Stage 10 - Battle Preporations

Gaojinizer - Stage 10

Battle Preparations

It had not been long since the strategy was discussed among the troops of the UFE, and, as such, the operation hadn’t started just yet. It went without saying that the members of the Machina squad were displeased with the results of the briefing, but nonetheless, they continued as usual. Aside from one, however. The kitchen within the Juzumaru had been there long before the vessel was converted into a makeshift warship, much like the rest of the ships used by the UFE. Who originally owned the ship had been lost in the records, but given the state of it, it hadn’t been maintained. It was for that reason that Kanta Goel was working to take care of the kitchen’s sorry state. But, she was not alone.

As she wiped down the stove, mopping the floor on the other side of the kitchen, was one Han Chen. Why did he decide to do this? While he certainly had some drive to help her, it went without saying that there were other reasons for him being there. They were alone, and so far, they seemed to be getting along well.

“It seems to be the right time… But what to say?” This was not a question he had the answer too. After all, his experience was in a different field. Eventually, the man began to inch closer.

“Kanta.” As Han called out to her, she glanced over her shoulder, with the same bright smile she usually had. Something that undoubtedly led to some hesitation, after all, he wasn’t keen on messing this up. A basic conversation, that much would work.

“So, how did you end up in your position?” Han questioned.

“Well, I always liked cooking when I was younger, and really, it was the same with my brother…” The girl began to reminisce upon her past. She decidedly placed the rag down and sat on a nearby chair.

“One of the Garsalan Feudal lords, a Gal’zi, attacked our hometown. We got taken in by the military, but we didn’t have much aptitude outside of that, so they put us in the galley.”

So the situation was the same for them. He supposed now was the time to both state his own plans for the future, and woo the girl alike. He stood up straight, pointing his finger to the sky, as he dropped the mop, letting the stick clamor on the floor.

“So we are the same.. But make no mistake, the great hero, Han Chen, and his Danzaman, shall make sure that those villains will do this no more!” He could only hope that this much would work. This much only resulted in a giggle emanating from the woman. Whether he could consider that good or not, he didn’t know.

“Alright then, Hero…” The words managed to slip out, between the quieted fits.

Apparently, this did not go unnoticed by three of the other pilots, who happened to be walking by when the exchange took place.

“Just what is he trying to do?” Takeshi questioned.

“Who knows.” Andrew responded with a shrug.

“I do wonder how her brother’s going to feel about this, though.” Haemon chimed in. That was something they decided against touching. The pilots continued about their business afterward, while, elsewhere, their opponents were beginning to make their move. The Garsalan Ju’zul Class Battleship was a ship of the line usually reserved for targets that were of more importance. To the Fi’Gas Zu Meni, this ship, and a few others were more than enough to put down the rebellious Tasselr. They may have gotten lucky a few times, but that didn’t mean they truly stood a chance against their might.

Fiiras Zu Gestel, the commander of this vessel, saw little reason for his group to have been brought here. He was in the midst of combat with a species that, put frankly, were a better fight than the inhabitants of this planet. It was an annoyance, no doubt, but one that could be easily solved by a simple action.

"We'll end this quickly, and get back to our operations." Fiiras' words were heard throughout the bridge of his ship, and there didn't seem to be much disagreement. In the meanwhile, the forces of the UFE, as well as the Juzumaru prepared for the inevitable attack, all the pilots stood within the hangar, most of whom were focused upon Han seemingly looking off into space, a smile on his face. Though they decided against commenting on it, Takeshi sat on a nearby folding chair, as he leaned back into his seat.

“This is taking too long… We’ve been on standby for this long? I might go out and try to find them myself at this point, better than us being nothing but bait and not being able to fight them ourselves.” Truth be told, Takeshi was still livid about that, and it wasn’t as if he was the only one, some part of them wanted to do the very same. Their thoughts were only interrupted by the other Goel twin, Rakesh, strolling in with a cart in front of him.

“Unfortunately, we still couldn’t get the appliances working, looks like it's gonna be rations again…” Their expressions dropped at this revelation. More barley edible nutrient bricks. The loudest among them, Takeshi, shouted out to the sky.

“DANMITTTT!!!!” It seemed they wouldn't be that lucky. However, an idea popped up in Takeshi’s head after a while. Who better to ask to fix the situation than their resident Mechanic!

“Hold on, I’ll be right back!” No sooner did the man speed off, leaving the others to wonder what he was planning. It did not take long for him to appear near the door of the bridge, and for a conversation to begin… Conversation being a generous word.

“Come on! You know how to do this mechanical stuff, and I know you’re tired of eating those rations too.” Takeshi yelled through the door.

“Do I look like a handyman to you?! Do it yourself! My research is more important than things like that!” Kyoko shouted back. The youth tsked in annoyance, why was she always so difficult to deal with? It’s not like any of them knew how to do it, he had no training in that regard. It was a different skill set than anything he-... Skillset, SKILL… That was it! His plan was finished.

“Oh… I get it, You’re just scared you won’t know how to fix it.” In a split second, the door opened, as she leaned forward, putting her face close to his.

“What did you say?” She questioned, slowly. Takeshi smirked as he heard this response.

“Did I hit a nerve? This Oh-so great mechanic can’t fix anything as simple as an oven…?” He questioned, beginning to let out a snide chuckle…

“You take that back!”

“Why would I? You seem scared to me…”

Eventually, the determination within her began to build, with her reputation apparently challenged. A burning flame appeared in her eyes, she rushed past him with great speed, speaking out all the while.

“Can’t fix it?! We’ll see about that!” All the while, Takeshi stood there with a smile.

“Hook, Line, and Sinker… Time to get back to the rest.” With his job done, Takeshi began proceeding toward the Hangar. Though it seemed like they wouldn’t be doing anything for a while, he at least got some form of entertainment out of that. In the meanwhile, the mentioned mechanic was alone in the kitchen, surveying the damage, and seeming what work had already been done. She started with the stove that lied in the kitchen’s center. The wires were messed up, and there was no power, and the apparatus that allowed the coils on the stovetop to heat were in dreadful shape. She couldn’t even be sure they wouldn’t explode if someone tried to turn the power on. In addition to this, the repair work was shoddy at best. It looked like she would need to do the heavy lifting here too. She didn’t plan on using those repair drones for everything, at least.

The mechanic stood to her feet, as she began a brisk walk out of the door, going to receive her tools. Her thoughts eventually drifted back to the situation that led to her even deciding to involve herself with this. Which could certainly be considered under her paygrade. The words of that Annoying man… His comments truly got under her skin. Not only did she have a passion for what she did, there was the legacy of a legendary engineer she felt she had to uphold, that of her deceased father. However, these thoughts of her were shortly interrupted, by the sounding of Alarm Klaxons. Which stopped all activity within the ship for a moment, as those within knew very well what this meant.

“They’re here!” Takeshi yelled, What was at first a walk became a run. As he dashed through the corridors, he breezed past Kyoko, nearly bumping into her if it hadn’t been for his quick maneuvering. It did not take long for the pilot to arrive back in the hangar, and make his way to his machine. The cockpit of which opened, and let down a wire, which he stepped on, allowing it to bring him within. As he sat on the pilot’s seat, the hatch closed, and the HUD came to life.

“Looks like we finally get to do something, Eh?” Andrew questioned.

“It took long enough. I’ll be the one to clean things up… As if some commoner Colonel will dictate my actions.” Diederick stated, with his chin high.

“As if, we all know that’s gonna be me…” Takeshi responded. He did not continue to engage, however. Rather, he decided to launch, walking toward the hangar bay door, which rapidly began to open. No sooner did Kyoko’s words echo through all of their cockpits.

“You’re all cleared for launch!”

Takeshi did not wait even a moment, the red light of the Gaojinizer’s thrusters began to build rapidly, as it shot off into the sky.

“Inoue Takeshi, Gaojinizer, Ready to kick ass!” No sooner, the Kaiser Valgeogant was flying out of the cargo bay as well.

“Diederick Van Hohenzollern, Valgeogant, Launching!” The next to come was the Danzaman.

“Han Chen, Hero of Earth, Launching!” Apparently, his attempts to impress Kanta had not ended just yet. Behind the Danzaman, Andrew sighed at this attempt, but ultimately said nothing. Choosing to focus on the launching of his own machine, as did Haemon.

“Andrew Howard, Kaisenbuster, Let’s do it!”

“Haemon Florakis, Great Sanvolner, Commencing Maneuvers!” The last two Machina launched as well. Now, all of them soared above the desert sands. Along with them were Sharjura’s Vanguard Armors, known as the Tayir 'Aswad, or Blackbirds. Designed with direct combat, and destruction of other peer opponents in mind, they were large, and heavily armored, the same color as the sands below them. Their armaments, large railgun cannon and particle beams attached to the shoulder, serve that purpose as well. Fighter aircraft joined these Vanguard armors in the sky. as well as tanks rolling across the ground, armed with railguns. While a somewhat larger force than they were used to being supported by, it was nothing compared to the surrounding Third and Second armies, which waited to strike from the shadows, and sink their teeth into the Garsalan Force.

The leaders of these armies, Lt. Colonels Fatin Mourad, and Shihab Kaleel, along with the colonel himself, were in the mobile command centers the UFE had dubbed the “Landships”, due to their obvious resemblance to naval ships. The large husks of metal rolling across the sand were developed from those first used in World War 3 nearly a century ago. With turrets littering their surface serving as defensive weapons, as well as two large ones on the bow serving as offense.

All three leaders got the same report, the Garsalan warship had finally shown it’s face. The red-plated ship was larger than the Jul’mas Battlecarriers that surrounded it. While the rest were around 850 Meters in length, the battleship was 1.2 KM in it’s length. And very clearly, more heavily armed. The appearance of the ship was noted not only by the wider forces, but by the Machina team themselves, and the advance team with them. It did not take long for the comms to light up with different orders.

“Scatter Covalon Particles, Combat Density, Jam the Enemy’s communications!”

“Enemy Vanguard Armors are Being Launched, watch yourselves!”

“We need to hold out for as long as possible!”

In the midst of all this, the team themselves decidedly acted upon their desires, and went directly for destroying the Garsalan. A desire shared by most of the UFE. One of the ship’s occupants, Kyoko, even shared this. Which was of no surprise, especially given how her father died. She herself began making her way back to the bridge, to watch the happenings of the battle. After all, by observing both the unknown allied, and enemy machines in action, she was fighting in her own way.