Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.
Author's Note: Just so you know, there is a little bit of graphic violence in this one.
Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Breakthrough
Location: Nebula, Edge of Solaris System
Staring into the colorful expanse through the main armored view port of his ship, Admiral Graff was primarily on the thought of the upcoming battle. This would be the last push, if they did not break through this time, then there was no hope for victory. They would either be victorious or they would die trying. If he was going to die in the coming fight, he damn sure wanted to take several of the enemy with him. But he knew that the men and women under his command would pull through, because this was their home as well as his, and they wanted it to be free once more.
"Sir, we are about to enter the system," the primary sensor tech reported. "ETA: ten minutes."
"Understood," he responded, then switched his attention to the communications officer. "Notify the rest of the fleet. Tell them to get ready."
"Aye, sir," the comm tech replied.
He leaned back into his command chair, staring into the nebula, waiting for the coming conflict.
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"Captain, we just received the word from the Solaris command ship," Ezra reported. "They report that we are coming up on the edge of the nebula. They say to prepare for battle."
"Alright," Magno replied. "BC!"
"All Dread Teams!" BC said. "Prepare to scramble! We are going to engage as soon as we're given the order?"
"Roger that," came Jura's reply, as she was currently the Dread Team Leader.
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Like a swarm of massive, angry hornets, the entire remaining Solaris fleet, plus one, broke out of the nebula, and almost immediately showed up on the scanners of just about every enemy ship in range. Several of the enemy warships powered up their weapons and drives as soon as they had noticed the massive number of vessels entering their territory. From the look of it, this was going to be a very brutal fight.
One of those who'd been anticipating the arrival of the SDF Fleet was Gunter Argust. He was still sore about having been called back to Solaris, when he still had to hunt down and destroy Earth's most hated enemy. But this would do, the enemy with which they had been engaged with for the last few years, finally has the spine to show themselves. He would be the one to break their resolve and destroy any will to fight they had left in them.
"General quarters!" he bellowed. "Bring engines to full, bring weapons online!"
"General quarters! General quarters!" the message repeated over the intercom, informing everyone on board of what was about to happen.
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"Admiral, we have several contacts closing," the sensor tech reported, her voice calm despite the news she was delivering. "Their main line is moving to engage."
"Understood," Graff replied. "Gunnery officer, bring weapons to full, take aim at the vessel closest to our position."
"Forward laser batteries fully charged, sir," the gunnery officer reported. "Locking on to enemy Essex, ready to fire, sir."
"FIRE!" he commanded.
A brilliant display of no less than eight emerald colored laser beams cored into the nose of the enemy frigate. They dug into the armor, vaporizing it as if it weren't even there. Air started to leak out of the exposed areas of the ship, and electrical storms played all across the front of the now crippled vessel. Another volley of laser fire snapped the ship's spine and capsized it. Seconds later it exploded, leaving nothing but scraps of debris where it used to be.
"Keep moving forward!" Graff commanded. "Don't let them get the upper hand!"
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As the order was given, Hibiki was already launching in his Vanguard. Pushing his Vanguard at the point of the formation devised by Jura, he scanned the already engaged battle ahead. The chaos of battle made it hard to determine who was friend and foe just by visual, as they were both using similar ships and equipment. But every SDF ship, fighter and mecha had a friendly IFF code programmed into all of their computers, allowing them to tell the difference.
His attention was distracted as several missiles came flying in at him. He kicked his Vanguard downward, out of the missiles' flight path. The group of fighters that had fired at his just passed overhead, straight into the formation of Dread. Needless to say, they never stood a chance against their numerically superior Mejalean counterparts. They were torn to shreds in about ten seconds.
"Now, to find our target…" he said to himself, referring to the Indomitable, as it was named. The ship equipped with the Paksis Nullification Device.
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Several hours earlier…
The sun was beginning to rise over the mountain range, casting an orange glow over the area in which the two special operations teams were camped out, about six hundred meters from their target. As far as they could tell, no one had noticed them, yet.
Aidan lay prone on the ground, looking through a pair of electronic binoculars at the facility. The facility was of pretty substantial size, and it was also embedded into the rock outcroppings of the mountain range. As per the intel, the facility had a large wall made to look like it was part of the mountain itself. In the center of it, was a large reinforced concrete door. From the looks of it, it was the only way in. There was a guard post outside the wall, in which two guards in full body armor and carrying laser rifles were just standing around, obviously bored.
Getting up into a crouch, he slowly backed away from the ledge from where he was perched. Once he was sure he couldn't be seen, he climbed down to where the both teams had set up camp. He walked over to the rest of his teammates.
"What did you see?" Damon asked as he approached.
"Intel was correct for once," he said wryly. "There's a large, armored door, and it appears to be the only way in, besides from the air."
"So, do you think they'll just let us walk through the front door?" Deveroux asked sarcastically.
"Unless you want to climb several hundred meters of rock in these things," he replied, tapping the armor he was wearing. "Also, you'd have to haul all of your gear up there as well."
"So, what's the plan of getting in?" Hawkins, who was currently sitting, asked. He'd have to wait on an answer for that, as they were interrupted by Akida's approach.
"Sorry to interrupt you sir," Akida said. "We've detected movement along our outer search perimeter."
"What kind of movement?" he asked, concerned that this mission could be blown even before it began.
"It appears to be a group of twenty or so armed men," Akida replied. "And they're using typical search patterns. I think they may be looking for us."
"Damn," he muttered. "Get Lieutenant Kemp, I want to come up with a suitable ambush. We'll take them out before they know what hit them."
"Yes sir," Akida replied. "But there's one other thing."
"And that is?" he asked.
Akida leaned closer to Aidan, so it would be kept just between the two of them. "Our former commander is with them."
"I understand, good work," he said, patting Akida on the shoulder. "Now, go get Kemp."
"Marks!" he called, and one of the soldiers stood up. She walked over to him.
"Yes sir?" she asked.
"There's something I want you to do," he said.
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Julia Marks lie prone on an upper ledge, hidden from view, her sniper rifle pointing in the general direction from where the enemy soldiers were approaching. She, along with Akida, would be the first to see the enemy troops move into the kill zone. Aidan had given her a few specific tasks. First, was that she was to be the signal to start the ambush. Second, was a little different. He had told her who was with the enemy soldiers. That traitor of a former commanding officer.
She had no problem with killing a traitor, but Aidan wanted her to do something different from what she usually did. Normally, a sniper's objective was to eliminate his/her target in one shot, but she would just cripple him Aidan had wanted her to only wound him enough that he wouldn't be able to fight. She had no qualms about making that bastard suffer.
"Target approaching," Akida said in a forcer whisper, gaining her attention. "Fifth to the left."
"Got it," she replied in a similar voice. She zoomed in on the person Akida had specified. True to their words, that was the traitor. He looked like he was bored. She would make him pay for his lack of effort. She zeroed in on his chest, then adjusted her aim until she had a good shot at his right leg. With a calm, almost serene feeling, she squeezed the trigger…
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Meia was crouched behind one of the many rock outcroppings from where the teams had set up there ambush point. This was the first time she would be entering combat in a ground action, in nothing but armor and wielding firearms instead of heavier Dread weaponry. From what she could tell, the enemy was getting closer. Then the crack of a rifle sounded, signaling the start of the ambush.
She was a second slower than the rest of the soldiers in opening fire, as this wasn't her field of expertise. She centered her sights on one of the enemy soldiers and squeezed the trigger of her pulse laser rifle. It spat a series of ruby-colored beams out to it's target, which hit him high in the chest, burning holes through him He dropped unceremoniously to the ground, his chest still smoking.
As soon as it started, it was over. A little over twenty soldiers lay dead or wounded on the ground less than a hundred meters from her position. It was then she saw Aidan get up and walk to over to where the enemy soldiers lay. He was walking over to one that appeared to be wounded.
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His right leg screamed in pain. The bullet that had hit him shattered his knee, almost tearing it off. He lay there, helpless as the men under his command were slaughtered in front of his eyes. Not that he truly cared for their well-being, he saw them as nothing more than assets. And he'd just lost those assets to a small group of enemy soldiers that had set up a perfect ambush that he stupidly stumbled into. He coughed up blood, then saw one of the armored soldiers casually walking up to him, as if mocking him.
He attempted to raise the laser pistol in his left hand, he was going to kill that bastard for being so damn arrogant. Before he could even muster the strength to lift it, the soldier slammed his armored foot down onto his arm. He could feel the bone literally shatter as it was wedged between the armored boot and a rock. He screamed out in pain, as one usually did when one of there bones was completely shattered. He attempted to remove the man's leg from his left arm with his other arm, but couldn't get the strength to even move it. As another attempt at mocking him, the soldier leaned slightly and lifted his helmet's faceplate. Utter surprise, then rage swept over him as he recognized who it was.
"Mercer!" he spat vehemently at the man. "How did you-"
"How do you like it when somebody points a gun at you?" Mercer asked mockingly as he pointed a large handgun at his face.
"Don't you talk like that to me, boy," he spat, anger seething in every word.
"You look pitiful," Mercer said scornfully. "If there is a god, he must be laughing at you right now."
"You, shut the hell up!" he fairly yelled at him. "You have no right-"
"I have every right," Mercer interrupted. "For all the hell you put me through."
"Is this still about that mission?" he asked, once again coughing up blood.
"Partly," Mercer replied. "But I don't have to explain it to you, traitor."
"Even if you kill me," he spoke defiantly. "It won't help the people you've killed."
"Perhaps not," Mercer replied coldly. "But it will help get rid of one more demon."
"Go to hell, you shit!" he yelled in one last act of defiance.
"You first," Mercer replied, tightening his finger on the trigger. He didn't even have time to register the impact of the large bullet blasting through his brain, leaving what was left of it spattered around his corpse.
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Aidan stood over the lifeless form of what used to the traitor that had caused him so much misery. Finally, another demon had been exorcised, finally, the spirits of the family he'd killed could finally rest in peace. He stood there for a few seconds, then turned away in disgust from the rapidly stiffening corpse. The man had paid for his crimes, although it was too quick a death in his opinion. Not that it mattered much now.
"It's finally over…" he said quietly to himself as he walked past the rest of his team, who were standing nearby.
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"I found it!" Hibiki called out as he saw the massive form of the battle cruiser that was their target. For some reason or other, it was held back, apparently in reserve. That made little sense, unless they were holding the line in case of a breakthrough.
"Alright," Jura replied. "Stick to the plan, we'll attack it en masse, then bring it in range of the Nirvana's main weapon. Watch out for that device, don't let it use it."
"It looks like they aren't going to let us through," Barnette said, currently fighting off an enemy fighter.
Hibiki knew, from the amount of enemies from here to that ship, that this was going to be one hell of a fight…
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Getting close to the endgame. Not much longer before I can finish this and get to work on other fics.