Chapter 2: Full Divide

A single "compartment" of the Balmung would be as large as a football stadium. And the number of compartments that the Balmung had was over 30. Yet despite the large size and how each compartment was a maze that lead to other chambers, Death Tide was easily dashing and killing as if he knew the precise location of his enemies and where he was going.

The vibrations and sounds around him quickly allowed him to make a mental map of where he was going.

The soldiers were in a panic. The speed of Death Tide was unmatched. Even before the soldiers of the next compartment became ready for the threat, Death Tide would already dive right in and kill everyone. It was as if he was a passing wind that brought death. Their thick metal armors were nothing in front of this blade that Death Tide had.

As his killing spree continued, Death Tide had finally reached the compartment he was searching for. Sector 19 was the target compartment for the Chimera Squadron. Gunshots and explosions resounded as the battle ensued. But this time, the soldiers expecting Death Tide were ready.

Dozens of soldiers barricaded themselves and took a position on the hallways of the compartment. They were waiting for any moving object to appear before them. They no longer valued the threat of the foreign squadron, which had been moving in this compartment. A more significant threat approached.

But their wariness was useless. All they ever saw was a blur. Before they even heard the loud sounds of a jet throttling towards them, half of them were already dead.

Alarms were heard in the halls of Sector 19. The soldiers had to ensure that Death Tide and Chimera Squadron would not meet.

All soldiers were instructed to stay alive and do their best to kill Seeker. Following these conflicting instructions, the soldiers ignored the squadron currently holed up in the Star Chamber and focused and the fast and deadly flash that left halved body parts on its wake.

An expressionless woman with black hair stood over the dead bodies of the soldiers in the Star Chamber. She wore no armor like the other soldiers but wore a suit similar to General Carlean. A blue ring also glowed occasionally as Zera emotionlessly continued to move forward, shooting at the corridors at just the right time to kill the appearing soldiers.

The Chimera Squadron's landing was a disaster. The chamber they landed on had several soldiers waiting, and they had a very strategic location where they could easily defend.

Zera and another female soldier reached their positions and started to guard the entrance while the rest scrambled to begin their mission.

"Is he here yet?" a soldier asked as he started reconfiguring the settings of the control panel in one of the machines.

"Based on the enemy's screams, I'd say he should be here in a few minutes at most. Hanson, please tend to your wounds." Zera still displayed no emotion even as she comforted the wounded soldier.

The Commander in charge of their squad continued to pump the remaining liquid extract into the storage tanks.

"What was the success rate of this operation?" a female soldier asked. Her gun was steady, but the finger that was holding the trigger was shaking noticeably.

No one responded to the question asked.

A shadow was seen on the edge of the corridor, causing her hand to grip tightly with her hand, barely pulling the trigger.

"Hold your fire. I think it's the General." Zera coldly remarked.

"Keep your cool, Hansen. It's me." The voice spoke from the corridor.

Hansen sighed in relief as her hands started to tremble non-stop. She dropped her guard, and tears were slowly streaming from her eyes.

Seeker entered the room and patted Hansen's shoulder. The original synthetic suit was now full of blood splatters and his right arm was red with blood. Yet none of those was Seeker's.

"Good work Hansen." Seeker looked at the remaining team and frowned.

"You sure had it rough. The enemy's numbers should have withered down. When I started moving independently they focused on trying to kill me. Report, Commander."

"Sir. We've successfully adjusted this binding system. That's one compartment down and one more to go." After making the last adjustments the Commander immediately retrieved his gun and waited for orders.

"Zera, what should the enemy's next movements be based on the probabilities?" The General asked immediately.

"Assuming they know of your identity which is about 97 percent, I would either isolate this compartment from the other sectors or maximize my forces to eliminate you. Looking at the state of this compartment I'd say they're going for the latter."

"Just as I thought." The General concluded.

"Commander Jim, I will lead the way. We have to make it look like we're headed for the main bridge. Take your forces and follow my path. Once you configure the next compartment hole upon any room and wait for evacuation. I'll continue towards the center. You guys should meet less resistance if I leave a blood trail. The more we can reconfigure, the higher the chances our mission succeeds. You should have more than enough to adjust at least one more, right?" Not waiting for the team's response Seeker immediately charged out. Commander Jim and his team immediately set out to follow the general.

Zera's blue light flickered.

"I hope this won't be the last time we see each other Zeek."

The General smiled as he heard this. A calm smile could be seen on his face as he was charging off into the next rooms. "You know, for a pile of circuits, you weren't half bad as well Zera."

The main bridge of the Balmung no longer cared at the battles over the Earth's atmosphere. Everyone's attention was on their ship's live video feeds. Despite the various reports about the many soldiers commandeering the different rooms in various compartments of the Balmung, All eyes were focused on what only appeared to be a passing blur and the dead soldiers that were left behind.

"We've confirmed it. General Seeker Carlean of the U.N Army. It's really him, Sir." a soldier on the bridge reported.

"Looks like the UN is really risking a lot. Compartmentalize sectors 7, 16 and 18. Have all the soldiers in sectors 9 to 12 converge on Carlean's position." The Captain immediately ordered.

"Sir! Several drop-ships with the same bullet-like hull are approaching!" Another soldier cried to the Captain.

"Huh." The Captain scoffed.

"So they plan to take control of our ship. Seems practical. They are undermanned and dwindling in numbers. They take this ship and do a kamikaze style attack to another Orbital ship." The Captain murmured as he turned to the many video feeds and focused on the ones which showed Carlean.

"Once a majority of the soldiers in sectors nine to twelve are at Carlean's sector initiate Full Divide! We must not let any more soldiers board the Balmung!" the Captain thundered.

"Sir, Sectors 26 and 32 have all reported opposition. Our forces are on retreat towards the bridge."

"Have all forces of that sector retreat to the bridge. I want the Full Divide to be ready in the next minute! Carlean is after us. They plan to take control of this ship. The blueprints of the Balmung have been compromised." The Captain concluded coldly. Despite his calm composure, the Captain could not help but shudder at the sight of Seeker dashing from one camera to another.

The battle continued in the various compartments of the Balmung. The lone soldier Carlean couldn't be stopped.

Zera's company continued to pass through the halls. As Carlean predicted, there were no more enemies on their path. All the non-combatant personnel had already evacuated. Then the tremors began.

"This is it. The divide has begun! The bait worked!" Commander Jim grinned.

"Let's not make the General's actions fall in vain. Let's complete the configuration to this compartment." Zera responded coldly.

The stellar war that occurred over the Earth's atmosphere took a sudden change of flow. In the center of the battle was a large spherical spaceship. It was about seven kilometers in diameter and could even be mistaken for a miniature moon. Several ships which were initially on the offense took a sudden turn and started defending this Gigas Class Orbiter known as the Balmung.

The approaching dropships with bullet-shaped bows flew with immense speed. Guarding them was an escort of the U.N Army's Stellar-capable Jets, the Spirits.

The stellar battle did little to slow the dropships as it seemed that these dropship pilots didn't fear death. The Balmung then executed Full Divide.

The Balmung started to disassemble. The compartments which were of different shapes and sizes appeared to be getting detached. As the dividing occurred, a miniature star-like energy could be found on what was once the center of the Balmung. The various parts and pieces of the Balmung were connected by electric-like dark blue energy and maintained the positions of each block as if they were planets orbiting a star. Despite what appeared to be a chaotic rotation, none of the blocks collided with each other as each rotated.

Inside of the floating compartment that was once Sector 9, Seeker Carlean stood amidst the dead soldiers. With the blue ring glowing in steady blue, Seeker continued to send mental signals and suddenly zoomed out of sight as he evaded and hid from the different gunshots.

The number was just too many to handle. Yet despite the hopeless situation of being cornered to a small room, there was a smile in Seeker's face. He then sent a mental command to all squads.

"Full Divide Confirmed. Begin operation."