CHAPTER TWO: TESTING, TESTING
Three weeks passed after Ed's arrival on the Nirvana. He was slowly getting up to date on what he had missed from the past 30 years, though the last 30 years of Mejale history were so boring, particularly coming from Jura. The last 30 years of Talark were no boredom panacea either, though the development of the laser missiles interested him. Barnett was still hostile to him, and Pai was thrown out of his quarters on many an occasion for spying, with the last punishment being a cheeky spank to her rear with her camera. He was treated rather well by the rest of the crew and was becoming fast friends with Bart, who despite the incident earlier on in the helm room became his macho talk partner. Duerro found his knowledge of female characteristics fascinating, particularly pregnancy, writing notes like a scholar on his laptop.
Ed was to report to the hangar for the first trials of the Black Vanguard and the Black Dread in space. After a briefing by Boss about the harvester threat, he had decided to become the test pilot for both mechs, seeing that according to faded memories the Lunar Colony was headed to either Mejale or Talark, which were both in danger from the Harvesters. The loss of either would seriously damage his hopes of finding home. Stepping onto the deck for the first time since his great escape, he spied Meia and Hibiki on the Deck, with Dita waving to him from her Dread cockpit. Jura stood in her cockpit; engrossed in conversation with a tech. Meia greeted him with a handshake.
"Good morning Ed. As you can see, the Vanguard is ready. Follow our formation closely. Hibiki will guide you from behind."
"But I prefer the Dread."
"Don't be silly, males can't pilot a Dread!" Hibiki hollered over the net.
"You guys don't get it, do you?" Ed grinned. "The only reason your Dreads respond to you alone is because Pegasus linked them to you, according to Parfait. Therefore I think both of them are linked to me."
Ed jumped into the cockpit of the black Dread and surprisingly, the engines hummed to life after he pulled the throttle. "See? " he chimed. "Purrs like a kitten.me-ow!" With that, the Dread burst out of the hangar followed by the other three and the yellow Vanguard. Ed was yelling and cheering like a cowboy as his Dread charged out, blue plumes extending form his afterburners. Meia came over the net to coordinate the formation, with her and Dita leading and Jura trailing behind to make it a T- formation. Ed would slot in the middle and follow Meia' s moves. His face joined the others on their respective screens. He had a confident look on his face, with both arms stretched out to hold the throttle joysticks. The maneuvers were complicated enough with barrel rolls, dips, cross-formations, pursuits and others on the menu. Though he wobbled at times, Ed managed to stay in formation long enough to get into the next phase.
"Next phase- Hibiki, try to combine with him using your Vanguard."
"I do not like this idea, Leader."
"Is there a problem?" Jura snapped. She was rather fond of the sleek black Dread, admiring it from afar with her strange sense of aesthetics.
"Yes, there is. His Vanguard is a different model to mine. Vanguards are designed to link up with a certain range of Dread unit. His unit must be a custom model of some sort!" Ed cursed as lightning bolts burst between his Dread and Hibiki' s Vanguard, throwing the two apart. They barely managed to stabilize , with retro thrusters at their maximum.
"I put this thing together myself back on Talark, so I guess you're right." Hibiki rubbed his head, " but what's all this talk about models? I don't think we ever made Dreads...weren't they all made in Mejale?"
"Common design. Don't tell me you guys don't know.OK, I'll tell. Vanguards and Dreads were originally designed by the same people- the Lunar Colonies."
"What?" was the reply all round.
"Honestly, it was a sick joke by the engineers.why do you think the Vanguard goes into the Dread from the front?"
Bart could be heard laughing from the helm room.
"Joke?" Meia frowned. "What's so funny about that?"
"This gender war was, in our opinion very, very silly. The combinations were meant to make men and women realize that conflict based on gender is really old-fashioned. Shame on your planets both!" Ed smiled, making a peace sign.
"Joke or not, the point is to train here. So can you combine with anyone else? "
"Hmm.follow my vector, Leader. My systems are indicating a possible two- dread combination."
"Two Dreads?" Dita gasped. "My, you aliens are weird."
"Guys, Dita.we're called guys."
"Guys?" she repeated.
Meia 's Dread climbed to a sharp angle, following Ed's vector and trajectory. The twin streaks of their units could be seen from the bridge, who were wondering what they were up to. The computers were abuzz with data and metamorphosis information, lights flickering and displays flashing. Ed moved his Dread over Meia' s and began the combination countdown.
"5.4.3.2.. 1.GO!!"
The Black Dread slowed, its rear shifting space with gears rolling and panels sliding. It appeared to thin out while the Dread below seemed to stretch, with extra joints being exposed and the cockpit moving forward. Meia saw machinery moving over her until she was thrust forward and the figure of Ed dropped in behind her. She saw that his throttles were just above hers, with his hands and arms easily visible. The combined thrusters blazed with blue fire as the twin Dread streaked into the stars. It was literally a combination of the two, with the black Dread attaching itself to the midsection of the blue Dread. The twin laser cannons on Meia' s Dread now had two sets of cannons between them; the tail had folded sideways to form a reverse wing design and the undercarriage now had stretched forward. Despite all the hardware, the combination was streaking away from the combat group at lightning speed.
"Leader, slow down! We can't catch up to you!" Jura yelled over the net. Surely, the twin Dread was outpacing the Hibiki-Dita combination, itself a powerful combination.
"Are we that fast?" Meia wondered, seeing the stars wobble and shift.
"Look out!" Hibiki warned, his proximity alert blaring in his ears.
"LOOK OUT!" Dita screamed, as the twin Dread shot towards a large asteroid.
Everyone saw the resulting explosion on the Nirvana, with asteroid fragments littering the space nearby. Dita and Jura called out their Leader's name endlessly as Hibiki searched through the rubble for what seemed like forever until a certain voice crackled over the net that lifted their hearts. At least, it lifted something.
"Damn, that was fun. Don't you agree, leader? I name this beast the Double Dread!! HAHAHAHA!!!" Ed's laughter rang through the comm net. "Leader.? I can hear you breathing, gorgeous.." He tapped her shoulder. "Lee--aaa- deer." The Double Dread streaked through the debris unharmed, to the surprise of all.
Dita giggled, " For once, Meia' s out of breath! Look at her!" she pointed to the shocked expression on Meia' s face.
"You goddamn cheat! Using your weapons at the last minute!" Jura brokenly answered, seeing the laser ports on both of the Dreads cooling.
"Leader.? Meia..? Hey, are you alright?" Ed's tone changed to one of worry.
Meia then let out a tremendous cry of excitement, stretching her arms upward with her eyes tightly closed. She banged the controls with her fists, howling wildly. She shot Ed a dangerous smile.
"Let's do that again sometime," she laughed, "Whoo!"
Ed grinned and shook Meia' s shoulders. "HELL YEEAH!!"
Everyone else just sat there in awe. Not only did the new guy manage to discover a new combination and risk the squadron leader's life in a crazy stunt; he actually managed to get her excited. Hibiki scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders, slowly dragging his Vanguard back to base. From the bridge, everyone but BC was stunned by the super maneuver. The vice- captain sat in her seat and mumbled a single word.
"Interesting."
Three weeks passed after Ed's arrival on the Nirvana. He was slowly getting up to date on what he had missed from the past 30 years, though the last 30 years of Mejale history were so boring, particularly coming from Jura. The last 30 years of Talark were no boredom panacea either, though the development of the laser missiles interested him. Barnett was still hostile to him, and Pai was thrown out of his quarters on many an occasion for spying, with the last punishment being a cheeky spank to her rear with her camera. He was treated rather well by the rest of the crew and was becoming fast friends with Bart, who despite the incident earlier on in the helm room became his macho talk partner. Duerro found his knowledge of female characteristics fascinating, particularly pregnancy, writing notes like a scholar on his laptop.
Ed was to report to the hangar for the first trials of the Black Vanguard and the Black Dread in space. After a briefing by Boss about the harvester threat, he had decided to become the test pilot for both mechs, seeing that according to faded memories the Lunar Colony was headed to either Mejale or Talark, which were both in danger from the Harvesters. The loss of either would seriously damage his hopes of finding home. Stepping onto the deck for the first time since his great escape, he spied Meia and Hibiki on the Deck, with Dita waving to him from her Dread cockpit. Jura stood in her cockpit; engrossed in conversation with a tech. Meia greeted him with a handshake.
"Good morning Ed. As you can see, the Vanguard is ready. Follow our formation closely. Hibiki will guide you from behind."
"But I prefer the Dread."
"Don't be silly, males can't pilot a Dread!" Hibiki hollered over the net.
"You guys don't get it, do you?" Ed grinned. "The only reason your Dreads respond to you alone is because Pegasus linked them to you, according to Parfait. Therefore I think both of them are linked to me."
Ed jumped into the cockpit of the black Dread and surprisingly, the engines hummed to life after he pulled the throttle. "See? " he chimed. "Purrs like a kitten.me-ow!" With that, the Dread burst out of the hangar followed by the other three and the yellow Vanguard. Ed was yelling and cheering like a cowboy as his Dread charged out, blue plumes extending form his afterburners. Meia came over the net to coordinate the formation, with her and Dita leading and Jura trailing behind to make it a T- formation. Ed would slot in the middle and follow Meia' s moves. His face joined the others on their respective screens. He had a confident look on his face, with both arms stretched out to hold the throttle joysticks. The maneuvers were complicated enough with barrel rolls, dips, cross-formations, pursuits and others on the menu. Though he wobbled at times, Ed managed to stay in formation long enough to get into the next phase.
"Next phase- Hibiki, try to combine with him using your Vanguard."
"I do not like this idea, Leader."
"Is there a problem?" Jura snapped. She was rather fond of the sleek black Dread, admiring it from afar with her strange sense of aesthetics.
"Yes, there is. His Vanguard is a different model to mine. Vanguards are designed to link up with a certain range of Dread unit. His unit must be a custom model of some sort!" Ed cursed as lightning bolts burst between his Dread and Hibiki' s Vanguard, throwing the two apart. They barely managed to stabilize , with retro thrusters at their maximum.
"I put this thing together myself back on Talark, so I guess you're right." Hibiki rubbed his head, " but what's all this talk about models? I don't think we ever made Dreads...weren't they all made in Mejale?"
"Common design. Don't tell me you guys don't know.OK, I'll tell. Vanguards and Dreads were originally designed by the same people- the Lunar Colonies."
"What?" was the reply all round.
"Honestly, it was a sick joke by the engineers.why do you think the Vanguard goes into the Dread from the front?"
Bart could be heard laughing from the helm room.
"Joke?" Meia frowned. "What's so funny about that?"
"This gender war was, in our opinion very, very silly. The combinations were meant to make men and women realize that conflict based on gender is really old-fashioned. Shame on your planets both!" Ed smiled, making a peace sign.
"Joke or not, the point is to train here. So can you combine with anyone else? "
"Hmm.follow my vector, Leader. My systems are indicating a possible two- dread combination."
"Two Dreads?" Dita gasped. "My, you aliens are weird."
"Guys, Dita.we're called guys."
"Guys?" she repeated.
Meia 's Dread climbed to a sharp angle, following Ed's vector and trajectory. The twin streaks of their units could be seen from the bridge, who were wondering what they were up to. The computers were abuzz with data and metamorphosis information, lights flickering and displays flashing. Ed moved his Dread over Meia' s and began the combination countdown.
"5.4.3.2.. 1.GO!!"
The Black Dread slowed, its rear shifting space with gears rolling and panels sliding. It appeared to thin out while the Dread below seemed to stretch, with extra joints being exposed and the cockpit moving forward. Meia saw machinery moving over her until she was thrust forward and the figure of Ed dropped in behind her. She saw that his throttles were just above hers, with his hands and arms easily visible. The combined thrusters blazed with blue fire as the twin Dread streaked into the stars. It was literally a combination of the two, with the black Dread attaching itself to the midsection of the blue Dread. The twin laser cannons on Meia' s Dread now had two sets of cannons between them; the tail had folded sideways to form a reverse wing design and the undercarriage now had stretched forward. Despite all the hardware, the combination was streaking away from the combat group at lightning speed.
"Leader, slow down! We can't catch up to you!" Jura yelled over the net. Surely, the twin Dread was outpacing the Hibiki-Dita combination, itself a powerful combination.
"Are we that fast?" Meia wondered, seeing the stars wobble and shift.
"Look out!" Hibiki warned, his proximity alert blaring in his ears.
"LOOK OUT!" Dita screamed, as the twin Dread shot towards a large asteroid.
Everyone saw the resulting explosion on the Nirvana, with asteroid fragments littering the space nearby. Dita and Jura called out their Leader's name endlessly as Hibiki searched through the rubble for what seemed like forever until a certain voice crackled over the net that lifted their hearts. At least, it lifted something.
"Damn, that was fun. Don't you agree, leader? I name this beast the Double Dread!! HAHAHAHA!!!" Ed's laughter rang through the comm net. "Leader.? I can hear you breathing, gorgeous.." He tapped her shoulder. "Lee--aaa- deer." The Double Dread streaked through the debris unharmed, to the surprise of all.
Dita giggled, " For once, Meia' s out of breath! Look at her!" she pointed to the shocked expression on Meia' s face.
"You goddamn cheat! Using your weapons at the last minute!" Jura brokenly answered, seeing the laser ports on both of the Dreads cooling.
"Leader.? Meia..? Hey, are you alright?" Ed's tone changed to one of worry.
Meia then let out a tremendous cry of excitement, stretching her arms upward with her eyes tightly closed. She banged the controls with her fists, howling wildly. She shot Ed a dangerous smile.
"Let's do that again sometime," she laughed, "Whoo!"
Ed grinned and shook Meia' s shoulders. "HELL YEEAH!!"
Everyone else just sat there in awe. Not only did the new guy manage to discover a new combination and risk the squadron leader's life in a crazy stunt; he actually managed to get her excited. Hibiki scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders, slowly dragging his Vanguard back to base. From the bridge, everyone but BC was stunned by the super maneuver. The vice- captain sat in her seat and mumbled a single word.
"Interesting."