Yang was a little surprised when the Bine arrived at the site of the late Deep Sea Lab. He'd expected the entire Gaian navy to somehow have evaded their sensors and already be there, sending submersible bombs to the ocean floor. It was just as well, Yang figured. Now they had time to set up a defensive perimeter. Yang nodded to Shila, who was glancing over a monitor in the control room.
"According to the satellite scans, we have approximately 10 minutes before the fleets arrive."
Yang's heart fell. "Fleets?"
Shila nodded. "From the north, the Gaian navy is on intercept with twelve ships…I can't discern bombers from cruisers. From the northeast, about three Remnant support ships, heavily armed."
Yang took it all into account. "We've got about fifteen cruisers, including the Bine. We don't want to destroy Deirdre, but we might not have a choice. What about this planet-thing you were talking about? You're going to find Meskha?"
Shila shook her head. "I don't know. The Voice said he…it...was going to find out where she was. What I don't know, however, is what will happen after that. We need to get in close proximity to Meskha to attach a transponder. Once that's attached, we'll be able to lock onto her signal and activate the mind control interface."
Yang looked at her, confused. "Why didn't Meskha need to attach a transponder to Deirdre?"
"Meskha has always known where Deirdre nine tenths of the time. If close enough, she or one of accomplices could've set up a beacon near her base. That would've been good enough to get into Deirdre's mind. We, however, don't have that option…not this far out to sea."
Yang knew that she was right as he looked out the window. Looking around in all directions, he could see only water. The view from Deep Sea Lab must've been dull…they were their own little island on their own little waterworld. He looked back at Shila.
"Do you remember what it was like at Deep Sea Lab?"
She raised her eyes from the monitor for the first time it what seemed like hours. "Of course…everyday I would either explore a little about the top deck, or I'd go down to the science lab and help them discover some new technology. Either way, it was nice to be able to come up here with Prokhor and play with the fishes."
Yang smiled sadly. "I miss him."
Shila looked back down at her monitor, fighting the feeling that was arising within her. Something on the screen caught her attention. "I'm picking up movement in the skies…we got 'Needles, Sheng-ji, and comin' in fast."
Yang nodded. "Cadet, bring us into attack mode. Alert the fleet to fire at will on the planes." Yang noticed Shila looking at him worriedly, so he smiled. "Don't worry, my dear. I didn't make the same mistake that Deirdre did. Singularity shielding, these ship's got. Zakharov did good work in our defenses."
The Gaian needlejets swooped out of the sky onto the waiting fleet. The Bine was the first to fire, sending a singularity bolt directly into the leading plane. It crumpled into a firey mass and crashed into the sea. The second plane fired chaos bursts into the ship behind the Bine, the Terion. The singularity shielding protected the ship, but not before taking some damage to its hull. It fired its own singularity bolt, and the attacking plane was downed into the green sea.
Three more fighter jets swooped down into the crevices in between the Hive ships. The singularity guns couldn't reach them, so the planes laid waste to the lower portions of the ship. Several of the ships in the fleet would need repair to that section. When they reached the other side, however, the last of the Hive ships easily destroyed the planes.
The first of the Remnant ships came into site shortly after the needlejets were neutralized. The ships were equipped with Singularity guns, probably stolen technology from the Hive. The ships made it clear that coming within firing distance was a no-no.
Shila began to feel woozy and swayed a little bit. Yang noticed it and looked up at her.
"Are you okay?"
She didn't have time to shake her head before she fell, unconscious, into Yang.
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shila.
"…Voice? Is that you?"
little time. planetmeskha, earthprokhor say on milet. do know where milet is?
"I would assume it's one of the ships in Meskha's fleet…"
can pop planetmeskha?
"No…that's the other problem. We have to get close enough to Meskha to place a transmitter onto her body. When that happens, then we can activate the mind control."
shila do.
"…what?"
shila place.
"I don't understand…"
shila live pod?
"…I can bind myself to a Datapod, yes."
pod go milet!
"How, exactly? It's not like Datapods can fly."
pod no fly…planetlocust fly.
"I don't understand…"
bind Datapod. be deck of Bine. know soon enough. discontinuity.
"Voice, wai-"
----------------------------------------------------------
Shila explained the discussion with Planet to a skeptical Yang. He, who had never been a big believer in the power of Planet in the first place, didn't want her risking herself on some idea that some crazy voice had.
Yet Yang knew there was no other alternative. Getting to Meskha would be the only chance of ending the battle without much bloodshed. He carefully pulled Shila's connection from the Datalinks and put her onto a protective pod. He then smiled and walked out with her to the deck.
"You know, Shila, this is a very stupid thing to do."
Shila glanced at him. "It's the only way. If I don't do this, Zakharov will die, Ground Level Sea Base will be destroyed, and you and your fleet will either be destroyed or highly damaged. For the sake of everything, Sheng-ji…we have no other choice."
Yang nodded and set the Datapod on the deck, then slowly walked back into the control center. As soon as he was inside, the enormous Isle of the Deep resurfaced next to the Bine. Shila walked to the guard rail and looked down at the Planet creature…so much mass, so much power. She raised an eyebrow as the beast…began to morph.
Near the top of the mass, small protrusions began to arise from it. They quickly spread apart, and in their place, more protrusions grew. Wings, Shila thought. Soon, the first of mass began to lift off from the Isle of the Deep, swirling around the top deck. Metamorphosis of Isle of the Deep to Locust…so that's how they do it.
Soon, the entire mass was swirling about the ship like vultures. One of the creatures went down the deck and picked up the Datapod in its mouth, then flew off into the sky. The visual image of Shila disappeared as the pod rose higher. It was abrupt, but not painful. Shila was peaceful then anything. And in the back of her mind, a familiar friend was talking…
shila.
"Yes, Voice?"
thing. last thing say.
"What's that?"
earthprokhor. say, 'i love you too.' discontinuity.
Zakharov…I'm coming. Hold on…, Shila thought, as the mass sped towards the Remnant ships.
