I don't own Vandread.

Chapter 1 Alex

"Sir, I don't understand my orders." A male questioned over his headset. His mech flew through the dark void of space near a large blue world. He didn't sound too happy about his mission, but his commander didn't seem to catch his slightly hidden complaining.

"We've detected an unknown object in your area and since you're the only one in that vicinity, we need you to check it out; then report your findings." a male replied over the net.

"This object, can you tell me the distances to it?"

"The object is on the other side of the planet." A female answered.

"Luna, is there anything on the other side of the planet besides the object?" He smiled slightly behind his black helmet. The sound of the only female on the bridge of the Station brightened his day just bit.

"The target is alone at the moment. But remember, computers can lie. Also, the radios are fixing to start cutting out." She replied.

"Rodger that, I'll start sending emails every hour, but try to find a way to boost the radio frequency for this area." He ordered, pushing on the throttle, accelerating around the aqua world.

"The radio towers that were in the area have all… … emails…" the radio went dead. The pilot growled slightly, hating the dead silence that was now filling his ears.

I hate computers. He mussed as the target came into view.

His eyes scanned the damage of the single ship. Its golden half was leaking a cloud of white mist that his scanners picked up as Oxygen. A small window on the bottom of the bottom half, was cracked, but slowly sealing itself. Small particles of debris that flew beside the vessel latched on to certain areas, quickly fussing themselves with organic like crystals. The top half, a silver, sleek like vessel that was littered with holes and leaking the same gas, was having the same thing happen; a thin layer of the crystals covered the holes, repairing them slowly, but surely.

His eyes slowly scanned for an opening, soon landing on what looked like a hanger gate. His fingers quickly went to work on a few switches, buttons and levers in his cockpit. His machine responded to his commands, slowing down and easing into the large hole in the ship.

The crashing sound of glass breaking underneath the weight of his machine filled the still air. The small particles from the broken crystals slowly began floating near his hatch as it quickly opened. He once again growled about hating computers as he leapt to the ground, marveling over the power of low gravity as he touched down with a soft PAT.

A quick slamming sound filled his ears, causing him to whip around, 9mm. in hand and pointing towards the former hole that he entered from.

He was sealed in.

A small screen appeared inside his helmet, checking the surrounding area for any toxic gases and pure oxygen that still remained on the vessel.

A blimp on his screen from inside his helmet gave him the okay for him to breath without his spacesuit's oxygen system. With a small grunt of approval, he flipped the latches that held his helmet in place, to insure that nothing toxic ever slipped in or that any of his oxygen ever escaped, off. His short black, spiky hair stood up from the low gravity he was still filling as his sapphire blue eyes began scanning for any signs of a threat.

He quickly pulled a small headset out, placing it to the left side of his face as a small green screen appeared over the left eye, blinking slightly as it read the surrounding area before he attached a long black cable to a small screen on his left arm. The screen slowly blinked to life, with a welcoming screen blinking on.

Alpha-32: checking all systems.

Oxygen levels: Normal

Carbine dioxide levels: Low

Power supply: Normal

Radar system: Normal

All systems green. Good Morning Alex.

With a satisfied growl, he lowered his arm, arming his now free hand with a standard Mark 9mm. Its design was converted from the old Desert Eagle he used during Boot Camp, but was all black with a laser light attachment and sniper scope when firing from a greater distance then needed.

His footsteps were quiet and deadly as he slowly slipped through the crystals that sprang out in random directions, some crashing through other walls or other crystals. His mind raced with thoughts with each step he took. His mind, racing with his training he received during Boot Camp, keeping him on his toes as he reached three strange fighter crafts.

He slowly started taking photos of the planes before him, stopping after his second photo of the blue ship as a soft moan caught his ears.

Alex spun around, pulling out his two pistols and aiming them in the area his scanners picked up the moan. His body acted on its own, jumping behind the nearest crystal, thanking the designers of the ship for none see through rocks that he took cover behind.

Footsteps filled the silent air as they headed in his direction. Alex readied his twin weapons, ready for the source of the sound to appear in front of him. A bead of sweat dripped down his face as he waited for the target to appear.

"Dita, stay in the area." A female voice ordered. The footsteps stopped short, just a few feet away from his hiding place. "Dita, get back over here and watch this man. I don't want him waking up and attacking us from behind."

"Leader, he's a good alien and he…" Dita, the person the woman had been talking to, began to protest.

"He's a man, and they're our enemy!" She snapped, walking up to her comrade. Alex braced himself for anything as the footsteps ended behind his hiding place. "Alien or not, he is our enemy and he must not get away from us! Now pay attention next time, rather then chase after such childish changes! You almost got us all killed with your beliefs!"

Dita slowly began crying, a sound of pain and weakness to Alex at the moment. He readied himself for his moment to attack. He knew they were a threat to his life and probably to the rest of his kind. He slowly began counting backwards from 10, prepping himself for the attack.

Another low moan soon reached his ears, this one to his left and sounding rather close. He pressed a few buttons, his alloy armor phasing out of existence, turning him transparent.

"My head… it hurts so much."

"Jura, are you okay?" the leader questioned, staying at her post.

"Yeah, I think so." A ruffling noise filled the room as she slowly walked over to her comrades. Her feet slid across the metal floor letting Alex know that his three targets were not in top form. "Say, Meia, do you remembering anything that happened to us? All I remember was Dita chasing after a man… and then a loud bang."

"That's correct, and I intend to notify the captain about this." Meia, the leader, snapped. A soft chuckle grasped their attention. Alex cringed slightly.

"Captain?!" the three gasped.

"So, this is what a man looks like?" she sounded old, but a kinder and softer kind of tone, much like Dita. "I don't remember them looking this funny."

"Sorry Captain; if I remained in contact with my team…" Meia began.

"Don't worry about. I'm sure you did everything you could to prevent such a thing. So don't blame yourself for the small things you didn't foresee." The captain interjected, ending Meia's apology instantly.

Meia breathed a sigh of relief before her captain continued. "However, a good Flight Captain should always know her team like the back of her hand." Meia cringed at these words. It just screamed "Failure" to her. Something she never liked hearing anyways. "Now, I want you all to check this portion of the ship from top to bottom. Then, when you're done, report back to me. We already have one man in a cell and I'm sure he could use some company." Her footsteps began to reseed into a hallway like structure. This was something Alex was trained in: Figuring out the enemies movements just by using sound alone.

"Alright, you heard her! Spread out and search the area! I want three of you to take this man to the cell while the rest of you stay and search this part of the ship!" Meia barked. "Magno doesn't want anymore surprises from us or the enemy."

Alex sat still, eyes scanning the women as they ran by with pitchfork like weapons in hand. Alex had seen almost every kind of weapon in his life, and knew that in the hands of a specially trained solider, they could do anything. Taking no chances, literally meant, "No taking chances" at this point.

He quickly went back to his small computer screen that sat on his arm. Five heat signatures behind me. Three more heat signatures to the right. Two more Heat signatures to the left. Eight heat signatures in front. Man, can this day get any worse? His thoughts were brought to halt at the sound of gun being cocked. His eyes scanned to the left and found a figure in a skimpy outfit holding a Glock, about thirteen yards away from him.

"You find something Barnette?" Meia asked, walking in front of Alex. She stopped directly in front of him, not taking her eyes off her friend.

"Meia, come here." Barnette whispered. Meia's eyes narrowed when her gun totting friend motioned with her eyes to the rock that Alex sat in front of. Meia jumped to her friend's side, aimed a golden ring at Alex, though not sure if she was actually aiming at him, or an empty space, while Barnette continued. "I saw a flash of movement there a moment ago. I'm not sure, but I think we might have a few more men on this ship."

"You think it's some kind of Special Forces unit again?" Barnette whispered.

"Don't know, but…" Meia's voice trailed off as she brought a silver communicator to her lips. "All teams, report to my location. I think we may have another Special Forces unit in the area. Remember what these men our capably of. Captain, be on your guard." She flipped the communicator back into her pocket of the white and black space suit she wore.

Alex cursed himself. He had been discovered and so easily. Damn it… I guess this is what I get for not paying attention. He cursed himself again as he slowly stood up, hoping they wouldn't notice.

"Freeze!" barked three more women. Alex slowly turned his head, getting a good look at a woman with blond hair and a black dress that showed off her figure quite well. It was a sight that most men would love to see, but he was in trouble and letting his mind wonder at a moment like this was not acceptable.

"Alright, I surrender, but first…" his alloy armor was brought to full view as he appeared like a ghost to the stunned women. "I need to speak to your captain. My name is Alex V. Switchfoot, Captain of the Alpha-32 secret division of the Untied Space Core of the Spec Ops SWAT Forces. I mean you no harm." He kicked his weapons to Barnette's feet, watching as she slowly picked them up with a sense of interest.

His armor was solid black with gold lines running through it. A black fabric like mask lay over his mouth and nose, which he slowly removed. A pair of black metallic gloves with golden spheres on each one rested over his hands, and single metal backpack proved his oxygen that rested over a black bulletproof vest. He was an odd sight to the women, but the women weren't taking any chances with someone of his class.

(-)

"Well that certainly was fast." Magno, the captain, mussed as she took in the three men.

Hibiki, the man that had been found in the hanger, looked like an engineer and was covered with cuts, bruises, and his skin proved he worked in a metal shop.

The second man, Duerro, was a doctor that fit the bill in a matter of all standard doctor ware. A lab coat, medical tools, and a pen holster in his coat pocket near his chest. A long strand of hair blocked the view of his right eye, and he stood a little taller then the two other men.

Alex was stripped of his vest, gadgets, ammo, and a silver necklace with a cross that he told them was quite deer to him. His things were being checked over by Barnette at the moment since she found his weapons to be deadlier then what they first thought after accidentally setting the large pistol off and watching as it busted a good portion of the crystal, in the hanger, apart.

The three men were bond and forced to sit in uncomfortable chairs, while the guards had their weapons ready incase they tried anything funny.

"I'm Mango, Captain of this vessel, and these are my pirates." Magno, the elderly lady, said with a smile on her wrinkled face.

"My name is Alex V. Switchfoot, Captain of the Alpha-32 secret division of the Untied Space Core of the Spec Ops SWAT Forces. I mean you and your crew no harm." Alex re-introduced himself with no emotion in his voice. "I came here on a recon mission after you appeared on our radars. I was sent to investigate this area when you appeared. We've had lots of stations destroyed in this area and I was sent to investigate. I'm not pointing fingers at the moment, but I believe you may be the cause behind these atrocities that have been plaguing us."

"I see, but I thought you just said you weren't pointing fingers." Magno joked. Alex didn't find it very funny, but let the old woman finish her statement. "I suppose you would like an explanation for our being here then, huh?" Alex nodded.

"We were raiding a male ship at our home world, and somehow ended up here. Our vessel was hit by two of their long range missiles, but something saved what was left of this ship and the piece we were going after. That's about all we know."

"I assume the bottom half of this vessel is yours then?" Magno nodded. Alex looked down at the young man that was tied up and had a red hand print etched on the side of his face. "When I arrived on this ship, I overhead a good portion of your crews conversation; I would like to know why you view men as an enemy."

Hibiki, the engineer looking boy, scoffed at this, turning away from the women in disgust. Alex's brow shot up at this. Alex tilted his head slightly, as if to get a better look, as he examined the expression of the three guards around them.

"You're not from Taraaku, are you?" Duerro questioned, breaking the silence that had engulfed the room. Alex slowly shook his head, though his eyes narrowed slightly at the very mention of the planet. "We're from Taraaku, man's world, and are first year soldiers in the fight against the ultimate enemy."

"Yeah, and your talking to one of them!" Hibiki snapped.

"Is there something wrong with talking to women?" Alex asked, eyes now burning with fire as he stared down the young man.

"Yes, if you speak to them, your ears and vocal cords will blow up!" he lashed out, returning the glare.

Alex stared at Hibiki, completely dumbfounded. He had heard a lot of stories in his life. Some funny, others bad, but this one was way out there; even for him.

"Then why haven't my ears and vocal cords exploded?" This was more of a statement rather then a question. Hibiki was dumbfounded while Duerro gave a low "Hm" as he began thinking about why something like that wouldn't happen.

Duerro was the one reasonably sane person that cared very little for the superstition his people believed in, and was on board for the soul reason of helping them. He doctored a few of the injured women before they were in the mess they now found themselves in, and he remembered speaking to a few of them without such a problem happening.

"I find that there is no logical proof of such things, but we were taught that, so it's something we simply believe in." Duerro finally spoke.

"And you believe this only because someone said that?" Duerro and Hibiki both nodded. "Well, that's about the dumbest thing I've heard all day."

"Not like it matters what you believe in, since there going to be eating our livers soon." Hibiki added.

"Eat… your livers?" a few of the guards crocked out between their fits of laughter.

Alex quirked a brow while Duerro gave him a look that just said "We were taught this" causing Alex to moan over such stupid beliefs.

And this was supposed to be my day off. Alex growled in his head.

(-)

"Yeah, Mr. Alien is really amazing." Dita stammered for the hundredth time. Her companion, a slightly older woman with a large bulge for a stomach, smiled sincerely as she continued to gaze at the stars through her telescope. "You should have seen it, there was this large bang, and then I woke up and he was holding my hand." Dita hugged herself as she twirled around.

"That's amazing Dita." She spoke, smiling as she turned to her friend.

"Say, Ezra, what do you think the others are doing at this moment?" Dita asked, placing a finger to her lip. Her ability to remain on one single subject had reached its limits, though the tone in her voice made her sound rather worried.

"I don't know Dita, but I'm sure they're okay." Ezra said, smiling warmly as she looked through her telescope.

"How's it coming along?" a voice spoke. Dita and Ezra slowly turned around to see a girl with big glasses, long/fat pigtails, and tech like outfit.

"Not to good, Parfait." Ezra admitted. "I don't recognize any of these constellations. I truly have no idea where we are."

"Don't worry about it; I'm sure we'll think of something." Parfait told her. Ezra smiled slightly, turning back to her device while Parfait seemed deep in thought.

"Something wrong, Parfait?" Dita questioned, poking her head slightly.

"Well… we've been analyzing the bridge and the strange blue platform for any signs of controls, but we keep turning up nothing." She admitted.

"You think Mr. Alien knows how it works?" Dita questioned, placing a finger to her bottom lip as if deep in thought.

"No Dita, I doubt that Mr. Alien knows how it works. He's a man after all." Parfait stated, walking away.

(-)

"No, it's no good, Boss; we can't cut through these strange crystals." A tall woman stated. "Our laser drills and cutting torches can't cut through it."

"Is there anything we haven't tried, Gascgone?" Magno, via video communication feed, asked.

"Unfortunately, no, we've tried everything and this stuff still continues to grow." She growled, though more to herself, rather then to her commander. "I think going after this power source was something of a bad idea. Parfait says she's been trying to get it to work and respond to us in anyway possible, but no matter how hard she tries, nothing seems to happen."

"Alright, keep at it; we might just be able to get out of this as soon as we detach ourselves from the top half. Keep in touch and don't try anything to foolish." Magno said, sounding completely disappointed.

"Right, oh and tell Celtic that is "Gascgone" not "Gascgo"!" she growled, raising a clenched fist to her face.

(-)

Magno sighed in defeat, turning her video screen off as she turned to face the now four captured men. Bart Garsuss, the only true looking solider of the Taraaku military was the only one dressed to fit the bill. He wore the traditional Taraaku uniform. His blond hair shinned with a golden glow and his mouth had the ability to never stay shut for more then ten seconds.

"Well Goldilocks, you don't say." Magno entered into his strange conversation. He was talking how this was part of some plan that his "Superiors" had planned. He had also mentioned something about Alex being part of their division to take back the ship, but was reckless and got tagged in the surprise jump.

Needless to say, everyone wanted to hurt him at the moment.

"Just you wait; any minute now, this place will be crawling with our Super Soldiers. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already on and tearing your women apart." He gave an evil smile before he found himself on the ground with Hibiki's foot pressed hard to his head.

"SHUT UP!" he roared, slamming his small foot onto his head for good measure.

Bart let out a large cry of pain as Alex began pressing a few buttons around his wrist armor. A small flopping sound soon followed as he kicked a small ID card towards Magno. "That ID card can prove I'm not from Taraaku." He stated calmly while his sapphire blue eyes drilled a hole into the blonds' head.

Magno picked up the item slowly, smiling at the emotionless face that stared back from the card. Name, Military ID, Data of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of enlistment, and Blood Type were all on the card, giving Magno the full just of who he was.

"Ha, the old fake card trick I see. Not bad…" Hibiki once again slammed his foot down on Bart's head, hoping to knock some sense into him.

"If you're not careful, I'll be the one to step on your pee sized brain!" Alex growled between clinched teeth. "And that is something you don't want to have done! This body armor of mine isn't just to provide protection!"

"Really…" Magno grinned, a hint of amusement seeping from her mouth.

"Captain!"

Magno slowly turned to face a confused looking Parfait as she raced towards her with all speed. "Captain, I'm sorry, but we still can't get this ship to move. We'll keep trying, but every time we get close to doing so, the screens go blank, and asks for "He who is worthy"."

"Any ideas as to what that means?" Magno asked, clearly not very surprised. It HAD been a long day, a strange day, and a day that would probably cause her stay awake at night just for the sheer fact that it happened and she would wonder how it could have been prevented.

"The ship needs a man to drive it."

Magno turned to the sound of the voice. She wasn't too surprised by the tone that came from Alex, but then again, why would she. She had his card that proved he wasn't from Taraaku. She had his reasons for being in the area. And now he just practically gave her the most sarcastic remark of the entire four hours he had been on the ship.

Alex sighed. "The message you get says "He" in it, meaning that this ship, if you can call this hunk of floating junk that, needs a male pilot to fly it!" He seethed.

"But this is a female ship too, so that would mean that we could fly it too." Parfait countered, smiling slightly at the thought of putting a man in his place.

"Tell me something, where in the message does it say "She" and then get back to me when you find the answer." Bart started laughing before Hibiki's foot once again came crashing down on his head. The guards did nothing but watch from the sidelines as Hibiki, the smallest of the four men, practically beat a man that was slightly older and taller then him, into the ground.

"Well then, are any of you Helmsmen?" Magno asked, smiling at her own counter.

Not so surprisingly, Bart stood up, presented himself with the military standard solute, or tried to anyways, and said, "I was the helmsmen for the ship before you attacked it. I will fly this ship to safety if it's the last thing I do," without a hint that he just lied, written on his face.

Magno was about to cast a quick remark for his words, but a wall exploding and pinning one of the guards to the ground caused her to stop before she could open her mouth. In seconds, Duerro was by her side, scanning with his one good eye, as Alex kicked away the rubble with his legs while the other guards lifted the bigger items off her.

"Don't move her; she could have broken her neck in the fall… or worse." Duerro ordered. His eyes turned to Magno, as if asking for permission to aid the young woman. Magno nodded slightly as his restraints slipped off so he could slowly check her over for any signs of back or neck injuries that would prevent them from taking her to the Infirmary for better care.

"Can this day get any worse?" Alex asked out loud, as if talking to God. Another explosion rocked the ship, sending everyone to the ground hard. "I thought so," he growled.

"Captain, I'm going out to defend the ship." Meia stated, running down the long corridor. A small communicator was soon flipped open, and placed next to her ear. "Barnette, were under attack. Can you get out?"

"Meia, Paiway's locked us in the shower room!" Barnette's cries of discomfort, clearly visible. "I'm sorry, but she's not going to let us out for another thirty minutes!"

"We need to get all those icky male germs off you!" Paiway's voice rang over the com as Meia mentally cursed her day and Paiway before snapping her device shut. Jura and Dita slowly appeared beside her, running as fast as they could.

"Meia, what's going on?!" Jura asked, breathing heavily.

"We're going to defend the ship from what ever is attacking us." She stated, not once faltering in tone or composure.

(-)

"Time to put this message to the test then." Magno mussed, looking over at the golden haired boy. "You," she pointed to Bart, "with me."

Bart gulped slightly before Alex stood beside him, looking serious as ever. "Magno, permission to leave the ship."

Magno was stunned that he would ask for permission to leave the ship, let alone in a battle that was undetermined in size at the moment. Her eyes lingered with his, seeing the look of not fear, but of a stead fast soldier willing to do his part.

"For what purpose?" She asked, waiting for the answer she knew was coming.

"To defend this ship." His tone didn't falter. His eyes showed no lie. His restraints were removed as the remaining two guards, and a woman with long white hair that curled at the bottom walked over to him, ready to escort him to the hanger.

"BC, make sure that he gets to his machine, if he has one, and take the small one with you. Meia told me that he was last seen getting into one of the Vanguards before the explosion took place." Mango ordered, following Parfait, a talking Naval Bot that called itself "Pyoro" and a worried looking Bart.

"Hey, you with the pigtails," Parfait turned to face Alex, slightly confused by why he hadn't ran off to fight yet. "I need my gear back." Parfait blinked in surprise, but threw him his headset, wrist computer, and his vest with the oxygen tank still attached, to him. "Thanks,"

"Right this way…" BC stated, smiling as she walked down the long corridor that Meia had used.

(-)

"How does it work?" Magno, smiling slightly, asked.

"It's a new type of technology we invented a few weeks ago." Bart stammered, trying to delay the inevitable for as long as he could. "We primarily used it for working in dangerous areas that were unstable and…"

"I don't care about how it was used in the past." Mango interrupted, not very impressed with his delay tactic, as she smiled playfully towards him. "Show us how it works, and then you can go back to the nice comfy cell." She joked.

"Well, you see it works like this…" Bart couldn't finish his statement as a blue arm shot out, grabbed his leg, and drug his ghost white form into the strange blue abyss, leaving only a small repel behind.

A moment of silence appeared between the two remaining people that stood over the blue mass. Magno was just as shocked as her little robot friend was, though she was able to utter, "That's new," while the Navy Bot, simply said, "Pyoro," as it floated beside her.

Without any warning, the ship jerked in multiple directions, some faster than others, sending everyone to ground rather hard. No sooner had this happened, a voice that everyone would just disappear, reappeared.

"AW, GET AWAY FROM ME!" It was Bart, and sounding rather terrified at the moment. This, to a few people that were actually on the bridge at the moment, began laughing hysterically at the sounds and pleas for help.

"Hey, stop thrashing around in there!" Magno barked, slowly getting back up with the help of the little robot. "You could get someone killed doing something as stupid as that."

"HELP ME!"

Magno sighed. The day had just increased a notch on her belt for Worst Days Ever. Why did bad things always happen on such easy missions? It was question she wanted answered, even though she knew she wouldn't get one.

"This is just another day in paradise, huh?" She mussed, slowly walking over to her chair.

(-)

Hibiki, BC, Alex, and the escorting guards all slowly stood up from the strange jerks that had just plagued them. Alex and BC weren't complaining, they knew it probably could be worse. Hibiki was another matter. He hadn't said anything since he left with the team to go help outside. Hell, he wasn't even watching where he was going. He was constantly bumping into things, and muttering something to himself.

"What Channel are you on?" Alex asked, pressing a few buttons on his wrist computer.

"Channel 2." BC informed him. She hadn't known him for more than four hours and already he was getting put in the, I like this person file. Then again, it was probably only because he was willing to help out and defend them, rather than his personality stand point. He was a man after all.

"Do you think you can work along side our pilots without killing them?" BC asked.

"I'll try to negotiate first, that's how I do things." Alex commented coldly. His headset was slowly moved into position as the green screen once again appeared over his eye. "I can't guarantee that it'll stop them, but it should give you enough time to get out of this area since you have the ship moving again. I'll follow you once I've either killed them, made them surrender, or decided to runaway like a scared dog with its tail between its legs."

"What's the likely outcome you predict?"

"Killing them, actually," It was odd saying that the way he did. It actually had no hint of fear or remorse for the loss of life he was about to take. It sounded more like he was talking about the weather actually.

"I…"

The group stopped. They slowly turned to face the source of the weak sounding voice. It was Hibiki. Alex and BC didn't look too stunned as he continued. "I'm not a pilot." he admitted it.

"I'm going ahead, you deal with him." Alex stated, now running ahead towards the hanger.

"I'm… I'm actually a mechanic on Taraaku." Why was this so hard? "I make the Vanguards, I don't pilot them." Why was this so hard?! "I was only onboard because I told the guys that I would steal the machine that I put my symbol on to, to show them how strong I was."

"Why wait till now?" BC didn't act surprised. She just continued with her unemotional look that Hibiki refused to look at. He couldn't even look a woman in the eye, how pitiful.

"Because… I… I don't wanna die." He stammered.

"No one wants to die, but we all die eventually; that's why we exist." BC slowly began walking down the way they came. "I was always told that the strong protect the weak, and that men also protected the weak, no matter the situation."

Hibiki said nothing. He had nothing to say. No witty comment. No smart ass remark. He had nothing other then the cold empty floors.

"Leave him, he won't do anything." BC commented coldly, clearly not very impressed.

(-)

Bart's screams of pain and fear had been going on for almost a full five minutes now. His screams pain was a slight joyful thing to hear, despite the situation at hand. The screams of fear were, in a way, rather amusing to their minds as well. They, Magno and Pyoro, remembered quite clearly that he told that he was an Ace Pilot that was assigned to pilot this ship, but, they knew he had been lying to them right from the get-go and were waiting patiently to put him in his place.

"You know what," Amarone, a young woman with dark skin and braided dark hair, began. "For a man, he sure screams a lot." As if on que, Bart's cries of pain and help entered their ears yet again.

"Look at this way; if one of us was in there at the moment, I'm sure we'd probably act the same way." BC stated, walking up to Amarone with a slight smile.

Everyone paled slightly at the thought of being in the device at the moment, and then quickly thanked him for being the Test Dummy. As soon as the thought swept through their minds, they quickly went back to watching the fight outside.

(-)

An all white Dread went soaring through the dark void of space that surrounded her. Her enemy was nothing more then red dots on her screens, and through her hatch, they looked like nothing more then a large cube with two legs and two arms that did nothing really. The real threat was the short bursts of red lasers that it shot out of its tip on the center of the cube like structure.

"Dita, behind you!" Meia barked, taking down another Cube. She didn't know why they were attacking her, nor did she care. All she cared about was the safety of her team and the unnamed ship.

Dita twisted and twirled through enemy fire, returning with her own, shooting only one of the five in front of her down. She didn't have the skills of her fellow pilots, but what she lacked in skill, she made up for in courage and heart. She may have been a rookie, but sometimes, trying was a lot better then doing nothing.

Dita screamed loudly as she was nicked by enemy fire. "BAD ALIENS!"

"Jura to your left!" Meia howled, blasting another three of the strange machines. The onslaught of the robotic creatures, just never seemed to stop. They came from no where, and were quickly multiplying with every single one shot down. If one went down, three more would take its place. The numbers were ungodly and only getting worse.

"Dita, watch out!" Jura bellowed. Dita had no time to react. The Cube was directly in front of her and priming its weapon for a direct hit on her cockpit. Dita managed to cry out for her alien to come and rescue her before closing her eyes and bringing her machine to a dead halt. The next thing she knew, she could hear someone screaming in fear.

Dita slowly opened her eyes to see blue wings hovering over her cockpit. It was strange to see such a machine, but then again, aliens did use strange machines, right?

"I'm Alex V. Switchfoot, pilot of the ZGMF X10A Freedom. I here by order you to power down your weapons and leave this area immediately!" he barked.

Dita sat there, stunned. To actually have an alien save her, but not just any ordinary alien, but to have Mr. Suit save her was something she could only dream of. Her mind slowly came back to reality as Bart's cries of fear entered her ears. He was mumbling something about a "Demon", that didn't make sense to her.

(-)

Bart had yet to stop his screams of fear and his rants about a demon. Magno and BC were the ones to piece his words together. "This is the machine that appeared over Taraaku five years ago." Magno stated, a slight evil smile forming on her lips.

"But even so, what was it doing that far out?" BC asked, turning to face her captain. The blank looks she received as she turned had grasped her attention rather quickly. "You didn't hear about the white machine that appeared over Taraaku space with thirty other machines, leaving only two thirds of Taraaku's fighting force intact?"

The bridge bunnies shook their heads, they too now feeling a slight sense of fear as they looked back at the white machine with blue wings.

"This possibly is the machine that appeared over Taraaku five years ago, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake." Magno began. "Its pilot is a mystery, but I'm guessing that this boy isn't the pilot that flew that machine back then. Though the information, the true information that is, was sketchy on why it appeared; the machine was believed to have been the work of Mejarru military force, but that was only a lie that the men used to make more lies about women."

"You mean this is the machine that caused all the lies about us?" Amarone questioned, glaring at the back of the machine before her.

(-)

The orange eyes of the white machine with blue wings continued to glare at the machines before it. Alex hadn't moved a muscle since his arrival, and his rifle was still being pointed at the damaged machine he had disabled to save Dita.

"Mr. Suit…"

"Hey, you in the blue fighter, are you okay?" Alex asked, interrupting Dita before she could finish.

"Yes, I'm okay." she whispered.

"I'm sorry I'm late, but I had to send a message to my people to let them know that I was okay. I promise that it won't happen again." His voice sounded saddened by something, but Dita thought nothing of it at the moment.

"These things aren't replying to your demands you know." Jura howled from inside her red Dread. "What kind of man are you, asking for them to power down? I thought all men loved fighting. You are from Taraaku after all."

"I'm NOT from Taraaku!" Alex lashed out venomously. Jura cringed slightly over the tone of his voice, but then again, she was rather happy to hear such a thing at the moment. It just proved that all men were evil people in her eyes.

"Then explain why your machine appeared over Taraaku five years ago!" Bart snapped back, over the com system.

"I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you." Alex snarled. "Now, I think I asked for you to power down or suffer the consequences."

The machines response to this, they opened fire on them. Meia zipped through the enemy fire, returning with her own. Alex was continuing his diplomacy tactic while the other two Dread pilots continued fighting while ignoring Alex's requests for them to stop.

"Damn it, stand down or be fired upon!" Alex continued his tactic, hoping the strange machines would stop their fighting and listen to reason.

Damn it, this isn't working. What's wrong with these guys? Why don't they listen to me? Are they deaf… Alex thoughts were cut off as a loud cry echoed into his mind. He quickly turned to see Jura being hammered by a few of the strange machines. One was latched onto her, suffering from her barrel roll tactic, while three more were shooting at her.

"I'm giving you one last chance to power down! I advise you to stop now, or be fired upon!" He roared, flying towards the enemy with his rifle shooting at them. A few of the beams scratched the enemy's hull, but a few suffered from a few shots to arms and legs, powering them down instantly.

"Forget your ideals, just shoot them down!" Jura begged, continuing her barrel roll tactic.

"Jura!" Dita cried. "Mr. Suit, please help us!" Dita's cries fell into Alex's ears, causing him to release his control slightly.

She sounds so much like him on that day…

Alex began firing at the enemy, killing all with dead on accuracy. His shots were precise and never a miss. The enemy finally realized that he was a true threat and began attacking him in mass, using the same tactic as they were using on the three Dread pilots.

Alex shot every single mech down that was trying to ground Jura at the moment. She blinked in confusion for a moment before going back to shooting her own targets down. She made a mental note to thank him in some way.

"You, in the blue fighter; what's your name?" Alex asked; his tone back to normal.

"It's Dita Liebely, Mr. Suit."

Alex gave no reply, but kept up his firing. Within a span of three minutes, the team of four had destroyed everything but a large organic like ship that was the source of the red machines. It was shaped like an egg or a dumpling, and was about the size of the pirate ship.

The egg like ship quickly spat out a large block that turned itself into the red machines again. The four fighters growled dangerously as they powered up, charging the four beaten machines.

"All right, Hibiki the Man is here!"

(-)

Magno sat in her chair, worried. Not because of the white machine, not because she had men onboard her ship, but because she had too few fighters outside at the moment and they had been fighting non stop for nearly twenty minutes with no end in sight.

"BC, prepare to give the order to abandon ship." BC looked back at her commander, eyes full of worry. They had no place to run too. They had no place to hide, and what was worse was that they had no idea where the escape pods were at the moment.

"Hey, you with the white hair!" Hibiki snarled, voice and face appearing on screen. "I… I wanna help out, to prove that I exist." BC looked back at Hibiki, eyes shinning with a sense of glee. She knew he was no pilot, but given the circumstance, anyone wanting to test their luck against an unknown enemy was more then welcome to try. "These damn handcuffs are the only thing stopping me however, so let me go!"

"BC?" Magno questioned, a brow slightly raised.

BC waved her off with a quick hand gesture before smiling up at the screen. "You do realize that you could die right?" Hibiki just huffed at her words. "Very well then, it IS your life." She pressed a small button, and a few seconds later, a snapping sound filled the air and was followed by a thumping sound.

(-)

Hibiki stared up at his golden machine for a brief moment. His eyes still had a sense of fear, but his will to prove that he existed overruled that fear. He had to do this to show them that he existed. He had to prove his worth. He had to prove it to everyone that he was who he said he was.

"Alright partner, I may not know how to pilot you, but I'll try, I'll try to pilot you with my mind." Hibiki stated, staring at the strange controls.

Hibiki started thinking back to all the weapons the designers he worked for said it had. He remembered the Thunder Fist, the Battle Axe, the Energy Chainsaw, and a few other things.

He mentally reached out, and was surprised when his golden machine mimicked his movements. Placing one hand on the ground, he boosted himself off the ground and free of the crystal shards that had developed around its body. His machine hunched over before arching itself backwards as if to pop its back.

With a satisfied grin, he grasped the launcher platform tightly, getting ready to go and show his stuff. The launcher slowly began to warm up, waiting for its passenger to give it the okay. Hibiki grinned, giving into the small hint of fear he was feeling before the launcher catapulted forward. The sheer force of the takeoff was so strong that he became stuck to the back of his seat.

When he exited the ship, his grin turned to one of fear as five Cubes appeared before him, blasting away. Hibiki did a few odd maneuvers that left the women and Alex questioning the boy's sanity. He looked like a fish out of water to tell the truth. His arms were flailing around along side with his legs. The only thing that made it worse was him screaming, "Alright, Hibiki the Man is here," causing almost everyone to bust up laughing if not for the strange predicament they were in.

The machines quickly turned to attack Hibiki, not caring about the other four, much to their surprise. Meia was left floored when Hibiki's cry of, "Thunder Fist," reached her ears as she watched him punch the air. Alex questioned his sanity even further when he screamed, "Energy Chainsaw," and reached for nothing. Jura got a kick out of watching him get blasted from all directions and listening to his screams of pain.

Dita, however, was the only one who seemed to have faith in the boy as she zoomed towards him, pushing the cries of her friends' pleas for her to not follow him out of her mind. The only thing she cared about was helping her alien and nothing more.

Hibiki paid no attention to the blue machine that was tailing him at the moment. His mind was dead set on proving himself. He needed to do this, even though he was pinned by eight of the red machines and was face-to-face with the egg like ship that was priming a red orb over its hatch.

Red beams were soon shot from the egg like carrier, slamming into the golden machine. Everyone watched with sad eyes as a blue blur crashed into the blast, destroying it in the process. Everyone turned away, tears sliding down their faces as they whispered, "Dita" for a few seconds.

Inside the ball of fire, twisted metal and smoke, a pair of yellow eyes glowed brightly from inside the chaos. No one noticed until a pair of blue metal hands took firm hold of the metal, bending it with ease. The egg like carrier was also unaware until the same hand grabbed hold of it, not letting go for a moment. It didn't even let go when it tore a hole in the organic armor. A pair of white cannons that lay on its back flipped on top its shoulders, glowing brightly as it released a stream of white energy that pierced through the organic armor of the Egg Carrier. With a mighty explosion, the organic beast was destroyed, spewing its organic alloy over the battlefield.

When the dust settled, the blue giant stood firm at the spot where the strange vessel once stood, shinning brightly, like a beacon of hope. Alex was now questioning Magno's story as he heard a soft voice that everyone, minus Alex, thought they would never hear again. "Mr. Alien, that was amazing." The voice belonged to none other then Dita, bringing smiles to everyone's faces.

"IS THIS THE PROOF OF MY EXISTENCE?!" Hibiki screamed, not two seconds later.