CHAPTER 12: OFF TO BLAZES

President Marshall stood at the balcony along with his advisers as the Nirvana prepared to cast off from Lunar 21.Magno was pleased with the colonists' help , particularly repairs to the Pegasus system and the mecha. Gascgone was particularly ecstatic about the modifications to her supply ship and the spanking new docking bays. Her ship was now more heavily armed and instead of using a crane utilized a photonic cable, stronger than most materials. The bays included mechanical arms that could take apart any section of the Vanguards or Dreads and apply instant aid. While she initially objected to foreigners meddling around with her stations, the end result practically forgave everything. The money she made off card games also helped convince her.

The Vandread pilots and crew stood at the edge of the docking bay, ready to board their fully refitted and repaired ship. Meia stood between Jura and Dita, composed and calm. Hibiki eyed his leader but his attention turned to President Marshall, who walked towards Magno, shaking her hand.

"Our fleet is gathering at the moment- we're merchants, terraformers, refugee carriers, habitat builders as well- not just warriors. We'll continue to support you and send out the message. It'll take time for our forces to assemble…many of our ships are in far-flung places. Until then, all I can give you is a newly repaired ship and a refreshed crew."

Magno grinned." That's more than enough, Mr. President. We've enjoyed our stay here, but we have to go on. It's a long way to Mejale and Talark. Oh, and say goodbye to young Edward for me. We'll miss him."

That remark made Dita look around. Ed was nowhere to be seen on the departure balcony, though the large number of cyber-enhanced people running about made it difficult to confirm. Head turning left and right, Dita sighed and slowly followed the others onto the bridge that joined the colony and the ship. Loud clattering came from the adjacent floors, followed by hissing doors barely able to open in time. Meia turned around, recognizing the footsteps that felt ever closer and louder. A glimpse through an upper vent saw two leather boots. Meia slowly trotted towards the exit door and the trot slowly turned into a brisk walk which became a heated run. She stopped short of the door, as it hissed open to reveal the latecomer. She was about to run forward and greet him when he stepped out of the shadows.

"Hey! Today's Saturday! Where do you think you're going?" the noticeably exhausted Robbie Marshall yelled, a bouquet in one hand and chocolates in another. Meia slowly turned round and made a solemn walk into the ship as the connecting bridge retracted itself. No one even looked at her, either focusing on Robbie or afraid of Meia' s reaction.

"Your name! At least tell me your name!" he begged, failing to catch up to the retracted bridge.

"My name is Jura!" the blonde replied as the Nirvana's thrusters began to burn.

"No, her name! The baker! Her name!!!" he went to one knee and shielded himself from the force of the thrusters. The bay doors shut tight in front of him as the ship moved forwards. Two techs grabbed him and dragged him into the safety of the engineering cubicle before they all got blown away by the vacuum of space.

Then, a message appeared on screens in the cubicle.

Her name is Barnett.

"What the…?" a bemused Robbie scratched his head.

She likes guns.

"Who is this?" Robbie looked around.

She likes to bake cakes. But you already know that.

Meia looked at the Black Vanguard and the Black Dread, standing still , two unspeaking monoliths that bore down on their makers. She kicked herself for thinking about who had owned them, almost as if he was standing there on top on the Vanguard. The Colonials had changed the cockpit system, merging the twin thrusters and globe controls so that the two could be , in theory controlled by only one pilot. Magno had assigned Barnett to that position, given her experience with the Black Dread. But the hangar seemed so empty now, more than ever before. Too add insult to injury, the cockpits were both left open as if to remind her of her all-to brief foray into romance. She found herself talking to the mecha as curious techs listened from their secret hiding places.

"Why are you still here? I thought I was in for something! Are you going to remind me of how lucky I was, or how good you were?" she screamed. The target obviously wasn't either mech. She clenched her fists , knowing no reply would come. Someone radioed Hibiki and the other pilots, who raced to the hangar after hearing the words 'nervous breakdown'. Duerro grabbed a kit and followed suit. Pai wrote it down in her Pai Check book before following him out. Hibiki was first to arrive, but the others found him blankly staring at Meia, who was slowly pacing backwards as if in a trance. Soon, everyone had the same look on their faces (except Pai, of course who was writing furiously in her book).

"I might just do that….blue-eyes."

Ed's figure slowly appeared in the hallway, his arms reaching out to Meia while walking towards her. To everyone's amazement, the usually stoic Meia jumped into his arms and buried her head in his chest as they held each other. Ed simply stroked her hair, oblivious to the audience watching him. Small tears began to form, but they were ignored as Meia and Ed looked into each other's eyes.

"Your cockpit's a little stuffy," he whispered.

"Hiding out in my cockpit…you pervert," she grinned.

Everyone was beginning to swoon as they touched foreheads, gripping each other's hands tightly. But some swooned for real as the two kissed, closed eyes not alerting them to the growing audience. Meia felt that this was so natural as did Ed. All the rumors about men carrying diseases and other things were erased from Meia' s mind in that moment. Ed's arms were so secure and loving she moved her own to match him. Somehow, she instinctively knew what to do despite her lack of experience. She didn't care- she liked it. Ed's lips were soft , his breath welcoming.

"Ed…we have to talk…"

"Lead the way."

Everyone but Duerro swooned when the two went hand in hand towards Meia' s quarters. Duerro simply wrote it down in the near-comatose Pai' s handbook.

Meia and Ed sat at her workstation, the lights dimmed until his red eye glowed like a candle in a deep cave. No one was around, but she locked the doors just in case.

"Ed…I went to Dana's grave back on Lunar 21."

"I see."

"I know how much she meant to you and your memories…I thought you were never coming back."

"I wasn't. But I had a little impromptu talk with our resident Pegasus core. Or rather it spoke to me."

Meia pushed her chair closer to his. " What did it say?"

"Something about home being where people remember you best. And then it drove into my mind. It was…horrible, Meia. It dragged all my memories around like dirt in a sandbox and rearranged them. I thought I wanted to spend the next 30 years of my life catching up, but that's one hell of a time," he held her hand, "time I don't want to spend alone. I don't know what Pegasus did to me, but the pain's gone. It told me that the pain was home calling me or something. Now that I've been, it's gone. Weird, huh?"

"I was raised by women, but seeing that tombstone…that was the first time I felt that a man could love a woman…and that a woman could love a man just the same….that I could...could…" she struggled with the words.

"I certainly love you, blue eyes."

"Ed..?"

"I love you, Meia Gisborn," he smiled. "Now and probably for the next few lifetimes. Then I might have to prove it to you all over again."

"Edward Van Dyke…I…I…"

"Shhhh…" Ed pressed his finger to her lips.

"Don't have to say it. Just…smile. That's all I need."

Meia beamed, her black eyepiece glistening in the light of Ed's red piece. He lightly held her chin with his fingers, appreciating her comforting smile.

"I love you too, blue-eyes- huh?"

"Shhhh…" she pressed her finger to his lips, " all I need…" she lurched towards him, "is a piano lesson. We haven't played in a while."

"Heh, so he stowed away in her vessel. Well, that solves our problems rather quickly," Magno let out a sarcastic grin , leaning back in her chair.

" We're headed to this place the Colonials mapped out for us. We're not short on anything yet, but they told us it's important to Earth for some reason. As something of a thank you, I agreed to investigate. I want to find out what they want with that planet. Our data says that it's a desert wasteland, so maybe we can find out about the Harvesters."

BC nodded and inputted the data into her console. Bart read a similar set of instructions at his station and concentrated, melding his mind with the Pegasus again. The area came into his head and the ship moved forward, turning to compensate for stray vectors. In a flash, the ship was in the planet's orbit. A planet resembling Talark loomed in view, with barren desert and hardly any trace of water. A dark brown mist covered the view of the land, which was no pretty sight either. The bridge crew sighed in relief as the ship moved into geosynchronous orbit , Bart tilting himself slightly to the right and slotting in with ease.

"Good job, Bart, " BC nodded.

"How does he do that all the time? I mean, move the ship with his mind?" Belvedere asked BC.

Bart shrugged, shaking his bladed blonde hair," I just do. That's the perk of this job. Seems so natural."

"Quit bragging and get out of that station. We're gonna need your hands now, not your perks!" Magno quipped. Bart sprung out of the station fully clothed, looking at BC.

"You know what they say, two heads are better than one. Besides, I can't lift much."

"Just… get ready, Bart, " BC was unusually unsteady in her voice.

Bart grinned and walked past the vice commander.

"Not what you said on 21….." he hummed as he passed her. She reached for her whip, but he was out the door in a blink of an eye.

"What's this about 21?" Magno was puzzled.

"Um, long story Chief….Any way, we'll start our descent in the dropships and fighters. Our instruments show that there is a settlement of sorts below us."

Bart strutted along the corridor, happy that even the bridge ladies were finally appreciating his ability. Of course, there was that BC he still had to figure out…but that was fine. Nobody would have to know what he and the vice-captain got up to one drunken evening in Lunar 21's red-light district. He chuckled to himself.

The teams would be divided into two. The medical teams and R & D would head for the surface with Hibiki, Ed and Meia while the Nirvana proper would remain in orbit escorted by the Red Guardian and the Blue Dread with a group of Dread squadrons. At his own insistence, Bart was to be included in the drop team. Barnett was given the rare opportunity to pilot the Black Vanguard and found it rather responsive, linking easily with Jura, her perennial partner in crime. The crimson knight floated alongside its parent ship, waiting for any Harvester activity. Barnett fiddled around with the new finger-hole controllers, the response timing increased while Jura examined her orb again to see the shields.

"I'm so happy," Jura broke the silence in orbit ," He knows my name!"

"I hate to tell you this, Jura…but he wasn't talking to you."

"Of course he was! He even brought flowers and candy! I mean, I love your cooking and your cakes…but…um…"

"They weren't for you," Barnett grumbled, biting a fingernail.

"Huh?"

"They were for me…" she sunk her head, sighing.

"Are you sure?"

The dropships, replicas of the Delivery section craft touched down onto the planet, yellow sands blowing away any hope the crew had of a clean landing. Parfait's dropship skidded in the sand, forcibly ejecting its occupants out into the sand. Bart, the unlucky one as always, had to have his head rescued by BC before he went the way of the dodo. The other two fared much better, with the Double Dread and the Golden Vanguard (as Hibiki liked to call it after the Colonial revamp) closely following behind. A man came to greet the exiting Magno, who was wearing a space suit to guard against the environment like the others. The man had no such protection, but covered his nose and mouth with his robes.

"Welcome to Soul Point. I hope you're lost. Nobody sure as hell would come here on purpose."