Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread.
Vandread: The Unknown Soldier
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Endgame, Part Two
Location: Bridge, Warship Indomitable
Captain Argust gritted his teeth as the Indomitable rocked under another assault. He then ordered another volley, this time aimed at the silver Mejalean ship. The brunt of the laser barrage hit the ship’s shields, none of it breaking through. He was about to order another barrage, but a crewman interrupted him.
“Sir! The technicians report that the P.N. Device is now fully functional and is also fully charged.”
“Excellent, activate the device,” he said with a hint of satisfaction. The tables are about to turn…
He watched as the energy field expanded and engulfed a several hundred meter radius around the Indomitable. Normally, it did not affect the enemy fighters, except for the specialized few. It had the best effect on the Mejalean ship. The ship’s shields flickered and died, leaving it vulnerable to attack. He was ready to finish it. “All forward batteries, lock onto that ship, and fire!”
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“The shields are down! The ship’s systems are refusing to respond!” Belvedere fairly shouted.
“This isn’t good,” Magno said. “If they attack us while we’re like this, then we’re finished.”
“All Dread Teams, you are to defend the Nirvana at all cost!” BC commanded the remaining pilots.
Magno watched through gritted teeth as the Indomitable slowly approached. Several of it’s remaining weapons ports were beginning to glow an eerie red. The Indomitable was charging it’s weapons for the coup de grace. It was only a matter of time… And time wasn’t on their side.
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Supporting the heavy weight of the Hawkins‘ powered armor, Private Ian Cameron, last member of the wiped out Ghost Team, advanced away from the attention of the enemy and towards the gate. He dragged Hawkins along with him until they within several meters of the gate.
“Hold it right there!” he heard a voice behind him bark. He turned around and attempted to raise his weapon, but due to the fact that he still had a hold on Hawkins, that made his move sluggish. It was then he heard the crack of laser weapon. He felt no pain, and then suddenly realized that the soldier who had attempted to stop him lying on the ground. He turned around to see, and noticed, with some difficulty, a prone figure with a long-range rifle. He knew he’d rendezvoused with the rest of Spectre Team.
He waited until he cleared the base with Hawkins, he told them what Major Mercer had told him.
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“Well, damn,” Julia muttered after Cameron told her the situation. She looked over at Akida, the team’s scout. “What do you think?”
“I think we should do as the Major says,” he said after a few seconds. “But I don’t like the fact that we might have to leave them behind.”
“Same here,” she replied, as Akida helped Cameron carry the wounded Hawkins and started off in the direction of the shuttle. She did not want to leave them behind, but, orders were orders, and there was a chance they’d make it out in fifteen minutes. She soon followed, covering them to make sure they wouldn’t be followed.
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Another burst of gunfire slammed into the enemy soldier, eliciting a spray of blood out his back as the bullets went through him. Aidan dove back under cover as several laser blasts seared the air above their position. Since their initial charge had gotten them closer to the hangar, they still had to take cover from the heavy volume of fire from the troops defending it. Not to mention they had a platoon of heavily armed and armored soldiers coming up from their rear.
“I’ve had enough of these damn sniping games,” Steiner spat angrily. “We should just charge them and kill them.”
“I know that, but it’s not as easy as it looks,” Aidan replied. He then saw the first powered armor round the corner. He cocked the launcher underneath his rifle and fired at the approaching armored trooper. The grenade exploded against the armor, which left it in tatters, but the soldier was still standing, and raised his weapon. “Time to move!”
He quickly pulled Meia to her feet as they both bound for the hangar under the guns of the enemy. Steiner took a second to fire his gauss rifle at the soldier. The slug caught him in the chest, where very little armor remained, and went out through his back. He then turned around and followed closely behind.
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With most of the bridge in shambles, and a cut on his head, Admiral Alexander Graff watched as the Divine Will let loose another volley from it’s remaining starboard mounted weapons. Both ships had been locked in a deathmatch, with neither of them actually getting a significant advantage over the other. The Dauntless shook violently as the lasers cored into her, but she still held her ground. The fight was nearing it’s end, as Graff ordered yet another barrage of fire into the battered vessel. The lasers tore violently into the Will’s side, leaving nasty gashes, that bled oxygen as several decks were breached. Graff expected another barrage from it, but none came.
“Status report,” he barked to the sensor operator.
“Sir, that last hit damaged the engine and the main power unit. The Divine Will is dead!” she replied. That set off a cheer throughout the bridge. He wanted to join in, but he knew that it wasn’t over, not yet anyway.
“I want all combat teams ready for boarding operations,” he told another tech. “We are going to take back that ship.”
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As Seychelle pulled her battered Dread into a tight turn away from the fighter that was pursuing her, she heard the commander over the commline.
“All Dread Teams, you are to defend the Nirvana at all cost!”
She was a veteran of the war with the Earth forces throughout the last year. She had seen her fair share of battles and seen good friends wounded and even killed by the enemy. She was not going to give these Earth-lovers any less. She began to move towards the Nirvana, then out of nowhere her Dread was hit by a grazing laser blast. She was thrown violently around in her cockpit. She hit her head on something, probably the control panel. She fought back a wave of pain and unconsciousness that surfaced. She could feel something slick run down her face… blood. She looked and saw that her Dread had taken a heavy hit, and it’s control thrusters were damaged. She knew there was a strong chance that she wouldn’t live this battle, and she intended to take one last enemy down with her. She immediately broke away from the rest of her team, fighting the damaged controls until she was facing the massive bulk of the enemy warship.
“What are you doing!” Barnette, her team leader, shouted. “Get back into formation!”
“Sorry,” she replied softly before shutting the comm system off, and then kicking her fighter up to maximum thrust. She ignored the fire the pattered against her Dread as she bored down on her target… the Indomitable. I’m going to finish this…
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Captain Argust was watching with feral satisfaction as the death blow for the Mejalean ship was only seconds away from being delivered. This was to be the end for that ship, and he’d be praised as the one who’d destroyed Earth’s greatest enemy. That was, until he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a fighter that was making a straight charge for the ship. Pitiful, he thought, for the fighter thought it could threaten his invincible warship. He saw that the fighter made to attempt to fire it’s weapons, but charged through the fire coming at it like it was nothing. He watched in horror as it got closer to the view port, it was then he knew what it’s pilot intended to do.
“Fire! Blast that damn fighter, NOW!” he demanded, although he knew it was too late. “Aww, shi…”
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The Dread collided with the bridge of the Indomitable, tearing through the view port before exploding. The following explosion tore into the bridge, robbing the vessel of it’s ability to operate for a short time. Magno watched in grim fascination as the enemy was pretty much crippled in one fell swoop, but what did it cost? The life of a good pilot. Then suddenly the power came back on throughout the Nirvana.
“The systems just booted back up!” Belvedere said gladly.
“The shields are also back up,” Amarone stated as well.
“Bart!” Magno yelled.
“Take this you bastards!” he yelled as the Nirvana fired an impressive wall of fire. The series of blue lasers struck multiple enemy craft, avoiding anything that was considered friendly. It surprised many an SDF pilot as the beam curved around his or her craft or mecha. The beams all converged on the crippled form of the Indomitable, tearing and gouging into it’s armor. The fusion reactor that powered the vessel ruptured. The resulting cascading explosions literally tore the vessel apart. Destroying anything that was caught in a several hundred meter radius. The crew all let out a loud series of cheers as the witnessed the Indomitable’s incredible death.
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“Get down!” Aidan shouted as shoved Meia out of the way of a laser blast. The shot dug into his left shoulder, and from what Meia could tell, it fused the shoulder joint in place, rendering his arm almost useless. She got back up, and looked over to see the heavy powered armor crash to the ground from Steiner’s fire. She didn’t like this, not at all. The enemy was coming in too fast, and there were too many of them.
“Are you alright?” she asked Aidan, although with a louder voice, as the sounds of gunfire were loud.
“Yeah,” he spat. “My arm’s locked up, though.”
“Go on, I’ll hold them off!” Steiner shouted over the gunfire.
Aidan nodded, and tossed his gauss rifle to Steiner, who caught it with his free hand. They both moved into the hangar under the cover fire of Steiner’s gauss rifles. She knew it was a hopeless endeavor, but they needed time, and it would be bought with Steiner’s life. He would die a soldier.
She watched Aidan draw his pistol and gun down a couple of men that attempted to fire at them. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her Dread sitting in a gantry.
“Over there!” she said as she pointed over at the fighter.
“Let’s move!” he said as he saw the Dread.
It took them a few seconds to get there. Once she arrived there, she realized something. “I can’t pilot my Dread while I’m wearing this armor.”
“Well then, take it off,” he said bluntly. “I’ll cover you.”
“Alright,” she replied as she took off her helmet. She then proceeded to depressurize the armor and remove it. After she finished, she was wearing only the sensor mesh that helped her control the armor. She started to climb the ladder that would take her to the cockpit. It was then she realized something else. “What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me,” he replied as he took off his cracked helmet and dropped it to the ground.
“What do you mean by that?” she asked. “You’re coming with me.”
“No, there‘s not enough time,” he replied looking her straight in the face. “Besides, there’s no way I can fit into your fighter.”
“But I can’t just leave you-” the rest of her reply was cut off as he embraced her and planted a kiss on her lips. Stunned, she almost forgot to breathe.
“Don’t worry about me,” he repeated, “I’ll find another way out, I promise.”
“You better keep that promise,” she said as climbed into her cockpit. She started it up, surprised to see that it had been fully repaired. She immediately took off, blasting through the hangar and flying out into Solaris’ atmosphere. After several long seconds, she broke free of the planet’s gravity and made into space. Once there, she noticed that a massive battle had taken place, and some of he fighting was still dragging on. She keyed her comm system.
“This is Meia,” she broadcast on the frequency used by the Nirvana and the Dread Teams.
“Meia!” came back an astonished voice. She recognized it as the commander’s voice. “Where in the hell have you been?”
“Well, it’s a long story…” she replied, not finishing her reply, shutting off her comm system. She brought her fingers up to her lips. She just hoped Aidan had made it out okay, that he would keep his promise…
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As Aidan watched Meia’s Dread blast out of the hangar, the enemy got past Steiner’s attempt to hold them. The enemy was going to find out that they’d screw with him and expect to live. He tapped a code into the small computer built into left forearm. He smiled, and a second later, the ground shook with such force that it felt as if the whole mountain would shatter. He watched as the explosion threw several of the enemy armored soldiers to the ground. With that objective complete, he needed to find a way out of this hellhole. He looked over to what appeared to be a Striker standing in one of the gantries. He realized that may be his only ticket out of here, so he bolted for it.
He noticed someone ahead of him, wearing what appeared to be a specialized pilot suit making a dash for the same Striker. He managed to catch up with the man, who was stunned by his sudden appearance. Aidan broke the man’s jaw with the force of his armored glove. He knew he needed to act fast if he wanted to get out of here alive. He made a quick egress out of his armor, and looked down at the unconscious pilot. The suit the pilot was wearing was advanced, and it looked as if only the machine would operate if he were wearing that suit.
After a few seconds, he managed to put the suit on, and then climbed into the cockpit of the Striker. He pulled a helmet off of a rack behind the seat, and put it on. The helmet was closed, with no apparent visor. A computerized female voice spoke up a few seconds after he locked the helmet in place.
“Pilot Brainwave Pattern Synchronization Complete. Neural Interface System Fully Operational. Releasing Actuator and Weapon Controls to Pilot.”
“What the hell…” he muttered after the voice finished speaking. This isn’t normal…
After the startup, the helmet screen came alive, like a heads-up display. He managed to get the machine to move as the explosion reached the hangar. He activated the back and leg thrusters of the Striker, propelling the machine upward. He was forced into his seat as machine tore away from it’s gantry. The explosion was right on his heels. He wasn’t going to die in a place like this, he was going to survive…
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End of Chapter Twenty-Nine, Epilogue still to come.