"SHUTTLE 'S NEWS' UPDATE: Dramatic events unfurled during Susan the Unworthy's surrender negotiation today. Supreme Leader Abaddon heroically disarmed a gunman who shot the Archangel Chief Engineer and S News 'sexiest Champion' five months running: Monkey Richards (as voted for by you). The assailants were apprehended shortly afterwards by EDEN Military Police and detained back in their Mothership. The murderers have been confirmed as Rupert Maxwell-Rupert III and Tiffany Kardashian, employees of the Corporate Finance Mothership: Komy, Hubbard & Phelps. It is yet unclear how they gained entry to the negotiations."
Gabe and Pembo rushed Monkey's lifeless body back through the transporter and dragged him down the corridor towards the MediBay. As soon as Jaibles found them, he scooped Monkey up in one arm and sprinted out of sight. By the time they had caught up with him, Monkey was already contained within a life-support pod with Jaibles frantically starting the operating system.
'What the Hell happened in there?' yelled Jaibles.
'He had a gun,' agonised Gabe, pacing around his lifeless friend.
Pembo punched a conveniently placed first aid kit, spilling its contents onto the floor. 'How could we have been so naive.'
Bingram skidded into the Medibay glazed in sweaty panic. 'You'd better come see this. The revolution has started my brothers!'
'You go,' said Jaibles, 'I'll make sure he's stable.'
When they got to the observation deck they were met with a flurry of excitement and activity. The Motherships guarding them from Abaddon's Military were dispersing as fragments of twisted metal and machinery peppered against their shields, sparking off a gridded purple light and sending each fragment bouncing harmlessly off into space.
'What happened?' said Pembo.
'The uprising,' declared Susan with a wild look in her eyes. She was still visibly shaken but determined to channel it into anger as she addressed the room. 'What you see before you is the sacrificial warning to Abaddon that his time is up.'
Wildcard came over to Pembo: 'They just turned on the shuttle Rupert and Tiffany were on after S News reported they'd killed Monkey.'
'But you know that isn't true, Susan,' shouted Pembo. 'It was Abaddon who tried to kill you. You need to stop this.'
'Monkey's death has acted as the catalyst for the revolution!' she screamed with maniacal glee. 'With this magnitude of blood sacrifice in his name, Alan is sure to return! If only their anger could somehow be harnessed towards the rest of Abaddon's network.'
'MONKEY'S NOT DEAD! They're killing thousands of innocent people. You have to tell them.'
The Archangel rocked as another explosion illuminated the sky in a purple gridded lightshow. A cloud of death and debris shattered off their shields, beginning their endless journey to the far reaches of the universe.
'That was another corporate shuttle,' said JJ checking the scanners.
'SUSAN!' screamed Pembo
'What would you have me do?' she replied.
'Go onto S News and appeal for calm. Stop this while we still can.'
'I know Dominique,' said Gabe, turning away. 'I'll call him and can get you on, but then I'm going back to the MediBay - the man who just saved your life is still clinging on to his.'
Unable to listen to anymore of their bleeding-heart counsel, Susan wandered the corridors of the Archangel with only her bitterness for company. 'How could they still not understand her? Not understand the sacrifice they all must endure to reach paradise? But they could never understand,' she reasoned sadly, 'because they could never understand their God like she does. She was entrusted with this task, her and her alone. None of them are worthy of paradise, but they will beg her forgiveness before the end, at the gates of heaven.'
Anger fuelled her steps once more: anger for all she had to endure to save their souls and anger for those who still questioned her. In her heart she knew she must tear it all down to build it back up again in her own image, she would teach her child well and they would start a new society on a new Earth, and none would dare oppose her ever again or the dynasty she'd create. She would use this interview with Dominique to finish what she'd begun and build her own paradise from the ashes. Without a single glance upwards, she unexpectedly found herself at the door of the MediBay - the gentle pulse of machinery had guided her steps towards the only man who ever meant anything to her worth keeping.
Jaibles looked up at her with red eyes. 'I'll give you two a moment, then.'
She stood at the foot of the pod and stared down at the pale, lifeless form of Monkey: the only one who truly understood her sacrifice - understood it with his life, but she could no more find tears for him than she could find tears for herself.
'Don't worry,' she said softly, 'our God knows what you have sacrificed for our cause and there will be a special place for you in his paradise.' she placed one hand against the glass lid of the pod and another on her stomach. 'We will all be there as a family to celebrate our glorious victory, I promise you that. I will destroy all who stand against what we have built. I will rid our people of every poisonous root that Abaddon planted until there is no one left to speak his name.'
She leant forward and gently kissed the glass, leaving her mark behind her as she strode defiantly towards her S News interview with Dominique and destiny.
Hair and makeup buzzed frantically around Dominique as he screamed at his Producer: 'I could care less how much we lose in ad revenue, kill the commercials and give me Camera 4. This is a once in a lifetime interview with Susan the Unworthy to calm the fleet and make history; if you want to explain to the Supreme Leader why even more of his Corporate shuttles were destroyed, then you be my guest.' "Hair" listened to the telling pause in the Producer's response before giving his muffled reply. 'Thank you. Now she's already online, so bring me back on in five... four... three...'
He pushed hair and makeup out of shot and readied his 'welcome back' face.
'Welcome back, m'loves! Chaos and confusion reign within the fleet! Turning on itself; turning on our Corporate Shuttles. The call for calm has come from all sides and now, I believe we can go to Susan the Unworthy - Susan, are you there love?'
Susan stared at the camera and gave only the slightest of motions that acknowledged his question. Backlit by the pulsing purple of the gridded neon shield, it cast a deep menacing shadow across her face.
'Susan,' Dominique continued, 'your conflict with the Supreme leader is well known, but with the death count from the two Corporate shuttles alone totalling over 300 thousand, whatever this Rupert and Tiffany did, surely it doesn't warrant the loss of so many innocent lives?'
'Rupert and Tiffany were innocent. They shot no one, they killed no one,' said Susan, her rage building.
'That is not the report that we got, Susan..'
'Of course you didn't,' chastised Susan, 'why would you? You're nothing more than the inane puppet of your cruel master. You spend your time feeding us his half truths and lies and now you wonder why we are sick and starving for change?'
'Which is why calm is needed, now more than ever, to...'
'The time for calm has passed. The time for negotiation has passed. The time for your lies has passed! In the name of Alan, I declare Holy War on Abaddon and all his puppets of manipulation! S News and EDEN are as much to blame for the death of Monkey as Abaddon when he pulled that trigger; you all have blood on your hands and now it is time for you to be cleansed. I call on my Fleet to rise up and sacrifice their ashes to the heavens and the glory of ALAN!'
Dominique gripped the table as the S News broadcast shuttle creaked and groaned. Electrical equipment sparked and shorted as the shuttle tilted, sending Clem and the ex Pope hurtling past the camera. Gabe and Pembo looked on in horror at the wide-eyed creature that screamed bloody retribution into the camera. Then the live feed suddenly cut.
They raced to the window and watched from the Medibay as a small explosion of light illuminated a dark corner of the fleet, sending a ripple of light expanding out towards them. Then the shockwave hit.
Gabe, Pembo and Jaibles desperately held onto the MediPod as the wave hit and the room juddered. When it passed, Gabe turned off the static filled TV screen as Monkey stirred for the first time since the bullet pierced his back.
'Hey buddy,' said Jaibles softly as the Archangel corrected itself.
'What's happening out there, Geezer?' replied Monkey, his voice barely a whisper.
'The fleet have turned against Abaddon because of you, because they think you died,' said Pembo, smiling through glassy eyes.
'That's not what I want,' he coughed. 'It will be slaughter. You have to stop it.'
'I don't know how,' replied Gabe, utterly defeated. 'Susan was supposed to call for calm, but instead made it ten times worse.'
'Then we need to show them I'm not dead. Help me get up...' Monkey's body convulsed at the slightest attempt of movement. Blood splattering his beard from his hacking cough.
'You need to rest, Monkey,' said Pembo softly. He relaxed back into his pod and concentrated on his breathing as the Medipod's frantic alarms slowly subsided.
'It's over, Monkey,' continued Pembo. 'Soon EDEN will desert him and Abaddon will be lost.'
'At what cost?'
'We didn't start this!'
'But you didn't want to stop it either,' he said sadly, turning his head to look at Pembo. 'You've been so caught up in avenging the death of your old life, you never even tried to start a new one.'
Pembo rocked at the simple truth of it. 'But... he took everything from us, including our planet. It had to be avenged.'
'If that were true then wouldn't God have done it by now? Who knows, maybe this is all part of God's plan, but somehow I doubt it. Maybe even he's realised we're irredeemable as a species. Destined to tear each other apart in the pursuit of power, until the last human standing can finally claim sovereignty over extinction.'
He studied her face as she struggled within herself to justify her cause. 'Nothing will ever bring back our Earth or those who have lost their life for it,' he continued softly. 'But the revenge you seek was never a cause,' he sighed, 'only a confession of pain. By now you must realise, only life can heal you, never death.'
The silence that followed burned into Gabe.
'You can't blame Pembo for this, we all joined the cause,' he reasoned, holding her hand tighter as a tear fell down her slender face.
'I don't,' replied Monkey looking at Gabe, 'but this was never really our fight, was it?'
'What do you mean?'
'It was never about Abaddon or EDEN for you, Gabe. You've spent your life looking back at your brother's death as the catalyst for ruining your dream of exploring the vast unknown, but you had so many chances of making that happen; even Jaibles and I gave up our positions on YAMA to go exploring with you.'
A flood of emotions surged forward, but none could find their way into words.
'You had every chance to be happy,' he continued, 'but you were so busy looking backwards you never saw the treasure that was in front of you. Even now, there are far far greater things that lie ahead, Gabriel. If you're willing to see them.'
Gabe stared at Pembo, devastated at all the time he had wasted.
Finally, Monkey looked over at his friend Jaibles, who smiled back warmly through his tears.
'Jaibles.'
'Yes, Treacle?'
'You know there's no best music to make love to, don't you?' he smiled softly, smoothing out his beard.
Jaibles laughed, wiping his eyes and nodded.
'It's okay to not be okay, Geezer.'
Another shockwave hit the Archangel and sent the Medipod into spasm.
'What's happening?' yelled Gabe as the monitor lit up like a schizophrenic fruit machine.
Jaibles rushed to the computer. 'He's had a cardiac arrest,' he said unable to hide his worry. 'It's put him in an induced coma.'
Gabe's heart sank and the despair of guilt threatened to swallow him whole. 'I'll move us out of harm's way,' was all he could muster, picking himself up and running out of the bay.
When Pembo caught up with him, she could only sit and stare at the carnage that played out in front of them. Explosions and chaos danced like a loose flame at a firework factory. It would have been the most beautiful thing they had ever witnessed were it not for the heartbreak of death on a scale immeasurable.
They looked out at the carnage as silence haunted the room. It was the endless destruction of war. A vast swarm of Civilian Shuttles sending wave after wave against a wall of EDEN Military Tanks, shielding Abaddon's vulnerable vessel, pushing them further and further back.
At the heart of it all was the KENT COUNTY COUNCIL 4B
Susan was received by her people with fear, awe and devotion. Heralded as the new messiah; the incarnation of Alan, Destroyer of Worlds. In their eyes, Susan had risen from the dead and was now an immortal; a demigod: fearsome and righteous.
She walked out onto the mezzanine overlooking the Great Hall to adulation, receiving her people as their messiah. Looking out at the masses, crammed into every square inch of the hall, she saw her Royal Signal everywhere. They had adorned themselves in it, they had knitted it into their new military cardigans, they'd painted it on the walls, on their battle helmets; sewed it onto their uniforms, made banners and flags with it, even tattooed themselves with it. In the far corner of the hall, there was even a stall set up selling a lovely range of hand towels and commemorative biscuit tins someone had made - they appeared to be selling well.
Her heart soared as beloved pet budgerigar fluttered down onto her shoulder, but instead of the heavenly voice of Alan, she only heard the disappointing squawk of Darwin. God's continued absence suddenly became too much for her to bear.
'Our Lord Alan has returned at the cusp of our glorious victory!' she screamed holding a confused Darwin aloft as the crowd reached fever pitch.
She placed his soft feathered head to her ear and silenced the crowd.
'Our Lord Alan has spoken to me and his direction is clear: to build a new society in my image through the total destruction of Abaddon and all he created.'