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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Canada
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Spoiler for Marion fanfic, Preview #4:
Marion was then led back to her small holding cell in the control room of the research facility. Once she entered her cell and the door locked behind her, she turned to face Dr. Isabella.
“How could you do that to my uncle! You monsters!” Marion shouted in anger.
Before Dr. Isabella could answer, Dr. Valdren and Dr. Zev returned, they had heard Marion’s angry outburst.
“You’re uncle was a willing participant,” Dr. Valdren explained, “We’ve done nothing that he didn’t authorize when we explained it to him before we ever started the project.”
“No! That’s a lie!” Marion shouted while shaking the cell door.
“No, it isn’t…” Dr. Isabella said, “He wanted to keep fighting, as that was all that he had left. To fight for Gallia in whatever way that he could.”
“Fight for Gallia? He’s not doing that now! He’s fighting against her!” Marion continued angrily.
“Well this war has given us the chance to further our studies into Artificial Valkyria technology. Had it not occurred, we’d never have been given the chance, the resources, or the money to fund our project.
We may be fighting other Gallians, but this war is only temporary. Once we correct the mistake with our Golem creation, we’ll be able to successfully demonstrate its true combat capabilities.
Then, the GRA will have an army unlike any other. The mighty V2s fighting along side the agile V3s and the unstoppable V4s… we’ll make a fortune once our artificial valkyria prove themselves!”
“Sir… I’m beginning to have second thoughts here…” Dr. Isabella said suddenly.
“What!?”
“Sir… the V3 was a failure… and cost the life of a great pilot… our Zack. And now, the V4 is starting to remember who he once was and may not fight for us any longer. This project is doomed to failure, just like our V3.
How can we keep doing what we‘re doing… and call ourselves human. It isn‘t right.”
“M-maybe she’s right…” Dr. Zev said, “What we’re doing is bordering on being inhuman…”
“Zack got cocky, as usual, and charged on ahead of the rest of the rebels. He got himself killed and took our machine with him! It’s why we had to deaden the will of our V4, so that he would follow orders to the letter.”
“Perhaps this miracle of him finding his goddaughter on the battlefield and coming back is a sign that we should quit while we still can, sir.” Dr. Isabella said.
“Agreed,” Dr. Zev added.
“Perhaps I didn’t mention this… If we fail, we’ll all be executed!”
Both Dr. Isabella and Dr. Zev gasped and then looked lost in thought.
“Perhaps we deserve to die… for all of our failures and crimes against humanity that our work has produced.”
“You may have nothing to lose!” Dr. Valdren shouted as he pointed at Dr. Isabella, “You may have nothing to lose!” he shouted while pointing at Dr. Zev, “But I have my life and my legacy to lose!”
“Now come with me! General Gassenarl is expecting results and we have to find a way to fix this problem with our Golem!” and Dr. Valdren left the lab. Dr. Zev looked at Dr. Isabella and shook his head, then left.
“You can’t do this to my uncle… he’s a good man. Please don’t do this… please.” Marion pleaded.
Dr. Isabella didn’t look at Marion the whole time she said that, “The young pilot we lost, along with the V3... He was my friend… I talked him into volunteering to pilot the V3 in its first combat trial.
He gave his life for our work, so I have to see this through. Not for my sake, but for his and all those who died to get us to where we are today.”
“Even if it means sacrificing your humanity inorder to achieve it?” Marion asked, “You saw how my uncle refused to follow orders once he regained his memories. You can’t force him to fight!”
“I have no choice…” Dr. Isabella said before she left the lab as well, leaving Marion screaming in angry protest and shaking the cell door.
Meanwhile, a few kilometres from the weapons depot, Class G and the remnants of Class C and D were awaiting reinforcements from Lanseal. It came in the form of Class A, a convoy of tanks and trucks towing artillery guns.
Juliana was marching at the head of the column and Avan made his way over to her. Saluting her once he reached her, she returned the salute.
“What’s the situation?” Juliana asked.
Avan was about to speak, when Zeri approached and bumped him out of the way.
“We encountered a new type of artificial valkyria. A Colossus in comparison to the V2s and the previous V3. Our small arms, lances and tank shells seemed ineffective against this machine of war.”
“I see… so how do we plan to deal with it?”
“Did you bring the AT mines?” Avan asked.
“Yes, as many as we could load onto our trucks, why?”
“Set up the artillery guns and tanks on that hill over there,” said Avan pointing behind them, “While Classes C and D are doing that, Class A will lay out the mines in a honeycomb pattern up ahead. Class G will head back to the Depot once the mines are set and act as bait, to lure that huge brute towards our mine field.
Once it crosses the minefield, and with some luck, its legs may become disabled and we’ll pound that SOB with all of our artillery, lances and tanks from a distance.”
“Sounds like a plan, I can’t wait to see this so called Colossus that you encountered.”
Back at the base, Dr. Isabella and Dr. Zev were waiting for Dr. Valdren to return with a so called solution to their problem.
Moments later he appeared with a large steel suitcase in hand and set it on the table.
“We need a bargaining chip to use against the V4, and the only solution is to use that girl.”
“What are you talking about, sir?” Dr. Isabella asked.
Dr. Valdren then opened the dual locks on the suitcase and it popped open. Inside were two syringes, and two large bottles. One containing a bright yellow liquid, the other a bright blue liquid.
Dr. Valdren then took out the bottle with the yellow liquid and held it up, turning it around and around in his hand as he looked into it. He then took out one of the needles, pierced the top cap and began to draw liquid into the needles holding tube.
“No… you can’t be serious!” Dr. Isabella exclaimed as she realized what he had in mind.
“What? What’s going on?” Dr. Zev asked.
Dr. Valdren then tapped the needle with his middle finger and sprayed a tiny amount out of the needles hollow tip.
“This needle contains a fast acting poison. Once injected, it’ll only take… roughly fifteen minutes to work through that girls system, before ultimately killing her.”
He then capped the end of the needle and put it into an indent made for the needle inside the suitcase. He took out the blue bottle and drew liquid from it with the needle.
“This is the antidote. Once the poison begins to take affect, this is the only thing that will save her. We use the poison to break the will of the V4 and force him to submit to us in exchange for giving his goddaughter the antidote before it's too late.”
“Sir, this is murder!” Dr. Isabella protested.
“If the V4 doesn’t submit and the girl dies, then the blood will be on the V4s hand, not ours!”
“And what if he goes berserk afterwards or even during the negotiations, sir?” Dr. Zev asked.
“General Gassenarl is already on his way, along with General Baldren and a squad of his V2 soldiers. We’ll hold the negotiations in the research lab, with the doors sealed and a squad of V2s on deck.
The control room has bullet proof windows, an emergency blast shield that we can activate anytime. But most of all, those blast doors leading out of the research lab are reinforced. There’s no way he’ll be able to get out if he ultimately refuses. The V2s will then take him out before he can cause any serious damage.“
Dr. Isabella and Dr. Zev remained silent as Dr. Valdren closed the suitcase, took it off the table and held it in his right hand.
“It’s either the girl, or us. General Gassenarl won’t hesitate to kill us if we fail, so I want you to both remember that!”
Dr. Valdren then left and was heading back upstairs.
Just as Dr. Zev was walking out, Dr. Isabella grabbed him by the arm.
“We can‘t do this!? How can we commit such a hideous act and still call ourselves human?”
“I don’t want to die… I’d rather live with the guilt that our work has caused, than to die achieving nothing but failure after everything we‘ve been through.”
Dr. Zev then headed back upstairs, Dr. Isabella shook her head, then followed them.
Moments later, Marion had been taken out of her cell and placed on the ground floor of the research lab. Her hands were cuffed and had a length of chain running to the floor, where it was secured in place. Dr. Isabella was standing next to her, Dr. Zev on the other side. In one corner of the room, stood a V2, in the other corner, another V2. On the above platform stood three more. One final V2 stood guarding the now sealed blast doors to the outer base.
Up above, in the control room, General Gilbert Gassenarl, General Baldren were silently watching as Dr. Valdren was flipping switches and pushing buttons on the control panel.
“What’s the status of your Golem creation? Has the problem been fixed?” Gilbert growled impatiently.
“I’ll show you in a minute, sir.” Dr. Valdren said as he nearly finished the start up sequence.
He then grabbed a microphone from off the control panel and the outer speakers came on.
“Alright, Dr. Zev… inject the prisoner!” he ordered.
Dr. Isabella then grabbed a hold of Marion’s arms from behind and held her as Dr. Zev took out the yellow liquid filled syringe, removed the safety cap and started towards Marion.
“What are you doing!? Stay back! I hate needles!!” Marion protested as she tried to back up, but was held in place by both the cuffs chained to the floor and by Dr. Isabella holding her from behind.
“Better hold still, otherwise who knows where this needle could end up piercing…” Dr. Zev warned.
Then, in a stabbing motion, he injected her in the side of the arm and pushed the plunger down hard, he quickly backed away as Marion screamed in pain.
“I’m sorry…” Dr. Isabella said as she let go of Marion and moved to the table where the suitcase and antidote were waiting.
Up above, “What was that?” General Gassenarl asked.
“The solution to our problem.” he reassured.
He then finished the start up procedure and the mighty V4 came to life. The cockpit lit up and the whole machine starting emitting hums and vibrations. The clamps around its arms, legs and midsection came loose and retracted back into the walls.
The ground shook as the V4 took a few steps to the center of the research lab floor. The poison was already having a rapid affect on Marion and she started sweating, her vision was blurring in and out and she felt unsteady on her feet as she moaned.
“Marion… what’s going on?” Her uncle asked in his mechanical voice.
The outer speakers then screeched for a moment before Dr. Valdren’s voice came back on: “We’ve injected her with a fast acting poison. She has roughly fifteen minutes to live before the poison takes full affect and kills her.”
“You bastards!” the Golem roared and it raised one of its arms and aimed its many weapons up at the control booth. But neither General Gassenarl nor Baldren flinched, Dr. Valdren however hit the deck and cowered under the control panel before shouting:
“BUT! It needn’t be so! We have the means to save her. There’s an antidote on standby, just waiting to be injected into her by my assistants.”
The V2s were already aiming their beam weapons up at the mighty golem and shuffling towards it with their shields held up as well. The Golem then lowered its arm with a whirring sound.
“What must I do to save her?” he asked in defeat.
“Submit to us! Swear your loyalty to us and never again refuse an order and we’ll save your precious girl.”
“No! Don’t do it! Don’t you dare swear to do as they command ever again!” Marion shrieked. She then collapsed to her knees and held a hand to her spinning head and moaned in discomfort and pain.
“You haven’t much time! Are you really going to let her die?” Dr. Valdren asked over the microphone.
Dr. Isabella’s hand never left its position of hovering over the antidote filled syringe as she watched tensely.
The Golem’s head turned from Marion, up to the control room where General Gassenarl, his son and the Doctor were waiting for his answer. Then back to Marion as she suffered silently, never showing how much pain she really was in.
The seconds ticked by like hours for everyone.
“We don’t have time for this!” General Gassenarl growled, “Baldren, you know what to do!”
Baldren nodded and snatched away the microphone from Dr. Valdren and shouted: “V2s! To the girl!”
The two V2s standing in the corners of the room then swiftly stomped towards her and stood on either side of her.
“Now! On the count of Three! Tear her apart!”
They dropped their lances and shields, broke her chains and cuffs and each grabbed an arm.
“What the hell are you doing!?” Dr. Isabella screamed up to the control room.
“It’s taking too long for him to choose! Someone has to make him choose! And now!!” General Gassenarl roared back.
Baldren then continued, “ONE!”
The V2s then began to pull in opposite directions, Marion screamed in pain.
The Golem took a step towards Marion, but the other V2s cut him off, glowed even brighter and moved in closer, ready to attack at a moments notice.
“TWO!!” And even tighter they pulled, some sickening creaking noises can from within Marion’s arms as her ligaments, tendons and bones were being stretched and were nearing their breaking point. She threw her head back and shrieked even louder. Tears of pain were streaming down from the corners of her eyes.
“STOP!” the Golem shouted, and Baldren halted his counting, but never removed the microphone from near his mouth.
“I submit… I submit!!” The Golem shouted up to the control room.
General Gassenarl crossed his arms and smirked, Baldren laughed evilly.
Then, a tiny voice called out to the Golem, “…No…”
It turned its head back to Marion. Her still being held arms were shaking, sweat was dripping off her face and she was holding back her tears as best she could.
“Don’t… let them… control you… Uncle…” Marion pleaded with clenched teeth.
“I have no choice…” The Golem replied.
“If you… do this… I’ll never… forgive you…” She warned with a weak voice.
“You’re one count away from having two half-daughters!” Baldren warned, “Submit now!”
The two V2s that were holding onto Marion were suddenly pelted mercilessly with two full auto sprays from the Golems wrist mounted machine guns on either arm. Their bullet riddled body fell to the floor, but miraculously, Marion was untouched. The Golems aim was dead on.
It then swung its right arm to the side and knocked the V2 nearest to it, straight back and it slammed into the wall with great force. The V2 to the Golems left then fired rapid shots of energy from its lance, but was quickly crushed from above by the Golems mighty arms.
Dr. Isabella screamed and dove behind a metal counter as all this was going on. Dr. Zev hit the floor and covered his head with his hands.
The three V2s on the platform began to fire their rapid energy shots at the Golem. It stomped towards them, drew its arms back and smashed one end of the high platform, bringing it down in that direction and dumping the V2s off the platform and to the paved floor below.
The Golem then turned towards the control room, and shouted: “I. Will. Not. Obey. YOU!!” and fired its machine guns up at the control room, peppering the bullet proof glass. But the rounds never made it through.
Dr. Valdren then slammed his palm against a large red button and the control rooms emergency blast shields slide up over the windows and sealed the area off from any danger of attack.
“Doctor! What is the meaning of this! Your creation is attacking us!!” General Gassenarl roared.
“I-I can’t explain this, General! It’s not possible! I-I swear by the Valkyrur that I’ll find some way to fix--”
The Doctors head then flew back as a bullet impacted his forehead, dead center, killing him instantly.
Baldren then lowered his large sidearm pistol, and scoffed, “Tsk, more excuses. This whole project was such a waste of resources and money that could have been used to construct numerous V2 squads or tanks for Audrey’s armoured corp.”
“Call some more V2s over. We’re not going anywhere until they get here, son.”
“Already on it, Father.” Baldren replied as he switched frequencies on the radio control panel.
Down below, Dr. Isabella noticed that all was quiet on the research floor now. Slowly and shakily, she started to stand up, only to notice a gigantic gun barrel aimed at her glasses covered face.
“Get up.” The Golem ordered.
And she stood up, hands held up high and she whimpered in fear.
“P-please… D-don’t kill me…”
“Why not?” The golem asked, “You were ready to have my Marion killed! What’s to stop me from repaying the favour?”
“Wait… don’t kill her… Uncle…” Marion replied from the ground. She was now too weak to stand or even move. “You’re not a monster, Uncle… Don’t slaughter an unarmed woman…”
“If you spare me… I’ll save your Marion.” Dr. Isabella offered.
The Golem lowered its huge gun barrel and said, “Do it.”
Dr. Isabella turned and looked back down at the table… but the suitcase was gone.
“The antidote! Where did it go!?” Dr. Isabella cried. She then walked to the other side of the large table and found it on the floor. The syringe was broken with its liquid contents spilled onto the floor. The large bottle it came from was shattered as well. It must have been broken or hit by the many flying beams and bullets.
“It’s gone… the antidote has been destroyed…” Dr. Isabella said in defeat, dropping to her knees and hanging her head.
The Golem growled angrily, “If she dies… you die!” he threatened.
“Wait…” Dr. Isabella said as she picked up the broken antidote bottle. Nearly all of the blue liquid was gone and spilled all over the floor. But as she tipped it to the side, she discovered that she might be able to get just a little bit out if she could find a spare syringe.
With this plan in mind, she began rifling through the nearby draws and cupboards. The Golem was know kneeling next to Marion, its hand held near her downed body. Marion was weakly holding onto one of its massive fingers. She was now shaking violently, her breathing becoming quicker, sweat still sliding off her face and collecting in a small pool next to her head.
Dr. Isabella then returned with a spare syringe, by some stroke of luck, the last one. The others were hit and shattered in the fight.
She then tipped the broken antidote bottle to the side, inserted the hollow needle point into the blue liquid and slowly pulled the plunger back. A full needle vial was needed to counteract the poison… but she was only able to collect less than half that. But it was still better than nothing.
Quickly she rushed over to Marion, swabbed her arm, then injected the liquid into Marion. It stung at the point of injection and Marion released a tiny yelp of pain.
“It won’t cure you, but it’ll buy you some time… thirty minutes… forty if you’re lucky.” Dr. Isabella advised.
The Golem then scooped Marion up into its massive hands, “Then we have to get out of here.”
It then charged towards the sealed blast doors and slammed its shoulder into them repeatedly. The whole lab shook and booms echoed through the room with each hit. But they didn’t give, not even to the mighty Golem.
“Those doors were designed to keep you in…” Dr. Isabella said, “You can’t bust your way to freedom with brute strength in this situation.”
“Then what are we going to do?! Marion’s fading fast!!”
Dr. Isabella turned and scanned the room, “Oh god… I hope he’s still alive…” she said to herself.
“Dr. Zev! Can you hear me!”
“Go away! Leave me alone!” he shouted back from wherever he was hiding.
“I need your half of the codes to override the door, I can’t do it alone!” Dr. Isabella called out.
Then, Dr. Zev came climbing out from a set of doors underneath a metal table.
“They’re coming, Dr. Isabella! They’re coming to kill us! Because we failed! We can’t open those doors! They’ll get us if we do!”
“I’m ready to die… to pay for the sins that I’ve committed for all the crimes against humanity that I took part in with these experiments.” Dr. Isabella said. “Let’s not end our lives with an act of cruelty… by poisoning this poor girl and imprisoning her uncle inside this Golem.
Open the gates… give them a chance to make it to freedom. And a chance to regain our own humanity… before we die.”
Dr. Zev was hesitant to help, but that was when the Golem turned to him and said, “Doctor… please…”
Dr. Zev looked at Marion in the Golems giant hands, She had fallen into unconsciousness as the poison continued to work through her system.
“Dr. Isabella and I have only one request…”
“What is it?” The Golem asked.
Dr. Zev sighed, “Remember us for what we’re about to do… not for what we’ve already done that cannot be taken back.”
“I will, and I’ll tell Marion when she wakes up.” The Golem responded.
“Alright… stand by the door. In a few moments, we’ll open the gates, and get you and Marion out of this lab.”
Dr. Isabella headed to one side of the giant gates and stood in front of a control panel, Dr. Zev ran to the other side of the door and stood in front of another identical control panel and keyboard. The Golem meanwhile was moving towards the doors, carefully cradling Marion in its massive arms.
The two doctors then worked furiously, putting in their override codes and getting ready to open the doors. Once their codes were successfully entered, small doors on either side of the doors opened up, revealing large levers that needed to be pulled down simultaneously in order for the doors to open up.
Both doctors grasped the levers, and looked up at the Golem and Marion.
“Good luck…” Dr. Zev said.
“I hope you make it…” Dr. Isabella said, “And I’m sorry…”
“You’re forgiven…” The Golem said as it softly stroked ones of its giant fingers across Marion’s face.
Then, with a nod of her head, both doctors pulled the levers down simultaneously and a flashing yellow light appeared above the gates, an alarm blaring over and over again. And, ever so slowly, the mighty doors began to part ways, revealing the open grounds of the base. The setting red and yellow sky and soft clouds above.
The ground shook as the Golem exited the research facility and stomped off in the direction of the dirt road leading out of the base.
Dr. Zev gave a quick look around, “Where are all the guards? No matter, we can make it if we run, now!”
“You go ahead… I’m just going to stay right here.” Dr. Isabella replied sadly.
“Are you mad!? You’ll be killed!”
“I know… But that doesn’t mean that you have to die here with me. Go, run, and don’t worry about me… I’ve already made my peace.”
“Alright… farewell, Doctor…” And Dr. Zev took off running.
Dr. Isabella took the hairband out of her pony tail, gave her head a shake to loosen her hair. Then put her hands in her lab coat pockets and looked up at the sky and the clouds, then towards the setting sun.
“So beautiful… a perfect sight to end on…” she said to herself.
A white gloved hand then clamped tightly over her mouth, a blade pierced her right square in the back and sank deeply into her flesh. But, Dr. Isabella didn’t even emit the slightest sound of pain despite how much it hurt.
The hand let go and her head sank forward, her glasses falling from her face and the delicate lenses shattered on the pavement. She first sank to her knees, then fell onto her side, her face landing next to her glasses. The knife was still embedded in her back, the red and gold ornate handle sticking out, though none of the blade itself was visible.
General Gassenarl walked by her face, stepping on her glasses and breaking them even further, chuckling to himself as he continued on past her.
General Baldren looked down at her and smiled, “You were brave not to run like your cowardly lab assistant. Which is why I granted you the honour of not putting a bullet in the back of your head, like I will with him, once he’s caught.
Die now with what little honour you have left…”
General Baldren then swiftly took out his pistol and aimed it at the many vials, beakers and containers in the back of the lab. He rapidly emptied the entire clip, breaking the many glass containers and spilling their contents all over the floor, tables and surrounding walls.
He then held up a glass flask he picked up earlier, took out his lighter and held it under a rag that was hanging out of a glass flasks neck, lighting it on fire. On the front of the flask, a flammable warning was printed on a label. He then threw it towards the back of the lab like a Molotov cocktail and it shattered and everything quickly caught fire.
Baldren watched the flames grow bigger, smiled and turned while laughing evilly and left Dr. Isabella to die.
A photo had fallen out of Dr. Isabella’s inner lab coat pocket and was right next to her body. She picked it up and looked at it with her ever darkening eyes. It was a photo of her and Zack, the young V3 pilot, with said V3 prototype in the background.
“I’ll… see you… soon… Zack…” Dr. Isabella said softly. Her eyes then slowly closed and remained shut as her last breath gave out and she passed away, the lab burning furiously behind her.
I lied, this'll be the last preview... actually this is more like a series of chapters or mini episodes like on TV :P You get to read some, left with a cliff hanger and wondering what's happening next?
Truth be told, I think I like this one, just alittle more than the Magari on 
So, what did ya think? Good, or bad?
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