Vandread Darkness Found
Author's note: Give me your reviews please. A review is great to let me know if the story is good enough to continue or not. Please also feel free to give all feelings and let me know if there is something you would like to see happen in the story. I will try to please.
I don't own Vandread or anything in that universe.
Meia and her crew walked through the abandoned building. It was just like all the others, run down, falling down and empty of human existence. She sighed feeling it a waste of time but it wasn't her job to question BC's orders just to follow them to the best of her ability.
"Mr. Alien!" came the familiar voice that they had all come to associate with Dita chasing a fleeing, or cowering Hibiki. This time was no different as Meia looked over and saw the look of indecision on Hibiki's face.
"Too late to decide," Meia whispered as Dita found Hibiki due to his indecisiveness.
"There you are," Dita proclaimed. "Let's go look over there together Mr. Alien."
"Why the hell can't you just leave me alone?" Hibiki yelled but Dita just smiled as she put her hands together and brought them to her chest.
"Come on let's go."
"Oh fine," he relented his face downcast.
The two of them went off on their own Dita giggling as she always did when she was around Hibiki. Meia honestly thought the two of them were good for each other. She wondered what it was like to believe in someone so much. She didn't think she could possess Dita's outlook that was for sure.
Jura was with Barnette and they were looking through another part of the massive building. As near as they could tell the place had been a barracks of some sort but there were no people and few signs that anyone had ever lived there.
Gascogne was with Meia and she was chewing on her piece of metal as usual. "Well this place is definitely unique. Some of this stuff is older than me. Most of it is broken down and useless. There are very few parts worth salvaging."
"I agree Gasco. I don't know why we are here."
"Because we were told to come here Meia. We all just play our parts."
"That is true I guess," Meia said as she looked around and stepped over a weapon obviously dropped by someone who had died. The buildings bore signs of battle; a struggle of some kind and Meia wondered who had fought and who had won. They had hoped to find supplies of some kind. They were on yet another trip, asked to scout and see if earth was going to send more harvesters after them. Earth had proven to be persistent.
They had learned how to use the Pexis to travel vast distances in the blink of an eye, just as they had done that fateful day so long ago. It was what made the trips so fast and easy. They were rarely gone for very long as they could just warp back to the pirate hold at almost any time.
Just then Dita's voice came over the comm-link. "Meia we found something I think you should look at!" Her voice was excited yet fearful at the same time. Meia wondered what would do that.
"Let's go Gasco," Meia said.
Gascogne's face twisted in irritation. "It's Gascogne!"
Meia smiled and they went in search of Dita and Hibiki. When they arrived Jura was already there with Barnette. It was glad that they were all there just in case something went wrong that way the others could help.
"See look it's an alien," Dita said excitedly as she gestured into a room.
"A alien?"
"Yeah."
"We'll see Dita."
As Meia moved to the entrance to the room and started to enter she hesitated. Something wasn't right. She looked into the room and saw what Dita was excited about and honestly couldn't believe her eyes. Laying on the floor near a cell was a giant Lizardman.
He had greenish yellow skin, or scales she wasn't sure. His mouth was elongated and filled with sharp pointy teeth. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and was forked. It's eyes were open staring sightless and looked like a lizards'. It bore a tail and claws and it's nose held giant holes used to gather more of a scent.
"Wha .. ." she began.
"See it's a real alien!" Dita exclaimed cheerfully.
"I guess you are right," Meia said quite disturbed by what she saw.
"It's ugly," Jura whined.
"Yeah but it could be a new enemy," Barnette said.
"Who the hell cares it looks like it's dead," Hibiki chimed in.
"Well it may be dead but the man in the cell looks quite alive. The problem is he isn't breathing," Gascogne broke in.
"What," Hibiki demanded confused. He hadn't seen no man but of course he hadn't looked that close after he had seen the lizardman.
"Yeah right there," Dita pointed and they all looked. Barnette and Jura gasped while Meia took a deep breath.
The man was standing but there was a pool of blood around the Lizardman's throat. The man had a sadistic smile on his face. The man was tall even taller than Gascogne around six foot three inches tall or so. He was also quite muscular they could tell because his shirt had no sleeves and showed his arms which were heavily scarred. His hair was midnight black on one half and on the other half it was the color of newly fallen snow. His eyes were mismatched with their color. One was the brightest of yellows and the other was black. He was unlike anyone that any of them had ever seen. He wasn't moving though as Gascogne had said and Meia decided it was a stasis field.
"We'll have to get Parfet down here to get us in there," Meia said as she contacted the ship.
"I'm going to continue looking around," Gascogne quipped as she headed off on her own waving to the others.
"Stupid woman," Hibiki said sighing while Jura stared at the man.
BC was at her command post waiting for some word from the team she had sent down to the decimated planet. She sighed and sat back wondering if they would even find anything of use. It had been awhile since they had any luck with getting any useful information from such places.
"Commander it's Meia," Belvedere said glancing over her shoulder.
"Good patch her through," BC answered in her usual business tone.
"Commander it's Meia. We have found something," Meia started as her face popped up on the screen in front of everyone.
"It's a real alien," Dita yelled with a dreamy look on her face.
"What?" skepticism evident in BC's voice.
"It seems she is right this time commander. We have found a creature that is not human but it is dead." Here Meia paused to let that sink in. "Also we have found a man who appears to be alive. The problem is they are both in stasis."
"I see I will send Parfet down immediately."
"Thank you. Commander? Should we bring the man back with us. He is in a cell so he must be a criminal."
"Well bring him with you anyway. We can hold him in a cell until we decide what to do with him and see for ourselves what kind of person he is," BC reasoned.
"Very well. Meia out."
BC sighed as she leaned back in the chair. Things were never easy when they did find something were they. "An alien?" came a gaggle of voices and BC whished she was anywhere but where she was.
"A man," came some more, including Misty's voice. She seemed to be the most excited of the group. BC knew Misty was hoping to find someone to replace Hibiki since she had lost that battle to Dita, though graciously, at least towards the end.
BC shushed them all. "We have to let the captain know."
Everyone quieted down as BC contacted the Captain and proceeded to explain what was going on and what they were going to do about it. "Sounds good BC. Let me know when they get back."
The captain came down to see what all the fuss was about. She saw the man laid out on a table still not conscious. Next to him on a table was a creature out of a nightmare. She shook her head and wondered at the creature. She had always believed there were other life forms out there but to think that they looked like the creature before was unthinkable.
She had already seen the machine that they had brought back with them. It was unlike any of the others she had seen in her life. It was shaped like a humanoid, almost like a vanguard but slightly different. It had been white and gray free of any blemishes. The machine was also more than three times the size of a vanguard. It was something that she hoped they could examine and learn from. She also hoped one of them could pilot it but she had her doubts.
She moved forward and looked down at the man. "Well he is certainly a big one isn't he."
"Yes he is also quite fascinating," Duero calmly replied.
Paiway was hovering around as well. She seemed to be quite happy about the newcomer for some reason.
"How is he fascinating," Magno asked.
"Well his hair and the fact he bears so many scars. His eyes, and many other things puzzle me. I haven't had the time to analyze him yet or make a record of him but I will."
"Good. Are you going to analyze the other as well?"
"I plan on it."
"Good now everyone go back to your business. BC I want you to put him in a cell with the cuffs on him. We don't know him and we don't know if we can trust him so it is better to be safe."
"Very well captain." BC responded and put the cuffs on the man. With the help of some of the crewmates she carried the man to a cell and the bars snapped into existence.
Barnette was happy to see a man behind bars again even though their lives had changed some. Old habits died hard and some of the women were glad to see at least one man behind bars.
Dita wondered about the man as did all of them. He was unlike anyone they had ever met. They wondered if he would turn out to be someone that they should have left down there on the planet. More so most of them were wondering if he might become a new member of their crew. That would be something. It had been awhile since Misty had joined and it would be refreshing to have someone new around. They also wondered what planet he came from and what he used to do. Dita wondered if any of those questions would get answered.
The man opened his eyes slowly and saw that his surroundings had changed from the last place he had been. He blinked and thought back. The last thing he remembered was the Slythik coming into the room and moving close to the bars laughing at him. It had taunted him saying his death was long overdue. That was when he had rushed forward and reached through the metal bars grabbing the creature's throat and tearing it out. He watched it fall to the ground and he smiled but that was the last thing he remembered and now he was in different surroundings.
He slowly sat up and looked down at his hands seeing an interesting set of cuffs on them. They were made out of a plastic of some such but they seemed to be quite durable. He knew he could break them though if he had to and so put his back to the wall and waited for his new captors to show themselves. He didn't really care who they were. The bars of his cell were interesting though as they appeared to be made out of energy. That could prove to be problematic but he would think about that when he decided to leave.
He thought about why he had been imprisoned on that nameless planet. It was because he had stopped there to get some supplies and had been jumped by some people who lived on that planet. His instincts had kicked in and he had killed the men without mercy and without breaking a sweat. Twenty of them had died. It had taken a group of thirty men with stunners to drop him and then he had awoken in the cell and had heard the fighting. He sighed and thought how strange things were. He wouldn't say life because in truth he didn't have a life. He was a killer and a damn good one.
While he waited he started to feel his muscles tense. He sighed then and stood up. Some time had passed because his muscles were protesting their disuse. He looked around and decided that there was enough room to exercise and so he went into the basic combat forms he had been taught.
Duero looked at the readings on the man. "Very interesting," he intoned as Paiway hovered about as all kids do.
"What ribbit," chimed in the puppet on her hand that always seemed to be ever present.
"Oh it's just this man. There are things about him that puzzle me," pointing to the X-ray of the man.
"Like what," Paiway asked serious, not using her puppet.
"Well it seems that in his hands and forearms there is a metal of some type but it doesn't really show up. I just see traces of it. That is odd. Also his bones appear to be stronger than a normal humans from what I can't guess."
"Hmmm," Paiway thought as she put her chin in her hand and placed her elbow upon the table to look at the readings with Duero. He was in his customary chair at the computer working as always, in the infirmary.
He was looking at readouts on the man and he thought deeply. "I wonder what he is? He is like no other human I have examined. It is almost like he is perfectly built for combat."
"That's scary ribbit," Paiway said with her puppet but meant it. She had always been slightly frightened by warriors.
Duero looked over to her. "I must say I agree. I need to perform a few more tests though because there is still so much that I don't know about him," Duero mused as he turned back to his computer and Paiway went on her way. She had nothing really to do but she knew better than to stay around Duero when he was working like that. He never paid her any attention in such times. Duero heard the door shut and then he held up a vial of the man's blood. Of all that blood was the most interesting thing about the man. He sighed and knew he had a lot of work ahead of him.
"What do you think of the man Meia," Jura asked as she sat with Meia and Barnette in the cafeteria eating. Jura was quite curious as she was still looking for a man to have a baby with and there was now a new man on board. Barnette frowned as she usually did at Jura when Jura showed such interest in the men.
"I don't know. From what we were able to gather after releasing the alien and him it seemed the man was the one who had killed the alien. I am not sure if he is a criminal, then again I am not sure the alien was bad," Meia answered softly. In truth she had been thinking about the man and the scars she had seen on him. She wanted to know where he was from as much as the others but she would never admit it nor would she ever ask.
"He is a man and should be kept as a prisoner until we are sure he is no threat," Barnette chimed in. She didn't have anything against Hibiki and the others anymore but this was a different man and they knew nothing about him.
"Yes I agree Barnette but this man I don't know about. He is . . . " Meia trailed off as she sighed and put her fork back down on the table. She was frustrated. She didn't like the fact that this man had been the only person on that whole planet that they had been able to find. She didn't like the fact that they had found a real alien. She didn't like the fact that she didn't know very much at the moment.
"It's alright Meia. Things will be fine they always are aren't they," Jura winked at Meia and smiled. "Besides I bet he becomes a member of the crew. Perhaps then I can get what I want." Jura chuckled a little to herself at that thought.
Barnette rolled her eyes and chewed all the harder on her food. Meia nearly smiled but her thoughts were occupied by the new man, and what he might mean to the rest of the crew.
Gascogne was examining the machine that she had taken. It was a humanoid mecha like the vanguard but larger, easily three times it's height. It was also made better than the vanguards and it appeared to have no weapons, which was unusual. She ran her hand over the foot of the thing. Its metal was unlike most. She had figured out that it was quite strong. She hadn't figured out how to use the machine yet. She couldn't even get it to boot up and neither could Parfet. That made her quite made and she was still working on it. She hated a machine that could outsmart her.
Gascogne looked at it. It was white, almost completely except its arms which were blood red. Looking at it she wondered why they had colored it the way they had. She shrugged and went back to her duties. She had things to do to keep things working smoothly.
The man finished his exercises and sat down again his legs crossed and his hands on his knees. He had his back to the wall of the cell and closed his eyes. He wished that he could remember his whole life but whatever had happened back on that planet to him meant that he couldn't remember everything. He knew he was different than the normal human but that was all he knew.
He wondered about things. He wondered when he would finally die. He felt that he deserved to die. Why he wasn't sure but perhaps it had to do with the fact that he had survived attacks that no one else should, though he couldn't remember much of anything. He wondered why his eyes and hair were oddly colored and then he wondered why his forearms itched. It was a bother, an annoyance nothing more.
The strange man waited wondering when his captors would make an appearance. Would they be another alien race, ugly like the lizards that he had killed or would they possibly be human. He sighed as he heard footsteps approaching. They fell lightly on the metal floor and he knew instantly that whoever was approaching wasn't a Slythik. At least that was something. He didn't have to worry about freeing himself from them. That had been quite a bother last time.
He waited his hands on his knees, and his gaze locked on the space outside his confined area. In no time he saw a human girl walking toward him. She had a tray in her hands heaped with food and a glass of some liquid on the tray as well. He noticed that there was meat, bread, rice and many other types of food. The smells wafted to him and he realized just how hungry he was. He didn't move though, he had no idea how these people would treat him, or what they wanted. It was best to wait and see.
The girl walked right up to the bars, "Stay there okay. I'm going to give you your food now." Her voice was soft and sweet sounding to his ears. She looked at him and he realized she was waiting for his reply. He nodded his head and she smiled sweetly at him.
The energy bars went down and she stepped into the room and sat the tray down on the bed. 'There you go," she said heading back out and hitting the control panel on the wall and the bars came back up. She looked at him and was surprised that he hadn't moved in the slightest when she had entered the room. If he had been a criminal she wondered, wouldn't he have attacked her and escaped. She shrugged, and just stood there her hands behind her back and Q-chan on her shoulder. She leaned forward a little looking at the man, "Names Misty, who're you?"
The man gazed at her, and had to admit she was beautiful. Her blue hair was long and lustrous, and her eyes held a great warmth unlike his own. Her eyes were soft and he could tell she was a kind person. She was small though and didn't seem to be trained for hand to hand combat. She wasn't that muscular. He continued to look at her and he decided it wouldn't hurt to speak to her. He couldn't give her any information anyway because he couldn't remember anything. He knew nothing of his past but then he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"I have no name," he said his voice deep and distant.
Misty frowned as Q-chan turned into a question mark. "What do you mean? Everyone has a name."
"I mean I have no name. It is simple to understand if you try," he calmly told her.
She shook her head as she leaned closer. "You're cute," she commented and turned, walking away quickly back to her duties.
She is an interesting girl, he thought to himself as he leaned his head back. The smell of the food wafted to him again and he stood up quickly and walked over to the bed where she had left the food. He sat down on the bed his back to the wall yet again and took up the tray. He was hungry and it wouldn't be wise to not eat when there was food offered.
He ate quickly, then sat the tray back down near the bars. Eating hadn't been easy with the handcuffs on but he had managed. He laid there on the bed and was still hungry. He was still thirsty after drinking the water and he couldn't understand why. There had been enough food for at least two if not three people. The glass hadn't been small either. There was no way that he should have still been hungry and yet he was.
The day passed and a new day dawned with the talk of the now conscious prisoner. Everyone seemed to have stopped by and seen him while he slept and it seemed some of the women were quite interested in him. It helped that they had lived with men in the pirate hideout for awhile after the war. Many were learning that men weren't so bad, at least not all. Dita, and Hibiki were now longer thought of as fools, and they weren't frowned upon for their relationship. Misty wasn't thought of as weird either, which made her glad.
She in particular had taken in interest in the man. He was different than any of the other men that she had met from Tarak. She wondered if he was from there but she had a feeling that he wasn't. Just the way he acted seemed so different from the rest of the men from Tarak.
Duero hadn't been seen much and so Perfet had went to see him. She seemed to really like him, and so they had spent much time together since the war. It seemed to many that they were getting as close as Hibiki and Dita. It was truly amazing how people from such different worlds were so able to get along together. They thought much the same and she was helping him to the best of her abilities with the DNA of this new man. He was just so different, and it astounded Duero to no end.
The captain was being quiet about it. She decided to let her crew have their discussions without her getting involved. It was one of the things that made her ship so different from a military ship. She let her crew do mostly what they wanted, she gave them freedoms that were not allowed to a military crew. There were no freedoms in the military, you followed orders or you were punished. There was nothing like that on the Nirvana. Everyone was allowed to use their minds and to think for themselves, as long as they knew their duties when battle started.
BC was with the captain on the bridge when they heard Ezra speak up. "Captain, it seems we have a large ship approaching us."
"What, can we identify who it is," the captain asked.
"No, it is like no ship we have ever encountered before," Ezra stated.
"I wonder who or what they might be," BC commented.
"Hmmmm I wonder. Open up a link to them I wish to speak with them."
"Okay Captain."
Just as the link was set a window popped up and they saw a purple skinned version of the dead lizard man on the screen. "Humans, correct." He stated more than asked.
"Yes and what might you be," the captain asked a slight smile on her face. She was conversing with a real alien. Dita would be so jealous, she thought as she took a bite of her pudding.
"We are called the Slythik. A race far from here but we are hunters if you will. We are also mercenaries."
"Well isn't that interesting. We are pirates which in some ways makes us the same."
"No we are nothing alike. You are a race that is supposed to be subjugated. Your whole reason for existence is for the welfare of others."
"That sounds awfully similar to the way the earthlings think," BC commented and the rest of the bridge nodded their agreement.
"I don't think that you understand. We exist for ourselves and those we care about."
"That is foolish. Come with us quietly, and be our slaves and you shall not be harmed. If you resist then we must crush you as we have countless worlds before."
"Hmmm I think that we will have to pass on being slaves as well as being crushed. We quite like to live," the captain said.
"So be it. You shall be sorry for your insolence," with those words the window closed. Just then they noticed that there at least forty fighters on their way towards them. That meant that they had sent them out while they had been conversing. That was sneaky BC thought.
"Dread teams scramble we have a new threat. Battle stations everyone, sink the Nirvana up to Bart on my mark."
"Aye, aye, commander," the all replied in unison.
Bart had run out onto the bridge as the conversation had been happening and he was now ready for battle. He hoped thought that enemy didn't have a Pexis like the earthlings did. That had been quite frightening. "Alright everyone, I'm ready," came his voice out to everyone on the bridge.
"Okay Bart, I know you have changed a bit but no running okay," came the voice of the captain.
"Jheesh no respect at all not even after everything we've been thought together," he sulked.
"No sulking," came BC's voice that held a hint of a laugh, as did the rest of the bridge.
Hibiki, and Dita were eating she being her normal cheerful self and he trying his best not to lose his temper with the way she acted, when they heard the commander's voice.
"Finally some action," Hibiki yelled as he jumped up as if someone had kicked him.
"Hey mister alien wait for me," Dita yelled as she ran after him her red hair trailing behind.
Hibiki picked up his pace. "Dman she doesn't give me any rest," he said to himself as he ran. He heard an explosion and then he fell to the side smashing his shoulder. "Damn that hurt."
"Mr. alien are you alright," Dita yelled as she ran up and knelt down next to him. He pushed himself up and smiled.
"Damn right I'm fine let's go."
"Yeah." They then ran off together to get to their dread and vanguard. They arrived to see that Jura, and Meia were already there, along with most of the dread pilots.
"Alright let's go," Meia said and they all nodded, climbing into their machines.
They scrambled and off they went. They were outside in no time, each of their dreads leaving a different colored vapor trail. The voices over the comms was something that Hibiki had missed since he hadn't been in battle for quite a long time. He had been having a itch that he just couldn't seem to scratch. Now thought that itch was gone.
Goscongne had done her job expertly again as always. She stood with her stagehands looking out at the women who were now laying their lives on the line for the rest of the ship and one lone man. That one man had changed everyone's thoughts and it seemed he quite the catalyst for many changes throughout the ship. She smiled at the women who were now fighting. "Give'em hell girls."
The dread teams were flying about their speed and skill expert. The fought so well together but to everyone's amazement they were not doing so well in combat. Nearly half the dreads were down and many wounded were in the care of Duero and Paiway. They were working hard keeping the worst wounded alive, but Duero hoped the battle started to fair a bit better, otherwise he wasn't sure he could help them all.
Meia flew between two of the enemies attackers. Their ships were a bit different than she had ever seen. They were twice the size of her, own and held twice the firepower. They were quick and maneuverable, but some of that was the pilots she figured. She did a barrel roll as the energy blasts zipped past her cockpit and her heartbeat quickened.
The ships looked like giant skulls of dragons, those mythical creatures that she had read about. Each was different colored and seemed to have a different type of thrusting system. Some sounded as if they coughed and yet others hummed like her own. Others had no sound and left no trail and she wondered what powered them. The ships though had horns, she guessed that trailed back and seemed to be weapons of some sort that could fire behind them. The eyes were where the cockpits were, and the nostrils were where some of the other weapons fired from.
Another closed in on her and seemed to belch. She jerked back and up away from the ship and saw fire explode where she had been moments before. "Ahh these guys aren't nice. They are really bad aliens," came Dita's frightened voice over the comm. System.
"Dita calm down," Meia said but she glaced Dita's way and saw that Vandread Dita had formed. It looked majestic it's blue metallic color visible against the black veil of space. The sparkles of distant stars seemed to halo it in silver light, as if to announce to the enemy that this was a king of combat.
"Okay we'll be fine right Mr. alien."
"Oh shut up we have things to do," Hibiki yelled at her and Dita giggled as she always did.
"Watch out Meia," Jura cried frantic and Meia was hit by one of the enemy. It seemed as if it's jaws had closed on her and was crushing her ship. It had made a mistake though and had attacked her from the front. She fired her lasers into the ship and it started to implode. It exploded in a shower of metal and sent her flying back.
"I won't lose, I won't give up," Meia said as she flew off in search of another enemy though it wasn't tough to find one.
The vandread was destroying many of the enemy but they just seemed to keep coming. "There's just so many," Hibiki muttered as they blew another apart. He glanced around and saw that even more the dreads were down and out leaving only perhaps a dozen.
"We . . . we're losing," Dita's astonished voice broke into his thoughts.
"No we're going to keep fighting. That's the only way to continue to live right."
"Right!" Dita's enthused voice carried to Meia, Jura, Barnette and the others.
The enemy ships ducked, rolled, and rose moving through intricate maneuvers though the dread pilots were doing their own. Just then though the enemy withdrew leaving the dreads there floating in space wondering what had happened.
Deep in the bowels of the Nirvana there was a shimmering in the air and then a creature stepped out. It's scaly hide glistened as though wet and it's fanged maw opened in what could be called a grin. Behind him another and another appeared. They just kept appearing out of thin air until there were a total of thirty of them. It was a proper hunting party, a proper scavenging party, a party that was there to capture as many of the women as possible and bring them back to the mother ship.
They held weapons that ranged from pistols that fired bolts of light to guns that fired nets, and a type of glue that rendered their prey immobile. They had weapons that would shut down the muscles of the enemy making them atrophied for a short time leaving them helpless. They had their own natural claws and some even carried knives and other such close range weapons. One never knew what you would need in a battle so it was always best to be prepared.
They started down a hall in hopes of finding the women one by one. It would make their job easier. Women you see brought great prices depending on the planet you took them to. There was a planet where men would pay handsomely for beautiful women. Those men would make the women their concubines, their breeding stock.
Even earth would pay for them, or at least for information about other planets and things. The Slythiks were always looking to make a profit. They were out for themselves but what was more they followed the orders of the Scaled Queen absolutely. She was all powerful and she was the main breeding mother. What she said went, they were more like drones in a bee colony doing as they were told.
The strange man was laying on the bed his hands behind his head when a scent came to him that was familiar. It was the scent of rotten meat. It was the scent of rancid breath, and the smell of anticipation.
He sat up on the bed and looked down at his hands that were handcuffed. He looked to the bars and shook his head. He wouldn't be much help. "They're here it seems."
He closed his eyes and wondered if perhaps today would be the day that he finally died. He wondered how that girl was faring that had brought him his meal. He hoped she was alright but he also had to worry about himself.
"Be safe all of you, the enemy is in your very home."