Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ Counterattack ❯ Ripples Before the Storm ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Vandread belongs to… yada-yada-yada. You know what I'm talking about. Also, lemon warning!

 

Barnette took out her Desert Eagle. Firing mechanism. Check. Loading mechanism. Check. Ammo. Check. Extra clips. Check. Finally satisfied, she chambered a round and waved the firing range mechanism on. Targets flew up and started floating around. Tentatively, she fired off a couple of shots, taking two for two.

It wasn't fair. How could she have allowed it to happen? No! She hadn't just allowed it to happen, she had actually done it! Done him! She had no one else to blame but herself!

Her face a mask of rage, she fired off the rest of the clip, hitting targets in quick succession until the deafening bangs were replaced by empty clicks. Cursing the interruption, she reloaded and fired off at the targets again. And reloaded and fired off again… and again.

It just wasn't right. She had wanted nothing to do with men. Sure, she thought nothing about being friends with them, but that was the limit of what she could take from them. Except for Hibiki, Duero, Bart and a few others she had gotten close to over the past two years, she still basically hated them. The mere thought of being intimate with one was making her retch. The fact that she had gotten more than just intimate with one…

"Noooo!!!" She furiously emptied a single clip on one target. Sure, that one male had been asleep and probably wouldn't remember anything, but she did. Every touch, every move, every detail, every sensation was still vividly etched in her mind. She didn't even want to think of the possible consequences. She wasn't the one who wanted to be saddled with it, Jura was.

At the thought of her friend, Barnette groaned out loud, sinking down to the floor and hugging her knees to her chest, pistol still clutched tightly. She bowed her head. How was Jura going to react if she found out? What if… the thought alone gave her goosebumps… she had gotten herself pregnant? Jura so wanted to be the first to get pregnant by natural means. If she were to find out that someone had gotten pregnant before her, much less that it was Barnette…

Where the hell is she? Jura had been looking for Barnette all morning. There was supposed to be some sort of party at the garden later that day, when the results of the combat readiness simulation would be announced and the Nirvana would be officially ready to go out and hunt down the Harvest fleet. Dita and the others were already divided into gangs, some cooking the food, some fixing the place, and so on. Her friend, however, was not with any of them, she had, in fact not been seen all day. She had been gone when Jura checked on her room first thing that morning. Being as their rooms were in the same suite, Barnette shouldn't have left without being able to say anything to her. As near as she could piece together, Barnette had taken her Dread out for a ride almost as soon as she was up. Misty had confirmed that. Then she had proceeded to the gymnasium. Jura had gotten there only to be informed that she had just left. Knowing Barnette, she quickly went to their suite, expecting to find her in the shower. But she didn't catch her there. Barnette had obviously just been there, though, the floor was still wet. She had gone to the sauna, but her friend had never been there.

Sighing, she scratched her head. What sort of hole has she snuck off into now? She had noticed that Barnette had seemed preoccupied for the past couple of days, almost withdrawn. That was making her uneasy. She so wanted to know what was bothering her friend, wanted to know if she could help and how. But, as things were, Barnette wouldn't even speak to her, wouldn't speak to anyone, for that matter. She just clamped shut with that angry look on her face. Jura had briefly considered bringing the matter to Meia, Gascogne, BC, or even Hibiki, but had decided it would only make things worse.

She pressed on the panel to open a door. Well, this is it. If her friend wasn't here there was nowhere else to look in. Barnette could take care of herself. If she wanted to run off without saying a word, then fine. She was tired of searching around. She entered the darkened room, looking unsurely around. Someone was there, though, she could feel it. "Barnette!" She called out. "Are you there?"

"Jura?" A voice called out from the side.

Jura almost jumped in surprise, then looked to her right. Barnette had been sitting down, that was why she had missed her earlier when she had looked around. Her friend was now slowly standing up, pistol gripped tightly in hand.

"What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking all over for you, Barnette," Jura saw the look on Barnette's face and inwardly sighed. There was no point in talking to her when she had that expression.

"Why? What do you want?"

"Barnette, I can see something's bothering you. What's wrong?" She tried anyway. "Nothing," she said gruffly. "It's none of your damn business!" Then she stormed out, without even taking in the stricken look on Jura's face.

**********

"Is that about it?" Being one of the tallest people in the room, Jarell was perched atop a ladder and was currently trying to pin a decoration as high as he could onto a tree. "I think that should be ok," Meia was standing below him giving him directions. "Alright!" Jarell carefully stepped down the ladder, jumping down the last few steps.

This decorating bit was a novel experience for him and most every other male on the ship. Talarks weren't much into decorations whenever they had `festivals'… the thought of them made him shudder… and First Geners never really had much cause for celebrating. Women, however, including the pirates, really went all out to decorate whenever they had events. Over the past year he had spent on this ship he had seen a lot of celebrations and decorations, and it never ceased to amaze him. Women even sometimes seemed to celebrate the smallest, least significant things. As if they were just looking for excuses to hold a party.

Right now was a perfect example. They were expecting a sizable enemy force any day now, and here everybody was getting ready to have a party. He shuddered at the possibility that the enemy might arrive a full day earlier, or at a time when they were simply all occupied with the party, or its aftermath, but it couldn't be helped. Nirvana was still, technically, a pirate ship, unanswerable to either High Command. And the pirates, with the usual touch of madness, wanted to have their party.

**********

"Hibiki, come on!" Dita cried out, still bent over what would soon be a cake, the first of many. "Coming! Coming!" Hibiki, hurried over, carrying bags of sugar, flour, and other ingredients. Jeez, you'd think she'd eventually grow tired of it. Hibiki groaned. For the past three years he had been helping Dita with whatever shenanigan it was she was planning. From Paiway's birthday to a host of other `celebrations', it was beginning to get old. Unfortunately, Dita didn't seem to be getting tired of it, he for that matter, for some strange reason, couldn't say no whenever she asked for help. So, here he was, reduced to being some sort of hired help. Hired, because even after all these years, he still expected some sort of payment. He'd come to like the women's idea of food. Much better than colored pills.

********

Finally everything was ready. All that was left was the guest of honor. He was currently on a shuttle being given directions by Belvedere as to where and how to proceed.

"Everyone ready?" BC gave his tank top one last tug.

"Yeah, sure," Magno just smiled, BC always got tense whenever he was about to face a bigshot. She guessed BC still wasn't over the idea of being a turncoat, or Talark's rather cavalier attitude about it. Well, this one didn't really care much about that. Their guest was the most mobile of the Elders, next to her that is, she was, after all, the youngest.

"Isn't he still in yet?" Hibiki was getting impatient, he was very close to their guest.

The rest shushed him as the shuttle docked, entering the hangar. As soon as it had stopped, the hatched popped open and out stepped a smiling old man, eyes crinkling beneath spectacles. He was dressed simply for the occasion, a formal looking shirt and jacket replacing the worn tank top he usually wore, but not quite going the way of his peers. Those old farts looked goofy, in his opinion at least, dressed in those robes. As if they felt the years. It was bad enough they weren't as strong as they used to be, but they had to carry their years around with all those heavy robes.

"Uncle Jin, it's been awhile," Magno was the first to greet him, shaking his hand. "These are the senior officers of the Nirvana." She introduced him to each one, who in turn shook his hand. "And of course, your very impatient former ward." Hibiki stepped forward to shake the hand of the man who had raised him. "Why, look at you. You've sure grown a lot. You're parents would be proud." The old man happily drew him close in a manly hug, slapping his shoulders. "Grandpa please, you're embarrassing me."

"The interior of the ship has been extensively renovated to accommodate the larger crew. Most of the single rooms have been reduced in size, while others have been rearranged into suites of two or three rooms. Stockpiles of food, ammunition and other consumables have been increased." BC droned on and on as they made their way to the garden, explaining the ship's activities in the past years, and the preparations it had made towards its latest mission.

Jin inwardly mused, only paying half an ear to the spy. He wondered if she would make an appearance tonight. She had been pretty pissed when they'd last seen each other. He'd kept loose tabs on her since she'd left him almost two years ago. It wasn't hard, being an Elder meant he did have some clout, he'd just never had an occasion to exercise it. He knew she was aboard and fervently hoped she would speak to him.

~Flashback~

"One hundred years! How could you do this to me? To us?" The slim young woman with short, dark blue hair stood in front of him, arms folded across her chest. She was angry and rightly so. A hundred years had been taken from her, a hundred years she was supposed to have spent beside the man she loved. Instead, she'd been awoken from cold sleep only to find out that the man she loved had waited a hundred years. Everything was gone now, everything they were supposed to have had. Worse was the knowledge that the man in question had been watching over the hibernation pods the whole time. Over her. He could have woken her, if he'd wanted to. His exalted position in the society he helped create and the isolation he lived in meant no one would have been able to secondguess him. But he hadn't.

"I'm sorry my love, it just couldn't be helped. Things were just so…"

"Don't call me that! A hundred years! How can you say that?"

"Look, it's not too late, you could still stay here with me. We can make up for time that we've lost."

"No! I won't stay here with you. I was supposed to grow old with you. Now I find that you've gone and done that on your own." She sighed, choosing her next words carefully. "I can't say that I don't love you anymore. It isn't that. I just have no place here. You've done all this in the past hundred years, and I won't begrudge you what you've accomplished. Deep down I know how painful it was to live up to the decision you'd made. It's just, I want to think things over, sort it out. I want to live my own life first. A life that should have been with you, but can't be now. You've just gone and done things on your own. I guess I want to do some things on my own for a while."

Jin sighed, "I understand. Please remember that I will always love you." At the mention of the word love, her face soured once more. Shaking her head, she had simply turned away from him. A few hours later, she had left him and had gone without saying goodbye.

~End Flashback~

The party was now in full swing. Off to one side Bart was chatting easily with the bridge girls. Others had paired off. Duero was talking quietly with Parfet, Hibiki was stuffing his face to the sound of encouragements from Dita. Misty was looking around for her target… he had been there just a few moments ago but seemed to have since disappeared. Meia, Jarell and a few of their senior pilots were sitting together, talking with wild gesticulations in that language pilots share. BC was with the senior citizens.

The only damper was Barnette. She had gravitated immediately to the refreshments table and had not left it since. She was now into her umpteenth cup of spiked punch, with no sign of letting up. A clearly worried Jura was hovering near her.

"Barnette, that's enough, you've already had too much."

"Leave me alone, woman! Butt out!"

That was the last straw. Jura had had enough of Barnette's attitude. "Well, if you want me to mind my own damn business, then that's exactly what I'm gonna fucking do!" Reaching under the tablecloth for a bottle of brandy, she picked up a stack of cups and went over to Meia and the others, whom she invited, and who agreed, to share the bottle.

Barnette just looked at her, until it sank in. "Hey!" Crouching down under the table, she found the box of liquor there. "Oh happy days!" Not having helped with the preparations, she hadn't known something was in there. Reverently, she picked up a bottle of scotch, "this will do nicely." Unscrewing the cap she walked over to one of the trees and sitting down at its base, took a swig. "Ah! Much better."

At another tree, a young man, not much more than a boy, really, with brown hair sat hunched, typing furiously into a portable computer. "There you are!" The sudden outburst surprised the boy, making him look to his side, at which the startled look changed into one of pure terror as he realized that Misty had found him. The blue-haired, light blue clad teenager knelt down interestedly at his side. "Whatcha doin'?" "Err… I'm trying to write a new encrypt code." Figuring it would be rude to just leave, and for lack of anything else to do, Jarod nervously turned back to the screen and started typing again.

"Uhhh…" Misty searched for words to break the uneasy silence that had fallen over them. "Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Aren't you going to?"

"Going to? Going to what?" He was still engrossed in whatever it was he was doing.

"Eat of course. Come on, I'll show you which ones are the tastiest." She was now tugging at his sleeve. Finally resigned that whatever it was she had planned for him, she had him for the duration, Jarod closed down his computer and started to get up. "Well, I guess I am hungry."

"Goody!" She excitedly took his arm and led him over to the buffet table.

**********

Maila stared down at her hands. She had been sitting for the past hour in the living room of the suite she shared with a couple of other First Gen women, one a Dread pilot and the other a trooper. They were off having fun at the party. She had begged off, saying she wasn't feeling well. They had simply exchanged knowing looks. She'd been relatively well known during colonial ship days, so they likely knew about him.

Finally she'd had enough. She'd go to the party. And if he was there, then so be it, but she had had enough of hiding down here.

Their first meeting was awkward, neither really knew what to say beyond how-are-yous and I'm-fines. Eventually, however, the conversation got easier, helped along by alcohol and the fear of making a scene, not to mention the undeniable fact that deep down they still cared for each other's welfare.

Eventually, the party began to thin, as people started to feel the late hour. They began to drift off, either one by one or in small groups.

Meia looked around, the old people had already said their goodbyes, BC walking off with Magno, while Maila left with Jin. Theirs was now one of the few groups left, and it had gotten way bigger, in fact, it was now the biggest. Surviving pilots from other groups who would rather not retire to their quarters yet had chosen to sit down with them. The next largest group was full of troopers, and almost all of them were down and out for the count. She couldn't really blame them, their full mission profile had lasted for almost forty-eight hours, they were all still physically exhausted. Not that her group was much better, everyone on their table was drunk, several bottles were now littered all around their table. She smiled as a yawning Misty walked off with that boy she made no secret about liking. She briefly wondered if the younger girl would eventually get over him, much as she had with Hibiki. But then again, she had no competition this time. It was just as well, the way that boy looked, having Misty after him was almost more than he could handle, if another girl was to pursue him it might be too much for the poor thing's sanity. A chorus of boisterous laughs called her attention back to the table. They were beginning to break up.

"Now all I have to do is find Barnette", Jura looked drunkenly around, scanning the garden for any sign of her friend. "I think she's passed out below one of the trees over there", one of the Bangata pilots supplied. "Thanks", Jura blew him a flying kiss.

The pilot was right on the money as far as where Barnette was. What Jura hadn't expected was the two empty bottles of scotch at her feet, not to mention the half-empty one still gripped in her hand.

"Barnette", Jura sighed, how in the worlds was she gonna get Barnette back to their quarters.

"Here let us help." She turned to find Meia and Jarell had hung around in case she needed help with Barnette, and she did. Both taking a bare arm, they pulled Barnette up to her feet and slinging an arm each over their shoulders started walking off. Jura picked up her jacket and tried to pry the bottle from her fingers. Drunk blind as she was, however, Barnette still managed to brush her off, maintaining a tight grip on the bottle's neck. Jura just shook her head and drunkenly followed after them.

********

"Wanna step in for a while?" Maila didn't know why she was doing it, but here she was inviting Jin into her quarters. Jin followed her in. Maila looked around, they're both asleep already, and then ushered Jin into her bedroom. Surprised at her actions, Jin looked around her sparsely decorated room. "Sit," Maila motioned him over to a chair, and then sat down on her bed.

"You don't have to do this you know."

Maila just raised an eyebrow in response.

"You don't have to go along on this wild goose chase. You could stay with me instead." Jin was desperate. He had no problem with letting Maila go do something on her own, but standing by while she signed up for a war, one in which there was a very real possibility of her never making it back, that was slightly different.

Annoyed, Maila stood up, "We've been over this before."

"I'm sorry, it's just that you might die somewhere out there, I wouldn't be able to help you."

Hugging her arms to herself, she turned her back at him, "Then I'm ready to go without your help."

They stayed that way for a few minutes, before Maila shyly turned back to Jin and stepped closer to his chair. This might be the last time we'll be together like this. She knelt at the edge of the seat with his thighs between her legs. Surprised, Jin leaned back, and was even more surprised when she kissed him, her hands holding his face. As she slowly deepened the kiss, his arms gently enveloped her, after a hundred years he still knows how to hold me… Nodding, she stepped back. She raised her hand to the zip at her breastbone, and, slowly pulling it down, looked Jin in the eye.

"You can stay the night, but don't ask me again to come with you. I've already made up my mind."

Jin nodded, then stood up, coming closer to her.

********

"Are we just about there?" Jarell asked the blonde bombshell. They'd already made more than a couple of wrong turns. In fact, they'd even found Meia's quarters first. The plan had originally been him and Meia helping Jura with Barnette to the two's suite. Instead, since they had `found' Meia's quarters first, he had persuaded Meia to turn in for the night, he would take care of Jura and Barnette. Now, Jura was staring intently at a door, probably making up her mind if it was the right one. Finally she made up her mind. Steeling herself, she pressed at the panel to open the door. Only to find out that it was the right door… she had been worried about nothing.

"This way," she led him to Barnette's room where he deposited the sleeping pilot on the bed, bottle and all. Fortunately, enough of the scotch had been drained that it didn't spill on the sheets.

He made his way to the door, where they said their goodbyes.

"Well, I guess this is it."

I wonder how his lips would taste like? Would it be different from Barnette's? "I guess so."

"I'd better go."

Jarell turned to leave, but was stopped by a restraining hand on his elbow. Pulling him toward her, Jura wantonly reached up and pulled his lips down to hers. Shock was Jarell's first reaction as Jura deepened the kiss, her tongue snaking out to tease his lips. Jarell could no longer control himself. Groaning, he wrapped his arms around her and pushed them into the suite. The door whistled shut behind him, but neither paid it any heed as they continued to Jura's door. Realizing she was pinned against the door to her own room, Jura broke the contact. She reached an arm to the control panel as she looked into his eyes. There she saw her lust and desire mirrored in his. The door opened behind her and she stepped back into the room, beckoning him to follow. As the door slid shut behind Jarell, Jura turned the tables and pinned him against it, running her hands all over his muscular chest. They kissed again, his hands exploring her every curve as hers traced the lines of his shoulders and back. When his hands brushed the sides of her breasts, it was all she could do not to moan.

Stepping back, she tugged at his shirt, pulling it up and over his head, revealing his lean, muscular arms. He moved toward her just as she took another step back. Hands reached up behind her neck, then tugged at her dress, off her shoulders, arms, and then finally down, tugging at her thongs along the way. As Jura completely bared herself, Jarell followed suit, dimly realizing that, as skimpy and revealing her outfit was, they did her gorgeous body absolutely no justice.

Finally, with everything out of the way they fell to the bed where they came together hurriedly, almost violently. Pausing only briefly when the loss of her barrier made Jura cry out, their needs and instincts soon overtook them. All reason was lost, overwhelmed by the hunger as they moved against each other desperately, hands frantically exploring and squeezing each other's flesh, thrust meeting each savage thrust in a frenzied rhythm until they reached that peak neither had ever been to. They cried out, clinging tightly to each other as release wracked their trembling bodies.

As they fell back to reality, they just barely remembered to pull away from each other before falling into a drunken slumber.

********

Jarell's eyes flew open. This isn't my room, and this bed is… different. As his eyes wandered around looking for clues as to his exact location, his eyes fell upon a blond head nestled in the crook of his shoulder. I thought something felt heavy.

Said blonde head was attached to a very gorgeous, very voluptuous, very NUDE body draped all over his form. His similarly disrobed form. No! I couldn't have!

Trying to recall exactly what had transpired the night before, he groaned as all he got was a series of blurry images and an even bigger headache than the one he woke up with.

Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, he gently disentangled himself and, quickly putting his jumpsuit on, made a hasty exit, not bothering to put his tunic on, slinging it over a shoulder instead.

********

Jarell sat staring at the brook, debris from the previous night still scattered around, a thermos at his side. "Penny for your thoughts?" Jarell looked to his side, slowly so as to minimize the pain lancing between his temples. Meia sat down beside him, accepting the proffered thermos and drinking from it. She frowned, she hadn't expected the thermos to be containing corn soup. "By the way, did you get Jura and Barnette safely back?"

Jarell's reaction surprised her. "I think I must've passed out there. I don't exactly remember what I did before passing out." He muttered just as soon as he could get his facial expressions under control

********

Bart was the only person on the bridge. It was disconcerting, being alone, not even BC was on duty. Shrugging, Bart jumped into "his" helm. It was just as well, what he planned on doing wasn't exactly something he'd want anyone to know about. Things had been so busy lately he hadn't had a chance to follow up on Jura's request. Willing the ship's database open, he used it to make a routine request for a background check on Jarell Dyson.

Viewing the file as it came in, he scanned the data. Name, age, date of birth, facility of birth, genetic donors, schooling and training records, most of it was routine and rather trivial, which explained why it was found in a database that could be accessed by the public. He frowned as the file came to an abrupt end, a `Further Details Classified' flashing. It had just stopped short a few years previous, then picked up again just about year ago, just before he came aboard. Sniffing around the file some more, he'd found hidden markers indicating that some details were in separate files found on both Talark's and Mejayl's encrypted memory cores. His curiosity piqued, he decided to probe the respective memory cores just to see if he could trick them into revealing anything, going through several relays so that tracing him would take time. Almost by accident, he tapped into the Mutual Defense Long Range Sensor Net. No one would still be up at this hour. Sure, they'll be at their posts… sleeping. He was surprised when it beeped, a screen opening up to show a huge group of blips just hours from their position. As the computer identified the bogeys, he jumped.

The entire ship jerked at Bart's reaction. Misty was still in bed, dreaming vividly about Jarod. Just when the dream was about to get explicit, read erotic, she fell onto the floor. Fuck! Similar scenes played out all over ship. Meia fell onto Jarell, spilling a cup of hot soup over them both. Maila's and Jin's heads banged against each other, waking both up. Gascogne was already awake… in the shower… She cursed out loud as she hit her butt on the floor.

Just as complaints and inquiries flooded the only active station on the bridge, his, Bart remembered to hit the general alarm. "RED ALERT! RED ALERT! ENEMY DETECTED! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! REPEAT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"