Funf ********** Zanaan stood alone in a large lower-level section of the multiple floor Space Palace known as Deuteronomy. It was a hexagonal room. In the centre was a circular 40-metre in diameter glass chamber, secured by iron bars. In parallel lines to those bars were six pillars that held up the roof of the room. On the surface of the tank was a gold plaque that read MAHALAH. Zanaan stood before that tank. His body once more enswathed in his amethyst cloak though his hood had been lowered. Zanaan pressed two of his fingers against his left temple. His eyes were closed as if in meditation. After a few moments in that pose, Zanaan pulled a smirk and dropped his hand from his head. "I see," He said to himself, "so he's managed to escape. Perfect. Now it's only a matter of time before I have everything I want. There's just one last chore I need to take care of beforehand." The Archangel's eyes returned to that glass tanker in the centre of the room It was completely filled with an oxygenated liquid. Wires were attached to the bottom part of the circle-shaped container. It was covered over with condensed gases, probably due to the clash between the warmth of the liquid and the coldness of the room it was in. Zanaan ignored it and stared at the entire container. Or rather what was inside of it. Bubbles floated up from the centre of the watery depths of that thing. Inside it was a sentient, living being. Zanaan stepped forwards and wiped the condensed gases from the glass. Which gave him clear sight of what was lurking within. The bulbous, writhing, sallow greyish-brownish mass of an entity which far surpassed human understanding. This entity was the Mahalah. And Zanaan smiled at it gleefully. "So this is the Mahalah sample; 'That which shall be God'," He mumbled, "the 'shadowy demon' of the Mu Civilization, the bastard alien child of Planet Golgotha. The Ministry really has gone out of its way this time. And Bardia and the Esdraelon Conglomerate are completely oblivious to the truth. Heh. But then maybe they all are. It doesn't matter anymore. All that matters now... is now." Zanaan extended his hand at the tanker. "Mahalah. You are only half-awakened... let me... awaken you fully... to fulfil your new purpose..." A dark blue energy started to glow at Zanaan's extended hand. One that emulated the intensity of his own spiritual signature. He stared at the Mahalah sample inside the liquid of that container. There was an internal rumbling sound One that came from the interior make-up of the sentient mass within the tank. And it reverberated through the room. The pillars that held up the hall began to shake. The bars around the tank itself did just that. The energy at Zanaan's hand grew in size and as that happened, so rumblings increased in their fervency. The wires attached to the lower part of the tank broke off from their ports, sending crackles of electricity and gas out from their length. The glass of the container then cracked directly at the point to which Zanaan's hand pointed. Some of the oxygenated liquid poured out from that crack and spilled upon the steel ground of the room. The Mahalah sample's 'groaning' became louder with that. While Zanaan's dark grin started to widen even further. Far above that room, in which Zanaan was, was the Control Room. It was a large, four-tiered hall in which the primary defensive and offensive systems of Deuteronomy. On the three lower tiers were fifteen different technicians of the Ministry's personnel. Five of them were on each tier. They sat beside their own individual computer consoles which were interconnected with the fundamental computer system of Deuteronomy itself, the Eleazar. The top tier of Deuteronomy's Control Room was where the key orders were made from the one in charge. And at this point that happened to be Dianus. The woman sat on the reclining grey leather chair that stood before the railing of the top tier. Standing on one side of her was Isabelle. On the other side was both Allen Kuhnen and his assistant, Nina Tu'vette. Allen tapped two of his fingers against his cheek. "Hmm. This all seems a bit odd. Shouldn't we begin the process of extracting the Anti-Lambda data from that boy?" "There is plenty of time for that," Dianus told him, "Don't forget that all aspects of the Master Plan have to be completed before we carry it out. Since you have yet to complete the Zarathustra, there is no problem in that respect. Now. How goes the shipment of the Seraphim Replicates from Shem to Rehoboam?" Technician #12 answered that. "...The Shemite carrier ship Septimius is less than an hour's distance from Deuteronomy. It will be here shortly. Approximately 50 Replicates have been sent for the initial shipment" "Good," Dianus told him, "After they are brought here and each are processed, make arrangements for them to be transported to the Ministerial Bastion in Agnus Dei. From there, our operatives will have them sent to one of the Esdraelon Conglomerate's minor bases. If the reports we are getting from Crux Cartha are true, then sending them directly to Bardia's doorstep is out of the question." "Yes, ma'am!" Replied Technician #12. Then suddenly a red alert flashed from the six overhanging lights and siren speakers to declare that something was wrong. Dianus, Allen, Nina and all the other technicians became attentive at the very sound of that. Dianus leaned up and blinked. "What on earth?! What's the problem!?" Technician #2 tapped over his keyboard to find out. "This is odd! The Mahalah sample! It's resonating!" "Resonating...?" Nina wondered, "Resonating with what?" "We can't say, Miss Tu'vette!" Replied Technician #3, "for some reason, the security cameras and energy signature sensors around the Mahalah containment chamber have been deactivated! Something down there is resonating with the Mahalah sample at an unbelievable rate!" Dianus narrowed her eyes. "What about the Zophim?! Is it that? Is this phenomenon being caused by her?" One of the technicians, no. 7, tried to find that out. He tapped a few keys on his keyboard and the visual display on his computer screen changed to show a room in a lower level. It was the room that the Zophim's coffin had been confined in. "No, Ma'am! The Zophim is within containment and is not active!" "Then what is this?" Dianus wondered aloud, "the only being we've programmed to have any kind of powers of resonation with the Mahalah sample is the Zophim. I headed Project SIGMA myself. There is no way for there to be anyone else with that kind of power Who or what could be causing this to happen?" The face of Technician #9 paled. "Oh no! Doctor Maximus! Eleazar has detected transportation energy 1.3kms from the outer layer of Deuteronomy!" Allen pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "...What? You mean...?" "Yes..." Dianus stared at the gigantic video screen on the other side of the Control Room, one which switched to a visual image of the space outside of Deuteronomy, "the Saviours..." While some of the fifteen technicians started to relay facts about what was going on with the resonation of the Mahalah sample, the others began plotting out what was happening with the spatial transportations. And the video screen gave a very good display of it all. Outside Deuteronomy, in the starry black distance of space, was the materialization of numerous blue-tone energy portals. Each one of the seventeen was around 700ms in height and 800ms in distance. Those voids of energy rolled into and out of themselves until they began to open into ring shapes. Then Saviours started to exit from them. Not dozens, but hundreds of Behemoth-types slowly inched their way out of the numerous portals in the void of space. Each large transportation beast came from the portal with its fins moving it forward in a slow and floating march. Dianus, Allen, Nina, Isabelle and the technicians stared with shared horror as an entire armada of oversized Behemoth-types came in enormous numbers from those sixteen portals. "This is just TOO convenient!" Remarked Technician #4, "first the Mahalah sample saturates and now the Saviours are attacking! Goddamnit, this is just too convenient!" Dianus sneered at that. "Pull yourself together, damn you! There is absolutely no reason to suggest that the occurrence concerning the Mahalah sample has anything to do with this! Now get to work! Order a team of guards to assess what's happening in the Mahalah sample containment room! One of you activate the Lambda Effect Wave Shield Generators and then prepare Deuteronomy's weapons systems for our defence! Aim straight for Saviours!" Now that she had taken command, everyone got it together and yelled 'yes, Ma'am!'. Then they went about doing as she asked. One of the technicians made contact with the head of security on the Space Palace and ordered an investigation into what was happening with the Mahalah sample. Then others did what they could in Dianus' request for the protection of Deuteronomy itself. Deep inside the frame of the fortress were the twenty unified Lambda Effect Wave Shield Generators that acted as the primary source of defensive action for this place. All twenty of those generators went about activating in unison, lighting up with gold force under the command of the Control Room technicians via the Eleazar mainframe. Then those machines did their job. An enormous, globular manifestation of the Lambda Effect, a gigantic Wave Shield, surrounded the entire complex of Deuteronomy. The repelling energy stood before the unhurriedly encroaching fleet of Behemoth-types. Once the Wave Shield was in effect, the third part of Dianus' orders were carried out. Around 5000 turrets, each of them being those on the side of Deuteronomy that the Saviours were about to attack, opened. From them extended in unison huge set of multiple round machine gun/Neutron laser cannon units. All of them took soundlessly took aim at the swarm of enemy beings that Deuteronomy were now facing. Then after a few minutes wait they all fired in unanimity. The wave of cannon fire passed through the Wave Shield. Thousands of beams of sparkling red energy as well as millions of energy-charged bullets were blasted from the frontal weapon systems of the Space Palace. Each and everyone of them crossed over the distance of space between Deuteronomy herself and the Behemoth-type space fleet. A glorious burst of explosions overtook the space around that area, overlooking the large blue expanse of Planet Rehoboam When it all died down, holes had been created in the lines of the Saviour forces But those holes were only minuscule. While the remains of the Behemoth-types that had been shot down still lingered, the surviving majority made their way forward once more. Dianus sneered, watching this all through the video screen of the Control Room. "How many did we take out?" "No more than sixty...!" Said Technician #8, "and more Behemoths are arriving from the space-time tears!" "Damnit," Dianus whispered, "this is exactly what we don't right need now." "But why are they attacking Deuteronomy?" Allen asked, "That's never happened before..." Dianus banged her fist into the leather armrest of her chair. "I said that doesn't matter. All that matters is being able to proceed with what we have intended for the Master Plan. We cannot let anything stand in the way of that. Not now. We have no choice. If our regular weapons cannot destroy them fast enough then we will have to finish them in one go! Activate the Longinus Cannon!" Everyone, aside from Isabelle, gasped hard at that. And everyone turned to her with mixed reactions of fear, surprise, doubt, and terror. Allen leaned into Dianus' ear with a startled expression and tone of voice. "The Longinus Cannon!? Are you out of your mind?! Not even YOU have the authority to use that, Dianus! You'd need the permission of the Tsar before you could even think of attempting something like that!" "I'll take responsibility for it," Dianus answered, "the council would permit this action if they knew that the Saviours were bringing a threat to the success of the Master Plan. All your lives, even this Space Palace itself, are worthless in the face of that. There is no other way to deal with that many Saviours in one place as we are now. There is no other choice! Now begin charging the Longinus Cannon!" Technician #1 swallowed the lump in her throat and turned back to her keyboard. "...Roger..." ********** Ash groaned, stirring in his bed. Still dressed in his battle uniform, he shrugged up from under the covers and leaned up against the headboard of the metal bed. He touched his face and groaned again, then pulled his hand away and smiled. The restorative drug that Cream had given him after taking off in the Arayashiki had worked. His bruises and cuts had already healed up since leaving Crux Cartha less than an hour ago. The blonde boy clenched his fists and stretched his arms out. He felt better now than ever. Especially after getting some sleep, no matter how brief it was. He turned to his right and looked out through the porthole window of the room. It was one of only four bedrooms inside the Arayashiki. The little ship was bigger than a dropship but far, far smaller than a starship. And practically minute compared to a battleship. But it was good enough to get into space. And from the stars he could see, the Arayashiki had done just that. Ash shook his head to get the sleep-mode off his mind and then crawled out of bed. Ash grabbed the harness of his Sigmund-PRO8000 sword and slung it back over his shoulder, fastening it back around him Then he exited that room through the automatic door, into the small hallway between compartments of the ship. Ash came to the hatch door closing off the cockpit. Ash opened that hatch. Cream and Yoko sat in the two seats of the Arayashiki's cockpit. While Cream guided the ship by the control bars, Yoko turned around in her seat and frowned at Germanic descendant. "Feeling better after your rest, Sleeping Beauty?" She said sarcastically, "If you've finished power-napping then we've got a problem." Ash blinked "A problem? What is it?" Yoko just pointed at the transparent canopy of the Arayashiki. Ash stared out with her and gasped when he saw the scene. They had made it into orbit of Rehoboam and were less than 1.4kms from Deuteronomy. The thing was so large that it could be seen very clearly even from that distance. But the thing that bothered Ash was that a massive swarm of Behemoth-type Saviours were slowly floating towards it. Ash glared through the plastic at the sheer number of them. At least 2000 of them by now. Each of them opened their mouths and fired more of their powerful cannon beams at Deuteronomy. Waves of beams crossed the shortening divide of space between the Saviour fleet and the Space Palace. Those beams of ruby light bombarded the spherical Wave Shield that had now enfolded the entire building. Thousands of blasts crashed into the Wave Shield vibrantly and repeatedly. But none were able to break through it. Yet, such attacks would eventually overwhelm the palace. And Rain was still inside it. Ash grit his teeth. "Goddamnit! What next?! Now the Saviours are attacking that thing?" "It's not just Deuteronomy and Crux Cartha," Cream told him, "Look at this." Cream tossed Ash her PM. He caught it and stared at the holographic projection. It was the recording of a news caster from Rehoboam. Ash watched and listened as the news caster spoke. "This is Trent Davidson of the Ladeny Regional News. In the following fifteen minutes we have received numerous reports of Saviour attacks across the planet, the most notable of these being attacks on Crux Cartha and Agnus Dei. It has been suggested that each of these attacks were synchronized to occur at the exact same time and to this point there is no accurate picture to the extent of the damage or the number of lives lost or injured. But there have already been 329 confirmed deaths in over eight cities across Rehoboam. We will keep you informed of all developments as time passes." Ash switched off Cream's PM. "This is some kind of a joke, right? I've never heard of Saviours attacking cities simultaneously. Can the Rehoboam Regular Military even handle something like that?" "If not then they'll probably be calling for reserves from Alvastian and Shem," Yoko said, "they might even have to recall the fleets of the Rehoboam Foreign Military battling Saviours elsewhere. But what bothers me is this. Why the heck would Saviours be attacking Deuteronomy of all places? I mean, with the C-Gear we can still hide the ship from their presence, but-" Cream cut her off with urgency. "Uh, guys!? I REALLY think you need to see this!" The two soldiers stared off through the canopy back to the course they had set for themselves towards the Space Palace. But that in itself was taking action. The underside of Deuteronomy was a metallic dome lined off with six compartments above it from the ground level. The dome was at least 0.7 miles wide which was phenomenally big with comparison to other space stations. The dome at the base of the Space Palace leisurely separated itself into six pieces attached to the nexus of the six upper compartments The six segments of the dome then closed themselves into the those six compartments The opening now created in the base of the building was filled again when something started to descend from it. From the chasm darkness of it came the 0.1 mile long barrel of a cannon. The Longinus Cannon. It was attached to another dome-shaped structure of metal which took the place of the previous one, clicking into place with the soundless clang of metal. That long cylinder barrel of the Longinus Cannon was pointed downwards from Deuteronomy's base. Then it started moving. It rose up a quarter of the way until it was poised at a 90 degree angle, positioned horizontally from the bottom of the palace. The two half circle compartments on either side of the upper length of the barrel opened up. They jutted out to either side and was followed by the sound of more steel movement. Eventually that steel was revealed in the form of two thin electrode-like poles that switched themselves forward in the same manner as the head of the barrel. Then the two partitions above and below that point did the same. They opened themselves the exact same way which brought four of the electrode energy charges out. Each of them then slid back down the four trench grooves of the barrel until their spherical tops were aligned with the front of the cannon perfectly. From both sides of each electrode burst a sheet of metal. Each sheet linked with each other's neighbouring one, until the head of the Longinus Cannon had altered itself into the shape of a goblet. Then the barrel head itself shifted forwards so that the opening stuck out from the surrounding dish. Then the energy that had been gathered started to ruminate. Ash, Cream and Yoko covered their eyes when it fired. There was a thunderous impact. If it could have been heard in space then it would surely have deafened someone. The Longinus Cannon's barrel jerked back as a TREMENDOUS beam of absolute anti-material force was blasted from it. That searing scarlet beam of relentless power rocketed expeditiously ahead with frighteningly devastating speed. It burned through the ranks of the Behemoth-types and incinerated what it touched with its wide 0.8km radius. The area around Deuteronomy was engulfed in tremendous crimson light that the Saviours shrieked venomously at. The beam of the Longinus Cannon ruthlessly eradicated both the beings in its way and those near it. Once it cut its way through the Saviours it did not stop. It kept on moving until it plummeted towards Rehoboam. The beam shot down into the stratosphere of the orb past the clouds of the nanomachine-ridden atmosphere until it was visible in the skies of the planet itself. The beam crashed violently into a set of mountain ranges nine miles southeast of Ladeny. And from that blast point, everything within a 3 mile radius was destroyed. The mountains, the land, the animals, the flora, the waters, the rocks, the soil, everything. It was all swallowed up in a titanic dome of red death that expanded as the explosion continued. The earth near the blast point cracked into itself and each crack streaked out from that area like a spreading virus. Tremors passed along the surface of the tectonic plate that those mountain ranges happened to be on. People in the un-attacked city of Ladeny felt those tremors themselves. The window and glasses cracked and then broke for kilometres around. Some of the townsfolk stepped out of their buildings and stared at the glistening red light of the explosion in the distance, terrified of what it might mean. The explosion continued and sucked up the straggling bits of rubble, tossed into the air, into itself. After a good 3.4 minutes of complete destruction, the red energy combustion triggered by the blast of the Longinus Cannon started to regress. When it did, there was a smoking mile-deep crater where those mountain ranges had once been. As well as twenty people dead and 600+ injured in Ladeny from NOTHING more than the tremors of the detonation. All that, and yet only 22.89% of the Longinus Cannon's full output had been used. Back in space, on the Arayashiki; Ash, Cream and Yoko opened their eyes again. They looked back out to the scene. At least two-thirds of the Saviour forces had been wiped out in little less than 58 seconds. Ash was absolutely astounded. "What in the name of fuck was that!?" "The Longinus Cannon," Yoko put forth, "I had heard about it. It's probably the most powerful mortar weapon ever made in the Augusta Star System. It was one of the additions made to Deuteronomy during its design and... was one of the reasons that the Ministry is so feared. But they need the clearance of the Tsar to use it so..." "How do you know all that?" Ash asked her. "Lets just say... I've dealt with information about it in the past," She replied, "now lets move." Cream blinked. "Are you crazy?! We can't advance on Deuteronomy in this little thing when they have weapons like THAT!" "The Longinus Cannon cannot fire continuously," Yoko told her, "it has to recharge to fire again and that will take at least half an hour. Even heavy mortars like that have their limits. Just keep the Arayashiki steady. It's C-Gear will keep us hidden from the remaining Saviours. Okay?" Cream bobbed her head. "Okay..." Cream put more juice on the boost thrusters of the ship and jetted off towards Deuteronomy once again. It blew its way through the numerous Behemoth-type Saviours, past those living and the remains of those burned to ashes from the blast of the Longinus Cannon. The Arayashiki kept moving until it was less than 200km from the Wave Shields of the Space Palace. The small laser turrets that the ship was equipped with aside its wings opened and started firing. Each blast shot at the gargantuan sphere protecting the place. But it was no more use than the attacks of the Saviours were. "It's not working!" Cream yelled Yoko sneered "Damn! I forgot about the Wave Shield! We don't have anything close to what we need to break through something that powerful!" "This can't be..." Ash stared at Deuteronomy and the glowing Wave Shield around it. Rain was somewhere inside that prison. And the one thing left standing between them and Rain was that blasted shield. Ash gripped his hands into fists and scowled. This was the second time that he had lost Rain and now this thing was standing in the way of him making up for that. In his heart, he felt a savage churning. One of both anger and the ability to do something about a situation that seemed to be getting more and more hopeless as time passed. That sentiment of anger and the urge for the power to change things was what finally snapped him. Or rather, snap what was left of the part of him that was ignorant of what his Mother and Father had tampered with his genes for. Ash's body started to glow with golden light. Yoko turned back on her seat in the cockpit of the Arayashiki when she noticed it. But Cream kept her eyes ahead of her. And she was provoked into gasping when she saw something happen to the Wave Shield that was surrounding Deuteronomy. The part of the Wave that was directly in front of them started to 'bend' into itself. It seemed to defy all known laws of physics but it was happening. And a forty-metre wide hole in the Wave Shield, one big enough for the Arayashiki to fit through, was created. "An opening in the Wave Shield?" Cream wondered. "That's impossible!" Yoko turned back to Ash. The golden light around him was gone, but the significance of it was not, "Did... you do that?" "I-I don't know..." Ash then shook his head, "but it doesn't matter what the cause is! There's an opening now! Cream, fly through it!" The redhead nodded and put more spunk on the boost thrusters. "Gotcha!" ********** Inside the Control Room of Deuteronomy, there was a deathly silence, aggravated by more than one thing. Dianus, Allen, Nina, Isabelle and the fifteen technicians of the room were utterly astounded. The power of the Longinus Cannon, even though it was running at less than a quarter of its full capacity was amazing. It had cleared away most of the Saviours that were encroaching on the Space Palace. But that was the least of it. The surveillance cameras had caught sight of that tiny little ship which had gone past the Saviour fleet. The one known as the Arayashiki. What had startled them all was that Wave Shield that was protecting the complex from the Saviours had been bent to accommodate that ship. It was a phenomenon that had been of great interest to the Ministry. In fact it had been a chief aspect of the completion of the Master Plan. Dianus leaned from her chair with both hands gripping the seat. "It can't be..." "Is that...?" Nina drifted. Allen nodded his head, adjusting his glasses. "Yes. There is no doubting it. That was the..." "The Anti-Lambda Effect," Dianus stated, "the ability to bend and alter Lambda Waves. Someone on that military ship has that ability. But is that even possible? The only ones with any knowledge of the nature of the Anti-Lambda Effect are the late Dr. Sorel and the doctors Gestalt. How is it possible for someone to... wait!" Dianus looked over to the technicians. "What division of the military is that ship registered to!?" "...It appears to be the Darshana Division." Claimed Technician #11. Dianus leaned back into her leather seat with a self-degrading grin. "Hmph. Now I understand. What a fool I have been. I've been chasing the wrong boy..." "What do you mean, Dr. Maximus?" Asked Nina. "I should have figured it out earlier," Said the conductor, "all the facts were staring me in the face but I overlooked them. I should not have been so presumptuous." Allen stared at her. "What are you talking about, Dianus?" "Can't either of you see it?" Allen and Nina straightened up when Dianus said that, "there were only three people left who could have been implanted with the Anti-Lambda Effect data. The son of Dr. Sorel and the two sons of doctors Gestalt. Since Zanaan did not possess the data, we did not think that his younger brother would have it either. That is why we had Zanaan kidnap Rain alone two years ago. The one who possesses the Anti-Lambda data is not Rain Sorel... it is Ashriel Gestalt." "I see," Allen said, "So that was why we found no trace of the data in Rain when we first conducted the tests those years ago. He never had it in the first place." Dianus bobbed her head. "Exactly. We were wrong about the Sorel boy And I know for a fact that Ashriel is a soldier of the Darshana Division. He was the one put on trial for kidnapping Dr. Sorel's son after the retrieval from Protea. I suppose that he must have escaped from the Esdraelon Conglomerate building during the confusion caused by the attack of the Saviours on Crux Cartha This is certainly a very startling change in developments." "MEH, HEH, HEH, HEH!" Everyone in the Control Room froze when they heard the twisted sound of insane and maniacal laughter, "SO YOU'VE FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT, EH? THE ONE WHO POSSESSES THE ANTI-LAMBDA EFFECT DATA IS MY OWN DEAREST LITTLE BROTHER! HOW HUMILIATING IT MUST BE FOR YOU TO OVERLOOK SUCH AN OBVIOUS FACT, DIANUS!" Everyone was taken aback when the sound of Zanaan's voice rung around the Control Room. All of the many computer screens across the tiers were then switched to a flickering head shot of Zanaan's face. The speakers above cast down nothing but his oily voice. The big scale video screen on the opposing side also displayed his face. Dianus, Isabelle, Allen, Nina and the technicians all looked up to it. But Dianus addressed him. "Zanaan?! What is the meaning of this?" "DON'T EVEN BOTHER TO INVESTIGATE IT," He answered sharply, "I HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER ELEAZAR. IF I WANTED TO, I COULD SIMPLY SHUT OFF YOUR OXYGEN AND SUFFOCATE YOU ALL. BUT THAT DOESN'T SUIT MY PLAN AS YET. ASHRIEL STILL HAS ONE LAST GIFT FOR ME. ONE THAT YOU HAVE JUST WITNESSED...!" "The Anti-Lambda Effect?" Allen said. Zanaan chuckled to himself. "MEH, HA, HA, HA, HA! THAT'S RIGHT! THE TRUE SECRET BEHIND THE ANTI-SAVIOUR RESEARCH OF WILHELM AND MARIA GESTALT! AND THE KEY TO UNLOCKING MY TRUEST DESTINY! THE KEY TO BOTH ZONE BETHLEHEM AND CONTROL OVER THE POWER OF THE ELZABAD MECHANISM!" "So that's your game?!" Dianus yelled, "You're the one behind the resonation of the Mahalah sample!" "OF COURSE!" He said derisively, "YOU, MICHAEL BARDIA, THE ESDRAELON CONGLOMERATE, THE COUNCIL OF THE MINISTRY; YOU'RE ALL NO MORE THAN PAWNS IN MY GAME! THANKS TO YOU ALL, I NOW HAVE ALL THAT I NEED TO FULFIL MY HOPES FOR THIS BLINDED STAR SYSTEM! ALL THE HUMANS WHO HAVE TRICKED THEMSELVES INTO RUNNING FROM GOD'S GRACE AND TAKING THE PATH AWAY FROM PAIN WILL BE JUDGED! SOON IT WILL ALL BE REVERSED!" "You're not making any sense, you fool!" Barked Dianus. "IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND... MAYBE IT WOULD BE BETTER TO JUST... LET YOU SLIP AWAY INTO THE FIERY DEPTHS OF HELLFIRE! YOU'VE SERVED YOUR PURPOSE WONDERFULLY, DIANUS! IT'S JUST TOO BAD THAT THE REVENGE YOU SOUGHT FOR YOUR DEARLY DEPARTED LOVE WILL NEVER BE ATTAINED! MEH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH!" "Damn you!" Dianus yelled. That just caused Zanaan to laugh harder. "MEH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH! MEH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HEH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH, HAH!" The technicians around were startled by all this. Zanaan was not lying. Somehow he had control over Eleazar, and while that took place, they had no means of doing anything to stop him. They couldn't even call for help. But they had more to worry about than that. While Zanaan laughed like a madman through the speakers attached to the ceiling of the Control Room, energy started crackling in the air Then ten Slave-type Saviours warped into the room in random positions across the tiers. Nina tried to contain her fear. "S-Saviours?! In here? But...!?" "MEH, HEH, HEH!" Zanaan laughed, "HAVE FUN! I KNOW THAT THESE BEINGS WILL AFTER THEY FINISH TEARING THE FLESH FROM YOUR BRITTLE, COWARDLY, UNWORTHY BONES! KYAH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!" Dianus could only stare with fearful frustration as the Slave-type Saviours ripped their way through the ranks of the technicians. They grabbed the heads of the defenceless men and women and ripped them apart, limb from limb, one by one. Blood splattered across the many monitors and empty chairs along with the dying shrieks and frightened screams of those next in line. Some of the technicians tried to flee, but the Slaves jumped in front of them and picked them off with violent fury. One of the Slave-types climbed up to the highest tier and lunged at Nina. Allen was wide-eyed. "Nina!" The young black assistant jerked forwards from the waist when that Saviour ran its biometallic fist straight through her torso. Her blood and guts were torn out from her now lifeless body, robbing life with no calm. She toppled over dead. A second Saviour jumped from one of the lower tiers all the way up to the top and landed right before Allen. He tried to run, but the Slave-type simply grabbed him by the neck with both powerful hands. It cranked its fists around in opposite ways, snapping the man's neck ruthlessly with a gargling breath matted with blood Dianus and Isabelle backed up from the ravaging of their subordinates to the far door. But another of the Saviours had its eye on them. It lumbered slowly over to them. Dianus shook with fear, still hearing the sound of Zanaan's fanatical laughter in the background. The hulking Slave-type that stood over Dianus lifted up its fist to strike her down. Suddenly Isabelle, the bioandroid seemingly devoid of human sentiment, pressed a button on the key panel and roughly shoved Dianus through those doors to get her out of the way. Dianus stumbled backwards out of the Control Room and into the corridor. And when she looked back through the door, she could see Isabelle standing there, tears in her eyes, smiling whilst the Slave-type raised its hand to kill her. Dianus was shocked. "...Isabelle...?" "I know... what I was..." She said slowly, the steel doors closing back up again, "...just a substitute for the one you loved -- Alexandra. Still... it was a nice fantasy... the hope that I could... take her place..." Three seconds later, Isabelle's head was punched clear off her shoulders And the doors closed the second that Dianus saw it with her own astonished, horrified eyes. ********** The steel underside set of stairs came down from the thin hull of the Arayashiki ship. Ash, Cream, and Yoko, each of them fully armed with their respective weapons, charged down it and into the metal shaft corridor that the little ship had landed in. Deuteronomy's total layout had thankfully been uploaded into the mini-computer of the Arayashiki and so Yoko was able to familiarize herself with much of it before coming here. It was from that that she leaned that the prison cells of the structure were on level 19. That was pretty high up, but they were all sure that the Ministry had its hands fully with the Behemoth-type Saviours outside. By now they were no more than 200m away from the Wave Shield of the Space Palace. All it would take was a little more time before the charge for the shield ran out and they could pass through for a full-contact attack. It was only good luck that none of the Saviours could use the same method to enter as they did. Ash, Cream, and Yoko dashed down that elongated path straight ahead from where they had docked the Arayashiki. But it became clear that something sinister was going on inside Deuteronomy right now As they closed in on the fork at the end of the corridor, they noticed the bloodied corpses of at least six armed security guards. Some of them were leaned up against the walls, the others were face down on the ground. Their helmet visors had been cracked open and their guns were broken to pieces. Something had ripped them apart without much of a concern. And those beings made themselves seen. Ash the girls skidded to an abrupt stop when three large Slave-type Saviours materialized ahead of them. "Slave-types!?" Yoko barked, "In here?!" Cream scowled. "I thought they hadn't made contact with Deuteronomy yet!" "It doesn't matter..." Ash sneered at the three lumbering alien beasts standing in his way. He then reached behind his back and withdrew his elongated Sigmund-PRO8000 sword from the sheath on his back, "Well okay then. Yoko? Cream? Lets kick some ass!" Both women nodded to him. Ash rushed forwards with the two projectile carriers flanking him He gripped his Anti-Saviour designed blade in a two-handed hold and jumped up in that narrow corridor. Ash then came down again with a revolving slash that hacked straight through the torso of the middle Slave-type, cutting along the groove of the brain, down the snub nose and mouth-plate, through the neck and steel chest into the stomach and down the innards of the vagina. The Slave-type released a muffled shriek and then collapsed to either side of Ash's Sigmund-PRO8000, its putrid green blood and sallow yellow intestines splattering all over the compacted walls. Ash then got up from the crouched position he landed in and started running once more, past the other two Saviours. Yoko aimed her Sankhya-PRO8000 twin handguns (Yin and Yang) at the skull of the right Slave-type. She fired and buried bullet after bullet into the armoured skull of the beast. Its green blood was spat up from the bullet holes when it dropped to the ground, dead. Yoko followed after Ash. Cream came in last, aligning one of her arrows (ice-tip) with her Sophia-PRO8000 bow. She released the arrow and let fly into the temple of the left and last Slave-type. It screamed horrifically when the arrow nailed it in the head and offloaded a small but very deadly vat of liquid nitrogen into its brain The entire cerebral structure of the monster's mind was turned into freezing cold ice -- and the Slave-type fell dead instantly. Cream them jumped over the three cadavers and caught up with Ash and Yoko at the other end of that long corridor. Ash turned to Yoko whilst they stood at the door to the elevator. "What floor is Rain on?" "I don't know," Answered the Asiatic woman, "I only know the floor on which the cells are Nineteen. We have no idea if he'll be in there or not. But right now it's our best shot so we might as well start their first." Ash and Cream bobbed their heads. Yoko pressed the button to engage the lift. The metal doors opened up a second later. The three of them ran into the lift and let the doors close behind them. Yoko turned to the key panel beside the doors and pressed the button marked '19'. The elevator started moving again. But not in the direction they wanted. "Um, Yoko...? Did you press the right button...?" Wondered Cream. "Of course I did!" Yoko remarked with a scowl, "It's floor nineteen!" Ash blinked "Then why does it feel like we're going down!?" "THAT WOULD BE MY DOING..." Ash, Cream and Yoko took notice when they heard that voice. But only Ash knew it or the significance of it. The blonde boy's free hand tightened up into a fist and his eyes thinned out angrily. He knew EXACTLY who that was. "...Zanaan..." Yoko reached for one of her handguns. "...Zanaan?" "GREETINGS, LITTLE BROTHER!" Said the Archangel through the speakers, "I KNEW YOU'D MANAGE TO FIND A WAY OUT OF THE INQUEST! AND I SEE YOU'VE BROUGHT FRIENDS WITH YOU! HOW FUN! MORE TOYS TO PLAY WITH BEFORE I DESTROY THE PLAYPEN!" Ash stared at the ceiling of the lift. "I don't know what you're doing here and I couldn't care less! I just want Rain! Where is he?! Where's Rain, damn you!?" "OH? WHY NOT TRY FINDING THAT OUT FOR YOURSELF? BUT BEFORE YOU DO... WHY NOT COME AND SEE ME? WITH MY NEW CONTROL OVER THIS FACILITY, I CAN MAKE SUCH A THING QUITE POSSIBLE...! HOW ABOUT IT...!?" Cream scowled. "You're Ash's brother, aren't you? You're the one who took Rain in the first place! Tell us where he is or I swear I'll make you regret this!" "WHAT SOULLESS BEING SEEKS TO ADDRESS ME?" "What...?" Cream blinked. "A BAS-SERIES GIVING ME ORDERS!?" Zanaan laughed, "MUH, HAH, HAH, HAH! YOU JEST! HOW COULD ONE SUCH AS YOURSELF POSSIBLY CLAIM TO FEEL LOVE WHEN YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THE SOUL?! YOU'RE AS MUCH OF A JOKE AS BARDIA'S DAUGHTER OVER THERE!" Yoko took aim at the ceiling with Yang. "You son of a bitch! Where is Rain!?" This time there was no reply. Only the sound of Zanaan's laughter. Then the lift stopped. They had hit one of the lowest levels of Deuteronomy (if not the lowest). The metal doors shifted open to either side and revealed another corridor It led to a hexagonal room. Ash stepped out of the lift and said, "That bastard. I don't know how, but he's gotten control over this whole building." "Looks like he's inviting us to something," Yoko readied her Sankhya-PRO8000 handguns, "it'd be a shame to disappoint him, wouldn't it?" Cream appeared more subdued than the others, but tried to conceal it. "Then lets go." All three of the Darshana Division soldiers walked down that long pathway to that hexagonal room. They kept going until they entered and saw what was waiting for them. It was Zanaan. His cloak was still attached to his body but his hood was down. The glass tanker that had been in the centre of that large hall was broken completely from the top down. And the bulbous being existing within it had spread itself across the room. Dozens of dormant tentacles extended from the main body of that entity, stretching across the room and attaching itself to the fuse boxes, computer systems and power plugs. Ash, Cream, and Yoko looked on with dumbfounded expressions at the thing. As well as the one standing before its tanker. Zanaan turned around, his cloak flocking round his ankles, and showed his face. It was covered in dark green veins that pulsed as if beating rapidly with his heart. Cream winced, looking away. "W-what is that thing...!?" "This?" Zanaan extended his arms to either side of his body, "This magnificent wonder is what people in this realm would refer to as 'Mahalah'. An inert yet sentient life-form that shall give me a power that goes beyond your wildest dreams. See the face of the future for yourselves!" Ash grit his teeth. "What have you... done to yourself...?" "It's nothing really," Zanaan stared as his hands. They too were throbbing with green veins, "I have merely aligned my brainwaves with the thought processes of the Mahalah. Our minds now run as one. But this, as splendid as it is, is only the beginning." "Why are you doing this!?" Ash barked. Zanaan widened his smile. "This being called Mahalah has the power to absorb human thought as well as the very cryptograms and algorithms of the soul Its mind doesn't simply interpret human nature. It absorbs it and that force then becomes one with its own flesh. Mahalah has been entombed for thousands of years. Just think of the information it could have assimilated in that time should that fate not have befallen it? But now I will set the change for everything. The time has come. By linking my mind with the Mahalah and allowing it to feed off my own soul, I have gained access to some of its powers My control over the Eleazar should be confirm that. But there is only one ability I need at this point. One that you shall see. Now!" Zanaan extended one of his hands and pointed his palm at Ash. The blonde man pulled up his sword as if to fight, but then felt a tremor over his entire body. Cream grew concerned when she saw Ash react like that. He lurched forwards and groaned. The Sigmund-PRO8000 was dropped from his strong hand and Ash clutched violently at his head. The boy dropped to his knees and groaned loudly, clawing at his hair. Cream kneeled down to his side. "Ash? Ash!? What's wrong with you?!" "My... mind..." The older one struggled to say, "he's..." Yoko aimed Yang at Zanaan. "What are you doing to him!?" Zanaan only laughed at that and kept on with what he was doing. His fingers writhed and Ash's body jerked according to the act, across the room. Ash's groan then transformed into a scream. And golden energy, the same golden energy that had appeared around him when he had come before the Wave Shield of Deuteronomy on the Arayashiki, was now flowing from his brain like a line of gases. It floated towards Zanaan's hand in a straight line and shaped itself into a golden ball of energy; one that hovered over that hand. Ash's body jerked once and he ceased screaming. "Ash! Ash!" Cream directed her fury at Zanaan, "What did you do to him!?" Zanaan chuckled at the ball of energy over his open hand. "Ha, ha, ha! Behold the power of the Mahalah! The power to alter mere thought and knowledge into a physical form! This orb you see before you -- is the physical form of the Anti-Lambda Effect data! The piece of the puzzle that was denied to me twelve years ago! Now it is mine! The key to Zone Bethlehem is mine!" Yoko thinned her eyes. "Zone Bethlehem...?" "You've served your purpose now," Zanaan said to the weakened Ash, "I won't even bother to kill you. Your fate and that of all the Augusta Star System is now sealed." Cream and Yoko watched as Zanaan tilted his head back. The orb of the Anti-Lambda data was then absorbed into the flesh of his hand, adding a golden glow to the Archangel momentarily. Zanaan then spread open his arms and his body suddenly became transparent, as if it has lost all physical buoyancy. He started floating up from the steel ground towards the ceiling which he phased through effortlessly. The Mahalah entity behind him also went transparent, its material body becoming non-corporeal. It rose up just as Zanaan had done, following his commands. Its many tendrils were dragged up with it, which would probably restore Eleazar's control over itself, but now, that would seem to be the least of anyone's problems. Zanaan and the Mahalah drifted up with each other through the many floors of Deuteronomy until they both phased through its colossal roof. Out in space, the Behemoth-type Saviours were advancing on the Space Palace with ever more fervency. But they seemed to react to the signature energy of the Mahalah. Not that they were in any position to do anything about it. Zanaan widened his smile and proclaimed, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,'." There was a tremendous crackle. One that shone a dark amethyst light over the upper levels of Deuteronomy as well as the Saviours launching their attacks on it. The light was so bright that it could be seen all the way from the western hemisphere of the blue planet Rehoboam. It peered from a thin slit in the fabric of time and space now no more than 980m from Deuteronomy. That slit then opened and revolved around like a opening eyeball. Another bright flash of light over took the darkness of Rehoboam's orbit. And then the result was shone. A gigantic sphere of light purple negative energy -- more than 540m in diameter. While still dwarfed by Deuteronomy, its significance was far more glaring than the Space Palace Zanaan pulled a dark and triumphant smile, mouthing 'Zone Bethlehem', to himself. Right before he and the Mahalah floated to the sphere and melted themselves into it. Now life as it was known in the Augusta Star System had been put into a level of danger that only a few people could have understood the magnitude of.
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