DISCLAIMER: Lalalalalalalalalala….

Author's Note: Again, this will not be a happy story. Well… maybe. I might change the ending part depending on my mood. I actually never said that the Nirvana was destroyed, sorry if I conveyed that impression.

DJ Madcat: Paiway? Hey… good idea!

Meia hesitated in front of the door, then reached out and knocked solidly.

"Come in."

The portal slid open and she entered, glancing around the briefing room. The mercenary unit's officers were gathered around a table, with a deactivated hologram projector in the center. Kurtz, who'd been standing at the table's head, raised his eyebrows briefly.

"Is there something we can do for you, Miss Gisborn?"

"Yes." Meia keenly felt the weight of the stares she was getting from all around the table. She couldn't help but feel a bit like she'd just walked into a shark tank. All the officers were men, which also set off a small warning alarm in the back of her head. She'd thought that meeting the relatively harmless trio of Hibiki, Bart, and Duero had eased her problems with the opposite sex, but that feeling of comfort was partly because the three of them had never been in control.

This was another breed entirely.

"I want to know exactly how you're planning to get the Dreads back."

The Old Man glanced down at the figure sitting beside him. Renard raised his head slightly, the crimson glow of his fake eye again seeming unnatural in the darkened room. He leaned back in his chair and appeared to consider carefully before answering.

"I don't know."

The Dread pilot didn't show any reaction, but inwardly, she was really starting to worry. What has Jura gotten us into now?

The mercenary captain continued.

"We'll need more accurate information of the area first. We'll arrive, reconnoiter, and then make our plans. Military operations hinge on intelligence."

She relaxed a little.

"I'd like to be present when you actually start planning." Someone had to make sure these people didn't screw up or backstab them.

Renard didn't answer, instead shifting his gaze back to Kurtz, who nodded.

"Of course. I'll send someone to call you when we get to planning."

Gascogne, Dita, and Paiway sat watching as Kroeger and the rest of the regiment's corpsmen made preparations for going into the field, some readying the sickbay to accommodate patients while others laid out gear and equipment to be carried down onto the planet. Everything was done with the crisp professionalism of highly trained and experienced experts. There was little consultation, and everyone seemed to know what to do without being told. Gascogne considered the anarchy of their own infirmary before Duero had arrived, and silently reflected that it was a good thing the male doctor had not been ejected with the rest of the crew when the Ikazuchi had been originally captured. Paiway was examining the equipment, while Dita just looked bored. All three of them glanced up when the door hissed open and Meia entered.

"Leader!" Dita bounced onto her feet. "Have you seen Hibiki?"

Meia looked slightly puzzled. "No. Is he missing?"

The red-haired girl nodded, and the Dread leader sighed.

"He must have gotten lost somewhere. We'll need to get someone to look for him." She sat down and folded her arms. "We don't need any more people wandering off or getting into trouble. Where's Jura?"

Gascogne shrugged.

"I thought she was with you."

The other woman just scowled and leaned back further in her chair.

Hibiki, meanwhile, was tagging along behind Varius in a tour of the ship's very extensive armory. The place was filled with rack after rack of weaponry or ammunition, all carefully labeled and ordered.

"Looks like it's a lot of work just to keep everything all logged in."

"Yeah, it is, but we don't want Renard to show up down here when some grunt gets his face burned off popping an incendiary grenade he thought was a smoke bomb. We've got time anyway."

The young pilot noted to his dismay that the technician was still smoking as they walked past cases of ammunition.

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Smoking like that! This place is a death trap for cigarettes!"

"Kid, you think anyone with a brain would put ammunition in a non-fireproof case? Watch." To illustrate his point, the mercenary flipped the cigarette towards the nearest row of ammo, all of which were clearly marked EXPLOSIVE. Hibiki stared in terror, then desperately lunged forward and grabbed the smoking cigarette, bouncing it into the air again when it burned him. He blew on his palm as the smoke dropped to the floor, then ground his heel on it, putting it out.

"Are you crazy?"

"No, you're crazy. What kind of a dumbass would catch a lighted cigarette like that?" Shaking his head, Varius strode on, leaving the flabbergasted pilot behind.

Kyra stared down the scope of her rifle, fixing on the head of the mannequin standing thirty meters away, before huffing angrily and lowering the gun.

"Something wrong?" She looked up to see the angular form of Corbulo, one of the highest ranking of Renard's lieutenants, standing over her. "Don't tell me you can't hit that thing."

"What! Of course I can." The woman raised the rifle again, then pulled the trigger, blowing the practice target's head off. "It's not easy finding practice for a sniper rifle on a ship, though."

"Yeah, I see what you mean. There's not enough space to make miles of training ground for you to sight across." The lieutenant settled down. "You've been making quite a fuss recently- what's it all about?"

"So you're going to be the 'good cop'? It's nothing big." She waved him off. "I'm just cranky, and tired of all this crap. I wish we could just settle down somewhere and quit all this stuff. We're still losing men every operation we pull off, and we're not getting anything from it. The Old Man should just sell off everything we've got, divide up the loot, and let everyone off to live how they want."

"Not that easy, girl." Corbulo sat back and laced his hands behind his head. "Most of the guys have got nothing left except for the regiment- scattering 'em to the winds wouldn't be the way to go. Probably all just end up serving as mercenaries somewhere anyway. At least this way the Old Man and Renard can take care of everyone. What're you going to do? We're soldiers with no place to go."

"Yeah." She lowered her head. "I didn't sign up for this, though. I don't want to be some damn warlord's bootlicker. Maybe we should just adopt a planet." She chuckled bitterly.

"Or we could go back home." Now this made her head come up. Kyra tilted her head and stared up at the lieutenant.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nah, I never kid." He turned to look her in the eye. "I'll tell you, there hasn't been a day that me or any of the others haven't dreamed about going back and kicking those filthy invaders off our planet. Not that we could, but well… seeing the way we are now, what's left to lose?"

"Hmph." Kyra shook her head and returned to staring at the floor. "Maybe, just maybe…"

"Huh?"

"Those machines from the Nirvana…think they could make a difference?"

Now Corbulo was frowning. "What makes you think they would?"

"I dunno. Just thinking."

The two lapsed back into silence.

Jura entered the infirmary, toweling off her thick yellow hair. Meia sat back upright at her appearance.

"Where've you been?"

"Taking a bath. They've got a great tub here…"

"Tub?" Kroeger wandered over, instantly suspicious.

"Oh, you know, the one a few doors up…" She gestured vaguely. "It's pretty big, and comfortable. It even has handrails."

The medic's face twisted into an expression of disbelief.

"That's for physical therapy!"

Jura shrugged indifferently.

"I was using it for therapy. It's very relaxing, you know." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Your crew is pretty rude, though- there was a whole crowd of them at the window, so I had to close it."

The mercenary opened his mouth, then closed it again. He stared for a moment longer, then grinned evilly.

"Well, I hope you checked if the chemical systems were off, then. You know, you could wake up tomorrow morning with blue skin, or wrinkles, or maybe peeling…" He trailed off and chuckled at the horrified look on her face.

"You are joking." Jura was now glaring flat out at him, and he laughed openly.

"Sorry, but no. It really could happen…be more careful with what you screw around with next time, huh? And ask before you use stuff."

The blonde opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out and she shut it again. Meia cut in at that.

"Jura, have you seen Hibiki?"

"Eh? No. Why, don't you know where he is? I have more important things to do than keep tabs on people, you know."

"Well, someone has to find him. And tell me before you wander off by yourself again."

She was about to continue, but the door opened and Renard walked in.

"We're here and ready for a briefing. Please come with me."