I don't own Vandread.
Chapter 6 Press Any Key
Bang
A single shot rang out. The creature stood still. Alex stood still. Nothing moved. No one wanted to move. The creature finally let gravity take it as its body crashed to the ground, a single bullet in the head. Alex stood still, his arm cocked backwards with his gun in hand and pointing behind him, right where the creatures head once was.
"Damn." Hibiki whispered.
"Maya, I know you're there." Alex whispered. "I watched the video from Tom's chip. So please answer me."
"Yes, I am here." She said, her body not appearing. Alex knew something was wrong. She normally appeared in her ball form, or at least allowed her face to be seen, but not this time. "I am truly sorry for the death of your friends, but…"
"Open up the X Vault." He ordered, walking towards the door. "Give me the best route to the armory and tell me what kind of those bastards it was that killed Team Savior." He commanded.
"It appeared to be one of the new arrivals, a Special Forces Unit, if I am not mistaken." She informed him. "The best rout to the armory would be two corridors down to the left, then three to the right, then through Hanger 1. I have updated your PDA with the best route incase you forget." She added. "What weapons need to be ready?"
"I'll take care of that part; you just download yourself to my laptop in my room. We're getting out of here in one piece, and there's no two ways about it." Alex said, taking the route provided. Meia and the others were quickly behind him, listening to the voice of the AI as she followed them through the systems in the station.
"I will do so, after you have successfully reached the X Vault. I hope you do not intend to purge me for my action, but it is only because one of the Special Forces Units' is guarding the entrance." Maya said.
"Thanks, but I don't think I'll be needing help in dealing with these bastards." Alex informed her, turning right, leading down another long corridor, this time, with hundreds of bodies.
"I really hope we don't run into what ever did this." Jura said, holding her gun as tightly as she could. Alex snorted at her words. "You wanna run into these things?!" She bellowed, clearly in shock. "They managed to take out a man that was holding two weapons that I doubt an ordinary man could carry, a woman who was probably quicker than Meia and a man that had one dirty mouth!" She screeched.
"If you don't wanna help me, then I suggest you go find your own way off this rock." Alex replied, his voice colder than ice. "I'm going to kill any inhuman SOB dumb enough to get between me, and Hanger 39!"
"Your machine is still down for some minor upgrades. It has yet to be tested, and the new weapon has yet to be fired. Your chances of the machine working properly, stand at only twenty three percent." Maya told him.
"I didn't get where I am today by hating my odds." Was the reply she received. Maya, if you could have seen her body, would have been blinking in surprise at his words.
"Demon, don't you think this is a little insane?" Hibiki voiced in minor opinion as he followed him through the mountain of bodies. He scanned a few of them, hoping that he wouldn't see any children. The closest to that age was a young girl, probably no older then fifteen. Hibiki just couldn't bring himself to draw his eyes away from the bodies. He was fixated on them.
"No, I don't." Alex replied, walking into Hanger 1. The team came to a stop as they looked down below them. They were really high up, and one missed step would send them to a certain death. "Don't look down."
Hibiki gulped as he did look down, seeing hundreds of the little monsters below him, screeching as the walked around the room, trapped most likely. Meia pointed her weapon down at them, incase they saw them. Jura was more than happy to remain looking towards the wall they were walking to, while Barnette was keeping an eye on the beasts below.
"This room we're about to enter into is heavily guarded. It has two, five inch armor plating, with the middle layer being made of Zeo Alloy. Before you ask, it's an alloy that can't be penetrated." Alex walked over to a keypad, and began pressing the buttons. "Most of the weapons in here are specially made for people like me. Meaning these things will kick, and kick hard."
The door hissed open, showing them a new corridor that had three bodies. It was the people from before. Team Saviour was before them, each one dead. Alex walked over to V.'s body, taking a good look at her. Barnette was looking down at Specter, wondering how he was even able to lift the heavy weapons. Jura and Hibiki were staring at Magic. He died in true fashion they guessed. A cigarette in hand while another one, was tucked in between his lips and a smile on his face.
"So this was done by one creature and only one creature." Hibiki mussed.
"Yep." Alex mumbled, pocketing something. The team caught movement out of the corner of their eye. Alex didn't avert his gaze from the corpse before him. Meia said something, but he didn't listen. Hibiki and Jura began firing like crazy while Barnette threw something that made a loud explosion just two seconds later.
It was the beast that had taken out the team. It was one of the special unit's that Maya had mentioned. Alex ducked just in time to avoid the large tail, letting it jam itself into the wall. Alex rolled under the swinging arm that would have sliced him in two, and fired his weapon straight into its face. The beast roared in pain, kicking Alex away with one powerful kick. Alex rolled to a stop, landing on his feet, and firing his weapon at the creatures' skull. The bullets penetrated its head, letting out large streams of black blood.
Barnette fell back, shooting as she went, towards Alex with Jura and Hibiki doing the same. Meia stayed where she was, in between the door frame and firing at its legs, hoping to take the beast out, or just shoot one of its legs off.
"Alex, our weapons aren't penetrating it!" Barnette said, noticing that nothing was getting through its heavy armor.
The creatures' tail was finally ripped free from the wall, and was swung above the team. Alex was hit hard by the tail, sending him skidding backwards. The beast jumped over the other four members, to land above Alex. Alex reached for his weapon, but the creature crushed it with his tail. The beast then roared as it lifted its massive arm, high into the air before dropping it and aiming for his head. Alex rolled over, dodging the attack.
"Alex, are you alright?!" Meia cried out through the sound of gunfire. Her answer came as the head of the massive beast exploded into nothing. Its corpse smashed to the ground, soaking the ground with its black blood. Before them, stood Alex, covered with the black blood, or so they figured anyways. Hey, he was wearing black armor and the gold lines that were etched into his suit weren't visible.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He assured them, walking back to them. "I don't think that bastards going to be getting up anytime soon." He joked.
However, the creature proved him wrong as it stood up, no head, and still squirting blood from its head. The team stood there, completely disgusted and dumbfounded at how the creature could still be alive.
"How the hell is that thing still alive?!" Hibiki screamed, pointing to the large beast with no head.
Alex had no answer, unless you consider charging the beast with V.'s beam saber and cutting off is left arm as he jumped onto its' back a response. The beast jumped into the air, smashing its' back into the ceiling. Alex was lucky that its spikes were spaced apart just enough for him to hide in, and that it didn't jump with enough force to crush him. Once the beast was back on the ground, Alex plunged the beam blade into its back, thanking anything and everyone that it didn't have a head to roar with. Its' tail however, made up for that by trying to stab him or swat him away. Alex ducked, and jumped over the attacks, just barely dodging them. The beast finally dropped a notch on intelligence, as it tried to skewer Alex. The only problem with its attempts was that its' tail was pointed directly at its back, and Alex was lucky enough to jump off before it could strike.
The beast impaled itself with its' own weapon. The tail continued through the body, and smashed into the ground. Alex landed a few feet away, looking at the beast with confusion. The beast had run itself directly through its chest and it was still alive. Alex, thinking fast, threw his last grenade into the throat of the beast. The team jumped behind the door frame while Alex stood tall beside the beast.
The beast exploded from the inside out, spraying its mechanical organs all over the hallway. The team slowly came out of the hiding spot to see two things. One was the mechanical body that explained how the creature had survived after having its head destroyed. And the second was seeing Alex covered in the black gooey like blood.
"It's dead now." Alex huffed, stepping on one of the organic mech parts as he walked over to another keypad.
"You know what," Hibiki began. The women walked over to Alex as he finished typing the code in. "I now like our odds of survival." Hibiki walked into the room, where he nearly let his jaw hit the ground.
The room was solid white. In the back, large target boards lay destroyed from some kind of a weapon. Odd weapons were hanging to the walls, each one bigger then the one above it. Alex walked over to a display case, cocked his head to the left, and then punched the glass to shatter it.
He grabbed a black weapon, scanned it, and then cocked it. "This is an AS50 Rifle that I've converted to semi auto." Alex announced, placing the weapon on his back. He grabbed a silver weapon and handed it to Barnette. "This is a DSR 1 series Sniper Rifle that V. converted to semi auto as well. I'm sure that this is what she came for. It has a magazine of thirty shells that can pierce through two solid inches of solid steel and keep on going." Barnette eyed the weapon, the placed it on her back. Alex sighed and grabbed two other weapons that were silver in color. "These are the SG 550 Sniper Rifles that my sister first altered to semi auto. She gave them to me when she turned eighteen, just two days before I left to be transferred here. Like the DSR, these babies have the same power, but less ammo in the magazine. They can only hold twenty five shells. " Hibiki and Meia took the weapons, and cocked them.
"You should know that these things all used Zeo Alloy, meaning these damn things can pierce anything." Alex warned.
"Alex," Barnette began. Alex looked at her, a brow raised, though hidden by his helmet. "You use some kick ass gear." She chirped, picking up the ammo for her new 'toy'.
"What ever." He muttered, walking out of the room, into the blood soaked corridor. His team followed, making sure that nothing got in behind them.
Meia was beside Alex, working as active sharp shooter for the team. Her sharp shooting skills were second to none as far as she knew. Hibiki was behind her, working mid gunner. Jura was to Hibiki side, doing the same role, only she probably was better with a gun then he was. Barnette was working as active sniper for the group, and no was going to dare question her shooting skills.
"So where to now?" Barnette asked.
"We're heading to my room." Alex announced, sounding somewhat happy. "We're going there to get my laptop, with Maya in it, some clothes, and a few personal items that no one will be taking away from me." Alex glared at Barnette and Jura. Both girls shivered under his glare, but figured that anything that he was willing to protect was not worth it. They had enough sense to not piss him off anymore than what he already was.
"Why your room?" Meia mussed, clearly not liking the idea. "Why can't she just download herself into a machine or something?"
"First off, I need to get some items from my room. Secondly, I need my laptop. I hate having to send emails on my damn wrist PDA. Lastly, I want to see if something is in my room." Meia gave him a strange look while Hibiki didn't really seem to be paying attention. "Its personal." He informed her. Meia backed off after that, figuring it was something like that video they watched.
Meia didn't say anything when V. told Tom to survive for her, and then left. Nor did she say anything when Tom whispered for her to stay alive for him, or when he called her 'Honey'. Meia was a little riddled by how a man and a woman could even be in love with each other, if that's what was going on at the moment anyways.
"Hostiles, two o'clock." Barnette yelled. She fired her weapon one time, and almost fell on her butt. "Gezz, these things really do kick hard!" She screamed, rubbing her wounded shoulder.
Alex was having no such problem as he unloaded into the horde of monsters with deadly precision. Jura wasn't really having that kind of a problem, but she was rocking back and forth with each round fired. Hibiki wasn't having any problems what so ever. He actually was able to stand his ground as he fired into the horde of enemies, while Meia herself, suffered no such problem. So the standings stood as Alex, Meia and Hibiki having no problems in firing the powerful weapons. Jura was in second, suffering from only the rocking, while a bemused Barnette suffered in last place for falling on her butt.
Within two minutes, the corridor was cleared of hostiles, and Alex was more than happy to press the button to call the elevator. Two more weaklings appeared, but Barnette was ready for them, and this time, didn't fall on her butt.
The elevator doors opened, and the team of five walked in. When the doors closed, some odd elevator music kicked on. Hibiki arched a brow as he turned to Alex with confusion and disappointment written on his face.
"This is a military station, and you guys listen to music in an elevator?" He spat. Alex chuckled in response while the elevator door opened just in time for a single alien to appear, which Alex promptly shot once in the face, killing it before it could enter. "Never mind, I think I like the music." Hibiki corrected. Alex once again chuckled.
"You and I both, kid." Alex laughed. Meia shook her head at the sight of the two men. One was cold and ruthless, and had his heart set on revenge while the other was a man from Taraaku and hated Alex's very existence.
The elevator doors opened up to a large foggy area. Alex hummed in disappointment while Hibiki went into 'State the Obvious' mode. "This is the Bio Garden we saw from the corridor near the hanger we entered from."
"Looks like it." Alex groaned, pressing a few buttons on his wrist PDA. A humming sound echoed through the small elevator room, before quickly disappearing. "Heat Vision, engaged," Alex turned to his team. "Stay close, there's no telling what's out there waiting for us." he cautioned.
(-)
"So, what do you think their chances are?" BC whispered to Magno. The two had been waiting patiently for the explosion of the station, and the reunion of the team that stayed behind to make sure it happened.
"Not sure, but I do know that Alex won't allow Meia to die so easily." She whispered back. "That boy thinks he has a debt to her and her family. So he'll make sure that nothing bad happens to her."
"A debt?" BC questioned, a brow arched slightly.
"If they survive this, then I'm going to have Alex tell the truth to the men, and his people's involvement in the incident on Mejarru. He won't enjoy doing it, but if he wants to get home, then he'll have no choice." Magno told her.
"I see, but this could easily blow up into a bad situation that not even you could defuse." She whispered back.
"I think that the women will understand since Alex isn't to blame for anything, unless you call Justice a reason." Magno narrowed her eyes on Bart as he exited the chamber. "You really think we're far enough away now, do you?"
"We're far enough away, I'm sure of it." Bart grumbled. "Besides, I think I could outrun a nuclear explosion if I had to." He boasted.
"I certainly hope you're right, because if you're wrong, I'll be haunting you for the rest of time itself in heaven." Magno joked. Bart just brushed her comment off with a wave of his hand as he went out the doors.
"In all honesty, I doubt he could, truly outrun something like that, nor do I think that Alex could pull off a miracle like that." BC whispered. Magno nodded in agreement, but she did know something that no one else knew about Alex.
(-)
The team was panting hard. They were thankful that Alex's suit came with a built in motion detector, or they would have all been dead. They had spent the last five minutes dealing with another one of the special units, as Maya called them, and ended up just dropping a bunch of trees on it to crush it to death. Surprisingly, the idea came from Hibiki, and it even worked, since the only moving part of the creature was its' single hind leg that survived the large trees.
"Well… that was… fun." Alex gasped. Hibiki laughed while Jura and Barnette chuckled slightly. Meia gave no reaction, but she did smile slightly. She was just thankful that no on noticed it.
"Well… now where too?" Barnette asked, standing up.
"We need to head straight down this corridor and then to the left at the first T section. My room is on the right and is labeled '409'." Alex told her. He slowly got to his feet, then helped Jura and Hibiki up.
Meia stood up, cocked her gun, and nodded that she was ready to go. "Alright, lead the way, Demon." Hibiki moaned.
"You know something; I really am going to hurt you if you keep calling me that." Alex growled, shooting his gun off at one of the more distance enemies. A loud roar signified that the bullet hit, and a body crashing to the ground, signified that he killed it.
"I ain't scared of you." Hibiki boasted, aiming the weapon at him. Alex plugged the barrel with a single finger, and hoped that Hibiki would be dumb enough to test his luck. Barnette quickly unplugged Alex's finger, while snatching the gun away from Hibiki.
"Hibiki, you do not EVER, point a gun at another person unless they are a real threat!" She yelled. "Alex is trying to save us, destroy this installation, and get out of here in one piece! You should be thankful that we've survived so far!" She shoved the gun back into his arms. "Don't you ever, do something that stupid again!"
"Whatever." Was her reply.
"Don't worry about it, Barnette." Alex assured her. "He can't hurt me, because he understands that I'm the only one who can get him off this installation. So he won't try anything that stupid again." Alex walked off, shooting something down in the corridor to his left. Once again, another roar, another loud crash, both of which signified that another one of the monsters had died.
The others sighed, knowing this might take a while. They hurriedly caught up with Alex, shooting anything that wasn't human on the way. Alex stopped them, motioning to the left as something sounded down in the depths of the long blood soaked corridor. Amongst the bodies, stood an odd creature. They cocked their heads slightly, almost as if to get a better view of it. Didn't help, since it was one of the special units again, but it was lacking something. It was lacking something that they couldn't put their fingers on.
"It has no torso, no neck, no arms, and no head." Hibiki finally blurted. Alex nodded slightly, staring at the odd thing. It was still clearly alive, if you could even call it that. It was walking about. Its' tail was swishing side to side. Its legs were scratching the ground, obviously looking for something. The only thoughts on their minds were, "How". They got the "How" part quite well. What they wanted to know was the, "How did it suffer that much damage" part.
"You think there might be some survivors?" Hibiki finally blurted again.
"Somehow," Alex began, watching as the strange beast continued to walk around. "I don't think so." Barnette shot him a confused expression. "This station has lots of equipment. What if the damn thing just hit something, and lost its top half?" He motioned the creature in question.
"Regardless of how it got like that, we have to take it out." Meia announced. She pointed to something it was guarding. "I believe THAT would be your room. Correct?" She lowered her hand and readied her weapon.
"Yeah, but I don't think it knows we're here." Alex stated, motioning the missing top half of the beast with his gun. "Maybe it's just… to dumb to know how to die." He mussed.
"To dumb to know how to die?" Hibiki questioned, arching a brow. "That's the dumbest thing I've heard you say all day." Hibiki placed his gun on his shoulder. Alex rolled his eyes, though still hidden by his helmet, as he started creeping towards his room, hoping it wouldn't see him, or smell him, or what ever it could do that would allow it to know he was there at the moment. God these things were strange.
Jura and Barnette had their weapons ready, incase it did spot him, or sniff him out, or just knew he was there by some odd chance of luck. Meia half readied her gun, believing that the thing wouldn't see him or smell him. Hibiki just kept his on his shoulder, resting peacefully as he waited for this to either blow up in Alex's face, or succeed. Hibiki thought about that for a minute, then pointed his gun incase it tried something. Hey, he had enough sense to know that Alex was their ticket off the station.
Come on you stupid asshole. Don't you dare see me… err smell me. God that sounds so lame. It's missing half its' body, so how the hell can IT see me?! Alex thought, leaning against the wall as he inched his way to his door. His fingers found the keypad, and slowly started typing the password. A slight dinging noise filled the semi quiet room, letting Alex know that he got it.
Smash
The tail connected with the keypad, destroying it and almost taking off Alex's hand in the process. It was then that Alex saw what it was doing. It wasn't acting dumb and looking for something, it had been digging a hole and eating the metal in the floors and walls to make a new body. His eyes widen as the creatures' new head could be seen from inside what remained of the body. Slowly but surely, Alex crawled back to the others, as a loud roar boomed from within the bowels of the monster. Alex jumped the rest of the way to his team, rolling in the process as he readied his weapon. The others were by his side as the new head and new arms appeared, tearing out of the body in a gross fashion.
"Awe man, I think I'm going to hurl." Hibiki gagged.
"Shut up and shoot it!" Alex roared, firing into the beast as the new features finally finished appearing.
Barnette opened up with Jura as Meia and Hibiki began reloading their weapons. Alex was going to say something to them, but the creature before him was more important than stating a well known fact in that all military personal, or for that matter, any pirate, should know. ALWAYS make sure your weapon is fully loaded. Don't wait until you need it, and then find that you only had one bullet in the chamber. Its not rocket science people.
The beast roared in pain, and beckoned more of its underlings to aid it. Not two seconds later, about ten of the smaller ones appeared from the hole underneath the large one, and looking mighty hungry. Hibiki noticed something odd about one of the monsters, and blinked in surprise. The thing had a pink doll of some kind, hanging in its mouth.
"Were there little kids on this colony?!" Hibiki yelled over the gun fire.
Alex was reloading his weapon as he replied. "Yes, but protocol states that they're the first to leave the station in a battle situation! Why do you ask?!" Alex went back to firing at the new arrivals that continued to pour out of the hole in the floor.
"I think one ate a little child, that's why!" Hibiki yelled back, firing at the horde before them. Alex stopped for a moment, scanning the horde for any signs that would give Hibiki that idea. He then saw what he saw. He saw the pink doll hanging from the creatures' maw, blood covering its tiny arm.
"Barnette," Alex whispered. Barnette looked up at him, stopping her assault as they took cover behind the corridors' T section wall. "Give my your weapon." He ordered.
"Why?!" She clearly didn't understand, nor like the idea of him taking away her means of fighting back.
"Because, I'm going to finish what V. started. I'm going to finish this thing off, for her." He stood up; pulling out the pocketed item he took from her. It was a purple spike, no longer than a pencil, and probably about as big as one too. Barnette sighed, handing over her new prized possession. Alex slipped the strange devise into the barrel, turned to the alien with the gun in one hand and a smile that lay hidden by his mask. "For you Luna, I would have gladly given my life if..." He whispered to himself.
The beast roared as it continued its charge. Alex pulled the trigger, and for a moment, time stood still for him. He could see her again. He could see two women smiling at him. Nothing could hide the smile that played on Alex's lips. He could see them again, he was seeing them again. He closed his eyes, lowered the weapon, and waited for what he knew was coming.
Bang
The beast exploded just three feet away from him, sending its' metallic like organic body parts flying. The team looked at him, then the dead body, then back to Alex. They could tell that he was happy, just by looking at his back. For some reason, they didn't want to ruin the moment he was having. Who could blame them? There was nothing left of the enemies at the moment, and Alex had taken care of the bigger one with one hell of a grenade.
"I'll never forget either of you. I promise." Alex whispered to himself. He had attained what he always wanted. Peace of mind. It was something he wanted ever since her death, and now he had it. He held it in the palm of his hand, so to speak. Smiling one more time, he moved over to the door, pressed the green button, and walked into the room with his team following him slowly.
His room was basic military standards, bed in one corner, closet in one corner, a desk next to a window, and a small bathroom in the other corner. His bed was jet black in color, his wall were painted a dark purple, his computer was a desktop and his laptop lay beside it, bright silver in color. A small blowing ball however above it, sparkling like some kind of crystal. The team had half a mind to just poke it, or in Barnette's case, just shoot it.
"Nice to see you made it." Maya replied, shining brightly as she spoke.
"Good to be home, even if it is for only four minutes." Alex moaned, grabbing a duffle bag from under the bed. He went to his closet while the others grabbed another duffle bag and started putting pictures Alex told them to grab. Maya pointed out a few that they should take too.
Meia, trying to stay out of everyone's way, decided to just sit on the bed. It was comfy, not as comfy as her bed, but still comfy. Her hands swiveled over his thick blanket, which was actually kind of cool looking. She noticed it had large dog head on it, probably a wolf head, while a dragons' head lay beside it. Both were solid gray, and a single eye shinned from both heads. She had to admit, it was kind of cool, despite it belonging to a man that is.
"I'd suggest you rest a bit." Alex suggested. The team looked at him for a moment, watching as he took a seat at the computer desk. "It'll take some time for me to initiate the detonation sequence." He added.
"How much time are you giving us?" Barnette asked, looking down at the two duffle bags. They probably didn't way more then five pounds, if not ten, but even that would slow them down a little.
"I'll give us about twenty minutes. That should give us enough time to get out of here, and put some distance between us and the station. Anymore, and the enemy might try to deactivate it."
"Sounds like a plan." Meia mussed lightly, lying down on the comfy bed. Her hands went under the pillow, just like she did in her room when she was thinking of a new strategy or whatnot. But her hands crossed something. She moved her fingers across it, slowly scanning it, in an attempt to figure out what it was. No luck, and finally giving into curiosity, she pulled it out. It was a piece of paper, with the words "For you" written in black ink. Meia flipped it over, scanning the back of it. She rolled her eyes, and then opened it.
Dear Alex
Two years today. That's a long time to be away from home, but I guess you don't really care, do you? I can't blame you. All those cameras and those damn reporters. It would be pretty infuriating if you asked me. So I guess I just understand why you transferred here in the first place.
I wish you were here though; everyone misses you right now, especially V. but she just wants you to help her kick Magic's butt for being such an ass as of lately. He actually blew smoke in her face! Sometimes I wonder if he was dropped on his head as a child.
I got the test results back, and they came back positive. Can you believe it, I'm pregnant and you're going to be a daddy. Don't worry though, I haven't told anyone just yet. I'm waiting for you to get back so we can tell the Captain.
I sure hope you're readying this, and if I run into you and you say you haven't seen it or read it, I'll kick your ass all they way to the colonies and back. You can be such a moron sometimes, but I guess I picked you, so that makes me one too, right?
Anyways, I hope you read this soon. When you get back, come to my room so I can show the pictures. And incase you forgot again, its room 489. And if I hear that you went to V. to ask her again, just to be funny, I'll kick your ass for that too.
Sincerely Yours: Luna L. Hawk/Switchfoot
PS. I had to add that since when we announce this, we can announce that too.
Meia blinked in surprise. Alex was a father? How strange. And he was a moron? Those two things didn't really seem to fit his personality, but then again, Meia hardly knew him. She folded the letter up and placed it in her pocket, with the intentions of talking to Alex later about it.
"How much longer?" Jura cried.
"Not much longer." Maya replied. She was sitting beside Jura at the moment, appearing out of the laptop that was beside her. "He only has to bypass all security firewalls before he has access to the self-destruct sequence."
"Why couldn't you do that for him?" Barnette asked. Barnette was walking around the room, flipping through a sketchbook that had her raising her brows with each page. "Who drew these?"
"I did." Alex told her, not once looking up from the monitor. "I like to draw. It helps me… relax." He stuttered. "Which one are you looking at, by the way?" He turned to face Barnette, a smile hidden by his helmet, as always.
"It's a girl with her back turned to you, a thin piece of cloth covering her naked butt, and a dragon tattoo etched on her back. It looks like it was set in some kind of… Japanese theme or something." Barnette showed him the picture, earning a few chuckles from both Maya and Alex. "You seriously drew this."
"Yeah, and I have it as my wallpaper." He announced, turning back to the monitor to finish his task. "I have some more on the computer, but I normally stick to that one. It usually keeps the guys from thinking I'm gay."
"The word you are looking for is "Queer"." Maya corrected.
"Whatever." Alex huffed.
"I like the design though." Barnette mutter, closing the book and throwing it into one of the bags. "I guess you could draw a few other "Items" in there, since you'll be with us for sometime I guess."
"Yeah, next one will have you in it." Alex joked. Barnette glared at him, but then blushed at the thought of being in his book. Jura picked the book up and flipped through it, blushing with each new page, while Hibiki just stared at the images, dumbstruck and in utter belief. "Done…" Alex announced; his serious tone back. He stood up and picked up the two bags, while Jura slung the laptop into a case, but not before killing the power. Maya transmitted herself to Alex's PDA, deciding that she would be better off in their, since her chip had been inserted into the laptop. "We have twenty five minutes now, since I decided to give us some extra time just incase we run into too many of those bastards." Alex told them, walking over to a wall and punching it. The wall hissed slightly as secrete door opened.
"Secrete exit." Jura mussed, clearly impressed.
"No, ammo holder. I've always had extra ammo in my room incase of emergence." He informed her, pulling out some extra magazines. He threw three to Barnette, then four to Meia and Hibiki, then two to Jura, and then pulled two for himself. "Come on, I'm sure that Maya can get us out of here the quickest, since she's in my PDA at the moment."
"If we're going to go to Hanger 39, we need to take a shortcut, straight through Section C1." Maya stated. Alex opened the door and shot the only monster that had appeared before them. It almost seemed to have been waiting for them or something. "Sorry, I guess I should be quiet for now, since you'll be trying to kill things."
"I don't need to try, I can kill them." He moaned, walking out into the corridor. Hibiki and the others shrugged, and followed him out into the hallway.
"This area we have to go through, why is it a short cut?" Hibiki asked.
"The main way to the hanger was destroyed when the aliens got here." Maya began. "I'm sure you noticed that large hole on one of the sides of the station, correct?" Hibiki nodded as her ball form appeared. "Well the only way to it now is through the Fusion Reactor Section, which is what we just primed to detonate."
"We have to go past, the thing we just primed to explode?" Hibiki questioned. Maya nodded while Barnette just shrugged. Jura stared at the AI, completely dumbfounded as to how she could act so calmly when they were going to pass something that was going to explode. Meia had no reaction, what so ever. It just seemed like another day in paradise for her.
"At what time were you going to tell us this?" Jura finally asked.
"Only when you asked." The AI replied, blinking out of existence.
"Your AI is really getting on my nerves." Jura moaned. Alex chuckled as he turned into another corridor that, lead to another elevator. "Does she even know what this will do to my skin?"
"She doesn't care." Alex said, pushing the button to go down. "She's use to people like me dealing with her. These sorts of things don't faze us, and so she knows how we react to them. She wasn't planning on dealing with people like you, of course Meia and Barnette kinda fit the bill since Meia had no expression and Barnette just shrugged it off."
Jura huffed one more time as she entered the elevator. Once again, they were forced to deal with the same elevator music. Maya made a comment saying they should change to something like an Opera theme or something like that. Jura rolled her eyes, but agreed. Hibiki didn't say anything while Barnette said it could use some spice, whatever that meant.
Once again, the elevator door opened, Alex shot the new alien in the face, he closed the doors, and they were back on they're marry little way. Once again, the process was repeated, only this time, Barnette shot it in the face, then Alex stepped on its head and shot two more while Jura shot three to the left, Hibiki shot two above them, and Meia and Barnette worked together to shoot ten that were coming up from behind the elevator lift.
Once the aliens were killed, the team got a good look at their surroundings. Large furnaces covered most of the area, and gave it a coal engine sort of feel. Hibiki was the one to point out that this was the power station, and Alex corrected him by saying this was the instrument of death if they didn't hurry up and move.
They were only in the room for no less then two minutes, since they ran into another special unit, and Alex, rather than stay and fight it, told everyone to run for it. Surprisingly, the creature wasn't too bright, or it was just blind. It crashed into almost everything they ran around while they ran to the other side of the chamber. They were rather lucky that Barnette decided to shoot the door loose so Alex and Hibiki could kick it in, so they could run through it, and let the alien smash its head into the thick wall, knocking it unconscious.
The team crashed to the ground, tired from their run, but they had no time to waste. Every second they stopped, the more of a chance they had of the station blowing up with them in it. Gathering themselves up, they stood before two doors, while the one behind them had a large dent in it from their friend that found out how hard the walls were. Maya appeared again, humming as she scanned the two doors for the safer route.
"We need to go through the right door, but there are two more special units behind it." She stated and warned at the same time. Alex nodded, reloaded his gun, which prompted everyone else to do the same, as he scanned the roof for something. It took Maya a full ten seconds to grasp what he was going to do. "I know what you're thinking, and you're crazy."
"So… you gonna stay here?" he snickered, walking over to a nearby ladder.
"What are you doing?" Meia asked, about to follow him up.
"Stay down there and wait for my signal to open the door. I might be able to surprise you." He joked, climbing high into the darkness of the roof. His metal boots clanked above them, letting them know that he was directly above them.
It would be easier if you told us the signal, moron. Meia growled, using Luna's words as her own.
"Yep," Maya appeared beside Jura, floating out of the laptop case she was carrying. "He's really going to get himself killed one of these days if he keeps this up." She mussed as she faded away just as quickly as she appeared.
"Okay, let them in!" He yelled.
He's joking…right? Jura yelled in her head. Barnette sighed and pressed the green button. As soon as she did this, she jumped back, just in time to shoot two of the smaller units, while the two bigger ones busted through the door and charged the team. They quickly scattered, firing as they went.
Hibiki dove behind a large supply of wooden crates, firing into the legs of the two beasts. Jura took shelter behind some metal pipes, blasting into the hips of the two beasts. Meia flipped behind some warheads, firing into the face of the two beasts. Barnette took no shelter, standing her ground and firing like crazy into their guts. The team of four continued blasting and reloading when they ran out, but for all the bullets fired, they couldn't bring them down. They were mostly machines, and they had yet to find a power supply on them. They had two options at the moment. One was to just run like hell through the door and hope they made it to hanger where they would be safe, while the second option was to continue shooting aimlessly into their bodies, hoping to hit the power supply or something that would stop them from moving. They had a third option, and that option made its self known as it came crashing down, smashing the monsters into nothingness. The gooey like blood splattered over the team, completely grossing a few out. They looked up to see what had done it, and weren't to surprised to see the torso of a busted up machine being the culprit, with Alex smirking on the side of it.
"Did I miss anyone?" He asked, jumping off the busted machine. Jura walked up to him, and punched him in the gut. Her attack didn't faze him, since she hit his chest armor, meaning she only hurt herself. "Nice to see you too." he joked, walking to the busted down door.
"Come on, just one more door, and we're home free." Alex told them, running through the door with the team behind him.
"How much time is left?" Barnette asked. She didn't want to know, but she had a feeling that someone was going to ask it anyways.
"We have five minutes and thirty three seconds left." Maya told her.
"Only five minutes!" Hibiki yelled. "How much further until we get to the hanger!"
"Just one more door and we're there!" Alex yelled, shooting the next door off its hinges. He just ran through it, blasting the two aliens in the room while his team looked at a single life pod in pure shock. "Just one, I thought there'd be more." Alex whispered to himself.
"How many people can those hold." Meia asked.
"They're built for only one person, but you can cram three people in there, if they're skinny enough." Alex admitted. The team fell into despair. All of this and only three could go. What were the chances of them all getting off anyways?
"Barnette, Jura and Hibiki should go." Meia announced. The team stood there, staring at their Flight Leader in pure shock. "Alex can send Maya with you guys, so she can get you through the other colonies, that is, if there are anymore."
"No Meia, you need to go with them!" Barnette protested. Alex sighed and walked away. "You can combine with Hibiki, that means you're more important then me! You're also the Flight Leader. That gives you more of a reason to go then me!" she began to shove her into the pod. Meia spun around, kicking Barnette into the pod while Jura and Hibiki crawled in after her. Meia gave them a small wave as the pod was ejected out into space. The last thing she heard was Barnette crying for her to be in here, rather then her.
"So, how much time do we have left?" Meia asked. No response. "Alex?" She turned to find him no where to be seen. "Where'd you go? Alex, where are you?" She asked, walking to the last spot she saw him in.
"Up here!" Meia looked up to see him on something. She couldn't see it too clearly since the lighting was beginning to flicker away. "Come on, we're leaving this place." He beckoned her. Meia blinked in surprise. They could still escape?
She didn't waste anytime as she jumped up to him. He quickly shoved her into an open hatch, jumping in after she was in. The hatch closed, and darkness overtook them. Meia closed her eyes, waiting for something to come up. She heard the sounds of whatever they were in coming to life. The buzzing noise soon stopped, and three popping sounds filled her ears.
"Meia, you can open your eyes." Alex whispered. "You can see outside this machine." She opened them up to see that she could. She glared at him, knowing that he knew something she had never truly admitted to anyone. She then looked down, and noticed they were in a mobile suit of some kind.
Alex pushed forward on the controls. The hanger doors opened up, slowly but surely. Alex pushed a few buttons, and the next thing they knew, they were flying out into space. The pod that held Jura, Hibiki and Barnette came into view not two seconds later, its thrusters taking it far away as fast as it could. Alex pressed a few more buttons, one activating a screen that showed what the machine looked like. It was all white, and Meia found it strange as a pair of yellow eyes lighting up. Alex drummed over a few more buttons, and the machine awoke, spreading beautiful angel wings. Meia then noticed the bright blue and white armor while a green core lay in the center of its chest.
Its wings fluttered to life, acting like bird wings as they flapped slightly, allowing it to do a back flip as it whisked the pod and them away, flapping its large wings in the process.
"This… this is something like the Freedom, isn't it?" Meia finally managed, captivated by the beautiful machine. "Is this its twin or something?"
"No, this is my first machine." Alex whispered, holding onto the controls tightly. The colony exploded behind them. "This is Wing Zero, the first machine I ever piloted." The sphere of death crashed into them.
(-)
"The colony has exploded." Celtic announced sadly. She, along with everyone on the bridge, and those watching the video feed of the colony, were in tears as no signs of life appeared. There was no escape pod to be seen on screen. No ship, no mobile suit, no nothing.
"They failed in getting back to us, but the succeeded in destroying the colony." Magno whispered. "I'm sure that God is taking care of them right now."
"I wish I could have seen them one last time." Dita cried. "I wish I could have seen Mr. Alien and Mr. Suit one last time." She cried, crashing to her knees as she began to cry.
"Captain, I think we're close enough that she might have actually heard you." Amarone gasped. Magno turned to the bridge bunny with confused eyes, as did everyone else. She pressed a button and an angel appeared on screen. "If I'm not mistaken, that's an angel. And angels' only appear when they come to take someone to a place of rest forever, correct?"
"I'm not an angel." Alex protested. Dita and everyone looked up as Alex's face and voice appeared on screen. Meia's form could barely be made out, and it was then that everyone saw the pod in its arms. "Mission Success." Alex announced, giving her a thumbs up.
Magno sat back in her chair, smiling as the machine appeared in front of the Nirvana, flapping its white wings for everyone to see. A small blue orb appeared on the bridge, scaring most of the people on it, though Dita just blinked and poked it, but only watched as her finger slipped through it.
"Please, desist in poking me." Maya said, scaring Dita this time. "I am truly sorry for frightening you, but I do not like being poked."
"Uh, Alex, explain this." BC demanded. Alex was laughing at this point.
"That's Maya." Meia said. "This is the AI that was inside the Colony, and since Protocol demands that the AI not be destroyed, it had to come with us."
"I see. So we now have an extra guest." Magno grinned, while a bemused Pyoro floated beside the blue mass. Parfait stared at it while Dita started chanting off question after question towards the floating AI.
(-)
The hanger was buzzing with action as the new machine walked in, still holding the life pod. Almost everyone was crammed in the hanger, just to see the team and the strange machine. Since it was slightly taller then the Freedom, and because they didn't have the proper gear to hold it up, it was forced to lie down, wings folded over its body, giving an almost old man sort of look to it.
The hatch opened up, and Meia and Alex walked out, standing on top of the chest. The first thing they noticed was the welcome home banners. The second thing they noticed was everyone staring at the new machine with wide eyes. It truly did look like an angel.
The duo hopped off the machine and walked over to a smiling Magno, blue mass that represented Maya, a smiling BC and a stunned looking Bart and Hibiki, and one gleefully looking Jura.
"So, care to explain how things went?" BC asked, turning her gaze back to Alex.
"No, not until I get a bath." Alex moaned. He took his helmet off and tossed it to Parfait who gave him a questioning look. "This suit is all used up, and is no good to me anymore. As soon as it gets washed, you can play with it, all you want." Parfait almost jumped for joy, while Pyoro simply wiped a bead of sweet from his head/face/screen.
"Alex," Magno motioned for him to come over. He did so, smiling behind his mask. She made sure that only he could hear what was said. "You have three hours to get ready to explain everything to the men and women. And I mean everything. They need to know the truth about what happened over Taraaku and your involvement on Mejarru." She walked away, leaving Alex to curse inside his head.
Damn it!
A/N
The Station fight is over and now Alex is permanently with them. The truth is revealed in the next chapter, so expect so small fights from the men. As always, Read, Review, and hope that I get another day off soon. My boss just lost my replacement driver since he had diabetes and has to have his feet cut off. Needless to say, updates will start getting short since I work at a feedlot.