Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread. I did make Kagen and I am ready to cooperate with anyone if they want to put him into another story.
In the Hangar
Kagen is repairing his Vanguard when Meia, Barnette, Jura and Hibiki come by. Kagen asks, "Where are you guys going?"
Meia says, "We are going on an away mission."
Kagen says, "You can count me in. I'll need a weapon though." Kagen looks around and finds a weapons closet. He picks a sword and a pistol. He puts on a gun belt and hooks the sheath to it. Kagen then gets in his replacement Vanguard and starts it up. He launches and then they all are aboard the space station.
Jura asks, "Hey, is there anything there? All the pretty clothes are mine!" Kagen shakes his head and sends more stuff on the hover-lift back to the cargo ship, where it dumps the stuff and then comes back.
On the Bridge
BC asks, "This is a Mission? I've never seen one."
Magno says, "It was a relay base during the terraforming days. But now it's completely dead. It feels forlorn now.
Barnette says, "There seem to be many things here worth using. I wonder where is the food."
Dita says, "I'm surprised the captain remembered this space station."
Pyoro says, "It's not a space station. It's officially called a Mission."
Kagen says, "Well Pyoro, If I was calling you by your official name I'd be calling you screw-up. Because that is what you officially are. Then again I've never really been official."
Meia says, "Enough chitchat. Get to work."
Pyoro says, "Work? It's just looting as part of your pirating!"
Kagen says, "And guess what Pyoro. You are part of a pirate crew. Therefore you are a pirate so get to pirating!"
Pyoro says, "You should give accurate orders."
Kagen gets up at that and takes a data-card out of his pocket and lays it on Pyoro's scanner. Kagen takes his card back and says, "There! Now you have a list to go by. Now get to work!"
Kagen goes back to detaching a cryo-liquid tube. He lifts it out and starts walking to the cargo ship. He gets there and puts it down softly. He starts to come back and hears something so he pulls out his sword and gun.
He hears Hibiki's voice say, "Where'd it go?" He hears a bang as something falls from a rafter. It turns out to be a monkey. Hibiki says,
"What is that thing?" The monkey suddenly attacks Pyoro and starts licking him.
Pyoro is screaming, "Hibiki, hurry up and save me!"
An unknown guy walks up to Hibiki from behind and says,
"Stop it, Utan." Hibiki turns around to see who is talking. He asks, "Are you a man? You are! Are you here to save us!" Hibiki runs up to the stranger and the stranger pulls a gun with his right hand. Hibiki bewilderedly asks,
"What are you doing?" Rabat hears someone coming and quickly grabs Hibiki and uses him as a shield. Meia points her laser ring at the stranger. He says,
"A woman?" Meia asks, "What about it?"
The stranger stands up and let go of Hibiki saying, "It's my policy to never kill women."
Kagen steps up behind him and puts the gun to his head with his left hand. The stranger says, "A man. You made a foolish mistake getting that close with that weapon."
Kagen asks with a knowing smile drawing his blade with his right hand,
"Did I?" The stranger quickly spins to his left and strikes the gun from Kagen's hand, only to find Kagen's blade at his throat before he can bring his gun to bear on him. The stranger says,
"Right, right. Looks like I have the short end of the stick." Kagen knocks the gun from him and it lands near his own gun lies. Jura comes and puts her blade to his neck as well. Kagen pulls back and with draws his sword from the stranger's throat. He walks over to the guns and holsters them both in his belt.
Jura asks, "What's this? A man?" Kagen laughs and says,
"You mean you can't tell by looking at him? He is way too ugly to pass as girl." Barnette walks up and trains her pistol on the stranger as well. The stranger asks,
"Are you thugs or something?" Meia says,
"We prefer to be called pirates." The stranger asks pointing to Hibiki,
"Oh? Even that girl over there?" Hibiki angrily says,
"I'm a guy!" The stranger starts laughing and says, "That's a good one!" Hibiki asks,
"W-What's so funny?" The stranger says, "Oh, sorry about that. You're just so cute, I couldn't help but think you were a girl." Hibiki says under his breath,
"Damn him…" Dita screams as Utan grabs on to her leg and starts to lick it. Dita is screaming,
"No! What…! What is this filthy thing! Let go of me! Help!" The stranger points over to the crisis and Meia nods. The stranger says,
"That's enough from you, Utan. Sheesh, your partner's in a crisis here. You're so useless." He then takes Pyoro from Utan and throws him at Meia knocking her down. Barnette says,
"Damn you!" Utan attacks her preventing her from shooting. Jura slashes at him but he does a back flip and avoids her slash. He then turns around into Kagen's blade once again. He says,
"You might be a worthy challenge. But I don't have time for this. At that the whole station shakes and the stranger gets away from Kagen's blade in the confusion. Utan points at the stranger's throat as they run. He puts his hand there, and it comes away with two very thin lines of blood.
Kagen pushes a button on his wrist comm. to start his Vanguard up.
Kagen says, "The doors are closing! Hurry!"
Meia and Barnette trip as they run back to the hangar. A door starts to close on them. Kagen catches it, pushes it up, and says, "Could ya move out of the way of the door? I can't hold it forever!"
Meia and Barnette crawl out from under the door and Kagen drops it. The last door closes in front of them. Meia says, "At least we aren't separated. But how do we get this last door open?"
Kagen says, "Let me concentrate for a moment, I'll get it open." He sits down and starts to meditate holding his sword in front of him. His sword starts to glow a faint green color. It steadily gets brighter until there is a sort of aura around it. Kagen then stands up and slices the door diagonally.
Barnette looks at the door and says, "It looks like you didn't even scratch it."
She sighs and leans on the door. It falls apart. Kagen jumps into his Vanguard and hits a button. His Vanguard immediately locks down and launches back to the Nirvana. Kagen calls Hibiki and says before passing out,
"Hibiki, I used up all my energy slicing through that door, you guys will be on your own for this round."
The Stranger finally gets to his ship and gets in the pilot seat. He says to his companion, "We're heading out, Utan." He looks over and sees that Utan still has Pyoro and says, "Come on, Utan."
The enemies launch from the Mission.
On the bridge
BC says, "All hands, prepare for battle!"
Barnette says, "Everyone, hurry! Targets confirmed!"
Meia says, "We'll destroy them all before they reach the Nirvana."
Dita says, "Leave the big ones to me! Hey, where's Mr. Alien?"
Hibiki says, "Damn it, too slow!"
Dita looks back and sees him. She says, "Oh, there he is! Mr. Alien, let's combine!"
He passes her and says, "No way!"
Dita asks, "Why!"
Meia interrupts her saying, "Dita, they're coming!"
Hibiki shouts, "Damn you!" He hits the first one with his axe and then turns and slices one that was behind him. Several more start shooting at him and he dodges their shots. They try to chase him but are shot down by Meia.
The stranger coolly flies his ship through the battle not getting hit by anything. Utan starts to beg the stranger. He says, "Not yet, Utan. Just hang on." The ape continues to beg and he forcefully says, "I said not yet."
Hibiki grabs on to an enemy by its appendage and then slings it into another enemy. Another enemy rams into him and he catches it and barely holds it off him. Jura pulls up behind him and asks,
"Well?" Hibiki looks at her and asks, "What?" Jura says,
"Let's combine." Hibiki says, "No way!" Dita pulls up in between them and shouts,
"Mr. Alien! Let's combine!" Hibiki shouts, "Hey, stop that!" They combine and Dita is saying, "I did it! I did it!" Hibiki says,
"Let me do this by myself." Jura says,
"I can't believe this! I won't let you forget this!" Dita very defiantly says,
"I already forgot it happened! Well let's head out!" Hibiki slaps his forehead into the palm of his hand. Vandread Dita's cannons flip into place and it fires a huge beam at the mission, completely demolishing it and the asteroids attached to it. The stranger looks at the explosion in shock. He says,
"Did you see that, Utan? It looks like we've landed ourselves a huge treasure." His ship is suddenly under attack from some of the straggler robots that weren't destroyed. He says,
"Whoops. Hmph. I guess it is about time. Utan, go for it." The ape looks happy and an ape shaped robot comes out a hatch in the top of the ship. The ape suddenly pulls on the controls and the robot starts firing continuously. Soon the robot runs out of ammo and stops firing. All the enemies are destroyed though.
The Captain says, "How bothersome. All that business gone to waste." The stranger says, "That's my line. I show you some pity and I get a damaged engine for it. What are you going to do?"
Vivan says, "Who do you think you are talking to? We're pirates!"
"Oh, I see. Then you don't mind leaving this behind, do you?" He holds Pyoro up for them to see over the comm. channel.
Dita says, "Oh no, we forgot him!"
Vivan sighs and says, "I guess we have no other choice. Come aboard."
The stranger puts his thumb up and says, "All right, it's a deal. I'll be doing some business there." The comm. link closes.
BC looks over at the captain and asks, "Is this all right?"
"Pyoro is part of our crew as well. Besides… if he tries anything funny, we'll just strip him of everything."
His ship docks. Kagen has recovered enough and is part of the security team that greets him.
The stranger looks at the other members of the security team and says, "This place is just full of beautiful, young ladies." He walks down the ramp and says walking up to the closest female security member,
"My name's Rabat. Nice to meet you. Here you go." He hands something. He walks up to Barnette and another security member and says,
"Here. Nice to meet you two." Hibiki says,
"Pathetic. Kissing up to women like that. He's a disgrace to all men." Kagen shakes his head, pulls out a sharpening stone, and starts to sharpen his sword. Rabat ignores Hibiki, walks up to Jura, and says,
"Oh. You. You're that lady with the saber. Now, as a sign of our meeting…" Jura steps away and says, "I don't want it!" Rabat says, "Don't be shy." Kagen says,
"Rabat, I suggest that you back off. She did say no to you." Rabat looks at Kagen and asks,
"And why should you care?" Kagen says, "I don't, really. But I don't much care for over-insistent men. I had plenty of that and I know how it feels. They got really far…into the afterlife, that is." Meia sees where this is going and says,
"Enough! I'll introduce you to the Captain. Follow me." Kagen says, "I'll come along to make sure nothing happens." Rabat says,
"Yeah, yeah, your wish is my command." Parfait agitatedly says to Utan, "Hey, give Pyoro back to us! Oh, hey! Wait! Come on, give him back!"
Later on the Bridge
Magno Vivian is saying, "They're prisoners of war. All but that one over there. He joined of his own free will." Magno points over to where Kagen is checking and polishing his gun and sword. "We're from Mejale, and the men are from Tarak."
Rabat says, "That's why." He pushes a button on a panel and it shows Bart in the Navigation chamber. He laughs and says, "Don't catch a cold."
Magno finally asks, "So? What do you want?"
Rabat quickly answers, "Oh, nothing…Since my engine was damaged…I want to stay here while I fix it. And do a little business on the side."
Magno says, "All right."
As Rabat starts to walk back to his ship Kagen walks up and asks, "What kind of merchandise ya got? I have some stuff I need. Oh, and I'll know if the part has a fault in it or not so if you try to sell me a bad part…" Rabat interrupts and says,
"Ok! Ok! You've got my attention! If you give me a list, I …" Kagen says, "No, I'll check my list against yours. I don't trust you with that kind of information." Rabat silently curses Kagen's paranoia.
"Ok. Here it is. I don't think you can read it though…" He hands it over and Kagen says,
"I can read it." Kagen starts marking off the parts he needs that Rabat has. He returns Rabat's inventory list and says, "Ok, now we can get down to business."
Later
Hibiki is furious at Rabat. He kicks a box waking Kagen up from his nap. Hibiki furiously says, "That guy really pisses me off!" Duero says,
"He does. But he's a little suspicious." Hibiki says,
"I'm going ahead. Talking about him makes me sick." Duero says, "That man… knows what women and men are." Kagen says, "I need to check on the parts orders I put in with Gascoigne."
Somewhere else
Rabat opens a case and says, "Well, examine them yourselves! I'm proud to say there is nothing I don't have." Jura picks up a necklace and asks,
"Do you…use all these?" Rabat looks disgusted and says, "Me? You've got to be joking. The universe is made up of men and women."
Dita asks, "Men and women? What planet are you from, Mr. Alien?"
Rabat points at her and says, "The same as you." Dita looks confused and Parfait pushes past her and grabs a power transformer saying,
"Wow, this looks great!" Rabat wonders 'Is this the head engineer? Kagen was more technology keen than this. Oh well.' He says,
"You have great eyes, lady! Install this in your system…and the improvement will be an understatement!" Parfait asks,
"Really? I wonder if I can put this in the Paksis Pragma." Rabat wonders about this for a half-second and says,
"Sure. It's perfect for the Paksis!" Rabat says, "Fine! I'll take it!"
"Thanks! Since you're the first customer, it'll be free!" The girls all say,
"Free?" Rabat says, "Yeah, it's a steal! Become better women! That way, even if you stand still, men'll flock to you!" At that remark the women rush at the cases and snatch at the jewelry.
Rabat thinks, 'Dang, I didn't realize that they were that man crazy! Oh, well at least I can get rid of all that jewelry and reap quite the profit.' Paiway asks Rabat,
"Hey…Am I pretty?" Her face is covered with makeup and she has a lot of jewelry on. Rabat sighs, crouches down, and says,
"You know, Missie, until you're as voluptuous as the other ladies…I won't feel anything for ya. Understand?" Paiway frowns and says,
"Ribbit! Ribbit! How boring." Rabat sticks a card in the puppet's mouth and says, "Call me with the frequency on this business card in 5 years. By the way, I want to ask you something."
"What?"
"Those machines that combine. What are they?"
In the Reg centre
Hibiki is mopping the floor while Kagen is checking on his parts. Gascoigne says,
"I was wondering why it's been so quiet. It's because Dita hasn't been around." A Reg crew member says,
"Of course she hasn't, Manager. We have a fifth alien aboard now!" Gascoigne says,
"Young girls these days have such short attention spans." Another crew member says,
"I hear he's a guy that's different from the others. They say he's really nice to women."
Hibiki crashes into some boxes.
Kagen then asks, "And I'm not nice to women? I feel insulted that you would even imply that I haven't been nice. Just because I don't give stuff away free doesn't mean I'm not nice, it just means I don't have all that much to give." Kagen then walks out of the room sulking.
In the repair bay
The door opens and BC walks over to the panel that indicates the status of Rabat's ship. She starts checking it. The door opens again and Rabat walks in. Rabat asks,
"Are you looking for something?" BC turns and says, "It doesn't look like the ship has any damage." Rabat replies,
"I was able to do the repairs faster than I thought." Rabat starts to walk up to BC. BC asks,
"What do you want from us?"
"Right to the point, huh? I'm just doing business. But before that, how about this?" He grabs her by the chin and draws her face up. He continues,
"Why don't we get a little closer?" BC smiles slightly. Rabat notices and says, "This scent…The smell of gunpowder?" He starts walking backwards away from BC saying, "Looks like you're not someone to mess with."
Somewhere in front of a mirror
Dita is putting on lipstick and looking at herself in the mirror to judge the effect. Paiway is spying on her and makes a note saying, "Pai-check!"
In Engineering
Parfait is done installing the power converter and says, "All right, now it's ready! Let's test it out!" Pyoro responds saying,
"Pyoro!" She hits the button and starts the converter up. Suddenly the power output increases and Parfait says, "Wow, it's looking great!" Rabat walks in and says,
"Looks like things are going well. My merchandise does exactly what I said, right?" He looks through the window and sees the crystal. He thinks, 'What is this "Paksis"?' Dita walks in and sees Rabat and says,
"Oh, there you are! Hey, Mr. Storemaster!" Rabat notices the lipstick and says, "Hey, you've already gotten all dressy. You look loads better now." Dita asks, "You think so?" Rabat asks,
"So? What do you want now? I can take additional orders." Dita says, "I want to hear stories. About space…About men and women…" Rabat says,
"You're thinking about that little boy, aren't you?" Dita blushes and says, "It's not that…!" Rabat says, "All right. But I want to ask something in return."
In the captain's ready room
BC says, "Something is not right about that man." Magno lays out her tarot cards and says,
"He knows what planet we're from." She looks at the first card. BC says, "And what we're up against."
"Perhaps… he's one of the enemy. The Hermit? The Hermit forward. An outsider, one who searches… An enemy or maybe…"
In the men's quarters
Kagen is asleep on his cot after finally fixing his Vanguard and adding the modifications needed. Hibiki is getting his forehead patched up from those boxes that he ran into earlier. Duero asks, "Are you worried about Rabat?" Bart says while eating some pills,
"He's … a pretty good guy." Duero says, "Everyone says so." Kagen wakes up at this and says,
"Not everyone. I know he is up to something. Of course, I might just be paranoid. 'But better safe than sorry' isn't just a phrase with me. It's my life." Hibiki says,
"At least he agrees with me, that he is just a smooth-talking good-for-nothing!" Paiway bust into the room and says,
"Extra! Do you want to hear it?" Hibiki says, "Shut up! Tell me later!" Paiway asks, "Are you sure? It's about Dita and Rabat!" Hibiki looks surprised at this. Kagen says, "Paiway, out with the info. I want to know."
In the Hangar
Dita says,
"No. That's Mr. Alien's valuable partner!"
"I just want a small peek." Rabat says to Dita.
"No!" Dita says firmly and doesn't move out of the way.
"Move." Rabat says to Dita.
Back at Hibiki's room
Hibiki runs out of the room saying,
"That bastard!"
Bart asks,
"Hey, what do you think?"
Duero asks,
"You mean which one is he more worried about?"
Bart says,
"Yeah, Dita or the Van-type."
Kagen says,
"He is worried about Dita more than he is about his Van-type."
"Why is that?"
Kagen says as he leaves,
"I just have a feeling about it. I'd better go help him, just in case."
In the Vanguard bay
Rabat says to Dita,
"Don't be so hotheaded. What are you to him, anyways?"
"What am I?" Dita repeats the question as she thinks about it.
"He doesn't think anything of you at all. Or rather he thinks that all women are enemies. Now get out of my way."
Hibiki finally gets to the Hangar. When he sees Rabat trying to seduce Dita he yells,
"Let go of her!" Rabat turns and looks at him. Kagen ducks behind a bulkhead thinking 'I think I will see how Hibiki handles this by himself first.' Dita says,
"Mr. Alien!" Rabat says,
"Hmph. And it was getting good, too. You senseless boy!" Hibiki gets mad at that and says,
"I'm not a boy! Where do you think you have your eyes?" Rabat says pointing to his eye,
"Here and…" then he lifts the lens off his other eye and says, "…here!" Hibiki says,
"Damn you… It makes me sick to think that a guy like you is a man like me! Get outta here!" Rabat just says,
"What if I said I don't want to?" Hibiki says,
"Then I'll throw you out by force!" Rabat starts to come down from the platform in front of the Vanguard's cockpit saying,
"Interesting." Once Rabat is standing on the ground of the bay Hibiki attacks Rabat. He is stopped by a flash coming from Rabat's lens, then he gets kneed in the stomach by Rabat. Hibiki says as he hangs from Rabat's coat,
"C-Cheater…!" Rabat says, "Huh? I can't hear you well. Besides those are your rules, right? They're not my rules. I don't know who got it into your head… …but don't talk about yourself using someone else's words!" Rabat then punches Hibiki in the face sending him across the room to hit the wall. Dita finally decides to call the commander.
B.C. says,
"A fight?" Dita says, "Please! Someone, help! Mr. Alien is going to die!"
The Captain says, "Leave them alone. Men are creatures that learn various things physically, after all. Isn't that right?" B.C. says, "Roger."
Kagen finally can see the fight from where he is hiding. He thinks 'Hibiki can still pull it off; I'll give him every chance to solve it by himself'. Rabat says with his back to Kagen,
"Nothing is sillier than a know-it-all playing on another guy's field. Ever if he pretends, the disguise will quickly fall apart. Just like you!" Hibiki says, "Shut up!" and tries to take Rabat's knees out from under him with a tackle, but Rabat just catches his head and slams him down on the floor. Rabat says,
"Men who are really strong… … choose their own words to fight with. Compared to a million proverbs…"Rabat punches Hibiki in the face, "Just…" He uppercuts him, "…one word…" He uppercuts him again, "…from your heart…" Rabat kicks him in the face, "…can prove victorious!" Dita says,
"Stop!" Kagen thinks, 'Now to get out of my spectator spot while they are focused on her'. Rabat smiles, then Hibiki bites down hard on Rabat's ankle causing Rabat to fall to the ground in pain. Dita says,
"Mr. Alien!" Rabat then says, "Damn it, you brat! Let go!" then he puts his foot against Hibiki's face and kicks him off. Dita runs over to Hibiki and says, "Mr. Alien! Are you all right, Mr. Alien!" Rabat kicks her and says,
"Out of the way!" Kagen says, "That is enough! Sure Hibiki brought this on himself, but when you hit a bystander I draw the line."
Kagen takes his uniform shirt off and throws himself at Rabat. Rabat blinds Kagen but Kagen puts his foot forward and kicks off Rabat flips and lands on his feet. Rabat stumbles backwards and says,
"Ah, a challenge!" he then attacks Kagen with a roundhouse kick, Kagen catches it and flips Rabat's face into the ground then he throws Rabat against a wall. He then bends down to Hibiki and says,
"Sorry, but I didn't want to interrupt your lesson." Rabat gets up furious and throws a punch at Kagen's back that probably would've almost paralyzed him had he been there to take the hit. Kagen steps to the side catches Rabat's arm and flings him away. Kagen gets up and says as he walks up to Rabat,
"Have you no honor? Attacking from behind is for cowards." Rabat gets up and hits Kagen in the stomach. Kagen recovers and brings his fist up in an unavoidable uppercut to his jaw, sending him flying up into the descending elevator. Rabat gets up and then he bows and says,
"You are a formidable opponent." Rabat then passes out from pain. With the threat of battle gone Kagen starts to feel his pain as the amount of adrenaline being released drops down to normal. He realizes his hand is cut from the lens shattering. Kagen says, "Ow. He really hurt me."
Duero had already carried Hibiki to the sickbay so Paiway starts to treat his wounds on his hand, and his nose bleed. Meia thinks from on top the generator 'Hmm. I didn't have to stop it after all. I didn't think he could beat him, but he did.'
In the sick bay the next day
Kagen walks in and asks, "Duero, How bad did I hurt him?" Duero says, "He had a broken nose, a broken arm, a broken jaw and a few fractures in his skull." Kagen says,
"No, not Rabat. I know about his injuries. I was talking about Hibiki." Duero looks confused and Kagen says,
"How bad did I hurt Hibiki by not interrupting their fight? I was there the whole time." Duero looks mildly surprised and says,
"A few broken ribs, a broken nose, a dislocated shoulder, a broken jaw, and a bunch of scrapes and bruises. Oh and you aren't the only one responsible for not stopping the fight. The Captain asked me the same question you did." Kagen turns to leave and asks, "Duero, could you not give Rabat a knock out drug when he wakes up? Just call me and I'll take care of it for you."
That night in the sickbay
Rabat wakes up. He thinks, 'Ow that hurt. I need to get out of here before I get the snot kicked out of me again.' He touches his comm. link and says, "Utan, we're going home." He then finds a weak dose of morphine and injects himself. 'It won't kill the pain but it will at least get me to my ship.' He then starts to walk to his ship.
On the bridge
Amarone says, "Rabat's ship is taking off!"
Magno says, "Parfait, engines to full! We'll do it the pirate way."
The Nirvana immediately begins to chase Rabat's ship and begins to gain on him.
Parfait says, "Amazing! Amazing! We're going at 5 times normal output!"
Bart is saying, "I feel it coming… Oh yeah, it's coming!"
Magno says, "You won't get away. I'll strip you of everything."
In Rabat's ship
Rabat says, "That Paksis Pragma sticks in my mind." A display pops up and Utan points to it. It has the Nirvana on it and it is gaining on them. He smiles.
In Engineering
The Paksis starts to power down. The power converter suddenly blows up and smoke is everywhere. Kagen notices the immediate slow down and launches himself. He shouts, "You will not escape me! I will hunt you to the ends of the Universe!" His Vanguard starts to falter as the Paksis energy is sucked away. Then it starts to glow green and it bursts forward 3 times as fast as it was going. Rabat sees this and initiates his hyper-drive.
Kagen sees that he can't catch him and stops. Suddenly his Vanguard loses power. "Hibernation activated due to power loss." The computer states. Kagen says, "At least I won't die because my life support went out." He is then knocked out by the cryo-injection.
A day later
Parfait says, "Ok, Here goes nothing!" She hits the switch and the Paksis starts back up at full power. "Yes! Captain, it works!"
Belvedere says, "I'm picking up Kagen's tracer beacon and a life sign inside the Vanguard. That's strange."
Magno asks, "What is strange?"
"His life support systems are down but he is still alive in some sort of…well…sleep."
Magno says, "Gascoigne, bring him in and we'll see what is wrong. Duero, be there when she brings him in, we might have a health problem."
In the Hangar
Parfait plugs a cable into the Vanguard and looks at the readings. Parfait says, "He shouldn't be alive. His life support system failed when Rabat activated his hyper-drive. We'll have to hook the Vanguard back up to the Paksis to recharge it enough so that the system will reboot."
Suddenly a cable pops out and starts to move to a hookup. It hooks itself in, powers up the suit; the hatch opens and dumps Kagen out still asleep. Parfait continues looking at the modifications Kagen has made to his Vanguard. Parfait says, "Wow! These modifications are pure genius!"
In the sickbay
Kagen wakes up, Duero examines, and then releases him. As soon as Kagen is gone Hibiki wakes up and Duero releases him after giving him another pain reliever.
In the garden
Dita is on the balcony looking down on Hibiki and then starts to go down to him, but is stopped by Kagen hand. She turns around and Kagen says, "Most people come to the garden to be alone. Go and get some sleep, He come to you when he wants to have company." Dita and Kagen leave the garden.
Hibiki is sitting by the river.
"Don't worry about it. Everything he said was just quibbles. Just a con artist's game."
"No, I was taking him lightly. Even if he was a cheater…If he had been serious, I'd be long dead. I hate to admit it… but I don't have words to call my own. I only have other's words to say. When I get up on my own stage… I wonder what kind of lines will come out of me? I'm looking forward to it… but it's a chilling thought. I keep thinking it'll just be a comedy."
"No matter how pitiful the lines are… if they're screams coming from your heart with no lies… nobody will laugh at you. At least… I won't."
I finally finished! Wow! This one took long! I thought it would be shorter because I had half already written before I started but this one took the longest. In the next episode there will be a twist.
Here are my feelings on reviews: 1. Please do!
2. Any review is better than no review.
3. I don't like ROMs (Read Only Moron)s
So please don't be an Idiot and Not Review. I really don't care what you say as long as you say something. Anonymous reviews are fine. If you want to, you may email me. If you have any requests I'll be happy to listen to them.