and walk away, looking to find a easier pray. She was horrified by the age of some of the escapees. Some looked like they were younger than five and they already had to endure the horrors of the testing facility. She might never have been captured and experimented upon, but the sole descriptions provided by Mariko and the siblings were enough to be shocked and disgusted with the human race. She scanned the numbers on the walls and saw one of the cells to be marked with number 0007. They were here. Allowing Kurama to walk in first, she scanned the surroundings. They were in the light containment zone from what she could tell. however, while the other cells had metal doors and automated guns attached to the walls, this one was empty. It even had some normal windows leading out on to the corridor. This Nana had to be a very peaceful diclonii if she was kept in such low defended cell. When she walked in, she saw a plain metal room with a red half circle drawn on the floor with warning signs and five meter indications. She then looked towards the opposite wall and was horrified by what she saw. Chained by her hands to the wall and with a heavy collar on her neck, sat a young looking girl with short purple hair. She was completely naked and had several bloody bruises on her body. Looking upon the wall behind her brought her no comfort either, as it was covered in a lot of blood. There were even some streaks of the red liquid running down her chin from her mouth. Some of the wounds and bruises actually looked very recent, making her question what did their attack disturb? What kind of sick experiments were they conducting here? Kurama slowly approached her and leaned down to her face level. This caught the diclonius attention as she slowly raised her head and looked at him.
"Papa?" She asked, slightly confusing Kaede.
"Yes, it's me. Come on we are getting out of here." He said as he looked at Kaede and pointed towards her shackles. She nodded her head and broke the chains and the collar with a single swipe of her vectors. The girl weakly fell down to the floor as there was nothing more holding her upright. She must have been kept in that position for a very long time.
"Did Nana do good Papa? Nana was brave and stopped all the balls. Is this why we are going?" She asked and Kurama shook his head. Kaede noticed the way the girl talked and made a mind note to talk with him about this when they got out of here.
"No Nana, I will explain later. Now can you walk?" He asked and helped her up. Shakily she got up and took few uneasy steps.
"Nana thinks so." She said and turned towards Kaede. "Who is the lady papa?" She asked innocently.
"This is Kaede. She is like you and she is a queen like my daughter." Said Kurama as he slowly walked alongside her towards the exit.
"Really Papa?" She asked with excitement in her eyes. She then looked towards her and smiled. "Nice you to meet you! I'm Nana!" She said happily. Kaede smiled and giggled at how innocent the girl was.
"That is a very nice name Nana. Mine is Kaede."
1:52 Prism facility higher levels.
While all this was happening, a lone diclonius was walking in a dark corridor in the furthers reaches of the facility. While all the others of her kind walked together in groups of two to five for protection, she was alone. All bloodied, she walked around the facility, wandering aimlessly till she found a large door with word 'exit' written on it. With a creepy smiled she walked outside to gaze upon the clouded sky of NYZ.
"Seems like we are free Kyousuke." She said while starring into oblivion behind her. After few seconds she smiled and a metal tail raised from beneath her feet to dangle next to her face.
"Yes it's a rather nice night, I must say." She then started to walk off with the tail wagging from left to right from time to time.
"Now, let's find the nice lady that told us to go free." She chirped and walked off towards a strange looking black and red tower that dominated the landscape.
Ceph Types
Grunts - Standard Ceph Soldiers, equipped with medium exoskeleton and a MOAC rifle Mark II and basic fusion grandees.
Stalkers - Close combat specialized Grunts, equipped with a more agile light exoskeleton, two wrist mounted LMOACs and wrist mounted claws.
Paladins - The so called Royal guards of the Ceph. They appeared very recently and have been spreading havoc in NYZ. They use modified version of the Grunt exoskeleton with additional red cloak, a energy shield and a energy spear. Unlike the other Ceph troops they move slowly and incapable of big jumps or evasions.
Brutes - Specially bred clone of a normal Ceph. It is much bulkier and its skin is slightly bulletproof. It wears a Heavy exoskeleton and uses rapid fire version of a MOAC alongside a X-PAC launcher. They move slowly and can take multiple hits before dying.
Pingers - Massive siege walker created with the addition of dark machines technology. It has three legs and a massive energy core on its back. It uses heavy kinetic barriers, three fully automatic MOACs, a MOAR, Pulse Grenade launcher, EMP generator and echolocation device.
Drones - Small, squid like bots controlled directly by the hive mind. They have four clawed tentacles and a single MOAC.
Guardian Drone - Modified drone, with kinetic barriers generators capable of protecting nearby allied soldiers.
Assault Drone - Much heavier version of a standard drone. It has six tentacles, two MOACs and a MOAR.
Scout Exo-Suit - Specialized, flying exoskeleton, designed as a support and transport vehicle. It is equipped with four MOACs, one MOAR and a EMP generator.
Assault Scout Exo-Suit - More battle focused version of the Scout. It has Eight tentacles instead of six and is equipped with a additional MOAR and Gravity Bomb Launcher.
Masterminds - Leaders among the Ceph ranks, these towering aliens are equipped with a heavily personalized exoskeletons and a single MOAC on one of its four tentacles. They are the only Ceph other then the Alpha Ceph capable of using Psionics. They used them to create energy crystals they can hurl at the enemy or use the remains of their dead soldiers to create suicide bombing drones that explode upon contact with any surface.
Hunters - The most deadly Ceph machines ever build. These towering exoskeletons are equiped with ten MOACs, three MOARs, EMP generators, two X-PAC mortars and a single SINGULARITY Canon. They are capable of single handedly destroying any enemy fortifications and take a ton of hits to be brought down.
All of these units (except the Drones) have been equipped with a personal kinetic barriers generators after the Ceph Dominion joined the Sol Coalition.
There you have it guys. The diclonius at the very end is OC of my friend Ja Raiu. For those that did not get it from the description she has a metal tail attached to her spine and she is schizophrenic. If you feel like Kaede is very OOC, it's because this is a completely different universe where Kaede does not equal Lucy form Elfen Lied in terms of character. Also, please let me know if I did Nana and Kurama well enough. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you had a great time.
Have a nice Day/Night Guys,
ALien out.