Chapter 7: Lecture about Emotions

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

The Odyssey of Discovery: Gryphus 1

It's been about one week since the Harvesters last attacked and everyone was taking advantage of it to enjoy some R&R.

Inside her room, Dita was sowing together a pillow that had an alien in the middle.

She suddenly poked herself with the needle, "Ow, that hurt!"

Paiway, who was with her due to having nothing else to do, asked, "Dita, are you making that for a guy?" Dita placed a hand on her cheek and laughed, "Because if you aren't, you can give it to me."

Dita hugged the pillow, "No way! I'm making this for Mr. Alien!"

Paiway turned away, saying in her puppet voice, "Barf out, ribbit!" On the bridge, Belvedere was telling a joke to Amarone while Ezra sleeps in the bridge control console. BC and Magno look on.

BC sighed, "When we're not under attack things get dull around here fast."

Magno said in slight surprise, "I didn't know you were one for that military ballyhoo!"

The command looked at the elder woman, "I'm only thinking of the crew's morale."

Magno smiled, "Our business is pirating, BC. Even pirates deserve to relax every now and then." In the cockpit of his F-22 Kyle reads a book titled "The Rise and Fall of nations" he found in the storage area ever since they were brought to this alternate universe, Kyle's mind was plagued by thoughts of what happened to Aurelia over the past 800 years. Did it still prosper in their absence or had it collapsed? He hoped the book contained information about Aurelia's fate but to his frustration nothing has shown up. Not yet, at least.

He heard running footsteps and looked over the edge to see the bubbly redhead, "Hey Dita, looking for someone?"

Dita nodded, "Yeah. Have you seen Mr. Alien? I have a gift for him."

Kyle rubbed his chin, "Hmm, you could try his room. If he isn't working on his Vanguard then he must be in his quarters."

Dita smiled, "Thank you, Kyle!" The redhead runs off to the Vanguard pilot's room.

Kyle asked out loud, "Are you going to continue being chicken or are you gonna man up and be nicer to Dita, Hibiki?" The said man fell from his hiding spot on the ceiling of the Vanguard cockpit.

Arriving at the bedroom, Dita looks for Hibiki and doesn't find him. Observing the state the room's in, Dita cleans the place starting by dusting followed by sweeping, wiping the floor, relocating boxes and lastly making the bed and placing the pillow at the front.

Hibiki returns to his room after completing maintenance on his machine and drops the toolbox screaming at what he saw. Alien decorations lined the walls and ceiling.

He said, "What the hell?" Hibiki spotted Dita sleeping in his bed and said, "Wake up! What are you doing sleeping in my room?" Dita wipes the sleep out of her eyes and looks at Hibiki giggling before hopping out of the bed.

Dita did a ballerina spin, "What do you think of the room? It's all neat and tidy!"

Hibiki asked her, "Neat? What's so neat about this?" Dita presents him the alien pillow she made for him. What did she get in return? Getting the boot out of his room along with her decorations.

Alex was helping Meia configure a new formation that Meia had been working on when they hear the door slide open showing who it was.

Meia raised an eyebrow, "Dita?"

Dita said, "Oh, hey Meia and Alex."

'What did Hibiki do this time?' Alex thought after judging the sad tone in Dita's voice.

Dita told them what happened, "And after that, he kicked me out."

Meia said, "Dita, I'm not good with words and I don't want to increase your curiosity but..."

Dita looked at her, "But what?"

Meia finished, "I don't think it's right trying to force your way into someone's heart when they are not ready." That didn't lift Dita's mood, in fact it made her worse. The redhead throws rocks into the stream at the Nirvana's garden.

She asked, "Why? Why? Why? Why?! I just want to know more about Mr. Alien." Dita sinks to her knees as Paiway takes a picture.

The nurse said, "I took a picture of you with this new aura camera Parfet made. Dita, are you sad?"

Dita answered in a blank tone, "Ain't it obvious? It's like the time when I had a pet blue bird I took real good care of it but one day it began losing its energy and died."

Paiway suggested, "Well, don't you think it died because you didn't give it alone time?"

Dita asked, "Are you saying that I am bothering Mr. Alien?"

The nurse said in her puppet voice, "Well, he did say that you were bugging him constantly."

Dita lowered her head, "I see."

Paiway realized her mistake and tried to rectify, "Hey, I was kidding! Come on, Dita!" Meia tells the Magno through the monitor that she'd like to solidify the Dread formation since they have the time.

Magno told her, "You and BC are cut from the same cloth. Why don't you two relax a little?"

Meia said, "With all due respect, the day of our planet's annihilation is fast approaching. It'd be wise to prepare ourselves."

Magno sighed, "You're as stubborn as ever." Hibiki enters the meeting room ignoring Meia's comment of being late.

Jura asked, "Where's Dita?"

Hibiki replied, "How should I know? What do I look like, her baby sitter?"

'Sounds more like a lover's quarrel to me.' Gascogne thought.

Dita enters the room and sits down.

Meia started, "Okay, now that everyone's here I would like to discuss the new formation we'll be trying starting with Dita combining her Dread with Hibiki's..."

Dita interrupted, "No. Forget about it because I'm not combining with him anymore!" Everyone was shocked at the announcement even Kyle had shock written all over his face.

Jura teased, "Aha, I get it. You've started to get bored with Mr. Alien haven't you?"

Dita shook her head, "No I figured out he isn't happy with me so from now on you can combine with him, Jura." The blonde-haired woman blinks in surprise she didn't see that one coming. Normally they fight over who gets to combine with Hibiki's Vanguard. Hibiki starts to panic a little.

Meia said in a calm yet commanding voice, "Dita, I will not tolerate the mixing of private matters in this room. This isn't a game we're playing!" The situation gets worse because throughout the simulation, Meia had to call out Dita's name a few times.

Gascogne stated, "This is no good, the girl's mind is someplace else." Lunchtime comes around and the crew heads for the cafeteria to eat. That's when Jura noticed something odd, Dita was sitting next to Meia and Kyle while Hibiki sits at a table by himself.

Jura said, "You know something really strange is going on."

Barnette looked at what her friend meant and nodded, "You're right."

Jura asked, "You think this is my big chance?" Barnette struggles to find an answer and face faults when Jura starts to wickedly laugh.

Duero takes the seat right to Hibiki.

The Vanguard pilot said, "What's the matter, doc? You can sit across from me, you know."

Duero explained, "I believe that seat is reserved for Dita." He then recommended in a doctor voice, "You should increase your calcium intake. You don't want to suffer calcium deficiency."

Hibiki fired back, "You should mind your own business."

"What's the matter, Dita? You not hungry or something?" Kyle asked when he saw that Dita hadn't touched her food.

Dita declared, "I've decided I am going to change!"

Kyle stopped eating to look at her, "Why? I think you're fine the way you are now." Dita turns around to look at Hibiki, who starts wolfing down his food like there's no tomorrow. He somehow avoids choking on his food.

Once lunch was over, Hibiki heads for his quarters in the brig pushing Pyoro out of his face, what he didn't expect was Alex leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Mia was with him. She enjoyed Alex's company it made her feel happy. Another feeling came with it, whatever it was she liked it.

Hibiki asked him in irritation, "What do you want?"

Alex said, "I noticed your relationship with Dita hasn't progressed. Why?"

The Vanguard said, "She's annoying, that's why! She comes barging into my room and hangs UFO crap in it without my permission then sleeps in my bed!"

Alex replied, "She's just trying to be nice to you, that's all. Why don't you try hanging out with Dita? Who knows, maybe it'll open doors to future events."

Hibiki snapped, "Why should I be friends with her? All she talks about is aliens and doesn't call me by my name. She is damn annoying!" They both hear a gasp behind Hibiki and they spot Dita standing with a hurt look on her face. Alex quickly realized the redhead was standing there listening to everything before he could take a step towards her Dita runs out of the room, leaving a trail of tears in her wake.

'He hates me!' Dita thought as she cried.

Back in the brig Mia glares at Hibiki and was about to sock him when Alex held up his arm to stop her looking at the Aurelian, she sees him shaking his head no.

Alex said, "Nice one, kid. Women like Dita are more emotionally tuned than men are. What you did was hurt Dita's feelings."

Hibiki ran a hand through his hair, "Damn it, what am I supposed to do?"

Alex told him, "That's up to you. Though one advice I can give you is apologize to Dita, it will cheer up. This can repair the damage your outburst did. Her cheerful personality reminds me of someone I knew from my childhood days." A faraway look appears on the young man's face.

Hibiki said, "You certainly know your stuff about women." Mia nods in agreement.

The 17-year old explained, "Remember I come from a society where men and women live together, even have kids. However, my childhood wasn't exactly what you call exciting. You see my father was an alcoholic and mother used to be one until she decided she needed help and went into rehab. After completing the 60 day program, she found a high-paying job in the aviation signing up for a mechanic on transport aircraft eventually working her way up to maintaining fighter jets. Over the next few months, my mother's already deteriorated relationship with my father went further downhill when mother said she's filing for divorce and sole custody of me. To be honest, I hated my father. He was scum not that anyone had the balls to tell that to his face. The divorce sent my father off. He turned his rage on her grabbing a kitchen knife and tried to stab mom but she avoided every strike. He directed his murderous gaze on me. My blood froze by those eyes it was like staring at some devil. I tried to run but he quickly caught up to me and warned that if mom went through the divorce, he'd kill me. Mom stood defiantly and was about to disarm him when my dad threw me out of the second story window at full speed, glass and all. The last thing I remember was a sickening crunch of bone and glass shards piercing my flesh before I passed out from the pain. When I awoke, my mother told me I was in the hospital and just got out of surgery. Turns out the fall severed my spine in half and there was the possibly that even if they reattached it there was very little chance I could walk again. The surgeon who worked on me said I had childhood arthritis in my lower back and that impact crush most of my lower spinal column. What I found out next completely shocked me beyond recognition." He turned around and lifted his shirt, showing a scar line where the incision was, "The surgeon said that he could prevent me being wheelchair bound forever by constructing a prosthetic replica of the lower spinal cord. Built out of titanium because of the metal's strength and light weight, he placed it where my organic version was. The next two months were spent learning how to walk again." He knocks on the area, hearing the distinct metal thud produced and lowers his shirt.

Hibiki said, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Alex went on, "You two are the first ones I told. No one knows it, not Kyle. Please don't tell him, I don't want to burden him more. Hell, my incident looks sane compared to what Kyle went through."

Mia placed her hand on the pilot's shoulder, "Your secret is safe with us. We won't tell anybody."

Alex said, "Thank you, Mia. As for you, Hibiki you should apologize to Dita before it's too late. Don't make a mistake that cannot be fixed." Bart finds himself sitting on a couch with Barnette and Jura. The brunette can only wonder what part the helmsman had to play.

Bart asked, "So what do you need me for?"

Jura explained, "I want you to become friends with Dita. You see, she's been getting in my way recently so I recommend you become her baby sitter that way I can have the boy all to myself."

'Sometimes I wonder what's going through your mind, Jura.' Barnette thought.

Bart asked Jura, "What's in it for me?"

The blonde-haired Dread pilot said, "Think about it. You'll eat more healthy food and be treated like royalty."

Bart said, "Royalty, huh?" He thought up an image of him being fanned by two lovely women and a mischievous smiled formed on his face, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea."

Jura sighed dreamily, "I wanna do it soon!" She pictures her and Hibiki sailing through the cosmos on a golden craft.

They began laughing while Barnette comically sighed, "I can't keep up with them anymore." Gascogne looks stuff over when she hears the door open and looks over her shoulder to see Hibiki entering Reg Central. The young Tarak thought the place was empty. When he spotted the woman, he turns to leave.

Gascogne called out as she held up a deck of cards, "Hey, if you're bored maybe you can hang out here for a while."

Hibiki somewhat smiled, "I guess it won't hurt." After pulling up a chair to sit on, they start the game by drawing their starting hand.

Gascogne asked, "What happened between you and your partner. And I'm not talking about your Vanguard I mean with Dita."

Hibiki wondered, "What makes you think she's my partner?"

The Reg leader replied, "You two seem like an excellent combination to me."

Hibiki showed his hand, "How about this? Three of a Kind!"

Gascogne showed hers, "Full House." While they play another round, Dita looks through the telescope Parfet built inside the Nirvana's garden. The zero lighting allows her to look into the nebula ahead of them to see countless stars forming inside the cloud of dust and gas, their glow illuminating the stellar nursery like Roman candles. Kyle was with them after deciding to stop with his little obsession to find out whether Aurelia persevered in his squadron's absence or not.

Dita gasped, "Wow, it's so pretty!"

Parfet asked, "Do you like it?"

The redhead nodded, "It's amazing, Parfet. The stars are so close it feels like I can reach out and touch them! With this I'll discover new UFOs and aliens!"

Hearing Dita sigh, Parfet asked, "Something wrong?"

Dita waved her hands, "No, everything's fine!"

Parfet titled her head, "Did you get into a fight with Hibiki or something?" Dita proceeds to tell them what happened.

She concluded, "That's why I have decided to stay away from him."

The engineer asked, "Why?"

Dita responded, "Because Mr. Alien thinks I'm nothing more but a nuisance so I decided to stay away from him for his own good."

Parfet said, "I see. I don't think he's not much of a wimp in my opinion. Just a little...hard to understand at first."

Dita admitted, "I wanted to get to know Mr. Alien better but it feels like I am doing something wrong. Parfet, is it wrong to know more about something?"

Parfet explained, "When I get my hands on a new machine, I want to find out what it makes tick both inside and out. You love something you want to know more about."

Dita asked in hope, "Love?" A strange warmth creeps into her heart.

Parfet chuckled, "But there's no way a man and woman can fall in love with each other."

'I wouldn't be so sure about that.' Kyle thought then noticed Dita lower her head.

Parfet informed, "The telescope wasn't the only thing I wanted to show you, Dita. I have something else if you're interested." She pulls over a portable computer and types in the constellation Virgo.

A female computer voice said, "Virgo. The faithful century sign of the year. If you're honest with your feelings you will have very good luck."

Parfet stated, "I added astrology and compatibility to this."

Dita looked at her, "Compatibility?"

Parfet suggested, "Why don't you find out what your compatibility is with him? I downloaded all the information about everyone on the ship. All you have to do is type his name in and see what comes out." Dita types in Hibiki's name on the keyboard nervously and presses the enter key. Suddenly the computer mysteriously short circuits and Dita faints.

At Reg Central, Gascogne pulls in the chips she won in their last round of cards, "Well, that was fun. Let's do it again sometime."

Hibiki growled, "This calls for one more match."

Gascogne shook her head, "Not gonna happen. You can't get things done when you let your emotions run wild. Once you got that ironed out, come see me."

Hibiki glared, "What are you talking about?"

The Reg leader told him, "Listen up. The whole point about this game is to read each other's minds. You need to think with a clear head not with emotion clouding your judgment, that can lead to disastrous results."

Hibiki looked away, "I just been under a lot of stress."

Gascogne smirked, "I think it's more of something you can't get your mind off of namely a certain red-haired girl." Parfet rushed Dita to the infirmary where Duero examined her using a hand-held diagnostic machine.

Duero said, "She looks fine and I don't see any external injuries."

Parfet sighed in relief, "Thank goodness."

Duero asked Dita, "Have you ever collapsed like this before?"

The redhead shook her head, "No, this is the first time it happened."

The doctor ordered politely, "Do you remember how you felt before you collapsed? If you do, please tell me."

Dita placed a hand on her chest, "Here, where my heart is. It felt like it was being pinched really hard I felt dizzy then confused and the next thing I knew I was here."

Parfet fiddled with her fingers, "I'm sorry."

Dita shook her head, "Don't worry, Parfet I know you were trying to cheer me up." They hear the computer make some strange noise.

Duero said, "Again?" He begins typing on the keyboard.

Parfet asked, "Something wrong?"

Duero told her, "Nothing to worry about. This happens every now and then but I must admit I'm not fully acclimated to it yet."

Parfet walked over, "Let me see. What's this? The rudimentary circuits are cut off! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Duero apologized, "I'm sorry. I felt that I shouldn't bother you after every battle." Dita sneaks out of the infirmary and heads for the garden.

'I wished one day that I would find an alien and they would take me away. I thought my wish was granted when I met Mr. Alien but I don't care about it anymore. I wonder what's wrong with me? I don't want Mr. Alien be mad at me!' Dita thought in sadness.

Suddenly her eyes detected flashes of light and a familiar enemy returned, "Ah, it's the bad aliens!" The Nirvana's radar picks them up as well.

Amarone informed, "Scanners have picked up a large formation of cube-types, MiG-21s, Su-27s and MiG-31s. Distance 2,000Gr and closing fast."

BC ordered, "Dread team, get out there!" The fighters take off to engage the Harvesters.

Meia noticed something was off, "Where's Jura? She's supposed to be out here!"

Barnette placed a gloved hand over her mouth and blinked in realization, "Uh-oh!" Bart and Jura say cheers before downing more alcohol, it seems they forgot about the alarm.

Jura said, "Soon my Dread will combine with the Vanguard and something wonderful will be born."

Bart added, "And I'll become the new captain of the Nirvana, right?" They both laugh hysterically and kick their feet in the air.

Meia said, "We'll worry about that later. Dita, I'm going with you and Hibiki."

Dita said hesitantly, "Okay."

Hibiki suddenly called out, "Hey! Listen, I'm...sorry for the way I acted earlier. Just keep being yourself, okay?"

Dita brightened, "Right! Let's combine!" The two craft combine to form Vandread Dita and move out to attack the Harvesters. Nearby, Alex smiles.

'With this, their relationship is stronger than ever. Who knows? Maybe it'll blossom into love soon.' He thought.

Elsewhere, inside the headquarters on an unknown planet, Francesca walks through a set of doors leading to an office.

She approaches the man sitting in a leather chair.

The man said, "I take it your confrontation went well?"

Francesca nodded, "Yes, Gryphus 1's skills have remained sharp since the Aurelian War. In fact Gryphus Squadron is part of a crew of Mejale space pirates alongside male prisoners of Tarak." The man turns his chair around showing his identity.

He looked to be 23 years of age, stood at 6'5 inches tall, had dark eyes, short black, fair skin tone and lean yet toned physique. His attire was composed of a black military suit with many medals to show his high military rank.

The man interlocked his fingers, "Space pirates, huh? Very interesting. What about the data you recorded during your battle with Nemesis? Do you have it?"

Francesca handed him the tape, "Of course I do, what kind of person do you take me for? What do you plan on doing with it, Diego Navarro?"

The now mentioned man grinned, "It's a surprise. Don't worry I remember the agreement we have. You will be rewarded handsomely when Nemesis and his new allies are no more."

Francesca said, "Good because if you didn't I would kill you. How's the Gleipnir Project coming?"

Navarro answered, "It's coming along nicely. Soon there will be more improved Gleipnirs out there on the battlefield each one deadlier than the last. You're dismissed." Francesca straightened for a second before leaving the room.

'Foolish man, you won't get the chance to see Kyle dead because he's my pray. If you think you can take it away then you're sorely mistaken.' Francesca thought with a demonic grin on her face.

Her psychotic laughter echoes throughout the hallway scaring anyone who happened to be nearby.

A/N: Chapter 7 done. *Sigh* This chapter has always been a pain in the ass to write.

Alex told Hibiki and Mia about his past that he never told anyone not even his flight lead.

Kyle wanted to know what Aurelia's fate is after their disappearance.

Lastly Diego Navarro is planning something for Kyle. Whatever it is, it's nothing good.

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Stay tuned for chapter 8.

Vader 23A