Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ VanDread - Halo ❯ Miscommunications ( Chapter 9 )

VanDread - Halo

Disclaimer: VanDread belongs to Gonzo, Halo belongs to Bungie…I own neither, so all lawyers looking to make a buck off of me, please leave.

Chapter 9

Miscommunications

< >: Thoughts

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

The Nirvana was currently cruising along the vast expanse of space, and so far, there had been no battles for the past few days and for the first time, the vast portion of the Nirvana crew were taking it easy for a change.

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

In Dita's room…

Dita's room was filled with a lot of alien memorabilia, a testament to her desire to meet actual aliens and to get to know them more. The redhead was currently sitting on her bed and working on what appeared to be a pink pillow with a cute blue alien with tentacles on it…while Paiway, who was Dita's closest friend ever since joining the pirates watched her with her work on the pillow.

“Ow! That hurts!”

Dita complained as she was accidentally pricked by the needle that she was using to sew in the blue alien design on the pillow.

Paiway wondered just what her friend was doing and she then decided to ask her friend just who she was going to give her latest creation to.

“Hey Dita…are you giving that to a guy?”

Dita looked a bit surprised and smiled while blushing slightly at the thought of Hibiki.

Paiway smiled and spoke out to her best friend since she happened to find the pillow to be nice and it would be nice to have it as well.

“Because I was thinking you could give it me!”

Dita however shook her head and pulled the pillow away and hugged it tightly while speaking to her best friend cheerfully.

“No way! I'm sorry Paiway, but this pillow is meant for Mr. Alien!”

Paiway gave a sad and slightly disgusted look and used her frog puppet to voice just that.

“Barf! Kero!”

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

In the bridge…

“I'm not kidding, it was really this big!”

Belvedere said with great humor and enthusiasm as she was telling her friend Amarone about a special story that she knew about back on Megele.

“Wow! So what happened next?”

“Well…it's kind of hard to explain.”

In the meantime, Ezra was busy trying not to fall asleep, but she was not getting much in terms of effects on her efforts as she was still falling asleep. The fact that she was pregnant with a very healthy baby attributed to her current condition of falling asleep, since if she was not eating strange types of food to feed her daughter and satisfy her cravings, she was resting as if she was dead to the world.

Cortana was currently in the UNSC section, working with the Spartan on several matters and since they were not currently under attack and she had no prior commitments to the Register for the moment.

Buzam looked at the bridge crew and sighed as she stood next to the Captain.

“It seems that if we're not under attack, things get rather dull around here, maybe we should do some practice drills for the crew.”

Magno looked at her commander with some amusement.

“I wasn't aware that you were into all that military ballyhoo BC.”

The silver haired and tanned woman looked at her captain and replied to the insinuation, which was close to the truth in some ways.

“I'm only concerned with the safety of the crew Captain…if the Harvesters caught us like this…we're going to be in very serious trouble.”

“Our business is piracy, am I right?”

“I know that…but still…”

The elderly woman could understand Buzam's unease and boredom, the crew however deserved a break after all the things that had been happening to them for quite a bit. But if her commander was getting bored…then perhaps there was one place she might get to relieve the boredom.

“If you feel like watching something to relieve the boredom BC, why don't you pay the UNSC section a visit, I hear the Master Chief is coming up with a few new exercises for the Fire Teams that might make things interesting.”

“Interesting?”

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

In the Hanger Bay…

While the bridge crew were gossiping, the happy go lucky young redhead made her way to the Hanger Bay where Hibiki's Vanguard and the Paeksis enhanced Dreads were being stored, she wanted to show her latest creation to her Mr. Alien, she knew that he was going to love it. However, she was surprised to find that Hibiki was not in the Hanger Bay working on his Vanguard as he normally did on times when he was not training with Mr. Green Alien.

“Mr. Alien? Are you here?”

Dita looked into the open cockpit of the Vanguard and was surprised not to find him there, she then moved away and stood up as she looked about a lot more than before, hoping that there were signs as to where Hibiki had gone off too.

“That's really strange…I thought that he was going to be here…maybe he's with Mr. Doctor…”

As Dita left the Hanger…she had no idea how close she actually was to finding Hibiki…as said teen was busy holding himself up in the space above the cockpit of his Vanguard, the moment he heard Dita's shouting and her running to the Hanger Bay, he quickly hid there as he was not right now in the mood for Dita' glomping onto him and doing Gods only knew what to him.

As soon as he was sure that the redhead was not around he groaned and spoke.

“Darn it! What does she want from me this time?! AUGH!”

Hibiki's shout was natural as his grip slipped and he fell on the seat of his Vanguard hard. As soon as he peeked outside of the cockpit and looked closely to make sure that the redhead was gone, he got out and decided to go to his quarters in the UNSC section of the ship…maybe the crazy alien loving woman would leave him alone for now there.

It wasn't that he disliked Dita completely, his appreciation for her cooking was very strong and for some reason, he felt a bit more comfortable if she was around, however he was getting tired of a good deal of her usual antics. He moved out as he heard that the Spartan was busy giving the women a brand new form of training and he was very curious as to what sort of training the Spartan had in mind this time.

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

In the UNSC section of the Nirvana…

Fire Team Bravo was moving through a massive maze of walks and corridors, they were currently armed with M90A Shotguns, BR55 HB SR Battle Rifles, and M7 Caseless Sub Machine Guns with stocks extended as they moved through the maze that was set up in the larger section of the UNSC part of the pirate ship. Hilda adjusted the sights on her Battle Rifle as she checked the corner near the maze and as soon as she saw the area to be clear of possible traps, she gave the all clear hand sign signal and moved in with the rest of her Fire Team.

As they made their way to the large chamber, the NCO and two of her comrades moved first and looked at the door before them. Hilda then called in one of her comrades and as soon as she arrived, Hilda told her to get her M90A Shotgun and the whole Fire Team got ready as the shotgun wielding member fired a charge at the door, shredding the metal lock as the Fire Team quickly entered the chamber, rapidly moving and securing the position…however they got a nasty surprise…

The target was not in the room, but they all got greeted by Sonic Grenades that stunned the women along with several smoke grenades. The team was in panic and they quickly tried to recover from the sudden shock.

A few moments later…as the smoke and sound died down, they turned and found themselves being stared at by their Commanding Officer, John-117.

The Spartan shook his head and gave the women the results of the exercise.

“Congratulations…you walked right into a trap.”

The seven women Fire team groaned out in disappointment as they placed aside their weapons, as Hilda took off her helmet and shook out her short black hair and looked at her commanding officer.

“Permission to speak Chief?”

“Go ahead.”

“The target was here the last time we did this…begging pardon sir, but why was it not here?”

The Spartan shock his head as he guided the women out of the maze and back where the other Fire Teams were also watching the video feed from the maze. Buzam had arrived earlier and had been looking at the video feed as the other Fire Teams were. She wondered just how the Spartan was going to reply to that.

The Spartan then guided the women to be seated and he began to lecture the crew on what they had witnessed.

“This exercise is not about memorization, this is about adaptation. You cannot expect the enemy to leave the same target in the same location like last time. Just as you all have recalled in that asteroid battle, the Harvesters were able to use the asteroid field to their advantage. You're enemies, the Harvesters are not stupid, Parfet's analysis of the Harvester Shock Troopers' CPUs have located a thought matrix that allows the survivors to transmit data back to the others and allow them to adapt to the battle field. There's an old Earth saying…and it's this…'no plan survives first contact with the enemy'. This means that anything, everything…and something can and will always go wrong in the combat zone. There's no guarantee that everything goes like clockwork…that is what I am preparing you for. The situation of the battle can change in a heartbeat, and as such, you have to adapt to the battle ground and the atmosphere as it changes…or else you will regret it, or worse…is that understood?”

“Yes Sir!”

The women chorused as well, Cortana then appeared with several unknown devices as the Spartan took off his helmet.

“Now we're going to talk about CQC, and if you recall you're training back on Camp Genesis…that is the acronym for Close Quarters Combat…so get ready and head for the practice mat ASAP.”

The women left the scene and were placing aside their weapons…which were all loaded with blanks with the exceptions of the M90A Shotguns as they each had one live round in them. Buzam watched and decided to speak to the Spartan and Cortana. The two then gave her a salute as a greeting.

“I wasn't expecting you here Commander Buzam, is there anything you need?”

The woman saluted the two in greeted and then shook her head and merely replied back to the Spartan as it seemed that he had a training session to teach.

“Nothing Master Chief…I came here to observe how you were doing.”

The Spartan nodded and then excused himself as he changed out of his Mjolnir out of sight from the others and when he came back he was dressed in his black tank top, and grey pants with military boots, the clothes going against his usually pale white skin as he went to the front of the matt. He then started the training exercises as the women began to warm up their bodies and got into the pace of things.

Buzam was somewhat surprised to see Meia among the observers, she had not expected the Dread pilot leader there due to the fact that the two had a rough start working together, however, Meia was not causing any trouble for the Spartan as both he and Cortana began to teach the women the various moves and techniques associated with the CQC curriculum and methods. She had to admit that seeing that Meia was not hostile to the battle-hardened Spartan was a good sight. It was then that she noted several Harvester Shock Troopers nearby.

At first she panicked and then noted that the units were all non-functional and when she walked over to the units she found Parfet and her engineers working on the units that appeared to have been salvaged.

“What are these for Parfet?”

Parfet looked at Buzam and replied as she placed the last touches on her laptop and the program that was installed into it.

“The Master Chief asked if we could salvage and rebuild these units that were still intact from all the fighting and reprogram them with new combat data and new CPUs, I think he wants the crew under his command to have as much realistic experience as they can…though we've toned down all the weapon systems in the units so they are all none lethal.”

Buzam inspected all the units and noted that all of the rebuilt and reprogrammed Harvester Shock Troopers were ready and primed for use…though for what, the Commander had no idea. She then directed her attention to the women as they began to spar with one another as the Spartan and Cortana watched them and gave them pointers and tricks to use in a close range fight.

As the practice runs were done, Buzam went back to the matt as the women crowded around the Spartan and one of the Fire Team members decided to ask the Spartan just what was the purpose of learning CQC. She and the others wondered just how effective CQC was in such a battle field…on their mission previously and the battles they had fought in when the Nirvana was being boarded by the Harvesters, they had never used their CQC training in any of the battles.

“Permission to speak sir?”

“Go ahead.”

“What's the whole purpose of learning CQC Tactics? I mean, we have our weapons to deal with the enemy right? Why do we need to learn how to fight at such close quarters?”

The other women took up the question and the Master Chief could tell that they would need to see just how important it was to learn how to fight in an up-close situation when they already had ranged weapons to use. The Spartan knew that they would someday ask that question, he himself was skilled in CQC, though not in the same caliber as his other Spartan comrades, but he knew enough.

“the reason you learn CQC is the fact that not all of you're battles will be out in the open, you need to be ready for any kind of fight. And not all of the fights will be in the way of what you'd expect. Guns will become too risky to use in certain battle-grounds and you will have to fight you're foes up close. There will be instances where you will have no weapons and as such, it pays to use the weapons you already have…you're hands and feet, and you're mind. To further illustrate that…I had Parfet and her Engineers reactivate some of the Harvester Shock Troopers which were still intact and salvageable fight me and I will not use either my guns, or my Mjolnir Mark VI…I will only use close combat weapons.”

The women were stunned and sure enough, they heard the footsteps of the same Harvester Shock Troopers that were reactivated in the halls. They all turned as the Spartan stood alone on the middle of the mat and he was given a pair of sheathed Combat Knives by Cortana…along with a strange handle like object.

The Spartan then gave the order for the women to move back even further as the rebuilt Harvester Shock Troopers, numbering six in total surrounded the Spartan and extended their left arm blades with a deadly hiss of metal on metal. The Spartan hardly seemed worried as he got read and took out the two knives he had been given. Three of the Harvester Shock Troopers were the first to lead the attack as they moved in.

The Spartan, bare of his Mjolnir Mark VI Armor was calm and focused as he held the knives in a patient and calm grip…and then with his speed at full tilt, he attacked the Harvester Shock Troopers, much to the stunned looks of everyone in the room, including Hibiki who was surprised that his mentor was fighting the Harvester Shock Troopers with no guns and his Mjolnir Mark VI Armor.

The Harvester Shock Trooper that was in the lead tried to stab the Spartan with it's blade, but the Master Chief quickly side stepped the attack and lashed a kick right to the knee of the Harvester Trooper, forcing it to back away as the Spartan was incredibly strong even when bare of the Mjolnir Mark VI Armor. The Spartan then reversed his grip on the knife in his left hand and launched a powerful punch to the sternum of the alien fighter, just below the chest armor plating. The Harvester Shock Trooper managed to recover, but not before the reversed knife in the Master Chief's left hand pierced it's throat and the Spartan then kicked the Harvester Shock Trooper hard, forcing it to fall down with the knife still imbedded in the throat.

The Spartan ducked a wide swing to his head from the second Harvester Shock Trooper, but he then grabbed the extended arm and with the use of the Harvester Shock Trooper's own momentum and his augmented strength flipped the Harvester Shock Trooper. The Harvester unit hit the mat hard and the Spartan followed with a twist and broke the left arm where the elbow would be…the Harvester Shock trooper barely had time to recover before the Spartan smashed his fist right in the neck and then stabbed the Harvester unit in the face with the other knife.

He then moved away as the third Harvester attacked with a downward stab, the Spartan faced off with the third one and evaded several more blows from the Harvester Shock Trooper. The Spartan evaded the attacks and quickly sidestepped the next stab and got close to the Harvester Shock Trooper and the Spartan landed a nasty right hook, and he quickly moved around the Harvester Shock trooper before it could recover, the Spartan kicked both the knees of the Harvester Shock trooper on the back, forcing it to land in it's knees, and placed both hands on the head and with brutal, clean, effective and precise power…twisted the head in such a fashion that the neck broke once more.

The Spartan then faced the other three and took out the handle and then as soon as the Spartan held the weapon, a slight hiss of energy fluxing was heard as two energy blades popped out from the ends of the strangely but well made handle that was being held in the middle by the Spartan. The women, including Buzam and Meia, along with were now allowed to see the Covenant weapon known as the Type 1 Energy Weapon/ or known as the Energy Sword.

The blades were unique…totally unlike the shape of swords as there were two blades, the base curving on the outside near the blade emitters, the curving arcs of energy then tapered off to the points. The plasma based energy weapon was deadly and could kill even those soldiers armed with energy shields…the Master Chief should know…more than once he was at the receiving end of such a weapon and when he was able to use it, it proved that it was not to be underestimated just because it was only used in close range combat.

The Spartan moved and blocked the incoming strike and kicked the fourth Harvester Shock Trooper hard in the stomach, he then leaped and swung the weapon on a powerful spinning arc…slicing off the head of the Harvester Shock Trooper. As the Harvester Shock Trooper fell to the ground headless, the Spartan traded blows with the fifth Harvester Shock Trooper and then he moved aside from a diagonal slash and knocked the arm aside and stabbed the Energy Sword right into the chest of the Harvester Shock Trooper, the weapon, while being an energy based weapon was in a solid form and thus ignored the passive shielding of the Harvester Shock Trooper. The weapon skewered the Harvester Trooper, the Spartan followed with kicking the slain opponent right into the sixth Harvester Shock Trooper.

The sixth Harvester Shock Trooper barely had time to move the body of it's slain companion out of the way as the Spartan leaped forward and lunged with the Energy Sword. The Spartan lunged the sword right into the head of the Harvester Shock Trooper, skewering it like a fish and then the Spartan landed on his feet and with amazing swiftness, took out the Energy sword and with one powerful slash…cut the Harvester Shock Trooper clean into two with the blade slicing the mid section cleanly in half.

The Spartan looked on at the results of the test in CQC and then released the handle…making the blades of the Energy Sword fade away and he was now looking at his Fire Teams…all of them, including the NCOs were looking on in awe and shock at how efficiently the Spartan could dispatch his foes without any guns or his Mjolnir Mark VI Armor. Everyone in the room had seen the videos that showed him in the tests that were run by Duero a few months before…however to actually see the Spartan fight with his abilities in full tilt was a totally different matter and even more so since he was bare of his signature Mjolnir and weapons.

The Spartan then asked the engineers to help him as he moved the destroyed bodies off the mat and he silently gave the order for the women to listen up. As soon as the bodies were out of the way he spoke to them.

“What you see is an example of why CQC is part of you're training, there WILL be times you will have no other weapons, but you're bare hands, feet, and you're mind…so it pays to keep them at a fine edge, is that understood?”

“YES SIR!”

Buzam felt her boredom cease as the Spartan once more went on with the training. Dita then came on the scene and since she had entered the crew quarters on the UNSC section to go to Hibiki's room, she was not able to see him talking with the Spartan.

“Where are you Mr. Alien?”

Dita still held her newly created pillow as she entered Hibiki's room in the UNSC section, she first peeked under the blanket of his bunk bed and then she tried looking under the toilet of all things, and she even peeked into his locker.

“Where is Mr. Alien?”

She then looked at the large piles of boxes and other materials that Hibiki had brought with him when he transferred his living quarters to stay under the guardianship of the Spartan. It appeared that while Hibiki was growing up under the Spartan's watchful eye, he had yet to learn proper cleaning methods as the place was in somewhat disarray. She then smiled as she decided to tidy the place up a bit. She quickly moved the boxes and placed them in a good order and looked about to find a duster and began getting rid of the dirt and dust in the area, along with a broom. As soon as she was done, she decided to pass the time making some changes to the room and when she was done, she was tired and lay down on the bed as she had placed the pillow she had made for Hibiki.

It was a few minutes later that Hibiki came on the scene and was stunned to suddenly find his room immaculately clean and filled with strange alien items and it didn't take very long for him to see Dita sleeping on his bed.

“What the heck is going on here?!”

He rushed over to the sleeping female and couldn't help but feel the sensation of being invaded of his privacy as he was unused to this sort of thing.

“Hey! Wake up!”

Dita then woke up and smiled at Hibiki in her usual fashion and spoke to the Vanguard pilot, who was still somewhat livid at this invasion of his personal space.

“Welcome home Mr. Alien!”

“This is not my home! This is my room, stop calling me Mr. Alien and tell me what the heck are you doing in my room and sleeping in my bed?!”

Dita looked Hibiki, who was still not very happy at his invasion of privacy and then she smiled as she got off the bed, making Hibiki back away as he was still wary of what the redhead had in her mind. As much as Hibiki tolerated Dita's quirks (at least in his mind) and her glomping on occasion, along with admire her cooking, he was still unused to dealing with women.

“What do you think? I made you're place neat and tidy!”

“Neat? Tidy? What the heck is wrong with my room?!”

Dita then recalled the gift that she had made for the Tarak teen, which made Hibiki even more steamed at her for not answering him for the sudden changes she had just subjected his room to. Just as he was about to ask her what was going on here, she presented the pillow and smiled at him.

“Here! I made this for you!”

That was the last straw in Hibiki's mind and he reacted and shouted while telling Dita to leave him alone as well as throwing out all the decorations inside his room.

“GET OUT!!!!”

John-117 and Cortana looked over to where the disturbances were coming from along with the rest of the Fire Teams who were surprised at the sudden shouting that came from the crews quarters. The Spartan saw Dita there on the floor clutching a pillow with a lot of other decorations and Hibiki in a steamed mood, while the young woman looked stunned and sad.

The Tarak teen then turned to find himself staring at the very stern and calm gaze of his mentor as the Spartan spoke to him.

“You want to explain to me what's going on here?”

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

Later…

“He was so angry with me…I only wanted to give him a present for all he's done.”

Dita sat in the Dread Squadron planning room with Meia and Cortana beside her. The Dread pilot was not in her current element as she had no idea on how to deal with personal relationships, but she was not liking the sight of the bubbly redhead being this withdrawn and sad. Cortana likewise liked Dita and enjoyed the redhead's company at times, while she explained things to the young woman.

“Well…you have to admit that you were invading his privacy and that doesn't always suit well with some men, and Hibiki's one of them. Most men I knew value their personal space and their privacy and don't take kindly to have those places suddenly invaded by anyone.”

“I have to agree with Cortana on that one Dita, you were not supposed to just barge into Hibiki's room and do all that, despite you're intentions.”

Dita sniffled a bit and replied.

“But I just wanted to thank Mr. Alien for all he did for us…and to make him smile too. I want to see Mr. Alien happy and smiling…but why doesn't he smile when I do those nice things for him? All he does is get mad at me, what am I doing wrong?”

Cortana and Meia looked at each other, somewhat at a loss for answers to Dita's question. They could understand her desire to get closer to Hibiki, but they each had different takes on the matter…for one, Meia was not very familiar or sure on how to approach the matter as it had been quite a long time since she had ever formed relationships with others ever since joining the pirates and as such, had no knowledge to speak of. Cortana on the other hand knew about these sorts of things and had already forged a strong relationship with John-117 over the many times they had worked together as part of the UNSC, and she was beginning to take their relationship to the next levels, and as such was more familiar with such things, however she was not sure exactly how she should tell the redhead how things worked between men and women. It made it harder for her since both Dita and Hibiki…by their respective world standards were treading on unknown territory as they had no idea how to approach and deal with each other.

Meia then spoke to Dita as patiently as she could.

“Dita…I know I'm not very good at this sort of thing…but I think that you shouldn't just go barging into someone's heart if they don't want to let you in.”

Dita stiffened as she realized what Meia was saying and she then looked at Cortana with sad eyes and she asked the former UNSC AI something.

“Is it true? Mr. Alien doesn't want me near him?”

Cortana sighed a bit and replied.

“To be honest, I can't really answer you that Dita, but you need to give him some space and time for himself. I think he needs it right now since…well, you have to admit that since he's from an all male world and that certainly means he doesn't know how to deal with women completely. So until he's more comfortable with you I suggest you give him some space.”

Dita thought about the advice handed to her by both her friends and wondered if she should leave Mr. Alien alone, but no matter how much the advice made sense, it still hurt her that she had to stay away from Hibiki.

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

Speaking of whom…

“So that's what happened?”

The Master Chief was currently wearing his Mjolnir Mark VI Armor with his helmet on as he gazed at his charge… Hibiki felt like he was a bug under a microscope, or a condemned man facing the firing squad as he looked at the golden visor of his mentor. The Spartan was not very happy when Dita left the UNSC section in tears and it made him very unhappy with Hibiki's actions, and he wasn't the only one as the female members of the six Fire Teams all glared at the Vanguard pilot, while Cortana and Meia followed Dita to try and console her.

The Spartan told the Fire Teams to let him handle this as they were allowed to take a rest break from training and they took it to mingle with their comrades. The Spartan in the meantime was checking out what exactly had happened between Hibiki and Dita.

“Yes sir, I just can't stand her suddenly barging in and doing things that don't make sense to me at all! And she's always calling me Mr. Alien! Why can't she call me by my real name?! It's not that hard is it?”

The Spartan can understand Hibiki's frustrations as he kept in mind that since Hibiki was from an all male world, he would know next to nothing about women and their natures in the least. Not that it meant he knew more about women than Hibiki since many of the women he worked with including Cortana were all in the armed forces of the UNSC. The only civilian woman he had contact with was the founder of the Spartan II Program, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, the woman was like a mother to him and Cortana's own `mother' as well. But on the topic of personal relationships…he had no clue.

Sure he had a relationship with Cortana…but it was on still unknown ground now that she had been given a human body. He admitted that he was attracted to women once in a while, but he always curbed those thoughts aside as he had to do a job as a soldier, and being stuck on a nearly all female ship was a bit difficult and new to deal with. And Cortana was very much an attractive woman in her own right and since she still teased him on occasion, he noticed her a lot more than most. However he honestly still had no clue as to how to approach the subject of co-gender relationships…though he was no stranger to hearing talks of fraternization among the men and women of the UNSCDF on more than one instance. Not to mention the fact that he knew that his close friend Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson was married.

“Those things are not enough to warrant you yelling at her and throwing her out of you're room Hibiki.”

“But…”

“No buts, what you did was uncalled for and insulting.”

“But I…”

The Spartan sighed a bit and shook his head at his charge and replied to Hibiki.

“I'm hoping that things will work out Hibiki, but I am not in the mood for this to happen again, the both of you are now part of the same crew…so learn to work together. I want you to sort this mess out between you and Dita soon.”

“Begging pardon sir…but why don't you help me?”

“No Hibiki…you started this mess between you and Dita…you're going to be the one to clean it up. Think of it as a way to learn how to deal with other people, especially women.”

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

In the Bio-Park…

Dita was busy throwing stones at the artificial river as she tried to make sense of why every time she tried to get closer to her Mr. Alien, he would push her away. She thought about the advice that Meia and Cortana had given her regarding how she should approach Hibiki, but it was hard for her to understand why this seemed to happen.

“Why? Why? Why? WHY?!”

A soon as she threw the last stone she sighed and looked even more sad as she sat down.

“I just…I just wanted to get to know a little more about Mr. Alien…”

It was then that her friend Paiway showed up and showed a picture of Dita from behind and it seemed different from a normal picture as there were waves coming out Dita's form.

“I took a picture of you with the new aura camera that Parfet made form me, Dita…are you depressed?”

Dita looked sadly at Paiway and replied not in her usually cheerful and happy tone.

“Isn't that obvious?”

Dita then got even more depressed as she looked back at the river and recalled one of her sadder memories growing up back on Megele a long time ago before she joined up with the pirates. She had a pet blue-bird, a small bird that she doted on as a little girl…but it became weaker and weaker until it died.

“It's just like the time I was still a kid and I had a pet blue-bird until it passed.”

“A pet blue bird? I didn't know you had one before Dita.”

“Yeah…It was the very first pet I ever had before, It was so full of life and energy and I doted on it every day…I fed it right, I took care of it the way I was told how…and it was fine at first…but every day it began to lose it's strength and energy and got weaker and weaker until it died.”

Paiway thought about it and then spoke to her best friend.

“Well…did you ever think that maybe it tired and died because you kept messing with it and trying to barge into it's life?”

That quickly got Dita alert and active as she looked at Paiway with shocked eyes. Paiway was just joking, hoping to make her friend think about other things, but she was surprised that Dita was now looking at her with shock and intensity that slightly unnerved her.

“Are you trying to say…Are you trying to say that I'm doing the same thing?”

“What same thing?”

“That I'm making Mr. Alien tired too, like my pet blue-bird before?”

Paiway then used her frog puppet and answered her best friend's urgent query using her puppet as the one to do the talking as she normally did on such occasions.

“Well I did hear Hibiki once say that he gets real tired when he's around Dita.”

The statement stunned Dita as she thought that when she was near Hibiki, he would eventually become tired and die…just like her pet blue-bird all those years ago. The image of Hibiki lying on the floor dead all because of her filled Dita's heart with pan and fear as her eyes widened at the thought….and to hear from Paiway that Hibiki himself said that…made her speak in a whisper…

“He…said that…”

Paiway had intended it to be merely a joke, but she realized that Dita had taken her joke very seriously as she looked even more sad and depressed and the apprentice nurse was not expecting this to happen.

“Dita…”

“I get it…I have to face facts don't I?… I'll just be in his way…”

That made Paiway panic as she didn't want her best friend to suddenly become like this, she was afraid that what she said was hurting her friend. Though she was not very happy with Dita always hanging out with either the Spartan at times and most of the time with Hibiki, she still wanted Dita to be happy.

“Hey Dita, wait a minute! I didn't mean it was that bad! Hey come on…I was just making a joke, you understand right? I was kidding. Ribbit, ribbit”

However, Dita was becoming inconsolable as she moped on the floor of the Bio-Park. Unknown to the two of them, they had another observer as Cortana looked at Dita and Paiway. Despite being a bit further away, her exceptional hearing caught on what Dita and Paiway were talking about and she didn't need to rely on the same hearing to see how depressed Dita was when she misinterpreted Paiway's innocent joke. She realized that things going to get even more complicated as Dita looked so sad.

“Oh boy…this is definitely not going to go well…”

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

On the bridge…

Magno was currently relaxing on her chair in the bridge when she was hailed by communiqué coming from none other than Meia.

“Captain, if it's not too much trouble, I would like to have the Dreads practice special formations and attack patterns with the VanDreads acting as support and attack roles.”

Magno sighed and looked at the young woman.

“Meia, why don't you at least take a break for just a few minutes. We're not under attack right now and the crew need some time to cool of f and blow some steam out of the way.”

Meia coughed a bit and replied.

“Captain, if I may be so bold, our world and that of the men happen to be under threat from the Harvesters who have already shown how ruthless they are towards humans. We cannot afford to get too comfortable just because we are not under attack. The difference between life and death for all of us could be the hours we spend either relaxing and losing our edge, or spending it wisely and keeping the edges sharp.”

As Meia signed off to begin the meeting, Magno could only sigh at how likeminded Buzam and Meia were, she hoped that someday, the two of them could at least loosen up and enjoy what life had to offer them. But right now…all she could do was wait and let them have their turn.

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

In the Meeting Room…

As Hibiki entered the room, the other Dread pilots were already in the room, namely Jura and Barnette, along with Gascogne and Meia who was giving the briefing. Meia naturally looked at him as he pretended not to care that he was a few minutes late.

“You're late.”

“I've got a lot on my mind, so sue me.”

As he made his way to one of the nearby benches, Meia then noted that Dita was not with him and that was already odd in itself and decided to find out from the Tarak teen if he had managed to find out just where Dita a had gone to. But Jura was the one who asked the question ahead of Meia.

“Have you seen Dita?”

Hibiki turned and glared.

“Look, I don't know where she is and why do I have to always know where she is? It's not like I'm her guardian or her baby-sitter all right?! Geez…it's bad enough that all these questions are being asked, and now the Chief wants me to fix this whole thing…”

Hibiki was still trying to sort out the mess he was in and trying to find out what to do with the mess between him and Dita and he was getting even more annoyed when the others ask him on where the redhead was.

“Oh dear.”

Jura said as she was somewhat disappointed that Hibiki was acting like a louse. Gascogne on the other hand was sighing as she said her take on the situation between Hibiki and Dita.

“Sounds to me like the two of them have a lovers' quarrel or something.”

That made Hibiki even more steamed and annoyed as the idea of a man and a woman being intimate, it was unheard of on Tarak for a man and a woman to be intimate. He of course knew about the relationship between the Master Chief and Cortana, but neither of them were from Tarak or Megele and as such, the rules didn't apply to them, but they applied to him very well and Dita. So naturally he was not very happy with the insinuation.

“What was that?! You've got to be kidding me! There's no…”

The door opened once more and all of them turned to seeing none other than Dita who was very subdued and that was a bit surprising to most of her comrades, including Meia herself, though she recalled what state Dita was in previously when she and Cortana were talking with the redhead before. The other Dread pilots were also surprised at the sudden change in the normally perky and cheerful apprentice Dread pilot. It didn't take very long for two more guests to arrive…namely these two were none other than the Master Chief in full armor…and Cortana as well.

The two took to listening in on the situation and the Spartan glared at Hibiki, making the Tarak teen gulp a bit as he looked back at the gold tinted visor of his mentor, getting the silent message to find the time to patch things up between him and Dita or else the situation was certainly going to get worse. Meia took that to note and spoke to Dita.

“You're late…”

“I'm sorry, it won't happen again.”

As Dita took her seat and tried to evade Hibiki's gaze, the Tarak teen had to admit that this was not something he normally saw in the redhead, though there was the time that Meia had been injured and how sad the redhead was. This on the other hand seemed different than those times as he recalled. He wondered just how long was that woman going to be in such a slump over all that, he had expected Dita to have returned to her usual self, but it seemed that his expectations were not going to be fulfilled today.

Meia sighed as she began to speak to the gathered Dread pilots, while acknowledging the two members of the UNSC, both Cortana and John-117 nodded and stood back.

“We're going to be working on some new formations that will incorporate the VanDreads, including the VanDread that is formed between me and Hibiki and the one between Hibiki and Dita. The VanDread that Dita's Dread forms with Hibiki's Vanguard will form the main…”

“I won't do it.”

The people looked at Dita with some surprise as they had expected the redhead to jump at the chance to combine with Hibiki as she normally did. Even Hibiki was a bit surprised at that sudden statement as John-117 and Cortana looked at one another. Even Meia was surprised at this sudden change of attitude from the apprentice Dread pilot.

“Pardon?”

“I said I won't combine with Mr. Alien and his partner anymore.”

The announcement made Cortana frown, while John-117 couldn't help but shake his head, while Hibiki was somewhat surprised by that statement as he also looked at Dita. He wasn't the only one as Barnette, Jura, Gascogne…and rather just about everyone in the room was stunned at this sudden change in the redhead.

Jura wondered just what Dita was driving at and decided to see if she could tease the redhead a bit since she knew that Dita would never allow anyone else to combine with Hibiki but her, though she had to admit, that it was seriously tempting for her since this would give her the chance to finally combine with Hibiki.

“Aha, I get it…You're starting to get bored with Mr. Alien, aren't you? So I take it that you won't mind if I combine with Hibiki Dita?”

Dita shook her head and replied.

“No…I just realized that Mr. Alien is not happy with me being near him…so I don't mind that you combine with him Jura.”

Jura looked stunned, but had a grin at the back of her mind at that idea, and gave a slight peek at Hibiki. The Spartan saw that and could only shake his head once more.

Meia sighed as she looked at Dita and made the apprentice Dread pilot look at her and she stared intently at Dita and looked at her apprentice sternly.

“Dita, we don't have the time for this, we are in a meeting for the defense of the Nirvana and the lives of our comrades on this ship are on the line, this isn't a game you can just stop playing, and this is not the place for you to take you're personal problems, is that understood?”

Dita looked at Meia and nodded solemnly.

“Yes Meia.”

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

Later…

Meia was looking at the screen where the rest of the pilots had already gone off to do their duties while she was being kept company by Gascogne, Cortana, and the Master Chief. As she watched the screen it came on with Barnette showing up first on the screen and gave her report.

“Barnette here, I've finished with my link-up with the simulator.”

Jura was the next on the screen and gave her report.

“This is Jura, I've also finished linking up with the simulator, can you read me Meia?”

Meia replied and then tried to contact Dita to see if the redhead was already done linking up with the simulator. Meanwhile, Hibiki was currently dressed up in his Marine Body Armor even if it was a simulation while in his Vanguard's cockpit, he then directed his attention to a nearby item that he quickly recognized as something Dita owned, which naturally was an alien toy of some sort. He gave a groan and reached out to remove it…unmindful of Dita's voice coming from the communications network, but as he took the alien toy into his hand to remove it…he stopped.

He looked at the item and just held it there and began to think on what he should do about his situation with Dita, after all, he had to admit that the Spartan did have a point on him talking to Dita and straightening this entire mess out. It was then that he got a message from none other than Jura.

“Well then…I'm ready and waiting.”

Hibiki turned and found Jura looking at him with a seductive look on her face…making him even more wary on what the blonde woman had in her mind, though he knew that ever since she had seen him combine his Vanguard with Meia's Dread…and Dita's as well, she was dying to see just what sort of VanDread her Dread would turn into once it fused with his Vanguard.

“What are you talking about?!”

“You know what I mean by that Hibiki, time for us to combine, don't you think so?”

“Get one thing straight! Just because you're comrade doesn't want to do it with me anymore, doesn't mean I have to do it with you!!!”

In the room, Cortana couldn't help herself as she blushed bright red and laughed, as she knew that considering her own state of mind, she knew that Hibiki had absolutely no idea what the meaning of that statement was. John-117 was still wearing his Mjolnir Mark VI and therefore had his face hidden away by the helmet and it's visor, but even he couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly at the statement Hibiki made. Both of them were quite aware of the truth behind men and women, along with the more…intimate details, but they had already decided not to talk about that sort of thing in the possibility that it would cause chaos on the ship.

For now, the two decided to look on as the Dread pilots went on with their training, Dita however had been in her Dread and heard the exchange between Jura and Hibiki, she clenched her hands as she tried to resist the urge to tell Jura to leave Mr. Alien alone, she was torn in wanting to talk to Mr. Alien and leaving him alone so nothing bad would happen to him because of her being around him

This situation was the reason when she was called in by Meia on the inter-com, she had not been able to hear the orders Meia was giving her. Cortana and the others noted that and knew that with Dita's mind on other matters, she was not going to be an effective pilot.

Gascogne noted that as well.

“This isn't going to work very well, the girl's got her mind on other things.”

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

On the bridge…

Buzam was busy giving orders to the bridge crew, she was not in the mood for the Nirvana to be suddenly blindsided by the enemy and as such she had ordered the crew to maintain sensor sweeps of the area. Including long range scans of the surrounding sectors.

“You worry too much Commander, why don't you rest for a bit and relax? Here, have something to eat as well, this is very good.”

Buzam turned to look at Ezra as the young mother showed her some of the cake she was eating. Ezra was a bit embarrassed also as she had to admit that she was eating quite a lot for a long time and yet she couldn't help herself.

“I know I eat a lot, but I can't really help myself right now…all the food tastes so good and I can't stop eating so much.”

“You're eating too much dear.”

Pyoro said as the Navi-robot looked at Ezra, while Buzam sighed to herself and spoke calmly.

“Great, if she's not trying to fight off her desire for sleep, she's going through the food like being on a sugar rush.”

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

In the galley…

The crew were all taking breaks and even Cortana and the Spartan were also taking a good break with the rest of the crew…ass several of the female Fire Teams were also in the galley eating their food since the MREs that were in the UNSC section were reserved for missions and operations for the day. As the people moved on, the Spartan and the former Ai looked to see that the gap between Dita and Hibiki was getting bigger as Hibiki was all alone on his table and still wearing his Marine Body Armor…while Dita sat next to Meia dejectedly and seemed to be not interested in eating her food.

The two looked as Duero was about to sit down, but the doctor then moved away, much to Hibiki's surprise and from what the two could see…Duero said something that apparently didn't sit well with Hibiki as he got angry once more and began to munch on his meal at a much faster and more vigorous pace.

The Spartan could tell from his partner's looks that she was itching to get involved and help seal the rift between the two but he knew better than to charge headlong into something like this…neither he nor Cortana knew the first thing about serious relationships and the one brewing between Dita and Hibiki was something that had to be settled between both parties.

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

Later…

Hibiki sighed as he took off his Marine Body Armor as he was in his room, and he was getting more and more tired and frustrated at the current situation between him and Dita.

<Why does she have to be so darn sensitive about everything?>

As he sighed and moved away to his bunk, he then spotted the very same pillow that Dita had tried to give him. He reached to it and move it away, but he stopped as he sat on his bunk and decided to just look at it for the time being. He had to admit that now that he thought about it…his actions were somewhat uncalled for as Master Chief had said. Dita always came and gave him food and there was something about her smile that made him feel weird, but not in a bad way that still made him curious. He took up the pillow and looked at it as he also recalled the food that Dita would give him…she was a nice person…

But what annoyed him was her constant hovering over him, she should at least be able to tell when a guy wanted some privacy and time for himself. He wanted to have his own space too, and having it being intruded by anyone every day did have a tendency to get very frustrating and very disturbing to a normal man. He was always having his privacy broken by Dita and dealing with her energetic personality made him tired and cranky.

However…his time with the Master Chief and seeing the women under his command change from belligerent to cooperating did seem to tell him that maybe…there was a way this mess could be fixed.

“Feeling lonely?”

Hibiki turned and found himself looking at none other than the floating Navi-robot Pyoro. He frowned slightly at the robot as the Tarak youth knew that the Navi-robot and him don't exactly get along very well and the last thing he needed was the floating robot picking on his current state of nerves.

“What the heck do you want from me this time?”

The Navi-robot noted the pillow the Hibiki had in his hands at that very moment and gave a sly look through it's screen…this annoyed Hibiki once more as he was not liking the look the Navi-robot was giving him.

“Are you lonely because Dita isn't here to see you?”

Hibiki glared at Pyoro and shouted.

“You listen you broken piece of robot parts! I am not in the mood to talk about those things! What I feel about that woman is NOT you're business! She makes me feel tired and I am so annoyed with her butting into my private space all the time! I hate people who don't give me some privacy once in a while and she's the worst…”

Hibiki calmed down a bit as he realized that he was only going to make things even worse for himself and took a deep breath and tried to recall that despite his issues with Dita, there was still some good out of all this…however, things were not going to turn out very well as he heard a gasp.

The Tarak teen turned and spotted none other than Dita who looked at him with a look of shock and utter sadness. Dita had gone to visit him and apologize and try to follow Cortana and Meia`s advice on how to approach Mr. Alien. But now that she heard all that…she felt her heart break and tears began to form in her eyes.

The minute Hibiki saw the results of his words on the redhead…he suddenly had this feeling of being a louse and an inconsiderate jerk. He realized that he had just busted his chance of patching things up between him and the redhead. He then tried to say something, but the words didn't seem to come out of his mouth right…

Not that he would have a chance to say much as Dita backed away from him and then rushed off in tears and crying. The whole thing took at least two minutes as Dita left the room in tears…leaving Hibiki and Pyoro alone…gaping at the scene.

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

In the corridors…

<He said it! He hates me! Mr. Alien really hates me!>

Dita tried not to cry out in sorrow but couldn't help herself as she shed even more tears and she wanted to talk to someone to help her with her situation and she knew of only one person that could help her with her problems.

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

In the galley…

Ezra was once more eating a large cake in order to satisfy her cravings, she was not alone in the galley as several of the crew were also working, along with none other than Cortana. The former UNSC AI was happy to be eating again, and since she had a much more effective metabolism than most people, she could eat a lot.

The two heard the door open and they turned and saw Dita in tears, Cortana's normally witty and simple smile faded and was replaced with a look of great concern and worry, while Ezra gasped at the state Dita was currently in.

“Dita?”

“EZRA!!!!”

The redhead rushed into Ezra's arms and cried her heart out while Cortana could only look on and it didn't take long for her to put two and two together and she couldn't help but get a bit angry at Hibiki once more.

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

Elsewhere….

Jura looked at her guest in her room and she seemed to be in the mood for a very important discussion with that particular guest.

Bart Garsus had no idea as to why he was called in by the female blonde Dread pilot and as a man from Tarak, he was taught from birth that women were not to be trusted and were conniving, deceitful, and had ulterior motives. But since there were no threats to him to speak, he decided to ask the question that was hounding him the very moment that he was asked come to here.

“What exactly is it you want from me?”

“I want you to help me on something.”

Bart looked on in surprise…the idea of a woman asking a man for help was somewhat unheard of, and he was getting even more curious as to what the blonde Dread pilot was up to.

“What is that something anyway?”

“I want you to be able to keep an eye on Dita, she's always managing to get you're comrade Hibiki for herself. If you can keep her occupied, then I can finally be able to combine with Hibiki and the Vanguard.”

“Okay…that part I can understand, but you might want to give me a reason why I should help you…what's in this deal for me?”

“Simple…if you can keep Dita away from Hibiki for enough time for me to finally combine with Hibiki and the Vanguard, then I will help you gain more respect and popularity on this ship…and I can bet that you would like that, won't you?”

Bart nodded as he felt that the amount of respect that he was getting from the rest of the crew, even from Cortana and the Spartan was the kind given only to pond scum.

“So what do you have in mind?”

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

Later…

“Is that what happened?”

Cortana asked Dita as she, the redhead, and Ezra were sitting on a table in the galley and eating some cake, the former AI was still not happy with the results of what had just happened between Dita and Hibiki, but she decided to let things work out for themselves, getting involved now would not make things any easier.

“Yes…he was arguing with Pyoro…and he…”

“It's all right Dita…maybe you both need to spend some time apart for now, but I think you're still on good terms with Hibiki. Oh dear… I really should be more careful…”

“But ever since recovering from morning sickness, you've developed a very healthy appetite and ate a lot.”

Cortana said with a slight quip and smiled at how the young mother continued to eat her cake…it made the former AI wonder if this was how mothers…human mother felt when they had their children in their bellies before giving birth to them. The woman wondered how it must feel for a woman to have a child. She wondered a considerable deal on this for some time when she found out that Ezra was indeed pregnant. However, she put that aside as she saw the looks of sadness on Dita's voice.

“I know…but I…I feel that there's this emptiness in my heart…I don't know…”

Cortana thought about that and decided to get involved, she was not in the mood to see the redhead this down and out all day and it was making her even more annoyed with Hibiki's nature as a man of Tarak. She knew that John-117 saw this as a matter between the crew, namely between Dita and Hibiki, however she was not the kind to let things settle for long as she felt that this situation should be done with soon and the two would get together once more.

“Listen Dita, if you want…I can help you with you're situation with Hibiki…I happen to be on somewhat cordial terms with him as I am with the Master Chief.”

Dita shook her head and smiled at Cortana's suggestion.

“It's all right Cortana…but I think I should change myself.”

“Why would you want to do that Dita?”

“Yeah…I don't see why you need to change all that much to get Hibiki's attention.”

“I want Mr. Alien to like me! Not hate me! So starting today< I'm going to change so he will like me more!”

Cortana was a bit surprised at that and so was Ezra…but before they could say anything, they watched as Dita began to vigorously eat the cake that was before her…making the two women look at her with slight apprehension as she ate.

“She's hit the complete mental break down stage…all because of Hibiki.”

Paiway said as she was hiding underneath the table as she recorded the whole thing on her trusty note-book.

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

In the Register…

Gascogne was busy working on the usual details of the Register since most of the crew were currently taking a break. While she didn't mind the rest period, her training in the old days in the military of Megele didn't fade away as she worked on the important details and made sure to check and double check everything.

The head Supply officer then turned as the door of the Register opened and in came Hibiki wearing his Marine Body Armor and in came the Master Chief as well, wearing his Mjolnir Mark VI. The Spartan was currently free of his duties and was not training as he had to check on other matters before heading back to the UNSC section to get in some more training time to hone and sharpen his skills in the shooting range. Besides that, he decided to visit the Register on the off chance that he could find Cortana working there.

Gascogne smiled at the two men, she found Hibiki to be rather interesting and worth talking to and needling at the very same time, though not too much…while the Spartan was certainly a man who deserved her respect and he did rescue her along with Hibiki and Dita before. Plus talking to Cortana when the woman was under her command certainly allowed her to know a lot more about the Spartan more and that to her was a good thing.

Hibiki looked and followed his mentor's actions as he saluted Gascogne just as the Master Chief did as well.

Gascogne followed the salute and spoke to the two men.

“What brings you two down here?”

“I was planning to talk to Cortana Miss Gascogne…is she still working here?”

“I'm afraid not…last I heard she was with Ezra in the galley. And what brings you here Hibiki, I certainly don't have any new duties in the Register for you.”

Hibiki shook his head as John-117 decided to speak.

“Well then…we'll be taking our leave.”

“Hold on you two…how about a game?”

The Spartan and the Tarak youth looked and saw that the older woman holding a deck of cards in her hand. Hibiki smirked and decided to play Gascogne's game, while the Spartan was a bit more uneasy about the whole thing since he was not much of a card player in any way, shape, or form, and had no experience with cards to speak of.

Gascogne noted that and smiled at the Spartan.

“Don't worry Master Chief…there's no serious betting, just a friendly game of cards…you don't know how to play poker?”

“I'm afraid not Miss Gascogne.”

“Well…now's a good time to learn don't you think?”

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

Later…

Dita was currently recovering in the Medical Bay. She had recently been using a new telescope with Parfet and when she was talking about her relationship with Hibiki, Parfet talked about her own desires, though the mention of love made Dita blush bright red, and it made Parfet even more surprised at her friend's behavior… and the head engineer then told Dita about the new computer that she made that had all the crew members data and it could be used to find the person you were most compatible with. Despite her wish to keep away from Hibiki for his own good…the redhead couldn't help but wish to know if she could be with Mr. Alien. However, it seemed that the data concerning Hibiki was so much that it fried the computer and stunned Dita…

Thankfully the redhead was unharmed as Duero was busy examining her.

“Hmm…well, you don't appear to have suffered any scarring from the event, and you have no visible wounds, plus the body scans have shown no internal damage…you'll be fine in a few minutes Dita.”

“Thank you Mr. Doctor…”

“Not a problem Dita.”

“I'm so relieved! I really sorry Dita….I have no idea that it was going to happen…”

Parfet said with a great deal of sorrow as she had feared that her actions had something to do with Dita's sudden fainting.

“It's all right Parfet, I'm fine.”

“Is this the first time you've fainted like that before?”

“Yeah…I've never fainted this way before.”

“Exactly what were you feeling when this happened and can you describe it too me?”

“I don't know…all I felt was this rapid beating in my heart, I couldn't breathe and there was this feeling of lightheadedness and confusion…and the next thing I knew…I fainted and I was here.”

Duero thought it over and wondered just what sort of malady did Dita suffer for her to be like that while searching Hibiki's information in the data-base that Parfet had come up with. But since he had no data to work with he couldn't give a more effective diagnosis.

“All right then…just get some rest and try not to overexert yourself.”

“Yes Mr. Doctor.”

Duero turned and spotted several discrepancies in his computer system and tried to figure out just what exactly was wrong with the computer in the Medical Bay, this had been always giving him problems and despite the fact that he was in his own admission not an engineer, he tried to fix the problem since Parfet was a busy person, but he was making no headway in his efforts in trying to fix the problem.

“Again?”

Parfet cocked her head to the side and wondered just what was wrong with the Medical Bay computer as she and Pyoro were in the room as well.

“Let me see that.”

Parfet walked over to the console and began her magic as she ran the systems diagnostics and she finally was able to pinpoint the problem.

“No wonder this thing is acting this way…the network circuit's been cut for weeks! This should be repaired and replaced as soon as possible…why didn't you tell me that you've had thios problem Doctor?!”

Duero looked at Parfet with a guilty expression and gave his explanation as to why he had not taken the time to call her.

“I'm sorry for not calling you…But you were very busy with all you're duties in the ship that I thought that it would have been unwise to have you taken from those duties only for this sort of thing…”

“Nonsense! Every device on the ship is my duty, and that includes everything here in the Medical Bay…now I'll need you're help to fix this problem.”

Dita smiled as she saw the relationship between her friend Parfet and the Tarak physician and it made her sad that her relationship with Hibiki was not the same as that of her friend and the Doctor. Pyoro noted that and tried to talk to Dita…

“Dita…”

The redhead told Pyoro not to say anything as she left the Medical Bay, and the Navi-robot moaned out is worry as the two turned to see Dita leave the Medical Bay.

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

In the Register…

“AW NUTS!!!!”

Hibiki shouted out in frustration as he lost his next hand in cards as Gascogne was sweeping away the winnings, while the Spartan was still calm and checking his cards, the Master Chief then looked at his student as Gascogne took in her winnings yet again…the two had been playing for several minutes and already they had lost ten hands to the skilled card player. The Spartan had to admit that since he spent most of his time in cryo-stasis on the off times between mission, he hardly had time for any past times…not that he would have any with the constant fighting to begin with.

“To be honest with the both of you, you both are the worst card players I've played with.”

“Oh yeah! When I beat you, you'll be regretting those words!”

“Oh?”

“Keep you're cool Hibiki…you won't win if you go out like a half cooked meal now won't you?”

“Yes sir…”

Hibiki said as he took up his cards once more and drew his next pair, while the Master Chief calmly shifted through his cards. Gascogne nodded on the difference between teacher and student…while Hibiki did manage to be like his Spartan mentor…he still had his hotheadedness and his arrogant nature…while the Master Chief was calm and patient, never showing his emotions when they were not needed…of course…with his Mjolnir Mark VI on, the Head Supplier couldn't be entirely sure about her assumptions on the silent soldier.

John-117 shifted to his cards and placed down his hand…

“Two of Clubs.”

“Royal Flush.”

The Spartan shrugged as he let Gascogne take his share of the chips and merely worked on improving his game with cards as he worked on his strategy to beat Gascogne. Hibiki however was still going at it as he bet another losing hand…

“Three of a kind!”

“Full House.”

“Nuts! I've had it! What's the point of all this anyway?!”

Gascogne looked at Hibiki and sighed.

“The point of cards is to read you're opponents emotions through their face or body a\languages and also to be strategic and patient. I thought you learned those things while you were under the Master Chief?”

“That's different!”

“Calm down Hibiki and use those lessons I thought you…cards is a game of strategy and chance…same as warfare.”

Hibiki sighed and sat back down as he tried to think of the game of cards in the same way he would have done during training simulations under the Master Chief's guidance…however he was getting distracted as he remembered the situation with Dita…while he did try to place such things out of his mind.

The two older people in the room noted that and the Spartan was the very first to bring it up.

“You're still thinking about what happened between you and Dita?”

“No I'm…not.”

“Don't lie to me Hibiki.”

“Well…yeah I am, I still don't know how exactly am I supposed to deal with this sort of thing.”

Gascogne reshuffled the cards once more as she knew about the whole thing from the get go.

“You really should amend the situation you know…she's not performing well in any of the training simulations and she's very depressed, and need I say lonely?”

“Why don't you do something about it then?!”

“Need I remind you Hibiki that this situation started between you and Dita, and it does not involve the rest of the crew? It's you're mess, therefore it's you're responsibility to fix it.”

“Begging Pardon sir…but exactly how am I supposed to do that?! I don't know the first thing about talking to a girl, let alone apologizing to a woman!”

Gascogne looked at Hibiki and had to admit that he did have a point, he was from Tarak and therefore the idea of apologizing to a woman must be totally foreign for a man of Tarak to do, and also very much unheard of. But if there was one thing she knew for certain…it was that you would never know what would happen if you didn't try in the first place.

“Try talking to her and keep that temper of yours in check…at least try and stop losing you're cool when she's around and let her have her say before you say anything…Dita's a sensitive woman, but she's very forgiving and kind hearted. You should be thankful Hibiki…I've personally never seen Dita this kind towards a man you know…”

Hibiki thought about that and knew that there was considerable truth in her words and sighed as he decided to get this all said and done with before things get even more hectic, though he still struggled on just how he was going to approach this situation.

As the Tarak teen left the Register…allowing the Spartan and the Register Officer to play their game, he runs into none other than Pyoro himself as the Navi-robot floated along and there was a reason for it as well…it was looking for Dita and hoped that the redhead was all right. He looks at the Navi-robot and Pyoro looked back.

“What is it?”

“Are you lonely?”

“What's that supposed to mean?!”

“Because…Dita's very lonely too.”

As the Navi-robot left a stunned Tarak teen to find the redhead, Hibiki scratched his head and tried to figure out just what the heck he was going to do to deal with this situation and decided to take a trip to the one place he knew which would be quiet…the Bio-Park.

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The Bio-Park…

Dita looked at the viewing area while she was at the middle of the Bio-Park, near the very same spot where she and Hibiki had their little picnic before their mission on the desert planet. As she thought about those times and she sighed, thinking about how she would have to change in order to be nicer to Hibiki, but she was still afraid of facing him since she was still not very sure on how he would react if they would face one another again.

However, that decision was taken out of her hands as Hibiki spotted her and walked towards her. He wasn't sure just how he was going to resolve this whole mess, but he kept the Master Chief and Gascogne's words on his mind and he knew that unless he got this situation off his chest then he would never get his head straight. As he made his way to her, he stepped on a twig and the sound alerted the redhead and she turned. Hibiki noted that she was getting sacred of him and the idea of her being frightened of him hurt him in a way that he still didn't understand, but he was not going to let this chance to settle things between them as Dita was about to leave.

“Wait! Hold on! I want to say something to you!”

Dita was surprised as she stopped moving away and looked at Hibiki and for some reason she felt this sudden flush of embarrassment as she looked at Hibiki…who to her slight surprise was looking to be also in the same boat as she was. She couldn't help but stand and twiddle her fingers and await what Hibiki had to say.

“W-W-What is it?”

“Well…uh…it's…um…how should I say this…?”

Hibiki scratched his head as he tried to figure out how exactly was he going to settle this mess, he did make it clear that he didn't know the first thing about talking to a woman, but he knew that now that he started this, he might as well finish this discussion.

“I…well…I wanted to say that…”

“Yes?”

“I…oh this is hard….I, uh…want to…”

“What is it?”

“I…want…to apologize….about uh…yelling at…you.”

Dita was naturally stunned at that statement as she looked at the slightly blushing and stuttering Tarak male…of all the things that she expected from Hibiki when they would meet again was this, but she felt her heart become lighter and lighter as the words played in her mind over and over. She wondered if that meant that…

“You…don't….hate me?”

“No….I, this is really hard….anyway I…”

Hibiki's planned words never left his mouth as Dita glomped onto him tight, catching him by surprise as she smiled and sniffled a bit. Hibiki was knocked down and he fell flat on his back with a huff. He was surprised and was not happy but the Tarak teen then noted that Dita was smiling as she hugged him and for some reason…he decided not to let loose his anger once more.

“Thank you Mr. Alien!”

Hibiki groaned a bit at the fact that she was still calling him Mr. Alien, but before he could bring that to light, something began to register in his head…he recalled that Dita was right in top of him and for some reason his body began to heat up and strange sensations began to fill his nerves…of course he was not the only one.

Dita herself began to feel strange sensations as she lay on top of Hibiki as she felt his body below her own and unknown to both of them, they were in a very compromising situation as the two looked at one another for a moment while the two of them were blushing deeply.

Hibiki didn't know why this was happening to him…he had just gone there to talk to the redhead and settle things between them so she would stop acting this way and he could finally not have these strange feelings in him. It worked…but now he had new strange feelings in him…and unlike before…they didn't annoy him…but excited him instead!

As the two looked at each other's eyes and their blushes…they began to inch closer to one another unaware of the implications of what they were doing as they came ever closer…

However, fate had other ideas as the alarms sounded, breaking the two from their trance as the Harvesters had once more made their appearance…the two looked at one another for another moment before Dita got off Hibiki and helped him up to his feet with a smile, showing that she was back to her normal cheerful and energetic self once more. As the two left for the hanger bay and soon headed out to fight the Harvesters, the women noted the changes and were somewhat relieved and were getting more curious as to how this situation is going to play out.

As the Spartan got his Fire Teams ready for possible boarding actions, he wondered a bit on what will be the situation now that Hibiki and Dita had patched up their relationship…as despite his duties he was getting a bit curious how this was going to turn out himself.

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To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

Not very action packed now is it? Then again, this episode was mostly in time when the Nirvana crew are taking it easy for a change and the situations between Hibiki and Dita are certainly different, at least not too different from the previous stories. But you can bet that the other relationships will be blooming…namely when the Master Chief John-117 gets involved.

Now on the next chapter, we get back to the part where the Master Chief is taking names and giving the Harvester a good old fashioned butt kicking…but he's going to meet a certain somebody you and I both know. Rabat is going to face off with the Spartan…

And if you think Hibiki's going to get his butt kicked like in the old series…then think again cause the Master Chief's lessons in combat are about to kick in and he's not going down without a fight. Rabat will have the upper hand for a few moments, but as soon as he crosses paths with the Master Chief…things are going to get REALLY nasty.

Trailer:

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Rabat spat out a wad of blood as he tried to get to his feet, the trader had just been send crashing into several large crates while he was in the Hanger Bay of the ship. He had managed to beat the punk kid but the kid had certainly fought hard.

He looked to see Hibiki standing up and cradling his side and bleeding from the mouth, but the Tarak teen was not bowing down as he glared back at Rabat, while Dita was nearby helping him.

The trader tried once more to get to his feet…but he felt intense pain almost instantly…it was as if he had been hit right in the chest by a wrecking ball!!!!

He spat out another wad of blood and spat out some more as he finally managed to get to his feet, but then had to duck as a fist smashed right into the wall behind him…he heard the sounds of metal crushing and he looked at the wall and his eyes widened at the sight of the metal with a large and two inch deep impression of a fist in it…The blow would have crushed his skull like a rotten melon had he not ducked in time…though barely

<My God…what the hell is this guy?!?!?!?!?!?!>

John-117 looked at his foe as he was bare of his Mjolnir Mark VI Armor and moved his fist away, the pain in his hand was negligible and hardly bothered him as he grabbed the tunic of Rabat and hauled the man to his feet and held him there like he was nothing but a feather pillow. The Spartan was looking at Rabat with his calm and emotionless face and spoke.

“You have fifteen seconds to get off this ship and never come back traitor…because if you come back, if you dare show you're face on the Nirvana and try to charm or harm it's crew…”

The Spartan then gripped Rabat's throat and was nearly choking the trader…Rabat felt as if his throat was in a vice as the Spartan's grip was very terrifying indeed…The Spartan then looked Rabat straight in the eye and gave out a cold, emotionless, but very icy threat…

“I'll kill you.”

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See you at Chapter 10 Confrontation!!!