Fan Fiction / Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ KnightDread ❯ Men VS Women ( Chapter 1 )

KnightDread

 

 

Disclaimer: I'm using my own patented characters. So Vandread belongs solely to the creators of that series. Also characters I used as templates for the heroes in this story from any games mentioned belong to their creator companies. So bother them not me.

 

< >: Thoughts

 

< ( )>: Mental Conversation

 

1st Chapter

 

Men Vs Women

 

On the distant, all-male planet known as Talark, the Prime Minister and Supreme Commander of the Talark Space Military forces waited as the video on the massive screen behind him. The video being shown was another propaganda film about their most hated enemies the women of Megele. As soon as the video faded to be replaced by the symbol of Talark, he opened his mouth and began to give his speech to the graduating cadets of the military of their planet. Behind them was the former colony ship, which was now a battleship known to all as the Ikazuchi. (*)

 

The Prime Minister and his staff were greeted with a roaring ovation by the swarms of raw newly trained cadets before them as the speech was finished. Near the closest crowds was longhaired individual with a calm and collected demeanor about him. His face showed nothing in terms of emotion as he and the rest of the cadets continued to listen to the rest of the Prime Minister's speech. He wasn't alone as another cadet with long raven black, braided hair looked on, showing no surprise at all to the speech of the Prime Minister

 

However it seemed that the leaders of Talark's space forces were no in the mood to win the war even if they should have waited. This became obvious as the Prime Minister gave the order for all to board the Ikazuchi

 

The crowds once again gave a massive round of applause and cheering.

 

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In the engineering section of the Ikazuchi…

 

The engineering staff of the battleship moved with maddened speed as they raced to their respective stations to prepare for the launch of the battleship. The engine room gave the impression of a beehive, where all the worker bees were looking as if hooked on steroids, as the men moved about to fulfill their assigned tasks. Huge mechanisms whined and creaked in the sounds of metal against metal as the massive battlecraft began to power up its internal systems. The ship began to accept the massive stream of cadets as the new recruits of the Talark military began to fill up the barracks as they boarded the ship. In less than fifteen minutes, the ship was now fully prepared to leave Talark as the last to board was the prime Minister and his command staff as they entered the command bridge.

 

It was then that the massive thrusters that would propel the ship to the void of stars fired up. The entire flagship trembled with massive power and it readied itself to leave the men's home world. Outside the huge crowds cheered and watched in anticipation as the crowning achievement of `manhood' was about to bring the war with women to vast ocean of stars above.

 

Then the powerful engines kicked in as they unleashed releasing a massive blast of light, lifting the ship off the ground as it steadily began to gain altitude.

 

On the ground, several miles from the launching site, an old man in the age of possibly seventy-five wiped his sweaty brow as he looked up from the fields he was working on. He was a well-build man for his age and showed a great deal of wisdom in his eyes that were shaded by his glasses. As he watched the ship leave for the heavens above, he felt a certain unmistakable feeling course through his old but very strong body. He felt that soon the Ikazuchi was soon to cast in a role, which would determine the destinies of both his home-planet and that of the women….namely with the three men he had met long ago, before they left for the ship. A moment later he went back to work on the sterile, dry and almost desolate soils of Talark.

 

--------------------------------

 

Deep within the belly of the Ikazuchi, a trio of powerful space warriors were still busy doing some data collecting on a nearby access console in the Vanguard hanger when they felt the ship take off, they had woken up earlier and decided to just gather some information. The vibrations roused them from their data collection plans as they quickly looked about in casual but wary glances. The large room they were in was still dark, with only the indicator lights providing scant illumination, there wasn't anybody else with them as far as Jin, Tanaki, and Kazuki could see. Jin decided to check out what happened through an observation porthole and looked in slight surprise to see that the ship was rising.

 

“What's up Jin?” asked Kazuki as he quickly wiped away any possible traces of sleep from his eyes.

 

“From the looks of things, the ship took off.”

 

“And two hours earlier too.” Tanaki replied as he checked his chronometer. The three guys decided to leave the room, but made it a point of avoid any guards as the last thing they wanted was to be caught by the Talark soldiers. They then made their way to another section of the ship while avoiding detection, namely the room where the Ikazuchi's power source was housed.

 

Inside the main reactor room, Jin, Tanaki, and Kazuki were crossing over a high catwalk, their travel backs on their left shoulders, and their weapons beside them, ready to be drawn to battle anyone who halted them. It was then that they looked over to see the Paeksis reactor, which was humming with power.

 

Jin was about to continue but then, a jolt of awareness hit him, that jolt made him look back at the reactor. Tanaki and Kazuki were about to ask what was the holdup for when they too felt the jolts hit them. They all directed their attention to the reactor and a foreign yet strangely familiar sensation washed over them. It seemed that the reactor was… calling to them. They knew that machine used a massive crystal for power to run the ship by collecting the large amounts of minute but powerful photon energy charges that were given off when the Paeksis expended excess energy within itself. That meant that the thing wasn't alive in organic terms, but somehow…

 

Jin looked further and without any hesitation walked over to the reactor; this one headed for the reactor. Without any protest the two other Sorcerer-Knights followed their leader. As soon as they came close to the reactor…

 

Jin snapped out of the trance-like state he found himself in. “WH…what are we…?” It was then that he heard a voice in his mind, and it didn't belong to his comrades.

 

< (Who…are you?)> The new voice asked him. It was then joined by other voices, vague yet present but none threatening, all of them repeating the same question.

 

Jin shook his head, and turned to his team.

 

“Did you guys hear that?”

 

“Yeah we did, but where did those voices come from?” Tanaki asked as he also answered for Kazuki, since both of them had questioning glances.

 

“It came… from the reactor in front of us.”

 

“What?! That's impossible!” Kazuki exclaimed. But he then heard the voice call out to him this time.

 

< (Who are you?)>

 

Kazuki felt that the voices were not malicious and had no evil intent, he gazed at Jin and Tanaki, their expressions told him that they heard the same thing, but then Jin gave a look of surprise.

 

“Guys! Those were the same voices that told us to come to Talark!”

 

“They ARE?!” Kazuki and Tanaki exclaimed. They all gave looks of awed curiosity and decided to touch the reactor's main wall. Once they did so, they felt a strange yet familiar power flow into them… it felt somewhat similar to the energy they used to activate the Sorcerer-Knight Power Matrix.

 

They were so wrapped up with the sensations, that they nearly didn't spot a nearby Talark patrol. They recovered from their trances, but only after…

 

“HEY! What are you three doing here?! This sector's off limits!”

 

The three men looked and groaned, they however didn't wait and took off in another direction, with the Talark patrol behind them.

 

---------------------------------

 

“What?! A trio of Third Class trash are on the ship?!” The security chief roared as he was contacted on the bridge. The glorious day of the Ikazuchi was about to be ruined if the crew found out they had stowaways on board, and his head would be on a platter if it was blamed on him.

 

“Yes sir! Patrol team 3 found them in the reactor room near the Paeksis Power Reactor, they escaped the patrol and are now loose on the ship!”

 

“Find them! I don't care where they go! Get them and place them under house arrest, If you don't, not only will you dishonor yourself and your Alpha and Beta, you lose you job…and I'll have your head on a platter! Is that understood?!”

 

“Yes sir!” The security officer said with a bit of sweat on his face.

 

Little did he know that he wasn't to only one running the risk of being sacked from a job if the three men were not caught.

 

---------------------------------

 

Several hours later, in orbit around the planet of Talark…

 

The liftoff came without a single problem and the mighty battleship was now in synchronized orbit over the men's home world awaiting their escort/support fleet to join them in their glorious crusade against the monsters of Megele. On the ship's main hall, the cadets of the Talark Space Forces were rather busy enjoying the inauguration ceremonies as they drank their wine and began conversation with one another.

 

“I can't wait to go into battle!”

 

“Neither can I!”

 

“When can we see those new weapons we heard so much about?”

 

“Those new Vanguards will surely put those women in their rightful places!”

 

“Say, after all this is over, do you want to make a kid?”

 

“A kid with you? That's not a bad idea.”

 

As the various tidbits of conversation waved through the air and the celebration continued, a certain cadet by the name of Duero McFile with three other cadets. The third of their company being the one with raven black braids.

 

“Hey, Duero. I heard that you made the top of your class.”

 

The individual named Duero simply gave a nod as he took a slow small sip of his wine. He was a rather tall individual and had long black hair with one bang covering the right side of his face. He carried the demeanor of an educated and yet creative person of mind.

 

“Yeah, congratulations are in order you know… hell, you could be assigned to head-quarters.” Another cadet spoke out as they approached the four men.

 

“I hear that when he took the qualification exams he left the position line of his submission entry form completely blank.” Another cadet chimed in as he came to the group.

 

The other cadets then directed their attention to Duero's companion.

 

“Kyle also did real well as part of the Vanguard pilots. Hell, we hear that he graduated from the Ranger Division School back home before becoming part of the Vanguard pilots."

 

“No kidding, only a few pilots could ever graduate from that elite school. I think he'll be assigned along with Duero at head-quarters."

 

The young man in question by the name of Kyle Mirano looked at the other cadets and nodded, he and Duero had been good friends in their academy days. Kyle was just the same height as Duero but had his long hair in an array of elaborately made braids all formed to a tail behind his back, while his remaining hair was in a stylish but simplistic disarray in front of him..

 

“I hear that his parents were also good soldiers, but they're kind of eccentric."

 

Just then another cadet came in carrying a box filled with pink and white colored pellets.

 

“Hey guys! Everyone having a good time now?”

 

The group turned to see another newcomer arrive; he also wore the same cadet uniform as they did, but totally looked out of place in the atmosphere of a military ship. He lacked the build of a soldier, as he was somewhat skinny, with a shock of blonde hair. His voice was somewhat whiney and seemed to too full of himself. That didn't stop to guy however from offering the group the nutrition pills.

 

“Here! Take some of this; this stuff is a lot better than those you get in the factories are. I got them through some good connections. Think of these as free samples since I'm handing you some.”

 

The cadets each gave a rather nervous look at the newcomer before handing out their individual replies to the guy in question.

 

“Thanks for the offer. But no thanks.”

 

“Yeah, I'm rather full right now.”

 

“Same here. Sorry.”

 

“Thanks for the offer anyway.”

 

Their answers acted like nails, slowly flattening a tire. As was evident at the slight look of dejection on the blonde man's face. Bart showed briefly his somewhat hurt look and shrugged his shoulders. “Okay if you insist, but know that you might never get another chance to eat good ones like these again.” He moved to another batch of cadets, going through the same selling routine.

 

“Who was that guy?” one of the cadets asked to his fellow crewmembers.

 

“His dad owns the Garsus Foods Cooperation. In simple terms, his family feeds us, so let's keep it at that.”

 

“Geez. The thought of that gives me heartburn.” One cadet said as he thumped on his chest in exaggeration.

 

Before his comrades (minus Duero and Kyle since they didn't that too funny) could laugh at that, the lights then switched off. They along with every other cadet in the room as another video screen lowered down in front of them. An announcer came to the podium and addressed the assembled personnel. The screen flickered and began showing combat images of the military's latest weapon the Van-type fighter suit. The announcer then made a brief but stunning summary as the images played out.

 

“Stab! Pierce! Crush! And Slay! With these various weapons and built-in abilities the Tsukumo Van-Type Fighter is a weapon unto itself! It is the new frontline weapon of our glorious Empire's military! Be it the land, the sea, the air, the mountains, the flatlands, or even in the dark void of space! There is no terrain our proud weapon cannot traverse! The new Vanguards are the guardians of our glorious empire and our future. Let us welcome the weapons we shall use in the war against our empire's enemies and the guardians of the hope of our people! Give the Vanguards a round of applause!”

 

There came a standing ovation as the cadets cheered for their latest tools in their war against the women of Megele. Then the lights were switched back on and a large section of the floor opened up. A large elevator platform rose up with more than two dozen newly completed Vanguards on it.

 

The applause and the cheering stopped as the assembled men saw… them

 

----------------------------------

 

Earlier…

 

Jin and the others had been able to evade the guards that were pursuing them and decided to haul themselves into the place where they were before. But when they got there, the door suddenly locked out on them and the floor began to rise.

 

“What the?!” Jin said in surprise and anger, having realized what was happening.

 

Before they could do anything they were blinded by the lights that flooded the place when the roof opened on top of them. And that stopped them from escaping quietly as the room rose upwards.

 

“This is not good!” Kazuki said as his eyes began to adjust to the glare of the lights.

 

That was when they found themselves in front of a rather large crowd of Talark cadets, who were staring back at them.

 

“THIS is not good.” Tanaki said as he gazed at their onlookers.

 

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“Who are they?”

 

“Look at them! Those are third class citizens.”

 

“What are they doing onboard?”

 

“Here's a better question. How did they get onboard?”

 

In the crowds, Duero McFile and Kyle Mirano immediately assessed the strangers. They immediately noted that the three intruders were not like any third class citizens he had ever seen. All three looked in top physical condition, which was difficult to imagine, as all third class citizens were not given proper medical care. Each of them had lean but well sculptured and muscled forms. Each of them wore outfits that didn't match to the clothes worn by third class citizens as the clothes looked well kept and clean. The first stranger wore a strange black body suit with a long left sleeve reaching his wrist, he also wore a fingerless black glove on his left hand, while his right sleeve only reached his elbow, on his right arm was a metallic gauntlet with a crystal beast in the gauntlet, he wore a deep white sleeveless tunic over the body suit, on his waist was a deep blue sash in an intricate knot, he wore black slightly loose pants which Duero and Kyle could tell was of the same fabric of his body suit, Lastly he wore knee high boots what looked like it was locked on by clasps at the back. The second stranger also wore the same body suit, but the right sleeve this time reached his wrist, on his left hand was the same fingerless glove, the same metallic gauntlet was this time on his left arm, he wore a crimson gi top with clasps to keep it in place, he wore the same pants but with strange unreadable characters, he had a white belt on his waist which had a platinum buckle which had a strange beast showing it's fierce fangs in a roar, on him was the same boots. The last stranger also wore the same body suit but now both sleeves reached his wrists, he had a metallic arm-guard on his left arm which had a hand protector on it which guarded the top of his hand and on the other was also a gauntlet with a strange crystal beast in it, he had the same pair of pants, but to Duero and Kyle, they could see that the thigh areas had some padding, he had a green stash and like the first stranger it was also in an intricate knot, lastly he wore an ancient Chinese style shirt in deep blue color. Duero and Kyle also noted their separate appearances. The first stranger had short silver hair; some of which covered his eyes for brief moments; He had the most intriguing blue eyes, which radiated intensity and strength… almost, like a beast. His well-chiseled and featured face made him look rugged and powerful. The second stranger had deep black hair, which to Duero and Kyle's eyes was in a long ponytail held by a long piece of cloth. His violet eyes shined with also a beast like quality and with the calculating look of a strategist. His own face was well featured and had seemingly no flaws. The last had deep ocean-blue hair that reached his shoulders in a slightly messy style, which strangely suited him; his own eyes were of purest emerald color, which radiated intensity and power. He too had a well-featured face like his comrades. On their necks were the ID tags that denoted their ranks as third class citizens, but Duero and Kyle could see them also wearing another chain with a ring-like object in the chain tucked under their suits. Duero and Kyle never believed that the three could be third class at all, in every way they didn't fit the profile of the citizen in that side of the Talark social order.

 

They also took note that the three men wielded weapons. The silver haired one had a sling on his back, which seemed to carry a staff weapon. The black-haired one had a slightly curved sword-sheath on his left side and Duero and Kyle could see the handle of the sword. And lastly the blue haired stranger had two sheaths on both the sides of his waist no doubt holding two swords.

 

Duero and Kyle knew that this dissuaded the idea that these three strangers were third-class workers, since any third class citizen would have been severely punished for such an act and carrying lethal weapons. He could feel that these men also knew how to use their weapons.

 

Just then a large number of security personnel arrived wielding stun rods in their hands, the rods would deliver a strong sharp electrical charge, which was enough to stun a person but not kill him. The guards surrounded the three men in the plan of arresting them. But the strangers showed that they had no intention of leaving quietly as they placed their bags to the floor and went into defensive stances. Then the black haired and the blue-haired men moved away from the one with silver hair. Once they were in separate locations on either side of their comrade they waited silently. The guards decided to attack in small groups, one group attacking one of the intruders. That was when the guards and everyone else in the hall including Duero and Kyle were about to see the skills the last of the Sorcerer-Knights in battle.

 

Jin immediately checked out the battle stances of the men he and his team were about to face against in battle. He immediately assessed that they had considerable experience but not enough to pose a threat to either him or his comrades. He immediately spoke through mental link to Tanaki and Kazuki.

 

< (They don't have much in terms of combat experience.)>

 

< (No kidding… their power levels are near to low, they seem to rely too much on intimidation and sheer numbers.)> Tanaki said as he gave his own assessment.

 

< (Try not to hurt them too much then.)> Jin said as he quickly went into auto-defensive mode.

 

< (Roger that.)> Both Tanaki and Kazuki said as they too went to auto-defensive mode.

 

One guard tried to strike Jin at the right temple of his head, but Jin swiftly dodged the attack and grabbed the man's outstretched arm and pulled him forward. Leaping over the guard he sent both his feet on the back of his first opponent and sent the man sliding to the floor. As soon as he landed a trio of men from the group attacking him tried to tackle him with one readying a swipe with his rod. Jin responded well and swept the first man to the floor with a sweep-kick. The second tried to attack Jin was treated to a swift number of jabs to his torso, knocking him flat on his back, the last guard swiped his weapon in a wide arc, but Jin dodged the strike and responded with a series of kicks. The attack ended with an arm grip throw, making Jin able to send his fourth opponent slamming into two others who joined in to gang-attack him.

 

Tanaki avoided several rod swipes at his torso with casual speed and skill; He then leaped forward, sending his feet into double outward kicks which connected to the chests of the two guards attacking him. As he landed another guard tried to kick him, but he caught the attack and with amazing skill, lifted himself up, and before the guard could respond in any way, Tanaki tossed him over his back. The last three guards charged, as soon as the first came close, Tanaki slammed an elbow strike, that attack, while not too powerful into the first guard's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. The second guard received a powerful sidekick to the stomach, and the last guard was hit a chop strike on the neck as Tanaki easily dodged his attack and appeared behind him.

 

Kazuki dodged the swipe attack of his first attacker and tossed the man over his shoulders with minimal effort, the second guard received a series of jabs to his torso also knocking him out. The third guard picked up a fallen stun rod and charged swinging his two weapons wildly, Kazuki dodged a downward swipe and caught the other arm before the weapon could hit him and quickly sweep kicked the attacker. The three remaining guards attacked in unison, but in a blinding assault, Kazuki blurred into motion, knocking the first guard aside with a powerful combination of a sidekick and a swipe-punch. The second received a half dozen rapid power kicks to the torso and also dropped like a sack of beans. The last one was grabbed by Kazuki, who flipped him like a flapjack and smacked him to the floor, and Kazuki quickly flipped backwards.

 

The battle lasted only four seconds in all. In that span of time, Jin, Tanaki, and Kazuki had defeated half a dozen guards each, and still stood in their old positions on the floor. Their potent martial arts skills had been honed by many harsh years of training under their adopted fathers and their long history of exploring the cosmos. These skills were further augmented by their hidden powers as Sorcerer-Knights.

 

The remaining guards then pulled out long razor-tipped spears as they began to advance towards the three intruders, hoping to gain the advantage of weapons though these new tools were lethal… they were mistaken.

 

Jin arched his eyebrow as he saw the guards pull out spears. < (They want to fight us with lethal weapons this time, and from the looks of it they won't hesitate to wound us.)>

 

< (So let's fight them with our own weapons. If it's an armed match they want, then let's not disappoint them.)> Kazuki spoke out his thoughts.

 

< (True, but let's not kill them.)> Tanaki stressed as he reached for his sword.

 

< (You heard Tanaki, Kazuki just cut their weapons up, not them.)> Jin said as he reached for his staff.

 

< (Got it Jin.)> Kazuki agreed as he pulled out his weapons.

 

Duero and Kyle's eyes widened at the sheer display of physical combat skills that the three strangers displayed, but now they was to be treated to the warriors' armed fighting skills. They watched as the silver-haired one pulled out his staff, which reached the length of 4 feet and 5 inches, but gasped audibly along with the other cadets as the weapon extended to the length of 6 feet and 6 inches. The stranger then went into a fighting stance the Talark cadets including Duero and Kyle didn't recognize. They looked on as the black haired stranger pulled out a single serrated edged curved sword that was 3 feet and 6 inches in length, the weapon had a double handed grip which fitted the blonde warrior's hands well and the weapon had a circular hilt. The blonde warrior held the sword in a thrusting position with both hands on the grip. And the last stranger pulled out two twin edged-swords that were 3 feet in length, and had double handed grips, the hilts were wing like in design, and provided excellent protection. The blue-haired stranger held both swords in each of his hands and placed them in an x-crossed position, blade on blade.

 

The guards reacted predictably, as some of them moved back, a little bit intimidated by the weapons the strangers wielded. The more thickheaded ones charged.

 

The battle wasn't long as the Talark security forces who chose to attack were quickly disarmed (not literally though). They looked in shock as their weapons were thrown away in different directions by the silver-haired warrior who delivered accurate and painful, yet non-fatal strikes to make them lose their weapons. The other guards looked in astonishment as some of them held spear poles with the spear tips missing or pieces of the weapons. The parts mentioned were lying around the two who wielded the swords who cut their weapons with the mastery of a skilled surgeon.

 

As Jin, Tanaki, and Kazuki readied themselves and naturally moved for more fighting room, they suddenly heard the sounds or weapons being activated. They had no problems in recognizing the sounds as rifles being loaded and aimed at them. They turned around and saw another group of security personnel aiming Talark assault rifles at them. More clicks made them look as a half dozen more guards armed with rifles join the remaining ones with the spears. They then were given three choices. Choice one was to fight the way they were in now plus with their powers, choice two was to call forth their power gauntlets and transform, and naturally choice three was to just plain surrender.

 

Jin, after a long tension filled minute slowly went into a neutral stance and lowered his weapon. The staff retracted back to its original length and he slung it back to its sling. Tanaki and Kazuki gave him a questioning glance.

 

< (Hey Jin… why are you surrendering?)> Asked Kazuki, and although Tanaki wasn't using his mental communication link Jin could tell he was also curious.

 

< (We can't use all our powers here, besides I don't relish the idea of killing them since they're no threat to us. Not only that, we can always escape and find out why that voice guided us here in the first place, and I personally prefer not to leave a pile of corpses if the two of you don't mind.")

 

< (Jin's got a point K…let's indulge them by surrendering. Besides, even though we can defeat them even when they've got rifles. I too prefer to not get caught in a shootout or to explain who we are.) > Tanaki finished his mental speech as he also sheathed his katana and also went to a neutral stance.

 

< (Alright then.)> Kazuki ended his own speech as he sheathed both his swords and also went into a neutral stance.

 

All three of them after putting away their weapons just said one phrase with a simple tone.

 

“We surrender.”

 

They were quickly surrounded by the guards armed with spears on all sides, while several of the guards took each of their individual weapons. They were then bound by wrist restraints, and were quickly escorted out by the guards towards the detention area, where they were to be held until the top brass would decide their fates, which was no doubt execution. Through all this the three Sorcerer-Knights showed no fear or concern.

 

This lack of fear on the three strangers' faces further intrigued Duero and Kyle as they watched them being escorted. That made them totally deviate from the normal profile of the third class, who had almost no self-esteem and were deeply afraid of their masters. These three carried themselves with an unspoken confidence and seemed to be sure that they could handle any threat thrown at them individually or when they were working as a team. After seeing that amazing display of combat prowess without weapons and with weapons, the young Talark doctor and his Ranger friend began to wonder where could third class citizens, if those three really of that class have such mastery of armed and unarmed combat. If it weren't for those ID tags, the medic and the ranger would have mistaken them for being part of the elite class.

 

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Down at the detention area…

 

“ Keep an eye on them Cell Unit 6” The guard ordered as a squat egg-shaped mechaniod hovered near the laser bolt grid that served as the barrier to Jin, Tanaki, and Kazuki's cell. The brig was actually nothing more than just a large storage room with piles of crates and spare parts lying around also in piles. It showed that the men of Talark were never planning to take any prisoners in their ongoing war against the women of Megele.

 

“Beep! Beep! Roger!” The robot replied as it took up its assigned position in front of the cell.

 

As soon as the guards left, Tanaki took stock of the area they were held in. It was relatively cluttered with boxes, crates, spare parts and the like. Jin and Kazuki likewise took stock of their `prison cell' and found nothing that they could use for their own purposes. The three of them sat on the floor cross-legged with their hands forward which were still bound by the wrist restraints, the three looked at those items with an unconcerned air as they were aware that they could snap the bonds like weak string. They however decided to bid their time, so they then looked at their so-called guard.

 

The egg-shaped machine was about the size of a small dog, and had a large projection screen of the top half with a small console underneath the lower rim and on the front. The robot floated by means of a special anti-gravity system and remained glued to its post outside of their cage.

 

Jin heard his comrade and best friend Kazuki give of a slight growl but he still held his peace. He knew that neither Kazuki nor Tanaki had any intention of staying here waiting to be executed. He then called their attention.

 

< (What's going on in your mind K?)>

 

< (I don't relish the idea of waiting for those guys to come back later and bring us to be executed. Besides I'm getting a little tired and irritated, with just one fire bolt, I can fry the control matrix for those energy bars.)>

 

< (K's got a point. Besides with one fire bolt and with proper aim he can take out that robot also.)> Tanaki chimed in as he too was waiting to break out.

 

< (Let's bid our time guys. Besides that, that little machine is no threat as it's just doing it's assigned program, so no sense wasting power over that. The opportunity will come soon.)>

 

< (So what'll we do? Talk to the guard?)> Kazuki asked in a curious tone.

 

< (Sure.)>

 

Kazuki mentally sighed as he directed his attention to the robot guard and decided to indulge in a conversation with their watcher, no matter how short.

 

“So… you come down here a lot?”

 

“Beep! Beep! That does not compute.”

 

Kazuki turned to face his comrades and said just one word. “Figures.”

 

Jin and Tanaki just chuckled.

 

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On the main command bridge of the Ikazuchi…

 

“Cancel the exhibition match.” The Prime Minister said as he and his staff entered the Command Bridge. He then sat down on the captain's chair. “Those third class rejects ruined the entire ceremony.”

 

“Yes sir!” An aide saluted as he then moved to fulfill that order. On the main view-screen, were the images of several other ships of the Talark Space Fleet were now moving into position with the Ikazuchi. It won't be long before the assembled fleet would be in a position to move out and strike first at its hated and despised nemesis. He had spoken to security chief about it, and nearly threatened to have the man removed to an escape pod and shot back to Talark for this messy breach in security. But for now they all had a job to do, but he promised that when this was over, he was going to have those men shot.

 

It was then that several small but bright dots of light came streaking out from the deep void of space.

 

The crew who thought that those were merely shooting stars were going to get a rude awakening.

 

-----------------------------------

 

Jin turned his head, along with Tanaki's and Kazuki's as they felt something about to happen to the ship… they were right on the money.

 

WHABOOM!

 

The floor of their cell shook as a massive explosion rocked the section of the ship that they were in. The impact caused their robotic guard to lose its balance temporarily, the imbalance however was enough to make it pitch forward and slam into the energy grid of the cell, that immediately caused it to short-circuit itself and the grid's systems along with it. The energy bars remained active though now lacking in power and intensity.

 

Jin and his two buddies stood up and casually headed for a nearby porthole. Once they looked out they saw flashes of light that were none other than laser bolts, and streaks that were cannon fire lighting up the star studded void of space, that along with explosions coming from missiles. Jin nodded as he recognized the Talark Space Fleets' attackers to be none other than the Megele Dread interceptors.

 

“Not the exact opportunity we had in mind, but this will do. Right guys?”

 

“True… so those are Dreads.” Tanaki asked as he watched the sleek and well designed space fighters dodged away from the firepower being directed against them by the Talark ships. They all did a comprehensive study of the Megele's main battle fighter, and admitted, that compared to the Vanguard, the Dread was far superior in mobility, range, technology, and firepower. But the Dread was nothing but chicken feed compared to their Sorcerer-Knight bio-armor, and the Vanguards were nothing but junk.

 

“Cool aren't they? Hey, should we involve ourselves in this?” Kazuki asked as he looked at the battle unfolding outside in space.

 

Jin and Tanaki gave a rueful look, as they could understand that the desire for battle was in them as well. But they knew better than to involve themselves in such a stupid conflict between genders of the same human blood. It brought vague memories of the time when their real home world had to endure the wars. As they had the stored memories of their ancestors, they were not inclined to fight meaningless and costly wars like the one being fought by the women of Megele and Talark.

 

“No, we won't get involve. Let's get out of here.” Jin said as he casually pulled apart his restrained hands, and the restraints snapped off like cut thread over a fire.

 

Tanaki and Kazuki nodded as they did the same thing and snapped off the restraints easily. Kazuki raised one hand and fired a triple combination of fire magic, quantum energy, and bio-etheric energy in a burning red bolt which blew apart the front of the cell easily as the energy emitters were overwhelmed and the beams faded away.

 

Jin moved forward and checked if any of the Talark guards were around. Seeing none he motioned for his friends to move out. They calmly exited their now ravaged cell, pausing to pick up their travel bags and their respective weapons, which were placed there by the side of their cell no doubt by the guards. Just as they were about to leave, they heard the robot give off sounds of electronic pain and began to contemplate it.

 

“B-bleep…beep…bip…squark…”