CHAPTER 18: THE SCHEME OF THINGS
An electromagnetic storm was not exactly the best place for a mecha battle, but the Harvesters didn't care. Three of the fake Vandreads and their follower drones crisscrossed the mixture of rubble and dust, firing away at the Nirvana and its defenders. The Vandreads joined the fray, with the Blue Victory leading the counter. As the Red Guardian fended off the drones with the regular Dread squadrons led by Meia, the green Vandread Jura lookalike burst through, firing at the ship. The Guardian followed, only to be intercepted by its lookalike, a purple doppelganger with a similar blade.
"Hibiki! Get him!" Ed yelled as he grappled with the wannabe.
The Blue Victory used its twin cannons to blow apart its way and streaked past the locked Guardian and its twin. The green fake suddenly turned, firing at the Blue Victory. Dita dodged the shot easily enough, firing her own salvo of green light. The fake also avoided the blast, summoning another Blue Victory clone. Dita fired at the clone, the twin blasters ripping through its hull like a sword through flesh. Hibiki turned around to see the green clone priming its weapon and firing. Before it could move, the Blue Victory was split into the Blue and Gold, throwing Hibiki deep into the storm. The Gold Vanguard tumbled past asteroids, dust storms, shipwrecks and other long forgotten things into what seemed like unending darkness. Hibiki rattled and rolled in his cockpit, hitting his head on the seat. The world was spinning at one point, swerving from side to side at another before finally breaking down into pitch black.
Dita yelled out his name as the Guardian sliced through their assailant. The battle was over quickly with the destruction of the fakes, but Hibiki sent no reply to any signal. The others reported in fine, but worry grew as to Hibiki' s whereabouts. The storm forced all ships to rejoin the Nirvana, much to everyone's consternation. Dita was the last to come in, her Dread reluctantly returning to base after endless rounds of futile searching. This, with the Delivery section tugging her Dread back on full power. The pilots had to find him using the sensors alone, a fact that sent chill up their spine.
"We can't find him," Meia lamented, looking at the tactical screen in the maneuvers room..
"Mr. Alien! " Dita cried out, "where are you?"
The three Vandread ladies were staring at the local space map, hoping that Hibiki would send some signal. Parfait was also there, working all the sensors to the max. No trace could be found, but with the storm outside, little could be done anyway. Jura hung her head as the cursor sped round the rectangular screen, searching for so much as a breath or creak. Ed and Pyoro appeared in split screen., each with wires attached to their bodies. Ed was sat in a gray chair, electrodes pointing out of his cyborg persona and Pyoro (with a strangely flickering screen) was floating aimlessly around the Pegasus section. Jura winced at the sight of Cyborg Ed, but he paid no attention.
"He was exposed to Pegasus," Ed explained, "maybe I can find him on our 'wavelength'. I'm literally using the Pegasus core to search for him." With that he shut his eyes and mentally scanned all of nearby space. There were the five 'blips' he knew, that of Bart, Karu, Meia , Jura and Dita but there was also a faint flickering of green and red in the distance. He tried approaching it, but there was powerful resistance. Ed clenched his fists and tried to punch through. The resulting shock threw him back in his chair, leading him to rip the wires off his body. His skin was literally fried in places, though the regeneration system was already repairing the damage.
"Ed! What did you find?" Parfait called out.
"Hibiki…I've gotta try again!" he stumbled as he headed for the chair, the wires jutting into his body and head again.
Magno ordered Gascgone , as soon as she was ready , to mount a search mission. The pilots were to stay at the tech center and report any activity, and if necessary extract Hibiki. The blue streaks of the Registry section were soon seen around the Nirvana, though none knew where to look. The looks on everyone's faces suddenly turned grim, and Cheru (she of the funny costume) yelled.
"He's dead!"
Everyone sat aghast. The turquoise haired radar officer shook with fear, trembling.
"I..I.. meant the radar's dead!"
"Cheru, don't say that!" Celtic scolded her comrade.
"Sorry…"
***
The Golden Vanguard lay stuck in the sand, its cockpit literally jarred open by a rock. There were burn marks all over the hull, but it had miraculously escaped burning up in reentry. One leg was heavily damaged, with bits of metal strewn over the desert landscape. Hibiki himself was sprawled on the sandy ground, his face buried in a pillow of dirt. His head was bloodied, but he had been out cold so long that it had already dried up. His vision was returning in blurs and whirling shapes, none of which he could name. He looked up into the planet's suns, two yellow globes far away. Four shadows he thought were clouds were in fact four men looking down on him. He heard no words, but it was plain that they were not trying to communicate with him.
So, this is the one that met Samuel.
Yes. He is quite young, but Samuel had already told us of that. Come, let us carry him to healing.
Hibiki heard these voices , but they echoed through his head instead of his ear drums. Then again, he was so nauseous that he thought he was just dreaming. The four men lifted Hibiki and carried him away from the Vanguard wreckage. He was taken to a cave-like hospice, where he finally lost all consciousness . He awoke to what sounded like soft drumming, with a aged man looking at him, smiling. He took Hibiki' s hand and raised him. Surprisingly, the hurts of the crash were healed, save for a few cuts and bruises. He saw many other people, children who were talking and playing as well as silent, robed men sitting in a circle.
You are the one, Hibiki Tokai. We have seen you before, though only in legend.
Hibiki was speechless.
Come, you must sit with us. Forgive our lack of subtlety, but we are a closed people.
Hibiki and the man came to a hall lined with men similar to the one he came in with, all dressed in multi-colored ponchos with long hair tied back with headbands or string. None of them spoke with their mouths, but Hibiki saw that some were nodding and making gestures towards each other, as if in speaking conversation. Some were laughing, but only with head shakes and no sound. Hibiki felt the urge to scream out, just to test if he was going deaf. The man put his hand on his shoulder and raised his other hand to call 'silence'. The men all looked at Hibiki and stopped 'talking'. Hibiki saw that they were wearing similar raiment to Rabat, but the less he though t of that swindler the better. The man motioned Hibiki to sit down cross legged on the floor, kneeling like the others. A 'silence' fell over the room as Hibiki was made to listen to the elders, al robed similarly, plus a group of younger men and curious children peeking from behind the door.
Long ago, our ancestors possessed a unique gift. Legend has it that we could talk to the gods themselves. Others of our race, of Earth chose to steal this gift for themselves.
With that, the oldest man began to paint on the cavern floor, using a set of dyes one of the others had handed him. A figure of a man looking up, words flowing out of his mouth appeared.
They invaded this world and stole our voices, for they were jealous and wanted our gift for themselves. Now we only have our minds to speak with, though our children and theirs still have their voices.
"Damn the invaders!" one of the younger robed ones mentally muttered.
"Tatanka! Hold your tongue! Negative thoughts only lead to defeat!" the chieftain scolded, shaking his brush. Tatanka hung his head in regret.
"Why didn't you fight the Harvesters then?" Hibiki made a fist, "You must fight! Why do you stand there doing nothing?"
Hush! Negative thoughts lead only to defeat! You know the color…RED! The spirits do not lend their strength to conflict.
Hibiki noticed that his eyes were not the same. Red shades covered his pupils, a manifestation of the evil side of Pegasus. This he saw in a mirror the elder held up. Tatanka nodded, agreeing with the elders and looking at Hibiki as well. The red faded from his eyes, making him rub them to see if he wasn't hallucinating.
You are indeed one who knew the power we spoke to. But you are not complete, Hibiki Tokai. You have to cleanse yourself of this doubt I sense in you.
"What doubt?" Hibiki sat back, fearful of the old man.
The great battle is nearing. Who will win Earth's harvest, the farmers or the farmhands? You, one who came to us will come to the Cavern.
"The Cavern?"
"It is where we go sometimes, to talk to God." Tatanka answered.
You must go now, Hibiki Tokai. You must have converse with yourself, to find your true worth. If you let the darkness take you, you will fall into the realm of the spirits and fail. Go now, son of man!
TO BE CONTINUED