TEKKADREAD
Disclaimer: Ranma, Tekkaman and Vandread belong to their own creators, so please don't keep bugging me about it.
: Thoughts
Chapter 7
Don't Call Me Mr. Alien
Two weeks after the battle in the asteroid field...
Dita smiled as she put the finishing touches on the gift she was planning for her Mr. Alien. It was a pink pillow with the picture of a cute extraterrestrial with tentacles. As she sewed on the patch, her friend Paiway watched with a bit of puzzlement.
"Are you going to give that to some guy?" The eleven-year-old asked.
Dita blushed a bit as she thought about Slade.
"If it's not for anyone, then you can give it to me?" Paiway piped up.
Dita shook her head while gleefully holding her gift to her chest. "No way! I'm making this for Mr. Alien!"
Paiway frowned as she held up her frog puppet. "Barf! Kero!"
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A few minutes later, the happy-go-lucky girl went over to where she thought Slade would be. Her gift was clutched to her chest. She was certain that the Tekkaman would like it. However, when she came to the hanger where Pegas and the transformed Dreads were, she saw no trace of the object of her affection. The cockpit to the Tekkabot was open, but Slade didn't seem to be anywhere.
"Pegas, have you seen Mr. Alien?" The Dread pilot asked.
The Tekkabot slowly shook its head.
"That's strange. I was sure that was in here." The red-haired pilot went off after taking a peek inside the cockpit.
A minute later, the Tekkabot looked down at its chest and said, "All clear."
Slade grumbled a bit as he dropped down from the space just under the canopy. If Dita had looked up, she would have spotted him. As he dusted himself off, he addressed his partner. "Thanks. I didn't know that you were programmed to lie, Pegas."
The mecha shook its head again. "I did not lie. I do not know of anyone named Mr. Alien, therefore I could not have seen him."
"Oh. Well, that's what that girl calls me."
Pegas nodded as it filed the new information. "Master Slade also known as Mr. Alien."
Slade could only sigh, then remembered that he had to do something today.
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On the bridge of the Nirvana, Buzom became a bit restless, as there had been no alien attacks for the past few days. The crew was trying their best not to fall asleep at their stations. This was especially more difficult for Ezra in her current state of pregnancy. When she was not constantly eating to satisfy her cravings, she would be nodding off.
The first office sighed at the sheer boredom. "It seems that when we're not under attack, things get rather dull around here. Perhaps we should have the crew go through a few practice drills or..."
"I didn't know that you were into that military ballyhoo." Magno remarked.
"I'm only thinking about the safety and well-being of the crew, Captain."
"Our business is piracy, isn't it?"
"Well, yes but..."
The older woman waved off her second's response. The crew deserved a break from the constant battles. However, if Buzom was getting bored...
"If you feel bored, then you can always head down to section E-9."
"Section E-9?"
"Yes, I believe that Slade is down there now with the Warrior Squadron and a few new trainees."
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Section E-9
WHOMP!
The female trainee groaned as she lay flat on her back. "I'm done."
Slade nodded as he helped the girl back onto her feet. As she went back to where the new Vanguard candidates were sitting, the Tekkaman addressed them. Behind the first group were the more experienced pilots, including Xian Pu.
"Now then, did everyone see what Miniya's mistake was? She overextended herself and was too slow in recovering. One of the key points in martial arts is to never leave yourself open to attack."
"Just what does all of this martial arts training have to do with piloting a Vanguard?" Another trainee asked.
Slade explained. "Martial arts training can be applied to many different areas, not just for hand-to-hand fighting. It helps with discipline and focus. Also, since the Vanguards had been made specifically for close-quarters combat, as you learn the specifics with how to fight with your own body, you can apply those lessons to operating the mecha. Ask any of the more experienced pilots and they will tell you that piloting a Van-Type is like moving one's own body. In fact, you can think of your machine as an extension of your body."
The girls in the back all nodded, though some of them did so reluctantly.
The Tekkaman continued to explain. "Furthermore, martial arts is an excellent way to keep yourselves in good health. Your reflexes and awareness are sharpened, and those are two skills that are critical to being part of this unit. Sometimes, they're the only things that will keep you alive when you're in combat. However, don't think that you will always be with your mecha. There will be times in which you may have to defend yourself without any Vanguard or weapon. With martial arts, you'll always have something to fall back on."
The girls began murmuring among themselves as Slade walked over to where three volunteers were standing. All three were wearing their laser rings and had them set for heavy stun.
At that point, Buzom walked in and stopped to watch Slade as he prepared his next demonstration. She looked over the group of raw recruits. Each one was dressed in white training uniforms. She then became surprised to see Meia sitting with the trainees. Apparently, the tough Dread Leader had decided to swallow her pride and attend the practice drills. Due to her claustrophobia, she was unable to pilot a Vanguard, but Slade had told the crew that his martial arts classes were open to everyone. Buzom also spotted Duero. She reasoned that the good doctor was present in case anyone suffered injuries, but also noted that he too was dressed in a white gi.
"Now then, with the help of these three girls, I will demonstrate just how effective martial arts can be against multiple adversaries. Even without any weapons, a person with the proper training can overcome the odds..." Slade paused to make a strip of cloth appear from within the sleeve of his gi. "Even with one's eyes closed." With those words, he wrapped the cloth around his head, covering his eyes and effectively cutting off his vision.
When he stood in the midst of the three volunteers, he motioned for them to attack.
The girl behind him immediately held up her ring and pressed the firing stud. However, Slade sensed her attack and ducked under the beam. He pivoted on one foot and swung out with the other in a legsweep. The female pirate went down as her cohorts tried to maneuver to get into better firing positions. As the first trainee landed on her rear, Slade immediately went into a tuck-and-roll, evading two more stun bolts, then came up in a handspring that caught his other two students flatfooted. A second girl found herself being thrown across the mat, colliding with the first girl, just as she was getting back up. The two went down in a tangle as the third girl tried to fire off another shot.
However, the martial artist was just too fast as he suddenly came up from behind, and then grabbed both of her arms in a wrestling hold. The female winced as she felt some pressure being applied to her wrists, making her hands reflexively open. In an instant, her ring was removed and she found herself being shoved toward her comrades. All three girls found themselves sprawled on the floor, as Slade put on the ring and let loose with three rapid shots. The trainees stiffened as the beams struck dangerously close to where they were. They looked back up at their instructor as he removed his blindfold.
"I could have easily killed all three of you if this ring had not been set for stun." He then turned to his other students. "I hope you've all learned something from this."
The girls had to admit they were impressed.
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The female trainees followed Slade as he led them through a serious of basic katas. Each girl mimicked the Tekkaman's movements with varying degrees of precision. Some were unsteady and out of rhythm, while others copied his actions perfectly. Everyone was breathing with a steady flow, taking measured intakes of air and exhaling just as carefully.
"Remember, breathing correctly is just as important as going through the motions." Slade instructed. "Focus on each breath you take and let your movements be in harmony with..."
"MR. ALIEN!"
Slade gritted his teeth when he heard that voice. The entire class turned to see Dita standing at the entrance, holding up a pink pillow. A number of girls sported large sweatdrops.
Slade could only shake his head while pinching the bridge of his nose. It was going to be one of those days.
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Gascogne's Register...
"Well now, what brings you here, D-Boy?" The head supplier asked as she saw Slade enter the room, dressed in his tuxedo.
Slade could only shake his head and sigh tiredly. "Guess." He had thought that he could work off some of his tension in the Register.
"Ah." The muscular woman nodded in understanding. "Dita again?"
Slade nodded as he began accessing the computer console for any jobs that were pending. "She came up to me with a pink pillow, right in the middle of a training session. You know how embarrassing it is to be called Mr. Alien when you're trying to teach a class?"
Gascogne chuckled a bit. "Well no, but I'll admit that Dita does need a bit of work with tact."
"A BIT of work?" Slade stressed.
"All right, a lot of work." The head supplier admitted. "She just wants to show her appreciation for all that you've done for us."
"I wish she'd back off a bit on her... enthusiasm. At the very least, I wish she'd call me by my real name, instead of Mr. Alien." The Tekkaman frowned as he read the computer readout. "There isn't anything for me to do?"
Gascogne shook her head. "Sorry. All the staff is off-duty and we're ahead of schedule, thanks to you. You happen to be one of my most efficient stagehands."
Slade shook his head as he turned to leave.
Gascogne then called to him, as he was about to exit the Register. "Hold up. Since we've got some spare time, why not hang out with me?" As Slade turned around, she held up a deck of cards.
Slade blanched at the sight as a dim memory from his distant past came to the surface. It was not so much as a memory than a feeling as an uneasy shiver ran down his back.
"What's the matter? You don't know how to play cards?" The muscular woman asked. She had never seen Slade look so tense before.
"No... it's not that. I'm... just not very good with cards." Slade admitted as he saw an image in his mind of some person with a goofy-looking beard and was dressed like a playing card character. He shook his head to clear it and turned to leave. "I really don't think I'd much of a challenge."
"Oh come now. Just a few friendly hands?" Gascogne insisted.
Slade sighed as he nodded and sat down at the table.
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The mess hall...
"He was so angry at me. I only wanted to give him a present." Dita said sadly as she and Meia sat together.
"Well... you have to admit, that it was the wrong time for you to come charging in. He was teaching a class."
"I only wanted to make Mr. Alien happy." Dita pouted.
Meia found herself at a bit of a loss. Though she was inexperienced with interpersonal matters, she didn't want to see Dita looking so downcast. On the other hand, she sometimes felt a pang of jealousy, whenever the bubbly Dread pilot got close to Slade. She also didn't like the way Jura was always trying to convince the Tekkaman to combine with her.
Meia paused in her thoughts, as she wondered just where that feeling of jealousy came from. Why should she feel jealous if any other girl on the Nirvana spent time with Slade? He was just a man after all.
"Dita... I'm not too good at this kind of thing, but I really think that you shouldn't try to force your way into someone's heart."
The red-haired pilot stiffened at those words. Could it be true? Was she trying to get into someplace where she wasn't wanted?
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"Two pair."
"Full house."
"Ah nuts."
Gascogne nodded as she collected the cards and reshuffled them. "You weren't kidding when you said you weren't very good at cards. That's the tenth hand you've lost in a row."
Slade sighed while nodding. "Yeah, well I don't why, but I just can't seem to get the hang of anything that has to do with cards."
"Well, it helps pass the time." Gascogne said as she began dealing out a new hand. "By the way, are you going to talk with Dita?"
"What for?" Slade asked as he picked up his newest hand and looked over the cards.
"Well, she made a mistake, but I don't think you should stay mad at her for just that." She took two cards and called.
"Who says I'm mad? I'm not even thinking about her! Three of a kind."
"If you say so. Straight flush."
"One more time!"
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After losing twenty more hands to Gascogne, Slade had decided that he had enough and left the Register. The head supplier was nosy and kept on asking him about his relationship with Dita. Since when was it any of her business? It was at that point that he and the other Dread Pilots were called in for a strategy meeting.
As he walked into the room, he noted that Dita was absent. However, Jura was giving him that hungry look that sent a slight shiver down Slade's spine.
"Where's Dita?" Meia asked.
"How should I know?" Slade replied, showing indifference.
It was at that point that the person in question entered the room and took a seat. She looked up and then averted her eyes when she gazed upon Slade.
"You're late." Meia scolded.
"I'm sorry." Dita apologized as she looked down at her hands.
Meia gave her subordinate a concerned look, then continued with the briefing. "We'll be practicing some new tactics, in which Slade and Dita's Tekkadread..."
"No."
This caught everyone's attention as they turned to the young pilot.
"Excuse me?" Meia asked in total puzzlement.
"I'm... not going to combine with Mr. Alien any more. It seems that I'm always making Mr. Alien mad." Dita turned to Jura. "You can combine with him if you want to."
Jura had been caught totally of-guard with this sudden reversal. Dita had handed Slade to her on a silver platter.
As for the Tekkaman in question, he found himself at a loss for words. He wasn't used to seeing Dita so subdued. It seemed as if all her enthusiasm and vigor had been drained out of her.
As for Jura, a grin began to form as she saw that an opportunity had presented itself. Beside her, Barnette sighed.
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"Will you just lay off?" Slade growled as he walked down to the recreation room. After the strategy meeting, he had hoped to work off his stress in the gym, but Jura had been harping him nonstop about the next time they went out into battle.
"I just KNOW that we're going to combine into something beautiful!"
"Hey, just because that UFO girl doesn't want to do it any more doesn't mean that I'm going to do it with you!" Slade paused and winced as he thought about the unintentional meaning to his last statement. A brief hentai thought went through his mind, along with an image of Jura without her clothes, which he immediately discarded. Sometimes knowing the truth about men and women on a ship full of beautiful females made him very uncomfortable.
"Hey! I'm not through with you yet!" Jura called out as Slade increased his pace and quickly rounded a corner. The blonde pilot rounded the corner two seconds later and saw... an empty hallway.
Where did he go? The twenty-year-old looked back and forth, but could see no sign of him. She then headed off in the direction of the gym, thinking that he would be there. She was determined to have that Tekkaman combine with her.
Slade held his breath until Jura was out of sight, then let off a relieved sigh. It was a good thing that she hadn't thought about looking up. Though he had no memory of how he had learned the technique, the 'Cling to the Ceiling and Hope No One Looks Up' maneuver had its uses. Once he was certain that the Dread pilot wasn't coming back soon, he released his viselike grip on the ceiling's overhead pipes and conduits, and dropped back down to the floor. He decided to delay his workout as he made a one hundred and eighty degree turn and headed back to his quarters.
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Dita held back her tears as she sat alone in the Bio-Park, gazing at the pool of water. She had made her decision and resolved to stay away from Mr. Alien, no matter how much it hurt her heart to do so. She soon began throwing pebbles into the pond in frustration.
Why? Why? I only wanted to make him happy! No matter what I do, he never seems to like anything. What am I doing wrong?
The young girl's thoughts went back to a time during her early childhood, when she had a pet Blue Jay. She had doted on it, and gave it the best care that she could, and yet the poor bird died shortly after she had gotten it.
Am I caring too much? Will Mr. Alien be like that Blue Jay? Dita stiffened at the image of Slade lying dead on the ground and a shiver ran through her very being. She could not bear the thought of him ending like that. Her heart would surely break if that were to happen. What can I do? What should I do?
"I thought I'd find you here."
Dita turned to see Gascogne standing behind her.
"Oh, Miss Gasco."
"I told you before, it's Gascogne!" The head supplier stressed as she sat down beside the young Dread pilot.
"Sorry." Dita apologized. "So what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I thought I'd check up on you. I'll bet you were thinking of D-Boy."
"D-Boy?"
Gascogne smirked. "That's what I call Slade. The D is for 'Dangerous.' It's my way of getting back at him for calling me Gasco all the time."
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"What is it with everyone today?! Is it so much to ask for a little space to myself?!"
Pyoro found itself on dangerous ground, as Slade looked ready to reduce the robot to scrap metal. It had simply asked if Slade felt lonely. It had come across the martial artist as he was brooding in his quarters. In his hands was Dita's gift.
"I saw that you were feeling very sad." Pyoro said as it floated near the exit.
"What I feel is none of your business!" Slade growled as he clenched the pillow in one hand.
Pyoro knew that if it wanted to keep its inner mechanisms intact, now was a good time to leave.
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Meanwhile...
"What do you want from me?" Bart asked as he spoke to Jura in her private quarters.
"I want you to help me." Jura replied seductively as she poured the helmsman a glass of wine.
"What kind of help?" Like all men of Tarak, Bart was very suspicious of women and knew that they were sneaky and devious monsters.
"Well, I want to combine with Slade."
"So what's that got to do with me?"
"Well, if you can help me... then I can help you." Jura purred as she began explaining. "You know that I want to combine with Slade, but he doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Now if a certain someone were to convince him to combine with me, then I could help him get more respect aboard this ship."
"Really?" Bart became very interested at this point. Currently, the respect that he commanded aboard the Nirvana was comparable to what one would give to pond scum.
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The Bio-Park...
"I want to change so Mr. Alien would like me better."
The head supplier shook her head. "Why would you want to do that? You're fine the way you are."
"But Mr. Alien always seems to get mad or tries to avoid me."
"Well just remember that every person is different and it takes a while for people to get to know each other."
"But I've seen Parfat and the doctor get along real well and that didn't take long." Dita had seen Duero and the engineer frequently get together to solve problems, both medically and mechanically.
"Well, some relationships take longer than others to grow. In any case, the best thing for you is to be yourself. I'm sure that it will all work out."
Gascogne got up to leave and then gave Dita some parting advice. "I'm sure that D-Boy will come around. It might help if you'd stop calling him Mr. Alien. He's a good sort, though he's one of the worst card players I've ever seen."
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Slade sighed as he continued to brood in his quarters. He began thinking back to how he had acted when Dita had interrupted his training session. It had been a bad time to come barging in, but he shouldn't have been so rough on her. He had scolded and yelled at the pilot for always bothering him, and when Dita had run off in tears, a part of his heart felt like breaking. Seeing tears on a girl always made him feel weak, though he didn't know why. He gazed back at Dita's gift, which was now lying on his bed.
The former Saotome made up his mind and went looking for her.
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"Mr. Alien?"
Slade nodded as he approached her. "Hi."
Dita began to tremble and the Tekkaman noted that she was slowly backing away from him.
"Hold on. I... just want to talk, that's all." Slade held up a hand.
Dita stopped and gave him a puzzled look. This was the first time in which he wanted her to stay. She had also never seen him so... humble.
Slade swallowed hard. He had never been very good with talking to females, especially when it concerned sensitive matters. "I want to say... that I'm sorry... for yelling at you before. And... I'd like to say... thanks, for the pillow."
Dita took in these words, then smiled as she felt her heart rise above its sadness and feel lighter.
She's really cute when she smiles. Slade mentally noted then gestured for her to sit with him.
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The two talked quietly as they gazed through the observation window at the stars above. Dita began asking Slade multitudes of questions about him and his travels. She became especially excited upon hearing that there were other human worlds as well as truly alien races.
"Wow! That is so neat! You've been to all these places?"
The Tekkaman nodded. "That's right. There are other worlds that were colonized by humans, besides Tarak and Mejele. Usually, I stayed on a planet for a few days, sometimes up to two weeks, then I would move on."
"What are those other worlds like?"
"Well, there's one planet that was like the desert world we explored with the Vanguards, but it's set like the Old West of Earth. There was a guy that was so dangerous, that the inhabitants put a $$60,000,000,000 reward on his head. If you ask me, Vash was more of a goofball."
"Wow! Tell me more!"
"Well, I've also visited a place called Bob."
"Bob?"
"It was also called New Earth, but the guy who created that planet called it Bob. They used some kind device called the Titan to recreate another Earth."
"Amazing!"
"Yeah, and then there was a planet called Terra II. It's sort of like Tarak, because there were only men. However, they don't consider females as monsters. In fact, they had machines called Marionettes, which looked like women." (1)
"That's great, though I'd really like to see more aliens!"
Slade gave the girl a bit of a whimsical smile. "You sure are crazy about ETs aren't you? Well, I have met several non-human species, though some of them were totally frightened of me, when I transformed into a Tekkaman."
"Why?"
"They wouldn't say, but I kept on hearing the word 'Radam.' I don't know exactly who or what this Radam is, but it sounded vaguely familiar, like I've heard of it before."
As Dita continued to listen to Slade's exploits, she began to feel more relaxed and her perky personality had returned. As she learned more about Mr. Alien, she began to feel something else stirring within her heart. It was a warm feeling and she felt as if she had a kind of spiritual connection to him.
As they conversed, neither one of them noticed that they were slowly closer together. Dita found herself gazing deeply at the gray-blue depths of Slade's eyes. As for Slade, he found the twinkle in her eyes to be quite... kawaii. Then his gaze lowered and stopped at her lips. He could almost feel her warm breath as she exhaled as he...
It was then that the alarm went off, causing the both of them to look out the observation window.
"Oh no! It's the really BAD aliens!"
Slade sighed as he got up. "Oh well, back to work."
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In less than a minute, the Dread squadrons were getting in formation to fight off the latest enemy attack. At the head of the formation, Meia noticed that a certain pilot was missing.
"Where's Jura?"
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In her quarters, Jura and Bart were now abominably drunk.
"Hic! I'll... be... hic... captain of the Nirvana!" Bart declared.
"And... I will... hic... have the most beautiful... form!" Jura added.
The both of them then let off peals of laughter at each other's statements.
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Bursting out of an airlock, Tekkaman Slade joined up with the Dread formations and was soon flying beside Dita's craft.
"Ready to go?" Slade asked.
The girl nodded. "I'm ready Mr. Alien!"
"I wish you'd stop calling me that."
Dita paused for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, D-Boy!"
Slade winced, then said. "On second thought, I think I liked Mr. Alien."
With those words, the two merged into Tekkadread Dita and charged the enemy.
To be continued...
Author's Notes
Yeah, I'll admit that this chapter was a bit short, but at least I showed some interaction between Slade and Dita. I'm not much with heart-warming chapters, but I needed to change up from the violence and craziness that I usually write. Next up, we shall meet up with a certain trouble-making traitor, er trader.
(1) After reading the forums on Glen Harris' page, I thought that crossovers with other series might be a good possibility. So far I've mentioned Saber Marionette, Trigun and Titan AE. Any other suggestions?