Disclaimer: I don't own anything of importance related to Xenogears or Vandread.


" " Speech
Thought
| | Computer vocalization
- - Telepathy
* * Action sounds or emphasis
-+- Perspective change
( ) Author's notes


Xenodread
Chapter 1 – Where The Hell Am I?!
By Raiu Kusanagi



"Sorry about this, Captain." A young woman named Meia Gisborn with light blue hair said. "You had to come all the way up here."

"There's no need to apologize. I simply wanted to see this with my own eyes." An aged woman by the name of Magno Vivan replied, walking ahead of the group of women she'd arrived with and gazing around until something caught her eye. "Hm?"

"This is the man Dita was chasing," Meia supplied, staring down at an unconscious young man.

"It's been a while since I last saw a man. "Were their faces really this funny looking?"

Before Meia could comment on that, a sound caught everyone's attention. They all turned toward the source of the sound just in time to see a section of crystal crack, then shatter as a hatch of some kind opened in the shadowy mass beneath the thin layer of crystal. As the group watched, a figure stumbled into view only to fall to the ground in surprise as it stepped out of the hatch. The women watched for a moment until it was obvious the figure wasn't going to get up, then slowly walked toward it.

"It's a man?" Meia stated tentatively.

"And a woman," Jura Basli Elden, a voluptuous blonde wearing a dress with a plunging neckline, added.

The red-haired one they assumed was a man rolled over on his back with a groan, proving their guess right. Unfortunately, the man rolled so that his head was nearly between Jura's legs. His eyes slowly opened, revealing violet irises.

"Oooh..." The man sleepily mumbled. "Nice view..."

As Jura began sputtering angrily, the man passed out.

"I don't think it's any use getting angry at him now, Jura." The Captain chuckled. "BC, have both these men taken to a cell. Bring the woman to my quarters. I'd like to know what she was doing with a man."

+ + + +
-+-

"Ugh..."

Pain. What a *wonderful* feeling. Let's you know you're still alive, after all.

"What the hell happened?"

"Are you alright?" A calm voice asked.

Citan?! Wait a sec!

"Grahf! Where -"

I was cut off by the fact that I just slammed my head into something metal as I reflexively sat up.

Ouch. Of course, that's just in my mind. In reality, I was a bit more... vocal about it.

"Ow! OW! *OW*! Sonuvabeotch piece of shit!"

Lifting one hand to rub my sore forehead as I sat up again - carefully, this time - I noted that I was wearing some sort of restraint around my wrists. Focusing on them briefly, I tried to break them with a quick snap only to find that it's some kind of elastic cord.

Damn.

Oh well, no big deal for now. Finding out where the hell I was was much more important.

Looking around, I saw that I was in a large holding cell with green lasers fore bars. Joy. And there were two guys - one with long hair that looks like he's about Citan's age and the other a couple years younger than me with spikey hair - and an egg-shaped robot with arms and legs in the cell with me. Joy times two.

"Guh... anyone get the name of that Rankar that kicked me in the head?"

"Uh, what's a Rankar?"

Is this kid an idiot or something?

"You know," I started, "big green bipedal lizard, mouth the size of an oxcow, and breath bad enough to knock over a Gear?"

"I've never heard of something like that." The long-haired guy said. "And I don't understand some of the terms you used. What are an oxcow and a Gear?"

I took a moment to stare at both of my cellmates incredulously before answering.

"My god, you guys must come from a sheltered home. An oxcow is a domesticated pack animal used to drive carts and wagons in the more isolated areas of the world. And Gears... my god, how could you not know about them?! They're everywhere! They're giant, humanoid, piloted robots."

"Oh, you mean the Vanguards!" The kid exclaimed.

"Vanguards? What are you talking about?"

"Those are the giant robots you were talking about!"

Okay. I think I'll just... play along for now.

"Just where the hell are we anyway?"

"We're in the brig of the old section of the Ikazuchi," the older guy answered.

Like that answered my question.

"Oh, by the way, I'm... Fei. Fei Fong Wong. And you guys?"

"I'm Hibiki Tokai," the kid replied, puffing out his chest.

Full of himself, ain't he?

"Duero McFile."

"Nice to meet you. Why exactly are we in here?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions," Hibiki stated.

"So I'm curious. Big deal. That doesn't answer my question, though."

"The women captured the Ikazuchi and put us here when something started happening between their ship and the Ikazuchi. They're probably trying to figure out what to do with us."

Okay... this is getting very odd. Before I could comment on that, a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"So, you're awake."

I looked up to see three women standing outside the cell. The one in front was obviously the leader. Not bad looking either. Bronze colored skin, silvery hair, steely grey eyes, and an outfit that was quite revealing even though it only showed the skin on her arms and midriff. The other two were obviously grunts in uniforms that were most likely designed more for comfort than utility, despite their uniformity. The two grunts were also pointing their right fists at us, odd rings adorning those index fingers. I could just barely see what looks like a firing stud on the side of the rings under their thumbs.

"Wo-women!!"

Hibiki's exclamation startled me out of my studying. I glanced over to see him fall backwards in surprise.

"What are you planning to do to me?! What am I doing here?!"

"Calm down, idiot." I sighed. "Stop acting like they're some sort of alien species. They're just women."

... okay, maybe that wasn't such a good thing to say, judging by their expressions. I think they couldn't decide whether to be angry at me for that last comment or be surprised about something.

"Are you insane?!" Hibiki snapped at me. "They wanna eat our guts!"

"Eat your... guts?" The silver-haired woman asked, disgust and incredulity warring in her expression.

I burst out laughing half a second after the two grunts started giggling and nearly cracked my head on that damn shelf again when I fell backward. Apparently, that was enough to stop the grunts in mid-giggle, because then they were staring at me like I'm some sort of freak show.

"That was a good one, kid." I croaked out, barely managing to get control of my laughter. "Where the hell'd ya come up with that, eh?"

"Well," the leader began, "you certainly are an interesting one, aren't you?"

"Lady," I chuckled, "you have no idea."

"Before we have dinner, our Captain wishes to speak with the three of you." She stated before turning to me. "Particularly you."

"Hey, no problems from me. Just as long as we don't have to stay in this cell any longer."

"You don't have to worry about that. You'll be coming with us."

I stood up only to nearly fall down as a wave of dizziness washed over me. I stumbled a bit before managing to shake it off.

As we were heading to wherever their Captain is, I saw Hibiki reach out and poke the flatchested grunt in the butt. Stupid perv. The grunt turned around with an indignant expression of rage just in time to see me smack Hibiki upside the back of his head.

As I lowered my arms, something finally penetrated my thick skull. My arms weren't the bleach white they normally were when I'm Id. And I didn't remember reverting. Eh, so what. I decided to think about it later.

"Idiot. You don't poke women in the ass. It's just plain rude." I lectured the boy before turning to the grunt. "You can slap him all you want now."

The girl stared at me oddly for a moment before turning around and continuing on. Weird people.

A few minutes later, we were sat down in some sort of interrogation room. We were all sitting on a double-sided metal bench - Duero in the middle with me on his right and Hibiki on his left - in the middle of the room with the two grunts behind us and the leader beside the bench. Shortly after we sat down, another woman walked in with a blonde guy just in front of her with his hands behind his head. From my angle, I could see she had a ring just like the two grunts. The guy was wearing some sort of brown uniform with red lapels and puffy thighs. His hair was short, but with his bangs cut like a couple of floppy bunny ears. He had his eyes closed and was grinning nervously.

Another idiot.

The young woman looked like she was about my age and had sky blue hair. Her outfit was a white, black, and gray bodysuit with puffed out shoulders and a wide collar. She was also wearing a weird head piece that wrapped around the left side of her head. Despite that, it was her eyes that caught my attention. They were sky blue like her hair, but I could almost sense a hidden sadness behind them, like she'd lost someone important to her and it scarred her life.

Boy, could I relate to that, or what?

Oh, Elly...

NO! Can't. Think. About. That! Much as I deserve it, I couldn't afford to become too depressed right then.

"What's up?" Silver-hair asked. "You found another?"

"Yes." The blue-haired woman replied. "He was trying to hide in the platform."

"H-hey, comrades." The blonde idiot stuttered. "Glad to see you here."

"My goodness." An aged voice interrupted. "I'd heard you'd rounded up some prisoners but they're just kids."

It was an old woman wearing a heavy robe and cowl outfit with a cane. From just looking at her, I could tell she was the Captain. Just a sort of aura about her.

"Hey, hey!" that egg-shaped robot decided to speak up. "It's time to interrogate! I'll tell you everything!"

"Oh, my. How nostalgic. It's a Navi-Robot. And this one still seems to function, eh?"

"I'm not following this," Duero commented.

"You ain't the only one, buddy," I chipped in.

"Oh, you're the one we found with that woman, aren't you?" the Captain asked as she grabbed one of the stools that had been next to the door and sat down on it.

Woman?

"Emeralda? Where is she?"

"You needn't worry about her -"

*SNAP*

That was the sound of my restraints breaking. Maybe my patience as well. Hey, she thinks of me as a father and risked her own life just to be with me. Why wouldn't I be worried about her?

"Where. Is. She?"

I was dimly aware of my aura flaring to life around me as the three women with rings aimed them at me, their thumbs hovering over the firing studs.

"You needn't get testy, young man." The Captain said. "I was just about to tell you that she's in my quarters. I had her taken there so that I could ask her some questions, but she has yet to wake up."

"Well, then..."

I let my aura fade and relaxed slightly, bowing my head to the Captain.

"I apologize for overreacting, but I've been under a great deal of stress lately and my patience isn't all I would wish it was right now."

I sat down, barely noticing the way Hibiki was openly staring at me in shock while Duero was merely watching me with a raised eyebrow. The blonde idiot looked like he was about to piss his pants.

"Apology accepted. It happens to all of us at one time or another." The Captain stated, gesturing to the three women to stand down. "Now then, if that's out of the way, what are we going to do with you four?"

"This a men's ship, isn't it?"

Well, Hibiki seemed to have lost his awe quickly. Guess he's got a short attention span.

"Yes, and before that is was..."

Hmmm. That's odd. The room seemed to be getting brighter. Not to mention it was like a sauna in here. And what the hell was that humming sound?

-+-

"But the problem is, what are we supposed to - what's wrong with him?"

The rest of the people in the room followed her gaze to Fei. He was hunched over, holding his head in pain, his eyes clenched shut as sweat poured down his face. With a groan of pain, he fell to his knees on the floor. As the group watched in morbid fascination, Fei slumped forward, slapping his hands onto the floor just in time to keep his face from slamming into the metal plating and began coughing, flecks of blood splattering on the floor. One of his hands slid up to hold himself across the chest as more blood began coming up with each cough.

"Get these off!" Duero stated, turning to the silver-haired woman, whose name was Buzam A Calessa, or BC. "I'm a doctor. I need to help him!"

A wet splat followed quickly by a dull thud halted BC before she could do anything. Everyone that had turned their attention to Duero turned back to Fei to see him lying on his side, a small mass of flesh of some sort in a pool of blood less than a foot from his head. Duero rushed to Fei's side and pressed the first two fingers of one hand against Fei's neck.

"He's still alive," Duero sighed.

"Would someone explain what just happened?" the blonde man, Bart Garsus, asked.

-+-

"Would someone explain what just happened?"

Wha...?

Ugh. Ouch.

Felt like I just coughed up a lung.

Blinking my eyes open, I saw that that's probably not far from the truth. I painfully pushed myself off the ground, but couldn't get farther than my knees right then.

Wait a sec... That chunk of flesh just moved.

Oh lovely, it was some sort of parasite. No, it was the - aw shit.

Well, I knew how to deal with that.

Without further thought, I charged my fist with Chi and slammed it down onto the creature. So much for that.

They're gonna have fun fixing that dent.

I looked around at everyone else in the room. They were all staring at me in varying degrees of shock or surprise.

"I agree with the young man." The Captain said, breaking the silence. "What in the world was that?"

|There's something approaching!| A woman's voice filtered through the radio at the silver-haired woman's hip.

She grabbed the radio and spoke into it.

"Is it male reinforcements?"

|Actually -|

|They're UFO's!| A different voice cut off the first.

Cracks started forming in the ceiling and wall in one corner of the room as the ship was rocked by an impact.

|They're attacking us!|

"Danger! Danger!" The Navi-Robot began squealing.

"What's going on this time?" Hibiki asked.

"We're under attack, you idiot," I growled.

The ship was rocked again, prompting the blue-haired woman to leave, saying, "Dreads are going out."

I started ignoring the conversations around me as I tried calling out to Weltall. Instead of the usual mental beep of confirmation, I felt an odd warmth flood my mind, comforting me and... giving me directions?!

Wait... it was just giving me an impression where it was in relation to myself. Odd. Oh, well.

I was startled out of my reverie by a voice in the back of my mind.

-All systems fully functional. Warning: unknown vessel approaching Ikazuchi. Size is approximately equal to that of the Ikazuchi.-

What?!

Glancing around, I saw that the blonde idiot was talking with the Captain, Hibiki was on the ground, and Duero was crouching over a woman that had been pinned when the wall apparently collapsed on the other side of the bench.

"I can't do anything here!" Duero snapped. "Take me to sick bay!"

"All right, then." The Captain replied, then looked at the idiot. "You come to the bridge with me young man. BC, you take the other two to the warehouse."

"Right."

"No." I cut in. "Let me help fight whatever it is that's attacking us."

"And why should we do that, young man?"

"Because fighting is one of the few things I'm good at and like doing. Besides, you and the idiot there decided to at least work together. I'll go with that."

I love being able to subconsciously memorize nearly everything that happens around me.

Seeing the Captain hesitate, I quickly added, "If you want, when the fighting is over, I'll tell you everything I know, even give you any technical data I have about my Gear, Weltall."

"Don't you mean your Vanguard?" Hibiki asked.

"Whatever. Just let me fight. Please."

The Captain studied me for a moment before nodding. I started to leave the room, only to be stopped by BC.

"Wait. I'll show you how to -"

"Don't worry." I smirked. "I can find it on my own."

Without waiting for anyone to say otherwise, I ran out the door and down the hallway. I managed to make good time following the impressions I was getting from Weltall.

+ + + +
-+-

"Shut up!" A young girl named Paiway Underberg shouted, standing up and placing one foot on the desk in front of her. "No one else is allowed to get hurt!"

Just then, the door hissed open, revealing a red-haired man with violet eyes.

"Whoops! Wrong way!"

Before they could respond or react in any way, the man was gone, the door hissing shut behind him.

-+-

That was more then a bit weird. Guess I'll have to be more careful about which doors I open.

Hmmm. Let's see... it's this way now. Then up these stairs...

Jackpot! Now if I could just locate it in all this crystal.

A cracking noise caught my attention. I turned around just in time to see a large mass of crystal shatter, revealing the Gear beneath it.

Holy Mother of Nisan! Is that Weltall?!

-Affirmative. Unit formerly known as Weltall has been upgraded through unknown means.-

"Self?!"

-Self is the semi-autonomous control system of Unit Xenogears.-

Xenogears, eh? I liked the sound of that. But the bit about being semi- autonomous...

Whatever. I can worry about that later.

Open up.

The chest plate popped open, allowing me to jump in. Once I was settled into the seat, I took a look at the controls as the chest plate closed. Hmmm. A green sphere set in a socket on each side of the seat. Rather simplistic. Let's try it out.

I placed my hands on the spheres, which immediately raised out of the sockets and white lines formed on them, roughly tracing my hands. The chest plate slid shut and the main screen - scratch that; only screen - came to life, giving me a nearly 360 degree field of vision. I looked to each side and noted that the view shifted to follow my line of sight.

Very nice!

How about weapons? A cluster of holographic screens pop into life on either side of me. Hmmm... Okay, reactive blasters were replaced by ion cannons that double as energy blades when not firing. Nice. Chain guns still there, fully repaired and upgraded with increased rate of fire and penetration power.

Now how the hell do I get out of here?

Weltall turned on its own and began walking. A few seconds later, I could see that we were approaching a launching ramp. Weltall reached the end of it and knelt down on the launch pad.

-Initiating launch sequence.-

The acceleration of the launch slammed me back into my seat.

"YEEEEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

Heh. If only the team could see me now. They had no clue how much I actually enjoy piloting my Gear. Weltall shot out of the ship at high speed and flew around to where most of the fighting was going on.

Oooooooh...

A target rich environment.

How nice of them.

-+-

Meia growled as she dodged enemy fire and strafed a cluster of the mecha.

"There's just too many of them." Jura commented over the holo-screen. "We've got to strike the main system."

"I agree with you. But if there was some way to get our ship mobilized."

"YEEEEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

"What in the?"

As Meia watched, a large white mecha shot out of the Ikazuchi and came flying toward her. The mecha pointed an arm at her and fired a thin beam of green energy from the blade on the back of the arm. Meia twisted her Dread out of the way only to be rocked by an explosion from behind. Turning around, she saw the charred pieces of an enemy mecha floating away from each other.

So, it wasn't firing at me.

|You really need to pay more attention to your surroundings, you know,| an unfamiliar and decidedly male voice commented over Meia's radio as a holograph screen popped open to one side, revealing Fei's face grinning at her.

"You! What the hell are you doing out here?!"

|Saving your ass from the looks of it.|

About that time, Xenogears reached Meia's Dread and slowed to a stop. Meia got her first good look at the Gear then. At nearly the size of Dita's Dread, the white and cobalt Gear was an impressive machine and greatly changed from its original design. The head fin had become a trio of white horns, one on each side that curved out slightly, then back and up, and one on top that curved up and back with a large emerald set at its blue base, while the red & blue face was nearly unchanged, the glowing green eyes staring down at Meia's Dread. Six white spikes jutted out behind the Gear, two from each shoulder and one forming the junction between the torso and the arms, which was angled so that each shoulder was slightly higher than the torso. The upper torso looked molded from a single piece of white armor, while the lower torso was blue with white groin plating. The legs were almost totally white, with only the knees and feet being blue, while the arms were nearly identical to a human wearing a blue bodysuit with white gloves. On each forearm was a bracer-sized shield with a thick green blade extending from each but leaving enough room for the hands to have full mobility.

"By the way, I'm Fei Fong Wong. And you?"

"Meia Gisborn," Meia replied distractedly, still staring at Xenogears.

-+-

"Hey, I know Xenogears is impressive, but you really should pay attention to your surroundings," I commented, firing another ion blast at an approaching Gear.

Damn, this was sweet. My Gear had never run better!

The engine output was nearly tripled and I didn't have to worry about fuel anymore because of the new engine. The ion cannons were about the same strength as my old reactive blasters, but I didn't have to worry about any negative side effects.

An even cooler fact was that the control spheres followed my hands. Wherever I moved them, the spheres would follow. Makes fighting that much more satisfying if you can even subconsciously feel like you're helping your Gear by moving around instead of remaining in one constant position.

"Hey, Meia. I'm gonna make a run for the main ship. Could you try to distract the Gears for me?"

"What?! I don't take orders from you!"

"I wasn't giving you an order. I was *asking* if you could distract those Gears for me."

"Listen, you –"

"Whatever," I sighed as I cut off the comm-link.

On that note, I urged Xenogears forward and shot toward the large seed-like thing that was spitting out cubes of Gears.

+ + + +
-+-

As Fei was on his way to Xenogears, BC was leading Hibiki to the warehouse with a redheaded guard to escort them.

"Looks like it'll be a while before this place stabilizes." BC stated, examining a hole in a wall of the hallway they were in. "I'm afraid there's not gonna be too much hope for us if we can't get control of the ship. It would probably be the end of us if the men attack." BC turned to stare at Hibiki for a moment before continuing. "Just out of curiosity, why didn't you volunteer to go with the other one when he asked us to let him fight?"

"Well..." Hibiki slowly replied. "I'm not actually a pilot of the Vanguard. The truth is, I'm just a parts mechanic, that's all"

"Huh? So what are you doing here?"

"That's a really funny question, actually. Y'see, I sorta got suckered into doing this pretty stupid thing. I sorta said I would steal one of the Vanguards. Heh, I mean I don't want you to get the wrong idea or anything..."

"I guess the data we had was incorrect, because I had always heard that men were a proud race. But who would have ever thought that they are such pathetic beings." Hibiki gasped slightly in response to that. "No matter what the reason, aren't you here because of your pride? Or is it that you've got yourself here because of the need to show proof of your existence? Male or female, it doesn't matter now.

"In situations like this, what it comes down to is we are human beings who breath the same oxygen. While there are people around you desperately trying to overcome this crisis, are you simply going to curl up like a helpless baby and wait for the final moments to come? What deficiencies are you trying to make up for right now? What do you think you can hide at a time like this? No matter how much of a loser you are, or how uncool you are, if you cower at every obstacle in front of you, nothing will ever change. And without change, your race will shrivel up and die. Do you understand that?"

"But - I don't know..." Hibiki answered before slumping to his knees. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

"I guess I didn't need to say all that." BC stated as she started to walk by the teen and looked over at the guard. "Let's go back to the bridge."

"Yes, but -"

"Don't worry." BC replied, looking back at Hibiki for a moment. "This guy has absolutely nowhere to run to now. And... neither do we."

With that said, the two women walked away from Hibiki.

What...? What am I supposed to do? I don't know!

+ + + +

A few minutes later

BC walked onto the bridge and stood next to Magno.

"Is there a chance we'll escape?"

"Well, your guess is as good as mine," the Captain replied just before the ship was rocked by an impact.

"Port side engine has taken a hit!" One of the bridge crew reported. "Shields weakening!"

"We won't get too far under conditions like these," Magno commented.

"Damn it!" Fei's voice snarled over the comm lines as his face appeared in a holographic screen at the front of the bridge. "Someone get us some backup out here! Pronto! Systems fully functional my ass! They're only operating at twenty to thirty percent, if I'm lucky!"

"So, you managed to survive this long in one of those Vanguards, hm?"

"Vanguard? HAH! Don't make me laugh! The Xenogears is nothing like those rusty buckets of bolts I saw in the platform!"

"Oh?" Magno replied, then turned to one of the bridge crew. "Show me his fighter."

Another screen popped up, showing the Xenogears just as it cut through a trio of enemy mecha in a spiraling slash.

"Oh, my. That is rather impressive, isn't it?"

"Heh. Just watch this."

With that, the Xenogears pointed one arm at a quartet of approaching mecha and fired of another ion blast, catching the center mech in the chest. The resulting explosion incinerated the other three.

"Impressive. So why are you still concentrating on the fighters instead of the main ship?"

"It's a bit hard not to concentrate on them when they swarm you, ya know! Wait. Xenogears, you got any other weapons? Ion Buster, eh? Let's do it!"

The screen showed Xenogears turning toward the enemy's main ship and pointed its arms forward like the tines of a tuning fork. Green electricity began running up and down the arms for a moment before a large beam of energy shot forward from between the blades, striking the sphere on the side. The beam continued firing for a couple more seconds before fading. When everyone looked at the ship again, all they saw was a scorch mark on its side.

"GODDAMMIT!! I didn't even scratch it! We're gonna have to tag that thing from - oh, shit. I think I pissed 'em off."

The enemy mecha had stopped attacking the Dreads and were all swarming toward Xenogears as the main ship launched another pair of cubes, both of which broke into the fighters and made a beeline toward Fei.

"Hey! Take these things off me!" Hibiki shouted as a second holo-screen with his face appeared. "How do you expect me to do anything with 'em on?!"

"What's he talking about?" Magno asked.

"Hmp. Please leave this to me." BC replied, looking up at Hibiki's face on the screen. "What do you plan to do?"

"I've decided! I'm going to help you fight!"

"Fight?" Incredulity was obvious in BC's voice. "You?"

"I know I'm a loser. I'm totally uncool. Believe me, I know that's not who I wanna be anymore!"

"Is this a man's nature, or are you just trying to be defiant?"

"NO! That's not the way it is right now! It's so I can become stronger, but also, more important than that, to prove my own existence!"

"Hm." BC smirked as she lifted a small handheld device and pressed the button on it.

Back in the hallway, Hibiki's manacles instantly released, freeing his arms.

"Okay! You won't regret this!"

"Hibiki, no!" Fei shouted just before Hibiki's face disappeared. "Hibiki! Damn fool kid!"

"What's wrong?" Magno inquired.

"If he takes one of the Vanguards, he's gonna get slaughtered before he even gets a shot off! The only chance he has is if he takes that Gear I saw in the platform!"

"Then let's hope he makes the right choice," the Captain said.

"Aw, crap. I gotta cut communications. These damn things are swarming all over me and I can't spare the concentration for anything but fighting!"

With that, the screen with Fei's face winked out of existence.

+ + + +

"I got here as fast as I could, partner!" Hibiki yelled as he ran through a doorway into the platform, only to stop dead at the sight that greeted him.

The Vanguard that he had marked was lying in a pile of the blue crystal that was everywhere on the ship. However, it had been changed much as Xenogears had. The now yellow-orange and off-white powered suit was bulkier, but more streamlined. Two vents formed the junction between each shoulder epaulet and the torso. The armor on the arms was thicker while the hands now had four fingers and a thumb. The elbow fans of the standard Vanguards were still there, but didn't show any signs of beign able to open. The leg armor had also become thicker, but more articulated. Had Hibiki known of its existence, he would have decided that the legs from the calves down and the feet were remarkably similar to those of the Andvari Gear. The knees had split open into a pair of spikes, one above and one below the actual joint, while the groin armor had sealed into a single piece that resembled the Xenogears' armor. The head was more human shaped, with two spherical green eyes and a flat face plate beneath them. Two sword hilts stuck out on the right side of the double sheath that was attached horizontally to the Vanguard's back.

"Hey, partner." Hibiki said, as he walked up to the Vanguard and ran his hand over the mark he'd left on it. "So you've changed a little bit, huh? But I guess this is still you, isnt' it?"

Hibiki smirked cockily as a thought came to him.

"Alright, I'll just have to change myself, too!" He stated before hopping up into the open cockpit.

I can't - I can't blow it this time! The teen silently vowed as he settled into the seat. I swear I'll do it!

"I have no idea how to use this thing, but I'll make it move with my mind!" Hibiki snarled, then gasped in surprise when the Vanguard came to life and stood up, the cockpit hatch closing in the process.

"I - I'm making it move! I'm really doing it!" Hibiki exclaimed as the Vanguard walked over and settled into the launching pad. "This is my chance! To finally do something with my life!"

The teen pushed the controls forward and the launching pad responded, hurling him out into space. He was promptly attacked by a group of enemy mecha that broke away from the cloud surrounding Xenogears to attack him.

-+-

Well, the kid actually made the right choice. Let's hope he can handle that thing.

"Hibiki!" I shouted, activating the comm-link to his Gear. "Get to the main system and destroy it. You'll have to get inside somehow, but I'll do my damndest to keep these bastards occupied for you!"

"Right!"

I'll give the kid credit. He's got a knack for piloting. He was already getting the hang of piloting in Zero-G while I was still relying on Xenogears to keep me from screwing up!

"Here you go! Lightning Fist!"

Oh please no... don't tell me he just did what I thought he did...

Yup. He did.

Ouch. That explosion must've hurt.

"Alright, take this!" Hibiki shouted as he whipped out one of his swords and started spinning it around like a pro.

Hmmm. He could probably give Ramsus a run for his money if they fought in a Gear duel. The kid just took out two of the enemy Gears in one move. Not bad for a beginner. Hope he can keep it up.

Yes, he could most definitely keep it up. He just shot toward the main system, cutting down enemy Gears left and right as if they weren't even there. I'd have to check later if that was natural talent or his Gear compensating for his bravado.

I briefly wondered why that blue fighter is following him. Oh, well. I had better things to be doing. Like taking out the Gears that were still swarming me.

"Die bastards!"

Tick me off enough and you'll have a friggin' blood bath on your hands. I was just sorta glad those things were fully automated. Even if a pilot had managed to eject before the Gears blew up, they would have died in the vacuum outside. As I continued killing off more Gears left and right, I kept one side screen on Hibiki's Gear and noticed all the fighters except the blue one returning to the ship.

"I'm going for it! No one's going to get in my way now!"

Kid spoke too soon. Just got mobbed by a quartet of those Gears. Looked like they were doing a fairly effective job of holding him in place, even as he poured more power into the thrusters and stretched one of his Gear's arms toward the main ship. The seam rippled a bit before opening up as he neared.

Oh, shit!

"Hibiki! Watch out!"

Yellow and orange tendrils shot out of the seam and slammed into Hibiki's Gear just as the blue fighter reached him.

"I can't lose!"

The explosion nearly blinded me.

"Well, I guess... our miracle didn't happen..." the Captain's voice filtered through my radio.

Huh? Miracle? Oh, yeah. I must have reactivated all transmissions when I was talking to Hibiki instead of just using a private link. Oh, well. As for the bastards that'd been swarming me, it's amazing what ion cannons can do if you aim them right.

"We've got to tell the crew to evacuate."

I was about to agree with them when I felt some sort of tug at the back of my mind, drawing my eyes back to the now fading explosion.

"Don't be planning his funeral yet, ladies. I have a feeling he's got one more trick up his sleeve."

"What do you -?"

I could just barely hear the Navi-Robot's surprised exclamation over my radio.

"You feel it too, eh, little guy?" I smirked. "C'mon Hibiki, show us what you've really got."

Just as I finished speaking, a hand glowing red from sheer heat reached out of the explosion and grabbed a group of the charred tendrils, crushing them easily. A shape moved forward out of the orange fireball, shattering the charred tendrils against its chest plate. As we all watched, the armor cooled off, revealing one of the most beautiful Gears I've ever seen in my life - second to Weltall, of course. If it were standing next to Xenogears, it would easily be a head taller than my own Gear. It was obviously a combination of Hibiki's Gear and the blue fighter. From my angle, I could see the obelisk-like cannons hanging parallel to its back. It had arm blades almost identical to Xenogears' and the lower legs were similar to Weltall's before its transformation. The epaulets spiked straight out to the sides. The torso was similar to Hibiki's Gear, but without the vents and was a bit more decorative. The head had obviously taken a page out of Xenogears' book with the horn, but it was more like a thick sword blade that pointed forward at an angle from the forehead, while the face had Xenogears' eyes set into a face like Hibiki's Gear.

"What is that? Another secret weapon of the men?"

"But how?" BC added to the Captain's question. "Is this a real miracle?"

What? Did they have no faith in me whatsoever?!

Eh, so what?

As if on cue, the new Gear flew toward the main system, ignoring the small fighters that tried to get in its way as they bounced off its armor. When it reached the main system, it pried open the seam and flipped the cannons forward onto its shoulders. Green energy began collecting along the spikes before firing *through* the main system in a spectacular light show. Particle cannons, eh? Nice.

Hibiki must like being caught in explosions. He made no attempt whatsoever to get away from the main system before it exploded! Well, its armor is quite effective. It came out of that explosion without a scratch.

"Hng?!" I heard over the radio from the Gear. "What the heck is going on here?!"

Oh please don't tell me he blacked out during that!

"I just knew Mr. Alien would protect us somehow..." a soft, sleepy female voice sighed over the radio.

Wait a sec! That came from the Gear! So that's why he freaked out, eh?

"Is this the proof of my existence?! Huh?"

Hmmm. Hibiki's Gear almost looked like one of those Vanguards and if Weltall had been upgraded by whatever the hell happened to bring me here, who's to say it couldn't happen to one of those rust buckets?

"Ladies?" I calmly asked. "What are the names of your fighters?"

"Dreads. Why?" BC asked in response.

"Then allow me to introduce you to the Vandread, easily and currently the most powerful weapon ever."

Yes, the Vandread was far superior to Xenogears, but only because my Gear was only operating at twenty-five percent maximum capacity! And if I could figure out how to activate the damned Ether Amplifier! If the blasted thing was removed when Weltall was upgraded... SOMBODY'S GONNA DIE!

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TBC...
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