Disclaimer: I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't own Vandread.
Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)
Chapter Four: Calm
Location: Men's Quarters, Nirvana.
"And this is where you'll be staying…" Meia said, trailing off as Aidan scanned the room. He looked over to see her walking out of the room. She must have something else to do, he thought. He continued to stare at her until she left his sight. Something about her seems familiar…
Looking back at the small section of space that would be his quarters for the time being. In truth, it was very similar to what you'd expect for a soldier. The room was spartan, with only a sink, a reflective sheet of metal that served as a mirror, a toilet, and a fold-out metal panel that served as a bed. It would do, he thought as he set his duffel bags down next to his bunk.
"Hey there," someone said off to his side. He turned to see the bald man he'd noticed before. He was wearing a tan, military uniform, although he wasn't on a military vessel. "Aidan, right?"
"That's right," he replied.
"Bart Garsus," he said as he held out his hand.
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After she had finally gotten rid of that awful spacesuit and into a fresh set of clothes, Maria sat down on the bench located in the middle of the ship's garden. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the red-haired girl that she had seen earlier, on the Artemis. She really didn't want to be here, she wanted to go home. Then she how futile that would be right now, for all that would her there was death. She then thought back to how her father had died, gunned down in cold blood by a couple of soldiers. She would have shared the same fate if not for the actions of Captain Aidan Mercer. She felt her mood suddenly get a little darker.
"Hi, my name's Dita," the red-head said in a cheerful tone.
"Maria… my name is Maria," she stuttered slightly.
"Well, Maria, I'm glad to meet you," she said. " I was just going to cafeteria to get something to eat, wanna come along?"
Her mood started to lighten a little bit. Apparently, Dita's cheerfulness was getting through to her, somehow.
"Sure, why not," she replied, forcing herself to smile.
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"So, BC, do you think that the information he gave us was correct?" Magno asked her second-in-command.
"I'd see no reason fro him to lie to us, Captain," she replied. "I'd say he was telling the truth."
"Then that leaves the question about the fleet that ship was supposed to rendezvous with," Magno said.
"It could mean anything, he said the ship's coordinates may have been thrown off before they arrived here," BC said.
"Then that means that this fleet may not be very far away, all things considered," Magno replied, contemplating.
"Based on that fact, I'd have to say yes," BC said.
"I think it's about time to inform the crew about our new guests," Magno said.
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After tossing one of the duffel bags onto the foldout bunk, Aidan opened it. It contained some clothes and some combat gear. More importantly, it contained the few personal possessions that he carried around with him. He pulled out his wallet and opened it. It had the last bit of his pay in it, but he didn't care about that. It's not like he'd have a use for it here. The most important reason he kept it was the picture it contained. It showed him and few of his comrades, as well as Sakura, only a week before they'd been sent into that hellhole named Augusta. Shutting it and putting it in his pocket, he pulled out a set of dog tags. They weren't his, which he already wore around his neck, but they were Sakura's. She had been killed only a week after that battle.
Shutting out any further memories, he put the tags in his pocket. He needed something to take his mind off of the past.
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Maria picked up her moments after Dita took hers. She followed Dita to a table, and sat her tray down on it. She sat down across from Dita, and picked up her spoon. She scooped some rice up and brought it up to her mouth. A few seconds later Dita spoke up.
"So Maria, I'd like to know more about where you come from, if you don't mind."
"No, not at all, " she replied. "As you heard earlier, I come from a planet named Solaris. And I was the daughter of the former leader of the planet."
Upon saying that, she brought back a recent, painful memory. She decided not to talk about her father any further. She would talk about Solaris instead.
"I know you saw the hologram of the planet, and it's no where near as dull looking when you look as it from orbit."
"Wow, I'd like to see it someday," Dita said enthusiastically.
"Maybe you will," Maria replied. "Someday."
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As he did everyday, Hibiki casually walked into the hangar. He was there to make sure his Vanguard, his partner, was kept in the best possible condition. He stopped as he noticed a pair of machines standing off to the side of his Vanguard. They were black, with blue highlighting. There armor was more angled than a Vanguard's, and they stood slightly taller. They were humanoid in form, and unlike a Vanguard, the machine's angled head had a light blue visor instead of a pair of eyes, or a cyclops-eye, like the other Vanguards. Off to their side, he noticed what appeared to be several large weapons lying next to them, mostly guns from the look of it.
He walked over to Gascogne, who was standing near the machine closest to his Vanguard. "Hey, what are these things? They don't like Vanguards to me."
He heard a reply to his question, but it wasn't from Gascogne. "They are called Strikers, "said that soldier as he walked up to where they were standing.
"Oh, it's you," Hibiki replied upon seeing him.
"So that's what they're called," Gascogne said, turning to face Aidan. "We found on that wreck of a ship, and we managed to get a couple of them off of it before it blew up."
"These machines were introduced about four years ago, and were primarily developed for combat against the Earth forces." Aidan said. "They have yet to see action against the Earthers, but they have seen action against the E.D.A."
"Interesting, but none of them could ever stand up to my partner," he said, pointing over to the gold machine in a sitting position on the far of the hangar.
"Quite," Aidan replied, his tone implying that he could care less about that.
"Do you know how to pilot one of them?" Gascogne asked.
"I've had some training on them," Aidan replied stoically.
"Good," Gascogne said with a grin. "I think a little demonstration is in order."
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Meia walked into the empty conference room, and then headed over to the one of the terminals and brought up one of the many Dread formations she'd created. She needed to make sure everything was ready for the new batch of Dread pilots that would be arriving next week from their main base. It was essential to get new recruits integrated with the veteran pilots, make them a cohesive unit, just in case Earth came back. She continued to work for a few minutes more, until the door slid open and Misty entered.
"Oh, it's just you, Misty," she said as she glanced up from the console.
"What are you doing, dear sister?" Misty asked.
"I'm getting everything ready for when the new pilots come on board next week," she replied as she typed something into the console.
"Okay," Misty said. "Do you need anything?"
"No, but thanks for asking," she replied, a smile creasing her lips.
"Alright then, I'll leave you to your work," Misty said as she exited through the door.
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Sitting in the cockpit of the Striker that was going to use for this demonstration, Aidan thought briefly the first time he'd been in one of these. It was part of his training once he entered Special Forces, and now it just felt like normal in the cockpit. Unlike that kid, which had an emotional attachment to his machine, Aidan thought of the Striker for what it was, a weapon.
He checked over all of the systems, making sure they worked properly, and initiated the startup sequence, and heard a small hum as the fusion-powered engine came online. He strapped himself in, checked the controls, and keyed his comm system.
"This is Aidan, I am ready to begin," he said as gripped the controls.
"This is Gascogne, please stand by," came the reply.
He manipulated the controls, and Striker reached down and grabbed the heavy rifle from it's position on the deck. He walked it over to the catapult and into position. A few seconds after he secured it, he felt as if a large hand had thrown him out of the ship and into space. Once out there, he checked his sensors. His sensors tagged several mobile drones, designated as enemies. The drones were based off of a design that he recognized almost immediately. They looked a lot like the attack robots used by the Earth forces. He patiently waited for signal to begin. It came a few seconds later.
He immediately used his thrusters to propel him downward, sending the powered-down shots from the drones fly over his head. He raised the rifle and let loose a burst, the three slugs slammed into the closest drone, shattering it. He then activated the thrusters once again, sending him to the left as one of the drones overshot him. He deftly maneuvered and fired into the rear of the drone. He then blasted one that had gotten in his face, sending pieces of it clanking off the Striker's armor. He then released his grip on the rifle, pulled out the sword mounted on the hard point of the back of the machine.
Unlike a normal sword, this was a vibrosword. The vibrosword was made of a hardened alloy and equipped with a small sonic generator built into the hilt. The sonic generator caused the blade to vibrate at very high speeds, allowing for greatly increased damage. Another effect was that the blade would glow white-hot, making it look more threatening.
He charged the last several drones, and sliced one if half with the heated blade. He eviscerated the next one, sending it's internals flying into space. He then performed a maneuver that took him down and around the last enemy drone. He moved the sword into a position perpendicular to his Striker and shoved it through the last drone. After that, he moved over and grabbed the rifle, which was floating around in space.
After the exercise, he proceeded back to the Nirvana. After he shut down the Striker, he exited the cockpit and walked down the gantry and onto the deck. Gascogne stood in front of him with her arms crossed.
"Impressive," she said. "I think we may have a use for these." She gestured to the Strikers that were now standing behind Aidan.
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