Gundam SEED Fan Fiction / Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ GunDread SEED- The Second Stage ❯ Infinite Freedom ( Chapter 1 )

GunDread SEED- The Second Stage

 

Disclaimer: Ah, another disclaimer. I don't own either VanDread or Gundam SEED, I'm just using them for a story, and not for profit.

 

< >: Thoughts

 

Chapter 1

 

Infinite Freedom

 

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

 

Kyo and Freedom were racing through the cosmos in formation. Behind them were the three transformed Dreads, and ahead of them were the enemy. Cube Fighters, and other ships from planet Earth which began firing red beams that the four pilots found it hard to avoid them all.

 

Kyo immediately combined with Dita's Dread, and with Meia and Jura as back-up went to face the enemy, but as soon as they were complete in transformation, they were then struck hard on the right arm, the appendage sheared off completely. Inside the cockpit, Kyo and Dita were in deep pain, Sparks and smoke were everywhere and panels were busted all around them, and Kyo had no doubt in his mind that this was only going to get worse, as the huge machine drifted hopelessly into space. Kyo tried to reactivate and use the other cannon arm for some real payback, however, the arm dimmed and shut down completely.

 

They watched in horror as Meia, and Jura tried their best to fight back but were badly damaged by the incoming red beams that increased in number and power. The communications caught their screams of agony as they were defeated. Then the enemy turned their sights towards the Nirvana and their gun sights as well. Red beams began pummeling the shields of the Nirvana and the shields can't hold the assault and were stripped away. In mere moments the ship was blasted apart and was engulfed in an explosion.

 

Then, Kyo screamed as GunDread Dita was consumed by the explosion, along with the remains of Meia and Jura's Dreads. In one brief moment he saw an image that resembled his Gundam, yet wasn't… and three new Gundams…that looked familiar.

 

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

 

“AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!”

 

THUD!

 

Kyo groaned as he sat from the floor of his quarters. The bloody nightmare had caused him to fall off his bunk bed. He shook his head as his breathing and heart rates went back to normal levels. After getting up from the floor, he wondered whether the dream was only a dream or an omen for things to come.

 

He had no doubt that even though it was a dream, the pain and fear felt to real to be an illusion, and there was something happening, and it had nothing to do with the dreams this time. Ever since they had won against that Harvester flagship, he had been feeling somewhat different, his reflexes were somewhat higher along with his physical strength had been boosted as well, and on occasion he was experiencing bouts of light-headedness on occasion, as well as some mild migraines, Though Duero assured him that he was only suffering battle fatigue from all the constant battles, The Gundam pilot and Coordinator knew that though his body was completely human but was also totally unlike the norm. He was changing inside, as if something dormant was now ready to awaken.

 

Another thing the pilot had noticed that he had become somewhat even stronger than last time….far stronger. Just last week he had caved in a console at the Register when it malfunctioned, he only intended to tap it lightly, but now the console looked like a cannon was fired into the side of it. Another time, he accidentally caused some injuries to a trainee during training executing a simple Judo toss during a light workout. That had caused some of the women to rather cautious and nervous near him. He had made a note to train harder to put all his abilities under control including their newly awakening strength. But strength wasn't his only concern, just two days after that, he accidentally hotwired the Register's supply computer, and that made things a bit hectic as the girls tried to sort out the jumbled mess he unintentionally made. He decided to take a few extra hours in training to smoothen the rough edges of his suddenly growing abilities, both mental and physical.

 

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

 

The Hanger…

 

Kyo was busy looking at Freedom as he thought about everything when he left his quarters. He was so deep in silence and thought as he thought about the dreams he had, so concerned and focused on the mystery that he wasn't aware of several certain individuals.

 

“Mr. Alien?”

 

Kyo turned to the sound of the voice and spotted Meia, Dita, and Jura standing behind him. Meia was in her usual black, gray, and white jumpsuit minus her chest and shoulder padding. Dita was decked out in flannel pajamas with an image of a green alien on the top of her clothes. Jura, on the other hand was wearing a sheer nightdress with pink fur and ruffles that denoted her nature and she also had a robe on. However, the Gundam operator could tell that there was something troubling them all, if their apprehensive expressions were any indication.

 

“What are you three doing up at this late an hour?” Kyo asked, concerned with the three Dread pilots.

 

The Dread Leader was the first to speak. “It was trying to tell all of us something. At least, that's what I think it was about.”

 

Kyo's eyes narrowed a bit. “You all saw that dream too, I take it?”

 

Dita nodded vigorously and perked up. “You had that dream too, Mr. Alien?”

 

“Yeah I did. Personally…I don't like it one bit.”

 

Jura became rather worried. “Still, why did we all have that SAME dream?”

 

“Maybe it's because we all share the same experience.” Meia theorized as she recalled the Paeksis implosion long ago. “The transformations of our individual Dreads, Freedom's ability to fuse with them is proof of that. It fits even more that we can now fuse with Liberty, since it used to be a Vanguard support unit before being reformatted by the Paeksis.”

 

“There can be a bit more than that.” Kyo said with a tone of inner uncertainty.

 

“What do you mean, Mr. Alien?” Dita asked.

 

“Well…I have been feeling somewhat strange lately. I'm a lot stronger and mentally faster but I can't keep tabs on my strength. I'm breaking things left and right and breaking into things I'm not supposed to without even trying. And…I've got some idea that it has something to do with my Gundam and the Paeksis.”

 

“Explain.” Meia prompted.

 

Kyo thought back a bit after their last battle. “Before I got hammered handed back there by my Gundam counterpart, the Paeksis engulfed me and began showing images that I had understood, but partially since they were shown to me at such high speed. It then started reacting to me as if I was connected to it in ways I don't understand, then…I…uhhh…”

 

“Died?” Meia supplied.

 

“Yeah…when I died, the Paeksis engulfed me in itself once more and showed me some more images. And…I had some more images fly by me, and it kept saying phrases I didn't understand until it meant that I'm not complete.”

 

“What?” Jura inquired.

 

Kyo sighed as he thought back on his conversation with the Paeksis. “It kept on saying Kyo IS Kyo, but Kyo is not complete.” I didn't understand all of it, but then I realized that it meant that although my real name IS Kyo I'm not whole.”

 

“You mean…Mr. Alien IS Mr. Alien, but Mr. Alien is not completely Mr. Alien?”

 

Kyo frowned. “Now stop right there, I had enough of that jargon when I died, I don't need a recap of it.”

 

“So If Kyo IS your real name, but it's not complete, then what IS your full name?” Jura asked.

 

Kyo sighed again and shook his head. “I honestly don't remember. I wasn't lying the time when I was battling Dominion for the first time. I can't recall anything about myself except for the past few months I spent wandering the cosmos with only Freedom and winding up here on the Nirvana when I planned to leave Talark via the Ikazuchi. I can't recall everything about myself. I don't know anything about my parents, where I was born, what planet I come from. I don't even recall my own birthday or how old I am now.”

 

“Honestly, You don't know?” Dita was in shock to hear that Mr. Alien didn't even know how old he was or when his birthday was.

 

Kyo nodded. “Duero estimated my age to be around nineteen or my early twenties, but that's only a conservative estimation at best. I could be younger or older for all I know.”

 

Dita then asked another question. “So what do you remember Mr. Alien?”

 

“Well, the only thing I can recall clearly is all the places, people, and some of the battles I fought in with Freedom months before. The travels I had before finally landing on Talark. But before that I'm at a total cross-roads. Like I said before, I can only see shadows, and ghosts of what was my childhood, and my growing up years. I can't recall anything since the memories were all hazy or fragmented. When I died the Paeksis showed me more images of what appeared to be my past, right when I was born, but they were in fragments and were not clear though I know they were part of my growing up stage.”

 

“So what the only memory you can recall clearly?” Meia asked.

 

Kyo thought back and nodded. “I remember… awakening…and being in Freedom.”

 

“Awakening?” Jura asked.

 

“That's what I felt.... It's like I was asleep for a very long time, and something allowed me to wake up. I saw myself in Freedom's cockpit and when I got out I found myself in a deep crater with old structures…like some kind of monument. When I got back to Freedom and got out of the crater I found myself in a dreary and desolate landscape, there was water almost everywhere, like I was on an island, the sky was always filled with storm-clouds and the storms were terrible. The place was also filled with massive electromagnetic discharges and radiation storms. I was lucky that Freedom's Neutron Jammer Canceller filtered out the damage. I felt like it was the planet I was born on, though part of me tells me that this world wasn't the same. When I took off from that world with Freedom, the outer area of the atmosphere was surrounded by massive machines. After that…Freedom and I made out way through the galaxy.”

 

“There's one thing that bothers me. Your Gundam is not like any machine I've ever recalled in my time with the others nor does it match the Vanguards. But yet it seems to be part of something I can vaguely recall. What exactly is Freedom, who built it, and how come you can use it so well?” Meia asked.

 

“That's another thing I can't really answer. I don't know who built Freedom, and who taught me how to pilot it so well.”

 

“You don't know?” Dita asked.

 

“Yeah, I know it's a Gundam with immense combat power, but there was no mention as to where it was built, who designed it, and most especially why it was with me. Nor do I know why I can be the only one who knows how to use it's full power.”

 

“That is so weird.” Jura commented.

 

“That's one thing I can agree on, the really strange thing is that it has two reactors, one being the nuclear reactor and a reactor that has the same power as the Paeksis reactor on the ship. I was on the verge of leaving the Ikazuchi when those torpedoes struck the Ikazuchi and activated the reactor, ever since then, the Freedom's been different, it's a lot stronger and faster than before, and now it's like something is about to awaken inside of it.”

 

Kyo turned to face his Gundam and then looked back at Dita, Meia, and Jura and then looked surprised as he spotted three dots appear in their eyes briefly glowing. The dots looked like the physical manifestation of his own SEED ability, Dita's was deep blue, Jura's was emerald green, while Meia's was aqua-green. The SEED like objects faded just as quickly as they appeared, and Kyo decided that he was just seeing things.

 

Jura then winced in pain as she felt throbbing sensations in her head. “I'm sorry, but I'm head back to my room.” She said as she left the hanger leaving the others.

 

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

 

0530 hours…

 

Kyo was walking towards his quarters to get a little extra shut-eye before hitting the galley for some grub, he was still deep in thought, so it wasn't hard to understand that he didn't notice a certain somebody.

 

“Mr. Alien!”

 

Kyo sighed a bit and turned to face the Dread pilot Dita as she came up running to him, still in her pajamas.

 

“Yes, what is it you want now?”

 

The red-haired Dread pilot became rather nervous and twiddled her fingers in front of her chest. Her cheeks were flushed with light pink as she tried to get her mouth to speak the words. “I…well, I…”

 

<I've got a bad feeling about this…> “Just say it.” Kyo prodded with a little gentle yet firm irritation.

 

“Right. I…was wondering…when you were going to come to my room. Remember, you promised?”

 

< I KNEW IT!> The Gundam pilot shouted mentally while mentally slapping himself as he recalled the promise he made to Dita back then in the battle with the Earth mothership. He knew promises that were intimate were the hardest to keep especially where this one could lead… “You're right… I did promise…didn't I?”

 

Dita perked up immediately at this. “So are you coming today?”

 

“Uhhh…no… not just today.”

 

“Then tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? The day after that? When?”

 

Kyo knew that if he was in any close proximity with the buxom red-head then he would have a real hard time handling his male instincts, especially if they were together alone, and in the proximity of a bed, so he naturally tried to think up an excuse, and then he turned around and headed down the hall. “Soon, I promise.”

 

Dita became a bit disappointed, but immediately perked right up. “Then how about we have breakfast together?”

 

Kyo sighed a bit and saw no problem with the idea. “Sure, why not.”

 

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

 

Meia looked at Kyo and Dita as they made their way to the galley. The Dread pilot had a slight forlorn look in her eyes as she briefly imagined herself walking beside the Gundam pilot. After months of working together onboard the Nirvana, she had grown…used…to having the males around, namely Kyo. What was it about the Gundam pilot that always made her feel so…she had absolutely no way to describe the sensations she gets when he was near! (1)

 

“Today will be a VERY interesting day!”

 

Meia turned and spotted to her right Paiway, who was up early and was now busy writing down her observations on her trusty notebook. Floating nearby was none other than Pyoro.

 

The precocious and inquisitive eleven-year-old girl held out her frog puppet and spoke in her favorite comic voice. “Dita and Kyo are acting really strange! Kero, kero!”

 

Pyoro on the other hands wasn't feeling as chipper as he then floated in front of Paiway and then…hiccupped? “Actually…that's totally normal.”

 

Paiway shoved the machine aside and gave it a real stern lecture. “It's totally impolite to interrupt a lady when she's talking!” She then became somewhat puzzled. “Hey, wait a minute, since when does a robot hiccup?”

 

“HIC!”

 

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

 

The briefing room…

 

 

“We're approximately ninety days away from entering Megele space.” BC commented as she displayed the data screen depicting the Nirvana's position in the galaxy today as she, the captain, and the head supplier were in a conference.

 

“The message pod we sent to our home-planet before should have arrived by now. Talark as well should have received the other one also.” The captain said.

 

“And there's been no response at all.” Gascogne stated. “Maybe we're being ignored.”

 

“That wouldn't be a total surprise, I guess the information can be rather hard to believe, especially coming from us.” Mango reminded her senior staff, they were pirates, so they had no compunction to rob both Talark and Megele ships, so they weren't exactly popular with the governments on both planets. “After all, the enemy is after both our reproductive organs.”

 

It was then that they received an incoming message from the engineer Parfet.

 

“Captain, we've got a serious problem here.” The bespectacled girl called out.

 

“What's the problem, Parfet?”

 

“It's the Paeksis. Something's happening to it. I'm not entirely sure what's wrong, but our overall power levels have dropped by at least thirty percent.”

 

This puzzled the three women, until Buzam voiced out a suggestion.

 

“Maybe there are some remaining rejection issues between the male and female ships? After all, the Nirvana is composed out the old section of the Ikazuchi, and our own Megele combat cruiser.”

 

“Maybe the ship's like us?” Gascogne suggested. “The gender gap here is still pretty large. There are only six men and 150 of us women onboard. Some of us are STILL not used to the idea of having them onboard.”

 

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

 

Duero was busy reading from a collection of old books from the storage areas of the old Ikazuchi, he however was reading a copy of a certain book while his companion Bart was rather busy munching on nutrition pellets.

 

“They always said the women eat men's livers and …” Bart was saying when he noted that his audience was busy on other matters. “Hey…what's in those books that got you so interested?”

 

The doctor turned the hardcover of the books and, the book happened to be a children's guide on the…(ahem) `facts of life' (work with me here). “This one of the books that I found in the storage area and their dated back to the Colonization Era.” Duero answered as he decided to read the contents of his book. “The male donor or father, gives the seed called the sperm, to the recipient female or mother, which combines with the eggs or the ovum. The fertilized ovum, also known now as the zygote, gestates into a fetus over the course of nine months…”

 

“Well isn't that interesting?” Bart commented with sarcasm, as he had no idea what Duero was talking about.

 

“It's QUITE interesting!” Duero said with a glint in his eye. After studying female anatomy together and treating members of the Nirvana's crew, he was very eager to learn every quirk and nuance of the female gender.

 

The two men then turned as they spotted another individual, staggering towards his bunk. Kyo let out a tired sound as he plopped onto his bed.

 

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

 

One of the women's restrooms…

 

“It's really strange.” Sara commented as she spoke with Mai. “We've been with the men for several months now and…” She let her voice trail of as they recalled the indescribable feelings concerning the men onboard, namely a man in particular.

 

“I know, it's really funny.” The descendant of the Miazaki family pondered for a few moments. “I've been taught from the cradle to hate all men, but…I can't bring myself to hate Kyo. He…saved my life once, he saved all our lives in more than one occasion. It's kind of hard to hate someone who placed his life on the line to save your own. And there are those other talents of his! Who would've thought that there's a man who could sing, dance, play music, and even cook?!” Mai thought back on the day the former Yamato had cooked the meals of her companions in the Register, and on her off time she learned some really nifty skills in culinary arts from the young man.

 

“Same here. There's…just something about him. Hey, you don't suppose…?”

 

Mai thought about that for a while and then shrugged her shoulders as she understood her comrade's unspoken question. “Well, according to that old video record that they found during Christmas, men and women USED to live together…and even had children…though I don't know how they did it.”

 

“What do you think? Could you ever…?”

 

Mai became rather flustered at that. “What?! Me?! NO! Whatever gave you THAT idea?!”

 

“Well…would that be so bad…with Kyo? Come on, be honest about this! I've already asked some of the girls in the Crusader Squadron and they've already admitted to thinking about asking Kyo to be an Ohma.”

 

“Kyo as an Ohma? Get real here! What sort of kids would we have?” Mai scoffed.

 

The Elsman girl smirked at that. “Ohhh, so you HAVE thought about it.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You said what kind of kids would `WE' have. Were you thinking about becoming a Fahma?”

 

Mai's face reddened instantly. “Well…yes, the thought did cross my mind…once… er, and, well, ah…”

 

The descendant of Dearka and Milly smiled and decided to ease up on her teasing. “Actually, I've been thinking about what would happen if Kyo would become my children's Ohma. Would they be like me or be like him?”

 

Both girls became silent as images of chibi versions of themselves and Kyo danced in their minds for a while. At that exact moment, Barnette entered the room from another corridor.

 

“You know, if those men hadn't come onboard the Nirvana, and especially Kyo, we would never even think or consider such things.” Mai remarked.

 

“You're right about that.” Sara nodded in agreement. “We used to think that they carried all sorts of diseases and germs. I guess that they're not all that bad as we thought.”

 

“Prisoners are prisoners.” Barnette said coldly as she walked past them, though in reality she had buried the hatchet between her and the Gundam pilot she still felt irritated about the idea of men and women working together, and towards the male gender in general. She turned towards them as she reached the exit. `If we decide to let our guard down, then the men will take advantage of us again!”

 

Just as she was about to leave, both Sara and Mai became rather nervous.

 

“What do you think she's going to do now? Is she going to start a ruckus like before?” Sara said worriedly.

 

“Maybe we should inform the Captain or the Commander?” Mai suggested.

 

Just then, Barnette's head popped back into the restroom and angrily retorted. “I'm not going to do anything! Hmph!”

 

Both girls remained tense as she left.

 

Unknown to any of them, another individual was listening in on their conversation from the other side of the restroom; Jura became rather introspective and interested.

 

<Hmmm…Kyo as an Ohma?>

 

She winced a bit as her headache came back with a vengeance, she made a note to drop by the medical bay if the pain persisted.

 

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

 

“You made a promise to Dita?” Duero asked as he, Bart and Kyo were in discussion with one another.

 

“Yeah, I made that promise by mistake during that battle with the Earth Harvester mothership and with Dominion.”

 

“I don't see any problem with it, why don't you just go and see her?” Bart said nonchalantly.

 

“It's not that easy!” Kyo retorted as he tried not to blush, the one thing he inherited from his dad Kira, was his uneasiness when with the opposite sex. Kyo immediately blushed even more when that word came into mind.

 

“What do you mean by that?” Duero asked, his interest rising easily, as he saw the blush on Kyo's face. In addition to learning all that he could about female physiology, the physician was deeply interested in the ancient social interactions with males and females during the Colonization Era. After he found the old video on Christmas, the healer was immediately working on finding every book on the subject, and since it became obvious that Kyo knew a lot about those ancient practices…

 

“Well…it's kind of like this…” Kyo stammered a bit as he tried to explain the situation to the Talark men. “I may know the mechanics…and I do…recall applying them before, but it's been a while since…I did something like this, and I haven't applied them to this kind of thing, and well,…to put this simply, I've…never been…on a…date for a long time!”

 

“Date?” Bart looked confused.

 

“What is this…thing you call a date?” Duero asked curiously as well.

 

Kyo sighed and tired to find words to explain this facet of man and woman interaction, he closed his eyes and pinched his nose. “Right. I keep forgetting you guys aren't familiar with these things, since you're from Talark. Okay then…let's put it this way. Well, when two…men from Talark get to know one another really well, and really LIKE each other's company, then the two of them can decide to make a child together, right?”

 

Bart nodded. “That's correct. Genetic material from both men is spliced together and the baby is formed in a vat. We all learned that babies were born in factories when we were in grade school.”

 

“Right…” Kyo nodded, that seemed similar to some planets he had been on long ago namely Terra 2. He continued his explanations. “Now the two men can't just decide to create a baby right off, right? There's a time period between meeting one another and making that fateful decision that I can guess you all could call… a courtship.” <And I use that term loosely.>

 

“Courtship?” Duero asked.

 

“Courtship is the process of getting to know one another. To see if the person has the same likes, if the one is emotionally attracted to the other, to find similar ground, the same interests, and other details like that.”

 

“Ah.” Duero said in understanding. “Yes, things like that happen a lot on Talark too. I happen to know some really happy couples.”

 

“I'll bet…” Kyo said while a small sweatdrop fell past his head as he went on with the explanations. “Well, this form of courtship is also called `dating' back in the old days. Every time a couple were together to do something…enjoyable with each other's…company, that was called a date.”

 

“I see now.” Bart nodded. “So what you intend to do with Dita is something that both you and her will enjoy.”

 

“You…could, put it that way. The thing is…well, I'm not all that sure how far that's going to go. I'm…ah, well, not expecting IT to happen on the first time, but anything can happen, and one night-stands happened on some planets I've been to, along with other things. Me…I'm a very straight-laced type of guy, and it's been really hard for me being in a ship full of attractive females, and I'm barely succeeding in restraining myself. I've been taking so many cold showers for months now, but they seem to be losing their touch!”

 

“IT?” Bart asked.

 

“What do you mean IT?” Duero asked, then added. “And we're not familiar with the terms `straight-laced' and `one-night stands'. Please clarify.”

 

“Yeah, you really have to explain that. And what do cold showers have to do with any of this?” Bart inquired once more.

 

Kyo sighed a bit as he knew that he would have to cut to the chase and be a little more direct. Taking a deep calming breath he spoke once more directing his question to Duero. “Tell me something Duero; you mentioned something about there being some happy couples on your home-planet, right?”

 

“Yes, why do you ask?” The doctor inquired.

 

“Okay, this should make things easier. Now then, do these couples engage in certain physically intimate acts to express their feelings for one another? I mean with their…(ahem) private parts?”

 

All three Talark men thought it over then a look of comprehension on what Kazuki was hinting at. “OH…THAT!” The three men exclaimed while nodding.

 

“Yeah, I'm referring to that.” The blue-violet eyed Gundam pilot nodded.

 

Bart shrugged his shoulders. “Why didn't you say so in the first place? Yeah, we do that, we call it…”

 

“Yeah, yeah I get the point.” Kyo quickly interrupted and went on after taking a deep breath. “Well, what I'll tell you will shock you, so work with me here. The real reason why I asked you that…is that a man…can do the very same thing…with a woman.”

 

It took a full minute and a half for that little revelation to sink in, and the results…were a little…varied.

 

“GET OUT OF HERE!” Bart said with a totally disbelieving expression.

 

“Really?” Duero looked back then to his book, then he made the connection. Holding up the book he showed what he was reading to the Gundam pilot and the medic posed a question. “So…if a man became really intimate with a woman, then does that mean…?”

 

Kyo looked at the book's cover and nodded while giving out a sigh. At least one of them got the idea as to why he was a little uneasy being near Dita. “You got that right Duero. That's how humans had children long before cloning and gene splicing. In truth, that's what nature intended all this time.”

 

“That is so GROSS!” Bart shuddered a bit at the idea, the he began getting images of him and the First Officer Buzam, and he wondered why his groin area was strangely getting stimulated.

 

Duero took a contemplating look. “Actually, we both have been having theories and ideas on things I've long suspected. I mean, it's totally obvious from the evidence we've found that humans had to have reproduced naturally before the times of Megele and Talark's cloning and genetic manipulation techniques. That should explain also the differences in extremities between males and females. Tell me Kyo, do these differences play together with one another? Do they play a pivotal role in the process of procreation?”

 

“Oh yes they do…in more ways than one.” Kyo said as he had images of certain indecent things enter his mind. He shook his head clear before those thoughts turned improper…especially when he began thinking of the all female crew of the Nirvana.

 

“That sounds like a real amount of trouble to me though.” Bart remarked.

 

“Well, to be honest…” Kyo began hemming and hawing as he tried to explain the physical mechanics of inter-gender procreation. “The process of procreation isn't…an exact science…not like what you have in Talark, and what they have on Megele. The…um, timing has to be right to ensure the correct period of fertilization…the conditions…have to be favorable namely when the woman is ready, and …well, both partners have to be in…the sufficient mood and drive for it to take place. And even after it's done…it doesn't…always guarantee 100% conception, it takes…several attempts, sometimes.”

 

“Hold it. Now let me see if I have this right. If all that is so troublesome and so unreliable, then why do they do it?”

 

“Well Bart, the act of natural procreation in itself is quite…pleasurable. And when the two consenting partners, man and woman feel very deeply for one another, they enjoy doing the act of mating just for the sake of it. Come on, be honest, you two should know the meaning of the word love, right?” Kyo asked as he too thought about this clearly, while trying not to lose his objectivity.

 

“This is real fascinating!” Duero said with a totally focused expression. “Where did you learn all this?”

 

“Well… there are some worlds out there that still practice the old methods of procreation, without the aid of machines or technology. And although I don't recall clearly, I do know…some considerable things….about the process myself.”

 

Duero nodded with a smile and hand under his chin as he was deep in thought. “I must say, this act as you call it sounds really interesting. It would certainly help in conserving resources, time, and effort. So how exactly do two people, man and woman accomplish this act? Can you demonstrate it to us? Since you'll be heading for Dita's room, then why don't you ask her to volunteer?”

 

THOOM!

 

Naturally the Talark doctor had no idea on why Kyo was reacting to that simple question. “Then perhaps others can volunteer too? Why don't you ask either Meia or Jura to volunteer also?”

 

THOOM!

 

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

 

Later at the Medical bay, this morning…

 

“Wow! It's gotten so big!” Paiway remarked as she looked with joy at images of Ezra's ultrasound. “Look at it move!”

 

Beside her, totally entranced by the images was none other than Pyoro. The robot had already decided that the baby would be named Pyoro 2, though it was obvious that Ezra had other ideas.

 

Duero nodded as he held a probe over Ezra's enlarged abdomen. The bridge officer was lying on the examination table and gently rubbing her belly.

 

“By my calculations, the baby will be ready to detach any time now.” The doctor announced as he also watched the images with interest.

 

Ezra shook her head. “We call it giving birth.”

 

The young apprentice nurse became somewhat worried. “Hey, Ezra. Where are you planning to have the baby? We don't have the right equipment here on the ship, and…” She glanced at Duero. “A man certainly can't do it.”

 

The medic cleared his throat as he showed the book, on the `How to' mechanics on the facts of life. “Don't worry about that, I have already completed my studies on pregnancies and childbirth.” Duero said smiling assuredly.

 

Both women and the robot developed huge sweat-drops. (Hey, I'd be really worried myself though I'm no med-student.)

 

At that moment, Jura came in with a hand on her forehead.

 

“Doctor, I've got a real splitting headache. I need something.”

 

Duero looked up. “Headache?” he then thought back on the conversation he had with Kyo. “Come to think of it, Kyo had been experiencing headaches, namely this morning.” He took a look at Pyoro who still floated a bit erratically.” “I've heard that the Paeksis has been acting up lately as well. I wonder if it's all related?”

 

“Doctor! Would you please give me something for this headache?” Jura said with irritation, then softened up. “I'm sorry, I didn't have to shout like that.”

 

The healer nodded. “It's all right Jura.” He said as he motioned her to sit down. “I'll get you an analgesic.”

 

The voluptuous blonde sat down and waited, she then noticed on the table, the book that Duero was busy reading before. She picked one up and began scanning the contents. Her eyes widened a bit as she comprehended the contents. Her eyes then went to the ultrasound.

 

<Wow. Ezra's baby has gotten real big. > Jura's mind then recalled the conversation Mai and Sara had back at the restroom. < Kyo as an Ohma…>

 

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

 

Duero was both in deep contemplation as he prepared Jura's medicine, his hands moved with ease and practice as he carefully measured the dosage. As Duero went to work on the tasks in the Medical Bay, he thought back on the conversation he had with the Gundam pilot. What Kyo had told him was very shocking to say the least, yet the physician couldn't deny the possibility, that man and woman were able to produce children together, long before the time of Talark and Megele. The evidence was right in front of him, namely in the old storage room, during that time in Christmas, all of that dated back to at least a hundred years ago.

 

As he thought more and more about it, his thoughts went back to his conversations with Ezra concerning Megele child birth. At that point he went into a brainstorm as he formed a new train of thought. His mind drifted back as he recalled his medical sessions in the academy on genetics and the sciences of bio-engineering and manipulation, but he recalled something from his teacher about a certain danger in gene manipulation, though others knew about it, it wasn't paid much attention by all the men, even those in the same medical profession but instead, it was discounted and eventually forgotten, Duero however, wasn't the type of person to leave problems alone.

 

<Could it be possible?>

 

Duero thought about the idea a bit more and then decided to work in order to see whether the theory he had in mind was true or not and he needed to do more research. After Duero had finished with Jura's prescription, he went to his computer console and punched in some data to create a power base for some new tests he intended to do. As Duero handed Jura her medicine, he took along a few aspiration needles to take some samples as well.

 

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

 

Later…

 

Jura came to a decision while she and her best friend Barnette were in the holographic firing range an hour later. Her constant companion was shooting targets with an old Earth model handgun that was part of her trusty collection of firearms. Her accuracy was flawless and precise as she hit every target that came into view. Then Jura spoke out of the blue…

 

“I want to have a baby.”

 

That had immediate results as Barnette missed her target completely. She turned to face Jura with a totally shocked expression on her face. “A baby?!”

 

“Yep.” Jura answered with a whimsical smile.

 

“A-A-A-Are you asking me to be the Ohma?!” The gun in her hands wavered as the Dread pilot found herself trembling.

 

Jura shook her head as she explained her intentions. “No, not that way. I mean I want to make a baby with a man.”

 

THAT got Barnette's attention. “WHAT?!”

 

The blonde pirate nodded and looked away with a starry-eyed look in her eyes. “Making a baby with a man! The first women to do that! Think on how famous I would be if I came back on Megele with that baby! I'd be the heroine of a new era!”

 

Barnette shook her head a bit as a sweatdrop flowed behind her head. “Well, that sounds just like you.” She sighed a bit as she recognized the look in her blonde friend's eyes. Once Jura had something on her mind, nothing seemed capable of changing it. “Tell me two things though, how do you plan on accomplishing this? And most of all, do you have a donor in mind?”

 

Jura smiled as she held out the book she borrowed from Kyle. “This will help me, and you should recall, there ARE three men on this ship.”

 

Jura's best friend became somewhat edgy as she read some of the contents in the book, then looked at her best friend. “Don't tell me you plan on asking Bart…”

 

Jura shook her head at that. “No, he's too much of a crybaby.”

 

“How about that doctor, Duero…?”

 

“No, he's not the one I have in mind. He's really nice, but I have a feeling that Parfet won't like that idea. She seems to be getting really attached to him.”

 

“All right, I'll take your word for it…but that only leaves…”

 

Jura's grin was well pronounced. “Yes, Kyo… Just as we make the perfect GunDread with our machines, we'll combine to form the perfect daughter!”

 

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

 

Jura smiled a bit as she thought about the idea of being the Fahma of the child between her and Kyo. She however wasn't aware of the fact that she wasn't the ONLY girl with the idea of having a baby with a man.

 

Mai Miazaki paused in her work at the Register as she thought back at her conversation with Sara, she wondered how it would be like if she had a daughter with all her features, but with eyes just like Kyo. She wondered on that as she recalled her experiences with the Gundam pilot and only male Register operator. She felt that was something about him, every time she saw him she saw him move like an athlete and looking him in the face made her suddenly…

 

Mai shook her head as tried to make sense of the thoughts in her mind. Why was she thinking of things like that? Weren't all men the enemy? She had been taught since the day she was born to hate all men without question. They weren't to be worth anything and were lower than garbage and were totally dishonorable, besides, a man was the reason her ancestor's dreams and happiness was shattered.

 

However, try as she might, she couldn't force herself to hate Kyo now. She went back to her conversation with the Elsman descendant. Would it really be so bad? Kyo showed her that not all men were like those things she had been taught on her home-planet, he showed kindness, gentleness, courage, honor, and respect to all his crewmates, not mattering whether they were man or woman, and most of all, he was so full of surprises. She could…get used to being close to him. She realized that there was no need to hate Kyo himself…but there was the chance to grow…in love with him.

 

She decided to place this new line of thought in the back-burner a bit longer, then made her decision, if Kyo was willing, she would ask him to become the Ohma of her children, and damn the family and Megele edict to hate men, to the young woman, the time had come for that nonsensical policy to end.

 

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

 

Sara wiped some sweat from her brow as she went in deep contemplation as she worked in maintaining her Vanguard. Her own thoughts on her experiences with the males.

 

Ever since she was born, she had deep pride in her heritage and strove to be just like the great soldiers of old in her distant past and family. She excelled in hand-to-hand combat and was considered the best and no one seemed to be her equal, and most certainly not a man. Then Kyo appeared. Not only did he prove to be her equal, but also her superior. That placed deep dents on her pride as a warrior initially, and made her resent him. But he showed her equal respect and gave her the second in command of the Vanguards and he placed great trust in her combat skills and leadership talents, without question, whenever he needed to combine Freedom with the Dreads.

 

Despite being a man, Sara admitted that there were no other people who could equal Kyo and she respected his skills as a Gundam pilot and as a warrior. He was exceptionally experienced in the art of combat. Even the man-hating Megele female admitted that there seemed to be no other people who could equal Kyo in the field of combat. She then thought back on the old texts of her family heritage and recalled that there was something there about men, one of the things she her family had preserved long ago. However, most of the books were old and were on the verge of falling apart and fading over the centuries. Most of the ancient inscriptions were long forgotten or revised over time, for the past few centuries, so their original meaning was unknown. However, she began to reason that there had to be ways that her ancestors had children, long before the methods of artificial insemination and gene splicing. And if the rumors of men and women were able to have children together were true, then what did that mean to her ancestors? Like Duero, she reasoned that there had to be some natural way that women produced offspring, which meant that men and women COULD have conceived children together.

 

If there were men like Kyo in the past, then wouldn't the Elsman women WANT such people to be their mates? And if they were just as talented in many others things, then all the better! If that was the case, then the absence of men would have made no sense at all, especially since the methods of reproduction on Megele never existed during that time.

 

Sara thought about it a bit more, and decided that checking all the data on her own collection of scrolls. If what she suspected was true, then maybe the details in the books could allow her to do the impossible…with Kyo.

 

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

 

Kyo wondered why some feeling of dread and anticipation came on him, and it wasn't with his nightmare this time, but this was a little more profound. It had just been after he had explained the `facts of life' to his Talark crew-mates. Just as he was walking down the hallway, chills went down his spines as he began having strange thoughts in his mind, concerning certain females onboard the ship. That train of thought was halted however, as the combat alarms came online, signaling the Dread and Vanguard pilots to scramble for battle. Kyo nodded as he made a beeline towards the main hanger, got into the nearby room, and switched to his uniform and got ready of activate Freedom and Liberty..

 

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

 

On the command bridge…

 

Magno and Buzam nodded as they watched the images play themselves out on the main monitor. They had been tracking a distress signal which was set to a Colonization Era frequency. When they were close enough to visualize the beacon unit through the sensors, it turned out to be an escape/life pod. Life signatures were detected and the captain gave the order for the pod to be retrieved for examination. However she being cautious in nature, habit, and experience ordered the fighter teams to scramble to lay down support just in case company showed up, namely the Earth Fleet.

 

The Dreads and Vanguards were immediately in the zone of confrontation, escorting Gascogne's supply shuttle. Moments later, Freedom and Liberty were in space, ready to lend a hand. Kyo carefully guided his Gundam to float near the pod, as the head supplier engaged her ship's grappler arms to capture the capsule.

 

“Need some help?” Kyo asked.

 

“I've got it.” Gascogne said in response, then winced as her threat sensors kicked in. They had company.

 

“Gasco! Incoming!” Kyo shouted as he also detected the incoming forces.

 

KABOOM!

 

The supply shuttle rocked a bit as several explosions occurred, it's robotic arms totally sheared off by several plasma bolts, but thankfully the ship's armor held firm. The pirates and the Gundam pilot looked to the location where the shots came from and there came out several squadrons of Cube Fighters. These new threats however, were different from the previous models they faced before, they were more cylindrical in design, and were fast, much faster than before.

 

Inside her ship, Gascogne swore as she lifted herself from a sparking and smoking console. “Damn!? How in the hell did they attack from below?”

 

Immediately the Dreads and Vanguards went into action and followed their attack patterns. Recently Meia, and Kyo had come up with new battle tactics for their respective squadrons, in which the smaller Vanguards would work in a pair with each Dread, providing needed support and also act as rear-guards. However, the enemy had come up with tactics of their own. A few of them moved swiftly in and took the pod away and were trying to escape with the pod and it's contents.

 

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

 

“Hmmm, seems to me that we weren't the target this time.” Magno said as she watched this turn of events.

 

“I agree Captain, it seems that the pod is quite valuable to the Earth for them not to direct their forces normally at us.” Buzam said as she watched the images.

 

“Well then, if it's really that valuable to Earth, then we can't let them have it so easily, now can we?”

 

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

 

“Damn! These new versions are much faster than the originals we fought with before!” Barnette gritted her teeth as she tried to take the new threats out of the way. However, she had been correct in her statements, as the new Cube Fighters were more agile than before.

 

Kyo was also finding it a little bit harder to take out their targets. Several of the robotic units had already managed to score several direct hits on Freedom and moved like maddened wasps on steroids. However, Kyo was lucky as the Vanguards came in as they removed the pressure, Kyo was happy as Sara in her Vanguard came in to help him out by removing several new Cube Fighters with a strafing run. This allowed Kyo to decimate the remaining forces with Freedom's weapons.

 

“Thanks for the support, Sara.”

 

“No problem. By the way, Commander…there is something I was hoping to ask you…”

 

“We don't have the time to talk, fight now.” Kyo said shaking his head, he moved Freedom to a safer angle, and initiated the HiMAT system the Gundam unveiled it's arsenals as he and Freedom went to work. Like geysers of destruction, the beams from Freedom all slammed into the formations of the enemy fighters. Once a few dozen of the apparently upgraded Cube Fighters were turned to scrap, Kyo and Freedom made beelines to the pod, however, before they could reach their objective, the pod was snatched by more Cube Fighters and more came in to engage them with plasma bolts, forcing them to break off, Kyo went at it and turned his new company into scrap, once he had made some quick updates to the OS.

 

Once he turned several more Cube Fighters into junk with his Gundam's beam sabers, he then got into contact with Meia's Dread as she arrived alongside him.

 

“We'll have to combine and regain the pod!”

 

Meia nodded as Kyo guided Freedom in and then fused with Meia's Dread, creating the GunDread Meia. The dragon mecha sped towards the pod ay unbelievable speed and was about to catch up, when the new Cube Fighters pulled out their own surprise as they moved further away and increased their velocities.

 

In the cockpit of the GunDread, Meia and Kyo were caught off-guard by this latest development.

 

“What the…? Since when are Cube Fighters THAT fast?!” Meia gasped, the winced as several Cube Fighters engaged the GunDread, slowing them down even more. The pod is result was taken further away.

 

Kyo winced as well, but then went back to battle mode as he assessed the situation. “They somehow adapted to the capabilities of the GunDreads. But let's see if they adapted to this!” He then pressed the command to Liberty.

 

The ATCISS acknowledged the order and made a beeline to GunDread Meia. Another section underneath the large mecha opened, allowing the enhanced Vanguard to link up, the dragon mecha underwent the transformation as before, becoming avian and turning into a flaming eagle. The eagle's wings glowed with power once more as Kyo unleashed the attack.

 

Kyo routed the excess power into the systems and targeted the incoming opposition.

 

In a fiery blast of unrestrained energy. GunDread Meia Alpha unleashed massive waves of intense energy and propelled it forward, as the waves obliterated any enemy in their path. The two pilots smiled in triumph as they reached the pod and the enhanced GunDread took the pod in one of it's talons carefully. However it wasn't going to be easy today, just as they were making their way back to the ship, a massive red beam of light came out of nowhere and struck the machine dead on, causing a massive explosion, in a moment, Meia's Dread, the ATCISS Liberty, and Freedom were seen flying around space. Inside her fighter, Meia recovered herself and began to check the damage readouts on her machine. Liberty also did the same self-diagnostics and determined that many of it's systems were badly reduced in capacity or were offline.

 

The Gundam and it's pilot in question also found itself in space, but this time he noted that the armor of Freedom was badly damaged and was working harder in it's self-regeneration programs. “Where the bloody hell did that come from?!” Kyo asked as he winced in pain, whatever it was, Freedom wasn't the only one injured, the energy had caused some severe pain to him. As he shook the pain off with a small injection of pain-killers that he had in a compartment for medical treatment, he looked about and spotted the pod nearby.

 

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

 

“What just happened?” Magno asked.

 

The rest of the bridge crew were also shocked to see GunDread Meia Alpha suddenly was separated, and it was in it's most powerful form.

 

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

 

Freedom was about to reach the pod, but was suddenly intercepted by more enemy units, so it was back to bashing apart more of the Earth's forces, once Kyo turned more of the new fighters into junk, he made his way towards the pod, but was suddenly greeted by another massive scarlet beam of energy. The beam slammed into Freedom, causing more damage and caused the warrior to lose his focus in the pain that shot through him and miss the capsule. However, he was rescued from this mess as a certain blonde pilot and her Dread came in.

 

“I'VE GOT IT!”

 

Both the Gundam and the Dread fused once more and went immediately to it's first GunDread form, which was naturally the crab, though Jura didn't care much for it. The first form had it's uses, most of all in defensive terms. With it's protective barrier online, none of the enemy forces could get to either it or the pod.

 

Inside the cockpit, Jura smiled seductively at her co-pilot. “Well now, how was that?”

 

Kyo sighed. “You certainly took your time in getting here.”

 

Jura however, leaned forward and began whispering in Kyo's ear. “By the way, I was just wondering what do you plan on giving for my baby?”

 

That got results as Kyo suddenly went crimson and shouted back in embarrassment. “WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! NOW ISN'T THE TIME FOR THIS SORT OF NONSENSE!”

 

An incoming call from the Nirvana came into the GunDread's cockpit, along with several other questions. It became obvious that Jura left her communicator on…on all channels.

 

“Hey! Jura, I wanted to ask him that question! I want him to be MY Ohma!” Mai voiced out.

 

“Hey! I wanted to ask HIM that question!!” Kara shouted.

 

“What new scheme are you cooking up?”

 

“You want to have a baby with Kyo?!”

 

“HEY! Mr. Alien is mine!!!” (Don't need to be a valedictorian to guess who this is.)

 

Meia had no idea what was going on, and now wasn't the time for these things to happen, though she did feel like the green eyed monster herself… She shook her head clear and got into contact with Kyo and Jura in their GunDread. “Jura, Kyo, get back to the Nirvana! We'll cover you!”

 

“Roger!” Jura replied as she began directing the crab mecha back towards the Nirvana. However, the GunDread's first from was intended for defensive measures, never for speedy escapes.

 

“We need to get to the Nirvana quicker, and we're using up a lot of energy in maintaining the barrier.” Kyo said as he worked on his side of the console.

 

Jura smiled with delight. “Those that mean what I think it means?”

 

Kyo sighed and nodded. “Yes it does.”

 

Jura smiled as Kyo activated the GunDread's second form.

 

The GunDread underwent the transformation and assumed it's second form, becoming sleeker and more agile. The pod was then carefully cradled in the left hand of the samurai mecha as it emerged. Using the repulsor discs to deflect any incoming shots from the enemy, it made it's way to the Nirvana, cutting down any Cube Fighters close to it with the halberd. The Dreads and Vanguards blasted any other units that came too close from the rear.

 

Inside the cockpit, Jura became rather concerned as she saw that Kyo was breathing heavily.

 

“Are you all right? Is something wrong?”

 

“I don't know…just feeling rather…weak. It's probably from the strange red beam that slammed into me and Freedom. Just what was it…”

 

Just then, another scarlet beam came out of nowhere and slammed into GunDread Jura. Once more the fusion between Gundam and Dread was broken and the two went tumbling into space.

 

“Red light?” Meia gasped out aloud as her thoughts went back on the nightmare they all had this morning.

 

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

 

“That's the second time that has happened!” Buzam exclaimed as she ordered all the bridge personnel to locate the source of the red beams that were devastating the GunDreads.

 

“There seems to be some sort of energy pulse coming from the red beams that causing the GunDreads to separate.” Amarone reported as she checked her sensors. “I'm reading massive damage on Jura's Dread, but she's still alive, Meia's Dread is in the same state but is still operational, and Meia is also well, Freedom is still functioning and Kyo is also alive…but…”

 

BC paid no attention to that announcement as she watched images on the powerful Gundam. The mecha was drifting and there were dents and tears in the supposedly indestructible armor P. P. S Armor, though it was intact.

 

< I haven't seen the Freedom so badly mauled since the battle with the Earth Gundam…>

 

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

 

< Damn! Those beams hurt like hell!>

 

The Gundam pilot was in great pain as he got Freedom's thrusters to work. <Those beams felt like Dominion's beam arsenals…but even worse. How the heck is it affecting me this way?!>

 

Kyo looked around, his vision was still blurry, but he was still in the fight, and wouldn't give up at all. He then made his way to the pod and latched on to it. Just as he accomplished that, he was greeted by several incoming laser and plasma bolts. But his luck held as Dita came in to aid him.

 

Though the injuries he sustained from the scarlet beam were hindering him, Kyo took the chance and initiated the fusion process to create GunDread Dita. The massive mecha then took the pod into it's left hand.

 

“Ha! We'll never let you have the pod!” Dita cried out with glee as she turned to face her partner. “Right, Mr. Alien?” However her glee turned into shock and horror as she saw that her Mr. Alien was in real bad shape. He was in deep pain, breathing hard, and having a faraway look in his eyes. When he started bleeding from the nose and mouth, the Dread pilot knew that they were in real trouble. She looked down in increasing fear as the red liquid flowed from within Kyo's combat helmet.

 

“NO! MR. ALIEN!” The red-haired girl cried out as she began to panic. Kyo had just been given back his life, and Dita knew she would never be able to bear it if he were to pass away again.

 

Meia came in as she spotted that GunDread Dita wasn't moving at all and began to be limp. She also wanted to try and get to Jin and help him, but she needed to get the pod to safety first. “Dita! What's wrong? Why aren't you and Kyo heading back to the Nirvana?”

 

“It's Mr. Alien! He's hurt really, REALLY bad! I can't operate the GunDread without him!”

 

Just then, another massive beam of scarlet came out of nowhere and slammed into GunDread Dita's right arm, causing many of it's circuits to short out and break down and render it totally useless. Inside the cockpit, Kyo screamed as pain burned it's way to every nerve in his body and most of all to his right arm, Dita also felt pain but not in the degree of her co-pilot. Through supreme effort and will, they were able to direct the left arm with the energy cannon mounted on the wrist. They were able to direct the cannon to where the beams had come from, but the arm suddenly deactivated. All the main weapons and systems were now offline, except for life support and communications. That left the GunDread totally useless and floating in space.

 

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

 

“Have you completed the analysis of what happening out there?” Buzam asked with a bit of anxiety in her voice.

 

Her answer came from the engineer Parfet who called in to the bridge. “Captain! Commander! The Paeksis is reacting to the red beams as well! Apparently it's a counter-form to the energy waves emitted by the Freedom and the Dreads whenever they fuse, that's why it's taking out the GunDreads!”

 

“What?!” Both women exclaimed.

 

It was then that the sensors detected three incoming signatures, the threat alarms went on full blast as a form came out from the cover of cloaking devices. The craft was huge, resembling a manta ray turned diabolically metallic.

 

But if they thought that it was the only new weapon the Harvesters had in mind, they were wrong.

 

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

 

Kyo realized that the machine was the one responsible for the damages to the Dreads and to Freedom. He then re-routed the power and once he was done, he powered up the cannons once more.

 

This time however, despite the GunDread wasn't designed to move as fast enough, Kyo had to move the mecha out of the way as a barrage of weapons fire came at them. Dodging several of the blasts, Kyo righted the GunDread and was confused, the blasted DIDN'T come from that manta-ray…so where did they come from?

 

It was then that another weapon appeared in front of the manta creature. At this was no manta…

 

But a Mobile Suit…A Gundam!

 

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

 

“You have GOT to be joking!!” Kyo said as he glimpsed at the new arrival.

 

Dita was also in shock as she looked at the new threat.

 

Meia and Jura were also shocked as they saw the next weapon the Harvester brought in this fight.

 

It was the Dominion!!

 

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

 

The Nirvana…

 

“Impossible!” Buzam exclaimed as gazed at the newly rebuilt Gundam Dominion.

 

“It seems that the Earth didn't plan on losing this time.” Magno said gravely as she gazed at the AI-controlled Gundam of the Earth Forces.

 

The rest of the pirates, both in the ship and the forces outside were rendered speechless as the Gundam once more unveiled it's demonic wings and ignited it's beam sabers.

 

That was when another curveball of disaster was hit their way…

 

Celtic panicked as she spotted five more objects beginning to de-cloak alongside the Dominion.

 

“There are five new units appearing on screen!”

 

“What are they?” BC asked.

 

Celtic and the rest of the bridge crew tried to determine the new signals as Ezra called it out. “The new signatures…are Mobile Suits, and they are the same as…the Dominion!”

 

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

 

In that same instant, everyone was even more shocked and dismayed as five more Mobile Suits appeared beside the now de-cloaked Dominion. And the new arrivals were totally the same as the Dominion!

 

The Harvesters had not sent one Gundam…but SIX Gundams!

 

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

 

Kyo growled in frustration as he realized that this was going to be one hell of a battle. He also knew that the GunDread, while powerful couldn't possibly battle six Dominion Gundam units, especially in it's current state. He immediately began disengaging Freedom from Dita's Dread.

 

Dita panicked as she realized what Kyo was planning.

 

“NO! Mr. Alien! You can't fight those bad machines on your own!”

 

“Believe me I know that, but with the GunDread in this state, we can't beat them easily.”

 

“NO! Let me fight…!!”

 

“NO! YOU WON'T SURVIVE AGAINST THOSE UNITS!”

 

Before Dita could argue the GunDread broke apart and Freedom dived straight at the manta ray machine and the six Gundam models.

 

“Mr. Alien!” Dita cried as she got her Dread to work and tried to jet towards Freedom.

 

“Kyo!” Meia and Jura were likewise moving at full throttle to help Kyo out, but they were intercepted by more Cube Fighter reinforcements.

 

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

 

Kyo knew for a fact that this wasn't going to be the least bit easy as he crossed beam blades with one Dominion, but had to play a dodging game as the other Dominions open fired with their cannons. He didn't need an illustration as to what would happen the Nirvana and everyone if he and Freedom lost the fight.

 

The Dominion units then divided into two teams, one would attack Freedom with beam sabers and the other would blast away at Freedom with beam rounds and assault gunfire. They were rapidly getting the upper hand as Kyo had to defend constantly and couldn't attack at all.

 

Kyo strained himself and Freedom to the max as he tried to strike back, every time he tried to use his beam cannons, he had to dodge as three Dominion units attacked with beam sabers, and when he tried to strike back, he had to dodge and block with his beam shield as the other Dominion units open fired. The damage on Freedom began to pile up as Kyo, despite using his SEED ability to the utmost, had been taking hits. The Prominence Phase Shift Armor was strained to it's limits as ballistic and beam attacks slammed into it.

 

The manta ray machine's own CPU went back to it's prime directive of weakening the pirates before finishing the Gundam and the pilot off completely and turned it's attention to the Nirvana. Without any hesitation it unleashed beam after beam of amplified scarlet Paeksis energy to the pirate ship.

 

The Nirvana's shields buckled under the strain to the blasts, while in the navigation well Bart was feeling pain in a whole new level that he never experienced before. He immediately contacted the Nirvana's engineering section and demanded why the shields weren't holding off the blasts.

 

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

 

“That's what I'd like to know too!” Parfet shouted back as she checked the sensors on the Paeksis core and looked with worry written all over her face. The reactor was glowing green, intermixed with red, just like before, during that battle with the Earth mothership, and it seemed that Pyoro had become sicker.

 

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

 

Kyo struggled to make due as the enemy Gundams kept at it. Freedom had lost sections of it's armor as the punishment piled up. The battle had strained everything in him and his Gundam as the AI Gundams kept at it. He was barely able to dodge incoming beam sabers and lances, when a storm of plasma, rail-gun, and assault round fire would strike at him, to add to his problems, several Cube Fighter squadrons got involved as they took shots at Freedom. Kyo managed to fight his way and then meld with Liberty that managed to get back online and make it's way to it's partner. Once they interlocked, Kyo began routing power to the beam cannons and got ready to open fire.

 

A massive beam storm of green and yellow lanced out and headed for the six crimson and black Gundams. The beams reduced a good number to Cube Fighters, and would have won out. However, the enemy Gundams and the new vessel turned and then Kyo's opponents launched beams of their own in retaliation. The storms pf different beams slammed into each other and for s a moment or two, it seemed that they would cancel each other out, but in the end, the Dominion units' and the manta ray ship's beam attacks overwhelmed Freedom and Liberty's own, and the massive energy backlash slammed into Freedom and Liberty. The enhanced Vanguard support unit was rendered out of commission and it seemed that both the Gundam and it's pilot were no longer capable of fighting any more. The enemy units then advanced to where the helpless Freedom Gundam was drifting to finally finish it and the pilot off.

 

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

 

“KYO!” Meia and Jura cried out.

 

“NO!” Sara shouted.

 

“DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!” Maia sobbed.

 

“MR. ALIEN!” Dita cried out as she desperately tried to get her Dread to work, but it wasn't moving fast enough. She had to do SOMETHING to help Mr. Alien!

 

At that moment, a dot light appeared in front of her and it turned into a strange seed in the color of her eyes, and it exploded into a kaleidoscope of lights in front of her. Dita then felt her entire body being filled to the brim with energy as her eyes focused even harder. At that same instant Meia and Jura had lights drifting to their own eyes with took the form of seeds in the same color of their own eyes. Those too exploded in a kaleidoscope of color and light, as they too felt their bodies being filled with energy.

 

They had just earned SEED mode!

 

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

 

The Nirvana…

 

“Captain! I'm picking up a massive increase in bio-rhythms in Dita, Meia, and Jura! Their bodies are working more effectively!” Duero reported as he had been monitoring the battle outside. He had been shocked to see the sudden spike in the three Dread pilots' physical and mental abilities.

 

“What?!” Magno asked as she immediately ordered the bridge crew to check on Dita, Meia, and Jura.

 

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

 

The Cube Fighters harassing the Nirvana were caught totally by surprise as the three enhanced Dreads suddenly ignited into battle with blinding speed and power. The Dreads rained blast after blast of their weapons as they darted into the forces of the Harvesters and began taking out Cube Fighter after Cube Fighter at an astonishing rate.

 

Dita, Meia and Jura felt themselves suddenly move faster and better than they ever have in their years as Dread pilots. They and their machines moved at such a pace that defied normal Dread pilot reaction times as the battle raged on. They could see and predict the enemy forces' moves at an amazing pace and despite their shock at the sudden spike of their piloting skills, they only wanted to reach to Kyo and help him.

 

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

 

The bridge…

 

“What's happening?” Magno asked.

 

“Meia, Dita, and Jura's Dreads have broken through the lines of the Cube Fighters and are now making their way to the Freedom.” Amarone reported as she tracked the three Dreads.

 

“How did they get THAT good?” Belvedere asked as she checked the Dreads movements.

 

Duero called in. “I've determined that Dita, Meia, and Jura have somehow augmented their abilities. Their respective reaction times are now at 0.00015 of a second.”

 

Buzam was in shock. “That…That's the same reaction time Meia recorded from Kyo when we first saw him fight!”

 

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

 

The three girls then busted their way past the Cube Fighters and then engaged the Dominion units that were about to attack Freedom, two of the Gundam units broke away and fought with the Dreads, and the two found themselves facing a stronger group of enemy units.

 

But would the three girls make it in time?

 

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

 

Kyo tried to move Freedom out of the way, but he was feeling numb as pain washed over every fiber in his body. Freedom wasn't in good straits either as energy began seeping out of the cracks in the Gundam's damaged. They both were losing ground every second, as they had no other choice but to wait for the final blow. However Kyo didn't plan on losing just like this, he focused and re-routed whatever power Freedom had left in the reactors to full systems.

 

<This is just like that nightmare…but I'm totally awake…and those dreams only come when I'm asleep. I am not going to let some dream say what's going to happen to me!> Kyo thought as he fought back.

 

The Amplified Paeksis beam and the beams of the other Dominion units were totally primed as the manta ray and the Dominion units closed in.

 

<When I am awake… I don't have to worry about some stupid nightmare!> Kyo said to himself as he got ready to fight once more, as he activated Freedom's systems to full output.

 

<I'M NOT GOING TO BE BEATEN BY THE LIKES OF YOU! > Kyo said as he got Freedom back to fight. At that moment the Freedom's cockpit interior glowed with a fierce light and the whole Gundam seemed to glow with an even greater light. The young man felt his body tingle and glow with sensations he never felt before…the hidden power inside him and Freedom also began to grow and was ready to be unleashed as the Gundam's OS began executing an unknown command.

 

The Amplified beams of the manta ray ship and the Dominion units slammed into the stricken Freedom, causing a massive explosion.

 

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

 

“KYO!” Meia and Jura screamed in horror.

 

“MR. ALIEEEEEEENNNN!” Dita cried.

 

Were they too late?

 

At that instant, the lights in their eyes became as bright as newborns stars.

 

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

 

Magno became solemn as she watched the apparent demise of a great ally…and an even greater friend. It seemed that the Grim Reaper was finally here to collect what it was denied the last time. However, just as tears were about to run down her cheeks, something caught her attention. Something…was making it's way out of the massive explosion from the center.

 

The figure cleared the explosion and flashed towards the enemy vessels and units. It was surrounded by a crystal cocoon that shone of pure blue-green-white light, and if one looked closely, the figure was totally humanoid. It seemed that the pressure of the attacks, a hidden power, plus three outside catalysts had triggered a powerful metamorphosis.

 

“What's…happening?” Buzam gasped out as the pirates watched in awe.

 

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

 

Kyo felt power flow into every fiber of his being as he saw several people in front of him as he was once more in the Paeksis. He saw them reaching out to him. He then heard a voice speak to him.

 

“Always remember, you can do things that others cannot, but they too can do things that you cannot do. Never judge anyone by their abilities, but judge them by how they use their abilities and what they use their abilities for.”

 

Kyo then felt the scenery fade away as he found himself in a brand new cockpit, and it looked like Freedom's old cockpit, but he was in a spherical cockpit with a new set of combat systems and computers. He then nodded as he activated the OS and got ready to fight once more as he found himself staring into space. He then activated his SEED mode once more, the cockpit then responded as it glowed with line so of power in every corner of it's systems.

 

The Freedom had totally changed. The joint areas were now in a rich gold color and the Gundam now had in the place of it's old wing thrusters were two pair of large appendages that resembled bird's wings without the feathers. There were also two pairs of massive gun pods on the back and there appeared a set of massive swords and on each forearm was what appeared to be an energy collector. The gun pods on both the shoulders and head were there, but they looked far tougher, the rail-guns were there but had fused together, and there still were the beam sabers. The Freedom had also gained what appeared to be an enhanced dual beam rifle on a combat rack. In an instant the wing appendages opened up and out from the wings erupted crystal feathers that glowed deep blue as the Gundam's eyes glowed with great power, and is also glowed in it's joint sections as if it too had gained it's own SEED mode.

 

The Freedom…had evolved it was now the Infinite Freedom!

 

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

 

“COOL!” Dita exclaimed.

 

“And…I thought that it was awesome before.” Jura said breathlessly.

 

“Unbelievable…” Meia said with her eyes wide open.

 

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

 

“I don't believe it. Freedom and Kyo have…” BC tried to find the right words to describe what she had just seen.

 

“They have…evolved.” Magno said simply, though she also was in awe at the sight.

 

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

 

The Dominion Gundams and the manta ray ship were taken totally off-guard by this latest development, but immediately went on the offensive as they released more amplified energy blasts.

 

However the newly evolved Gundam dodged the beams with little effort, seemingly teleporting from view.

 

The Earth Gundams were totally taken aback as they tried to lock in on the newly evolved Gundam but they were about to get an answer.

 

Two Dominion Gundams were suddenly disarmed as Infinite Freedom suddenly appeared in front of them, and both were attacked by the I-Freedom's newly modified beam sabers. Before they could use whatever weapons they had left the evolved Freedom slashed them once more with it's beam sabers and they were torn into confetti in moments.

 

The remaining Earth Gundams were able to evade the attack and retaliate, one attempted to blindside the I-Freedom. But it was then greeted by a barrage of plasma beams from the pods on I-Freedom's back that opened up and fired at it. It's wings were torn off and before it could move, the newly reborn Gundam took out it's beam rifle, slammed it into the Dominion unit and blasted it to bits at point blank range.

 

Two others, namely the ones fighting Dita, Meia, and Jura had to break away and attack the Infinite-Freedom. Kyo responded as he took out his new anti-ship swords and fused them together to form a massive beam edged blade. The massive weapon tore apart the heads of the two Dominion units and then the double barreled rail-guns, blasted into the gaping areas of the two Gundams turning them into scrap. The surviving Cube Fighters tried to interfere but they were immediately peppered by bolts of energy firing out like mini-missiles from Freedom's hands and the gun pods in the shoulders and head.

 

I-Freedom then turned it's attention towards the manta ship, the manta, along with the remaining Dominion unit prepared to open fire. Kyo responded in kind as he activated the HiMAT system and locked on. Massive amounts of power flowed into the beam cannons as Kyo locked on.

 

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

 

The combined energy blasts, unleashed by I-Freedom were sixty times more intense than the ones used by the manta ray ship and the remaining Dominion's own attacks. The red, black beams were totally consumed easily and the beams from I-Freedom slammed into the targets. The resulting combined explosions sent tremendous energy surges throughout the battle area. The enemy vessels were totally atomized and the remaining Cube Fighters were given a one way ticket to extinction. The Dreads, Vanguards, the Dreki, and the Nirvana were far away from the blast and had to admit that it was one heck of a blast.

 

Once all space became peaceful and dark, the Gundam lowered it's beam rifle. Kyo was totally exhausted, though he was able to stay awake, the I-Freedom nevertheless drifted in space like a chunks of space debris. Lucky for Kyo, Sara, along with two of her allies arrived and picked I-Freedom up while the Dreki towed in Liberty.

 

Inside their Dreads, Meia, Jura, and Dita gave sighs of relief. They were unaware as the effects of their SEED modes faded away as they followed the female Vanguard pilot and her compatriots to their mothership.

 

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

 

As the evolved Gundam was brought on the hanger deck and had locked into it's paddock. Kyo walked out from the Gundam's cockpit, totally exhausted. In an instant as soon as he got to the floor, he was gently laid on a stretcher and immediately rushed to the medical bay.

 

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

 

At least a few hours later…

 

Kyo woke up and found himself resting in an infirmary bed, he was then immediately hugged by a really concerned Dita.

 

“Mr. Alien! You're awake!”

 

“Arrrggghhh! I know! I know! Take it easy!” Kyo said with gritted teeth, still feeling somewhat sore from the battle.

 

The redhead immediately released him while stepping back with embarrassment in her voice. “Oh, I'm really sorry Mr. Alien!”

 

Next to Dita, in the Medical bay were Duero, Meia, Jura, Captain/Grandmother Magno, BC, Bart, Mai and some Crusader Squadron members, including Sara.

 

“Good to see you up and about.” Duero said with a smile.

 

“Uh huh, Oooh!” The young man said as he felt a slight headaches coming on.

 

“How long was I out cold anyway?” Kyo asked.

 

“At least half a day.” Duero answered. “You were sleeping the whole time, and thankfully that new uniform you have removed the threat of you getting even more injured, though I'll have to request that you have new padding both in your Gundam and the uniform.”

 

“Yeah, I'll do that, not to mention I need to toughen up my helmet, and get something to eat.” Kyo said as he got to his feet. “What happened to my Gundam?”

 

“We were hoping you could tell us. What happened that made your Gundam suddenly transform into that form?” Magno asked.

 

“I'm…not sure. Maybe the Paeksis reactor in Freedom did the same thing that the one on the ship did all those months ago. It's the only thing that makes sense to me.” Kyo answered.

 

“Could be…I already have the other engineers studying it. I think we'll get a report on the pod from Parfet soon as well, we managed to pick it up after the battle and towed it in along with you and Freedom.” BC said.

 

It was then that Parfet called in the medical bay.

 

“Captain, Commander, we've managed to get the pod ready to open, we've finished clearing out the excess energy, and all life signs are still stable with the occupant inside.”

 

Magno nodded as she turned back to Kyo. “So, do you think that you're in good shape to say hello to the person you saved today?”

 

The Gundam pilot took a drink offered to him by Paiway, took a deep breath and nodded.

 

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

 

An hour later, in the main hanger…

 

“There, that should do it.” The head engineer nodded as she keyed in the last of the codes to deactivate the locking mechanism of the pod. The capsule opened with a hiss as the pod depressurized and the hatch swung open.

 

The crowds gathered in the area leaned forward to see the contents of the pod.

 

“It's a girl.” Meia said as she and the others gazed upon a slender, young human female in a yellow and white jumpsuit. She had the same dark blue hair as Kazuki which was in a simple ponytail, she wore triangular earrings, and she appeared to be in deep sleep.

 

Kyo decided to take a closer look and moved forward.

 

“Is she an alien?” Dita asked.

 

“No, she's a human just like all of us.” Parfet replied.

 

Kyo discovered that he was a little bit uneasy on his feet, due to the effects of his battles, so it was understandable that he tripped over someone's foot and he fell forward like a domino. He landed in front of the pod and found himself looking at a pair of eyes.

 

Eyes?

 

The girl in the capsule had awakened and then looked around, she then found herself looking at Kyo's eyes, her earrings twinkled with light and out came a small blob like entity made of light with eyes. The image twittered a bit and began speaking in a language composed of chirps and beeps.

 

The girl smiled as she looked at Kyo. The she spoke to him.

 

“You…you saved me?”

 

Kyo felt a little unsure on how to answer that question. “Well…technically speaking, I helped save you.”

 

The girl cried out with joy as she suddenly got up and looped her arms around Kyo pulling him close to her.

 

“Oh thank you so much my Prince Charming!”

 

Naturally, this little scene elicited some rather unhappy responses from several females.

 

“PRINCE?!”

 

“CHARMING?!”

 

“WHAT IS SHE DOING?!”

 

“NOOOOOOO! MR. ALIEN WILL UNITE WITH DITA!”

 

It was anyone's guess if Meia joined in.

 

In the back of the crowds, Paiway was busy scribbling down notes.

 

“This is a new and totally interesting development! Pai check!”

 

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

 

On Earth…

 

The Dominion units have failed. Their latest weapon against Freedom and the Nirvana had been totally ineffective. The news of the machine's demise and that of the Dominion units and the appearance of the evolved Freedom Gundam quickly reached the ears of the leaders of the once blue-green planet, and to say that they were getting desperate was a total understatement. The Harvest had so far hit quite a lot of snags, ever since that fateful first battle with the Nirvana and the accursed Freedom Gundam. Despite all their best efforts, the Gundam and it's pilot continued to defy them all and destroy every one of their attempts to gather the necessary human organs for their survival.

 

The seeds of the warrior's defiance had already bore fruit. The planet Melanos had grown even more resistant, ever since their first encounter with the pilot and Freedom. The planet Anpathos as well had recently given up their ideals of worshipping their gods, the Munya. Having been given the choice to think on their own, the inhabitants had realized that their lives and that of their people were far more important and precious than blind obedience to an unseen deity.

 

This should not be allowed to continue! For the sake of their own lives, (at the expense of the lives of everyone else), the Gundam and the Nirvana had to be totally destroyed! Copies of the GunDreads and even those of Freedom were not enough, though they will still be used in battle.

 

It seemed that they had to up the ante a lot more now…

 

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

 

Out in space…

 

The retrieval teams from Earth's technical division arrived and began extracting the data from the CPUs of the totaled Dominion Gundams. Even if they were defeated and the Freedom had evolved, they would not stop until their creation would totally surpass the Freedom. Besides…the Dominion would soon be joined by more unit models.

 

The stakes have just gone higher.

 

To be continued…

 

Author's Notes…

 

This was one long first chapter for the second stage, but it's worth all the time and effort, don't you think?

 

One of the things I like about Vandread when I saw it on TV is the fact that the crew have to rediscover themselves and the intricate and mysterious relationships between men and women in the past, and that includes how men and women made children together. In this case, Kyo already KNOWS about all of that already and he has to…teach the others about all of it, and that's going to get a lot of people in some interesting scrapes, Who knows what will happen? More into this point, the crew will start questioning their childhood beliefs, their cultures, and their present ideals, this will result in some hilarious and serious situations, but they will work out soon, that I promise you.

 

The new abilities of Dita, Meia, and Jura are now very obvious as they have gained Kyo's SEED mode. How will be explained soon as the story progresses.

 

The new Freedom is a fusion of the Strike Freedom and the Wing ZERO Custom of Gundam Wing, the difference is that the wings have pure crystal feathers that propel the Gundam unit even further than normally possible and it can have some other `interesting features as well, plus it's armed with anti-ship swords and some energy dart gauntlets. Mostly, the real change is now it possesses a program in the OS that totally copies Kyo's own SEED mode, and when it's activated the I-Freedom's systems are upgraded ten times the normal design limit. And…there's some other new tricks…I'll save that for the next chapters.