Disclaimer: As you all know, I do not own Vandread or any of it’s characters, ships, mecha, etc. But I do claim the characters that I created.
Vandread: A Renewed War
Chapter Ten: The Darkest Day
Location: Inner Defense Perimeter, Tarak
“It’s time,” a voice said with cold certainty. Several black shapes shot forth from out of nowhere, confusing the few that managed to see them. One of them thought they were several shooting stars, and another thought they were some kind of vengeful ghosts out to torment whomever they came by. Out of the two, the latter was more accurate. No one paid much attention to them until one of the patrolling Vanguards exploded into a white fireball. This set off a series of alarmed shouts among the Tarak defense units that were patrolling the approach vectors of their planet.
The two Vanguards that went to investigate suffered the same fate as the first. They went over to where the first had exploded, not knowing what to expect. The first one took a penetrating hit into its back, coring it though. The second one was a little smarter, but a little late. He started to fall back, and he saw several black, humanoid shapes jet past him as he was cut in half at the machine’s waist, killing him instantly. Before he died, he managed to get off a distress signal, as well as a warning to the other Tarak units in the area.
No matter, Becker thought after he had cut that Vanguard in half. It won’t help them, not now. Several contacts popped up on his sensors, two frigates and about twenty Vanguards. “Well, let’s just see how good they really are. Thanatos, you are clear to engage, your targets are the two frigates.”
“Aye, Commander,” he heard the captain reply. He could almost hear the eagerness in the man’s voice as he responded to the order. He grinned, although if one saw it they would most likely describe it as a frightening, death-like smile. Meanwhile, him and the rest of his men would deal with Vanguard units that had been deployed. “Let’s see how the little Minister with a god complex likes this particular development.”
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Location: Tarak Imperial Warship O-Bakemono
It just seemed to the two guards that Aidan was sitting there, hands bound and silent. In truth, he was thinking; thinking of a way to off this ship. The only way to do it was if they dropped the laser screen. His special forces training taught to always be prepared for the worst, and to always have an ace up his sleeve. This ‘ace’ was quite simple, but effective: a single, flat knife concealed in a sheath on the inside of his right boot. When they were captured, the guards didn’t bother checking him for more weapons after they’d removed his handgun and combat knife. That was their mistake, and if the opportunity presented itself, he would make them regret it. His train of thought was interrupted by someone entering the brig. The two guards snapped to attention, so he assumed that it was an officer, at the least, or more likely the ship captain. His latter assumption proved correct, as the man carrying the obvious air of superiority walked up to the cell.
“So,” the captain said. “You are Commander Mercer.”
Aidan kept quiet, not replying to his name. His intention was to gauge the man that called himself a ship captain. He wanted to see how far the man’s patience was, and the easiest way was to ignore him altogether. He cast a sidelong glance at the man, and saw that he was agitated by being ignored. He cast a mocking smirk, just to see if the man would react to it. He took note that the man didn’t verbally lash out at him, but was still pissed off. He decided to try something else. “Funny, you looked bigger on the vidscreen.”
“We’ll see how amusing you are after I get through with you,” Captain Kinugau replied. He then looked at one of the guards. “Lower the screen.”
Bad move, Aidan thought. The guard hesitated, then acknowledged and shut it off. The Captain stepped into the cell, probably to physically punish him for being insolent. A fatal mistake. Reacting with speed that only intense training could perfect, he got up and delivered a low, slanted kick to the man’s left knee. The crack of his shattering bones was muted by the man’s scream of surprise and pain. He quickly used the captain’s falling momentum to turn him around. He quickly put his arms around the man’s neck, using his restraints to keep hold of him. The guards, slow to react, raised their rifles and aimed them in his direction.
“Lower your weapons, or…” he ordered, pulling the restraints closer to him, using the threat of strangling their captain if they didn’t comply.
Several uneasy seconds passed by before the guards complied, putting their rifles onto the floor. “Now kick them over here, and release our restraints.”
The guards complied once again, not willing to risk the life of their commanding officer. Both his and Meia’s restraints were released. As soon as his was, he quickly went down and pulled out the hidden knife in his boot, then brought it quickly up to the man’s neck. Suddenly, the door to the brig opened. Crap. Using the distraction, he pulled the knife away from the man’s throat and kicked him over into the guard on his right. The captain collided into the guard, knocking them both off their feet. Flipping the knife point-down he quickly attacked the other guard.
This guard was a little more intelligent, as he ducked away from the Aidan’s strike. As it stood, the blade nicked the man’s cheek. In a few quick moves, he was only a split second away from the running the blade through the man’s throat. He stopped before the blade went through, and slammed his fist into the man’s solar plexus, knocking the air out him and driving him to the floor, unconscious. The other guard could do little, as Meia was holding him at gunpoint. It was then he noticed the person that opened the door. The man raised his hands, indicating he wasn’t here to fight.
“Looks like I wasn’t needed here after all,” he commented, lowering his arms down to his sides and looking at the guards, then the captain.
“What do you mean?” Aidan commented dryly. “And just who are you?”
“Lieutenant Akira Shindoh,” the man said. “And you are Aidan Mercer, Solaris Special Forces, I believe. And you are Meia Gisborn, Leader of the Pirate Dread Teams.”
“I believe you have us at a disadvantage,” Aidan replied, still gripping his knife.
“How do you know that?” Meia asked.
“I’d been briefed on what little information we were able to gather on you,” Akira said. “My original intention was to escape this ship and meet up with you.”
“What are you doing Lieutenant?” Captain Kinugau interrupted through gritted teeth. “Kill these insolent vermin!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir,” he replied, walking over to where the captain lay, still squirming in pain. “And it looks like they did a quite a number on you.”
“I gave you an order!” the captain yelled. “How dare you disobey me! I’ll have you executed for this!”
“I have been given authority to override your command,” Akira said, staring levelly at Kinugau.
“By whom?!” Kinugau demanded.
“By Lord Grand Pa himself,” Akira replied. “You have overridden your authority, by straying from your original mission, and carrying out orders that have countermanded those of Grand Pa. As a result, we have nearly been plunged into war with yet another opponent, one that I understand has no intention of fighting us.”
“You are here to arrest me?” Kinugau said incredulously.
“No,” Akira countered. “I’m here to carry out your execution.”
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Location: Hibiki’s Quarters, Nirvana
“This is frustrating,” Hibiki muttered under his breath as he laid down on his bunk. Even with the Nirvana at full speed, the trip back home seemed to take an eternity. The Captain had told him that even at their current speed, it would still take them at least three more days to reach their home system. The fact that he could do nothing to stop the war back in his home system tore at him. Don’t they know? The enemy is Earth, not each other!
“Dammit,” he cursed. He couldn’t stay still, so he got up and headed for the gym. He figured he could take out his frustrations there.
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Location: Warship Thanatos, Tarak Inner Defense Perimeter
Captain Sternreich grinned in satisfaction as he received the order to engage. As he had been expecting the order from Becker, he had already moved the ship into range of the two Tarak frigates. From information they had acquired early in the ‘employ’ of the Tarak Prime Minister, he knew the capabilities of the two ships that he was about to engage. Neither one was a match for his state-of-the-art ship. He started off a series of orders for the bridge crew.
“Helmsman, bring engines to maximum as soon as we open fire. Gunnery Officer, target the portside frigate with the primary laser cannons. Disengage optical camouflage, now.”
That set off a series of ‘ayes’ as they carried out the orders. He knew the captains of the frigates would be surprised to see a destroyer class warship appear out of nowhere. He took advantage of their hesitation. “Now, fire!”
No less than eight emerald beams lanced outward from the ship, tearing into the targeted frigate, melting armor before coring through the ship. The first frigate started to list, falling out of formation with the other. It was crippled, unable to continue. “Finish it,” he ordered.
Four more beams shot into the crippled vessel, tearing into and through its badly ravaged armor. It floated silently for a few seconds before exploding into a white fireball. Instead of watching the first ship demise, he turned his attention to the second one, which was quickly advancing.
“Captain,” the sensor operator said calmly. Frigate Two has locked onto us.”
Not for long. “Understood, activate our ECM and missile defense systems,” he commanded.
Several missiles streaked from the blocky vessel, intent on the destruction of the Thanatos. But due to the jamming systems, most of them were unable to maintain a lock and veered away from their target. Those that got anywhere near close were shot down by the automated defenses on the Thanatos.
“Gunner, disengage ECM and lock forward ASM tubes onto that frigate,” he ordered. Let’s see how you like the taste of this. “And FIRE!”
“Aye sir,” he replied. Four large missiles shot forward from their launch tubes, homing in on the second frigate. These weren’t any normal missiles, but missiles designed specifically to punch through the thick, armored hull of a warship, and detonate. They streaked in on their target, and the Tarak gunners were having a rather hard time following them. Whether by luck or skill, one of the missiles was shot down, and another narrowly missed the ship by mere meters. But the other two struck home, tearing through the frigate’s armor then detonating. Causing severe damage to the vessel’s drive system, and engines. Another laser barrage finished the wounded ship.
“Both frigates have been destroyed, Commander,” he communicated to Becker on their secure frequency.
“Understood, we‘re finished here as well,” Becker replied, then continued in a slightly humorous tone. “What took you so long?”
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Location: Brig, Tarak Imperial Warship O-Bakemono
Meia watched in silence as this lieutenant shot the captain twice in the chest. There was a muffled sound as the gun discharged, indicating a silencer was being used. A few seconds before, the still-conscious guard attempted to attack the lieutenant, but he quickly subdued and knocked out the man. She still kept the rifle she was holding up, as she didn’t know whether or not to trust this man. A man who just shot his captain. After the captain slumped over, lifeless, he holstered his weapon.
“You’re a spy, aren’t you?” she heard Aidan say to him.
“I guess that’s one way to put it,” he replied. “But I’m not exactly part of the Empire’s main intelligence branch. I was personally hand-picked by Lord Grand Pa to report to him anything suspicious that the Prime Minister was doing. It seems that the Prime Minister had been acting suspiciously ever since the Nirvana disappeared from the system several months ago.”
“When we helped the Solaris fleet fight off the EDA,” Meia said aloud, and Aidan seemed to think the same, as he nodded to her comment.
“What I want to know,” Aidan said. “Can we really trust you? Seeing how you are part of the nation that is technically at war with Mejale.”
“I understand where you’re coming from,” Akira said. “In my line of work, trust is hard to come by. “Let’s just say we both have the same goals: to get off this ship, and to put a stop to the war started by the Prime Minister.”
“Good enough,” Aidan replied. “Now, how do you propose we get off this ship? We can only get so far before they find out.”
“I may have an idea,” Akira said thoughtfully.
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Location: Bridge, Tarak Imperial Flagship Ikazuchi II
“What do you mean they’re both destroyed?” the Prime Minister seethed.
“Like I said, sir,” the tech reported, shaking out of fear, but not backing down. “Both the Kyoretsu and the Hogosha reported engaging unknown Vanguard-like machines and an unknown warship before we lost contact with them. They most likely have been destroyed.”
Becker! he thought. How dare that traitorous mercenary bastard attack my forces! After this war is over, I’m going to hunt that scum down and destroy him completely.
“Minister!” another bridge crewman said. “The Mejalean center is starting to collapse!”
“Excellent,” he replied finally relieved at hearing some good news, and having something to change the subject. “Have all forces concentrate on that spot. Have them breach the line and wipe every last one of those vile female vermin out of existence!”
“Understood, sir,” he replied, then started to relay the order to the rest of the fleet.
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Location: Border Guard Flagship Athena, Mejalean Defense Line
“Hold the line!” Alaria Zuka almost yelled. “We can’t let them through, the citizens of Mejale are counting on us to protect them, and that is what we will do. Even if every last one of us dies.”
“Admiral!” the sensor operator replied, her voice full of shock. “The Tarak fleet is concentrating on our position! They’re redirecting several of their warships and Vanguards on our position!”
“Damn,” Alaria cursed. “Have the Starhawk and the Hera reinforce our position. If they’re focusing on this spot, have the-”
“Admiral!” the same operator called once again. “We have multiple contacts! Multiple contacts appearing at the edge of the system.” the operator’s face went pale after recognizing the identity codes of those contacts. “Admiral, those contacts belong to the Harvesters! Earth has returned!”
She could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Bring up a visual of those contacts.”
What she saw she didn’t want to believe. There were no less than five flagships, and they had already deployed the numerous drone craft that made up the fleet’s bulk. She knew they were in no position to stop this wall of death. They made no differentiation between Tarakian and Mejalean, as they attacked either side indiscriminately overwhelming the small number of units that stood in their way. It was only a matter of time before they reached the main fleets. Great, just when we’re at our weakest, they attack with overwhelming numbers. Damn the Tarakian Prime Minister for forcing us into this mess. “Comm officer, send this message to High Command, Harvester forces have appeared at the edge of our system. Counting at least five flagships, countless smaller craft, all of them heading for us.”
This is going to be our, no, humanity’s darkest day…
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They’re back! Did you really think Earth was going to let them off so easily after their humiliating defeat at the end of Second Stage? Nope. What’s going to happen next? You’ll have to wait to find out.