A Journey of Self Chapter Six, a nadesico fanfic

There were green fields before her. An endless sea of perfect green grass, rippling lazily in the wind, greeted her view. Small dots of color, flowers of every size, shape, and color, graced the landscape, creating a vision so beautiful she wanted to just sit in the grass and drink in the sight.

The air was temperate, warm, and felt just right on her skin; not too hot, not too cold; not too humid, not too dry. The sun was out and shining, but its soft rays did not burn her skin or irritate her eyes. If there ever was a perfect day, this was it.

Laughter could be hard in the distance; a young girl laughing in glee as she ran across the field. She watched her with lazy curiosity, studying her; for some reason, she looked familiar. Her subject had pale, almost white skin, purple hair that had an eye-captivating sheen to it, and eyes of golden amber. It was her eyes that struck her the most; even though her face and voice exhibited joy, her eyes seemed…devoid of warmth. Emotionless. Cold. Logical.

She shuddered as she realized who it was. It was her.

Soon, the Ruri of years long past disappeared from view, and in its place, an older, calmer, and taller Ruri walked complacently through the fields. This time, she recognized herself immediately; this was the Ruri who boarded the Nadesico for the very first time. The uniform, the one she once looked so natural in, now looked new, stiff, and uncomfortable, as the young girl wore it for the first time. She noticed with some embarrassment that her younger self kept on pulling at the starched collar, as if it and her black tie were choking her. Her hair was longer now, in two pigtails that many would later find "cute" and "adorable" onboard the Nadesico. But her eyes…her eyes were still the same. Emotionless. Cold. Logical.

The eleven year-old Ruri disappeared into the horizon, and once more, she saw herself wandering through the fields, just a year after the Great War had ended. She smiled a little upon seeing her past visage. She was no longer in uniform; instead, she had on a wonderful sky-blue dress that went down to her ankles and as she walked through the fields she twirled around, causing the dress to bloom and swirl around her as if she was a dancing flower. The fourteen-year old girl was a visage of beauty as she meandered her way through the field, and Ruri took a moment to appreciate how much she had grown during those few short years. Her hair was even longer now, to the point where her twin pigtails reached far down her back, but it was her eyes that again caught her attention. This time, they were not the same. Not as emotionless. Not as cold. Not as logical.

Why? she wondered. What caused me to change so much?

She watched as the last Ruri disappeared from view, and contemplated her change in nature. Seeing herself in the past…as a toddler, as a child, and as a teenager…it was…

She was watching a journey of the self, she decided. A quest to see who she was…and what had made her the way she was. Why am I who I am?

As she continued to watch the field, another Ruri appeared, the same Ruri aboard the Nadesico, only a familiar and reassuring sight was with her. She remembered his dark brown hair, the friendly brown eyes and the quick smile and uplifting comment he always had for her after they had become acquainted. She saw him smile his usual heart-warming grin at her younger self, watched him ruffle the younger Ruri's hair and say something, before walking off again into the distance. She saw the carefully hidden blush creep into her younger self's cheeks…before all disappeared from view.

Slowly, darkness enveloped her once again in a cocoon that was both confining and yet releasing. Her mind became numb, her thoughts muddled and relaxed. Before she delved once again into the ocean of deep sleep, a single thought ran through her mind…

A journey of the self…what will be next?

Ruri woke up to find herself in an unfamiliar room. Gazing up at the ceiling, she sighed and grimaced in pain as a sudden ache swept through her shoulder. Instantly, memories came flooding back of the monsters on the wreckage of the Cowboy Johnny, and she shuddered slightly in remembrance. Rising into a sitting position on the bed, she looked around, and found herself in a hospital ward of some sort. A series of windows lay parallel to her bed, and looking through them, she saw rolling hills of green grass with several trees planted at random intervals. For all she knew, she could be on Earth again…where was this hospital?

Ruri started to get out of the bed, but a sudden spell of dizziness prompted her to stay in. As she pulled the covers over her petite body, she noticed a single IV tube stuck in her right arm, and frowned as she traced the tube up to a single bag on the rack. The label on the bag read saline solution, and she wondered vaguely why she would ever need a saline solution after being attacked by nightmarish metal monsters.

The door to the ward suddenly opened with a "whoosh" of air, and Ryoko stuck her head in. Her face lit up in surprise and joy at seeing Ruri up and about, and she ran to the bed and gave Ruri a warm bear hug, nearly crushing the poor young girl in her grasp.

"Ruri! You're okay!" she cried happily. "We were so worried when you got back to the Nadesico! We thought for sure you would be done for!" She broke off the bear hug to look closely into Ruri's eyes. "Ruri, are you alright?" she asked. "You look kind of confused."

"Yes, I'm fine," Ruri answered. "It's just…I remember being attacked…but I don't recall how I managed to reach the Nadesico or this hospital." She shook her head. "What happened?"

At this, Ryoko grabbed Ruri into a headlock and began rubbing a fist into her head. "You little whelp!" she accused the innocent captain, "You mean to tell me the entire crew has been worried sick about you and you don't remember what the hell happened in there?!"

Ruri grimaced slightly in pain as she took the punishment. "I'm sorry, Ryoko-san," she replied, "But that's the way things turned out."
Ryoko sighed once and released her from the headlock. "Geez Ruri," she sighed. "You're not suffering from that weird screwed-up mind thing, right? What's it called again…amnesia. You don't have amnesia, do you?"

"Ryoko, I was poisoned by a monster."

Ryoko laughed in embarrassment. "Oh yeah. That's right."

Ruri started to smooth out the now-crinkled bed sheet with her pale fingers. "While you're here Ryoko-san," she said, "would you mind telling me what exactly happened after I got attacked?"
Ryoko looked slightly puzzled. "Ruri, don't tell me you don't remember Akito at all!" she exclaimed.
More memories came flooding back now, and Ruri's eyes widened slightly as she recollected those final dramatic moments before she blacked out. The face…the mask…the eyes…everything came back in a single tidal wave that crashed around her head and brought about a brief spell of dizziness. "Where is he?" she asked, almost eagerly, sitting up straight, surprising Ryoko with her directness.

"Um…well, he's in the hospital," Ryoko said with concern and worry etched all over her face. "But he's in really bad shape. He took a nice beating getting you back to the Nadesico," she informed Ruri with a touch of sadness and a bit of admiration. "That idiot," she muttered to herself. I can't believe he just showed up like that…what a screwed up world.

"Is he okay?" Ruri asked sharply, looking unusually distraught for someone who was so well-trained in hiding her emotions.

Ryoko blinked rapidly in surprise. "Er, well I guess you can say he's alive…but…he's not doing so well," she explained slowly, trying to avoid the topic. "And I think it'd be best if…you didn't go visit him for a while." She looked down uncomfortably, unable to meet Ruri's penetrating gaze.

There was an awful moment of stunned silence.

Slowly, Ruri's shoulders slumped down and she sank back against the fluffy white hospital pillow, a distantly sad look on her face. Ruri closed her eyes and rubbed them gently with her pale fingers. "Ryoko-san, please tell me what happened after I blacked out," she said quietly.

Ryoko eyed her warily, debating whether or not it was a good idea to tell Ruri what exactly happened after she had blacked out. After a few seconds, she wilted under Ruri's blank stare, and pulled up a hospital chair. Sitting down on it, she winced and muttered, "Damn, this is uncomfortable." In more ways than one. Pausing to recollect her thoughts, she sighed and said, "Okay Ruri, this is how it went. After you blacked out, Akito rescued you, right?" The young girl nodded. "Well, while you were getting rescued in there, there was some pretty exciting stuff going on outside; the Unknowns had boson jumped into the sector and we were fighting swarms of the damn things off…"

Haley-kun struggled back onto the captain's chair and glared furiously at Akira, who was staring back at him innocently. Loud trumpet blasts and exhilarating violin runs were still emanating through the bridge, though the communications officer had kindly lowered the volume. "Turn the music off!" Haley demanded, his face red with anger. "Do you realize what you almost did? You almost killed our captain!"

At this, Akira only bobbed his head, grinning like an idiot, before swiveling around in his chair and fiddling with his console. Before Haley could berate him again with another angry outburst, or throttle him with his own two hands, a vid-screen popped up in front of him: it was a worried Captain Ararigi. Klaxons could be heard blaring in the distance behind the middle-aged officer, along with the sounds of running and commands being issued.

"Lieutenant Haley, there appears to be a slight problem," Ararigi intoned wisely, looking somewhat troubled.

Haley sighed with exasperation. "What is it now, Captain?"

"The Crusader's sensors just detected a spike in boson emanations in the area. We think an Unknown task force is going to jump on top of us any minute now."

Haley groaned out loud. "Great, just great, Captain! Do you have any idea where they'll be?"
"In fact, yes," Ararigi replied, and another screen popped up next to him, displaying a map of the area. "The vector shaded in blue is the estimated jump point for the enemy fleet. As you can see," he said, gesturing in a vague direction, "the vector is right above us."

"Okay, deploy the Crusader for battle. Position yourself facing away from the wreckage so you can gravity blast the fleet as soon as they jump. Deploy the frigates nearby for close-range support. Don't let them near the wreck," Haley ordered.

"Will do. Arargi, out." The vid-screen disappeared.

Haley-kun stood up from the chair and gazed at Akira for a second, debating whether or not he really needed the guy. Finally, while chewing his lip, he decided Akira wasn't all that important, and activated his own console. "Omoikane," he said, "open a video feed with the Amaryllis. I want to talk to its captain, immediately." The computer beeped once in confirmation, and Akira swiveled in his chair, sticking up his middle finger at Haley, an annoyed expression on his face. Enraged, Haley-kun stuck out his tongue and turned away.

"Yes, what is it?" Jun asked immediately as soon as the connection was made.

"Captain Ararigi detected a boson reaction in the area. There should be an Unknown task force descending upon us any second now," Haley-kun informed the captain, uploading the data. "I'm sending you the vector coords right now. Ararigi and the two frigates are going to position themselves facing away from the wreckage, so they can bring all their firepower to bear on that vector."

"Okay," Jun replied. "What are we going to do?"
"Protect the captain at all cost," Haley-kun said with forcefulness. "She's still in the wreckage. We'll deploy so that we're between her and them, got it?"

Jun grinned. "Of course."

"Akira's music was the reason why no one warned me about the danger?" Ruri asked.

"Well, basically, yeah," Ryoko said with anger in her voice. "And the next time I see that sucker I'm gonna pop him one in the face!" She slammed her fist into her open palm for emphasis.

"No, it's alright, Ryoko-san." Ruri looked down at her bed sheets. "It sounds like something that would've happened aboard the old Nadesico." She looked up with a faint smile. "Please continue, Ryoko-san."

Ryoko blinked in surprise. "Er, okay…"

"They're coming, you say?" Saburouta asked in surprise inside his Aestivalis.

Haley's head bobbed vigorously on the vid-screen. "Yeah, Saburouta-san, they are, any minute now. I'm sending you the vector coords right now."

Saburouta shrugged, twirling a lock of hair with his finger. "That's great and all, Haley, but what are we supposed to do? After all," he said, with a pointed look at Haley, "you're the one in charge."
"Omoikane predicts a ninety-seven percent chance that the Unknowns will release their mecha swarms at the wreckage. They know what valuable data it contains," Haley-kun explained. "The Amaryllis can't handle them all. You and the squadron will have to defend the wreckage too."

"What about the frigates and the Crusader?"

"They'll have to fend for themselves, unless you wish to split the Aestivalis' up. I doubt the Unknowns will go after them though."

Saburouta shook his head. "It's still unwise to leave them hanging dry like that, Haley. I'll split the squadron in half, send three pilots to watch over them."

Haley shrugged. "If you really want to, Saburouta-san."

Suddenly, another screen popped up and began flashing red and making beeping sounds. "Oh boy," Saburouta quipped, "looks like they're here."

Haley nodded, his face now grim and serious. "Protect the captain, Saburouta-san!" With that, his screen disappeared.

"Roger that," Saburouta murmured, as he pushed his Aestivalis to full throttle.

In the vastness of space, a single particular section near the wreckage began glowing with faint sparkles of light, before materializing into a small Unknown fleet of eleven vessels. Seven were relatively small ships, with three slightly larger vessels and one huge space-faring vessel that took position in the center.

Crusader and its two frigates were positioned in such a way that the fleet was centered right in their gunsights.

"Target acquired!" the weapons officer announced. The shipboard computer flashed an image in front of Ararigi, displaying the predicted path of the gravity blast. It ran right through the center of the formation.

"Open fire!" the captain bellowed.

Immediately, a powerful blast of yellow energy burst out of the Crusader's barrel, hurtling straight into the center of one of the medium-sized vessels. Smaller beams of explosive light flew by, shot out of the laser turrets aboard the frigates. Almost instantly, three Unknown escort ships vanished into wreaths of flame.

"Destruction confirmed for three enemy targets!"

"Gravity blast recharging…ready for firing!"

"Vector coordinates set; target acquired!"

Ararigi took a deep breath before he ordered again, "Fire!"

More Unknown vessels disappeared in fiery explosions.

"He seems to be handling himself pretty well," Saburouta observed, watching the battle in his Aestivalis cockpit.

"I don't think he needs us," Ryoko complained, arms crossed over her chest as she conversed with him via the vid-screen. "Honestly, he should leave some for us, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Saburouta muttered absent-mindedly, as he pondered the situation. Something isn't right, he thought. The Unknowns are predictable, but they aren't this dumb. I wonder what they've planned this time…?

"Oi! Have you been listening to a single word, you idiot?" Ryoko shouted, interrupting Saburouta's thoughts.

"What is it now, Ryoko?" he asked crossly.

"Enemies, smartass, enemies!" she nearly screamed at him.

"Huh?" Saburouta replied, confused. "I don't see any!"

"Look down at your radar!" she yelled, pointing down.

Saburouta saw a screen filled with red dots. "Oh shit," he muttered.

"Idiot!"

"Boson particles detected starboard! Enemy fleet inbound!" a bridge crewmember yelled out.

"Where?" Haley-kun asked, startled, sitting up in his chair.

The crewmember stood and pointed out through the observation windows. "Over there!"

And indeed, the place the bridge crewmember was pointing out was alive in a sparkling shower of scintillating lights, and as they died down, another Unknown fleet, this one even larger, appeared.

Haley-kun stared for a second before he was able to speak. "Turn the Nadesico around! Arm the gravity blast cannon!"

"Haley-kun sounds very capable in the command chair," Ruri observed quietly. "I never quite expected him to be cut out for captaincy of a warship."

"Is that so?" Ryoko asked, somewhat surprised. "I hope you didn't tell him that."

Ruri shook her head, blushing slightly. "I don't think I'm that blunt and straightforward, Ryoko-san."

Ryoko laughed. "I didn't mean it that way, Ruri, honest! Anyway," she said, continuing, "I'm almost to the good part…"

Saburouta, Izumi, and one of the other new Aestivalis pilots rocketed through space, headed on an interception course with the new fleet that had boson jumped in. Saburouta had sent Ryoko and the other pilots to cover Ararigi. Already, the new fleet had disgorged its swarms of mecha, and being only a short distance from both the Nadesico and the wreckage, posed a grave threat.

Rapidly approaching, Saburouta could see flashes of light arc through space as the laser batteries aboard the Amaryllis opened up, tearing apart the small mechs in fiery explosions and into clouds of molten metal.

With a flash of light, Saburouta's katana appeared in his left hand, and the instant after, he blazed straight through the swarm. Immediately, the sharp blade sliced straight through one mecha, cleaving it in two and spinning it wildly off into space, where it collided with another formation and exploded. Saburouta blazed on ahead, and rammed the sword straight through another mech, impaling it all the way up to the katana's hilt. With his free hand, he roughly shoved the Unknown craft off the blade and rocketed upwards, the mecha exploding behind him. Scissoring to the right, Saburouta inverted and narrowly dodged a stream of missiles as some of the silver mechs began targeting him, lopping off the heads of three more mechs as he evaded long trails of death.

Five flashes of light flew by, and more silver machines exploded as Saburouta's newbie pilot peppered the vicinity with deadly rail-gun slugs from her portable cannon. Three mechs exploded, and the swarm scattered. Some ran straight into Izumi's withering line of fire, and a score more fell under the blazing barrel of her assault rifle.

"Like moths to the candle, they are attracted to the light and fall away, scorched," she murmured, before bursting into a fit of giggles at her own cryptic joke. Saburouta merely ignored her.

With the first mech swarm stalled by the furious Aestivalis assault, Saburouta activated his afterburner and shot straight for the center of the Unknown fleet. The onboard computer flashed up, calculating angles and entry points from which Saburouta could hope to penetrate the distortion field. After a few seconds, a single red reticule placed itself over a particularly prominent projection on one of the medium-sized ships. Immediately, Saburouta brought the Aestivalis down in a dive straight towards the projection. Several hundred feet from the ship, space came alive as the katana rammed straight into the field, and sparks flew off, and the shield shifted as Saburouta fought to break through. Time seemed to slow down as the katana edge inched its way through the field…and then with a resounding crack, the field ruptured and Saburouta burst through.

His Aestivalis ran low right over the projection, and Saburouta ran his sword underneath him, slicing through the projection. Racing past, the Jovian rolled over onto his back and, looking behind him, pumped all thirty-six missiles from his missile pods into the ship. Arcing up and over the vessel Saburouta saw it explode spectacularly in a white fireball.

Suddenly, a vid-screen appeared, and Haley bellowed into Saburouta's ear, "Saburouta-san! Turn left, hard!"

Instinctively, Saburouta threw his weight to the port side, and the Aestivalis fairly tumbled through space, just as a massive beam of white light raced through where the Aestivalis once stood. Saburouta watched as the Nadesico's gravity blast hammered the enemy formation, exploding five vessels into space dust.

"Saburouta-san, are you okay?" Haley asked.

Saburouta wiped his forehead clear of sweat with a gloved hand. "That was close, Haley, but yeah, I'm good," Saburouta answered.

"That's good to hear, because Ryoko's in trouble."

"Sounds like it was a very exciting battle," Ruri observed quietly, combing her hair with a brush Ryoko had given her as she listened.

"Oh, you've only heard half of it so far," Ryoko said with a knowing grin. "It gets better. So, after the first wave of Unknowns Ararigi dealt with, another one shows up, except it's even bigger this time! There were at least thirty ships, and the swarms of mechs just wouldn't stop…"

Ryoko's armored fist crashed straight through the glinting silver head of one Unknown mecha, crumpling it into a twisted piece of modern art, which she then hurled at another incoming swarm. Several more explosions lit up space as her projectile ripped through the swarm's center. Despite her efforts though, for every mecha she downed, ten more rose to replace it. It seemed hopeless.

Hikaru's face appeared in front of her. "Ryoko, this looks bad," she said, chewing her lip. "There's too many of them!"
"Yeah, I can tell," Ryoko grunted as she twirled her Aestivalis into a wild evasive maneuver. A string of missiles exploded behind her. "We need those frigates! Where are those damn frigates?"

Suddenly, a much larger explosion filled the cockpit, and Ryoko gaped in surprise before she sputtered, "That better not be what I thought it was…"

Ararigi's face appeared next, heavyset and somber with loss. "That was the Cricket. All hands perished aboard. The Triton is also badly damaged; the captain may be abandoning ship—" A second explosion thundered in the distance, and Ararigi's face registered shock for a brief second. "And then there was one…" he murmured.

"How's the Crusader doing?" Ryoko asked. "Please tell me something good!"

"The situation could be better," Ararigi replied dryly, as Ryoko sought to both evade a fiery death and carry on a coherent conversation at the same time. "Crusader has suffered heavy damage to its distortion shield and we have moderate hull damage, but the gravity blast canon is still functioning properly. We need help or else we'll be forced to retreat. There's too many Unknowns."

"Gee, thanks for stating the obvious!" Ryoko spat back, shutting the screen off. She needed to concentrate on surviving first; then, she could bullshit with Ararigi later. A hailstorm of blinking missiles rained down on her, and Ryoko careened her Aestivalis through space, desperately avoiding them. Her hands came up and the assault rifle in her hands barked once, sending a stream of high-powered slugs into several of the missiles, detonating them and any others close by in an explosion powerful enough to rock the Aestivalis. Several silver mecha appeared behind her, giving chase; before they had chance to open fire, Ryoko accurately pumped several rounds into each, exploding all of them before they could disgorge their missiles.

Hikaru swooped in right behind Ryoko, coming to her rescue, and thirty-six red targeting reticules sighted themselves on Hikaru's screen before a confirmatory beep sounded. A second later, thirty-six high powered missiles swept past Ryoko, barely missing her, and detonated right in the middle of the swarm. Suddenly, the vector of space around them became very clear.

"Nice job, Hikaru," Ryoko praised with relief. Hikaru grinned and giggled once before signing off.

"And after that, things started getting really bad," Ryoko warned.

"What happened?"

"There's a ship coming out of the wreckage!" someone yelled on the bridge.

"Really? Where?" Haley-kun asked eagerly.

"Putting it on the display right now." A second later, a large vid-screen flashed on the bridge, with a single lone spacecraft flying a direct course to the Nadesico, but…

"That's not Ruri's shuttle," Haley said, confused. "What's a pink Aestivalis doing in the wreckage? And who's piloting it? Ruri's not trained to use of those," he muttered to himself.

"I'm detecting a boson reaction in the Unknown fleet!"

Ararigi's face popped up. "More mechs inbound. Sensors registered another boson reaction. I think reinforcements may be coming."

Ryoko nodded, grinning like a shark. "Let 'em come, I'll rip the poor bastards to shreds."

Suddenly, everything turned white.

Several ships in both Unknown fleets began glowing an eerie golden color, and had someone been close to or inside one of those ships, they would have heard the hum of enormous stores of high voltage energy being geared up. Almost at the same time, each ship released a beam of energy so focused as to make it appear almost invisible; it's only indicator was a brief flash of light at the point where it was shot, and the resultant explosion from what it hit.

The Unknown ships arced their beams across both the Crusader battle group (or what was left) and the Nadesico battle group.

Explosions sprouted over the entire breadth of the Crusader, and the nose of the ship immediately crumpled under the force of impact. Several parts of the hull were breached, and more explosions ripped through the ship as compartments explosively depressurized, tearing crewmembers to pieces. Two of the engine sputtered out and the gravity blast cannon barrel was twisted out of alignment. The distortion fields failed, leaving the Crusader a sitting duck for the fleet.

Nadesico fared a little better, her front distortion fields collapsing and her rear fields weakened considerably. One of the two hangar bays onboard completely collapsed, and a phase transition engine was knocked out; the hull was breached in one place but otherwise, the Nadesico was somewhat intact. The Amaryllis suffered the worst, being the smallest; nearly all of its gun batteries were knocked offline, its fields collapsed almost instantly, and the hull twisted out of alignment as explosions erupted across the entire length of the ship. Pieces of the Amaryllis blasted out into space as compartmental depressurization took its toll on the ship. All but one of the engines was blasted out of the frame of the ship itself, leaving the Amaryllis all but crippled and barely able to move.

"What the hell just happened!" Ryoko yelled. A single white flash had engulfed her, and suddenly her Aestivalis was spinning in space; it took her nearly a whole minute of barely restrained terror to stop her inertia. Looking around, what she saw didn't please her. Her Aestivalis was missing a right arm and several plates of armor had been virtually liquefied off her chest plate; one of her optical sensors was completely off-line, and worse, she was missing her assault rifle, though her katana was still attached securely to her back.

She tried activating the engines, but there was no response. "Damn!" she cursed angrily, slamming her fist on the console. The only things working were the inertial compensators, and those were useless for movement, much less combat.

She looked up and paled considerably. There were more mechs inbound.

Haley-kun picked himself off the floor, wiping dust off his uniform. Off in the distance, Akira was laughing maniacally, apparently amused at the situation. Scowling, Haley bellowed, "What the heck just happened?"

"An energy spike in the enemy fleet was detected! I think we were hit by something…we just don't know what. Damage is at moderate levels, but the ship is still battleworthy."

"The Aestivalis is under attack!" another voice yelled.

Haley-kun looked out the observation windows, and sure enough, the pink Aestivalis was being swarmed by several dozen silver mecha.

"Power the gravity blast cannon!"
"Hai!"

Red klaxons went off wildly and yellow warning lights began flashing as the onboard computer registered several hundred missiles inbound, aimed straight at her. Ryoko flinched as she saw the white streaks get closer and closer…

Is this the end? she thought miserably.

Suddenly, there was a jolt and she found herself hurtling through space, held securely in the metallic grasp of another Aestivalis.

"S…Saburouta-san?" she gasped.

There was a chuckle from Saburouta's visage on the vid-screen. "But of course, who'd you expect?"

"W…what are you doing here, baka? It's dangerous!"

"No…really?" the Jovian asked sarcastically. "I'm here to save you, again."

Ryoko reddened. "Shut up! I don't need anyone to save me!"

"Didn't look like it from where I was."

Ryoko glowered for a second before she grudgingly replied, "Thanks, I guess."

Saburouta grinned slyly and said, "Anything for the princess, ne?" before winking, laughing after Ryoko turned bright pink.

Using her good fist, Ryoko punched Saburouta's Aestivalis in the face. "Not funny," she retorted, still blushing.

"Anyway," Saburouta managed after recovering from the blow, "We've got to get you out of here. The Nadesico's leaving and they're recalling the squadron."

More explosions burst around there, buffeting the two mechs and interrupting Saburouta with brief bursts of static.

"Will we make it?"

There were several more explosions. "We'll sure as hell try."

"How very surprising," Ruri murmured quietly.

"Huh? Nani, Ruri?" Ryoko asked.

"It's unusual for Saburouta-san to act so…gallant," Ruri said after a moment.

Ryoko turned a bit red and glanced away. "Yeah, I know what you mean," she said, a little embarrassed.

The pink Aestivalis twirled through space, desperately evading the missiles. Several flew past and exploded harmlessly, but one managed to detonate straight into the back of the Aestivalis, sending it hurtling wildly through space before its pilot managed to regain control.

Suddenly a vid-screen popped up in front of Haley, revealing a lone man with spiky brown hair and a strange black mask covering most of his face. There were cuts all over his face, and Haley could see a patch of darker black on his chest; apparently, the man was bleeding there too. "Open the hangar bay doors," he commanded sternly, "I've got your captain in here too. We need covering fire."

Haley gulped and nodded quickly. "Is the gravity blast cannon ready yet?" he asked the bridge crew.

"Hai! Weapons systems report green! Ready to fire!"

Omoikane painted several dozen of the mechs with red targeting reticules, and beeped in confirmation. Haley nodded, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Hasha!"

The Aestivalis pilot weaved through space, dodging several more missiles. Explosions rocked him back and forth and he desperately scissor-tailed downwards before bringing his Aestivalis in a steep upward climb, finally spiraling to the right in an effort to evade the long fingers of death that reached out to him. A missile exploded nearby, and the force of the blast hurled him to the left, right when the Nadesico opened fire with it gravity blast canon.

The energy beam lanced through space, and dozens of silver mecha disappeared within it, completely vaporized. Only luck helped the pilot evade the blast that he had almost nearly run into; a single explosion rocked the Aesti, and the pilot grunted in pain as he took several pieces of shrapnel, using his body as a shield to protect the unconscious Ruri that lay beside him. The gravity blast sheared off the left arm of the Aestivalis, but the pathway was momentarily clear. Drifting in and out of consciousness, the pilot reached the Nadesico and landed in a heap right before Saburouta, Ryoko and the rest of the squadron arrived.

The Aestivalis cockpit opened, and the pilot dropped down gracefully despite his wounds, carrying a deathly pale Ruri in his arms. Immediately, pandemonium broke out as soon as the maintenance crew saw their stricken captain, and she was practically hurled through the hallways at breakneck speed to the medical center.

His work complete, and in relative safety, Tenkawa Akito, missing for an entire year, collapsed to the ground.

"Amaryllis and Crusader report they're withdrawing now! All Aestivalis' have been recovered!"

"Good, charge the canon again, we'll give covering fire while we get the heck out of here!" Haley ordered.

Ryoko sprang into the bridge, concern, shock and worry all over her face. "Ruri's in the medical ward, as is Saburouta-san," she reported breathlessly. "Both are in pretty bad condition, Haley-kun."

Haley-kun's eyes watered for a brief second before he clenched his fists and regained his composure. Gotta worry about the ship right now. No use crying over the Kanchou or that useless Saburouta-san if we're all dead…

Ryoko watched as Haley-kun organized the withdrawal, barking orders and commanding the ship like an experienced admiral. Within her head, her thoughts churned as her mind went over again and again what she had seen. The figure collapsed on the hangar deck when she had landed, with a gurney rushing toward him. The face was familiar, though hidden by that hideous black mask…the hair she knew all too well. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Where the hell had he come from? Her thoughts turned away from him, too confused and befuddled to fully grasp the situation. Instead, she focused on Saburouta. He had taken a beating dragging her back to base, using his Aesti as a veritable shield against the incessant missile barrages. I hope that fool is okay, she thought with a touch of affection.

While the Nadesico lay down a withering cover fire of gravity blasts, her crippled brethren, Crusader and Amaryllis, limped in retreat back toward UEC lines. Interestingly enough, after about two hundred kilometers, the Unknowns broke off pursuit and returned back to the wreck, swarming and completely destroying it in a matter of seconds before vanishing in a cloud of boson particles.

Relieved that the enemy had apparently abandoned the pursuit of the Nadesico, the weary crewmembers began the long and lonely journey back home.

"And now here we are, back on Mars," Ryoko finished after close to a half-hour of story-telling. "Things were looking pretty hairy for you and Tenkawa, but they managed to get both of you under control. You were looking pretty bad yourself," she said, ruffling Ruri's newly brushed hair, "that poison you took was pretty nasty."

"Yes, it was," Ruri replied "It was a very strange feeling…like time was slowing down to the point where it just…stopped."

"…er, right," Ryoko said slowly. "Um…so, are you okay, Ruri?" she asked, a tone of hopefulness in her voice.

"Yes, I feel quite alright."

"Then…you don't mind if…," she blushed a little, "…I go visit…him, do you?"

Ryoko could've sworn she saw a look of slyness flit across Ruri's face for a fraction of a second. "And who might 'him,' be, Ryoko-san?"
"Etto…," she turned scarlet this time, "you know…just to see if Saburouta-san's okay…"

This time Ruri's face was infuriatingly blank. "You don't happen to have… feelings for Saburouta-san, do you, Ryoko-san?"

Ryoko fairly flew from her chair. "Of course not, Ruri!" she laughed uneasily. "Where did you get that idea from?"

"Oh? That's not what you told me last night in bed, Ryoko. You sang me words of love, in fact," a male voice said jovially. Ryoko spun around, and saw in the open doorway a certain particular Jovian lieutenant, wrapped in bandages and his left arm in a sling, grinning jauntily while leaning against the doorsill. Next to him, Haley-kun peered around the corner.

This time, Ryoko felt steam rising from her head as she blushed brighter than the sun. "Saburouta-san!" she said shrilly, "why the hell are you out of bed! You shouldn't even be here!"

Saburouta wagged a finger at her. "Tsk tsk tsk," he admonished, "you shouldn't change the subject like that!"

Ryoko stomped over to Saburouta and grabbed him by the ear. "And you're going straight back to bed," she huffed, dragging him along. "You might hurt yourself again, you fool."

"Hey!" the Jovian wailed in protest. "That hurts!"

"Should I sock you in the stomach and drag you back to your bed?"

"Just lead the way ma'am," Saburouta responded meekly.

Ryoko poked her head around the doorway. "I'll take this idiot back to bed, Ruri," she called out. "Get better soon!" Then, she disappeared, muttering "baka" to herself as she marched Saburouta down the halls.

Ruri shook her head, before noticing Haley-kun had quietly entered the room. She smiled, as he watched her timidly from afar. "Konichiwa, Haley-kun."

As Ruri watched, somewhat befuddled, Haley-kun's lower lip started trembling, and his eyes started to tear up. Startled, Ruri asked, "Haley-kun, what's wrong?"

At this, Haley gave out a heart-breaking sob, and threw himself at his captain, hugging her so tightly it almost hurt for Ruri to breath. Sobbing pitifully, he buried his head into Ruri's bedsheets, and began crying.

Ruri gaped for a moment in shocked silence, watching Haley cry a veritable wave of tears into her now soaked bedsheets. "…Haley-kun, what happened?" she asked in alarm.

"Kanchou! I was so worried!" Haley wailed morosely. "You looked like you were going to die…I didn't know what I was going to do with myself!"

Ruri blinked rapidly several times, confused by Haley's odd behavior. "Why are you crying?" she asked softly.

Haley-kun squeezed her even tighter, managing to say, "I'm so happy to see you're alive, kanchou," between sobs.

Ruri just sat in stunned silence for a few minutes as her mind raced through the events that had just occurred. Finally, she gave an affectionate smile and reached out, cupping either side of Haley-kun's face with her ghost-like hands. It was Haley-kun's turn to be surprised now as Ruri lifted his face up and peered closely into his eyes, a radiant smile hovering on her lips. They stayed that way for some period of time, and then, slowly, Ruri cradled Haley-kun's head to her chest, stroking his hair with her petite, pale hand. Haley gave a small whimper and sniffled a little bit.

"It's okay, Haley-kun," Ruri said soothingly, "I'm fine now."

"Honestly, Saburouta, you need to take better care of yourself," Ryoko scolded as she tucked Saburouta in bed. Saburouta observed her with mild interest.

"It's very unlike you, you know, to look after people like this," he commented.

Ryoko blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she retorted. "I like to think I'm a very caring person, you know." She finished tucking in the last fold to the bed, and stepped back to admire her handiwork. "There," she announced proudly, "was that not a good job or what?"

"Sure," the Jovian responded sarcastically, "I feel like a mummy wrapped in layer after layer of hospital bedsheets. It hurts to breath and I can't move."

"It's for your own good," Ryoko snapped. "I don't know want you getting out of bed again."

"At least keep me company then," Saburouta pleaded, "there's no one else in this ward, and it gets oh so lonely," he concluded dramatically, rolling his eyes heavenward in his plea for aid.

Ryoko eyed him warily before sitting down next to him. "Fine, I guess I can stay for a bit."

There was a few minutes of awkward silence.

"So…do you need anything?" Ryoko asked timidly.

"Yes," Saburouta said, his face suddenly serious as he looked deeply into Ryoko's eyes.

"Ano…what…what is it?" Ryoko stuttered, slightly unnerved by his penetrating gaze.

"I need…you." Saburouta's voice conveyed urgency and determination as he tried to capture Ryoko with his gaze.

"What?!" Ryoko managed to wheeze out, as she felt her face turn hot. What is he trying to say? Could he be…? she wondered, with a bit of excitement and a whole lot of dread.

"I need you to get me some food from the cafeteria," Saburouta pleaded, as his stomach growled loudly in the air. "I'm really hungry right now." His face lit up as he thought of something. "You can even hand feed me if you want!" he suggested proudly, grinning from ear to ear.

Ryoko stared at him, her jaw hitting the floor. A single sweatdrop appeared next to her head, and slowly grew longer before bursting into miniscule droplets.

"What?" Saburouta asked innocently.

At that instant, the hospital wing Saburouta's ward was located in was perfectly peaceful, and everything was in order. The next instant, a loud raging scream of the epitome of anger crashed through the halls, followed closely by the wail of ultimate despair. The hospital ward disappeared into a raging inferno of a fireball as Ryoko let loose her entire wrath on an already injured and thoroughly terrified Saburouta.

Haley-kun started upon Saburouta's screams for help and mercy, instinctively tightening his grip around Ruri as he tried to look around in bewilderment, hampered by Ruri's cradling arms. Ruri gave a small gasp of pain and winced.

"Ano…Haley-kun…you're making it hard to breath," she said in a pained voice.

Haley-kun looked up, and saw Ruri turning slightly blue and hastily disentangled himself from Ruri, sitting back on the bed. He rubbed the back of his head uneasily and gave a small laugh. "Oops. Heh, sorry kanchou."

Ruri gave him another radiant smile, and Haley-kun blushed and looked down at the tile floor.

Ruri gazed out the windows that ran parallel to her room, where the blooming meadows of green lay beyond. I hope I get out of this hospital soon, she thought.

I want to see him.

Author's Notes: Whew! Another long chapter finished! This one took a lot longer to write than the others, but I've been awfully busy with midterms and stuff, and now I have an instrumental competition coming up, so life isn't getting easier. I hope you guys like this chapter! I did something new, using a flashback as my medium of choice. Hopefully the italics don't get on your nerves too much, heh heh heh. I like this experimentation with different styles that I've been doing lately, though I don't know if the writing itself has been that great. Again, please review for me and tell me what to keep and what to burn.

Well! I added more Ryoko…heck, Ryoko's telling the whole story! I imagined a Ryoko narrator's voice while I was writing this…couldn't help but laugh at the thought. I think Ryoko/Saburouta makes a good combination, and I'm stressing that fact, but Saburouta is just….I dunno, so oblivious that it might take a while for those two to realize what's going on.

You guys mentioned stuff about Yurika. Don't worry, she'll make an entrance next chapter…just not the way you expected. She doesn't play all that big a role appearance wise, but I think she'll be felt later on throughout the piece.

I'm using my author's profile to keep people up to date on when I'm going to add new chapters, how far I am, and so on, and what I plan next for the stories, so if you're ever curious, just go there, 'kay?

Which reminds me, I got a great review from someone recently…er…who was it…Sparrowhawk1! Sorry, I didn't Anglican and Anglo-Saxon were two different things, I'll keep that in mind if the Panthers captain shows up again…if being the key word here, though ^_^. Maybe he'll reappear just so I can correct the mistake.

And I'm glad someone finally caught on to the boring stereotypical alien monsters! Thank you, Sparrowhawk! Thank you for grilling me on that! I was wondering if anyone would notice the clichéd description…c'mon, you've gotta admit, that is SO Nadesico though. Even in the series, the first Lizards we saw were those insect critter things, and those are typical bad-guy aliens too. So don't worry those aren't the Unknowns…but I'm glad SOMEONE got the joke...geez…^_^

Anyways, thanks for reading if you've gotten this far, and please review! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I need reviews! Arigato gozaimashda!

I swear that if I got a lot of reviews, I'll write a Ruri birthday chapter or something….hint hint hint (bribery bribery) ^_^