Chapter 2: Another Battle, Another Victory, Another Pilot!?!
"How many are there?" Buzam commanded as a hail of laser fire bombarded the Nirvana.
Blips and bleeps of all kinds lit up Ezra's scanner. "There appear to be two cube carriers. There are too many cube types for me to get an accurate number." She reported.
As the back up shields came online, Bart waited and grinned. "What did I tell you?" he said, mostly to himself.
Hibiki, Dita and Barnette had already left the hanger along with half a dozen other fighters. Jura dashed for her Dread and saw a very angry expression on Meia's face.
"Oh, great, just what I need." Jura thought as she scampered into her Dread, "Now Meia's pissed at me. I'll be hearing about this after this battle, that's for sure." Jura waited for a few more pilots to leave before she took off in her Dread. She joined her comrades in arms as countless laser beams streaked by.
Meia knew that the situation was bad the moment she left the hanger. She knew that if they were able to hit the carriers first, the rest of the cubes would be cannon-fodder. But, if those carriers remained active for too long, there would be a swarm of cubes unlike anything she could have imagined.
"This is Meia to Hibiki and Dita." She called out. "I want you two to combine immediately and hit those carriers with everything you got. B-Team and C-Team will provide cover fire so they can get a clear shot." She gave the order before anyone had the chance to acknowledge her.
Hibiki knew why Meia was going so fast. He had the same realization about the carriers that she did and was in fact already looking for Dita before Meia hailed them. Unfortunately, Dita was lost amidst the laser fire and the asteroids. "Dita! Where are you 'ya crazy fruitcake!?" Hibiki called out to her. As much as she pissed him off, he was beginning to develop feelings for the little nut case. Not that he would say so, mind you, but he was. Actually, he has been developing feelings for a short while now.
Dita was trying her best to avoid the constant barrage of lasers that seemed to come from everywhere. "Mister Alien! Where are you?" she frantically screamed out as she blasted a cube. Everywhere she looked, she saw cubes, cubes, and more cubes, with the occasional asteroid or two. "Oh, no. There're too many of them. Mister Alien's gonna' die if this keeps up." She thought. Her Dread shook as a few lasers found their mark. Dita started sobbing because she thought this situation was too much. She didn't know how she was going to get out of this alive.
Suddenly, something on her scanner caught Ezra's eye. "What's this?" she was looking at her screen with a puzzled look.
"What is it Ezra?" Buzam asked, "Is something wrong?" Buzam almost instantly wondered why she asked that. "Of course there's something wrong!" she thought to herself, "Where's in the middle of an asteroid field, with God knows how many cube types out there trying to turn us into spare parts!"
"Um...well." Ezra didn't quite know how to explain it, "It appears that a group of about thirty cube types have left the main fleet and are heading for something in the asteroid field. I don't know what they are doing or what they are going after. Scanners aren't picking up anything significant in the area they're heading for."
"What do you think it could be, Captain?" Buzam looked to the ancient one.
"Well, it can't be a diversion. Otherwise more than just thirty would move. It can't be Rabat, even that idiot wouldn't hang around to get caught. Not by this many enemies, at least." She sat with an expression of deep thought on her face, "I have no clue what it could be. Continue monitoring that group and report if something interesting turns up."
"Of course, Captain." Ezra responded with the respect she always addressed her Captain with. She immediately continued monitoring.
"Damn it!" Hibiki yelled as he gave a cube a split personality, "This is really pissing me off! Dita! Where the hell are you?!" he looked up in time to see Dita's Dread speed by with three cubes on her ass end. He sped up to catch them, but another cube got in his way. "Damn you!" he just had to cuss again, "Get the hell out of my way!"
As soon as he was able to finish ordering the creepy-looking thing in front of him to move, a streak of blue jetted through it, and it blew into a number of pieces Hibiki didn't care to count. He saw Meia's ship fly past him and take out the three cubes that were hounding Dita.
"If you two are through screwing around, I would like to get this battle finished!" Meia came in over the intercom.
"I'm all for that!" Hibiki was excited now, although he was a little irritated that Meia would think he would loaf around at a time like this, "Come on, Crazy, let's go!"
Dita wasn't sure to take his words as an insult or a compliment. "Sure thing!" she said as she flew to him. She decided not to pat attention to what he called her.
Ezra was watching the small squad of seemingly misguided cubes until the blip on her radar did something really weird. It disappeared. "Uh...Captain? You know that group of cubes that were going off on their own?" she looked back at the Captain and Buzam.
"Yes?" the Captain asked, "What about them? Did you find out what they were after?"
"I don't know what happened, but they have disappeared. They no longer show up on my scopes." Ezra was really confused now, along with everyone else on the bridge.
"Could it be some kind of new weapon or tactic?" Bart asked, "Could they have figured out a way to bypass our scanners?" He decided not to complain about the pain he was feeling from the ship since it seemed to him that nobody cared.
"I sure hope not. Bring that area up on screen." Buzam commanded.
Suddenly, all the cubes stopped firing and shifted their attention to the area where the other cubes disappeared from.
Some of the fighters that needed repairs took this time to head back to the Nirvana. The remaining Dreads gathered behind him. For reasons unknown, the cubes halted their attack on the Nirvana and grouped together in front of the first carrier.
"Huh? What the hell are they doing?" Hibiki sat there puzzled for a moment. But, only for a moment. "Alright! Now that they're distracted..." He took aim at one of the carriers, "Let's take advantage of this golden opportunity!"
Dita looked back at him and smiled, "Right! Let's do it Mister Alien!" They both clenched the controls and watched as two green streams sped toward the first carrier. They watched as about a dozed or two cubes blew on the way there. They watched as the first carrier expanded, contracted, and then transformed into a huge circular cloud of red fire, engulfing another couple dozen cubes.
Hibiki, Dita and the Dreads backed away to form a defensive line for the Nirvana. Suddenly, a small dot appeared where the group of cubes disappeared and was heading for the mass of cubes that still huddled around a larger asteroid.
"What the hell is going on?" Buzam pondered, "Get a visual on whatever that is!"
The screen that Ezra popped on also appeared to the Dread pilots. It was a small, circular object jetting toward the mass of cubes. It appeared to be a missile of some sort. The missile was much too small to be able to do any significant damage to the cube fleet, yet, there was something odd about this missile, if it was one.
All the pilots, the crew on the bridge of the Nirvana, and even the cubes watched as the 'missile' flew in the middle of the cube fleet, passing all of them, then plow into the asteroid. Not even a second later, the asteroid fragmented into millions of pieces, destroying a vast majority of the cubes that were on an apparent coffee break.
The remaining cubes scattered and headed back for the second carrier as yet another blip appeared on the scanners from the same area as before. This blip was significantly bigger, though, about half the size of a Dread. Also, it was moving about as fast as Meia's Dread does when she combines with Hibiki.
Before Ezra made a visual lock on this thing, a strange transmission came in over the radio. "You assholes made me drop my lunch! I'll make you pay for that!" came an angry male voice. It was much different then Rabat's, so who the hell was it?
Ezra got a visual: The ship was mostly black, with red trim on the sides. It's wings were at it's rear and had large bulges on the wingtips. On the front of each bulge were what appeared to be an animal-like face. *If you are familiar with the cartoon series Inspector Gadget, you are now looking at the Mad Jet.*
The Dread pilots and crew of the Nirvana could only watch as the strange micro-ship tore through the cubes like a hot knife through butter. After effortlessly dispatching most of the cubes, the ship let loose another 'missile' into the opening of the second carrier and speed back toward the Nirvana, stopping where the large group of cubes once was. The carrier shook violently and blew up in a similar fashion that the first one did. The explosion took out all the remaining cubes. Mission accomplished.
"Ahh," came the male voice again, although much calmer now, "I feel better. Now what in the hell brought that many of those things all the way out here?" The voice asked as if he hadn't noticed the presence of the Nirvana and the Dreads. "What makes you guys so special that they would send out two carriers after you? You would have been scrapped if I hadn't shown up. I am impressed with how you destroyed the first carrier, though. Not many ships have enough firepower to destroy one of those in a single blast."
Hibiki could tell that whoever was inside that thing was talking to him and Dita. The ship was facing them directly. "Thanks for the compliment, friend." Hibiki was a little nervous and was careful not to piss of whoever was inside that ship. Even though he was almost twice it's size, that thing could give him a good fight. "I'm very impressed with how you took out all those cubes by yourself and destroyed the second carrier."
The guy chuckled, "Thank you, friend. Are you the one in charge of this group?"
The Captain took it upon herself to make an introduction, "I am Magno, Captain of the Nirvana. How do you do, traveler?"
A vid-link appeared, showing a young man wearing a black hat, dark mirrored sunglasses, and a large pair of headphones. "Greetings, Madam Magno. My name is Strike, and this is my ship, the Mad Jet. May I inquire as to why the Munya sent such a large fleet after you?"
The Captain's eyes widened, "Munya, huh? Is that what they're called? The people of Apathos called them that."
"Well, honestly, I don't really know." Strike chuckled, "I too have been to Apathos. I decided to call them that. Better to give them a name so at least some people can relate, right?"
"I can see your point, Strike. If it pleases you, could you join us for something to eat? I heard that you lost your lunch to these Munya." Magno inquired.
"I would be delighted, madam." Strike bowed. "I haven't had a descent meal in such a long time."
"I'll look forward to dining with you. You have clearance to enter the Nirvana." Magno smiled.
"I thank you, madam." Strike's vid-link disappeared.
"Do you think that's wise, Captain?" Buzam asked, "We know nothing about him. We don't know if he can be trusted."
"B.C., did you see what that man did to that carrier ad those cubes?" Magno stared at her, "If he was an enemy, he could have easily disabled the Dreads and brought everyone in this ship to their knees. I feel that he can be trusted. I'm on my way to the hanger to greet him properly." The old lady then vanished behind a pair of automatic doors.
"If you say so, Captain." Buzam was still a little concerned. She looked at Ezra, "Have all Dreads return. Continue scanning in case more enemies show up. I'm heading to the hanger as well. Bart, you're in charge of the bridge.
Ezra saluted, "Yes, Commander." Both Bart and her said as Buzam followed the Captain.
"How many are there?" Buzam commanded as a hail of laser fire bombarded the Nirvana.
Blips and bleeps of all kinds lit up Ezra's scanner. "There appear to be two cube carriers. There are too many cube types for me to get an accurate number." She reported.
As the back up shields came online, Bart waited and grinned. "What did I tell you?" he said, mostly to himself.
Hibiki, Dita and Barnette had already left the hanger along with half a dozen other fighters. Jura dashed for her Dread and saw a very angry expression on Meia's face.
"Oh, great, just what I need." Jura thought as she scampered into her Dread, "Now Meia's pissed at me. I'll be hearing about this after this battle, that's for sure." Jura waited for a few more pilots to leave before she took off in her Dread. She joined her comrades in arms as countless laser beams streaked by.
Meia knew that the situation was bad the moment she left the hanger. She knew that if they were able to hit the carriers first, the rest of the cubes would be cannon-fodder. But, if those carriers remained active for too long, there would be a swarm of cubes unlike anything she could have imagined.
"This is Meia to Hibiki and Dita." She called out. "I want you two to combine immediately and hit those carriers with everything you got. B-Team and C-Team will provide cover fire so they can get a clear shot." She gave the order before anyone had the chance to acknowledge her.
Hibiki knew why Meia was going so fast. He had the same realization about the carriers that she did and was in fact already looking for Dita before Meia hailed them. Unfortunately, Dita was lost amidst the laser fire and the asteroids. "Dita! Where are you 'ya crazy fruitcake!?" Hibiki called out to her. As much as she pissed him off, he was beginning to develop feelings for the little nut case. Not that he would say so, mind you, but he was. Actually, he has been developing feelings for a short while now.
Dita was trying her best to avoid the constant barrage of lasers that seemed to come from everywhere. "Mister Alien! Where are you?" she frantically screamed out as she blasted a cube. Everywhere she looked, she saw cubes, cubes, and more cubes, with the occasional asteroid or two. "Oh, no. There're too many of them. Mister Alien's gonna' die if this keeps up." She thought. Her Dread shook as a few lasers found their mark. Dita started sobbing because she thought this situation was too much. She didn't know how she was going to get out of this alive.
Suddenly, something on her scanner caught Ezra's eye. "What's this?" she was looking at her screen with a puzzled look.
"What is it Ezra?" Buzam asked, "Is something wrong?" Buzam almost instantly wondered why she asked that. "Of course there's something wrong!" she thought to herself, "Where's in the middle of an asteroid field, with God knows how many cube types out there trying to turn us into spare parts!"
"Um...well." Ezra didn't quite know how to explain it, "It appears that a group of about thirty cube types have left the main fleet and are heading for something in the asteroid field. I don't know what they are doing or what they are going after. Scanners aren't picking up anything significant in the area they're heading for."
"What do you think it could be, Captain?" Buzam looked to the ancient one.
"Well, it can't be a diversion. Otherwise more than just thirty would move. It can't be Rabat, even that idiot wouldn't hang around to get caught. Not by this many enemies, at least." She sat with an expression of deep thought on her face, "I have no clue what it could be. Continue monitoring that group and report if something interesting turns up."
"Of course, Captain." Ezra responded with the respect she always addressed her Captain with. She immediately continued monitoring.
"Damn it!" Hibiki yelled as he gave a cube a split personality, "This is really pissing me off! Dita! Where the hell are you?!" he looked up in time to see Dita's Dread speed by with three cubes on her ass end. He sped up to catch them, but another cube got in his way. "Damn you!" he just had to cuss again, "Get the hell out of my way!"
As soon as he was able to finish ordering the creepy-looking thing in front of him to move, a streak of blue jetted through it, and it blew into a number of pieces Hibiki didn't care to count. He saw Meia's ship fly past him and take out the three cubes that were hounding Dita.
"If you two are through screwing around, I would like to get this battle finished!" Meia came in over the intercom.
"I'm all for that!" Hibiki was excited now, although he was a little irritated that Meia would think he would loaf around at a time like this, "Come on, Crazy, let's go!"
Dita wasn't sure to take his words as an insult or a compliment. "Sure thing!" she said as she flew to him. She decided not to pat attention to what he called her.
Ezra was watching the small squad of seemingly misguided cubes until the blip on her radar did something really weird. It disappeared. "Uh...Captain? You know that group of cubes that were going off on their own?" she looked back at the Captain and Buzam.
"Yes?" the Captain asked, "What about them? Did you find out what they were after?"
"I don't know what happened, but they have disappeared. They no longer show up on my scopes." Ezra was really confused now, along with everyone else on the bridge.
"Could it be some kind of new weapon or tactic?" Bart asked, "Could they have figured out a way to bypass our scanners?" He decided not to complain about the pain he was feeling from the ship since it seemed to him that nobody cared.
"I sure hope not. Bring that area up on screen." Buzam commanded.
Suddenly, all the cubes stopped firing and shifted their attention to the area where the other cubes disappeared from.
Some of the fighters that needed repairs took this time to head back to the Nirvana. The remaining Dreads gathered behind him. For reasons unknown, the cubes halted their attack on the Nirvana and grouped together in front of the first carrier.
"Huh? What the hell are they doing?" Hibiki sat there puzzled for a moment. But, only for a moment. "Alright! Now that they're distracted..." He took aim at one of the carriers, "Let's take advantage of this golden opportunity!"
Dita looked back at him and smiled, "Right! Let's do it Mister Alien!" They both clenched the controls and watched as two green streams sped toward the first carrier. They watched as about a dozed or two cubes blew on the way there. They watched as the first carrier expanded, contracted, and then transformed into a huge circular cloud of red fire, engulfing another couple dozen cubes.
Hibiki, Dita and the Dreads backed away to form a defensive line for the Nirvana. Suddenly, a small dot appeared where the group of cubes disappeared and was heading for the mass of cubes that still huddled around a larger asteroid.
"What the hell is going on?" Buzam pondered, "Get a visual on whatever that is!"
The screen that Ezra popped on also appeared to the Dread pilots. It was a small, circular object jetting toward the mass of cubes. It appeared to be a missile of some sort. The missile was much too small to be able to do any significant damage to the cube fleet, yet, there was something odd about this missile, if it was one.
All the pilots, the crew on the bridge of the Nirvana, and even the cubes watched as the 'missile' flew in the middle of the cube fleet, passing all of them, then plow into the asteroid. Not even a second later, the asteroid fragmented into millions of pieces, destroying a vast majority of the cubes that were on an apparent coffee break.
The remaining cubes scattered and headed back for the second carrier as yet another blip appeared on the scanners from the same area as before. This blip was significantly bigger, though, about half the size of a Dread. Also, it was moving about as fast as Meia's Dread does when she combines with Hibiki.
Before Ezra made a visual lock on this thing, a strange transmission came in over the radio. "You assholes made me drop my lunch! I'll make you pay for that!" came an angry male voice. It was much different then Rabat's, so who the hell was it?
Ezra got a visual: The ship was mostly black, with red trim on the sides. It's wings were at it's rear and had large bulges on the wingtips. On the front of each bulge were what appeared to be an animal-like face. *If you are familiar with the cartoon series Inspector Gadget, you are now looking at the Mad Jet.*
The Dread pilots and crew of the Nirvana could only watch as the strange micro-ship tore through the cubes like a hot knife through butter. After effortlessly dispatching most of the cubes, the ship let loose another 'missile' into the opening of the second carrier and speed back toward the Nirvana, stopping where the large group of cubes once was. The carrier shook violently and blew up in a similar fashion that the first one did. The explosion took out all the remaining cubes. Mission accomplished.
"Ahh," came the male voice again, although much calmer now, "I feel better. Now what in the hell brought that many of those things all the way out here?" The voice asked as if he hadn't noticed the presence of the Nirvana and the Dreads. "What makes you guys so special that they would send out two carriers after you? You would have been scrapped if I hadn't shown up. I am impressed with how you destroyed the first carrier, though. Not many ships have enough firepower to destroy one of those in a single blast."
Hibiki could tell that whoever was inside that thing was talking to him and Dita. The ship was facing them directly. "Thanks for the compliment, friend." Hibiki was a little nervous and was careful not to piss of whoever was inside that ship. Even though he was almost twice it's size, that thing could give him a good fight. "I'm very impressed with how you took out all those cubes by yourself and destroyed the second carrier."
The guy chuckled, "Thank you, friend. Are you the one in charge of this group?"
The Captain took it upon herself to make an introduction, "I am Magno, Captain of the Nirvana. How do you do, traveler?"
A vid-link appeared, showing a young man wearing a black hat, dark mirrored sunglasses, and a large pair of headphones. "Greetings, Madam Magno. My name is Strike, and this is my ship, the Mad Jet. May I inquire as to why the Munya sent such a large fleet after you?"
The Captain's eyes widened, "Munya, huh? Is that what they're called? The people of Apathos called them that."
"Well, honestly, I don't really know." Strike chuckled, "I too have been to Apathos. I decided to call them that. Better to give them a name so at least some people can relate, right?"
"I can see your point, Strike. If it pleases you, could you join us for something to eat? I heard that you lost your lunch to these Munya." Magno inquired.
"I would be delighted, madam." Strike bowed. "I haven't had a descent meal in such a long time."
"I'll look forward to dining with you. You have clearance to enter the Nirvana." Magno smiled.
"I thank you, madam." Strike's vid-link disappeared.
"Do you think that's wise, Captain?" Buzam asked, "We know nothing about him. We don't know if he can be trusted."
"B.C., did you see what that man did to that carrier ad those cubes?" Magno stared at her, "If he was an enemy, he could have easily disabled the Dreads and brought everyone in this ship to their knees. I feel that he can be trusted. I'm on my way to the hanger to greet him properly." The old lady then vanished behind a pair of automatic doors.
"If you say so, Captain." Buzam was still a little concerned. She looked at Ezra, "Have all Dreads return. Continue scanning in case more enemies show up. I'm heading to the hanger as well. Bart, you're in charge of the bridge.
Ezra saluted, "Yes, Commander." Both Bart and her said as Buzam followed the Captain.