Chapter 6 – Et Oblivione Delebitur (The Forgotten)
"Seigai, I have two light cruisers up ahead on either side of the drop ship," spoke Ekaril.
"Target all three of them. Take them all out in one shot if you can," replied Seigai.
The bridge was currently on alert status. Blue's battle against the Arume resumed with an attack on the Arume forces occupying the city of Wakayama. They had already taken care of the smaller craft guarding the region. The cruisers were able to take a shot before going down. After Blue's first barrage, the drop ship began dropping Gosta on the city. All three ships were destroyed before the Gosta got anywhere close to the remaining buildings.
"Tsubael, are all the opposing fighters down?" asked Seigai.
"Yes, just ours left now," replied Tsubael. Tsubael had resumed gunner duties aboard Blue, with Ekaril now flying fighters with Mari, Azanael, and Kensuke. After Mari had gotten over her fears, she slowly became a formidable pilot, much to Kensuke's chagrin.
"Very good. Stand down from battle stations. Call our birds in, and let's shift out of here, and prepare to take our next target," spoke Seigai.
Outside, a group of four fighters were flying in two pairs, having resumed their formation with the destruction of the last fighter.
"Looks like we're getting a signal to return," spoke Mari.
"I see it. We're done here anyway," replied Kensuke, "Let's go, Devil Girls."
"Am I a devil now?" asked Mari.
"Feh, you sleep with the enemy, so yeah, deal with it," replied Kensuke.
"You're just made she's a better pilot than you," spoke Azanael.
"Go fuck yourself!" Kensuke shouted, as he sped his fighter ahead of the group.
"Someone should tell him denial isn't healthy," spoke Azanael.
"Leave him alone, I'm sure his pride will heal with time, and allow him to focus on improving something other than his insults," replied Ekaril.
"Hey, Hagino, Azanael, do you see that over there?" asked Mari.
Mari had caught sight of what appeared to be three Arume women emerging from the waters. The appeared to have a few burns, but were otherwise unharmed. Ekaril and Azanael immediately recognized their uniforms.
"Gosta," spoke Azanael.
"Gosta?" asked Mari, "You mean the exploding Arume you and Tsubael told me about?"
"Yeah," replied Azanael.
"They're not blowing themselves up like they should have," spoke Ekaril, "I think it might be worth trying to talk to them."
"You wanna talk to bombs, go right ahead. I'm using you as a meat shield if they change their minds, though," replied Azanael.
"It might be best if Mari approaches them first. They'll get nervous if we're the first ones they see. Let's land on the hillside over there," spoke Ekaril.
"Seigai, to fighters, home is in the other direction, where are you going?"
"Seigai, we've pursuing a potential opportunity. Standby," replied Ekaril.
"Fine, you have ten minutes. I'm not trying to stay here long for a battle cruiser to pay us a visit," answered Seigai.
Ekaril, Mari, and Azanael landed their fighters on the hill just past the beach the three Gosta were swimming onto. Mari took the lead in approaching them. As soon as the Gosta saw them, they stood still. While Mari didn't concern them to much, the two Arume women behind them did.
"Relax, we're not going to hurt you," spoke Mari, "we're here to help you. It looks like you are injured. We can take you back to our ship to get help."
"You... you're a... Forime?" asked one of the Gosta.
"Yes, my name is Mari Wakatake. What's yours?" asked Mari.
"We don't have names," replied one of the other Gosta.
"We don't name ammunition," spoke Azanael.
Azanael's words immediately shook all three Gosta.
"Azanael, I think you scared them a little. They're not ammunition anymore," Mari said while turning her head to the Gosta," they're our friends now."
"Friends?" asked the Gosta.
"Yeah, friends. Come on, we can each take one of you," replied Mari.
The lead Gosta looked at Mari, before asking, "Can't we all go with you?"
"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you, ok?" spoke Ekaril.
"And besides that, we can only fit one of you in each of our ships," replied Mari.
"Does that mean one of us has to go with her?" asked one of the Gosta, while pointing at Azanael.
"Don't worry, she's not going to hurt you either, right Azanael?" asked Mari.
"What? Of course not. Earlier was just a slip of the tongue, is all," replied Azanael.
While still a little nervous, each of the Gosta boarded one of the fighters, and joined the trio of Ekaril, Mari, and Azanael on their trip back to Blue.
"Seigai, we're all aboard. We also have three guests with us," spoke Ekaril.
"Three guests? Hmm... I'll ask for an explanation after we've shifted, Seigai out."
Ekaril, Mari, and Azanael departed from their fighters first, to find a waiting Kensuke.
"What took you sloths so long, eye? Devil squadron ain't so..." Kensuke stopped as he saw the Gosta emerge from the fighters. He didn't hesitate to pull out one of his pistols and point them at the three.
"You three! Stay right where you are! If you move so much as a centimeter, I'll blow your heads off!" shouted Kensuke.
"Stand down, Kensuke. They're harmless. They're on our side," spoke Ekaril.
"On our side? On our side! Ain't none of you on my side. We have enough of you running around as it is. I'm not about to sit back and watch y'all take over the ship!" shouted Kensuke, "and besides that, I'd sure love to see one of you bleed in person."
All three Gosta started shaking at the looks Kensuke was giving them. Only Mari and Ekaril's soft looks were doing anything to keep them calm. It was then that Seigai entered the hanger deck. He quickly noticed the "three guests" Ekaril was talking about.
"Oh, what the fucking Hell. Seriously, explody girls? Aboard my ship? You can't be serious," spoke Seigai.
"For once I agree with you. We have enough blue-eyed devils running around here as it is," replied Kensuke, "what do you say we slit their throats, you and I. Add three more kills to the count, what do you say?"
"Hmph. I swear I can't tell if you're joking or not. Ekaril, Iet you, Tsubael, and Azanael about the ship because we needed the help, knowledge, and skills that you each could contribute. These three... well, correct me if I'm wrong, but they only skill they have is exploding, isn't it?" asked Seigai.
"While you may be true, there's something else to consider," explained Ekaril, "Gosta are meant to explode as soon as they are deployed. That's all they exist for. All they know. All they are willed to do. A Gosta that doesn't explode? Arume may call them defective, or unexploded ordinance. But I've never been comfortable with that notion. The each can come to contribute something to our cause."
"I don't have time to teach life skills to bombs, Ekaril. I need able hands ready to take care of and defend this ship. I don't need to worry about three little girls blowing a hole in my hull," replied Seigai.
"There you go. This time, Seigai isn't going to help you get what you want. Now, what say we just dump the three of them right out the hanger and into space. No need to risk ourselves with a drop-off, though I'd still like to cut one of them open," spoke Kensuke.
"What's wrong with you two!?" shouted Mari, "Don't you get what Hagino is trying to tell you. She's telling you a Gosta that doesn't explode is an ally! We need everyone we can get, right? We could always use more fighters. Or what would use them in engineering. We just lost two people there, right? We can find a place for them, so please, don't kill them, or kick them off the ship. They'll die if you do!"
"That's the idea, kid," replied Kensuke.
"It's not just that. Arume kill unexploded Gosta. It's as I said, our people in general consider Gosta as nothing more than bombs. A weapon that can't fulfill its purpose is useless to us. If you're worried about what they can or can't do, then we'll train them ourselves when we're off duty. We'll guarantee they can help us out with something," spoke Ekaril.
Seigai looked back and forth between Ekaril and the three Gosta, growling to himself at what Ekaril was proposing. He pulled out the sword he kept on his person, and pointed it at the three Gosta, before pointing it back in the direction of Ekaril.
"Damn it. Fine, you keep an eye on them. Make sure they don't explode. If they do, I'm holding you personally responsible for any damage or loss of life they cause, and it'll be your head being fed to Kensuke's blade. You got that!?" Seigai shouted.
"I understand perfectly," replied Ekaril.
"Now wait just a minute, you were ready to kick them off the ship thirty seconds ago. Don't tell me you're going soft on me!?" shouted Kensuke.
"I'm not going soft on anyone. Like I said, if they explode, someone is paying the price for it. I'll even let you do the deed," spoke Seigai, as he turned his head to Ekaril, "assuming one of them is left, of course."
"I had hoped over the past couple of months you would have learned to trust me at least a little. Perhaps it is still too early," replied Ekaril.
"Any trust I have in you has been born of the necessity for survival. Don't forget that. I may act kind towards you. I may even play the role of your friend, but at the end of the day, I care more about the rest of us than I do you. And should you become a liability to us, I will deal with you as such," answered Seigai.
"It's about time you outright said it. I don't know about Ekaril, but I could tell by the look on your face when you first met us you didn't really consider us your ally," spoke Azanael.
"I will say that we are on the same side. That much I can say with confidence. Unlike Kensuke here, while I do have an ax to grind with your people, I know who to direct my anger at. You three, up there. As of now, you are guests aboard my ship. As long as you follow Ekaril's guidance, you will stay that way. The second you do anything suspicious, you'll be demoted from guests to non-essential cargo. Got it?" asked Seigai.
The three Gosta, still overwhelmed by the argument taking place in front of them, could only nod.
"Good," spoke Seigai, as he put his sword away, "Kensuke, put the gun away for now. Keep an eye on them, but give them space."
"Feh, fine. Don't feel like cleaning up the hanger deck, anyway," Kensuke said, as he put his gun back into its holster.
"Well, now that we have that out of the way. My name is Commander Seigai Urufu. You may just call me Seigai, no need to be formal here. This is Lieutenant Commander Kensuke Nijima. He's my chief of security around here. If I were you, I'd give him plenty of breathing room. He's not exactly the biggest fan of your people. As for me, I don't generally mind if you approach me or not. I'm usually pretty friendly when I'm not acting as the commander of this vessel," Seigai said, his tone drastically changing from serious to friendly.
"Do you have a split personality, or something?" asked Azanael.
"Different sides of the same coin, Azanael. Different sides of the same coin. Who are you three?" asked Seigai.
"W-w-we... don't have names," replied one of the Gosta.
"No, I don't suppose you would. Well, come up with one. You three, take them to the med bay. Get them cleaned up and heal their wounds. That's all," spoke Seigai.
Seigai and Kensuke left the hanger deck together, while Ekaril, Mari, and Azanael took the three Gosta to the medical bay. They were able to help heal the three of them very quickly. After helping them clean up, they were able see the differences in each of them. One of them had very long, platinum blond hair, flowing down the length of her back. The other had jet black hair of the same length. The third had pale blue hair of the same length.
"Wow, you three look like you're triplets or something," Mari said.
"You're not far off. Gosta are created in massive batches from similar genetic material. There are likely many more that look just like them. It's fortunate for us they at least all have a different hair color," explained Ekaril.
"Oh, wow... so... what names... what names... I know!" shouted Mari.
The three Gosta turned to look at Mari, each feeling more comfortable around her than the other two.
"You with the white hair can be Mai, you with the black Yuki, and you with the blue Shinki!" spoke Mari.
"Hm... they're not Arume names at all, but I suppose you three aren't regular Arume. How did you come up with those names, anyway?" asked Ekaril.
"From this game I was playing while I was staying with Michi," answered Mari, "so, are you ok with the names I picked out?"
"I think Mai is a lovely name," replied the Gosta with the platinum blond hair. She was the least shy of the three.
"Shinki is a name I can get used to," replied the Gosta with the light blue hair. While she was not very comfortable with Ekaril and Azanael, she was very comfortable with Mari.
"Yuki is fine," replied the Gosta with the black hair. She was shy enough to not even feel 100% comfortable around Mari.
"Well, now what?" asked Azanael.
"I guess with give them a tour of the ship?" asked Mari.
"That's a fine starting point. I'm sure at least some of the crew won't be as hostile towards them. I'm sure Tsubael would like to meet them when she is off duty," spoke Ekaril.
"Honestly, I don't mind either," came a voice outside of the hallway. Said voice belonging to Hisoka.
"I was beginning to think all of you didn't like Arume," spoke Mari.
"Let's make one thing clear here. I don't. But I deal with it better than the other two do. Besides, I'm not trying to make anyone feel like they have to fear being shot in the back. I could always use more help in keeping the ship up and running. Do you three know anything about keeping one of these beauties running smoothly?" asked Hisoka.
"Umm... they don't really know anything. They just got names two minutes ago," replied Mari.
"Huh?" asked Hisoka.
Ekaril, Mari, and Azanael explained to Hisoka what the Gosta were, and how they were intended to be. While Hisoka was not too keen on them after learning they were the same as the girls that exploded all over Japan at the start of the invasion, after Ekaril's explanation of how Gosta that didn't explode were potential allies to them, she relented.
"Okay, so let me make sure I understand everything. You mass produce girls like these three, and all they are meant to do, basically, is breathe, speak, and blow up. Did I get that right?" asked Hisoka.
"Basically," replied Ekaril.
"Oookaaaaayyyyy... I had just figured they were suicide bombers, or something, and had chosen to do that. I never would have guessed they are that way on purpose," spoke Hisoka.
"I know it's a hard thing to understand..." spoke Azanael.
"Hard thing to understand? Hard thing to understand!? You gave sentience to bombs. That's literally one of the most messed up things I've heard!" shouted Hisoka.
"It's part of their culture. Self sacrifice is beautiful. The Gosta are the embodiment of this notion," spoke Mari.
"Oh, don't tell me you just buy right into that?" asked Hisoka.
Mari nodded.
"Right, Arume girlfriend. Ya know what, forget it. As far as I'm concerned, us letting you three live is the greatest way to spit in the face of the enemy. I'm actually more cool with you three than I was when I heard we had 'three Arume bitches' joining us, so what can we do to keep you alive... I mean, help you out?" asked Hisoka.
"That was... fast," spoke Azanael.
"Hisoka, you are, by and far, one of the best Forime I've ever met," said Ekaril.
"Thanks. Well, Tsubael will be off duty shortly, so let's all get a meal together, and figure out what we're going to do with you three," spoke Hisoka.
The group leave the med bay for the galley. They are joined by Tsubael. While the Gosta trio are again hesitant at meeting another Arume, after their interactions with Ekaril and Mari, and to some extent Azanael, they soon learn to feel comfortable around them. Eventually even Seigai warms up to the three of them, though he does occasionally remind Ekaril it's just his friendly personality coming out, and that he's still wary of them. Most of the crew's opinions range from uncaring, to mild annoyance. Only Kensuke is openly hostile towards them, but Azanael explained to them that he's that way with all of the Arume crew members. Eventually the trio became a part of the crew as much as everyone else. Azanael found Shinki had some potential as a fighter pilot, and started to train her in flying fighters while not in battle. Yuki and Mai found they were good at understanding how the ship worked, prompting Hisoka and Tsubael to teach them about the details of how the ship ran, and even sometimes allowing them to shadow the pair when they had to work in engineering. Seigai even allowed them on the bridge to learn about how to control ships systems from the ops and gunner's consoles.
After another month of hit and run battles, Seigai was ready to take his crew on a full out assault on another major target, and had assemble the senior staff to detail his plan of attack.
"Good morning everyone, I hope you're all rested. Today, it's time we finally accomplish one of the principal goals of our resistance against the Arume forces. Blue, a map if you would," spoke Seigai.
The familiar holographic map appeared. Seigai highlighted the city of Okayama.
"Here. Here is where we really start to take back our country. Here's why I chose this as our first major city to retake. If you'll remember, last month we took out the base at Innoshima. From our observations of fleet movements in the area, they still have not fully recovered from he loss of this base, and have been moving ships around constantly in the area. Whether its because they wish to avoid keeping static numbers of ships in critical areas is unknown, but we've noticed lately they've been diverting forces away from Okayama. Normally, for each major city, they have at least a single battle cruiser and a pair of heavy cruisers ready at all times. Okayama's battle cruiser has been diverted elsewhere, along with one of their heavy cruisers. Right now, a fleet of frigates and light cruisers, along with this single heavy cruiser, is all that is protecting the area. We've kept scout drones over this area, to ensure they are not setting up some kind of trap. We haven't seen any heavier ships enter the area over the past couple of weeks. We're not sure why, but we can't miss an opportunity like this," explained Seigai.
"If they have set up a formal base of operations, there's a good chance they've established some form of shipyard there. They would need places on Earth to restock, resupply, and perform maintenance," spoke Ekaril.
"That's what we're hoping for. If possible, we would like to avoid damaging these facitilies during our attack. As long as we leave enough usable, though, we would gain a decisive advantage," replied Seigai.
"They aren't going to let us keep it, even if we do take the city. Unlike the smaller cities we've freed, they're not going to just leave us alone if we take it. They don't want us to get our hands on a maintenance and repair facility," explained Azanael, "we could even potentially use these facilities to construct new ships."
"Then we could make our own little fleet, and really take the battle to them, right?" asked Kensuke.
"Well, let's get the city under our control first. I would like to take control of that shipyard, assuming they have one, but the main priority is getting our city back. We'll shift in here, where there has been the least amount of ship traffic. I'm sure we'll run into frigates and light cruisers, but nothing we won't be able to handle on our own. The heavy cruiser is going to be a fight. No doubt after we took out the one cruiser at Hiroshima they've been putting some effort into trying to anticipate our tactics. I expect this fight to be more of a slug-fest than the last one was. But we can get through this. We have superior people, superior tactics, and a superior drive to win. And we'll win once again. We commence this operation in one hour. Are there any questions?" asked Seigai.
"Shall I continue to adjust our shield modifications?" asked Tsubael.
"Yes, please work with Hisoka on improving them, so we can have the entire ship protected this time. I'd rather not have any weak points that can be exploited by even their drones. Any other questions? No? Then dismissed," spoke Seigai.
The crew went through their preparation for the start of the battle. After their latest string of victories, together with their victory last month in Innoshima, they believed they could not lose. Mari and Ekaril took the Gosta from their quarters, and kept them in a room near the hanger.
"What's going on?" asked Mai.
"We're about to go into battle against a strong opponent," spoke Mari.
"You'll be safer here than in your quarters, since this is a more protected part of the ship.
"Is there anything we can do?" asked Shinki.
"Not yet. If you keep studying, though, you will," spoke Mari, with a smile.
"Yeah, Azanael has even said she would rather fly with you than Kensuke. She's hoping you'll be ready soon," added Ekaril.
"We'll stay here for now, then," spoke Yuki.
"You should take this time to do a little studying. It might be best to take your mind off of what is going on around you. The ship tends to rock around during a heavy attack," spoke Ekaril.
"Well, I can always do some work on the flight simulator," spoke Shinki.
"Not right now, Shinki. We have to keep the hanger clear for landing and outgoing fighters. We actually put the simulators away during battle. Remember when you first came aboard? There was no sign of them, right? That's because they recess into the floor of the hanger bay during battle. It'll be okay, though. There's plenty of things you can read. This console here will let you three learn about anything you want while you're here," replied Ekaril.
"If you study really hard, we'll give you a treat when we get back, ok?" asked Mari.
"Alright, we'll do our best!" shouted Mai.
"There you go. We'll be off now. Stay safe in here, and make sure to stay out of everyone's way," spoke Mari.
Mari and Ekaril headed into the hanger proper, along with Kensuke and Azanael. The pair were preparing to launch as soon as they engaged the heavy cruiser at the center of the city.
On the bridge, the last of the preparations were completed. Seigai, Tsubael, and Hisoka took their posts.
"Attention all hands, this is the commander. Battle stations! We're about to commence the operation. Stand by," spoke Seigai, "Hisoka, prepare to shift on my mark. Three... two... one... mark!"
Blue immediately shifted to just within the city limits of Okayama. Strangely, there was only a frigate and a pair of patrol craft in the area. Blue made quick work of them, and continued on the way further into the city. On their approach, they ran into a single light cruiser, and were able to take it out without issue.
"Is it just me, or is it a little too quiet here?" asked Seigai.
"It's not just you," replied Hisoka.
"They are likely gathering their forces up ahead," spoke Tsubael.
"Are you sure about that. I don't know what your screen says, but the only ship I'm picking up in the area is the heavy cruiser, and that's it. I don't even see any support craft in the area," replied Seigai.
"Maybe they are afraid of us, and are conserving their forces for an attack against us after we have captured the city?" asked Hisoka.
"That wouldn't be standard Arume military strategy, but it's not impossible, either," replied Tsubael.
"Keep an eye on your screens. If we get jumped, we'll need to get out of here as soon as possible," Seigai spoke.
Blue finally arrived at the center of the city. The heavy cruiser was the only ship their to greet them. Blue immediately opened fire and launched all of her fighters. The heavy cruiser responded in kind. Blue began to rock from some of the heavier hits, but was otherwise okay.
"Shields at 80%. Enemy cruiser's shields are down to 60%," spoke Tsubael.
"This is going a little too smooth. I'm beginning to feel bad for them," replied Seigai.
"Shield modifications are working just fine," spoke Hisoka.
The battle continued, with Blue taking little damage, while the cruiser it was up against continued to wear further and further down. At that moment, Seigai noticed something was wrong.
"Tsubael, can you confirm something for me? The fighters all appear to be moving in standard attack patterns. Do you see the same thing?" asked Seigai.
"I do. They're all drones," replied Tsubael.
"Is this typical? For a major area like this?" asked Seigai.
"No, they should have at least a pair of manned fighters to take lead," replied Tsubael.
"This fight is a little too easy for such a big target... what's our shield status?" asked Seigai.
"70% and holding. The cruiser's shields are about to drop out. I was just about to target their reactor," replied Tsubael.
"Alright, target it and..." Seigai didn't get to finish his sentence before Blue was violently shaken from behind.
"Seigai! I have two battle cruisers aft of us, with a pair of heavy cruisers to our port and starboard!" shouted Tsubael.
"No... it's a trap! Hisoka, get us the hell out of he..." Seigai started, before Blue was violently knocked to the side.
"Damn it, call the birds back, now! Spin up the drive..." spoke Seigai.
"I can't! That last shot damaged the Emil Force Drive!" shouted Hisoka.
A look of dread spread among the faces of Seigai, Tsubael, and Hisoka. They knew what was about to follow would not be pleasant for any of them.
"Hisoka... get the Emil Force Drive back online. Tsubael, blow that first cruiser to bits. We might be able to use her explosion as temporary cover," spoke Seigai.
"I'm heading down to engineering!" shouted Hisoka.
"And I'm continuing targeting the main reactor of the first cruiser," spoke Tsubael.
"Good!" Seigai shouted, as he took the ops station. Blue rocked again from another heavy hit.
"Our shields are down to 30%, we can't take too much more of this," spoke Tsubael.
"I know, I know! Tsubael, hold your fire for just one second. I'm going to move us right at the cruiser ahead. When were within two hundred meters, open fire," said Seigai.
"We risk ramming them if we wait that long," replied Tsubael.
"I know what I'm doing. This is gonna be pretty rough. Get ready. Five hundred meters... four hundred meters... three hundred meters... two hundred meters! Fire!" shouted Seigai.
Blue's main batteries targeted the damaged heavy cruiser before them. The ship exploded into a massive fireball, but not before the tip of Blue's bow struck them, causing heavy damage to Blue's forward section. Seigai used the momentary cover of the explosion to turn the ship around, pointing Blue straight at the battle cruisers before her.
"Shields down to 25% Seigai," spoke Tsubael.
"It'll have to be enough. I'm gonna fly us right through them. This might be our only chance to escape. If I can get us in that gap between the two battle cruisers, it'll isolate us from the other heavy cruisers to our side. At that point, it's an endurance match between their flak cannons and our shields. I know it sounds crazy, but this is the only chance we have," replied Seigai.
"It's no worse than anything I could come up with. I'm going to shunt our weapons power to shields. We're not destroying them anyway; may as well use that energy for something," spoke Tsubael.
"Anything you can give me works," replied Seigai.
"I have shield strength back up to 40%," spoke Tsubael.
"Better than 25%. Hisoka! You have until the shields fail to get us out of here. At that point, we're screwed!" shouted Seigai.
"Understood. I have Ekaril down here helping me out, as well, down here. We've almost got it!" shouted Hisoka.
Blue rocked again from another heavy hit. The shot damaged one of Blue's main turrets. Blue was able to plant herself right between the pair of battle cruisers. They were left in a shooting gallery, seeing how much Blue's shields could take before failing. The bridge shook back and forth from all the fire the ship was taking. Minor explosions rocked the bridge, as some of the shots hit the commander tower.
"Shields down to 15%. One more shot like that last one, and they'll collapse!" shouted Tsubael.
"Hisoka! You're out of time!" shouted Seigai.
"We're just about there... and... done!" shouted Hisoka.
Blue rocked hard again.
"Shields have failed!" shouted Tsubael, as another explosion rocked the bridge.
"Warning, structural failure imminent," came the voice of Blue's computer.
"Shifting... now!" shouted Seigai.
Blue immediately left the area. The last couple of shots fired by the battle cruisers hit each other, though it didn't result in any damage. As soon as Blue jumped in, the bridge started to decompress slowly.
"Tsubael, let's get the Hell out of here. Blue, seal the door behind us!" shouted Seigai, and Tsubael and him ran out of the room.
All said and done, Blue was heavily damaged following the battle. She was left crippled. Her weapons systems were damaged when the main batteries were hit, following Tsubael diverting energy to the shield systems. Without shields, the damaged outer sections of the ship were effectively exposed to space, leaving the bridge uninhabitable until repairs could be made. Engineering and the hanger were the only critical areas of the ship not affected, and only because Hisoka has patched up the damage in engineering while getting the Emil Force Drive back online. Everyone was sweaty, dirty, battered, and bruised. And all of them knew they could not rest, for they were sitting ducks as along as the ship was in her current state.
"How... how did this happen? We were doing so well!" shouted Kensuke.
"I don't know. They've never been able to sneak up on us like that before. I purposefully have made it a habit not to stay in one place long enough to be tracked. They've never been able to jump us like this before," replied Seigai.
"It's those Gosta whatever bitches!" shouted Kensuke.
"Why do you always point your fingers at us! We would be just as dead if we didn't get the Emil Force Drive back online in time!" shouted Ekaril.
"And the shield modifications I worked on with Hisoka made that possible!" shouted Tsubael.
"Oh yeah, well what about that self-sacrifice horse shit you've been peddling around, huh!? Sacrifice yourselves to kill us, I bet they'd honor you as heroes!" thundered Kensuke.
"Self sacrifice is one thing, but we're not about to throw our lives away needlessly! There's nothing beautiful in that! If you even knew the first thing about us and tried to say something to us other than a pointless insult, maybe you might know that!" shouted Azanael.
"And besides that, I would never sacrifice Mari, or any other member of this crew," spoke Ekaril.
"Ok, fine, maybe you three are ok, but those Gosta? I'm surprise they didn't blow up the engines and leave us there. You think you can vouch for them, too?" asked Kensuke.
"They barely have the life skills necessary to conduct themselves among the crew and appear normal. They didn't even have names when they came aboard, and you think they were trying trick us?" asked Ekaril.
"They were just faking it, I bet! I ought to go storm that room you put them in right now, and cut all of their fucking throats!" shouted Kensuke.
"Enough! Kensuke, I've had enough of your anti-Arume sentiments for the day. Unless you plan on using insults to fix the ship, I suggest you shut your mouth, and grab a wrench. This ship isn't going to fix itself. At least not quickly, anyway. That goes the same for the rest of you, as well," shouted Seigai, "as for our guests, while I'm not exactly buying the notion they faked their innocence, I'm not so sure they didn't have some kind of tracking device put inside them, or something. Until we're sure one way, or the other, I'm placing them in the brig. Anyone else who wants to argue can join them. Now, unless you all have something else to add, this conversation is over. Mari! They trust you more than everyone else, I'll need your help in escorting them to the brig. Focus on getting the shields back up first. I at least want to be able to enter the bridge. Now, get to work."
Seigai and Mari made their way to the hanger bay. Mari explained to the Gosta that they had to take them to the brig, until they were sure they weren't responsible for reporting their precise position to the Arume. While they didn't understand at first, Mari told them that it was possible that they were doing so without even knowing it. After placing them in the brig, Seigai and Mari left them alone.
"Do we have to do this to them? They're pure and innocent. They don't deserve this," spoke Mari.
"Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not comfortable with accusing them either, but the fact of the matter is, they are the only element different from our previous battles. As much as it pains me to say this, just as we were getting to know them, I can't, as commander of this ship, trust them. I know this is hard for you to understand, but your understanding isn't necessary. As soon as we've repaired the ship, Kensuke and I will interrogate them. Once we're 100% sure they aren't working against us, we'll let them go," explained Seigai.
"If you're going to do that, then I should be there. They trust me more than either of you," replied Mari.
"No. I don't want to put you in any danger. If they truly are spies, there's a chance they could still decide to explode. Ekaril would never forgive me if I further put you in harm's way. We'll take care of it. The only thing I can promise you is that I'll do my best to keep Kensuke from harming them needlessly," spoke Seigai.
Mari didn't like hearing the work "needlessly," but she knew there was no way around it. While Seigai and his crew would work with the Arume, they could never fully trust them. After the experiences she had heard about them having with the Arume, she couldn't blame them for feeling that way. All she could do was try to help repair the ship. If she was upset over her new friends, she could always talk to Ekaril about her feelings.
It took almost a week to get Blue's shields back online. With them restored, they could finally start working in the exposed areas of the ships. The consoles on the bridge were damaged from elements in the space around the ship that had entered through the hull breaches. While Blue was able to fix some of this damage on her own, there was only so much she could do with a corrosive agent in the air. Tsubael and Hisoka began rebuilding the bridge terminals from scratch, while other members of the staff repaired the hull damage. After a month of extensive repairs, Blue was finally back at 100%. As promised, Seigai and Kensuke went to interrogate the Gosta trio. What they found left them speechless.
All three of the pure, innocent Gosta girls had been murdered.