A/N: Rather obscure prologue at most, but it sets the stage. Yeah...VERY different, yet similar, storyline this is...which is why this is a fanfic. Don't get confused. But I try to keep the characters intact...I try...but y'know...

Here's the next (first) chapter, finally. Hope you enjoy! Please remember to R&R!!!

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CHAPTER 1

Somewhere

"...and this reconnaissance mission will be one of the most important in our campaign against the cruel and arrogant Mejale. We on this planet Tarak will never give up..."

The booming broadcast echoed even in the busy spaceport area, even as soldiers, mechanics and maintenance personnel rushed to and fro, getting the new paeksis-powered ship "Ikazuchi" ready for the announced mission.

One figure mowed and edged his way among the sea of people, moving towards the mission-ready warship, carrying a sack of his belongings on his shoulder. He wasn't really hard to notice, his orange shirt stood out among the dull khaki of the soldiers and the dark hues of majority of the maintenance, but those he passed seemed to ignore him, almost to the point of overtly scorning or avoiding him.

But he didn't seem to care. For now, there was only one thing on his mind, running over and over.

'I'll show them...I'll show them all...'

He was stopped by a guard upon reaching the ship entrance. "Identification...!" It was more of an order than anything, harsh and straight to the point.

He flicked out an ID card. "Tokai, Hibiki." He stated proudly.

The burly grunt uncharacteristically gave a sneer. "Oh yeah, the little punk..." Clearly, he was quite popular among the folk.

"Hey, you watch who you're calling a punk!" Hibiki retorted angrily, finally losing his patience.

"You shut up, PUNK! Or maybe you'd better scram out of here! I personally don't mind leaving one crazy ass behind!"

Hibiki backed down and gave an audible sigh. It had taken all of his willpower to get this far without having to punch someone in the face, and he wasn't about to lose to his temper now, not at a time like this.

"Alright, I'm getting on." He gnarled faintly.

"That's a good, obedient PUNK! Now get in there, out of my sight before I change my mind!"

'Stupid oaf...' he thought bitterly as he walked inside the vessel and headed straight to the mechanics' quarters. Tired as he already was, he soon slumped on the hard cot and let sleep take over.

Tarak was a planet that was inhabited entirely by men only. They considered the women, on the planet Mejale, a vile race, dangerous beings who would sooner stab you in the back and eat your liver than listen to good reason.

Since he was a child, Hibiki Tokai had always dreamed of becoming a pilot and battling the "evil Mejale". He even had some nightmares of what they might look like, but he kept them to himself, for fear of being ridiculed because of "cowardliness". It was his greatest ambition to be a hero and to make his grandpa proud, but all he was now was a lowly third-class citizen mechanic, as well as one of the most detested and ridiculed for his attitude of "acting all tough but not having any real strength".

He vowed retribution. He could prove to them. He would show them. The time was drawing near...

On this very ship was his very own Vanguard, one he had built mostly by himself, which was why he so badly wanted to go along. Vanguards were huge humanoid-shaped, piloted robots, the main fighting utility of the Taraks. They would be placed, several at a time, into voyaging warships and deployed when an enemy was encountered. In case of a Mejale attack, he planned to take his own Vanguard and deal with them himself.

That was his moment, his shining glory. All would know just how powerful he was.

Until recently, the main energy source used was an extremely stable method of nuclear fusion, but the discovery of a substance called "paeksis pramga" not too long ago on some obscure planet had rendered the former procedures inefficient by far in comparison. Only a small amount was ever found, though, but the results proved most promising, even for such a minute quantity. The biggest drawback of paeksis was that it was far from stable; only about half of its properties and energy could be understood and utilized. At times, it would go haywire for absolutely no reason, causing an overload; sometimes it would simply shut down, leaving even the head researchers in the dark. Nonetheless, the scientists decided to use it for this mission, perhaps hoping to get a better understanding of it somehow.

But now was not the time for useless things that didn't concern him anyway. He had more important things to take care of...

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Jai could feel himself slowly regaining consciousness, awakening from a dreadful slumber. Even as he began to recover awareness of his surroundings, his mind was already flooding with questions. His acute memory hadn't failed him.

'Where am I...? Last thing I remember...a white blinding light...is this heaven...? Am I dead...?'

He soon found that he was quite alive, as the throbbing in his head gradually returned. His limbs were shaking and his breathing was labored. Whatever happened to him surely caused a strain on his corporeal state.

'Then...what is this place...?'

Dazed as he was, he had the presence of mind to look around. The surrounding area appeared to be some kind of laboratory, the likes of which he had only seen in science fiction movies. He was prone, laying down in what he assumed was an operating table; it definitely looked like those he had worked on in the hospital ER during surgery.

Just then, a door to his far left whooshed open, and he turned his head to see who would enter. Two people stepped in, both wearing white lab coats; scientists, no doubt. But just who exactly were they? What did they want with him?

"Well, it looks like he's awake..." a large, masculine voice broke the silence. He spoke fluent English.

"It shouldn't be too long until he's ready..." a woman's voice now echoed in the small room, "Though this should be kept secret from the Earth intelligence. There's no telling what could happen if..."

"I know," the man answered, his voice solemn, "but this is probably the only way..."

Turning to the laying figure, he spoke again, "You. You can understand me, correct?"

Jai's voice came out raspy, but he managed to talk. "Yeah...but who...are you...people...?"

"In due time, my dear fellow...in due time, you will know everything, when you are ready. Our situation now...and why you have been brought here."

"Well...it had better be...a good reason..."

"It might not have been the best solution..." the lady now said, moving closer to him, "but we believe that there is no other way. We're sorry for the rather makeshift quarters, it's the best we have right now."

It was then that he noticed. Seeing their faces for the first time since they entered made him pale considerably. The man looked to be in his 60's, but the woman seemed less than thirty. They had human features, but more than half of their bodies were metallic...robotic. They seemed human, yet...something else...at the same time.

"You are...machines...?"

"That is...not entirely true..." she answered, her voice cracking somewhat, "But all will be explained soon. For now, you just get some rest." She hid her worry behind a genuine smile.

'I sure hope so...' Jai thought as his weary brain fell into another deep sleep.

It was several minutes before anyone uttered a word, and it was the woman who broke the silence. "Are we really sure about this?"

"His vital signs are normalizing now...it shouldn't be about another five hours of rest at least, before he could be...informed...of things." The man said as if to answer her question, at the same time monitoring several screens at a nearby terminal.

"He is so young...! How...how about the relics...the records? Is there no other way anyone could convince the people?"

He sighed. "I only wish I knew if there even was...something easier that this. But in any case, this must be done. The 'memory' of what life was once like...hidden deep within the Earth's database..."

"...so secret and so much more closely guarded, not even the best hackers can get it fully out..."

"For many years, we all have fought the Earth system together...even if it was in shadow; underground and undercover...you know that. Some...no, most of us had to give our lives for even that glimpse at the 'memory'. But this is something that we just could not keep to ourselves. This will be our last contribution to what is left of mankind, to what we used to be..."

"And you think that he is going to help us?" she asked softly, motioning to Jai, who was still fast asleep. She noticed that the 'memory' was affecting her in ways that were difficult to explain, as she looked at the sleeping form as if it was her own 'little brother'.

"Only he could do it, and for three good reasons. First, he knows the past much better than we do...that glimpse at the 'memory' was but a glimpse, and nothing more. We know only so much. Second, his natural physical form would suit the task of interacting with those on Tarak and Mejale, compared to our modified ones. Lastly, I am sure that once he is informed of what has happened to the human race as of these past few hundred years, as well as the Earth's plans of 'harvesting', he would do everything in his power to help prevent the demise of both the men and women, stubborn as they might be."

"The harvest...! How horrible...! Are they really going to push through with that?"

"It's more than likely. With organic resources running lower and lower, it seems more inevitable each day. Now you can see how important this is."

"Y...yes..."

Silence once again filled the room. An hour passed...two...three...four...until the seventh hour struck. But the two remained motionless, statues set into place. Being only half-human, half-organic, fatigue was something that they didn't have to worry about. They didn't require any food or water, or even air for that matter; that side of their humanity was gone forever, a fact they had come to accept many decades ago. What did remain were their rationality, their will and their emotions, those which have defined humans as being 'human'. They considered themselves very fortunate; most of their other colleagues had lost everything to the machines, the system entity of the new Earth, and had become no more than drones, unfeeling and without real consciousness. The others were worse than dead, in a sense.

The fate of mankind, the true nature of the species, rested upon their shoulders. They were armed with the knowledge, and the opportunity. They had to take it, lest it slip suddenly from their hands at the last minute. They knew they had to act, and as soon as possible. They could not let the corrupted Earth win.

They were onboard a ship they were able to steal from the Earth fleet some years ago, and were a good distance from the planet, which had now grown into a purely mechanical jungle. Gone were the diverse life-forms that once dwelled there, the life-sustaining atmosphere, and even the myriad of minerals and the layers of rock and elements. All that was left was an artificial-intelligence-governed machine. And it seemed that its program was to seek the propagation of itself and the destruction of its creator, mankind.

Eight hours had passed in complete stillness, when Jai groaned softly and once more opened his eyes, squinting even in the dim light.

"Well, it looks like you're awake..." the man commented, smiling slightly.

"Uh...you just said that...didn't you...?" Jai answered as lightheartedly. He was now feeling a lot better compared to the last time he had awoken. "Hey, didn't you two move at all...or was I out for only a short time...?"

"Eight hours, to be exact." The lady pointed out, quite like a big sister. "Feeling much better now?"

"As a matter of fact...yeah, I feel great! My head's not buzzing around too much anymore and..." he suddenly remembered the gravity of his situation. "Eh...um...now that I've gathered my wits more or less, would you mind explaining just what the heck I'm doing here?"

The man spoke. "Ah, yes...I believe it is time. Er, speaking of which, I hope it will not come as a shock to you...but let me begin with the date. Continuing the year count of your time, it is the 14th of December, 3990."

"3990...sounds like the model of a cellular phone or something..." Jai said, giving a nervous laugh. He was trying his very best not to jump up and start screaming like a madman. "You mean to say that I've been sleeping for almost two millennia; like in Rip Van Winkle, but much longer?"

The lady began to explain, though totally disregarding the allusion, which was obviously unfamiliar to her. "Actually you weren't sleeping the whole time...well, technically you were, but the passage of the time did not, in any way, affect your age at all. Whatever your condition during that time, is exactly as you are now. However, since this was the one and only time the experimental time-device has been used, we still are unsure...there might be some side-effects, adverse or otherwise, like the headache for example. But I am sure they are not really life-threatening...um, you understand...?"

"To tell the truth...yeah, I actually do...to an extent. I'm pretty...familiar...with this kind of stuff, since I'm into lots of sci-fi and all...so I can relate a bit. Just a tiny bit, though. But to have it actually happen, to find out that it is actually possible...and to ME of all the other possibilities...that's another story. It's almost literally scaring the sanity out of me."

The lady laughed. "I see you're taking this pretty well. We didn't choose you...you just happened to be at the exact spot at the exact time the device was programmed to activate. Perhaps it was luck...or fate...that you were there."

He wasn't too upset though, since he was still, in fact, very much alive and breathing. Even though he still had trouble assessing the situation, he felt somehow...comfortable with these...people.

"Eh? How about my stuff? Did it all get left behind? My fresh clothes are in there..." he even had the confidence to wisecrack a bit, a habit he exhibited whenever he was nervous.

"They're in the next room." The man was the one who answered. "If there was more time it would have been fascinating to study them. Ah, but that's another matter. On to the more important things..." his voice was now all business.

"That would be...why, right?" Jai ventured, although he already knew the answer. Then he added, "I'm guessing that Earth had gone through major technological advances, and that this very facility is somewhere fifty feet under ground, deep in the Russian mountains, in the Earth's mantle..."

"...not quite," the man replied rather flatly, "This facility is nowhere even near the Earth. We are somewhere in what Earth has called the ninth nebula, several million light years from the far edge of the Milky Way."

Jai looked incredulous. "O-kaaay...just wait a second and let me internalize that for a moment," he said, closing his eyes and tapping his forehead, "Actually, I'm still trying to process the fact that I've been...oh, say...hurtled through about two thousand years forward into the future..."

The man gave an audible sigh. "Look, instead of just telling you, I believe that we would have to show you. It would be much more effective, though this is just a tiny bit of what we would like you to understand..." He wheeled one particular device that had a helmet-like contraption attached to it closer to Jai.

"Eh...this thingy won't erase my memory or turn me to jell-o now, would it?"

"No..." the woman assured him. "This isn't experimental. It is rather old technology, in fact, designed to input data into your brain from a prerecorded source, thereby reducing the time required to comprehend things. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt one bit, though I guess you will be bombarded with questions later on..."

"Well, if you say so..." Jai nodded, taking the head covering and putting it on. "Wow...a snug fit. It's quite comfortable."

"Are you ready?" The man asked, looking straight at Jai, who nodded confidently in response.

"Let her rip, doc..."