Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread, and I never will.
Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)
Chapter Twelve: Chaos
Location: Cockpit, Aidan's Striker.
With a whine from it's leg actuators, the Striker went from a kneeling position to a standing one. Aidan, strapped into the cockpit, checked the controls one more time. The targeting and communications systems were working perfectly. The sensors and the weapons panel were both operating normally. Every other system also reported green, he was ready. He motioned his Striker to move to the launch catapult, and mounted the mecha onto it. He felt the force push him back as he launched. These fanatics lives were worthless, and he intended to prove that to them.
It was time for a little payback…
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Feeling as though she were shoved from the Nirvana by a giant's hand, Meia felt the force push her back into her seat as her Dread launched. She made sure all team leaders knew what they were supposed to do. She took up position next to Jura in the formation. Seven enemy vessels, somewhere between fifty and seventy fighters, this was going to be a tough fight No matter what, she was going to make sure the outcome was victory.
"Alright, you know the plan, Dread Team leaders, keep a tight reign on your team. Now let's show them what we're made of!"
In response, there was a chorus of 'Rogers!' A 'hell yeah' from Hibiki, and a simple 'affirmative' from Aidan. A second later, they leapt into action, intent on repaying them for their cowardly assassination attempt.
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Gripping his fighter's controls, Xander Sharr grinned as the enemy fighters advanced. It had been awhile since he had last fought in an engagement. He was ecstatic about going into battle against the heretics that defeated the Earth's forces. He considered it an honor, for he would be one of them to erase this blight upon the universe. He along with many other, pilots, thrust forward into battle as well, intent on repaying them in kind. The battle had now commenced…
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Captain Gunter Argust watched the battle unfold from his command chair. The fight was looking to be brutal, with neither side wanting to give in or let up. He found it hard to tell if an exploding fighter was one of his or theirs. What caught his eye a second later was a large blue machine. It was ripping through the fighters, and then it proceeded straight for the Hunter. Using two shoulder-mounted energy cannons, it tore a massive hole into and through the patrol ship's side. It escaped the following explosion that resulted from the rupturing of the ship's fusion drive.
Could that be one of those weapons that combine? If so, that could pose a threat. Not to worry, for I have an ace up my sleeve…
"Begin the charging sequence for the device," he ordered a technician.
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"Meia, on your left!" Jura's shout barely registered as a deafening shudder rang throughout her fighter.
Shaking off the light blow, Meia reflexively dodged the next series of shots that were aimed at her. She allowed the enemy fighter to dart past her, and she acquired a lock, she fired several missiles that streaked in towards their target. The fighter tried to pull away, but was too slow. The missiles struck the rear of the fighter, engulfing it in an explosion that lasted no more than a second.
"Team Leaders, tighten up your formations, don't let yourselves get scattered!" she commanded.
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Aidan used his Striker's thrusters to maneuver out of the enemy fighter's firing arc. He then took advantage of it by hammering several slugs into the body of the craft, creating a jagged line from fuselage to tail. He immediately thrust downward, avoiding the enemy fighter just by a few meters.
"Damn," he muttered. "I forgot how crazy these bastards can be."
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a pair of Intrepid destroyers move forward to engage. He knew they both were formidable ships, able to give better than they can take. He saw them open up with several laser volleys, their green beams searing through space to hammer the Nirvana's shields. The Nirvana's shields had just taken a pounding, and were appearing to weaken. That ship wouldn't be able to stand up to them if that battle cruiser and the three other ships moved to engage. He was thrown back into the battle by the sound of a lock-on alarm.
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With a feral grin of satisfaction, Xander watched as his fighter's lasers tore into the trailing fighter, destroying it. He actively searched for a new target, and located one not too far from his current location. There was a lone fighter, drifting from damage it received earlier in the fight. He scanned the crippled fighter, and found a single life sign. Apparently, the pilot was still alive, most likely wounded.
Not for long. He brought his weapons into line with the fighter, centering them on the cockpit. The bursts of laser fire melted through the cockpit, no doubt vaporizing the pilot inside. He took satisfaction in the fact that one more enemy of Earth was dead. A silver blur suddenly darted past him, before he had time to focus on it. Damn! That was fast.
Now there was an enemy he had wanted to fight all along, someone with skill. He was tired of fighting these amateurs. You're next, he promised the silver fighter.
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The formidable battle cruiser Indomitable had refrained from entering the battle. That was going to change in just a few moments. Captain Argust sat in his chair, showing a form a patience he did not feel. The charging sequence for the device was longer than it normally did. He impatiently tapped his finger on the arm of his chair.
"Is the device charged yet?" he asked, showing a hint of impatience.
"Almost, sir," the tech replied.
"Let me know as soon as it's ready," he said. Soon you whelps will know what it means to be outmatched.
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Hibiki, along with Dita, tore into yet another ship, this time a frigate that looked just like the Artemis. The hole in the portside of the ship was leaking air like blood spurting from an open wound, as well as a number of bodies were disgorged from the wound on the ship.
Hibiki noticed that the largest ship, the battle cruiser, had held back from the fighting. He wondered why for a few seconds, why it had yet to move.
"If that's the enemy's flagship, then why are they not fighting?" Dita asked as she looked back at him.
"I don't know," he replied as they willed the Vandread to charge for the massive vessel. "But let's go wake'em up."
Although the battle cruiser sat motionless in space, it was in no way out of the fight. Before they could reach it, a massive sphere of electrical light expanded around it. The sphere engulfed the ships that were nearest to it, but it seemed to have no effect on them. But when it connected with the Vandread, it set off a series of electrical surges throughout the Vandread. As a result, several systems started to short out, and then something else happened. After a few seconds, the Vanguard and the Dread split, reacting like polar opposites of a magnet. It sent them spinning out of control.
"What the hell just happened!" Hibiki said in disbelief.
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As Bart began to lock on to multiple targets to fire the Nirvana's main weapon, the system suddenly shut off and Bart was thrown out of the helm and onto the deck of the bridge. The ball of electrical energy had just hit the Nirvana, deactivating several systems and shorting out others. Amarone instinctively put her hands in front of her face to shield against the sparks.
"What the hell just happened!" BC asked.
"I don't know," Bart said. "I was just locking on with the targeting system when it went dead. A second, I was thrown out of the helm."
"Commander, we've just lost the shields!" Belvedere reported in an excited, worried voice.
"Commander, it appears that it happened when we were hit by that massive ball of electricity," Celtic Midori reported. "It appears to have affected Vandread Dita as well."
"This is bad," Magno said grimly. "We have to retreat."
"Bart! Get back in the helm and see if you can get the ship to move," BC ordered. "All Dreads, your orders are to fall back to the Nirvana, we are retreating."
Just as Bart managed to get the ship to turn, a destroyer closed in for the kill. A pair of large, anti-ship missiles leapt from launch tubes on either side of the vessel's blunt nose. They struck the Nirvana in the starboard arm. The resulting explosions ripped a massive hole in the side of the ship. Several laser beams came in a second later and did even more damage.
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Dammit! This wasn't happening! As the controls started to become sluggish, Meia cursed under her breath. All this started to happen when that electrical field had hit her Dread. She knew that it would make her an easier target to pick off. That fighter that had been pursuing her would definitely take advantage of it. She knew it was a strong possibility that she was going to die, even though she had no desire to so. She saw as the enemy fighter came even closer…
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Xander knew he would get credit for this kill, and he knew it even more when the enemy fighter started to become sluggish. He was going in for the kill. He kicked his fighter into over thrust, pushing the craft to its limits. He heard the sweet sound of a target lock, and his fingers started to tighten on their firing stud. Then suddenly, without any warning, a lone Striker darted into his field of vision. The mecha held it's vibrosword horizontally, somewhat across it's torso. As he was at full thrust, there was almost no way that he could avoid the blow that would come next.
He barely had enough time to register the sickening crunch that reverberated in his cockpit as the blade sliced through the canopy, then taking his head off a split second later. The now dead fighter, carried by the momentum of its thrust, collided with the waist of the Striker. As a result, the lower half of the machine was torn off and thrown forward as the fighter veered off into space.
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Trying to a keep a grip on his controls proved very difficult for Aidan as he was violently thrown around in the cockpit. The straps of his safety harness dug into his shoulders as the Striker careened out of control. Sparks shot through the cockpit, and then something exploded. He felt a searing pain as white-hot shrapnel tore into the right half of his body, as well as the crunching sound of his ribs as they slammed into the arm of his command couch. His consciousness started to fade rapidly, and his vision dimmed. He felt the cold embrace of death, and he managed to weakly mutter something before he went into total blackness.
"Sakura…"
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"Captain, they appear to be withdrawing," the helmsman reported. "Shall we pursue?"
After a few moments of thought, Captain Gunter Argust made his decision, even though he did not like it.
"No, we hold here and see to the repairs and the wounded."
"Understood, sir."
"Send out the recovery teams," he ordered. "Besides, they know they can't win against our might."
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