In the gym, Cipher was standing away from Hibiki as he attacked the heavy bag hanging form the ceiling.
"Boxing is easy enough to learn, simple, but effective" Cipher told Hibiki, as she showed him basic boxing strikes and footwork. Hitting the heavy bag several times she stepped away and nodded for him to do the same.
Hibiki stepped up to the heavy bag and held his arms out like Cipher showed him before locking his eyes on the bag and then punching it immediately backing off and shaking his arm from the pain.
"It's called a heavy bag for a reason" Cipher told him, "If you don't relax your arm when you swing you'll hurt yourself. And don't lock your eyes on it. If you stare at one point for so long you won't notice anything else. The bag isn't striking back at you, but just remember that if you ever get into a fight with someone else, always keep your eyes on their entire body. Footwork and arm positions as well as the direction they're looking will tell you everything you need to know about where they're going to strike".
Hibiki nodded and went back to hitting the bag, but once again Cipher stopped him.
"Keep your balance" she told him, "Throw your punches, but don't throw yourself at it. If you do that you throw yourself off balance. Ground your feet before you punch it adds to your strength".
"Alright I got it" Hibiki said before throwing a punch only for Cipher to stop him again.
"Don't push with your shoulders, not only will that allow your opponent to force you off balance, but it also leaves you open to counters and whatever you do never charge in head first. If you try pushing with your head it'll leave you completely open to uppercuts and trust me when I say how much they hurt".
"Can I start now?" Hibiki asked her.
Cipher nodded and Hibiki began attacking the bag, quickly tiring himself out as he tried to push the bag with his strikes.
"Stop, stop" Cipher said walking over to him. "Never push punch; you want to snap your punches".
"I want to what?" Hibiki asked her.
Cipher slowly moved her arm to demonstrate, "This is a push punch" she said pushing her arm all the way out to the peak of her reach, "A push punch as no place in boxing. A push punch is for martial arts only, it's supposed to be a punch pushed to the maximum length of your reach to maximize the damage you deal, but in boxing" Cipher paused and quickly threw out a punch before her arm snapped back into position, "You want to snap punch. Fire your arm out and snap it back into your stance to block. A snap punch also deals a great deal of damage and can also stun if you hit a sore or sensitive spot. And in boxing speed is everything. When you snap punch you need to follow these rules or you'll only succeed in tiring yourself out".
Cipher stepped back from the bag and slowly showed Hibiki the steps to a snap punch, "Relax first. Even in the midst of a fight you have to relax, a relaxed muscle has the greatest potential for speed. Secondly you want to go from that relaxed state and just explode!" Cipher quickly threw her arm out and retracted it.
"As the snapping punch is thrown, the arm quickly bursts from a state of rest into high velocity. An explosive exhale of breath will aid the explosive movement. And I don't mean release a long sigh; you need to shoot your breath out fast".
"Next what you need to do is release your grip on yourself. A problem a lot of beginners have is they like to hang on to their fist when they throw a punch. You won't realize it, but you're unintentionally tightening up the arm, squeezing the forearms and fist as they try to direct the fist to its target. Once you send your fist out with the initial burst at the beginning of the punch, just relax your body and let the fist fly out at full force. Again, don't try to control your arm or your fist once you throw the punch. Just let it go and trust that it will hit its target".
"This is the hard part" Cipher said as she slowly performed another snap punch, "You want to minimize contact time, tighten your fist right at the point of impact, make sure that when your fist hits you hear the smacking sound of when you strike and immediately after impact, relax the whole arm and quickly retract leaving the impact to disperse on the opponent".
Cipher walked over to Hibiki and grabbed hold of his shoulder and upper arm, making the young pilot blush. "Recovering quickly is tricky because you want to conserve energy but also make sure that you transferred the force from your fist to your opponent. If you pull back your arm too fast, you're punching power decreases and your shoulder muscles will use more energy to pull the fist back since it is simultaneously counter-acting against the triceps muscle that launched the fist out. If you allow the punch to travel out too much, it might become a pushing punch. The easiest way for me to know when the perfect time to retract the punch is to allow the force of impact naturally "bounce" my fist back to me. In the event that I am missing or shadowboxing as practice, my arm naturally returns the fist home in a relaxed manner once the arm is extended to a certain point".
"Can I start hitting the thing now?" Hibiki asked her.
"Not yet" Cipher told him, "You need to remember all of this otherwise you'll only end up breaking your own arm. Boxing is more about breathing as you strike than striking with sheer speed or power. Focus more on explosive breathing than explosive punching, relaxed breathing will keep you from tiring out quicker, it'll take some getting used to, but it's an easier thing to pick up".
"Another thing I want you to do is always move your feet. Never stop moving, even when you're resting or putting distance between you and the enemy always keep moving. Another thing that my trainer taught me is to throw three to six punches. That's what you want to aim for" Cipher threw a single punch before retracting her arm and throwing her other, repeating this three times until she threw out six punches. "It's easy to get the hang of it if you number your punches, so if you're right handed, your right arm is your main hand and your other arm is you're off hand and vice versa. Your main hand is numbers one and three while your off hand is number two and two alone".
Cipher slowly threw another punch and counted aloud for Hibiki to hear, "One, two and three" she paused before starting again, "One, two, three, three and two".
"Anything else?" Hibiki asked sounding irritated only to see the glare Cipher gave him, Hibiki gulped back his words before Cipher continued explaining things to him.
Cipher backed away from him, "The last thing I want you to do is always keep your hands up, never drop them for any reason. Don't drop your hands when you strike either, you need to keep defending yourself at all times. When you strike with your right hand, keep your left against your body to cover both your head and upper torso. And when you go to block keep your arms tucked against your body and your elbows down, fists to protect the head and arms and elbows to protect the body".
Cipher nodded signaling Hibiki to finally start and watched the young pilot strike at the bag over and over, landing a single chain of several hits before backing away and stepping around to the side to strike again, making sure to keep his arms parallel to his body, blocking against imaginary strikes.
Watching from the sidelines, Cipher could tell Hibiki took what she said to heart, so for now all he needed to work on was his stamina so he wouldn't tire out so quickly.
After a while Cipher stopped him again and told him to rest for a few hours before returning, but Hibiki claimed to be fine.
"I can keep going" he panted before becoming lightheaded and stumbling toward Cipher who quickly grabbed hold of him before he fell. When she caught Hibiki, Cipher remembered that this had happened to her once as well, back when she first joined Vanderwall and his group of mercenaries.
Many members of the group didn't think Cipher was strong or even remotely good enough to be one of them and insulted her behind her back as well as voicing concerns that their leader was going soft. After a full contact sparring match against another member of the group, Cipher felt lightheaded as well and briefly fell to the floor. She could hear some of the men around her laughing at her saying that the little girl should go back to her dolls.
Clenching her fists, Cipher jumped up and immediately leveled one of them with an uppercut before half spinning to the side and kicking out the knee of the man next to him. Once the second guy was on his knee, Cipher wrenched his arm behind his back and locked him in a choke hold with her right arm before letting go of his arm and taking his pistol to aim at the guy she knocked down as he got up.
The two guys as well as everyone else in the room except Vanderwall were stunned at Cipher's speed and precision considering she was so tired after her match.
That stunt gained Cipher a little respect in the group and seemed to succeed in stopping the insults behind her back.
Cipher gently pushed Hibiki back up, allowing him to catch his balance before letting go.
"Go shower and get some rest for now we can continue later" she told him before escorting him out of the gym.
"Hey um…Cipher" Hibiki said once they reached the elevator.
"What is it?" she asked him.
"Th…Thanks for training me" he said, "I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with, but I want you to know I really appreciate it".
Cipher forced away her smile as they got on the elevator, "I'm surprised you didn't ask Pixy instead. I was under the impression you're still afraid of women".
Hibiki lowered his head, "I don't think I'm afraid of women at all anymore…its just…I just don't know what to think, I hate to admit it, but I really don't know much about anything".
"Well you're a good pilot and mechanic, that's still something in of itself" Cipher told him as the doors opened and Dita immediately called out to him from the end of the hall.
"Oh there you are Mr. Alien!" she yelled waving to him.
Hibiki panicked, but Cipher gave him a light push, forcing him out of the elevator and closing the door behind him. Hibiki turned around to jump back inside the elevator, but was too late as the doors closed, hearing only Cipher's last words to him, "Good luck".
Dita ran over to Hibiki and grabbed his arm, "Hey, come with me Mr. Alien I need some help getting some boxes from the storage hold".
"What do you need me for?" he asked her, "Can't you get someone else to help you?"
Dita blushed with a smile and looked away, "Well you see…I just want you to help me, if you do I'll make you something good. Whaddya say?"
Hibiki felt his stomach growl and blushed as he looked to the side, "Fine whatever" he grumbled to which Dita smiled before pulling him down the hall.
In the supply room, Dita was grabbing several boxes of food from the shelves and stacking them in Hibiki's arms, he was still tired from his workout earlier so his arms felt a bit sore under the weight that kept getting added to him.
"What else do we need?" Dita asked herself before Hibiki told her to hurry up. Looking behind her Dita smiled at him, "Oh I'm sorry Mr. Alien that stuff is probably pretty heavy huh?"
Hibiki blushed again, "I can handle it I just…"
Dita smiled at him again, "You're so dependable, that's just like you" she returned her attention to the boxes, "Ah ha! This one!" she said grabbing a box of carrots.
"What are you doing?" Paiway asked after the box was removed, she had been hiding on the opposite side of the shelves, stalking them the entire time.
"Oh hi Paiway" Dita said with a small look of concern on her face, "We're just getting some supplies is all".
The young nurse narrowed her eyes with suspicion, "Sounds fishy to me".
"Well it has nothing to do with you Paiway" Dita told her before grabbing the box of carrots and turning around.
"Dita" Paiway said in a clumsy voice, "Don't you know what today is?"
"Today?" Dita asked, "I don't know".
Paiway seemed hurt for some reason before yelling, "Fine" and walking away.
"I really don't understand women at all" Hibiki muttered before Dita herded him out of the supply hold.
On the bridge, Parfet was using a modified telescope to scan the space ahead of the ship to see how far they were from Mejere.
"Well Parfet?" Magno asked her, "Do you have an estimate for us?"
"Well based on our current course and speed, I'd say we're almost halfway there" the engineer replied, "But then again maybe the harvest is already over and everyone on Mejere and Tarak are already dead".
Everyone on the bridge turned to look at her.
"That really wasn't a good choice for a joke Parfet" Pixy said as he entered the bridge.
Parfet smiled at him, "Sorry I guess my sense of humor still needs some work huh?"
Pixy shook his head before looking up to Magno, "Captain I'd like to speak with you once you have a free moment".
Magno smiled at him, "I always have time for my crew Pixy, what is it you would like to talk about?"
Pixy looked around the bridge before returning his eyes to Magno, "It isn't something I'd like to discuss within range of others".
Magno nodded, "Very well I'll be in the conference room, you can meet me there".
Pixy quickly saluted the captain as he chair started sliding up the ramp behind her, "Thank you captain".
In the women's quarters, Dita was skipping down the hall carrying the box of carrots and playfully calling back to Hibiki telling him to keep up, causing the pilot of the Vanguard a small manner of annoyance.
Peeking his head around the three boxes stacked in his arms, he noticed Dita had already left the hall, "Dammit" he muttered, "She could have at least waited for me. I don't really mind carrying these things, but I can't see where I'm going".
Walking past one of the rooms, Hibiki noticed that the door was cracked open and his curiosity once again got the better of him. He peered through the crack in the door to see Celtic changing out of her bear costume. Seeing the bridge bunnies bear body caused him to panic and lose his balance. Bumping his elbow into the panel for the door, Hibiki caused it to open as he was bracing against it and fell into the room being buried under the boxes he was carrying.
Hearing the crashing sound behind her, Celtic turned around and covered herself before seeing Hibiki laying on her floor buried under the boxes, "Sorry to barge in, but could you give me a hand?" he muttered clumsily before Celtic screamed and ran out of her room.
In the conference room, Magno took a sip of her tea, "Well now Pixy tell me, what is it that's bothering you?"
Pixy sat down across from the captain, "It's Cipher".
"What about her?" Magno asked him.
Pixy took a quick breath, he didn't want to feel like he was betraying Cipher's trust in him, but he felt that he had to do something.
"It's alright, take your time" Magno told him.
Pixy looked to her, "Cipher seems to be in a really bad way right now captain. She's beginning to realize that there's probably not a way for either of us to return to where we belong, back to Earth and I'm afraid it's starting to get to her. That video Dita found on Christmas…It really got to Cipher, she's really depressed even if she won't show it".
The captain closed her eyes, "I'm afraid there's not much I can do in this situation".
"I'm not asking you to do anything captain" Pixy said, "I'm hoping you could tell me what I could to do to help her…I…I just want to do something to help her through this is all".
"Have you not noticed it Larry?" Magno asked him. Pixy was surprised; in the time that he and Cipher had been on the ship the captain had not once called him by his name. "You claim to be her friend, but you miss such an obvious sign" Magno said to him, "She wants it to be you. She wants you to be the one to help her through this; even if she won't admit it".
Pixy smirked, "With all due respect captain, Cipher isn't exactly the type to be so…Yeah she's just not the type".
"You've got a lot to learn about women then Larry" she told him, "Even one as closed off and isolated as Fiona has her soft spots. And I can tell that you're the one she wants to save her from herself".
"She said she was ready to start trusting me again" Pixy said, "So why won't she just come to me if something's wrong? She's acting the same way she always has except now she's".
The captain cut him off, "Understand the way she sees it Larry. She's a strong woman who always looked after herself and felt as if she was alone for most of her life, its hard for her to open up to you and adding that you did betray her in the past she's probably fighting against herself on how she feels about you. If she said she's ready to start trusting you…I'm willing to bet that right now she's hoping you'll turn out to be the friend she wants you to be. She's using this as a way to see if you're really the friend to her you claim to be".
"So you're saying that she's testing me?" Pixy asked her.
"Not intentionally, but in a way" Magno replied, "She's too scared to show how she really feels, but in her heart she's crying for you to help her".
The captain smiled at him, "Trust me I've seen it many times, Fiona is a special girl, but when it comes down to it you just can't beat the experience and wisdom of someone my age".
Pixy looked down at the table, taking in what the captain said, "So what should I do? I want to help her, but I'm not sure how".
The captain continued to smile at him, "If you're really the friend to her that you claim to be, then I have no doubt you'll know what to do when the time comes".
Cipher was walking past the briefing room when she heard yelling from inside, whatever happened it caused quite a stir. Entering the room she saw Celtic and Paiway in the middle of the room yelling at everyone else. "What happened this time?" she asked coldly.
"That man charged into my room while I was changing clothes" Celtic said to her.
"Hibiki?" Cipher asked her, knowing that he would be the only one clumsy or dumb enough to do such a thing.
"That's not all he did!" Paiway told her, "He made Dita cry, see!" she showed a silent video of Dita crying with Hibiki standing behind her seemingly yelling at her.
"Is that all?" Cipher asked her.
"What do you is that all?" Paiway yelled, before looking to the rest of the women in the room, "We all seem to have forgotten one very important thing and that's that men are extremely dangerous".
"You're kidding right?" Cipher asked her, "You name one person on this ship whose match for me, man or woman".
"That's not the point" Celtic said, "Men are our enemies and after letting them roam free around the ship they've done nothing, but cause trouble".
"What have they done exactly?" Cipher asked her, "What has Duelo done to cause trouble? What has Bart done to cause trouble? What has Pixy done? The only one who's done anything wrong is Hibiki, but you seem to forget that if it wasn't for him none of you would be here right now. Without the Vanguard combining with Dita's dread we never would have survived the first encounter with the enemy. How easy it must be to blame someone you don't like while completely ignoring everything that person has done for you".
Cipher turned around, "People like you" she said looking at Celtic over her shoulder, "Are the kind I hate the most".
Cipher walked out of the room, leaving Celtic and Paiway furious. "I really don't like her" Celtic said, "She acts like she's so much better than we are. What would she know? She's not even one of us so she doesn't even have a right to be here!"
"I think you're forgetting your place Celtic" Meia said from the back of the room, "If you have a complaint then address it to the captain or the commander, but don't try and start a riot on the ship".
Celtic glared at Meia, "I would have thought you out of everyone would understand Meia. Correct me if I'm wrong, but after we took those men prisoner you wanted to just throw them off the ship".
Barnette spoke up, "That's right. It sounds like to me Meia you're taking the men's side".
"I'm just saying that if you let your emotions guide you then you won't make it very far" Meia told her, "And to start with you're all making a big deal out of something this trivial".
"Trivial?" Barnette muttered before yelling at the dread leader, "In case you've forgotten men are our enemies. I really hope you don't plan on siding with them Meia cause if you do".
"You'll do what?" Meia asked, cutting her off. "If I did decide to defend them in this situation what would you do about it? What would any of you do about it? Cipher's right if it wasn't for Hibiki we never would have made it this far. If it wasn't for Bart the ship never would have moved. If it wasn't for Pixy and Cipher several of you wouldn't even be here. And if it wasn't for Duelo I wouldn't be here right now. You all seem to have forgotten just how much we owe them right now".
"Owe them?" Barnette repeated, "I never asked them to help us and I damn sure never wanted to owe them anything".
"Then leave" Meia told her, "If you don't like it that much take your dread and leave, otherwise get over it". Meia left the room, leaving a steaming Barnette behind.
Once the doors closed behind her, Meia clenched her fists, "Those fools are going to cause us to lose everything".
"Which is why we're going to stop them" Cipher's voice said.
Meia looked to her left to see Cipher leaning against the wall, "You were standing there the whole time weren't you?" she asked her.
Cipher nodded, "I'm not going to let them jeopardize this ship with their own petty grudges. If the try anything I will stop them".
"How do you plan on doing that?" Meia asked her, "I know you're strong Cipher, but you can't take on half the crew and win".
"I think I'm going to employ violence" Cipher told her before walking away.
Meia immediately knew what Cipher was thinking and decided it best to warn the captain of a possible riot on the ship. Rushing to the bridge, Meia entered only to see that the captain wasn't there, "Where is she?" she asked herself before noticing BC's absence as well, "The conference room" she said to herself before running off again.
Over the next hour the ship had been enveloped by chaos with the majority of the crew returning to their old views of men as dangerous enemies and a select few deciding to stay out of the conflict.
Barnette tried to arrest Hibiki, but he managed to escape, fleeing to the hangar and taking off in the Vanguard, flying as far away as possible.
Duelo and Bart were trapped in the infirmary and forced to return to the brig where they would remain under guard. Pixy was safe for the moment due to Cipher's interference into the matter.
Barnette had tried to arrest Pixy as well, but Cipher stood between them refusing to move. Barnette threatened to arrest her as well, but Cipher held her ground continuing to stare coldly into Barnette's eyes.
For whatever reason, Barnette could tell what was going through Cipher's mind; she was playing different scenarios in her head trying to determine the best way to stop her. Against her own pride, Barnette knew there was no way she could contend with Cipher in hand to hand combat so her only option if Cipher resisted was her gun, but she had also seen Cipher's quick and deadly precision in the firing range.
Moving her eyes down to Cipher's right leg, she wondered to herself if she could fire before Cipher drew her own weapon or more importantly if Cipher would hesitate to kill her if she missed.
Barnette narrowed her eyes while Cipher continued to stare coldly at her, not saying a word.
"I'm warning you Cipher" Barnette barked, locking her arms in place with Cipher's chest lined in her sight. "If you don't stand aside I won't hesitate to".
Barnette stopped when she saw Cipher's hand dive down to her leg and retrieve her gun, but Cipher wasn't aiming it at her, she was aiming it at her own head.
"Tell me Barnette" Cipher began, "Have you ever been shot? Have you ever shot another person?" Cipher released the clip from her Five Seven and aimed it at Barnette, "Do you really want to try your luck right now? All I need is the one bullet in this chamber".
Barnette tensed up, angered by Cipher's taunt, "Don't you dare mock me!" she yelled before a gunshot echoed through the hangar.
Barnette's gun was lying on the floor and the green haired pilot was clenching at her hand which felt like it was painfully vibrating from the force of her gun being shot out of her hand. Barnette's eyes no longer showed anger, they showed fear, fear of the person standing across from her.
Cipher reloaded her clip into her Five Seven and stepped toward Barnette before kicking her gun away from her, "Its over" she told her, "This riot you've caused, the in fighting amongst the crew all of it…It ends now. There are more important things at stake than a pathetic squabble between blind people like you and Hibiki".
Cipher holstered her firearm and retrieved Barnette before walking back over to Pixy, "Next time I have to save you I'm charging you ten times the normal rate" she told him before walking away.
After Cipher left the hangar, Pixy looked to Barnette who was now glaring at him, "Look Barnette, whatever the reason behind you doing this I don't really care, but Cipher's right if we don't all stand together on this then we're going to lose".
"Shut it!" Barnette barked, "Don't you dare act like you know what I'm going through".
"I'm not acting like I do and quite honestly I don't care" Pixy said raising his voice, "Even if hate me, Hibiki and even Cipher you need to realize that we're helping you and everyone else on this ship survive. Or do you not care what happens to them?"
Barnette gasped before lowering her eyes; "I did this because I care about them" she lied.
"Did you?" Pixy asked her, "Or did you do it because you're so blinded by your upbringing? You need to learn how to look past such BS and learn to make your own perceptions. Just look at me and Cipher, before we ended up here we were friends, and we always watched each others backs, even now we still watch over each other that's what being a wingman means you protect the other members of your squad. And even though Hibiki has no idea on how to interact with the women on this ship he hasn't' once hesitated to help defend this ship. Do you know why? It's because he knows that if we don't stand together we've already lost".
Pixy paused for a moment to calm himself, "So when he returns to the ship I expect you to apologize to him".
With that, Pixy left Barnette alone in the hangar as he went to find Cipher.
Pixy looked seemingly everywhere for Cipher unable to find her. She wasn't in the gym, the firing range, her cell in the brig or even at the garden section. Her usual places and she was no where to be seen.
"Alright Larry think" he thought to himself "Her usual spots and she's not there. The gym, the firing range, her room, the garden the hang…" Pixy remembered what Cipher said a month ago about wishing she could just leave, "Fiona" he gasped before rushing back to the hangar, "You wouldn't really leave would you?" he wondered as he ran across the massive ship.
Entering the hangar, he stopped when he saw Cipher climbing into her F-15, "Cipher!" he called before running over to her.
"What is it?" she asked him as if nothing was wrong.
"Where are you going?" Pixy asked.
"I'm going to look for Hibiki" she told him before sitting in her fighter, "Well what are you waiting for?" she asked looking down to him "Let's go".
Pixy was out of breath, but he managed to grin at her before walking over to his own fighter and climbing in.
"Galm 2 to bridge, Cipher and I are taking off to go find Hibiki".
"Very well then" the captain's voice replied, "You two be sure to bring that boy back to us safely now, he is one of us after all".
"Roger that captain" Pixy replied before the two mercenaries took off.
Both the F-15 and ADFX-02 quickly faded beyond radar coverage, leaving the motionless Nirvana behind.
"Hey Cipher" Pixy said over the radio as he flew on her wing, "Do you really think we can find him? There's no telling where he is right now".
"He's close Pixy" she said, "I don't know why, but I can feel it. He's out there in a battle right now and he needs help".
"A battle?" Pixy asked, "On his own?"
Cipher's voice sounded determined as she spoke, "We have to help him, he's going to die if we don't".
Pixy couldn't help, but smile at his buddy's words; she was worried about Hibiki and the crew of the Nirvana. Even if she felt like she didn't belong there she was going to help protect them.
After an hour of flying, the two pilots saw flashes of light far ahead of them and their radios began picking up chatter from multiple overlapping voices.
"Well that's definitely the sounds of battle" Pixy said, "Do you really think Hibiki's out there?"
"Who else do you know that has this kind of trouble following after them?" Cipher asked as they continued to fly toward the battle ahead.
"Well for one there's you" Pixy replied, "Remember the air battle in the Round Table after you destroyed that giant laser weapon? Trouble has a habit of following you as well buddy".
"Two unknown signatures have appeared on radar" a voice from the radio said, "They're both heading toward the combat zone".
Another voice came from the radio, "Pilots identify yourselves at once" it demanded.
"Should we help them out?" Pixy asked Cipher, "They're pretty out numbered".
Cipher activated her radio, "This is Galm 1 to the fleet ahead; we're coming in to assist you".
"This is the captain of the Melanos fleet; we'll welcome any aide we can get. Be advised there's a harvest flagship entering the combat zone".
"A flagship?" Pixy asked before seeing a large hit on his radar, "Cipher!" he yelled upon seeing the giant ship entering the area.
"Damn you all!" Hibiki's voice yelled over the radio as the Vanguard took off from the lead ship, "Do people really die as easily as she did!?"
The Vanguard cut its way through several enemies before Hibiki noticed Cipher and Pixy's fighters flying past him.
"What are you two doing out here?" he yelled after they flew by.
"Talk later" Pixy told him after shooting down a cube type, "Deal with the enemy first".
Hibiki returned his eyes to the enemy and resumed his offensive, taking down one enemy after another.
"Warning!" a voice form the fleet cried, "The flagship is preparing to attack all pilots evasive maneuvers now!"
"What do we do Cipher?" Pixy asked, "I'll follow you".
"Hibiki, Pixy break to the side and get as far away from that thing as possible now!" Cipher ordered as the giant harvest flagship began opening at its head and an ominous light began glowing larger and larger.
Hibiki, Pixy and Cipher sensed the danger of the oncoming attack and escaped to the side before the flagship attacked, watching in horror as the entire fleet before them was completely vaporized in a single attack.
"What the hell!" Pixy yelled after seeing the debris of the fleet that once was, "Cipher, Hibiki we can't win against that kind of firepower, we need to retreat".
"Galm 1 copies all, Hibiki we're leaving there's nothing more we can do".
"Dammit" Hibiki growled, "Damn you all!" he roared before activating the Vanguard's sword and charging head first toward the flagship, "I'll kill every single one of you!"
"Hibiki get out of there!" Cipher yelled at him as the flagship began charging its attack again.
"Hibiki!" Pixy and Cipher yelled as a flash of light blinded them.
Pixy opened his eyes, both Cipher and him were floating in a sea of turquoise light, they were no longer in their fighters and there was no sign of Hibiki or the Vanguard.
"Cipher?" Pixy called out as he tried to reach out to her, but he couldn't move.
"Are we…" Cipher's voice asked, it sounded distant and unemotional "Is this the end?" it sounded as if she didn't care if this was the end of them or not "Come on" her voice yelled in anger, "Let's see how good you really are!"
"Cipher what are you doing?" he asked before his vision cleared.
Cipher was standing not too far away from him, but there were two of her standing face to face with their fists raised as if they were fighting each other and behind them was what looked like a small cage.
Straining his eyes, Pixy tried to focus on the cage behind the two Ciphers he felt like he was being drawn to it.
Inside the cage he could see someone bound by chains and hunched over, he could barely hear the faint sounds of whoever it was crying while the two outside the cage continued to yell and fight with each other.
"Is that all you got!" one of the Ciphers yelled, "Pathetic!" her voice was filled with rage and accompanied by a condescending tone.
"What's the point?" the second Cipher asked, "Why do I continue to fight? It's not like I'll ever go home again so the money I've received up till now is useless. So what's the point in fighting?"
"The words of a coward" the first Cipher yelled, "To prove that I'm the strongest there is, the money is just a bonus that's all!"
Pixy was confused as to what was going on, there were two Ciphers fighting each other and the person in the cage behind them continued to cry, as she stared at the chains binding her arms together.
"Cipher?" he muttered.
The woman in the cage stopped crying and looked in his direction, "Larry" it called faintly, "Help me…please" the voice was filled with pain and sadness, but there was no mistaking that it was Cipher's.
Pixy's vision began blurring and the image of the three Ciphers ahead of him began fading from view, "Cipher!" he tried to call, but his voice feel silent as the light around him faded "Cipher…Fiona…I swear I'll help you in whatever way I can".