Amidst a debris field from a recent battle, two ships were behind held together by a growing crystal. Inside a conference room on the top ship, three women were holding a meeting to discuss their situation.
The ship's sub-commander, the one called BC was giving a report on the ships and the crystal covering them "Our ship has been completely swallowed by the crystal. The bridge, residential quarters and engine room have all been engulfed. However the dread platform and Reg Central have suffered no damage. We're currently in the process of cleaning up and installing the new database. The spread of peksis pragma has reached its peak for the moment. The bridge has stopped sliding and is now situated over the garden. For now it seems all changes have ceased your report Meia".
Meia, the blue haired, stoic pilot who lead the dread teams picked up from there "Thank you Buzam. The three dreads that were modified by the peksis no longer fit in our standard platforms, therefore we modified the cargo hold on the men's ship to hold them, upon our modifications I've discovered that this ship hasn't been used for quite some time, the wires and circuits are all decayed and useless".
BC continued "The main problem is our location, it may be hard to believe, but we're a long way from Mejere. We're actually in a whole different nebula, by our calculations it'll take us approximately 270 days to return to Mejere".
The captain was fanning herself with an old paper fan "Just what did we do to deserve getting swept across the galaxy?" she looked over to Meia "Any word about the enemy that attacked us?"
"Not yet" Meia told her "My team was understaffed so I sent some volunteers to investigate the debris field".
"Volunteers?" the captain asked "Who?"
Out in space, one of the space fighters called dreads was anchored against the remains of the enemy that attacked them two days ago. The two investigators were Dita, the youngest of the dread pilots and Gascogne the manager of Reg Central.
"What do you think we'll find Ms. Gasco?" Dita asked as the two began their investigation.
"Beats me, but I'm sure we'll find something" Gascogne said before closing her eyes "And remember it's not Gasco its Gascogne!"
On the ship's bridge, the three women who worked as the ship's operators were feeling the effects of the off line air conditioning.
The blonde one set down her fan and contacted the engineering department "Its 82 degrees in here what's going on down there?"
"Its over 86 down here, we're doing all we can" a single engineer replied before returning to work.
In the brig, a small team of women were spraying the four men down with water. The one who called himself Duelo held his ground with Pixy while Bart and Hibiki complained and tried to avoid the water.
Cipher was sitting against the wall in the next cell twirling and flipping a small knife between her fingers.
"So those are the only men left?" the captain asked as she watched the men and Cipher from a camera in the conference room.
"Yes" BC replied "Until we can fully figure out the ship's systems we'll have to rely on them".
The captain agreed as she recalled the way Bart was swallowed by a mysterious light before helming the ship and then thrown out after the battle ended, she then looked to the second camera that showed Cipher, sitting in her cell "This one however" the captain said "There's something about her".
"I agree captain" BC said "She was very open with us when you spoke to her, but I get an uneasy feeling around her. The look in her eyes, it's almost like she was looking past me and at my death".
The captain tapped her finger at a deck of cards in front of her before drawing the top one "The Queen of Swords?" the captain asked herself "Strong, independent, logical and calculating. Perceptive, intelligent and quick-witted, determined and ruthless in the pursuit of your goals" the captain looked back at the monitor showing Cipher "She's very perceptive" she noted recalling how easily Cipher deducted that BC was the ship's sub commander and Meia was the leader of the dread teams "That woman could be a powerful ally if we choose to keep them around".
BC looked at the monitor showing the mercenary pilot as she began throwing her knife in the air and catching it by the blade "We both saw her piloting skills and that man she called Pixy. They're both well trained pilots, but neither of them seemed concerned considering their situation".
The captain looked at the monitor showing the men's cell and drew another card from the deck "Hmm the chariot. To obtain victory you must work with others, not against them. Collaboration and compromise, changing one's own behavior is more likely to succeed than changing another's".
BC looked at her captain "Captain you don't really believe in that stuff do you?"
The captain smiled at her subordinate "You'd be surprised how many times I've seen these cards read someone BC". She looked back to the monitors "Those two pilots seem to get along, but I can sense some faint hostility between them". Magno drew a third card and flip it over "The lovers huh? It's reversed".
"Is that bad?" BC asked curiously.
"It's certainly not good" the captain replied holding the card between the two monitors showing Cipher and Pixy in the men's cell "A dissolving relationship, breakdown of communication and understanding". The captain set the cards down "Usually that card signifies the beginning of a relationship and fulfillment from working together with another".
BC looked at the monitors again "So you're saying they won't stay friendly with each other for long?"
The aged pirate narrowed her eyes "I think we should watch both of them carefully, keep an eye on them more than the other prisoners. They're both hiding something".
"It was so unnerving!" Bart said as he told a fake story to the other men in his cell.
Duelo allowed the helmsman to continue his story to humor him while Hibiki was in the corner daydreaming and Pixy sitting against the wall directly opposite of Cipher.
"This sucks" Hibiki thought "I thought I had finally proven my existence and I get stuck here".
Bart walked over to him and brought him back to reality "Hey, what happened back there?" he asked him "Who made that Vanguard and why did it combine with that Mejerian fighter?"
"How should I know?!" Hibiki snapped "Forget that, you think I'm going to forgive you for socking me earlier?"
The helmsman backed away and held his hands up "Now, now I was only thinking of your best interest".
"You really don't know when to shut up do you?" Hibiki continued to yell "There's enough hot air in here as it is!"
"He's simply worried" Duelo told him "He's trying to take his mind off of our situation through conversation. Try to forgive him".
Bart looked at the young doctor amazed, "Wow you are sharp" he said "So what do you think? With your intellect and my superior speaking skills we should have no problem taking the ship back from those…"
"Would you repeat that please?" a stern female voice asked from outside the cell.
The ship's second in command, BC was standing outside the cell eavesdropping on their conversation.
Seeing the sheepish look on Bart's face, Pixy smirked as the helmsman chuckled weakly "Oh nothing important, we were just joking around is all".
The sub commander smiled almost evilly "I'd like to hear your jokes. You'll come with us won't you?"
Bart gave an even weaker chuckle "I'd love to as long as it's of a social nature".
BC deactivated the cell bars and as Bart stepped out Pixy looked up at him and said, "Nice knowing you". That seemed to add to Bart's worry as he quietly began squealing as the guards escorted him out of the brig.
Pixy kept his grin and looked over his shoulder at the wall he sat against "So what do you think they're going to do to him?"
Cipher answered from the other side of the wall "Well he's a helmsman and the ship hasn't moved since that battle. I would say they haven't figured out how to fly the ship so they want him to tell them or do it for them".
Pixy leaned his head down to the floor still smiling "You're staying calm as always. Since I've known you I haven't seen anything faze you".
Cipher tossed her knife in the air once again and caught it before flipping it closed "The seven craters" she said to him casually "The seven craters caused by Belka something like that…I'll admit it scared me when I found out what happened that day".
Pixy lowered his head "First the complete bombing and destruction of an entire town and then seven nukes dropped just to stop the allies from advancing…things had gotten too out of hand".
"Is that why you defected?" Cipher asked him.
Pixy looked back over his shoulder as if he was staring right through the wall and at Cipher's back "Yeah. You remember Joshua Bristow? The flight lead of Osea's Wizard squadron. A World With No Boundaries was his idea. After the aerial battle in the Round Table he sent me a message about his plan. At first I was going to try and talk him out of it, but after what happened in Hoffnung and then at the Waldreich Mountains I couldn't take it anymore".
Cipher turned her head, slightly looking over her shoulder "So you tried to kill me and defected because you were scared of what Belka did?"
Pixy continued "Honestly Cipher; I don't know why I attacked you. I guess I did it because I didn't want you following after me. Would you have tried to stop me if I didn't?"
Cipher looked down at her feet and she curled one of her knees into her chest "Probably not".
"Hey you!" Hibiki yelled looking at Pixy.
The mercenary pilot ignored the young teen and sighed "Be honest with me Cipher. Why didn't you chase after me that day?"
Cipher didn't answer at first, she recalled the day Pixy defected from Ustio and turned on her before fleeing from the combat zone, she could feel mixed emotions within her mostly shock and betrayal. "My fighter was too damaged" she said at last.
Pixy didn't believe her response, but Hibiki called over to him again.
"Hey!" he yelled.
"What?" Pixy answered angrily.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hibiki asked him "Why the hell are you being so friendly with that woman?"
Pixy didn't answer him he looked back over his shoulder to continue talking to Cipher, but the ship shook as it started up, throwing the four prisoners around in their cells.
Once the shaking stopped, Pixy groaned as he got to his feet and rolled his shoulders back "I guess that means motor mouth started the ship" he looked at the wall separating his cell from Cipher's "Yo buddy, still alive?"
"I'm fine" Cipher replied as she sat back against the wall of her cell.
"How long do you think they're going to keep us in these cells?" Pixy asked.
"Probably until they decide we're not a threat to them" Duelo told him.
"Is that all?" Pixy asked sarcastically, sitting himself against the wall again "Well Guess I'll take a nap then".
"A nap?" Hibiki asked "Are you crazy? We have to take back this ship!"
"Good idea" Pixy told him "Alright here's the plan. Duelo and I will wait here while you overpower the numerous women on this ship and clear a way to the hangar for us. Drinks will be on me when we get out of here".
The three men heard Cipher chuckle from her cell putting Hibiki even more on edge, "Just what are you laughing at?! You're locked up to in case you've forgotten".
Cipher looked up at the ceiling of her cell and then to the bars trapping her inside "I like it in here".
Pixy smirked after seeing Hibiki's face fault at Cipher's response.
BC returned to the brig "You're called Duelo correct?" she asked the doctor "It's your turn to come with me".
After letting Duelo out, BC and her two guards escorted him to the infirmary where one of the ship's bridge operators was resting.
BC explained the operator's condition "She's running a fever and it won't go down. We'd like you to take a look at her".
"Interesting" Duelo replied "I was under the impression that your medical technology was fairly advanced".
BC smirked at the doctor's comment "An elite soldier huh? You probe for information at every chance. Very well, approximately 90% of our ship's systems are offline right now, including the medical systems".
Duelo smiled and agreed to examine the patient.
Not long after Duelo began his examination the infirmary lost power. The doctor quickly snatched the guard's communicator from her belt and asked for engineering to prioritize restoring power to the medical bay.
"Hey we've got our own problems" one of the engineers replied "I'm sorry, but I can't read men's language".
"If I were there I could read it for you" Duelo said as he looked at BC through the corner of his eye.
The sub-commander had an amused, seductive smile on her face as she tilted her head "Go right ahead" she told him.
Back in the brig, Pixy and Cipher were passing the time with each other in a rather peculiar way, much to Hibiki's annoyance.
"Bishop one to D6 take pawn" Pixy said as he wrote down what he said in a tiny notepad.
Cipher had also written down what Pixy had said before replying "Rook to D6 take Bishop".
"How long are you two going to keep this up?" Hibiki asked angrily "For that matter, just what the hell are you doing anyway?"
Pixy looked over to the young pilot and answered in a rather cold tone "We're playing chess to pass the time".
"And since we don't have a board or any pieces" Cipher continued "We play in our heads".
Pixy finished "Chess takes a lot of concentration and intelligence to play normally, but when you have to visual the entire game, pieces and all in your head it makes it much harder which is why we're writing down the moves so we can keep track of which piece is where and what's been taken".
Hibiki narrowed his eyes "You two sure are strange, playing games at a time like this".
"Well there's not much else to do" Pixy told him before making his move "Queen to D6 take Rook".
"Knight to C2, check" Cipher responded immediately.
"Rook to C2, take Knight" Pixy replied.
Cipher smirked, "Queen to E3, check".
"Rook to E2, block".
"Bishop 2 to G3, checkmate".
Pixy sighed with a smile as he dropped his notepad to the floor "Well played Cipher".
The ship began shaking again throwing the three pilots around before the power went out and the shaking stopped.
"Helmsman my ass" Cipher growled as she pushed herself up from the floor "Not even a rookie pilot could suck that bad".
Dusting her legs off, Cipher noticed that the laser bars trapping her in the cell had gone offline and stepped outside the cell and in front of Pixy's cell.
"Well, must really suck to be you right now" the mercenary pilot mocked as she stood in front of her wingman's cell.
Pixy got up and walked over to Cipher stopping in front of the bars separating them "How'd you get out?"
Cipher shrugged "The bars to my cell went down, looks like you're still stuck in there though" she continued to taunt before the doors opened and BC entered the brig alone.
"My a bit troublesome aren't you?" she asked Cipher calmly after seeing she was outside her cell.
"Not really" Cipher told her "The power went out down here and my cell opened, I just figured I'd get a quick stretch".
BC placed a fist against her hip and smiled "Well it's your lucky day then; I'd like to request your help".
Cipher leaned her shoulder against the wall and raised an eyebrow "Really now, with what exactly?"
BC began to explain the current situation "The ship started itself up and I'm afraid we left our reconnaissance team behind, also two of our crew are trapped inside one of the elevators".
"So you want me to go rescue them and then retrieve your recon team?" Cipher asked "I can do that".
"Not exactly" BC cut her off "Due to the ship's current condition all of our hangars except the Vanguard platform are currently offline. I'll be sending him out" she gave Hibiki a quick look "To retrieve Dita and Gascogne, I want you and your wingman to help get Barnette and Jura out of the elevator".
Cipher slowly bobbed her head for a few seconds "Alright, but I've already given your captain one freebie, after this I want to speak with her regarding the price of my services".
BC gave Cipher an intrigued look to which the pilot answered "I'm a mercenary. I don't work for free".
"Very well" BC agreed "I'll let the captain know you wish to speak with her, but not until you help Barnette and Jura".
"Deal" Cipher agreed as the sub-commander opened Pixy and Hibiki's cell and released their restraints.
Hibiki stepped out of the cell demanding, "Give me one good reason why I should help you".
"Because they'll probably shoot you if you don't" Pixy told him "How's that for a good reason?"
Hibiki's face went pale when he saw the musing look on BC's face after Pixy's comment and slowly followed behind the sub-commander with a frightened look in his eyes.
"You enjoyed that didn't you" Cipher asked her wingman who smirked and nodded, "Oh yeah".
After BC left with Hibiki, the former Ustio mercenaries left as well, quickly making their way up a few decks per BC's instructions before arriving at the elevator shaft where a single guard was waiting.
The guard didn't react much when she saw Cipher, but immediately raised her fist with a glowing ring on her index finger when she saw Pixy.
"I feel sorry for you Pixy" Cipher said casually "Wherever you go now you'll be greeted by women who look at you like some kind of zombie and willing to kill you on sight…forever alone" she joked coldly.
Pixy laughed dejectedly as he turned his eyes away "You think if I told here I'm here to help she'd lower that thing?"
Cipher quickly grabbed Pixy's shoulder and turned him around before huddling next to him "Alright here's what you do I've dealt with this situation before" she began before quickly looking over her shoulder at the guard who was still aiming her ring at them "Ok you need to let her know that you won't be intimidated, so you need a fierce gaze and I mean a really fierce gaze, let your eyes tell her that you're not going to back down".
"Uh Cipher" Pixy muttered "Now's not really a good time for" Cipher cut him off.
"And once you've made it clear that you refuse to back down, you make a sudden move. GO!" she ordered before spinning Pixy around and pushing him toward the guard who quickly stepped to the side and lined her ring on level with Pixy's forehead.
Pixy stopped himself against the wall and looked back at Cipher "Are you trying to get me shot?" he asked calmly.
Cipher held her hand up with her index finger and thumb barley apart from each other "Maybe a little" she told him before looking at the guard "The commander asked us to help out, two pilots are trapped down there right?"
The guard cautiously lowered her hand before nodding at Cipher "Yes, Barnette and Jura are stuck two decks down between floors, the door aren't working and we can't pry them open".
"Find us some rope or something, we'll get them out" Cipher told her.
The guard gave both mercenary pilots an unsure look before leaving to find something to help them.
"Alright now that she's gone" Cipher said before gently slapping the back of her hand on Pixy's shoulder "Give me your jacket".
Pixy bumped his eyebrows up as he took his jacket off "Be careful" he told her as she took the jacket and wrapped her hands inside it before bracing herself.
Cipher looked back at Pixy one last time and said, "If I'm not back in five minutes, just wait longer". Cipher then jumped into the elevator shaft and grabbed hold of the massive cable used to pulley the elevator up and down before slowly sliding down, using her wingman's jacket to protect her hands.
Reaching the disabled elevator, Cipher let go of the pulley cable and opened the top hatch to the elevator to help the trapped pilots.
"You?" Jura gasped after seeing Cipher above her.
"Why are you out of your cell?" Barnette asked suspiciously.
Cipher gave the green haired pilot an expressionless look before turning her attention to Jura and reaching her hand down to her "Alright let's go" she said to the blonde pilot who gladly took her hand.
After pulling Jura out of the elevator, Cipher told her to start climbing the maintenance ladder at the side of the shaft before she pulled Barnette out as well.
"Thanks" Barnette said in a half hostile tone "Now why are you out of your cell?"
Cipher kept her neutral expression as she answered "Not exactly the thanks I was looking for, but whatever. Your commander asked me and Pixy to get the two of you out, now climb!"
Barnette began climbing the maintenance ladder as well with Cipher right behind her.
Pixy waited at the doorway for them, helping them out as they reached him. Jura gave him a seductive look as he helped her; Barnette slapped his hand away and pulled herself out.
"I'm starting to get really confused Cipher" he said as he helped his former flight out.
"About your sexuality?" Cipher asked him before her foot tripped at the edge of the doorway and she knocked Pixy down, falling on top of him.
Looking directly into Cipher's eyes Pixy kept a cool demeanor despite the fact that their lips were barely an inch from each other, "Didn't know you were that into me buddy".
Cipher frowned as she got up and roughly pulled him to his feet "Keep dreaming Larry" she told him before Barnette and the guard from before held a gun and laser ring at them.
There was an intense silence between them before the speakers in the hall and across the ship turned on. "The captain and I have concluded our meeting" BC began reporting the situation from the bridge "We've decided to inform the entire crew of our current situation. Upon analyzing the data from the enemy debris we've gained some intelligence on our enemy. I'd like you all to take a look at this image".
Every monitor across the ship showed an image of a planet covered in giant gears and machinery "This is the enemy's home planet, we don't know its exact location, but we have determined that they have a significant amount of firepower. They attacked us because we are in their territory and they believe our presence to be hostile. We can expect to see more of this enemy as we continue our long journey back to Mejere".
"But that isn't all" the commander continued "We've also learned that the enemy has launched a full scale operation for the destruction of both Mejere and the men's world of Tarak. Our faceless enemy is for some unknown reason planning on completely wiping out the two worlds".
The captain continued from there "We are pirates and as such our loyalties are not bound to either world however it's certainly not in our best interest to let an unknown enemy to destroy our potential customers. Therefore I intend to reach our home system before our enemy and inform both worlds of this crisis. In order for us to be successful in this we must incorporate the men we have captured into our crew".
After hearing that, Cipher looked at Barnette and the guard and harshly demanded, "Get those things out of my face" before she walked away leaving the shocked pirates and Pixy behind.
"There are still many things we do not understand yet" the captain continued "Such as this ship and that large machine, but I'm sure we'll learn more about these things one piece at a time as we continue our journey. I expect the complete cooperation of the entire crew that is all!"
Late into the night, hours after the captain and BC made their announcement, Pixy was roaming the ship familiarizing himself with each turn and deck ignoring the glares and frightened looks from the female pirates as he passed by them.
Eventually making it to the hangar he found his flight lead doing elevated pushups from a bench in the corner.
Cipher had taken her shirt off and was now wearing a black sports bra and tight gym shorts, with her feet elevated on the seat of the bench, Cipher kept her back straight as she quickly pushed herself up from the ground and lowered back down counting each rep as she made it "48, 49, 50!"
Lowering herself one more time and violently pushing herself up, she slid her feet off the bench and curled them under her landing in a crouching position before standing up "Do you need something?" she asked Pixy before she sat on the bench.
Pixy hesitated before walking over to her and leaning against the wall, "Looks like we're a team again" he said calmly.
"Yep" Cipher responded casually.
Pixy looked at the ceiling, but before he began speaking Cipher cut him off.
"You tried to kill me Larry" the mercenary pilot looked at him before turning her gaze to their fighters at the side of the hangar "Twice" Cipher looked down looked down at her feet "I trusted you both as my wingman and my friend and you betrayed that. You tried to shoot me down before fleeing and then you resurface as a member of a terrorist organization".
"Cipher" Pixy said before she got up and looked him in the eyes.
"When you shot PJ down and our dogfight started, I didn't once question your reasons for joining A World With No Boundaries. In fact I kind of agreed with your goals, just not your methods" Cipher turned away from him "When you launched the V2 that day…I respected your resolve toward what you believed in, but I wasn't going to let you kill me and countless innocents in the process".
"We'll continue to be squad mates" the female mercenary continued "But as far as you attempting to kill me, that's going to take a lot of time to forgive and as for us being friends that's over".
With that Cipher left, leaving Pixy alone in the dimly lit hangar "For what it's worth Fiona" he said to himself after Cipher left "I'm sorry for the way it all turned out. I was hoping you'd end up joining us, but somehow I knew you wouldn't. I think a part of me however knew that you'd be the one to stop them, to stop me…"
Returning to the brig, Cipher entered the cell that would serve as her room, sitting on her bed she reached her hand up to the military dog tags she was given after she agreed to fly for the Ustio Air Force. She recalled her memories about the times she spent with Pixy during and outside the many sorties they flew.
On May 13th 1995, Directus, the capital city of Ustio was liberated from Belkan forces. Cipher and Pixy, the Galm team was mainly responsible for the operation's success and the allied forces awarded them a vintage bottle of Chateau Boloise, a rare cabernet.
That night the two mercenary pilots went out to celebrate. Sitting in front of one of the hangars on the runway of Valais Air Base the two friends laughed and cheered through the night under the clear sky.
The memory of that night brought a sad smile to Cipher's face, she always remembered that night. Pixy was her friend and even after his betrayal she still couldn't forget the fun times she had with him while they were still a team.
Finally closing her eyes, the pilot slowly laid down on the bed and eventually fell asleep dreaming of better times before everything fell apart.