Disclaimer: Vandread belongs to Gonzo
Vandread: The Unknown Soldier
Chapter Twenty-Two: Planning, Part One
Location: Mejalian Shuttle, Approach Vector to S.D.S Dauntless
Hibiki sat there, reclined on one of the foldout bunks in the shuttle, pondering the recent events. Things had gone very badly for them, being driven into this godforsaken nebula, then, under the ruse of a damaged shuttlecraft, a team of soldiers managed to fight their way to the bridge. He had been shot by them more than once. He tried to jump one of them, but was thrown to the ground and shot at least three times. That was what pissed him off, the fact that he couldn’t take on and beat a small group of soldiers. Now they were going over to the other ship, to talk. Apparently, they were on the same side, as was evidenced by their use of non-lethal weapons, as they were unsure. He was knocked out of his thoughts by Dita’s outburst. He nearly fell off the bunk.
“Take a look at that!” he heard her say over the comm system, as she was in her Dread and acting as one of the escorts for the shuttle. Out in front of the shuttle, at several meters away, was the Solaris Defense Force’s command ship. It was massive, larger than the Nirvana. It stretched several hundred meters long, and its slab sides contained several gun ports. Near the front of the vessel, were what looked like several missile launch tubes. He was awed at its threatening appearance, and he knew it could turn this shuttle into particles in a split-second. He noticed some of the gun turrets aim towards the shuttle, tracking its flight path.
“That’s the Invincible Class Battle cruiser, Dauntless,” Maria said as she noticed Hibiki looking at the warship.
“Looks impressive,” he admitted.
“Incoming!” Barnette reported from her Dread as a pair of forward-swept winged fighters in Solaris blue and black approached the shuttle and its two Dread escorts. Suddenly, the comm system crackled to life, and the image of the lead fighter pilot showed up on the screen. The face of the pilot was masked by a helmet, but the voice was definitely that of a woman’s. The helmet had an image of a predatory bird painted on it.
“This is Falcon One, we were sent to escort you in,” the pilot said.
“We acknowledge, lead the way,” BC replied.
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“So what of the captured ship, the Avenger?” Aidan asked his commanding officer.
“The Captain has already sent over a prize crew and several technicians to repair the damage. We will stay in orbit over this planet until she is repaired,” Albrecht replied.
“Good,” he said, one more ship for their side, he thought with a little satisfaction.
“But you’re getting off subject,” Albrecht said. “You left the late PM’s daughter on that Mejalean pirate ship?”
“I assure you she’s fine, sir,” he replied. “Besides, what did we recover from the Avenger?”
“We recovered thirty-four fighters, a couple of captured Strikers, and a large stockpile of weapons and equipment,” Albrecht said after glancing down a data pad on his desk. “As well as a few Dropships and shuttles.
“What about the Dread?” Aidan asked.
“What?” Albrecht replied, not knowing what it was.
“The Dread, the fighter that belongs to Meia,” he said, “It was silver, and would have had heavy damage.”
“No, it is not listed here,” Albrecht said as he looked at the pad again, and then handed it to Aidan.
Aidan took a look at it for a few seconds, and then laid it on the colonel’s desk. “Is it possible that it was counted as one of the thirty-four?”
“Yes, but unlikely,” Albrecht replied. “Because every one of their fighters used to belong to us, so every model is either the same or similar, if there was a different fighter like the one you described, it would have been noted separately.”
“She’s not going to like to hear that,” Aidan muttered under his breath, before speaking up again. “Permission to be dismissed, sir.”
“Granted,” Albrecht said. Aidan saluted and exited the office.
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Admiral Alexander Graff sat at the desk in his quarters, staring at the old woman in front of him. He was both relieved and a bit remorseful at the news they’d just given him. He was relieved that Maria Shakov was alive and well, but remorseful because of the loss of the Artemis and its entire crew. Captain Cranston was one of his best ship commanders that didn’t defect to the other side. He was listening to her inform about the other survivor, a special forces soldier that had protected Maria from an assassination attempt and had participated in a battle against the rebels, and went missing just before another attack, and presumed captured, along with one of their pilots. He was caught on the most interesting fact about them, though; they were the ones that defeated the Earth forces.
“We were forced to take shelter in this nebula after receiving heavy losses in our last battle with the rebels,” he said after a long pause. “They haven’t found us yet, but it appears they might, as they are nearby.”
“They didn’t pursue us into the nebula, as they know they can beat us because…” the silver haired woman who identified herself as BC said.
Shifting his gaze to her, “… because they have the Paksis Nullification Device,” he finished.
“Paksis Nullification Device?” the old woman named Magno Vivan asked.
“It was originally developed for use against the Earth forces. It was designed from data of several captured pieces of Earth equipment. It was designed to send out a type of electromagnetic virus that is set at the same frequency the Paksis, basically immobilizing anything powered or controlled by it.”
“That explains a lot,” Magno replied. “But how did they get a hold of it?”
“When they instigated their rebellion, they managed to capture several ships, and unfortunately, they captured the Indomitable, the battle cruiser equipped with the prototype P.N. Device,” he informed them.
“Our original intention was to link up with your forces and coordinate our efforts against these so-called rebels of yours,” Magno said.
“And why is that, if I may ask?” he asked, a little curious.
“Because the assassin they sent and the subsequent battles killed several of my crew, and I’m not one just to let them get away with it,” she replied grimly.
After pondering on it for a moment, he came to a decision. “Alright, I’ll need info on your current force composition and strength if we’re going to formulate a plan of action.”
“Very well,” Magno replied.
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Meia felt uncomfortable onboard the Whirlwind, she wore a standard issue blue and black jumpsuit, it was devoid of any rank pins, as she was not part of this military. It did make her look less like an outsider, so almost everyone paid her little attention, for which she was grateful. The reason she felt uncomfortable was because she was on a ship with mostly men. After a while, she got used to them, but that was when there was just three, now there was a ship full of them, which made it a little uncomfortable.
“Hey, Meia!” she heard someone say from behind, and she turned and saw it was Aidan.
“What’s up?” she replied as he caught up with her.
“They went over the equipment and weapons that were onboard the captured ship, and your Dread wasn’t on the list,” he said rather bluntly.
“What?” she replied, stunned. “Where is it then?”
“I don’t know, I think they may have transferred it to another ship while we were held captive,” he replied.
“Damn,” she muttered. “We have to find out where they took it.”
“I know, but the fact is that we don’t know, and if they did, the ship could be anywhere,” he said.
They both turned to see someone running up to them, and he stopped a few feet in front of Aidan, and saluted.
“Capta- err Major Aidan Mercer?” he said correcting himself.
“Yes,” he said as he returned the salute. “What is it?”
“The Colonel wants you both to report to the briefing room at once, he said it was urgent.” the soldier said, panting from running.
“Alright,” he replied as he started to walk rapidly. Meia followed right behind him.
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Chapter 22 done, let me know what you think.