Gundam SEED Fan Fiction / Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ GunDread SEED (Redition) ❯ A new Player ( Chapter 9 )

GunDread SEED

 

Disclaimer: Everything VanDread and everything Gundam is not mine, I'm merely a writer using the ideas without malice or profit making intent.

 

< >: Thoughts

 

Chapter 9

 

A new Player

 

**************

 

The Nirvana's main monitor displayed a new planet with a surface almost entirely covered with water. The captain and her first officer were busy reading the data of the new planet they had arrived to on their way back home to Megele and Talark.

 

“The planet's atmosphere is entirely composed of a nitrogen/oxygen mix that is suitable for sustaining human life-forms." Buzam stated as the images began to focus on something resembling an island. “There is a landmass on the northern hemisphere and we are detecting a small city on the island along with the remains of a colony ship underwater."

 

Magno nodded as she considered their current options for the world below. “What do you think BC? Should we pay them a call?"

 

BC couldn't answer that question as the alarms were activated as Ezra announced the presence of unknown ships nearby.

 

“Sensors have detected several ships coming from the other side of the planet!"

 

“Can you identify them Ezra?" Buzam asked the young pregnant woman.

 

“There seems to be at least thirty of those Cube Fighters and one large ship… I can't make out exactly what it is."

 

**************

 

Coming out from the planet's shadow, was an alien vessel close to the size of the Nirvana. It resembled a totally hideous tulip with a stem. Buzzing all over its surface were those mechanical octopi or Cube Fighters that the pirates were very familiar with. At that exact moment, the aliens detected the Nirvana, that made the fighter activate their preprogrammed orders and attacked.

 

**************

 

“All hands to combat stations!" Magno barked in the communications networks.

 

**************

 

Kyo rushed out of his quarters, moving in to the closest corridor near his room to get to Freedom, but suddenly he was greeted by a large flash of light causing him to stop. He reflexively reached for his pistol and drew it halfway as he squinted to see just what was in his path. He got his answer soon enough.

 

“HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

 

The shrill laughter sent a shiver down his spine as he saw the curvaceous silhouette of a certain Dread pilot. Behind Jura was none other than Barnette, who happened to be recording the whole scene via camcorder. Apparently the two of them set the strobe lights in advance for this occasion, as they knew that he would be heading for the nearest route to the Hanger to his quarters.

 

< NOT AGAIN! > Kyo thought as he sheathed his pistol.

 

“Don't you get it? Today's the day you definitely be combining that magnificent armor of your with me!" Jura said as she struck the most elegant pose she could think of and do. She glanced back at best friend and smiled. “Well, how was that?"

 

Barnette nodded with a smile and gave Jura an okay signal. “Perfect!"

 

Kyo gave a deep growl. < I don't have the time for this sort of thing! > He thought as soon as he made a full one hundred and eighty degree turn and took another alternate route to his Gundam, while trying not to think about certain images that Jura had unintentionally placed in his mind when she made that pose.

 

“Hey! I'm not finished yet!" Jura called out to his retreating form, then turned to her comrade. “All right then, we'll move to stage two!"

 

Barnette let off a sigh. “Right then."

 

**************

 

After launching out of the Nirvana in Freedom, Kyo began darting about, going into random battles with the alien forces along with the Dread fighters. Liberty wasn't available due to modifications and maintenance requirements. The other members of Crusader Squadron were currently in their stations with Gascogne at the Register and in the Dread teams. Kyo didn't take much notice of this fact; they were only dealing with Cube Fighters and one weird and totally hideous machine. If it came to worse, he could merge Freedom with Meia's Dread, or with Dita's Dread… and should it happen, Freedom could fuse with Jura's Dread, he was willing to bet that the form the two would make will be a real surprise. He then took notice that these Cube Fighters were now more agile than before, no doubt adapting to his battle skills. Some managed to dodge the strikes coming from his beam sabers as he swung them. This made the Gundam pilot work a bit harder to take them down.

 

< They've gotten better. >

 

One Cube Fighter managed to hit Freedom with a strafing shot, but was immediately destroyed a moment later from behind as well. Jura's Dread arrived swooping alongside Freedom.

 

“Well, are we going to combine now?" Jura said with a smug tone.

 

< Damn it Jura, not now! > Kyo thought as he managed to block a round from another Cube Fighter with his shield.

 

“Mr. Alien! Watch out!"

 

He was about to take out his unwanted sniper when he spotted it being turned into junk by Dita's Dread fighter

 

Dita's fighter arrived and took down the alien attacker with several well-aimed shots before it could attack Freedom a second time.

 

The younger pilot blew Kyo a kiss from her cockpit. “If you're going to combine, do it with me, okay?”

 

Kyo gritted his teeth in frustration as he tried to get his bearings back into fighting the Cube Fighters. “Will the both of you stop this?!” Freedom shot out like a rocket out of it's silo into another swarm of enemy units, and tore through them with the beam sabers.

That was when he used his other attack.

 

The beam cannons on Freedom's wings and hips activated and immediately locked on, as Kyo checked the targeting computer.

 

“TAKE THIS!”

 

Once more, the Gundam's ranged arsenal opened up to unleash a massive storm of weapons fire, blasting apart anything that was in the target range or were right in the way. Twenty of the Cube Fighters were reduced to scrap metal. When Kyo and Freedom cleared the path and came close enough, Kyo reverted Freedom back to it's normal form and got ready to end this. With the beam weapons on full overcharge, that alien vessel would be atomized.

 

But before the Gundam could power up, several reserved Cube Fighters appeared and slammed into him and they dived right towards the surface of the planet.

 

“Mr. Alien!" Dita cried as she tried to reach Mr. Alien to assist him out of this mess, but several fighters from the alien ship appeared and kept both her and Meia from coming to aid the young Mobile Suit pilot and his Gundam unit. Only one Dread Fighter was able to pierce the defensive forces of the alien units and dove towards the Gundam.

 

Since Dreads were never intended for atmospheric flight, Jura knew that she was taking a risk that could kill her and her Dread. She however showed no concern as she plunged deeper to her intended target in the hope combining into something elegant as well. “Barnette! Are you getting this on tape?" She asked as her Dread began to heat up due to atmospheric reentry.

 

“You're asking me at a time like this?!" Barnette remarked.

 

Further down in the planet's atmosphere, Freedom's armor began to heat up even more. However, Kyo wasn't worried about that detail, since he had a great deal of experience from reentry before during his long travels, and Freedom's armor was heat resistant enough to withstand being in atmospheric reentry. Furthermore he was quite certain that he and his Gundam would survive the impact of landing, though it didn't matter much whether they hit water or land thanks to Freedom's braking thrusters. Though if they hit water, they were definitely going to make quite the impression. Two of the Cube Fighters that held Freedom burst apart from the heat, while several more fighters followed, with their heat shields active, as they all streaked down like meteors.

 

Kyo was the one trying to survive the ride inside Freedom, so it wasn't surprising when he spotted Jura's Dread fighter following him down. “What the HELL are you doing?! Get out of here NOW!" He shouted as soon as he got into contact with Jura.

 

Jura was totally oblivious to the situation, though she could hear the strains on her Dread Fighter, and she was quite aware of the danger she was in as she dived at such a high angle on the planet's atmosphere. The blonde pilot's gaze was fixed solely on Kyo as she got closer to the Gundam.

 

“Now show me the Third Stage!"

 

Just as the Gundam and the Dread were less than three miles from the surface of the planet, Kyo's Freedom Gundam and Jura's Dread were enveloped into a corona of blue light. They all hit the surface of the planet's ocean with tremendous impact, unleashing a massive geyser that would have made the World Trade Center look like a sand-castle at the beach along with massive shockwaves that spread out in all directions for miles. The newly arrived Cube Fighters hovered over the surface of the crash-site and waited for the two who merged into a new form.

 

High above the orbit of the planet, everyone else watched in apprehension.

 

**************

 

Back at the Nirvana's bridge…

 

“They've crashed at least five miles from the island-city." Ezra reported as she got the calculations right on the location of the impact zone.

 

“Jura! Kyo! Are all of you all right? Do you all copy?" Buzam called out to the said individuals through the communications systems. However she got no response from the two. Then, it happened…

 

**************

 

Suddenly the ocean's settling surface exploded once more as several objects burst out like rockets fired off a launching pad. Two of the objects that came out were Jin and Kazuki, but the rest were different. There were eight large discs that were gravity-repulsor type discs, which rotated around the area where Kyo and Jura had landed. Then something massive began to surface…

 

The newly created GunDread was…odd. Two massive limbs were extended forward in the shape of pincers and wing-like projections on each side. Out on the front of this new machine was another repulsor disc, far larger than the other eight that surrounded the newly conceived machine. The aft sections were also raised and the circle of discs rotated vertically in front of the new machine. All in all, the GunDread looked like a huge…

 

**************

 

“Crab?" Belvedere said as she and the rest of the crew from the bridge all the way to the engineering section all saw GunDread Jura on the Nirvana's main monitor.

 

Out onboard her Dread; Barnette was also staring on her monitor. Jura wasn't going to be happy at this. Still, she brought out her camcorder and began to film.

 

**************

 

Speaking of whom…

 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! THIS CAN'T BE MINE!!!" The blonde Dread pilot screamed in despair as she saw through a monitor as what her Dread had become. She then started to become hysterical.

 

Kyo however, didn't take note of the mecha's appearance as he scanned the new cockpit, as he found himself in his uniform. He was now sitting inside a circular cockpit. Both he and Jura were in separate seats and were opposite of each other. Between them was a console, which was round, and there was a holographic projection globe.

 

< Well… this is new. The systems are going to take a while to learn, so might as well do a trial by fire. Though I wish Jura would concentrate more. > Kyo said as he tried to deal with Jura's fits as of this moment.

 

At that precise moment, the Cube Fighters began to attack.

 

Inside the craft, Kyo worked hard in figuring out this machine's capabilities and looked over the controls for anything that could activate the mecha's weapons and defensive systems. Jura however, was still throwing a fit.

 

“This is so uncool! WAAAAAHHHHH!"

 

“WILL YOU PLEASE GET A GRIP AND SHUT UP?! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! FIGHT BACK!!" Kyo shouted as the GunDread took several precision hits, but he was happy to notice that in this transformed state, the hull of Jura's Dread was twice as thick and had even become stronger than his Gundam's Prominence Phase Shift Armor.

 

“WAAAAHHHHHH! IT'S SO HIDEOUS! CHANGE IT BACK!"

 

In a fit of frustration, anguish, and disgust Jura slapped her hands on the console. In doing so, so activated a control button, which caused the GunDread to fire its maneuvering thrusters in full blast. The craft suddenly rocketed backwards, leaving behind a massive jet wash, which coupled with water, swamped several of the Cube Fighters behind it.

 

**************

 

“This is bad." BC said as she watched the direction where Kyo and Jura's machine were heading. “They're going straight for the island colony."

 

“Where are Dita and Meia?" Magno asked, though she also knew the risks involved should they too join in the battle.

 

Ezra shook her head as she checked her monitors. “They're still out here engaging the enemy."

 

**************

 

Kyo found out immediately that the chairs he and Jura were on could be rotated all around the cockpit. This gave both of them access to all the panels and the control systems. He began swerving around, pressing buttons randomly in the hopes of finding some sort of weapon system on the GunDread. Every now and then, he had to push Jura aside to get to the controls. Meanwhile, to add to his building anger, Jura still continued to scream hysterically and showed no signs in giving up. Outside, the enemy was now dealing with both their fused machine and with his comrades.

 

“WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE THE WEAPONS ON THIS THING?!"

 

“I DON'T WANT THIS ANYMORE!"

 

“SINCE YOU SEEM TO HAVE TIME TO COMPLAIN, WHY DON'T YOU USE THAT TIME TO HELP ME FIND THE DAMNED WEAPONS!"

 

“WAAAHHH! WHY DID I HAVE TO BE STUCK WITH THIS FORM?! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ELEGANT!"

 

“WILL YOU CUT IT OUT WITH THE ELEGANT (censored) AND HELP ME FIND THE WEAPON SYSTEMS?!"

 

“LET ME OFF!"

 

“STOP SHOOTING YOUR MOUTH AND SHOOT THE DAMNED ENEMY!"

 

The GunDread suddenly stopped a full two hundred yards from the island colony as Kyo spotted a control level on the right side of his chair. < What the heck, might as well try this one! > He thought as grasped it firmly and pushed it forward.

 

The arms of the GunDread immediately lashed out like whips and smashed two Cube Fighters into junk as the exploded.

 

< Well, this could work. > Kyo thought as he tried once more to try and swat the damned alien fighters, but these were smart enough to stay a good distance from the GunDread and bombard it from a distance. Seeing that this mode of fighting wasn't getting anywhere fast, the male pilot of GunDread Jura looked further for other weapons.

 

“WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! I WANTED SOMETHING ELEGANT! I DESERVE TO HAVE SOMETHING ELEGANT!"

 

“WILL YOU JUST KNOCK IT OF WITH THE ELEGANT STUFF?! NOW!!!" In frustration, Kyo slammed his hands on a button which he never pressed before.

 

Now that particular button DID activate a weapon system. The discs that had done nothing but rotate in front of the machine suddenly flew up to hover horizontally above the GunDread. The largest of the disc flew up to hover above its eight counterparts. It then unleashed eight beams of destructive energy that immediately were absorbed into the smaller discs. Then the circle of discs unleashed the beams in eight different directions, atomizing the remaining Cube Fighters.

 

Kyo sighed a bit as leaned back to his chair. “Finally… something that works."

 

Jura said nothing, as she silently stared at nothing in particular.

 

**************

 

Later…

 

As soon as Meia and her Dread teams had dispatched the remaining Cube Fighters still in space, (they however weren't able to damage the weird ship, due to the ship's immense armor and it's very persistent defenders), and returned to the Nirvana, Magno was informed by Amarone that communications to the planet's only island/city was possible. In fact, the inhabitants were hailing them already. When the main monitor came online, Magno found herself being addressed by the city's leader, a woman by the name of Fanita. She appeared to be a young woman in her early twenties with long blonde hair and had a face that would have fit the description of angelic perfectly. She wore robes made of lavender cloth and seemed to have a white mask hanging near her on a chain around her neck.

 

“Welcome to the most beautiful planet in the universe, Anpathos."

 

“Anpathos, eh?" Magno asked as she gazed at the city's leader.

 

“Yes. We have been patiently for so long for your arrival."

 

This got the attention and curiosity of Buzam. “For us?"

 

“You are Munya, are you not?" Fanita inquired.

 

Magno and BC looked at each other with puzzled and confused expressions, before Magno addressed the young woman again. “I'm sorry but we're not this Munya that you're talking about."

 

The leader of Anpathos gave a look of slight disappointment at this bit of news. “You're not?"

 

The pirate captain shook her head. “No, but there are some things that we all would like to discuss with you. Would you mind if we came down there?"

 

Fanita gave a nonchalant nod. “I'm afraid that since the Great Ritual is now underway, we won't be able to give you all a proper greeting."

 

“That's all right."

 

**************

 

Kyo sighed as he ran a diagnostics check of the newly formed GunDread as he guided the mecha headed for a nearby wall. While inside…

 

“I got it all on tape! Your magnificent form in action has now been captured for prosperity." Barnette said excitedly as she got into contact with the KnightDread.

 

Jura however, wasn't even paying any attention as she and Tanaki sat in the floating machine.

 

Kyo looked at her and noticed her empty look. To her, the GunDread may had been ugly, but in his tactician's eye, there was great and unique power buried deep in this machine, and when that power is realized and harnessed, then it's inner beauty and power will outshine it's outward appearance. But for now, he decided to leave Jura in peace

 

**************

 

After leaving Bart in command of the Nirvana, (But not without strictly forbidding him to run in any situation, should the aliens come back for another round), Magno and BC got onto a transport shuttle and headed to the surface of Anpathos, and it's only city.

 

Once they landed on the island, they disembarked from the shuttle and looked around. Kyo was there waiting for them. He had separated his Gundam from Jura's Dread and left the Dread pilot to sulk as his Gundam was there close to Jura's Dread. The blonde Dread pilot had been totally unresponsive, and the Mobile Suit pilot decided to give her some time alone. He went down a staircase that was placed into the walls that surrounded the island-city.

 

“Hey Grandmother! Nice to see you here." Kyo said as he greeted the Captain. Recently the young man had taken up to calling Magno, Grandmother, instead of referring to her title of Captain all the time. Magno found no reason to disapprove the idea and welcomed it.

 

“Hello K, I see that aren't any worse for wear." Magno and Gascogne were the only people allowed by the Gundam pilot to use his nickname.

 

“Kyo, how's Jura doing?" BC asked as she noticed that Jura wasn't with the young man.

 

Kyo gave a tired look. “She's calmed down and sulking back at her Dread, but she's all right, no injuries or anything."

 

“If she's doing well now, then I think that you all should come with us." Magno said as she pointed her walking stick towards a building that seemed to be some sort of shrine.

 

The whole population of Anpathos seemed to be in a hurry to start some sort of festival. Kyo took one more look at the situation alongside with his comrades, and shrugged his shoulders; having seen once more that nothing seemed off the beaten path, but just to be sure… He got ready his weapons and his SEED ability as he followed the Captain and the First Officer.

 

**************

 

In the Nirvana's Hanger deck…

 

“Mr. Alien, and Jura… they're all alone down there together!" Dita was pacing the floor of the hanger back and forth as she began to imagine what could be happening down at the planet's surface, and what was happening to Mr. Alien in particular.

 

“Calm down Dita." Meia said as she watched her young apprentice pace back and forth. “I'm sure that everything's fine. The captain and the commander are there as well."

 

“I know, but still…" Dita directed her attention to a nearby porthole and looked towards the surface of the planet below them. “Mr. Alien…"

 

Meia never told anyone this, but she also felt unsure of what had happened down there, and she was uneasy about the idea that Jura was alone with Kyo. During their voyage back to Megele and Talark, Kyo had always hinted that he knew about the ancient relationships between men and women. And the thought of him being looked at by other women, and Jura made the Dread Leader feel very uncomfortable for some odd reason.

 

**************

 

Back at Anpathos…

 

“So who exactly are these Munya that all of you seem to be waiting for?" Magno asked as she got into a conversation with the leader of Anpathos.

 

The pirate captain, her second in command, and the lone Gundam pilot found themselves in front of a massive column with a spiraling staircase around the sides and to the top of the column. In front of the column was a stone plaque that showed an image of a person on his knees, with something that resembled a tail near the small of his back, rising towards a sphere of light.

 

“The Munya are the ones who brought our ancestors here to this planet." Fanita explained. “We are so grateful to them all that we have been patiently waiting for their return."

 

This lack of proper details left Magno and her companions with more questions than answers. “Exactly who are the Munya? Why are they coming here?"

 

“They are in need of the Spiral Code from us." The leader of Anpathos replied.

 

“Spiral Code? What's that supposed to be…?” Kyo asked himself, but his eyes widened as his gaze went back to the plaque in front of them.

 

BC's gaze also went to the plaque and also understood the meaning of the picture. “They're after the Spinal Cord!"

 

“They CAN'T be serious about this!?" Kyo shouted in horror as he gazed out at the assembling numbers of people.

 

Kyo and the others looked on appalled. These people were ACTUALLY willing to let themselves be killed and harvested by the aliens?! Didn't they have any will to live? Or even have any backbone? The Gundam pilot winced at the unintended pun.

 

**************

 

Meanwhile, back on the Nirvana…

 

Bart was in a real mess at the moment…

 

“When can we all replenish our food supplies?"

 

“Excuse me, but I made a request to be assigned to a different locker."

 

“So do you think that these shoes go well with my dress?"

 

“Which skirt is better, the blue one of the gold one?"

 

“Have I gained any weight?"

 

“Do you think that this blouse makes me look fat?"

 

“I've been thinking about dying my hair blonde. You think I should?"

 

Bart was on the verge of suffering a severe nervous breakdown as the entire crew had been pestering him with a seemingly endless barrage of questions and requests, most of which were solely on very trivial matters. It all became one big jumbled mess, and soon enough the young helmsman couldn't take it anymore.

 

“WILL ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP?!"

 

The monitors in the navigation well; all went silent as Bart cut off all communications to the navigation well. Just as soon as he thought that he could finally have some peace, another call came in, coming from Paiway.

 

“What is it? It had better be important." Bart asked tiredly as he looked at the young nurse.

 

“Don't flake out on the job." The apprentice nurse warned him.

 

Bart sighed…

 

**************

 

Back at the planet Anpathos…

 

Magno had heard more than enough. It was now obvious that the people of Anpathos were just letting others dictate their lives, like they had no will of their own. They used the excuses of custom and tradition to run from the real situation in front of them and their lack of resistance to the aliens ready to slaughter them. In fact they had emulated the alien monsters into the status of gods and followed them like blind obedient sheep.

 

To the ancient female captain, this was completely unacceptable. However, it seemed rather obvious that Fanita and the others could never be convinced that resisting the Munya and make their own decisions and choices were far more preferable than being massacred. They seemed to be totally under their masters' control and were nothing more than lapdogs.

 

“What can you know about life?" Magno challenged. “What do you really know about this Munya you worship? You call this planet the most beautiful in the universe? What have you compared it with? What would you know about your own world, not just this island city?"

 

“The beliefs of me and my people were established long ago by the Munya." Fanita argued as she and her people still worked on their preparations for their masters' arrival… and their own deaths.

 

“Hmpf! Again with this Munya. It seems to me that you can't even make the simplest decisions without consulting this great Munya. How pathetic you all are!"

 

Kyo felt that this mess was not going to be easily solved. And should the aliens come again…

 

**************

 

Back in orbit, Bart was once more bombarded by the crew with countless questions and requests by the crewmembers, but before he could say anything that alarms went off. Something…massive had just entered Anpathos' solar system.

 

“Huh?"

 

**************

 

“It's the enemy again!" Bart said through the communicator and got in touch with BC and Magno, along with the others.

 

“How many this time?" Buzam asked.

 

“There seems to be only one this time… But it's a big one, and it's shaped like some sort of container."

 

The first officer nodded as she turned to her superior. “Captain!"

 

Magno nodded in agreement as she returned her attention to Fanita. “Well now, it seems to me that your 'precious' Munya have now arrived."

 

“Really?" Fanita became extremely pleased at the news. “Finally! The prophecies have come true!"

 

< What is she talking about? > Kyo asked himself as he gazed at what would happen.

 

The pirates and their Gundam pilot ally began to have bad feelings about this little scenario. Their suspicions were answered when the top of the shrine extended a quartet of receiving antennas in response to the aliens' arrival. The antennas seemed to have another function as the ocean's water level began to rise and soon the ground became flooded.

 

“They've planned this all out rather well." BC commented as she saw hundreds of people converge on the shrine. Each one of them now wore their ritual masks, which reminded her of condemned people heading towards their executioner, but in this case, they were blindly willing to go.

 

“What the heck does this mean?" Kyo asked.

 

“It means that in this way, all the people are assembled in one spot. And there's no other place to go." The first officer replied.

 

**************

 

Back out in space…

 

Bart wondered on what he should do now as he watched the alien craft approach it's sister ship to link up together. On Meia's advice, he had ordered the Dread teams to launch and set up a defensive line in order to meet up with the aliens should a battle start. The Dreads were now deployed, but so were the alien Cube Fighters and the other reserved ones coming out from the new alien ship as they to prepared to defend their mothership.

 

**************

 

Back at Anpathos…

 

Magno shook her head in disgust. She had no intention to remain here and let herself and her crew to be harvested alongside these weak-minded and misguided fools.

 

“You can't change or run from destiny." Fanita answered as she also put on her own mask.

 

“Destiny, eh? That's very convenient for you to say. Then again, people who can't decide for themselves always have an excuse."

 

“This is the right thing to do!" Fanita retorted angrily. “Tradition is tradition! It is YOU who are wrong! You're strangers to our world and now you insult our God? How can you so rude?"

 

“What the hell is WRONG with YOU!?"

 

Fanita, Magno and BC looked back and saw the fury in Kyo's face.

 

“You don't even KNOW just who you're offering yourself and your own people too! The beings you call GOD are nothing more than butchers and murderers! And yet you can't even decide for yourselves, whether to follow what you feel is right or to ask whether what you were told to believe or follow is even right. You'll be wasting your lives just for nothing!"

 

“HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!?" Fanita shouted.

 

“I can say that cause it's true! You can choose what's right to follow, you're humans! All of you are! But now you're acting like sheep blindly going to the slaughter… all for your 'precious' Munya! Think! Do you all ready want to DIE?! And enough of this garbage you call tradition! Is it even right for you to sacrifice everyone of your people, just to pledge obedience to some being you don't even know is REAL?!"

 

“THAT'S ENOUGH FROM YOU!! WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW OF WHAT IS RIGHT?!" Fanita retorted once more.

 

“That's enough Kyo. I see that no matter what we say or do, there's nothing we can gain by continuing this discussion." The aged woman answered as she turned to walk away, but then she gasped in pain and slumped down to her knees in the inch deep water.

 

“Grandmother!" Kyo shouted as they rushed to her side as Buzam also knelt down beside her commander.

 

“Of all the times for my back to give out!" Magno gritted as she leaned on her walking stick for support. “I can't move!"

 

“Grandmother…"

 

“I have no intention of becoming a part of this!" the ancient crone said as she looked up at the three space warriors. “It's up to you, hurry!"

 

“Don't worry Grandmother, I'll deal with them!" Kyo said as he stood up and ran to where his Gundam and Jura's Dread was.

 

The pirate captain smiled at the three men and turned to address Fanita. “Well now, it seems that we have some time left over to kill."

 

**************

 

Kyo rounded the corner and spotted Jura, still sitting and doing nothing.

 

< Oh no, not again. > “Hey! We've got to launch now!" Kyo called out to Jura and ran to her Dread.

 

Jura showed no indication of hearing him, as she still continued to sulk and stare at nothing in particular.

 

“Hey didn't you hear what I said?" Kyo leaped from the wall and landed on the Dread.

 

The blonde pilot angrily turned her head. “Unfortunately, I did! Go away!"

 

“In case you haven't noticed I can't do that right now! What's wrong? Don't you know what's at stake here?"

 

“Not my problem!"

 

“Yeah right! I don't believe you at all!" Kyo said as he gripped her right shoulder, making the blonde woman tense up. Then she slumped back for a moment and sighed sadly.

 

“It doesn't matter now." She replied without facing him.

 

Kyo shook his head in disbelief. “Are you STILL hung up just because of that? Aren't your friends and comrades more important than what your GunDread looks like?"

 

Jura continued to not to answer, and that made Kyo angrier and more irritated at her shallow attitude. “Listen up! You've been hounding me like a wolf for months! And now that you've gotten your wish you walk out on this?!"

 

Jura still didn't answer him.

 

Kyo tried to figure this out, until an idea struck him. “Is that it? Did you just want to combine with me and Freedom, because you thought that the result will be something that the others have never seen before?" Jura still didn't say anything, but her body language told Kyo everything. He sighed as he removed his hand from her shoulder. “Okay, I get the idea now. You want to do something that no one else has ever done before, right?"

 

< God, I hope I know what I'm doing. > Kyo thought as he set his plan in motion.

 

At that point, Jura replied. “I… don't care anymore, and nothing you can say or do will change my…"

 

Jura didn't have time to finish, she found herself being grasped by Kyo on the shoulder, he hauled to her feet, turned her around… and… kissed her full on the lips.

 

Jura's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she found her lips being pressed into Kyo's. And to add to that she found her body seemingly melding into the contours of Kyo's own body, despite his pilot uniform. Her heart thundered in her chest in a hundred beats per second, as the osculation continued. Her body temperature rose dramatically and her body seemed to become like melting wax as her knees went weak on her, as a kind of deep warmth flowed through every fiber of her being and seemed to meld with his own. And the most shocking thing about it was… she loved every second of it!

 

Kyo slowly ended the kiss as he stepped back and released Jura's shoulder as she was still in a deep state of shock and astonishment. He stood there with his arms crossed in front of him and waited for Jura to get control of her voice. It didn't take long.

 

“W-W-What…why…did…y-y-y-you…?"

 

“Now that I've gotten your attention." Kyo replied. “I want you to listen to me Jura. Right now, you've done something that no other woman on Megele and on the Nirvana has ever done. You're the first woman of Megele to ever kiss a man in over a hundred years… and survived. Now you've got another chance to do something even more incredible, Your GunDread has the power to save an entire planet. That's correct Jura, the GunDread you and I make, has the power to use its systems to protect the whole planet that we're on. How do I know? I studied the systems properly before I separated Freedom from your Dread. That's your GunDread's power, no one can match that, neither the GunDread I and Meia can make, nor the GunDread me and Dita can make. Their machines can't protect a planet, but yours can. So that's something else that no one else can claim to, right?" < How I'm keeping a straight face after what I just did, I'll never know. > Kyo thought to himself.

 

Jura took in Kyo's words as she brushed her fingers on her lips, which were still tingling. Then she nodded. “That's… not half-bad. All right, let's combine!"

 

Her partner nodded as he got into his Gundam. “By the way, just between you and me, let's keep all this to ourselves, okay?"

 

*************

 

Up in deep space…

 

The Dread teams were having difficulty in fighting it out with the ever increasing numbers of Cube Fighters, several fighters, which included Barnette's were now out of commission, as the pirates tried in desperation to hold their lines. However the large machine took no damage as the Cube Fighters continued to press the attack.

Inside the navigation well, Bart was reciting his mantra over and over again.

 

“I won't run! I won't run! I won't run!"

 

However, as soon as several Cube Fighters got through and blasted the Nirvana with several laser bolts, he squealed like a girl. “I can't take much more of this!"

 

“Don't be such a coward!" Magno barked as she spoke through Buzam's communicator.

 

This caught everyone's attention as the captain spoke.

 

“I've been alive for a very long time and I've seen many people die, and I could do nothing about it all because I was helpless. However, those people never gave up until the very end. They fought to their very last and I feel proud to have known them all. I feel even prouder to know that the people I am with now are fighting with all their might and are determined never to surrender. They believe with their hearts and souls that what they're doing and fighting for is right, because they decided for themselves. And that is the reason why I cannot abide those who let others determine their destinies and do nothing to change it and themselves!"

 

The speech had the desired effect as Bart tensed up and prepared to face the enemy head-on. “I'm not moving an inch!"

 

Then another voice broke through. “You're blocking our paths! Move out of the way!"

 

Upon hearing Kyo's commanding voice, Bart immediately moved the Nirvana out of orbit over Anpathos as the GunDread Jura shot up from the planet's surface.

 

**************

 

“Leave this to the both of us!" Kyo called out as he readied the craft for it's main capabilities.

 

“If you're not fast enough, then you'll end up as a casualty of war!" Jura added as she also got ready.

 

GunDread Jura then came to point in orbit over Anpathos and unleashed it's repulsor discs. Each of the discs immediately flew to designated areas over the planet's atmosphere and began emitting a powerful energy wave that connected to each of the other disc's energy waves. In that moment, the entire planet is engulfed in massive planetary energy barrier.

 

On the surface of Anpathos, the water level receded, as contact with the alien ships was lost due to the barrier erected by GunDread Jura. Both Buzam and Magno smiled in satisfaction.

 

Inside the cockpit of her GunDread, Jura squealed in delight and joy. “I'd love to see the other GunDreads pull this off!"

 

“Now isn't the time to celebrate just yet." Kyo reminded her as he watched the two alien vessels merge into their true intended form, once that was accomplished; the alien vessel unleashed a massive vacuum like force. Fortunately for the pirates, their Dread squadrons were far away from the action, and so were Dita and Meia. Unfortunately the aliens had no qualms in doing what was needed to be done, as several Cube Fighters were sucked up by their mothership and were torn apart.

 

“Kyo! Jura! Get out of there now!" Meia said as he got into contact with the GunDread.

 

“Don't worry about it Leader, I think Mr. Alien's got a plan for this." Dita answered as she looked on.

 

<I Hope!>

 

Kyo did have a plan, smirking with a devious look he waited for the alien harvesting ship to open up more. < That's it… Time to give this guy a really bad case of indigestion! > He then reached for a button and pressed it hard with his fist. “Okay buddy, you want something to snack on? Well, for today only, here's all you can eat!"

 

A massive opening in the force barrier formed just below the GunDread, in a moment a huge column of water lanced from the surface of Anpathos after being sucked up by the GunDread's main disk. Using the larger disk as a deflector and direction unit, Kyo directed the stream of moisture right into the open maw of the alien ship as it was being stuffed with a massive amount of seawater.

 

Inside the fused Dread, Jura became concerned as the cockpit began to shake and shudder.

 

“You're going to break it!"

 

“Relax! I know what I'm doing." Kyo replied. “That ship was designed to collect only the people on that island/city. I doubt that it's designed to hold the planet's whole ocean!"

 

Meia shook her head. “That's so reckless."

 

Dita nodded. “But you have to admit one thing Leader, it's working." She looked on with a slight hint of disappointment, as she wanted her Dread and Mr. Alien to do the same thing.

 

A few moments later, the alien ship overshot it's limit and exploded to pieces, sending water flying everywhere and leaving behind only debris that had once been an alien harvest ship.

 

Inside the GunDread's cockpit, Jura immediately hugged her partner in celebration, they had done the impossible!

 

However, just before they could return to the Nirvana, a hyper-space hole appeared, and something sent their sensor systems of full red alert. Everyone else became shocked as something even more massive than the first alien ship began to appear from that hole's maw. Apparently the aliens had a secondary option should they have difficulties in gathering the people of Anpathos.

 

“What the?! No way!" Jura gasped.

 

“Looks like we're not out of the woods yet! We're definitely in trouble now." Tanaki replied as he looked at the latest alien menace.

 

Unlike it's first companion, this new ship wasn't a passive vessel. It was shaped like a massive and grotesque humanoid hydra, with many long necks and several arms and each neck had a head, bristling with weapons, and thrashing about. Each head was littered with gun and missile ports, which began laying down an intense barrage at the Dreads, and also the Nirvana. As the barrage caused the Dreads to scatter, it made its way towards GunDread Jura and towards Anpathos. No doubt in Kyo's mind that this new attacker was intended to land on the planet and capture it's inhabitants, and since those people revered the alien monsters like gods, they would offer no resistance. Several squads of Cube Fighters accompanied the latest horror.

 

“Quick! Fire some more water at that thing?!" Jura shouted as it neared their location.

 

Kyo shook his head. “We're out of water to shoot with anyway. Besides that I don't think they'll fall for the same attack twice."

 

“Then what should we do now?"

 

Kyo looked around for any other weapons and options. He then noticed a button he hadn't taken notice of before. He felt that this extra button just might give them an advantage, or it could be a self-destruct system. Either way, they were running short on both choices and time. He shrugged his shoulders and reached for the button.

 

“Well, I haven't tried this button yet. Let's see what this does." He said as he pressed the button and waited for the results.

 

It was then to everyone's surprise, the discs dropped their generated fields and began to circle the GunDread and bathe it in a gentle luminescence, this change immediately made the new alien ship move back as it waited for whatever could be happening to it's adversary. The form of the GunDread began to change and suddenly become more elongated. The arms and pincers began to take new forms, and also moved into the lower areas of the GunDread, along with two other appendages. The light then began to fade, but the form of the GunDread made between Jura and Kyo was still bathed in gentle light, as the eight discs melded into the new form. And as that happened, the light became crystal-like and broke off… revealing the second form of Jura's own GunDread.

 

It was different all right. It seemed to resemble a large and fierce human warrior decked in strong but elegant armor. It resembled an ancient samurai style Gundam warrior, but was sleek and deadly looking. It then opened its arms and reached behind it and took out a massive halberd and the blade resembled a massive anti-ship halberd. The weapon then ignited a beam edge. The repulsor disks were decked in several areas of the new machine, with the main in the core of the halberd's blade. The humanoid mecha then spun it's weapon as it faced it's enemy

 

**************

 

“It's a…" Dita stated as everyone in the area watched in awe at the secondary form of Jura's GunDread.

 

*************

 

Inside the GunDread…

 

Jura was overjoyed. “I LOVE IT!"

 

Kyo couldn't help but sigh at Jura's happiness. He didn't know that this form existed in the GunDread, but this form was even more useful than the first.

 

“Happy now?”

 

“It's gorgeous!"

 

“Well you can admire it later. Here comes the enemy!" Kyo shouted as he got confirmation that the aliens were now out of their stupor and on the offensive, he grasped the controls and got ready to fight. On the new seating arrangement, which had Kyo on the front and with her on the back, Jura worked her controls with a new smile and a new joy. She was now in her most elegant form at last!

 

GunDread Jura dodged the incoming blasts with immense agility as it charged, placing the Dreads back in the limelight as looking like garden slugs. Jura was amazed at the grace her new machine moved as it maneuvered from every shot fired at it as it ran in space like it was on land. The discs reacted every time a laser bolt and missile would come close, emitting a powerful shield that made every attack from the alien's latest creation to curve away from it. Any other beam was immediately deflected by the weapon being carried by the mecha

 

“Let's see the weapons on this thing!" Kyo said as he activated the weapons array.

 

Several surviving Cube Fighters arrived and began to attack, but had their shots deflected by both the halberd and the shields. It was then that Kyo activated a weapon system. Out of the shoulders came a pair of electromagnetic net cannons, that fired a pair of EM shells. The Cube Fighters were caught hard by the explosion of the shells and rendered immobile. The GunDread tore through them with it's halberd instantly, allowing the blade and the beam edge to cut them down like a scalpel through flesh. The last group were taken out as the halberd was swung outwards and arcs of beam energy were released by the halberd. Another group attacked and were greeted by a barrage of beam bolts and missiles as the new GunDread fired out it's hidden arsenals.

 

“WOW!" Dita cried in amazement.

 

Then, the samurai mecha turned as it went straight for the hydra ship, the alien ship fired a barrage of it's weapons to no succession as the GunDread's barrier was still online. Jura also got involved as Dread pilot fired the beam gattling cannons and missile systems and with unbelievable accuracy the lasers and missiles destroyed several of the heads of the hydra ship. Kyo immediately used the beam halberd to slash off more of the hydra ship's heads instantly.

 

“Time to end this!" Both pilots shouted as the charged for the kill.

 

The discs began to glow into a pure white light as the weapon of the samurai GunDread glowed into an even larger size. The samurai mecha's discs suddenly glowed with a faint blue aura, and to the amazement of all the GunDread faded from view. This caught the new enemy by surprise as it tried to locate the enemy, but suddenly, the GunDread reappeared behind the enemy and prepared to finish off it's target.

 

The GunDread slammed right into the alien machine dead center and began to hack and slash away with it's halberd into the mecha. The others watched as the blade, and ranged weapons of Jura's GunDread unleashed the full fury of the fused Dread as it tore apart it's target from the outside to the inside. As the GunDread moved away, it's halberd then separated into two and became twin katana swords both designed as anti-ship weapons and were also beam edged, it finally finished the attack with two passes that tore away the last heads of the hydra mecha and desiccated it from top to bottom, as the GunDread passed away from the now ruined hulk of the alien hydra ship, the machine expanded as explosions tore it apart inside. In a moment the alien ship exploded into nothing but fragments, leaving the GunDread triumphant as it returned to look at it's defeated foe as the weapons cooled down. It reformed it's beam katanas into the halberd as it gazed at it enemy's destruction.

 

“YAHOOOO! LET'S DO THAT AGAIN!"

 

Jura's partner leaned back at his chair and sighed. “Sorry, we just ran out of enemies, let's head back to the ship. I'm tired as hell now."

 

**************

 

After bidding their farewells to the now free, yet naturally ungrateful people of Anpathos, the pirates resumed their trip back to their home.

 

Kyo was on a bench resting as he sipped some water without his helmet and while in his uniform, as he gazed at a certain collection of Dread pilots in the hanger.

 

Jura cried out in disbelief.

 

“What? What did you mean that you didn't tape it?"

 

Barnette gave her fellow Dread pilot a sigh and later a scowl. “I didn't have the time to get my camcorder!"

 

Jura sighed in disappointment, but started boasting again. “Oh well, no matter, but make sure that you tape it next time! Not only does MY GunDread have the power to protect and shield an entire planet, but it has TWO magnificent forms!"

 

Meia became thoughtful at this as she considered what she had witnessed. “Apparently, your GunDread specializes in both areas of offense and defense. The crab mode is perfect for protection, while the warrior mode is for attack.

 

Kyo sighed irritably as he stood up and faced Jura. “Now that it's over with I hope you let up on you're chasing me now?"

 

But as soon as he began to walk away, he found himself in Jura's embrace and her arms were wrapped around him.

 

“Oh no you don't. After today I'm NEVER letting you go!" She then began to think back on the time she and Kyo kissed.

 

“HEY! What gives?!” Dita cried out in jealousy as she ran to the two and got Kyo by his other arm and tried to yank Kyo out of Jura's arms

 

Jura glared at Dita and spoke. “What this means is that from now on, he's only combining with me!”

 

“NO WAY! MR. ALIEN WILL COMBINE WITH ME!”

 

Kyo gave a pleading look to the heavens as he now found himself as the rope in a tug-of-war. Finally he let loose his irritation.

 

“LET ME GO!”

 

To be continued…

 

Author's notes:

 

Well, this is over and you can see that there have been a good number of changes. One of them is the secondary form of Jura's GunDread. I picked up the idea from Gundam SEED itself, and it seems to hit the dot dead center, if you want to know, it's the Sword Impulse Gundam style approach, minus the beam boomerangs. And besides, Jura likes the warrior form better, so why not? As for the kiss, well that's going to seal Jura and Kyo together, and get Kyo in even more interesting scrapes. More things will happen as the former Yamato will continue to interact with the Nirvana's crew.

 

Plus I know that the ending sucks somewhat, but this is the closest I can come up with, and believe me when I say that there will be even more changes soon.