Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ Counterattack ❯ Stopover ( Chapter 5 )

Vandread isn't mine. Jarell and Jarod are, along with the story, but that's about it. LEMON WARNING!!! If you don't like those kinds of things, just skip the last part of the chapter, somewhere past **~Last night~**

The silver gray ship plowed through space, its sleek lines easily betraying its purpose. For now, that purpose was the asteroid just a few hundred thousand clicks ahead of it. As it moved, a smaller red ship split into two different pinpricks of light and entered into it.

"Jura and Hibiki have docked at the upper launch bay." Celtic called out to BC from her console. BC nodded at the information and signaled to the navigator, still in his chamber. "Bart, continue on present course, reduce speed to 50 percent." As Bart acknowledged the instructions, BC continued. "Belvedere, apprise New Melanas of our impending arrival. All stations stand down."

"We're home!" Jura called out almost as soon as her canopy had opened. Quite a small crowd had gathered in the bay to welcome them, almost entirely female. There were quite a number of men around but almost all of them were hunched in their Bangatas, busy with what seemed to be last minute recalibrations and checkups. She looked around for one face in particular, and sighed when she did not see her.

She was tired, the past four days had been spent almost entirely in her Vandread, as she and Hibiki shepherded the Nirvana through the magnetic storm, just as before. What's more, BC had picked that particular time to be paranoid, deciding, not unreasonably, that it was the perfect time for an ambush. Hence she had set a grueling pace for the Vandread and the larger ship at full throttle, the whole time in red alert.

Jura had no grief with BC's decision, really. Even she could see the logic in attacking the Nirvana when all sensors and communications were limited to at most a kilometer or two, usually less. It just so happened that the end result was that she was bone tired and hungry. What ate at her even more was that Barnette still hadn't slipped out of her blues. She was still moping around somewhere and hadn't promised to cook her anything as she had before. Oh well, fortunately Dita had more or less made the invitation open… better get going, before Hibiki ate it all.

Jarell grunted as he lit up the last bogey. A `Simulation Over' sign appeared, followed by statistics. "Well that's it for now," he called out to the rest of his pilots. "Everyone's dismissed, r and r for now, report back in two hours", he gave the instructions automatically, most of his attention was focused on the statistics scrolling on his forward viewscreen. Damn, he hated having to drive his pilots like this, but he had no choice. It had been decided early on that all 48 Bangata pilots on the Nirvana would be issued the newly developed type 102s. An upgrade of the Type 101 to which it bore an uncanny resemblance, it was faster, better armored, more maneuverable, had a farther range and had more hardpoints for optional weapons. It was designed for long, extended campaigns into deep space, exactly like the one they were in now, and was a closer match in performance to Hibiki's own modified Vanguard. Unfortunately there had been an accident at the primary assembly plant and deliveries were delayed. It got to the point that five days before the expected arrival of the Cube Gateways at the Talark-Mejayl system, there were still no Type 102s aboard the Nirvana, only 15 of the older Type 101s and a whole lot of Type 99s. That meant that except for Able Squadron plus a handful of senior pilots, everyone was still piloting the obsolete Type 99s during the combat exercise. Even during the actual battle, more than half of Charlie Squadron was still in Type 101s. The last shipment arrived just hours before the Nirvana was to depart, finally reaching the planned complement of 50 Type 102s with 6 Type 101s `just in case'. Since then, most of the Bangata pilots had been busy recalibrating and burning in the new machines.

Finally satisfied, Jarell ran his systems down to standby, it would have to do for now. As he stood up from his command chair he could not help looking at the varied melee weapons held by the Bangatas in their berths. It was one of the reasons assembling a Type 102 took so long. The Type 102 was designed specifically for this mission, where the pilots were expected to encounter the most hostile and most varied of operating environments. It so happened however, that this mission had also attracted some of the best and the brightest Bangata pilots, not to mention the most experienced and the most promising. Out of respect for their achievements such pilots were given a little leeway in customizing their machines. This came in the form of personalized melee weapons and `slight' variations in paintjobs, a line here, a dash there, as long as unit identifying colors and markings were preserved. As for the melee weapons, pilots were essentially an eclectic lot, particularly those who had come far enough, and each pilot had his own idea as to what melee weapon he wanted for his powersuit. That meant each melee weapon was built by hand, with any number of features specified by the pilot.

To ensure that the Nirvana would have the best Bangata units available, it was decided to bypass this rule. Hence, even rookie pilots aboard the Nirvana, and there were quite a lot, were issued Type 102s. Not that they were undeserving. Jarell had every faith that these pilots, even the rookies, would eventually prove themselves. As long as they didn't get killed first. The Type 102, as he himself had come to discover, was a demanding machine, taking the most and a bit more out of its pilot and with a tendency to punish those it found wanting. Which was why he had kept each and everyone here in the launch bay for most of the past few days, ever since departure. The sooner a pilot got to know his machine, the less likely it was going to kill him.

Speaking of customizations, one of his senior officers, the second most senior to him, in fact, as well as the leader of Baker Squad, had suggested allowing the pilots to customize paintjobs on their own Bangatas. He had gotten the idea after seeing the Type 99s the pirates had used to survey one of the planets, all three were still aboard, in all their Technicolor glory. Scuttlebutt had it that Dita had thought the silver paintjobs dull and had repainted them, even tried to repaint Hibiki's already colorful `friend'. He thought it over on his way to the mess hall, it wasn't such a bad idea, really, they were after all pirates, for now. Besides most already had private names for their machines and anyway, they were technically on special assignment and not under military jurisdiction, many weren't even soldiers, to begin with.

However, some identifying marks would have to be prescribed. He hadn't gotten around to doing that, he really didn't want to prescribe unit identifying markings until everyone had a ship, but ever since all machines had arrived they'd been so busy.

********

Jura entered the room Dita had designated, and paused in surprise. The dinner Dita had promised was a veritable banquet. She doubted even Hibiki would be able to eat it all, although he was certainly trying. She guessed she had underestimated Dita's abilities, she'd never expected Dita to plan and execute something so big on her own, but she had. As she heard the Bangata pilots approaching behind her, she decided to start for the buffet table. It wouldn't do for those kids to eat all the food before she got some of it.

********

Bart gingerly maneuvered the Nirvana to the Docking bay the Melanites had designated. Since it was night on both Nirvana and Melanas time, every other procedure could wait until morning. For now, what mattered was that the Nirvana had finally arrived at the first stop of its journey, and that it was safe among friends.

Man, he was hungry, he'd been cooped up in that chamber in his birthday suit, on and off, for almost as long as Hibiki and Jura had been out there, slightly longer in fact. Granted, his position was a bit more comfortable in there, and no one was really the wiser whenever he dozed off, but still. He'd been `listening' in when Hibiki and Jura had docked. Yup, Dita's cooking, here I come!

********

The mini-party was in full swing when he got there. Dita, Hibiki, a few Dread pilots, a couple dozen Bangata pilots, Meia, and Jura were all there. Almost as soon as he got there Jura had sidled up to him and asked to speak privately. Since he was hungry, he asked for a reprieve, just long enough to get some of the quickly dwindling food.

"Well, what have you learned?" She asked as soon as Bart had food and they were out of everybody's earshot.

"Learned? About what?" Bart didn't quite catch what Jura was referring to. "Him," Jura exasperatedly shrugged a shoulder in the direction of a certain Bangata commander who was leaning off to the side minding his own business. "Oh! Him. Well, pretty much standard, 25 years old, 180 centimeters, 65 Kilograms, blood type A… yada-yada-yada. There were a few notable events in his service record. About 5 years ago …" Jura listened with rapt interest as Bart recounted a few of Jarell's exploits, until she noticed a discrepancy. "Waitaminute, you're saying all that's recorded stops more than four years ago, when the records say he was assigned to General Staff, and picks up again less than two years ago, after almost three years, when he was assigned as XO of the Special Type 101 Squadron? Isn't that quite a jump from staff to a command?"

"Thought you wouldn't notice." Bart answered, as he continued eating. "You'd think such a skilled officer would be most useful in the field. Wouldn't you? Apparently, they didn't think so. But I smelled a rat so I poked around a bit, and I found hidden markers in his service record, markers that would be revealed to someone with the proper clearance or rank. Those markers pointed to encrypted data on both Mejayl and Talark."

"You mean he worked for both governments? I thought they were still at war at the time." Jura's curiosity was piqued.

"Well, not really," Bart inwardly groaned, Jura had missed the point. "I found something like that in other personnel files, but one that you'd really know is BC's."

"What about BC's file?" Jura was beginning to get confused.

"BC, or Tenmei Uragasumi, as the Talark High Command calls him, was pretty promising too, until about ten years ago, he was assigned to an obscure staff assignment. About a year later, Magno Vivan, along with Rebecca, Gasco and a Buzam A Calessa, start the pirates."

"What does BC have to do with Jarell's file?" Jura was by now ready to wring Bart's neck and make him speak plainly.

"BC's file ten years ago, unexpectedly pointed to the Talark and Mejayl encrypted memory cores at the same time he was transferred, when he actually went undercover. He didn't work for both governments, but what he did was so sensitive that neither government could claim any knowledge about it without either being embarrassed, or escalating the hostilities. I don't really know what the encrypted data say, but just the fact that it points there is enough proof. Our Jarell is the same. Four years ago he was assigned to General Staff, and that's when the markers started appearing. Whatever he did, it was sensitive enough that Talark had to keep it a secret, and big enough that Mejayl noticed him but couldn't admit to knowing about him. I think the term they use is `black operations', those missions that aren't supposed to exist."

"I don't really know how something anybody does isn't supposed to exist, kept a secret maybe," Jura was visibly struggling with the idea. "But still", she continued, "He's even more interesting than we thought." She looked again just in time to watch him walk out, followed by his pilots. For now, the sauna would be a good idea.

********

Meia strode down the corridor, only to see Hibiki waiting at the same door that was her destination. "Have any idea what's going on?" she asked as soon as she got near enough to him. "I dunno…" was Hibiki's only reply. "All I know is that Dita asked me here and hasn't opened the door yet."

"Same here, I guess," Meia leaned towards the door control panel and the `peephole' camera. "Dita? You gotta let us in. Whatever's wrong, I'm sure you can help."

"Leader?" Dita's voice answered back. "Alright, I'm opening the door."

The door opened to let them into the three-bedroom suite, where they found Misty curled in the couch, hugging her knees to her chest, her head bowed down. "Misty?" Meia sat down beside the girl. "Sis!" Misty turned her face to Meia's shoulder and started crying. "Hush, it's alright." Meia cooed, trying to calm Misty down.

"Hey! Which idiot did this to you? Tell me who and I'll rip his guts out!" Hibiki was beside himself. He couldn't stand a female crying, much less someone so close to Dita. And whoever was close to Dita was close to him.

"He hates me!" Misty was finally able to stop bawling long enough to say something. "Jarod hates me!" As if this piece of information was too much, she went back to her crying.

Hibiki just stared blankly at her, his outrage melting away. He was beginning to have an idea of what happened. He couldn't really blame Jarod, in his place he probably would have… he had done the same. Dita had just happened to be persistent. Unsure of what to do, he went into the kitchenette, where he found Dita preparing something for them. "Well? Has she told you what happened?" For lack of anything else to say, he asked Dita. "She's been like this ever since we left Olympus. She never talks, just locks herself up in her room. She usually keeps herself busy at the bridge, and then when her shift's over she just walks straight here as if in a daze. I was beginning to get worried, until today when I walked in I saw her curled up like that, crying silently. At least she's finally crying, so I know now something's really wrong. But as to what that something is, she won't talk."

"I think I know." Dita didn't speak, just looked expectantly at him. "She must have pushed Jarod too hard, so he lost his temper." "You think that might be what's going on?" They both turned, surprised. "Leader, what about Misty?" "She's in her room, probably still crying, but she's got it down now. Said she wanted to be alone."

"I think so." Hibiki answered Meia's previous question. "Men are proud, they won't easily admit what they feel. And they'll be angry a lot before they admit it. Take that anger out at other people, too." "You're saying Jarod may like Misty back but doesn't want to admit it?" Meia was incredulous.

"From what I saw at the party, it would be a safe assumption. But it will be a while before Jarod accepts it. I think he's still secretly afraid Misty's after his liver."

"But it's not his liver Misty's after… it's his heart!" Dita cut in, not able to stop herself, and it worked. The serious looks on Hibiki's and Meia's faces were replaced by ones of wry humor.

"Anyway," Hibiki continued after a few guffaws, "I think Jarod is confused about his own feelings, I remember feeling the same way. Misty may just be taking the wrong approach, after all, Jarod is a bit… strange. I don't think food is the way to his heart."

"Unlike some people, but you may be right," Meia agreed. "So the question now is, what do we do next? Do we stand idly by, or do we help?" "I don't know," Hibiki mulled it over. "Even if we did want to help, none of us is in any position to really do anything. None of us are close to Jarod, so we don't really know for sure what's on his mind."

"We might have to ask someone else, from the outside," Meia's features brightened as she considered the possibilities. "We could ask Jarell and some of his pilots." Hibiki nodded at Meia's suggestion, adding, "at least, it would be a place to start."

********

Hibiki powered up his `friend', and smiled as he rocketed out of the launch bay. He'd awoken early, hoping to set the plan he, Meia and Dita had hatched into motion. Unfortunately, the Bangata pilots were even earlier. Almost everyone who mattered was already out of his or her room when he came knocking. He'd eventually found them all in the launch bay, already busy. They were just about to launch on maneuvers. Deciding not to disturb them for now, and promising to join them later, he had instead powered up his Vanguard and launched out to get a closer look at New Melanas. He knew the other crewmembers would be doing the same, but from the inside.

Whoa! He almost cried out in wonder as he finished his first pass. New Melanas was big. Instead of just one asteroid, it was at least three asteroids fused together, the total size easily larger than Olympus or the pirates' asteroid home. Various weapon emplacements and shield generators were being currently being installed all over the outer surface. The Melanites hadn't been joking when they referred to it as the asteroid fortress. Clearly, if the Harvest fleet was gonna take it down, it would go down fighting.

His expression saddened as he realized that that might be exactly what the Melanites had in mind. After the great battle, the Melanites had returned to the home they had abandoned and instead found a debris cloud. Melanas had been the largest moon orbiting a gas giant.

Upon learning of the Harvest they had evacuated to their Carriers and Cruisers, to either enforce a blockade or make a quick getaway. That was how he had initially found them. The unit he had befriended had been obliterated, but another had come to fight alongside them at the great battle. He realized that two units out of position might have been all the opening the Planet Destroyer had needed. It had entered the system and destroyed not just Melanas itself, but the gas giant. The subsequent loss of such a huge source of gravity had changed the entire planetary system, others were on collision courses with each other. It would be decades, perhaps centuries before the system would stabilize, if ever at all. By then, it would be changed between recognition.

This time, it seemed that the Melanites had determined to stand and fight if the Harvest fleet should come calling. They had towed the asteroids, fragments from their ruined home, to this safe haven. When it was fully operational, they planned to drive it somewhere else, they hadn't said yet where. Hibiki suspected though that they would go home.

His console beeped as he detected an opening big enough for his Vanguard. He entered, and after a few turns, found himself in a huge chamber in the middle of the largest fragment. Work was still ongoing, a huge power core was suspended in the middle, still cold. Only the middle-sized fragment, where the Nirvana was docked, was operational. The rest were still under construction.

He made his way back out, reaching the outside just in time to see a task group arrive for station keeping. He knew enough by now to know that Melanas task groups took turns guarding the station and that in addition, at least three were always near by.

********

Jura opened her eyes. Reaching her arms above her head she stretched languidly, paying close attention to those muscles that were sore. She then sat up on the bed, folding her legs in front of her.

Looking down on her body, she tenderly ran both her hands along her skin, starting at her hips, then up her torso to her breasts, smiling as she felt her skin tingle. She had awoken in the buff again. Only this time she remembered exactly what had happened.

**~Last night~**

Jura's eyes flew open and she almost jerked. She was still in the Jacuzzi. The swirling water, heated just above her body temperature was exactly what the doctor ordered. She had been so relaxed she must have fallen asleep without realizing it.

Looking around, she realized the sauna was now empty. Not a single attendant was in sight. She smiled, she often came here at wee hours to relax, they were probably used to it by now. They had just left some items she might need. Standing up, she examined the items they had left, ignoring the fact that she was completely bare except for the towel holding her hair up. There was no one else to see. Hmmm, towels, a toweling robe, and her usual outfit. Settling back into the Jacuzzi, she debated on what to do next.

She'd bathed earlier so she was all clean. She could sleep here, but that was scandalous. She would have to go back to her room, but not as she was currently attired. The black outfit was there, but she decided that it was sticky. Stepping off the pool, she put on the toweling robe, getting rid of the towel around her head. She would have to sneak back to her quarters in only that, luckily a quick glance at the chrono told her it was the middle of the night. Anyway, she probably showed more skin in her standard number.

Jura peaked around the corner of the corridor, she was almost there. She was so intent on looking she did not notice the footsteps coming up behind her. "Looking for someone?" The question surprised her, making her jump and drop the things she was carrying.

Jarell bent down to pick up what Jura had dropped, towels, the black dress, even the ankle boots, and… is that a thong(?). This was curious, Jura was dressed in a bathrobe and bath slippers, and her standard outfit was folded up. He wondered briefly if she was wearing anything at all beneath it, and realized his mistake when he felt his clothes tighten almost immediately, particularly around the crotch. "Looking for someone?" He repeated casually as he stood up.

"You almost gave me a heart attack." Jura spoke when she had her breathing slightly under control. She bent down, her hands on her knees as she tried to regain her composure. "I fell asleep in the sauna, figured I'm not exactly dressed to be seen by anyone at this time." She explained in between gasps.

"Long day, eh?" Jarell spoke, a sympathetic grin on his lips. "I fell asleep in the hangar myself. Analyzing the data from our latest exercise." Jura was by now more or less upright, that marvelous chest heaving only slightly now, so he motioned her in the direction of her rooms, which was on the way to his.

He followed her into her suite and into her room, still carrying her things. "Where do I put these?" Jura pointed to her vanity, "you can put it there, the boots on the floor underneath."

"Well, I'll be off." He was about to leave when Jura called him. "Lieutenant?"

Surprised at being called by his rank, Jarell paused. "Do you remember any of what happened the last time you were here?"

Well, guess now's the time to face it. "Not really, just flashes," Jarell answered quietly, his head bowed. "Same here." Jarell was facing her now, so she motioned him to sit on the only chair. He did so and she sat down on the bed facing him, looking down at her hands.

"You left right away, without waking me up," it wasn't a question. "I guess I would have done the same in your position." She looked up to find him leaning toward her, hands together with elbows on his hips. She gazed into his eyes, then leaned closer to him. "The last thing I remember clearly… is this." She kissed him fully on the lips, her hands coming to rest at his nape.

Jarell broke the kiss, searching deeply in her eyes. He saw the hunger and knew what she wanted, and by Talark, he wanted it too. "I'm not sure I want to be the father of your child." It was a last ditch effort to control the situation.

"You don't have to worry about that for now." She kissed him again, and the situation spun out of control. The kiss deepened and they drank deeply of each other. Jarell leaned back, pulling her off the bed. She placed her knees at the edge of his chair, trapping his legs beneath her as she leaned into him. Her hands roamed along his shoulders and his back, tracing his corded muscles, while his traced the outline of her curves, she was wearing nothing underneath, coming to rest on her ample breasts and fondling them through the terry cloth.

Jura felt like she was on fire. She pulled back and tugged at Jarell's tunic, pulling it over his shoulders and tossing them aside. She ran her hands along the front of his flightsuit, feeling his lean frame beneath her palms and fingertips. She then pulled the zip and peeled the suit off his shoulders, revealing his wiry torso. "Just as I remembered it."

Leaning forward she started at his chest, then trailed kisses all over his front. Jarell gripped the armrests and moaned as she teased his nipples. She then continued downward, kissing and tonguing the lines of his washboard abdomen and playing with his navel, before stopping at the waistband of his briefs. She looked at the bulge forming there. "Hmmm", she smiled playfully, kneeling in front of him. He lifted himself slightly as she pulled his flightsuit all the way down and off his legs, leaving him only in his undies. Then, with a naughty smile, she also pulled them off.

She stared at his engorged manhood. Now that is even bigger than I remember. Reverently she wrapped her hand around it, and experimentally kissed the tip. She trailed kisses down his shaft to his balls. Then her tongue flicked out. She toyed with his balls before going up the length of him and taking him into her mouth. Jura fought the urge to gag as she went down on him.

Jarell, meanwhile was reduced to moans and whimpers as the sensations overwhelmed him, he was therefore surprised when Jura stopped. He looked down to see her looking up at him. As they locked gazes, Jura pulled the top of her robe apart, freeing her humongous breasts from their prison. Taking a globe of flesh in each hand, she leaned forward and trapped his sex between them. Jarell leaned back again as her silken flesh closed around him and began to pump. Jura looked down, she could see the tip peaking out from her cleavage. She bent down and put her mouth to it.

Soon Jarell could no longer help it, Jura's ministrations made him climax, squirting all over her face and chest. He looked at her, unsure of what to do as she licked him clean. She then smiled up at him, licked her lips, and slowly stood up. Tugging at the robe's sash she let it drift down to the floor.

Jarell feasted on the sight before him. She was a true blonde, and her gorgeous curves were even more luscious without clothes to inhibit them. Slowly, Jura raised her hands to her chest and the puddle that had formed there, then started massaging around in circles, rubbing his liquid all over. When her breasts were completely covered, her fingertips met at the valley over her breastbone, then traced a line down the middle of her front, playing briefly around her navel, and on down to her damp curls. She rolled her shoulders forward, squeezing her fluid-soaked bosom together, and arched her head back as she alternated her fingers inside of her.

Jarell sat transfixed, his spent manhood twitching with renewed interest as Jura played with herself. Finally he placed his hands on her waist and roughly shoved her to the bed, quickly following her down as he went straight for her center. He licked her mound, then playfully stroked around it with his fingertips until he touched a certain nub. Her sudden reaction surprised him. Curiously stroking it again, he watched again for her reaction, then delved into it with his tongue, pulling her legs over his shoulder and over his back.

It was now Jura's turn to be overwhelmed by his ministrations, Jarell was alternating his fingers and tongue in and around her sex, playing close attention to that sensitive part. No longer able to hold herself, she bucked, moaning as she came into his fingers. Taking his fluid-drenched fingers out of her, he lapped at her as he reached up to paint one rosy nipple, then the other, before raising it to her face. Taking it in her hands, she put his fingers into her mouth and suckled on them, savoring the taste of her juices and letting it mix with the remains of his. As she did so, she looked at Jarell gazing down at her, a question in his lustful smile. Returning his smile just as lustfully, she nodded.

Grasping her hips, he pushed into her, pausing as he expected another scream, but there was only a whimper as he filled her channel. Jarell gave in to instinct and moved, thrusting in and out in long, powerful strokes. He peered down at her, her ankles on his shoulder, and watched her glistening breasts bounce. That turned him on even more and he increased his force and tempo, her moans getting louder as the ride got wilder.

Jura's nails scratched at the bedsheets as she scrabbled for something to hold on to. Her back arched, her mind a mush as he fucked her brains out, a sheen of perspiration forming on their bodies. He pulled her legs apart and pushed them against her body, leaning forward for greater leverage. She cried out as he thrust in deeper and harder than ever before. She looked up at him, mouth agape. Her hands reached up to grasp his tightly muscled upper arms and hold on for dear life as he pushed her over the edge, shrieking ecstatically.

Jarell felt Jura convulse around him. He almost lost it then, but maintained his composure, slamming into her a few times before giving in.