I don't own Vandread.
Chapter 4 Last one out get the lights
The team had finally got back together and was now creeping through the station back towards the Command Station. Hibiki was a little down about not having any ammo left, causing him to be a little depressed. Barnette was in the same bind, but she still had two clips left. She knew it wouldn't last her too long, since the enemy had greater numbers than them. Meia was down to one clip, along side with Rain at the moment. Jura had lost her weapon when the first beast, Berserker, appeared and knocked it away. Since they figured the Command Station would be the best place to hide for reason that Rain wouldn't give.
"So, why do you think we should return to the Command Room again?" Barnette asked. Rain grumbled as he walked into the room while taking a seat at one of the chairs. "Why did you suggest this if you have no reason for wanting to come here?"
"We know that this place has only one entrance, so that means we'll be able to see them before they can do anything. It will also give us a chance to think of an attack plan. While we do this, we can have Maya go back in to the system to find Dale." Rain told them.
"What kind of AI is he?" Meia asked.
"He's the smartest of the original five." Rain told her as he plugged Maya back into the system. "There were only five, now there are only two originals and two new ones. Their names of the original two are, Dale and Cole. Dale belongs to Blood. Cole belongs to Willow. Cole has the patients of an old man, though he is only twenty years old, he is sometimes viewed as a wise man. Cole was designed to help translate for Willow since she doesn't like learning new languages. Dale is the smartest, and is often viewed as the meanest. Some people have called him a genius for some of his battle strategies he's come up with."
"He's the smartest of the all AI's?" Hibiki asked.
"Yeah, that's why we need to find him. He'll even be able to help you in making Battle Strategies, Meia." Rain told her before looking over at Jura with a strange expression. "The two knew AI's are called, Maya and Spark. Spark disappeared just a week after you destroyed the first station. It's assigned person went missing the same day as well. He was designed to be the ultimate hacker. He was given to Ryu Ringan, the pilot for the ZGMF X42S Destiny. As for Maya, she was given to Alex. She was designed for the soul purpose of stealth interface with all forms of technology. Since she doesn't need to actually be placed into the station, she can easily interface with anything that she needs to. Alex's suit was also given the same ability for all of his stealth missions he began taking up a few years ago."
"So why would you put her chip in if she doesn't need to have that done?" Meia asked.
"This gives her more power over the system when she gets detected. Though she normally never does, for someone to find her in the system after twenty seconds, I figured she would need all the power she could against that. The only reason she wasn't able to fight him last time was because she wasn't prepared for someone new to be in the system." Rain explained.
"I don't want to be alone anymore." Said the little girl from before. "I'm afraid of the dark."
"We get that." Rain moaned. "Maya, do you have any idea on what she wants?"
"Unfortunately, I do not." She replied. "I find it odd though; she only has a few words and sentences that she can say. It's like she was programmed that way. How odd."
"What is your function?" Jura questioned.
"I am afraid of the dark." She answered. Jura looked at the little girl for a few seconds before sighing.
"Maya, do you know what she can say?" Meia asked.
"Her speech patterns are locked to a set of verbal keys. As for what she says, that is unknown."
"What is your reason for existing in this world?" Barnette questioned.
"I'm afraid of the dark. I don't wanna be alone." She replied. Barnette placed a hand to her chin as she began trying to think of an answer to this strange riddle. She had to admit, it was kind of strange for something like this to say these sorts of things. She still felt like the answer was right there hitting her in the face, but she just couldn't understand it.
"Maya, any idea on what those new ones are weak to?" Hibiki asked.
"You mean the Berserkers?" She questioned.
"Yeah."
"Unfortunately, I have no idea on what they're weak against." She paused as she spun around the room for a second. She stopped in front of the little girl. "Tell me, do you, know what they're weak against?"
"Roses are red, Violets are blue. What was once old is now new." She sang. The team stared at the little girl out of confusion. Maya began humming again as she began scanning the station again for Dale.
"What does that mean?" Jura asked. Barnette had to admit, she was stumped over that. She thought she had heard just about every riddle there ever was, but this one was way out there, even for her.
"Any ideas Rain?" Meia asked. Rain was replaying the song as he tried to figure it out. Meia knew that he liked riddles since she had found him in his room with a riddle book one day, alongside a math book that she didn't even know was a type of math. Rain stated that despite the fact that he worked in the military, he was still going to school so that he had some kind of future where he could do other things besides fight.
"It's a riddle about our technology." He stated as he stood up. "Roses are red; that means that bullets make red blood." Barnette and Meia nodded at this. Hibiki was too busy staring at the girl. "Violets are blue; I think what she was talking about was Plasma based weapons. All Plasma weapons we've made shoot blue plasma. That's what that means. What was once old, meaning those weapons, is now new. That means that the old weapons we have on here, that we never use anymore, will work on them." Hibiki looked at him in confusion. Rain caught the look and answered. "Plasma burns people, but if you turn up the heat on it, it can practically melt flesh in two shots."
"Is there any armory around here that we can get it at?" Barnette asked.
"Yes, directly three floors bellow that is." Maya announced. Rain nodded and walked over to the control panel he placed Maya in. "If I'm reading this right, Dale is no longer in the system, meaning that what ever that thing from before was, either grabbed him like he said he did, been moved to a new station and we haven't seen or heard from him yet, or he's in a body that doesn't have a transmitter like your PDA." Maya stated before she was pulled. Rain placed her back in his PDA so she could finish. "But chances are, he's in one of the Strike Force members, and that means we'll be corpse diving."
"Let's hit the armory first." Rain suggested. "If we get there, then we can mow down any inhuman son of bitch, dumb enough to get between us, Dale, and our ship."
"Agreed." They replied in unison.
"Alright then, Maya, lead the way." Meia ordered.
"Gladly; turn left out here, then take a right after crossing the first T section. After that, there'll be a large flight of stairs, but I think you can take the elevator now." Maya stopped as soon as Hibiki complained about the elevator music from before. "You'll just have to deal with it." She moaned. Hibiki grumbled as she continued. "Once you're down, I'll explain the directions further. Now go."
Rain nodded and looked out of the large hole/door that the Berserker had made. He motioned for the team to move up as he spun around into the corridor, aiming his weapon as he went. Barnette took up a position next to Jura beside the wall where Rain once was. Meia was beside Rain with Hibiki to her side, checking the rear. When they were all out, they nodded to continue the mission. Rain moved up first, heading straight down the corridor, checking every angle as he ran down the center. Meia was behind him, with Hibiki close behind. Once again, Jura and Barnette were close together and bringing up the rear.
"Right here, take a right, right here." Maya said.
The team stopped and filed behind Rain. Rain peeked his head around the corner to see if there were any unwanted monsters on the other side. There was two Special Forces units in the center of the hallway. Rain moaned as he looked down at his pouch. He had half a clip left, no grenades, a bag full of strange tricks, and a few good soldiers. He slowly turned around to look at them.
"We've got two of the Special units in the center. I don't have any grenades, and only a few tricks up my sleeve." Rain whispered. Meia bite her bottom lip. "Barnette, you got anything that could take it out?" Barnette shook her head. "Damn it. We gotta think of something, because I don't wanna use the C4 just yet. I'd rather wait and use it, rather than use it now and need it later."
"Is there another way to the armory?" Jura asked. Rain shook his head while turning back around to look back out at the hallway. The strange monsters were still there.
"What if we shot the floor out from under them or dropped the roof on them." Hibiki whispered. Rain thought about that for a minute before shaking his head.
"No, we need to conserve ammo. There's no telling on how many of these morons could be waiting for us at the bottom of the elevator." Meia stated. "We need to sneak past them somehow."
"What about that Camo thingy?" Jura whispered. Rain perked up at that. "Couldn't we use that to get away from them or around them?"
"Yeah, but the problem is that it can't hide all of us, meaning some of us might get eaten." Rain stated. Rain began thinking about a way to use the device. He looked back at the strange beasts that were starting to walk in circles. "How fast are they?"
"What?" Meia questioned.
"How fast are they? Could they catch up to any of you when you tried to runaway from them?" The team looked between each other before nodding. "So there slow?" The team gave him a mild response to that. "Okay then, hears the plan. I'll take the Camo and lure them away while you run to the elevator with Maya guiding you." Rain pulled his left PDA off and handed it to Meia. Meia slowly took it and placed it on her wrist while Jura handed him the device. "Listen, don't worry about me. I'll catch up as soon as I can. Have Maya crack the password to the armory so you can get the weapons. Don't come searching for me. Just wait in the armory for me." The team nodded as he placed the device in his pouch.
Rain took a deep breath and ran out into the open, yelling, "Come and get me, you bastards!" as he began running to the left of the team. The strange beasts just roared at him before giving chase. The team stood still against the wall, hoping they could melt into it or something when the monsters ran by without noticing them. Meia breathed a sigh of relief as she checked to make sure that nothing was coming. When she was convinced that nothing was, she motioned for them to follow her.
One by one they ran towards the elevator that sat coiled by the staircase. Meia looked back at the end of the corridor before punching the elevator door open. The team moaned as they took up their defensive position again while waiting for the elevator to show. A few seconds later, the elevator arrived and the team jumped in. Hibiki instantly complained about the music, causing Maya to grown at his pickiness towards music.
Once they were down to their designated area, the door opened, and Meia beat Barnette to shooting the first monster they had found on the first station in the face. Maya once again, came up with a strange name as she preferred to call them, "Grunts" since they seemed to be high in numbers, and not very smart. Meia took up Rain's position in yelling at the AI about it not being the right time or place to name things. With a heavy sigh, Maya began giving directions again.
"Okay, in order to get to the armory, we need to take a short cut." She began. "The best way is to go two corridors down, then turn left at the third T section, and then run as fast as you can to the armory. The number on the door is 501, so you can't miss it."
"Anything else we need to know about?" Hibiki asked.
"Yes, there are at least eighteen of those Special Forces units guarding the hallway we need to go down. That's why I said we need to run as fast as we can." Maya stated. Meia groaned as she looked around the first corridor they came to.
"Is there anyway around them?" Hibiki asked.
"Sorry, but no there is not." Maya told them. "If you can out run them, like you did before, you might be able to get to the armory before they catch you."
"But we still need to worry about the password." Barnette stated. "Rain said you needed to crack it when we get there. How can we put you in the system so you're strong enough to fight back that thing from before if it shows up, while we're running for our lives?"
"I can wirelessly transmit myself into the system so that I can crack it. It won't take me more then a few seconds to crack it. I can have the door open before you get there. Just remember to run like hell and you'll be fine." Maya said before flickering away. Meia lowered her arm as she looked around the corner to the said number of monsters. She counted them just to make sure that Maya was right on her count.
She was right. There were eighteen of them and they all looked rather hungry. Meia sighed as she looked back at her team. "Let's go." She whispered. The team nodded and followed Meia as she ran out of her hiding spot, and straight towards the said monsters. The monsters roared as the team appeared. They were lucky that the monsters were rather slow on response time to their evasion tactics. The team was lucky that they were faster than them, and that the creatures were also rather stupid since they often ran into each other or speared themselves.
Meia made it to the other end of the corridor where they were greeted by the same girl from before. Meia quickly ran in, turned to the team, and saw that they were slowly making their way through the slew of monsters. Hibiki was the closes to her and having a hard time in dealing with them.
Hibiki went sliding through in between the legs of the last Special Forces unit before sliding up right onto his feat to finish running into the room. Once he was inside, he started panting hard. "I… can't remember… the last time… I ran that hard." He gasped. Meia nodded as she watched Jura run into the room. Jura too crashed to the ground as she began catching her breath. Meia looked over at Barnette and gasped when she found her cornered.
"Shit!" She yelled as she began looking for a weapon. Barnette let out a painful cry, forcing her to look faster.
Barnette cried in pain as the long scythe blade left her side. The large beast readied its weapon again, ready to end her life. Barnette looked up as the blade began falling to hit her head. She closed her eyes as she waited for the white light that would take her to Heaven. She stopped when she felt nothing. She opened her eye to see the long weapon broken in half and laying on the ground. The beast didn't waste anytime on the new development, and sliced its wrist, letting its blood spill to the floor. Barnette was still in to much pain to move, and was forced to just watch as the blood began to melt the floor. Within two seconds, the floor broke loose and she fell through. Barnette screamed in fear as she fell to her certain death, but stopped when something grabbed her arm She looked up to see Rain leaning over the side, her wrist in hand, and his other hand clutching the floor to keep them from falling.
"You know, I knew someone that never asked me for help too." Rain grunted as he smiled down at her. Barnette just stared at him for a moment before her face contorted in pain and she instinctually grabbed her wounded gut. A barrage of blue lights went whistling above them. Rain looked up to see the last Special Forces Unit falling to the ground dead. "Shit." He whispered.
"Interesting weapons you guys make." Hibiki stated as he walked over the two pilots with a smirk on his face. Rain just grumbled a low, "Screw you" as he began swinging back and forth before finally throwing Barnette to the floor. Barnette cried in pain as she landed. Rain soon joined her, gasping for air as he held his left shoulder. "You two okay?" Hibiki asked.
"I got hit… in the side…" Barnette winced in pain as Rain helped her up. "I just need… some rest." She stated. Rain nodded as he helped her into the room while going to the back of it to look for something. Meia went to her side as she began helping her take her top off. Barnette guessed she was lucky that she was wearing a bra today when Meia got her suit off.
The wound was at least three to four inches long and had gone all the way through her. The exit wound was smaller though, no bigger than a half an inch. Rain came back with a bunch of bandages and a blue stick. Rain laid her down as he pulled the blue stick out and put it on the top of the wound. Barnette gasped in pain as a purple laser stung her flesh.
"This will close the wound." Rain calmly stated. "Its super heats the flesh and melds it together before rapidly cooling it to make sure no cell damage happens. This is normally used in surgeries to help in the recovery rate." Rain helped her sit up so he could get to her back. Rain quickly closed the wound. He smiled as he finished up before putting the tool away and picking up some bandages. His eyes caught site of a two inch scar that was in her gut on the left side. From the place it sat, it would have definitely cut one of her Ovaries in half. Rain closed his eyes as he finished wrapping her wounds up. Barnette blushed slightly as she had him help her put her clothes on.
"We should start taking things slowly for now." Rain stated. Meia nodded as she looked over at the closed door, wondering if the enemy was outside waiting for them. She sighed as she stopped thinking about it.
"Well, we made it to the armory, so now what?" Hibiki asked. Rain stood up and walked to the back of the room. Hibiki sighed as he finally got a look at the room. It was the same as before, only this one had strange weapons that he didn't know they were.
"So, what now?" Barnette asked as she winced in pain again. She looked down at her side with a scowl on her face. She looked over at Rain with a sad face. She now felt bad about all the bad things she had said to him since he had joined up with them. But still, she did have to admit, he was a total jerk.
"We need to take things slow so you don't tear the soft flesh I just mended together." He stated calmly. Barnette nodded at this as she gripped her side slightly. "We should rest for a minute before heading out again. This'll give us a chance to think of a plan to figure out where Dale is."
"Where do you think he is though?" Hibiki questioned. "Maya said she couldn't detect him anymore, so that means he's dead, right?"
"No, he's still here." Rain whispered as he pointed to something. The team looked back to see the same girl. Rain ran a hand through his hair as he sighed and looked at some of the weapons. "Man, this is really getting strange."
"Hey, what's this?" Rain looked over at Hibiki as he pointed to something on the computer. "Why is there a computer in here? I don't remember seeing one on the other two stations. What gives?"
"Some installations have computers in every room." Maya said. "Though, I am more curious about this power build up on the screen." Hibiki looked at where she was floating by. A large purple pulse was slowly emitted around a room on the ship. "If I'm analyzing this right, it would appear that all the emergency power was being diverted to that location."
"What is it?" Jura asked.
"It's the infirmary." She answered.
Rain looked over at the screen as he slowly walked to it. "That's the place where the pod was." He mussed. The team looked over at him. "It all makes sense now." He whispered.
"What makes sense?" Barnette questioned.
"Why the emergency power wasn't coming on. It wasn't blown or anything, it was being diverted there to keep that barrier up at all times."
"Why?" Jura asked.
"To keep the pod safe. Dale must have known that someone would send a team of soldiers to rescue him and the pod, and since he can't control the system while he'd be away, he made sure to divert all power from the emergency generators to it incase the power went out." Rain walked over to the little girl. "He also left us a clue to his whereabouts." He motioned the girl. "You're Dale, aren't you?"
"I am me. I am only myself." She answered.
"Only Dale would do something like this. He's been right here this whole time I just didn't see him." Rain said with a smile.
"But how can that be?" Meia asked. "Maya said he was no longer in the station. This can't be him. Unless…"
"Unless he left a piece of himself in the system to help anyone that came here to find them." Barnette finished. She smiled at the little girl. "But why can't he tell us where he is if he's still in the system?"
"It's because he constantly gives people riddles when he wants to get a good laugh." Rain said with a grin. "As to why he can't just tell us, I think it has something to do with his selection of words he can say."
"Why do you say that?" Hibiki questioned.
"Think about it. Dale has lived in this station for years now, so diverting power circuits would be rather simple. That's why the door had that strange barrier on it. It makes sense when you think about it. As for where he is, he's obviously in someone that doesn't have a transmitter like my PDA, or he would have been detected when Maya went into the system."
"But what makes you think this is him?" Meia asked.
"I don't know, it just makes sense." Rain stated.
"Yeah right." Barnette grumbled.
"No, it makes sense." Hibiki stated. The others looked at him in confusion. "This girl is the person he was placed in. I remember seeing a little girl when we first got here. I saw her after we left the reactor room. He's has to be there."
"Are you sure?" Jura questioned.
"He's right." Rain stated as he looked over at Hibiki. "I remember seeing her after we left. That was when I saw her for the first time. I saw her just as we were leaving the Reactor Room before we found all of those bodies."
"So all we have to do is get back to the area, retrieve Dale, set the detonation sequence, and then run like hell to the hanger." Meia stated.
"Okay, but what about weapons?" Barnette questioned.
Rain smirked and walked over to a nearby case and picked up a large weapon. He placed the weapon on his back. (A/N. This weapon looks like the Spartan Laser from Halo 3. It will be one of the two weapons I'll use from Halo 3. It's just not as big as the actual weapon and doesn't have that five second charge time.) Rain smiled and picked up another weapon and threw it to Meia. Meia smiled and looked at it for a few seconds before placing the weapon on her back. (A/N. This is the last weapon. This weapon looks like the Plasma Cannon and is not as big as it actually is. Both weapons are as big as the standard M14 Carbine.)
"What about us?" Jura asked. Rain smirked and broke a glass case below the holder that held the first two weapons. He reached in and pulled out two weapons that Barnette remembered quite well.
"Hey, that's the AS50 Sniper Rifle that Alex converted to Semi Auto." She stated. "But how can that help us? We already know that they don't work against the new ones."
"Easy, these ones shoot plasma like these ones." He replied with a grin as he threw the weapon to Jura. "Don't worry; they don't kick like the ballistic rounds do." Rain assured her.
"Thanks." She muttered.
Rain sighed and pulled out the same two weapons from before and handed them to Hibiki and Barnette. Barnette smiled and cocked the weapon before putting it on her back. Hibiki grinned and did the same, but decided to keep his in his hands. Rain looked over at Barnette as she walked over to another case. Rain watched as she broke the case and picked up a few grenades. She threw a few to Rain with a brow raised. Rain looked at them for a few seconds before throwing them back. Barnette just sighed as she placed her new tools of destruction in her teal covered vest that she got from the first station.
"So, got a plan?" Maya asked.
"I figured we'd just shoot our way there." Rain stated with a smile. Maya just groaned. "If that doesn't work, then we'll run like hell all the way to the corpse."
"Okay, let's go." Hibiki stated. The team nodded and Maya opened the door. Barnette shot the new arrival, Berserker, in the face with a plasma round that melted it away. No one stopped to stare as the corpse smashed into the ground while they ran back to the elevator.
The team stopped short as a new arrival appeared. This one was by far the strangest looking one they had ever seen. The creature had large bat wings that had a wing span of four feet. The thing had a long flat tail like the first two monsters, only this one didn't have the point at the end. Instead it had a club on the end with a bunch of spikes. It slithered on the ground like a snake since it didn't have any back legs to walk on. It had two long arms that had the same kind of claws like the Special Forces units, only these weren't as long as theirs, just about two feet in length. Its head truly resembled a dragons', and its skin was just the same, scaly and hard. The creature had one eye that was yellow with a golden pyramid for a pupil. A large row of teeth finished the large beast, giving it the creepy appearance.
"Snargons." Rain stated.
"Excuse me?" Maya snapped.
"You named the last one; I get to name this one." Rain stated. Maya could be heard growling as Rain began chuckling at the mad AI. Meia was about to yell at him, but the strange beast flew into the air and began flying towards them. Rain smirked, raised his weapon, and blasted a large wave of energy into the mouth of the creature, expanding the creature into a large balloon before popping.
"Jezz, that thing is cool!" Hibiki gasped with a large smile.
"Yeah, remind me to never get in front of that damn thing." Jura gasped.
"Can do." Rain replied with a large grin. Two more of the strange beasts appeared from behind. Meia spun around and opened up with a volley of blue pelts that melted them into Swiss cheese.
"Holy crap that thing is cool!" Barnette yelled with a grin. Meia just smiled as she placed the weapon on her back. The team just smiled at their new weapons before running down the corridor towards the elevator again.
Rain was up front, leading the way with Maya to guide him. Meia was behind him, blasting anything that got in their way, away with deadly accuracy. Barnette was following closely behind them, shooting the weaker monsters that were further ahead with dead on accuracy that Rain swore would put Blood to shame. Jura was doing the same as Barnette with Hibiki. The team was doing really well and finally made it to their destination without having anything get in their way.
Rain pressed the button to call for the elevator while the team watched out for their unwanted guests. "Anything?" he questioned.
"Yeah, nothing but white walls." Hibiki joked. Rain forced himself to not shoot Hibiki for being an idiot. "Hey, you asked." He defended.
The elevator door opened and the team filed in. The team was once again forced to deal with the strange elevator music that always seemed to play. The door opened, Hibiki and Jura shot the new monster in the face, killing it instantly, and then ran like their lives depended on it. The team pasted the Reactor Room on the way. For some reason, they were once again running away from a Special Forces unit. The creature might have been a twin of the one they ran into at the first station since it crashed into a wall after the team shot the door loose to run through it.
The team stood against the wall as they breathed a sigh of a relief. They just sat there as they waited for they had their air again.
"I swear that thing is as dumb as the last one." Hibiki gasped. The team gave a low laugh as they slowly stood up. "Okay, she should be around here somewhere."
The team nodded and slowly began looking for the body. Hibiki took over near the corner where a large number of dead bodies lay against the wall. Barnette was looking near a wall that had a bunch of kids holding onto their parents and soldiers. Meia was making sure that nothing got in behind them. Rain was doing the same further down near the Strike Force that had been sent in. Jura was just looking at the many faces of children, men, and women.
"Damn, not her either." Hibiki whispered. Hibiki sighed as he looked over at another body. It wasn't her either. He looked over at an area that Barnette was walking towards. His eyes caught sight of something strange moving across the area. Hibiki stopped and watched as the strange thing flickered around the room. It vanished around the corner. Hibiki followed it as the same thing continued to flicker around the room. Hibiki soon found himself staring down at something strange.
Loneliness. Hibiki thought. He's alone, and stuck in the form of the person he's bound to. He wants to be free of the thing that binds him to this station, but I think at the same time, he never wanted to truly leave it. It was a message written in blood on the wall.
"What are you trying to tell us?" Hibiki whispered.
"Loneliness." Hibiki spun around to see the little girl. He smiled at the sight. "I am alone. You are alone. We are alone. I don't want to be alone. You don't want to be alone. You show compassion for things that have run out of time, yet at the same time, you chose to not listen to your own words. Why?"
"You want to leave this place, but at the same time, you want to stay here with the dead, because this is your home." Hibiki looked at one of the nearby corpses. "You want to stay here, because you feel its right to stay with those that you feel connected to. You don't want to cut those bonds just yet, do you?"
"We are alone when we are born. I am no different from you. I was born alone. I was given a task I didn't want. I know you, but you don't know me. Strange, isn't it?" Hibiki nodded. "Will you take me away from here? Will you take him away from here?"
"I came here to rescue the life pod and find Dale. If you are a part of him, then yes, I'm here to take you away from here." Hibiki said.
"Dale is this way." She pointed down the hallway to the end of a long blood filled corridor. "He, who treads the path of light, can save all that chooses to follow him."
"What religion do you believe in then?" Hibiki asked as he stopped to turn to the AI. The girl was gone. "I guess since you're a computer, you wouldn't have one, would you?" He questioned. He got no answer. He didn't figure he would anyways. Hibiki walked to the end of the hallway and found the girl he had seen before. "I found you." He whispered. Hibiki picked up the bear and reached inside the torn stomach. He looked down with sad eyes at the little girl as he pulled out a chip. It was labeled "Dale" in bold letters. "I'll take both of you out of here." He stated firmly. Hibiki pocketed the chip and slowly picked up the dead child. He was lucky that she didn't weigh much and that her body was still in good condition.
(-)
"Where the hell is Hibiki at?!" Rain yelled. The team had been looking for him for nearly five minutes after they noticed he had disappeared. Rain had become increasingly worried when he realized that Hibiki didn't answer his radio.
"I don't know, but I'll kill him when I find him." Barnette said as she looked around the corridor for him. "Hibiki, you idiot, where are you?!" She yelled.
"Right here." He answered. The team turned with hate filled eyes before widening as they saw him carrying the same little girl that had been appearing before them. "I found them. I found both of them." He said while pulling out the chip with a free hand. Rain smiled as he plucked the chip from Hibiki and placed it in his PDA.
"He's been offline for nearly eight days." Maya said as she appeared. "There's a lot of damage done to his systems, and it will take some time to wake him up. But I think he should be okay."
Rain turned to face Hibiki who was looking down at the girl. "She helped us find him, I only thought we should show some respect for her; even if we don't know her name." He whispered. Rain nodded and took her into his grasp while Hibiki looked down at the ground. "To think, the answer to his location had been staring at us right from the beginning."
"It doesn't matter." Rain told him. "I'm sure that she tried her hardest to get away. I'll respect your wishes, Hibiki." Rain stated as he bowed his head slightly. "You may just prove me wrong about my beliefs on your people." Hibiki smiled at that and nodded.
"Now the only thing we have to do is set the timer to blow this place and we can…" Barnette began.
"I will take care of it." The little girl once again appeared. "I had already programmed the detonation sequence into the computer before he was yanked by Commander Neo, and placed in her care. For the record, her name is Asuka. She was a blind child that came here to receive surgery for her eyes."
"It's a recording." Rain told them.
"When this message ends, you will have six minutes to get off this station. I have made sure that the power to this lift is kept on, no matter what. If you have not found the life pod in the infirmary, then please say "No" right now. If you have found it, then just start running. I hope that you can escape with me before the blast eradicates those monsters." The team nodded and walked towards the elevator as the station began to power down. "Make sure to open Pandora's Box all the way. Keep it open, and pray miracle for. down System shutting." The AI stammered.
(-)
No one wanted to talk. They only had six minutes left, and the ship was about a two minute walk away. Rain was still carrying the body that held Dale. The chip was still in his PDA. Meia was looking over at Hibiki. Hibiki was just staring at the little girl. He couldn't believe that she held the AI, and that she was blind. Barnette too was looking at the child, trying to understand how tough her life must have been. Jura was slightly disgusted by the body, but had to admit, she felt like they were doing the right thing.
The doors opened and the team quickly made their way to the shuttle. Rain and Barnette were up front while the others strapped themselves in for the ride. Rain and Barnette took one look back at the team before blasting off. Hibiki was holding the little girl as they took off. He couldn't believe that he would actually request such a strange thing, but somehow, he felt like it was the right thing to do.
"The station will be exploding in five seconds." Rain told them as he killed the engines. "Don't worry, it's a new type of fusion reactor that emits more energy, but has less bang for your buck. You wanna take a look?" He walked over to the back hatch and looked out the window as the station exploded.
"To think, all we had to do was find the AI and pod, and then this would have been over." Meia mumbled. She looked over at Hibiki. "Somehow, I think it was worth it, despite all the injuries we got." She looked over at Barnette as she held her side again. "I sure hope that Magno will respect Hibiki's wish, since she wasn't one of our own."
"No, she will." Jura said. "She's a part of the human race. I'm sure that not even she will turn a blind eye to this little child. Not after we tell her what she did to help us."
"She's a part of my people too, so I'll at least care for her. I know that she has family on our station, so I'm certain that when we send them a message on what happened, the family will be happy to know their daughter helped us and that we made sure that she would rest in piece." Maya stated. The team nodded as the shuttle flew towards the Nirvana.
(-)
"It's confirmed, the colony has exploded." Celtic stated. Magno took a deep breath as she waited for the good news. Everyone was getting pretty worried after the team hit the two hour mark.
"I hope they're alright." Ezra said sadly.
"If they aren't, then I'm sure they're in a better place, watching over us." Magno replied sadly. "Just keep the channels open for an hour or so. I'm sure they'll appear soon. Bart, stop the ship and get out. Take a break or something." She ordered. The Navigation Chamber lit up as Bart appeared.
"What about the pod?" Belvedere asked. Magno turned to look at her. "Parfait says it's well encrypted with a strange riddle. What should we do?"
"Tell her to take a break and let her mind rest. I'm sure that person has been in there for some time. I'm sure they can wait a few more hours before waking up." She told her as her chair was lifted up into her room.
Ezra nodded as she delivered the message to Parfait. Parfait sighed, but did as she was told. Belvedere just watched the radar for the shuttle or the enemy. Celtic went back to looking at the stars with Amarone. BC began talking with Bart as they waited for the bad or good news. Ezra gasping brought smiles their faces as she hastily began calling out to the approaching shuttle that was quickly displayed on a screen.
"Meia, Rain, can you hear us?" Ezra called out.
A display of Rain and Meia appeared. "Yeah, we're fine." Rain stated. "We have Dale, and someone that needs to be put to rest for her efforts in helping us with the mission." Everyone on the bridge gasped. "Don't worry, it wasn't one of yours." He assured them.
"Her name is Asuka." Hibiki said. The team looked as another display showed him holding her body. The sight was slightly gruesome, but at the same time, kind of sad in a strange cool way. To those on that saw it, it looked as if Hibiki was crying over her death, while those on the shuttle could see him just staring at her in confusion and sadness. "She helped us find him, so I only thought that…"
"Don't worry, Hibiki." BC stated. "We'll show her respect as we send her to a peaceful sleep. You have my word." Hibiki could be seen smiling sadly as he looked up. BC smiled sadly as she looked at the dead child. So young.
"We'll be there in two minutes." Rain told them. With that, the screens fuzzed away leaving the crew to wonder what happened on the station that would have Hibiki wanting to show respect to a dead women. They pushed the thought from their minds as the shuttle appeared on their screens again, this time it was in the hanger.
"Let's get the preparation started." BC whispered. The bridge bunnies all nodded. "I'll go tell the Captain." She told them as she walked away.
(-)
The shuttle landed in the hanger with no problems. Techs were on standby while Duerro and Paiway waited for them to get out to be checked over for any serious injuries. The first to exit was Rain and Barnette. Barnette was forced to use Rain as a crutch since she has torn her wound open and was slowly losing blood. Duerro instantly snatched her up and placed her on a stretcher to carry her. The next one to come out was Meia. She turned back to look at something in the ship. Jura came out next. She too looked back at something. Dita and Paiway were waiting for Hibiki to walk out. He did so with the little girl known as Asuka in his arms. Those that had yet to know about the funeral almost jumped out of their skin at the sight of the dead girl. Hibiki didn't pay any attention as he walked by them and over to BC who was looking at him sadly.
"I'm sorry to trouble you all like this, but can we try to clean her up. She helped us and I thought…"
"Hibiki, when I said don't worry about it, I meant it." BC told him as she took the little girl. "We'll clean her up and put her in a dress for her funeral."
"Thanks." He said sadly as he looked down at his blood soaked cloths. "I guess we better take a shower before we do anything, huh?" He questioned. BC nodded. With that, the team split up and left the hanger for the showers.
(-)
Nearly three hours later, everyone was back in the hanger to send the little girl out into space in a coffin that would allow her to sleep for ever in peace. She had been cleaned up as best she could and placed in a white silk dress for it. Paiway had fixed her little bear for her, claiming that she might get lonely with out it. Magno was the one to say the prayer for the little girl before she was sent into space. Rain saluted her as her coffin left the hanger.
(-)
The next day, everyone stood in the Engine Room staring down at the life pod. A few Techs had been zapped as a response to answering the password that protected it wrong. Parfait and Rain were down at the control just staring at it.
"Okay, so what does it say?" Rain finally asked. Parfait had spent the last ten minutes telling him what it wasn't and how painful it was when she got zapped.
"It says, "I was given this gift for the world to see, but told not open it. I chose not to listen, and open it. I saw many things. I saw plagues, death, hatred, sadness, loneliness, and fear. I released them into this world, but closed it before I wanted anything else to escape that box given to me by my creator. What lies within this box is the last thing left in that box." Do you know what it means?"
"It's a riddle." Meia stated.
"Yeah, but an easy one." Rain stated. Parfait looked at him in confusion. "It's referring to Pandora's Box. It was a gift given to her by the Gods that created the first humans. It was said to contain all the horrors that we have now. It's referring to the last thing that had not escaped into this world."
"And what would that be?" Paiway asked.
Rain smiled as he began typing. Parfait watched as he was not once zapped. She followed his fingers as they slowly pressed the keys to release the barrier and open the pod. "Hope." She read. Rain nodded as a purple barrier appeared before fading away.
"The barrier is down. You should be able to open it up now." He told her as he walked away. Parfait stared at his retreating form before working on opening the pod. Rain walked past Meia as he said, "His final riddle was based off of something he doesn't believe in. How strange," while walking away.
Meia turned to speak, but a thick cloud of gas escaped the pod causing her to look back as the lid slid off. She watched as Hibiki gracefully crashed into the pod as an act of wanting to see what was going on. This resulted in a very funny moment with, Misty Cornwell, the girl that had been in cold sleep inside the life pod as the data on the pod said, grabbing a hold of Hibiki and yelling about her Prince in shinning armor coming to her rescue.
So this is the hope for our box? Meia thought as she watched the scene before her. She smiled as she walked away, listening to a scared Hibiki cry for help while Parfait was trying to ask her something about the little football shaped object she had with her.