Chapter 45 - Dead Air

Dead Air
Rokiahi sprinted towards the now very close Enterprise, Rulia on her mind. It was all too much.

"And where do you think you're going?" asked a female voice behind her. Rokiahi turned her head to see Ritsu running directly by her back. Ritsu grinned before grabbing Rokiahi's neck, slowing her to a stop. "Reminds me of when I was chasing Naluri a year back," Ritsu commented casually.

"Don't say that name," growled Rokiahi, trying unsuccessfully to pull apart Ritsu's grip on her.

Konata skidded in front of Rokiahi from the west, "Ritsu, we need to go. We're too close to the Enterprise."

"Right," nodded Ritsu, "Let's g-"

A third person landed from the sky right behind Ritsu. Haruhi caught Ritsu in an armlock round the neck, a Hand Canon with a blue stripe to Ritsu's head. "Let her go," ordered Haruhi sternly. Konata just glared, noting the danger the blue striped Hand Canon could bring.

"You wouldn't dare..." gritted Ritsu through her teeth, keeping a hold of Rokiahi.

Haruhi looked to the west. Rokiahi could see a fast approaching wall of purple fire. As soon as it came close, an Insane Black jumped out the fire, leaping at Haruhi, cannon aimed at her face, with red blood flowing down her cheek. Black had not escaped unscathed with her fight with White. But Black could not pull the trigger as fast as Haruhi could aim and pull own, The Hand Canon shot hitting Black square in the chest. Black tumbled over Haruhi and Konata to hit the ground with a thud, face down. However, it was clear she had changed, now with wide black sidewings. She coughed as she pushed herself up back to her feet, revealing she had also become a little shorter. Catching sight of Haruhi's gunhold on Ritsu, she quickly raised her cannon at Haruhi, a blue flame igniting over her blue left eye.

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked, with a higher voice than usual. It was the blue flame that was the giveaway. The old Black★Rock Shooter was gone.

"Ritsu," continued Haruhi, ignoring the new Black, "I know how much you'd hate to go back to your own world." Ritsu gulped. "Doomsday made you one of the more lucky newcomers didn't it? Brought your house, your friends, your family. What would happen if you went back, alone? It's been two long years. You've missed your higher education. Do you want more exams to prove your worth? Or do you want to stay in this world, where your worth can appreciated? You have three seconds. One. Two-"

Ritsu let go of Rokiahi, Haruhi then pushing Ritsu away to increase the distance between them. "Rokiahi, let's go," she urged, patting her on the back. As she passed Black, she spoke up again, "Freedom, Black. We fight for freedom." Black looked at the furious Konata and Ritsu before following Haruhi.

"Haruhi," began an anxious Rokiahi, "They took Rulia away."

"I know," noted Haruhi, "I'll do my best to get her back. But you are the priority. We need to ensure your safety."

"Void and Chamber?"

"Both fine. Chamber's suffered some damage."

"Can't you repair him?"

"Sasaki's nearby, drastically reducing the effectiveness of my power."

"What about the other way around?" They finally made it under the side-turned Enterprise, rubble and debris from crushed buildings everywhere.

"I'm suppressing her powers too. I know what you're thinking. She no longer has long range control of others, if she had any to begin with," Haruhi paused, "If there was anyone under her control against their will, they would have changed sides already."

They stopped under an open side blast door of the huge Enterprise. Haruhi gave Rokiahi a boost through the door, Rokiahi holding onto grating on the floor. "Chamber!" shouted Haruhi loudly into the ship, "Get going!" The Enterprise's two rear engines roared to life as the blast door closed. Haruhi flew up to get a hold of the starship and with a mighty heave, she pushed it into the air, the vessel reestablishing on its own.

Rokiahi stumbled into the bridge of the Enterprise as the ship slowly stopped rocking. "We heard you lost Rulia," commented Chamber. He was hovering by and facing a computer display on the wall. Void was stood at the Enterprise's windows already facing Rokiahi with a frown. Chamber turned to Rokiahi. His green eye had been completely lost, his highly vulnerable multiple camera lens exposed.

"What happened to you, Chamber?" gasped Rokiahi.

"Rulia," reminded Chamber, changing back the topic, "Did you really let go of her on purpose?"

"No!" cried Rokiahi insistently, "I didn't! I-I don't know what happened!"

"Do you really hate us that much?" asked Void.

"No, I don't! How do you even know what she said to me?"

"While we were waiting for you, I did a little forward reading," answered Chamber.

"... What happens to us?" breathed Rokiahi slowly.

Chamber did not answer, instead turning back to the controls, "Is it just me or is the Enterprise not going as fast as it ought to be?"

Void looked outside, the surroundings crawling by at a snail's pace. "We're barely moving," she reported, "Something must be-... Sasaki."

Sasaki hovered above the city, looking down with her yellow eyes at the floating Enterprise, able to see Void in the bridge, despite the huge distance between them. To her left was a hovering silver ball. To her right was Reimu, seemingly uninjured from her fight with Miku.

"What now?" Reimu inquired.

"Not sure," answered Sasaki, "Haruhi's still around but there's an easy way to flush her out." She raised a hand, paused for a second, before lowering it again. Somewhere to the west, a bright blue beam shot down from space, striking one of Gid's battlecrusiers, burning the entire ship apart. As the remains began to fall, the beam from the Particle Uplink Cannon superweapon began to move, changing its target to another spacecraft. To the north a red beam fired down, courtesy of a Laser Uplink Cannon. To the east, Icarus' yellow beam was reactivated, cutting through the ground like butter. To the south, a pink beam from a Super Uplink Cannon struck the Earth. Many blue, red and pink beams followed in all directions, dancing through the city effortlessly, swatting down and cutting through all opposing forces not fast enough to escape.

They left the Enterprise untouched, but Sasaki had something else planned for her. Tiny blue lasers shot down onto the Enterprise, sixteen of them arranged in a circle, the ship's energy shield holding against this weak attack. They began to rotate in a clockwise direction, getting closer and closer before meeting at once in the centre of the circle. This merged beam expanded, revealing itself to be a tracer beam, only the targeting system of the actual attack.

"No, Sasaki," stated Haruhi, flying in front of Sasaki. With Haruhi between Sasaki and the Enterprise, Sasaki's hold of the spaceship was negated, the Enterprise shooting forward, narrowly missing a monstrous energy blast from an Ion Cannon, eradicating all the buildings in the area that the Enterprise did not crush. The Enterprise was not willing to be shot down again, like it was two years ago.

"Ah, you're here," responded Sasaki, with a neutral tone. Tracer lasers began firing down across the city, Ion Cannons bombarding the ground below. Black flew up to Haruhi's side.

"I will protect them, Sasaki!" swore Haruhi, "You cannot touch them."

"I don't have to."

The Enterprise weaved through the Particle Cannon and Ion Cannon beams beating the earth, eventually passing the city's boundaries.

"It's safe to warp now!" called Chamber, "Hold on tight!" He pressed the button.

"Did it ever occur to you how the Temple of Gaia Earthshaker Cannon achieved such a massive range?" asked Sasaki.

Haruhi knew what Sasaki was immediately hinting at, looking at the Enterprise with horror.

"Two years ago," explained Reimu, "The Enterprise was shot down by a Yamaha Ion Cannon while over Gensokyo territory.

Miku was beginning to reform from the silver ball, Sasaki's control lost by Haruhi's close proximity.

"We used one of the warp engines to accelerate the shells of the Temple. Weren't you curious enough to find out, or what?"

Marisa flew up next to Black, standing on her broom, clothes ripped and stained red, green eye shining brightly.

"The fate of the Enterprise has been sealed." Konata and Ritsu flew up to accompany Reimu and Sasaki. "You have never been the player, Haruhi. You are just a pawn."

"You are a pawn in this game," spat Haruhi, Miku taking her side.

"On the winning team," reminded Reimu, "The Writer decides all."

"... Where is she?"

Sasaki looked at the Enterprise as it performed a warp leap, launched forward faster than the speed of light, "Wherever she wants to be."

The Enterprise drastically lost speed just past Beijing, China. The flaming right engine passed the bridge windows, falling to the tree-covered mountains below.

"The left engine isn't a warp engine!" realised Chamber, "The power imbalance caused the right engine to snap right off!"

"We're losing height!" called Void, "We'll smack straight into the side of the mountain ahead!" The Great Wall of China could be seen snaking over the peaks in the distance.

"The single engine can't keep us airborne long!" Chamber exclaimed flying straight out the bridge.

"Wait!" shouted Void, running to the entrance after Chamber, "Where are you going?"

"To get the ship flying again!" answered Chamber via a nearby computer panel, as they were now outside the radar jammer's radius.

Chamber opened the blast door and flew out, the door closing behind him. The left engine was already on fire, overheating to keep the Enterprise in the air. "Void, I need the Enterprise to aim up," he transmitted, "Shut down stabilisation."

In the bridge, Void ran up to the console Chamber had been at and began tapping buttons. The Enterprise tilted upwards but started to fall faster due to air resistance. Chamber fixed himself to the pylon the right engine had once been connected to and fired his cannon downwards. His recoil was not even close to the output of the remaining engine but it was enough to get the Enterprise rising again. But Chamber could not last, having already fired his cannon several times in the past hour, his weapon ceasing fire. The Enterprise dropped just before it could clear the mountain ahead. The underside of the vessel hit the summit, ripping the lower ship in two, more fire starting.

Rokiahi fell over in the bridge as Chamber's voice came through the computer, "Open the blast door! I need to get back in! The left engine's going into meltdown, I can't get close to it! Rokiahi, the button's by you!"

Rokiahi stood up to see a blinking green light on the computer panel. She was about to press it when her hand stopped short. "M-My hand! I can't-!" She tried to press it with her other hand but it also refused to press the button, keeping its distance.

Void caught on immediately but she was on the other side of the bridge. She leaped over the banisters with panic.

"You know, Rokiahi," said Chamber over the computer, "The Writer saw this coming too."

Void smacked the button as hard as she could, pushing Rokiahi out the way. But it was too late for Chamber, the engine exploding at close proximity, melting everything close enough. With the blast door open, the insides of the Enterprise heated up, the carpet spontaneously catching fire. Rokiahi scrambled to the bridge door and slammed it shut as the head of the Enterprise fell faster and faster, hitting the ground with force.

Rokiahi's eyes slowly opened as a chair was lifted off her. She was suddenly grabbed by the collar and pulled up aggressively. Her eyes focused to see Void holding onto her with both hands, with a backdrop of burning trees and the Great Wall of China.

"So how are you planning to get rid of me?!" screamed Void at Rokiahi's face.