A/N: This chapter is a long one and has a surprise. Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter Twenty-One: Last Hope
...severely damaged, debris littered the area as Meia looked onto the ruined mess. She gasped as her eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. The Nirvana drifted quietly, chucks of its cargo surrounded it, its wings were severed at they slowly drifted into space. Meia felt her emotions finally run its course through her mind, she no longer cared if it made her weak. She rather would be weak than be strong and alone.
"Hibiki! Come in! Hibiki Tokai! Answer me... Answer ME!" she screamed. All she heard was silence and a wisp of air that didn't seem to answer her. She lost everyone, she let her body limp forward onto the controls which she led her tears finally run through her eyes.
"I... can't believe it. We're the only survivors" sobbed Jura. They hovered close together, they couldn't do a thing as the enemy mother ship began to slowly move. It didn't look like no one on the Nirvana could survive such a blast.
Hibiki hovered motionless in the air, as well as Dita. The chamber was in ruins, the transparent walls were cracked and were in the verge of shattering. Debris and dust filled the domain, giving everything a misty fog look. Hibiki was covered in fresh blood, most of it coming from his head. His arms were covered with deep gashes as well as his lower abdomen. Dita was impaled from the stomach with a long metal beam, her burgundy hair was stained with rock and blood.
Hibiki was falling through darkness, his body felt numb as he tried to stop himself from falling but couldn't as his doubt of succeeding increased.
Where am I? What happened?
As he went deeper into the endless void, he felt himself drift into a mysterious slumber, he felt himself smirk
So... this is death. Not bad, I guess it's my time to go.
But suddenly, he stopped falling and was suspended in mid air. He no longer felt sleepy but alert. He heard footsteps, when they came closer he quickly identified who it was. Dita walked solemnly to him, her hands behind her back.
"We died, didn't we?" he asked, to his surprise, Dita shook her head.
"You did" she answered. Hibiki felt that one smack him the face, he was alone all along even with Dita by his side.
"Oh, but I didn't want to though. How are we talking anyway? If you're still alive and I'm dead?" he asked. Dita glanced over her shoulder and smiled.
"The pecksis, remember we can talk telepathically. Besides, we have a battle to finish." she said wrapping her arms around him.
"How can we? I doubt the pecksis can revive people." he said. Dita laughed.
"You'd be surprised, that's your problem. Doubt is always within you. That's the sole reason you loose fate and accept defeat. Believe you will survive and you will" she said. She eyed him and kissed him, this one was passionate as they both were now pros at it. She withdrew, licking her lips.
"I said I'd never leave you, and here I am. Come Hibiki, let's finish what we were destined to do..."
Hibiki awoke but quickly regretted it when he felt the agonizing pain reach his senses. He moaned in agony as his vision was a total blur, his head felt like it was being compacted in a tight space as it was swelling. He felt his warm blood cover his face, his arms ached from the cuts he had sustained. He managed to turn his head to see Dita panting softly as she held her hand around a metal pole.
"Are... you... alright?" he rasped. She gritted her teeth as she pulled the metal object from within her, she nodded hesitantly.
"Yeah, I... I think so. It didn't hit anything... serious." she whispered.
Hibiki tried to hover into a standing position but quickly stopped as he realized his human leg was broken and his other was crushed. Metal suppressors were sticking out of his flesh.
"How are you holding up over there?" she asked trying to attend to her wound. Hibiki flinched as he tried his best to see the extent of the damage. In the corner of his eye, a screen was blaring red letters.
Damage Calculation... 97.9 percent.
"We're not doing so well, I'm surprised the Nirvana didn't give way to all of that power. What happened?" he asked himself aloud.
Duero awoke to the sound of faint sirens, immediately he felt his mind rush with past events. The last thing that came up was a piercing white light, he sat up and quickly grabbed his left arm. As a doctor he knew his arm was broken, he tried to see through the darkness as the lights had all blown out. He bit his lip as he tried to sit back and placed his arm over the sides of his station. He had to keep his arm elevated.
"Any survivors?" he yelled into the darkness. At first there was a silence but he heard something moving.
"Commander? Ezra? Are you alright? Make some sort of movement to indicate your status." he said.
"I'm alright Duero, just a fractured collar bone here." called Ezra through the darkness. "But I'm afraid the commander had a much more serious problem."
"What is it? Can you describe her injury to me?" he asked. There was a slight pause.
"Oh no, please. Don't... ow. Let this happen... oh dear, please." she muttered. Duero felt something serious happen, but considering that in that state he was, there was absolutely nothing he could do.
"What's wrong? Is she seriously hurt?" he asked grasping his arm.
"She's not moving, she's... oh my god. Duero help! She's severed through her abdomen." she spoke frantically. Duero had been afraid of this, there was only one way to see if she was alive or not.
"Ezra, try to find a pulse. Tell me if you find one." he said.
There was a pause.
"I... can't. She's cold. Duero please tell me there's something we can do." she said. To his dismay he knew it was already too late. She was gone.
"Ezra, just come over to where I am. There's nothing you can do, she's dead. I'm sure she tried her best to survive this ordeal. I'm sure she's in heaven with the captain." he said. He heard Ezra emit small sobs but he knew she was coming closer. He tried to lift himself up but failed. With that, he felt Ezra's sorrowful stare hit him.
"See if you can get in touch with navigation. We have to see if they survived it." he said. "By the way, what happened to the babies?"
"I placed them in the emergency safe house chamber. Parfait's in there too. Hopefully they are alright."
Outside, the enemy ship had already moved away from the wreckage and was heading off to another galaxy.
"Dita, we got to regain ourselves along with the pecksis." said Hibiki. Dita couldn't move, but managed to extend her hand to him.
"If we're together, we can do it, right?" she whispered.
"Yeah, to protect our future and the future of the next generation. Evil is nothing to good, as long as we believe in it. I no longer have doubts but confidence. I think I know now that's what drives people to do things that normally aren't possible. They have confidence..."
With the last few syllables he grabbed Dita's hand.
Meia sobbed over her controls, not letting anything stay inside her. It wasn't until she noticed light over her eyelids. She opened them to find that the Nirvana glowed a brilliant glow. She gasped along with Jura.
"What's going on? What's making that light?" asked Jura she strayed away from it. Meia stared into the glow, beyond it she saw the debris slowly disappear as the Nirvana was rebuilding itself before her eyes. The light faded and the tears of sorrow that once took over Meia's mind were now tears of joy. The Nirvana grew several golden wings that seemed to move and act like a living thing. The front portion extended to a sleek sharp golden composition. Bright white orbs revolved around the Nirvana, there were no weapons on it. Or at least that's what it looked like. The Nirvana glowed a classy bronze but soon bursted into a flashy gold. It was god like, it was so bright that it illuminated nearby planets. It was a magnificent view.
"Nirvana Transformation Complete: Now Entering Mystic Mode"
The navigation chamber once again changed, the inside turned from a pale beige to a brassy gold. Dita and Hibiki were god like themselves. Both Hibiki and Dita had white auroras outlining their bodies. They were one with the pecksis, it's power was present in their bodies.
"Stop!" they said in unison. Both of their voices were masked by the pecksis. Their own voice was audible but another voice came along with it. You can say that the pecksis had possessed them but in a good way. The enemy mother ship halted. Hibiki opened his eyes to reveal that his pupils were no longer visible. The black strips over his waist grew over to his chest as well as Dita's red ones. A screen appeared before him, the harvest seemed to be taken aback by the recent event.
"You... manage... escape... no... matter... we kill... you... again" said the harsh voice. Dita smirked.
"You can try." she said.
The enemy ship reacted instantly, deploying a rapid army of missiles.
"Should I?" asked Dita. Hibiki smiled.
"You may" he answered. As the missiles approached the Nirvana, Dita coughed. When she did, an enormous crystal barrier formed in the path of the missiles and destroyed them. The enemy retaliated, it began to hover back over the Nirvana. Hibiki pointed the ship at the underbelly of the enemy, a white wind swirled over to him and into his hands. He thrust his arms forward making the Nirvana's wings point at the enemy. Dita summoned another whirlwind of white light as she harnessed it within her hands, with the new powers she attained she was able to peel off the hard metal of the mother ship. The dead zone was immobilized. She managed to strip the mother ship of its armor, with a furious pull. She tore the ships armor apart.
"Go, Hibiki." she whispered. Hibiki pulled in all the strength he had, he pulled in gravity, space, and time into a massive orb. He attained so much strength, he was almost pulling in planets out of their orbits.
"Meia, Jura. Let me use your strength as well" he said. Meia nodded as well as Jura. Their dreads returned to normal as their energy was depleted.
With all his might, and with the love and support Dita granted him, he pushed forward. The Nirvana's wings glowed at the tips, the white orbs that were rotating around it sped into a incredible speed. It started to harness all of the power Hibiki pulled in, with a millisecond of silence, the Nirvana fired.
"YOU LOSE!" he screamed. A giant white beam came soaring out of the Nirvana, entering the massive gap that Dita had created.
"Direct Hit!" yelled Jura.
Wow, this is good,