Chapter 2: Allies

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Ace Combat series.

The Odyssey of Discovery: Gryphus 1

The bright light that swallowed the Ikazuchi and Mejale pirate ship reappears to spit them out along with pieces of debris.

On the pirate ship's bridge Magno groaned as she came to, "This certainly isn't the afterlife. Where are we?"

Amarone said, "I'll check." The ship rocks and a glowing aqua blue light appears, out in space glowing crystal-like tentacles form and begin pulling the debris and Mejale pirate ship toward the old section as it combines them to create a new form.

Magno asked, "What is going on? Is the crystal trying eat the ship or something?!" In the hanger, the Dread pilots start to awaken from the strange light. Meia was the first to gain awareness, holding her head.

She said, "Jura, you okay?"

The blonde-haired woman sat up, "Yeah. What was that light?"

Meia gasped, "Dita, Mia!"

Dita waved from her place of hanging on a ledge, "Hi, over here. Something went beep and then vroom! Alien powers are amazing!" Happy that her team was safe, Meia surveys her surroundings. Crystals covered everything including the Dreads. She watches her twin sister try cutting her Dread out with the laser ring but not a single crack forms in the crystals even with the laser at full power. A sigh escapes her.

Back on the bridge, Magno asked, "Gascogne, think you can detach us?" The Reg leader appears on a screen showing her group dealing with the same problem.

Gascogne said, "Lasers have no effect and if we don't hurry, this area will get swallowed up as well!"

BC popped up on another screen, "The corrosion is starting to spread here too."

Parfet appeared on the third, "The engine's dead so we can't move!"

Magno closed her eyes in thought, sighing, "Guess we'll have to get rid of it at the source. I'm going up. BC, Parfet, come with me!"

The two women nodded, "Roger!" They take a shuttle to the hanger and upon landing, the ramp lowers to allow its passengers to walk down.

Magno looked at the crystals in awe, "This is amazing."

Meia apologized, "I'm sorry you had to come all this way, captain."

Magno waved it off, "There's no need to apologize, Meia. I wanted to see this for myself." She then spots an unconscious Hibiki.

Meia commented, "This is the man Dita was chasing."

The pirate captain wondered, "It's been a while since I last saw a man, were their faces really this funny looking?"

Mia called out, "Hey girls, I've found two more!" The crew walks over to see Kyle and Alex unconscious while Mia checks them for injuries. She may not be a medical expert but she had enough knowledge to treat most injuries that don't need surgery. Because their helmets remained in place, Mia couldn't check their faces for signs of damage but was satisfied when she felt a pulse. She looks at their weaponry, feeling a cold shiver run down her spine at the sight of them. That chill grows more intense when her eyes take in the equipment Kyle's sporting. She cautiously removes the weapons.

'What's wrong with me? Why is it difficult to put restraints on these guys? I've never had problems with others before them!' Mia thought as her body froze unexpectedly.

Kyle hovers in that same aqua green sea the sight unnerved him slightly. Suddenly 5 gray objects form out of nowhere, taking the shape of 4 women and 1 teenage boy.

He asked, "What is this place? Am I dead?"

The one resembling Jura said, "You..."

The one resembling Dita stated, "You are the one who'll lead them to discovering their origin."

Kyle wondered, "What do you mean by that? Lead who to discover their origin?"

The one looking like Meia stated, "You will lead them to understanding one another."

The one resembling Hibiki said, "And lead to find proof of their existence."

Mia concluded, "You must also face yourself if you want to redeem yourself."

Kyle asked them, "What are you talking about? I don't understanding you speaking cryptically! What do you mean I have to face myself to redeem myself? I have no idea what you're talking about, say it more clearly!" The sea began to fade, "Wait, I don't understand any of this! Why have I been chosen for this? Answer me!" Kyle's eyes snap open behind his helmet after that strange dream or whatever it was, looking around he finds himself in some sort of storage area. Looking at the current state of his g-suit, finding it in relatively excellent condition save for a few tears here and there and scratches on the chest plating. However, he finds that his weapons and miniature computer are missing.

A voice said, "Glad you're awake."

Kyle ordered, "Who's there? Show yourself!" His eyes detect the man known as Duero.

Duero was probably around Kyle's age, stood little over average height, tanned skin, blue eyes, had a nice physique, black hair that reached the small of his back and covered the left side of his face. His attire was composed of a black bodysuit zipped up to below his pectorals and a Tarak doctor coat left open. He had an aura of calmness around him.

The young doctor said, "My name is Duero McFile, what's yours?" Briefly observing him, Kyle concludes the young man meant no harm.

The Aurelian pilot extended his hand, "Kyle Masterson, nice to meet you, Duero. The man laying to my right is my friend Alex Irvine."

Duero shook it, "Likewise. I must say you certainly aren't from Tarak, your flight suit tells me that much."

Kyle said in a cryptic voice, "The eyes can deceive oneself, Duero." The doctor wonders what he meant but he probed no further since Kyle was confused about the current situation.

Alex sits up and takes in his surroundings before he saw Hibiki hit his head on the stacked table.

'That must have hurt.' He thought.

Hibiki looked around, "Oh man, looks like I'm behind bars. This sucks."

Duero introduced himself, "My name is Duero McFile. Do you have a name as well, Mr. Third-Class Citizen?"

Hibiki snapped at him, "Don't make fun of me! My name is Hibiki Tokai and I'm not some third-class citizen!"

Duero smirked, "You're the one who made the commotion during the ceremony. How did you manage to sneak in by the way?"

Hibiki scoffed, "There's certainly a lot of questions today. Anyway..." He watches the white robot come back to the realm of the living, sporting a pair of arms, legs and a "face" which was essentially a pair of big eyes on a screen.

It scratched its head, "Pyoro! Where am I? Who am I?"

Hibiki looked at it with exasperation, "You've changed, haven't you?" The robot looks at him confused.

Elsewhere in the Ikazuchi, a panel to a statue fell open and out comes the coward Bart who was hiding in there since the explosion happened.

He crawled out, "I'm a big mess now, am I?" He walked around, taking in the bizarre scenery, "What the heck happened to the ship?"

A large crystal falls from the ceiling barely missing the young man.

He said, "What's going on here? Damn it, that wasn't funny!" He starts to crawl away when he looks up to see Meia pointing the laser ring at him, her thumb inches away from the trigger.

Meia warned, "Don't move, male!"

Bart chuckled lamely and grinned nervously, "Hi there!"

A stagehand looks at the ceiling in Reg Central.

She said, "Wow, Ms. Gasco it is appears we're connected from the inside too."

"Well, that's great. I had no idea that the Paksis had enough power to do something on this scale. And by the way, it's not Gasco IT'S GASCOGNE!" The Reg leader said in irritation at the nickname the others have given her, scaring the stagehand.

In the engine section, the engineers were dealing with their own problems. Their brains were working overtime as they try to figure how to correct the damage they sustained but didn't know where to start.

Parfet examines the readout displayed on a console in front of her.

She said, "As I suspected! They're linked down to the core!"

A fellow engineer asked her, "Is there anything we can do?"

Parfet ordered, "Insert the Linestar Particle charges into the main cable immediately! Just make it so we can control this thing!" Back in the brig, the white robot and Hibiki were doing a staring contest that Alex found amusing though Hibiki wasn't laughing.

He asked in irritation, "Want me to fix you or something?"

The robot shouted, flaring its arms in the air, "Don't make fun of me! I'm not broken!"

Hibiki snapped back, "Then what do you want?!" Alex picks up the sound of footsteps and directs his gaze forward to see BC and two guards.

'Guess we should consider ourselves lucky to have such gorgeous women as our jailers.' Alex thought.

Hibiki said fearfully, "Women! What do you plan on doing to me?"

BC smirked, "Calm down, this is the best place for you right now."

Hibiki scoffed, "Nice cover-up but you want to eat my guts!"

BC raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Eat your guts?" The two guards flanking her desperately try to keep a straight face on but were failing quick. One of them placed a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter.

The other giggled, "He believes that! Ha ha ha, my sides are killing me!" Hell, even Alex found it hilarious and it took every ounce of restraint not to join the security guards in laughing.

BC smirked, "Well, before we have dinner there is something I'd like to ask you. Come with us, please." The men and small robot follow the women to the interrogation room.

Hibiki looks at the breasts and the butt of the women, being on a male only planet this would be alien to him. He reaches out to touch one of the personnel's posterior.

Alex saw this and warned, "I wouldn't do that, kid. You won't like the result of it." It falls on deaf ears because Hibiki touches the woman's posterior and the guard let out a squeal, whipping around she gives him a nasty glare.

She yelled, "PERVERT!" She slaps him across the cheek so hard it leaves an imprint.

'Dumbass.' Kyle thought in disapproval.

The group reaches the interrogation room and were ordered to sit down.

Alex scolded, "That was very stupid of you, Hibiki. You should never invade a woman's personal space let alone touch their body without their consent." The guard Hibiki touched was looking away with disgust on her face while her companions had similar thoughts going through their minds.

The robot concurred, "He's right, you know. A man should be never rude to a lady." They hear a door open and two more people come in. Meia had her laser ring pointed at the back of Bart's neck to prevent him from trying anything while looking at the Aurelian pilots, wondering why they don't have restraints on them. Kyle looks at her and he suddenly had a flashback of someone who looked exactly like her but he quickly represses it as that memory caused him grief.

BC asked her, "Did you find another one, Meia?"

The Dread leader nodded, "Yes, I found him hiding in one of the platforms."

Bart chuckled nervously, "Hi there, comrades. Fancy meeting you here."

'How they allowed this guy to enroll into the military is beyond me. He has no combat experience, looks like he's about to piss his pants. He looks like he couldn't hold a gun at someone without twitching or accidentally shoot himself. He looks more like someone fitted for non-combat use but I can't decide which one.' Kyle thought as he mentally evaluated Bart.

The door opens and in came Magno Vivan, the distinct thud of her cane echoed through the room. She gives the men a hard studying look and sighs in disappointment.

She said, "I heard you rounded up some prisoners but they're just kids!"

The robot hopped over to where Magno's standing, "Hey! Interrogation time! I'll tell you everything!"

Magno looked at the machine and smiled, "How nostalgic it's a NAVI robot and this one's still functioning." Gryphus Squadron wonder what she meant by that.

Duero said with curiosity, "I'm not following here."

Hibiki agreed, "This a man's ship, isn't it?"

Magno confirmed, "Yes and before that it was used for colonization." Seeing the two men react in surprise, she smirked, "You didn't know? This ship disembarked from a planet called Earth to colonize other planets. Of course this happened over 100 years ago, long before any of your fathers were born. Unfortunately, your grandfathers stole this section of the ship and ran away into the night like cowards!" She finished her tale with a frown.

The robot added, "They overhauled the battleship and added residential quarters."

Magno said, "And now we find ourselves back on this battleship. This is our business, you know so we'll gladly take the ship. The only problem is what are we suppose to do with you guys?"

Meia suggested, "We should get rid of them, things are unstable enough."

'Wow, cold much?' Alex thought with a sweat drop.

Magno smiled slyly, "No need to be hasty, Meia. We should carefully consider how we wanna cook these fellows up." She licks her lips in an act of intimidation.

The move is obviously effective because Bart and Hibiki pale and sweat bullets while Duero remained calm due to his training as a doctor and the Aurelian pilots, having seen things a lot more frightening than this, were stoic.

Kyle asked, "Seriously? Do you guys believe that propaganda bullshit? I have seen TV ads more convincing than that."

Alex looked at his flight lead, "Can't blame them, pal. They were raised to believe that women are monsters who'd eat them raw and pick their teeth with the victim's bones. Duero on the other hand takes it with a grain of salt because he possesses more common sense than the other two. However, I comment on the psychological advantage it gives to their enemies." Duero and to an extent Meia was curious, Bart and Hibiki look at them like they lost their mind and Magno was intrigued.

She smiled, "You two are brave to say such things."

Alex shrugged, "No, it's nothing like that. Let's just say Kyle and I are more open-minded than others. We don't jump to conclusions without seeing them first and ask about it."

Magno ordered politely, "Very interesting. Can you take off your helmets? I'd like to see the face of the people I'm speaking to."

Kyle said, "Only if you promise us not to have your guards shoot us."

Magno nodded, "You have my word." Happy with their answer, they bring their hands to the helmets, undo the clamps at the neck with a hiss of air and lift them over their heads exposing their faces.

The three pirates blink in surprise, they were expecting young men but the pilots haven't reached 20 yet. The insignia on their flight suits were nothing they have seen before.

Meia looked into Kyle's blue-gray eyes and could see a storm of emotions within them. They hold a cold intensity that could freeze hell itself, years of experience and leadership. Yet they also hold pain and sadness.

Kyle went first, "I am Kyle Masterson, my callsign is Gryphus 1 and leader of Gryphus Squadron."

Alex was next, "My name is Alex Irvine, callsign Gryphus 2 and wingman of Kyle Masterson. Together we make up Gryphus Squadron."

Kyle caught Meia staring at him, "What? See anything you like, ma'am? In case you guys are wondering, Alex and I are not from your home worlds Tarak or Mejale."

Alex nodded, "Yeah, what he said. If you don't mind me asking, what year is it?" Somehow the pilots didn't like the answer they were about to get.

BC said, "The year is 2821." Alex did the math in his head and paled, he grabs Kyle by the shoulders with a scared look on his head.

He comically shook Kyle, "Oh my god, we're 800 years in the future Kyle!"

Kyle said, "Alex, please calm down. Shaking me isn't helping." He bonks his wingman on the head effectively stopping his fear induced state.

Alex cried, "Thank you, I needed that."

The slightly older pilot said, "With that aside, don't you have three other men to sort out?" In the changing ship's garden, Ezra looks at a bunch of constellations through a miniature telescope.

She groaned, "None of them match."

Dita replied, "What do you mean none of them match? It's amazing to come across aliens!"

Ezra nodded, "I agree, it is amazing. We thought the Paksis was some power source but we were proven wrong. It had the capacity to restore things like the ship."

Dita sighed dreamily, "It made it like new. That means if I get abducted..." She heard the brown-haired woman sigh, "What's wrong, Ezra? Don't you feel well?"

Ezra smiled, "I'm fine, Dita just thinking about the comrades we left."

The redhead said, "I know what you mean. Hope we can get back to them soon." She then spotted something in the distance, "Hey, look over there!"

Ezra looked through her telescope as she asked, "What do you think it could be?" She's taken by surprise when the bubbly redhead jumps in front of her and dons a starry look on her as images flash through her mind about green, big eyed men and spinning discs.

Dita said excitingly, "Isn't it obvious? It's a UFO!" Magno eats some Jello like snack.

She said, "So aside our two pilots here, the long-haired one's a doctor but what about the other one?"

Meia answered, "He's an attacker."

Hibiki barked, "Hey! I'm not a..." He felt his ribs getting jabbed by Bart and he glared at the man, "Why you..."

Meia added, "I happened to watch him climb into an enemy power suit." BC gets a call on her communicator from Ezra.

She asked, "What is it? Is it male reinforcements?"

Ezra said, "Actually it's..."

Dita cut her off, "A UFO!" The unknown enemy begins its attack on the immobile ship, vibrations from the impacts rock the interior causing cracks to form on the wall and ceiling of the interrogation room.

The bowl of Jello falls out of Magno's hands and shatters on the floor.

Magno groaned, "My afternoon snack!"

Meia ran out the door, "Dread teams are moving out!" Soon as she left, the vibrations send pieces of debris falling onto a guard, trapping her.

The second one said, "Hold on, I'll get you out."

Duero told her, "No! You mustn't move her!" She pointed her laser ring at him when he jumped over the couch and Duero assured, "Don't worry, I'm a doctor. I just want to see what I can do to help. I'll need your help." Kyle was mentally debating on whether to help their unknown captors he soon reaches a decision.

Kyle said, "With your permission, Magno Alex and I can help your forces in repelling the enemy forces attacking us."

Seeing no deception in the young man's eyes, Magno nodded, "Very well. You are free to engage the enemy, don't get yourself killed out there."

Kyle saluted her, "We won't." They rush to the hanger putting their helmets on as they did so.

Taking their example, Bart said, "You are very fortunate to have found me, captain. You see, I happen to be a helmsman."

Magno titled her head, "A helmsman, you say?"

The white robot informed her, "Warning! This guy is trying to pull something!"

Magno said, "You be quiet! What are you proposing, young man?"

Bart suggested, "I say we call a temporary cease-fire between each other to repel the invaders. Who knows, maybe we can help each other out."

Magno thought about it, "That's not a bad idea."

Bart extended his hand, "I'm glad to see you have agreed to the terms. Let's shake on it."

Magno whacked his hand away with her cane, "Listen up, I have no wish of getting chummy. You will still be treated as a prisoner, understood?"

The blonde-haired Tarak chuckled nervously, "Whatever you say, madam."

Duero said, "I can't do anything here. Lead me to sickbay!" Meia and the other Dread meet up in the hanger, upon arrival they see their respective Dreads transformed.

Jura blinked, "Are these ours?"

Dita gasped, "Wow!"

Getting into the cockpit, Meia placed her hands on the control spheres, "Looks like the controls haven't changed much. How's everything on your end?"

Jura said, "I think I can fly this."

Dita beamed, "They seemed to powered up! This is so exciting!"

Meia advised, "Don't do anything reckless, okay?" They fly out to enter combat with the enemy attackers.

They were shaped like cubes with little arms and legs.

Meia lines up with one and shoots her Dread's lasers at it and the machine blows up. She performs a high g left turn to avoid enemy fire.

She winced from the turn, "The controls respond differently."

Jura showed on a monitor, "One thing I can say is that these definitely aren't men."

Dita said in anger, "It's obvious that these are really bad aliens!"

Jura sighed at the redhead's antics, "Oh, boy." A pair of cube-types appear in Meia's sight.

She narrowed her eyes, "What are those things? Are they really aliens?" Mia takes full advantage of her Dread's transformation.

The younger Gisborn chases a pair of cube-types through space and soon acquires a lock, firing 2 missiles at her targets effectively destroying them. However, she hears her Dread releasing the missile warning and looks around to see where her attackers are coming from and spots a group of Su-37 Terminators closing in on her 7 o'clock. She banks left to shake off the lock and the enemy fighters turn to follow her. The Su-37's speed and maneuverability allows them to keep pace with Mia. She performs a U-turn and flies past the enemy's cockpit her eyes widen in shock to see that there's no pilot behind the controls.

'Are they remote controlled?' She mentally wondered.

Inside the changing ship, Bart and Magno arrive at the bridge Bart didn't have those weird hand restraints on at the moment.

Magno said, "Show us what you can do, great navigator." She pushes him forward and Bart cautiously approaches a strange pool of aqua green liquid.

He stared at it, "What is that?"

Magno asked, "What's wrong? Don't tell me you don't know how to use it?"

Bart chuckled, "No, it's not that. This is just a secret weapon of our military!" He screams as the liquid changes into a tentacle to grab hold of his leg and pulls him inside.

Magno watched it with wide eyes, "My goodness! That's some kind of secret weapon!"

The white robot nodded, "He doesn't know how to use it!" Opening his eyes, Bart finds himself in a sphere that offers a 360 degree view of the battlefield. Oh and he was butt naked.

When he moves his arm, the ship responds to the movement.

Arriving at the hanger, Gryphus Squadron sees their fighters mostly free from the crystal that encased them earlier save for a few remnants on the airframe. They enter the stealth fighters and the canopy closes as they do a systems check. Checking the weapons layout, they see their weapons have been refilled by some unknown means. They line their planes with the hanger exit.

Kyle called out, "Gryphus 1 here, I'm taking off!" He activates the afterburners and was thrown into his seat as the jet flies out to space.

Alex said, "Gryphus 2 heading out!" He too was thrown into his seat as the F-22 accelerates out of the hanger.

Meia hears the missile warning and turns left to avoid the missile shot at her from an Su-37, looking out she spots the enemy approaching from her 3 o'clock. It next fires a QAAM at her, it follows her Dread everywhere she turns and forces her to increase her Dread's speed to gain distance, turn around and shoot the missile down then arms a missile of her own to fire. After gaining the lock, she fires but the Su-37 releases flares to confuse it. Using every ounce of piloting experience she gained over the years, Meia follows the enemy until a swarm of cube-types fly into her line of sight and the Dread leader shoots them down. This allows the Su-37 Terminator to shoot its cannon at her, she barrel rolls to avoid the 30mm rounds.

She said, "These fighters are persistent. Captain, we could use some help here."

Magno responded, "Sit tight, reinforcements are on the way."

Meia wondered, "Reinforcements?" She grunts in annoyance when the radar warning sounds again and she looks to her left to spot more enemy aircraft closing the distance to her silver Dread, this time a pair of MiG-21s. However, before they can fire a missile they get destroyed by XLAAM missiles shot from behind. The F-22s fly overhead.

Jura stated, "Those are our reinforcements?"

Gryphus 1 said, "Gryphus 2, we're clear to engage the enemy. Weapons free."

His wingman nodded, "Roger that, Captain." Gryphus 2 follows a pair of Terminators as they struggle to shake off their pursuer but the F-22 easily keeps up with them no matter where they turn.

He fires the Raptor's Gatling cannon, the 20mm bullets scream out of the 6 barrels that make up the weapon. Since there is no air in space to offer resistance, the bullets move faster and turn the enemy fighters into scrap metal. He also notices that the bullets were aqua green in color but maybe it was just his imagination. Switching to his special weapons he locks on to 4 cube-types and fires, he watches the missile head for their assigned targets and light up the blackness of space with bright orange fireballs. He hears the missile warning and releases flares to shake off a heat-seeking missile and somersaults over another Su-37 and downs it with a standard missile.

Gryphus 1 leads a MiG-21 through a steep dive but then pulls a sharp 40 degree vertical climb the hostile tries to match the move but its more sluggish maneuverability proves a challenge. The Aurelian arms a missile and waits for the diamond-shaped lock appear which soon does.

He said, "Gryphus 1, Fox Two!" The missile was released from its latch and blows the MiG up. Suddenly his instincts tell him to move left and he does to avoid gunshots from the cube-types that used the explosion to mask their approach. Gryphus 1 swiftly bags them after a few rounds from his stealth fighter's gun. He adds more kills to his record proving to his enemies why he earned the nickname "Nemesis".

On the bridge, Ezra gasped, "Oh my, look at them go. They are shooting down the enemy attackers like it's no challenge for them."

Magno smirked, "Now I see why they're feared especially Kyle Masterson. His reputation as Nemesis is well deserved." They are not the only ones witnessing this.

The Dread pilots watch in amazement as Gryphus Squadron wipes out the enemy fighters.

Gryphus 1 chases after some MiG-17s and with every maneuver they do he mirrors it like a predator chasing its prey. He obliterates the MiGs with the XLAAM and immediately breaks left to avoid gunfire from cube-types that closed in from his 5 o'clock. Quickly U-turning he retaliates with the F-22's Gatling gun, ripping the little machines apart until they explode. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Hibiki's Vanguard get pummeled after attempting a Thunder Punch that he boasted. While heading over to give support, he notices the Vanguard underwent some changes.

It sported a gold and white color scheme, extensions stuck out of the elbows and knees, its eyes were green and had a sword pack behind its waist.

Hibiki feels his Vanguard stop shaking and looks ahead to Gryphus 1 annihilating the cube-types.

He said angrily, "Hey, what'd you do that for? I had the situation under control!"

Gryphus 1 replied, "That's not how I saw that. It looked more like showing off." Hibiki was about to retort when he cut him off, "Listen, kid. We are going have to watch each other's back if we want to survive. Until this battle's over, you will pay attention and follow orders. Got it?" The deathly calm tone he used sends fear down Hibiki's spine. This pilot looked as if he wouldn't hesitate kicking his ass if he went out of line, Hibiki gulps and nods.

The young mechanic/pilot said, "Understood, sir." Gryphus 2 watches the Seed Ship unleash more blocks that separated into cube-types.

He wondered, "How many do those things have?" Purging doubt out of his mind, the Aurelian continues his battle with the mysterious enemy.

Mia grits her teeth at the seemingly endless enemy, no matter how many they destroy the number of enemies replenish faster than they can lower them.

Her charcoal gray Dread moves through some Su-37 Terminators' cannon, the bright orange rounds move past her canopy window. She pulls a hard right turn and fires her craft's laser cannons to get rid of her opponents.

Mia's eyes widen as she realizes they need to get rid of the Seed Ship but it required more powerful weaponry to destroy. What could have enough firepower to blow it up?

She noticed Dita's Dread approaching the Vanguard, "Dita, what are you doing? Turn back!"

Dita replied, "Don't worry, Mr. Alien will protect us!" Little does Mia know that she was approaching Gryphus 1's fighter jet.

A blinding light forms just as they get hit by enemy missiles.

The bridge crew saw the explosion.

Magno sighed, "Looks like our miracle didn't happen after all. Prepare to abandon ship!"

Gryphus 2 told her, "Hold on, I think I see something!" A hand emerges from the fireball and crushes the passing MiG-17. The fireball clears to show two figures.

The first one was humanoid in shape glowing red-hot but as the metal cooled its true color was a shiny blue, glowing green blades rested on the forearms, green eyes, dual laser cannons mounted its back and a horn extended from its forehead.

The second figure was also humanoid, silver in color, the occasional scales on its armor gave a more feral look, yellow eyes, had wing-shaped thrusters that look more like blades, its right hand clenched a twin-barreled plasma rifle, the left held a large shield it could use to protect itself and a sword rested on its right hip for close-quarters combat.

Magno stared at the machines, "What is that? Are those another secret weapon of the men as well?"

BC blinked in astonishment, "Unbelievable. Is this a miracle?" The machines speed toward the Seed Ship, the silver machine cutting down any cube-type that got in their way. The blue machine opens the Seed Ship and its laser cannons deploy, laying on the shoulders as they charge up. Its companion aims its plasma rifle and energy particles begin to collect inside the barrels. Once the charging is complete they fire their respective weapons, blue and yellow-white beams tear through the Seed Ship quickly emerging from the other end before it explodes.

Meia fears her comrades were caught in the blast but soon relieved to see the machine intact.

Inside the silver machine's cockpit, Gryphus 1 studies the interior. It was futuristic looking, that's for sure. Looking down he sees Mia staring at him with confusion.

Gryphus 1 asked her, "How did our machines combine?"

Mia shook her head, "No clue, I saw a bright light the next thing I knew I was sitting on your lap. My name's Mia Gisborn, by the way."

Gryphus 1 answered, "Kyle Masterson, callsign Gryphus 1 during battle." In the blue machine's cockpit, Hibiki comes to.

He sighed in relief, "I made it." He gasps when he sees his hand intertwined with a female's. Looking down he sees Dita leaning against his chest.

The redhead said tiredly, "I knew Mr. Alien would protect us."

Hibiki asked himself, "Is this the proof of my existence? Is it?" All of the former Ikazuchi's fighters return and as they near the hanger, the two machines defuse back into the Dreads, Vanguard and F-22.

After exiting their steal fighters, Gryphus Squadron were escorted back to the brig, handcuffed and all.

Alex said in outrage, "Are you women serious? We just risked our lives and this is how you repay us?" Kyle agrees with him silently.

A/N: Chapter 2 done. Gryphus Squadron find themselves 800 years into the future and stuck on a ship with an almost all female crew except for themselves, Duero, Bart and Hibiki.

They demonstrated their skills in the dogfight.

If any of you have name suggestions for the machines that Gryphus 1's fighter combines with, PM me.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Crux a.k.a. Eugene Solono

Read and review.

Stay tuned for chapter 3.

Vader 23A