First off, sorry about the utter lack of updates for…what's it been, like 2, 3 weeks?  Bleah.  College Exams, phooey on them.  Second off, sorry if I seem to be rushing…we're getting to a conclusion soon.  A few more chapters left, anyways.  Anyways, enjoy.

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Although Shila no longer had "eyes" within the Datapod, her circuitry could easy scan the area around her.  The locusts were a fairly high distance above the water, but it was easy to discern the important points of the battlefield; below her, the Bine and its support ships were waiting…a distance to the east, the three Remnant ship sat silently…and far off to the north, a war-driven Gaian fleet was closing in.

The locusts continued to swirl in the air above the Hive ships, thinking.  Planet was now connected to her through the Datapod, and spoke as easily as Yang had spoken to her…

shila.  where milet?

"To the east…the third ship in the triad."

The locusts heard, and began to pick up speed toward the Remnants.  The speed of the locusts was incredible…much faster then any ship ever built.  It was no wonder people feared these beasts from hundreds of miles away.  They could go from one end of this planet to the other in a matter of hours.

The Remnant ships were aligned in a triangular pattern.  The two support ships were in the front, facing the Hive navy, while the Milet was towards the back.  All three ships were equipped with a Singularity canon… that is why the Hive navy didn't just rush in to neutralize them.  Singularity canons were the most advanced weaponry on Chiron, having the ability to cut through every known armor like butter, even the advanced Bine.

Upon scanning, however, Shila noticed that the Milet was different.  While it was fully equipped, the power used to run its Singularity canon was being diverted to the shields.  The ship was equipped with singularity shielding…so a weapons diversion to the shields would make for a virtually invincible armor.  Yet another sign of Meskha's cowardliness, Shila thought to herself.  A tank with no weapon…what a great show of power from your flagship.

The support ships noticed the mass of creatures on approach, and adjusted their weapons for the change.  Luckily, however, the locusts were quite nimble.  The first of the two support ships shot at the mass, which avoided the bolt like a fish avoids a divers hand.  The two ships began firing wildly at the mass, which finally made the attack effective as a group of the creatures were caught in the blast, and were disintegrated.

Shila frantically scanned.  The locust that was carrying her was an especially nimble flyer, which perhaps knew how important its cargo was.  However, sooner or later those bolts would get lucky.  She yelled at Planet…

"Don't bother going all the way to the flagship, just set me down on one of those two!  Please hurry!"

planetmeskha not on two?  confusion.

"Just do it, please…it's our only chance.  Those bolts will destroy your locust and this pod quite easily.  Please!"

as wish, shila.

The locust that was carrying her seemed to understand and swooped down from the mass towards the support ship.  The guns didn't bother with the creature and concentrated on the mass, which was lucky for the hologram.  Shila instructed Planet to set the pod down near the aft of the ship, away from the guns.  Obediently, the creature touched down on the ship and dropped her pod into a small open cargo box.  It then flew off to rejoin the group.

Shila reactivated her visual image and looked around.  Her first order of business was to get to the Milet…that wouldn't be too much of a problem.  The real issue was to get to Meskha.  She reached down into the box and pulled a small device out of its slot.  It looked like a computer chip, with a small wire clip attached.  Once attached, it would be able to triangulate Meskha's position, and it could be relayed back to the Bine and ultimately to The Hive, where engineers were ready to activate the mind control.

Shila crept down the guardrail of the ship, looking for a monitor.  She didn't find one until she was but a few feet from the control center, which made her slightly wary.  Fortunately for her, however, the officers inside were paying too much attention to the Locusts to even notice the girl.  She linked herself to the Remnant Datalinks, easily absorbing the wealth of knowledge that came to her.

Apparently, she was aboard the Trian, the best equipped of the triad.  That information wasn't important to her, however.  She needed to find a single connection between the Trian and the Milet.  If she could do that, she could attempt to transfer herself onto the Milet mainframe and thus, onto Meskha's ship.  She scoured through the Trian database, beginning to lose hope…until she found a single file, in the ships engineering.  According to the file, the three ships had a link between their engines so they could maintain efficiency and speed.  It was perfect. 

Shila scanned the onboard map of the Milet and noted that no one was inside of its engine room.  As with most ships, the engines were probably automated…with was yet another helpful aspect for her.  She moved her program into the Milet's engine files-and found herself inside the cramped engine room of the flagship.  As her scan had noted, no one was present in the room.  She hurried to the door and down the ships hall, stopping briefly as two cadets passed her.  They looked at her with confusion, but said nothing as they walked by.

Shila thought to herself, then accessed her visual ports, concentrating.  A few seconds later, her clothes disappeared for a brief moment, and they were replaced by the clothing of a Remnant Cadet…which consisted of a dark red longsleeved shirt, a slightly darker color of pants, and the crest of the Remnant faction on her chest.

The girl walked up a flight of stairs, and she found herself looking into the face of Salem, the spy who betrayed them.  His face didn't change.

"What are you doing here, Cadet?  This is a restricted area."

Shila blinked.  Does he not recognize me?  She lowered her voice.  "I'm sorry, sir, I'm a bit lost.  I was asked to bring a maintenance report from the engine room to Leader Meskha."  She pulled a pad out of her pocket, shaking it slightly.

"This is the control room.  No Cadets are allowed in this room…you should know that.  I shall deliver the report."  The man reached out for the pad.  She shied away from him.

"I'm sorry, sir, I was requested to bring it to her in person.  The reports are vital, and they must not be tampered in any way.  The fate of our ship just might depend of them."

Salem stared at her for what seemed like staring.  Shila kept a stone-cold expression on her face.  Is he buying it?  Finally, the man spoke.

"You may come in."

Shila nodded to him as she walked past him.  He didn't make a move to follow her, but instead he took his place again at the head of the stairwell.  Shila shook her head at his back.  Another bodyguard.  I pity your cowardice, Meskha.

Shila walked into the control room, and watched as the entire room took a glance at her.  It was slightly unsettling, but Shila should've expected it…after all, no Cadet was allowed inside the control room.  She turned to the nearest Remnant worker.

"I was asked to bring this engine report straight to Leader Meskha.  Where can I find her?"

The man looked skeptical, but nodded towards the door in the back of the room.  Shila smiled in silent thanks.  She swung the pad back and forth as she walked towards the door, feeling a little nervous.  This is it.  She walked into the door of the study without knocking.  The tired face of the Remnant leader looked up at her.  Apparently, she had not been sleeping well.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?  You know that Cadets aren't allowed here."

Shila fingered the device in her pocket as she walked towards Meskha with the pad.  "Leader Meskha, engineering asked me to bring you this report."  She handed the pad to Meskha.

Meskha rubbed her eyes after looking at the pad for a second.  "This pad is blank.  What are you trying to…"  It was then that she looked up at Shila.  She raised an eyebrow.  "You look familiar…"

Meskha's eyes widened and she punch the button on her desk.  Red lights flared and a siren began to wail.  Shila wasted no more time.  She pushed a small button on the device and threw it against Meskha's shirt.  The device attached perfectly.  Shila smiled.  "Payback's a bitch."

Meskha looked confused, but smiled as Remnant guards walked in.  "Take her to the brig."  The guards complied and grabbed her and began out the door…but stopped as Meskha cried out behind them.  Shila looked at her with a blank expression on her face.  Meskha cursed wildly and leaned hard against the wall near her, clutching her head.  She began to scream.

"Noooo!!  NO!!  You…can't…DO THIS!!"  Tears began to stream down her face.  The guards let go of Shila and rushed to Meskha's side.  She shook her head through her pain.  "Nooo…stop her…STOP HER…"

Shila took that as the time to leave.  She ran out the door and towards the stairwell, running past the confused Salem.  She didn't have time to think; she just knew she had to get out of the Datalinks…and fast.

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something change, earthprokhor.

"…what's…that?"

no know.  something.  discontinuity.

"…I don't…understand.  The pain…Voice.  It's too painful…"

planetmeskha too.  experience pain.  much pain.  very much pain.  planet can feel.  is good.

"It's good that she hurts?  …I agree.  I don't…know why you do, though…if you're so convinced…that Meskha is Planet and…Planet is you."

earthdeirdre come.  discontinuity.

"Wait, wha-"

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The Gaian leader walked past Zakharov and towards the window, looking out at the sea.

"You know, Zakharov, I've always enjoyed the sea.  It's so calm and peaceful."

Zakharov winced as the pain ran through his body.  "Your…point?"

Deirdre spun around and glared at him.  "Your faction has caused two disturbances in the same tranquil spot.  My forces were kind enough to stop the first disturbance, yet you tricked us…you tricked all of us.  You deceitful little man, why didn't you die when you were supposed to?"

Zakharov shrugged.  "Lucky…I guess."

Deirdre smiled.  "Not for long.  And not for long for your people, either.  Today ends the Univers-…"

Deirdre flinched.  Even Zakharov noticed it through his pain.  The Gaian took a step backwards towards the control panel, clutching her head.  "What's…happening?  I…"  She clenched her hand and yelled, continuing to step backwards.  Zakharov ignored the pain of the punishment sphere.  "Deirdre?"

The girl cried and sank down to the floor, slowly clenching at the ground.  Nearly a minute passed before she looked up.  Zakharov noticed the look in her eyes…it was a look he'd never seen in her before.  It was a mixture between fear, anger, and confusion.  The girl slowly made her way to her feet.

"I…"

She then noticed Zakharov.  Her eyes widened even more then they had been, in utter horror.

"ZAKHAROV!!!"

She shook her head, crying, as she ran to the device, shutting it off.  "Zakharov, Zakharov, Zakharov…Prokhor…what happened?"

Zakharov fell out of the machine, in utter ecstasy as the pain began to recede.  He didn't have time to waste, however.  "Deirdre…we have some work to finish."

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Yang smiled as he stared into the faces of his engineers.  "Good work, team.  Good work."

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Meskha clawed her entire body until her hand swept over the device that was attached to her shirt.  The device fell off, and the signal for the mind control was lost…it hadn't made a complete link yet.  She gasped for air and clenched her head.  "They know…they know…"

The guards looked confused…but Meskha just smiled wickedly as she walked to the monitor.  Pressing a couple buttons, the screen turned to an older gentleman.  "Are the nerve gas pods active?"

The man looked confused.  "They can be, Leader...all forty-one of them.  Why?"

Meskha nodded.  "Prepare them…we've lost.  They'll kill us all; so we shall make the first and last move.  Fire 20 pods into breathable atmosphere…kill everything that lives on the land.  Fire 20 more into the sea…kill everything that lives under the ocean."

The horrified man nodded.  "What about the forty-first pod?"

Meskha turned her gaze to the battlefield screen.  "Fire it at Deirdre's flagship.  I want those two to have no chance of surviving.  The earthborn must not live a second longer."

~