Tokomuki he Dixen: A Year at War

By Strider Itachi

Well. This is the third chapter in my story. Sorry it took a while to post it. I got complicated and couldn't post it on time, with work and all that other business. I mean, you've got to make money, right? So anyway, I hope all you readers liked chapter 2. I plan to continue this story for quite a while, so, I needed to add something to make the story longer. Anyway, for those of you still reading my story, thanks for your interest. Now on to the story.

Chapter 3: Eastern Escort

"Captain Baits. I need to speak to you." Said Joseph from bridge entrance.

"Yes, what is it, Lieutenant Commander?" asked the captain, wondering what Lieutenant Commander Joseph Frias could have possibly wanted to speak to him about.

"It's about Nakato. Are you sure we can trust him, sir. I mean, he did come from the enemy. He could be a spy. You can never be too careful. He's just a rookie pilot, and yet every time he fought the Rafaga Corps, he always came back without so much as a scratch. Also, I doubt that with his skills he could defeat Shadow Red, the enemy ace pilot. It all seems suspicious to me." Joseph told the captain calmly.

"I understand how you fell, but there is no need to worry. Nakato is a trustworthy fellow. You just worry about completing our next mission for now. Well be at the rendezvous point at about 0400 hours. That's in 35 minutes. So be ready for anything." The captain replied calmly.

"Yes sir! I'll be on my way." Joseph said once more before turning to leave for the launch bay. 'I still think that Nakato is a spy.'

"Hey Lieutenant Commander. When will we be rendezvousing with the ship?" asked Nakato in a serious tone.

"Not too long Nakato. Just be ready for the worst when we get there. You never know when the enemy might attack." Replied Joseph in a commanding tone. "Oh, and lighten up will you. You can get serious on the battlefield, but you'll turn into an old man pretty quick if you're serious all the time. Enjoy life a little more. OK?" Joseph said in a cheerful voice.

"If you say so, sir." Nakato replied, taking Joseph's advice and relaxing a little bit.

"Now, I'll see you when it's time to launch." Joseph said before he left.

"You got it, sir." Nakato replied one last time before heading for his quarters. "Ensign David! Are you ready to launch?" asked Joseph as he entered the launch bay.

"Yes sir! How about Nakato?" asked the rookie pilot.

"He's just taking a break. Don't worry about him." Replied Joseph.
'Nakato. It seems that you beat me again. You truly are the academy's best.' Yale told Nakato quite cheerfully. Nakato blushed at this.

'It was nothing really. I just tried my best.' Replied Nakato nervously.

'If you try your best on the battlefield, I'm sure that you'll have no trouble at all against the enemy.' Yale said, still cheerful in her speech.

'You really think so, Yale?' Nakato asked curiously.

'I know so.' Yale responded. Nakato then woke up from his dream.
"Ah man. I keep having those dreams. Geez. What could it mean?" Nakato asked himself before he heard knocking on the door. "What is it?"

"Hey, are you ready? We're launching in 5 minutes." Someone's voice came from the other side of the door. Nakato guessed it was Joseph.

"I'll be there. Let just put my pilot suit on." Nakato replied.

"Well, hurry up. Don't be late like last time. Even though we didn't need you much, you're still a part of this team." The voice said.

"I'll keep that in mind. I'll see you at the launch bay." Nakato said, getting a little annoyed.

"Gotcha. I'll see you there." The voice said, and then there was silence. Nakato put on his pilot suit and left for the launch bay.

3 minutes later...

"I'm here. When do we launch?" Nakato asked a technician in the launch bay.

"You launch in a minute. The Lieutenant Commander will launch now. Then you launch, and finally the Ensign will launch. So be ready." The technician said.

"You got it." Nakato replied before he closed the cockpit hatch. 'All of the systems seem to be working properly. Fixer Cannon operational. Beam Saber operational. All systems go. Alright, I'm ready to launch.' Nakato thought to himself.

"Nakato. Are you ready to launch?" asked a voice that came up over the receiver.

"Roger. Do I launch now?" Nakato asked, obviously ready for battle.

"Negative. You are to launch immediately after the Lieutenant Commander. He was delayed, though, due to some problem with the Beam Gun. He'll be heading out once the problem is fixed, so sit tight." The voice responded.

"Roger that." Nakato replied before he lay back and waited for the Lieutenant Commander to launch in his Dixen Mk. II. Nakato was rather jealous that Lieutenant Commander Joseph got the Dixen Mk. II, even though he is a superior officer. Nakato just sighed and waited.

About a minute and a half later...

"Nakato, the Lieutenant Commander is launching, so be ready." The voice came over the receiver once more.

"Roger that. I'm ready." Nakato replied as he got prepped up for combat, even though they might not see combat at all during this mission.

"Joseph Frias, launching!" came the voice over the receiver as the Lieutenant Commander launched.

"Nakato, move Dixen up to the launching pad." Said the voice in the receiver.

"You don't have to tell me, I know." Nakato responded.

"Very well then. Launch. Good luck." Said the voice.

"Cheng Ming, you know I don't need luck. It's all skill." Nakato said in a cocky voice. "I'm launching."

Dixen then sped out of the launch bay. He landed next to 3 ships, which were supposedly the ships they were escorting. The third Dixen finally launched out of the ship.

"All right. Now that were all here, I'm going to explain to you in greater detail our mission. We are to escort these three ships to our eastern front headquarters. Until then we are to keep an eye out for any attackers. Unfortunately, all of their mechs were damaged in their previous sortie, and currently cannot be repaired or sent out to fight. That's why we're here. We have to defend them until we reach the target point, which is at our Eastern Division Headquarters. Of course, it takes quite a while for us to reach Eastern Division Headquarters, so prepare for the long haul. We have to stay in our machines from now till 0700 tomorrow." Joseph explained rather casually.

"What? That's about fifteen hours! Ah man." David complained. "Deal with it. We have to complete our mission at all costs." Nakato said in response to David's complaint.

"Besides, this will be good training for you. You have no idea how short an operation this is. I was once in an operation that lasted 7 days straight. We had to carry 7 days worth of rations with us, because we couldn't get out of our machines until then. So sit tight, ensign, and enjoy the cockpit." Joseph also responded to the complaint. "Now, get serious, men. We have a mission to complete, and we have to give the ships we're escorting the OK to continue. Lets spread and search for enemy machines."

"Yes sir!" David and Nakato said in unison. As the three Dixens began searching, they turned up nothing, and sent the signal to the ships signaling them to continue.

Five hours later...

"It's nighttime already? This is going by faster that I thought it would!" Joseph stated over the receiver. "Not a single enemy unit, either."

"Don't get too confident, Lieutenant Commander. We still have ten hours till the target point, and that's if we don't run into enemy units." Nakato replied seriously.

"Oh, by the way, once this mission is out of the way, I'll be a commander, just in case you didn't know." Joseph responded confidently.

"Well, lets just hope you even get to become one." Nakato replied coolly to that statement.

"Hey! What do you take me for, an amateur?" Joseph responded, slightly irritated.

"I'm hungry." Complained David out of nowhere.

"Deal with it! You should have brought some rations!" Joseph and Nakato replied in unison. Suddenly, an unknown machine hit one of the sides of ship farthest from the Dixens.

"Damn! I was hoping we would get to finish this mission without need for combat. Nakato, get into position. David, you follow me. Nakato, remember, if you bite into more than you can chew, tell me over the receiver. I'll assist you. Let's move out Dixen Force!" Joseph said very quickly.

"Roger!" David and Nakato replied in unison once more. Dixen Mk. II blasted off to the where he believed the first shot came from. When he arrived he found nothing.

"David. You go back and help Nakato. I have a feeling that he's in danger." Joseph said to David before a voice suddenly came over the receiver.

"This is Nakato. I need assistance. There are about ten Rafagas and a Wise Duck. I need help now!" Nakato said in a desperate voice over the receiver.

"Let's go David! We have to hurry!" Joseph yelled into the receiver as he sped off to where they left Nakato.

"Roger that!" David replied instinctively.

Back at the battle...

'Damn. The Rafagas are hunting me. The Wise Duck probably stayed and started assaulting the ships.' Nakato thought as he dashed around the forest that was nearby. 'This can't hide me forever, either. I have to think of something.'
"This is Rafaga 4. Rafaga 1, come in." One of the Rafaga pilots said over his comlink.

"This is Rafaga 1. What is it?" Another Rafaga pilot responded.

"I think that we should go back. If we go too far, we may not be able to get back in time. There are two other Dixen units from what we heard, and it won't take them long to figure out that was just a lure to draw them away from the ships." Rafaga 4 commented.

"You're right. But we can't allow this one to escape either. OK. I want Rafagas 3, 5, 7, and 9 to come with me. Rafagas 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 return to assist the Wise Duck. Move out." Rafaga 1 commanded. The Rafagas separated as instructed.
'They stopped for a minute. I can take advantage of this and formulate a plan.' Nakato thought as he too stopped and placed his fixer cannon on the ground around a group of trees. He also positioned his aiming satellites, we he has only used occasionally, behind rocks. Now he was ready to attack. 'Hopefully this will nail at least most of them. That way, I can take care of the rest of them without much of a hassle. These pilots are much more organized than the rest of them. OK, here they come.' Nakato braced himself for battle.
"Something isn't right here. I think the enemy is watching us." Rafaga 1 said over his comlink to the other Rafagas that were with him. "Everyone, be on guard."

"Yes sir." The 4 other Rafaga pilots replied. Suddenly, beams came in from all directions.

"Everyone! Evade!" Rafaga 1 shouted out, but to no avail. Only Rafaga 3 had managed to dodge along with him. The other three Rafagas were shot down. "Damn."

'I only got three of them.' Nakato thought as he sped out behind the remaining Rafagas. He jumped out from behind the trees and slashed one Rafaga in half. The other one managed to dodge again. 'This guys good. I'll have to be careful around him.' The Rafaga jumped up above Nakato and shot a large number of missiles at Nakato. Nakato evaded effortlessly. The Rafaga shot out with his rifle, forcing Nakato to use his shield. 'Damn, the shields down to 75 percent already. This can't be good. That must be the shell gun I heard about a while back. It's supposed to have armor piercing properties. Maybe they decided to put it into effect and equipped it on the Rafagas. Hopefully this battle won't be drawn out, or I may not survive.'

The Rafaga fired another shell gun. Nakato evaded, and continued to flee into the forest. The temperature outside began to drop drastically. It had begun snowing. Nakato was too busy with the Rafaga to notice the snow. Nakato turned around and noticed the Rafaga was gone.

'Where did it go?' Nakato asked himself. He began to frantically search in all directions, fearing that he would be shot down on his first mission. A shot was fired from above Nakato. Nakato caught sight of it, but it was too late to dodge or block. Dixen's arm was blown straight off. 'Damn! The Rafaga activated it's plane mode.'

The Rafaga transformed back to normal mode and proceeded to kick Dixen, sending it flying back. Nakato could not believe the skill of the enemy pilot, despite him being in a technologically inferior machine.

'He's to good for me.' The Rafaga walked up to Dixen, and pointed its rifle at Dixen's cockpit. 'This is it. I'm a goner.' Nakato thought as he braced himself for the worst.

End of Chapter 3

Cliffhanger! I hope you don't hate me for doing that. Anyway. That's it for chapter 3. I hoped you all enjoyed it. I suppose that at this point all I can say is please review. I continue to receive positive reviews, and I hope it stays that way. Thanks for you interest in my story.

Thank you for reading!

Strider Itachi