Chapter 12: Search and Rescue

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, Just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

Belvedere said, "The Tarak fleet has targeted the Nirvana!"

Bart begged, "Please don't shoot!" Keith stood on the bridge as he looks at the two fleets with anger etched on his face. He and the others came all this way to warn Tarak and Mejale but instead they are targeted. But then again, they are space pirates. Keith, Canis and Empio aren't pirates!

Amarone stated, "Captain, the Tarak fleet has sent us a message! It says: 'Attention space pirates of Mejale prepare for an unconditional surrender.' typical Tarak."

Misty wondered, "Unconditional? Why can't they talk to us directly?"

Pyoro answered, "On Tarak, they say if you talk to women your ears and vocal cords will blow up."

Misty gagged in disgust, "How stupid! Talking to a woman will make you lose your ears and voice!"

Ezra added, "We're now being hailed by the Mejale fleet. They say: 'If you follow the unconditional surrender request from Tarak, we will board your ship and evacuate your crew!' What should we do?"

Magno concluded, "Hm, I think it'd be best not to stir up trouble for now." In the brig Duero, Hibiki and Tenmei hear the alarm.

Hibiki wondered, "What now?"

Duero asked, "And how do you think Tarak will react to all of this?"

Tenmei answered, "What 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."

Tenmei looked at the ground for a second before looking at the doctor again, "No, there is another card to play." A Mejale ship docks with the Nirvana and its boarding crew enters the ship.

They appear before the crew wearing those space suits that the Mejalian space pirates used in the Ikazuchi raid.

Paiway took in the sight, "Women are scary. At least that's what they say." They point their guns at the young nurse, frightening her.

Meia shouted, "Stop that! She's only a child!" The boarding crew's response is shoving Meia to the ground roughly, the rest of the boarding crew split up to gather the others. Dita and Parfet get captured as Dita was making bentos for Hibiki and the other men as she knows that they'd be going back to those pills.

Meanwhile, Jura meets with Barnette in Reg central, the brunette was busy typing in something.

Jura demanded, "Come on, Barnette! We gotta go!"

Barnette replied, "Just give me a little more time." She looked at what her blonde friend was holding, "What are you doing with that?"

The blonde Dread pilot smiled, "Oh, these are one of a kind items. They're not easy to come by."

Barnette corrected, "Not that. I mean the book."

Jura blushed, "Oh, I thought it would come in handy in the time of need."

The dark green-haired woman asked, "You're still obsessed with that?"

Jura turned serious, "Anyway, what were you doing just now?"

Barnette said, "Security. That way they won't hack in and do whatever they want to the ship." The Mejale boarding party arrives and pointed their laser rifles at the two, Barnette presses a hidden button underneath the desk to activate the security system.

Keith, Canis and Empio are heading for their NEXTs when suddenly 10 space suited members of the boarding party surround them.

One of them ordered, "Hands up! Do what I say, men!" The three NEXT pilot look at their adversaries then to each other.

They spring into action, killing the 10 party members with quick and brutal efficiency. They resume their course for their machines and soon reached their destination. The other members reach the bridge and aim their weapons.

Magno said, "Oh my, you certainly have a way of greeting people. I guess we'll be accepting your invitation."

Duero, Bart, Pyoro and Hibiki take a stroll on the engine room skywalk.

Duero stated, "You know, this seems like some twist of fate. This is where you first met Dita. In fact this ship is where we all first met, it was here where we discovered where men and women originated and a world we have yet to see."

Hibiki asked sternly, "Alright, what's this all about? I don't like people who are usually full of energy being too quiet all of a sudden." He looks at Bart and Pyoro.

Duero gave a sympathetic smile, "Oh, don't worry about that. Bart's been like that ever since the whole thing happened with the commander and it's hard on Pyoro being separated from Serena."

Hibiki smirked, "Hold up, you figured out that I'm one of the first generation."

The doctor nodded, "That's right. You certainly are." Hibiki went on about talking to the elder members of the Tarak Council but then he felt a stinging sensation in his posterior, Hibiki turned around and realized that Duero had injected a sedative into him as his vision became blurry and his legs gave out. He falls into the Pexis.

Bart gasped, "It swallowed him!"

Pyoro agreed, "The Pexis is keeping him safe!"

Duero explained, "They have no idea that Hibiki was here in the first place. So he will serve as the ace up our sleeve."

Bart asked, "How did you come up with an idea like that?"

Duero answered, "You can thank the commander for that."

The helmsman whined, "I'm not in the mood for that right now!" He collapsed with tears in his eyes.

Pyoro wondered, "What should I do?"

Bart got up and growled, "You should lie around here and play dead, that's what you should do!" He rubs Pyoro's head roughly with no sympathy.

The white robot groaned, "Stop! You're hurting me!" After typing in the password for the security system on their NEXTs, the system activates shutting down all the start-up buttons, locking the control sticks, etc. The firewall activates as well to protect the vital CPU. With this done the three pilots head for Keith's room to load up for their retrieval mission. After looking both ways to make sure no one saw them, they enter the room and Keith types in the combination for the gun vault, the safe opens up. They choose their weapons.

Keith picks the M-4 carbine assault rifle with its customization parts still on, M9A1 pistol, highly destructive plasma grenades that incinerate anything ranging from thick steel to human flesh, and hunting knife for close-range combat with armed infantry.

Canis chooses the M-37 pump action shotgun, M-16A3 rifle for long-range fire, and grenades.

Empio picks an RPG to blow up tanks or reinforced placements like pillboxes and C4 plastic explosives.

After equipping their weapons of choice and putting their ammunition laden vests onto their g-suits, Keith closes the vault.

Canis and Empio were about to head out before Keith said, "Hold up, guys! There's one more vault I want to show you." Wondering what he meant by that, they follow him to another vault.

This one was a little bigger and blue in color with gold outlining. This vault had a lock similar to the locks one would see on a storage shed. He removed the key from its hanging position and undid the lock.

Pulling the heavy door open with a grunt, Keith presented its content to his friends.

Canis and Empio went wide-eyed.

Canis said, "You would only see these in ninja or samurai movies!" The weapons ranged from katanas to shuriken.

Keith picks the katana and straps it to his back and placed a spike disc onto his belt after folding it to its standby form.

Canis selected the kusarigama or chain-sickle. It's a traditional Japanese weapon that consisted of Kama, a Japanese equivalent to a farmer's scythe on a metal chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. A skilled wielder can use it with deadly efficiency! What the wielder would usually do is swing the weighted chain over his/her head in a large circular pattern and swing it forward to entangle it with an opponent's spear, sword or other weapons, or immobilizing their arms or legs. This allowed the kusarigama user to safely rush in forward and strike with the sickle. Another method of using the weapon is by spinning the weighted end of the chain directly, causing serious or deadly injuries. One targeted hit to an unprotected head can kill a person. The kusarigama and katana were used in the feudal era of Japan.

Empio selected a long, nasty looking wrist blade.

Satisfied with their chosen secondary close-range weapons, Keith closes the vault before securing the lock back into place then put the key in its holder. Keith steps out of his bedroom checking both sides of the hallway then signaled the others to come out. They head toward a pair of infiltration ships that were stationed in a specially designed hanger in the Nirvana's left wing. Besides using intact debris from destroyed Harvest units to make new NEXT weaponry, Keith suggested on using these parts to make infiltration ships for retrieval missions Parfet had no complaints and liked the idea.

When the Mejale boarding ship departs with the Nirvana crew, a Tarak ship docks with it and its boarding party frees the male prisoners.

One said, "I'm free!"

Another said, "I'm surprised they didn't eat your liver."

Duero answered, "I guess they didn't want indigestion." The laser bars to Tenmei's prisoner deactivate and he walks out.

One saluted, "This way. The Prime Minister is waiting." He removes the handcuffs.

A foot collides with Pyoro's head as the white robot played dead.

Bart and Duero watch from the Tarak ship as the others tow the Nirvana away.

Pyoro wondered, "That was Bart, wasn't it?" The three infiltration ships detach from the Nirvana's left wing and split up though Keith hasn't informed Canis and Empio of the plan

Keith taps into the miniature microphone that he gave to Barnette. It is hidden by her hair. He listens in on the court session taking place.

In the court house on Mejale, the female judge looks at the Hello Baby book.

She said in a cold voice, "How absolutely disgusting!" She tosses it to the ground, "Burn it immediately!"

A guard picked it up before Jura shouted, "Hey, give that back!"

The judge demanded, "Be quiet, Ms. Elden! Were you attempting to direct other women down your sinful path? You're a witch! Admit it, Ms. Elden not just you but every one of you of Magno's crew are nothing but despicable witches!"

Jura glared back at her in anger, "Witch? Where do you get off calling me that, huh?"

Misty whispered to Meia, "I guess this is what they say. In a way, Mejale is a really nice place."

The judge sat back down, "From what I've heard, you have been fooling with the public about a harvest operation, and you have used it as a justification for attempting a pirate coup de tat."

Parfet mumbled, "A coup de tat?"

Barnette growled, "Talk about playing the victim."

Magno stated, "Oh, we didn't know anything about that." Whispering can be heard throughout the jury.

Misty informed, "Nobody has informed them about the harvest they're completely in the dark." That was unexpected.

The judge declared, "By the power of Lord Grand Ma, you are hereby sentenced to life! Take them to the prison facility! This court is adjourned!" Serena begins to cry with Ezra trying to calm her child down. That was the three NEXTs pilots' trigger to take action.

Keith explained, "Alright, here's how the plan is going down. We're going to split up and achieve the mission objectives. Canis, you will head to that Mejalian prison facility and free Magno and the girls while Empio and I head to Tarak to retake our NEXTs. Tenmei has informed me of his part of the plan. If anyone tries anything stupid you put them down hard! Once the situation is under control, Empio is going to rig the storage hanger door with C4."

Canis commented, "C4? The cutting edge plastic explosive, huh? Nice in bringing those things with you Empio, can't wait for the fireworks display."

Keith continued, "Once we arrive at the target area, be prepared for resistance." The three ships near their destinations.

Empio ordered, "About to enter enemy radar network. Activate your stealth and optical camouflage systems."

Canis replied, "Roger." They flip the switches and their vessels become invisible to the human eye, radar and heat detection systems.

In the Prime Minister's office at Tarak HQ, the Minister gives Tenmei a medal.

He said, "The information you have provided us will prove to be very valuable in the future. I'll have you know Lord Grand Pa is very pleased at 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 cried as he looked at Tenmei's breasts with displeasure.

The spy informed, "I'm afraid I cannot until I have been informed that my mission is complete. In other words, I am waiting for your orders, sir." Then he formed a grin, "Why? Don't you like this look?" His superior sweats with uneasiness.

When Tenmei left, the Prime Minister regained his composure and instructed, "Next we must re-educate Bart and Duero they have been in contact with the women. That is not something to be seen in the strong men of Tarak. Also I'll be visiting these 'Armored Cores' that we have received."

Keith and Empio manage to slip through enemy radar and dock in hanger 5B, they exit their ships and find out this hanger had no security cameras but did spot two guards in front of them. They quietly sneak up and then placed a hand over the guards' mouth before driving their knives into their chests, piercing the heart. A minute later they pull their knives out of their chest and drag the lifeless bodies out of sight. Keith and Empio press against the wall, concealing themselves in the shadows.

Keith contacted his friend, "Canis, how's everything on your end?"

Canis whispered, "I managed to slip past the enemy's radar network as well. I just got out of my infiltration ship. I'm getting a signal of Magno's crew thanks to the transmitter I placed behind Jura's left ear. Unfortunately some guards are in front of me but don't worry, I will take care of them before I head to the crew's location."

Keith replied, "Understood, Canis. Remain out of sight, no matter what." They activate their suits' stealth systems, this highly advanced system bends light so the user remains invisible to the naked eye plus it cancels out his/her heat signature so that they are undetectable to heat sensors. Keith pulls out his cloaked M-4. The prison transport ship took its passengers to the prison facility.

Magno and her girls stand in one of the cargo pods. There was a thump as the ship docked with the facility.

Magno asked, "Are you scared, Meia?"

Meia replied, "No."

The pirate leader assured, "Don't try to think about it too much. It's not one of your best habits, you know."

Meia pondered, "I was just wondering what Hibiki would say in this situation."

Magno answered, "I think he would ask the same thing as you would."

Meia smiled, "Right. Nothing escapes you." The guards escort the crew to their cell, along the way they see other convicted female criminals.

One of the prisoners gasped, "Hey, you! You're Magno Vivan, aren't you?" The aged pirate smiled proving it was her the other occupied cells erupt.

A guard demanded, "Shut up all of you! Be quiet!" Inside the Pexis, Hibiki begins to come around after the effects of the sedative wore off though his posterior still hurt.

Hibiki groaned, "Those guys framed me!" Then he noticed that the Pexis started to glow red, "I get it they're coming soon aren't they? Well, it's no use to cower in fear!" He exits the aqua-green sea like place. He wanders the hallways to find the others until Pyoro came into view.

Pyoro informed, "Everyone's been evacuated."

Hibiki asked, "So it's just us, huh? The enemy's approaching! We need to move now."

Pyoro told him, "Barnette put the ship in lockdown mode so the men couldn't do anything to it."

Hibiki growled, "Damn it! She's so sneaky." In the Tarak torture chamber, Bart is getting hit by a whip against his back, the bald helmsman screams in pain.

His torturer said, "Swear your allegiance to Lord Grand Pa!"

Bart refused, "Hell no! No matter how much it hurts, we'll never change our values!" His tormentor whips him again.

Duero groaned, "Bart!"

The other tormentor said, "If you're really a man, you would help him. Just say 'All hail Lord Grand Pa.' It only takes those words to stop the pain."

Duero rebelled, "Women are nothing like you say there are! They are really wonderful. It is you who has been blinded." Suddenly Tenmei walks in.

He asked, "How are they holding up?"

One of the tormentors answered, "Pretty stubborn. They've been thoroughly contaminated by the women, sir." The spy walks up to the injured Bart.

Duero asked, "Are you going to sell us out and get yourself another medal?"

Tenmei ordered, "Give it to me. Let me do the honors." The tormentor hands over the whip, "Now let me show you how to properly use a whip!" Bart braces himself for the impact but Tenmei whipped the two punishers. It was a ruse!

Bart wondered, "Huh?"

Tenmei tosses the awarded medal off his chest and looked at Duero, "It's annoying! I've got enough bouncing around on my chest as it is! Now let's go, Hibiki is waiting."

Keith and Empio finally make their way towards the storage hanger and they see the Prime Minister with a squadron of soldiers and engineers with him. They observe the NEXTs with great interest. Hidden behind his helmet's visor, Empio smirked as he witnessed that the engineers couldn't crack the security system or the firewall. He looks at Keith and the American nods, signifying it's time to retrieve Black Dragon, Savage Beast and Transcend. Empio pulls out his pistol.

They storm into the hanger and deactivate their stealth systems to make their presence known.

Keith shouted, "None of you fucking folks move! Get on the floor!" They point their weapons at the men to prove that they are serious.

Empio added, "No one is going to get a medal for being the hero, all you'll get is a bullet through the heart!"

Keith ordered an engineer, "You, open the door."

His friend yelled, "Open the door!"

Noticing that the engineer wasn't doing what he was told Keith aims his M-4 at the Prime Minister, "Open the goddamn door!" That got the engineer's attention and he opened the door. Keith instructed, "Get on the floor now!"

The engineer protested, "But sir..."

The rank 1 Lynx fired back, "You too! We mean business so if you don't want your brains staining these walls then do what I say!" Empio heads over to place the plastic explosive and sets the timer.

Once that was done he walked back over to Keith and informed, "The C4 has been molded and set to explode in 1 minute." The two pilots watch over the hostages as the timer counts down to the C4's detonation.

One of the soldiers try to play Mr. Hero and fires at the two pilots the bullet passes by Keith's visor, this caused them to fire back.

Keith shouted, "We told you not to fuck with us!" He and Empio unload on the soldier and his brains splatter over the walls. Keith turned to the others, "Who else wants to play Mr. Hero?" The C4 detonates but by some miracle the door remains intact.

Using the opportunity given by this distraction, the Prime Minister sounds the alarm and orders his men to kill them. Blast doors close over the main ones leading to the NEXTs.

Frustrated by this unexpected turn of events, Keith and Empio prepare for a tough fight with enemy reinforcements. Seeing that an engineer has been left behind Keith directs him to the computer console and orders him to override the blast doors. 2 minutes later Empio spots the Tarak reinforcements.

He said, "We got company, Keith!" The American tells the engineer to continue overriding the blast doors. The two unload at their attackers.

Keith sets his M-4 to full automatic mode and lethal 5.56x45mm bullets came flying out of the barrel and screams of agony can be heard. One bullet penetrates a soldier's skull and comes out through the other end, spraying blood everywhere and onto his fellow comrades. Keith begins trash talking his foes.

He cursed, "You women hating bastards! Screw you all!"

Empio threw in his own verbal abuse, "I'm not going to jail on this planet! Go back home to your kids you don't want to die here, pricks!" Keith pulls the pen off one of his plasma grenades and throws the weapon at a group of enemies the Tarak soldiers look down and could only gasp before the plasma grenade explodes in a sphere of superheated flames if Keith and Empio had their helmets off right now they would be overwhelmed by the sickening scent of burning skin and hair. The soldiers' scream of anguish filled their ears,

Empio spots a tank rolling in with a garrison of sword wielding Tarak soldiers behind it Empio aims his RPG at the tank and the vessel explodes in a shower of flames and shattered metal. The sword wielders draw their blades and close in on their prey.

Grinning at this Keith puts the M-4 away and unsheathes his katana. The two forces clashed and Keith proved to be the more skilled user, a bloodbath unfolds as one by one the enemy fell to Keith's merciless assault, he wipes his sword clean of blood before putting it in its sheath again. An invisible wiper removes blood from Keith's visor. The engineer tells them that the blast doors have been overridden and main doors as well.

Empio's gesture of appreciation was filling the poor guy with lead to prevent him from talking to his superiors. The two climb into their respective NEXTs and deactivate the security system and firewall then powered them up. Savage Beast activates on its own Keith takes one last look at the carnage he and his partner caused bodies lie everywhere in various states of dismemberment some had heads missing, cut in two and others were more gruesome. They take off and head into space.

In the Mejale prison facility Canis got onto the floor where Magno and the girls were. He remained cloaked as this place had more guards than anywhere else. He kills one guard by severing her head from her body. Noticing that the lights are dimming Canis activates his helmet's night vision then draws his suppressed M-16A3 and sets it to semi-automatic mode, meaning it fires rounds in bursts. He loads a full cartridge of 5.56x45mm bullets into his rifle. He takes position on a skywalk as he points his weapon at a group of guards. He pulls the trigger and the bullets come flying out of the barrel at high-speed, the foolish guards had no idea what came hurtling at them until it was too late. The only thing they felt was a fast moving projectile passing through their skulls before they collapse to the ground bleeding from their fatal wounds. Canis snipes a few more before he moves on toward the prison cells on this floor. When he reached Magno and the girls' cell an alarm sounds throughout the facility, he first thought that he was somehow detected but soon discovers that another squadron of Dreads have attacked the outer defenses, he sees a huge swarm of armed guards approaching him but he pulls out the kusarigama.

He points the Kama sickle at the nearing hostiles, with a silent war cry Canis charges forward swinging the sickle. The only sound that filled the facility was screams of sheer agony, blood gushing everywhere, bones cracking and flesh being ripped apart.

Magno and the girls hear the screams and it sent chills down their spines, however their attention is drawn to a group of suited visitors at the entrance to their cell. They take off their suits.

One wore a decorative dress, blue-green hair that went down to the middle of her back.

The other was a Dread pilot wearing the same flight suit that Meia does but hers had a pinkish tint and brown to it, she had blood red hair and extremely tanned skin.

One said, "Captain!"

Magno smiled, "You certainly took your time getting here."

Dita stated, "It's the girls who stayed behind in the camp!"

Ezra recognized the first one, "Rebecca!"

Rebecca came toward the bridge bunny, "Ezra! Huh, who's that?"

Ezra presented her baby, "Look, Serena. Say hello to your Ohma!" Rebecca smiled warmly at the sight of the infant. Too excited about the reunion they drop their guard and this allowed one armed female soldier to run toward them, the group brace themselves but all of a sudden they hear her choking against a metal chain wrapped around her throat, with a powerful yank the head comes flying off. The group looked to see a blood drenched, cloaked kusarigama. They thought they were next but that was swept aside as they see the weapon being put away and its wielder turns off his stealth system.

Canis said, "Hey, girls. What's up?"

Barnette gasped, "Canis!"

The NEXT pilot smiled, "The one and only. Now let's get you girls out of that filthy cell." He shoots the door panel to make the cell door open up and Canis is immediately enveloped in a hug from Barnette which he returns. However they both knew this emotional stuff will have to wait; they still have a war to win.

Magno ordered, "We need to take back the Nirvana."

Rebecca wondered, "The Nirvana?"

Magno smirked, "It's a ship like no other."

Keith came over Canis' helmet radio, "Canis, we've retrieved our NEXTs and are in space but the pesky Tarak fleet is preventing us from returning to the Nirvana. We may be arriving later than I planned so I have sent Savage Beast to your location it should be there at any moment. We'll be back as soon as possible. Empio, watch out!" The sound of explosions and gunfire can be heard in the background.

Canis ordered, "Let's get going now." He hops into Savage Beast and led the others back to their ship.

The Pexis frees the Nirvana from its imprisonment, and it begins to head for safer space with Black Dragon and Transcend covering it. A pair of Vanguards home in from their 6 o'clock.

Keith cursed, "Jesus Christ! Can't these guys stop shooting at us already? They should be more focused on preparing for Earth's attack!" The 07-Moonlight beam saber is ignited and Black Dragon eviscerates the Vanguards, the two NEXTs activate their overed boosters to leave the area. They finally dock with the Nirvana.

The main door opens and Dita spots Hibiki eating the bento she made for him.

Dita said, "Mr. Alien!"

Hibiki greeted, "Hey, how's it going?"

The redhead furthered, "You're eating that?"

Hibiki licked any remains off his finger, "Can't fight on an empty stomach and besides this stuff isn't bad half cold!" Dita says she'll make more.

Jura asked, "Geez, what's with that?"

Pyoro sees the baby, "Pyoro 2!"

He is stopped by Rebecca's hand as she wondered, "So what the heck is this old thing?"

Pyoro fired back, "I'm Pyoro 2's father."

Rebecca growled, "What the hell is Pyoro 2?"

The white robot exclaimed, "Pyoro 2's my baby!" He feels another hand grab him and throws him into the wall.

Keith scolded, "Pyoro, what did I say about calling Serena that? This is your last warning! Call Serena by her real name or I'll reprogram you into a frog!" He hears Misty complain about having a prison record and she's not even from Mejale. He said, "Quit your bellyaching, Misty!"

Hibiki demanded, "Just type the password in already!"

Barnette said, "You don't know? It's a motto we all know." She types in the password into her hand held data pad, "See?" She shows it to him. It displayed 'Smile.'

Hibiki growled, "Always cheesy lines!"

Meia approached him, "Stop complaining. Let's go, are you ready?" Hibiki nods his head but then noticed something.

He asked, "Hey Keith, what happened to your suit?"

Keith looked at his blood stained g-suit, "Let's just say those Tarak bastards didn't comply with our demands to hand over our NEXTs peacefully so we had to retaliate with violence. I don't want to go into detail about the bloodbath that went down." Keith, Canis and Empio return to Keith's room and put their weapons back into the safes then proceed to give their NEXTs a fresh coat of paint. The bridge bunnies sit in their respective bridge consoles. The radar picks up a pod approaching and occupants exit.

A bandaged Bart enters the bridge and apologizes for being late before saluting the pirate leader and entering the helm.

Magno notices Tenmei's presence.

She said, "Are you going to run away? I don't recall relieving you as commander. I assume you'll return to us as Buzam?"

Tenmei walked out the shadows, "Then does this mean you'll forgive me?"

Magno said, "Whether you are forgiven or not is unimportant, however..." She looks at him sternly before smiling, "Could you please go back to the voice you were using?"

Realzing what she meant, Tenmei smiled, "Very well, I understand." He touches the voice changer, turning it back to green as he resumed the identity of BC again.

Ezra asked, "Well, commander where to?"

BC nodded before throwing away the Tarak military uniform to show the same stylish female clothing she had on underneath.

She said, "All crewmembers give me a full diagnostics of the ship! Bart set for course 524!"

Bart sniffed before replying, "Roger that!" He, like everyone else was glad that the commander was back another wave of pain strikes Magno's heart as she leaned forward clenching it.

She said to the crew dispite the pain, "Listen up, everyone! No matter how hard the situation may get, don't even think about taking the easy way out we still got a bright future ahead of us! The decisive battle is upon us."

Keith decided to join in, "It's time for the reunification of the two genders! Men and women have been away from each other for more than a century, which to me is far too long. It's time for Tarak and Mejale to put their differences aside and work together. This final battle is what will determine the fate of all life as we know it, we must not fail! We'll win this war!" The entire crew cheered in unison to agree with declaration.

Keith sends one more message to Earth.

In this message Black Dragon stood in front of Harvest ships burning in the background, the bright flames made the NEXT a towering shadow with only its red eyes as any indication of its presence.

One council member said, "What now?" A dark, maniacal laughter is heard and the Earth Council understood who that laughter belonged to.

Keith stated, "Harvesters, your day of judgment has come! You've slaughtered billions of innocent people and you say this is for the best of Earth, what you need to realize fools is that you don't control our lives. We don't need to listen to you! Earth is not eternal it will die just like everything else does all you're doing is delaying the inevitablel. I can assure you that my allies and I will give you a huge devastating defeat with humiliation served on the side. You have plagued this universe for far too long, you must be extinguished. Why don't you try and imagine what those last few breaths of air will taste like. Try and imagine what it would be like watching your fleet being ripped apart by your enemies and also try to imagine what it'd be like to burn away into nothingness. Earth, your worst nightmare has come true because the Demons of Hell have reunited stronger than the last time! You will never rest...in...peace!" A lightning bolt strikes a holographic image of Earth and the planet is set ablaze. Some members look away as they watched the holographic image of their dying planet burn.

In the Nirvana's garden, Keith and Canis are currently meditating. Not only have they been doing physical training but also mental. Their eyes were rolled back, demon teeth were visible and they had auras surrounding them. Keith's was a menacing red aura and Canis' was a dark orange. They stop their mental exercise and the auras disappear as they regained their human features.

They both rise to their feet and walk to the hanger to board their NEXTs.

Keith said, "Hey, Canis?"

His friend replied, "Yes?"

Keith implied, "Have you made your decision on staying in this alternate universe or not?"

Canis nodded, "Yes, I have. I was planning on telling Barnette after this war."

Keith smiled, "So have I. I will tell Meia after this battle. It's time for the Demons of Hell to rise up once again and wreak havoc upon our enemies."

A/N: Chapter 12 complete. Whew, took me a while to write this. Hope I didn't make it too graphic, just enough to satisfy you readers. I didn't want you to think I am a sadistic author, it's not part of my personality.

Anyways the final battle is upon Keith and the Nirvana crew.

Oh yeah, the 'rest in peace' phrase, that's a line I took from my favorite WWE Superstar, the Undertaker. I couldn't resist. Hearing him just saying those three words is absolutely bone-chilling!

Read and review.

Stick around for chapter 13.

Vader 23A