A/N: It's been said before: All these Physical Therapy studies are HARD!!! I'm frickin' failing in Anatomy Lab, and barely passing in most others! I'm just so not a memory person...on a lighter side, though, I thoroughly enjoyed our Practical tests in PT1 and PT2, and am positive that this is what I want to do with my life. :-)
Anyways, with that out of the way, It's good I found some time to update. It's a good way to detoxify the mind. Ahem...SHOUT-OUTS!
Rick Forrest - Hey, I'm a perfectionist. :-) Of course I try to make everything as accurate (and precise also) as possible. Hey, I'm looking forward to your "other fic". Is it also about the Vandread world? Hope you update your story soon, but take your time and don't rush!
chris - Well, a very (belated) happy birthday!!! Actually, why I chose that date was because...let's just say that it was very special for me... :-) Anyways, I'm glad you think it's interesting! And you're definitely not stupid! :-) Thanks for dropping a review. I'll try to make this story even better. :-)
Well, that's that for now. This is another long chapter (or so I think), with multiple POV's. Hope it isn't all that confusing. Anyways, on with it! I've got schoolwork to do after this. Enjoy! :-)
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CHAPTER 3
Unsigned Battle
It was as if an earthquake had hit the ship. The man staggered out of the shaking room, silently cursing himself for not being more careful.
"And that was..." Jai started, throwing a questioning look at the woman.
"No doubt, that was another ship. There isn't an asteroid field, comet path, not even a planet in some ways from here. That didn't feel like a radioactive storm either..."
"Radioactive storm...? Oh yeah, we're in space..."
She was about to say something when the ship shook even more violently, throwing them both off their feet.
"This isn't good..." the woman said, more fearful now.
"Maybe not as good, maybe not as bad..." The man was at the doorway, clinging on to one side to keep his balance. His expression was somewhat torn between terrified and ecstatic. "Good news is that there are no Earth ships. There are two, one Tarak and one Mejale. Plus the Tarak's got a pexis pragma! The bad news is that they're shooting at us! Probably thinks we're hostile or something..."
"Can't we just tell them to stop?!" Jai yelled after another rumble, not really understanding what they were talking about. This plexi...something seemed to excite the others...
"That's...our communications are down...same thing with the weapons."
"You're kidding...!" A bad feeling was beginning to well up inside him.
"It's not surprising, though. This old ship's been wandering for more than twenty years now, without any maintenance..." the woman replied. Before she could say more, an even bigger tremor rocked the ship.
"Damn! That was a big one...there's no more time! We've got to get him to the safe-pod!" The man shouted, scrambling to his feet and grabbing Jai's arm.
"Wait...you're bringing me where?" Jai was now beginning to feel sick...whether from the excitement of the moment or intense panic, he couldn't tell, though both seemed unlikely the reason.
In any case, they were being fired at...and had no way to fight back, or even communicate with whoever was shooting. The situation was hopeless, and there was nothing they could do about it. For all he knew, they were all going to die...and he hated these kinds of lose-lose situations.
He was quickly led through the ship amidst violent shaking and now several small fires which were quickly growing along the narrow walkway they passed. The room they reached was small, and inside were several objects he recognized were from his time...a few pieces of elegantly-carved wooden furniture, a number of wooden figurines, a basketball and a hoop, several books, clothes, tapes and CD's, a piano...including his own bike and all his belongings.
"Whoa...!" Jai was taken aback, even though his head was now spinning wildly. "How did all this get here...?"
"Exceedingly accurate replicas, all of them, except your own things, of course," the woman answered. "Our faction's been trying to recreate some of what we saw in the 'memory' back at Earth for sometime now. But now is not the time for this! You just stay here, where you will be safe."
Jai felt the door close behind him. He then noticed that he was the only one in the room. "Hey...! What about you guys...?!" he managed to shout, weakly pounding on the firmly-shut iron entryway.
Voices came from the nearby intercom after several tense moments. "There's no need to worry about us, you'll be out of harm's way in the safe-pod! There's something we have to do here! We hope and believe that you will understand the situation soon enough! The pexis pragma will be of immense help; just to let you know, what little we had of it was what we utilized to bring you here in the first place! Listen; if we do not get to talk again in the future, remember this: restore the human race and avoid the harvest at all costs. If you can, fight it..."
The voices were cut off by an ear-splitting sonic boom. Even in the tightly-sealed room and in his disoriented condition, Jai could feel the rest of the ship separating from his safe haven, his prison. A chill crept up his spine and his eyes grew wide as he figured what might have happened.
'Pexis pragma? What...restore the human race? How the heck...? And what is this harvest...?'
And then, all of a sudden, the entire place he was in gave a sharp lurch, and he was thrown back into one of the immense metallic walls. It seemed so surreal that none of the other things moved at all, he thought suddenly. The last thing he remembered was a sharp pain on the back of his head before everything began to turn into an all-too-familiar white again, then suddenly to pitch black...
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The Vanguards onboard the Ikazuchi were quickly mobilized and sent to combat the Mejale ship. The unidentifiable ship, the commander said, was to be considered a bonus and extra bounty. Besides, according to him, it might strike at them anyway...why not get it first?
When Hibiki had reached the hangar, all of the other Vanguards have already been deployed. 'Aw, man...how long have I been sleeping anyway...?' he thought as he searched for something...
His Vanguard, which stood out in gold plating, was sitting at its corner in the hangar.
'Alright! My buddy's still here...heheh...those jerks didn't figure out how to start it up after all...and they call themselves geniuses...' He had rigged the Vanguard's system so that only he could start it up. One of his more brilliant (and successful) ideas, he concluded proudly.
The other technicians were busy figuring out how to get the remaining Vanguard to work, and were failing miserably. They had all but given up when Hibiki strode up to them.
"Well, look who decided to finally show up..." one of them sneered.
"Having trouble?" Hibiki quipped, not losing an ounce of confidence. They weren't going to get to him this time.
Not wanting to be outdone, they feigned ignorance. "Of course not, idiot. Well, aside from the new, top-secret experimental black-steel model, that is. What makes you say that...?"
He did not reply. Walking right past them, he climbed up the stairs to the Vanguard's open cockpit and jumped in.
"Hey! What are you doing?! It can't be started-up yet!"
"Just watch me!" Hibiki shot back, quickly pressing a sequence of buttons.
Almost immediately, the Vanguard's internal system booted up, whirring to life. The other mechanics could only look on in disbelief as the pilot's hatch closed automatically.
"Alright! That's my partner!" Hibiki yelled. A prompt flashed on the screen in front of him. 'Voice recognition complete...pilot identification confirmed.'
"Let's go!!!" He shouted once more, as he led the Vanguard onto the launching pad and out of the Ikazuchi, into battle at last.
He was not met with a pretty sight. Even this early, it was clear that the Mejale were winning, as a number of debilitated Vanguards, incapable of motion and combat but not utterly destroyed, already littered the battlefield. The unknown ship was under heavy fire from their troops, but did not seem to be retaliating.
'Somehow, something's wrong with that ship...'
BANG His thoughts were interrupted by a collision to his left.
A ship he certainly didn't recognize zoomed past him. It wasn't humanoid-shaped...it looked more like a conventional ship...a blue one. Without a doubt, it was one of the Mejale.
"You want to play, huh?" He muttered, voice quivering with excitement. He spotted several similar ships further ahead. "Alright...I'll take you all on! Come on!!!"
This was finally it...he was going to fight the evil. Maybe his dream was a premonition? Maybe he would indeed be able to defeat all of them single-handedly. Without a second thought, he took out one of the Vanguard's platinum twin blades and rushed forward.
They were approaching in formation...more organized than he thought. In seconds, he was assailed by blasts from their lasers. Some he was able to avoid, but a good number at least grazed his Vanguard's outer plating. They quickly dispersed, even before he could get within striking distance. They seemed to be...retreating...
Hibiki remained unfazed. "So it's like that, huh? Come back here and fight, you cowards!"
A communications link icon flashed on the control panel in front of him. One of their ships was trying to talk to him...or so it appeared.
He hesitated in opening the link. His imagination reminded him of how scary the Mejale race might look like. Until now, he hadn't actually seen one...he cautiously pressed the button, waiting anxiously at what might appear onscreen.
The screen blinked on and to his surprise, it was not the face of a monster that came into view. Instead, it was that of a being very much similar to himself...same facial features...eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair...the hair was red and quite long. He could only see the head, as it was all the space could accommodate, but he guessed that maybe...the rest of it might be the same. "Wow...a real live alien! Hello there, Mr. Alien!" it spoke in a playful, high pitch.
Hibiki was stunned. This was certainly something much different from his expectations. "...wha..." was all he could bring himself to say. There was certainly...something...about this...creature...he was conversing with.
"We do not wish to fight you..." it began again, but he wasn't able to hear the rest, as the communication link was cut off suddenly.
"H...huh?" He snapped back to reality and shook his head to clear it up. "What was that? A Mejale trick perhaps? I'd better be more careful next time I..."
He himself was interrupted by an extremely loud sonic boom. He spun his Vanguard around and found himself facing the unknown ship. It was literally falling apart, though it was now moving...right towards the Ikazuchi!
"What the..." he began to go forward to get a better look, but stopped suddenly when he noticed an enormous ship approaching him from behind.
"...heck..." The immense ship, the command ship of the Mejale, no doubt, drifted past him in an instant. It was also headed towards the other ship. It wasn't firing at them, nor showing any other hostile action.
"...is going on...?" It was then that he noticed that the Tarak's own command ship was also set in motion...towards the other two hulking vessels. In a panic, he tried contacting the Ikazuchi.
"Ikazuchi! Do you copy! You are on a collision course! Repeat..."
There was no coherent answer. All he could hear on the other side were frantic shouting and scurrying. He realized then that perhaps they were all out of control...maybe also the Mejale ship...or the other one. How...or why...was clearly unknown. What he didn't notice was that the other Vanguards were being pushed away from the area, perhaps by the same force, and that his was unaffected by it.
His Vanguard rushed at full speed towards the large ships. Hibiki thought he saw a few other small ships headed in the same direction, but then dismissed the notion, too absorbed in what he was doing to care. He tried again to make contact. "Ikazuchi! Do you copy! Commander! Anybody! Do you..."
He never got to finish the sentence, as the three ships came in contact and an immensely bright light that strangely seemed to come from the Ikazuchi illuminated the entire area. He had to shield his eyes to keep the glare from blinding him as he was also pulled into the glare.
"Damn...what is this...? Is this the end...? It couldn't be..." He wondered out loud, now thoroughly confused.
It was only the beginning...
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In under a minute after they had detected the Tarak ship, it began to deploy its arsenal of Vanguards...whether either to them or to the other ship remained to be seen.
But they were pirates, and knew how to handle this kind of situation. Besides, they had all that extra energy from their last few weeks of boredom. It would indeed, according to their Boss, be a good time to get some exercise. The Dreads were mobilized soon enough to face the Tarak troopers before the latter could come within striking distance of the pirates' command ship.
"Jura and Squad A, flank the left. I'll take the right side with Dita and Squad B. Shoot to disable only!" Meia commanded, and they flew into position.
Being pirates, and having experienced many battles in the past, it was clear from the beginning of the skirmish that they had the upper hand. Vanguards were incapacitated in groups, and not a single Dread suffered more than a scratch.
"Now isn't this just a little too easy...?" Jura remarked offhandedly from her stylish, as she called it, crimson Dread. In truth, she was rather amazed that they had very little trouble.
"Don't get careless..." Meia was always the voice of reason, albeit a slightly cold one. Her white Dread sped across the battlefield, ready for anything that might arise. She was, as was usual, all the more wary and suspicious of things than her comrades, being the leader and all. "There's no telling what they might be up to..."
Dita weaved her blue Dread through the immobilized Vanguards, trying to establish communication with them, who she called 'aliens'. They were unconscious, she figured...since they weren't answering. It was then that she saw one other Vanguard emerge from the Tarak ship...this one looked different, as it had gold plating instead of the other silver ones. 'Maybe I could try to talk with this alien...' she thought, and approached it.
Meia had spotted it as well. 'Gold plating...it had been deployed later than the this be a stronger one...?' She immediately ordered a quick, preliminary strike, just to see what this Vanguard was capable of...
It slowly made its way closer to them, though seemingly more interested in the other ship, which the other Vanguards still mercilessly shot at. The Dread leader ordered the assault, and then noticed the blue Dread of an apprentice-pilot dangerously close to their target. The pilot of the Vanguard had now also seen her, no doubt.
"Dita! Move out of the way!" Meia yelled.
"Y...yes...!" Dita complied, backing off a little.
The Dread formation moved in and stormed their lone adversary with low-powered laser blasts. Meia observed carefully. The Vanguard was able to evade some, but it was easily deducible that the pilot was not overly skilled.
The distinct beep of a communication prompt distracted her from her thoughts for a second. Opening the link, she was met with an obscure distress call from the pirate ship itself. No image was visible, but it seemed from the noise of things that something was wrong.
She tried the communications again. "Boss! What is going on...?! Ezra! Sub-commander! Amarone! Anybody...!"
Garbled words were the only reply.
Meanwhile, Dita hovered nearby the humanoid-shaped robot, still quite entranced by the prospect of actually getting to talk with one of the aliens. She had only heard stories of them, mostly from her friends back at Mejale a long time ago, and she had heard that they were a scary race. Curiosity got the better of her, and she oftentimes wondered whether all of the stories were actually true...seeing them herself was the most logical thing to do...
The strike formation suddenly stopped and pulled back. Dita saw this as more of a chance to put her own plans into action than something strange. Wasting no time, she immediately tried to open a communication link with the alien's ship. In no more than several seconds, the link was opened and a face appeared onscreen.
To say she was amazed would be an understatement. Her eyes grew wide as she realized that it was one of the 'aliens' she was actually seeing. It did not matter to her that it had the same appearance as her...what mattered was that this was an 'alien'. She thought it looked rather cute, though...
"Wow...a real live alien!" she exclaimed, despite herself. "Hello there, Mr. Alien!"
It looked back at her strangely. She wondered if it understood her...she had heard that they used the same language as them...
It , but it had meaning, nonetheless...or so she thought. "...wha...?"
She wanted it to know that they weren't the 'bad guys', nor were they trying to hunt them down. "We do not wish to fight you..." she began to say.
The com-link was suddenly cut off, and the screen went blank. She stopped mid-sentence and almost jumped back in surprise. After a few seconds, it was Meia's stern face that appeared.
"All Dreads! There's something wrong with our ship!" the Dread leader spoke with urgency. There was even a tinge of...panic in it. "We can't seem to establish a connection with it. All Dreads, return at once. I repeat, return at once."
Dita looked frantically around. The alien pilot she was talking to was now further ahead. A strong worry welled inside her, and she headed straight towards the same direction.
All of a sudden, an immense sonic boom shattered the space and echoed throughout the area. It seemed to have emanated from the unknown ship.
'Damn...what was that...? As if we needed more problems now...' Meia, quite far from their ship but closely monitoring it via radar, noticed it now moving...towards the source of the loud sound they just heard. The battle had brought them to the far left of their ship's location, and the distance proved daunting had something dangerous happened. Contact with the Boss was impossible, Meia now knew, so she had sent a call to all the other Dreads to return to the ship, as her own began speeding towards it. She noticed on the way that Jura and Dita were already on their way...but none of the others were visible.
"Jura!" she shouted over the communicator, "where are the rest?"
"I've contacted Barnette..." the other replied, sounding very strained, "she says that there's like some sort of...force...or something...pushing them back. They're having trouble just keeping in place..."
"But why aren't we..."
"Don't even ask me! Maybe we're just lucky or something. I'm just trying to get back to our ship to ask Parfet myself and get all this straightened out! Like you yourself said, for some reason, the communications don't work!"
"This is definitely strange..." Meia muttered to herself.
As they raced towards their ship from behind it, Dita noticed another small vessel heading in their direction. She immediately recognized it as the alien she was talking to earlier.
"Hey, Mr..."
Before she could finish, a brilliant light suddenly flashed from the Tarak ship and engulfed the surrounding space.
"WAAAAH!!!" Dita and Jura screamed as they were also engulfed by the luminance.
"What the..." Meia said, her curse being drowned out by the brightness.
'Definitely not good...' she thought, as she fought to keep the intense light from permanently blinding her.