Slavegear - Part 4

Moon ran towards her, magic reaching out to try and hold her arms still to stop her. "Don't!" She called out.

Rain cant look away... As much as she wanted to... She had to... For the safety of everyone... She wanted to badly to release the arrow to save the girls life...

...

Would it make her any better then her masters? Keeping her alive just to hurt her...

She grits her teeth thinking, her morality being questioned.

Twilight swooped down from above, moving quickly in the direction of the girl. She held up her hand, which began to glow.

"Let me make it..."

She aimed her telekinesis at the canister, drawing it in to catch.

"Yes! Still closed!"

"Why-.. won't you let me die?" the girl sobbed as her arm froze in place, held back by Moons spell.

The knife slowly fell out of her grasp and clattered across the pavement. The girl helplessly closed her eyes, hiding her face with her hands.


Marek slowly stepped out of the crowd, visibly panting and looked at her:
"...oh Maggie..." he quietly said with sadness and sat down on the ground next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. The girl began sobbing even harder.


Several men in orange bio-hazard suits approached Twilight and carefully took the canister from her, immediately securing it inside some kind of a sealed case. Then promptly left the area.


"Good work.. everyone" Kaylee released a small smile: "...good work"





The next several minutes flew by in a haze. The bio-hazard teams scanning the area, looking for possible leaks. The decontamination process that everyone close to the canister had to go through.

The government agents in dark suits, swarming the scene and dispersing to look over every inch of it.

Finally, a helicopter landing and Mercer ushering everyone aboard. Marek and Maggie were quietly handcuffed and boarded the chopper with you.
Several minutes later, you were already airborne and on the way back to Mother Base.



As the first rays of sunrise began to touch the horizon and the blue colors of the endless ocean began to appear on the horizon, Councilor Mercer released a tired sight and allowed herself to relax, for what seemed to be the first time in weeks:



"Everyone, I wanted to thank you for your hard work" Mercer said after a moment and smiled:
"You all went above and beyond the call of duty. The Union is in your debt"
She smiled to you and adjusted her hair, looking out the window:

"Now that the Slavegear incident has officially concluded, I know that most of you would have preferred to stay in Canterlot. That's why I wanted to apologize for scooping you up again and flying you here.
This will be the last vital visit to Mother Base, I promise. We just need to go over a few bureaucratic details, take your statements and testimonies regarding everything that happened since the start of this mess. Verify all the details, make sure we did everything right and closed all the loop holes.

After that, I promise, I will personally make sure that each of you will be flown to the destination of your choice. Whether you wish to go to Equestria or otherwise, I will arrange a personal flight for you"




As the sun began to fully rise over the horizon, the silhouette of Mother Base began to come into view.
Marek and Maggie were quietly sitting at the back of the helicopter, visibly tired. Marek was sleeping.


Harlequin was sitting next to Rain, looking at her palms and thinking about something with a concerned expression.

Johan was slowly cleaning his glasses and slightly smiling, looking around the helicopter.


Kaylee's grin could not be contained though. She was smiling from ear to ear and looking out of the helicopter as the sun rose over the ocean. After a moment, she quietly said:


"We did it.... we actually did it"

Rain wraps an arm around Harle, "Is there something wrong?" she asks scooting a little closer, "you seem... Bothered hun..."

(Tarmikos)
Tarmikos slowly turned to look at Mercer

"And the offer actually stand for everyone right? Including me?" there was a flicker of doubt in his eyes

"Hey Johan" Moon called, smiling "If you want, come down to Canterlot some day. I have a violin with your name on it. Not literally, but it's yours. I never played it much."

"Thank you, Moon" Johan brightly smiled: "Its very kind of you"
He happily nodded: "I would love to visit Canterlot"


Harlequin slightly sighed and looked at Rain: "I just..." she looked down again:
"...after everything that's happened, Kaylee pulled me aside and said it should be me, who should step up and lead Nyx from now on.
Marek agrees with her. But I..
I don't know how to lead a nation. I don't know how to inspire people or make them follow me. All I understand is combat.

I can teach Nyx how to be strong, I can teach them how to protect themselves. How to be self sufficient, but.. other than that... Rain, I don't know.

I've never done something like this. I don't know if I'm cut out to lead a nation"






After Tarmikos' question, Councilor Mercer became grim and looked out the window:

"...I.. was hoping to avoid this topic until much later but..." she slightly rubbed her eyes with one hand, trying to shake off fatigue, then looked at everyone:

"...the truth is... you saved the world. No one can doubt that. But...
Over 100,000 lives were lost, during the Slavegear incident, when the robot burned down a whole city.
You were mind controlled and that event was not your fault, beyond any shadow of doubt, but...


A lot of lives were lost. Families broken. Destruction on an incomprehensible scale.

People will want answers"





She sighed and looked out the window again: "I have talked with the Adelheid's high court.
We have come to an agreement.

After we land and debrief on Mother Base, you will be free to go. All of you" she nodded to Tarmikos:
"You will all have 1 month, to rest, relax, spend time with your families, catch up with friends. But..
After that..."


She heavily sighed: "At some point, you will be asked to appear before the highest court of law in the Union. They will ask you questions. They will try to find a reason, why the Slavegear incident was allowed to happen. Some, may even look for scapegoats.

The prosecutors may scan everything you did, during the past 2 weeks, under a microscope and verify if everything was done in accordance to law.

All of our actions have consequences..."




She sighed again and looked at you with determination: "I can promise you this.

I will find the best lawyers in Adelheid. And I will make sure they don't pin the Slavegear incident on you.
We have the evidence. We have the Neurochip schematics and we have Dr. Zarovee. It will be more than enough to clear your name from the Slavegear incident. You will not be prosecuted for that event.

As for.. other things.." she quietly looked at Tarmikos: "...if.. some sort of a grave offense was carried out, unrelated to Slavegear, the court of Adelheid will.. question you about it..

We're not above the law, in the end. We need to account for our actions, at some point. Even me" she looked at her palms.






The helicopter began to tilt to one side and started a long circle around Mother Base, looking for the helicopter landing platforms.

As the chopper moved, Johan slowly gasped and leaned again one of the windows:
"Wooaah... is that?.. Slavegear?"


As you look out the window, you notice a mass of broken metal and a silhouette of a machine, standing in one of the lower hangars of the base, just next to the ocean line.


"Yeah" Mercer slightly nodded: "What remained of the machine was dragged here, in preparations for dismantlement"


Johan's eyes were widening, as he continued to stare at the window: "... look at that monster"

"Imagine that thing barreling down on you" Kaylee said, with a mix of dread in her voice.





"Alright, we're about to land" Mercer said, getting up: "Lets do the debriefing quickly, so we can send you guys home. I don't want to keep you away from your families any longer than necessary"

The helicopter made a final pass around the base and began its descent.

Mercer came closer to the door and grimly said: "...what a pain. Ever since I had to give up Mother Base's location to the Union, the other Councilors representatives have been crawling all over this place.
Can't exactly blame them, I did hide the bases existence from them. But.. I really do wish we could keep this place a secret"



She looked out the window and squinted: "..mmm... looks like the Councilor of Gerra will be gracing us with her presence. With half her office staff in tow..

Don't mind her, just head for the conference room. We'll debrief you and you can head home"

She looked at the people outside before shrugging and stepping out of the helicopter, taking a deep breath and smiling a little "Well, as long as everything goes to plan, we have nothing to worry about."

(Tarmikos)
"When does anything go according to plan?" Tarmikos asks with a dry tone then starts to closely watch the base, "I'd be surprised if this entire thing doesn't go straight to fucked as soon as we land."

Marek's expression slowly turned into a mask of cold anger, as he stepped out of the helicopter as well.

He was staring somewhere ahead, where the Councilor of Gerra and her staff were mingling, then approached you and quietly spoke:


"...that woman..." he pointed in the direction of the Gerran Councilor: "..why is she here"


"She was in charge of Slavegear construction" Mercer said, looking ahead as well: "She invited herself in, to make sure Slavegear was dismantled properly"


"That woman built the robot to unleash genocide upon my people!" Marek angrily hissed: "..bringing her here was a mistake"


"Marek, with respect-" Mercer quietly said: "-..do you have evidence of that"


Marek quietly scowled. After a moment he said: "...No"



"..If nobody minds..." Kaylee quietly said to herself after a moment: "...I'd like a word with the Gerran Councilor"


"Kaylee!" Mercer quietly snapped, then composed herself and spoke quietly: "...Captain. She is a Union Councilor. One of the most powerful people on the planet.
We can't accuse her without evidence... and hope no fall out will come of it. You do not want her as your enemy"

Rain looks to kaylee and then mirek, "well... She has a reason to be here..." she takes mireks side, "omnicidel maniac or not Mirek... My job is to protect nyx and the batponies within it... If you have your suspisions I dont see a reason not to investigate..." she looks to mercer, "...just because shes a strong enemy doesnt mean we cant be suspicious and attempt to find some evidence against her..." she raises her brow at mercer, "...its better to be suspicious of a possible genocide... Then to just brush off the thought." she huffs before turning her attention back to Harle, "...well... I think thats what Nyx needs right now... A powerful leader who will defend their land... Who can train a proper military." she rests her head on Harle's shoulder a moment, "I'll be there with you..." she huffs

"I'm guessing I'm not allowed to punch her." Moon mumbled as she stared at the counsellor, frowning.

"Absolutely not" Mercer crossed her arms:


"I'm not saying we should brush this off. I'm saying, we need to be very careful about how we play our hand.

One step in the wrong direction and it may end very badly for you. If the Councilor of Gerra really did plan for genocide, then she is a ruthless, cold blooded and calculating monster.


If you talk to her and upset her in some way, I don't know what kind of political machination she will unleash to get back at you, or your families, just to silence you and halt your investigation.

You need to be extremely careful around that woman. I'm saying this to protect you"





A group of local soldiers slowly approached Marek and Maggie, then began escorting them deeper into the base.
As Marek passed within earshot of the Gerran Councilor, he suddenly jerked in her direction and started shrieking:

"YOU CAUSED THIS! YOU MADE ME DO THIS! YOU TRIED TO MURDER MY PEOPLE! YOU GOD DAMN MONSTER!!!"

The soldiers quickly closed ranks and began trying to drag Marek away from her, pushing him along toward the cell block.
Marek's shouting quickly switched to his native tongue. You couldn't understand what he was screaming, but it felt like he was insulting her with every word he could think of.



The Gerran Councilor watched him in silence. Her eyes reflecting a level of pity.
After Marek had finally faded from view, she sighed and returned to speaking with her colleagues.



"...smart" Kaylee quietly said: "..he tried to get a reaction from her"

"It didn't work" Mercer frowned: "She's good.
I can't recommend you talking to her. It may end badly" She sighed: "...I'm not saying we drop this, but for now, lets just get the debrief over-.... damn her" Mercer suddenly frowned.



The Gerran Councilor and her staff began to move and home in on your position. The Gerran Councilor was already making eye contact with you and smiling, as she approached.



"Don't say anything that may backfire... please" Mercer quietly whispered, before putting on a mask and smiling to the Gerran Councilor as well.

She forced a small smile, her hands behind her back to hide clenched fists "I guess in that case I shouldn't talk them."

(Tarmikos)
Tarmikos watched the Gerran Councilor approach then, under his breath said

"I'm just going to leave now before someone gets fireball up the ass. Think those violent episodes might be slowly coming back, so if you'll excuse me"

Tarmikos walked off passing the approaching Councilor giving her a nod then headed directly for the station's hospital

Twilight rubs her chin for a bit.

~Perhaps Harlequin could become a teacher for combat. It would ease her into leadership, and it's more important to rebuild Nyx then to build an army. I need more time for details though. But about those deaths, I need some info...~

She turns to Kaylee, whispering to her.

"I need to discuss something with you after this. Is that possible?"

She then turns to the Gerran councilwoman, looking at her with no intention to budge an inch.

Rain doesnt smile as she gets out of the chopper, she puts on her old unplesent "normal" personality and she just looks at the counceler expressionless, her normal displeased stature returns and she lets out a soft annoyed sigh.

Kaylee quickly nodded: "Of course Twilight"

After Tarmikos' comment, Mercer slightly rubbed her eyes: "..Tarmikos, please don't make me regret releasing you for a month.."



The Gerran Councilor slowly approach and released a bright smile to everyone. The smile appeared genuine:
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Dorothy Chambers, I am the Councilor of Gerra. I wanted to thank you for a job well done. You saved a lot of lives today. You should be proud"

She smiled to you, then looked at Twilight: "Oh, Miss Sparkle, its good to see you again. I was worried you might have been harmed during the Slavegear attack on Adelheid. I'm glad to see you in good health"


She looked at everyone, then looked back at the buildings behind her, where Marek was taken to:

"I'm.. honestly very surprised you managed to take Marek alive. I was sure he would fight until the very end. It must have been difficult to place him in custody"


She looked at you and sighed, a shadow of sadness passed over her eyes: "...its... truly horrible, what he had to go through, during his life. The experience must have left him scarred, both in mind and in body. He truly despises the outside world.. and... I don't know if I can blame him, but...
I pity him.."


She sighed, waiting a moment, looking down. Then looked at you again, her expression became serious:

"The Union Intelligence Division has reported that there is still a small group of Vampire Unit operatives, unaccounted for. We don't know where they are, or if they will ever resurface. With Marek in custody, they may just fade into the shadows and never emerge.



But after dealing with Marek for so long, I can't hope but feel a sense of dread about this situation.

Marek always had a card to play. Always. And it makes me worry... is he truly done with his campaign?"



She took a step forward, looking extremely serious and worried: "You have been traveling with him for a while.

Did he say anything?
Anything that might hint on his next move? A casual comment? An unintentional phrase? A word spoken in the heat of the moment?

If he did, please, tell me. It is very important. If he is still plotting something, we must know, before its too late"

// Hey guys, we're having another Cards Against Humanity game, today at
18:00 England time
12:00 pm U.S. time

I'll post a link here, a few minutes before the game will start, hope to see you guys there =D

"I don't listen to half the stuff he says anyway so don't ask me" she frowned, looking at the counsellor with an odd gaze.

//Hey guys, the link is up! Join in if ya free =D

http://pyx-1.pretendyoure.xyz/zy/game.jsp#game=79

The password is: idkcats123

Rain refuses to tell the counceler anything, "I perfer to refrain from buissines I have no part in..." she says plain and simply with a huff, '...and more along the lines of... I just... Dont. Like you.' she thinks to herself, "I would very much like to rest..." she says moving closer to Harle.

"Miss Chambers" She gave a short, curt nod. "My escape from that facility did have some complications, but nothing mayor. I see your escape has gone smoothly. It does seem to be a small relief when you have to escape from your own design."

She holds a hand to her chin. "In our flight, Marek has not mentioned anything about anyone of his group still out there. Mostly he spoke of his advanced age. As far as we've discovered, they're either imprisoned or dead. It's also unlikely that the any remaining forces of the vampire unit will resurface soon, after The head was taken."

She lets go of it. "If he has something up his sleeve, then he has hidden that card pretty well. But given the time we've spend with him, his mind is as broken as his body. It's peculiar how one mastermind can be reduced from high to low, you can say it's pitiable. Though, maybe pity is not the right word for the feelings that remain."

"I understand completely" Chambers nodded, her expression becoming serious: "Please keep me informed of any developments" she gave a formal smile to Mercer: "Councilor"

"Councilor" Mercer nodded to her as well.


Chambers then slowly turned and looked at Johan and Harlequin. After a moment, she released a small, guilty smile:
"I believe... the Union is in your debt... Marek has rightfully accused the world of standing by without action, while slavery continued in Nyx for over 40 years.

And while the Union is a relatively new body, that only existed for 2 years... we couldn't do much before... but we can now"



Chambers released a bright smile: "Agent Harlequin.. or more appropriately, Princess li-Asteria, as a future leader of Nyx, I want to give you a promise.

The Union is in the process of establishing a long term, welfare project in Nyx. We will construct hospitals, enlist medical experts. Build schools, colleges, and in time, universities. We will send our best and brightest professors and doctors to Nyx, to help you establish a firm foundation, on which you can build a bright future of your own"



Harlequin and Johan seemed both taken aback. After a moment, Harlequin finally said:
"...thank you.. ma'am.. that's.. very generous of you... the country of Nyx will be in your debt...
What would you ask of us in return?"


Councilor Chambers released a casual smile and waved her off: "Please, dear, there's no need for that. Consider this gesture an attempt of redemption, for the silence the world gave you during the 40 years of slavery"

Chambers extended her hand and shook first Harlequins, then Johans hand. The two batponies seemed a little shell shocked.

After that, Chambers politely smiled and excused herself, drifting deeper into the base.





Harlequin and Johan stood in silence for a moment, before Johan quietly asked: "..do you think.. she meant it?"



Mercer slightly rubbed her forehead: "... well.. she didn't lie about the Nyx project. Chambers was feverishly pushing this plan in the Council meetings for approval, during the past two days. Its a costly project, yes, but it seems like its going to be happening.
Hospitals, schools, colleges and universities will be built in Nyx.

Proper healthcare, free education in Nyx. For the first time in centuries. All courtesy of Councilor Chambers.."




"..what game is she playing, if at all" Harlequin quietly asked: "...she really is good... casting doubt on Marek's testimony and turning it around on him at the same time.

In the end, there's a lot of uncertainty. Did Marek lie? Did Chambers lie? Or did they both?
There's not enough information to make a firm conclusion yet.."




Harlequin and Kaylee sighed almost in unison, then turned to look to their right, as another helicopter landed on the base, about 50 meters away.
You notice a group of people in bio-hazard suits, slowly step out of the chopper and carry a pair of canisters inside the base.
They didn't have their masks on, but their orange uniforms gave their job away.



"...are we bringing the virus canisters here?" Kaylee asked, grimacing.

"Only two of them" Mercer nodded: "We needed a sample of the virus, to start working on a vaccine. Its just a precaution. Just in case"




"..right" Harlequin slightly nodded and subconsciously inched closer to Rain: "So, anyway.. do we head for the debriefing? I'm not entirely comfortable leaving the matter between Chambers and Marek like this"



"We don't have enough information to handle this matter" Kaylee said, frowning at the floor:
"We need to find the evidence to convict Chambers.. somehow..."



A moment ticked by and Mercer raised her hand to her earpiece, then nodded to herself and looked at you:
"It seems Marek has safely arrived at his cell. The moment he did, he began asking for you. Some kind of 'top secret' information, that he will only share with you... he didn't even want me to hear it..." she said, slightly frowning to herself.