Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or anything else that references or borrows from other anime, manga, movies, video games, and comics; they all belong to their respective owners and creators including Gonzo and Bandai. I do own the things I created; enough said.

Chapter 6: Training and Reflections

July 16th, 3817 AD; 1:30 pm (1330 hours)

It had been a month since the ground mission on the desert planet which meant it was now July 16th and everything was normal on the Nirvana.

Inside the Planning room, Arthur, Brian, and Bella stood in front of an audience of at least thirty women. This was the first meeting for the new Vanguard squadron which was called the Starfire squadron.

As the women were settling in, Arthur's mind drifted back to the private conversation his teammates and himself had with Magno and Buzam.

Flash back:

"What is it you want to talk about?" Buzam asked to the three Gundam pilots.

"Look, it's not we're opposed to the idea of a Vanguard squadron. It's just that will the women listen under my command as well as Brian's? They might have some problems with a woman from a co-gender world being an officer. We don't want pilots who won't listen because the whole women-are-superior idea," said Arthur to Buzam and Magno.

"I agree with my commander here. We don't want women who will be refusing commands from a man," said Brian.

Magno looked at them and reassured them by speaking, "Don't worry youngsters. My crew is very loyal and when they understand why they'll be assigned to your squadron by my order, they should have no trouble listening to you youngsters."

"When do we begin?" asked Bella.

"As soon as the recruits are chosen," replied Magno.

"Very well, then, but the training won't be easy though," said Arthur.

Arthur saluted Magno which she did in return while speaking, "Okay then, but don't be too hard on them okay."

Present day:

As the trio of Gundam pilots watched the last of the women sit down with Magno, Buzam, and Gascogne coming in to help them with the presentation and over view, Bella couldn't help, but think about what was going on back home and how everything was going for their teammates.

"What's wrong?" asked Brian out of concern.

"Oh, I've been wondering how everyone is doing back home and how the war effort is going on. I miss my sister and the others including our teammates," said Bella to Brian's question.

"My guess is that they are presuming that we're lost and are going to cover up our "deaths" as us being MIA," said Arthur.

Brian shock his head and spoke, "Add to that now, Tarak might have now declared war against our home on the whole Ikazuchi incident and us being a co-gender world."

Back home at Terrain Prime, the three had no idea how right their thoughts were for at the moment, the self-defense high ups were in a meeting discussing the disastrous recon mission that happened nearly four months ago.

"Dammit! We lost not one, but three Gundams from this mess a few months back! On top of that, Tarak has declared war on us even though according to a report by Captain Malone and Lieutenant Stone, that they acted in self-defense and tired to reason with them before hand before the mission went to hell," said Grand Admiral Rachel Adams a thirty-seven year old African-American Self-Defense Navy officer.

Her duty was to handle all Navel missions while working with the other high ups. She had light black hair in a tight bun, green eyes, had a height of 6'4, and had a compassionate, but business-like look to boot. She was also the youngest of the officers of the group.

"I agree with Grand Admiral Adams here, what gives those psycho males the right to declare war on us for stupid reasons? The pilots were acting in self-defense and had no intention of declaring war on them or destroying them," said Air Chief Marshall Buddy Salvador a thirty-nine year old Asian-American or Hmong Self-defense Air Force officer.

His duty was to handle all space and planetary aerial operations. At 6'3, he had indigo hair, yellow eyes, and had a calm, but stern look that would work on the most stubborn air man or woman. Whereas Rachel Adams was the youngest female officer, he was the youngest male officer of the group.

"I say we take our vengeance now! Paint their walls and their planet with their blood so they understand our pain and loss!" said Alfred Watson a forty-six year old Caucasian Self-Defense Marine General.

The Marine officer was bald with gray eyes, had a look that could freeze hell over, and had a build of 6'8 feet. The only downside to him was that he was the most stubborn of the group.

"That will make things only worse Marine General Watson, we must learn not to let our anger and rage drive us. Remember what the Art of War taught us that a leader must be calm and be able to adapt to any situation," said Self-Defense Army General Liam Blackhawk a forty-nine year old Native-American Self-Defense Army officer.

He had a short-cropped graying black hair with sky blue eyes, had a neutral look, but expressed his emotions when needed, and had a build of 6'7. He was also the oldest among the officers in the group.

It was then that the Supreme Commander Alberta Walker a forty-two year old-Latino American woman who at 6'2, she had light purple hair, sliver eyes, and had a look that would break any team lock, decided to address everyone to bring them to their main focus which was where to go next.

"I agree with how all of you feel, this was a mission gone terribly wrong and we should've known what the scenarios for the outcome should be. Besides, we are already constructing four new Gundams to replace them for now if they are truly still alive," said the leader of the Terrain Prime Self-Defense Forces.

As the meeting went on, they viewed the specs on the four Gundams; Valkyrie, Warrior, Ninja, and Blitzkrieg. For them, it was time to venture out and find new allies one in particular was called Melanos and knew for certain of one thing; the war was going to be more complicated and they used the art of war as a guide to fight Mejere.

With Tarak now on them, the teachings of an ancient Chinese general were going to be needed more than ever than before. They decided to also incorporate other strategies from other leaders like Lawrence of Arabia's "Phantom Army" strategy.

One such matter that was pressing their concern as of recently was that a remote outpost far beyond their normal territory was mysteriously lost for some reason and it wasn't Tarak or Mejere's doing at all.

For now the pilots were going to be pictured as gone missing defending Terrain Prime as part of a black ops mission. It wasn't a good idea, but moral had to be kept up for everyone.

Back on the Nirvana, Magno started the meeting, "As you may have seen what the enemy's intentions were on that desert planet, it is clear we are nothing, but livestock to them. Therefore, we're forming a squadron that will have operations outside the Dreads which means Meia will not be your leader. The floor is all yours Squadron Leader Hanson."

"I will be training you all on basic training methods used by the Self-Defense Air Force while Brian and Bella will do the same, but with training methods from the Self-Defense Navy and Marines. I will not lie that the training will be hard and tiring so be prepared. You will also be taught teamwork, battle strategy, self-defense military cohesion, discipline, and other things to turn you ladies from civilians to Spartans in one way sort of. Any questions?" said Arthur.

"Um, isn't the woman named Bella supposed to be the leader?" asked one woman.

"Actually I'm the overall leader of this particular unit, but if I were to be incapacitated in battle, Bella would take over until I could return and if she couldn't, then Brian would take over then in any mission. Now any more questions?" replied Arthur.

In the back of the room, Hibiki, Duero, and Bart were watching the whole meeting play out as the three Gundam pilots answered various questions although some weren't part of the overall discussion and were testing the three pilots.

"Man, being trained under three different military programs would be no picnic for me," replied Bart to Hibiki and Duero.

"Yeah, if the women think they're in for a smooth ride, then they have no idea what is in store for them," said Hibiki.

"The formation of a Vanguard team or as they call it a Mobile Suit team is a great idea guys because now the Nirvana will have more defenders," said Duero calmly which the other guys agreed.

Off to the side from the Gundam pilots, Magno, Buzam, and Gascogne were also watching the pilots answer questions when Buzam decided to ask something "Captain are you sure the women will listen?"

"I have to agree, after seeing Hibiki train under their watchful eyes, I hope we know what we're doing here," said Gascogne.

"I know both of you ladies concerns about this, but for the continued survival of this crew and to have operations that would make using the dreads on a planet's surface impossible, this squad will be formed and Meia will have some pressure taken off her with protecting the ship with those youngsters leading the new Vanguard squadron," said Magno.

The next morning, the women under the direction of Arthur, Brian, and Bella were soundly sleeping when suddenly the lights flipped on with no warning which seconds later Arthur, Brian, and Bella came in and all spoke in a drill sergeant manner to each 10-person group which told the ladies that they were downright serious.

"Come on! Come on ladies! Get up now! Off the racks! And on the deck now! You've all got five minutes to get dress, brush your teeth, make your racks, and get into formation because the training will begin shortly! No excuses ladies!" shouted all three Gundam pilots.

The ladies groaned, but got up and after getting dressed and getting the beds made. They wanted time to put on their make-up, but their instructors weren't having any of it.

The next thing the women knew was that they found themselves doing pushups, sit ups, crunches, jumping jacks, and weight lifting. The exercises lasted until 8:00 AM because they were woken up at 5:30 AM when their mentors told them to hit the showers and then breakfast.

After breakfast, classes started which consisted of Terrain Prime Self-Defense force tactics and doctrine as well as discipline. The three made sure that the women would read the 33 strategies of War and most of all, The Art of War by Sun Tzu so they could better understand warfare because as old as the book was, it was a very handy tool for warfare and other areas like politics and sports.

"Sun Tzu says here that if you know your enemy and know yourself, you will never be in peril in 100 battles," said Arthur as he went over a key part of the Art of War.

One of the women asked a question "Um, who was this Sun Tzu?" asked a woman name Julian Ride. She had ginger hair, golden-yellow eyes, was around 18 years old, had a build and height similar to Bella, and prior to her being selected for this team, she was a Dread pilot under Meia's command.

Naturally, she like the rest of the women selected for the new squadron, she resisted the idea of being under the command of a man. She was proud of her bloodline because one of her Earth ancestors was none other than the first female American Astronaut Sally Ride. She almost passed Vanguard training on the desert mission, but didn't pass and was getting as second try in this squadron.

"Sun Tzu was an Ancient old Earth Chinese general man who wrote the Art of War. His approach to warfare was different because of how he viewed it. His teachings from the Art of War have influenced or foretold the outcome of various old Earth conflicts like the Vietnam War for example," said Arthur explaining who Sun Tzu was and the impact he had.

"Please, I bet he was nothing more than just some tall tale men created for their own needs," said another woman in the group.

"That is half-true actually, some scholars even our own debate to this day about his existence, but his lessons on warfare is something not to be sneezed at. Many military leaders in the past have based their strategies on what they learned from the Art of War," said Brian.

As the day went on, the women continued to train under the Aegis of the three Gundam pilots. They went through the Vanguard simulators and did better than when they trained for the desert mission a month prior, but because they were being walked through the training sessions by their mentors.

Naturally some of the women wanted to custom color their Vanguards, but that idea was shot down quickly by the three Gundam pilots because they told the women that looking good would get them shot and only when you became an incredible ace or it was for a certain mission that you got to custom color your unit.

The women of course got lunch and dinner breaks as well as a brief period of relaxation during the course of the day. By the end of the day, the women were tired and naturally hoped it wouldn't be hard, but it was just the beginning for them.

After the women went to bed at 10:00 PM at night, the three Gundam pilots went down to the engineering section to talk to Parfet about upgrading the Vanguards and other matters.

The next day, the women once again got woken up and continued to train diligently. They of course still had to get used to the Revile music playing to get them up and the three Gundam pilot's yelling and talking.

Aside from classes about various military strategies, ranking of different branches, and code of conduct, they women were also given weapons training, making each 10-person group recites a certain creed or chant, close combat and hand to hand combat as well.

As one of the classes on squad cohesion was going on three weeks after the training for the future members of the Starfire squadron had begun, Meia, Jura, Dita, Hibiki, and oddly enough Barnette decided to see how the women were doing under the guidance of the three pilots.

"Leader do you think it was a good idea to let them train our fellow pirates using self-defense or military doctrine," asked Jura as the group made their way to the Planning room.

"I don't know, but I do see the reasoning in forming a Vanguard or Mobile Suit team. Besides, I would like to see for myself if those three can prove that they can teach our fellow pirates what they and their fellow comrades know," replied Meia.

Barnette said nothing as she had a tinny tiny grudge against the squad leader Arthur because lately she was noticing Jura taking glances and staring at Arthur when he wasn't looking.

Barnette also wanted to see if the man was an effective leader and teacher for herself. Hibiki was eager to see his mentors at work creating new Vanguard pilots while Dita just wanted to see how Mr. Angel alien, Mr. Dragon alien, and Miss Bella were doing.

As soon as the four women and Hibiki entered the room, the entire group in the room took notice including the Brian himself. The Vulcan Gundam pilot stopped his lesson and turned his attention to the newly arrived group.

"Well then, class remember this lesson and proceed to the shooting galley for target practice," said Brian to his students/recruits.

After everyone left, he turned his attention to the newly arrived group and spoke, "Hey there ladies and Hibiki, what brings you folks here?"

"We wanted to see how the women you three took under your wings are doing," replied Meia.

"Hey Mr. Dragon Alien, how are you doing?" asked Dita.

Brian couldn't help, but mentally shake his head because he did wonder when the young red-head would stop calling him, Hibiki, and Arthur aliens.

Putting that aside, he noticed Barnette staring at him and he decided to ask why was the Dread pilot giving him that look by saying, "Excuse me Barnette was it? Why are you giving me that hostile look? If it is about the whole men being a part of the crew, I'm not surprised. Also if you're looking for Arthur, he's out in space with some of the recruits teaching EVA combat techniques."

Barnette said nothing to the Marine Gundam pilot, which clearly to him, she just wanted to get in her dread and try to challenge either him and Arthur to put him either one of them in their "Place".

Jura then looked her then quickly whispered to her to calm down for her sake and then spoke to Brian, "Don't worry, she'll get over it and besides Brian, how did you and your friends become a part your home world's self-defense forces?"

"I have to agree with blondie here, I heard you joined after the Valentine colony tragedy, but not her or everyone here," said Hibiki.

Brian then motioned the group to sit down and with that done, he began to talk about how he joined the Terrain Prime Self-Defense Marine Corps.

"Well for me, I was just an average guy from the De Gras household learning kung fu for fun and was 16 when the war between Mejere and Terrain Prime broke out and decided just to move on and not dwell on it," said Brian.

He then spoke again after getting a quick drink of water, "Then the Valentine colony tragedy happened and then I choose to enlist in the Self-Defense Marines at seventeen because normally the minimal age requirement is 18, but with all of the older people either dying or there were not enough to fill the ranks, I was allowed to enlist, but I had to pass an entrance exam and passed and was transferred to a self-defense military version of a high school, trained, and graduated the academy and became initially a Vansword pilot before becoming the Vulcan Gundam's pilot after the first attempted Gundam theft by Mejere. I'm now 19 and I've been the pilot of the Vulcan Gundam ever since."

"Wow, you're so young to be fighting already? Does it ever bug or bother you Mr. Dragon alien or Mr. Angel alien or Miss Bella?" asked Dita.

Meia just looked at Brian and asked, "Where can we find Bella?"

"She's teaching Vanguard or mobile suit field repair in the Hanger bay. All of you can leave except for Hibiki, I have something to show him," said Brian.

The group then left leaving Hibiki with Brian in the Planning room. Unknown to all, Brian only told partially the truth for a reason, but knew that he'd speak the truth when he was ready.

Brian told him to follow him to the Engineering bay of the Nirvana and once the duo arrived, Brian directed his attention to a pilot suit in a case by the Paksis reactor observation window.

Hibiki was surprised to see this pilot suit which was colored much like his Vanguard, but was tailored to his size.

"This here is a pilot suit that is normally worn by us pilots of Terrain Prime. It is designed to be bulletproof, fire-resistant, stop a knife attack, and be able to damper down an excess amount of G-forces placed on the body. We used this as a flight suit in a planet's atmosphere and as a space suit, but it can only withstand so much before breaking apart. This isn't a substitute for a real space suit, but it helps the pilot avoid suffocating in the vacuum of space for several hours long enough to be rescued."

"I beg your pardon sir, but why are you showing me this and why are you letting the women have this tech?" asked Hibiki to his instructor.

Brian then looked at him and said, "Because Arthur, Bella, and I feel that you have endured our training for long enough that this is considered you becoming one of us, but don't get too comfortable because we're still training you during this voyage and this will help you in the long run."

Hibiki was excited to say the least, and with Brian's help, he got it on. He found it had a tan brown, dessert yellow, and orange trim color scheme with a helmet to go with it.

Afterwards, the duo left to continue Hibiki's training alongside the women under Arthur, Brian, and Bella's command.

After 9 more weeks of training aside from battling the Harvesters who tried to destroy the pirates and the Gundam pilots, the women were ready to be inducted into the ranks of the newly formed Starfire vanguard squadrons after three months of training. It was now early to mid-September which was September 16th, 3817 AD and the ceremony was getting underway.

At a makeshift podium in the Nirvana's Bio-Garden stood Arthur in his formal service uniform that some of the crew under Parfet along with the head engineer herself and surprisingly Dita were happy to recreate along with Brian and Bella's uniforms as well.

The Nirvana's officers were there as well which included Magno, Buzam, Gascogne, Meia, Parfet, Duero, and Jura along with Barnette. Hibiki and Dita were there as well along with the other crew who could fit into the area while the rest had to watch via television screen from other parts of the ship.

"Hard to believe that 12 weeks would fly by so fast," said Buzam.

"Indeed BC, they said they would train them and they did. We now have another team to defend this ship," said Magno.

As the ceremony was going on, Hibiki was sitting with his fellow men Duero and Bart watching the whole ceremony going on. To them, at least it wasn't boring like the ones on Tarak and was somewhat enjoyable.

Not far from the men, Meia, Dita, Jura, and Barnette were watching as well and Dita was excited to see Mr. Angel alien, Mr. Dragon alien, and Miss Bella welcoming the new members and telling them that they passed all of their expectations and were ready to take on the enemy, but reminded them never to get cocky in battle.

After at least 20 minutes, the ceremony ended and the after party began with the women now conversing with their fellow shipmates. As the party was going on, Paiway noticed Meia secretly looking at Brian while Jura was looking at Arthur as both were talking to their new teammates.

"Hey, what are you two looking at? Are each one of you secretly in love with one of the men?" asked Paiway.

"What? No of course not! I'm still stronger than them anyway. Why would I like any of them?" replied Meia in a denial voice.

"No, but I do admit that Arthur as he's called is one impressive leader and I still can't wait to see what combinations my dread can make with either one of them."

All of them just rolled their eyes as the party got under way. One thing was for certain: the war was about to get hairy in the future. Not to mention in due time, some romance would bloom as well…..

A/N: So here is the filler and this is part of Fanfiction writing that I don't enjoy because they're slower and harder to do, but I'm not the only one. Don't worry, the other Gundread combinations will be seen. The next chapter will be dealing with a familiar battle and you can bet how it'll be now that a Vanguard team has been formed.

I choose to speed up the training because I just wanted to condense it quickly. The outfit Arthur wore is based on the Royal Air Force officer dress uniform from the United Kingdom while Bella and Brian's are based on the US Navy and US Marine dress uniforms; both from the United States of America. The pilot suit is a fusion between the ones from the Full Metal Panic franchise and the pilot suits worn by Gundam pilots from Gundam Wing towards near the end of the series with a few tweaks like the suit from the 2009 Star Trek film.

Now then for the four Gundams or viewed by the higher ups of Terrain Prime, the Valkyrie Gundam has the torso, wings, and head of the Wing Zero Gundam, the waist, legs, and feet of the Wing Gundam; EW version, and the shoulders, arms, and hands of the Wing Gundam which in mobile armor mode resembles the Wing Zero from Gundam Wing as what it looks like along with its weapons.

The Warrior Gundam has the head, torso, and backpack (minus the stinger cannons) of the Altron Gundam from Gundam Wing, arms (Dragon fangs are smaller), hands and shoulders of the Altron Gundam; EW version or Nataku Gundam from Gundam Wing Endless Waltz, and the waist, legs, and feet of the Rosso Aegis Gundam from Gundam Seed Phantom Pain Report side story.

The Ninja Gundam has the legs, feet, and waist of the Blitz Gundam from Gundam Seed, torso, head, and backpack of the Deathscythe Gundam; EW version, and arms, shoulders, and hands of the Deathscythe Hell Gundam; EW version.

The Blitzkrieg Gundam has the torso, backpack (minus the Gundam face), and the head of the Seravee Gundam from Gundam 00 second season, the arms, shoulders, and hands are from the Hail Buster Gundam from Gundam Seed Vs. Astray side story, the waist, legs, and feet are from the Heavyarms Gundam from Gundam Wing, but are proportioned correctly.

So R & R, constructive criticism is okay, but not flames okay! The four Gundams will show up in due time.