Boy Meets Girl
"" dialogue
'' thoughts
Edge of Tarak Space: A flash a light appeared in space for a second, which then gave way to a battlestar, the words ATLANTIA could be seen on the port flight pod. The CIC was buzzing with activity as fleet admiral Joseph Nagala eyed the DRADIS console. "Colonel", Nagala turned to look at his executive officer, "Contact our liaison, tell him the ship is in position and we'll wait until his viper is launched before we jump back into Colonial space". The XO nodded to Nagala before picking up the wireless phone to contact the port hangar bay.
Meanwhile, in the port hangar bay, a group of mechanics were finishing up fueling a viper mark VII. The pilot of the viper was currently leaning against a bulkhead looking over his flight plan. The pilot wore the uniform of a viper pilot, with his shoulder insignias giving him the rank of ensign. "ATLANTIA actual paging ensign Powell". The pilot looked up after hearing his name, and walked over to the nearest phone. "Actual, this Powell, what is it?" "Ensign, this is the XO, is your viper ready to launch". Powell turned his head back to the chief of the flight crew, who gave him a thumbs up. "Yes sir, viper is ready to go, I'll leave momentarily". The XO gave an affirmative as he hung up the phone.
A few minutes later Powell's viper launched from one of the battlestar's launch tubes. "Powell, ATLANTIA, we're jumping back to colonial space, good luck on your three month stint". The battlestar turned, and in a flash of light was gone, leaving the viper alone in space. Powell took a moment to get his bearings straight, and to set a nav point in his Dradis before igniting his sublight engines towards Tarak.
The prime minister of Tarak, Hideki Lorenz sat on the command chair of the Ikazuchi, looking at the chart for what seemed like the hundredth time to those around him, "Captain, I want you to go over the ceremony preparations again". The captain looked at him in amazement, 'That's the 12th time he's asked me'. He nodded his head in an affirmative and sighed as he walked towards the main hall. Ever since the colonials had first made contact with Tarak three months ago, the prime minister had been adamant in making sure an alliance was formed. Hideki allowed himself to smirk as he thought of the possibilities of the alliance. 'Yes, with these colonials, we will finally have the upper hand in this war; we will show that women are inferior to men'. He was taken out of his thoughts as the male in charge of communications announced," Sir, we've picked up the viper on our scanners, his ETA should be two minutes". Hideki flashed the kind of smile that put men on edge. "Excellent, give him landing clearance". "Yes sir, viper twenty two-thirty six, you are cleared for landing, land at your discretion.
"Viper twenty two-thirty six, roger that, hands on approach or automated"? Powell could hear the man on the other side of the radio murmur to someone. "Eh, we have no automated landing system, it's all manual". Powell bit his lip; he had only done around five hands on landings before. "Roger, hands on it is, touching down momentarily". He then eased the throttle down on the viper, pitching the nose up slightly. The hangar bay loomed in view as Powell flipped a switch in his cockpit, allowing the landing skids on the belly of his viper to deploy. "Viper twenty two-thirty six touching down". He glided the viper in the hangar, and then used his maneuvering thrusters to turn the plane 180 degrees. Powell sighed in relief as his viper touched, 'Heh, hands on doesn't seem so hard anymore". Flicking the systems off, he opened the canopy and stepped up to stretch; flying in his cramped cockpit for a little more than two hours stiffened his joints. Powell was starting to climb out of the viper as the door nearest to him opened.
Lorenz sized up the colonial fighter; to him the viper looked smaller than a Mejere dread, and less sophisticated. He eyed the lettering on the side of the fighter as the pilot started stepping out. The first line read, 'Ensign James Powell'; while the second line underneath read in bold letters 'TALISMAN'. The prime minister stopped looking at the viper to turn his attention to the pilot. He didn't look like much; he could guess the pilot's height a few inches short of six feet. His black was short and messy, and his body build was slightly above average. What Lorenz noticed, however, was the pilot's black eyes having the look of a warrior. He extended his hand towards the pilot, "Welcome aboard the Ikazuchi, I'm Hideki Lorenz, Prime Minister of Tarak". Powell nodded and took his hand, "Thank you sir, I'm Ensign James Powell from Colonial fleet". He took Lorenz's hand in a shake, he frowned slightly, his grip seemed loose, like a snake. Lorenz noticed his frown, and gestured towards the door. "Come, let me show you the main hall, the exhibition match will begin shortly". Powell nodded and followed Lorenz out the door.
"Whoa", it was the only word Powell could form as he saw what the Tarak's called a vanguard. It looked like a giant robot in Powell's opinion. The room held one vanguard, what Lorenz had the called a 'prototype'. He told Powell before he left that the vanguards being used for actual combat would be shown later. The room he was in was filled with men, some were admiring the vanguard, and the rest were just socializing. Powell made his way towards a group of males, 'Might as well make a few friends here'. He smiled at the group he approached; he held his hand out in a friendly gesture. "Hi, James Powell pleased to meet you all". Most of the men ignored him, but one returned the friendly gesture. The man smiled, his hair covering the right side of his face. "I'm Duero Mcfile, a doctor for the Ikazuchi". Powell nodded, and turned to look at the vanguards when another man interrupted him. The blond smiled and held out a box; "Hi, Bart Garsus, would you like to try some Tarak food, it's the premium of my family's company". Powell took the pill-like food, not wanting to seem rude. He swallowed the pill, only to spit it out a second later. "What the frak is this crap", Powell said as he grabbed a nearby glass of water and down it in less then a second. " Frak"? Duero asked Powell as he finished spitting. "Frak? that's a swear from where I come from, a pretty nasty one too". Duero lifted his visible eyebrow in thought, when Lorenz started his speech.
"My fellow males, as you all know, we have been in a war with the females for decades with no end in sight". Powell looked around him as most of the men reacted with zeal to Lorenz's speech. "Now, we have the tools to finally destroy the females; first, when he finalize our alliance with our new fond brethren, the colonials, we will finally have enough resources to destroy Mejere". That last statement left Powell confused; when he had been briefed for this mission, he was told that the Prime Minister would agree to a ceasefire with the females, and now he was saying he would have the colonials help the Tarak's destroy them. Lorenz continued, "We also have developed a weapon that will rival the Mejere dreads, my compatriot's, I present to you the vanguards". With that he pressed a button on his podium. The floor behind him opened up, and up came a dozen more vanguards. Powell stared up at them in amazement, 'Holy frak, those things could tear a viper squadron apart'. His attention was broken as he spotted someone on one of the vanguards. The guy looked to be about Powell's age, maybe a year or two younger.
Lorenz shouted for the guards to seize the, 'Third-class scum'. Powell watched as the boy jumped one of the guards, before being taken down the other half-dozen. As he watched the guards take the boy away, one thought kept running through his mind; ' Third-class, you mean their still using the caste system, we got rid of that a long time ago, I have a feeling the alliance won't be a walk in the park'. Powell noticed Lorenz walking towards the door, and hurried to follow him.
"Listen colonial, we have specific rules on Tarak, one of which includes that Third-class citizens should stay in their place". Lorenz was quickly losing patience with the ensign. The man actually had the gall to defend the trash that had stowed away on the Ikazuchi. "Prime Minister, I'm just saying that he doesn't deserve an execution, or that the exhibition match should be cancelled. Powell himself couldn't believe Lorenz's plan of action. Just because some boy crashed the reception, he felt the need to have the boy publicly executed, and to cancel the exhibition match. Lorenz just shook his head as the elevator stopped at the bridge. "The exhibition match is cancelled", Lorenz stated to the bridge crew while ignoring Powell's statement. Lorenz took the command chair while barking out orders to the crew. Powell stood by the elevator, leaning against the wall.
An explosion shook Powell, and almost made him lose his balance. Lorenz stood up in his command, "I ordered for the exhibition match to be cancelled"! One of the bridge crew looked back at him with widened eyes, "Sir it's not us, it's the females, their attacking". Lorenz gritted his teeth in anger, "Damn them, battle stations, launch the vanguards"! The officer looked at him in shock, "Sir, the pilots are just trainees, they haven't even finished the training program"! Lorenz stared down the officer, his gaze unsettling Powell. "What's the point of bringing the vanguards if we're not going to use them, launch them lieutenant". He then turned his attention to Powell, "Get your viper ready and attack the females". Powell looked at Lorenz in disbelief. "I'm not part of your military, I'm just a liaison". Lorenz looked at him and growled, "You will get in your fighter and destroy the females, or you can kiss the alliance goodbye". Powell looked at Lorenz coldly; shot off a quick and angry salute, and turned for the elevator.
Powell closed the canopy on his viper, and began flipping switches to power up his fighter. Quickly sealing up his helmet, he throttled up the three sublight engines while flipping his dradis console on. The viper lifted off and accelerated towards space. "Talisman launching", Powell's back hit the seat as his viper sped through the Tarak fleet. He gritted his teeth in frustration, 'Son of a bitch Lorenz, frakking asshole'. Powell eyed the dradis as he flipped the safeties of his 30 mm auto cannons. His dradis beeped, showing Powell all the units in his vicinity. He looked at the screen; there were Tarak ships all around him, shown by green blips on his dradis.
'Come on, where are they?" Powell's eyes kept switching from the dradis to the space outside, trying to find the attackers. 'There!' two o' clock low; he spotted a red blip on his dradis. Powell gripped his control stick and inverted the viper. He looked through the canopy; he could spot three dreads, the last one in the formation being red. The red one broke off; He pulled the stick back, bringing his viper into a dive to intercept. The dread loomed in closer in front of his viper, 'probably doesn't even know I'm behind her'. He lined his nose up towards the dread, and squeezed the firing button on the control stick. A quick burst flew from his gun ports, flying below the dread. Cursing, Powell fired another burst, this time pulling back on the stick to strafe. He smiled as the dread took multiple hits, but opened his mouth in shock. The dread appeared unharmed, only leaving a small smoke trail.
"Frak, what in the gods name is that thing made off"! Powell scowled, that dread took multiple hits, and only suffered minor damage. He broke his concentration as the early warning system on his viper blared. Powell veered to the right, just as a volley of laser fire tore into the space he just occupied. He looked behind him; a purple dread was behind him, firing another volley. He jammed the stick forward, putting the viper into a dive. Powell swerved his viper, vainly trying to shake off his pursuer. No such luck, the dread stayed on his tail. Sweat started to form on his face, 'Gods damn she's good'. His lock on alarm blared; the dread fired a volley of missiles. Powell gritted his teeth, reached down towards the control with his left hand, and flipped the radar countermeasure switch. Powell felt his viper lurch from weight loss of his chaff pod. The pod then shattered, scattering the hundred plus droplets of chaff. The missiles broke off from Powell's viper due to the interference.
Powell looked back, the missiles were gone, but the dread was still on his tail. 'Frak, what's going to take for her to get off my back'? Another laser volley tore right above him, he dipped the viper lower. 'Hmm, let's see, they're better armed and armored, but from what I've seen their not as maneuverable'. He took several deep breaths, mentally readying himself. 'Now', Powell pushed the throttle back while simultaneously slamming the stick to the left. The viper lurched and swung at a 180 degree angle, pointing towards the incoming dread. Powell slammed the viper forward, firing his cannons. The oncoming dread veered to his left, the pilot no doubt surprised at his maneuver. He smiled, 'Okay, now what's next'.
Laser fire erupted all around, causing Powell to jump up in his seat in fright. His wireless blared, "To the unidentified pilot, we have your fighter surrounded by our dreads, surrender immediately or you will be shot down". He looked around him, at least five dreads had surrounded him, and what probably was their main ship was looming overhead. 'Shit, looks like I'm 100 percent truly frakked'. Powell keyed in, "To the mejere pirates, this is Ensign James Powell, I surrender, just don't shoot okay". The ship loomed in closer as the woman on the end of the line accepted his surrender.
In the dread hangar, a dozen or so security guards circled the viper, laser rifles pointed towards the cockpit. BC strolled towards the fighter, looking at the pilot inside. "Attention pilot, come out slowly with your hands up, and sudden moves and we will shoot". The canopy opened, BC nodded to the security team, who in turn lifted their weapons at the man. The pilot climbed out of the fighter and stood in front of her. He gestured to his helmet, "Can I take this off"? She nodded, and the male removed his helmet. Some of the women gasped in surprised; this was the first time they had seen a male, and this one did not looked at all what was said in the Mejere propaganda. He looked a lot like them, even if he didn't show a trace of femininity. The pilot stood at attention and saluted BC, "Ensign James Powell, Colonial fleet, you're not gonna shoot me right"? She laughed slightly, "Even though you are a male, and naturally an enemy of Mejere, you'll simply be released after our raid". The pilot, Powell, nodded and was led away towards the brig, when the alarm sounded. "Attention, the males have locked an anti-matter torpedo onto us"!
Powell looked at the speaker, "What the frak"? He turned and ran back towards his viper. "Hey, don't move or I'll fire"! one of the women leveled her laser rifle at him. Powell turned back towards the woman, "Relax, I'll try to talk the prime minister out of this". The woman looked at him in disbelief and let him go. He reached his viper, leaned in the cockpit, and grabbed his wireless headset. 'C'mon c'mon, which frequency is it"?
Lorenz stood calmly in the command chair of the Ikazuchi. He had already separated the older section of the ship after the pirates invaded the section. He smiled as the weapons officer announced the marasume torpedo was ready. "Sir, were getting a communication message from the female ship". Lorenz lifted his eyebrow, 'The females want to speak to me"? He picked up the receiver, "So, you've come to surrender to the better race". "Eh, sir, it's me, Powell". Lorenz stood up fuming, 'That idiot got himself captured'! He spoke to the viper pilot, "What is it"? He could hear Powell on the other line, "Sir, I'm aboard the Mejere ship, I'd recommend you abort the missile launch". Lorenz snorted, "Are you mad, I've no intention of negotiating with those scum". He could hear Powell raise his voice in anger, "Sir, how are you gonna explain to my superiors of this"! At that Lorenz smirked, "The marasume is an anti-matter torpedo, when it explodes, everything in the blast radius will become space dust, we can always say you were killed by the pirates, goodbye ensign". He laughed as Powell started cursing at him, only to have Lorenz cut him off by closing the communication link. "Launch the torpedo".
"What, you motherfrakker"! Powell kept yelling into the headset for a few seconds. After that, he threw the headset away and slammed his fist into the fuselage. He looked around the hangar, a few women still had their weapons on him, but the rest had gone off to other critical jobs. He slumped down on the floor, using the viper as a backrest. Powell let out a sob, 'My gods, we're supposed to be allies with that frakker'. A voice blared on the intercom, informing the crew of an imminent missile attack. The young viper pilot pulled the zipper down on his flight suit, and took out his dog-tags. He also took out a pendant tied to the tags. Powell brought the tags and pendant in front of his face and started praying. "Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer, protect the souls of those who are about to die". He stopped praying as a bright flash engulfed the hangar. The last thing the pilot saw was a bright blue light, then all he saw was black.
Well, this is my first chapter in my crossover fic with Vandread and Battlestar Galactica. I decided to cross with the Re-imagined series, since I know a lot more of that series than the original Battlestar. I hope you enjoyed the reading, and please send me a review so I can fix my mistakes with my next chapter which will hopefully come out sometime this month.