Vandread GA: The Second Stage
Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread anything that references other anime, manga, movies, video games, and comics; they all belong to their respective owners and creators including Gonzo. I do own the things I created; enough said.
Chapter 6: Nightmare like no other (Part 1)
April 30th 3818 AD; 11:30 am (1130 hours)
It had been fifteen days since the Second Gundam Raid, the betrayal of Supreme Commander Alberta Walker and Marine General Albert Watson, the theft of the Helios and Selena Gundams, and the deaths of the Terrain Prime Gundam scientists.
Right now, both Arthur and Brian were a bit according to Duero were slightly unstable because of what had happened at the Halo station/colony outpost and Magno using a bit of caution urged the crew not to do anything that could agitate them. Right now one of them Arthur, had reverted to an all military-like mode which meant anything else aside from health was second priority and was on his way to check on the supplies from the Register.
Brian on the other hand was training in the Gymnasium like no tomorrow and had put up the second sand bag the gym had because in his rage from what happened during the Halo station/colony outpost, he punched and kicked it so hard it ripped in half.
"First my parents, then my mentor who designed my Gundam. When I find those two traitors, I'll kill them both in the most horrible way possible!" Brian shouted mentally.
As Brian was training like crazy, Arthur on the other hand wearing his combat uniform had turned the corner and was heading down the hallway which the Register was at when he saw Dita coming from the other end of the hallway with a tray of rice balls which he concluded was for Hibiki. Paying no attention to her, he came into the Register first and saw Hibiki once again playing a card game with Gascogne while Misty feed him sandwiches as he played.
Arthur interrupted the game by speaking in the most emotionless tone he mustered which scared Misty along with Hibiki and Dita who came in just as he began to talk while Gascogne just turned and looked at him.
"Gascogne, what's the stasis of the Pan and Eos Gundams? And how are we doing on munitions and what not?" Arthur asked coldly.
"Well for starters you could lose that attitude of yours, the Pan Gundam will be assigned to Julian Ride for now, the Eos Gundam will be assigned to Barnette, and all munitions are stocked and ready for both Dreads and Vanguards." Gascogne said.
"Very good, oh and Private Tokai by the way, you suck at poker and all other card games if you keep up with that attitude of yours." Arthur said.
Before he left, Dita stopped him and spoke, "Um, Mr. Angel Alien would you like a rice ball?"
Nodding he took one of the rice balls and spoke, "Thanks Dita and by the way, it's not Mr. Angel Alien! It's Squadron Leader Hanson okay."
Dita noticed a clock on the table and asked, "Um, Ms Gasco why is there a clock?"
"Oh, this kid takes too long so turns are limited to three minutes." Gascogne said.
"You're so-"
Hibiki didn't finish when Arthur glared at him making him shut up as even the hot-shot vanguard pilot was feeling like he was staring at a cobra before he turned his attention back to the card game at hand.
Hibiki then drew a hand while speaking, "A pair of Jacks!"
"Full house boy." Gascogne said while flashing a card hand.
Misty then spoke at Dita, "It's your fault he lost!"
Grumbling in annoyance, Arthur finished his rice ball before addressing the two females, "Both you of two shut up, lose the attitudes, and get back to work or both of you will be cleaning the Hanger bay in maid outfits. By the way Dita, the Rice Ball was delicious."
"Gascogne, I'd recommend that you reduce the time to twenty seconds to teach him the importance of making snap decisions." Arthur said before he left.
After he left, Misty was a bit baffled with Arthur's behavior which a look from Gascogne told her to get use to it. Although Dita and herself both still fought over Hibiki, they did it when neither Arthur nor Brian were around to lecture them and that's the last thing they wanted as the rematch went on.
Meanwhile, Brian having finished his intense work out was going to shower and then have lunch with Arthur to discuss who should lead in Bella's absence was walking down the corridors when he passed the Medical bay which upon looking inside, he found Jura and Barnette with Miranda.
While Barnette was taking the pictures, Jura was doing some poses with the baby which confused the infant to no wits end. One expression made him wonder if Jura was spazing or sensed that the baby needed a diaper change. Pausing, he also saw Paiway, Parfet, Pyoro, Duero, and a nervous Ezra standing nearby which he decided to act.
"How's this Barnette?" Jura asked while doing a pose.
"Great! Perfect! Really good! You remind me of the holy mother!" Barnette said cheerfully.
"More like a crazed, drugged-out Looney patient from an Insane Asylum if you ask me." Brian said to himself quietly.
Jura then spoke, "Yeah Barnette I know! I always end up looking good no matter what I do! What's a woman like me to do? It's hard being so beautiful!"
"Hey now, stop being so conceited and hold the baby more gently!" Pyoro shouted trying to get the baby.
Just then, Brian came in and carefully removed Miranda away from Jura's grasp and then to everyone's surprise, he began to sing a lullaby that his mom once said to him when he was the baby's age.
After less than two minutes the baby was asleep and gently, Brian carefully placed baby Miranda in her crib and walked away while wiping away a few tears that had formed while he sang the lullaby.
He then left the Medical bay, but not before reminding Pyoro that the baby wasn't Pyoro 2 or he'd blow him to pieces. Everyone was just stood there before Jura then argued with Pyoro, but in a quieter tone.
"When will you learn to be quite during a photo shoot? Can't you at least allow us to take a picture or two without you shouting?" Jura asked.
Everyone then looked at the baby after Pyoro set the mechanical device above the crib on designed to entertain the baby. Brian on the other hand nearby in the men's showering areas, just stood where he was after cleaning himself. The weight of what happened over two weeks ago weighed heavily on his shoulders as did Arthur.
He got out of the shower, dried himself, changed into his combat outfit, and went to go have lunch with Arthur and meet with him. Back in the Medical bay, everyone continued to be fascinated by the baby.
"Oh my goodness, she's so cute! Jura wants to have a baby like that too one day!" Jura shouted.
Barnette just rolled her eyes as Parfet tickled the baby before speaking, "She looks so fragile."
"How come she can't make or recognize facial expressions?" Paiway asked.
"Baby is just a few months old; it'll be sometime before she can recognize facial expressions. Also she doesn't know much about the world around her and babies are interesting." Duero said.
"She's not a baby! She's Pyro-"
Pyoro didn't finish when Arthur appeared with a cheese and meat sandwich in hand. He walked over to the machine as he ate his sandwich and glared at him as he finished his sandwich.
"Pyoro I swear if you keep calling her Pyoro 2, I'll pull you into the hanger and kick your machine ass for two hours you dumbass machine." Arthur said annoyed.
"He's right and the baby's name is Miranda Kahlua Veil. She's named after Brian's late mother Miranda Smith-De Gras. The boss approved of it Brian's blessing." Ezra said with a smile.
On the bridge, everything was calm and peaceful when out of the blue the Harvesters appeared. Amarone was the first to report.
"Our long range sensors and radars have detected an enemy Harvester fleet approaching!"
Upon looking at it Magno asked, "Is it one of those Harvester Battleships?"
"It appears so captain, this one is heading to Mejere." Belvedere said.
Buzam turned to face Magno and spoke, "It's most likely one of those Battleships that is heading towards Mejere after our little scuffle with another one."
"Captain! Sub-Commander! It's changing course and heading straight towards us!" Belvedere shouted.
"Well now I guess we have no choice, but to fight them. BC, tell everyone to head to their battlestations now!" Magno said quickly.
All across the ship, the battle alarms rang out and everyone got to their stations while Arthur went to get Hibiki from his losing card game against Gascogne. He found him still sitting at the table with Dita and Misty near him
"I guess they're here now..." Gascogne said.
"And I was on a roll here." Hibiki said to himself quietly.
Arthur spoke at him as he walked up to him, "Last time I checked, you were getting your ass kicked and besides, Lockheed Elision is a hell of a better card player than you along with Yao Zhou of the XXZX-XV04 Buster Jasso Gundam and the XXZX-XV02 Nexus Kratos Gundam respectively, you arrogant little dumbass. Trust me, they've beaten me at Poker, but it's the other way around with Blackjack."
Hibiki ignored the insult as he put down his deck of cards and stopped the clock's timer much to the surprise of Gascogne, Dita, and Misty though Arthur wasn't surprised by all of this.
"What's all this about?" Gascogne asked.
"The enemy is attacking and until they're defeated, the game is on hold and only then will the game resume okay." Hibiki said.
Gascogne just chuckled before she spoke, "I wonder what hand you're holding this time?"
Everyone then left for their battlestations respectively while Gascogne got the Register ready for deliveries. In the pilot's meeting room, Meia along with Arthur quickly went over the battle plan before they all boarded their machines to fight the enemy.
Outside, the Harvester Battleship deployed dozens of Seed Ships which launched hundreds of improved Cube Fighters while keeping a few surprises in store waiting. The Dreads, Vanguards, and the Gundams launched from the Nirvana to fight the enemy including a new unit for Barnette called the Eos Gundam though she was still getting used to it.
"Hey Private Tokai, word of advice..." Arthur said.
"What is it?" Hibiki asked.
"Don't get shot or killed." Arthur said sternly.
Hibiki nodded before he rolled his eyes as the Nirvana's forces advanced towards the enemy fleet. Inside her Dread/Gundam which she called Silver Eagle, Meia looked at the enemy fleet before she contacted Jura in her Dread/Gundam she called Venus.
"Jura, do you understand what the plan is?" Meia asked.
"Yes I do Meia! I'll be the heroine of the day! So leave it to me to lead us to victory!" Jura shouted. n
Hibiki came on the lines and shouted, "What in tar nations are you talking about?!
"All right let's not lose our heads here and let's get our heads back in the game okay everyone, now Hibiki and Jura you two know what to do now." Arthur said while getting everyone refocused.
Hibiki and Jura then formed Vandread Jura which Hibiki spoke in a cocky tone, "I'm going to take care of all of those a-holes today with help by my side!"
As Vandread Jura sped forward, in her Dread Dita pouted a bit before she spoke to herself, "That dumb Mr. Alien is hanging out with all of the other girls, no fair!"
"Dita, get into formation Delta-4 while Arthur will take formation Delta-3. Follow me Dita." Meia said sternly.
After Dita acknowledged the order, she speed ahead with her teammates while on the Nirvana Magno gave Bart an order, "Bart full speed ahead now!"
"Roger that captain! For today, I'm a hero of the day as well!" Bart shouted.
As the Nirvana sped forward to face the enemy, on the bridge Misty was a bit surprised to see the charge and asked, "Are we really going to be taking on that huge fleet alone?"
"Sure looks that way Misty..." Arthur said while calling the bridge.
Magno nodded and spoke, "We have already beaten one of them once before and those three kids from Terrain Prime along with that country Melanos were able to take down another so, experience tends to turn into confidence for us."
"The goal here is to surround the enemy fleet with Vandread Jura's shield-barrier and then, use the main guns and missile launchers to take them down in one swoop-pyoro!" Pyoro shouted softly while holding baby Miranda nearby.
Misty looked surprised and then smiled at the antics of the Nirvana, "If that's the case, then it sounds like a really nutty plan, but I like how this ship's' crew can be very confident like this."
Back out in space, the Seed ships released their usual cargo, but something was very different which Meia didn't notice as she gave an order, "All units attack now."
"Meia, Arthur look at what's happening..." Dita said with concern.
True to what Dita had just said, dozens of compacted Cube Fighters came together and formed something shocking: an exact copy of the Nirvana! But to add more insult to injury, copies of the Gundreads appeared as well along with something that pissed Arthur and Brian off: copies of their friends Gundams and Vanswords as well.
"What in Hades is that?" Brian asked.
"Seriously? Are you freaking kidding me?!" Jura shouted.
In the bridge, Buzam muttered the ship's name as the bridge crew saw the fake Nirvana and Gundreads along with the copy Gundams they saw before they were upgraded.
"Pyoro 2, you shouldn't look at something that terrifying..." Pyoro said while covering baby Miranda's eyes.
In the Navigational Well Bart yelled out, "It was long ago decided that fakes were weaker than the originals!"
"Easy there Bart, don't lose your temper and focus." Magno said.
Inside Vandread Jura, Hibiki wasn't fazed at all and spoke as Vandread Jura thundered ahead, "You don't scare us because we'll get you!"
"That's right! You're just all smoke and mirrors! We'll get every last one of you! Even those fakes of the Gundams, Vanswords, Vandreads, and Gundreads!" Jura shouted a second later.
The pirate forces then charged forward not noticing the charging mass of red energy on one part of the ship that Brian noticed and tired to warn everyone, but the warning came to late as the Harvester copy of the Nirvana fired an energy shot knocking aside the Vandread, Dita, Meia, and the two Gundam pilots though thankfully the Vanguards weren't hit.
Barnette in her new Gundam in its mobile armor mode saw what happened and asked, "Meia! Dita! Are you two okay along with those two men?"
Meia didn't heed any attention as she spoke, "That pain…"
Dita finished up the sentence for Meia as if they were next to each other, "It's the same one as before not to long ago."
Despite the hits, the team didn't stop even as the improved Cube Fighters fired on them along with a few of the copy Gundams including a copy of the original Jasso Gundam. Barnette destroyed copies of the Horus Gundam and the Odin Gundam with her missiles with luck.
"Get out of my and my teammates way!" Hibiki shouted while diving through the enemy fire.
Hibiki used the shield bits of the Vandread to destroy a dozen enemies including a Harvester copy of the Diana Gundam as he spoke, "Don't get in my way or you'll be scrap metal of the Nirvana!"
As soon as the Vandread got close enough, Magno barked an order despite her age, "Bart! Get ready for the plan!"
"Roger that! Hibiki, hurry up now!" Bart shouted.
"You don't need to tell me twice!" Hibiki shouted seconds later.
The Vandread then proceeded to use its shielding abilities to contain the Harvester fleet with Jura shouting the sequence out loud, "Commence holding now!"
Vandread Jura's shield bits started to contain the Harvester fleet as Celtic wearing another costume reported the progress, "Vandread Jura has begun to activate its shields and is starting to "hold" in the Harvester fleet."
Within seconds, the entire Harvester fleet was contained in a green sphere of energy with Hibiki adding a little something to the situation for kicks thinking the situation was in the bag.
"How do you like that huh? Can't do much if your trapped! You dirty bastards!"
Arthur noticed and tried to warn everyone along with Brian about something no one else saw, but it was too little, too late as the center of the Harvester copy of the Nirvana glowed along with the guns of the Harvester copies of Gundread Dita A mode and Gundread Dita C mode.
They then fired, knocking aside the shield bits of Vandread Jura and knocking Vandread Jura aside like they were nothing destroying the sphere with ease. Seconds later, Vandread Jura then got rocked by three shots against it in a quick, rapid-fire succession. Inside the Vandread, Hibiki quickly regained his bearings, but Jura didn't for some reason.
"Damm come on! We'll be dead if you don't do anything! Hey, are you even listening?" Hibiki asked.
Hibiki then looked at Jura and then looked at his left hand which he saw blood in it which belonged to Jura and he wasted no time contacting help, "Someone help! That blonde is injured!"
"Private Tokai, head back to the Nirvana post haste! Do not hesitate, her life is on the line and be sure that you don't aggravate her injures while you head back." Arthur said.
Barnette saw Jura injured along with Dita and roared to the Harvesters, "How dare you do that to Jura!"
Barnette in an irrational mind set charged recklessly and foolishly towards the enemy in her Gundam. She didn't get far as the Archangel Fujin Gundam blocked her way while the Dreki followed behind her.
"Barnette, pull back now! We've underestimated them and we better fall back and regroup." Gascogne said.
Arthur appeared a second later and spoke to her as well in a very stern tone, "Ensign Orangello, Gascogne gave you an order and you better follow it now before we make you pull back."
"But Gasco what about Jura?" Barnette asked with concern and annoyance.
"Barnette, you can't win without a calm or rational mind..." Gascogne said.
Barnette saw Gascogne looked at her briefly before shutting off her link to her before Arthur came on and she could see that underneath all of that, he was not looking the way she was acting at him or Gascogne. Barnette ignored both and planned to reengage the enemy which Arthur gave her one last warning before he activated a new feature in the Archangel Fujin Gundam.
"Barnette last chance..." Arthur warned very sternly.
Barnette tried to reengage the enemy only to get the words "Phantom" on her main view screen which next thing she saw was that the Eos Gundam then turned around and was allowed be captured by Gascogne using a tractor beam/shield so everyone could fall back for now. Barnette yelled at both only to get Arthur on her view screen silently telling her to keep her mouth shut.
"How did you do that Arthur?" Gascogne asked.
"Phantom and let's focus on getting the secondary leader of the Dreads help because I don't want to get Barnette kicking my ass Gascogne..." Arthur replied calmly.
After everyone got back including the Vandread separating, Arthur docked his Gundam, got out, ran towards Jura's Dread/Gundam, opened the cockpit, saw that Jura was badly injured, called the medical team down to the Hanger bay, and to everyone's surprise, he took off part of his pilot suit and removed his undershirt in an effort to stop the bleeding long enough for the medical team to arrive and bring her to the Medical bay with Arthur being with the team all the way to the Medical bay.
Once there, Arthur helped Duero and Paiway by removing her dress ignoring Jura's nude form before he was told to back away so Jura could be treated. After about ten minutes, Jura could be seen though she was in rough shape.
"She has lost a lot of blood. She'll pull through which means her injuries are not life threatening though the wound in her abdomen is pretty close to being very bad, but she'll make it everyone..." Duero said calmly.
"Jura..." Barnette said with sadness in her voice.
"Just make sure you treat her so there will be no scars..." Hibiki grumbled bitterly.
Duero then looked at Hibiki and spoke, "You can count on Mejere and Terrain Prime's tech to do that. Hibiki, it's you turn now,"
"I'm fine, it's just a scratch..." Hibiki said.
Arthur walked up to Hibiki and spoke to him in a commanding tone, "You let Medical Officer Duero McFile treat you Private Tokai. That's an order or you'll be thrown in the Brig."
"He's right on that. Give me your personal file now..." Duero said with sternness in his voice.
"Fine do what you want..." Hibiki said as he gave Duero his ID tag.
As Duero did his work, Hibiki cursed at underestimating the enemy, which Arthur spoke up, "Well all did Private Tokai. When it became clear that the odds were against us, we had no choice, but to fall back until we can devise a strategy on defeating our enemies."
Dita tried to comfort Hibiki only to get a shut up yelled at her, which earned him the ire of Arthur and Brian who harshly glared at him for his actions. Just then Gascogne arrived to see how everyone was doing.
"There is no reason to yell at Dita..." Gascogne said sternly to Hibiki.
"Yeah Private Tokai, that is completely unnecessary and out of line you spoiled brat..." Brian said seconds later.
Gascogne walked in and asked Hibiki something, "What happened to your disciplined and cool attitude?"
As Duero worked, he noticed an error message in getting Hibiki's data which puzzled him, but he kept on while Gascogne kept on her talk while Brian and Arthur kept ensuring everyone would keep quiet.
"With the exception of the Vanguard leaders possibly, why are all of you so down? If that's the case, then there is no point of me being here. The best thing for everyone right now is to go back to their posts..." Gascogne said.
Barnette then asked Gascogne something while Arthur checked on Jura, "Gascogne, why did you and that freak of a man make me come back!? I wanted to keep fighting for Jura's sake!"
"Then you would've died in complete and utter vain for nothing. Not to mention your life would've been utterly wasted. There's a difference between a life well lived and a life wasted which you would've been the latter..." Arthur said while looking at Barnette over his right shoulder.
Then a sense of tension settled in as the Nirvana and its crew tired to figure out what to do next...
To be continued in Part 2...
A/N: Part one of Chapter 6 is done and Part 2 will come next.
R & R to tell me what you all think, but no flames for they shall be banished to the moon by Princess Celestia or to the sun by Princess Luna.
If you want info on other mecha and ships of this universe, please leave a comment and I'll put the details in the Author's notes.
Bye now everyone…