Disclaimer: Same as before, all said.
Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)
Chapter Twenty: Error
Location: Nirvana, Main Hangar.
"Now, that's odd," one member of the security detail commented as she laid her eyes upon the shuttle.
"Yeah," another commented. "It doesn't look like it's damaged, or in need of any assistance."
"Then, why-" the first security guard's comment was cut short by a blast of laser fire catching her high in the chest. Before the second or any other of the security personnel could react, several armed men rapidly exited the craft, leveling their weapons at any of the pirates. Without so much as a word from the skull-masked men wielding the rifles, they opened fire.
In less than a minute, the pirates had all been subdued. At least, that's what Major Owens thought they were. They did not have any military uniform that he could identify, and they were armed, which meant they weren't civilians. There wasn't much else, but to assume that these women were pirates. With a few hand motions he directed the teams to head for their assigned objectives. Then he waved for Alpha and Beta teams to follow him. They had a vessel to capture.
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"BC, any word on our guests?" Magno asked.
"Not yet," BC answered. "The security team I sent to the hangar hasn't reported in yet."
"Captain!" Belvedere interrupted. "There are reports of weapons' fire in the corridors outside the hangar!"
"What!" BC said in disbelief.
"The intruders are from that shuttlecraft," Amarone stated. "There are at least three groups, and they have split off in different directions."
"One of their targets must be here," Magno stated, toggling the intercom system. "All hands, prepare to repel boarders, I repeat, prepare to repel boarders."
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Corporal Daniel Harwell glanced at the tactical display mounted on his left arm gauntlet, trying to figure out just where they were supposed to head to. Their objective was to secure the engine room, so they couldn't try to run the ship from there, or try some suicidal maneuver that would destroy the entire ship. Although, from what he saw of the personnel of this ship, they probably wouldn't try to do anything that crazy.
As he was in command of one of the two teams tagged to secure the engine room, he had to be sure that he knew where they were going. They were immediately sidetracked by a small group of women armed with what appeared to be laser rifles. Immediately taking cover around a corner, Harwell was immediately followed by the four other men in his team. It was then they came upon a little more resistance than expected.
They became pinned down all but less than a minute before Harwell thought of a plan. With a few quick hand signals, he basically told two of his to throw a couple of smoke grenades into the middle of there opponents. With quick fluidity, he activated his infrared vision and bolted out from cover as the smoke began to fill the corridor. The thick smoke would obscure the vision of the women, and would upset their breathing. Due to built-in air filters in his helmet, though, he was not subjected to the white smoke. Taking little time, he aimed, fired, then switched targets until all of them were knocked unconscious. As soon as the last woman fell to the deck, he signaled his team to move with a wave of his hand.
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Looks like I will finally find a vent for my bottled up frustration. Barnette felt as if only combat would allow her the opportunity to do so. She also had a feeling that something was not right with that shuttle that she saw, and this proved it. Now, there were several armed men roaming throughout the ship. Her, along with several others from the security detachment, took up positions outside the engine room. Barnette had come to the conclusion that their targets were there and the bridge, but she couldn't have reached the bridge in time, so she decided to defend the other.
Seeing as how she would be dealing with heavily armed and armored soldiers, she decided to pull out some heavier firepower than just her handgun. She had decided to take along her heaviest weapon, the M249 SAW, or Squad Automatic Weapon. Even though it was an antique, it was still quite effective, and with it she could lay down a barrage of shells that would take out, or at least pin down the soldiers that were headed here. She hefted the heavy weapon up into position.
No matter what, she thought to herself. I will not let even one of them get past me.
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Corporal Harwell assumed that they weren't very far from their objective. They only fired on anyone who offered resistance on their way through the ship's corridors. That proved not to be all that difficult, but things did not always appear to be what they were. And that what was just about to happen. For when they turned the corner, they noticed a larger group of women, and one of them caught his eye. It was the woman standing defiantly in the center.
She had short, dark hair, and was wearing what appeared to be. Hell, he couldn't really tell what she was wearing, but it made her quite appealing. He would have thought of her as attractive, if it weren't for the fact that she was carrying a pretty good-sized machine gun. Whereas some of the women shied back a little after seeing the grim-masks of the soldiers, the dark-haired one did not so much as flinch. He attempted to aim his weapon and fire, but she was faster, as she already held her weapon at the ready.
"Shit!" was the first thing out of his mouth as he knew he was too late to shoot her with his rifle. Flame leapt from the barrel of her weapon as it unleashed a large amount of shells in his direction. Before he knew it, several of the slugs slammed into him with enough force to knock him off his feet. He fell heavily to the deck, and his head slammed back and almost knocked him unconscious. Fighting to keep himself conscious, he felt first the biting pain of a what appeared to be a few bullets that managed to get past his armor, and then the dull pain from the ones that hit him but didn't penetrate.
One of his men dragged him back behind cover as the rest of his men covered him. The soldier that dragged him to safety was Private Rawlins. Rawlins helped him into a sitting position.
"You alright, sir?" Rawlins asked, a little concern in his voice.
"I'll be fine," he replied. "The rest of you, meet up with Delta Team and help them take the engine room. I'll try to stall them here."
"But, sir-" Rawlins started to protest, but was cut off by a wave of Daniel's hand.
"You questioning my order? I said go!" he barked as he drew his laser pistol, as he dropped his rifle back when he was knocked to the deck. "I'll buy you some time, now get moving!"
He watched as Rawlins nodded and took the rest of the team and headed to Delta Team's location. He sat there, leaning against the wall, waiting for them to advance…
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When the fire stopped coming from around the corner, Barnette had assumed they had moved to a different location. Still, she had to check to see if they were still there. She crept cautiously over to the corner, keeping her weapon at the ready. She pressed her back against the wall, and started to move. She rapidly turned, but no one was there, at least at eye level. She glanced down, her weapon following her gaze. She immediately noticed a lone soldier leaning up against the wall, pointing a pistol up at her. From the way he clutched his side, and the dark liquid running down his side, she could tell that this was the soldier she'd shot. Her weapon never wavered, and neither did his, despite him being wounded. She couldn't see his face, due to the mask of his helmet
"Drop your weapon," she commanded. "And take off your helmet."
"What if I don't want to," he replied defiantly.
"Judging from your wound," she replied. "And the fact that you are surrounded, I don't think you're in any position to argue."
Without saying anything, the soldier held the gun away from his body and dropped it to the deck. Her weapon still trained on him, she kicked it away from so he couldn't make a grab for it. Slowly, he unhooked the collar of his suit and pulled the helmet off of his head. It was then she got a good look at him. He had short, black hair, kept in a typical fashion for male soldiers, and deep blue eyes. When he brought his gaze up to hers, she could tell that he wasn't dejected or angry, something she'd expected of him.
"Who are you and why'd you attack us?" she asked him.
"Corporal Daniel Harwell," he stated flatly. "Assigned to the 11th Space Combat Division, Solaris Defense Force."
"Solaris?" she replied, hardly believing it. "You're from Solaris?"
"Yes," he replied, biting back pain from his wound. "What of it?"
"Why did you attack us?" she asked. "We're supposed to be on the same side."
"Same side?" he replied. "What do you mean?"
"We've been fighting these fanatics calling themselves the E.D.A.," she replied. "Ring any bells?"
"Yes, it does," he replied. "But why are they attacking you?"
"Attacking us?" she replied sarcastically. "The real question is, why did you guys attack us?"
"We were given orders to secure this ship," he replied. "That is all I know. And, your crew that we shot should be okay, as we weren't authorized to use lethal force. There, I answered your question, now answer mine."
"The reason they attacked is because we have your dead leader's daughter on board this ship," she replied. "I believe her name was Maria."
"Huh?" he replied. "Maria Shakov is on board this ship?"
"Yes," she replied. "It's about time someone took care of your wound."
"How kind of you to notice," he replied sarcastically.
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Startled awake by the crack of weapons fire, Maria bolted out of her bed. She was curious more than frightened, so she decided she figure out what was happening on her own. She quickly put on her clothes and headed for the door. Upon opening it, she noticed several men outfitted with black armor run down the corridor. What caught her eye was the insignia that she'd noticed on the shoulder of one the soldiers. The sword-clutching gauntlet of the Solaris Defense Force. But why? Why were they attacking this ship? One way or another, she had to find out, and put a stop to it.
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Bursting through the doors of the bridge, Major Nigel Owens and no less than four combat teams quickly surrounded the crew on the bridge, leveling their weapons at them. Several of them shied back from the intimidating features and weapons that were being aimed at them. It only appeared as the two up at the center of the bridge did not react to their presence the same way.
"What is the meaning of this?" the silver-haired woman asked sternly.
"You and your ship are now under the control of the Solaris Defense Force," he replied. "Failure to stand down and comply will be met with lethal force."
"Solaris Defense Force?" the old woman asked.
"Yes," he replied. "Now, stand down or we will open fire."
Before anyone else could speak, the sound of a young woman's voice sounded throughout the bridge.
"You will not," the young woman with short violet hair said.
It took him a moment, but he finally recognized the young woman as Maria Shakov, daughter of the late Prime Minister. Caught almost completely off-guard, he stayed silent for a few moments, then removed his helmet and began to speak.
"Miss Shakov, aren't you supposed to be on the Artemis?" he asked. "What are you doing on this ship?"
"Why are attacking this ship?" she countered. "As far as I know, they had not engaged in any hostile action against you."
"You didn't answer my question," he said flatly.
"I will only answer your questions if you agree to stand down," she replied. "These people are not your enemy."
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Moving at a pretty good pace. It won't be long before I get the revised version