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Vandread: A Renewed War
Chapter Eleven: Encroaching Darkness
Location: Outward Edge of Tarak/Mejale System
They have returned…
That was the primary thought among many of people from either Tarak or Mejale as they witnessed the massive fleet approach from the far edge of the system. The Harvesters were like a plague, unable to stop once they spread. Neither of the nations were in any shape to hope to defeat this daunting enemy alone. Last time, they had the Nirvana, a minefield, and both of their fleets, as well as assistance from at least two additional fleets.
Now, the enemy had almost twice their battle number, and both fleets were heavily worn down. They had no minefield or extra reinforcements. Many of them knew that unless they did something fast, they would all be wiped out. From the looks of it, the Earth fleet was here on a mission of retribution, not of harvest. There was only a few options left to them, but which would they choose to carry out?
--
Location: Tarak Imperial Warship O-Bakemono
Aidan wasn’t all that sure about this idea, but it was probably their best way to get off this cursed ship. He currently was dressed in the attire taken from one of the two brig guards, the spy named Akira was currently wearing the other guard’s, and was acting as point. Currently walking in-between them was Meia, her hands restrained once more.
The plan Akira proposed was that both he and Aidan dressed and acted like guards, who were escorting the prisoner, Meia, to the cargo bay, where she would be executed. Of course, neither of them planned on doing that, as this was only a ruse to escape the ship. Aidan was currently gripping a Tarak-manufactured rifle. He kept the gun level, pointed in Meia’s direction. Either one of them could release Meia’s restraints by tapping the control on their belts. He just hoped they could fool the personnel onboard this ship long enough to get out. That also depended on if they found the two unconscious guards and their dead captain.
“Hey, you!” he heard someone from behind call out. His grip tightened on the rifle, and he slowly turned to face the person. “Where are you taking the prisoner?”
Akira spoke up. “We are taking the prisoner to the cargo bay to be executed. Captain’s orders.”
It seemed the crewman was satisfied with the answer, until someone came running up. The newcomer shouted out to them. “The Captain’s dead! Both of the prisoners have escaped!”
Shit, he cursed. Time for Plan B. Gripping his rifle, he slammed the stock into the crewman’s abdomen, then brought it up and slammed it into the underside of his chin. The blow shattered a few of the man’s teeth, and knocked him to the deck. He instinctively leveled his rifle at the one that shouted the alert and fired. The burst of gunfire caught the man high in the chest, stopping him in his tracks. He reached down to his belt and tapped the device attached to it. Meia’s restraints released with a click.
“So much for that plan,” Akira said flatly.
“No time to complain,” Aidan replied. “Now, what’s the quickest way to the hangar?”
Without prior warning, Meia collapsed to her knees, appearing panic-stricken.
.Lousy time to lose your nerve, he thought, but when he thought about it for a second, he knew it had to be something else. In the whole time he had known her, she had never exhibited signs of this nature. That’s when it hit him, it had to be something else…
--
Location: Bridge, Tarak Imperial Flagship Ikazuchi II
“Sir!” the sensor operator shouted. “A very large Harvester fleet has appeared on the outward edge of the system! Counting at least five flagships. They will be in range of the fleet in less than an hour!”
The Prime Minister acknowledged the report with a nod, then went back to giving orders. He was not at all happy with the current situation they were in. Fierce resistance by the women, Becker turning traitor, then the appearance of a Harvester fleet on the edge of the system. He was going to have to do something before the situation got worse.
“Sir,” the comm officer said, gaining his attention. “Incoming transmission from the Mejalean flagship.”
“Patch them through,” he ordered. He let his face show contempt, as he had no intention of allowing them any less. The woman’s face appeared on-screen. “Finally ready to surrender?”
“Hardly,” the woman replied. “I am Admiral Alaria Zuka, commander of the Mejalean Border Guard.”
“Well, Admiral,” he said disrespectfully. “What do you want?”
He could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t like him either. “I propose a temporary ceasefire, so we can meet the new threat encroaching on our borders.”
“I am afraid I can’t accept such a proposal,” he replied arrogantly. “Our conversation is over.”
The female commander was cut off before she could reply. “How could that woman even propose such a thing?”
“But sir,” his second in command replied. “We’ll need every last ship to fend off the Harvesters. Why’d you-”
“Don’t you see!” the Minister yelled in reply. “The second we drop our guard, we’ll be attacked by both the women and those Earthlings!”
“But, sir-”
“I will have no further insubordination on your part,” he snarled. “Or I will have you shot!”
--
Location: Bridge, Border Guard Flagship Athena
“What in the HELL is wrong with that man?!” Alaria Zuka barked. “Doesn’t that bastard see that we’re not the real enemy here?”
“It seems that he’s too far gone in his hatred of us,” Commander Sophiana Victoria, her second in command, replied. “In his eyes, we are nothing more than a blight that needs to be erased from existence.”
“Well, there goes the only reasonable plan to fend the Harvesters off,” Alaria muttered. “Because if we disengage the Tarak units to fight the Harvesters, he’ll just have them tear into our backside.”
“Perhaps we could get assistance from the pirates?” Sophiana proposed. “They would certainly help, due to their combat record against the Earthlings.”
“We are going to have to,” she replied. Even though the pirates’ flagship, the Nirvana, is not present in the system, they are probably our last hope. “Commander Victoria, take command of the ship, I have a message to send.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sophiana replied with curt professionalism.
--
Location: Tarak Imperial Warship O-Bakemono
What is this… pain? Meia wondered as she collapsed to her knees. It was an intense pain, something that had just struck her out of nowhere. She knew it wasn’t any specific physical pain, like an injury. The second she saw red in her vision did she know what was happening.
It was the Harvesters, they were close, closer to the Nirvana than her, but she had a feeling that it wasn’t the Nirvana that was in trouble, but far more people. It was her home system, it was in grave trouble. She knew that Hibiki, Jura and Dita were all feeling the same thing as her at this very moment, due to their connection to the Paksis Pragma. She felt someone lay a hand on her shoulder.
“You okay?” she heard Aidan ask over the periodic sound of gunfire.
“We…” she sputtered, still not fully recovered from the pain. “We need to get back… to the Nirvana…”
“I know,” he replied quietly, helping her to her feet. “Can you move?”
“Yeah,” she replied weakly, before almost collapsing due to her sapped strength. She felt Aidan put her arm over his shoulder, helping keep her balance and allowing her to move. He used his free hand to fire the rifle, keeping the Tarak soldiers pinned down while they followed Akira to the hangar. A couple of minutes later, they had arrived at the hangar. Aidan had long since ditched the rifle, as it was out of ammo. He was now using his handgun to take shots at anyone who dare try to come after them.
“Your shuttle’s over here,” she heard Akira call. Aidan helped her board the shuttle.
“I think I can move now,” she said to Aidan.
“You sure?” he asked, concerned that she wouldn’t just drop once he let go of her. With a nod from her, he released her arm, and she moved over to the pilot seat. “You think you can pilot this out of here?’
“Yeah,” she replied, feeling strong enough for that at least, then noticed him head for the shuttle’s door. “Where’re you going?”
“I’m going to make sure they can’t pursue us,” he replied as he exited the craft.
--
Location: Primary Engine Room, Nirvana
“What just happened?!” Parfet shouted, surprised to see that the Paksis Pragma had just almost shut down, and was now behaving erratically.
“I’m not sure,” her assistant replied, her tone equally worried. “It was acting just fine a few minutes ago.”
“What’s going on down there!?” Magno came in on the comm panel. “The ship just stopped moving, and we can’t get back underway.”
“I’m not completely sure, Captain,” she replied. “But from the Paksis’ reaction, it appears afraid.”
“Afraid…“ Magno said ominously. “That could only mean…”
Neither of them needed to finish that comment, as both her and the Captain obviously knew that meant that the Harvesters were close…
--
Location: Bridge, S.D.S Deimos
“Captain,” Ensign Sylvia Ross, the sensor operator on the bridge announced. “The Nirvana has stopped moving.”
“Why?” Captain Vincent responded. “Is anything wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” Sylvia said. “But from our scans, the ship just stopped dead in its tracks. It also appears that several systems on board the ship also shut down, though life support and communications still seem to be active.”
“Helmsman Nakama, bring us alongside the Nirvana,” Vincent ordered. “Petty Officer Wesley, open a line to them, let’s see what’s going on.”
“Aye sir,” both of them replied almost simultaneously. In a less than a minute, the ship was alongside the Nirvana and a commline was opened.
“Captain Vivan,” he said, recognizing her from her appearance. “Why has your ship just stopped? Our scans also reveal that half of your primary systems are offline.”
“Well,” Magno Vivan replied. “This ship is powered by the Paksis Pragma, and it’s reacting this way because the Harvesters are close by, but not in the immediate area.”
Paksis Pragma? Their ship is powered by that? He had an idea of what the Paksis Pragma was, as it is what powered the Earth fleets. He hadn’t been informed that their ship was powered by the same thing. But then again, that’s probably why they were so effective in their battles with the Earthers. That, and the creativity of their tactics. “How close?”
“We’re not sure,” Magno replied. “And I’m not sure when we’ll get the ship back underway, my chief engineer is currently working on it.”
“Understood,” he said. “The Deimos will take up a defensive position and enact long-range scans, we’ll cover you until you are able to get back underway.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Magno replied, then cut the connection.
“Condition Yellow,” he announced. Seconds later it was announced throughout the entire ship. “Helmsman, take up defensive position near the Nirvana. Ensign Ross, I want a series of active scans of this system, if it isn’t natural, I want to know about it. Foster, send out a couple of our Strikers on perimeter defense and reconnaissance.” This is going to be a long day…
--
Location: Gym, Men’s Section of the Nirvana
His breathing ragged, Hibiki forced himself up despite his depleted strength. He struggled, but he managed to get himself over to a bench and dropped heavily onto it. During his workout, a strong, almost overwhelming pain brought him to his knees. He’d felt pain like this before, but this was stronger than anything he’d felt before. He knew exactly where this pain was coming from. Due to his direct connection to the Paksis, he could feel when the Harvesters were nearby. And from the pain he’d felt, they had to be in far greater numbers than the last time he’d fought them. Numbers like the recon footage Aidan had shown them.
The lights flickered and died a few minutes ago, and he hadn’t noticed due to the pain. Now the room was backlit in the emergency lighting. The power must’ve went off the same time I’d felt that pain… that means that the Harvesters are a lot closer than we believed them to be. That could only mean they’re heading to the same place we are. Shit! His thoughts continued along that line, until he remembered he wasn’t the only one who had a connection to Paksis. Dita!
Mustering his remaining strength, he got up and ran as fast as he could out of the gym. He’d made it as far as to the corridor outside his quarters when he saw her. She was breathing quite heavily, and the only seeming to keep her up was the corridor wall. She looked up, and he saw that she was also sweating. He knew that Meia and himself were probably the most likely to get up after experiencing such pain, as they were the strongest out of the four of them. Jura he wasn’t sure about, and he’d noticed that Dita’d been pushing herself to get here.
“Hibiki…” she said, her voice weak. “I’m… glad… you’re alright…”
As soon as she said that, she fainted and started to fall. Reacting purely on instinct, and bolted towards her and caught her before she hit the floor. “You… little fool…” he said. “Why’d you hafta push yourself like that?”
Using his slowly recovering strength, he picked her up, and started for the infirmary…
--
Location: Primary Hangar, Tarak Imperial Warship O-Bakemono
“What are you doing?” Aidan heard Akira yell as he made his way towards the closest Vanguard. The gravity had already been released, allowing him to make it to the machine’s cockpit with little difficulty. Once in the machine, he closed the cockpit hatch and brought the machine online. He was able to do that only because of the fact that he’d tried his hand in the simulator during his stay on the Nirvana. He was nowhere near an ace at it, but Sakura had said he was a quick learner.
With a jolt, he felt the machine break free of its restraints. He noticed Akira board another of the machines. Seconds later, he came over the commline. “What are you doing?” he repeated.
“I’m making sure they can’t follow us,” Aidan replied flatly. He raised the machine’s left arm and fired the spiked shield launcher into the Vanguard opposite him. The weapon tore through the unmanned machine before returning to his machine’s arm. He then turned that same weapon onto the hangar door and fired once again. The weapon tore a large hole in the hangar door, at the expense of itself, but that allowed enough for the shuttle to leave.
“Meia, go ahead and take off,” he said after retuning the frequency.
“Okay,” she replied. The shuttle activated its engines and managed to fly through the narrow exit.
“Now that she’s out of the way…” he muttered to himself. He grabbed the machine’s sword and proceeded to permanently disable the Vanguards within the hangar, with all of the debris being sucked out via the hole he’d created. He used the machine’s thrusters to counter the pull of the vacuum. After he stabbed the last machine through it’s empty cockpit, he took hold of what appeared to be a spear. On his heads-up display, it identified it as a rocket-propelled anti-armor penetrator. Perfect, just what I need.
He cut the machine’s thrusters, allowing himself to be sucked out into the vacuum of space. Once he regained control of his machine, he flew directly under the O-Bakemono’s engines and fired the penetrator. The head of it shot forward on a pair of rockets, where it latched onto the area between the engines still connected to the pole arm via a wire cable. Seconds after, he cut the wire from its source, and bolted out of the way. The warhead exploded, damaging the engines and stopping the ship dead.
“Are you finished?” he heard Akira say through the comm.
“Yeah,” he replied, confident that the ship would be unable to follow. “Let’s get out of here.”
--
Location: Bridge, Tarak Imperial Flagship Ikazuchi II
The loud crack of a gunshot echoed on the bridge of the Ikazuchi II, followed by a tense silence, until it was broken by the sound of an audible thud. A few knew something like this was coming, but not from the person that obviously did it. There the Prime Minister of Tarak lay, face down on the bridge with a smoking hole in his back. His second-in-command, Takashi Ryohou, stood over him, gun in hand. A few seconds later he lowered and holstered the weapon.
Several long seconds went by before Takashi spoke. “I am taking command of the fleet, inform all commands. Comm officer, open a line to the Mejalean commander, I want to speak with her. Then order all of our forces to disengage from the Mejaleans and re-organize to face the incoming Earth fleet.”
The authority in his voice snapped the bridge crew back into focus and the communications officer did as he was ordered.
Admiral Alaria Zuka’s face appeared on-screen, and she clearly wasn’t expecting to see him. Seconds went by before she spoke. “Where is the Prime Minister?” she asked, more out of curiosity then any concern for the man.
“He has been ‘relieved’ of his command for his failure to see the bigger picture. I have called off my forces from their assault on you, and I am redirecting them to face the incoming fleet. I hereby accept your proposal for a ceasefire, and request that we join forces to defend against the invaders.”
“Very well,” Admiral Zuka agreed, then cut the connection.
“Alright, comm officer, I want to address the entire fleet, open a channel,” he ordered, then gestured towards the Minister’s corpse. “And somebody get this garbage off the bridge.”
Forgive me, Lord Grand Pa, for not realizing things sooner…
--
Things are coming to a head, and where are Hibiki and crew when you need them? One hell of a battle will be fought which will decide the fate of their homeworlds, and will they get there in time to help? You’ll just have to wait to find out