Chapter 7: Avenging a Fallen Comrade

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Ace Combat series.

Vandread Ace: The Second Stage

The crew of both ships watch as a fireball engulfs the Reg delivery ship, destroying it.

Edge cried, "Gascogne!" Her and Gascogne have become good friends over this journey but now she's gone.

On the Nirvana's bridge, BC snapped out of her state of shock and ordered, "Ezra!"

Ezra nodded automatically, "Right! Ms. Gasco, please come in! Ms. Gasco!" Back with the raging battle, the red Nirvana emerges from the Harvest flagship unharmed. Tears of sadness run down Swordsman's face upon witnessing the woman he loved perish. That sadness turns to a thirst for vengeance as he glares at the enemy with burning hatred.

He seethed, "How dare you! How dare you take Gascogne from me, you sons of bitches!" Close by, Hibiki snaps!

The pilot yelled, "I'll get you!" He defuses Vandread Meia and the enrage young Tarak draws his Vanguard's sword and races to the enemy fleet, seeing nothing but red in his vision. Swordsman joins him and together, they prepare to inflict damage but Blaze's voice comes over on the radio.

He ordered, "Everyone, pull back now!"

Swordsman barked, "Stay out of our way, Blaze!"

Blaze instructed, "We can't win if we are not thinking straight!" A vision of Gascogne flashes through their minds snapping Hibiki and Swordsman out of their angered state.

The pilots, Kestrel II and Nirvana retreat to somewhere safe, the Nirvana turns around on its own and throws Bart out of the helm. He lands on his butt in complete bewilderment he was never thrown out of the helm until now.

He blinked a few times, "What the hell?"

Belvedere asked, "Why did you come out?"

Bart replied, "I don't know, it changed course all on its own! And I burnt my hand." Ezra repeatedly tries to contact the fallen Reg leader until Magno orders her to stop, accepting the fact that Gascogne's dead.

The Nirvana, Kestrel II and its fighters head for safety of a nearby nebula shooting down any pursuing enemy forces before returning to their respective ships. The Harvesters cease following their prey and wait for them to come out of the nebula.

The Dreads land first inside the Nirvana followed by Razgriz Squadron and B-1R bomber.

Meia contacted Magno, "We've completed docking every one of our planes, captain."

Magno nodded, "Good work, Meia."

The Dread leader frowned, "Please accept my apology for what happened to Gascogne."

The pirate leader ordered, "That's enough for now."

Meia said, "But captain..."

Magno cut her off, "Let it go, will ya? Remain on standby for now."

Meia sighed, "Understood." After closing the transmission, she slammed her fist, "Damn it! I thought I've become strong enough to not be fazed by something like this." The urge to cry threatens to overwhelm her and she tries her hardest not to while stepping out of her Dread. She buries her face in her hand, quiet sobs escape her. She senses a presence and frees her face to see Grimm giving her a sympathetic look before walking up to her and hold her. Held in Grimm's arms, any self-restraint Meia had fails. She wraps her arms around his back as she lets it out, Grimm gently pads her back.

The rest of the crew feel the same way, the only thing they can do is cry.

BC said, "Just as I suspected. What happened to Gascogne is having a major effect on the crew! Especially dealing with the loss of someone they considered an older sister to them." She tightens her grip on a bridge control console feeling the pain of loss.

Magno stated, "But what she left is just as big, BC. She left a huge gaping hole in their mothership and that means we still have a way out of this." Inside the dark infirmary, Barnette sits at Jura's bedside, clenching her fists in a sobbing matter.

She said, "Damn, I missed my opportunity to apologize to Ms. Gasco. Why did this have to happen? Why?" She feels Jura wipe her tears away, she looks down to see her friend staring up at her with a smile.

The injured blonde-haired woman informed, "The Barnette that I know is much stronger and cuter than that." She was able to get Barnette to smile by rubbing her cheek and in turn made her smile, "See? You look much now." Barnette holds Jura's hand embracing the comfort her close friend was offering. Though Barnette and Gascogne had their heated arguments, they did have an unwavering respect for each other.

Nathan gazes out the window of an empty hallway admiring the beauty of the nebula they're hiding in though it's bitter sweet because he fully knows that the Harvesters are waiting for them to come out. A more pressing matter is how Snow was taking Gascogne's death. He can tell that the black-haired Osean loved the Reg leader, even though they kept it a secret from the crew except for a select few including himself.

Hearing footsteps, Nathan turns his head to see Nagase joining him to stare out the window.

She said, "Magnificent, isn't it? Sometimes it seems the stars are so close, it makes you want to reach out and touch them."

Nathan nodded, "Yeah." He easily understands that his wife's trying to lighten mood. He then lowers his head when the Razgriz Squadron leader feels that pain of loss that everyone else is suffering at this very moment.

Nagase sensed this and asked, "Dear, what's wrong?"

Her husband replied in a calm yet sad tone, "How many more people must die, Nagase? It's not right. All the planetary systems targeted by our twisted home world don't deserve to be hunted down like animals. They deserve to live in peace, not misery brought upon them by the Harvesters." When Nathan lifts his head, Nagase sees tears streaming down the young man's face. Taking a deep breath he removes the tears from his enchanting green eyes. He flinches slightly when Nagase hugs him from behind, laying her head against his back. Turning around Nathan returns the embrace. He then suddenly breaks it, sensing a disturbance somewhere in the crew quarters and barrels down the hallway. As he comes closer the feeling gets stronger then reaches its peak when Nathan stops at Snow's room, which is surprisingly unlocked. Stepping through the open door he spots the man sitting on his bed pointing his M9A1 in his mouth and pulls back the hammer. Nathan instantly realizes what his wingman was planning and races over to snatch the pistol away before Snow could pull the trigger.

He asked with authority, "What in God's name are you thinking, Marcus Snow?!"

Snow replied blankly, "What does it look like?"

Nathan glared at him, "Looked to me you were about to commit suicide."

His wingman gritted his teeth, "The woman who I loved just died right before my eyes, Captain! Can you blame me?"

Nathan crossed his arms, "No, I don't blame you for feeling sad over what happened to Gascogne but killing yourself won't help matters at all. You're not only an important member of Razgriz Squadron but also of the Nirvana crew. Can you imagine what the other crew members would think if they found out that you committed suicide? They'd be more devastated than they are now, Snow. I strongly urge you to reconsider on what you are doing." He departs the room to let Snow reflect on his advise.

Hibiki enters the dark, empty Reg Central and advances to the desk that he, Gascogne and Snow played cards. He then spots Dita holding a smiling mushroom hand puppet.

She said, "Smile! Smile!" She pokes her head out.

Hibiki asked dryly, "What are you doing?" Her smiling face made him demand, "How can you smiling at a time like this?!"

Dita explained, "Because...I have no idea what face I should make. You see when I was a little girl, when the living unit I lived in closed down, everyone was sad just like now. Whenever I messed up or said something silly, everyone laughed. So now I want everyone to be happy not sad, Mr. Alien." They both hear the door open and see Barnette hanging her head.

She asked quietly, "Why? Tell me, Hibiki. Why didn't you save Ms. Gasco?"

Hibiki said, "What was that? Speak up, I didn't hear you."

Barnette spoke up, "You should have focused more on what was happening around you."

Hibiki asked, "Are you saying that it's my fault that Gascogne died?"

The brunette accused him, "You always brag about stuff but when it comes down to it, you're completely useless!"

Dita exclaimed, "That's enough! Stop it, you two!" She knocks over the timer Gascogne used while playing cards, directing the occupants' attention to it.

Gascogne said in Hibiki's mind, "Hey, it's your turn. Show me your hand."

Hibiki balled his fist, "Alright, I'll show you. Get everyone down on the double, time for a tactical meeting!" Down in the engine room, Parfet watches the red light vanish from the Paksis.

BC entered the briefing room, "What's the meaning of this?"

Hibiki told her, "I've figured out a way to destroy the enemy mothership."

BC narrowed her eyes, "How?"

Misty showed her the solution to their problem, "With this."

The platinum-haired woman gasped, "That's the capsule from Pluto!"

The red-eyed teen nodded, "Yep, it's the virus that eats up the Paksis. We can beat them with this."

Hibiki asked, "Is it ready?"

Misty pointed at Pyoro, "Yeah! All we need to do now is have him eat it!"

Pyoro blinked then exclaimed, "I wasn't informed about this! I don't wanna be separated from Pyoro 2!"

Ezra snatched her baby away, "How many times have I told you? Her name is Fiona, not Pyoro 2!"

Meia wondered, "But to launch the virus, we need to pass through the enemy's line of defense. How do we do that?"

Parfet explained, "I have that figured out. I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to unveil my latest invention! The enemy's a machine, right? So I have developed a weapon that shoots an EMP pulse strong enough to disable the link. However, the pulse only lasts for a few seconds at best. Your Dread will be carrying the weapon, Barnette."

Hibiki smirked, "Alright! Let's teach them those scrapheaps a lesson! You with me?"

The other Dread pilot yelled in unison, "Yeah!" The fighters take off to meet the enemy.

Pyoro whined, "Pyoro 2!"

Hibiki shouted, "Would you shut up? I'm tired of hearing you whine!" Dita offers him to combine with her Dread but Hibiki tells her that now's not the right time, he combines with Meia to create Vandread Meia. They speed through the enemy blockade. Barnette orders the other pilots to guard them.

Blaze crosses paths with the lead MiG-35 again, both multi-role aircraft shift to robot mode.

They draw their beam sabers and they clash. The MiG-35 swings its red blade against Blaze's blue one then Blaze attempts to behead his opponent but the MiG leaps back then gets hit by a barrage from the M61 Vulcan Gatling cannon, inflicting light damage on the enemy. Its red eyes glowing brightly, the enemy multi-role aircraft fires its arm-mounted missile pod only to have them shot down by the .50 caliber machine guns in the F-15E Strike Eagle's head Blaze retaliates with a couple of Quick Maneuver Air-to-Air missiles. The MiG-35 cuts them down with its beam saber. It gets rammed by the F-15E and the Strike Eagle pulls its beam saber back in preparation to thrust its close-range weapon into the enemy's chest but his adversary punches the Strike Eagle right in the face. Quickly forming another idea, Blaze gains some distance between him and his target, discarding the Gatling cannon and pulls out his second beam saber the MiG-35 cocks its head, not understanding why its enemy just decided to get rid of its gun. Nevertheless, it fires another wave of missiles at him but the missiles swiftly get cut down as Blaze speeds toward the enemy, quickly closing the distance and circle the twin beam sabers around the MiG-35's waist in an X shape. The F-15E Strike Eagle pulls them simultaneously, severing the enemy in two. Remembering how it can recover lost limbs the beam sabers get swung rapidly in multiple directions reducing the MiG to nothing. Satisfied with the victory, Blaze switches his F-15E Strike Eagle to jet mode.

Vandread Meia continues to head for the Harvest flagship with Dita and Barnette following behind them in their Dreads. Suddenly a swarm of cube-types bear down on them but they suddenly wind up being obliterated by a pair of R-77s.

Hibiki whipped his head around, "Who was that?"

Archer informed, "We'll handle the small fry, you just concentrate on getting inside that flagship to upload the virus."

Misty asked, "But aren't they all small fry?"

Edge replied, "It doesn't matter, Misty. Protecting the infiltration team is our top priority!" The missile alert sounds and she jinks right as an R-74M follows her F-15E's heat trail, a couple of flares send the missile off course. Quickly tracing the source of where the R-74M was fired from, Edge discovers the perpetrator to be another MiG-35. The enemy aircraft approaches her head-on and Edge fires the M61 Vulcan Gatling cannon to make the MiG break off its approach.

The infiltration team enters the flagship through the hole created by Gascogne in her kamikaze attack, guns light up the inside as they near their destination. Barnette fires missiles to disable some of the guns but her Dread gets clipped in the process.

Barnette told them, "Don't worry, the damage is light. Go on ahead, I'll catch up." They soon reach the heart of the enemy flagship.

Meia observed the area before saying, "It's too quiet we better stay alert, don't you screw this up."

Hibiki nodded, "Yeah. You hear that, Dita? You're up next."

Dita replied, "Roger." Hibiki defuses Vandread Meia and combines with Dita to form Vandread Dita, at the same time Pyoro makes his way to where he can upload the virus.

Archer downs a pair of cube-types with the R-77 with no difficulty.

He declared, "Come on, you bastards! Is that all you got?" A formation of Su-37 Terminators appear on his Fulcrum's radar so he and Edge turn to sneak up on them from their 6 o'clock low.

The young Osean fires the GSh-30-1 cannon downing one of the Terminators and surprising the others.

'Looks like Grimm's plan worked.' Edge thought with a smirk.

The remaining Su-37s split into two groups, Archer and Edge turn to engage them.

Switching to a couple of R-74M heat seeking missiles, Archer waits until he gains a lock then fires. The missiles score a direct hit on their target and Archer takes evasive action when he hears the missile warning go off. After downing 4 more Terminators, he sees the remaining one of his choice switch to robot mode and draws a purple beam saber. Archer realizes that his foe wants to him one on one in close-range combat so he obliges, turning his MiG-29 into its robot form as well and pull out a green beam saber, placing both of the fighter's hands on the hilt. The combatants race toward each other and their blades clash generating electrical arcing the Su-37 pushes Archer and brings its beam saber down to cut its opponent in half but Archer tilts the beam saber laterally to block the attack. The enemy fighter jet frees one hand to punch the MiG-29's face which in turn causes Archer to retaliate. He spots a diagonal strike coming and blocks with his beam saber before countering with a kick to the mid-section. The two glare at each other.

Back inside the Harvest flagship, Vandread Dita continues to act as a shield while Pyoro installs the virus.

The red Nirvana comes in and aims to shoot down Vandread Dita but Meia draws its attention to her. It fires its chest beam but the Dread leader weaves through the swarm of lasers.

Hibiki asked, "Pyoro, are you done yet?"

The white robot said, "Almost got it!"

Meia alerted, "Enemy closing from 11 o'clock!" Vandread Dita catches Fakedread Meia and spins it around before tossing it away to destroy it with the back-mounted laser cannons.

A cube-type attempts to attack Meia at point-blank range but it gets trashed by an emerald beam, the infiltration team turn their heads to see a crimson red Dread flying in.

Barnette gasped, "Jura!"

Jura told them, "Don't just stand there, hurry up and finish the job!"

Duero warned her, "Don't push yourself, your painkillers will wear off pretty soon."

The blonde-haired woman chuckled knowingly, "I'm aware of that. That's why I am telling them to hurry up!" Meia advises Hibiki and Dita to aim for the vein-like branch the red Nirvana's using to stand on, the laser cannons on Vandread Dita's back deploy and open fire destroying the structure. The evil doppelganger falls.

Hibiki advised, "Pyoro, you better hurry!"

Pyoro cried, "So annoying! Why don't you Harvest punks eat this! Launch the virus!" The capsule releases the virus and filters it through the link to the Harvest units facing the pilots out in space.

Blaze said ecstatically, "Hey guys, the plan worked! You better get out of there before something bad happens." He is proven right when the red Nirvana rises from its fallen state and charges its chest beam, prompting Vandread Dita to shove Barnette's Dread out of the way before the lasers hit.

Returning her gaze to the front, Barnette sees the units badly damaged and the pilots hurt.

Meia ordered her fellow Dread pilot, "Barnette, it's not safe here. Get out of here while you still can."

Jura stated, "That noisy Pyoro is getting in the way."

Barnette refused with tears in her eyes, "I can't do it! I don't want to leave anyone behind!"

Dita assured, "It will be fine because we won't lose. I...don't want to see people have sad looks on their faces.

Hibiki saw the enemy charge its chest up again and yelled out, "Get out!" A fireball envelops them making everyone believe that the infiltration team had been killed. Barnette looks through the fireball and her eyes widen in awe as she watches the damaged units fuse to create a new Vandread.

This new unit, named Super Vandread, was humanoid in shape, had the physical appearance of both Vandread Dita and Meia and equipment of Vandread Jura. Its armor was shiny silver mixed with blue and its fingers and visible joints were a glowing aqua-green.

Everyone was stunned by the machine's appearance!

Inside Super Vandread's cockpit, Dita, Jura, Hibiki and Meia see the internal transformation.

Dita sat on Hibiki's lap, Meia sat in a seat behind them and Jura sat in a seat in front below them facing the controls.

Jura looked at it, "What...is this? I'm supposed to run all of this by myself?" The enemy giant stares down with evil intentions in its glowing eyes.

Hibiki barked, "Hey! Don't just stand there, hurry up and do something!"

The blonde-haired woman protested, "Hey, if you have forgotten, I'm wounded!" She slams her hands on the console but it seems to have triggered something because the moment the red Nirvana fires its chest beam, Super Vandread forms a shield to deflect the attack. Next, it pulls a sword out of its hand and accelerates toward the red Nirvana raising the sword. With a mighty swing Super Vandread cuts its giant opponent in half.

'Amazing!' Edge thought in amazement after witnessing Super Vandread destroy the Nirvana doppelganger with just one swing of its blade.

Magno chuckled with a smile, "Amazing little children." The newly fused machine heads back to the real Nirvana and Bart wonders if he'll fuse with them at some point.

Inside the engine room, Jura and Meia stand on the skywalk with Meia looking at the Paksis.

Meia explained, "Back there it wasn't the Paksis coming to help us in our time of need against evil."

Jura stated, "But it was the Paksis who made all the Dreads and Vanguard fuse together."

Meia clarified, "It's because we all had the same thought, Jura. We were all optimistic and wanted to see it through to the end no matter what, that's why it happened."

Jura turned her head to look at the Paksis too, "Wow! The Paksis keeps surprising us every day!" Later that day, the crew asks Magno to hold a ceremonial service for Gascogne.

The pirate captain sighed heavily, "Alright BC, I leave the preparations to you. Call me when the service is ready."

BC nodded, "Understood." Magno presses a button and her chair begins climbing up the conveyer belt to leave the bridge. Misty watches the aged pirate vanish from sight.

She said, "I feel sorry for the captain."

Ezra told the teen, "It's no surprise. You see, Gascogne has been the captain's partner ever since she joined our group."

Amarone added her piece, "While she was like a big and loyal sister to all of us, she was like a daughter the captain never had." In her quarters, Magno places her picture of Gascogne along side pictures of other deceased crew members inside an armoire she uses as a make-shift memorial shrine.

She heard her door panel beep, "Come in." The door opens to show Barnette holding the timer.

At Reg Central, Hibiki flips over the cards of his next hand it's comprised of 4 Aces and a Joker.

He mumbled, "Good hand, huh?" Barnette decides to take over as leader of Reg.

Her new attire was composed of a short yellow top that left her stomach exposed, white vest, black shorts and ankle-high boots.

She removed her crown jewel before contacting the bridge crew, "Captain, I'll be rewriting the security system so expect it to be down for a while."

BC blinked in shock, "Uh...roger that."

Magno smiled, "It may have been too early for Gascogne to go but to have someone follow in her footsteps, she must have lived a long, happy life." That night, the crew retire to their quarters after avenging a fallen comrade that they loved and respected very much.

Inside his room, Snow lays in his bed staring up at the ceiling.

'Gascogne, I'm sorry our relationship ended abruptly but I am certain that you enjoyed as much as I did. I kind of loved your sarcasm when it happened, it was humorous. Farewell, my love.' He thought with regret before closing his eyes to sleep.

A/N: Chapter 7 done. About halfway through the story now.

Here the crew avenged Gascogne's death and Super Vandread made its debut.

Nothing much else to say.

Read and review.

Stay tuned for chapter 8.

Vader 23A