Chapter 8 – Deceptio (Deception)
The sound of the gun had ceased, followed by the sound of metal hitting metal, and a cry of pain. The metal sound was that of a gun hitting the ground. The cry of pain came from the person who had dropped the gun. The person who was disarmed was Seigai. He was shot in the shoulder by Hisoka. Seigai grabbed his arm his right shoulder with left hand, trying to keep the white blood from being seen, but he knew just how futile his actions were. Hisoka, Kensuke, and Ekaril had seen. Seigai was not a human, he was an Arume.
"No... you... you're one them!" shouted Kensuke.
"This can't be real..." muttered Hisoka, who was already shocked at having to shoot Seigai. Seeing his blood turn white shook her to her core.
"You're... but how? We have no men," spoke Ekaril.
"Fucking hell. The swords. It's because I mixed up the swords. Damn it all. I guess there's not much more point in any of this, now, is there?" asked Seigai.
Seigai took his hand off his bleeding shoulder, and reached into his mouth. He pulled out a small device, and set it on the table. He carefully maneuvered his right arm to activate a hidden device on his arm. His appearance immediately changed. His long black hair turned stark white, and his dark brown eyes turned pure blue. He carefully took off his jacket and shirt. He was wearing a tightly wrapped band around his chest. He quickly undid it. Under it were a pair of D-cup breasts. He grabbed a bra out.
"Hey, since you all rather inconveniently shot me, it's more than a little difficult to put this on?" spoke Seigai in a female voice. It was obvious to all he was a she.
"This is some crazy fucking nightmare... it has to be... it has to be!" shouted Kensuke.
"No? No help? Fine," grumbled "Seigai," as she struggled to put her bra on, followed by her shirt and jacket.
"Who are you?" asked Ekaril.
"If I said Seigai Urufu, would you believe me?" asked the Arume woman who they all thought was Seigai.
"No," replied Ekaril.
"I suppose not. Fine. Not that it matters much now, but my true name is Tsegael. Commander Tsegael. I had your Seigai's memories and consciousness transferred into me. I know all he knew. We knew you had your hands on this ship. And we knew the problems that could pose. So, we decided we'd send someone in under disguise, let you all have a couple battles, then crush you, and force division among you. It almost worked. Kensuke already hated you, Tsubael, and Azanael. I just needed a spark to ignite the tension brewing. And then you brought those gosta aboard. Keeping unexploded ordinance around. You should know better, Ekaril. But that's besides the point. They gave me an opportunity. A scapegoat for losing the battle, and a chance to get you out of the way. Ah, but Kensuke, you just had to pick Ekaril. And I just had to go and mix up the swords. Such a shame," answered Tsegael.
"You have a tracking device in here, don't you?" asked Ekaril.
"It's not like we have another way of dealing with a ship that shifts all the time," replied Tsegael, before she opened one of the drawers in her desk. She pulled out a large, silver device. It was the size of a small briefcase, and had antennae sticking out of it.
"You have no idea how hard it was to construct this out of forime parts," Tsegael grumbled, as she handed the device over to Ekaril. The Arume woman wasted no time in smashing the device on the ground.
"I had it off, you know. You didn't need to smash the thing," spoke Tsegael.
Ekaril grabbed a gun off of the still dazed Kensuke, and pointed it straight at Tsegael.
"You're under arrest," spoke Ekaril.
"Oh, come now, ya really wanna do that? I was having fun with this conversation. Its been too long since I last heard my own voice. You have no idea how disturbing it is to sound like a stranger to yourself," replied Tsegael.
Ekaril stood her ground, keeping the gun pointed at Tsegael.
"Oh fine, be that way. Blue, run order Tsegael alpha-alpha-omega-zero," spoke Tsegael.
"What are you..." Ekaril started, as she, Hisoka, and Kensuke were knocked to the ground by Blue quickly shifting to one side. Tsegael knew it was coming, and used it as a chance to make her escape.
"Damn it, after her!" shouted Hisoka.
Hisoka and Ekaril chased Tsegael through the ship, but she had a good lead on the pair. The ship lurched again, sending Hisoka and Ekaril to their feet again. Tsegael disappeared into the lift at the end of the corridor.
"Damn it!" shouted Hisoka.
"Tsubael!" shouted Ekaril.
"Commander! What's going on? The ship keeps moving back and forth. We also just shifted back to Forime," stated Tsubael.
"Tsubael, lock down the hanger!" shouted Ekaril.
Tsubael didn't argue, and attempted to do as she was asked.
"Commander, the controls are locked out," replied Tsubael.
"Alright, can you control weapons?" asked Ekaril.
"I can't control them... wait, I can control weapons directly, but none of the targeting systems," replied Tsubael.
"There's a ship about to launch. Shoot it down!" shouted Ekaril.
A couple of minutes later, Blue's hanger opened. A single fighter flew out. Tsubael attempted to shoot it down, but only succeeded in damaging it. The fighter limped off towards its destination.
"Target is still up, but damaged," spoke Tsubael.
"Can you launch fighters?" asked Ekaril.
"I can't do anything. It's like everything just stopped working," replied Tsubael.
"Forget about getting Tsegael, let's just get the ship back under our control. We don't want to be here long enough to get caught, right?" spoke Hisoka.
"No, we don't. Tsubael, did you catch that?" asked Ekaril.
"I did. I would like to know what's going on," replied Tsubael.
"We'll explain later. Let's get our ship back first," spoke Ekaril.
Ekaril and Hisoka rushed to the engineering section, hoping they would be able to get an answer from in there. Hisoka immediately ran up to the main engineering console. She tried to activate it, but to no avail.
"Looks like she locked out this one, too," spoke Hisoka.
"Damn it. Blue, I know it might be a lot to ask, but could you please stop this?" muttered Ekaril.
"Well, since you asked nicely," came the voice of Blue. Immediately after that, the lurching of the ship had ceased.
"The console is no longer locked out," spoke Hisoka.
"So it is," Ekaril said, "Tsubael, status."
"Everything just came back up. We're about to shift away again. What did you do?" replied Tsubael.
"I asked Blue nicely to stop," answered Ekaril, "Blue, delete all traces of previously run program."
"Acknowledged," came the voice of the ships computer.
"Well, that'll help us out for now, but what about next time? There's a good chance she installed more traps like that," spoke Hisoka.
"We'll have to go through the entire system and be sure," answered Ekaril.
"That's gonna take us a least a week... I'll go ahead and get started. Sleep can wait," replied Hisoka, before she went to work going through everything at the engineering console.
"I'll go ahead and let the rest of the staff know what has happened," replied Ekaril, as she left the engineering compartment, and made her way to the bridge.
Upon reaching her destination, Ekaril called a meeting with Azanael, Tsubael, and Mari. Ekaril explained what has just happened. The three of them were shocked at what they had heard.
"So, it was Tsegael who killed Shinki, Mai, and Yuki," spoke Mari.
"And she was also the reason Blue was going crazy. Too bad I couldn't shoot her down. She could probably tell us a lot about what we're up against," replied Tsubael.
"So, what's our next move?" asked Azanael.
"For now, we stay put until we're sure Tsegael didn't set any other traps. I assume Hisoka will take command, but we'll worry about that later. We should start going throughout the ship looking for any other tracking devices. I doubt Tsegael only had the one installed here," answered Ekaril.
The other three women nodded in agreement, and began their search. Over the span of the next week, they had gone though every compartment, every maintenance shaft, and every other space a tracking device could have been located while remaining out of sight. After their search, they only found two additional devices hidden in Tsegael's quarters. They were destroyed after being confirmed. Hisoka, meanwhile, continued to go through all of Blue's systems to ensure there were no further signs of sabotage. There were not. Kensuke was a different matter all together. He had spent the entire week keeping to himself. He would not say a work to anyone, not even Hisoka. After they completed their work, all of the senior staff assembled in the conference room.
"So... now what?" asked Hisoka.
"That's up to you," replied Ekaril.
"What? Me?" asked Hisoka.
"You are the next in the command structure, are you not?" asked Tsubael.
"I am, yes, but... I feel like Ekaril has more experience than I do," replied Hisoka.
"More experience, yes, but do you really thing a Forime crew will take orders from an Arume? I don't think it wise," spoke Ekaril.
"I see your point, but... I'm not really fit to be a leader," replied Hisoka.
"Were you not in command before Tsegael returned, after you began the salvage operation?" asked Ekaril.
"I was, yes, but leading a salvage operation and leading a combat ready ship are two different things," answered Hisoka, "and besides that, I can think no better way to reverse the division Tsegael was trying to cause. If I explain to the crew that this was my decision, we should be able to avoid problems."
The second Hisoka had finished her words, Kensuke slammed his fist into the wall behind him.
"Nothing changes, and everything stays the same, eh? Just put another blue-eyed devil in charge. Oh surely that'll work out just fine. Yes, perfect. Hell, at least this time we fucking know about it!" shouted Kensuke.
"Kensuke, I know you're still upset about the commander. We both are. He was a good commander, a great ally, and a close friend. But he's dead. He was dead the whole time. Probably killed in whatever experiment put his memories into Tsegael. Dwelling on it isn't going to change anything. We still have a war to fight. We can grieve properly for Seigai when it's over," explained Hisoka.
"Feh, so you say. But I'd rather blow my own brains out than let one of them lead us. And I can tell you right now, I won't be the only one not happy with this decision," replied Kensuke.
"And what would you have me do? Lead us to ruin? Kensuke, I'm not a combat leader. I never was a combat leader. There's a reason why I never pursued a career in command. I'm not cut out for it. Meanwhile, we have someone here who is not only a fit commander, but she has a lot of knowledge about our enemies, and experience leading forces against them!" shouted Hisoka.
"Oh? In case you haven't noticed, she's one of them! How do we know she's not a spy for them, too, huh? Or this one? Or that one!" shouted Kensuke, while pointing to Tsubael, then Azanael, "maybe they're all in this together. Ya ever think of that?"
"Are you that much of a racist you can't tell any of us apart?" asked Azanael.
"Racist, she says. So what if I am? I didn't survive just to have to take orders from one of you. You're the enemy. Seigai would always tell me to back down. Now that we know the truth, that he was one of you the entire time... well, let's just say I have no reason to back down now!" shouted Kensuke.
"You want to fight? Is that it? Honestly, I've been growing more and more tired of your insults. After I saved your ass a few times, I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, you might have changed. But no, no matter how many times I tell you to keep your thirst for revenge in check, you just keep letting it consume you, so come on. If a little Arume blood will shut you up, then come here and get it!" shouted Azanael.
Kensuke was done with talking, and immediately lunged at Azanael. The flight chief easily moved out of the way, grabbed Kensuke by the back of his neck, and pinned him against the wall.
"Are you convinced yet!? Or do you still think revenge will get you something!?" shouted Azanael.
Kensuke elbowed Azanael in the stomach, forcing her to loosen her grip. Kensuke waited no time in punching her in the face. Azanael returned the gesture in kind. White and red blood tricklying down their respective cheeks.
"That's enough!" shouted Hisoka.
Hisoka pulled Kensuke off of Azanael, while Ekaril pulled Azanael back.
"Let go, I'm fine," spoke Azanael, before wiping the blood off her cheek.
"Let me go!" shouted Kensuke, "Let me at this bitch! She's been asking for it since day one! Damn you! Let me go!"
"Hisoka, you and Azanael take him to the brig to cool off. Tsubael, take us back to Forime. I want to see if our scout drones have picked up any useful information before we proceed any further.
"Yes, commander," Tsubael spoke, before leaving the conference room.
"Just like that, huh? Barking out orders like you own the place! I ought to cut your throat!" shouted Kensuke.
"Knock it off. This conversation is over," spoke Hisoka.
"If you don't like Ekaril being in commande, then you can leave when we return to Forime," spoke Azanael.
"Feh... fine, whatever, just take me to the fucking convict hotel already!" shouted Kensuke.
The man finally stopped resisting against Hisoka, finally allowing her and Azanael to take him to the brig. He didn't put up a fight when the put him in one of the cells down in the brig, and only spoke after the glow of the force field turned on.
"If you find me here dead tomorrow, you'll know you fucked up, Hisoka. And then you'll be the only one left. Let that thought keep you company tonight in your sleep, spoke Kensuke.
"And maybe consider again that we're not your enemy if you wake up tomorrow morning," spoke Azanael.
The pair of Azanael and Hisoka left Kensuke alone to brood to himself. After entering the nearby lift, Azanael turned to Hisoka, clearly wanting to talk.
"Hisoka... how close was he to Seigai?" asked Azanael.
"The two of them were best friends. They have been for a long time. I don't know how far back that goes, but I assume the two of them met sometime while they were at the academy, if not sooner."
"Would you say he thought of Seigai as family?"
"To an extent, all of us were. The three of us, and the captain. But Seigai and Kensuke has known each other the longest. The two of them were the closest among us."
"I see. I had figured as much. I see a lot of the old me in him."
"Yeah... you lost someone close to you once, right? Your lover?"
"Yes. When I found out Onomil had died, I immediately committed myself to avenging her. The sad part is that, in the end, I don't even think I cared who had to pay, as long as someone did. And when the last person I set myself upon died... it was far more hollow than I thought it would be."
"And that's when you changed, huh?"
"I wouldn't say changed as much as returned to myself. He needs to know that he has someone here he can rely on."
"In his mind, the one person that could fill that role is gone. He was barely holding on as it was. I don't know if he'll really be able to deal with this. I'm no substitute for Seigai. I never will be."
"You don't have to be. All you can do is try. Hopefully he'll find the light before he fully gets consumed by his revenge."
"Hopefully," replied Hisoka, as the lift stopped. Hisoka departed for her quarters; she hadn't been able to sleep much over the past several days, not wanting to when there was a chance the computer system could literally kill everyone aboard. Azanael continued on her way back to the bridge.
"Hopefully we can get a victory. Or at least something, before the Forime start tearing themselves apart," Azanael said to herself.