CHAPTER 22: A VERY LONG CHAPTER
Now that the mammoth fleet was assembled, the leaders of both Home Worlds sat unmoving, two still figures trapped in their thrones of stone. Jin looked up at the screen, seeing the white swans of Melanos sweep by one of his own world's mighty ships while linking up with more of their number. It was a sight he was sure to remember. Among the various thruster plumes he noticed six that never parted, close to the Ikazuchin. He sighed with a smile and looked at the Seven Old Men.
"My boy's there as well. With all his friends."
The six were the Blue Victory, the Black Star, the White, Red and Purple Dreads as well as Gascgone' s Delivery ship. Though it was not yet battle time, Gascgone figured she'd get repair orders anyway. Pyoro wanted to come as well, hiding out in Jura' s cockpit. Hibiki and Dita led the way, the mighty blue knight with its twin weapons. Varoa and her Dread teams flew close by, readying themselves. All in all, a pretty darn good show.
"Wow, look at all these ships! Now we have a chance at least."
"I think we do, Dita! I guess all that optimism paid off at last," Meia nodded.
President Marshall came on screen, his old but cheerful face a welcome sight for the pilots.
"You all might have noticed the new features in your fighters when you left Lunar 21. But there was something we didn't put there- it appears the Pegasus has altered the insides of your ship. We didn't notice it immediately until one of our techs re-read the specs. You have one more combination that I haven't seen, folks."
"One more-pyoro?"
"Yup. And you're the key, NAVI robot."
Jura looked at her 'copilot' . A little egg-like creature with a strange personality (if robots had personalities), he was always running about and yelling about something or other, but now he sat silent.
"You are another affected by the Pegasus surge, yes?" Marshall continued.
"I was, but what about it? My job is being Pyoro-2's nanny, nothing more."
Marshall shrugged, " Try it, before the Harvesters force you to."
The armada seemed to encircle the six fighters, eager to see the newest trick Earth's mightiest foes could muster. The pilots felt a heavy weight on their shoulders, though something deep inside them told them there was another way. Barnet and Gascgone flew away from the Vandreads, knowing that they had no power combinations. Captains and admirals alike watched as the four flew together in one flash of light, each pilot pressing no buttons but somehow moving machinery. The bright flash forced pilots to shield their eyes, some slamming into each other in the clamor.
"WOW!" was the first sound anyone heard. Guns were already pointed; medical crews were standing by. 'Wow' was the last thing they expected to hear.
"I'll say again…WOW!" Jura sat at her keyboard controls, gawking at the new combination's cockpit.
The cockpit now featured all five of the Pegasus-affected people, with Dita and Hibiki still in their Blue Victory pose, Ed and Meia sitting side by side behind them and Jura all alone on a lower deck. From the outside, the fleet was amazed to see what was an entirely new Vandread. It was all white, with sleek wings on its shoulders and a slender frame. It sported a Y-shaped visor that glowed with two silver eyes on its helm, as well as a grilled faceplate. It floated with the aid of two bright thruster plumes emanating from its back, its black fists clenched. Pilots applauded and admirals cheered. Robbie flicked his nose and gave it a thumbs up while Barnet was simply blown away.
"Where's Pyoro?" Hibiki looked around.
"I'm in the center!!!" the robot's voice hollered. His eyes popped up on a screen in front of Dita, the two egg-shaped cartoon eyes staring right at her," This ship we'll name the Vandread-Pyoro-Pyoro!" he declared.
"That's a stupid name!" Jura barked.
"Better than Red Pineapple…" Ed mumbled, followed by an elbow nudge from Meia.
"What's a Red Pineapple?" Dita wondered, the ditz factor working overtime.
"Vandread- Pyoro-Pyoro!" the robot became angry. The bickering went on for ages, with sharper insults coming every minute.
Needless to say, the pilots stopped clapping.
"Er, Barnet….are these the Vandread heroes we've been hearing about…?" Robbie scratched his head.
Barnet sighed, " Only on Mondays…and every other day…."
"Speaking of Monday-" Robbie was cut off before he could finish.
Barnet thumbed the disrupt button, unable to depress it. She didn't know what was keeping this man following her, but she didn't want to let go of the button either. There was this minute curiosity in her about him, though she often dismissed it as merely fatigue working on her mind. Her thumb became more painful, urging her to make her decision.
"As I was saying…if we all live through this onslaught, will you go out with me on Monday? And maybe bring a jar of cookies?"
"What is it with you and cookies?" she nervously started.
"My little secret…"
"Why my cookies?"
"I don't know…what do you put in them? A little secret of your own?"
"Why, yes…" she winked, surprised she was even talking this way.
"Ah, himitsu , himitsu… I like mysterious women. Look! They've separated!" he turned his head, seeing a blue flash in the distance.
The combinations split off, with the Blue Victory and Black Star retained, together with the Dreads. Barnet and Gascgone flew off to join their friends, while Robbie tipped his helmet whistling.
"Vandread PYORO!!!" the robot squealed, before looking up and getting squashed in Jura' s mammoth breasts.
"We'll need it, that's for sure. Not the name, the combination." BC commented.
"You are one impressive thing, Mr. Pegasus," Parfait looked at the glowing core.
All the joy was suddenly erased by klaxons ringing loudly, sending millions of troops to their stations and fighters looking towards the minefields. Magno and the other admirals braced themselves for what they knew what was on the other side. Bart felt a sharp pain in his head, as did Pyoro.
"Three motherships!" Belvedere announced.
"The minefield will repel them, I hope!" Ozeki nodded, his Vanguard being at the forefront of the fleet. Nevertheless, he readied his troops.
"WHAT?" Bart screamed in terror as the radar data came to him.
Only one of the ships had been downed, attracting every mine to itself and making itself a dummy. The other two flew unopposed through the empty space, releasing their egg carriers by the hundred. The defense guns rallied and fired, destroying dozens of the egg carriers before they could even launch. But they were too few and insignificant as the two main ships swept through the remnants of the defense system. Little colored portals formed in front of the motherships, with Vandread clones appearing in multitudes. To the pilots' horror a mock version of the combination they had made an hour ago also appeared, also white but with a tint of red.
"Not the fakes again!" Dita howled.
"Very interesting!" Ozeki yelled, thrusting to the front line to meet the egg carriers. He was met by a green clone of the Jura Vandread, its red blasters charging.
"Oh , no!" Dita cried out.
Ozeki avoided the beams and the subsequent physical claw attack, twisting low beneath the chassis of the green monster and jabbing upwards with the naginata. Twirling it like a wrecking ball, he swatted two other fakes aside and threw the green clone into an egg carrier. Both carrier and fighter exploded as he followed through with has signature energy claw. Dita and Hibiki sat amazed. No less than a year ago, Ozeki was the first to be shot down by the pirates!
"Men! Follow me!" he beckoned, with hundreds of Vanguards thrusting themselves into battle, some unsheathing swords and others energy maces; Hibiki saw that almost every pilot out there had customized his suit in some degree. Thunderstrikes of Lunar 21 flew past him, joining the brawl.
"You can't beat our kill count that way!" Robbie yelled, two energy cannons popping out from his hip joints. The resulting beams tore through an egg carrier, with the mop-up of the surviving fighters carried out by the rest of his squadron.
"ATTACK!" his father yelled, as the fleet ships unloaded their ordnance and blazed their energy weapons at the onrushing enemy, blowing apart entire sections of space. The Nirvana and the Lunarian ships put up their Pegasus shields, yellow globes coving the lunar cruisers. Carlos' golden behemoth came up from behind, releasing its own egg carriers and drones. They broke upon the enemy, attacking the fakes and their carriers with an almost zombie-like dedication. Carlos moved his thumb over a display, releasing more of his new servants. He smiled, yelling obscenities towards the battle outside his ship.
The Vandreads finally threw themselves into the fray, Meia leading dozens of Dread squadrons into the battle zone, every woman yelling a Mejale battle cry. Colored comets blazed as Varoa' s squadrons joined in, beams scarring the sky. The entire system was lit up with explosions and was even more riddled when Bart released his attack, blue threads of death weaving into hundreds of enemy craft. The line held firm, as the few who made it past the ships had to deal with Talark' s nearspace defense system, lasers blowing apart egg carriers with deadly precision. Talark pod ships littered the sky with their turret fire, literally wiping the ground in front of them as they progressed towards the motherships defended by their Vanguards.
The Smuggler and Melanos ships stayed back, peppering the egg ships with laser, torpedo, photon and any other kind of legal and illegal ordnance known to man (and woman). Rabat grinned with every hit, reveling in the righteous ruckus. But Utan came up to him sobbing.
"No, not at all!"
Utan cried even louder, tugging at Rabat's lapels.
"Oh, alright…but only because the universe is at stake."
A red mecha came out of Rabat's ship, armed to the teeth with practically every weapon that existed in the universe, a mini fleet in its own right. Utan' s eyes blazed with eagerness, her fingers ready to press all the buttons in the cockpit. Rabat sighed and hoped someone would reimburse him for all the money he was going to lose.
Not bad, you're looking to God for SOMETHING at least… Tatanka snorted.
"Great, now some people think I owe them religion , too."
"Out of ammo? I'll make it cheap!" Gascgone grinned.
"Tsk…taking advantage of me in my crisis! And I thought I was the criminal here!"
The Blue Victory was in the thick of it all, slashing and shooting itself a path through to the other mothership. One clone got tagged on its left blaster while another came in from the right. Hibiki simply shot through both.
"Get out of my way!!" he continued to attack.
One of the mega-clones came out to greet them, a giant white claw ship with an energy tip forming in the middle of its claw. It tried to grab the BV, but Dita maneuvered the combo out of harm's way, throwing a gigantic tube of beam energy into the very mouth of the ship. It exploded with a tremendous shock wave, momentarily stunning Dita and Hibiki. The flailed helplessly at their controls as the other mega-clone charged up its midriff blaster. The blast they saw wasn't one of their doom, but of the clone exploding. Missiles plowed into its hull, with the final killing blow being a giant slash that tore it in two, a purple energy blade being the culprit.
"Leader! Ed!"
"You two…always causing us trouble!" Ed grinned.
"That's a little too rude, don'tcha think?" Meia winked at her lover.
"Meia…smiled?" Varoa had a shocked look on her face as she joined their formation.
"We aren't the same anymore…" Jura explained.
"Is it the men?" Varoa asked.
"Who knows..?" Jura shot a look at Ed and Hibiki.
"You'll get left behind if you're not fast enough!" Barnet called, flying in line with Jura.
"What the-"
The Vandread team boosted ahead of Varoa' s, their destination being the large capital ship in front of them. Talark and Lunar ships were laying siege to the other one, helped by cover fire from the Paraiso.
"We can't deal with the servants! Let's hit the master of the house!" Meia commanded.
"All right!!" Ed yelled as the Black Star merged with the White Dread to form the Double Dread. The detached Black Vanguard automatically joined with Jura' s Dread to form the Red Guardian, leaving Varoa' s mouth wide open in disbelief.
"Y-y-o-u, Meia and Jura as well?"
The three Vandreads and Barnet went forward with blistering speed, headed for the first mothership. Varoa tried to follow, but she became occupied with several red drones and was forced to break off. Elsewhere, the Vanguards that managed to make it that far were going hand to hand with the clone carriers, smashing them with their fists and energy weapons. Ozeki was one of them, smashing at will with his naginata. He deftly cut open an egg carrier and a purple clone, but three red drones surprised him, pushing him back and slowly eating through his cockpit. He saw his fate in front of him when suddenly a green-silver explosion robbed him of the afterlife. The blue Vanguard tumbled from the impact, only to be caught by its savior.
"Going up here is crazy, old man!" Robbie yelled.
"We wouldn't have gotten here otherwise! But you listen up! I have all these scars from my past battles!"
"Goddamn, old man! Pull your shirt back on!" Robbie shielded his eyes from the gnarly collection of momentos.
"Until you get these yourself, don't be telling me what to do, young man! Now go!"
"Right!" his eyes sparkled as he joined the Vandread charge. Ozeki put his cigar in his mouth and searched his pockets.
"Damn, no lighter."
From the outside, the battle was see-sawing . At times, the fleet would push all the way to the motherships themselves, only to pull back after being outgunned and out-swarmed while at other times the motherships would come forward to a greeting of torpedoes and lasers. The only two constants were the unmoving golden giant of Carlos' and the five streaks headed for one of the motherships. The Elders on Talark watched in earnest as their troops fought valiantly side by side with the old enemy of Mejale, ignoring virtually every superstition they had endeavored to create over the years. Dreads were saving Vanguards, Vanguards were helping out Mejale cruisers and those were even taking in Vanguards for repairs and rearming. Some of the Fathers, stirred by nationalistic pride started cheering, replacing 'women' with 'Harvesters'. Marcus Garsuss, grandfather of Bart was the loudest, waving his token hat around with every egg carrier shot down.
On Mejale, giant TV screens that had earlier broadcast Hibiki' s speech were now showing the battle. Women gasped at seeing the Border Patrol so outmatched and outgunned, thinking the allies were there to hide Mejale' s incompetence at defending itself. In no time in its history did Talark invade Mejale, yet the citizens always saw military careers as no more than a stopgap to 'real life'. But some spoke up in the crowd, hailing the Border Patrol's efforts and cheering their women on. A few even cheered the Vanguards, which were now protecting the vulnerable Mejale cruisers from attack.
Belvedere gasped as another large ship appeared on her monitor. It didn't resemble the other ships, but she reported it to Magno anyway.
"Another mother ship?" she wondered.
"That's not a mother ship!" Rabat's face appeared onscreen, "It's the boss that arrives to clean up unnecessary warships!"
"The boss….." BC's sweat intensified.
The five spotted the new arrival and changed course. Barnet was yelling at Robbie, urging him to leave the formation but he would have none of it, moving at full speed behind them
"Everyone, follow me!" Jura pressed her orb and the Red Guardian transformed into its crab form, erecting a giant shield around itself and destroying any foolish drones that decided to test it out.
"God, that's ugly!" Robbie commented.
"Shut up!" Jura told him.
The Vandreads followed close, letting the Pegasus shields take all the punishment the enemy could dish out. The new ship opened its hull to reveal a red beam, which plowed through the Pegasus shields, separating the Red Dread and Black Vanguard. Jura was sent tumbling, luckily being caught by Robbie, his apogee thrusters restoring balance to her craft. The Black Vanguard automatically boosted up and rejoined Jura, though she was unable to transform for a second time in the melee.
"Are you alright?" Barnet covered Jura with her own blasts.
"I'm fine…thanks to Robbiekins here..."she grinned, eyeing her savior.
"Son of…" Hibiki muttered.
"It's time for the Vandread PYORO!" the robot screamed.
The Vandreads slammed together in a ball of white flame, forming the white knight they had no idea how to use yet. The ship's response was to hit them with another salvo of red death, but Jura somehow pressed the right key and a corresponding turquoise beam shattered it and tore right into the ship itself. A gigantic explosion followed, but the ship still stood there, an almost organic web of red glowing menacingly at them. The knight had to fight its way to the core, slashing and stabbing its way through endless Fakes with an energy sword Hibiki had somehow pulled up. Ed's twin throttles were now shield controls; he deflected enemy pot-shots with ease while steering the ship. Meia was in charge of movement , while Dita and Hibiki seemed to control the overall action of the white mecha.
"It's here!" Pyoro screamed. "The thing that took control of me a while back! It's here and I can feel it! What evil!"
Greetings, from one who cannot die. To you who WILL!