Chapter 3: Curtain Call for Eugen
After the extreme escalation of last night's events finally began to simmer, the Commander decided that immediately concluding that Prinz Eugen is a traitor is way too harsh of a judgement call.
"We are going to perform a more intricate investigation on the incident at hand. Until proven innocent, we will need you to stay in your quarters at all hours unless escorted by a member of security. Is that clear?" The Commander sighed at Prinz Eugen whose aggressive behavior had finally subsided.
"Sir, yes sir," Prinz Eugen said, saluting before heading to her quarters. Knowing the person that staged all of this was agonizing to her; it was like knowing the identity of a serial killer but not allowed to talk about it. Prinz Eugen groaned upon reaching her quarters, sliding inside then locking her door behind her without hesitation. Immediately she slammed her fist into her concrete wall in a burst of anger, her tension subsiding soon after. Z23's feelings began to grow numb as she thought about her actions. At first she felt awful, convincing herself it was truly what needed to be done, however, now her mind was clouded by obsession, her moralities beginning to twist.
"I don't know what's right or what's wrong anymore...it feels good to be bad for the sake of getting back to the Commander, but the road I'm paving to get there is made of lies, deceit and sadism...what do I do…?" Z23 thought to herself as she stayed laid upon her bed, a soft fit of laughter entering her ears as she covered them.
"If it's all for the Commander, who cares how you get there? All that matters is that you don't get caught, that's all," the voice hissed. Z23 clenched her eyes shut, wrapping her pillow over her ears as she tried to ride out her seemingly auditory hallucination. After a few minutes she finally relaxed her muscles, the voice finally gone as she heard a soft knock at her door.
"Um...hello? Z23?" a muffled voice came from the other side of her door, prompting her to get up. Taking a look through her door's peephole, it revealed that Laffey, one of the other main destroyers of the fleet, now stood before her. Z23 softly sighed as she unlocked her door, slowly opening it. She gave Laffey a once over with her eyes before waving her in. Laffey timidly made her way in, her unenthused face looking around before gently plopping onto Z23's bed.
"What's going on Laffey, are you alright?" Z23 said, masking her emotionless heart and soul that she was currently containing. Slowly she moved her chair in front of Laffey so she could look her in the eyes easier, sitting down and motioning for her to begin.
"I...am next to take Javelin's place on the team...but considering what happened to her, I'm not sure if I should...I'm honestly scared that something awful may happen to me too..." Laffey sighed, gazing into Z23's eyes. Z23's heart stopped for a few seconds as Laffey explained, but pulled it together as she finished her statement.
"Fear is a sign of both weakness and a lack of resolve. What you have to ask yourself is what would happen in combat, should you hesitate and are you going to let such incidents like the one with Javelin affect your performance. These are the two challenges that you must overcome if you want to succeed in the position," Z23 stated as if she were a mentor, Laffey looking on and listening to every word.
"I see...so if I dedicate myself to my mission and the Commander, I will not fail...is that a fair assumption?" Laffey asked. Z23's eyes grew sharp as she began to compose a plan to keep her from advancing further with the Commander, her right and wrong morals beginning to twist again.
"Correct. That is what that would mean," Z23 confirmed. Laffey vaguely smiled, and stood up, giving her a thankful nod. Z23 went to take a sigh of discontent, but instead froze up as Laffey gave her a small hug in appreciation before stepping out of her room. Z23 looked over at the now closed door, her heart thumping for a few moments before growing cold once more.
"I miss when things were simple...why is love such a maddening force of nature? Not that it really matters now…" Z23 held her face in her hands as she lightly sobbed, taking deep breaths to calm herself as she remembered that Prinz Eugen was given an opportunity to be proven innocent. Z23 quickly realized that Eugen had become a loose end, one that needed to be tied off.
"I can't let anything stop me...not even Eugen..." Z23's words were quiet and malicious as she trailed off, continuing to glare at the door intently. She then rose to her feet, grabbing her Beretta pistol and a video scrambler then concealing them both behind her. Heading to the door she paused, her eyes staring at the door knob as she realized how little she had thought this next scheme through, much less if she should even do it.
"Is this...really what I want...?" Z23 thought to herself, closing her eyes to think for a moment. Her morales had a vicious conflict in her heart. She suddenly felt a presence behind her, though she was too scared to look.
"You're already in too deep to stop now...go on, do it," the voice whispered from behind her. Z23 whirled around to find nothing but her empty room, growling to herself before deciding to just go for it.
Z23 decided to make a visit to access the storage bay, which is where they kept captured enemy rigs and weapons. She cocked back on her gun, catching the bullet as it jumped from the chamber before replacing it with a tranquilizer round, releasing the top to lock it in place. After traveling the halls for a solid 10 minutes, she switched the safety off on her Barretta as she took a peek around the corner. One guard was on watch, casually whistling to himself as he adjusted his pant leg. Before the guard had a moment to react, Z23 took her shot, planting the tranquilizer round right into his neck. Since there was no hard ignition, the shot was fairly quiet as she moved in.
He hit the ground with a thud, immediately taking his keycard and swiping it to unlock the door. The door closed behind her as she walked in, concealing her activities from the outside. She placed the video scrambler just under the camera, knowing that she would move out of its range to get into the rigs that she needed to.
"Let's see..." Z23 said quietly, walking along a line of 4 Sakura Empire fleet rigs that were salvaged from previous battles. Finding the most dilapidated one, she immediately looked it over, using a tool laying around to quietly pop out the communications console. With a little force it came loose, revealing the object of her search. In it she retrieved an enemy tracking device that would typically be used as a homing beacon to locate their own ships. Stashing it in her belt compartment, she jumped off the rig, turning around to hear the lock sound on the door disengage. Before she had a chance to move, a familiar voice shouted.
"Z23! Don't move or I'll shoot! You aren't going to fool the others this time, I've caught red handed and I made an anonymous alert to the bridge for back up. I'm sure knocking out a few guards will be justified when I expose you," Prinz Eugen barked, her wrapped up ankle shooting unbearable pain through her system. Z23 simply sighed, smirking as she narrowed her eyes on Prinz Eugen like a viper ready to strike.
"And here I thought I was the one who had lost their mind…you have just deliberately disobeyed orders from your Commander, put in place because you're under suspicion of treason. So what do you do? You knock out the guards literally guarding your room just so you can try to get me...I thought you were smarter than that…" Z23 scoffed, whipping out her Barretta and immediately firing two quick shots at Prinz Eugen as she reached and grabbed her Luger pistol. One zipped through her right arm while the other one planted itself in her leg. Prinz Eugen let out hellish groans of pain and tried firing back, but her bullets hit the air and nothing else. Prinz Eugen cried out in pain as Z23 re-concealed her Barretta, moving over top of Prince Eugen and stomping down on Eugen's hand so she'd release her Lugar, allowing Z23 to kick it to the side. Prinz Eugen suddenly had a moment where her anger was put on hold, wanting answers more than anything else.
"What...happened to you Z23…? What has happened that has made you so vile and twisted…? Are you under duress? Are you actually a double agent? Come on, I want answers!" Eugen snarled, barely able to formulate words as she bit through the pain.
"I know we Iron Bloods aren't too keen on sympathetic emotions, but...have you ever been in love, Eugen?" Z23 inquired, moving forward to grab Prinz Eugen's Lugar with her gloved hand.
"Love is a sick joke reserved for fools," Eugen spat as she watched Z23 with furious eyes. She found them opening wide as Z23 put the Luger barrel to her arm, still smiling as she pulled the trigger, a loud bang yelling out as the bullet dug through her arm. Z23 winced slightly to hide the pain before laying Eugen's Luger just out of her reach. Z23's eyes were sharp and cold like a predator's as she took the beacon part from her back pouch, smirking as she slid it into Eugen's back pocket. Eugen began to thrash beneath her, trying desperately to move away
"You bitch! Why are you doing this?! Why are you betraying your own friends?! IT MAKES NO SENSE!" Prinz Eugen screamed at Z23, who was completely unphased by her ferocious tone.
"I'm doing this for love, Eugen...I can't stand anyone being so close to the Commander, it makes my blood boil, it makes my heart ache like I'm having a heart attack...you can't even begin to understand how maddening it was for the Commander to strip me of all the things that kept him close, the things he was proud of me for," Z23's voice was eerily calm, with a murderous feeling behind it that made the hairs on the back of Prinz Eugen's neck stand straight up.
"You're insane!" Prinz Eugen coughed, biting through her tears of intense pain, which caused Z23 to laugh hysterically in her throat. Z23 ignored her words, using her foot to push Prinz Eugen onto her chest. Z23 then bent Prinz Eugen's gun wound arm behind her forcibly, causing her to shriek in pain.
"What you are feeling now...that's how much my heart hurts...how it hurts when someone like you gets closer to the Commander than anyone else. Here's how it feels at this very moment..." Z23 whispered, planting her knee into Eugen's back. Z23 reached forward to cover Prinz Eugen's mouth before bending her arm further and further until finally a bone chilling crack snapped at the air, Eugen screaming bloody murder as Z23 kept her grasp over her mouth, muffling its volume before raising her communicator to her lips.
"Command center, this is Z23. I have apprehended Prinz Eugen in prime storage 02. She was caught tampering with a captured enemy rig and removed radio beacon parts. Upon arrival I found a guard knocked out; I had to use a forcible entry code to gain access to the room and that's how I found her. As per her probationary status, it is likely she knocked out the guards stationed at her room as well. Please come immediately, target is unruly and refuses to submit," Z23 stated, choking back pain almost effortlessly as Prinz Eugen sank her teeth into her hand violently.
Z23 let out a strenuous grunt, clenching her teeth before removing her Beretta and bashing the bottom of the handle into Prinz Eugen's temple, causing her to finally limp. Prinz Eugen's body occasionally twitched from the immense pain running through her system as Z23 continued to hold her down.
By the time the security detail arrived, Prinz Eugen began to stir awake, her broken arm now numb from pain. The security detail barreled in, surrounding Prinz Eugen with a circle of firearms being pointed down at her, securing her capture. As the Commander entered the room, Z23 went into a stern standing posture, giving him a firm salute. The Commander looked down at the now incapacitated Prinz Eugen, whose tears began to puddle beneath her face.
"I'm disappointed in you...how could you build my trust so much then destroy it?! Not only is this hurting myself, but my higher ups are now telling me I am incapable of commanding this fleet due to my inability to make short work of these instances, so thanks Eugen for potentially getting myself discharged from my position..." The Commander droned, his words were hurt and full of spite towards her before turning his attention to Z23.
"What happened to your hand and arm?!" The Commander immediately reached up and gently held her bloody, gloved hand before raising her arm to see the gunshot wound. Z23 winced in pain, glaring down at Prinz Eugen, who angrily shouted explicit German obscenities at her like a machine gun. The Commander looked down at Prinz Eugen one last time, her face now sobbing uncontrollably.
"This will lead to a Court Marshall Eugen, it's out of my hands now...I fought for you Eugen; I defended you through every twist and turn through this whole fiasco, sticking my neck out to protect you, and this how I'm repaid..." The Commander scolded, turning away to leave the room. Z23 followed behind him, stopping to look down at Prinz Eugen. Her eyes changed from cold and calculating to sad with a hint of sadism, a twisted smile burning itself into Prinz Eugen's soul Before turning away and leaving.
"Z23...I'm so sorry for the actions I took on your behalf...I shouldn't have made your punishment so... hastily. Because of your actions in capturing a spy that had been sitting under our noses for so long I managed to save face with the higher ups, so, thank you," the Commander praised, gently rubbing his hand atop Z23's head, causing her to blush profusely. A wide, genuine smile curled upon her lips as she looked up into his eyes.
"For you Commander...I will do anything, whether it is following your orders or destroying anything in my path that would come between us and our goals, no matter who or what it may be," Z23 said with a confident smile, giving him a stern salute. The Commander smiled, lowering his hand for her to go at ease. As she relaxed her stature, the Commander surprised her with an intimate hug, holding her head to his chest. Her heart began to race, her body growing exceedingly hot as he gently rubbed her head.
"I'm counting on you, now, let's get you to the medical bay," the Commander said softly, Z23 now basking in the bliss of what she has done everything for, to be the Commander's number one once again. Eugen's misty eyes continue to glare at her as Z23 left the room with Commander, hell's fury behind them before they were locked away with a shutting door.