Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ VanDread - Halo ❯ Choices and Plans ( Chapter 8 )

VanDread - Halo

Disclaimer: I own neither VanDread nor Halo, I merely use them to make stories such as this one right now.

Chapter 8

Choices and Plans

< >: Thoughts

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

In space…

The Nirvana was now in one of what appeared to be one of the most daring battles she had faced before. The pirates had dealt with constant attacks for at least several weeks now and those one was the most recent. They had been making their way to their home system when they were suddenly ambushed by the Harvesters near a planet with massive storms on it's surface…near a massive asteroid belt.

The Harvesters had sent out a massive force of Seed Ships, Cube Fighters, and one new high speed attack unit that seemed to be totally at home in the asteroid field, out-pacing and out-running even the quick and nimble Megele interceptors. The fighter took advantage of the fact that the Dread required plenty of room to maneuver and it's smaller profile and mass gave it the speed and edge to leave the women in the dust, and it had already taken out a number of the women pilots…including one pilot in particular.

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

In one of the corridors heading to the Medical Bay…

“CLEAR THE WAY!!!”

Duero shouted as he once more checked his new and critical patient…who was none other than Meia Gisborn. She had been trying to take out the alien Harvesters' latest fighter on her own, but the Fighter proved too agile even for her and it had taken advantage of the area and got her dead on as it struck her Dread at the cockpit. The alien fighter would have finished her off had it not been chased off by Hibiki and Dita who came on the scene.

They quickly towed the damaged fighter as it leaked coolant and parts and were horrified to see that Meia was wounded and unconscious. Hibiki had called the Nirvana to tell them that Meia had been wounded and that was a bad sign for the female officers. As the gunnery that carried Meia was being wheeled into the Medical Bay, Duero McFile went to diagnose his patient's injuries as he was accompanied by Hibiki, Dita, and one of the Dread pilots in Meia's team.

“She has several broken bones, a ruptured spleen, several head wounds and a severe concussion.”

The women looked on worriedly while Hibiki couldn't help but lash out at the Dread pilot as he had been in the area when the attack happened. The Tarak teen was decked in his marine Body Armor to protect himself from injury while in his Vanguard's cockpit and thus was not yet wheeled into the Medical Bay himself.

“You idiot! What were you thinking trying to take that thing all by yourself?! You were too rash!”

Meia looked at the moving lights and then to Hibiki and Dita, both of whom were speaking to her… the aqua haired woman however paid little attention as her mind began to drift back to her past, her life long before she had ever joined the pirates Magno had founded. She recalled her parents, her fahma and ohma and the incident that changed her life all those years ago. She recalled the things she saw, her ohma giving her something, and watching her fahma standing before a field of red, a barren place with a red sky. She saw her fahma's face smiling at her while wearing a hat.

Then she saw a massive explosion in a city, she recalled seeing herself in a mirror and feeling more and more alone.

Duero noted the sudden changes in Meia and realized how dangerous her situation was unless she was brought to the Medical Bay ASAP. He turned and quickly gave a sharp command to the patients and Paiway.

“Clear the treatment table!”

Duero proceeded to remove Meia's flight suit, chest and shoulder padding, unmindful of seeing Meia naked and her breasts in front of him, he was concerned in keeping his patient alive at all possible cost while Paiway herself moved in to help the Tarak medic. All the while, Meia lost her head piece and her eyes look up to the ceiling, while uttering one word.

“Mo…ther…”

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

Back outside, the fight was getting a lot more complicated as the lone alien fighter and it's forces continued it's blinding assault in the Nirvana. The shields of the pirate warship held on the Point Defense guns were firing at the alien fighter while dicing up the Cube Fighters that tried to get close to the Nirvana. The Dreads tried their best to take out the Harvesters, but with Meia out of the mission, it fell to Jura to command the Dread teams.

However, Jura had no prior experience in leading the Dreads on missions since Meia had always been the one to lead the Dreads and their pilots in every mission the women had ever been part of and as such she had little to no time to lead the Dreads and learn how to do it. Thus she had no idea what to do.

“A-Team engage formation Alpha one! B-Team…umm.”

The results were obvious as the blonde woman's orders resulted in even more confusion as the Harvesters took direct advantage of the situation, with the alien fighter breaking into the Dread ranks and causing nothing but panic in the Dread pilots.

Barnette quickly called in to Jura and spoke out as their group barely avoided being blasted by the Harvesters, while avoiding the massive barrage of asteroids coming their way.

“Jura! Get a hold of things! The formations you're ordering aren't working here!!!”

“I know…I know…but…”

The blonde pilot closed her eyes as her shields block another attack from the Harvesters as she tried to think of a way to salvage the situation.

She wasn't the only one as the Other Dread Team leaders, who had grown used to following Meia's orders were also in a panic on what to do without Meia commanding them. The officers on the Nirvana, namely Buzam and Magno listened into the communications from the Dread Teams.

“C-Team Return to formation!”

“Where is everyone?!”

“Who in the hell is leading?!”

“We need some help up here!”

Buzam could only shake her head and mentally grieve as the Dread Squadrons were falling apart at the seams. And she looked at how organized the Harvester forces were now as they engaged the Dreads in combat.

“To think they would have a fighter organization.”

And things on the Nirvana were far from pleasant either. Cortana couldn't fire either the MAC guns and the Archer Missiles as they would no doubt ne useless in the situation they were currently in and the fact that the Dreads were out there made the use of the more deadly weapons in her arsenals out of the question. That and the fact that her Longswords were unable to leave the area due to the Hanger bay being hit made her a\unable to reinforce the Dreads.

“First rear shield lost!”

Belvedere reported as the Nirvana was rocked by another powerful explosion as more Harvester contacts were on approach.

“The attack of the Harvesters is centered on the main lower hull!”

Amarone reported as she also tracked the Harvester attacks on her station.

Even in the Register, the situation was far from calm as the stress of the battle bled it's way into the Register and it's own staff. Gascogne however kept things cool and working fine as she reminded them that panicking was not going to solve things right now.

The only bands of pirates who were on top of things were the Nirvana Fire Teams under the Master Chief's command as they were assigned to ship defense as they moved in the ship, wearing their Marine Body Armor and wielding their respective weapons which were all made for close to medium ranged combat, namely the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, the M90A Shotgun, the M7 Caseless Sub Machine Gun, the Needler, the Plasma Rifle, the M7S Sub Machine Gun, the BR55HB SR Battle Rifle, the M6G Magnum, the Carbine, the Tarak Assault Rifles, and even the Plasma Pistols. They also carried with them the newly upgraded Megele Laser Rifles which Parfet had been able to modify to cause more damage than before in order to overpower the passive shield coatings that the Harvester Shock Troopers are known to have on them.

The Harvesters used the asteroids as cover to send small waves of boarding craft at the Nirvana and while Cortana was able to destroy them with the Nirvana Point Defense Guns under her command, some managed to bypass her defensive fire zone and make it to the Nirvana. However, if she failed to kill them, the UNSC woman in her AI form would quickly coordinate with the Spartan and his Fire Teams to head off the Harvester Shock Troopers when they were boarding the Nirvana. The alien troopers were expecting their multiple attacks to catch the women off guard, despite their losses in getting into position…

They were not counting on the fact that the women were expecting them and were already prepared to fight back with the training and ferocity the Spartan gave them. The Spartan had also taught the women on the techniques and tactics involving ship defense apart from ground operations…thus they were more than ready to counter the Harvester boarding parties. And when the Spartan was there with his own weapons, things were going to get very nasty for the Harvester boarding parties.

The women NCOs of the Fire Teams were doing an impressive job as they each led their Fire Teams as they all prepared traps and set up ambushes that quickly caught the Harvesters and their Shock Troopers off guard as the Spartan would lead them into battle, allowing them to rapidly engage and neutralize the boarding parties of the aliens before they became a threat…with Cortana doing her best to aid them along the way. And even if the Spartan was not with them, the Fire Teams did a good job in holding the line and finishing off the threats in their area of responsibility.

Unlike the Dread Squadrons who relied heavily on the leadership of Meia, the Fire Teams were able to operate interdependently and didn't always have to rely on the support of the Spartan as he and Cortana coordinated them in their actions. The Spartan had made a lot of effort to train the NCOs in leadership and team tactics and after their successful operation with no losses on their Fire Teams, the women officers who worked with the Spartan were eager to learn all they can from the UNSC Super Soldier and overall commander of the Spartan IIs. They still wanted the Master Chief around to back them up just in case things got too dicey, but they wanted to prove to the other pirates, themselves, and to the Master Chief that they will do their absolute best to accomplish their missions. Plus the Spartan encouraged them and the other Fire Team members to be independent thinkers to increase their combat effectiveness, initiative, and skills to adapt to the rapidly changing situation.

The security teams who were not part of the Fire Teams were impressed at how their comrades seemed to move and respond, along with using UNSC weapons, Tarak weapons, their Megele built weaponry and the Covenant ones as well. They had always thought the weapons of the men of Tarak were junk, and so were the UNSC weapons, but seeing how effective and deadly they were in the hands of their comrades who were trained in their use by the Spartan, began to make them change their minds.

For every success that they were able to pull off, the Fire Teams were able to send their reported directly to the bridge as the portraits of Kara, Carla, Sheena, Hilda, Fiona, and Rena appeared to give their reports, along with the Spartan.

“This is Fire Team Bravo! All hostiles have been eliminated and we're sealing off this section of the ship!”

“Fire Team Eagle here! The Harvesters are out of the picture! They won't be coming here anytime soon!”

“This is Spartan-117, Harvester contacts on deck 5 have been eliminated.”

“Fire Team Fox here! Port Arm Deck 3 is secure, the Harvesters have been pushed back!”

“Fire Team Alpha reporting in! All hostiles have been taken out, minimal casualties suffered, we're pulling back to secure secondary defensive positions.”

“Fire Team Charlie reporting in! Zero casualties here and the Harvester boarding party out of the picture! They won't be coming through here!”

“Fire Team Delta checking in! We've secured the area and all Harvesters have been taken out, moving to next position.”

The Spartan then commanded the women to move out as they were getting ready for more boarding parties heading their way. The women nodded and moved out to engage the Harvesters once more in combat.

Magno and Buzam were kept up to date on the progress of the Fire Teams and their Spartan Commander by Cortana who coordinated their rapid response to Harvester boarding parties and their craft that managed to bypass her defenses. And they had to admit, that while the Fire Teams were not out there flying Dreads, they did an excellent job in halting the Harvesters before they could gain enough momentum to strike them fast and hard within the ship. They however were only seven teams and while they were doing their best to keep the Harvesters from winning in their own way…unless they found a way to take out the Harvesters soon, they were going to be in serious trouble…especially with the Dreads scattered and disorganized.

Bart was also panicking as he lashed out his arms while shouting.

“NO! GET AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!!”

Magno however had one underlying thought as the battle outside began to get even more desperate for them. And that particular thought was centered on a certain Dread Squadron Leader who was still being treated in the Medical Bay.

<Meia…hold on, don't you dare give up now.>

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

In the Medical Bay…

“Paiway! We need the oxygen saturation levels balanced, we have to prevent Meia from going into shock!”

“Right!”

Duero and Paiway were doing their absolute best to keep Meia from losing her life while they treated her various injuries and they were working around the clock. There were reports from Cortana on the PA system that warned them of incoming Harvester boarding parties, thankfully the Spartan and his Fire Teams did an admirable job in keeping the Harvesters from overwhelming the entire ship and made sure to prevent the Harvester Shock Troopers from causing massive damage to the ship. Pyoro observed the whole thing, but made sure to keep out of the way as he had no idea on how to help the doctor and the nurse.

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

Out in space…

“We can't things like this!!!”

Barnette shouted as the Harvesters continued to press the offensive with their new fighter taking the lead, the Dreads were getting creamed and even further broken down, they all tried their best to take down the alien fighter, but the thing was just too quick for them to mount a proper counter attack. Barnette quickly contacted Jura in order to form a plan.

“Jura! We need a plan now! Jura!”

However, the blonde woman was no longer in a position to lead as she had reached her breaking pint.

“Shut up! Don't ask me anything!”

Hibiki managed to take out several more of the Cube Fighters but was interested in taking out the alien fighter that was the current leader of the whole bunch to end this whole mess before it got out of hand, but he knew for a fact that there was no way his Vanguard could ever hope to capture the fighter in an ambush, let alone chase it since it moved too quickly for him to get a good clean hit.

He knew that the VanDread his Vanguard formed with meia had more than enough power and acceleration to handle that problem and the alien forces…but knowing that Meia was out like a light right now and being treated in the Medical Bay meant that idea was out of the question and this meant that he would have to improvise. If they couldn't chase after the fighter, they might as well try and blow it to kingdom come…and the only way to do just that was to combine his Vanguard with Dita's Dread.

Hibiki quickly contacted Dita as he moved to get himself some room and to make sure that his Vanguard's comm.-systems were working properly.

“We need to combine to take out that thing!”

Dita was a bit surprised at that, as normally Hibiki was not the kind to combine when he wanted to as he preferred to settle battles on his own terms. This was naturally the very first time he was willing to combine with anyone, let alone her.

“Uh…sure!”

The Dread and Vanguard quickly fused together and out came the massive mecha and they immediately defeated several more Cube Fighters as they tracked the alien fighter as fast as they could manage. The mecha was far from being the most effective choice for speed, but it made due with deadly firepower and that might as well play a part in taking out the alien fighter and stopping the Harvester ambush cold in it's tracks.

Inside the cockpit of the fused machine, Hibiki activated the targeting systems and closed in on the alien machine, the Tarak youth nodded and began to lock in as the alien fighter began to slow down long enough for the targeting systems to lock on but it still needed the alien fighter to hold still for a few more moments.

“Come on…hold still…what the?!”

Hibiki was forced to break the lock-on when the blasted alien fighter moved away and the asteroid that it was in front of barreled in front of the VanDread, forcing Hibiki to move the machine out of the way lest it would be destroyed. The VanDread's armor was good, but there was no way it could be able to withstand a direct collision from an asteroid that size. As soon as he was able to right the mecha, the Tarak youth growled.

“Damn…with all these asteroids in the way, we can't lock on and take the damn thing out of the picture! Unless we force that fighter out of this asteroid field, we can't finish this fight.”

It was then that Jura came on the scene with her Dread, the blonde was not in the best of moods as her plans had thrown the Nirvana's Dread Squadrons in disarray and broke down their offensive on the alien Harvesters. She was angry and needed to vent out her frustration…and naturally since Hibiki was nearby…he became the target of her ire.

“Nice going! You had that thing and you didn't take it out?! Is that all you smart aleck Tarak males are capable of doing?”

Hibiki felt the anger rise in him too and he naturally bit back at Jura's words.

“Look who's talking?! You couldn't even lead the Dreads if you're life depended on it! Before you try lecturing me about what I am capable of doing, you try to actually lead the Dreads first instead of breaking down like a bloody sissy!!!”

Naturally, Jura reacted with anger as Hibiki's words were close to the truth.

“Shut the hell up! I don't need a MAN to tell me what to do!”

“Oh yeah?! Listen here…”

“Hibiki! Jura! That is enough!”

The two stopped their argument as the Spartan appeared on their communication screens with his Mjolnir Armor on. Despite not being able to see inside the polarized visor, the Tarak teen could tell that his mentor was not in the best of moods right now.

“Fighting with one another won't change this situation…Hibiki, get back to the Nirvana and recharge ASAP.”

Hibiki nodded as he respected the Spartan and despite being insulted by Jura, he pulled away. The Spartan then spoke to Jura next.

“Jura…you have to pull back too…you're Dread has to refuel and re-charge…”

“Shut up! I don't take orders from you! So don't start giving me orders you crazy freak!”

The Spartan was hardly troubled by the anger Jura displayed in front of him or the insults, he had dealt with far worse than this and he showed it as well.

“You don't need to…I'm giving you some advice.”

The Spartan cut the comm. link between him and Jura as he went back to his duties as he and his Fire Teams cleared out the last remnants of the Harvester boarding parties. Sections of the Nirvana were soaked in the fluids of the Harvester forces that the Fire Teams had taken out and their bodies were still there as well. The Spartan directed them to protect the key areas of the Nirvana…the Medical Bay, the Engineering section, the Hangers, the Crew quarters and the command bridge, and the despite the women being somewhat outmanned by the Harvesters, they still held the line as effectively as they could manage…several more members of the different Fire Teams were wounded, but the medics in their respective teams patched them up and kept them fighting as they needed to clear out any more remains of the Harvester forces before they could so some serious havoc on the ship.

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

In the bridge…

Buzam sighed as more and more communiqués from the still disorganized Dread Squadrons filled the bridge, along with the complaints and arguments of the pilots and the crew. She couldn't help but feel frustrated and disappointed.

“It seems we've relied on Meia's leadership of the Dreads too much, and we're paying dearly for it. We neglected to train Jura properly on how to take Meia's place in the event something such as this would happen.”

“It's not our fault entirely Buzam, you are right that we relied too much on Meia…but only because she would never let us train another to take her place, she always wanted to do things herself, never to rely on anyone…but herself.”

Magno knew a great deal about Meia ever since she met the young woman and knew just why she suffered from both her claustrophobia and her actions and words towards the crew. And as she narrated Meia's life to her second in command, meia herself saw the same images of her own life in her mind.

“Ever since the tragedy that took her past life away from her, the public that had once supported her and her parents now turned their back on her, ridiculing her and calling her trash…and worse…meia realized that she had nothing left to call her own…and she had ever since been forced to fight for it…and in the end…she was all alone.”

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

In the Medical Bay…

In Meia's mind she began to recall her childhood, the days that she spent with her Fahma and Ohma, there were days of happiness, just as there were days of sadness when her parents would fight and argue, and the happiness was when they would give her a party and dot on her when she came home from school…her parents were scientists who tried their absolute best to revitalize a part of Megele that had grown barren and was no longer a viable place to live. That and the advancements that were promised for the people of Megele made them famous.

Her mind traveled to the time she saw her parents during their Christmas times together, and when her fahma gave her a present of a head-piece, the very same one she wore on her head. Her fahma commented on how beautiful Meia looked with the gift on her and that it was a gift from her ohma for her Christmas day, along with a small music box that she kept close to her. There were other happier times as well, but not everything was going well…somehow something went horribly wrong and the project failed several times and it made things even harder for them all…the problems piled up until the facility suffered an accident that forced everyone in the area to evacuate.

It was there that the day that haunted her for a very long time came to be…as she was among the people been evacuated, the pods that would take the people to safety were already being filled up rapidly by many desperate people. That was when only the daughters would be allowed on board, Meia however tried to reach out for her fahma, unwilling to be parted from her fahma at this point and time…however her mother told her that she was stronger than her and that it would be better for her to leave now…but she said no as she tried to reach out to her mother…however she only saw her mother shake her head as the doors of the life pod closed and then she was surrounded by people and placed in total darkness…this was where the fear took hold of her heart and mind ever since.

She sometimes disliked her fahma since she saw her as being weaker at times, and she hoped that someday she would be mature and strong enough to stand up and protect her fahma…but in the end, her fahma was the one who protected her…not in the way she wanted.

She cried and that was when Paiway noted the tear and was stunned as this was the first time Meia ever cried.

“This is…the first time I've ever seen Meia cry.”

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

Back out in the real world in the Register…

“All right, everyone rest and re-arm…wait for confirmation of contacts.”

“Yes sir!”

The Spartan made his way into the Register, while placing his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on his back with a thump of metal on metal as the magnetic pads held the weapon in place. His Fire Teams were able to hold off the Harvesters with little to no losses and were in the process of some quick patching up and re-supplying themselves with ammunition and supplies. So far, the women were doing a good job in containing the Harvesters when they spread about. And for now there was a lull in the Harvester attacks, allowing them to take breather while Cortana provided the support fire.

As he stepped inside he was greeted by Gascogne with a smile, the Spartan looked at the women under the head supplier's command and was happy that the women in the Register were able to keep their heads cool throughout the whole situation they were in. The main Dread teams were able to pull back and get back in their feet as the main force pilots were able to rest while their Dreads were being refueled, repaired, and re-supplied. The next band of Dread pilots, namely the reinforcement teams were holding the fort while the veterans were recovering and were back into the fight once Jura gave the order.

However the Spartan turned and could tell that the one who was supposed to lead them was far from ready to go back out into the fight as he spotted Jura huddling in a nearby corner. The blonde pilot was physically and mentally unready to lead the Dreads. After her disastrous first taste of commanding the Dreads and their formations, the blonde pilot went back into her own place and was afraid to come back out. Her head was on her knees and her long blonde hair covered her face.

“You all right?”

The blonde woman looked up and saw the Spartan kneeling down and looking at her. She gazed at the Spartan and his golden visor. She was even surprised that the Spartan was talking to her after she said very insulting things towards him of all people. She knew how deadly a warrior he was and what he could do to a person if he wanted to.

“Hey…talk to me.”

The Spartan said in a more authoritative tone in order to get the blonde Dread pilot to focus on him alone. Jura knew that she might as well say it before she broke down even more.

“I…I…I can't do this, I made a real mess out of everything. I don't….I…I don't have what it takes to replace Meia.”

“Don't be so full of yourself Jura.”

Jura looked to see Gascogne looking at her as well. The head supplier can understand what Jura was going through, she knew for a fact that Jura had never taken a formal leadership position among the Dreads due to the fact that meia never allowed it, the aqua-haired teen taking all the responsibility, however she knew that now was not the time to feel sorry for oneself just in the off chance something goes wrong in the first round.

“No one here expects you to lead the way Meia leads, nor is anyone blaming you for the mess out there, you were not ready but that does not mean you don't have what it takes to lead in the first place.”

“Miss Gascogne is correct…everyone has their own way of dealing with things, you don't need to emulate anyone here, least of all Meia.”

The Spartan then decided to talk about a fellow Spartan who he knew was at first the one who he and the others were uncomfortable with, but in the end proved to be a great leader and friend in his own right.

“I knew a fellow Spartan of my class named Kurt-051, he was the most open among us…always making friends and that normally is not our way since we were….private and always guarded even among ourselves…so we didn't always trust him, but he was a great leader in his own right. He had one thing that separated him from the rest of us as well…he had a sixth sense, and he could always tell if we were walking into an ambush, we learned to trust that instinct of his and his common sense. He helped us during another mission by himself and our worries about his overly friendly nature faded. And I can honestly say that in our exercise missions, he always managed to beat my squad with his ability to sense ambushes.”

“The fact of the matter is…everyone is able to lead in their own fashion and you have your own way of leading the Dreads, you don't need to follow Meia's ways since you have your own methods and the others will follow through. When I took this position as leader of the Fire Teams, I lead them in the ways I know best, apart from what I've learned in my military days, lead the way you know and believe is best…the rest will fall into place from there.”

It was then that Cortana announced over the PA system once more the arrival of the Harvester Boarding Craft.

“Alert! All security personnel and Fire Teams get ready to engage the Harvesters, external sensors show boarding craft moving towards the Nirvana's lower hull. Stand by and prepare to intercept and repel boarders!”

The Spartan got up once more and took out his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, and deactivated the safety lock, and as he was about to leave, he turned and looked at Jura who stared back at him.

“Remember…lead in your own way…do your best no matter the outcome, and the rest will fall into place.”

As the Spartan left, Gascogne smirked at the sight of the seven foot tall green and black armored giant of a man leave the room to fight with the Harvesters once more.

“For a man, he certainly gives out good advice.”

Jura nodded as she began to think about the words the Spartan told her.

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

Meanwhile…

The VanDread was currently being recharged as Hibiki and Dita were in the combined machine, the male teen growled a bit as the Harvesters continued their assault on the Nirvana under the leadership of the alien fighter and it was becoming even more annoying and troubling for the teen and the other pirates.

“That alien fighter is really pissing me off…”

“I…I wonder if Meia is going to die?”

Hibiki listened to Dita and looked back a bit, surprised that the normally cheerful and bubbly redhead would be so downcast and sad, though he could understand why she was acting that way right now. However he didn't know what to say yet that could make her be the same as before. Despite her being a pain at times, he did like it when she came around and gave him food and she seemed okay once he got to hang around with her, though the whole thing of her being always glomping onto him, and calling him Mr. Alien was very annoying at times.

“It's…it's just…something like that happening and…”

“There's something my Grandfather used to tell me.”

Dita stopped her sadness as she listened to what Hibiki has to say.

“You can complain, worry, and gripe about things all you want, but that doesn't mean that you always get an answer to those complaints. The most important thing s that when it's all said and done, you managed to get through it all somehow, and will you be the person you wanted to be?”

Dita turned and looked at Hibiki and Hibiki gave a smile to the redhead.

“I know that you're worried about Meia, but she's not going to be lost, Duero's there to take care of her, and so is Paiway. All we have to worry about is to protect the ship the way the Master Chief is doing so we can also protect the Medical Bay so that she will be in good hands, don't you think?”

Dita smiled and sniffled a bit and replied as she wiped the traces of tears from her eyes.

“You're right…thanks Mr. Alien?”

Hibiki suddenly felt some strange sensations running through her and he blushed a bit and looked away, not understanding the emotions that Dita's smile and looks invoked in him. And naturally he decided to cover it up in something of an excuse.

“Well…she'd say the same thing if she was here, and stop calling me Mr. Alien already.”

It was then that a communiqué filled the VanDread and it was in Jura's voice.

Attention all Dread pilots, being changing the energy wave frequency of you're beams and barrier shields, this way there will be a reduced chance of return fire.”

Hibiki thought about that and was happy at least that they might have a chance not vaporizing each other in this fire-fight, but that still didn't mean that everything was in good straits, unless that alien fighter was taken out, the Harvesters would not stop their attacks. But they couldn't very well go back in there to take that thing out as it would just use the asteroids to escape and counter attack.

<There's got to be a way to take out that blasted fighter…but what…we certainly can't just dive into this morass and hope to catch the thing.>

Hibiki thought over the situation and recalled his mentor telling him to always take the initiative and he did on the desert world and it freed the Vanguards and defeated the Harvesters' little trap and got them out of that mess. He then recalled another lesson about using the environment to take out the enemy…the Master Chief told him how it was done before many times over. He then took the time to study the battle field…and what they had with them already and what they could use it for in this situation.

Hibiki then began to form a plan in mind and when he recalled not just the already existing weapons on the Nirvana…but Jura's own announcement on the comm-network, he felt that everything in his plan was already falling into place. It was risky to the extreme…if he got this wrong, they were really going to be in some serious trouble…but if they did it right…well, there was only one way to find out.

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

In the temporary meeting area of the Fire Teams…

As soon as the Spartan arrived in the scene, the women in the Fire Teams and the NCOs saluted their supreme commander as he was being told by Cortana over the COM what they were expecting. Cortana had been able to take out a large number of the newly arriving boarding craft, but since there were too many asteroids in the area, it was not going to be easy for her to take all of the alien fighters out and the boarding craft at the very same time.

However, that certainly didn't mean that all of the Harvesters were getting through as several more boarding craft were shredded by the Point Defense Guns and when the survivors thought they were in the clear, Cortana then guided the Fire Teams and John right at the aft section near the lower hull as several contacts of boarding craft were heading right for them. They were not going to be ready as the Spartan began to issue orders for ambush teams to get ready and surprise their foes. The Spartan moved in as they were about to be boarded once more, he readied his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and that is the signals for the Fire teams as they too got ready to engage the boarding craft and the occupants inside them.

The fighting began in earnest as several of the Harvester Shock Troopers managed to force their way into the ship and spread into the hull. The Spartan told the women through the COM systems in their helmets to wait, and when the time was right…the Nirvana Fire teams once more unleashed hell as the Spartan gave the order.

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

Back in the Medical Bay…

Duero had managed to patch up most of Meia's injuries, but that was not the real problem that the Tarak doctor was dealing with right now. The Megele woman had suffered a lot of injuries that he had been able to treat, while Paiway told him that this was the only time she had ever seen Meia cry, meaning that she must be having mental trauma and that in itself was troubling. Mental injuries were of a totally different nature and were far more delicate than physical injuries since if they were not treated soon, despite the person being in good physical health they would be scarred for life.

To further add to the danger was Paeksis fragment that was found in Meia's Cat-scan that had somehow entered her wound and was causing damage to the central nervous system, the crystal seemed to be creating it's own signals in the brain and it worried that maybe Meia would suffer greatly from this unless the crystal was removed from her mind soon or else she would suffer from the confusion in her inner mind.

Meia however was far from concerned with the situation, as she thought back on what her life had become after the incident that destroyed her world. The incident that destroyed her family's company made her an outcast in the eyes of the public of Megele. She had to struggle to survive and fight, she joined several street gangs, and fought her best to live, doing all the vices. She recalled all the voices that backstabbed her from behind, calling her nothing but scum and trash. She had been famous once, the daughter of two well respected scientists, and now she was nothing. She saw the dark side of her world and all of the things that truly made it ugly…in time, the only goal the aqua-haired girl had in her life was to end it.

It was then that she met Magno and Magno gave her the means to decide for herself how she would meet that end and on her own terms.

However as she thought back on all the times she wanted to say sorry to her fahma, she realized how weak she was as well as there was no way for her to say her apology.

It was then that Duero saw Meia's mental signals reaching critical levels and he shouted at Meia, hoping that despite the oddness of the action, Meia could at least hear his words to her before she totally gave up on her will to live.

“Meia! Don't you give up here and now!”

Meia however…

<I…I…I can't take this anymore….>

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

The Harvesters made one more lethal counter-strike as they gathered momentum and the alien fighter once more unleashed a deadly beam strike that punched through the shields and smashed into the port arm of the ship, causing an explosion.

“Port arm has been hit! The ship is starting to tilt!”

“I'm closing off the section now…all key personnel in the area are advised to evacuate immediately!”

Cortana, Belvedere, Amarone and the rest of the bridge crew were giving off reports increasing damage to the Nirvana, along with loss of power to several decks on the ship, the drop in the shield strength, and the inability of the Dreads to still take out the Harvester fighter. Thankfully none of the crew…including the Nirvana Fire Teams were in the Port Arm of the Nirvana when it was hit…though Bart shouted once more in pain as the shot really hurt him.

Buzam was getting more and more stressed out by all that was happening until they both got a communiqué from Hibiki.

“There's no need to get all worked up on this.”

They all turned and looked at Hibiki who had somewhat a cheeky grin on his face.

“I've got a plan I'm willing to try out that just might get us out of this mess, that is, if you're willing to listen.”

Magno looked at Hibiki and wondered just what the young teen had in mind this time. She decided to see just what he had in mind to get them all out of this mess they were in at this point

“Oh yeah, this plan of yours won't happen to be a suicide mission?”

“Hah! This is hardly a suicide mission, but it might qualify as one if I got the planning all wrong, besides…dying for women is not on my mind in the least…however, we don't exactly have much in terms of options now do we? Besides…I'm not planning to die until I find out just what sort of stuff you all have in the galley menu anyway .”

Magno knew the truth in those words and decided to go ahead with the plan.

“All right then young one…how about this for incentive…if this plan of yours works and you're still alive, then you can eat all you want in the galley until you can't even leave the chair.”

Hibiki smiled at the challenge.

“Now that is the way I'd like to go down…but before we get down to the brass tacks of all this, I need to talk with Cortana and I need you're permission for one more thing before we get down to having the greatest fire-works display in history.”

“And you need my permission to do what?”

“To have the Dreads move at my signal and have them reconfigure their shields to these specifications.”

Buzam looked at Magno and silently asked the elderly Captain was really going to agree with whatever the young Tarak lad had in mind, but the elderly Captain nodded and gave her agreement, it wasn't as if they had much in terms of choices.

“You have my permission.”

“Thanks…now I need to talk to Cortana.”

The woman in her AI form looked at Hibiki and crossed her hands with a slight smile. She was liking this kid due to his growing demeanor and attitude and she could see and tell that he had something grand in mind, she didn't know if it might work since she hadn't gotten the specifics of what he had in mind, but she was willing to listen.

“Go ahead Hibiki, what do you have in mind?”

Magno then thought about the time that she met meia and watched her change from being a street thug with no future and no hope into one of the best Dread pilots she knew and she treated meia as a daughter…she was not in the mood to learn that meia died now…there was so much left to do. She only hoped that whatever solution Duero had made to save Meia's life was enough, and she hoped that Meia was not going to give up just now.

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

In the Medical Bay…

Duero knew that what he was attempting was short of insanely dangerous, but right now, he was running out of alternatives to save Meia's life. Brain surgery was out of the question due to not just the risk of further injuring Meia and causing even worse damage, but the fighting was getting even more serious out there and time was running out. He had Parfet rig up a special device known as a high frequency sonic-wave psychic-stimulator. This device was pretty much not used normally though it was designed for medical procedures, the theory was that the device could create a wave of psychic waves in a sonic frequency that could in theory shatter the Paeksis fragment and bring Meia back from her comatose state…however the risks if it failed were dire. If it failed…even if Meia lived…she would never be the same person she was before…ever again.

But seeing as their options were running dry on him…he had no choice…

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

Out in space…

The Nirvana was now back on it's feet as Cortana continued to fire the 50mm Point Defense Guns to cut down the incoming numbers of Boarding Craft. But it seemed that the Harvester had just decided to wipe out the Nirvana entirely as the Boarding Craft were no longer on the scope. Cortana then got the Nirvana's UNSC arsenals ready for Hibiki's signal…when the Tarak teen told her about the plan he had in mind, the only thing that came to her mind was gutsy, insane and quite risky…but gutsy all the same. Even the Master Chief had to admit that the plan was very dangerous and could very well go the wrong way when he heard about it…but he knew that they were out of options, so the only advice he gave his student was get it done and make it out alive.

Hibiki checked all the needed calculations and checked the Dreads…namely their shields and the frequencies…finding them all to be right on the dot…he knew that it was time to play the game as he contacted the Dread teams and their leaders.

“All right! This is show time so get into formation! There's one massive eat all you can buffet with my name written all over it so let's get this mission done and pound these Harvesters right back into whatever ugly and disgusting junk-yard that spawned them!”

The Dreads formed up behind VanDread Dita as the entire harvester force gathered up and were now about make a mass charge. The Tarak teen nodded as he tracked their movements and made sure that he doubled checked his plans before making this move of his possible.

“All Dreads report in.”

There was a long bit of silence until the Dread team leaders began to call out their readiness, despite the fact that they spoke in VERY strained voices and were not very happy with the fact that they were now under the command of a man from Tarak.

“A-Team ready.”

“B-Team ready.”

“C-Team ready.”

“D-Team ready.”

Hibiki nodded as he knew that the women didn't like taking orders from him, but he put that out of his mind as he had a mission to accomplish and a job to do. He was not going to miss this one chance to not only end the Harvesters in this battle permanently, but to finally eat until he either died or couldn't fill his stomach anymore. He watched the Harvesters mounted a full scale charge and began the count-down.

“Ten…”

A massive barrage of beam fire and solid weapons came right at the Nirvana and smashed hard on the already straining shields, further adding to the great strain and the danger of the shields collapsing. However Hibiki knew that this was the only chance they had at this point and continued the countdown.

“…nine…eight…seven…”