The very moment Kai saw the Schiff coming in with Diva, his mouth dropped. How was it possible that they had sided with her already? What did she have to offer them, unless of course, her blood to heal them, but that was beside the point. "Moses, how did this happen? Why are you with Diva now?" Kai demanded when he saw Moses. "Please tell me that you just saw each other at the door or something…" Lewis immediately kicked him in the shin to shut him up.
Solomon, however, knew what was going on between the Schiff and Diva. "She gave you her blood in return for the protection of her children, did she not?" he asked Moses, who nodded in answer. "Then we shall not have to worry about the unborn Queens in regards of their safety. However, I am curious as to whether…" He was at a loss for words, for he found not the words to enquire what the Schiff had become. However, Karman said that they were what they were born to be, and the only difference they had with their fallen comrades was that the sun and the Thorn no longer afflicted them. "Saya has been very concerned about the three of you, and I think that she will take your… employment rather well."
"She has been a great benefactor to us, Chevalier." Moses replied, emerald eyes piercing into Solomon's ice blue ones. He saw that Solomon held no malice as compared to the others he had seen, and when Saya had entered the meeting-room with Hagi, Moses saw the somewhat casual expression that Solomon had always held changed into something very different, something that he could never understand. "I do not know how Karman, Lulu and I will survive without her help and mercy."
When Joel VI came in with David, the meeting had started without any incident. "First, I would like to thank our two Chiropteran Queens for having reached a mutual understanding of peace between them." Joel VI said kindly, looking towards both Diva and Saya. "And thanks to Solomon Goldsmith's financial aid, we have regained the means for the continuation of the Red Shield." There was a slight silence, for all remembered that while as Diva's Chevalier, Solomon had been the CEO of Cinq Fleches, one of the most powerful pharmaceutical companies that had ties with the US military… It was no wonder why he had amassed so much wealth… David cleared his throat, hinting that they should jump straight to the point. The ship was anchored in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and was very, very noticeable from the sky. Amshell's agents would easily spot them from a helicopter, who wouldn't, in fact?
"Saya Nee-sama, how sure are you that this is not another one of Amshell's plans to kill you?" Diva asked coyly, eying her sister. "Are you so ready to trust me?" Still, she was unsure whether the waters before her were safe to tread, for she too, was in danger of being deceived by Saya as well. However, if Saya decided that she would act alone, more humans would die, and perhaps her own life would be forfeit. There was too much to lose, too much at stake. Whether or not both Queens truly wanted peace, the only way to end this senseless and needless war was by working together. Only then could Diva be truly free, and only then could Saya and the Red Shield have their vengeance. It was that simple.
A confidant smile crossed Saya's face as she answered, "You know very well that we can't continue fighting like this, Diva." That night, they shall decide how best to defeat Amshell. They shall decide how to end all agony suffered by both sides once and for all. "Joel-san, how are we progressing so far?"
"As of yet, our Intelligence has reported that at least two million humans will turn into base-level Chiropterans the moment Diva starts to sing. We plan to destroy any satellites they have before the telecast begins. But if they use military satellites, we would be in deep trouble."
Diva gave a bit of thought to those words. She may look ignorant, but she actually knew that Amshell had already anticipated that move from them. "I can… what is that human word for the act that destroys computers using a computer?" Nathan slapped his forehead. Just a year ago, Diva was so bored that she had decided that she wanted to learn how to be a computer hacker after watching the movie "Swordfish". Without any hesitation, Karl had immediately obtained a gifted hacker and threatened the poor man to teach Diva the tools of his trade should he be killed instantly. Lewis burst out in slight laughter and apologized, added that the word she was looking for was "hack". "Yes, hack a computer, but is it possible for me to help?"
"In some ways, yes," Lewis replied, "However, you know nothing of Amshell's plans, don't you? As in where those satellites are, who are operating them and what not?" Diva bit her lip. For the first time in her life, an obese black man had her at a loss for words, and she could do nothing to avenge herself. She liked those new boundaries set upon her, for they taught her the steps she had to take to live in peace. "Take it easy, kiddo. Even our Intelligence couldn't do it, so you don't get all the blame."
Solomon and Nathan rolled their eyes. No one, no one had ever spoke to Diva so casually, but they knew that Lewis did so because he acted the same way around Saya, having realized that it was a perverted form of favoritism by Joel I that caused both sisters to turn against one another… "So what do we do then?" Kai asked. "We can't just possibly walk into Amshell's trap? What if he finds out that even Diva is in this? What if he has another plan that no one knows about?"
Saya stood up and said, "Then we would have to spring that trap, Kai. We have no other choice. Solomon, you said that there was a way to kill Chevaliers without using neither Queens' blood. How?"
It was a question that was so easy to answer for Solomon; yet, he found it difficult to utter those words before Diva. Years ago, in the violence of WWII, he had killed the Chevalier Martin Bormann by taking out his heart and crushing it. Diva had been rather fond of that Chevalier, but she seemed to be indifferent now. "We can kill Amshell that way. Focus all our firepower on him and whatever he throws at us, while Saya and Diva aim for his heart."
Nathan was the only one who interrupted. "But will he buy your plan, Solomon?" he asked. Long before Solomon's defection, Amshell had already noticed that his biological brother would turn to Saya. What was this time so different? "How sure are you that he doesn't have armies of Corpse Corps behind his back just waiting for us to sit cozily in his trap and take off our heads?"
"Well, the Red Shield is not the only one with the Intelligence, Nathan." Solomon replied. At that very instant, a very familiar figure came through the door. "Gentlemen, my dear Queens, this is Archer. He is an ex-comrade of our dear Lewis in the CIA, as well as Van Argeno's 'assistant' in Cinq Fleches, and the one who will be our spy."