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"How dare you?"
Miorine's voice was gaining strength with each passing moment. Despite her brain telling her to get out of there in a hurry and forget the abominable act she had just witnessed, she was reluctant to do so.
After all, Suletta has been responsible for the carnage.
Suletta.
Her groom.
The girl who would cower and take cover behind her in the face of any conflict at school.
The Mercurian girl who had reminded her that she was more than a trophy, that she was valid and could achieve anything she wanted.
The girl who had stolen her heart and had promised her just a few minutes ago that she would stay by her side forever.
Suletta, the ruthless killer.
"Eh?" Suletta did not alter the expression on her face, with a histrionic grin from ear to ear.
"How dare you?" repeated Miorine, louder this time. "How dare you wield that grimace, that proud smile after what you've done?"
"I saved you, Miorine-san," Suletta said as if it were the obvious thing to do and widened her smile. She looked over her bride's shoulder and saw the stretcher. "Oh, your father is hurt! Let's go get help!"
Suletta took a step forward.
"Stay away!" shrieked Miorine. "Stay away from me and my father!"
"Miorine-san, what's wrong? It's me, your groom." Suletta reached out her right hand again. "The danger is over now. Let me help you."
"DON'T TOUCH ME!!!"
Suletta froze, though her expression did not change.
" Mi...Miorine..." said Delling, his voice barely a whisper.
Miorine turned and saw that her father had propped himself up on an elbow to sit up slightly. His face reflected the pain that minimal movement had caused him.
"Father!" Miorine ran to the stretcher. "Don't move, Father! We'll be in the infirmary soon!"
"Miorine... That girl..."
"Stretch, Father, please." A tear rolled down Miorine's cheeks.
"That girl... Your groom..." continued Delling. "Her eyes... Her pupils are dilated..."
"What?"
"She's... in shock.... Like soldiers at war..."
Miorine turned and looked at Suletta, who was still motionless, with the stupid grin on her face.
Her eyes were as her father had told her.
"My daughter..." said Delling and passed out.
"FATHER!!!"
Miorine saw that her father was still breathing. He had only fainted.
"Why don't you let me help you, Miorine-san?" said Suletta.
Miorine looked at the Mercurian girl again. There was something in her voice that had changed. She no longer seemed so jovial. The exaggerated smile she had shown so far had started to weaken too.
A cloud of small reddish droplets surrounded the two girls. They were part of the attacker's remains, turned to pulp when struck by Aerial's palm, that had been left floating in zero gravity. The station's air current had slowly moved them to where Suletta and Miorine were.
The red rain hit them, drenching them with its terrible ichor. Suletta's face was quickly filled with splashes.
"Miorine-san... is safe.... Miorine-san... is safe.... Miorine-san... is safe... Miorine-san... is..." Suletta started to say.
Then she put her hands to her head, knelt down and uttered the most horrible scream Miorine had ever heard.
Miorine knew that when she tried to explain later how she had felt, words would fail her. Suletta's scream had pierced her soul like a million red-hot needles. It had echoed inside her being, threatening to wipe out whatever remnants of sanity she had left. The only thing that had saved her from not falling to her knees and joining in the monstrous scream had been the immediate danger and the need to save her father and the woman she loved. She clung to that need with all her willpower. Tears of helplessness freely streamed down her face at her inability to ease Suletta's pain as the red-haired girl's soul tore in front of her.
"Miorine-san... Help... me..." Suletta managed to say.
It looked like Suletta was going to start screaming again, but Miorine was quicker. She crossed the red rain cloud and pounced on her groom. She knelt down, hugged Suletta with all her strength and cradled the girl's head on her left shoulder.
"I'm here, Suletta." Miorine lovingly stroked Suletta's beautiful mane, not caring about the macabre coating on it.
"Miorine-san... MIORINE!!!" Suletta hugged her and burst into tears. "Don't go! Don't leave me alone, please!"
"I will not leave you, Suletta. I'll always be by your side."
"'Mio-Mio! I've had a horrible nightmare!" Suletta kept shaking.
"It's all over now," Miorine said in a soft voice. "Everything's going to be all right, Suletta. I promise."
"Everything's going to be all right," Suletta repeated between sobs. "Everything's going to be all right."
Watching Suletta go from a remorseless killer to a desperate girl crying inconsolably made Miorine feel like her heart was about to break. She could not allow it. She stood up and reached out her hand toward Suletta.
"Come with me," Miorine said.
Suletta took Miorine's hand and stood up. Despite the urgency, Miorine walked very slowly towards the stretcher, with Suletta at her side. She didn't want to startle the Mercurian girl.
"They're here!" shouted a voice in the darkness.
Suletta let out a shriek and dropped into a fetal position behind Miorine.
Instantly, a dozen commandos in spacesuits surrounded them. A figure stepped out from behind them, approached Miorine and slid the visor of her suit.
"I'm Lieutenant Vesta Olbers, Security Division," she said.
Before she could continue, one of the commandos shouted.
"Hostile on the north wall!"
A figure stepped out of the shadows with her hands in the air. It was Belmeria Winston.
"Hold your fire! She's part of my team!" shrieked Miorine.
"Hold your fire!" ordered Lieutenant Olbers.
Belmeria stood frozen with her arms in the air.
"Approach without fear. Nothing will happen to you," the Lieutenant assured her.
Belmeria nodded and walked to where Miorine and the Lieutenant were. Until she got there, she didn't put her arms down.
"Are you all right?" asked Miorine.
"I'm terrified, but alive," Belmeria said. "After talking to Prospera, I was on my way back to the ship when I thought I heard strange buzzing sounds, followed by screams. Something in my subconscious made me run and hide in a ventilation tunnel. That's what saved my life.
"I followed the tunnel all the way here and that's when I saw the attacker..." Belmeria grabbed Miorine's hands. She was trembling slightly. "My poor girls..."
"Fuck, Lieutenant! There's a guy mashed to a pulp here!" said a commando.
Miorine closed her eyes for a second. She ignored the voices of the commandos, Belmeria and the Lieutenant. The red rain. The pulp that covered her. The chaos and death that surrounded her. She ignored everything that could disturb her.
Mother, give me strength, she thought.
She knew what she had to do.
She had to take responsibility.
Miorine's opened her eyes.
"Lieutenant, these are all the soldiers you have?" asked Miorine.
"I have two more squads converging on our position. When they arrive we will evacuate to..."
"No."
"Excuse me?" Lieutenant Olbers looked at Miorine and saw that something had changed in the girl.
"The President is incapacitated. Until the Council can convene, and as per clause 27B of the Emergency Protocol, I, her Heiress, assume his duties as Acting President. As of this moment, I take command of this Plant," Miorine said without hesitation. "Objections?"
"None, Ma'am President. Your orders?"
"As soon as your other two squads arrive, one squad will transport the President and my groom to the infirmary." Miorine turned to Belmeria. "Belmeria-san, I can't be everywhere at once. I need someone I can trust to stand by Suletta and make sure she gets the proper treatment until I have time to go to the infirmary. Please, will you do that for me?"
"You can count on me. I won't leave her side," Belmeria assured.
"Thank you very much." Miorine turned to Olbers. "Lieutenant, I need two of your best soldiers."
"Gupta, Curtis."
A tall woman and a thin man approached.
"From now on you two are the personal escort of Belmeria-san and my groom," Miorine said. "You will stand beside them and obey Belmeria-san's instructions as if they were my own. If anyone tries to make trouble for you, they can try to discuss it with me...if they dare."
"Yes, Ma'am," they both said at the same time.
Miorine crouched down next to Suletta, who was still in a fetal position.
"Suletta," she said lovingly. "Suletta."
"Mio-Mio..." Suletta's voice was barely a whisper.
"Suletta, I need you to be strong and accompany Belmeria-san."
"You promised me you wouldn't leave me..."
"And I won't leave you." Miorine had to use all her willpower not to cry again. "But I have a very important thing to do that I can't delay. That's why Belmeria-san will be with you in the meantime. You know Belmeria-san. She's your friend."
"Yes, she's my friend," she said after a pause.
"Besides, you'll have me by your side." Miorine took Suletta's hands and placed them over her heart. "Whenever you need me, wherever you go, I'll be here, in your heart, as you are always in mine."
"Yes, Mio-Mio. You have always been and always will be in my heart."
Miorine carefully brushed aside a lock of Suletta's hair and kissed her on the forehead.
Belmeria stepped closer and held out her right hand Suletta.
"Will you come with me while Miorine finishes her work, Suletta?"
"Yes, Belmeria-san. Mio-Mio is very busy and I don't want to disturb her."
Suletta took Belmeria's hand and stood up.
Miorine saw that the other two squadrons had just arrived. Lieutenant Olbers was talking to their respective command sergeants.
"Lieutenant, one squad will remain here guarding Aerial until my team picks her up. Until then, no one is allowed near her, no matter who it is. You and the last squad will escort me to the Command Center."
"Yes, Ma'am President."
Miorine took one last look at Suletta and her father's gurney.
"All right, let's get going."
-----
Fifteen hours later, the chaos at Plant Quetta had subsided considerably. The Security Division, supported by Dominicus' troops, had ensured that no assailants remained at large throughout the station. Delling's condition was serious, although stable, thanks to the intervention of his daughter. The President of the Benerit Group was resting in the infirmary, heavily guarded.
Miorine preferred not to move his father until he regained some strength. Without the element of surprise on the assailants' side and with security tightened, it was unlikely that the Quetta Plant would be attacked again.
The wounded were being treated in the infirmary or transported to medical facilities at other stations depending on their severity. The assault had claimed dozens of lives.
In the lack of an in-depth analysis, the doctors had told Miorine that Suletta had suffered a traumatic shock similar to that faced by soldiers exposed to intense combat on the battlefield, just as her father had told her. The Mercurian girl was now resting after being administered a strong sedative. Miorine had just seen her and she had nearly broken down.
Not yet, she had told herself.
Miorine was in the cargo bay of her ship, the only one that had survived the attack. Chuchu had piloted Aerial to bring her aboard. The people of Earth House had retired to rest in some cabins on the Plant. Miorine had not wanted to join them. She had been awake for more than a day, but the shock, adrenaline and urgency of the situation kept her awake. Even she hadn't stopped for a second to take a shower. Her face and hair were still covered in dried blood and pulp.
Miorine looked at Aerial. The Gundam remained tethered, as if silently awaiting the return of her pilot.
"It will take time for Suletta to be able to pilot again," she said aloud and couldn't hold back the tears. "I'm sorry." Miorine didn't know what prompted her to speak to Aerial. Perhaps it was the times Suletta mentioned the Gundam as if she were a flesh and blood person.
A voice echoed through the cargo bay.
"Miorine..."
Miorine opened her eyes wide and looked left and right. There was no one else in the cargo bay.
"Miorine..." The voice came more clearly, a little girl's voice with a metallic tone vibrating in the background.
Aerial's eyes lit up.
"Miorine, help my sister. Please..."