Patriot-112: Hey Everyone, here I am again with a new fic! I hope you can all forgive me for neglecting my other work, for this, but I honestly can't help it. Enough of that though, this fic takes place in the Vandread Universe. Note this fic will crossover with many Gundam Series, more specifically Gundam UC, Gundam SEED, and others.
Now, on with the show!
Disclaimer, I don't own Vandread, or any of the Gundam series. They all belong to their respective owners.
Prologue Phase
Summary:
The Kaledonian Republic was founded during the final decades of the Colonization Era, where the Colony Fleet, the Amaterasu Fleet, arrived in the Kronos System, a complex star system, containing a main star, and two other binary star systems, the same time as the Ikazuchi. After hearing the reports of what happened to Earth, and the Ikazuchi crew's decision to hide all their natural-born children, the Amaterasu colonists reject this idea and move away from them, wanting to continue their mission to colonize a planet, and prepare for an eventual encounter with their former Earth Brethren.
They arrived at one of the binary stars of the system, Kronos Gamma, and settled on the third planet of K-Delta, which was mostly forests, lakes, and tundra, and thus named it, Kaledonia. The colonists immediately began colonizing, and in a few short decades, 11 major cities have been built on the surface, including the Capital, Phéatair. During the next 70 years, the newly created Kaledonian Republic had initialized several agricultural, medical, industrial, and military programs.
Soon, several more settlements were established, and the total Human population came up to 1,500,000,000 people. Soon the Kaledonian Republic began to leave their planet and traveled to and settled other star systems, such as Gaeta, and Miko.
They eventually made contact with descendants of the Ikazuchi colonists, but became dumbfounded as they discovered they were in a cold war of genders, with the male descendants on the Arid world of Teraak, and the female descendants on the Eden world of Mejare. Seeing this, the Kaledonians wisely decided to keep their distance, though they did send in Intelligence Agents to investigate the cause of the genders splitting apart, in addition to learning the cultures of said two worlds.
They were shocked and disgusted at the blatant waste of resources by the Women of Mejare, and the discriminatory citizen class system of the Men of Teraak. What was most disturbing, was the use of artificial reproduction, which was how they flourished.
Eventually of course, the two worlds had discovered their existence, but thankfully were not able to discover they are co-gender.
Despite small and large skirmishes, the three worlds have managed to avoid total war, mostly with the help of the Kaledonian Republic's new mobile weapon, the Mobile Suit.
The Men of Teraak attempted to create their own versions, which resulted in the Vanguard-type Battle Robot, while the Women of Mejare stuck with their space-superiority fighters, known as Dreads.
While Kaledonia, along with Teraak and Mejare, basically ignored each other, the Kaledonians knew that the former Humans of Earth were coming. And thus, with their military growing, they prepared for the inevitable arrival...
Pirate Cruiser
Avenger-class, Reckoning
A single ship was cruising through the space of the Kronos System, the star system which composed of the planets of Mejare, Teraak, and Kaledonia. This ship was colored a distinct sand brown, with black trim. It had two triple gun turrets just forward of the bridge, and one on the port and starboard side, and two more on the keel, a sharp point at the front, and two fins just above it's engines. On the bridge of said ship, a single man was looking at the dark vastness of space with a look of melancholy on his face. The man stood at approximately, six foot two, had a well tone build, brown hair that reached his shoulders, but was tied in a wolf tail, and a set of sky blue eyes.
The clothes he was wearing were like those of a military uniform, which were colored a dark indigo, with a grey trim, with black shin length boots (Think of it as the ZAFT Commander's uniform, but in a different color).
The man looked as if he was entering his 30's, but if one were to look very closely, more specifically, into his eyes, they would see that he was WAY older than he looked.
"Captain..." said a feminine voice, and the man blinked and turned with a small grin on his face. There behind stood a woman in the same type of uniform he was wearing, but in a different color, being a dark violet with green trim. She appeared the same age as him, with navy blue hair that went to the middle of her shoulder blades in hime-style cut, cobalt eyes, and standing at the average height for women, with a slender but slight muscle toned form, with a low d-cup breast size. She also had some Asian features, like her sharp eye shape, and light tan skin.
Overall, she was a beauty that would make even a woman of Mejare jealous.
"Yes, Noemi, what is it?" he asked.
"Sir, we just got a report from our contact in the Teraak Military," Noemi said. "He reports that they are refitting the Ikazuchi into a warship, and the Mejaren Pirates are intending to raid it."
Captain Roanoke "Roa" Schmidt rose an eyebrow at that. "The Ikazuchi?" he asked. "As in the colony ship?"
Noemi sighed in irritation. "Apparently, according to what their Prime Minister said, it is to show the superiority of Men over the women of Mejare," she said, with sarcasm at the word 'superiority'. "I don't understand why the Chairman and the Council don't just deal with those fools. Have you watched their propaganda movies? It's ridiculous!"
Roa just sighed. "Noemi, you know as well as I that the government can't just force them to accept each other," he said. "The reason why the descendants of the Ikazuchi are like this is because their leaders believe that as long as their Natural-born children survive, that's all that matters."
"I know," Noemi said with a groan. "But it's all just so pointless… of all the things they could fight about, it's gender that they're all angry about… it's all just so absurd!"
Roa chuckled at that. "I know…" he said and then shrugged. "…but what can we do? We're just common pirates after all," he said, and Noemi looked at him with a serious expression.
"We may be pirates, Captain," she said. "But we still have loyalties to our nation, and the only vessels we ever raided were those of Teraak and Mejare. Not to mention we're more disciplined."
Roa nodded at that. "Yes, we're still loyal to Kaledonia. But the government still sees our actions as a breach in the mutual status quo of things," he said, however he then hummed in thought "However… the Ikazuchi would be a great prize to capture if we can pull it off…" He looked at Noemi. "When is the Ikazuchi leaving Teraak?"
"In about a week, Captain. They just need to load their new Van-Types, supplies, set up the preparation ceremony, and ready the new recruits," Noemi said, and Roa nodded.
"That gives us plenty of time to prepare," he said. "Have all stations and pilots on standby stations at once."
Noemi nodded and walked away, leaving Roa to look out the window once again.
'And soon, we shall have our first encounter with our former brethren of Earth.' he thought bitterly. 'And the one Yama-jii-san told me about, will be on that ship.'
One Week Later
Teraak Asteroid Field
The Reckoning had arrived at the arid world of Teraak, now hidden in the asteroid field which served as a natural barrier to invasion from larger fleets. But that didn't mean it could not be used to hide a ship like an Avenger-class.
Roa looked at the yellow brown ball that was the home of the male descendants of the Ikazuchi colonists, a look of mild apathy on his face. 'This world makes me sick sometimes,' he thought as he looked at the arid desert planet before them. ''Course, I'm not the only one… everyone back home knows the men of Teraak are a bunch of Homo Bravado's… not in an insulting way of course, but still…'
"Captain," spoke the Comm officer of the Reckoning, drawing out his attention. "We're picking up a radio signal from the planet - opening channel."
The officer then pressed a button and Roa heard the familiar voice of the Prime Minister speaking.
"My Comrades! My Brothers! Now is the time to prove our manhood of our empire of Teraak! This fatherly land our great forefather Grand Pa guided us to! We will supercede the holy land we're so proud of and once again return the pride of men into these hands! For Today, at this moment, we have gained a new power!"
Roa groaned as he shook his head. "Great… another one of that moron's speeches," he said with great sarcasm.
"In other words, this means that we have reached the time when we clamp down the fist of justice upon our horrible nemesis, the Women!" the Prime Minister continued. "Power from each and every one of you will build the future of our empire! The ship that has lead us to this fatherly land, the Ikazuchi, has been revived! And the young men of the third generation are it's new officers, holding the future of Tarak in their hands!"
"We no longer have anything to fear! In order to repay Grand Pa and the great First Generation, who cultivated this land, it is the time for the second and third generations to combine their powers into one! It is the time when our long awaited dream will come true! The ship of our hearts. I'm sure you all feel the new breath of the Ikazuchi as well. Look and praise! This is the flagship of our Tarak Imperial Army! The Grand shape of the Ikazuchi!"
"So, they turned an old Colony Ship into a makeshift dreadnaught… glorious," said the helm master, a young green haired blue eyed teenager by the name of Riika Kujo. Of course, Roa could hear the sarcasm in her voice.
"You, the Third Generation of Teraak, born to board the new Ikazuchi," The Prime Minister continued. "The first officers of the academy! Congratulations! You are those who have been properly passed down the genes of the eight members of the first generation, including our forefather Grand Pa! As you may know, our mission is to end the piracy of the women who have appeared in our realm as of late. But never forget that you are always on the battlefield! Work hard and don't get caught off guard to prepare for the coming operation!"
The Prime Minister then slammed his fist on the podium he stood on. "The time has come!" he shouted, "We shall not wait for departure time! Right men?" All of the men on the screen cheered their Prime Minister on, while Roa and the crew of the Reckoning blinked in surprise.
"Huh!? They're launching 2 hours early!?"
"That's crazy!"
Roa could only glare at the Prime Minister's image. "Damn bullheaded fool. He's charging in blindly like a cavemen with a wooden club," he growled out. 'And his men will pay the price...'
The crew of the Reckoning simply watched as the Prime Minister finished his 'glorious' speech before he initiated the launch sequence of the massive retrofitted colony ship. The thrusters of the massive ship shot the vessel up out of its birth and back up into the sky as it climbed to reach escape velocity.
"Well, either way it doesn't change our plans," Roa said with a sigh. "Speeds them up actually." He turned to the Comm officer. "Send word to all hands to prepare for combat, get the MS teams ready to launch when the Ikazuchi comes within combat range."
"Roger!"
Reckoning MS Hangar
"Alright, Everyone get aboard your MS and prepare to launch!" ordered an 18 year old woman, wearing a gold and black flight suit, a helmet in her left hand, and a katana sword in the other. She had long, waist-length brown hair, with two banes framing her face, with small white ribbons tied on the left bane, violet eyes, fair-skinned, and had a slim build.
The pilots responded with a "Yes Ma'am!" as they boarded their machines. The woman as well headed towards her own machine. Within the hangar of the Reckoning, there were many mobile suits they possessed, however the majority of the machines were KRMF-M01 Dragoon's and KRMF/G-G01A Jäger's, some of the more well known Mobile Suits of the Kaledonian Republic.
However, Rei Takamura approached her own MS near the back of the hangar bay, identified by its unique color scheme, primarily black with a golden torso, and a unique V-Head crest presented proudly on its forehead: A KRMF-M02 Boshin, among one of the more latest M.S developed by the Kaledonian Military, and also among one of the most deadly.
It had wing thrusters on it's backpack which gave it increased mobility in space, and was armed with 75mm CIWS vulcan guns, a high-powered beam rifle, and two beam sabers, with one each mounted behind both shoulders. It also came with a shield that had a special laminated coating that deflected beam and laser weaponry.
Rei smiled as this machine was her pride and joy. She had this Mobile Suit since before the day she joined the Reckoning pirates. It was something she had… liberated from an arms dealer who planned to sell it to the Teraak Imperial Military.
She placed her helmet under her left arm, and approached her unit before she placed a hand on the foot of the Boshin.
"Well partner, we're going on another mission," she said and looked up at the face plate. "Thank you for being with me all the way." She could see some light gleam off of the Boshin's left eye, almost making it look as though it winked, causing her to smile. "Right back at you," she said before she jumped on the ascension and was raised up towards the cockpit hatch, quickly entering it before closing it behind her.
She then sat in the linear floating seat, and began pressing a few buttons that caused the mobile suit to turn on as it hummed to life. Then the Panoramic Monitors also turned on, showing a 360 degree vision around the seat. This was a feature which was introduced in the Dragoons sibling unit, the KRMF-M01A1 Dragoon Kai, and was installed in all Kaledonian Armed Forces Mobile Suits.
It was the ideal cockpit for those who had claustrophobia, but who still wanted to be pilots of Mobile Suits.
Rei maneuvered her Boshin towards the Linear Catapult, as the other MS pilots entered their machines, their MS eyes flashing on as they began to move as well.
"Yo, Rei!" An Irish voice spoke out, prompting Rei to look as she saw the only KRMF/A-G02 Marauder of the Reckoner's Mobile Suit complement, colored a distinct crimson red with an orange trim. "Same bet as always? I heard the Taraak have new Vanguard units on that ship."
Rei could only chuckle at that. "Of course Klein. Just be sure not to miss."
"WHA!? Aw come on, Rei! You know I'm the best marksman of the whole group!" said Klein Stratos, sounding offended.
"Those so-called Vanguards are all junk anyway." said a female voice and Rei turned and saw a silver colored/dark grey trimmed Jäger with it's assault armor equipped, which was colored burgundy. "Not to mention the Teraak pilots are certainly all newbies."
"Remember what I said before…" Rei softly reprimanded, "Never underestimate your opponents, Kimiko." it was a few moment until the pilot of the Jäger, Kimiko Kai, answered.
"H-Hai Taicha, understood." the pilot said.
Meanwhile - Onboard the Ikazuchi
Hibiki Tokai had decided that today simply was not his day. It had started off with him taking up on that stupid bet from his fellow third-class workers to steal a Male Attack Force Vanguard they had designated for him onboard the Ikazuchi. He regretted taking the bet, but he didn't have much choice in the matter now. It was going so well at first - but then apparently the Prime Minister decided to launch the damn ship two hours ahead of schedule, resulting in him being trapped in the damn ship as it took off.
And now, right during their demonstration of the aforementioned Vanguard, he got caught, and was tossed into a cell - which apparently the Male Attack Force also used as a supply closet. And they intended to execute him publically once they returned to Taraak.
"My life is always turning against me, isn't it?" He asked himself in a groan. However once he heard the footsteps of the soldiers who put him away fade off, he looked at the small robot that they had designated to keep watch over him and smirked a bit. "Hey, Partner…" he said. "Let me out of here… we're both born in a factory… so, we're brothers right?"
"Beep," The robot spoke. "We are made of different materials-"
"I have a good generator! Let me out and I'll put it on you!"
"The term 'Brothers' is inappropriate. Denied. The Observed is making an inappropriate request. Instigation of escape and attempted bribery are crimes, therefore…"
"Therefore…?"
"Punishment." The robot shot a bolt of electricity into the cell, shocking Hibiki, who jumped at the contact. "YEOW!" He shouted, before he growled at the machine. "What the hell are you doing!?" he demanded. "Who do you think I am!?"
When he said that, the little egg-shaped robot began to scan Hibiki as he kept on trying to bribe and beg him to let him out. He responded after he was done.
"Analysis complete… you are…" the robot began, before a sudden explosion rocked the ship.
"B-Beep…" the robot lost control before it tilted into the power grid, making it short circuit.
Meanwhile on the bridge, warning alarms started going off, and the Prime Minister stood up "What!?" he demanded. "I thought I ordered the exhibition match, canceled!"
"This isn't the Exhibition!" one of the bridge officers shouted. "It's the Women! It's an Ambush!"
"Mejare forces at 3 o'clock!" Another one shouted. "Three Mobile Stars and a Code Red!"
Outside, Mejaren fighters, known as Dreads were attacking the Tarak fleet, scoring direct hits on the hulls of the modified colony ship, as well as it's escorts.
"Formation is broken," said one of the bridge officers. "All guard ships! Protect the Ikazuchi!"
While the Dreads were attacking, a single crimson colored ship came out of the debris field. On the bridge of the ship, several women manned their stations as they maneuvered the ship out of the debris field. One of them was a woman with tanned skin, waist-length silver hair and violet colored eyes. She smirked a bit as she looked at the much older woman who was sitting in the Captain's chair. "Well, Captain," she said. "It looks like we've caught a big one."
The older woman raised her head as she smirked a bit, herself. "Today's a lucky day, you know." She said.
"Captain! I'm picking up multiple contacts coming from point 068!" Said of the bridge officers. "They're on direct course for the flagship!"
The elderly captain, one Magno Vivian, blinked at that. "Can you identify them, Celtic?" she said.
A young woman with ear-length Indigo colored hair and grey colored eyes looked at the sensors. "Yes Ma'am," she said. "It's an…" she blinked. " ...a Kaledonian Avenger-class?"
Magno and her apparent XO, Buzam both blinked at that.
"Kaledonian?" Buzam said. "But the only Kaledonian ship that could come out here is..."
"The Reckoning…" said Magno and Buzam turned to her, while the other bridge operators become a bit unnerved, having heard stories of the infamous pirate ship that attacked convoys along trade routes between Mejare and other worlds. Of course Taraak wasn't spared as well.
"Captain?" Buzam said, confused, and started hearing chuckling from the old woman.
"There's no need to worry," Magno said. "After all, the Reckoning crew are fellow pirates. Besides, with a ship that large, there should be plenty of plunder for us all." She looked at the woman manning the console that the original operator, named Erza, usually would use "Send a message to Meia, and tell her we've got some backup. Her team are not to fire on the Mobile Weapons of the Reckoning."
The woman nodded. "Yes ma'am," she said before she sent out the message.
"Captain, are you sure?" Buzam said, with a hint of uncertainty.
"The governments of Tarak and Mejare don't truly know the identity of the Kaledonians, Buzam. True we know that they're human, but which gender, they do not say," the ancient captain said with a small smirk. "Of course, the answer to that is a secret kept by the First Generation."
Meanwhile - Bridge of the Ikazuchi
"Guard Ship Hijiri is gone!"
"The Maboroshi is down!"
"Hull Breach in the Ikazuchi's new segment!"
There were the Reports that the Prime Minister heard as his eyes twitched in anger, watching as the battle unfolded before their eyes. "How Unfair," he growled. "Using the background shots to hide..."
"Additional ship on sensors!" Another report came in. "It's not Taraak or Woman… it's a… it's a Kaledonian Battleship!"
"Kaledonian?" The Captain of the Ikazuchi asked. "Why are they here?"
"Going through files, sir!" The Officer said as he looked at the files on the ship "It… it appears to be an Avenger-class… IFF is reading its the Reckoning… official Kaledonian reports say its a rogue pirate ship! They're launching Mobile Suits!"
The Prime Minister growled. "So, the damn women pirates have some back up," he snarled. "Launch the Vanguards!"
"Minister!" the Captain shouted. "Most of them are still trainees and cadets-"
The Prime Minister darted his head around glaring at the Captain. "If we lose without using our latest weapons, we have only shamed Grand Pa!" he shouted.
The Captain flinched before he sighed, heading to the Communications station as he began issuing out the orders. "All officer candidates!" he shouted on the loudspeakers. "Now is the time to repay our Forefather, Grandpa! Each of you get to your places and destroy the enemy!"
In the pilot ready room, two of the men along with their comrades were suiting up in pilot uniforms. One of them looked around as if he was looking for someone.
"Where did Bart go!?" he said in confusion while his friend continued getting on his equipment.
"How the hell should I know!?" he said.
In the large hangar that also served as a party hall, a voice announced that the artificial gravity was being shut off to allow the Vanguards to be launched, before everything started to float in the air. Under one table that floated up, was a blonde haired young man, who looked like he was cowardly hiding, suddenly started screaming as the art-grav shut off and he too floated in the air.
"Mechanical Area has taken a hit! Firefighters, hurry!" A report from the engineering deck came through the Bridge. "The Mortar for the Vanguard Runway has been cut off!"
"I don't care!" the Prime Minister shouted. "Just launch them!"
In another section of the ship, an elderly looking male, wearing a cap was on a phone line to the bridge.
"What!? You're kidding!?" he said, clearly annoyed as he turned to the Vanguards. "All prepped Vanguards! Go out on your own discretion!" In the hangar bays of the Ikazuchi, the Vanguard pilots boarded their machines as the launch alarms went off. Their Vanguards were pushed into their respective launch hatches. When the signs switched to Scramble, the Vanguards were dropped from their births and tossed out into space.
Of course, due to them being just cadets, the Vanguards performed like the pilots were drunk, while a few managed to latch on to a few of the Dreads, only to be yanked off by the Reckoning's own Mobile Suits.
"Geesh! Who in their right mind would send Rookies out into battle in these things?" said the pilot of a Dragoon.
"They're Taraak, what do you expect?" A pilot of a Jäger said, as they blasted off the limbs of several Vanguards without even trying. "When they're desperate, they'd do anything… sure doesn't help that these Vanguards positively SUCK!"
"All teams, ignore the Vanguards, just concentrate on the flagship," Rei ordered as the Boshin, with two beam sabers drawn, sliced off the arms of two Vanguards, before proceeding toward the Ikazuchi.
Onboard the Ikazuchi
Hibiki was using two wires from the disabled robot to hack into the control panel to his cell. He tapped the wires on the central piece of the panel, and watched as the beams of the cell dimmed and died. "Yata!" he cheered. "Don't underestimate the knowledge of a mechanic!" However just as he began to stand up, he looked back at the small robot that had 'helped' in his escape, muttering 'beep' over and over again.
He let out a groan before he picked it up. "You owe me big time, you tin can," he muttered before he began to run down the first hallway.
Meanwhile, outside in space a scarlet red colored Dread fired its missiles and a few lasers, breaching the hull of the hangar as it soared inside, quickly followed by several other Dread's and transports.
"The Mejarens just breached the hull of the Ikazuchi," Rei reported. "Team Bravo, with me, we're giving them support. Reckoning, send in the Dropships with the boarding parties."
"This is Reckoning: Roger that!" said the CIC operator, as Rei along with Klein, Kimiko, and three others of the Reckoning's Mobile Suits followed after the Dreads, with one blue one they noticed was having some trouble.
"Looks like they've got a trainee among them," said Klein. "Poor girl can't fly straight."
"The Mejarens must be short handed on pilots." said Kimiko. "That's a logical reason."
"Anyways, we got a Job to do," Rei said as they approached. As they entered the Ikazuchi the Mobile Suits saw the Blue Dread soar forward, banging with the wall a few times as it smashed through the head of a statue of Grand Pa as it continued down the passageways.
Kimiko sighed. "Someone's gonna have to go get her…" she said, and the Jäger pulled away from the rest and followed after the blue Dread.
Rei could only shake her head as she and the rest of the group landed right behind the dreads. She unstrapped herself from her linear seat opened the cockpit hatch, before grabbing her katana on the suspension rack on the right side, and headed out using the jetpack on her suit to fly out and land amongst the group of Mejaren pirates, causing the women in their custom spacesuits to jump in surprise.
"W-What the!?" shouted one of them.
"We're here to help," Rei said simply. "We're part of the Reckoning's complement, hope you girls have a plan on how to pull this off."
Meanwhile, with Kimiko
The Jäger, piloted by Kimiko, arrived where the Blue Dread crashed through a wall and was lodged in, the female pilot could only sigh, as she reached up and removed the helmet of her burgundy silver trimmed flight suit, which showed her slim build well, revealing her long dark hair, which was tied back by a red ribbon, with a straight fringe, and had brown eyes.
"That's why we wait till we BELIEVE they're ready," she said, and picked up her Type-AR12 from the weapon rack and proceeded to exit her Mobile suit and make her way through the hole, which she had just enough room to squeeze through.
She managed to get past the hole, as she first checked the cockpit off the Dread, finding that it was empty, and the hatch was open. She continued forward, hopping onto a catwalk, and looking down she could see two figures lying there. One was a woman wearing the full Mejarean Combat Flight suit, and another was a human male, wearing what she believed to be a mechanic's uniform, who was lying underneath her unconscious.
Kimiko blinked at this before she giggled silently as she pulled out a camera. "Smile," she whispered as she snapped a picture. At that moment however the Mechanic began to wake up as he groaned a bit. He raised his hands, and brushed it against the Mejaren's breast, before he opened his eyes, blinking as he fully grasped it and squeezed it. "What's this?" He asked.
This resulted in Kimiko blinking as well, before she groaned and facepalmed. 'Stupid Teraak...' she mentally cursed, before the Terakian male looked up, seeing the Mejaren's mask before screaming "A-A Monster!" He shouted, before he shoved the woman off of him, causing her to 'eep' in surprise before he began crawling away.
"W-Wait! Hold on!" The woman said, and surprisingly the Terak stopped for just a moment as the woman removed her helmet gear. Revealing a young woman who appeared to be about 15 or so years old, with long waist length crimson red hair, stylized with bangs on either side of her face, and her hair a bit spiky near the front, and had deep blue eyes which were filled with wonder as she looked at the man. "Wow, a real alien!" She said excitedly.
The Mechanic blinked. "A-Alien?" He asked, confused.
Kimiko had a WTF look on her face when she heard what the young girl said, before groaning again.
'You've gotta be KIDDING me!?' she mentally screamed, both for the absurdity of the situation and for being completely ignored by the two, as she continued to watch as the girl began to make hand signals, with the clearly confused mechanic making the same signals, which caused the girl to start screaming with joy.
"Alright! It worked! I made First Contact!" she shouted, and the Terak and Kimiko's eye twitched at that.
'Seriously... ?' they both thought at the same time.
Finally fed up with being ignored Kimiko let out a fake cough, getting both of them to turn their attention towards her "Excuse me," she said. "But are you the pilot of that Dread back there?"
The girl blinked as she looked at her, before smiling "Yup! I'm Dita Liebely!" She said, before blinking again as she looked at Kimiko again, more curiously "But… who are you? I don't remember you from the ship..."
Kimiko sighed shaking her head. "I'm not from your ship," she said, "I'm- hey!" Suddenly the mechanic got up and ran.
"Hey!" Dita shouted. "Wait! I haven't taken my photo!" And with that she hopped off and began chasing the man through the engine room of the ship.
"Come back here you two!" Kimiko shouted and went after them.
Back in the Vanguard Launch Bay
A laser shot nailed the wall next to the head of a Teraak Cadet before, with a fearful expression, raised his hands.
"Alright, gather into one area!" shouted one of the Mejareans.
"Don't do anything stupid or we'll shoot."
The Terak Cadets all reluctantly, but surely began to gather in the center of the room. Next to one of the Dreads, two of the Mejaren pirates removed their combat suits.
"I know it's a disinfectant, but I can never get used to that smell..." said a rather buxom blonde haired/blued eye woman wearing a black dress with a rapier sword by her side.
The second Mejarean, this one with shorter light aqua blue hair and cyan colored eyes wearing a white and grey armor under her suit looked around. "Where's Dita?" she asked.
Near where the Men were being escorted out, another woman with short black hair and purple colored eyes sighed, as another girl was tending to her arm wound. "She fired her beam cannon and charged into a wall!" She exclaimed, "Thanks to that, we go-" she hissed in pain before glaring at the woman treating her wound, who had long black hair tied into a pair of long ponytails and red eyes wearing a maids outfit. "Ow! Hey that hurts!" she yelped. "My skin is delicate you know!"
"I can't help that!" She said shrugging as she continued working.
"That's not what a nurse is suppose to say!" shouted a new voice, as a another came up, however this one wearing a red on white Kaledonian flight suit, with a red cross on the chest area, with her helmet removed, showing her short dark grey hair, dark eyes and a stern look on her face as she looked disapprovingly at the girl who flinched a little.
"S-Sorry, I uhh..." She began, before the woman sighed shaking her head.
"Just help me out, and I'll take care of it," She said, as she took over her work. Meanwhile among the men, one in particular with long greyish black hair and dark blue eyes glanced back, and watched in a bit of interest at what was happening.
"Hey, don't stop there!" One of the woman shouted at him, and the man simply continued on his way.
Among the Kaledonian Group, Rei removed her helmet as she looked around and saw some of the male half of the group were hesitant to take their helmets off in front of the Mejarens, mostly out of fear of being shot at. She sighed and shook her head as she walked toward them.
"Come on guys take them off!" she said, catching the attention of the blonde, Aqua haired, and the injured dark haired women as they watched as Rei began tapping her foot. "I'm waiting…"
"But…"
Rei narrowed her eyes as she would have none of it. "Come on," she said. "I think it's about time these people found out who and what Kaledonians really are," Her saying that caught the attention of many of the others - including the Teraak prisoners who looked in their direction as well.
The male pilots all sighed, as Klein was the first. "Alright, alright," he said as he reached for his helmet, and pulled it off revealing him to be a man with short red hair tied up into a red bandana, and hazel colored eyes. "There, you happy?" And soon, one by one all of the Kaledonian pilots - both male and female - removed their helmets much to the shock and amazement of the Teraak and Mejarean groups.
"W… what the hell?" said one of the cadets, as both them, and the pirates looked at the men and women of the Reckoning crew.
"Yeah, yeah, we're a co-gender society, get over it… ya fags- OW!" Klein said, only for his foot to be stomped on by one of his male companions, who looked to be the same age as him, with brown military crew cut hair, green eyes, and Asian features.
"What the hell!?" Klein shouted as he glared at his friend while holding his foot. "What was THAT for!?"
"Being an idiot and inconsiderate," He said, and Klein just grumbled.
"Come on, you know I ain't Homophobic," he muttered. "But the Teraak are just too weird… I mean a society without women? What kind of world is that?!"
"Still, you shouldn't say that taboo word," his friend reminded, and turned back to the group who were looking at them like gaping.
"Sorry about him, he's an idiot," he said, causing Klein to glare at him.
"FUCK YOU, KAITO!" Klein said, as the now mentioned Kaito just chuckled.
"Sorry, you're not my type, and I'm more into women than men," Kaito said with a smug smile, causing the Mejaren and Terak to just gape more in shock, while Klein looked like he was gonna be sick.
"Dude… that is SO not cool." Klein muttered, and Kaito just chuckled as he shook his head.
"You know I'm teasing ya, mate," he said. "Well, except for the woman part, but we all know that."
"What… what the hell?" Barnette Orangello muttered, still looking on in shock with everyone else. But then her attention was redirected as the woman poked her in the forehead. "Ow!"
"Don't stare, it's rude…" the Kaledonian female said, as she examined the wound and hummed. "Just a small graze, all its needs is a good spray of Ulti-ointment and you'll be good as new."
Barnette blinked at that. "Ulti-what?" she said, while the combat medic sighed.
"It's an advanced modernized Topical Medication," she said, as she pulled out a small spray bottle with a clear green liquid in it. "Heals wounds like yours in a snap, may sting a bit…" she sprayed some of the liquid, and Barnette winced slightly as it did sting for a moment and the liquid was cold.
"Burr! That's cold!" the girl said, and the woman smiled a bit.
"Don't worry, it only lasts for a few minutes," she said, and then sighed. "Of course, it's hard to keep a good supply of this if some idiots would STOP CRASHING THEIR MOBILE SUITS ALL THE TIME!" she shouted the last part, causing Barnette and the other injured pirates to jump.
"Hey don't blame me for that, Terumi-san!" shouted Kaito as he readied a Kaledonian Type-K16 Assault rifle. The now mentioned, Terumi Kato, turned and glared at him. "You're the worst when it comes to crashing Kaito! You know how much money I had to spend just to get two full cases of this stuff!?"
Kaito sighed. "Yeah, yeah, you told me before Terumi-san," he said. "My Kami, you're such a spa-ACK!"
A piece of metal hit in the head.
"Don't you DARE say that word!" Terumi growled.
Meanwhile
A group of the Mejarens arrived at what looked like the sub bridge of the ship. Accompanying them were a few Kaledonians in space suits, one of them carrying a case. "What is this?" One of the Mejarens said, who began removing her own flight suit revealing a woman with long waist length brown hair tied in a yellow bow, and brown eyes. "They haven't used this at all!"
"This doesn't seem to be the main bridge," said the second Mejaren woman, removing her own flight suit revealing it to be BC. She and some of the others had boarded the ship on shuttles once the first team gave the all clear after the Teraak ejected the old segment of the Ikazuchi to save the new segment.
BC walked towards a terminal as she pulled out her comm device. "Captain, this is Buzam." She said as she began typing on the consoles. "The men have split the ship and withdrawn. We've taken control of their Sub Bridge."
"Oh my…" said the woman, Erza, as she looked at a console that displayed the data which in a different. "…what should I do, I can't read any of this!"
"Never fear!" said a gear wearing an orange jumpsuit, and wearing thick glasses that hid her eyes, "Just leave it to me!" She pulled out a strange computer-like device. "I brought this Inter-Pricko if this would happen…" She looked at BC. "Vice-Captain, I'll put one there, too…" however she trailed off as the Vice Captain was already typing away furiously on the consoles, focusing on her comm in her hand.
"Meia, how is it in there?" She asked.
"The Teraak men are all frozen," Meia said, and the XO nodded.
"Toss 'em out."
"Roger."
The glasses-wearing woman blinked. "Vice-Captain? You can read this?" She asked, and Erza smiled a bit.
"Nothing less from our elite one," she said, and Parfet Balblair sighed as she looked at her Inter-Procko. "Shoot…" she muttered. "And I made this too…"
As she was moping, one of the Kaledonian pirates removed his spacesuit helmet, revealing a 16 year old male with dark blue hair, grey eyes, and wearing a set of steel wireframe glasses.
"Have you guys found anything?" he said, as he placed the case near the console.
"Nothing interesting yet, Kurt," said another male voice, as the other Kaledonians looked among the numerous crates. "But there's plenty of stu… hello?" he said, and Kurt turned to look at him.
"What?" he asked, catching the attention of the three women.
"Found a safe! And it's on a coded number lock!" the fellow male pirate said.
Kurt rose an eyebrow as he approached the fellow pirate, and sure enough there was a safe fixed into the wall, equipped with an old coded number lock. "Can you open it?" He asked.
Kurt looked at the lock with a calculating gaze, before he went back to the case and opened it, revealing to the women what looked something a computer hacker would bring, along with some drills, and a mini blow torch.
Buzam could only blink at the equipment.
"That's a bit much don't you think?" she asked and Kurt just smirked.
"Not for me, it isn't," he said, as he brought up a data pad, a set of wires, and a wire plug. "Now, let's see if we can find what's in you…"
Buzam sighed. "Just let us know when you crack it," she said. "We need to focus on getting what we can from this ship before the Terak try anything."
"Will do," Kirk said smirking as he picked out his items. "Now, let's get a crackin."
Meanwhile - with Kimiko, Hibiki, and Dita.
"Will both of you just stop where you are!" shouted Kimiko as she chased the two teens through the hallways of the engine block.
"Please stop, Mr. Alien!" the red-head, as she snapped a few photos. "Let's just sit and talk!"
"Women are scary!" Hibiki shouted as he ran "I don't want my guts eaten up!"
Kimiko once again facepalmed as she continued to case after both of them 'Stupid Teraak and Mejaren propaganda!' She mentally cursed.
"COME BACK HERE!"
Back in the Ikazuchi launching bay
Locker Room
A locker opens as the same man who watched Terumi help the Mejaren pirates, grabs what appears to be a doctor's coat. He didn't go unnoticed as one of Mejaren women pointed her laser rifle at him. "Don't get out of line," she warned. "Get into the capsule!"
The man said nothing as he finished putting the coat on. "I'll go later," he said simply, causing the woman to blink in surprise before narrowing her eyes and training her gun towards him.
"You can't just do what you want!" she warned. "I'll shoot if you disobey!"
"No need to worry," the man said as he finished putting his coat on before turning around, smiling a bit. "I'm just a Doctor."
The Mejarens were surprised at that, while Terumi looked at the man, and felt a smirk tug at her lips.
"Well then, your services are welcomed. Get over here!" she said, catching the surprise of the other women.
The young man nodded and went over to help Terumi administer medical treatment.
With Meia, Rei, and Jura
While the others were busy in the launch bay and the sub-bridge, the Dread Leader, Meia, along with the Dread Team's 2IC, with Rei accompanying went looking for Dita, with said MS Commander, wondering what was taking Kimiko so long. They found Dita's Dread and Kimiko's Jager, but no sign of either of them.
"Where are they?" Meia said as they looked around.
"This is unlike Kimiko," Rei said. "She would've just grabbed your pilot and come back.
Jura sighed. "I'm sure they'll pop up somewhe-"
"WILL YOU TWO STOP RUNNING!" shouted a voice that Rei knew all too well.
"What the?" the three women looked over the railing and saw the two they were looking for, with Kimiko chasing Dita, who was chasing Hibiki.
"Dita?!" Meia asked shocked while Jura sighed shaking her head but still keeping an amused smirk.
"She's chasing after a man," she said.
Rei couldn't help but smirk at the sight herself, before she jumped over the railing to help her subordinate, using her jet pack to jump ahead of the Terak male, before she landed in front of him, making him freak out and stop in his tracks.
"Oh man! Not another one!" Hibiki shouted in fear, however that was the distraction that Dita needed as she glomped him. "AH! GET OFF ME!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Alien!" she said childishly. "Mejarens are a peaceful race!"
"Dita!" Meia shouted, causing her to freeze as she looked back nervously at her squad leader. "Oh… h-hey, leader-sama…" she said nervously.
Meia just gave the Trainee a stern look.
"What do you think you're doing?" she said harshly. "You know better than to separate from the rest of the team!"
Dita flinched at that she got off of Hibiki and looked down ashamed.
"I-I'm sorry… Leader-sama." she said meekly.
Meia sighed as she then looked at the male who was being held at sword point by Rei.
"And what were you doing chasing this man like a love-sick puppy?" she admonished, making the young girl feel small.
Dita suddenly smiled. "I made first contact with Mr. Alien!" She said, causing Meia and the others to blink, before the Mejaren groaned and facepalmed.
Rei simply rolled her eyes, before she looked at the young man. He was not wearing the standard military uniform of a Teraak officer or soldier, and looked more like a civilian. However she looked at him more closely, and saw what looked like a small card around his neck. She reached out and grasped the card in her gloved delicate fingers, while Hibiki became more nervous, before Rei blinked and raised a brow in confusion before looking at him.
"You're a third-class citizen." she said getting the others attention as Kimiko, who managed to catch her breath after her mini marathon walked over and looked at the card and had the same reaction.
"Hey you're right," she said before her face scrunched. "But, I thought Third-Class citizens weren't allowed to join the Teraak military,"
Rei's eyes narrowed. "They're not…" she said and let go of the card before looking back at Hibiki. "That means you're possibly a stowaway."
Hibiki gulped nervously, both at being outnumbered and surrounded by women, a sword at his neck, and now he was getting the sailor's law against stowaways 'Can this day get any worse?' He thought.
Meanwhile - Onboard the New Ikazuchi segment
"Escape pods have been launched from the old segment!" The sensor officer reported, as the Prime Minister kept his eyes fixed on the old segment and the Women and Kaledonian pirate ships before them.
"Is that their way of pitying us?" He growled out and the Captain looked at him.
"Why don't we asked for a compromise?" He asked, however the Prime Minister ignored him as he looked at the weapons officer. "Isn't the Muramasa Torpedoe ready yet?" He demanded.
"We're determining the coordinates of the target," the officer said, as he continued to get a positive lock on the Old Segment and the pirate ships. "And the fuel is twenty five percent full."
The Prime Minister will have none of it. "It has enough fuel! Just get the coordinates and fire!"
Ikazuchi - Old segment sub bridge
An alarm sounded from one of the consoles, causing a few of the crew to look at the screen.
"Oh my, it appears they have a missile lock on us," Erza said, getting everyone to look in alarm.
"Damn," Buzam cursed, "Are you almost done yet?"
"Just give me ten more seconds and this thing is as good as opened!" Kurt said as he furiously typed away as the keyboard before the stream of numbers finally dwindled down to just five, making him smirk as he stood up and walked up to the pad and began typing in the code, and a ding was heard, causing him to grasp the handle. "Open sesame,"
And with one heave the safe door opened, revealing three shelves with the bottom one completely filled with one pound gold bullion tiles, the second shelf revealing an old, but in good shape, pistol, and and finally the top shelf had a single computer disc in a case.
"Ho-ly snap!" said Kurt as his eyes sparkled, "We're rich!"
"Bag it and let's get out of here!" Buzam shouted, "We don't have time to lollygag!"
"Got it!" Kurt said and turned to this partner, "Lewis! Give me a hand here!"
The said man nodded and they began to load the gold bricks, into two sturdy traveling bags. After loading the bags, Kurt took the data disc, while Lewis took the gun.
After the that, the five pirates left the sub bridge.
Back in the Engine Room
"Come on! Move it! Move it!" Rei shouted as she hopped back into her Boshin as the crew of the Reckoning and the Mejaren pirate vessel quickly began departing as their ships docked. "We've got less than 200 seconds before those missiles hit, and I for one don't want to be around when they do!"
"Rei what about...huh!? Where did he go!?" Kimiko said as her head darted around looking for the Teraak stowaway.
Rei groaned as she also looked for the stowaway before she spotted something orange in the corner of her eye.
"Found him!" Rei said, and saw the young man climbing into the cockpit of a Vanguard which was currently on it's back.
Rei began to move towards him, however she saw the thrusters of Dita's Dread fire off, but it was so thoroughly wedged into the hull that it wasn't budging. "Ah! I can't get out! I'm Stuck!"
"Dita!" Meia shouted as her and Jura's own Dreads took off.
"Hang on! I'll get her!" Rei shouted, as she moved her machine to attempt to pull Dita's Dread out of the hull. "Come on, dammit! Come loose!"
"Please hurry, Miss Rei!" Dita said desperately.
"I'll get Mr. Stowaway," said Kimiko as her Marauder went over to pick up the Vanguard, "Geez these things are so bulky!"
"Come on, how does this thing move?!" Hibiki shouted from inside the Vanguard. "Move! Move!"
Rei gritted her teeth before an idea snapped in her head, as her Boshin drew one of the Beam Sabers and activated it, and then proceeded to cut the Dread out of it's predicament.
"Hang on in there! I'll get you out in no time," she said, as she began cutting. 'Come on, faster faster...'
"Rei, where are you?" Roanoke asked on the comm.
"Inside the Ikazuchi!" She answered, "Trying to cut out a Dread stuck in the wall!"
"Get out of here Rei, we are out of time!" The captain said, "Those Murasame missiles are coming this way, and our CIWS fire isn't cutting it! We've got less than a minute till they hit! We need to get out of here NOW!"
"I'm not leaving this girl to die here!" Rei shouted, as she continued to try and pull the Dread out while slowly cutting a hole in the wall.
"Dita!"
"We're out of time!"
Inside the Dread cockpit, Dita was panicking as she continued to yank on the controls, flashing the thrusters again and again to try and help Rei get her out. 'Not like this, not like this!' She thought, 'I don't want to be the reason someone else dies too!'
"SOMEONE HELP US!" Dita shouted out in a panicked scream.
However, unknown to her… her cry for help was heard, as the massive crystal within the engine of the Ikazuchi began to glow a brilliant blue color.
On the Bridge of the Reckoning
"Huh!? What the hell!?" said one of the Bridge controllers, looking at the screen, "Captain! I'm detecting a large energy spike from the Ikazuchi!"
"Doesn't matter, just get us-" Roanoke shouted, however as he spoke as the Murasame Missiles approached, there was a brilliant flash of light from the Ikazuchi which engulfed both the Mejere pirate ship and their vessel. "What in the…?"
The two Murasame Missiles streaked forward, but before they could impact the vessels, two beams of light erupted from Ikazuchi, resulting in both missiles detonating… but it wasn't over yet, as it seemed the Ikazuchi began to absorb itself, the Mejaren pirate ship, and the Reckoning inside of it in a swirl of energy.
"Full power to engines!" Roanoke shouted, "Get us-" He didn't have the chance to finish, as there was a blinding light… before everything went dark.
On the Bridge of the New Section
"Sir, mass of the Old Section of the ship is dropping rapidly," said one of the Bridge operators, while the Prime Minister nodded. The scowl still on his face.
"I hope you both enjoy the taste of defeat," he said, as he watched the three ship disappear into the rapidly vanishing swirl of light.
"Sir, a message from Headquarters!" said another officer, "Lord Grand Pa has ordered all ships to return to Port...and sir, he wishes to speak to you personally,"
The Prime Minister gulped, knowing by the tone of the officer's voice, it didn't sound good.
"Have all surviving ships return to Teraak immediately," he ordered and what was left of the fleet turned around and headed back home.
He didn't know where he was, all he sees around was bright blue light everywhere, along with those five women. However, his attention then turned to two shapes, both of them were imposing, with one looking lupine in appearance, and the other had a set of two V-Crests, and glowing yellow eyes.
"Huh? What's that!?" he asked, before he could say anything further, him and the Women began to fall, with all of them screaming.
Patriot-112: And first Chapter done! And thus starts my first Vandread Story!
117Jorn: And let's just say this… its gonna be a WHOLE new ball game in this story :D
Patriot-112: Exactly, and the Harvester will not just deal with the Nirvana, but OTHER Human Colonies. And they will have the one weapon that makes them powerful enough to keep even the organ stealing Harvesters at bay.
117Jorn: But don't think the Harvester's are gonna be the only danger the Nirvana and her crew are gonna have to deal with. After all… the galaxy is a massive place, filled with vast wonders… and terrible horrors.
Patriot-112: That is true, and so my friends, until the next time we meet. Also, a complete list of the factions that will be involved will appear in a journal entry on Deviantart, at a time when we're not overburdened. And, now enough of my yapping.
Both: Sayonara!
