Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread.
Vandread: A Renewed War
Chapter Five: Unexpected Problems
Location: Main Hangar, S.D.S Deimos
As Aidan looked over the assembled pilots, he felt something he hadn’t in a long time, pride. All of these men and women, including all the surviving members of his former team, were under his command. These were some of the best, and he had no doubt that they would all perform above and beyond what they were expected to do. He just wished that he’d had more time for training and integration exercises, instead of being forced to perform them while the operation was underway. Due to the tight timetable he was running on, he wasn’t going to get that time he needed.
“I am Commander Aidan Mercer, and I’d like to be the first to welcome to the 13th Independent Operations Battalion,” he addressed them. “As you all know, you all were all personally selected for this assignment, and I have no doubt you will carry it out to the best of your ability.”
“Several days ago, a patrol unit encountered a rather large fleet on the far edge of our border. Upon closer inspection, the patrol managed to identify the fleet as belonging to the Harvesters from Earth.”
Upon his saying that, he could hear whispering among the assembled pilots. Clearly, several of them were surprised at the news. He waited for them to quiet down before continuing.
“The patrol determined that the fleet apparently is not taking interest in our system at this point in time. They are headed away from our system, more than likely to invade some other system. The task we have been given is to determine exactly what they are up to, and to determine if they are an immediate threat to us at this point in time. I will provide further explanation later, after we get underway. That is all, dismissed!”
They all saluted, and then filed out of the hangar. He knew that this was supposed to be a long-range recon mission, but he had a feeling that they would be undoubtedly facing the Harvesters in combat. He just hoped that all of them were up to it.
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Location: Pilot Briefing Room, Nirvana
The news that Captain had delivered not two hours ago surprised just about everyone. She had informed them about the Harvester fleet that was spotted at the edge of the Solaris Republic border and her decision to assist the Solaris unit that would be investigating the intention of the fleet. Most of the crew displayed surprise and shock, thinking that they had seen the last of them. Several others had expected that they would attempt something again. Meia was one of those people. She had called for all of the pilots to meet in the briefing room so she could go over the tactics and operational strategy for the mission they would be helping with.
The first in was Hibiki, as though he was expecting it, followed immediately after by Dita. Jura and Barnette were next, and then finally the rest of the pilots. As soon as the last pilot came in and sat down, she started the briefing.
“As you all know, we will be assisting a Solaris unit, the 13th Independent Operations Battalion, which is operating from a warship named Deimos, with their mission. This mission is to determine the size, as well as the intention, of the Harvester fleet that was located on the far edge of this system.”
“As such, we are going to work with, and integrate our forces with theirs, to provide a more effective way to fight the Earthlings. Right now, we will run simulations, but once we are underway, will start to perform combat exercises.”
She brought up a tactical map which contained the maneuvers they were going to be running in the simulations today. “Alright, we will be running this simulation today.” She went on to further explain it, marking the various details and actions that each pilot would perform. She knew she was going to have a lot of work to do if she were to get everyone ready to face this new threat.
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Location: Military Command Center, Mejale
Since the start of this ‘war’, the military HQ on Mejale had been a constant source of activity. Officers, soldiers, and technicians had constantly moving back and forth throughout the structure, due to the panic caused by the Kamikaze Dread, the declaration of war from Tarak, and the loss of one of their perimeter outposts.
This is one hell of a jam we’re in, thought Commander Elena Markova as she walked into the central room of the command center. She had been a soldier in the Border Guard for about seven years, yet she had never seen the military in this kind of state before. At least not to this degree. She accepted the report one of the techs handed her. As she glanced through it, she didn’t like what it said.
According to the report, they have yet to figure out who was the culprit behind the suicide Dread attack, but the report stated that a single Dread was missing from the roster of one of the border patrol unit a week before the incident occurred. Even though the Dread was missing, all of the pilots in that squadron were accounted for, ruling out the possibility that one of them had been behind it. Although the report had also indicated that the Dread came out of the asteroid field that was located between the two planets.
“What ship is nearest to the asteroid field?” she asked the technician next to her.
“The Starfall, ma’am,” the tech replied as she checked her terminal. “She’s running exercises in that area at this time.”
“As of now, the Starfall will cease all exercises and will actively search the field for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary,” she ordered. “If they find anything suspicious, I want them to immediately report back to me, is that understood?”
“Yes, ma’am!” the tech replied as she went to work.
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Location: Mejalean Cruiser Starfall, 500 kilometers outside Asteroid Field
“You are go for the mission, Lieutenant,” the CIC officer of the Starfall said to Emma Carren, leader of Dread Team Three.
“Acknowledged,” she replied, then relaying it to the pilots under her command. A chorus of ‘Rogers’ was her reply.
Their mission was a simple, yet difficult one. They were under orders to locate anything that had a link to what was labeled as the ‘Kamikaze Dread’, the lone pilot and their craft that had caused this whole damnable war. It was reported that the Dread had come out of the asteroid field that lies between the two planets.
The higher-ups wanted to know who was behind it. To Emma, there were only two possibilities: the first one, was that it was the band of pirates under the command of the famous, or infamous, depending on whom you talked to, Magno Vivan. As of late, though, that possibility seemed less and less likely to be the one. Due to the actions of the pirates in trying to unite the two governments.
The second, more likely possibility, was that it was someone from the Mejalean military that hadn’t let go of their hatred of men. As much as that were the possibility, she didn’t want to believe it. True, there were some on both sides that still felt that kind of blind animosity. But neither of those options could be backed up with any evidence, only speculation. That is what this mission is for, to find out exactly who the hell was responsible for this terrorist act.
By now, they had just reached the perimeter of the asteroid field. “Once we enter the field, I want all you to stay in formation, and be careful to avoid damaging your craft against the asteroids. Is that understood?”
“Yes, ma’am!” came the reply from her team. Their mission had begun…
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Location: Bridge, S.D.S Deimos
“Captain,” Aidan said, addressing Conrad Vincent by rank. “It’s time.”
“Understood,” he replied, immediately knowing what Aidan had meant. “Disengage docking clamps. Helmsman, activate engines, take us out slowly. Once we are clear of the shipyards, proceed to the designated rendezvous point with the Nirvana at normal cruising speed. Notify me when we arrive. Lieutenant Commander Foster, you have the conn. I’ll be in my office.”
“Aye sir,” Lt. Commander Foster acknowledged a few seconds after the helmsman‘s reply. He was the officer in command of the ship’s CIC.
“Commander,” Vincent said, addressing Aidan. “I’d like to discuss a few things with you, if you don’t mind?”
“Sure, Captain,” he replied, following him off the bridge and to his office. Once the door closed behind him, he spoke up. “So Captain, what is it you wanted to talk about?”
“I know you were placed in command,” Vincent said, taking a seat behind his desk. “But are you sure, about those pirates from Mejale?”
“What exactly do you mean?” he replied.
“They are pirates, after all,” Vincent said. “Are you sure we can trust them?”
Aidan understood all too well where the captain was coming from. When he’d first met them, he had little reason to trust them, but eventually learned that they were almost nothing like your typical ‘pirate’. He knew they could be trusted, especially where it concerned the dealing with Earth. He knew they could be trusted. “Yes, Captain, I believe they can be trusted. They have fought the Earthers on numerous occasions, and were successful in defeating them every time. Their knowledge and experience against Earth will be invaluable to our mission.”
“I just hope you’re right…” he heard Captain Vincent mutter under his breath.
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Location: Asteroid Field Between Tarak & Mejale
“I haven‘t found anything yet, Lieutenant,” the lead pilot in Emma’s team reported.
“Roger that,” Emma replied. She was on edge, she felt that there was something out there, she just didn’t know where, or what. “Keep up the search. And be cautious.”
“Roger,” the pilot responded.
In her five years as a combat pilot, she had developed a knack for sensing danger. On two separate occasions, she had saved her team from destruction by sensing an ambush. Because of this, they had promoted her to lieutenant and given her command of her own team.
There! What was that? She had noticed something unfamiliar about the asteroids that the lead pilot was passing by. Those rocks, they don’t look… real.
“Get out of there!” she yelled to the pilot, although she was a second too late.
The outer facing of the asteroids broke away to show metal panels underneath. In just a matter of seconds, those panels slid open to reveal several missile launch tubes. Before the pilot could react, no less than thirty missiles streaked out of their launchers engulfing the lead fighter in massive fireball that disintegrated the craft.
As she watched the death of one of her pilots, she heard the cry of another one of her pilots, the one on rear guard. “Lieutenant! We’re being attacked from the rear!”
“All pilots, scatter! Don’t get caught in the killzone!” she commanded, hoping that would throw off their attackers, at least for a few seconds. She brought her fighter around to meet the threat from behind. “Rear guard, who the hell is attacking us?”
“They’re Vanguards ma’am!” the fear-stricken pilot shouted. “The men are attacking us!”
“Damn it all to hell,” Emma muttered. I should’ve seen this coming!
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Location: Captain’s Meeting Room, Nirvana
“Captain,” Rebecca’s image said on the video recording. “I bring you grave news. As of this message, the government of Tarak has declared war on Mejale.”
The image of the lone Dread ramming into the Tarak flagship showed up onscreen, followed seconds later by the Tarak Prime Minister’s declaration of war against the women of Mejale. Rebecca’s voice still could be heard. “As it stands, Captain, this incident has sparked a war that is beginning to spiral out of control. We currently do not know who was behind this attack, but we are currently investigating the incident. I will report back if and when we find something. Rebecca out.”
As the image of Rebecca faded into black, Magno just stared at the blank screen, not wanting to believe what she had just seen and heard. This just raised a whole lot of questions. She had thought that the two nations were on the path to peaceful coexistence, in the wake of Earth’s failed invasion attempt.
“This isn’t good,” she said under her breath, which was clearly an understatement.
BC also stood quiet after seeing the message, not clearly knowing what to think about this recent turn of events. “What do suppose we do, Captain?”
“I’m not quite sure yet,” Magno replied. “But this turn of events has clearly changed things, that’s for sure.”
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Well, finally done with this chapter. Sorry about the wait on this one. With my new job, my time to work on this is cut somewhat. Oh, and I apologize for the lack of Dita and Hibiki in this one, but I’ll have more on them later.