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Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Fei sighed happily as he hopped down from Xenogears' cockpit and landed lightly on the plating before the Gear. He noticed that the Vandread was about to land when it transformed back into a Dread. Once it had settled to the ground, Hibiki's Vanguard emerged from a hole on the Dread's back, which closed as soon as the Vanguard touched the ground. Fei raised his arms over his head and stretched, generating a series of popping noises that ran up his spine. "Oh yeah. Now that fight was a nice stress reliever." Before Fei could move, he felt someone's fist press against his back. Fei recognized the general shape of the ring on that person's index finger and raised his hands so that his arms made ninety degree angles with his hands straight up. "Let me guess. Back to my cell, right?" "Actually, no." Meia's voice answered. "The Captain wishes to speak with you. Now move." "Okay, okay." Fei chuckled when Meia pressed her ring deeper into his back. "I'll go. But..." Meia tensed slightly, waiting for an attack. "Not until I finish tweaking Xenogears!" Fei finished in a singsong tone as he leapt ten feet into the air and backflipped over Meia. The blue-haired pilot spun around to see Fei in mid-air, seemingly flying toward Xenogears. How did he move so fast?! And is he *flying*?! Fei's trajectory started to drop slightly as he approached his Gear. Once he reached it, his hand flashed out and grabbed onto the still open hatch. "Xenogears, open all access panels in the torso." Damn glad I ran that diagnostics scan on the way back. Now I just need to figure out what that black box is and how to get to it. Fei released the hatch and spun around, quickly grabbing onto it again and flipping up to the top of it. He glanced down at Meia to see her still staring at him in shock. "You really shouldn't keep staring like that!" Fei called down to her. "Didn't your mother ever tell you your face could get stuck doing that?" Meia shook off her shock and growled angrily at Fei. She quickly aimed and fired her laser-ring at the redhead. "Whoa!" Fei yelped as he dodged the laser. "What are you aiming at?" Fei pointed at his chest. "Here! If you're gonna try and kill me, then shoot me here! Ya bloody idiot." I have no bloody clue why I said that, but damn, it felt good. Before Meia could fire again, Fei dropped off Xenogears' shoulder to fall behind it. Meia waited for him to land, but it quickly became obvious he wasn't going to. Walking around to the rear of the machine, Meia saw a circular hole cut into the back of the Gear where the base of the spine would be on a human. As she gazed up at the hole, she could hear various clanking noises and a lot of swearing. After a few moments, the clanking and swearing stopped only to be replaced by scraping and grunting. Without warning, a piece of machinery the size of a human torso fell out of the hole. Meia leapt out of the way and landed hard on her rear when she bumped into Xenogears' heel & tripped. The chunk of machinery slammed into the ground and bounced a few times before coming to a stop near the Gear's other foot. The noise attracted the attention of everyone else in the hanger. "Close and seal all access panels!" Fei yelled at Xenogears as he landed lightly next to the machinery part. The man then sat down next to the part and began examining it, looking for some way to open it. "Ah! Here we go!" Fei stared down at the keypad for a moment before punching in a series of numbers. A negative sounding beep emanated from the pad. Fei frowned and punched in another set of numbers. Another beep. His frown deepened to a scowl as he punched in a third set of numbers. A third beep. "Fine then. You had your chance, you little pile of -" Fei was cut off by Meia's laser-ring pressing against the back of his head. "You're coming with me." "Oh, really?" Fei smirked, then sighed. "Look, just let me finish figuring out what this thing does and then rebuild an Ether Amplifier for my Gear. *Then* I'll go speak with the Captain. I promise." "Your word doesn't mean much around here." "Fine." Fei all but snarled. "I'll go see the Captain. *However*, I *will* be back to work on Xenogears with or without permission." "Not likely." Meia snorted. "You are our prisoner, after all." Fei shoved himself to his feet and looked at Meia for a moment when she made no move to put the restraints on him. "What? No restraints?" "According to the Captain, you've shown that they are useless on you. But I doubt the same could be said for a laser at close range." "That's what you think." The man turned and stalked toward the exit, Meia trailing after him. As he reached it, he barked out one final statement. "Xenogears, make sure no one even comes near that part until I get back!" "Affirmative," a metallic monotone sounded from the giant robot, startling most of the engineers present. After Fei had been gone for several minutes, one of the engineers got up enough courage to try and check out the machine part between the Gear's feet. Before she got within twenty feet of it, Xenogears' hand slammed down on top of her, the palm stopping mere inches abover her head, the fingers forming a psuedo-cage around her. The engineer looked up, eeped, and slipped between two of the fingers, running back toward her fellow workers. "Orders were given. Orders will be followed." Despite, or perhaps because of, the Gear's monotone voice, a shiver ran
down everyone's spine when they heard those words. Fei stalked into the room Meia had led him to and slumped down into a chair next to Magno. Meia walked over to sit on the other side of the round table in the room from Fei. "Well, aren't you chipper," Magno quipped when she saw Fei's expression. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Whaddaya want? I was right in the middle of trying to crack open a black box I found in Xenogears." "Black box?" BC asked, raising an eyebrow. "Engineering term for an unidentifiable or seemingly indestructable object within a machine, vehicle, or ship." Fei explained. "The term is left vague for a reason. Anything a diagnostic scan can't penetrate the shell of is tentatively termed a black box. If it can't be cracked open physically, the term is confirmed. Generally, if they don't really do anything that you can see, black boxes are left alone. However, if they're suspected to be causing problems in a machine's performance, they're removed and cracked open. If they can't be easily cracked open, they're generally tossed aside for later examination." "I see," BC stated, not having expected a small lecture. "Once more: what do you want?" "I'd like you to sit in on this meeting, first. Then we've got some questions for you." "Fine..." Fei sighed, before following Magno's gaze and turning toward BC. Seeing that she had at least his partial attention, BC began. "Our ship has been completely swallowed up. The bridge, residential quarters, and the engine room have been engulfed by the crystals. Fortunately, the Dread platform and the Reg system suffered no damage. We're in the middle of cleaning up and installing the new database. The spread of Peacsis Pragma seems to have finally reached it's peak. The bridge has stopped sliding and is currently situated just outside the ship's garden. All changes to the ship have apparently ceased for now. Your report, Meia?" "Thank you, Buzam." Meia said, then turned to the Captain. "The three Dreads that were swallowed up and transformed by the Peacsis Pragma no longer fit in any of our standard platforms. We've modified the cargo bay on the men's side and are storing them there. When making those modifications, we discovered that this ship hasn't been used for quite a long time. The circuits and cables are decayed and useless." "The main problem is our current location." Buzam said, taking over. "It's hard to believe, but we're a long way from Mejele. In fact -" "Wait." Fei cut in. "Mejele?" "Yes, what about it?" "What is it?" The three women stared at Fei for a moment before one of them answered. "You don't know?" BC asked. "Nope. Never heard of it before in my life." "But, how -" Meia started, only to be cut off. "Mejele is our home, young man. Just as Tarak is yours. How could you not know that?" "Tarak?" Fei thought for a moment. "Sorry, don't know that one either. What is it? And I'd appreciate it if you were to call me Fei. Fei Fong Wong is my name, after all." The three women spent a moment staring at him incredulously before BC started typing something at the console in front of her. Moments later, a long series of symbols Fei couldn't recognize began scrolling up the holo-screen between the four of them. "What does that say?" "How the hell should I know? I've never seen it be... wait a sec." Fei cut himself off and leaned forward. "I just recognized a word in there. There's a couple more, actually. Let's see... town... war... water... that's all." BC typed in another command and gestured toward the screen. "And this?" "Hmmm... gimme a sec... river... house... pirates... women... health... gibberish... gibberish... gibberish. GAH! I feel like I'm reading Gear programming code for the first time again!" "How could you decipher those words and yet not understand anything else?" Meia demanded, leaning forward. "Actually, I was sorta guessing about most of those." Fei replied calmly. "They looked similar to words I've seen written before, but not enough to be certain." "Well, since you seem to be ignorant of some of the most simple facts of life here..." Magno said, ignoring Fei's scowl. "Let me give you some basic information. "Mejele is the homeworld of the women and Tarak the men. We've been at war for three generations now." Hmmm. They gotta be pulling my leg. Eh, might as well play along for now "Damn." Fei whistled. "That must make for some cold, lonely nights. Wait a sec. If that's true, how the hell do you have kids?" "I'm not completely sure on the methods used by the men," Magno began, "but us women reproduce internally." "Pregnancy. Yeah, I know about that. That's how I was born. Isn't everyone?" "You were born the same way we are?" BC asked. "Yeah. My mother and father had sex one night, got lucky, and nine months later, I popped out." "Father?" Meia inquired. "The male parent. Duh." "How could you have had both a male and a female parent?!" Meia demanded, standing up. "Simple. Where I'm from, that's the only way children can be concieved without massive expeditures of resources that are mostly wasted." "I see..." Magno mused. "Well, right now the meeting is more important. Please continue, BC." "As I was saying, we're a long way from Mejele." Buzam stated, a hologram of the surrounding area forming between the four, which soon shifted to a view of the path they would follow back to Mejele. "In fact, we're in a completely different nebula." "Um... I think I'm about to make a complete ass of myself, but... just how serious are you about men and women living on two different worlds and being at war for three generations?" "It's common knowledge on both planets, young man," Magno stated with complete sincerity. Fei studied her face for a moment before slumping down in his seat. "Aw, crap. Look, I'm sorry for not believing you, but I seriously thought you were just bullshitting me about that stuff. Back home, interaction between men and women is so common it's considered normal and has been for ten thousand years." Meia and Buzam stared at Fei in shock while the Captain merely chuckled. "My, this must be quite strange to you, then. But you seem to be taking it quite well." "I - come to think of it, I have been acting a lot differently than I used to." "And you're just now realizing it?" Buzam inquired. "Hey, gimme a break. This is the first time I've had a chance to think about it since I got here. As for how I'm acting now... Hmmm. I think I'm a fusion of my former personalities." "'Former personalities'?" Magno parroted. "The less said about them, the better." Fei shuddered. "Trust me. I'll talk about anything else... just, not them. Please." Magno studied Fei much the same as he had earlier. "Alright. We'll respect your privacy on that matter. Now, if we could get back to the meeting?" "Sorry," Fei stated sheepishly. "Don't worry about it, young man. We all have our secrets. Continue, BC." "Yes. It will take approximately 270 days to return to Mejele." "What did we do to deserve being swept across the galaxy?" Magno asked no one in particular as she fanned herself with a small hand fan. "And? Any word about our enemy?" "Yes." Meia answered, then looked slightly embarrassed as she continued. "My team is understaffed, so I sent some volunteers to investigate the site." She's kinda cute when she's embarrassed... Fei mused. "Volunteers?" the Captain asked. "Who?" "Dita and Ms. Gasco should be on their way now." Magno and Buzam both gave sighs of resignation at that. "Who?" Fei asked in confusion. "Dita is the pilot of the Dread that combined with your friend's Vanguard earlier and Ms. Gascogne is the chief of Reg central, the supply depot of the ship." "Okay..." Fei replied, then sniffed a couple times and made a face. "Is there anywhere I can take a shower? I haven't had one in the past two days and I worked up a pretty good sweat in that fight earlier. But if there are still questions I need to answer, I can wait." Meia smirked as she thought of something. "I know just the place, if it's alright with you, Captain." Meia waited for
the Captain's nod before turning to Fei. "Follow me." "I don't need to take these off too, do I? Because I'm not if you're going to be watching me." Fei was standing there in his boxers, waiting for Meia to answer. Meia had been studying him surreptitiously as he stripped down to his boxers. Hmmm. He certainly doesn't look like he's all that powerful. But... I wonder if those muscles are really as hard as they look... what the?! What in the world am I thinking?! Meia shook her head slightly to clear it and focused on Fei's face. "No, that will be fine. Just go through the door and you'll be set to go." Inwardly, Meia was grinning evilly at the thought of repaying the man for showing her up in the cargo bay earlier. Fei looked at her briefly before shrugging and walking through the door. Once through the door, he found himself in an open area with a grated floor. Bart and Duero were standing there in only their underwear and restraints, facing Fei's right. Hibiki, dressed the same as Bart Duero, stepped through the door on the other side of the small area a moment later and looked to his left. "Uh, what are you guys looking at?" Without waiting for an answer, Fei turned to his right... "What in the?" ... and got hit in the face with a stream of freezing cold water. "GYAAAAAAH! Holy Mother of Nisan, that's COLD!" The water cut off after a few seconds, leaving the four men shivering as the temperature of the water was adjusted. Wiping the wet hair out of his eyes, Fei spotted Meia walking away from the controls that the hoses were connected to. Ooooh, you little... I will get you back for this, Fei thought as his eyes narrowed. Before he could think of anything else, the four women in control of the hoses blasted the men again, this time with luke warm water. Fei sighed and started scrubbing himself as best he could, given the circumstances. Back in the meeting room, Magno chuckled as she watched Fei glare at Meia's back. "I do believe I smell the beginnings of a rivalry between those two. And these are the only men left, is that right?" "We'll have to depend upon them until we fully understand all the systems on this ship. But I doubt that Fei will be as useful as the other three. If his claims are true, he is as ignorant about the ship's systems as we are." "True. I've never seen anything like it before. It was as if the ship had
a will of its own. Very unnerving." "It was so unnerving!" Bart stated from where he was sitting - now fully clothed and with restraints - on one of the crates in the mens' cell. "My comrades were falling one after another, and before long, I was the only one left. The one thought on my mind was -" "How the hell you were going to smooth-talk your way out of it without getting your ass handed to you on a silver platter?" Fei asked. Bart scowled at him before continuing, ignoring Hibiki's snickering. "No, it was how close I was to death. But I persevered because I knew it was my duty as a soldier to live on and retake the ship from the women no matter the odds! And now fate has provided me with three allies. What do you say..." Fei had started tuning Bart out the moment the word fate was mentioned while Hibiki kept listening for a few more seconds before following suit. This stinks! The teen silently mused. I thought I changed my life. But look how things ended up. Still, what the heck - "- happened back there?" Bart asked, unknowingly finishing Hibiki's mental question as he stood up. "Hm?" "Who made that Vanguard and why did it combine with a Mejelian fighter?" "How should I know?" Hibiki snapped, sitting up straight. "But forget about that -" "I think I might be able to provide a theory on that." The other three men looked over at where Fei was lounging on top of the crates at the back of the room. "First, I'd like to ask a question. Hibiki, did you ever see your Vanguard before it became a Gear?" "Yeah. I scratched a symbol into one of the parts before the Ikazuchi launched. When I saw the symbol on the Vanguard just before I went out to fight in it, I knew that it was the same one." "Thought so. I have reason to believe that Hibiki's Gear was a regular Vanguard before - let's call it... "The Event" since I have no clue what happened and I haven't had a chance to ask anyone else yet - and that it was somehow upgraded about the same time Weltall was upgraded into Xenogears. I've heard that there were three Dreads still on the Ikazuchi when The Event happened. Most likely, those three fighters were upgraded with Weltall and Hibiki's Vanguard. Due to the upgrades coming from the same source, the three Dreads and Hibiki's Vanguard were somehow made into links of the same system, allowing them to combine into a more powerful form." "Interesting theory," Duero commented, "but you left out one thing." "What's that?" Fei asked, rasing an eyebrow. "You neglected to mention the possibility that your 'Xenogears', as you call it, might be capable of combining with the Dreads or even Hibiki's Vanguard." "I doubt it," Fei yawned. "Why's that?" "When I had Xenogears run a diagnostics scan, it showed that its systems were only running at 25% of their maximum capacity." Fei replied. "Despite that, Xenogears is about as powerful as Weltall was, not counting the Ether Amplifier. With that, Weltall could have kicked Xenogears' ass up and down the length of the ship. Once I manage to get it running at full power and figure out how to work the Ether Amplifier or go through the effort of building one from scratch - which is an absolute last resort; I'd almost rather pilot it without the Amp before having to build another from scratch - I figure it'll be about twenty to thirty percent more powerful than the Vandread. Without the Amp, it'd probably be about ten percent weaker than the Vandread. I seriously doubt whatever upgraded the Gears and the Dreads would have a reason to make anything more powerful than that." "How can you be so sure of your estimates?" Duero asked in honest curiosity. "And what is an Ether Amplifier?" "Because I designed and built Weltall by myself. Xenogears may be more powerful than Weltall, but it's got the same basic system layout. But there are a couple things I'm curious about on Xenogears. When I ran the diagnostics scan, it came up showing that a bunch of crystals about the size of my fist had been implanted throughout the Gear. The other thing is that black box I found. From what I could see, it served no purpose whatsoever and was only there to take up space. Funny thing is, it had a keypad on it, as if it could be opened by typing in the correct passcode. As for the Ether Amplifier, it's a device that channels the energy your body generates into the Gear and amplifies it based on the size difference between a human and an average sized Gear. Some are more efficient or powerful than others, but those ones are rare." "Yes, well, that's all fine and good, but it doesn't get us out of here." Bart whined before turning to Duero. "What do you say? With my superior speaking ability and your brains, we won't have any trouble dealing with those women!" "Can you repeat that, please?" BC's voice asked from directly behind Bart, causing the blonde coward to jerk in surprise and turn around to see BC standing before him, two large guards standing behind her. "Busted..." Fei chuckled, laying his head back on the crates. "Oh, uh. We were just sorta joking around." "Really? I'd like to hear your jokes. You'll come with me won't you?" "Heh heh." Bart laughed nervously. "I'd be happy to, as long as it's of a social nature." BC deactivated the laser bars and motioned Bart out. Just as she was about to reactivate the bars, Fei stopped her. "Hold up." Fei said, jumping off the crates. "I want to go with you. I completely forgot about Emeralda." Fei slapped the control panel as he left the cell, reactivating the bars and ignoring Hibiki's squacked protests. "I see. However, I can't let you just roam around whenever you want, you realize." "Who said anything about roaming? I'll be going with you." "That wasn't the point." BC sighed. "You're still a prisoner. You can't be let out of your cell without the Captain's permission." "So call her up and get permission for it," Fei replied, undaunted. "BC!" Magno's voice exclaimed over the radio at Buzam's hip. "Get up here quick! That woman we found with the man is awake! And she's not very happy at the moment!" "Where is Kim?!" A second voice snarled in the background. BC turned to stare at Fei when she heard him chuckling. "Now you have a reason to take me along." "And why is that?" "She's looking for me." Fei answered, then explained. "Apparently, I look almost exactly like the guy that built her, so she latched onto me as a father figure and keeps calling me Kim. I guess that was her creator's name." "Fine, you can come along. Then you can explain everything in detail. And bring him as well!" The last was directed at the guards when she saw Bart start to back away slowly. "They can catch up later." Fei stated, picking Buzam up with one arm under her knees and one supporting her back. "Just give me directions!" With that, the Gear pilot took off running at an inhuman speed, BC's surprised yelp quickly fading into the distance. Once Buzam overcame her surprise, she saw that they were at an intersection. "Huh?" "I said to give me directions. I don't exactly know my way around the ship all that well yet." "Fine. Go right here, the turn left at the third intersection..." The woman's voice faded as Fei took off once more. Less than a minute later, they had reached Magno's quarters. Fei set Buzam on the ground and waited for her to open the door. As the door hissed open, Fei suddenly shoved BC to the side and leaned backwards. *SHUNK* Fei watched as his bangs hung in mid air for an impossibly long moment, then fell to the ground behind him. Standing up straight and stepping, he brushed his fingers across his forehead at the hairline. "Well..." Fei nervously began. "At least they won't be getting in the way anymore." Buzam pulled herself to her feet to see a sword blade imbedded in the door frame. Stepping forward to see who was holding the weapon, she saw that instead of a hilt being held by a hand, the blade merged seamlessly with a tanned arm, replacing the hand. The woman slowed her approach and saw the woman they'd found with Fei when they first found him. The emerald-haired woman's eyes were extremely wide and locked onto Fei. "Emeralda," Fei began, squeezing his eyes shut, "do you have any idea how close you came to killing someone just now?" "But I missed you!" Emeralda replied hopefully, pulling her sword arm out of the door frame. The other two women gasped in shock when the blade seemed to melt, shrink, and then reform into a hand, which Emeralda flexed a couple of times. "That doesn't matter. What if it had been someone who wasn't as fast as I am? And don't forget how close you came to actually hitting me." "Um... oopsie?" "Yes, oopsie. Now, I want you to apologize to the Captain and later, you and I are going to have a nice long talk about the use of excessive lethal force toward people of unknown allegiance." "Yes, Kim," Emeralda responded, turning to Magno and bowing. Once the woman had turned, Fei released a quiet sigh and experienced a full body shudder. Buzam raised an eyebrow questioningly when Fei glanced at her. "That is easily the closest I have ever come to being killed by an ally," Fei whispered to the commander, before returning his attention to Emeralda. "- and I humbly beg your forgiveness, Captain," Emeralda finished, straightening. "Well, you needn't have gone that far, young one." Magno chuckled. "I'm just glad no one was hurt." And that I didn't have a heart attack from it! Emeralda turned back to Fei, whose eyes bugged out upon realizing something. "How'd you go from twelve-years-old to eighteen in one day?" Indeed, Emeralda had undergone a tranformation of her own, though nowhere near as extreme as that of Weltall into Xenogears or Hibiki's Vanguard. Instead, Emeralda had aged six years and gained a couple feet in height, now standing nearly as tall as Fei, who had gained nearly five inches in height upon his arrival on the ship, putting him at six feet tall. "Probably the same way your hair turned red and your eyes turned purple." "Purple eyes? Y'know, I never thought someone could become jaded toward surprises in under a day, but I just proved myself wrong. Ah, ta hell with it. I'm going back to my cell and getting some sleep. I've earned it, damn it!" "You still have some questions to answer, young man." Magno stopped him as he started heading toward down the hall. "I may have gotten sidetracked before, but this is the perfect opportunity for it. And you said you'd tell us everything you knew if we let you fight." Fei froze in midstep and hung his head. "Oh, yeah. I did say that, didn't I? Damn. So whaddaya wanna know?" "Let's go to the bridge first. I have business to attend to there. That way we can kill two birds with one stone, hm?" "Alright, fine. Emeralda, grab the Captain and follow me." Without waiting for a response, Fei picked Buzam up again and started running back the way he came. Emeralda shrugged, picked up Magno the same way, and took off after Fei, ignoring the Captain's surprised yelp. With Buzam giving Fei directions again, the quartet made it to the bridge in record time. The two Gear pilots came to a near-screeching halt when they entered the bridge. "Nice place." Fei whistled, setting Buzam on her feet as Emeralda did the same with the Captain. "This makes the technology level of the Yggdrasil look like a child's toy." "The Yggdrasil?" Magno asked, trying to get her heart under control again. "What's that?" "Something that's thought to be the cutting edge of warship technology where we're from." Fei answered, noticing the Navi-Robot approaching the Captain. "But this... this totally blows everything our world has out of the water. If this thing has any weapons, you could probably conquer the entire planet. Unless they brought out the Gears. Then you'd probably have some trouble." "And why would that be?" "Heh, heh." Fei chuckled. "You ever try hitting something that has a flight speed of several thousand miles an hour with a ship's guns? Can't be done. One time, I had to go up against over a dozen sand cruisers *plus* that country's flag ship. They had artillery fire, mines, you name it, they had it flying at me. Bastards never even touched me. And, at the time, I was using a Gear that was only a bit faster than average." Before Fei could add to that, a door hissed open behind the group, prompting them to turn around. Bart was dragged through the door by the two guards that had accompanied Buzam to the men's cell. "Captain," one said upon seeing the old woman, "are you alright? We overheard you on the commander's radio." "I'm fine." Magno replied, walking over to and sitting down in her chair. "It was just a simple misunderstanding, that's all." "Thank you for escorting the male here." BC said. "You are dismissed." The two guards nodded and left. Bart straightened and faced the Captain. "Hello, there. I hear that there's something you want from me?" "Yes." Magno replied, then pointed to the control well. "That thing. We haven't been able to operate it, so tell us how you did it." "Of course." Bart said, smiling confidently for some reason. "I guess I'd better. Given the circumstances I have no choice." Bart stretched his restraints and let the clack together a couple of times, looking out of the corner of his eye at BC. The woman gave an exasperated expression and tapped the remote, unlocking the restraints. "Now try and listen closely -" Fei tuned Bart out and turned to Emeralda. "Y'know, I don't have a damned clue why I'm even here. They say they have questions for me, then push me off to the side when something else comes along. Talk about being a major ego-killer. Wouldn't be surprised if they tossed me back in the cell and forgot about me." Emeralda giggled slightly before the two returned their attention to Bart. "- In fact, I suppose you could say I'm an indispensable - huh? Ergh-ya- ah!" Without warning, the control well sucked Bart back in. Fei blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. "I really don't understand this system at all," the Captain complained. "Am I seeing things or did some sorta green, goo-like energy rise up outta there and suck him in?" Fei commented. "Because if I'm seeing things I'm going back to my cell, passing out, and not waking up for the next few days." "Don't worry, young man. It did that once before, so you're in no trouble of going insane any time soon." Suddenly, the ship took off, nearly knocking everyone to the ground. All over the ship, other crew members weren't as fortunate. "What's going on?!" Magno demanded. "The system just booted up, Captain!" Belvedere Coco, the blonde bridge crewwoman, responded. "Projecting current desination!" Amarone Slaintheav, the black woman on the bridge crew, added. "What in blazes did you do in there?!" the Captain yelled, activating a holo-screen that was linked to the control well. "Now just hold on a minute!" Bart started looking around wildly, trying to figure out what was going on. "Ms. Gasco." Another of the bridge crew, a brunette by the name of Ezra Vieil, said, trying to contact the "volunteers". "Dita! If you can hear me please respond!" Buzam walked forward, glancing at Ezra as she passed the woman. However, due to the angle she passed by Ezra at, she was unable to see the sweat glistening on Ezra's face or that her breathing was starting to become shallow. "Release the markers!" "Roger," Belvedere answered. "Ms. Gasco!" Ezra gasped, slumping forward onto her console. "Huh? Ezra!" BC gasped, turning to look at the woman. "What's wrong?" Hibiki was once again in the sea of green light. "Who the hell are you?!" he yelled. "What are you trying to get me to do?! And what is that huge robot anyway?! This all part of your plan?! What do you want from me?!" Further questioning was cut off when four bolts of electricity slammed into Hibiki simultaneously, causing him to scream in pain. When that cleared, he started reliving a memory of his grandfather telling him to go to the city to meet people and make friends, so he could learn more about himself. When the memory was over, he slowly came awake. "Grandpa..." His eyes opened to see Duero's face right in front of his own with his one visible eye closed. "Huh?" Hibiki grunted before pushing the doctor away. "Wh-what the hell do you think you're doing?!" "I was checking your temperature, that's all." "I-I'm alright, doc. There's nothing wrong with me." "Except that you were mumbling in your sleep. Who's grandpa?" "Grandpa's just grandpa. He's nobody special. He's the one who raised me ever since I was little." "Peculiar. I find it rather hard to believe that one of the first generation would be in contact with you." "That's all well and good, Duero," Fei's voice commented from the other side of the laser bars, "but we've got more important things to worry about right now." The two men in the cell turned to see Fei, Emeralda, and Buzam standing outside the cell. "Duero, is it?" Buzam asked. "It's your turn to come with us, if you aren't too busy, of course." "Hm," Duero nodded. Buzam opened the cell and ushered the doctor out. Once she had reactivated the bars, the quartet walked off, leaving Hibiki to himself and his thoughts. Just why is that guy so eager to help women? Ah, I don't think I'll ever
understand it. After leaving Buzam and Duero at the infirmary, Fei and Emeralda returned to the bridge. "Scanners are picking up a nebula straight ahead of us." "We can't regain control of the ship!" "It's just one problem after another," Magno complained. The malfunction in the cooling systems had caused the temperature to skyrocket up to 82 degrees in the bridge and higher in other parts of the ship. Magno had pulled back her hood, revealing a cap that covered her hair & ears and seemed to attach to her clothing underneath the robes. She had a clear icepack on her head and a fan that was attached to her console blowing cool air in her face. "This is Meia." The Dread commander stated as a holo-screen with her face appeared, overlapping Bart's screen. "The platform's offline. We're unable to retrieve Dita and the others." "Jura and I have been trapped in this elevator for hours!" A woman with dark green hair named Barnette Orangello complained on another screen. Both her face and Jura's were nearly pressed up against the screen. "Someone help us!" Jura added. In the control well, Bart zoomed in on the nebula to see large chunks of ice flying around erratically. "AAAH! We're headed straight into that?! How do I stop this thing?! Hold on! YAAAAAAAHHHH!!" Back on the bridge, Emeralda glanced at the third screen, then turned to the Captain. "Captain, do you have the location of the two women on that third screen?" "Yes, why?" "Could you show me a map of how to get there from here?" "Certainly. But why?" "Well, I want to make myself useful." Emeralda answered, then smiled slightly. "Besides, it'll give you some time to finally ask Kim those questions he mentioned you wanted answered." Magno looked embarrassed at that and sighed. "Yes, well, the questions just haven't been as high a priority as some other things that have come up." "Figured as much." Fei mumbled, then raised his voice. "And Emeralda, could you call me Fei. It won't cause any confusion, then." "So, the map?" Emeralda prompted after nodding to Fei. "Oh, yes. Here you go." Emeralda looked down at the console, then pressed her hand against it, causing the screen to flicker slightly. "What the?" "Don't worry." Emeralda smiled to assure the Captain. "I've got it memorized now. I'll be back in a few minutes." With that, Emeralda left the bridge and ran off down the hallway. "So," Fei began, "what were those questions you wanted to ask me?" Emeralda reached the stuck elevator and evaluated the situation. A huge number of personal belongings were piled up on the elevator. The green-haired Gear pilot saw two pairs of feet sticking out from under the pile. On top of the pile were a pair of large chunks of Peacsis crystal, situated so that, while they were both pinning the personal belongings, they were also supporting each other, being wedged against one another between a wall on one side and a large pillar of Peacsis on the other. Emeralda's evaluation was: "This is gonna be tricky." The women pinned under the pile heard her voice and responded. "Who's there?" "Can you help us please?" "Just give me a few moments and I'll see what I can do," Emeralda answered. She examined the situation again to see if anything new came to her. "Hmmm. Might as well try it." Emeralda raised her hands into the air and pointed them at the Peacsis pinning the women. "THERMO GEIST!" Emeralda blinked in surprise when nothing happened, then waited a few moments. When it became obvious nothing was going to happen, she reacted the same way most people would in her situation. "Damn it!" "What was that thing you spit up, then smashed back in the interrogation room?" Magno asked. Fei leaned against the low wall surrounding the Captain's console before answering. "That was a parasite called the Contact. I was it's fourth host in the ten thousand years since it's birth. It's similar in a lot of ways to another parasite I know named Miang, but much more subtle. While Miang is a being composed of energy and is almost impossible to kill, the Contact... well, you saw what it looked like and what I did to it. Where Miang completely subverts the mind of her host body and takes complete control over it, including the memories of that host, the Contact simply feeds false emotions and feelings into the host, attempting to force it to conform to what it considers the ideal host." "And just how did you come to know all that?" "I've seen Miang's work first-hand." Fei answered, clenching a fist "She possessed my mother when I was only three-years-old and proceeded to torture me for the next five years, simply because she detected the Contact within me. As for the Contact, I think I blacked out for a brief time while my body was expelling the parasite. I heard it ranting maniacally in the back of my mind. It and the Anti-Type - the female version of the Contact - were supposed to have their hosts mate and produce an offspring. The two parasites would then kill their hosts and take over the child, merging with each other in the process. The combined being would then merge with a creature known as Deus that was hidden in a sunken spaceship on my planet and become like a god." "That's quite interesting." Magno mused. "But if so, then why hadn't it done so sooner." "From what I could understand of the Contact's ranting, only certain people could be possessed and even then, they had to be in the same generation. Their first hosts had too much of a mother-son relationship to even consider trying it. The second set of hosts lived in a time when infertility was almost like a plague. The Anti-Type's third host sacrificed herself before anything could happen between the two hosts. As for me, I was forced to watch as my girlfriend Elly was stabbed through the heart by an obsessive psycopath. After a brief fight with my former boss, I was pulled here with Emeralda, where I proceeded to puke up the Contact, and then killed it. Does that answer your question?" "Yes, it does. But you seem rather calm about losing a loved one." Fei sighed and shook his head. "That's what's sorta disturbing. I mean, I know now what I felt for her wasn't real. Despite that, I was expecting to still feel her loss, but I'm not. I'm still angry that she died... but... I just don't feel anything for her anymore. Frankly, it's sorta disturbing. I don't like my emotions being toyed with like that." "That's quite understandable, young man." Just then, a chunk of ice slammed into the top of the ship. "Ow!" Bart's voice whined. "Would you raise the shield already?! Please?!" "My god, he whines a lot," Fei groaned. "True. But he is the only one we have to pilot this ship. Now, on to my next question. Just what in the world is that woman you were found with?" "You mean Emeralda?" At Magno's nod, Fei continued. "Her name is Emeralda Kasim and she was created about four thousand years ago by the Contact's second host, Kim Kasim. That's why she keeps calling me Kim. Each of the Contact and Anti-Type's hosts looked exactly like their first ones. Technically, Emeralda is a colony of nano-machines. However, that's only her physical aspect. Mentally and emotionally, she's human in every way. Because I look like her creator, she thinks of me as being a father to her. Given her current appearance and apparent mindset, I think she may just have to change her perspective of me somewhat." "Fei?" Emeralda's voice asked as a holo-screen with her face on it appeared. "Yeah?" Fei asked, turning toward the screen. "Um... I have a bit of a problem." "Yes?" "I... can't use my Ether abilities." "What?" "I said –" "No. I heard you." Fei cut her off. "What do you mean you can't use them?" "I've been trying for over a minute and nothing is happening!" "Damn. I assume you were trying to use them to free the two women that are trapped?" Emeralda nodded. "Is there any way you can get them out without your powers?" "Yes, but I'll need some help. There are two large chunks of crystal wedged in above them that are pinning them under a pile of stuff. If I move enough of the junk to free them, the crystals will fall and crush them. Same thing will happen if I try to move one of the crystals out of the way. And I don't think I'm strong enough to lift them both at the same time." "Damn again. Look, I'll be - just a sec." Fei said before turning to the Captain. "Anymore questions for me?" "Yes, but you answered them already." "Alright. Emeralda, I'll be down in a minute!" Magno watched Fei run out of the bridge and sighed. "Youngsters these days. They're just too damn impatient sometimes." "Captain, it appears the engines have shut down," Amarone stated. "Just when I get the good news that we've stopped, we end up in a nebula." Magno sighed again as her fan shut down. "Captain!" Another crewwoman said. "Hm?" "The readings show that a section of the ship is transforming again." Outside, crystalline spikes began growing rapidly from the two side arms of
the ship. Fei slowed to a halt next to Emeralda and whistled as he gazed up at the crystals pinning the two women. "Those are some pretty big rocks. Let's get to work. You grab the one on the left and I'll grab the one on the right." "Then what?" "We see who can toss their rock the farthest," Fei smirked. The two quickly got into position and placed their hands on the Peacsis, having to crouch down to get into position. "On the count of three, lift." Fei stated. "Three." The two Gear pilots pushed up on their respective crystals, but got no reaction. They kept pushing until they heard a grinding sound and small shards of crystal began falling on them. "Just a little... more," Fei grunted. Straining, the two managed to lift the crystals into the air and tossed them to the side, where they fell to the ground below. "Damn, those things were heavy," Fei commented as they watched the crystals fall. "Let's get this junk cleared off them," Emeralda added. "Hey!" and indignant voice called out from under the pile. "Our stuff is not junk! They're vital necessities!" "Uh-huh." Fei quirked an eyebrow. "Whatever." The two fighters began indiscriminantly grabbing stuff and tossing it into the hallway. When they had cleared enough of the belongings away, they could see the two women's faces, one of whom was scowling at Fei. "I certainly hope that wasn't my nail polish or lipstick I heard breaking!" Jura all but snarled. "You really think you need that junk to make yourself look better?" "Yes!" "Then you are easily the most vain person I have ever met." Fei pulled the shocked Jura out from under the pile as Emeralda did the same for Barnette. "Come on, Emeralda," Fei said, running off down the hall fast enough to kick up a slight dust trail. "See ya later!" Emeralda called back to the two women as she followed after Fei. "What a jerk." Jura grumbled to herself, then looked over at Barnette. "Barnette?" Barnette was staring after the two Gear pilots with a wistfull look on her face. "Barnette." She sighed as Jura continued trying to get her attention. "So beautiful..." "Barnette!" "What an angel..." "BARNETTE!!" The green-haired woman jumped in surprise and turned toward Jura to see the blonde glaring at her angrily. "Wh-what's wrong, Jura?" Barnette asked nervously. "I was *trying* to get your attention! Just who were you talking about?" "That emerald-haired woman that helped us, of course. Wasn't she just *so* beautiful?" A nervous tick developed over Jura's left eye as she stared at Barnette, who barely noticed her friend's anger. "Of course, not as beautiful as you, Jura!" She hastily added. "So, where are we going?" Emeralda asked. Since they didn't have to be somewhere immediately, Fei and Emeralda were merely jogging instead of running full out. Of course, their idea of jogging would have easily outpaced anyone on the ship during a sprint. "Back to the cargo bay. I need to finish readjusting some of the systems so they can operate at full capacity." "Okay. I'm gonna go check on Crescens." For the first time since learning to walk, Fei tripped over his own feet and fell on his face. Considering the speed he was moving at when he tripped, he didn't just slam into the floor. No, he went rolling along the hallway until he slammed into a wall at a T intersection. Emeralda came running up to him to see him upside down with his shoulders and head pressed against the floor while the rest of his body leaned against the wall and his legs hung over his body. "Please tell me you just said you were going to check on Crescens," Fei groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. "Uh-huh." "Okay, I thought so." Fei said as he started to walk off, only to freeze a moment later. "What the hell do you mean 'you're going to go check on Crescens'?!" "I meant what I said." "And just how are you going to do that? In case you haven't noticed, Crescens is back home and we are either on the far side of the universe, or in a completely different dimension!" "We are?" For another first time ever, Fei facefaulted. "Yes, we are. So how do you expect to check on Crescens if you can't get to it?!" "Oh, Crescens is here with us! I summoned her when I got into the cockpit of Weltall." "Geheh. And exactly *why* didn't you tell me this earlier?" "You never asked." Fei resisted the urge to slam his head against a wall and opted for sighing instead. "Fine. Look, you go get Crescens and meet me in the cargo bay, alright? That way we can see if she was upgraded like Weltall, Hibiki's Vanguard, and those three Dreads." "Okay. See ya there!" Fei sighed wearily as Emeralda took off running down the hall away from him. "I think I was just bullshitting myself when I said I was jaded toward
surprises. Oh, well. Not much to do about it now." "OUCH! Dammit!" The cry rang out through the cargo bay, surprising most of the workers there. Moments later, a small twisted piece of metal came flying out of the hole in Xenogears' back and slammed into the wall behind the Gear, getting lodged there from the force of impact. Fei dropped out of the hole and landed lightly on the floor of the new hangar. He had decided to shelve the black box problem until he got Xenogears back up to 100% capacity. "Fuck this! Xenogears! Do you have some sort of internal auto-repair system?" |Affirmative.| "Use it! Once it's done, give me a status readout!" |Affirmative.| Fei walked over to a workbench he'd set up near Xenogears, grabbed one of the rags on it, and started wiping off some of the oil that had splattered him. A hesitant voice from behind him caught his attention. "Um, sir?" Fei turned around to see one of the engineers standing before him. She was wearing a pair of oversized glasses and had short brown hair. "Yeah?" "Um... the commander wants to talk to you..." "Oh, joy. Tell her I'm busy working on Xenogears and can't meet with her." "Actually, we've got a line patched through to the bridge in here, so you can talk to her over that." "Fine," Fei sighed as he tossed the rag aside and followed the girl over to where the holo-screen was set up. "Yo, BC, whatcha want?" "First off, what the hell are you doing out of your cell?" "No one told me to go back and I was planning to work on Xenogears anyway, so I figured I'd head there instead." "You're still a prisoner, Mr. Wong. Don't forget that!" "Like you're actually giving me a chance to." Fei snorted. "So what else did you want?" "When the ship took off, we left Dita and Ms. Gasco behind. I was just at your cell and the male there said to ask you for help. I'd like you to go get them." "I don't give a rat's ass what Hibiki said. I can't do a damn thing with Xenogears until I get it back up to full capacity and there's no way in hell you're going to get me to pilot one of the Vanguards. Besides, Hibiki's Gear can combine with that blue Dread, so if you send him, he and the Dread pilot will be better equipped to handle whatever attacks them than I am." "I see. We could just order you to go, you know." "Yeah, right." Fei snickered. "You'd have to shove me into the cockpit of one of those Vanguards, then drag the damn thing out to where your crew members were left. Both parts of that are equally impossible. First off, I'm strong enough to tear apart a Gear with my bare hands and those Vanguards are sad, shoddy imitations of Gears at best - tearing my way out of one would be so easy. Secondly, I can dodge fire from those laser-rings rather easily, so trying to shoot me won't do a damn bit of good, and I seriously doubt anyone on this ship is strong enough to pin me long enough to get me into one of the Vanguards." "Fine, then. I expect you to return to your cell as soon as you're done working on your Vanguard." "Xenogears is not a goddamn Vangua - damn, she hung up." Fei growled before turning back to Xenogears. "Yo, Xenogears! You done with the auto-repair yet?" |Negative. Approximate remaining time: one hour, fifteen minutes.| "Damn..." "Well, it appears you'll have to go out after all." Buzam told Hibiki as she returned to the cell. "Your friend is unwilling to help us." "Well that's a surprise." Hibiki sullenly replied. "I figured he'd be more than eager to help you out." "According to him, he comes from a society where daily, friendly interaction between men and women is so common it's been going on for ten thousand years." "What?! That's impossible!" Buzam sighed and shook her head. "I'm beginning to believe that there is no such thing as impossible anymore, merely improbable." "Yeah, well, gimme one good reason why I should even care about helping you," Hibiki snidely replied. "This is not the time for men and women to be fighting each other." BC stated in a commanding tone. "You saw it didn't you, that unidentified enemy? I thought that you'd be willing to help us, since you were able to defeat them before." "Hn," Hibiki grunted, glaring at her. "'The strong are supposed to help the weak.' I heard that ideal was common sense in a man's world. But I guess not." "Fine!" Hibiki growled, sitting up. "I've already shown you a side of me I probably shouldn't have. But I'm not going to do this again. I'm not gonna give in to your threats anymore!" "Oh, am I threatening you?" Buzam asked condescendingly. "It wasn't intended that way." If Fei can tolerate them, I guess I might as well try, too. Fei turned at the screams of surprise from behind him to see a Dread coming in to land in the hangar. Hmmm. Didn't see that Dread out in the fight. Must have gotten pulled in for repairs before I got out there. But the paint job reminds me of Crescens. The tri-color Dread was shaped similarly to the standard Dreads, but was as large as one of the three transformed Dreads. The thin silver nose resembled a sword blade with a nearly invisible seam along the edge while the emerald wings were almost like two sets of three bird wings that were partially folded against the body. Fei could see how some parts of the Dread's main section would become body armor if it were to merge with Hibiki's Gear like with Dita's Dread. What looked like orange and emerald bucklers were placed on the top and bottom of the Dread. The Dread slowed to a stop and settled to the floor. Moments later, the cockpit opened and Emeralda jumped out, landing on the nose only to jump again and land near Fei. "Fei! Look at what happened to Crescens!" Fei felt a strange urge to fall down and slam face first into the floor. Ignoring it, he turned his attention from the Dread to Emeralda. "That's... Crescens?" "Yup! Cool isn't it?" "N... actually, yeah it is. For a Dread. Is it as strong as it was as a Gear?" "Nope. Stronger. Better armor. And since it can't engage in close range combat anymore, it's got a pair of charged particle cannons on each side of the nose. With them being energy weapons, I don't have to worry about running out of ammo, like Billy always does!" "True. Think you'll be able to pilot it as well as you did its Gear form?" "No problem!" Emeralda chirped happily. "It's got a neural control system." "An NCS? What do the controls look like?" "A green sphere set on each side of the seat that follows my hand movements." "So that's what they're called, eh?" Fei mused. "Cool. Well, we've got a little over an hour until Xenogears is ready for action again. Wanna get in a bit of light sparring?" "Sure!" The two walked a short distance away from each other, turned toward one
another, and slid into combat stances, startling many of the women watching
them. On an unknown cue, the two charged forward. "Aaaaahhhh! No!" Dita Liebely yelled as she tried to outrun the robots chasing her Dread, then jerked as her fighter was nearly hit. "Waah! I really hate aliens who don't know when it's enough!" A warning icon appeared on her radar, signalling another bogey approaching her head on. "Huh?! From the front, too?" An explosion caused by a near miss rocked Dita's Dread, causing the girl to flinch and accidentally fire her weapons. Twin beams of blue energy shot out toward the bogey in front of her. The beams had nearly disappeared in the distance when Dita saw them hit and generate flash of light followed by a fairly large explosion. An object came rushing out of the explosion as Dita opened her eyes. "Hn?" "Hey, you!" Hibiki's voice growled over the radio. "Is that any way to thank someone who came all the way to get ya?!" "The alien!" Dita gasped happily as she urged her Dread forward faster. Hibiki's Vangaurd came to a quick stop and started waving its arms and legs frantically. "Agh! Gh! Get away!" "You came all this way to save me, didn't you? You really are a good alien!" "Would you knock that off!" Hibiki cried out as Dita's Dread and his Vanguard started combining. One flash of light later, the Vandread was hovering where the two fighters had been. In the cockpit, Dita was looking all around her from her position in Hibiki's lap. "Oh, wow! What is this?" "Hey! Would you quit movin' around?" Hibiki complained. "I want you to know that I believed in you." Dita said, turning her head to look at him. "I knew that no matter what happened, you would come and rescue me!" "Hmp!" Hibiki grunted, turning his head slightly away from the girl in his lap. "I didn't come here to rescue you. I... was just looking for you." "Well, thank you," Dita replied, smiling at Hibiki. I... guess... she isn't so bad, Hibiki silently mused as he turned his
gaze toward her after she'd turned around, when she's not going on about that
Mr. Alien stuff. "The ice mass is getting closer!" Amarone called out. "No response from the Peacsis!" Belvedere added. "We have no control!" "Captain!" A nondescript engineer called out as her face appeared in a holo-screen on the bridge. "One of the men is trying to kill a crew member!" "WHAT?! WHO?!" "The red-haired man is fighting and trying to kill an green-haired woman in the hangar!" "Distance twelve thousand!" Amarone reported. "BC! Take Meia and two guard squads down to the hangar! Now! I want you to stop that man at all costs if he's trying to kill one of our crew!" "Right!" Buzam nodded as she ran out of the bridge. First the nebula, then the ice mass, and now *THIS*! Perhaps you weren't
as trustworthy as you seemed, young man. "Yah!" Fei lashed out with a spin kick, which Emeralda ducked and countered with a punch to the stomach. Fei hopped backward to avoid the punch and was caught be surprised when Emeralda launched herself at him and body slammed him into the floor. As the woman tried to follow through with her advantage, Fei curled his legs against his body and unloaded a mule kick into Emeralda's abdomen. The emeral-haired android was sent flying and barely managed to land on her feet. Emeralda quickly stood up and slid into a defensive stance only to see Fei standing where he'd been lying, holding his side and grimacing. "That's enough for now, Em. You cracked a rib on that body slam. Ugh." "Sorry," Emeralda sheepishly replied. "No worries." Fei replied, gesturing with his hand as if to wave off the problem. "Just wasn't expecting you to go that far. When I say light sparring, that usually means no broken bones, okay?" "Okay." Fei closed his eyes and stilled. After a moment, a white glow formed around the hand holding his side. The glow lasted less than a second and when it was gone, Fei released his side and grinned. "There. All better." Just then, Buzam, Meia, and the guards they'd brought with them came charging into the hangar. On seeing Fei standing next to an emerald haired woman that had her back turned toward them, they circled around him and aimed their laser-rings at him. Fei and Emeralda tensed slightly in preparation for whatever was about to happen. "Uh... what's going on?" Fei asked. "We received a report that you were trying to kill one of our crew," Buzam replied. "Kill one of your..." Fei trailed off and groaned. "Were you given a description of the crew member I was supposedly 'trying to kill'?" "The woman that reported it said you were fighting and trying to kill a green-haired woman." "Figured as much. BC, you remember Emeralda, right? And Meia, this is Emeralda Kasim. Emeralda, meet Meia Gisborn, a Dread pilot." Emeralda turned around to face the two women and smiled. "Hi!" "This is the woman you were trying to kill?" Buzam asked in surprise. "No. I was sparring with her." "Sparring?" Meia asked. "What's that? The men's word for killing women?" "Ugh. No. Sparring is non-lethal martial arts practice against a live opponent. Rather useful, really." "Non-lethal, hm?" "Yup. For instance, the match Emeralda and I just had ended when she cracked one of my ribs." "I see." Buzam sighed, lowering her laser-ring. "Then this was all a misunderstanding." Meia gaped in shock as she watched BC walk over to the holo-screen. "And you believe him?!" Buzam ignored the Dread commander and activated the holo-screen, patching into the bridge in the process. "Ah, Buzam." Magno's voice filtered over the screen. "I assume you didn't have much trouble?" "No. Actually, it was a misunderstanding. Mr. Wong and Emeralda were sparring and the engineer that made the report simply misunderstood the situation." "Hmmm. I see. Well, then, tell that young man and the girl that we're sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused them. Oh, by the way. That young man Dita seems to like made it back with her and Gascogne. They used the Vandread to destroy the ice mass before it hit us. I'd like you to return to the bridge so we can go over the data Gascogne brought back." "Yes, captain." Buzam shut off the holo-screen and turned back toward the group. "Stand down, all of you. You're dismissed." The guards shared a puzzled glance between each other before saluting Buzam and leaving. Meia was still staring there gaping at Buzam. Fei quirked an eyebrow as he looked at Buzam. "Didn't know the captain knew what sparring was." "She probably knows more than any of us ever will." BC smirked. "From the stories she's told me, she used to be a fairly decent martial artist herself." "Cool." Fei grinned. "I'll have to see if she's got any tricks she could teach me. As good as I am, I could still be a hell of a lot better." Meia's mouth snapped shut almost audibly as she turned around and stormed off. "What's her problem?" Fei asked. "It's rather complicated and I have to return to the bridge now. You'll have to ask either the Captain or Meia herself." With that, Buzam left the hangar and made her way back to the bridge. Fei turned back to Xenogears with a thoughtful expression on his face. Hmmm... I wonder... Some time later, Buzam and Magno began a broadcast that was transmitted throughout the ship. Fei walked through the door to the bridge just as the transmission began. "The Captain and I have just concluded our meeting." Buzam stated, stepping in front of Magno's console. "We've decided we should inform the entire crew of our current situation. Upon analyzing the data we retrieved from the enemy debris, we have gathered some intelligence on our enemy. I'd like you all to take a look at this image." The image of a sphere appeared on the holo-screen. The orange and bluish- purple sphere was covered in a framework of black metal. "This is their home planet. We don't know its exact location, but they seem to have quite a lot of firepower." That's an understatement, Fei silently added. "We are currently in this enemy's territory and they are attacking us because they perceive our presence to be hostile. For this reason, we expect more battles with this enemy to occur along our return course to Mejelian space. We learned something else from the data. Our enemy is about to launch a full- scale operation which calls for the destruction of our home world, Mejele, as well as the male planet, Tarak. Our faceless enemy is for some unknown reason, planning for the complete obliteration of home planets." "We are pirates," Magno said, taking over, "and as such, our loyalties are not bound to either Mejele or Tarak. However, it's certainly not in our best interests to allow an unknown force to destroy our potential customers. Therefore, I plan to reach our home system before our enemy does to inform both worlds of this crisis. In order to be successful, we must incorporate the men we have taken prisoner into our crew." "Huh?!" Belvedere and Amarone gasped in unison. "Heh. So you finally see it my way," Bart stated from where he was lying on his back next to the control well. "There are many things we don't understand yet, such as this ship and that large machine. But I'm sure we'll learn more about these one piece at a time as we continue on our journey. I expect the cooperation of the entire crew. That is all." Magno breathed a weary sigh only half a second after the transmission was cut off. Fei turned around when he heard the door hiss open and stepped aside to allow Duero and Ezra to pass. Deciding to stay out of the conversation and in the background, Fei waited until the Magno had turned her attention away from everyone else. He walked up to her console and spoke in a low voice. "Captain, may I speak with you for a moment? Alone?" |
Xenodread
By: Raiu Kusanagi
The death of a loved one sends Fei over the edge. The following fight alters the course of two realities, tearing several people from one and throwing them into the other.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Chapters: 5 - Words: 34,050 - Reviews: 2 - Favs: 1 - Updated: Nov 5, 2002 - Published: Jun 5, 2002 - id: 818986
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Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
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