wDISCLAIMER: I do not own Vandread or any of its characters. Gonzo does.
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Storm of War
Chapter 1: Crisis
"Gascogne, what's the status?"
"No worries. I wish that we had the time to pick up supplies ourselves, but since the boss wants to get a move on as fast as we can, I suppose it's permissible to allow outsiders to do the work for me." Gasco winked at the stern-faced assistant commander.
BC was not amused. As always, she was focused only on her work, and with the presence of unknown people onboard the Nirvana, she was more paranoid than usual.
"I still think we should have slowed down and picked up the order ourselves rather than having it delivered."
"Lighten up a little. There's nobody that'll be able to pull anything off here and get away in that old clunker." The chief of the Register motioned towards the delivery ship with an almost contemptuous air.
At that same moment, a man was walking past, burdened by a heavy crate. Neither of them noticed him smile at the comment.
Inside the cargo ship, the captain glanced at a man standing beside him.
"How much longer left?"
"Only about an hour before the last supplies are unloaded. We could've done it faster, but they were a bit reluctant to help out. Everyone shirked the job, instead letting our deliverymen do the work."
"Only an hour… we've been here for two already. Has it been long enough yet?"
"Yes. Renard and the others are in position. We were holding off only so that Kyra could take another look around."
"She's got 15 minutes more. Then we execute if it's feasible, understand?"
"I'll relay the message."
Hibiki frowned darkly.
"Keep that thing away from me!"
Dita looked at the alien hat in her hands, then pouted.
"Oh, come on! Dita made this hat especially for Hibiki to wear!"
"I don't want anything with a UFO on it! Take it away!"
Dita looked hurt.
"You don't like Dita's present?"
"Uh…" Hibiki spun suddenly, seeing something odd and using the opportunity to full effect. "Hey buddy, what are you doing here?"
He was directing his words toward one of the deliverymen, who was standing in front of Hibiki's Vanguard.
He turned, blinking. "Oh, sorry. Just never saw anything like it before."
"Well that's my partner. No one but me can touch it, understand?"
"Sure, man. Whatever you say."
Hibiki continued to frown as the man walked past. Dita looked at him.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nah. He just seemed kinda… pretty, for a man."
"What?"
"Uh…nothing." Hibiki felt like hitting himself in the head. What a stupid comment!
Several large crates stacked within the cargo ship that were supposed to be for another delivery suddenly shattered, revealing a large group of silvery, insectoid machines. They darted out and into the bay, scattering the techs and Register workers who were helping supervise. Most headed for the door, except for one that aimed right at a group of shocked crewmembers who were on guard. Once it was close enough, it exploded, sending shrapnel raining amongst them. The entire group was down immediately. Gasco and BC spun to see the cargo ship disgorging a large number of heavily armed and armored soldiers who immediately laid down a long barrage of fire. All the Nirvana crewmembers remaining leaped for cover. Most didn't make it, and even those who did died as powerful high-caliber shots tore through most everything. After the initial salvo, the invading troops rushed out of the various doors, heading off on assigned missions.
The machines rampaged down corridors, hunting down guards posted in the most vital sections of the ship and self-destructing practically on top of them. They were followed by squads of invaders who rushed everywhere, securing corridors and randomly gunning down any resistance they encountered. What few crewmembers had enough wits to join together and fight back were severely overmatched. Mostly unarmored and armed only with their laser-projecting rings, they were vastly outgunned and hampered by their consideration for collateral damage. The invaders, on the other hand, seemed to consider any damage that did not breach the ship's hull perfectly acceptable, and often employed weapons that spat high-explosive projectiles, usually laying waste to any areas where the Nirvana's crew managed to establish a defensible position. Other equipment such as fusion lasers that sliced through bulkheads and walls or powerful flamethrowers capable of filling an entire hallway with waves of plasma-hot fire were also employed liberally.
The pirates were trained to board other ships to retrieve loot, but they had no real tactics to defend against boarders, and with squads of soldiers split up, there was no organization or leadership whatsoever. The defense quickly disintegrated into a complete rout, all discipline eroded by the complete destruction of all who attempted to bar the invaders' way. What was even more eerie to the ones who stopped to think it over was the fact that the enemy all seemed to know where they were going.
Hibiki was trying to figure out what was going on. They'd been hearing explosions for a while, and distant gunfire that was steadily getting closer. As much as he wanted to go out and get some information, he had no desire to get shot, either. He was also worried about taking Dita out into what seemed to be a battlefield.
"Gragghh… what to do?" The Vanguard pilot glanced up suddenly, seeing the door slide open again. The same deliveryman whom he'd seen a while ago entered again, holding a clipboard.
"Hey, you again? What's going on?"
He smiled, then whipped off a cap, revealing a downfall of silken black hair. The face that had seemed so out of place on a man suddenly looked perfectly at home on a strikingly beautiful woman. Hibiki had no idea how, but she even seemed to change shape and figure.
The stunned pilot began to open his mouth but she was already moving, snapping the clipboard in two. It appeared to have been made that way, as she was suddenly holding a razor-edged plastic knife that went straight into Hibiki's gut. He doubled over in agony before she jerked her hand violently. He felt a sudden stab of pain, and through a red haze that suddenly filled his vision, he saw her holding a broken-off piece of plastic. Then he saw nothing.
Dita stared in shock, then ran forward towards Hibiki. However, she was intercepted by the unknown woman. Dita was no fighter and fell immediately to a single swift blow. Looking somewhat amused, the woman began to turn away, then ducked a second before a laser would have gone through her skull. She somersaulted backwards and sprang aside as Meia tried another shot. The Dread leader cursed as she missed again, then was forced to give up shooting and defend herself as her opponent attacked.
The two circled each other, trading blows and looking for an opening. Meia ducked and cursed as another punch almost caught her square in the face. She retaliated viciously, trying to exploit the only chink she could find in her opponent: the fact that the other woman was openly overconfident.
Thinking quickly, the blue-haired pilot allowed the next blow to connect, while twisting herself so she took the least amount of shock possible. It was a good shot, but nowhere near enough to put her down. However, she dropped to the floor instead. As she'd hoped, her opponent immediately sprang forward, hoping to put an end to the battle. Meia smoothly rolled out of the way, bringing up her hand in the same motion. The woman practically impaled herself on her fist, jerking and falling back with a gasp. Meia was on top of her almost immediately, striking hard and fast. She caught her on the cheek with a vicious right, in the midsection with a quick follow up, and then straight in the sternum with the next. As the woman sagged, she followed up with a devastating spinkick that hurled her into the wall.
Meia stepped forward again to make sure her adversary was down, suddenly she felt something like a lightning bolt strike her skull. She dropped to the ground, trying to keep alert and ignore the flashes behind her eyelids. She tasted blood in her mouth.
The woman was trying to get up, pushing against a gantry for support. A man's figure walked past Meia's prone body and moved to her, offering a hand for support. Meia dimly heard more footsteps entering the Vanguard bay.
"Commander Renard?"
Meia heard the name, forced herself to focus on the woman, who had gotten back to her feet.
"Kyra, you were supposed to be doing recon, not trying to capture the main objective by yourself."
"I…I'm sorry."
"Never mind. The mission's almost complete. You'd better not wander anywhere. She got you good."
"I want her, damn it. No one treats me like that and lives to brag about it."
"Enough of that. You're in no shape to be killing anyone."
The man who was evidently named Renard moved to the side, overseeing his soldiers. Meia swallowed and tried to get up when she realized that they were removing restraints and preparing Hibiki's Vanguard and the three Dreads that it could combine with for transport. However, her muscles refused to cooperate, and she could only lie there.
Damn it, is this all that I can do?
Magno's eyes flashed. Dozens of screens over the bridge showed feedback of the ship's surveillance cameras. She saw what the invaders were doing but was powerless to do anything about it. Her crew was divided and scattered everywhere, and all attempts to resist had failed. BC, who had fortunately returned from the bay before the attack began, was still trying to coordinate some kind of defense, but was failing to rally anyone. Kill teams of enemy soldiers were everywhere, holding most of the ship's major passages while others moved about on specific missions over the ship.
"BC, how is it going?"
"No good. Barnette and Jura have gotten survivors and wounded into the infirmary, but they're under siege. The enemy doesn't seem to be interested in actually getting in and finishing them off, but they're making sure that no one gets out, either. Gascogne and her workers are holed up too, along with just about everyone else on the ship who's still alive."
"They caught us completely unprepared. How could they have known this much about us?"
A group of invaders burst into Engineering. Parfet and her subordinates were herded into a corner while one man strode to the panel and began working. After a few moments, he stepped back and opened a comlink.
"Renard, what the hell have you put me up to now? I've never seen any systems like this before!"
"From our data, I've heard that may not be out of the question. Just copy down everything you can get." The commander's cool voice came back over the link.
"Fuck it, no one ever explains anything to me! You all just give me orders and expect me to carry them out…" Even while the technician crabbed, he was already loading data into a data core he'd brought. When he was done, he quickly typed a few more commands and chuckled wickedly as the words 'VIRUS UPLOADING' appeared on the screen. Snatching up his equipment, he gestured to his men.
"Let's get the hell out of here."
The 'delivery ship' burst out of the Nirvana's docking bay, revealing its tattered outer image to be no more than a clever deception. Powerful, state-of-the-art engines quickly brought it to the outside of the Vanguard bay, which had been opened by the attackers. A few minutes was all that was necessary for the invaders to get aboard, bringing the Vanguard, the three Dreads, and the data core with them. Two minutes later, they were gone.