"Previously, Victor Nakasone topped the list for most hated crew member. Everyone who knows anything about Martian Successor Nadesico knows that Nergal is not to be trusted, and the Nergal crewmember stationed on the Samayahita is a prime example. Maybe I'm being too judgmental, but shouldn't an employee working for the military have a little more restraint than he does?"
Lieutenant Hitoshi Tsumiyagi, Science Officer of the Samayahita
A Destiny Star
Chapter 5: The Beauty of the Newly Risen Star
"Another battleship is coming through the Chulip!" Hitoshi shouted over the commotion on the bridge. "That'll bring the total count of unmanned Jovian battleships up to seven."
"How long until the gravity blast cannon can fire again?" Kato asked as calmly as possible.
"Only 30 seconds," Hitoshi replied. "Can we try to get into a better position? The seven ships have formed a nice little shield that's going to block our gravity blast cannon."
"That'll be a piece of cake," Hana called out. She cracked her knuckles and began pressing buttons. The ship turned away from the Jovian battleship wall and began accelerating.
"The gravity blast cannon is all ready to fire," Hitoshi said. "Just face the ship at the Chulip and we're good to go."
The ship did begin to turn, but the Jovians were not very happy about it. They began to hit the Samayahita with everything they had. Fortunately, everything bounced off of the Samayahita's distortion field. The Chulip was at 12 o-clock center, and the UEAF ship fired its gravity blast cannon. The Chulip collapsed and exploded, leaving only the seven battleships to fight the Samayahita.
"Fire a few missiles, and keep the graviton wave cannons firing!" Kato commanded. "What's the status of our Aestivalis pilots?"
"Pilots Shin Hiradeki, Neji Kaminayo, Nicole Viray, Saito Hajime, and Eri Osato are occupied by the grasshoppers and cannot go after the battleships," Sosuke explained.
"Can we go any faster?" Victor asked impatiently. "We're supposed to be at the orbital rendezvous in an hour!"
Four weeks have passed since the Samayahita was assigned to North American Chulip cleanup duty. In that time, they managed to destroy exactly 18 Chulips with only moderate difficulty. It is now time to commence the Third Battle of the Moon, but the Samayahita cannot leave until it finishes off the remaining Jovians that had jumped through this Chulip.
"We're doing our best, and I'll ask you to please remain quiet," Dan said in reply to Victor's comment. "The fleet probably won't be fully assembled for another three hours anyway. At any rate, the United Earth Forces have waited over one month for this operation, I'm sure they can wait another hour or two for us." Dan turned back to the window at the front of the bridge, and Victor silently cursed him.
"One of the Jovian ship's distortion field is collapsing," Hitoshi announced. "I am focusing all graviton cannons on it for now in order to finish it off." The six cannons fired simultaneously and pummeled the Jovian battleship nearest to the center of the crew's point of view. The distortion field shimmered, then vanished altogether. Beams tore through the hull of the enemy ship, completely devastating the Jovian vessel. It exploded, and the shock wave forced the two nearest battleships off to the side.
Kato turned to the captain. "Maybe Victor is right for a change," he said discretely. "We could easily make it into space if we ran away now, and if the Jovians followed us, I guarantee they wouldn't make it any farther than the Third Defensive Line."
The captain contemplated this. He turned to the admiral and ran the idea past him. "Admiral, if we left now, what would we have to gain or lose?"
The admiral took out a small nano board and opened up a window in front of him. "Currently, 67 of the total number of ships have assembled. At the rate ships are arriving in orbit, I can estimate that it will be about 1 hour and 17 minutes before the fleet will begin the journey to the moon."
"We're going to recall the Aestivalis," Dan announced. "It's going to take us time to get through the barrier, and our ship is supposed to spearhead the operation. It's in our best interest to leave now."
"About the Aestivalis…" Sosuke began. Everyone simultaneously looked up at the battle scene. The yellow Aestivalis, piloted by Eri Osato, exploded in a brilliant flash. The assault pit flew out of the explosion safely, and the activation of a homing beacon confirmed that Eri had indeed survived.
"Oh, well damn," Kato said quickly. "Have someone retrieve the assault pit and get everyone back on board safely." Victor chuckled and began walking towards the doors. Kato's eyes followed him. "Mind telling me what's so funny?"
Victor stopped and turned to him. "I'm sorry, it's not really that funny," he said calmly. "It's just that a million-dollar piece of machinery was just destroyed out there and no one seems to care about it."
"We have more important things to worry about right now," Dan said without turning away from the battle scene in front of him.
"Just keep in mind that it's the taxpayers that are the ones who will have to replace your mecha, and they don't really care for that situation," Victor replied seriously.
"Captain," Hitoshi began, "if I can draw your attention away from less important things, I have our trajectory set. Just give the word and we'll be en route to the rendezvous." Victor shot him a dirty look but said nothing.
"Then the word is given, Hitoshi," Dan replied. "Set course for the orbital rendezvous!"
"Ma'am, if you please," Hitoshi said as he opened a window. "Here are the coordinates." The window slid over and stopped in front of Hana, who began to enter them into her console.
"You really don't have to be so formal with us," Hana said to him. "Technically, you outrank me, so calling me "ma'am" is unnecessary."
Hitoshi smiled. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I guess it's just my upbringing."
"Besides," Sosuke added, "we're all friends here. It's not like we're going to court martial you for not addressing us formally."
Jim nodded. I can think of someone who would probably court martial me if I didn't address him in the proper way. Fortunately, he's a civilian and holds no rank whatsoever.
The battleship lurched upwards as the phase transition engines kicked on. "All of the Aestivalis have returned. Eri's assault pit has been retrieved by Shin and has been placed in the hangar safely," Sosuke reported.
"That's good news. I'll be in my quarters for now. Please inform me when we reach the rendezvous point," Dan requested. "Until then, Hitoshi has command of the bridge." He bowed slightly and walked out the door. Victor followed him out, babbling on about the loss of the Aestivalis.
"We are now currently entering the stratosphere," Hitoshi announced. "We are also now beyond the range of the Jovians' graviton cannons. Everyone may take their break now, but please be back in twenty minutes." Most of the bridge crew did leave, but Sosuke and Hana remained with Hitoshi. They looked at him expectantly. "Can I help you two?" he asked.
"Haven't you heard?" Hana asked
"Didn't they tell you?" Sosuke asked.
Hitoshi turned his head back and forth, looking at them each in turn. "What are you talking about?"
"He really doesn't know," Hana said, turning back to her console.
"I would have bet they would have told him first," Sosuke sighed, putting his arms behind his head and reclining into his seat.
"What is it?" Hitoshi asked loudly.
"They're getting someone to run the other shift for you," Hana blurted out. She immediately covered her mouth to prevent herself from saying anything else. Hitoshi recoiled slightly in his seat.
"They're getting someone to help me?" he asked calmly. Neither of them had the will to respond at this point. "They're getting someone to replace me?" he asked with equal calmness.
"They're just getting someone to run the early morning shift," Sosuke informed him. "Apparently they don't think it's healthy for you to be up all hours of the night. How do you do that, anyway?"
"That's not the point right now," Hitoshi said, rolling his eyes. "The point is that I don't want or need help. You don't want to know what I had to go through in order to have the ability to run this ship. I'm just fortunate that I was very young; I don't remember most of it. What I do remember, though, is that it was very painful, both physically and mentally. If they bring in someone else to assist me, it's almost as if none of that was worth going through. My talents have become meaningless."
"What the hell are you going on about?" Sosuke asked in a less than sympathetic tone. "It's not like they're going to replace you. They're just getting someone to do your job while you're off duty."
Hitoshi frowned and turned away from him. "But still, it's the principle of the matter."
"She'll be joining us when we rendezvous with the Cosmos," Hana informed them. "She's already waiting in a Zero-G Aestivalis they're sending over for us."
"Oh great, it's a she?" Hitoshi groaned. "If it wasn't bad enough, I have to work with a woman." Hana cleared her throat. "Oh, I didn't mean you, ma'am. I've already grown comfortable with you, but women make me very nervous. I don't really know how to act around them."
"You must have been a fun teenager," Hana teased.
"No, I was too busy being educated on the inner workings these new and high tech battleships," Hitoshi replied. Hana sighed and turned back to her console. "Forty minutes until orbital rendezvous," he said calmly. The brief glimpse into Hitoshi's psyche was over for now.
"You really don't have to call me "ma'am"" Hana reminded him. Hitoshi remained silent, which annoyed her. "Sosuke, let's get something to eat." The couple rose and walked away from their posts, leaving Hitoshi alone once again.
"If it really is her…"
Meanwhile, Dan was walking down the hall trying to ignore Victor. "Captain, if you would please look at these figures I've drawn up, you'll see why I'm so upset! We've used up nearly twice as many missiles as we were supposed to in the last three battles. We have lost one Aestivalis, which is a drop in the bucket compared to how much it's going to cost to refit the gravity blast cannon's safety mechanism after that particularly violent battle last week. And besides all of this, the new crewmember we are taking on at the rendezvous point is another person to draw from the salary pool, not to mention another mouth to feed. When you take all of this into account…"
The captain stopped in his tracks, causing Victor to crash into him. "As the captain, I am well aware of our current financial status, so if you would, please do shut up!" Dan began to walk again, leaving Victor slightly stunned. Once he hopped back into reality, though, he quickly bounded after Daniel once again.
"Captain, you really shouldn't be so calm about this! The Earth is losing this war, and only we can turn the tide now! If we go belly up because of money, how do you think that would look to the expectant citizens of Earth who are relying on us to save them?" Dan stopped again and turned to face Victor.
"Mister Nakasone, I am the captain and I gave you an order!" Victor stopped rambling and looked at the man in front of him. "Now, please leave me alone! I have a few things I wish to take care of before we reach orbit, and you are making it very difficult for me to do so." Dan turned and began walking, and Victor began following him again.
"I am not a member of the UEAF, I am an employee of Nergal Heavy Industries. Because of this, I am a civilian and am not bound by your orders. Now, if you would just give me a moment of your time…"
"My ship, my rules," Dan said through clenched teeth. This time Victor stopped and watched as the captain walked away towards the lifts.
"What a bothersome man," Victor sighed. "I hope he's not going to make it too difficult."
"Make what too difficult?"
Victor cried out and turned around. A comm window hovered inches from his nose, causing him to stumble back. "Hitoshi Tsumiyagi, what a pleasant surprise," Victor said sarcastically.
"Please come to the bridge. I have something I wish to discuss with you."
Victor laughed obnoxiously. "You can't make me do your bidding! You don't have any more jurisdiction over me than a schoolteacher! Now leave me alone, you pissant, I've got work to do!"
Hitoshi's eye twitched. "You listen to me you pompous ass!" Victor was taken aback by his remark. "You get up here right now or I will see to it personally that you never find another job again!" Victor was taken aback, but kept his air of composure about him.
"I might be up later, if I have the time," he replied arrogantly. He turned and was about to walk away from the window. Before he got very far, though, twenty more windows opened up in front of him showing Hitoshi's less than amused face glaring at him.
"NOW!" he shouted from all twenty windows. Victor rolled his eyes and turned back towards the bridge.
The Nergal ND-002 Cosmos was in orbit above the blue planet Earth. At present, it was the point of a massive wedge of ships that were lining up for the strike on the Sea of Tranquility. In the hangar of the Cosmos, a young woman was sitting inside the cockpit of an Aestivalis Zero-G frame waiting for the order for her to launch.
"Are the monitors working?" a technician asked as he poked his head into the cockpit. The woman in the pilot suit gave him the thumbs up and closed the visor on her helmet. The technician announced, "Okay, we're going to clear the hangar now! If you don't have a vacuum suit on, get your ass out of here!" Men began to scramble out of the hangar to avoid being expelled into the vacuum of space. Finally, the hangar was deserted, save the orange Aestivalis that was prepped for launch.
"Okay, you're all set," a voice said over a radio frequency. "If you choose to approach them before they're in the formation with us, make sure you keep an eye on your battery, and watch your altitude. You go too far, and you're going to go for an unscheduled trip to Earth."
"I know how to handle an Aestivalis," she replied. "I'm not as bad as you may think."
"Yes, I know you're more than just a science officer, but because being a pilot is not your main occupation, it's important that you're careful." The pilot just flipped off her radio and placed her hand on the IFS controller. The hangar door of the Cosmos opened slowly, and the Aestivalis was hurled into space on the catapult.
She said to herself, "The Samayahita: It's a legged ship about the same size as the Nadesico. It has two clear hangars in the front on either side. There are two small wings added for show that each contain two graviton cannons."
The radio kicked back on, startling her out of her concentration. "Don't you turn the radio off!" the voice on the other end scolded. "What are you, some kind of fool?" She reached down to switch it off again, but stopped short. "Anyway, the only thing you need to know is the fact that it's going to be coming from the general direction of North America. Since it's the only legged ship coming from that area, it shouldn't be hard to spot."
"The High Mobile Battleship Nadesico, complete with its compliment of 214 crew members, vanished into oblivion just over six months ago on Mars. Based on past boson jumping experiments, it's more than likely that the Nadesico and all of her crew were destroyed after entering the Chulip. If the Nadesico was not, in fact, destroyed, it may reappear somewhere intact, but with all of its crew dead on arrival."
Hitoshi finished talking into his digital recorder and turned it off. In his spare time, he had been researching the Nadesico and its crewmembers thoroughly. Before the Samayahita had lifted off, he had plenty of time to begin his study of the first Nadesico-class vessel, and now he's been using Unmeihoshi to hack into the Nergal mainframe and add to his collection of data. He closed the windows around him and sat quietly in wait for Victor.
"Okay, what do you want?" Victor called from the top tier of the bridge. Hitoshi hadn't even heard the door open, and he had hoped the Nergal employee had not seen him hacking into the corporation's mainframe.
"Who is coming to the Samayahita?" he asked while rising from his seat. Victor eyed him up as he climbed the stairs and joined him on the top tier.
"New girl," Victor replied indifferently. Hitoshi began to walk in circles around Victor.
"And this "new girl" who is going to run my opposite shift, what's her name?"
"Classified."
"And her ID number?"
"Classified."
"What about her date of birth?"
"Classified."
Hitoshi stopped walking while still behind Victor's back. "Good Lord, is there anything about her that isn't classified? We're going to meet her in less than a half an hour!"
Victor smiled. "I know. I just reeeeeeally like pissing you off." As Victor walked away, Hitoshi wondered if he could get away with punching him in the back of the head. He was about to let his rage get the better of him when something rocked the entire ship.
"What the hell was that?"
Kadin and the Aestivalis pilot Shin Hiradeki were in the observation room fencing when the blast knocked them both to the floor. "Well," Kadin explained, "if I know anything about destructive forces, I'd say that we were just hit with a gravity blast." Shin shrugged and ran out the door towards the hangars. "Of course, I could just be making that up in order to get rid of you and steal your lunch." Kadin sat down and began unpacking Shin's brownbag lunch, picking the things he wanted and leaving the rest.
"How bad is it?" Dan asked as he took his position directly above Hitoshi.
"Well, it's not grand, that's for sure," he replied. "It would have been a lot worse if we hadn't had our distortion field on automatic, but explosion caused the ship to rock violently. Reports of superficial damage are flooding in. Something is very wrong with our stabilizers, or this would never have happened."
Dan turned his head. "One crisis at a time, please. What is it that hit us?"
A large comm window opened in front of the bridge crew. "At first, Unmeihoshi registered it as a gravity blast, but now it seems we were wrong. We're being fired upon by the UEAF. It's not battleships, mind you, but it's the Fourth Defensive Line itself. Dozens of missiles are flying directly towards us."
"Are you serious?" Kato exclaimed. "What in God's name are those fools doing down there?"
Sosuke raised his hand slowly. "Captain, we're receiving a transmission from the United Nations…?" he said uncertainly.
"Well, please patch them through." Dan took off his hat and scratched the back of his head. A large window opened up in front of the bridge showing the face of an admiral.
"My name is Admiral Kouichiro Misumaru of the United Earth Attack Force. We want you to return to the Earth."
Dan spoke up. "Admiral, we have a mission we need to fulfil! If we aren't there, the Third Battle…"
"I'm well aware of your mission," Misumaru interrupted. "The cause for our actions are confidential, so we cannot elaborate on our reasons. Just know that it is of vital importance that you return immediately." Dan was silent. What could he possibly say to the Admiral Misumaru?
"We're not going to do it." Everyone gasped and looked down at Hitoshi, the one who had made such a bold proclamation. Admiral Misumaru's jaw dropped.
"And why not?" he demanded.
"If we turn back now, the chances that the Third Battle of the Moon will end in success will drop by 20. Since the odds are already against us, it would be foolish to make it even worse." Admiral Misumaru knew this was true, but…
"We can't allow you to go any further. The Third and Second Defensive Lines will be focused on you, and the Big Barrier will not be lowered." The Admiral stopped speaking momentarily. "However, if you manage to break through these Defensive Lines, we will not prevent you from continuing your mission." The edges of his mouth curled into a light smile, and with that the window closed.
"Well, I'm glad he understands our position," Dan sighed, relieved. "Do not deviate from our present course. We're going to the orbital rendezvous. Sosuke, get our pilots to their mecha. The Delphiniums from the Third Line will be launching shortly, and we don't want to be caught with our pants down."
Admiral Minamako stepped forward and stood next to Dan. "Hitoshi." The science officer turned around and looked up at his superior. "To whom does the blue Earth belong?" Hitoshi nodded his head and turned back to his work. To everyone else, the exchange made no sense, but to the Admiral and Hitoshi, it was a very important part of their escape.
"Nine Delphiniums are launching from a station one hundred kilometers away at two o'clock," Sosuke announced.
Dan slammed his hand down on the console in front of him. "Launch Aestivalis and Delphinium units! Engage, but do not, I repeat, DO NOT kill anyone! Just hold them off for awhile until we get out of this awful situation."
"The Big Barrier is down," Hitoshi said nonchalantly.
A collective WHAT? echoed throughout the bridge. "This changes everything," Dan exclaimed. "Cancel orders to launch our mecha. We're just going to run like mad."
"What an undignified way of putting it…" Sosuke sighed as he relayed the new orders to the hangar.
Hana looked at Hitoshi. "You've been using Unmeihoshi to hack a lot of things lately," she whispered. "Are you okay with doing that?"
Hitoshi looked straight ahead. "Unmeihoshi is the one who has been giving me suggestions. I would have…" he turned around to make sure Victor wasn't within earshot "…I would have never thought of hacking the Nergal database for information on the Nadesico."
"Well," Sosuke said slyly, "if you're okay with all of this, why don't you find out why they wanted to shoot us down?"
"They think there's a spy on board." Sosuke and Hana recoiled when they heard this revelation.
"What makes them think that?" Hana asked quietly.
Hitoshi sighed. "That's all of the information I could find before I reached a point that Unmeihoshi could not bypass. The security program was too much and Unmeihoshi and I had to retreat." He took his left hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe it won't be so bad to have someone work opposite me. I'm exhausted."
"Captain, we're nearly to the rendezvous point, and the UEAF forces are breaking off. Since we have not been perused further, I would assume they're going to let us get away with this," Sosuke announced.
Kato pointed directly ahead of the bridge. "That ship at the head of the fleet is the Cosmos. It looks like they're ready to go now."
Sosuke raised his hand. "I'm getting a transmission from an Aestivalis about two nautical miles away at two o'clock. The pilot is requesting boarding rights."
Victor, who once again seemed to appear out of nowhere, hopped up. "That will be our new science officer! I think I'll go down to greet her in person!" He strolled happily towards the door, whispering a prayer that perhaps someone on this ship would be loyal to Nergal for a change.
"Captain…?" Hitoshi said quietly, turning around. "May I…?"
Dan shook his head negatively. "We need you here right now. I can't see how I could…" He stopped as he saw the pleading eyes of Hana and the indifferent yet convincing eyes of Sosuke. "Be back in ten minutes." Hitoshi suppressed a smile and quickly climbed over Sosuke. Before anyone knew it, he was out the door and on his way to the hangar.
Victor was about 30 yards ahead of him in the corridor. He abruptly stopped and turned around when he heard Hitoshi running after him. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked loudly. "We're about to go into battle and you're leaving your post? You can bet I won't sit still for this! I'll have you court-martialed! Just you wait, your ass will be mine, Tsumiyagi!" Hitoshi ignored him and ran past the shouting Nergal employee. "Damn it," he cursed as he began chasing after the science officer.
"Welcome to the Samayahita," one of the mechanics in the hangar said as he helped the pilot of the Zero-G Aestivalis out of the cockpit. "I hope you enjoy your stay here. I'm sure someone will be down to meet you shortly, so…"
"Is it?" someone shouted from the entrance to the hangar.
"Lieutenant Tsumiyagi, what are you doing here?" the maintenance man asked. "Shouldn't you be…" He was cut off as the pilot of the Aestivalis shoved him out of the way and floated down towards Hitoshi.
"It is?" he asked hopefully. The pilot tore off the helmet from the pilot suit and threw it aside, revealing a beautiful young woman with long, dark brown hair and yellow eyes floating towards him.
"It's been a long time, Hitoshi-Chan" she said, floating into his open arms.
"Ten years and six weeks," he replied. "How have you been?" She let go of him and took her bag off of her shoulders.
"That will have to wait until another time. Right now we have a job to do, so we'll have to catch up with each other afterwards." She smiled and grabbed his arm, and the two of them floated from the hangar into the gravity zone. Just as they were about to get back into the main corridor, they ran right into Victor.
"Well, it is good to see you made it here safely. I hope this foolish one did not bother you too much." He narrowed his eyes at Hitoshi, but then noticed that the girl was holding on to his arm. He nervously cleared his throat and continued. "At any rate, your quarters will be next to those of Lieutenant Tsumiyagi, and I imagine he will show you where those are after the battle. For now," he looked directly at Hitoshi, "there are more pressing matters to attend to!" With that, he flounced away.
"Ignore him," Hitoshi said as they began their quick journey back to the bridge. "He works for Nergal, and he's a real jerk. No one on board likes him, and for the most part we only pretend we care what he says."
"I know the feeling," she replied. "The Cosmos was filled with Nergal employees. I didn't get along with any of them, and I am so glad I'm gone now." The pair arrived at the bridge of the battleship and the girl walked to the bottom level and stood before the entire bridge crew. "My name is Lieutenant Sasha Kirei, and I am going to be your new science officer opposite of Lieutenant Tsumiyagi. I hope we will get along well together, and I will try my hardest to be the best science officer I can be." She shifted her bag back onto her shoulders. "If you do not mind, I think I will stay on the bridge until the battle is over."
Dan smiled. "Of course not. Why don't you take a seat in the middle with Hitoshi and he'll show you what to do." Hitoshi fidgeted and let out an undetectable sigh. Sosuke stood up and let both science officers into the center section.
"This is just like old times," Sasha said as she sat down and got comfortable. Hitoshi caught Hana looking at him and smiling, and she quickly acted innocently and turned to the control panel.
"Captain," Hana said quickly, "The Cosmos is directly to our starboard side. As soon as they give the word, we are to begin advancing to the moon."
Sosuke smiled. "Speak of the devil." He raised his hand and gestured towards the front of the bridge. An instant later, a comm window with the words "VOICE ONLY" written across the front appeared for the entire crew to see.
"This is the ND-002 Cosmos. We are prepared to commence the attack. All ships please advance to the coordinates we are sending you right now." A comm window suddenly appeared in front of Hana, and she began to input the data. The window at the front of the bridge disappeared, and the crew suddenly felt the rumbling of the phase transition engines behind them. It would not be long until they reached their destination: the Sea of Tranquility and the Third Battle of the Moon.
TO BE CONTINUED…