I would like, uh, if I may, to take you on a strange journey that may be bizarre than all the animes of Gonzo, Bandai, Sunset, Genon, Gainax, and so forth, all put together. When Hibiki and co. took on The PSE and won, they had no idea what fates awaited them, especially since there's a lot to put together, storyline wise, in the multipart anime tradition. As time consuming as it is to write an anime script, even an anime fanfic, the rewards can be worth it. So in spite of all the dangers and such that await the Vandread crew, let's hope there's also some rewards awaiting them as well, on such a night.
On a night out...it's a night out that Hibiki's bunch is going to remember...for a long time...
CHAPTER 8: CITY TO CITY
The Mejere ship was in the Nirvana hangar when Magno and B.C. arrived, along with a handful of pirate crew members. Near the main hatchway, Parfet was using a key system to open the said hatch.
"Ready," said the engineer.
"Proceed," said the boss.
Touching a series of stud like buttons on a small box, Parfet opened the hatch--
--and that was when Rebecca, Ezra's "Ohma", staggered out from the ship, a roll of parchment paper in one hand, and said, "I made it...," before she fell to the floor, tired out, but still living.
"Let's get her to Duero, stat!!" said B. C.
Weakened from the trauma of having been shaken up when her ship had been hit countless times from enemy weaponry, and the lack of food for such a long trip from Mejere to the Nirvana, Rebecca, to Ezra's good fortune (and good food), was recovering well in the sickbay section of the pirate ship.
"You can count your blessings that we found you in time," Duero was saying. "You would've starved from malnutrition for such a long voyage. Now who was it that blasted at your ship?"
"Some huge capital starship," said Rebecca, "with a step pyramid shaped bridge tower, with a glossy green color, and twelve engines in the back."
"Like an aircraft carrier, right?" said Ezra.
"Yup," said the ohma. "I had just gotten back to Mejere after the reunion to get all our stuff so I could rejoin up with you and the crew, and I had finished loading up the ship, when some woman came up to me and handed me a sheet of parchment, a map of some place called The Pyramid Of Titan, an' told me to take it someplace safe before she ran off. I thought, 'Must be something important,' so I took it with me. But long after I jetted from Merjere orbit, That huge ship took potshots at me, till much of the ship's circuits were blasted to the point of only the life support systems functioning. But the hits shook me up a lot, that I felt I was dying, that I would be marooned--and it felt that way when my food rations ran out. I was almost on the brink of dying of hunger till you saved me in time."
"So they," said Magno, "took potshots at you just for that map?"
"I don't see why whoever it was that hit me," said Rebecca, would want a dusty treasure map. It's yours now, captain. Here."
So while Ezra's friend handed the boss the map, the said captain, the medic and the fahma known as Ezra digested the latest piece of info.
Inside the council chamber, Magno unrolled the map before the sights of B.C., Gascogne, Misty, Meia and Hibiki; the map was a two sided sheet, with a desert terrain and the location of "The Pyramid Of Titan", while the other side had a complicated maze interior of the said pyramid, where in the center was the treasure itself, "The Key Gem." For a moment, the six examined the map with fascination and interest before the boss said, "It seems The Empire's been a busy bee--first they rub out Pyaro just for a computer file he no longer had, and now they nearly dispatch poor Rebecca for a treasure map."
"Those &# Pereira Star Empire DEVILS!!" snarled Hibiki. "The 'mo I hear of them, the 'mo I HATE them!! I wanna keelhaul their stinkin' hides at 40 paces!! No, better still, I oughta drench them in ion plasma fuel, light a match to them, an' play Light My Fire with my Hammond organ!!"
"You got a Hammond organ?" said Gascogne. "You should see my Fender Rhodes electric piano, it's killer."
"No kiddin'?" said the hothead. "When we get a chance, we'll compare our instruments."
OK, then, it's a date," said the supply officer before adding, "It seems we got got more than we bargined for when we came across that map. It must be something of crucial value otherwise the Empress and her fellow retards wouldn't be after it, much less fill Rebecca's ship full of holes like a Swiss cheese."
"Seems that way," said Meia. "Only what kind of value would there be behind that gem? If it's a real key, what could it unlock?"
"Something even valuable as that program Hibiki downloaded onto a disc," said B.C., "and the time's come to see just what's in that said program. You got the disc, Hibiki?"
"Yup," said the hothead.
"Then let's see just what the fuss there is in that program," said Magno.
Placing the disc in the drive, B. C. turned to the computer keyboard and entered a few sequences before saying, "Ready."
"Onscreen," said the boss.
The results came on a 36 inch telescreen: the words, PROPERTY OF THE PEREIRA STAR
EMPIRE, TOP SECRET, along with:
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY Unjurisdicted seeing of classified Imperial contents is
punishable by imprisonment and/or death.
--Brittany Pereira,
Founder & Empress.
That was followed by a screen that showed several green colored outlined computer generated sketches of a 12,000 foot square pyramid, with the most intricate state of the art weaponry based technology, with digital control and targeting computers, plasma matter/antimatter generators, impellers, projectors and cannons, the last located at the top peak of the pyramid. Below all that, was a long list of specifications, descriptions and the name of such a monstrosity: THE APOCALYPSE ENGINE.
"Staggering...," said Meia. "Plasma energy in matter/antimatter form. projectors, impellers, cannons and targeting computers...those look like the blueprints for a doomsday weapon!!"
"Yup," said Gascogne. "and a HUGE one at that. Compared to that weapon, even the huge cannons on The Harvest flagships were considered pop guns. According to its stats, it generates guided plasma bursts, like guided missiles before it envelops and disintergrates its target with a force of 1200 megatons and a tempature of 40,000 degrees Fahrenheit--the kind that can turn anything into ashes in seconds."
Misty whistled before saying, "It could wipe out Taarak and Mejere in two pulses...!! Maybe with just a single pulse...Apocalypse...the last book in The Bible's New Testament, in which the end of the world, God's last judgement where his only son, judges on the sheep and the goats."
"A fitting name for a weapon, indeed," agreed Magno. "A weapon like that would require the largest power source to supply weapons power and electric power at the same time to such a thing. It would take 12 cities to power that."
"Then they've got a long wait," said the supply officer. "That one section within the central core, according to the specs here is a specially designed recepticle for a green Pyxis, which is the crucial power source for such a weapon."
"You mean there's yet another Pyxis?" said B.C. "Then so far, we've got the blue one, the red one which we wiped out in the Harvest war, and now a green one? That means there were three of those said Pyxises."
"So it's hard to say if The Empire's already got the green Pyxis or if they're searching for it, that it may had been hidden some place," said the boss. "At that stage of the game, all we can do is wait till they make their next move and see if it leads to any clues connected to such a thing, if not to the weapon itself. At least, we may be able to locate some kind of weakpoint in that weapon's system."
"But just as equally as possible," said the first mate, "is the fact they may have already built the weapon itself, yet we must be sure...while we're on the subject of clues, what of that pyramid and of Titan? Is it a place, or a planet?"
"I can answer that," said Misty. "It's one of the moons of Saturn, which in turn is located in the solar system, which also includes the planet Earth."
"Saturn, eh?" said a surprised Magno. "Well, ain't it a coincidence we're heading out that way en route to Earth? In that case, if we reach Saturn and its moon Titan, we'll send a detachment there to use that map to seek out that pyramid and locate that key gem so we can claim it before The Empire gets a head start."
"What if they've already got the key as well?" said the Van pilot. "An' 'sides, if it's so valuable, it must be dangerous, so why bother with it?"
"You got any idea," said B.C., "just how many people gave their lives to steal, then give out that file as well as that map? We can't allow their efforts be in vain. If Gascogne is right, and we know she is, The Empress and her Imperial Emerald Guard flunkies may be on the trail of that pyramid and its key, the same way they were with the file and the map. Put simply, it's a chance we've got to take."
"Then it's official," said the boss. "Soon as we come across Saturn and its moons along the way to Earth, we'll make a side trip there. For now, Miss Gasco, how much do you know of Brittany Pereira? As the old wag once said, 'know your enemy', right?"
"Right," said the supply officer. "Anyhow, what I do know is that, so the story goes, is that Ms. Pereira was a native of Earth, decades ago. They say that she was a scientist that somehow came across a way to render herself ageless, which is why she never died, nor aged from her 28 year old age, long after the Earth became what it is now. They say she was a terror at elementry school, when it came to tossing the blackboard out the window, cutting classes, goin' AWOL, belchin' an' all sorts of other pranks. Even so, that didn't stop her from moving to the head of class. But one week after she graduated--and it was long after the war twixt Mejere and Taarak started--she then joined up with the YWCA."
"You mean she was a christian?" asked Meia.
"Not THAT YWCA," said Gascogne, "the other one--as in The Young Women's Criminal Association. Anyhoo, she did well in the ranks till she started her rise to the head of the group, which is a potpourri of some of the most beautiful but crime ridden divas that would collectively rival all the syndicates of the universe. OK--fast foward to the time when I lost my sister to that terrorist bombing long ago--that terrorist group turned out to be Ms. Pereira and her rollicking merry women. It wasn't till a month later that I confronted her at a abandoned factory where she had been building spacecraft and bio mech creations. After a long knock down drag down fight, I wore her out, then I dragged her sorry hide to jail where she got 12 years in the clink. But long after those years had passed, I was running a roadhouse when she found me there in a confrontation that turned into one heck of a brawl. We fought like cat and dog, till she took me by surprise with some kind of sorceress power which flattened me in the worst way. I took a lot of potshots at her, but she had some knid of magic energy sheild deflecting my weapons. In the end, she took me out and left me for dead; while I thankfully recovered, she an' her bunch soon were reborn as The Pereira Star Empire. It's said Brittany never forgave me for sendin' her to the calaboose--could be I never forgave myself, but to cut a long story short, after I recovered from my wounds, it was when I met out illustrious capitane Magno here--and that, the rest is history."
"A story like that deserves to be made into a film someday," said B.C.
"You think so?" said the supply officer. "That would be a heck of a way to make some samoleons on the side."
"Not a bad enterprise," agreed Magno. "Right now, we got a lot of tasks to cover over the following days so let's settle down and cover it--starting with rennovation a new private suite for Hibiki and co."
"Now we're talkin'," said Hibiki, who lit a new cigarette.
In a distant orbit with the huge desert and ocean planet of Balderon (which was the size of the star Betelgeuse, and located in The Crab Nebula) and its three huge suns and five moons, the twelve Imperial carriers of The PSE were in a fixed spot, hidden within their digital stealth fold generator, which folded the ships in a refractive field, blending them with the black starry world of space, ensuring invisibility, along with their radar jamming system, which prevented the capital ships from making an impression on any tracking systems--especially when it came to Balderon's Cornerstone Empire, ruled by the Empress Vanna Traedi, and their long range radar and thermal trackers on the planet, in their cities and bases, onboard their ships, fighter craft and especially their Death Staresque War Machines, each the size of Jupiter and, (in the case of their War Machine flagship, the Synthesis, which was in Balderon's orbit) hidden in a gas generated cloud cover and its own stealth fold. Right now, within the vast green neon lit halls (with walls lined with illuminated green horizontal rectangles in the walls) of the carrier Hohenzolleren, The Empress Brittany Pereira and the Admiral Xaltocan Chimali were on their way to the council chamber.
"Those #& Nirvana dissidents," the Admiral was saying, "They've should've been dealt with months ago. How could you allow them to just...I just can't think of the word."
"Exist?" said The Empress. "Stand idle? Run careless? Not until we can be sure if they 've truly got the map. As the saying goes, 'Know your enemy.' As such, we wait until we get to know Hibiki and his lot. Inasmuch as we were possibly convinced that the map we seek was lost, a part of me believes that it may STILL exist, that those Mejere pirates may have lucked out in meeting the spy that stole the map, and in turn, entrusted it to one of the Mejere women. Happenstance--and logic-- does occur in the strangest ways."
"So am I to understand," said Chimali, "that there's reason to believe that the one that stole our map may have met one of the Nirvana crew on Mejere and entrusted her with the said map before vanishing without a trace?"
"Yup," said Brittany. "These days, it takes logic to guess what went on. That, and the reports we got from our spy we planted among those pirates. And if I know them, they may head to Titan in the hopes of trying to claim The Key Gem before we do. So we wait till the time is right...and then figure out what to do, so that we reclaim the gem for ourselves so that we can head for The Pyramid Of Europa and unlock The Green Pyxis, to power our Apocalypse Engine..."
They had just reached the vertical sliding door that opened; beyond that, was the council chamber where Rear Admiral Ilyo Eos, General Tsitra Steg and Major Gie Bele Taltli, who had been chewing the rag, as it were, were at the triangle council table; as soon as the PSE ruler and the Admiral entered (and the door started closing behind them), they stood up to attention.
"At ease," said The Empress before she and Chimali took their seats at the table; from there, everyone else settled while their ruler outlined the upcoming plan in mind.
"Right. As you may or may not know," said Brittany, "I believe those pirates from the Nirvana may have gotten the map for The Pyramid Of Titan, with the same luck when they claimed the file for The Apocalypse Engine, according to the reports we got from our spy living among the Nirvana crew. If I am right, it's only a matter of time before they figure out the file plans and the map before heading to Titan. For now, we'll follow them and wait. If they get the key, we'll reclaim it from them and seek out The Green Pyxis."
"Supposing they do make head or tail of that map," said the General, "and perish in that Pyramid Of Titan? Intelligence reports state it's, along with The Pyramid Of Europa, full of traps built by the original builders to stave off treasure hunters."
"Given their talent to overcome any problem," replied the PSE ruler, "the same way they wiped out my Harvest creations, they might be able succeed in doing so. And if they get past those traps--and no one ever did, to my knowledge--there's the matter of them solving the puzzles to open the right doors to make it through and escape. But if worse comes to worst, we may take over from there..."
"So we play the waiting game," said the Rear Admiral, "and if the Nirvana crew claim the Key Gem and bring it from the pyramid, then they'd do The Empire a favor, in effect."
"Well said," stated The Empress. "Like a sacrificial food taster checking a celebrity's food for poison. Like sheep for the slaughter, for once they've got what they came for, we'll step in, and finish the job. Not what I'd call a stand alone complex."
"With all due respect, Empress," said the Major, "I was taught to believe in an old saying that a serpent cannot eat a dragon."
"Not unless the dragon itself," said Brittany, "is a Komodo dragon, especially when it comes to three things, (a), the dragon's appetite to eat a serpent the right size, (b), the deadly bacterial secretions in the Komodo's fangs, spit and mouth, in which there is no cure at all for such a hyper lethal secretion and (c), its sharp deadly razor keen claws and fangs."
"Proof that even a minor sized creature," the Admiral stated ironiclly, "can do big things--big destructive things."
Just then, the projected telescreen came into view with the face of Ensign Zyanya Idomor, the blonde bridge officer, who said, "Empress, do you copy?"
With everyone turning to the screen, the PSE ruler said, "I read you, Ensign Idomor. What's on your mind?"
"We got a belated communique from our spy onboard the Nirvana," said Idomor, and it turns out they picked up a ship and its survivor who in turn gave them the map for the Pyramid Of Titan, and that they got around to checking out the contents of the file for The Apocalypse Engine blueprints, and that they've arranged for a journey to the Earth--with a side trip to Titan in the hopes of seeking out The Key Gem. My best guess is that the ship they saved matches that of the ship that took off from Mejere and was shot full of holes from the Cygnus' weaponry."
"I thought so," said The Empress. Turning to the rest of the other women, she said, "You see? It's just as I had imagined!! It's just as I had hoped for!! When the time is right, we'll make our move."
"You mean depend on those pirates to seek out the gem?" said Tsitra. "Why bother when we can do something like that ourselves?"
"Simple--because it's dangerous," said Brittany. "You want me to risk the lives of our own staff?"
"Well, no...," said Gie Bele, hesitantly. "That would be stupid."
"Pardon me, Empress," said the ensign. "but the Cygnus just came out from lightspeed and rendezvoused with the fleet."
Getting up in a livid mood, the PSE ruler muttered, "They were supposed to stay at Taarak and Mejere. Why would they desert their post all of a sudden?!"
"Maybe their admiral can explain that to you," said Idomor, selecting her words with some trepidation. "Her broadcast is standing by."
"Channel it to our council chamber and onscreen," said The Empress.
"Stand by," said the ensign.
For a moment there was a one second pause before a second telescreen came out from nowhere, depicting Admiral Voce, General Judas and Major Godwin.
"Empress," said the Cygnus admiral, "do you copy?"
"I read you," said Brittany, her face red as a stop sign before she
bellowed:
"RIGHT!! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY AT YOUR POST NEAR TAARAK AND MEJERE!! WHAT'S
THE IDEA DESERTING YOUR BLOODY POST?! FESS UP BEFORE I SORT YOU OUT!!"
Shaken up by the vehemence, the tweeked out Voce said, "It was the Nirvana. We saw some dogfight activites between the pirate ship and what looked like a yellow colored version of one of your Harvest flagship creations."
"What...?!" hissed the Empress. "One of my creations is active?! How can that be?! I deactivated them all a year ago!! You saying those pirates stole one of my Harvest ships? How? What else did you see?"
"The fact," said the Cygnus general, "that we also saw, in addition to the Nirvana's Dread fightercraft fleet, the only Taarak Vanguard in existence--an' boy, did it kick butt!! It could merge with a handful of those Dreads, and form into one hell of a hybrid mecha like none other!! An' everyone knows Vans were outdated."
"That fact I know," said the PSE ruler. "So?"
"We figured the time was right," said the Cygnus major, "to, in effect, get to know the newcomers, so we engaged them in a friendly kind of fight, to let them know we're the boss."
"WHAT?!" shrilled Brittany. "You engaged them without my jurisdiction? We wanted them alive, to help unknowingly with our claiming The Key Gem!! Besisdes, didn't you know our spy was onboard the Nirvana?!"
"How were we to know?" said Voce glumly. "Sometimes we tend to forget. 'Sides, why didn't you tell me to begin with?"
"You didn't ask me," said the Empress dryily. "You &# can be so careless! 'Sides, I wanted to see if the lot of you were on your toes!! At least you didn't rub out our only spy...!!"
That was when the Cygnus helmswoman, Ensign Dartmouth stuck her face between Judas and Godwin and said, "Here's somethin' else you may get a kick out of--everyone, the Dreads, that Vanguard, the Vandreads, that Nirvana, even the Harvest flagship an' its drones--they all kicked our butts, but good, usin' fantastic weaponry, which shook up our ship, then torpedoed our weapons an' knocked them out, along with our radar dishes, an' nearly trashed our Diamantes--at least there were no casualties."
Pointing to the ensign, Judas said, "You listen to her, Empress, she's talkin' sense!! And in the end, we came across two big discoveries, which is why we came here."
"Discoveries?" echoed the PSE ruler. "Of what kind?"
"We took full mag digital stills of two of the Dread pilots, said Voce, "an' you ain't goin' to believe what we saw. We're standin' by ready to broadcast them to you."
"Do so," said Brittany.
Two more telescreens appeared, the first showing Misty, the other of Jura; upon seeing those, the Empress' red color faded from her face, while her senior officers followed suit.
"I can see why you called for a retreat...," muttered the PSE ruler, her bluster gone. Then with her sights on Jura's image, she entered some sequences on a keyboard to record the images into the carrier's computers before printing out a hard copy image onto paper, the image of Jura, before saying, "That blonde...she DOES remind me of someone we once knew so long ago..." Turning to her officers, she asked, "You with me so far?"
"Absolutely," said Chimali. "But the thing is...who IS she...?"
"You askin' me that?" said Eos.
After some time, Brittany turned to Voce and said somberly, "Right. The only reason I ain't sortin' you out, is on account of the latest circumstances at hand. Make the repairs on your carrier, tonto, then head back to Taarak and Mejere and await further instructions. Just don't fail me again, if you can help it. Pereira, out"
Understood," said Voce. "Voce, out." From there, the telescreens vanished. after that, the Empress turned to her officers and said, "I equipped my Harvest creations with state of the art digital computers and anti hacking counter software; only a qualified technician of such experienced prowess like me can understand and master the technology I used for my work. Yet, one of my Harvesters was hacked into and reprogrammed with no trouble at all. Only one person I know could do such a thing--Gascogne Rheingou."
"That sucks," said Taltli. "Somethin' tells me we may be seeing more of those Nirvana pirates."
"If not sooner," said Steg.
Placing the print of Jura on the council table, the PSE ruler pondered before saying, "And now...we wait..."
Aftter a long week, the secret alcove that Hibiki found when he slammed his fist against a wall was completed in matters of rennovation; the hothead and the Dread crew were standing by while near the newly installed sliding doors, which had a red ribbon draped across it, while Magno Vivian and B.C. presided over a cermony for the occasion.
"On behalf of the Nirvana crew," the boss was saying, "a new era begins in the history of our ship and its crew, with a major first in ship's long history--"
"Y-yo, wait up!! Don't start the party without me!!"
Those words, spoken with a Brooklyn accent, belonged to a 18 year lively redhead, wearing a red and white satin tank top, with the name Cara on the front in Fun Stuff font, which showed her midriff just like Dita's attire, and with a white with red trim satin pleated skirt, came doing bounds, leg splits and cartwheels before coming to a stop before the surprised captain saying, "New Dread pilot and graduate from Mejere High cheerleader captain Cara Staam reportin' for duty."
"I remember," said B.C. "You were one of the new recruits we put out a call for a week ago. Of all the few chosen, you flew one mean Dread. Welcome on board and congrats on your success. We're almost done building your Dread from the last of the scraps, so when the time is right, you can make yourself at home."
"Thanks," said the new girl, who turned to Captain Vivian and added, "Yo, permission to come on board, captain. Sorry for the ruckus I nearly caused in the middle of your ceremony."
"Permisson granted, all is forgiven," said Magno. "Welcome to the ranks of the Dread crew, and we hope you do just as good as you say." Then, to the rest: "Now that we've got that out of the way, as I was saying, a new era begins in the history of our ship and its crew, with a major first in ship's long history, for after a long period of rennovation, we've turned what was once a secret hideaway for the Ikazutchi's high echelon, into a real set of living suites for Van pilot Hibiki Tokai, helmsman Bartholomew Garsus and Duero and Parfet Mc File!! The scissors, B. C."
The first mate handed the captain the scissors; from there, the boss proclaimed, "I, Captain Magno Vivian, state that the new suite is OPEN!!" before cutting the ribbon and opened the doors, while the crowd clapped and cheered. Needless to say, Hibiki, intent on becoming the first to step in (who wouldn't?), ran inside with the others tailing.
Inside, the decor was tadtfully decorated in a cross of Art Deco, Sydney Greenstreet and Greco Roman, with a billiard table, a kitchen, couches and tables, carpets, bookcases, a overhead ceiling fan--all the comforts of home, by Taarak and Mejere standards.
"I don't believe it...," said Hibiki.
"Just think..., no 'mo sleepin' in them ol' lousy former jail cells...," said Bart.
"Now THAT is something I like...," said Duero.
While everyone else was ooing and ahhing, Paiway was doing her Paicheck all over the new suite and saying to her frog puppet, "It's a great day for the Nirvana, don't you think" Then, she used her puppet while saying, "You said it!! It's a millstone in our long history, ribbit!!"
Indeed, the rooms the surrounded the main section of the suite were just as big inside, each equipped with high definition TV, a comm, a ceiling fan, cooling and heating, a sink, a toilet, an old fashioned claw foot tub with showers and curtain, a computer terminal, and so forth. In fact, Hibiki's suite was done in his fave decor of anime otaku, with drawings of his Van, all of his possession he had brought from Taarak.
Bart's suite, on the other hand, had charts of his navigation notes, his bald doll that had been made by his friend Shirley, who never had a chance to finish it when she died from the disease that had ravaged her people and her home planet, a file case where he stored his stockmarket reports on Garsus Foods Inc. and his private stock of fine wines he had collected from Taarak and Mejere, for the bald helmsman was also a wine connessiur, or as he called it, "a wine common sewer."
Duero and Parfet's suite, which they shared since their marriage, was decorated with medical and engineering charts, a smal med lab and a workshop for minor repairs, with a queen sized bed, amongst other treasures of their trade.
For Hibiki Tokai, his new suite was the first decent surroundings in a long time; as such, it would also be his first decent sleep on his bed, since tomorrow would be a long day, starting with last minute preps for their long journey to Earth, after a shakedown with the ship's new hyperdrive. For that matter, he had settled in his long slumber hours ago, until--
"S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E!!"
Jolted awake by that seven voice call, Hibiki got up, turned on the lights and waxed his temper hot, and no wonder--for there, having entered, bearing ribboned baskets of fruit, cheese, wine, candies, wrapped gifts and mylar heart balloons, were Gascogne, Meia, Misty, Dita, Jura, Cara and Barnette, all flashing their brilliant smiles.
"You #& doo doos!!" screamed the mechanic. "WHAT'S GOIN' ON HERE??"
"Can't you guess?" said the supply officer. "It's a welcome wagon to initiate your first suite, and to celebrate our first victory over the PSE. And I wish you'd smile, smile, smile!!"
"How's it feel having a nice place to live in?" chirped Dita.
"OK, I know you mean well in doin' somethin' nice for me," said the hothead. "but tell me one thing: WHY ARE ALL OF YOU HERE?! WHY IN MY ROOM?!"
"You just don't get it, do you?" said Meia. "Didn't you hear Miss Gasco already tell you why we came?"
"GASCOGNE!!" barked Gascogne.
"Hey, poop-a-doop," said Barnette, "look what we brung you--all your fave goodies. At least you can get 'round to them when you got the time."
"I even did all the decorating of the gifts myself," said Misty.
"Say, didn't you say hi to Cara?" asked Jura. "She an' I go way back, when we were born in the neon city of Dredge, on Ganymede, which is Jupiter's third moon, in the solar system."
"Wait," said the green haired gunner known as Barnette. "You mean you ain't no native of Mejere?"
"Nope, an' neither am I," said Cara, her long red hair hanging from the back of her head in a long braid tail. "Me an' Jura, we've been bosom buddies in the good 'ol neon city known as Dredge--youse could say I was a kid sister to her since her parents died long ago. After we took off for a better future, we came to Mejere, an' we went our ways, me, to be a captain of the Mejere cheerleader squad, an' Jura, to be the greatest diva that ever lived--and, uh, youse know the rest." Then turning to Hibiki, she said, "Yo, so youse is the Hibiki Tokai, aka The Echo City that everyone's been talkin' 'bout. How youse doin? Name's Cara Staam, a new Dread pilot. How's it feel to pilot a famous Vanguard?"
"What can I say...?" said Hibiki, who got off his bed to exchange a handshake with the cheer girl. "It's...kinda like a part of me, my own partner. it gives me that feel of kickin' butt all over the place when the rush takes me over. Anyhow, welcome to the Dread crew, pull up a banana, and settle down. Anyhow, to all of you nutzos, thanks for all you've given me, I'll check your gifts out when I can, but we've all got to get to bed--we've got a long day ahead in the morning." So saying, the Van pilot went back to bed saying, "Good night all, just don't make any noise when you close my door, OK?"
"Not so fast, Ex-Lax," said Gascogne, holding up her hand. "Before we do, we've got one last thing to do."
"Just make it quick, OK?! muttered the mechanic testily, his temper rising.
With that, Gascogne, Meia, Misty, Dita, Jura, Cara and Barnette all lined up before the drowsy hothead, linked arms with each other, and started singing in the pitch of F:
"Rock-a-bye Tokai, on the tree top When the wind blows, your Vanguard will rock When the branch breaks, your Vanguard will fall, an' down will come Hibiki...Vanguard...an' all!!"
Soon after that, all seven women each in turn gave Hibiki a kiss on his cheek--and that was when the enraged Van pilot literally kicked out all seven women out from his suite, his foot kicking their butts, while he shouted, "BEAT IT, ALL OF YOU!! STUU-PID &# RETARDS!! SCRAM, BEFORE I RIP YOUR HIDES!!"
Upon landing on their butts, the women tried to get their bearings back while Cara said, "Yo, what a grouchy ol' dud!! Is he always like that?"
"Yup,' said Dita weakly.
So Hibiki and his fellow dudes finally got their own crib--now if only they keep out the riff raff of divas like Dita and Jura, et al. A long day awaits the folks from Vandread, with the Nirvana finally making their first jouney to Earth in years. Maybe there be a pay per view event covering the big moment, just the thing for headline news. Only a few matters trouble me--who or what could be the spy onboard the pirate ship? Why did the evil PSE freak out upon seeing Misty and Jura? For that matter, what sort of connection is there twixt The Empire and Jura? A story for the market tabloids? Is it Vandread, or All My Children? Well, they say life is a soap opera, only who put the soap in soap opera? One thing I DO know--someone in the Nirvana crew is goin' to be in love. Who? Take a guess.
--a440
Next: Chapter 9: Shore Leave