Fahma, or: BC's True Identity

By: Speck

DISCLAIMER: I do not own and have not created any of the characters in Vandread: that claim goes solely to Gonzo Studios. I wish I did sometimes, though... ;)

Session Two

"Captain! Enemy sighted off starboard side, approaching at 13,200Gr.!"

"They never give up without a fight, do they?" Captain Magno Vivan said with a sigh. "All right, Dread teams, you know what to do!"

Meia Gisborn, appointed Leader of the entire Dread squad, saluted her captain sharply. "Roger. Jura, you take Team B and hang back to defend the Nirvana. Barnette, take Team C and circle around the enemies' main attack force. We'll try a pincer maneuver…"

"Hey hey hey! What about me?" came an obnoxious voice. Hibiki Tokai's face filled the video communications screen as he glared at the Captain. "Old Hag, what am I supposed to do?"

The Captain smiled humorously. "You should ask Meia; after all, she's in charge of attack formations, or have you forgotten?"

"No, but all her commands are to just defend! We need to go full out offensive if we're to defeat-…"

"Uchuujin -san! Come on, we can combine and take out those bad aliens!"

"IDIOT, GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Vivan smiled. Ever since the men had been taken aboard the ship, life had become much, much livelier.

"Ahhh! You idiots, get out there and attack! That really hurts!"

"Bart! Stay calm! Meia, get the Dread force out now!"

"Roger!"

Bart Garsus, safe within the strange, linked cockpit of the Nirvana, winced as enemy fire blasted the right side of the ship, simultaneously peppering his right arm with several small cuts. To add to the strangeness of the ship, which had been affected by the Paksis, it was physically and psychologically linked to whomsoever came to pilot it. Hapless as he was, Bart had assumed command, or a loose form of it, and knew of only one way to control the ship: to run.

"DAMMIT THIS HURTS! GET ME OUTTA HERREEEE!"

"BART!" barked the Captain. "This is no time to panic! Jura's team is assuming defense positions now, so just sit still and be quiet! Take it like a man!"

Bart snorted indignantly. "That's easy for you to say…"

Ezra's cry of pain rang through the ship's open deck. BC, gaze locked onto the attacking enemies broadcast over the radar, spun in her tracks to face her.

"Ezra, are you all right?"

"I don't know," she moaned, both hands massaging her stomach to ease the pain. "It hurts again…"

The Captain, also attentive to the situation, gazed down at the young navigator. "Does it hurt in your back and down your legs?"

"N-no… just my stomach…"

"Then you should be fine. BC, help her to sickbay. I'll keep an eye on things."

"Roger." BC helped Ezra from her seat, supporting her as she stumbled on uneasy legs. She gave a gentle gasp, and leaned suddenly into the vice-captain, who stopped momentarily.

"Ezra?"

"…It's okay… the pain's going away now…"

"Are you sure?"

"…I think so. The Captain sure knows a lot, doesn't she?"

BC smiled. "Yes… one of her age and experience knows many things…"

Ezra's momentary smile was replaced by a look of concern. "Even so… I've been having a lot of false pains lately… I hope I'm okay…"

"It just means that your baby is getting ready to be born. I'm sure an examination will put your mind at ease…"

She couldn't help but giggle. "Are you sure? Duero doesn't know a whole lot about women or babies…"

BC sighed. "You're right on that… I suppose we have to give him a chance, though… he's been studying books very hard, trying to learn all the aspects of childbirth…"

"That's true…"

Duero McFile, busily reading through a book on the complexities of conception, gazed up just as BC and Ezra entered the Infirmary. He snapped the book shut, stood, and made an elegant leg.

"Well, ladies, how may I help you?"

"She's had another false pain… can you examine her and make sure everything is okay?"

"Of course… if you'd just lie down there, I'll get the scanning equipment out… Paiway, could you give me a hand?"

A frog-shaped backpack peered around the corner, puppet-like, mouthing spoken words.

"Ribbit! Paiway will be there in a minute, ribbit!"

Duero couldn't help but smile. The busybody nurse was most likely organizing her latest "Pai-checks" into a slide show, or something along those lines. "All right… now, Ms. Ezra, just lie back… that's it now. This will only take a minute…"

Gazing down, Ezra blushed. She could just see Duero's head as he paced back and forth, gathering his supplies. Her stomach hid the rest of his body. My goodness, but I've gotten a bit big, haven't I?

Pulling a pen scanner from his pocket and hooking it into a monitor that Paiway had so graciously brought into the room, he proceeded to scan over her stomach, monitoring the baby within. Feedback from the monitor showed her baby, squirming and thrashing with tiny arms, seeming to try to shift itself into a more comfortable position. Duero picked up the cast-aside book with his free hand and paged through it, looking for an explanation to this behavior.

"Hmm… it says here this is the 'quickening' stage… the baby is shifting itself into a proper position for separation…"

Ezra giggled. "How many times must I tell you, it's called 'giving birth'… not separation…"

Duero blushed. "R-right… anyway, this is supposedly common in the last trimester, and it is usually associated with mild cramping… and as I see nothing wrong here, there should be nothing to worry about. If you feel a sudden change in the intensity of the pain, or if you feel weak or sick, just come here, all right?"

"Yes," she responded. "Thank you for your help… I was worried…"

"You're welcome. Maybe you should go rest in your room for a while… I've noticed you've been spending a lot of time at your station navigating… there are others aboard the ship that can take over for you, you know… so maybe you should go and rest. It can't hurt…"

That familiar feeling washed over her again… "Y-yes, I suppose you're right. I'll go do that. Thank you again…"

Before Duero could respond any further, Ezra bit the side of her hand and rushed off, a strangled sob escaping from her throat. Duero looked on, puzzled, as Paiway entered the room with her camera in hand.

"What was that all about?"

"Ezra's feeling down about herself," Paiway chirped. "She feels upset now… don't you know that?"

Duero chuckled. "I'm afraid I'm still learning so many things about women… their physical structure, and their moods… it's very different from what we learned of women back on Tarak…"

"Yeah, like," Paiway deepened her voice, imitating a male's gruff bark, "'ALL WOMEN ARE MONSTERS WHO WILL EAT YOUR BRAINS!' Really silly stuff like that… you men are so strange…"

Duero eyed the young nurse carefully. "What about you, eh? You were taught that men were evil… right?"

Paiway turned around and shrugged noncommittally. "We as pirates were taught that men were cowards who ran away from us and then called us the enemy. But look at you. You aren't cowardly, and you don't call us enemy…"

'That's true,' Duero thought reflectively, as Paiway pattered off into the next room over. 'Even if this is a life or death situation, we have learned to work with each other even outside of that… who would have thought it?'

"AH! What is wrong with this Paksis now?"

Parfet bent over the control panel just outside the Paksis, noting that the power crystal pulsed from light blue to dark blue. It was being temperamental again. She glanced about. "Where's Pyoro?"

The small navi-robot crept silently away, sneaking in between computer grids and control panels. It couldn't prevent itself beeping as it heard its name being called.

"PYORO, come back here this instant! The Paksis is doing something strange again!"

"PYORO!! Leave me alone!"

The ship itself lurched suddenly to the side, throwing everyone within about. Bart spread his arms wide.

"Idiot!" the Captain yelled. "What are you doing now?"

"It isn't my fault!" Bart screamed back. "The ship's doing this completely on its own! I'm trying to stop it right now!"

"Captain, it isn't his fault!" Parfet called over a video link-up. "The Paksis is acting up again! It must sense something about the enemy ships!"

"Damn," BC snarled, having caught herself from falling over by latching onto a navigator station. "This enemy just keeps getting worse and worse… Meia! What's your report?"

Meia looked up just as her Dread was sideswiped by an enemy cube-type. "Ungh! They're getting smarter, and faster… Dread force is down to 85% operating capacity… we're running low on munitions, as well…"

"Got it," called Gascogne from the Reg bay. "Crew, load up the transport, I'll be going out shortly!"

One young crewmember ran up to Gascogne and clasped her hands tightly. "Please be careful, Ms. Gasco…"

She smiled at the girl, ruffling her hair with a hand. "I promise… remember, it's not the job of a stagehand to get involved in a dogfight… and please, not Ms. Gasco. It's Gascogne…"

"All right," BC called, "that should take care of it… Meia, regroup on my command, Hibiki, you're on standby until we can pick out a pattern on the enemy attacks. Crews report on damage!"

A flood of reports graced the video link screen.

"Engine capacity dropped to 75%!"

"We're all right here!"

"Starboard suffered minor damage…"

"Infirmary's all right…"

BC's gaze roved over the empty beds in the sick bay. "Wait… where's Ezra?"

"I sent her to go rest in her room just before the ship moved," Duero reported.

BC took off at a loping gait. "Dammit, her quarters are in the back half of the ship. Captain!"

"Go and look for her. I'll take over…"

Faster, faster she ran: BC wasn't sure her legs could hold out. "Ezra! EZRA, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"…BC… over here…"

Ezra leaned propped up against a wall. BC bent over and looked her over carefully.

"Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah… I'm a bit shaken up though… what's going on?"

"The Paksis is operating on its own again," BC explained, looping her arm about Ezra's waist and helping her up. "It sensed the enemy and lurched the ship to the side, like it wants to get away but can't… the Dreads are fighting the best they can, but the aliens have no definite attack patterns, so we can't utilize Hibiki just yet. That's taking a toll on the Dread forces… we might be able to flee, but it'll be hard with just four navigators… in order to match up with Bart's movements we'd need five…"

"Let me help…"

"Ezra, it's dangerous. You should lie low until the danger has passed…"

"Please," Ezra pressed, tightening her grip about BC's arm. "I'm tired of feeling so helpless… How can I go and lie down when I'm needed? Please… even if you tell me no, I'm still going to try…"

BC smiled helplessly. "I guess I don't have a choice. All right then, let's get back to the deck. Just promise me you won't do anything reckless?"

This time it was Ezra's turn to smile. "How can I do something reckless when I'm sitting down?"

"Point taken. Come on… I think we're running out of time."

"DAMMIT!" Barnette hissed through clenched teeth. Not only were the enemy fast, but they had also developed a tactic of gathering together to ward off the Dreads attacks. She watched helplessly as an inventive crew of cube types, who merged to form a shield, deflected her missiles. She snarled angrily.

"I'm running out of fire power here! Where the hell's Gascogne?"

"That's a heck of a way to greet someone who's come to get your can out of the fire," Gascogne called humorously over a video link. "All right, girls, the transport's arrived! Let's get this done all at once now…"

Hibiki, tired of waiting in the sidelines, launched his Vanguard at the nearest enemy. "I'm not waiting any longer… this has been dragged on long enough, it's about time we showed them we mean business!"

Meia, locked safely within the transport ship, smiled inwardly as the young man fought tooth and nail, regardless of his own personal safety. "What a reckless boy…"

"All right… munitions transfer successful. Dread teams release! Jura, how's it going on your end? We've got some extra shield recharges and munitions left…"

"We're fine, but my Dread's starting to lose shield power. Got any type Bs?"

"Yep… just hold on, I'll be there in a second…"

BC returned to the main deck of the ship, Ezra following in her wake. The Captain gazed down severely, concern crossing her face.

"Young woman, you should be resting right now. This is a very severe situation…" Her gaze shifted to BC, who shrugged her shoulders in apology, answering the Captain's glare with good humor.

"I couldn't stop her, Captain; you know how stubborn she is when it comes to navigating…"

Magno smiled… Ezra had always been such a good, loyal girl when it came right down to it. "All right, all right, I give… everyone, get ready… I'm sure the enemy will attack at any moment…"

Her predictions proved true. Sensing the pirates' hesitations with reloading and re-supplying, the enemy fell back and regrouped into tight formations, each winging swiftly through space to the temporarily inactive Dread forces. Meia opened an all-points video link.

"Wait for my command… Hibiki, are you ready?"

"It's about time you women got serious about this," he called humorously. "Dita, get in position…"

"Roger!" Dita called cheerily. "Oh, I hope this works out…"

"Come on, have some faith! It worked before, and it'll work again. Trust me…"

She smiled. "Okay, uchuujin-san… I trust you…"

Hibiki urged his Vanguard to connect with Meia's Dread. Upon combination, the great White Wing Vandread sped off, ready to intercept Dita's Dread. Faster than any of the Dread force could have imagined, cube-types intercepted the White Wing, blasting it with cannon fire. Both Meia and Hibiki winced.

"Dammit, what is up with these things? Every battle we get into it seems they get smarter and faster!" Hibiki swore. Over the audio link, screaming could be heard. Meia looked up sharply.

"Dita?!"

"Help, they're attacking me! Uchuujin-san, please help!"

"Barnette here! Listen, you three work on your plan, my team will try to hold them off!"

"No, don't, they're too dangerous! Regroup and hold back until my order!" Meia barked.

"B-but, Leader…"

"That's an order! Dita, just hold tight!"

"R-Roger!" Dita cringed in the cockpit of the Dread as enemy fire rattled off its armor. She couldn't help but cry… 'Uchuujin-san, please save me…'

Meia glared angrily at the enemy. "Right now, our primary concern is making sure the Nirvana doesn't get hit… we need to stave off any more attacks…"

Back on deck aboard the Nirvana, BC watched intently as Barnette's team held back. She could almost feel Barnette's seething anger as she commanded her part of the squad. "My group, hold until the order is given…"

Captain Vivan looked on incredulously. "What does that girl think she's doing now? I've never seen Meia act so stubbornly before…"

"She must have a plan… I believe Hibiki's thought processes have finally begun to influence her attacking patterns… she's waiting for a certain moment to attack… but even still…"

"Dread Dita is taking serious damage!"

"Dammit," BC growled. "Meia, should we have Gascogne pick her up?"

"No," Meia responded calmly. "Dita will be fine. Just let me concentrate…"

Dita, however, was thoroughly convinced she was about to die. Her Dread's shield was dropping at an alarming rate, and now messages of lost mobility were beginning to spring up on the control panels. She curled in upon herself… 'Please… uchuujin-san… don't let me die…"

"Idiot, what's gotten into you? You're the one always saying we'll all make it out alive… where's your spirit? Don't give up on us just because we're holding still for a moment…"

"Uchuujin-san?"

"You heard me… come on, don't give in so quickly. We've yet to show them our true colors…"

Somehow, Hibiki's words worked some sort of change on Dita. She gave a determined smile. "R-right! I trust you, uchuujin-san!"

Hibiki gave a humored sigh. "I wish she'd stop calling me that…"

Meia smiled. "All right, I know what to do now. Barnette, Jura, back us up. Whatever you do, make damn sure the Nirvana doesn't get hit. We can't afford anyone being hurt again, got it?"

Both Dread fighters responded. "Roger!"

"Hibiki…"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever you do, don't get motion sick this time, all right?"

Hibiki snorted. "That was a one-time thing. I think I can handle it this time."

Meia gave a slightly playful grin. "You sure?"

Before Hibiki could respond, Meia kicked down hard on the thruster pedals, throwing the White Wing into a series of barrel loops and banks that even the enemy forces couldn't match up to. She smiled mirthlessly.

"Hold on, Dita, we're coming!"

Hibiki clung on for dear life to the control panel. "I might be dead before we get there!!"

"All right, Hibiki, we need to separate now. Combine with Dita and use the Vandread to decimate the rest of the forces. Got it?"

"I-I think so… jus'… gemme outta here… can't take the speed…"

"You're so useless," Meia commented humorously. "Get out…"

In a bright flash of light, Meia and Hibiki's crafts disengaged. Hibiki shook off his dizziness and gripped at the throttles of his Vanguard. "All right, partner, let's show them who we are, and what it means to live!"

Captain Vivan watched the proceedings quietly. 'Boy,' she thought, 'men are men, but you are indeed a blessing in disguise…'

Dita couldn't help but become boisterous and cheerful again. "Uchuujin-san, let's combine!"

"Yes, let's," he smiled, sneering at the hovering enemy craft. "We'll give them a show to remember…"

Upon combination, Dita and Hibiki threw the Vandread into action. Two massive blaster blades on either shoulder of the craft powered up, and pointed outward. Hibiki gripped Dita's right hand tightly, and both slammed down hard on the right control.

"Take this!"

The Vandread spun in place, issuing a blast at the same time. The circular blade of energy pulsed out from the two outstretched blades, cutting into the enemy forces and literally decimating them. Not one cube-type or flagship was left.

"Ahh!" breathed the Captain, shaking her head. "Every time those kids score a hit, I can't help but think I've just witnessed a miracle…"

"True… every battle we go up against the enemy, it seems Hibiki and the Vandreads have new and even more interesting ways of defeating them…" BC commented.

"All enemy ships have been destroyed," Ezra reported, scanning the areas around the ship. "Starboard side has minor- uhhn…"

"Ezra?"

Shakily, Ezra tried standing, grasping the edge of her station for support. She had been successfully ignoring the pain in her side for as long as the battle had been raging on for, but now, as if the silence had triggered it, she could no longer endure it. Giving a quiet squeal, she buckled, haphazardly toppling to the ground, then lying quite still, a fever consuming the world around her into total blackness.

A/N: Another confusing chapter, I hope I haven't lost you all so far. Well, where to begin… firstly, I wanted to throw in a space battle scene… I hope it didn't come off being too ludicrous (I think this fic should be partially A/U so that it makes some sense… I've been overlapping events like no tomorrow…plus I changed Dita's dialect so she's not referring to herself as "Dita" all the time instead of I... I know it's in the series, but it personally drives me insane, I hope no one minds me tweaking her like that. -_-). Secondly, a BIG thanks to those of you that read and reviewed my first fic… I was a bit over-defensive because I can't stand it when people just come in and bash the heck out of a fic. Constructive criticisms are a lot better received… t'is what kept me writing and making this a bit more of a continuing fic. Credit goes to Rouko to add the disclaimer to the fic summary that this combines events from both first and Second Stage, and that it indeed includes spoilers. Thank you hon. :D Chapter Three coming soon!~