Disclaimer: I don't own starocean
Karin:... this is lame... i'm off to grab something to eat... want something?
... Ramen...
Karin:... i'll see what i can find.
The world felt heavy to her, yet, she forced herself to open her eyes. The room was dark, and she could hardly see anything. Her head hurt as she tried to get up. Noises. She could hear noises. Where was she? She remembered getting off the 'Synthesis', but after that, everything was a blur. Maria sat up, rubbing her head and found a bandage around her forehead.
Though dark, she could still make out some details about the room. She was lying on a bed and there seemed to be some large crates within the room as well. Maria forced herself off the bed and she swayed slightly on the spot where she stood, but managed to find her balance. Feeling her way to the door, she stepped out into a dimly lit corridor.
That was when she saw the damage. The corridor was filled with injured personals, soldiers, crew members and even technicians. Medics ran up and down the corridor, carrying medicine, bandages and the like to and fro. A medic noticed Maria and ran up to her.
"Captain! You need more rest!"
"I'm fine."
"But-"
"Just give me a report."
The medic bit his lip but nodded.
"We're currently being held down within the main facility of moonbase. Power is down and communications are out of the question. We've been holding them back for about about four hours already. The amount of injured are mounting high."
"Where are the ones in charge?"
"They're in the symbology genetic research office. It's the second hallway, third room on the right."
"Right, continue with your work."
"But your wounds-"
"These are nothing combared to those around here. Just go to them."
"But-... yes, ma'am."
The medic saluted and ran off to another casualty. Maria turned around and headed for the office. The symbology genetic research office. It brought back many memories. Unwanted memories.
The same place where she got her powers. She does not know if it would better if she did not have this power. To live a normal life and nineteen year old. College? University? Where her path would have walked, would be very much different from what she is doing now. She stopped. Very different. Would she have met Fayt? Fayt. The one who brought her out of her solitude shell.
The one who gave her hope. The one who stood by her in her decisions. His smile, his warmth, his presence. Where would she have been, if she did not know? Where would he be? A pleasant lifestyle, living normally. Normally. It was in some ways, ironic. But she did question it. Fayt Leingod. Would he like it if he was never dragged into this mess? Would he wish for the possibility of changing the past?
"Ma'am?"
A voice shook Maria out of her thoughts. Mike stood before her, looking worried.
"I'm alright. Just lost in thought."
"Yes, Ma'am. The confrence room is just over here."
Mike led her to a door. Sliding open, it revealed a large room with the desks pushed to the center. The surviving officers stood around it, discussing something. A map was rolled out in the middle.
Several supplies were stacked at the side and a couple of technicians were at the side, trying to fix what looked like a broken communicator. Once Maria stepped into the room, the officers looked up and saluted at the sight of Maria.
"At ease."
Maria said and the officers dropped their hands. She walked up to the desks and looked at the map. It was not computerized, but an old blueprint of the office with scribbles on it that Maria guessed the officers wrote to coordinate their defences. She looked at the officers and found that most were NCOs, non-commisioned officers.
Maria guessed that either most of her officers were dead, or injured. A Lieutenant stood next to Maria, passing her a piece of paper. On it, there were rows of numbers and words. Looking at it carefully, Maria found that it was a list of supplies they had.
"Any news from the 'Eternal'?"
Maria asked, but she knew that communications were down.
"We managed to fix a long-distance communicator for awhile and the 'Eternal' has acknowledged our situation. They're in-bound and will reach an estimated time of an hour and a half."
A sergeant replied.
"How long will we last?"
"We were suppose to be able to hold out for about two more hours, but their recent attacks had been more aggressive than ever."
The sergeant replied.
"We've lost lost squads in the western region,"
A lieutenant said, pointing at the map laid out on the table.
"And we've suffered heavy casualties on the eastern region."
He continued, pointing at the map once again.
"What are in those areas?"
"The western area holds the armour for the security of the base. It holds about as much firearms as the army would have. The east is the main reator core."
"What about the north and the south exits?"
"The north exit is closed off by rubbles and debris. And we've check the blue print, its nothing but a dead end."
"And the south?"
"It's strange, but we've have been having less attacks from that direction."
Maria pondered on the information for awhile. It seemed too easy.
"Have you sent a scout to the south?"
"We don't have enough men to spare."
"What's to the south?"
"A supply deport. It also leads to the space port. Basically, it's what we need."
"And they want us to go there."
Maria said, understanding the situation.
"Ma'am? What do you mean by that?"
"It's simple. Why concentrate your attack on the cornered enemy on sides which does not really have much significance in their predictament? Why not cut off their escape route? They're luring us into a trap."
"Well, that is quite obvious, ma'am, but we don't really have much of a choice. They're really forcing us into a bind."
"I know."
Maria thought about it for awhile. Something did bother her.
"When did the rubble and debris cover the north?"
"After we came here. Some technicians were heading over there to find more supplies but an excutioner appeared and destroyed the hallway."
"And the excutioner?"
"Our men managed to destroy it."
"Hmm..."
Maria looked at the blue prints once again.
"Is something bothering you, ma'am?"
Mike asked.
"Yes. This north side. I remember something about it... Lieutenant."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"How old is this blue print?"
"It's the original copy, ma'am."
"Right, that would mean it's around two thousand years old, really old technology, but still usable. Within that amount of years, there would have been changes. Even though the moonbase never had any major changes, minor changes were added and removed."
"That would mean-"
"That would mean, that there is something there that the excutioners don't want us to know about. Lieutenant, send for a squad to excavate the site immediately. I want to know what's beyond that exit."
"Yes man'am."
The lieutenant saluted and left.
"Right, i want to increase our defences on the south end. They may realize our plan and may attack from there, but since an excutioner has appeared on the north end as well to cover the exit, that would mean... Wait a minute, oh no. Get that lieutenant back immediately!"
A sergeant and corporal nodded and left the room.
"What is it, ma'am?"
"There are excutioners waiting on the other side of that rubble site. If they made that closed site, it's obvious they would place guards there to further prevent our advance. And plus, there's still one exit that we haven't checked on."
"With all due respect, ma'am, they may be god-like, but we've beaten them before and i don't think they're that smart. But which exit are you talking about?"
"Lieutenant, i have fought these 'gods' and face our own 'god' before. They posses higher amounts of intelligence that you would believe. They are well versed in the art of strategy, and i do believe i am in command, so you are overstepping your 'respect'. And the exit i am talking about is this one."
Maria pointed in the middle of the map.
"The central exit."
A loud explosion echoed from outside the room and the room shook like it was having an earthquake.
"What's happening?"
"Damn, they're too late."
Maria gritted her teeth.
"Gather all of your available men and meet me at the north exit!"
Maria called, running out of the room with Mike after her. Her worst fears were about the come true, their defences were breached. The corridors were in chaos, people running around and screaming.
Medics carrying injured away, while men were running with weapons towards the north. Maria joined the men and ran ahead. Already, she could hear the cry of an excutioner. Maria stopped in her tracks just before a giant claw crashed down in front of her, crushing two men into the ground where they stood. Maria stared in horror at the bloody mess that was in front of her when the claw lifted up once again.
Nearly nothing still looked human. The giant claw retracted itself and Maria saw the creature that was the cause of the death of her men, young men who were entrusted into her care. The excutioner stared back at her with emotionless red eyes, as if mocking her emotions. In rage, Maria picked up an assault rifle from one of the dead soldiers and opened fire at the creature.
The shots bounced off the hard scales of the excutioners but one managed to it the vulnerable eyes of the excutioner, making it rear back in pain. A shot fired from behind Maria slammed hard against the excutioner, causing it to fall back. Maria turned to see Mike carrying a large gun. The gun looked like it was about twice the size of his two arms combined.
No doubt the shot fired from a gun like that could cause some real damage. Mike ran up to Maria as reinforcements formed a line in front and kept the excutioner at bay.
"Ma'am, are you alright?"
"Where did you get a gun like that?"
Maria stared at the gun.
"The western exit has been cleared and we're receiving fresh weapons but it may take awhile before the supply lines are full operational."
"Right, what do we have so far?"
"The first supply team came back with these and some other weapons. I have something that may suit you."
Mike said, taking out a simple looking laser pistol.
"What's this?"
"It packs more punch that it looks. We're not sure, but it seems like a G-Force type gun."
"G-Force! That's dangerous!"
"But extreme situations call for extreme measures, don't they, ma'am?"
Mike smiled. It was one of the few times she actually saw him smile.
"I guess so."
"Then, good. At least we can hold them out for a while longer, till the 'Eternal' arrives."
Maria smiled. She remembered why she was trying so hard to survive. She can not die till she sees him once again.
"Yes, it's not yet time to give up. We're going push them back and we wont go down till i say we do."
AN: This is one chapt where Maria loses her OoCness and gets back to her old self. I played the game once more before writing this chapter to see how she reacts in battle, that feeling would be lost later on.