Vandread

Life Sent

By Norsehound

Disclaimer: Vandread isn't mine…

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Preface:

How this came to be

There are many untold stories accompanying the single, underlying tale that has already been told. These stories are many and unexplored, and already I have said the stories of the journey of the foreign warrior into the universe of Vandread; and the story of a group of men lost and found by the famous ship of them all; the Nirvana. One tale I still have yet to tell regards the events of the first stage…

I guess the first time I thought of this idea was visiting the Vandread Library where my fictions are mentioned prominently. An idea for inspiration of fiction came from the writer's blocks idea about potential stories. One of them was this idea which I will form the story premise.

I paid it little mind, but when I received the fabulous Vandread Art book I went to look for references to the fleet of Melanus, who were targeted for their skin harvesting. In addition to correct images of the Melanus Battlecruiser (Flagship) and Escort frigates, I got to have pictures of the unnamed Melanus characters- one of them was the girl who treated Hibiki's wounds and repaired his Vanguard.

While I have nearly all the Second Stage episodes, I am missing the last two DVDs to the first stage of Vandread- thinking that since most of my works would be posted in the second stage, I wouldn't need them. But perhaps this is one instance when they would have come in handy…

Still, I intend to write this with what little knowledge of the episode I have. I have the guide with me, and if I could read Japanese I would be fine, but I can't, so I have to guess. :)

And if I'm wrong in the character names please correct me…But as far as I can remember nobody in the Melanus fleet was given a name, and they weren't mentioned in the character pages of various episodes (Including spoiler-full ones)

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Part one:

Aboard ship

Never before had Hibiki realized the generosity of this magnitude. He was in the hanger of the main Battlecruiser and flagship of the fleet. In his stay here for the time being, it had come to his knowledge that this was the 4th fleet of the Star Melanus, to which there was 'supposedly' twelve fleets- one with each Battlecruiser from each of the continents on Melanus.

As for Melanus itself…

He was told Melanus was a legend. A myth and tale fallen into the sands of time ever since the Melanus fleet departed from their home world and embarked into space in a seemingly never-ending run from the harvesters.

He sat in the guest room right now, his arm bandaged with her bandana…

Hibiki touched the blue cloth and thought about her.

Her, being the chief technician aboard this Battlecruiser; the Scotia.

As if on cue from his mind, the girl in question entered and smiled, "There you are."

"Uhh…" Hibiki stammered.

The woman with the brown hair smiled, "Did I bother you?"
"No…not at all…" Hibiki replied.

She opened her eyes and still smiled as she walked into the room and approached him, "Then what's the matter?"

"Nothing. I'll be fine…thanks to you."
"It's no problem, really." She smiled and sat down beside him on the bed, "Are you feeling homesick?"

Hibiki had told the story of why he was here. Rather than being imprisoned back on the Nirvana by the hands of some crazed women, he was here…at peace…

"I'm fine," He replied, "I don't need anything…"

"You're lying." She replied.

"Er…" Hibiki looked up at her blushing, then away, "No I don't."

She giggled, then asked, "Come on, there has to be something…"
"…Well…."

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On the bridge, a long range communication was being made.

In the distance, in a form of shimmering white lights, was the Melanus second fleet. This other fleet was lead by the Battlecruiser Ika, which was holding station just in visual range of the Scotia.

The commander of the Scotia looked at the lit screen in the darkened sky bridge of his vessel at the other commander, "We could use your help Icarus, we have reason to believe there is an enemy flagship in this area."

The other commander, a man with frilled blond hair around his head replied, "I am not going to risk my fleet, Okamura, it's bad enough as it is we ran into sporadic enemies of unknown origin in the fifth region. I have my priorities, and my fleet simply cannot maintain it's vigil against these aliens and continue to patrol our flight zone. I cannot allocate the time nor resources to even think about taking on a harvester flagship…and in my opinion you're mad taking one on with that small of a fleet."

"We have to try," Okamura said in his command chair, "If we don't stand up to these harvesters, who will? We can't just simply keep running…"

Icarus leaned closer to the display, "There is a difference, Okamura, between running, and knowing when to face your enemy. Attacking a flagship with simple battle cruisers is a clear sign of defeat. Do you remember what happened at Melanus that day when our people were driven from our homes and into permanent exile? Since then we have never stopped running…and not even a dozen vessels of this size could stop the harvester fleet! I say hold on your attack on that flagship and wait for the First fleet to complete the construction of the Tsunami before considering to attack that ship…at least with a Battleship we have a chance."

"I can't just allow this harvester fleet to continue to attack planets in this area. Icarus, will you help me or not?" Asked Okamura, "If we hesitate now, we'll have a repeat of what happened when we left Melanus. Our allies weren't strong enough to stop these things…and if we weren't, with the technology of our ancestors, what chance do these people do on the outskirts of the colonial boundary? Lives depend on us Icarus, we can't simply leave them behind!"

Icarus sighed on his own bridge. "I still think we should wait…at least try to hit more of their listening posts and grab attention. Taking on a harvester flagship, Okamura, is suicide. I cannot weep for you if you drive your portion of what's left of our people to their deaths…but I will weep for your people who followed you to your end."

"Icarus please!" Okamura pleaded, "We have reason to believe that there may be another ship in the area that can help us!"

"Another ship?"

"We found a survivor…a boy, from Tarak."

"Tarak? That's in the Mejere system…" Icarus replied, "I haven't heard that name in some time."

"The ship's description seems to speak wonders of what it can do!" Okamura replied, "But we don't know if they're armed…we have to protect this ship somehow, even if they don't know it. They have to reach Mejere to warn everyone in that system of the impending harvest! Are you going to allow that fleet to destroy them before they have the chance to warn their home?"

Icarus turned away from the camera in thought, then looked back at Okamura, "I have been fighting the harvesters ever since my father was killed on this same bridge and I took command. I will not repeat the same mistake he made and commit my forces to a suicidal battle. But…I will contact the others and see if we can bring in some heavier firepower for this assignment. Whatever heavy cruisers I have in my fleet aren't in any shape to assist you, and the last of our Monitors had transferred to the first fleet months ago. I can't spare you any more of my ships or supplies…I have to continue my patrol. Still, I will see if I can contact any available fleets and see if they can spare any ships to assist you."

"Thank you, Icarus."
"But," Icarus replied, "I strongly advise you avoid that flagship's main fleet until help arrives. I still think it's suicide to even consider taking on a flagship without our battleship completed. But…Godspeed Okamura. Until we meet again."

"Icarus." Nodded Okamura.

The transmission cut, and the distant engines of the Ika turned the massive vessel. Turning with it like a massive school of fish were the frigates and damaged heavy cruisers.

"Godspeed…" Repeated Okamura as the lights of the second fleet disappeared one by one.

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Hibiki was by his vanguard again making repairs as it stood there in the small and cramped hanger. Compared to the Nirvana, the hanger aboard the Scotia was small but incredibly well lit. A purple Melanus fighter was in the center of the bay going over a maintenance check, and it alone seemed to take up most of the space outside the space Hibiki's vanguard was seated in.

Hibiki himself was in the cockpit testing systems. While he had no real reason to leave, he was beginning to think about staying aboard the Scotia instead of returning to the Nirvana. Here he wasn't pressured and bothered by the people…in fact if anything they treated him as a guest instead of an outcast weirdo. Here he was seen as a person instead of a subject, of examination or otherwise.

He leaned back in his cockpit. Heck, he was even getting used to the milk that was good for his skin. It had that aftertaste that wasn't so bad…

A brief memory of Dita flashed in his head, calling him 'Mr. Alien'.

"Shesh…" He said and blinked, "Won't she just leave me alone?"

"Who?" Asked a woman's voice.

Hibiki looked up to see the pretty tech smiling at him, "You're mumbling to yourself again aren't you?"
"Well…sorta." Hibiki said. She sat down in the entry way into the cockpit of his vanguard and asked, "So you want to stay with us aboard the Scotia?."

"Well I was thinking about it." Hibiki replied, "After all, the Nirvana's okay and all, but I feel like a real person here. Not like some kind of…weirdo or something."
The girl smiled at him and said, "You were treated like a weirdo on your ship?"

"Sorta." Hibiki smiled, "It's a long story, see Men and women are on separate planets…and well, the women there are weird. There's this one who keeps following me around and calling me Mr. Alien. Then there's another one who's trying to get me to combine with her fighter all the time, and the last one's just plain strange. She doesn't talk much at all!"

"Sounds like an interesting place to be." Smiled the girl.

"Uh…well…" Hibiki replied, "I feel better here."

"But the harvesters…aren't you worried about them?"

"What's the difference?" Hibiki asked, "We're still fighting them on this ship aren't we?"

The girl replied, "They're following us…"

"They're following the Nirvana too." Hibiki replied, "And they almost locked me up because I was a man. Just because I made Dita cry…"

"Dita…which one is that?"

"Er…" Hibiki replied and looked at another part of the instrumentation, "She's…just that crazy UFO woman who keeps following me around."

"Dita…well, Someday I'd like to meet her." She smiled.

Hibiki smiled back, then asked, "Er…I'm sorry,"

"What?"
"It's just…in all this time I didn't get to know your name." Hibiki replied.

She burst out laughing, then took his hand.

"Huh?"

"My name is Alice." She replied and looked at him, then smiled, "And you're Hibiki."

"Alice…" Repeated Hibiki.

"Alice!" Called a voice.

"Oh…Torran!" Laughed Alice and waved at him.

The yellow-uniformed pilot that Alice usually stayed with smiled up at her, "Visiting our friend eh?"
"Just talking!" Replied Alice and she leaned on the railing to talk. Hibiki looked at her form as she stood just outside the cockpit, and crestfallen he returned to his tests.

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"There." Said Oda and turned from his sensor instruments, his wife-partner Meja turning with him, "Commander," Said Oda, "The flagship has been spotted."

Okamura turned, "Let me see."

Announcements were being made in a light voice in the background, but the shimming noise of the hologram was heard as the image presented itself in a tactical wire-frame display above their heads in the sky-light bridge.

They all looked up beyond the white-wire framed models filled with blue…and the distant red-lined and maroon filled colors of the models representing the enemies. The bridge was large enough to accurately show scale, where the enemy flagship appeared monstrous.

"There…" He said and turned, "Can you identify what fleet it's from?"

"Not at present time," Replied Oda, "But we can assume this is the same flagship assigned to this region some months ago. It is still showing the same energy output signature of that flagship."

"So they're done with Magdav…" Sighed Okamura, "It's a good thing we convinced them to try to flee to safety…all right, where's it headed?"

"Based on orientation it is not in any position to intercept our current fleet." Said Oda, "However, they are sensing to look for something. At this distance, the output measurement of their sensors is really high."
"Are they looking for us?" Okamura asked.

"Uncertain." Meja spoke up, "Their sensors can probably detect us, but we are at extreme range. If they were looking for us, I think they would have changed course."

Okamura looked at the tactical display and at the model of the mammoth flagship as it continued it's slow cruising across the model of space hanging above the heads of the bridge.

Oda input, "Perhaps they are looking for Hibiki? Or his ship the Nirvana."

"The Nirvana…" Okamura said, "What makes them so special I wonder…surely they would be after one of the largest threats to their harvesting operations…"

"Maybe it's because there is some special cargo aboard the Nirvana. Sir…is it possible that there may be a Pexis signature aboard the Nirvana as well?"

Okamura looked at Oda, "Do you think so?"

"One of the current speculations about how the Harvesters track objects," Oda said, "Is by sensing their Pexis data and outrage signal. All human vessels, at least the ones of our make, have them since they were based off data in the Pexis analysis. If this is to be taken into account, we can therefore assume the Nirvana also has a Pexis signature…perhaps stronger than our own."

"A Pexis signature…stronger than our own…" Okamura repeated and looked up at the strata model, "Is it possible? Out of all the colonies we have encountered…including others that close…is it possible that there is a stronger source of Pexis? Our ancestors made it almost clear, that our colony vessels were prototypes in Pexis-class power generation. Who, other than the red harvesters, could produce stronger blue power?"

"Maybe, the source of the Pexis itself?" Oda asked.

Okamura looked back at the sensors, "The Pexis…the original Pexis…now I see…That Pexis was reported lost according to myth, correct?"

"That was said in the books sir."

"Then that means, this Nirvana, or whatever it was built from has the original Pexis…a splendid find…and a dangerous weapon indeed." Okamura said and leaned back in his chair, then ordered, "Oda, start scanning for unusual oddities in the sensor grid. Look for a ship with a stronger Pexis signature of our own…which means including the prototype either Pexis field scanners. If there is a stronger Pexis signature out there I want to know where it is."
"At once." Oda nodded and turned to his sensors.

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The food aboard the Scotia wasn't as good as that of the Nirvana…but wasn't the pills of Tarak either. He was enjoying a fairly good, if not descent, meal.

Alice was there with him, and trying to cheer him up as he ate, "Hibiki…come on, you should be happy. We haven't been fighting for nearly four days now."

"Yeah…but that's not the problem." Replied Hibiki.

"Well then," She asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing…Nothing I can-" Hibiki stopped short as Torran took a seat next to Alice, and smiled, "Well I thought I'd find you here. You just can't seem to leave our guest alone can you?"

"Well a host has to be generous." Smiled Alice, "And besides, Hibiki doesn't have many friends here."

"He'll have more…of both men and women." Said Torran and smiled as he looked at Hibiki, "Wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I guess." Hibiki replied and sipped at the milk- though not really in the mood for it.

Alice blinked and said, "There you go again with that tone…what's really wrong?"

Hibiki didn't want to answer and instead remained quiet.

"Hibiki…"

"I don't want to talk about it." Hibiki replied and stood up, "Excuse me…"
He disposed of his lunch, but carried the small cup of the formula and sipped at it again and he walked out.

"Well, there goes a stubborn individual…" Torran said and looked at Alice, "So…if you're free tonight…"

"I'm sorry Torran…" Alice said, "Um…I need to talk to the commander about parts….sorry…"

Torran raised his arm to let her go and watched her head for the door.

"Huh…" Replied the pilot and sipped at his milk.

---

The Scotia was just hanging out of scanning range of the enemy flag ship. Okamura didn't want to engage the enemy flagship unless he had too, taking Icarus's words for advice. But if he had to, and that flagship turn and attack, he would retaliate.

Still, he couldn't easily dismiss the capabilities of the enemy flagship. Not much was known about these behemoths other than the destruction they could leave behind. And there was much assumption on the numbers of escorts surrounding the flagship at all times- thousands of rock pods.

Alone these rock pods were dangerous enough, and even though they were slightly weaker in firepower compared to the Melanus Frigates and escort frigates they could still produce twice as many fighters in a very short time. They also came in greater droves, which would win the battle of attrition almost instantly.

In addition to that, the cube-type robots used by the enemy were not only incredibly easy to make- but they came in swarms and seemed to wink in and out of existence with blinding speed. Their wink cannons weren't much against capital ships, but in droves could overwhelm the Melanus Wing-class Fighter pods.

The odds were almost even. The capital strength lie with the Melanus fleet, and the quality of the Melanus ships were generally even. But the harvesters had mass numbers on their side…and the mysterious weaponry of the monolithic flagship that only the dead, the harvesters, and God himself knew had for weaponry and capabilities.

It would be an interesting match, but as it stood now the Melanus fourth fleet was at a disadvantage. In this area of patrol they were equipped for base raiding and destruction- which meant heavy capital guns and little in the way of fighter screens and ECM weaponry. Most of the frigates were original base-type frigates. They were good on their own, but the FFs didn't have the defensive power of the Escort or plus variants. They would still come out on top against pods, but overwhelmed with droves of fighters.

Their only hope would be surprise. If they caught the harvesters in a bad formation they could try to concentrate the fleet's entire firepower on one point…the engines, the sides, or maybe the front. Since there was no command deck in sight, there was no clear target to shoot at.

Supposedly, their new battleship was being fitted out with newer and upgraded cannons from an advanced and derelict research satellite found in deep space. This satellite was lost during the colonization age, and found in orbit of a dead moon abandoned. After taking what they could and stripping the base, they managed to decrypt some of the ancient earth files and come up with newer upgrades for their pulse cannons and main guns. Currently the Scotia was armed with only one heavy particle cannon amidships. It took a lot of energy to fire, and during tests it propelled a ship backwards, but the firepower was large enough to destroy targets three times the size of the Battlecruiser firing the weapon.

These batteries would be the main armaments of their new battleship supposedly nearing completion in the first fleet. If this was so, then it was also true that new composite alloys and armor had been perfected for use on the warship, as well as stabilizing thrusters to offset the disadvantage of the cannon discharge.

Still…

That Battleship still wasn't done. And the only ships capable of carrying these weapons were Battlecruisers. Monitors, designed in an age before the arrival of the particle cannons were too small to house them- and would probably destroy themselves in the shock.

In the end, they would have to rely on the entire concentration of the Melanus race to destroy even one ship, or have the battleship ready for combat when they charged to defeat the harvester flagship.

All was looking grim as the picture presented itself. The Harvester Battleship still hadn't seen them, and it was now the Melanus fleet that was trailing the harvester flagship and charting it's movements. They were headed into unknown space outside their designated patrol area. In another month they would have to abandon this area and make all speed back to the first fleet's reception point to receive new orders, new maps, and new patrol zones.

Assuming they made it back alive.

But they were starting to think that they were outrunning the harvesters finally. Once they left this area of space it was likely that the harvesters would need to step up their harvesting schedule to locate them. But when the Melanus people settled in safety, they would most certainly be back with a fleet powerful enough to erase the memory of the harvesters, and if possible blast the corrupt and evil earth into nothing more than a memory.

All this still had yet to come.

And time was running out.

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Hibiki was back in his Vanguard when Alice found him. After talking with the commander, she came to learn that spare parts were indeed no longer replenishable. They would have to wait to rendezvous with a supply convoy in a couple of weeks before they could use spare parts willingly again. The factory ships in the first fleet were already concentrating on finishing the assembly of the Tsunami, which was no small feat. And if they intended to have this battleship completed by the time the harvesters massed a strike, they would need to consolidate production- which meant the ships were on their own.

She put this all aside when she went to talk to Hibiki. He was a special case and an oddity in the Melanus fleet. They hadn't had much contact with races that far out of their spectrum…when they ran into colonies from the colony era they were usually stagnant in different places and hadn't achieved space travel or let it become forgotten in the ages long ago. Only twice did they encounter a group of colonists this far with space travel, and their ships weren't anywhere near the combat power of the Melanus fleet.

She sighed again, then asked, "Hibiki…are you okay?"

"Will you quit asking me?" He muttered in his cockpit, "I'll be fine."
She was serious now, "You're lying to me. Can't you tell me? I'm only trying to be a good host Hibiki…and I don't like to see you down. What's the matter?"

Hibiki looked up at her and the concern in her face. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had to say what he figured for himself. He closed his eyes and said, "Why don't you go talk to Torran or something? At least he's worth your time."

Alice reeled at hearing that. So THAT was it…Hibiki…

She smiled, "You're jealous aren't you?"

"What!?" He replied.

She went serious again, "Well I suppose it's no secret that Torran and I are…well…involved." She waved a hand, "You probably knew that the first day, but coming from a Tarak and from what I've heard about them…I'm baffled you feel this way."

Hibiki hunched over in his cockpit to lean on his arm, "You're the only person who hasn't treated me weird in some way…you're the only 'normal' person I've really talked to. You're the only person…who's really nice about everything…"

"And your friends on the Nirvana aren't?" She asked then leaned forward to touch his head and gently push it up back to a position she could see him, "Hibiki…listen, even though I can't be anything more than friends it doesn't mean you have people who care about you…"

"Yeah right," Hibiki said and moved his head away from her hand, "All they wanted to do was lock me up in jail. I just barely got out of there…There's no way they'd want me back…or care about me the same way you do."

Alice gave a gasp as Hibiki retreated further into his hand.

"Is that what all this is about?" She asked, "You mean….Hibiki…."

Hibiki didn't want to say anything. He felt terrible already saying all this to Alice. But in a way, he felt that he could. Alice was outside the rules of his 'manly honor' that he had to abide by. She was an equal…more than that…

"Hibiki…" Alice replied and eased a hand over his shoulder to rub his neck, and the back part of his spine with her thumb, "Listen…it will be all right, you'll see…you'll find a way…"

Her and eased back and slowly she withdrew from the cockpit to leave Hibiki to his thoughts.

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HTML Formatting is a nightmare. No matter what I do, if I post chapters in HTML format they will have elipsis (…) and Italics, but they have

these

annoying

spaces between text blocks, which are uncalled for and unessisary. I appologize for anyone who's hurt their eyes while reading this ficiton.

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I cut it off here. There is more written after this part, but it was a good place to stop.

This is the first part of the 'pilot' episode, so I'd like to get more feedback after the second part of the premise is done.

Thank you.