Disclaimer: I don’t own Vandread, Gonzo does.
Author’s Notes: Italics represent thoughts and flashbacks.
Vandread: The Unknown Soldier
Prologue: Evacuation
Location: Space Station Gloria, in orbit around Solaris
The wailing alarm filled the corridors of the station with their harsh tones, but Captain Aidan Mercer hardly noticed. He had a mission to complete. He was assigned to get the Prime Minister’s daughter, Maria, safely off the station and onboard the S.F.S. Artemis, an Essex Class frigate. Then they are to use the ship’s jump drives to jump out of the system to a safe location.
“Hurry up!” he shouted to Maria, who was starting to slow down, due to fatigue. “There’s no time to rest.”
“I know that!” she shot back, panting from running.
Then the threat indicator on the Heads-Up Display installed into Aidan’s helmet identified four marines heading down the corridor to the left of their current location. He shoved Maria into the nearest room, and found a spacesuit and threw it to her.
“Put this on,” he ordered her.
“Alright,” she said in a shaky voice.
Just as she finished getting into the suit, the marines barged down the corridor towards them, weapons raised. Aidan squeezed the trigger of his Raptor assault rifle, sending several rounds into the first marine, then the second. The two remaining marines took cover around the corner. Glancing to his left, he saw a view port, next to the hiding marines. He smiled grimly, but no one would have noticed because of his helmet’s reflective visor. He fired the grenade launcher, sending a high-explosive armor-piercing grenade directly at the view port. The grenade, meant to pierce heavy armor, would easily shatter the thinly armored glass. Just as he fired the grenade, one of the marines fired a three-round burst that hit him in the right shoulder. He grunted in pain as one of the bullets managed penetrate his armor, and go completely through his shoulder. He slammed his the door panel with his armored fist. The door shut just as the grenade exploded, allowing both marines to feel the effects of explosive decompression firsthand.
“Captain, are you all right?” Maria asked, concern evident in her voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he coughed out.
“Come on, we don’t have much time,” he said with a slight hint of pain.
They continued down one of the corridors that lead to the docks, Aidan gunning down any resistance that got in the way. Once they arrived, they noticed a group of Solaris soldiers in the middle of a firefight with the rebel marines, and both sides seem to be evenly matched. Until now. Maria took behind one of the steel crates, while Aidan moved up to assist the soldiers.
“I’m Captain Aidan Mercer, who’s in charge here?” he said loud enough for all of the men to hear.
“I am, Sergeant Jacob Masters, sir,” the soldier to his left said.
“Give me a sitrep,” he ordered the Sergeant.
“Yes sir, they have control over the docks in this area, and we’re currently pinned down,” he reported over the cracks of gun and laser fire.
The main enemy force was holed up in front of the control center near the loading docks. Aidan quickly formulated a plan in his mind. He motioned for the Sergeant.
“Sergeant Masters, have two of your men look after the Prime Minister’s daughter,” he pointed to her crouched behind the crates. “It is imperative that harm come to her, then have the rest of your men follow on my orders, I have a plan.” The Sergeant nodded and rattled off the commands to his men.
“Alright, you three lay down some cover fire,” he motioned to the troopers behind some rubble. “The two of you, follow on my order,” he commanded the two nearest troops, as he drew his Falcon handgun from it’s holster on the small of his back. Unlike the standard model, his Falcon was a special ops variant, as it was equipped with an integral laser sight.
“Now!” he shouted and the three soldiers started laying down suppressive fire, keeping the enemies heads down. Motioning for the two soldiers to follow, Aidan charged for the enemy position, then suddenly dropped to one knee and aimed for the nearest enemy. The automatic pistol coughed harshly as he squeezed the trigger. The soldier collapsed to the ground, a bullet in his throat. Before the second one could react, he put a couple rounds into his chest. He then advanced forward, putting down the soldiers that got in his way. When he got to the door, he tried opening it, but it was locked. One of the soldiers that was with him pulled an explosive device out of the rucksack he was carrying. He put the device on the door and set the timer for ten seconds.
Aidan and the soldiers rapidly moved away as the device blasted the door open. Moving to the edge of the hole where the door used to be, he nodded to the other soldier. The soldier pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and tossed it into the room. The room rapidly filled up with smoke, obscuring the vision and making it hard to breathe for anyone in there. Activating his armor’s thermal imaging, and dived into the room. He located and dispatched every enemy he spotted. As the smoke started to clear, he noticed one more enemy soldier in the corner of his eye. He reflexively aimed his gun and squeezed the trigger.
Click. Click. Damn, out of ammo. He threw the empty weapon down. The soldier raised his laser rifle and took aim. But before he could fire, Aidan threw himself into a rolling dive and picked up a laser pistol that one of the marines previously dropped. Twisting into a squat ball, he planted his right foot and turned back toward the marine, pistol in hand. Two cracks split the air, and the rifle clattered to the floor. The marine stood there for a few seconds, and fell to the deck with a thud, a hole through his chest. Getting up, Aidan felt a burning pain for a few seconds before his armor administered painkillers, effectively numbing the pain. The laser blast grazed his left leg, and melted through his armor.
“Area secure,” he said into his comm with a sigh, and picked up the rifle that dead marine dropped, as well as his Falcon pistol.
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“What in the bloody hell is takin’ them so long?!” Hector Cranston, Captain of the S.F.S Artemis barked to the commo tech.
“They got held up near the docks by the rebel forces,” the tech replied.
“Damn Earth-lovin’ rebel bastards,” he snarled.
“Captain Cranston, the target is safely on board,” Aidan announced over the comm.
“Very well, Major Aidan Mercer,” the Captain replied. He did not make a mistake in addressing Aidan by a higher rank than he actually held. Tradition dictated that there be only one captain aboard ship at any one time. Everyone else who held the rank, especially ground-pounders, were given the honorary and very temporary rank of Major.
“Helmsman, undock and take engines to full, we’re getting out of here,” he ordered.
“Aye sir, undock and engines to full,” the helmsman confirmed the order and did as such.
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Maria could feel the ship lurch under her feet as it undocked , and the thrust of it’s massive engines as it moved away from the station. She took off the helmet to her spacesuit, allowing her violet hair fall down to her shoulders. She let out a sigh and looked at Aidan, who was standing off to her side with a laser rifle slung over his shoulder, and a laser pistol in his left hand. There was a barely audible hiss as he lifted up the visor to his helmet. He checked the power pack in the handgrip of the pistol and then tossed it to her. It almost fumbled out of her hands as she caught it.
“What is this for?” she asked dryly.
“For your protection, you may need it,” he answered in a flat tone.
She gave him a hard glance, and he just stared back at her, showing no hint of emotion. She then looked down at the pistol in her hands, and looked back at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the ship rocked violently. She was thrown off of her feet, and she felt her head hit the deck, and the blackness that came a few seconds later.
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“What in the bloody hell was that!?” Cranston cursed as a second hammer blow struck his ship.
“Sir, an enemy cruiser has just locked their anti-ship missiles onto the Artemis,” one of the techs replied in a frightened tone.
“Damn, charge the jump drives, we’re gettin’ the hell outta here,” he bellowed.
“Aye sir,” was the techs only reply.
“Sir, the enemy is launching fighters,” the sensor operator announced, his voice surprisingly calm.
“Well, launch the Strikers to intercept them,” Cranston commanded.
“We can’t sir,” the damage control officer said.
“Why not?” Cranston barked at the officer.
“Because that last hit damaged the hangar doors, they won’t open,” the officer replied.
“Well, damn,” he muttered.
“Jump drives fully charged, sir,” the helmsman announced.
“Alright, engage jump dri…” the rest of his order went unsaid as a fireball erupted from the bridge’s main liftshaft, literally incinerating one of the techs that was walking in front of it. It hurled Cranston across the bridge and he slammed his head on one of the already blood-slicked consoles. Fighting a wave of darkness that threatened to drag him into oblivion, Cranston dragged himself to the helmsman’s console and shoved aside the bloody corpse at the controls. With all of his remaining strength, he slammed down on a button and a loud, raucous horn sounded throughout the ship, but Cranston could no longer hear it, or anything else.
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A few seconds after Maria hit the ground, Aidan lost his footing but caught himself before he could fall. He looked around and saw that the ship was severely damaged by the way it looked from the room he was in. He could only imagine how bad the ship looked on the outside. All of a sudden, he heard a loud horn sound several times throughout the ship. He knew the ship would be jumping out of this hellzone to a safer location in about a minute or so.
He walked over and gently picked Maria up. Cradling her in his arms, he walked over to a bench and laid her down there. He proceeded to move over to sit down, because he didn’t want to stand while he went through the jump. But before he could get there, the ship shook violently, and an overhead beam fell loose from its supports and hit him with a glancing blow that struck him in the head and left shoulder. Even though it was just a glancing blow, it had enough force to knock him face first onto the deck.
“Shit,” he gasped as he planted his hands on the deck and tried to push himself up. But before he could do that, the universe seemed to expand around him, lights and sound hit him with almost physical force, then as quick as it came, it was gone. He finally succumbed to the pain and was swept into darkness.
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As you can see, I’m redoing this story, because, frankly, I wasn’t satisfied with it. Let me know what you think.