LXII

Verwirring

"Madam, you need to wake up!" A hoarse voice yelled against her, at least she thought it was yelling. She couldn't tell as it still sounded so faint to her, her head was killing her. Oh she couldn't even remember the last thing she had been doing before she had went out cold, had she been drinking or had somebody been rude enough to whack her over the head with something?

"Madam, you need to come to your senses now! The bridge is becoming unstable! The fire is starting to spread throughout the ship!"

Hearing that word brought her back to her senses, the ship, she was still on the damn ship. Grabbing the man by the scruff of his jacket she pulled herself up. "How long have I been unconscious!?" Seeing the shocked look on the man's face she knew that he couldn't tell her. "Never mind then, just tell me what is the condition of the ship!? Can it still maintain its floatation!? What is the current status of our cargo dammit!?"

Judging by the man's swallow she could already figure out that he answer wasn't going to be good, as her memories started to come back slowly she could vaguely puzzle together what had happened. Right before the explosion there had been the a wailing scream that had sent ripples down her spine, like a banshee howling in agonized fury it had descended upon them and with devastating result. "What are our losses thus far!?"

The man stumbled over his words as he tried to come up with a suitable number. "Ah… well… that is difficult to say, we… have lost communications with many parts of the ship… losses cannot be counted."

That was just what she was afraid of, with no means of communicating to the other parts of the ships it would be difficult to fight the fires and right now those possessed the greatest risk to the safety of the ship itself.

"This ship can still float for the time being, as long as nothing happens to the engines it should be able to make it to port. As far as the cargo is concerned nobody has heard from that location and that was exactly where the enemy jet crashed into."

No that was not good to hear at all, their opponent had smashed right onto the most vital part of the ship, if the cargo had been destroyed in the explosion then everything would have been for nothing. Standing there for a moment she did her best to regain her common sense, even if the jet had crashed into them at a hypersonic speed there was a possible chance the cargo was still intact as the upper deck had been armored to protect it in case of an assault though nobody had expected on such a bold way to them out.

"Alright I want all remaining personnel who are not injured to start immediately on containing the fires, do not let it spread to the engine room of fuel storage. Furthermore I want a salvage team readied as I want a full update on how the cargo is!" Storming out of what remained of the bridge she would personally lead this group, all that mattered was the cargo hold.

As for the crew she could care little for their safety, if every single person on this had to be sacrificed in order for the chief to attain his godhood then that would be a small praise to pay, after all if he would ascend wouldn't the same apply also to those who aided him in his achievement. Grinning from ear to ear she went down the stairs she could tell they had been hit hard, the upper deck was a ablaze and a vast section of the hull was simply missing, like a vast monster had risen and taken a bite from it.

The sound of boots clanging against the metal stairs told her that some of the security detail had come to meet her already, good that was going to save her the time of having to find them. "Finally some people I can rely upon. What is the current status?" She demanded as she greeted them.

"We have lost about a third of our numbers from what we have been able to gather thus far, the midsection is heavily damaged and access to the hold is blocked because of the debris. I have already assigned a crew to clear them."

"That is good to hear, where is the rest of the men currently located? At those blocked sections?"

Looking at each other a second men stepped forward to answer her.

"As we were not able to contact you or the bridge we took it upon ourselves to move quickly and make certain that the cargo was secured. The jet that rammed into the ship nearly pierced all decks and we can consider ourselves fortunate that it did not penetrate the hull or we would have sunk." There was a nervous moment between them, was there something they were not telling her or where the men planning on something else if things went even more sour.

She agreed to that but something about it was nagging at the back of her head, that jet had come at them with such a speed behind it that it almost seemed suspicious that it had not went cleanly through the entire ship. "Take me to those sections at once!"

Taking a deep breath chief Kakuzawa lowered his head in irritation, it was becoming considerably vexing to him that the queen in her ignorance was so reluctant in her acceptance of the truth. "Discrimination." He breathed. "Is rooted deep within the human race. They claim in times of peace they want to coexist but it is nothing more than maintaining a good image. A farce. A lie."

Waiting to see her reaction he was somewhat disappointed when she didn't respond at all, surely she must have witnessed this for herself first hand. "Humans go to great length in order to separate themselves from others, they don't feel safe unless there is someone for them to despise. That is why they use excuses like color of skin, religion, culture, wealth and many others to not only separate but to enslave others. Even between sworn comrades it is the same. People will turn on one another when times get dire."

He smiled. "Not to mention that it is even worse for us as we are not even considered a race by them. To them were a little more than vermin."

Holding up his hand he provided her with even more examples on how humans exploited every possible detail to separate themselves from other people. "Once there is disagreement the slaughter becomes inevitable, it is obvious if you look at past events and the sad history of humans." Even kids knew of this, schools were full of teaching them of wars that had been fought, how many wars and conflict hadn't already been fought in the past century. The history of mankind was one written with the blood of their own species, there was nothing noble about it as far as he was concerned.

"Why do you think that the old human died out, why do homo sapiens exist purely amongst the Hominidae? The humans kill each other for even the most minor of differences; they are the ones we could not coexist with no matter how hard we would try."

Given it was already enough to possess a minor difference the diclonius were already marked by having their horns, their ancestors being vastly different than the humans around them it was easy to see why mankind turned against them.

"History will repeat itself, it is inevitable. But by then it will be our turn to exterminate them and for the sake of our species it is we who must strike before they get a chance."

If everything went as he had planned and providence would provide then the extermination of mankind would be set into motion in just a mere hour, once that was done there would be no turning back. Already other measures were being assessed to spread the virus to other parts of the world and with an army of diclonius at their disposal in just a few years the new mankind would become unstoppable.

"I guess you already heard this before from me, know that there is no place for you to live amongst the human's. Fulfill your destiny and become the matriarch of the new mankind."

The bed was flipped as Barbara was flung into it, coughing as she could feel her back buckle she got back on her feet. She had not landed a single blow and in reality she didn't want to, her sister was just under the control of that vile man and unless she could destroy the device there would be no chance for her to keep on fighting.

"Is that the best you can do?" She laughed as she wiped away some of the blood, her sister might be younger but that didn't mean her vectors were weaker than hers. She needed to be cautious and search for an opening, something that would enable her to kill him.

Not that it would matter much at the moment as hers were still disabled by that remote he was holding, well it wouldn't matter as she didn't need her vectors to take his life. if it were to come to that she would use her bare hands although the thought of having to touch this human revolted her.

"Your pathetic, you can't even fight for yourself. You human always need to let somebody else do the fighting for you, you were all so scared when we got into that house!"

Even with them carrying guns she had sensed the fear in the humans alongside her, oh how she had wanted to just smear them across the floor then and there but she couldn't. "Two of my sisters died there and unlike you they deserved to live, every moment you live longer makes their death meaningless."

"I did not want either of them to die, I did not even want Diana to stab herself but unless I proved to the chief that you girls were obedient you would have all been disposed of."

"LIES!" She screamed as she heard his excuse, she had seen the sickening smile on his face as her sister lied there on the cold floor, bleeding to death.

"Call them what you want, it won't change that without me you would have never existed in the first place, you owe your very existence to me and yet I can forgive you for your actions."

Oh how he was getting underneath her skin with that latest excuse of him, to think he was actually trying to make himself seems like being in remorse over what he had done to them, if he had really felt about it then as far as she was concerned he would have never done those things in the first place.

"I hate you! I loathe you! There is nothing more in this world that would please me more than ripping of your head! Even then it is going to be too good for what you have done!" She hissed as she noticed the look on his face, it was infuriating to see such innocence on his face.

"I don't blame you for that, I did horrible things to you girls and I am sorry for that. But in your state I cannot let you go, you will be killed by them when they find out." In his hand he was holding the part that he had removed from her forehead. "I am afraid that this will be going back into your head, I would hate for you to get killed when they come in here."

Grinding her teeth she couldn't keep her eyes away from it, if that thing came near her she would be nothing more than being his slave again, she didn't want that to happen. She wanted to be free. "I am not going to let you."

"You don't have a choice, security has already been alerted and when they arrive here they will shoot you. Stop being selfish and think about your sister here for a moment." He gestured for Felicia to come closer to him. "If they see you like this what do you think they will do to her, she will be killed as well and that would be your fault… not mine."

Taking a step back she would not be responsible for that but she was also not planning on becoming like she was before. "I won't let any of you get away with this!"

"Felicia." He remarked. "Restrain Barbara, she is not feeling well, and bring her to me now!"

"Myuu myuu myuu…"

He started to smile as she moved in closer. "Do not struggle any longer, just let it happen and you can continue to live your former carefree life." Barbara's back was against the wall.

Left shaking after the words he had said to her she didn't want to think about the painful truth. "Kouta… everyone… I can… no longer live with them… I can… no longer… go home?" No it sounded wrong to her, she would not believe it. "I can… no longer… see them… ever again?" No that was wrong; she did not want that to happen, with tears running down her cheeks she thought what she could have done. "If I had become stronger. I could have protected everyone. To me…" There came the answer she had been searching for.

"IT'S ALL A LIE TO ME!"

She took a certain sense pleasure in seeing the look on his face, to spit those words into his face. She would tell him what she felt of his stories and his lies, for all she could care this man could go to hell. "What you said to me were all lies! They took me in even though I have horns and yet despite knowing that. Who could have thought…"

"Who could have thought after all this…" The air started to shimmer; something was coursing through her body. She could feel it just beneath her skin; it wanted to get out and to be unleashed upon this world. The shimmering figures started to take shape.

Seeing the object of her grieve and agony they shot out towards him, her vectors reaching out to bring an end to him and punish the man responsible for her pain.

"IT'S YOU THAT TOOK THE PLACE I COULD LIVE IN AWAY FROM ME! IT IS YOU WHO DESTROYED THE PEACE I HAD WITH MY FAMILY! IT IS YOU WHO RUINED EVERYTHING FOR ME! ITS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU AND YOU ALONE!"

About to smear his face across the wall her reach failed short, just inches away from her she struggled to get close enough to him. She groaned as she fought to break free.

"So the second personality can actually use her vectors… how interesting. I told you before that you possessed great power…"

She wasn't going to listen to him, not anymore to his lies and his deceit. His attempts to persuade in joining with his demented dream, all that she wanted and cared for now was going to back to everyone, her family and most of all Kouta. "I don't believe a single word of what you said. I…" She stopped to catch her breath, she wanted to make sure he was going to hear this. " I AM GOING TO LIVE TOGETHER WITH HUMANS!" The shackle holding her right arm in place cracked as one of her vector tore it from the wall section.

His head dropped at the sight of it. "I had wanted to avoid at all cost having to force you to become our eve… but… you are proving to be a disappointment. This is most unfortunate but it seems I am being left with no other choice."

Nyu was glad to hear that, if she was a disappointment to him then it was all the better. She was going to prove that he was wrong, that he had been wrong to begin with, that she and humans could live together in peace. She would prove it to him no matter what.

"I guess all of this has been futile, so much has been a wasted effort. I will be waiting on the other side of that door for you, come and show me your resolve Lucy."

The room nearly caved in as she heard that, that was not her name. As the ceiling started to come down she went for the door, if it was locked she would tear it from its mountings.

He was sitting there like she was nothing, looking around there was nothing here other than a large tank beneath her, why it existed she didn't know nor could she care about it, all that was on her mind was the exit behind him.

"Where do you think you are going to after getting out of here? There is no place for you?"

"I'm going back home." She sighed, even if she said those words there was despair in her heart that maybe he would be right. "Back to where everyone is."

"You think you can go back to them?" He laughed but to her it felt like he was mocking her decision. "You foolishly believe that they will allow a murderer to live with humans, how naïve you are. There is no more chance for you to be ever reunited with them again, it is futile."

Maybe she was naïve in thinking she could continue to live with them but unless she tried she was never going to be certain. If she abandoned them here and now she would always be haunted by that decision, she didn't want to be alone or separated from them. Loneliness was a sickness that would only lead to death, a part of her already understood that. "Even so… I am going home. I have to… apologize… to them."

Still sitting there he made no gesture or even gave the slightest hint that he was going to let her get away. "I'm afraid that we can't let you leave just like that, we have been waiting for a thousand years for you to come to us."

"IF YOU DARE TO STOP ME… EVEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM GOING TO DO!"

His hand folded in front of him he did not seem to be intimidated by that threat, he simply let out a chuckle as he just sat there. "We do believe that you may be able to accomplish anything with that kind of power you possess, you as the second personality being able to use vectors lies within our predictions." As if on cue the water beneath started to become restless, waves started to crash onto the edges, the waves parted violently as something vast erupted from beneath.

It's monstrous shape dwarfing her, it's eyes bearing down upon her.

"YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT DANCE WITHIN THE PALM OF MY HAND. I SHALL SHOW YOU THAT AND THEN YOU WILL LEARN YOUR PLACE LUCY!"

In response it raised its arm high into the air, watching in surprise disbelief Nyu almost noticed it too late that was came crashing down towards her. Letting out a shriek of terror as the vectors collided against it there was only one thought left on her mid. "Kouta-san…"

The area where she had been standing disappeared as the fist struck home, seeing it the chief could do little but sigh. "Foolish girl… so much wasted potential."

"I am sorry father." It was the only warning he got before he understood that something had gone horribly wrong.

Up ahead she could hear the heavy noise of machinery and large hammers being used to force open the door, the debris had already been cleared but from what she could tell the damage had been enough to get the entrance doors locked.

"Break it open this instant!" She barked as the men moved aside to make room for another carrying welding equipment. "I don't care how it gets done but get it done now!" She knew damn well that her orders were making the crew either nervous or agitated but right now she could not give a damn about that, all that she wanted was to have entrance to the hold.

One of the guards approached her. "Madam we have lost contact with one of the search parties." He informed her of what he had been told and although the details might be worrying it was under their circumstances nothing abnormal, it was likely they had gotten lost in a damaged section or that area had collapsed.

"Once the situation is under control we will sent a search and rescue party but for now no man can be spared on a wild search!" The lives of those men meant nothing to her; if they had been so stupid to allow themselves to get caught then they deserved it.

"Madam, I have just been informed that there is a request for contact from the captain, they are attempting to contact the coastguard in order to ask for assistance, your orders?"

They could not afford to have others becoming involved, if they were boarded by the coastguard in their current condition they would not be able to keep them away. She could not allow for that to happen and with that she gave her orders. "Tell your men to kill the bridge crew and to take out anybody that is not part of our outfit!"

"Understood madam. Team bravo initiate delta protocol, leave no witnesses." It seemed that the captain and his crew were already starting to outrun their usefulness, it didn't matter as there were enough people that would do as they were told.

"Keep to your work, I want that door open!" She sneered as she noticed the frightened look on the faces of the crew working on the door, they had better do their jobs or they would suffer the same fate as the crew on the bridge. "Get back to work!"

This day was becoming quite vexing to her, perhaps it would be better if the chief was never to be informed of this. No doubt it would only lead to her being blamed again for allowing the ship to become damaged, still if she could see to it that the warheads would be launched then everything would be okay for her. That was all that mattered to her at this point.

It took some time before they had cut through the lock, hardly surprising as the armored door had been designed to withstand this kind of abuse long enough to have security come and deal with any would be trespassers. "Put your backs into it!" Men screamed as they struggled to push the heavy door open enough to allow people to pass. "Damn with no power these are heavy."

Rolling her eyes she ignored their rather pathetic complaints, there were more pressing matters at hand but apparently some people could not be bothered to see the greater picture.

As the men started to fan out and secure the hold a sense of satisfaction came over her, she had managed to secure the cargo area once more and from what she could tell at a quick glance it seemed that all the armor and structural reinforcements that had been added had done the trick. Well above her the hatch was in a poor state and no doubt the ones located above it would have been utterly wrecked but they had done enough to stop the impacting jet.

"I don't want to think of the mess above us." A man muttered under his breath as he looked up, no doubt many others would likely feel the same.

"Alright check the area for any damage and find out if the launch rails are crooked! I want a full update in ten minutes now move it people!" Their boots clanged on the metal stairs and platforms while other set out to find out if the equipment was still operational.

Her biggest concern after this would be to clear the upper deck to make sure they could launch but for now she was content.

Tonight the glory was going to belong to her and not her rival; tonight the chief would finally learn who his true champion was, allowing a smile to appear on her face she folded her hands.

"Yes the glory will be all mine, I will become his chosen." She whispered to herself. "I will be to one to deliver to him the victory he has been looking for." Cracking her neck she vowed that after this was all over she would treat herself to some good quality time.

"Madam, we are booting the system as we speak, everything looks green so far." Yes this was going to be it for her. "All systems appear to be operating at normal capacity, no breaks in the system, all appears to be clear. We can begin the final checks if you want."

Barbara was panting heavy as she avoided her sister's vectors, she was glad that these were slow enough for her dodge but she was becoming tired. With her own vectors still refusing to emerge she was at the disadvantage and right now it was becoming a race against the clock, how long did she have left before those people that he had called would be here.

"Please stop with resisting, this only for you own good Barbara. I have only your best interests at heart." He held out his hand as if trying to win her over. "I don't want to see either of you getting hurt anymore in this."

Grabbing a book she threw it at him. "Keep your filthy hands away from me, like I would throw myself at you again! You make me sick, I want to vomit just from seeing you! I will never let myself be used like that by any human! I will kill all of you!"

He screamed as it nearly hit him in the face. "Well given that is your answer then I guess I have no other choice then. What a filthy disappointment you are proving to be, even after I am trying to help you this is the way you treat me!? You ungrateful defect!"

"You deserve worse, for all that you have done to me and my sisters. You claim that you feel sorry but deep inside I can feel that you are lying human! YOU NEVER FELT ANY REMORSE AT ALL!" The wall behind her exploded as her anger reached a new all-time high, she laughed as she understood it the reason why. "Guess who are back now." She giggled and the sudden expression of fear on his fear was sweet to her.

"Now I am going to make you pay and it is going to be painful." Now would be her time for revenge, this human was going to pay, she would tear his head off.

"Barbara, don't do anything rash. There is still time for you." The remote was still in his hands, she was fully aware of it and there was no doubt in her mind that he would use it again if she was to get too close.

"Will you try that thing again? You might as well try as you won't be getting another chance after that. I am likely going to die when those people come and you press it but that is alright with me. I would rather die than becoming your slave again and my sister likely feels the same even when she can't express herself thanks to you."

Outside the hallway she could just make out the approaching footsteps, shouts of men and a few others noises she could not place but it was not something she could really care about. If they carried guns she would just do her best to stop the bullets and then slice the men apart.

"So more people to play with, you think they can keep you safe. I am going to kill them and then I will end your miserable existence human."

Grabbing a hold of the other bed she flung it as hard she could, he sisters could likely defend itself against it but with some luck pieces of it could hit him. "DIEEEE!"

It splintered into a hundred pieces as before it had reached even mid-flight but Barbara had counted on that, leaping forward she easily got within her sister's reach now that her attention was focused rather on the bed or what remained of it. Lashing out she punched her hard in the face, it felt wrong to harm her sister like this but as long as she wore that damn human contraption there was little she could do to save her. Perhaps it would be better for her to die and be freed. Ducking underneath one of her vectors she could hear a scream coming from her right, casting a quick glance she was delighted to see that he had been hit.

Holding the misaligned half of his arm Nousou cursed for all that it was worth. "Damn you Barbara! Damn you for doing this to me!"

She couldn't do anything else but laugh at his pain, it felt so good to hear his screams of agony, she wondered how he would sound if she were to pull of his arm entirely?

A scream was all the warning they got before the first man fell to the floor, his corpse got reduced to a bloody soup as it landed against the grating she was standing on. Looking up she was starting to get a bad feeling, somebody was up there. "Open fire!"

The sound of automatic weapons firing erupted all around her; she wondered who had started first; the nervous crew or her own men.

"Cease you fire!" She barked, now was not the time to waste ammo. Whoever was inside the cargo hold was good to have managed to sneak inside without getting noticed. "Cease you fire dammit!" Some idiots were still firing even after her orders.

The firing stopped just in time for more men to scream as they fell down to their deaths, she stepped back as their blood splattered all over the place, who the hell was this guy?

"I want the area set off now! Find whoever is behind this and kill him!" Grabbing the rifle from one of the death men she checked the magazine, not much but luckily she was able to acquire more ammo from the other dead crew members.

Grabbing the radio she was quick to issue more orders, every available man was to report at once to the cargo hold. With sheer weight of numbers they would hunt down this intruder.

"You!" She pointed towards one of the guards. "Make sure that nobody gets through that door without my knowing, nobody is going to get away from here! Nobody will be allwoed to escape!"

The sound of a crashing freight train sounded from behind her, she felt the tremor go through the grating as something vast and heavy landed. The guard she had just addressed moments ago was shivering, his face wracked by the terror that was lurking just behind her.

"I you believe that I have any plans on escaping then you are gravely mistaken, this hold will become your tomb!" A deep voice rasped and already she had idea on what was standing behind her, that voice she heard once before and it was the source of all of her misfortune ever since.

Taking in the sight of the armored giant towering over her, she felt a rush of excitement at being given this chance to avenge herself. "You!" She sneered as hatred and anger started to take over, so it had been this same madman who had crashed a jet into the ship.

"I remember you from the DRI, you killed my men, broke out those diclonius and you disgraced me in front of the chief, to avenge my honor I will kill you!"

"Then I will honor with the most brutal death human, rejoice for it will be a glorious carnage that I will deliver upon you! Now prepare yourself for the slaughter!" It snarled from behind the shattered helmet, it's broken features warping it's visage making it look all the more terrifying. It's one glowing red eye stared back at her and she could feel nothing from it other than a malicious intent on tearing her and every living person on this ship to pieces.