Disclaimer: Let me put it bluntly, I do not own Vandread.

Vandread: The Unknown Soldier

Chapter Eighteen: Captive

Location: Warship Avenger, Brig.

Aidan rubbed his cheek, on which a bruise started to appear. He had been struck by the butt of a rifle across the face earlier when he tried to get away from his guard. He sat in one of the cells, and Meia was in the one next to his. He moved from a sitting position to a lying one on the bunk in his cell. There was a wall separating the two cells, so he couldn’t see Meia. His gaze fell on the guard in front of his cell, who was standing at attention, with his weapon in hand. He badly wanted to get off this ship, but he knew an escape attempt would be met with lethal force, and it was pretty much suicide if he tried. There was pretty much nothing else to do, so he closed his eyes. At least he’d get some sleep.

Meia sat on her bunk and leaned against the wall. This was not going well at all. The ambush, her being shot down and imprisoned by a bunch of fanatics that believed what Earth was doing was the right. Did it ever appear to them that they’d be harvested as well? They probably were looking forward to it. She wondered what everybody on the Nirvana would be thinking right now if they saw her like this. She wondered what Aidan was thinking right now, as well, as awkward as it seemed. She fought the drowsiness start to pull at her, but she wouldn’t give in. The last thing she wanted to was sleep at a time like this.

Meanwhile, on the Nirvana.

Maria walked through the doors to the cafeteria, full of new confidence. She ignored all the stares that were directed at her and grabbed a tray and walked over to the table where Dita and Hibiki sat.

“Do you mind if I sit with you guys?” she asked.

“Sure, go right ahead,” Dita replied. “I like your new look,” she commented.

“Thanks,” she replied, taking a seat next to Dita. “Sorry… about what I said to you earlier,” she apologized.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Dita said, smiling. “I know how you felt.”

Across the cafeteria, someone else was deep in thought. Misty sat at the table, not even touching her food. She wondered where Meia had gone, for she had been gone for almost two days. That soldier named Aidan was also gone. Where did they go? Were they captured or killed by the enemy they had been fighting? She hoped it wasn’t that.

“Where are you, Dear Sister?”

The alarm sounded throughout the ship, and everybody darted to their stations. Jura immediately headed for her Dread. Upon launching, she opened a channel to the rest of the squadron.

“Since Meia is not here, I’m taking command, all team leaders, form up and prepare to engage the enemy,” she ordered .

“Roger!” the replies came as one as all the Dreads and the Vanguard advanced.

On the other side the fighters leapt into action. Then the ships of the opposing fleet opened fire, this was not going to be an easy fight.

Lieutenant Julia Marks bolted immediately for the her action station as soon as the alarm had sounded. She headed for the lift to the main cargo bay, where she was supposed to report. Once she was in the lift and it was on it’s way, she wondered for a second why they had been called to alert status. Once the elevator reached the bay, she immediately went to where the rest of her unit already was. She was temporarily in command of the 4th Special Forces Detachment, Team Five, also known as Death’s Grenadiers. Her current commander was currently missing in action, his last known location had been on the S.D.S Artemis, which was also currently missing.

She walked over to Heinrich Steiner, her second-in-command for the time being. “Report.”

Heinrich, who stood a head taller than her, with an impressive build. His blue eyes and close cropped blond hair finished out his appearance. When he spoke, it was in a deep Germanic accent. “We have been ordered to report for immediate boarding action, as there has been an enemy destroyer located in this system.”

After she got the full report on the situation, she gave the order to her Team. “Suit up.”

The fighting had been chaotic, with neither side gaining a significant advantage, until a certain weapon had been activated. Forced to flee or be destroyed, the Nirvana immediately headed for the nearest safest location, a nebula. The whole crew was relieved when the enemy failed to pursue them into it. What they failed to notice, was that they were not the only ones to use the nebula for a hiding place. Several ships were in there, all of them bearing the markings of the Solaris Defense Force. Due to the interference caused by the nebula, neither one of them could see or detect each other, yet.

Walking up to her Krieger Heavy Powered Armor Suit, Julia nodded to the tech assigned to her. It was difficult to get in the armor without assistance as she once figured out. Julia immediately stripped out of her black and blue jumpsuit, and into a special black bodysuit, which carried a sophisticated sensor mesh. It would transmit movement and combat commands to the suit’s onboard computer. It also monitored the operator’s physical condition, which could allow the administering of painkillers, stimulants, or antibiotics from the medipack built into the suit.

Propping herself up on the back of the armor, she slid her legs into the lower half of the armor. Once her feet were firmly locked into the heavy boots, she leaned forward and settled herself into the thick, heavy breastplate. She then inserted her arms into the metal sleeves and gripped the manipulator controls in each arm. With the help of the tech, she locked the heavy breastplate with the rest of the torso. The tech then checked to see if all the seals, circuits and interlocks had been connected properly.

When the last piece of armor had hiss-popped into place, the tech connected several wires to run a diagnostic and calibration check on the suit’s systems. While he was running the check, Julia used the suit’s fully manipulative hands to attach a specially modified double-barreled laser rifle to the armor’s right vambrace. Normally, she didn’t like to use this armor, as she was the team’s sharpshooter. She preferred to be unencumbered, or use a light powered armor. But she was going to fight on a ship, which meant she’d be fighting close quarters. The rest of the team would be armed similarly. One of her team, a Private Nick Hawkins, carried a canvas bag full of breaching charges and other explosive devices in a built in cargo point on his armor.

Once the tech was finished, he gave her a thumbs up. She returned it and snapped her helmet’s faceplate down. On it was a painted a skull motif, and the ‘eyes’ of the helmet glowed a sinister red sensors and targeting system powered up. She keyed the suit’s helmet-mounted communications link.

“Comm check, Team Five?

“Five-Two ready.”

“Five-Three online.”

“Five- Four here.”

“Five-Five, I’m ready.”

“Alright, let’s move out!”

“Sir! Unidentified vessel has just come up on our scans!” the sensor tech reported, with a little hint of excitement in her voice.

“Blast, can you confirm who it belongs to?” Admiral Alexander Graff bellowed.

“No, sir,” she replied. “The nebula is interfering with our scans.”

“Dammit,” he muttered. As if this couldn’t get any worse.

The Dauntless, along with all of the surviving ships of the Solaris Defense Fleet, took shelter from the ever encroaching enemy in a vast nebula. They had taken significant losses, and had to retreat from battle. The remnants of the fleet, some thirty ships out of fifty four, were left after that hellish battle. Now possibly a hostile ship maybe entering the area, if so they would be found out. He wouldn’t let that happen.

“Okay, I want several combat teams to prepare for boarding operations,” Graff ordered. “They are to assemble in the main cargo bay for briefing at 0800.”

“Aye, sir,” one of the bridge crewmen replied.

Aidan was jolted awake by a sudden, violent shaking throughout the ship. He nearly fell off his bunk, but awkwardly managed to get into a sitting position. He looked at out of his cell, and in the corridor beyond, and saw several crewmembers franticly running back and forth. He could hear panicked shouting and the sound of running footsteps, as well. It appeared that this ship was under attack.

Chapter Eighteen up, currently working on the next chapter.