Stage 32- First Battle Of the Asteroid Belt

Gaojinizer- Stage 32

First Battle Of The Asteroid Belt

The aftermath of the battle against the General was a silent one, Haemon’s fists remained clenched tight, anger at himself, this Garsalan named Elmath Zu Ahlis… There was no doubt that he was not the only one to feel this… Lucas’ rage already boiled within him, but upon remembering his childhood, which was spent in Atlanta, a city that now no longer existed because of… them… Before long, the vanguard armors began to rush back to their respective ships, The Sanvolner grasping the Valiant, before Haemon began to wordessley shoot toward their flagship, the catapult was open to him, and he landed without hesitation.

“Call for a medic, she’s injured!” His voice called out, his machine’s speakers called out. No sooner did the medical staff rush from deeper within the ship, a pod along with them, while the mechanics pried open the cockpit, and no sooner, was Kyndal removed, crimson ichor hitting the hangar floor as the true damage to her became clear, her left arm was gone, the right side of her torso heavily scarred, it could even be said that it was a Miracle she survived… But that remained to be seen.

“We need to get her to Dr.Nsakala, Now!” With this, she was placed into the pod, as it began to roll forward on its own, much faster than they could on foot, as the medics followed. Haemon and The other pilots alike hopped out of their cockpits once their machines were settled, and began to rush over. Past the crew's quarters, and passed the mess, was the infirmary… Though they could not see what was going on directly, the sign above a room which had its contents obscured, noted that surgery was still ongoing… There didn’t seem to be much that they could do in that regard. Andrew walked behind Haemon, clamping his hand upon his old friend’s shoulder.

“... We’re gonna report what happened on our side of the battle to Gyo and the higher ups… Don’t worry about it.” Haemon only nodded. As Andrew was the first to leave, walking away as well, was Han, who gave a nod to Haemon.

“I hope she’s alright…” He commented, in a tone far removed from his standard Grandiosity. Diederick clamped a hand over his shoulder as well, speaking.

“There should be no cause for worry…. The medical facilities on this ship are state of the art…” He hoped that was at least some form of comfort… The two stood there for what felt like hours before the sign had finally gone off, signifying that the surgery was complete. The automated pod which brought her began to slide out of the surgery room. With the plod Lufima, who noted the two but put her hand up as the two stepped forward.

“Wait about an hour…” And so, they did.

Beside Takeshi’s room in the medbay, where he was stable, but still showed no signs of awakening, there was now Kyndal. She sat there with a solemn expression…. What was notable from the get-go, however, was that a new arm, a mechanical one, now lay in place of her old one, and though it was not visible under her gown, Her torso itself was covered in bandages. She looked down upon what was now a reminder of what had happened, moving the fingers one by one, trying to get a handle on it… She remembered it well, how her life in its entirety flashed before her eyes, the pain she felt as the first blade tore apart her tissue, and of course, the dreaded second one…

“I… If my angle had been even a little wrong I… I would have died for sure.” She paused, as she began to look to the ceiling.

“I.. Don’t know what led me to do that. After makin’ those promises to everyone back in Atlanta, that i’d become the best pilot, to kick the Garslaan out once and for all… I even declared i’d avenge everyone, and yet. I made a reckless choice like that…” Her tone muted, her words came out slow. It was true, she saw Haemon as a comrade and enjoyed the talks she had, but… Could there be something else there? No, that wasn't important, at least, not now…

Almost as if summoned, appearing in the room, was Haemon. At the least, a slight, if forced smile came to Kyndall’s face.

“Kyndall…” Before she had much time to respond, another had entered… Lucas… And with the way his smile dropped, and a scowl made its way onto his visage the moment he noted haemon’s appearance. But it almost seemed as if Haemon did not note this, as he began speaking.

“I’m… Glad you're alright.. How is the arm working for you-”

“Oh, You’re glad she’s alright, then.. SURE you are.” Lucas stated, cutting him off. The energy of the room seemed to shift almost instantly.

“What are you trying to say?”

The man stepped forward without hesitation, getting into his face.

“Is it not obvious, it's your fault she’s like this! What right do you have to come in here and talk to her casually?!” He shouted. This almost seemed to make his blood boil in response. Just down the hall, approaching, were the other Machina pilots, at first, they walked casually, as one would expect, until they heard a shout.

“And what would you have had me do, then?!” They recognized that voice instantly.. Haemon. Soon enough, they increased their pace to see just what was happening, and in the room, they saw the distance between the two had closed to the point where a punch from either would certainly hit, and given how their body languages were…

“The fact remains that if you Hadn’t gotten so focused on his enemies, she wouldn’t have had to bail you out, she wouldn’t be in this state, You could’ve gotten her killed! Is this what the All famous Machina squad is capable of, you can’t move fast enough to stop our city being bombed by those roaches, and you get your Comrades killed because of your stupidity. I hate the lot of you-”

“ENOUGH!”

Kyndall’s voice rolled through the room like a thunderclap, silencing Lucas almost instantly, and causing the gazes of those there to fly over to her… She paused, taking a deep breath in, before exhaling.She brushed her Dreadlocks out of her head, as she spoke once more

“I’ve said it already… There was nothing they could’ve done about atlanta. By the time the Garsalan dropped that bomb, both of our ships had already gotten clear… And as for the battle, he did not put me in this state, I’m my own woman, Lucas… I got in the way because I wanted to. With how that machine’s stealth worked, and with how the nature of battle is, that was expected… You of all people should know that…”

Lucas and Haemon alike were left in silence… His anger had subsided, but not by much, and he exited without another word. While Haemon himself could leave with only three words. “Sorry, And… Thank you”. As he left, to no surprise Andrew, the one who’d known him longest, followed. Diedeirck leaned upon the wall, as he observes this take place.

“Lucas… His attitudes have been worrying for a while. We said nothing to focus upon the mission, but we've noted the difference. Coming from us, that conversation would have made things worse.” He stated. Kyndall could only sigh at this.

“Believe it or not, but he was actually a fan of yours a time ago, couldn’t name many people around our age who weren’t… but after atlanta… Something snapped, at this point he just wants somebody to blame for it. I have some theories about who it’s truly aimed at, but… I can’t say anything for sure.”

Regardless, there were other things to worry about… The Battle of the Asteroid belt had begun, and the forces of the UFE had closed in upon the region, while some of them were notably cleaning up the inner-solar system, around Mercury and Venus, which the Garsalan hadn’t heavily invested in but had a notable presence, As well as Mars. Their goal was simple: break through the Garsalan force, and destroy the Garsalan Fortress on Ceres, reconnect with surviving Asteroid belt colonies, if their theories were correct, and they indeed existed. With The New Foundries on the moon, and earth’s cities alike, the UFE had a lot more weaponry to work with… But a problem had occurred, on the front battle-lines, the situation was clear as day, what they’d thought were natural asteroids had gone from inert to closing toward the ships in an instant, and when this took place, entire groups of ships were taken out in a flash of heat and light, Gamma radiation launched outward… These were mines, but more than that….

“Antimatter, we know that for sure.” Shana Burrows stated. Within the situation room of Igwe’s flagship, Igwe and Shana burrows sat, with two members of the Admiralty. Frederick Cross, and General Watanabe alike. Across the room, holograms of the various Commanders and captains appeared in a semi-circle at the other end of the table, those who did not leave their ships but were meeting regardless.

“The enemy seems to be thinking out of the box… If the recording from the battle between the Machina and the New enemy ace is anything to go by, our opponent is one of the five generals, the heads of the Garsalan Force, second only to what we believe is their head of state, the Emperor.”

On her chair, Gyo leaned back, placing a hand to her chin.

“Requesting to speak, your excellency…” She stated.

“Granted.” Igwe said with little hesitation.

“At this rate we’ll need to slow our advance, and spend more time figuring out what's a mine, and what isn’t… I’d recommend spreading out our formations to avoid them all being caught in one blast.” This much gained nods.

“That much is agreeable… We will spread out the individual fleets, and continue our advance. A subset of ships from each force will be assigned specifically to intercept the mines when they show themselves.

On the other side of the conflict, Elmath Zu Alis observed the movements of the enemy fleet, her Chitinous hand upon her chin… The enemy seemed to have figured out what they were doing quickly, but that did not mean they’d be able to simply ignore it or counter it so easily. After all, this region was dense with asteroids. And that was nowhere near the only card they had up their sleeve.

“Concentric formation! Capital ships advance to the core of the fleet, Orbital Decimators, launch and serve as their defense. The asteroids and mines will help in defense!” and that they did…

Kyndall was out of the battle, she still needed to recover, but that much was obvious. But despite the earlier tensions, the pilots of the Juzumaru-II had all launched, as the battle came into full swing. Rays of Particles shot across the void, as bursts of fire, small and large, began to saturate the space, the trails of the swift Garsalan and Human machines saturated the space as they began firing at one another, whether it be the Basilisk rounds implanting themselves into Garsalan Armor before combusting, after their shields had been handled, or those who had gotten close enough to each other that close range weaponry was required, blades forged of beams, and more mundane upsized physical ones could be seen. The difference between this battle and most were clear, The now mass produced Valiants were less advanced than the Zo’gels, but were centuries ahead of the machines made before reverse engineering began.

As one would expect, the Machina pilots were in the thick of the fighting, Han’s stingers fired into Garsalan machines from afar, as they cut into the enemy formations, destroying machines time and time again as they moved.

“We’re making good time! If we act fast enough we might be able to get to the ceres soon-” Han paused, as he noted something on his sensors… A suspicious movement from the asteroids.

“Something isn’t right, keep your eyes on the asteroid-” Before Han was able to so much as finish his sentence, the largest asteroids that formerly were dormant began to fly forth to meet the ships of earth, firing off rays that ripped apart ships upon impact.

“Tsk… They’ve turned the asteroids into ships as well, then… Though at that size, I'd say their more mobile fortresses.” Diederick noted.

“I’ll need to defend the fleet with my shields, ill leave it to you guys!” With that said, Haemon began to fly toward the ships of earth, at the least, he would, had his senses not detected something coming, and they were not inaccurate, a beam flew from one of the floating weapons the Daigailer used… The Machina M’sel had arrived.

“Them… We’ll move like last time, we’re down a man for the time being, but so are they!” Before long, Han began to take action in going after the two machines who had been an issue especially in the past, he did not seem content to allow the Geflowne and Lassen to do as they liked. The Lassen was simple enough, sending a code that would paralyze his systems like what the pilot once tried to do to the UFE. However, within his cockpit, Vres smirked,

“Not this time!” A counter hack, one intended for the purpose of breaking through the blacklist the enemy had out his machine in. If he got through this, it would be simple. As for Zes, his saving grace against the shots from the stinger approaching him would be twofold, as they were intercepted by the shields of the Godaimon, and The Daigailer’s drones flew forward to meet the stingers. Soon enough, the many drones the two machines used streaked through the void, firing beam after beam, clipping strikes, and minor damages were common, but no decisive strikes. The Godiamon found itself under attack by the Valegogant, which launched itself forward, two blades in it manipulators, as it slashed at the machine, while, within, A’resh tsked as she evaded and pushed the strikes away with her field, while swinging the warhammer her machine employed, though she slammed it into the machine’s toros, only barely missing the cockpit, which dented it to no small extent, and shook it, she did not have much time to continue her attack before she was knocked away by the Kaizenbuster, who slammed into her side.

“Got 'em!” Andrew shouted

A sniper shot from the Geflwone was intercepted at the hands of the Valgeogant’s shields…

“It seems even without the machine they call the Gaojinizer, the primitives have not slacked… It seems it is time!” G’thera shouted. .. The order was to no surprise, received loud and clear by the officers on the ship… The occupants of the machine itself sat with his arms crossed, as the final checks upon his machine were crossed off, until the face of the head mechanic upon the vessel appeared upon his screen, and they spoke.

“Terran… You are cleared for launch…” Yet, he said nothing.. The flaming orange blur which shot out of the ship's catapult had a clear inspiration… Which was seen as it made its entrance on the battlefield, and the formerly silent man within finally spoke.

“Impact Boosters… On!” Within moments, it speed increased what looked like tenfold, as it broke what was formerly a line of UFE ships in half, as the compartments within these ships depressurized rapidly, the occupants thrown out into the void of space, saved only by the fact that it was standard procedure to have spacesuits on within ships when battle had started. And to no surprise, the Machina pilots took note of something very different.

“This machine… Not only does it look like the Kaizenbuster, I can tell, the pilot isn’t a Garsalan… There’s aether coming from that machine!” Han noted with widened eyes.

“Meaning… That pilot must be a human.” Diedrick stated, a hand upon his chin.

A human pilot?! Andrew tightened his fist, as he turned to look toward the new arrival.

“What the hell is a human doing working with the roaches? Have you forgotten that they’ve been bombing our cities for the past decades, let alone the great flood, melting the ice caps?!” Andrew questioned. For a moment, he received no response… But eventually, the voice finally came out, one of a deep baritone, one resembling his own.

“It is the path I've decided to take…” Time seemed to freeze for Andrew, as his eyes widened…. His mind went back to Roosevelt City… What was at first a normal day had turned into a massacre, as the formerly proud spires of Roosevelt were reduced to rubble, the people lay butchered in the streets, how he was separated from his younger sisters, his mother, leaving only him and his father… But… there was another who was separated.

“Micheal… WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” He shouted.

The man within the cockpit of the orange machine was one of deep brown skin, his nose wide, the bridge flat, angeled downturned eyes, and a head of black hair cut low… Unfortunately, his brother did not respond, only letting the panels upon the machine,dubbed the Jitaman’s shoulders opening, and coming out, was a swarm of missiles, in what looked to be the hundreds. And no sooner did Han take action, taking fire at the missiles with his stingers, though, he could only dedicate two to this task, and as for Andrew, a deep scowl had made its way onto his expression, as he kicked on his impact boosters.

“I’ll handle the orange one myself, Don’t interfere!” And in the same vein,so did Micheal… The two machines slammed together like clashing comments, as they struggled to push the other away. The machine's pilots both pulled back, as they began to launch combinations, punches and kicks enhanced by the impact boosters, grapples and blocks to defend themselves… And as the two brothers clashed, so did the rest of the squad. But it did not take long for small dents to become large ones, small gashes to become larger ones. Hammers hit armor, blades ran through it, beams slammed into them from afar… A stalemate that continued for what felt like hours. Eventually, one among them had decided to cut his losses, and it did not take long for G’thera to Disengage..

“We return to the ship! We’re in this for the long haul, we’ll perform repairs and return!” Just like that, the Machina M’sel had begun to act upon the orders, Micheal included, still giving nothing to his brother…

“MICHEAL, ANSWER ME-”

“Machina Team, return to the ship!” This cut off Andrew, as he looked upon his display, finding that Gyo had appeared, the members of the team went silent. Pull back, now? With Andrew’s brother apparently right in front of him? Eventually, Diedrick began to respond.

“With all due respect, we’ve just found out that not only do the Garsalan have a machina, one of us is piloting it, who knows what else-”

“That’s exactly why I'm calling you back… You’ll need to spend some time getting repaired and pace yourselves, especially if how long the battle is going is anything to go by… And do remember, especially with a new machine we know nothing about, you're the only ones who have machines advanced enough to stop that squad…”

It seemed at least, that this was enough to make them relent, as they began their return. While coming to their defense as they did so, were A swarm of Valiants, who stood guard…