Cipher was jogging through the halls of the ship formerly known as the Ikazuchi, just over a week ago her and her former wingman Solo-Wing Pixy were caught in the middle of a raid by Mejerian pirates, their target was a battle ship being used by the men of Tarak.
While the raid was successful a final attempt to kill the women awakened an old energy source called the Peksis Pragma, this seemingly living energy source opened a rift in space and sent itself along with the Mejerian pirates and the men's ship they captured across the galaxy.
Including herself and Pixy the pirates had captured three other men, a young and very skilled doctor named Duelo Mcfile, a talkative helmsman named Bart Garsus and a young teen mechanic named Hibiki Tokai.
They were all prisoners, but they had earned some amount of trust from the captain who albeit from necessity made them all members of the crew. While still being treated as prisoners they were given free roam of the ship, but still kept under occasional supervision.
Cipher didn't seem to care, as long as they didn't bother or threaten her or her F-15C she had no problem with anything they did. Her wingman Pixy felt the same although he was more cautious and suspicious about everything where Cipher just didn't care.
Duelo was just as open and calm about the situation as Cipher just without the cold reaction toward everyone. He didn't mind being treated as a prisoner or that women were supposed to be his enemy, he firmly held to his belief that a doctor should help anyone regardless of who they are.
Bart was an interesting character to say the least, he was still cautious around the women, but didn't hesitate to interact with the captain or her sub-commander BC. Maybe he just felt that since he was the only one capable of helming the ship they wouldn't do anything to him, but whatever the reason he was very talkative with them on occasions.
Hibiki was easily the one who would eventually cause problems, his arrogant act first without thinking attitude put a lot of people on edge. Cipher and Pixy had both made the deduction that if anything bad happens within the crew it would probably be due to Hibiki's mouth or attitude, but in spite of that the boy proved to be a capable pilot of the Vanguard.
Cipher had recently told Pixy that she no longer trusts him after his betrayal almost seven months ago before they were thrown forward in time. Pixy's betrayal affected Cipher deeply even though she didn't show it and for that reason she told her former wingman that she will still fly with him, but as far as her trusting him or even their friendship went, both were over.
Now that she was given free roam of the ship, Cipher spent a good portion of her time with her daily habits. A two mile run after waking up, her weekly target practice. Thankfully the ship had a firing range, but only the dread pilot Barnette made use of it before Cipher began visiting it as well and finally finishing by practicing her Tai Chi and then a shower.
Stopping in front of one of the restrooms and jogging in place, Cipher looked at her pedometer strapped to her wrist before stopping and leaning against the wall. Two miles seems a lot longer in the closed in hallways of a ship then it would in a more open area.
After resting for a full minute, the mercenary pilot pushed herself off the wall and walked toward the stairs to return to her room in the brig.
She overheard two women talking about a 'rumor' of a strange tube men have between their legs, but the pilot couldn't care less about their gossip or their curiosity if they had any.
A single restroom on the same deck as the brig was reserved for the men. Hibiki was about to make use of the facility before he spotted Dita watching him in the mirror and screamed before throwing her out.
"Why can't I stay and watch Mr. Alien?" the young dread pilot asked through the door.
"How the hell am I supposed to go with you watching?!" Hibiki yelled back in a clearly embarrassed tone.
Dita sighed "I was only curious" she then spotted Cipher coming out from the staircase and quickly ran over to her.
"What is it?" Cipher asked in a semi cold tone as Dita stopped in front of her.
Once Dita stopped in front of the fighter pilot she hopefully asked, "Hey Cipher I was wondering, have you ever seen the tube that's supposed to be between a man's legs?"
Cipher's expression didn't change in the slightest; she continued to look the young redhead with the strong, piercing eyes everyone seemed to notice about her.
"Well have you?" Dita asked her again.
"Once" she answered coldly "If by seen you mean kicked and then stepped on then yes" she thought afterwards.
"What's it look like?" Dita asked her cheerfully before the fighter pilot side stepped her.
"Sorry Dita, but I'm really busy" she said politely as she stepped around the young girl and returned to her room.
Entering the cell at the back of the brig that now served as her bedroom, Cipher opened a small trunk against the wall and looked at the old clothes that were folded inside.
"I hope they fit dear, they may be old, but they were well protected and preserved in the ship's old storage room" the captain said to Cipher after she showed her some clothes the crew had found in one of the ship's old storage rooms.
"Thank you captain" Cipher replied politely while she inspected the clothing.
"Nonsense my dear" the captain said to her with a faint laugh in her voice "You may have that military background to you, but you're still a lady and a lady should always have a clean set of clothes to change into".
Cipher turned to face the captain and raised her hand to salute and thank her, but stopped in mid motion before crossing her hands at waist level and slightly bowing while keeping her eyes on the aged pirate "Thank you, captain" she said in a slight awkward tone.
The captain chuckled "You don't have to act out of character for my sake young one. I can already tell its just not who you are. You're a member of my crew now and I always look after those in my crew, from BC down to newcomers such as yourself" the captain smiled at Cipher "If you need anything you just come and tell me alright?"
Cipher gave the captain a quick, but stern salute "Understood captain".
The captain chuckled again before she turned and left.
Cipher grabbed a change of clothes and returned to the restroom where she heard the two crew members gossiping for a shower before continuing her morning.
Pixy was in the infirmary watching Duelo perform a checkup on Ezra, one of the bridge bunnies who was in the first stages of pregnancy.
"Interesting" the doctor said as he ran a small bulky pen shaped object over the woman's body "This organ doesn't exist in a man's physiology".
"It's called the uterus" Ezra told him as she rubbed her hands down her stomach.
"A reproductive organ" the doctor noted.
Ezra explained to Duelo the way women reproduced on Mejere, even though it was foreign to him and sounded completely crazy to Pixy, both men found it interesting.
"That's actually got me thinking" Pixy said, catching the doctor's and the bride bunny's attention "How did you reproduce on your world Duelo?"
Duelo gave Pixy a short explanation to the ways babies were born on Tarak. Hearing the words factory and baby in the same sentence bothered Pixy however.
"I don't even want to project how that works" Pixy said with a faint, awkward grin at the corner of his mouth "That doesn't even sound possible".
Duelo hummed for a second before he asked, "According to the captain both men and women lived on a world called Earth long ago. You and Cipher also seem quite knowledgeable about life back then. How did people reproduce back then?"
Pixy shook his head with an amused exhale "I don't feel like encouraging a subject that could potentially cause a riot on the ship, so let's put that conversation on hold for now".
"What do you mean?" Duelo asked him calmly.
"Well" Pixy began "Think of it like this, men and women in this time or at least on this ship don't really get along. So if talk started to spread about how men and women lived together in the past, especially in a…certain way. It might cause a lot of the crew to become even more uncomfortable than they already are. Worst case scenario is they hate us even more than they do now and lock us up for good" Pixy shrugged his head to the side "Or shoot us, whichever comes first".
Duelo gave him a slight nod "Hmm, I see your point then. The presence of men on this ship still seems to be a subject of worry among most of the crew, I can see how it wouldn't be wise for rumors of men and women living together to be spreading".
Pixy shrugged again "Well from what I hear it's going to be a long journey before we reach Mejere or whatever it's called, so if they start warming up to us maybe eventually the stories could spread, but for now I'd rather not risk it".
The second Pixy slid off the edge of the bed he was sitting on the ship's alarm went off with the captain ordering all hands to prepare for battle, "Huh? Perfect timing" Pixy said before calmly running out of the infirmary.
In the bathroom, Cipher had just stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her torso. She stood in front of the mirror for a minute looking at the faint trace of a scar on her left shoulder, just under her clavicle. Before becoming a mercenary pilot, Cipher got into a lot of street and bar fights. Mostly to put thugs or drunks who got too touchy in their place.
One night when she was leaving a bar, a pair of drunken men tried coming on to her, Cipher told them she wasn't interested, but they didn't listen. After her second attempt to walk away the two men blocked her path again before she warned them which aggravated them both. Apparently they were both famous or something because they went into a rant about how no woman refuses them before they offered to pay her for her 'services'.
That was it for Cipher, she forced her way between them to leave, but the one on her left grabbed her by the shoulder to stop her, but the second he touched her Cipher grabbed his hand and spun around behind him, twisting his wrist almost a full 180 degrees before telling him "I said back off!" and violently pushing him away.
Once Cipher twisted the drunk's hand his friend smashed his beer bottle against a table and swung at her, deeply cutting her just under her left clavicle. Cipher immediately jumped back after she was cut and the first drunk wrapped his arm around her throat to restrain her, but Cipher grabbed his arm and in a swift almost instant moment hurled the drunk over her shoulder and onto his back.
The second man tried to attack Cipher again, but the future Demon Lord weaved to his side grabbing the hand holding the smashed bottle before using her thumb, index and middle fingers to snap the little bones in his wrist, causing him to drop his weapon before she pulled him toward her and slammed his head against the edge of the same table he smashed his bottle on.
The drunk was immediately knocked out and Cipher turned her attention back to the drunk on the floor as he clumsily struggled to get back to his feet.
Cipher gave the man a cocky smile as she offered him her hand, but the second he grabbed it she did a half turn and planted the heel of her shoe into his right shoulder right on top of his collarbone and with a single outward and inward pull against her own leg, dislocated the drunk's right arm before dropping the limp limb and leaving the drunk to scream and flail in pain.
Just as Cipher was leaving the bar a single cop entered after hearing the man screaming and arrested Cipher. Due to the severity of her injury he was forced to call an ambulance, but after taking the reports of the other patrons in the bar he learned that Cipher acted out of self defense and no charges were filed against her.
Barely touching her skin, Cipher ran her right index finger along the three inch scar before she took off her towel and leaned against the corner wall to dry off.
After she dried herself, Cipher set the towel on the edge of the sink and changed into her fresh clothes. Once she was changed she gently ran her finger across the scar again before stepping out.
She was now dressed in skin tight black undershirt over layered by a sleeveless red blazer jacket that stopped just a few inches above her waistline. She flipped the collar of the jacket up and only buttoned the bottom two buttons before she continued dressing.
She also wore skin tight black shorts that stopped halfway between her hips and knees and over layered those with a pair of very short blue jeans that had the legs ripped off up to just under the hips. She finished her new attire with white thigh socks and brown thigh high leather boots.
Looking at her full reflection in the mirror that hung next to the doorway Cipher's eyebrows jumped as she shrugged "I like it" she muttered before she left the shower room.
The second she stepped out into the hall an alarm rang around the ship followed by the captain ordering all hands to prepare for battle "Huh?" Cipher muttered "Perfect timing".
Both Cipher and Pixy arrive at the hangar at the same time, Pixy greeted her, but Cipher didn't respond. She gave him a faint welcoming look, but quickly turned away and stepped into the hangar, a notion that bothered Pixy.
Inside the hangar, Cipher saw Jura and Meia standing behind Dita who said something about Hibiki before she spun around like a ballerina "It was so fast!" she exclaimed while she was spinning.
"He's already out there?" Jura gasped.
Cipher made a quick stride toward her Eagle, but by the time she climbed into it the Vanguard had landed.
"Huh he survived?" Pixy mumbled when he saw the Vanguard land.
Hibiki climbed out of the mech's cockpit before seeing Meia glaring at him and Dita staring at Meia with a frightened look.
"You must be here to thank me huh?" Hibiki asked in a very cocky tone.
"Don't be so conceited" Meia said to him, doing her best to restrain her apparent anger and dislike for Hibiki "You put yourself in a lot of danger by doing that. You're only to act on my direct orders".
Hibiki jumped down from his Vanguard and placed his hand against his waist before continuing in the same cocky tone "Don't make me laugh, you can't expect to beat the enemy if you let a little danger like that bother you" the arrogant pilot paused to flex his bicep "But I guess you don't have to worry about that, you've got me to protect you".
Meia scoffed and closed her seething eyes "Small dogs always bark the loudest".
Hibiki gritted his teeth and yelled "Yeah well its better than not being able to bark at all!"
"Except you're not the one who barking it's just your machine right?" Meia fired back.
"Are you looking for trouble with me?" Hibiki growled.
"What's the matter?" Meia taunted "Can't handle the truth?"
"Who died and made you king?!" Hibiki yelled "Who do you think you are?"
"You're OUR prisoner" Meia stated.
"Well don't forget that your prisoner saved your butts!" Hibiki yelled again.
As the two continued to fight, Dita sighed while Pixy noticed Cipher walking away from her F-15C, seeing the look in her eyes Pixy asked, "Where you going?"
"To the bridge" Cipher told him "If the captain doesn't do something about him he's going to end up dead".
Hibiki had the same idea to speak to the captain, but Cipher got there ahead of him.
Seeing Cipher speaking to the captain, Hibiki stood next to the mercenary and began speaking in a very aggravated tone "Hey listen here old lady" he said "I saved your butts twice now so at least listen to me when I ask for a favor isn't that how the world works?"
"There's also a policy called waiting in line" Cipher told him sternly, but the hostility in both her eyes and voice was more than obvious.
Hibiki turned to give Cipher a quick glare before he looked back at the captain and began making his demands. The second he started speaking however, Cipher stepped over to him and roughly pushed him to the side.
"Hey, what the hell!" Hibiki froze when he saw Cipher holding a gun at him.
"Don't speak…again" she said to him in a tone that sent a chill down the pilot's spine.
Cipher calmly and slowly lowered her gun before turning her attention back to the captain "Captain for the sake of the crew and maintaining peace on the ship I suggest you do something with him before someone shoots him…Most likely Meia or Barnette".
The captain regarded Cipher with a calm expressions "I understand your concern, but first I must ask you to keep your weapon holstered. I can't have you pulling a gun on anyone inside the ship regardless of the circumstances".
Regaining her composure, Cipher nodded as she holstered her handgun "Understood".
The captain thought for a moment before making a decision "How about assigning you to the Reg Crew?" she asked Hibiki.
"Reg Crew?" the teen repeated.
"It's an interesting job" the captain told him with an amused smile "And it's under different management".
"Different management?" Hibiki wondered with a smile of his own "Sounds good to me" the Vanguard pilot leaves with a pleased smile.
"What do you think?" Magno asked looking at the console in front of her had a small screen showing Meia.
"Thank you captain" the pilot replied.
The captain nodded "We'll leave that man in Gascogne's capable hands".
"I apologize for the trouble" Meia said "But having a man acting on his own could damage the crew's morale" Meia promptly ended the transmission from her end and the captain gained an awkward smile.
"Never changes" she noted "Stubborn as a mule" she looked down the bridge to Bart who was sitting at the edge of the helm portal "How long are you going to keep eavesdropping?!" she yelled, startling the young helmsman.
"I'm going!" Bart cried as he dived back into the helm portal "Why do I get all the flak?" he growled to himself before climbing back out "Auto pilot sequence engage" he said saluting the captain "I'm going on break!"
Cipher sighed angrily through her nose before she looked at the captain "At this rate, I might decide to live on Mejere when this is all over" the mercenary pilot walked away "Just to get away from them".
Still annoyed from Hibiki's arrogance, Cipher entered the firing range and stood next to the corner table before disassembling her firearm. Once the weapon was dismantled, the fiery pilot stepped back from the table and slowly exhaled before she slowly raised her arms and began performing slow, flowing movements while turning her torso and taking single occasional steps.
Barnette entered the firing range to pass some time with Jura accompanying her, both pilots stopped when they saw Cipher slowly turning back and forth slowly waving her arms around.
"What's she doing?" Jura asked seeing the eloquent, almost beautiful way Cipher would cross her legs in front of each other before stepping forward and turning and then briefly freezing in a different pose before continuing.
"What are you doing here?" Barnette asked her in a hostile tone, not as hostile as she used toward the men, but still pretty hostile.
"Its called Tai Chi" Cipher told her, keeping her eyes closed as she froze in a stance that had her right arm drawn back in a fist, her right foot stepping in and behind her left and her left arm stretched halfway out in an open palm.
Staying in that stance for about ten seconds, Cipher relaxed her muscles before turning back to the table and sitting down.
Looking down at the watch on her left wrist, Cipher pressed a single button that started a stopwatch before she immediately grabbed the handle to her dismantled handgun and began putting it back together.
Sliding the chamber piece into place and then releasing her thumb and index finger from the side of the gun which locked the chamber into position before she loaded a magazine into the weapon and then stopping her watch.
"28 seconds" she thought "Not exactly a record".
Getting to her feet, Cipher stepped over to the circular platform and waited for it to rise several feet above the floor "You won't mind if I take the range for now would you?" she asked the two women watching her.
Barnette angrily closed her eyes as she walked to another of the circular platforms and waited for it to rise as well "Just don't distract me and you can do what you want" she told her as she drew her favorite handgun an Beretta M9 and loaded a fresh clip into it. "So what are you using?" she asked Cipher without looking at her.
"Five Seven" Cipher replied as she made sure the sights were lined properly "Extended magazine, 20 rounds instead of 10, 21 including the one already in the chamber".
Barnette didn't say anything that time; she pressed a button on the wall next to her, activating the range.
Holding the gun in her right hand, Cipher braced her right wrist on top of her left forearm while she clutched an extra magazine in her left hand. Once the first target popped up, Cipher swiftly aimed down the range and shot it before striking as fast as lightning at the second one and then the third.
With pin point precision and an ice cold look in her eyes, Cipher shot down one target after the other before Barnette could even line up a shot on one, much to the dread pilot's surprise.
Counting each shot she made, once Cipher reached 21 released the lock holding the magazine in place and in the same second slid her second clip into the Five Seven's handle, locking in place and pulling the chamber back before resuming shooting down each target as soon as it popped up.
About halfway through, Barnette stopped trying to shoot the targets altogether and watched Cipher shoot them down one instant after another.
Precision and focus like that is usually only seen in Special Forces, she thought just before Cipher fired at the last target, hitting a bull's-eye.
Cipher lowered her Five Seven before looking at a small screen to her side that read "All targets destroyed, round end".
Cipher didn't look at either of the two pilots in the firing range with her; she could feel their eyes on her, their speechless amazement at how quickly she destroyed each target.
Tilting her Five Seven downward, she raised it to chest level while keeping it angled before jerking the chamber back, ejecting the currently loaded round into the air before she took aim at it and fired.
Both Barnette and Jura watched in a trance as the ejected shell flew out of the gun's chamber before one last gunshot echoed in the large room and the shell disappeared from the air.
Jura heard a faint ding sound like a pen or quarter dropping and looked to her side, spotting the ejected 5.7x28mm round lying at her feet; it had a light dent on the side, center of its brass casing.
Cipher ejected the clip from the Five Seven and holstered the firearm before her platform lowered back to the floor.
"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" Barnette asked her, refusing to believe what she just witnessed.
"Nothing special" Cipher said, stopping in front of the open doorway "Just a lot of practice over the years".
Cipher stepped out of the firing range and returned to her room to store her handgun in the trunk she used for her belongings.
Returning the handgun and its emptied magazine to the trunk Cipher grabbed her 7-inch combat knife and its leather holster and asked "Do you need something?"
Pixy was leaning against the wall outside her cell, "Just letting you know that the engineer teams and hangar crews were able to repair the ECM jammer on the Morgan, so if it's ever needed we'll have it. The Reg Crew that handles rearming the dreads also have a plentiful stock of sidewinder and sparrow missiles that we can use on our fighters as well as Vulcan rounds for our guns.
"Good to know" Cipher replied as she finished clipping the leather holster of her combat knife to the left shoulder of her sleeveless red jacket "Anything else?"
It was beyond obvious to Pixy that Cipher didn't feel like talking to him more than she had to, as much as it bothered him he couldn't blame her, he'd even admit to himself that it's his fault their friendship fell apart.
"No, just wanted to let you know" he said before leaving.
After Pixy left, Cipher recalled the day he turned on her. After Belkan forces dropped seven V1 nukes on their own soil to stave off the advancing allied forces, the systems of both F-15's were scrambled, but the two pilots were able to keep them in the air.
A familiar voice came from the radio, calling to Pixy "Larry can you hear me?" it said. It was the voice of Joshua Bristow, Wizard 1, an Osean fighter pilot. The one who started A World with No Boundaries "Your magical carriage is here Cinderella".
"How can you say that after what just happened!?" Pixy yelled.
"Its time to start" Wizard 1 told him.
"And you're here to drag me off?" Pixy asked him "To Hell I suppose".
Pixy decelerated and got behind Cipher "Buddy. I've finally found a reason to fight".
When he finished talking, Pixy targeted Cipher and began firing missiles, but due to the nuclear disruption in the area the targeting systems in the missiles were scrambled and they just screamed harmlessly by.
Evading both missiles and gunfire, Cipher continued to yell at her wingman to ceasefire before he finally turned away and fled the engagement zone before fading from radar, leaving her with his final words "This is where we go our separate ways".
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Cipher knew she'd see Pixy again and something in her gut told her their reunion wasn't going to be a good one. After his defection, Cipher refused to trust anyone, even the pilot who replaced Pixy as her wingman.
Former 3rd wing in the Crow Squadron, Patrick "PJ" James was a naïve, but skilled pilot who flew to ensure peace and an end to war. He was very talkative, but Cipher never really responded to him unless she was giving him orders.
During the final battle above Avalon Dam when PJ was shot down in front of her, Cipher froze as she watched the loss of another of her wingmen before the voice of her former ally and buddy brought her to her senses.
"Why'd you do it Larry?" she asked herself before the ship's alarm brought her out of her thoughts.
"All hands prepare for battle!" the captain ordered from every speaker on the ship.
Getting to her feet and rushing to the hangar, Cipher made it just as Pixy had closed the canopy on his fighter.
Getting into her Eagle, Cipher waited for the small hangar trucks to taxi her and Pixy into position to take off.
Once they were in position, Cipher contacted the bridge "Galm 1 here, Galm team is in position and ready to take off".
"Roger Galm 1 you're both cleared to launch" Aramone's voice answered.
The engines of both fighters roared to life with a blazing heat as they flew out of the hangar and into space.
Spotting the sphere shaped enemy ahead of the dread formation, Cipher narrowed her eyes as the sphere sprouted tentacles all around it, which quickly arched into blades.
"A sea urchin?" Jura gasped "Hey are we seriously going to fight that thing?"
"Just calm down Jura" Meia told her "All teams check your formation, commence attack".
The dreads flew into a head on attack formation against the new enemy, barely evading and weaving past the bladed tentacles of the sea urchin after it blocked their shots.
"How do you wanna handle this Cipher?" Pixy asked after he saw the attack run fail.
"Weapons safe for now and trail behind me" Cipher ordered "That thing blocked their missiles so let's see if a strafing run will work".
"Pixy roger. Galm team engaging".
Cipher accelerated toward the sea urchin with Pixy following right behind her. "Watch the blades; they'll take your wing off if they get you".
"I guess regaining control of my fighter in the vacuum of space would be pretty difficult" Pixy said as they began their attack run, both fighters strafing the enemy with their guns.
The bullets impacted the blades and the shell of the sea urchin, but caused no visible damage.
The enemy started spinning rapidly as the two pilots approached it and they both performed a wide half loop over the sea urchin to avoid the spinning blades.
"Its armor is too thick for our guns alone" Pixy reported.
The sphere made its move, rapidly spinning again it flew toward the pirate's ship slicing at the starboard arm before looping for a second attack; thankfully the Galm team was able to force it off its attack path, preventing further damage.
"Our missiles can't damage it either!" Pixy yelled after the two mercenaries forced the sphere away from the ship "What should we do Cipher?"
"Just keep it away from the ship for now, watch its movements and determine the best plan of attack" Cipher ordered "Let the dreads handle the enemy for right now and support them as needed".
Pixy sighed, "Galm 2, roger".
The dreads attempted another attack run, but just like the first time it failed. The sphere shaped enemy rotated, using its blades to block their missile shots before forcing them to back away, giving it a clear shot at the ship.
"Intercepting" Cipher said, stopping the enemy from striking the ship again.
"We need to do something about those needles" Pixy said "If we don't eliminate those this will just continue until we're all out of ammo".
"Meia let's get the alien out here!" Dita suggested.
"No!" Meia barked "Don't forget he's one of our enemies because he's a man".
"But he's a good alien I just know it!" Dita pleaded.
"I've told you before not to rely on the strength of others!" Meia yelled "This is our battle we'll win this on our own".
Meia's dread beings spinning as she empties her entire payload against the enemy, but the end result was the same; no damage.
"Ms. Gasco I've got an order to go!" Barnette cried over the radio once her last missile was fired.
Barnette, Dita, Jura and Meia had emptied their loadout and retreated to a safe distance while they waited for Gascogne's delivery ship to leave and rearm them.
While they fell back, Cipher and Pixy continued to keep the ship safe from the enemy. Alternating their attacks against the enemy, Galm team was effectively managing to keep the sphere away from the ship while the dreads were being rearmed.
One by one both Cipher and Pixy would attack the sphere to keep it on the defensive, instead of attacking it at the same time and then giving it an opening as they turned around. This way they were able to keep it pushed back while the other turned to reengage.
Gascogne's delivery ship left the ship and promptly arrived at the battle zone "Alright girl's lets do this in one go" the Reg leader told the female pilots "Thirty seconds". The dreads docked with the delivery ship and the rearming process began while the enemy was still preoccupied.
"Delivery complete" Gascogne confirmed once the dreads were fully armed "Give 'em hell girls".
"Larry, watch out!" Cipher yelled as the enemy began rotating to block Pixy's missiles while flying toward him in an attempt to bring him down.
Acting on instinct alone, Pixy threw his flightstick to the side and decelerated to evade the enemy before accelerating into a dive to get a safe distance away before turning around.
The enemy used this chance to attack Gascogne's delivery ship, but the Reg leader smirked as she tilted her ship downward allowing the enemy to recoil away from the reinforced shell.
The side of the delivery ship opened after the enemy passed by and the Vanguard finally entered the battle.
"So he decided to show up after all?" Pixy said as the Vanguard flew toward the sea urchin.
"Here's our chance!" Cipher said "Weapons free move in and finish it off!"
Pixy smiled "Roger! Now you're talkin'".
Hibiki along with the Galm team closed in on the enemy which stopped spinning before firing its spikes out at them, but thanks to Pixy's quick reaction, his fighter's ECM jammer was able to keep the needles from hitting them.
With its attack trashed, the sphere barely managed to avoid being sandwiched between the three pilots and retreated back a good distance before its needles regenerated.
"Mr. Alien!" Dita cried as she flew toward the Vanguard "Let's combine now!"
"Dita watch out!" Meia yelled as the enemy turned its attention to Dita's dread and fired more needles.
One of the needles clipped Meia's wing sending her dread into a tail spin right in the Vanguard's path before the two fighters collided in a bright light.
Just like with Dita's dread, the Vanguard had combined with Meia's. The new machine easily resembled a dragon, with clawed feet and a glaring face and eyes at its head.
"Those things sure have a lot of fancy tricks I'll give 'em that much" Pixy said after seeing the new machine.
Inside the new Vandread, Hibiki was leaning against the controls still dazed from the sudden change. "What the hell just happened?" he moaned as he leaned back and felt something soft behind him.
Looking behind him, the pilot screamed when he realized he was sitting on Meia's lap "What are you do you think you're doing!?"
"What are you doing!?" Meia fired back as she tried to push the boy off of her "I never asked for your help so get the heck off me!"
"If I could don't you think I would?" Hibiki yelled before the enemy attacked them.
"We don't have time for this" Hibiki told her as Cipher and Pixy began attacking the enemy again.
The new Vandread began chasing after the enemy with incredible speed, easily closing the large gap between it and the enemy.
Realizing how close they were to it, the sphere stopped and fired more needles forcing Pixy to activate his fighter's ECM jammer again to repel them, but the Vandread's speed allowed it to loop around behind the enemy in what seemed like a single second.
The Vandread's legs folded inward and its head stiffened outward while the wings folded back "This is exactly what I've been waiting for!" both Meia and Hibiki yelled as the Vandread flashed toward the enemy piercing through it in an instant destroying it.
Inside the Vandread both pilots were breathing heavily, the intense acceleration took a lot out of both of them. "Do you see now?" Meia asked Hibiki "You can't win every battle with just your Vanguard".
"The same goes for you and your dread don't you think?" Hibiki asked looking over his shoulder.
"Well I'm sure glad that's over" Pixy said before noticing that Cipher had already turned around and headed back toward the ship.
With the battle over, things began returning to normal once more. On the bridge, Parfet used Pyoro to communicate with the captain.
"The ship's name?" the captain asked her.
Parfet nodded "Yes, the entire crew contributed names to this list and we want you to choose one captain".
"You want me to choose?" the captain asked with an intrigued smile.
"Just as long as you pick a cool sounding one" Parfet told her before the NAVI-bot's screen showed a list of suggested names.
Zeroing in on "Nirvana" the captain hummed "Hmm, the Nirvana? Not a bad idea, who's suggestion was it?"
"It was the commander's suggestion" Pyoro smiled.
"Then it's decided" the captain said "From now on this ship will be known as the Nirvana!"
Parfet seemed displeased "Oh, I should've known".
With the day reaching its end and most of the crew turning in for the night, Cipher remained in the hangar where it was dark and quiet.
Reaching up to her left shoulder, she unlatched the belt around her combat knife and pulled it from its holster. Looking at her own reflection in the blade as it gleamed from what little light was in the hangar, the mercenary pilot tightened her grip on the handle before she started swinging the knife.
Cipher swung the knife outward before taking a quick step back and then quickly stepping forward and thrusting the knife at chest level. Pulling the blade back, Cipher stepped to the side and held her leg up before twisting it, as if she was blocking a kick from someone before locking her leg around theirs.
After her foot was back on the ground, Cipher flipped the knife in her hand, now holding it downward before stabbing down at her imaginary opponent.
With a murderous look in her eyes, Cipher flipped the knife around in her hand again before sheathing it in its holster and clipping the buckle back in place, "Do you need something?" she asked.
Pixy was standing behind her with two unmarked envelopes in his hands, "Our pay for defending the ship today" he told her before handing her one of the envelopes "Minus a bit for ammo expenses of course".
"Expenses are expenses" Cipher agreed as she slid the envelope into her red sleeveless jacket "Anything else?" she asked him.
"No, just giving you your cut" Pixy said before turning around and leaving.
After Pixy left the hangar he began feeling guilty, not once did he regret joining A World with No Boundaries, but since a few days ago when Cipher said she no longer trusted him he began to wonder if it was all worth it.
He fought for his beliefs even if they pit him against his former friend, but now it seems his beliefs had permanently divided the two. He knew apologizing wouldn't fix anything, actually it'd probably only annoy Cipher if he apologized to her, but he still wanted t do something, anything to mend the rift between them now.
For now however, it seems he has to allow time to take its course, and hope that time will indeed heal this wound he caused.
A/N. And that's chapter 5 in all its glory!
The crew survives another battle and Meia and Hibiki learn an important lesson in teamwork.
Cipher and Pixy continue to fly as a team, but outside of battle their relationship continues to slowly dwindle away.
Since absolutely nothing was ever revealed about Cipher's past I decided to come up with one of my own that I will be revealing piece by piece as I continue this cross over. In this chapter we see Cipher involved in a bar fight before she became a mercenary, even then she was a dangerous and highly trained person.
Barnette and Jura both witnessed Cipher performing the globally popular Tai Chi before she began a round of target practice, shocking both pilots with her pinpoint marksmanship and deadly focus.
That bit was actually inspired and somewhat of a tribute to my older sister who placed 12th in her Navy ship's marksmanship challenge. She didn't win, but I'm still proud of her.
As for Cipher's appearance this chapter it was inspired by one of my all time favorite video game characters Claire Redfield from the Resident Evil series. Resident Evil 6 releases October 2nd so my anticipation for that is also adding a bit to my inspiration I guess.
That's all for now everyone, see you next time!