Vandread: ARMY
By Norsehound

Disclaimer: Vandread doesn't belong to me. This is an alternate universe possibility, and all characters belong to me from the 42nd.

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Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue

"....And for the courage and sacrifice of these individuals, we must always remember their names through the ages. Their lives...their dedication...their ultimate sacrifices...have given them the greatest home and throne of all. May their souls rest in piece...and join the afterlife's gates with joy and harmonious song. Our prayer, amen..."
Those assembled raised their heads. They were all wearing black on the Nirvana, as in it's reflection sat the relic of time and history.
The Mission Station, home to the forty-second for their dying years, slowly spindled in space and time. The human confederation ships hovered about it, some working repairs on the old station, others staying to watch the ceremony.
The large engraving in the station, filled with the names of the lost Forty-second, was now joined by other walls. The lists of all the Tarak names that had died sat beside the rows of lost Mejere. Other allies had their names engraved in the station also, turning the station into a memorial for the Battle of Man against the Harvesters.
Beneath the forty-second's scribble were added more names. One in particular had prominence among the other's. This was Varoa's name, and with the memory log set in the engravings was her own history, and her last moments of the ultimate loss.
They had all come here to pay their respects a half-year later. With the innovations and renovations of technology, travel and navigation was faster than before, while new technologies and new advancements were being uncovered or co-developed in conjunction with other affiliates of the humans- long lost cousins and brothers in the stars. All of them siblings of a failed race.
Somewhere out there was Earth. Their home and treasure awaited them- trapped behind a cocoon of metal. Someday they may return to crown Earth as their homeland and free it from it's prison to become green and happy once again.
But until that day came, The Tarak and Mejere would hold the torch for humanity, leading the way to finding long-lost answers and hidden mysteries as to the origins and causes behind the Harvesters and the hidden remains of a long-ago lost colonization era.

Standing in the party, Shin had on the Tarak Dress uniform. Somewhere Barnette was wearing one as well- with an identical tag to Shin's- signifying them as partners.
Not long after the defeat of the enemy, many of the Tarak became married to their Mejere companions and friends. Kai, for instance, became Jura's husband and the two were eagerly expecting a child. Hiro and Meia, after much silence, decided to follow suit and they too joined in holy matrimony- as was the ceremony of their new-found religion from the lost station. Tag and Ezra, through much silence, decided also to get married. For Rebecca, she gave in and chose Bart...seeing something in him many of the other Mejere were missing.
When asked, she remarked, "Well...I think it's his head."
Little did she know the story behind this, but if anything it would warm her heart to know.
As for Jinn, he became the husband of Gasconge in the mass-paring, but with their coupling was something greater.
"take this," Grand-Pa had said.
Jinn took it, and opened his palm. The key to Tarak was in his hand.
"I want you to have it," Grand-Pa said, "You are, after all, in some ways my son. What you did that day made my proud...proud to have trusted you and your honorable leader, for which many of us had so much doubt."
"And this," Said Grand-Ma, "Is to you Gasconge. I do not see why you would have such need of it, but seeing that Grand-Pa has crowned his genetic offspring, you should be the one to have it...begin his mate."
Gasconge closed her hand around the key and smirked, "I'll find a use for it."
But for Hibiki it was another story.
After some hushed words and silent conversation he returned to the party.
"Hey man!" Called Tesh and thumped Hibiki on the back, "What's up? Why'd ya talk to the old people?"
"...I'm their son..."
"What?" Asked Tesh in a flat tone.
"Hehe...I cant' believe it..."
"Believe what?" Asked Jinn as he cruised over with Gasconge on his arm.
"Hehe...Grand-Pa and Grand-Ma...they're my...mom and...dad...." Replied a very dazed Hibiki.
"Didn't you know?" asked Jinn, "actually come to think of it I just found out today too. Well, at least your higher on the Totem pole than Shin or myself. Feel lucky guy, you could be in position for King of the Mejere system...and over Tarak too."" Gasconge smirked, "How about you and I convince the people in the kitchen to get us a root beer float?"
"Would I say no?"
As the pair walked away Hibiki laughed and fainted again.
"Oh man! Well...not my problem." Smirked Tesh as he started walking away.
"Hey there you are!"
"AHHH!!! NOT AGAIN!!!" Screamed Tesh as he ran from a rather well-dressed Misty and her psyche pet.
"Mr. Alien!!" Called Dita and spotted him on the floor, "Oh there you are! Tee hee...you're easier to drag to my room now! This way!" She chimed and dragged Hibiki through the hallways.
Dureo stood with a wineglass in hand and listened idly to the background noise.
"There you are!" Called Parfait as she walked over to him, "I've been looking all over for you. So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well," Coughed Dureo, "I wanted to ask you...if you would undergo the marriage ceremony with me."
"What?" Blushed Parfait and looked away as she reddened, "Well I don't know...."
Paiway scowled, "Meh. Men. Meanwhile, the brave and courageous Nurse Paiway continues on carrying Mejere's tradition-"
"It is just me or are there more couples in the room?" Asked Pyoro as he lazily drifted among the crowds, "Ah...so much romance, love in the air...hey! PYORO-2!!!!"

"So you mean it then." Asked Magano.
The Darkened command room was put on hold while the ceremony went on. The guard ships made sure no enemy force would approach from nowhere, while Magano had privacy to receive the call.
"Yes," Grand-Ma was saying, "We're entrusting you in their care."
"We hope this will not put any trouble on you." Grand-Pa replied.
Magano leaned on her cane, "Of course not. You and the others have a wonderful time by yourselves okay?"
"We will." Said Grand-Ma, "Take care, sister..."
The transmission closed, and the cruiser on loan from the Melaneous fleet's engines ignited. With it was the survivors of the first generation- those tired and untainted...and finally free of the hatred that separated them for so long. Now, freedom among the stars to go wherever they wished.
Magano wished them the best of luck.

In a room, Hibiki watched his Grandpa go.
"I'll miss you Grandpa..." Sighed Hibiki.
Dita, behind him, looked on after the ship and said, "Yeah...all the grandparents are going away for a long time..."
"I guess..." Hibiki said and sat down, "You know...come to think of it...I feel a lot older now. After all that, I feel...I dunno...old."
"Cheer up Mister alien," Cooed Dita as she came up next to Hibiki, "We have the rest of our lives together now...nothing can separate us anymore."
"Yeah....yeah I know." Hibiki replied and looked out at the stars, "It's just...I don't know what to do now. It's like...there's no war to fight, and our enemy...."
A giggle stopped him from saying anymore and he looked at Dita, "Why are you giggling?"
"Because," She said and moved her face forward, "I love you."
Hibiki blinked and found Dita kissing him. At first he resisted, but then...it was something new...
He returned her kiss in her darkened room, fulfilling one of many promises.

"Vaora wasn't such a bad person," Hiro was saying.
Meia was hugging her knees in her room and looking out at him. Her head ornament was resting on the dresser.
Hiro in turn was looking out at the window. The two of them wandered off as the festivities started to quell, residing instead in Meia's room.
Hiro let out a breath, "Maybe I've misjudged many people..."
"Not necessarily," Meia said, "Vaora was a difficult person. She didn't like you until the end....at least she was willing to go through with it."
"For Mejere's victory..." Hiro said in his stand by the window as he closed his mouth, "But her actions have saved everyone." He let out a breath and his head's incline drooped, "And she joins the others of the 42nd who never came home..."

Tag and Ezra returned to their room after the celebration of their victory ended. Under his arm were a pair of data sets, recently found- and left behind by the 42nd. He was happy to have found them, after all they may have the colonization charts within them. Ezra placed Kahlua in the crib and stared over her. Tag looked up, set his data sets on the dresser and joined her at the crib, smiling and placing his hand over Ezra's. For him...for them both, it was a dream come true.

Elsewhere in the medical room, Dureo rubbed his chin, "Hmm...."
"What is it doc?"
"Well...I'm not certain but from these readings it appears Jura is indeed pregnant."
"Really!?" Piped up Jura and grabbed Kai in a bear hug, "We' did it!!!"
"Yea...yeah....AH!!! Don't suffocate...me....ugh!"
She released Kai to drop to the floor and clasped her hands, "At last a child of my own..."
She turned at Kai's grumbling and bend down to take his hand, "But then again...how can I raise a kid without a husband?"
Kai looked up at her, smiled and blinked and then hauled himself up.
"So," He asked as he came to a stand, "What is it doctor? A Tarak or Mejere?"
"You mean a boy or a girl. I don't know..." Dureo replied when he looked over the display, "I can't be certain. I will give you a definite response when I come back from leave."
"Leave Doc?" Asked Kai, "Where you going?"
"Vacation." Answered Dureo as he tapped several keys.
"Where?" Jura asked.
"With who?" Added Tag.
Parfait appeared at the door, "There you are doc! You ready to go?"
"Almost." Dureo answered as he turned around to a recently-entering Paiway, "Ah Paiway, I want you to be doctor in our absence."
"Me?" She squeaked.
"Here." Dureo answered and handed her the clipboard, "You're in charge."
As Dureo turned to go, Kai asked, "Wait a minute...can't you think about this? You're leaving us in Paiway's hands!"
"...Yes, I know." Answered Dureo with a smirk, "Farewell."
The couple watched Dureo and Parfait disappear from the doorframe, and then turned back to look at a smirking Paiway.
"Somehow I think the Nirvana's going to get a little bit interesting in the next couple days..."

In the final hours the Nirvana remained stationed beside the Mission station, Shin looked out at the abandoned post through the window of his cabin in the Nirvana.
After the battle many ships were refitted or repaired- either through the Pexis use or through human hands. The Nirvana was one of the first to receive an overhaul. Not that it needed it, but many old and damaged sections needed repair and re-work. The last few months alone was dedicated to mapping the decks and making new floor plans of the battleship. (An interesting note, comparing the 'New' Nirvana's floor plans to those of the old Ichazuchi, leading to new discoveries of hidden passageways and such). There were still portions of the ship remained intact and untouched, their secrets remaining in the Nirvana until the curious or the desperate went to find them. Still, along with the modifications, many of the upper-level and spine cabins were repaired and freed. This gave the forty-second a new slew of rooms to choose from.
Shin, having seniority, chose the largest cabin available and was good enough to get a window looking to port. Others either moved in or moved to their companion's rooms, finding comfort there instead.
"Last-minute goodbye?" Asked Barnette as she walked up beside him. Instead of the skimpy outfit she had first worn, she was now in some earth-made sweatpants and long-sleeve T-shirt. Because it was close to the usual end-of-watch, the two would be bedding in sometime soon.
"Yeah..." Said Shin as he overlooked the tattered station and let out a breath, "I should visit this place again. So little has changed since when we left it so long ago...and yet it's all so familiar....Sometimes...I can hear the ones who died here laughing in joy with us...I thought I heard some in the party."
Barnette stood beside him to look out at the station and sighed, "I hope the people who were on the asteroid can rest in piece too...."
Shin's eyelids drooped and a smile crossed his face, "They might not like being put so close to the 42nd...but I think they would be honored to be among heroes. We are heroes...after all...the forty-two...hehe, that survived. Ironic, that only forty two of so many...."
Silence fell from both of them as they looked out at the station.
"I remember the first day we met," Said Shin as he blinked, "You protesting that we came aboard. How did it all come to this?"
Barnette let out a sigh. She didn't quite know either...and never could have known until she adopted Shin.
"Let's get to bed," She said as she grasped his arm, "It's getting late..."
Shin took another glance out at the station, "Yeah...coming..."
He hit a window control and it darkened, leaving only shadows in the unlit room to find themselves.
The Nirvana's engines ignited, and the Mejere/Tarak fleet once again started for home, leaving behind so many memories again....
Docked aside the station was the destroyed No-Dachi, still a wreak and remains from almost a year gone past. But joining it was another vessel- a Mejere one...identical to the old Mejere pirate ship.
Stenciled on it's name was 'NIRVANA', a memory to the ship now heading back home.

And with the end of the So-called Harvest era a new dawn came to Humanity. They had prospered in what was called the first Era, and the Starlit era when they reached the heavens. Then came the Colonization era, and their expansion grew too far beyond their reach. With this day came the end of the Harvest Era, marked by the terror and fear started ever since the harvesters left Earth...and ending the day their last flagship with it's great red Pexis was incinerated by sacrifice.
Staring in the face of humanity would be the era called the Rebuilding Era, where humanity would once again find it's footing in the universe and struggle to return to a state before the harvester's hand tainted the dream of a human empire. This task would be upheld by the Mejere and Tarak- the first and only group of humans to topple and destroy the Harvesters for good despite being separate. But Shin's words, now after the battle, came true. With the combination of man and woman came great things, and standing in testimony to that thought was the destruction of the greatest threat to man: a monster of it's own making.
What now lie ahead of the Tarak and Mejere and their forty-second...along with the last Pexis Reactor of the universe, stood the challenge of locating and securing the ancient relics and derelicts of the abandoned Colonization Era and of the Era before that. Their treasures are untold technology and wonder...since lost in the madness of the harvest. Now free, these treasures remained hidden. The Task bestowed on the Nirvana now is to find and free the last key to winning back humanity- Earth itself.
For the 42nd and beyond, there was much work yet to be done.

>THE END>
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And so this ends Vandread: Army. The legacy and change brought by the last visage of the creative minds of the Tarak has shown it's worth and promise. Though this does not follow the letter and word of Vandread, I feel that I have gone some way to define more of it's history. As a Fan fiction writer, I like to expand on worlds already made and ask such questions like, 'What did happen' or 'why is it this particular way.' In this fiction a stage has been set to explore the long-forgotten past of humanity, and to show the extent of damage caused by the Earth-bound humans and possibly reveal the truths and forgotten words of the Colonization Era.
I hope you have all enjoyed reading this fiction as much as I had creating it and seeing if it would fly. I appreciate all the constructive comments and reviews, and I hope that you all can produce such works as great as this one was (If not greater)

For anyone curious, this entire work is 163 pages long, 2,964 Paragraphs, 408727 Characters (With spaces) and took a total of 1681 minutes of reviewing, at revision 68. Technically this is Vandread army 2, as this is a re-write from a failed start, that started on Dec 2nd, 2002. It ended Wednesday Jan 29, 2003.

Once again thank you for reading my fic, and don't trip and fall on the way to clicking the back button ;)