Gaojinizer- Stage 31

  The Garsalan Phantom

  The attack which Takeshi Inoue had dubbed the Gaia Eraser was an effective one, after all, a good portion of the enemy fleet was destroyed. However, it was not without its issues. It turned out that pushing the Gaojinizer’s weapons to max output both pushed the frame and pilot past its limits. Hence the pilot’s current situation, he was very much alive, but he had not been awake since the time he unleashed that power, and found himself in the Juzumaru-II’s medbay. Surrounding him were his fellow pilots.

  “He won that battle for us, Reckless as that was… Good thing he’s still alive.” Andrew commented, at this Han nodded.

  “Well, we expect nothing less from him, eh?”

  “It wasn't as if we had any options… Regardless, let's allow him to rest, He’ll wake up on his own, I’m sure. There is no cause for worry, he has medical staff watching him, and we all know the commoner is too stubborn to die.” Praise, as far as Diedrick was concerned. With that, the four pilots began to exit, leaving Takeshi alone once more, or, seemingly, shortly stepping into the room, was one Kyoko… There was some amount of worry in her mind, not that she would ever admit this, not even to herself. Why would she be worried about this oaf? Yet, even so, she was there, sitting at his bedside. At least, she wasn’t seen, it seemed like… Though this was quickly proven wrong by the entrance of a Dark-Skinned woman, with braided locs reaching her mid-back. Wearing the outfit one would expect of a doctor, Lufima Nsakala… Kyoko, staring at Takeshi, did not notice her until she cleared her throat, making her jump.

  “This is unexpected… You watching over Takeshi of all people?” This much alone made her face begin to heat up.

  “O-Of course not… I’m just… Making sure he doesn’t… Wake up and do anything else stupid, and make us look bad!” But this only resulted in a knowing smirk appearing upon Lufima’s face.

  “Oh? And who is this, “Us”?” This made Kyoko go silent once more. And within moments, she was already out of the room. Only resulting in a snicker from the doctor… Elsewhere within the ship, the machina pilots had split, apparnetly, to take care of their own affairs for the time being. For Haemon, this much meant making his way to see Kyndall, as such, he walked in the various walkways that lined the crew’s quarters. Though he found himself encountering another soon. As he neared Kyndall’s door, standing in front of him, was Lucas Columb… The man’s growing silence toward them, the dirty looks he’d been giving them since Atlanta, these facts didn’t go unnoticed, yet, even amidst all that.

  “There you are, Lucas, you’ve been hard to find lately….”

  No response, that much was not unexpected, the awkward silence which had become entrenched was broken by him speaking once more.

  “I gotta ask… What’s with the looks you’ve been giving us? Me especially…” However, he only received a mumbled, “Reasons” In response, as Lucas turned, and walked away. It seemed that he would not get so much as a direct answer, a fact that annoyed him to no small extent. but regardless, if the man didn’t want to talk, there was little he could do, short of chasing him down and demanding to talk, He would simply have to let him go

  While this took place, a different mood had appeared upon earth. In shinkyo, a Jubilance, a lack of fear, a Normalcy that had not been seen for 30 years, when the Garsalan made first contact with earth, returned. The same could be said for Pompate, which only narrowly avoided annihilation at the hands of an Antimatter warhead. It seemed that without a sword of Damocles hanging above their heads, they could laugh, and walk upon the streets freely once more, as now, a Fleet, and symbols of Earth’s technology, The machina and Valiants alike, appeared in everything from billboards depicting their battles, including the firing of the Gaia Eraser itself. A dramatized version complete with a soundtrack, audio from the cockpit as Takeshi yelled, and an actor lip syncing… Even going down to toy versions of the titular machines… That much was no surprise. Children argued over which Machina was the strongest, and even the adults commonly had these machines as a subject of discussion. Though, increasing Morale was not the only effect of Earth’s victories.Mines had begun to produce ore, Industrial cities began to manufacture parts for ships, and machines alike, based upon adapted Garsalan Designs. More Victory Classes could be Manufactured, older ships retrofitted with the new technology. While the Garsalan Outnumbered them, that much could only be expected from an empire which, from their Intel, controlled a Significant portion of the milky way, but this would help somewhat.

  There was also the subject of the Lunar Cities, though it was well known that before the orbital defense grid collapsed, anything saw rising from earth’s atmosphere was shot down by the Garsalan, and orbital colonies were destroyed or sent crashing to earth during the initial invasion. But it seemed that the Lunar cities, and their industry had managed to avoid that fate, a simple matter of hiding within the deep tunnels of the moon, and using more traditional methods of communication to avoid being seen. Their industry was very intact, as was their R&D, apparently, cut off from earth, they had been making their own innovations and had their own plans. They were to work off the assumption that humans on earth had been wiped out or that no support was coming to them, so they had laid up a long term strategy based on that. Had they failed to break through, the remaining cities of the moon likely would have built up their technology for a century by passive observation of the Garsalan, and spring out when the time was right, since as far as they knew, they could have been the last humans. Though they knew now that that wasn’t the case. Knowing now that there was a united human Military, and that Earth had survived, most of them joined in short order. And now, there was industry directly in space, which could very well allow for the construction of larger spacecraft, and also boded well for the colonies of the asteroid belt, who were initially constructed to be contained within the hollowed out asteroids, which were climate controlled, and designed to be self sufficient.

  Observing these facts, was a man on earth. Atop Germany’s mount Hohenzollern, the namesake of his house. A stone castle, a complex of Palatial Buildings, Zwingers and Bastions, defensive features from previous eras lined with a large number of armed guards. The drawbridge still existed, though modernized materials and systems had been implanted. The palace itself sat within the second castle, and held the primary occupant and owner. His eyes Azure, and slicked back golden hair which reached his shoulders. His facial hair was well groomed, only a thick mustache. Bearing a resemblance to one of the Machina pilots who had become famous, though that was to be expected, given he was his father.. Johann Von Hohenzollern, The current King of Germany. As his analytical eyes scanned the document.

  “These are good developments… It would seem our son has managed not to Embarrass us… I’d hope so, considering we had that machine built and trained him for it.” Though, he soon found himself the target of an Indignant look from a woman of brown hair.

  “Jo… That’s our son, have some faith!” She chided, pointing at him. Henriette Von Guttenburg, it seemed that under her scrutiny, even the King was forced to turn his gaze downward.

  “Even so… The boy always took to his piloting and bladework more than his arts or philosophy. If he were to not even succeed in that, I would be disappointed.”

  This only led to the woman looking at him with more scrutiny.

  “Me and you both know you were as excited as the common-folk were when you heard of his success… And the boy is still young. He is next in line for the crown, yes, but to hold him to such standards at all times?” His wife was not wrong, he knew that much even if he would not say it outright…

  “Perhaps it would do well to Visit our son at the front… I’m sure Alexander and Griselda would wish to see him as well.” Their younger son and daughter had always looked up to their older brother, even if he always seemed to be doing other things, Especially after the Valgeogant’s Aether engine was created. Before a pilot could hope to use a machina effectively, they had to Attune themselves to the machine, which debatably, some had begun to call beings themselves, though this much was pure speculation.

  On the other side of the war, the effects of the battle were felt just as well. On the Flagship of the Machina M’sel, Vres, G’thera, A’resh, and Zes sat in the officer’s mess. It was a far cry from the normal dining hall which the rest of the crew sat at. Tables lit by gilded light fixtures, covered in luxurious red table cloth, embroidery lining the walls, fine vases and artifacts sat upon pillars. Like many flagships for major Garsalan Leaders, it was a status symbol about as much as it was a meal place, used to receive guests to the ship and flaunt wealth. The room was staffed by a small number of servants, one of which poured four glasses of Wine, or the Garsalan equivalent, in short order, using all of her four arms to her benefit. A’resh cut into her meal, a steak of some kind surrounded by Oratil, a notably hard to grow plant, even with modern Garsalan technology, hence its high expense. As she bit into the vegetation tearing it apart with her mandibles, swallowing it, she spoke.

  “Well, It seems that For’gon has died. How did he manage to get himself killed by the terrans?” she questioned. Though, of course, she knew the truth of how he died, as one who was a member of G’thera’s faction, though the other two members of the squad were none the wiser.

  “He attempted to go After the Terran Machine after it wnet limp, and one of its allies intercepted him…” Vres lifted the glass to his mouth, as he took a sip.

  “It’s not a surprise, he was always a reckless one, from our first day together, all of us could see that much.”

  “Sad, i suppose…” Zes stated, as he worked at consuming his own meal. G’thera leaned back into his chair, as he spoke.

  “In the meanwhile, there are other things we can attend to… We will return to the motherworld soon, and at that time, we will be picking up a backup squad member prepared in advance by the emperor, in case that specific situation took place… Afterward, I’ll be meeting with the emperor…”

  Eventually, the ship came out of subspace, and the surface of Jel’gi was in the distance, and before long, they’d begun to close into the planet. The spaceport itself was as they remembered it when they landed, but a difference occurred in what was within, a large framed, heavily armored Orange machine, which seemed far removed from the Garsalan Design Philosophy, especially given it had only two arms unlike the normal four, the number which mimicked Garsalan Physiology, but more so than that, was its resemblance to the Machina Squad's Kaizenbuster.

  …

  The throne room at the Summit of the Imperial Palace, the tallest building on Jel’gi, the highest of Garsalan society had been gathered, G’thera found that he was not the only one within this crowded room, clan heads, The few industrialists who’d managed to bypass the Traditional military caste system, a feat very rare indeed. But nothing that G’thera was concerned with, rather, he was focused upon getting out of here, and getting back to Sol. The room itself was lined with the sound of speech, chittering mandibles, the normal would expect for a gathering of this size. Eventually, however, the words would subside, with what was heard next.

  “Now presenting his imperial Majesty, Ghokkis Zu Ezret!” A regal tune played from the musicians at the throne’s side blowing into metal tubes, as the door flung open once more, and the crowd parted on either side of the carpet leading up to the throne. And, in short order, they’d kneeled, G’thera included. The tune continued to play as the Emperor strolled in, the standard stern expression one would expect of him on his visage. While he himself was flanked by the Imperial Guards. Though, one doubted anyone was foolish enough to try to go for the emperor, not in this situation, where he was surrounded by loyal vassals, let alone his own fearsome reputation. As old as he was, there was a time during the Emperor's younger days where his rule wasn’t as secure, a precarious situation occurred when his father died, as other members of Zu Ezret wished to take the throne from him. His uncle, Cousin, and even his own Sister. Though, in the end, they all fell, he was a master at piloting even then, let alone his fearsome Orbital Decimator, which according to rumors, he could even control without being in the cockpit. Though this is hearsay at best. What was not, however, was that he hadn’t lost a battle since he became a pilot…

  Eventually, as he stepped up the raised Dais, and sat upon his throne, resting his chin upon his hand, he spoke.

  “Rise…”

  With that, the occupants of the room stood to their feet.

  “Let me make this clear… This war is not yet over. The death of General Ciddeth was a regrettable one, as was the loss of the body Luna… But know this, we shall not lose, not to them. We have ruled the milky way for centuries, with no equal! The only ones who could hope to hold a candle to us, the Scourge from Andromeda, the Slassi, have not managed to establish a foothold on our stars, regardless of how many monstrosities they send.” The emperor paused, as he stood to his feet, extending his arm outward.

  “Know this, WE SHALL REACH VICTORY, WE SHALL CRUSH THEM, WE SHALL SEE THE DESTINY OF THE GARSALAN, DOMINION OVER THE SEA OF THE STARS, BE REALIZED! GO FORTH, AND FIGHT!!” This much was enough to make cheers reverberate throughout the room, not only there, but the Frontlines, the various planets currently being conquered, those fighting the aforementioned Scourge, and the common citizens of Jel’gi. if there was any chance of opposition being spoken, it was certainly gone now… But this meant only one thing for G’thera, as the meeting continued, he figured out that he was correct, Ma’lak Zu Vispid, the father of For’gon, was indeed pushing onto the Sol front, in an attempt to avenge his son… Good.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “All the pieces fall into place…”

  While the Garsalan seemed content on continuing their war on earth, regardless of how the situation has changed. All the while, those who had helped in making earth’s resistance so effective continued to float upon the Vacuum of space. The Juzumaru III was one of five ships in the formation. And as one would expect the ship was flowing with activity, While Kyoko was somewhere doing Diagnostics, trying to hide from her earlier embarrassment, the members of the machina squad sat within the Mess, eating their respective meals.

  “So… Now that our guy Takeshi is stable, Garsalan went running, looks like we got at least a little time to focus on other stuff.. Namely, I haven’t visited Kanta in a minute, I'd better get on that.” Han stated with a nod.

  “Sounds like you, alright… But what about Rakesh? Pretty sure he isn’t exactly receptive to you going after his sister…” Andrew responded, but he only waved this off.

  “Oh, Old Rak? No need to worry… We came to an understanding…” …Old Rak? This response was met with raised eyebrows and glances. Passing behind him was a tall woman of white hair, the commander of one of the Valiant Wings. Rosheen O’gowan.

  “Sure, if that’s what you’d call that…”

  “O’gowan has a point, as far as we know, he doesn’t like you any more than you did before… Can’t figure out why though.” Diederick took a sip of the water on the table, as he spoke.

  “I have, we happened to meet on the way out after we went to check on the Commoner. Rakesh mentioned that he doesn’t like street performers very much. Considering you were that, and a comedian, I reckon that’s the reason, some sort of mistrust. He said something about an incident with a mud pit, pig, and a locker room… Though I don’t know how those components go together. He didn’t go into detail” This seemed to give pause to those in the mess hall, including Rosheen, who simply scratched the back of her head.

  “Some things are likely best left unanswered…”

  However, before anyone could discuss this situation any more, the eyes of the Machina pilots widened, as their eyes all flew in the same direction, Toward the bow of the ship.

  “This pressure…” Haemon mumbled.

  “Somethings coming!” Diedeick stated, as he stood from his seat. And indeed, something was, if the blaring of the alarms was anything to go by. On the ship’s bridge, one of the many officers, a husky man of a short build, turned to look at Gyo.

  “Commander, an enemy ship has appeared, 20 Kilometers and closing fast!” This made Gyo’s eyes narrow. How did they get this close without detection?

  “Is it a ship we have data on?” She queried.

  “No, it's entirely new, around the size of a Garsalan Battleship. We’re thinking it must be some sort of advanced stealth system!” A womanly voice explained… This surely didn’t bode well, they were doing well against the Garsalan, but from what little they knew of the Milky way beyond the Solar system, The garsalan were in a constant state of war, finding planets that hadn’t yet discovered FTL, landing invasion forces after destroying their native forces, and not even integrating them into their empire, simply shooting down any attempt by the native species to get into orbit ad fight back effectively, the same playbook they’d used in the first war, not to mention an enemy they’d called their only peerpower. they had to have a robust force of elites and technologies they didn’t use on earth to handle them didn’t they?

  “Launch all of our Vanguard armor wings, and prime Covalon Guns for firing! Relay this message to all ships of the fleet!”

  “Yes, Ma’am!”

  And just like that, the instruments of war had launched from their ships, as they floated suspended. They were not given the order to go forth, not just yet.. One of the pilots of the Valiants, a man of fair skin with a balding head, put his hand upon his chin.

  “The enemy hasn’t made a move yet.. What’s their game-”

  Boom…

  Within moments, just short of finishing his sentence, the machine he was in exploded, causing expressions of surprise to cover the pilots, as confused chatters made it unto the comms.

  “What the Hell?!”

  “Fitzgerald!”

  “Where did that come from?! The enemy hasn’t fired nor launched anything!”

  “Whatever it is… We need to handle it before they strike-” Diedeick began, but it seemed his senses took effect, and he reversed thrust, narrowly avoiding a beam aimed at his cockpit. No sooner did he draw one of the blades stored within his machine’s leg, launching it toward the apparent origin of the beam.. He could note something there, a very thin, almost imperceptible outline, if he was right, then…

  “The enemy is using some sort of cloaking device!” Han noted. This could be an issue… With the effects Covalons had on long range sensors and communications when at combat density, they’d essentially be fighting blind. How being in the machina had affected their perception was likely the only way they were able to catch them so quickly… Before much else was said, The enemy flagship had finally become active, As waves and Waves of Zo’gels we launched one by one from the catapults, this much forced the other vanguard armors to prepare a defense, as the point defense guns and missiles the Victory classes made use of began to streak through the void.

  But as for the machina themselves, they had different issues to attend to, Diederick felt the subtle hum from an outside source, and drew his own blades as a result, tuning the Valgeogant and defending against the two approaching, now visible blades, with his own… Floating in front of him was a Garsalan Vangaurd armor, wielding two Sonic blades in its main-arms, what looked to be pistols in hit sub-arms. The machine had a lithe, thin form, its armor was black, marked only by what looked to be reliefs of faraway stars, as if mimicking empty space, though it was notably much lighter than its contemporaries..

  “So, this is the species that managed to do in my Dear little brother, even that weakling Ciddeth…” The voice that came from within was feminine, but that wasn’t of note, more the fact that he could understand them.

  Before much longer, Andrew launched an impact booster enhanced strike at the machine, causing it to zip back before much longer.

  “That speed…” Andrew stated, a hand on his chin.

  “So that must be the Kaizenbuster… Believe me, I know not to let myself be hit by that… Regardless, you cannot win. You face a true representative of the Garsalan Empire’s 5 generals, not the one you fought before…” Yet, at this, Andrew only smirked.

  “Another one, then… It would seem that even the “True” Representative is more interested in making speeches than fighting..”

  “Hm… You have spine.. Regardless. My Xurios has survived many battles, even against the Scourge of Andromeda… You will not defeat Elmath Zu Alis, primitives…”

  Before long, her machine had disappeared into the void once more,and once again, the rapidly zipping machine had begun to fire off its weaponry, point blank shots from the pistols damaged the armor, as were the swipes of the Sonic blades in the machine's grasp. Making this worse was a simple fact, they could not sense her. It seemed that some specific Garsalan units, with that technology they'd heard mentioned in reports before, Psionics, which were only used by that general before this, they seemed to be able to sense them specifically in addition to seeming to perceive incoming attacks without their sensors. But given their situation, somehow, the enemy was keeping even that from occurring, it was as if the machine wasn’t there at all. Han placed his hand on his chin, as he began rapidly typing.

  “If we can’t find her directly, we need to find other ways of finding her… If I had something Like Gravitic sensor, i Might be able to detect the distortion, but for now…”

  How did she move? She seemed to favor hit and run attacks. The Kaizenbuster and Sanvolner seemed to be the two she was after the most, perhaps knowing their heavy armor would be a problem? And the Intervals between her attacks was very little. Quick, but technical… The stingers were launched from the Danzaman’s wings. His observant eyes kept moving across the battlefield, until… He saw it,a glimpse of the Pistol’s Barrel! In that instant, he fired off a beam, which the General quickly evaded, yet even so, she seemed nonplussed.

  “Oh… So you’ve figured out how to get around it quicker than I thought… Maybe I'll take you all seriously…” Take them all seriously?! Within moments, Diederick shot forward, ready to bisect her machine.

  “That Arrogance will do you no good on this battlefield, Roach!” He was close, but not close enough, crossing the two blades in her machine's hands over each other, she stopped the strike, firing point blank into the Valegogant’s torso with the pistols. Before long, it seemed as if this short time of it just being them fighting was over, As a squad of Zo’Gel’s, who’d broken off from the battle, equipped with anti-armor weapons, and warheads, began to fire upon the machina.

  “Tch. Haemon!” Han shouted.

  “Right!”

  The incoming lances of particles were stopped by the Sanvolner’s anti-beam barriers, while the warheads were detonated prematurely, a result of the Danzaman’s stingers darting around the void. Regardless, this presented a problem, With han’s attention divided, the general Disappeared, and striked again, trying to Jab her blade into the Kaizenbuster’s cockpit, had Andrew not Evaded, it certainly would have penetrated fully. Before he said a word, it had already disappeared once more.

  “Dammit!” It seemed that reinforcements of their own were closing in, A wing of Valiants began firing beams of Covalons, the weapons aimed at one spot upon each of the Zo’gel’s fields.

  “Just like we discussed, create a breach in their shields and fire off railgun Projectiles!” O’gowan orere. and that they did, the moment the Fields were penetrated, out came a new type of the rifles of those who hadn’t fired the beams, were the weapons the forces had developed, 40 millimeters, a slender dart like-nose at the font consisting of tungsten, hardened shell containing the explosive components, all contained within a sabot. This was not a Garslaan derived weapon, but it would be effective regardless, as they streaked from the barrels, the Shell of the sabot was discarded, and no sooner did they plant themselves within the enemy’s armor… And soon, the sensors took effect, and within moments, the rounds had exploded within them!

  “What?!” A garsalan shouted in confusion.

  “What manner of weaponry?”

  The new weapon, known as the B.A.S.I.L.I.S.K Round- or, the Ballistic Assault Spike with Internal Lethality and Shock Kinetics

  This was unexpected, and to no surprise, it caused some of the Zo’gel’s to split their attention to face these new enemies, they were not the machina, but their armaments were dangerous enough… Among those who came were Kyndal, and Lucas.

  “Looks like things are gettin’ hairy out here, Good thing we came in time!” Kyndall noted one of the Zo’gel’s shields had a hole torn in it, and fired into it, though her opponent took quick action to evade, and fire back, she did the same in return, and this time, she striked true, destroying it, another faced the same face by her hand, and another, by Lucas’. The Gasalan counterattack was weakened by both the efforts of the troops, and the Sanvolner, which continually managed to get in the way, time and time again. Which at this point, the general was getting annoyed by… With hsi focus on the enemy, and her evading senses, at this angle… She would be just close enough to jab a blade into the cockpit, and end them now. A high chitter came from her mandibles, a sign of contentment. And before long, she dived in, getting closer, and closer, until, something was noted by Han from afar… A small stream seemingly appearing without notice, without a source, appearing in scattered trails that started and stopped, could that be…. His eyes widened.

  “HAEMON!” Before long, the sight of the approaching Xurios was clear to Haemon as he began to turn to look over his shoulder, the 360 degree display made the Approaching machine and blade visible to him… Time almost seemed to slow as he watched her approache. but, before long, another blur seemingly appeared within the range of his camera, one which the blade sunk into rather than his own… Kyndall’s scream echoed through the comms, as the blade punctured her cockpit, and it seemed that her arm had been removed, as one of the blades plunged. likely, the best she could have hoped for, especially considering the second that entered…

  Haemon’s eyes widened, as did those of Lucas, one who had known her since they were but children, and their other Comrades.

  “KYNDAL!” Haemon shouted, his voice tinted with both rage, and sorrow alike… All the while, the general simply back up.

  “Primitives and their interference.. Annoying, no matter, I will not fail upon my s-”

  “Shut the hell up, Roach!” Haemon shouted, apparent red hot rage in his tone. The light of the Aether flowed around his machine, a roaring verdant inferno, as the anger within him grew… eventually, an idea came to his mind.

  “Andew, I have an idea, Let’s link up!” No sooner did he fly to Andrew's side, and vice versa.

  “What’s this idea you have?”

  “Interlock our machines fingers, kick your impact boostes to max, and me, my shields! We’re heavy enough that we cant be diverted easily and we’ll damage the enemy alot upon impact, well defended, and quick… We won’t let what just happened go unpunished!”

  And they did just that, Locking together their machine’s hands, as the shields expanded, and the machines drew themselves closer, the impact boosters fired off, as the two machines began barreling through the void, spinning all the while, a drill of Aether streaking across the battlefield.

  “MACHINAAA TYPHOON!” The two shouted, soon enough, the General found that her machine’s arm was removed, and a large enough part of the torso damaged by this strike, that she tsked, and began flying back.

  “It seems we’ve overstayed our welcome, we’ll return to handle this later!” With the light-bending camouflage activating once more, she flew off, and so too did her subordinates. And no quicker than they returned to their ship, did it reverse thrust, as the cloaking began to activate… It seemed that the Battle was over, at least for the time being.