Stage 33- Acension

Gaojinizer- Stage 33

Ascension

17.5 Hours had passed since the battle of the Asteroid belt began, and it seemed that there was no end in sight. A meat grinder which seemed content to slowly turn both forces into a fine mince. Even with the skill of the two officers at the head of their respective fleets, there were simply no maneuvers they could make to easily end the stalemate. Any rash moves would certainly be punished by their opponent, so they’d decided upon making changes that would minimize casualties, and keep their troops energized, over time, and let them take bigger actions when the time was right. Asani Igwe had changed the formation of the fleet to counter the Garsalan Concentric Formation. The Supreme commander had decided upon something novel, a formation which arranged the UFE’s fleet into a 3d prism-like shape. This was meant to achieve multiple goals, to concentrate firepower, and allow for a more fluid formation, which could rotate, and move sections to counter enemy maneuvers, reposition major assets, As well as attacking from multiple vectors within the belt. But there was still the issue of the mines, but there was an idea used to handle this, missiles were intended at first to draw the mines away from the fleets when they were launched, but it seemed that the AI idd not fall for this… But there was help, he’d sent a mention to the forces of earth coming to them, as well as the foundries on the moon. Drones initially used for mining and recon, they were cheap, they were fast, there were no casualties involved, their systems were modified, they were set to scan the bodies in the belt, and pursue when they were detected, intercepting and making them detonate prematurely.

While the battle proceeded, within the Juzumaru-II’s Hangar, the pilots of the ship had been recalled, there to rest for the time being before they went back out, as the supreme commander made sure to cycle out the troops. The Machina pilots stood in silence, Their moods clearly dampened, and in nobody was this more visible then the normally calm and collected Andrew, who’s stance, his hand on his forehead as he looked down, his eyes closed, was anything but the usual…

“So… We know for sure… It’s my brother. I don’t know what would have led him to join the Garslaan of all things…” Diederick put his hand on his chin.

“In the first place… Why would the Garsalan recruit him? As far as we know, the Garsalan have a number of species under their yoke, yet we’ve only seen the garsalan themselves in their military. Maybe they hope to know something about Aether?” Diederick reasoned. The one who would step forward, eventually, was Haemon.

“...All that aside, what are we gonna do about Mike, Drew?” As Haemon and Andrew’s fathers had been work partners and close friends, both working upon making the Kaizenbuster and Sanvolner together, it was of no surprise that their families were intertwined as well. Haemon knew more than anything else how close the twin brothers were, even through the standard sibling arguments one would expect, they always had each other's backs, whether it be a fight in school, or knowing when the other was down… He had no doubt that this was affecting his old friend, who had but one thing to say.

“I’ll do what I can… I’m bringing Micheal back… I can get through to him, somehow.” Though with the tone of his words, it sounded more like desperation than it did confidence. As he walked away from the group, apparently to be alone with his thoughts, the question of what led to this betrayal was one that never left his head, let alone how he would be treated even if he managed to get him back to their side. Among the valiant pilots, they watched him as he left.

“This is grim business, Eh? Fighting against the Garsalan is one thing, but fighting against other humans, family at that, is another.”

Beside him, O’gowan nodded.

“Mm.. That said, I better not hear any of you making him guilty by association… I’ll know if you do.” She stated. Watching this as well, was Kyoko, who had an expression of some worry on her visage. While her unruly apprentice, the boy genius Dwyyd stood by, noting this on his device.

“Andrew discovering his brother seems to have adverse effects. Were they very close? Must make more obs-” His typing was interrupted as he felt a flick upon his forehead.

“Ow…” He looked up, and found the source, Kyoko looking down upon him with a disapproving expression.

“What did I tell you about doing your observations instead of working?” The boy could only grumble in annoyance. In the meanwhile the machina pilots had finally split off on their own, perhaps it would have been better to give Andrew time to organize his thoughts… Hours passed, and it stayed like that, Though Haemon eventually left his quarters, went down one of many corridors, and found himself facing another, Lucas… Both were silent, averted gazes, scratching of the head, small gestures.

“.... Andrew… How..Is he doing?” He sounded out awkwardly.

“Not the best…” Haemon responded, equal awkwardness. Lucas could only let out a hum in response. The most one could say about this interaction, is that it wasn’t outwardly hostile. An improvement over the incident in the medbay, for sure… Before much else could be said, the voice of one of the bridge officers came over the intercom.

“All Pilots return to hangar, prepare for Launch…” So that was it, then. Their conversation was cut short, and they began to do just that. Within 10 minutes, the Machina were back on the field. The force led by the Gasalan with a particular focus on Takeshi seemed to be present as well, and as soon as they were seen, the Daigailer’s drones had already launched themselves forth and begun firing rays of energy, which were intercepted by the shields of the Sanvolner.

“Alright. We know what to do, so let’s do so!” Deiderick shouted, charging to meet G’thera in close combat. The Garslaan Tsked, as he was forced to redirect two of his drones in order to deal with him quicker. This at the least, helped in giving Han more leeway to attack, while he was still locked into trying to keep Vres and his Lassen from pushing into any opposing systems, Zes and his Geflowne were an entirely different issue, what Stingers were not dedicated to firing and fending off the enemy drones, were used to strike at the Sniper-wielding machine, to keep him off balance.

“That one again… Terran, get him off!” The machine which had loomed behind, slamming his way through ships had finally appeared once more, flying directly toward Han, apparently to act upon what was said. The panoramic cockpit displayed this action at the very corner of Han’s eye, and if not that, then that sense would have let him know…

“Dammit!” But interference came soon, As The Kaizenbuster, impact boosters activated, slammed into the Jitaman, Micheal felt his cockpit shake at this impact, yet, remained nonplussed.

“.. Andrew…”

The two machines floated in the void, their pilots in silence… As they could almost feel the stare of their brother, even through the vacuum, and multiple layers of armor. Andrew threw the Kaizenbuster's Impact boosters on, beginning his charge at Michael's machine.

"You expect me to believe this?! After all they put us through, you go to work with the Garsalan!! Just what is going on in that head of yours!!"

Micheal activated his own machine's Impact boosters, coming forward to meet his brother's charge.

" Then what's your plan, keep fighting them and get pushed to extinction? It's foolish…. The Garsalan respect power, skill, If we fight for them, we can change our status with enough success in battle-"

However, the rest of his words fell on deaf ears, as Andrew's blood began to boil, and soon, the light of the Aether surrounded his machine, a purple ember that coated his armor, and flowed off into the cosmos.

"Are you an idiot?! The Likes of the Garsalan will never see you as an equal! That system isn't designed for you to advance! This only stops if we can defeat them! You saw what they did to Roosevelt, you saw what they did to our family!"

"And THAT'S why this needs to be done! If we all did this, we wouldn't have that Issue!"

Andrew's face turned into a scowl.

"Alright, I'm done talking... If you won't listen to me, I'll knock some sense into you!!!"

The Aether soon grew, and Micheal found that his machine was being pushed back, though it was slight.

"W-What the Hell?!"

Soon, Andrew's war cry came over the comms, and the Jitaman began spiraling back into space, unable to stop the Kaizenbuster's Charge. As the brothers flew through space, clashing and breaking off, time and time again, so too did the battle between the two squads continue…. But this was not to continue in a vacuum, not for long, the issue with this squad was not an unknown one, while G’thera Zu Kalis seemed to be doing fine, it made sense to… Expedite a bit. To that effect, a flicker of warning appeared in Han’s head, just as a point blank beam slammed into his machine’s torso, a scant few meters away from tearing his cockpit open, he shortly descended and began to aim his stingers to where he believed the shot came from, and where a stream of light seemed to be emitting from, but upon the beam hitting it, he found that there was no machine…. Only some sort of particle emitting device, meaning…

“Be on your guard, that general is-” Before long, a blade jabbed into his machine, one that damaged his communication, and sensor suite, had made its way inward. His eyes widened at this much. Though, how quickly his words were cut off was noted, and more than that…

“General… Just our luck, she’s back!” Haemon noted. Haemon had to move quickly, he’d need to get her off of han, somehow… But there was another issue, as he felt his machine halt where it was, as what was once a normal holographic display had become red, warninns, and banners reading “Access denied” now spread across it.

“Dammit!” With han taken out, that meant their cyber defenses were effectively down, at least, against this one.

“Seems it's like shooting fish in the barrel now!” Zes stated with a high chitter emitting. No sooner did he begin to fire into the armor of the Danzaman, putting yet another hole into the armor, and within the cockpit itself Han found a hot molten metal burn into his space-suit, had it not been for the reinforcement most military suits had…

“This isn’t good…” Diderick, still locked down, the two blades in his hand deflecting, clashing with the Daigailer’s hooked blades, weaving around the beams the drones sent forth, there was little chance of him being able to help his allies easily, not with the situation being what it was… The danzaman was likely damaged heavily, more than likely, Haemon would have to defend him, Andrew couldn’t easily break off from his battle with Micheal, especially with the missiles that machine of his used. And if that weren’t enough, that General-

…

Before he so much as finished that thought, appearing, was the General’s machine itself. was a lone Valiant, firing off a stream of Basilisk rounds, though they were easily evaded, they at least drew Elmath’s attention away, at least, for a moment.

“Another one, then…” Elmath noted. Regardless, this seemed to be just what Diederick needed, as he rotated his machine, managing to slam a kick into the Xurios’ side, though, his follow up sword swipe hit nothing, as she’d already evaded. While the offending machine had gone to fire at the Lassen and Geflowne alike. Within, Lucas sat with narrowed, focused eyes.

“Get yourselves together, I’ll do what I can in the meanwhile!

“How annoying…” She did not enjoy annoyances, not in the least. And it seemed that yet another annoyance was arriving, in the form of a blue comet shooting across the battlefield.

“HORYA HORYA, HORYAA! THE GAIDAN HAS ARRIVED!” Indeed, it had a cone of beam fire shot forth from the shotgun in the machine’s hands, something that made Elmath evade once more.

“Another one… What is this, a Primitive Bargain sale?!” Regardless, she would handle him all the same. Her optical camouflage activated once more, and within moments, she’d disappeared from sight… While the Godaimon, its warhammer ready to swing, had come to meet the Gaidan.

“I’ll handle this one!” A’resh stated from within her cockpit. Ryuji weaved around the first strike of her hammer, and swiped at her with the blades upon his machine’s wrists. Though the damage the Gaidan received was superficial at first, he soon found that the Daigailer had come to battle him as well, and just like that, he was wedged in, a hammer strike from once, a beam and a sword swipe from the other, a counterattack weaved around or blocked by the Godaimon’s barriers.

“Tch…” This was not the type of battle he was used to, and it showed… Though he did what he could, it seemed that this battle would not end nearly as easily. Before long, Lucas found a blade had punctured through his cockpit. The source of which, the very same Garsalan General he’d interrupted.

….

How could this be… Was this his end? The vibrating blade was too much for even the armor on his suit to handle, the sparks from the molten, cleaved through armor. He felt like half of his body was removed upon the blade’s entrance…. That measure was not completely inaccurate,a deep gash set upon his body, cut diagonally through a large portion of his torso, as if half his body was hanging on by a thread. His helmet had since broken, the molten metal having splashed into his face. While his suit leaked air by the second, his body hemorrhaged… Aside from the searing pain upon his nerves, it was a different pain… That he would die here.. Before the final strike could be delivered, Haemon moved with a quickness in intercepting the another swipe of the blade with his shields, before pushing forward, and sending the lighter machine careening.. Though she quickly righted herself, Haemon’s thoughts were elsewhere…

“Lucas, stay with us!” Haemon sounded, almost as if he was ordering such to be said… Yet, the situation could not be changed…

“Sorry, but… It’s already over… To think that…” He paused, as his lungs seized, a great cough and a tidal wave of blood coming from his mouth.

“That… Would be my last meeting with Kyndal… To act like that, and make her-”

“Stop… Not now, this isn’t the time for that… You weren’t in your right mind, that’s all…” For a moment, silence returned.

“Perhaps, but… It has to be said… She was right.. All that, wasn’t your fault… Bit late for an apology, though…” Indeed it was, but what could be done now? He felt his life draining from his body as he spoke, saw the floating particles of blood in front of his eyes, which had begun to fail him, as his vision grew doubled, grew blurry, and began to darken.

“It seems that i’ve ended up a failure, then…”

“No…”

Surprise made it onto his visage, at least, as well as what was left of it could show.

“You did what you could… You may well have saved Diederick’s life, Han’s… You’re not a failure, not by any measure…” Those words were certainly a surprise. If he could shed tears, he most likely would have.

“Dammit… I… don’t want to die here… To be forgotten so easily… Before I even got to apologize to her…” Yet, he knew very well that it was over. If there was any solace to this, it was that it looked like Haemon would live on. He smiled even if slightly, as his eyes began to close for the last time.

“I hate that we only managed to reach each other now… but more than that, I'll leave her, who I've been friends with since we were kids, alone... Haemon, I can tell that you care about Kyndall as I did… That you and the rest of the squad care about saving lives as much as anyone else… Please, treat her well, do not act as I did… Tell her i said…-”

The communication line went silent before he was finished, but his intent was clear. This left horrowed expressions on the faces of all of the Machina pilots…

“Lucas…” Haemon muttered. He slammed his fist onto the dashboard.

…

The screams and yells of the dead and dying. Pleas, prayers said in order for them to survive, from allies and enemies alike… All across the battlefield, lives went from loud, bursts of flare, to being silenced in an instant, another torch extinguished, and more at risk… allied or enemy, it was all audible to him, despite his unconscious state… This strange space, it was not a sky, yet it seemed much more full than the vacuum of space could ever be, strange spheres of different colors surrounding him … More than that, sounds began to reach his ears once more.

“At this rate, we’ll be surrounded!” One shouted.

No…

“The Danzaman’s comms are still down! Mike is keeping Drew locked down”

No…

“Damn. These two are really sitckin’ to me! At this rate, it looks like I won’t get to slug it out with inoue again..”

No…

The monitor within Takeshi’s room began to beep, rapidly, and loudly, as his vitals began to spike. Something changed, his body was not fully healed, not yet, but somehow, all of these things, those he could somehow perceive in his state had changed something. his eyes shooting open, tearing the wires away from his skin, and removing the IV, Takeshi Inoue took not a second before he was shooting down the hallway.

“No, Not again!”

However, before long, Lufima, and a number of doctors and nurses he knew not the name of had jumped into his path, the larger of them apparently intent on holding him back.

“You have to lay back down, you're not fully healed-”

*Hell no! Not while my comrades, my friends, are dying out there! I won't allow the ones dear to me to get taken out, not while I'm still breathing!”He shoved past them, dodged those who attempted to stop him along the way, and almost as if sensing him, the Gaojinizer’s cockpit opened, and the machine kneeled where it was, allowing for him to jump in. Eventually, Kyoko’s face appeared upon his display.

“What are you doing, Oaf?! The Gao is fully repaired, but you-”

“Not now, if I just stay here, we lose everyone!”

“Commander Gyo, Please, don't let him-”one of the bridge officers began, however, she was cut off.

“Let him go… Im Giving him direct clearance to launch…”

Insert Song - Meteor- Tm revolution

Gyo sat upon her seat in the bridge, her expression a calm one, even as surprised looks were sent her way.

“He's not wrong, that is certainly the risk if he does not intervene… We can not lose the best hopes we have for earth's victory…” She stated. and aside from that, even form how shortly she'd known them, she knew the spirit the Machina pilots, Kyoko, and all of them had… There was no chance he was going to listen, even if she told him to go back, not in this situation. Ultimately she was much younger than these officers she commanded, even if older than the pilots themselves. Perhaps being closer to them had made them… Kindred spirits of sorts? Regardless, as he sat in the cockpit, and the Gaojinizer stood, Takeshi could almost feel some sort of Resonance with the machine, even more so than usual. A power, a warmth, filled his veins, as he shot forth from the Juzumaru’s catapults.

The Machina squad was clearly in worse states than they had been before, the whittling down of their defenses over time,as it seemed the general dedicated a large force simply to barrage them from afar while her and There's squad did the bulk of the damage… This sight, it filled him with rage, and more than that, determination.

“That's enough!” He roared, somehow, despite not having said such vier Comms, it was heard by many in the vicinity, but more than that, was the glaring crimson light the Gaojinizer emitted, it had come to resemble a miniature star… but more than that, was the changes that began to occur. Almost immediately, the machine's torso began to grow taller, wider; its arms and legs did the same thing. As did the head, as the machine seemed to grow mroe and more by the second, Within the Daigailer, G’thera’s six eyes widened.

“What?!”He shouted in his confusion. The same confused expressions came from enemy and ally alike, drawing gazes from all across the battlefield.

“If you think you can come here and do whatever you'd like, then think again, face the power of Soulburst!!”

As he thought about those where we lost, all of Those in the great floor, during the initial invasion, the bombings afterward, his mother, his father, Pierre, Yamato, Tsubasa, Katsu-Aniki, Kimiko, and even if they didn't get along, Lucas…, Lines of red light began to spread across teh whole of the machine, as the horns upon its helmet grew, and extensions grew from the metal, until the machine’s head had taken on a more star-like shape. The scythe the machine wielded was morphed as well, two scythes, with long handles now lay within the Gaojinizer’s two hands, at the least, before the pilot smashed them together, a double sided weapon, one blade facing each side, and it did not take long for him to throw it forward.

“Take this, Chūsōga! ”(Sky Burial Fang), The whirling weapon sped through blinking in and out of sensors, due to its speed, all in its path, mine, mobile fortress, or ship, exploded in balls of fire, before it had swung its arc, and returned to the Gaojinizer’s hands, as Takeshi stowed the scythe upon his back, crossing his arms within his cockpit, as his machine, even without input, mirrored this, crossing its arms as well… there it stood, 60 meters tall, 50 meters past its original size. The light of Aether is still glowing from within.

“The past and future burn within us! The legacies, the memories of those who have fallen, the lives of the living, we carry them all! We are Earth’s blade beneath the Azure Sky, unchained, unbroken! A guardian of all of earth's peoples! The blade that cuts through the stars,

GAOJINIZER SEIKETSUGA!”

Within the Garsalan fleet, the RearAdmiral of the task force, Ma’lak Zu Vispid, had finally pressed forward, his own ship at the head of a spearhead. He did not know what changed with the terran machine, or how he'd heard that voice, the language of primitives, it wasn't simple hearing, no, it was something else, but it mattered not, his son would be avenged!

“Crush it, now!” he order, throwing his arm forward. A swarm of Garsalan machines and shops began to close in… But within an instant, the Gaojinizer disappeared from its spot. Causing Elmath’s eyes to widen in surprise.

“I-Impossible… that machine has become faster than mine?!”

The comet pulse cannons upon the Gaojinziers shoulder had not disappeared, in fact, their barrels had grown longer, wider And more than that, Takeshi seemed nonplussed at this development. The light that built up in front of the cannons took the form of red spheres, orbited by crimson rings…

“MESSEIHOOOO!!! (Starbreaker Cannons)!” no sooner than he yelled, did the barrells exposed into light, rather than being bullets of beam fire, however, they were streams, rays, what was at first two large ones, began to split into tens, then hundreds of smaller beams, that bent and twisted mid-air to catch their intended targets, even as they tried to avoid the attack. Explosions spread once more as machines and ships alike were disintegrated under the force of the beams, and as for the Rear Admiral, he got not even another word out, before he faced the same fate…

While G’thera’s plan of the Rear Admiral being foolish and getting himself killed had gone well, and he'd likely be promoted, now there was a bigger issue, the Gaojinzier now rushing toward them, a war cry echoing through the comms. The general maneuvered at just the right time to get out of the way, but he didn't have that luxury, he had to try to defend. The drones his machine used fired, yet the beams only seemed to bounce off uselessly, as the scythe which at this point, was large than his entire machine, there was little he could do, he was swept aside, a deep gash in his machine, and was left to do nothing as with a yell, Takeshi began to spin his weapon. The rapidly revolving blades sliced through the Lassen, leaving a deep gash and cutting open the cockpit, though damaged, the pilot was not dead… While the geflowne moved back. One among them, however, was not so lucky, with a final flourish, the blade of the scythe was sent toward the Godaimon…. Within an instant, it was over, the machine divided down the middle, and exploding in a ball of fire… and his betrothed with it… Something which made G’thera’s rage make itself more evident, in the low chitters, the fist slammed into his dashboard. Though angered as well, Elmath could see the writing on the wall. Not only were these beams, this thrown weapon, wreaking havoc as this machine… Nay, this reaper, tore apart what they had. If that wasn't an issue on its own, the primitives seemed to have resurged, the momentum had been reversed, nobody realized this more than the unseen commander she'd been playing this game of chess with, one who was ready to enact a checkmate..

“Strike while they're disorganized, drive a wedge into their center and break them op, force them to scatter, vailiants, anti air units, separate their machines from their ships, they'll be sitting ducks without them, Press in and clean up what's left afterward, Ceres will be ours!” Within an instant, the troops of the UFE began to act upon his orders… Elmath hated this result more than anything else, and even saying the words seemed to burn her throat.

“... FULL RETREAT, Now! Abandon Ceres!” She shouted.

And the Garsalan troops began to do just that… the damager Machina M’sel, one among them, who was eerily silent, along with the rest of the fleet, burned away from the battle in question, though earth's forces did not stop firing upon them as they left, and advanced, picking off as many as they could, they did not follow past ceres…

Eventually, the light surrounding the Gaojinzier would recede, as it's form began to return to normal… within, Takeshi huffed, heavily at that, clutching his chest.

“Dann… don't know what that was, but it at least got rid of the roaches…” that they did. It did not take long for cheers to erupt, from the Frontlines, to the cities upon the moon, to earth, and to the isolated colonies of the Asteroid Belt, who'd finally begin to come out of hiding…

On the other side of the war, the mood was anything but…

The captain’s quarters on the Zu Kalis class was opulent, like the officers' mess, designed to show status, yet, how it was now, it was anything but… Rather than a room, the lack of light looked more like a void, one filled with empty bottles of wine… Though rather than being there for enjoyment, they were more of a distraction. In his chitinous palm was a pendant, one inlain with a pure blue crystal… one that he'd gotten back then…

While his marriage was an arranged one, like many ones among Garsalan nobles. But there was a key difference, he'd known her long beforehand, as children, in the Military academy all Garalan were required to go to after emerging from their pupae, they were always side by side and competing equally in some category, piloting, swordplay, marksmanship, and war games, yet… there she was, gone, all because of that terran, that accursed Scourge of a machine… The laughter, the affection they shared…

“You will pay, Terran Ape…” He would let the Ser’or alliance know, his plan had succeeded, his promotion was likely upcoming, he had more resources. More troops… more chances to send that primitive to the underworld, and that was what mattered.

But now there were other issues, common consensus in the Garsalan Empire, and the emperor's judgment was as such, if a species formerly in the infancy of spacefaring before their arrival could both copy their own technology, though with adjustments for their resources, as well as make new developments on their own, such as what the humans called the Basilisk round, then it seemed drastic measures had to be taken, more forces had been drawn from occupied primitive planets, and for the time being, new outward invasions were halted, though, those already taking place continued. And coming from the Frontlines from the Scourge of Andromeda, where two titanic figures… Issor Zu Ihael, and Triende Za Rauks… three generals now lay within Sol….