Chapter 12: Escape
Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Ace Combat series.
Vandread Ace: The Second Stage
The crew watch as the two fleets close in on their position.
Belvedere said, "The Tarak fleet has targeted the Nirvana!"
Bart begged with anime tears, "Please don't shoot us down! I beg you!" Well, this was just fantastic. The crew had to endure an entire year of battles with Earth to return but instead of being welcomed with open arms, they are targeted due to the fact that they're space pirates, the only exceptions were Razgriz Squadron and crew of the Kestrel II.
Amarone informed, "Captain, I have received a message from the Tarak fleet. It says: 'Attention pirates of Mejale, prepare for an unconditional surrender!' That's all it says."
Misty asked, "What for? How come they can't talk to us directly?"
Pyoro replied, "On Tarak, they say if you talk to women your ears and vocal cords will blow up!"
Misty gagged, "Gross!"
Ezra added, "We're now being hailed by the Mejale fleet! They say: 'If you follow the Tarak fleet's unconditional surrender, we will board your ship and evacuate your crew!' What's our best course of action, captain?"
Magno concluded, "I think it'd be best not to push our luck." She hailed Dave Anderson, "Hey Dave, did you receive those transmissions as well?"
Dave nodded, "Yes, we did. Like you, we have decided to comply with the Tarak fleet's demand. Sean has already activated our ship's security system." In the brig, Hibiki, Duero and Tenmei hear the alarm.
Hibiki wondered, "Now what?"
Duero asked Tenmei, "How do you think Tarak will react to all of this?"
Tenmei explained, "Whatever happens next depends on how the captain handles the information about the harvest."
Duero said, "So in other words, the harvest is our trump card, right?"
Tenmei shook his head automatically, "No, not quite. We still have another card to play." He begins to explain the plan to Duero as a Mejale ship docks with the Nirvana and the boarding party enters the ship.
They appear before the crew wearing the same space suits the crew used during the Ikazuchi raid.
Paiway took in the sight, "Women are scary. At least that's what they say." They aim their guns at her, scaring the young nurse.
Meia yelled, "Stop that! She's just a child!" One member of the boarding crew shoves Meia down to the ground as the rest of them split up to gather the others. Dita and Parfet get captured as the redhead made boxed lunches for Hibiki, Duero and Bart since they were going back to eating those pills again.
Nagase willingly allows herself to be arrested while giving her captors an icy glare.
At the same time, Jura meets up with Barnette at Reg Central where the brunette was busy typing on the console.
Jura demanded, "Come on, Barnette! We need to go!"
Barnette said, "Just give me a little more time!" She noticed her close friend holding a bunch of stuff, "What the hell are you doing with that?"
Jura smiled, "These items are not easy to come by, Barnette. They're one of a kind!"
Barnette clarified, "Not that, I mean the book."
The blonde-haired Dread pilot blushed, "Oh, I thought it would come in handy if the time of need arises."
The dark green-haired woman asked, "You're still obsessed with that?"
Jura became serious, "Anyway, what were you doing just now?"
Barnette answered, "Security. That way, they won't hack in and do whatever they please with the ship." A group of the Mejale boarding party arrives at Reg Central and pointed their laser rifles at the two women, Barnette presses the activation button under the desk to turn the security system on.
Nathan finishes explaining the plan to his fellow wingmen.
He asked, "Do you understand?"
Snow nodded, "Yes, Captain." Hearing weapons being cocked, the men turn around to spot armed guards of the Tarak boarding party aiming their guns at them. Nathan, Snow and Grimm raise their hands in the air before the guards put them behind their backs and place handcuffs on them. With a shove, the group heads for the boarding ship.
The remaining members of the Mejale boarding crew reach the bridge and take aim at the personnel.
Magno sarcastically said, "Oh my, you certainly know how to greet people. I guess we'll accept your invitation." Hibiki, Duero, Bart and Pyoro wander onto the engine room skywalk.
Duero cried, "You know, this is like some twist of fate. There is where you first met Dita, in fact this where we all first met. Here we discovered the origin of men and women and a world we haven't seen yet."
Hibiki demanded sternly, "Okay, what's this all about? I hate seeing usually energetic people becoming quiet all of a sudden!" He glares at Pyoro and Bart, who look at something else.
Duero smiled sympathetically at him, "Oh, don't worry about them. Bart's been like ever since he found out the commander was a guy and it's tough on Pyoro being separated from Fiona."
Hibiki smirked, "Hold on, you discovered that I'm a member of the first generation."
The doctor nodded, "That's correct, you certainly are." When Hibiki goes on about how he will convince the higher-ups, the lad feels a stinging sensation in his posterior. Hibiki turns around to see Duero holding an injection gun in his hand, the pilot realizes that the doctor induced him with a sedative. Hibiki's vision becomes blurry and his limbs go numb as the effects kick in. He plummets into the Paksis.
Bart gasped, "What the hell? It swallowed him!"
Pyoro said, "The Paksis is keeping him safe."
Duero told them, "They had no idea that Hibiki was here in the first place. This way, he will serve as the ace up our sleeve?"
Bart asked him, "How did you come with that?"
Duero said, "You can thank the commander for it."
The bald helmsman whined, "I don't wanna talk about that right now!" He collapses to the ground anime style.
Pyoro asked, "What should I do?"
Bart got up and growled at the robot, "You just lie here and play dead!" He rubs Pyoro's head mercilessly.
The white robot exclaimed, "Stop! That hurts!" Nathan, Grimm and Snow meet up with Duero and Hibiki in the brig, little do they know that Nathan placed a knife in his boot.
After securing the crew, the Mejale ship departs while the Tarak raiding party frees the male prisoners.
One said, "I'm free at last!"
A guard said to Duero, "I'm surprised they did not eat your liver."
The doctor nodded, "Yes. I suppose they still had a full stomach after eating a recent meal." The laser bars to Tenmei's cell deactivate and he steps out.
One guard removed the handcuffs before saluting the undercover spy, "This way, sir. The Prime Minister is waiting for you." A boot collides with Pyoro as the NAVI robot pretends to be dead.
He frowned, "That was most likely Bart, wasn't it?" The boarding ship departs and Bart watches other Tarak ships roll in to secure the Nirvana.
Inside the court room on Mejale, a session was taking place.
The female judge looks at the Hello Baby book with disdain.
She said in a cruel voice, "How absolutely disgusting!" She threw the book to the ground, "Burn that book immediately!"
One bent down to retrieve as Jura cried, "Hey! Give that back!"
The judge demanded, "Be silent, Ms. Elden! Were you attempting to convert others to your sinful act? You're a witch! Admit it, Ms. Elden. Not only you but every one of your friends are nothing but despicable witches!"
Jura glared at her angrily, "A witch? Where do you get off calling me that, huh? If there's anybody being a witch here, it's you!"
Misty whispered to Meia, "I guess this is what they say. In a way, Mejale's a really nice place."
The judge sat back down, "From what I heard, you have fooled with the public about a harvesting operation, and you have used that as justification for a coup de tat attempt."
Parfet asked, "A coup de tat?"
Barnette groaned, "God, talking about playing the victim!"
Magno stated, "We didn't anything about that part." The jury whisper to each other.
Misty said in disbelief, "They haven't been informed about the harvest, they are completely in the dark!"
The judge declared, "By the power of Lord Grand Ma, you are hereby sentenced to life! Take them away! Court adjourned!" Fiona starts crying as her parent tries to calm her down.
Nagase said, "Are you ignorant or completely stupid?"
The judge looked over her shoulder, "What did you say?"
Nagase continued with defiance in her eyes, "You don't give a shit about the information we have sent you was true?"
The judge warned, "Listen you..."
Nagase shouted, "No, you listen! Even as we speak, your planet and the men's world of Tarak are in mortal danger! A massive armada of ships from Earth is making its way here to harvest each one of you and yet, you don't seem to care! You have been so blinded by this gender war that you can't break through the web of lies your parents fed you when you were an infant to see a greater enemy threatening your future of co-existence with the men. Why can't you see that this war is utterly pointless? Mejale and Tarak should ban together to counter this threat posed by Earth!"
The judge snapped, "I've heard enough! Get them out of my sight!" The guards lead them to a prisoner transport ship.
Nagase yelled, "You're making a serious mistake, one that will haunt you to the grave!"
Magno said firmly, "That's enough, Nagase. You did your best but she refused to listen." The female Osean bares her teeth with an angry scowl on her face.
In the Prime Minister's office on Tarak, he gives Tenmei a medal.
He praised, "The information you have provided us will prove be very useful in the future. Lord Grand Pa is very pleased with your accomplishment."
Tenmei saluted him, "Thank you very much, sir."
"Don't you think you could've done something with...you know..." The Prime Minister insisted when he looked at his spy's feminine chest.
Tenmei said, "I cannot until I've been informed that my mission is complete. In other words, I'm awaiting your orders." He then formed a teasing grin, "Why? Don't you like this look?" His superior grimaced nervously.
Once Tenmei was gone, the Prime Minister instructed, "Next, we must re-educate Duero and Bart. They have been in contact with women from what we have seen in the videos. That isn't something to been in the proud men of Tarak." Nathan, Grimm and Snow sit in their holding cell while a couple of security guards stand outside of the cell.
Unknown to them, Nathan uses a paperclip he found earlier to unlock the handcuffs and drops them as quietly as he can before pulling the knife from his boot. He silently sneaks up behind them and covers one of the guards' mouth and slits his throat. The other two whip around to fire but Nathan quickly obtains the dead guard's Scorpion sub-machine gun and shoots both of them in the head. The 24-year old reaches out to retrieve the key to their cell. Grabbing a hold of it, he places the key inside the lock and soon hears a clicking noise indicating that the door had been unlocked. Nathan pushes the cell door open and frees his wingmen before handing them a gun each.
Nathan said, "We better move fast because I am certain it won't take long for them to discover that we have escaped." Snow and Grimm nod in agreement before moving out to rescue Dave and his crew.
The prisoner transport ship takes its passengers to a prison facility built into a nearby asteroid.
Magno and her crew stand in one of the cars then feel a thud as the ship docks with the facility.
Magno asked, "Are you scared, Meia?"
Meia replied, "No, not really."
The pirate leader smiled, "Don't think about it too much, it's not one of your best habits."
Meia looked up, "I just wonder what Hibiki would say in a time like this."
Magno replied, "I'm sure he would ask the same thing as you."
The Dread leader smiled, "Right." The crew are escorted to their cells, as they were they see many convicted female criminals.
One of the prisoners gasped, "Hey, you! You're Magno Vivan, right?" The old woman smiles at her, providing proof that it was indeed her while simultaneously causing the other cells to erupt.
The guard barked, "Shut up, all of you! Be quiet or suffer the consequences!"
Misty said in surprise, "Wow. I never imagined you would be this popular."
Jura smiled at her, "Although we're space pirates, we tend to have fun doing it!"
Barnette raised her restraints, "Excuse me, Jura but how would you call getting a life sentence fun?" Inside the Paksis, Hibiki starts to come to after the effects of the sedative wear off though his posterior felt sore.
He groaned, "Damn them, they set me up!" He then saw the Paksis flashing red, "I haven't seen this kind of reaction before, it's the exact opposite of what I normally see. Oh I get it, the enemy's coming, aren't they? There is no point in being afraid so shut up and watch me!" He emerges from the Paksis and wanders through the hallway to find anyone but the place was deserted except for Pyoro, who hovers over to him.
Pyoro informed, "Everyone was evacuated while you were unconscious."
Hibiki frowned, "So it's just us, huh? We must move quickly because the Harvesters are coming."
The white robot told him, "The ship's in lockdown mode because Barnette didn't want the men taking control of the Nirvana."
Hibiki groaned, "She's so damn sneaky. Will you girls hurry and get your asses back here?" Dave Anderson and his crew sit quietly in their cells when all of a sudden they hear gunfire erupting from outside the entrance. Dave sees the last guard getting his brains blown out then falls down, blood pouring out of the hole in his head.
Blaze, Swordsman and Archer enter the cell block and get them out.
Swordsman asked, "Where were Duero and Bart taken to?"
Dave answered, "They were sent to the torture room for 're-education' as it was called by one security guard. I can tell you how to get there. First move halfway down this hallway until you come to a fork where the hallway gets separated into 3 different areas. Take the one on the left and walk a few feet down until you come across a thick steel door. That's the torture room. We better get going to retrieve the Kestrel II. Good-luck in your mission, Blaze."
Blaze saluted the young man, "Thanks. Good-luck to you as well. Swordsman, Archer, let's go." Dave watches them leave before giving orders to his crew.
Inside the Tarak torture room, Bart's back gets assaulted by a whip, the bald helmsman screams in pain as he feels his flesh being torn by the whip.
His torturer demanded, "Swear allegiance to Lord Grand Pa!"
Bart spat, "Screw you! No matter how much you whip us, we'll never change our values!" Gritting his teeth, the torturer resumes afflicting pain on the man.
Duero groaned, "Bart!"
The other tormentor smiled sickly, "If you're really a man, you would help him. All you have to say is 'All hail Lord Grand Pain.' That's all it takes."
Duero replied, "Women are nothing like they are portrayed in the films! They are really wonderful people. It is you who has been blinded by our planet's religion." Tenmei suddenly walks in. Behind him, Duero spots Blaze, Swordsman and Archer leaning against the wall with the Razgriz Squadron leader poking his head out, placing his index finger against his lips to ask the doctor not to give away their presence. Blaze hides from sight again when Tenmei looks over his shoulder.
He asked, "How are they holding up?"
One torturer replied, "Very stubborn, I'm afraid. They have been thoroughly contaminated by the women!" The Tarak spy walks up to Bart.
Duero glared at him, "Are you going to sell us out again and get yourself another medal?"
Bart said, "I can't believe that I had growing feelings for you! I guess it's fortunate that they did not develop further!"
Tenmei held out his hand, "Here, give it to me. Let me show you how it's done." The tormentor hands over the weapon with a sick smile, "This is how you properly use a whip!" Bart braces himself but at the last moment, Tenmei changes target knocking the tormentors out.
Bart blinked in shock, "What the hell?"
Tenmei turned to them, "Let's hurry, the captain is waiting for us." He discarded the medal before stating, "It's annoying, you know. I got enough bouncing around on my chest as it is. You guys can come out now!" Blaze, Swordsman and Archer step into the room. The air reeked of blood and sweat.
Blaze said, "It looks like all those times serving under Magno has rubbed off on you. You're not much of a backstabber than I first thought. Well, what are we waiting for, Christmas? Let's head to the Nirvana, a surprise attack on the Mejalian prison facility should be taking place as we speak." Like he predicted, the prison facility's AA defenses get destroyed by a surprise attack sending the interior into chaos.
Edge uses this opportunity to reach out and slams the guard's head against the bars hard enough to knock her out before a group of suited visitors approach the cell and start taking them off.
One wore a decorative light blue dress, blue-green hair that reached the small of her back, purplish eyes, appeared to be in her late 20s and had a moderate skin tone.
The other was a Dread pilot with short fiery red hair, light purple eyes, deeply tanned skin, wore a flight suit like Meia except hers was brown and white with a pinkish tint to it and was slightly younger than Meia.
One said, "Captain!"
Dita gasped, "It's the girls that stayed behind at the camp!"
Ezra approached the blue-green-haired woman, "Rebecca!"
Rebecca came toward the bridge bunny, "Ezra! Hey, who's that?"
Ezra held up her infant, "Say hello to your Ohma, Fiona!" Rebecca smiles at the baby and the Mejale space pirates exit the cell.
Magno barked, "We need to take back the Nirvana."
Rebecca asked, "What's that?"
Magno smiled at her, "It's a ship like no other." Blaze, Swordsman and Archer lead Bart, Duero and Tenmei to a shuttle when they are greeted by more armed Tarak troops.
Swordsman growled, "To hell with this shit! Why can't you guys just let us go?" The Oseans return fire before taking cover again.
One Tarak soldier throws a grenade at them but Blaze quickly throws it back, killing the soldier and his comrades. Loading a fresh magazine into their guns Blaze, Swordsman and Archer spray lead at their enemy, downing each one. They soon find a shuttle and board it then Tenmei preps it for takeoff.
The Nirvana crew docks with their ship and the main door opens for Dita to see Hibiki eating the boxed lunch that was left.
Dita said, "Mr. Alien!"
Hibiki greeted, "How's it going?"
The redhead asked, "You're eating it like that?"
Hibiki licked the remains off his fingers, "You can't fight on an empty stomach. Besides, this stuff isn't bad half cold!" Dita happily accepts the compliment of her food and promises making more for him.
Jura sighed, "Geez, what's up with them?"
Pyoro spotted the baby, "Pyoro 2!"
He was stopped by Rebecca, "What exactly is this thing?"
Pyoro said, "I'm Pyoro 2's father!"
Rebecca growled, "What the hell is Pyoro 2?"
The while robot retorted, "Pyoro 2 is my..." He shuts up when he feels Nagase giving him a death glare.
Misty whined, "Just so you know, I now have prison record and I'm not even from Mejale!"
Hibiki ordered, "Type in the password already!"
Barnette said, "You don't know what it is? It's a motto we all know." She typed it in on her data pad, "See?" It displays the word "Smile."
Hibiki growled, "Why is it always cheesy lines?"
Meia approached him, "Stop whining. The big battle is at hand, let's get ready." The crew went to perform their duties.
Nagase heads for the hanger to see her and her squad mates' aircraft untouched so they can put their minds at ease.
The bridge bunnies enter the control consoles as the ship's radar picks up a shuttle approaching then docks. The occupants step out.
Bart entered the bridge and saluted, "Sorry if we kept ya waiting, we encountered some resistance." He enters the helm to steer the Nirvana.
Magno sensed Tenmei's presence, "Are you going to run away? I don't recall relieving you as my commander. I assume you'll return to us as Buzam?"
Tenmei walked out of the shadows, "Does this mean that you forgive me?"
The old pirate said, "Whether you're forgiven or not isn't important. However..." She looked at him sternly before smiling softly, "Could you please go back to using the voice you were using earlier?"
Tenmei smiled, "As you wish, captain." He touches the voice changing gem, making it flash green as he donned the identity of BC again.
Ezra asked, "Where to, commander?" BC nods before throwing away the Tarak uniform, revealing her previous green attire underneath.
She ordered, "All crew, run me a diagnosis of the entire ship! Bart, set for course 524!"
Bart nodded, "Roger that!" He's happy that the commander is back, just like his fellow crew mates. Another wave of pain strikes Magno's heart making her clench her chest while taking a few deep breathes to lessen the pain.
She said to the crew, "Listen up, everyone! No matter how hard the situation gets, don't even think about taking the coward's way out! We still got a future ahead of us so I expect you to fight with everything you've got."
Grimm added, "The Earth that me and my squad mates grew up on would never do what it is doing right now. The inhabitants are shells of their former selves, thinking they are the last true humans and everyone else as mere cattle. We must show them the error of their ways. We'll ensure that their operation ends in failure. You with me?"
The crew yelled as one, "Yeah!"
Razgriz Squadron feels anxiety well up in their chests as they stare at their fighters.
A/N: Chapter 12 done.
Well, my friends the final battle is here.
The crew escape from their prison and are back at the Nirvana and Kestrel II.
Only 3 chapters left.
Read and review.
Stay tuned for chapter 12.
Vader 23A
