Stage 12 - Iso Foundation, Second Strike

Gaojinizer - Stage 12

Iso Foundation - Second Strike

The Tassel machine that had destroyed the Iso foundation’s previous experiment had painted a target on its back when it did so. They already had enough issues getting their research done, if the creatures they created failed to even bring results, then it would only get worse from there. This issue had to be corrected, and it had to be corrected soon.

“This Gaojinzer had best count its days…” The new creature that they would release would not go down so easily… For the time being, he would bide his time, putting the beginnings of the rapidly growing creature in the ground, and letting it continue this process until it was ready. For now, he’d observe the battle in front of him. The primitive’s anti-ship weapons seemed to do nothing against the Garsalan fleet’s larger vessels, the same could not be said for the smaller ones. Though the battle between the Vanguard Armors and Orbital decimators were nowhere near as close on an individual basis, a Garsalan pilot that let himself get separated from his allies, could certainly find himself in a troublesome situation. Regardless of this, the machines that could do the most damage to the enemy, the Machina, found themselves removed from the ongoing battle, on standby far from the front lines. The idea of rushing in and showing this Bangura, and the rest of their detractors just what they were capable of was certainly more appealing, but they stayed their hand, for the time being. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t speak of their annoyance.

“What was the point of us being here if they were just gonna keep us back?” Takeshi questioned, annoyance evident in his tone.

“There’s also the question of how far up do these orders go… Could it have been an independent choice by the Colonel himself? While Shajura is ultimately in the UFE, they’ve been known to make their own strategic decisions separate from the rest.” Haemon analyzed. That would certainly hope to explain their current situation. Though they hadn’t been around him much, it was clear to them what his view on the Machina team was. The subject of their conversation sat within his landship, surrounded by the forces of the third army. His eyes moving across a map of the battlefield. The losses they were experiencing weren’t exactly low, but that much was a given.

“At the moment, the battle seems to be going well… We should be able to whittle down their forces and make them retreat, though it won’t be a short process by any means.” Though most seemed content to listen to the man’s musings, one of the bridge's officers wasn’t. There were 5 assets of theirs shown to be exceptionally powerful, and they weren’t being used, just what was the colonel thinking? Though he would likely be considered out of line, at this point, he didn’t care.

“If that’s our goal, then why are the Machina doing nothing in the back?! The longer we prolong this battle, the more troops we lose! If anything, they should be joining in our attack of the enemy!”

This only resulted in the Colonel’s gaze shooting over to him. Which promptly made the man go silent.

“We will proceed with the original plan… Do not speak out of turn again.” Though his reasons were not stated outright, they were simple enough. Regardless of how the Machina worked, he had his reservations about using them in battle, given the age of those they were piloted by, and the emphasis the UFE’s supreme council placed upon using prototypes, regardless of if Professor Okita was the one to create them. Or, at the least, the first machine to which they were derived from. While he understood that they were scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point in terms of who was brought into the military, and that it was a necessity, that didn’t mean he had to agree with it.

There wasn’t much he could do in that regard, even if he was an officer, so he would take actions like this. However, much to the surprise of all of those there, were tremors that shook the desert dunes around them. The troops on the ground, Human and Garsalan alike, stopped firing, as they looked around in confusion. The very same could be said for the Machina pilots within their machines, as well as Kanta, Rakesh, and Kyoko. Who themselves were gathered on the ship’s bridge.

“Where are these tremors coming from? Did the Garsalan set off a bomb?” Kyoko questioned with a raised eyebrow

“I wouldn’t have the answer to that. That kind of subject is outside my area of expertise. What about you, Sis?” Rakesh glanced at Kanta, who simply shook her head.

“We went through training together, you know…”

The moment of quietude on the battlefield was interrupted by the source of the tremors finally coming forth. A gigantic beast, something resembling a worm, burst out of the desert sands. Sharing the same color as the environment around it. To say it was large would be an understatement, as one could see it outsize the ships in the sky… The beast began to wreak havoc upon the second and third armie’s by simply writhing in the sand, letting out a booming, high pitched call.

“A Kaiju?!” Takeshi questioned. In The Colonel’s ship, he watched this with widened eyes.

“I haven’t seen one of those beasts in decades… And even then, they were nowhere near this large… Just what are we dealing with here?!”

As the damages to both armies continued to build, it was at this point that the pilots had enough. They wouldn’t allow the creature to rampage and kill any longer, especially as they noted that the Dainslief’s did only minor damage to the beast, before being destroyed on the spot. If there was any chance at defeating this creature, it was them. The Gaojinizer and Valgeogant both rushed in, the pilots of either machine eager to reach the enemy, and damage it first. But it seemed that the Worm had the same idea, lifting its body, and revealing a gaping maw, as it shot into the sky, like a striking cobra. Something which forced the Garsalan ship’s to take quick evasive maneuvers, lest they be demolished by the rapidly approaching force. While the leader of the task force would rather not retreat, the beast seemed to not discern on who it was attacking, and as such, they began to pull away.

While some part of them wanted to pursue, the giant worm held most of their focus, and for good reason. Takeshi began firing the comet pulse cannon, but at it’s current output, it did very little to deter the beast, the same could be said for the flourish of the machines’ scythe that came next, and an attempt at slicing it from the Valgeogant’s blade. The attempts at an attack only resulted in both machines being thrown back as the beast whipped its head in an arc. Undoubtedly, they would have been thrown around, had the inertial dampener not been active.

No sooner did the worm charge the Machina it’d recently thrown away, but Haemon was quick in coming to their defense. His kinetic defenders went up, and he stopped in the creature’s path, though Haemon ultimately found himself struggling against the creature’s charge, it was eventually sending its head into a spin, and forcing it too slam back into the ground, sending a cascade of sand outward, which poured onto the remaining ground troops. Before long, however, it was up once more, and making another strike. The Valgeogant was hit first, sending it crashing into the Gaojinizer. Causing Takeshi to yell out a curse as the two were sent spinning in the other direction. While they eventually managed to stop themselves, the two both took note of the fact that their machie’s had been damaged… It seemed that the Kaiju’s speed was more dangerous than they initially thought. The two began to make their way back into the battle, and the worm itself attempted to charge them once more. However, it did not have as much luck this time around, with the Machina pilots now being well aware of the speed it could move at. The Danzaman was clearly its target, and the machine began to fly away, which resulted in the creature following.

But it did not get much farther, as it slammed into the Sanvolner's shields once more, and the Kaizenbuster struck it from the left, knocking it back into the sand. And for the moment, there seemed to be a lapse in movement.

“Alright, Let’s get it now!” Takeshi shouted, flying forth

“Aim for its mouth, Nothing else seems to work!” Andrew shouted. The machina closed in on the creature almost immediately, With the Diederick using the Valgeonant in a different way, throwing its blade into the red tunnel that was its inner body, before quickly retreating. No sooner, Takeshi and Han fired off beams into the creature’s mouth, but even then, their battle was not done Only ended as Andrew activated the Kaizenbuster’s impact boosters, and ran through the creature, damaging it from the inside out. He was soon joined by both Takeshi, and Diederick. Whether the internal structure was shot, stabbed, cut, or rammed, the damage to the creature was becoming clear. Including the Garsalan known as Su’Zesh Iso… He’d come with a beast of increased power, and yet, this was the result. Time spent coming into warzones, collecting THEIR DNA, going through expensive research? If they lost again, then there was no future for the Iso Foundation

Something that he was left to lament, as the Creature was left as bloody ribbons, spread out across the desert sands. A fist was slammed into the dashboard, especially knowing what would happen to any luxuries they may have had. Failure in battle was never good, not for any Garsalan. But for him and his organization, who’d grown to be scorned, the result would be much worse. Regardless of this, however, it seemed as if the Garsalan fleet would make its escape if they did not act quickly. Hey couldn’t bask in their victory, not for long, before they’d rushed to continue their attack on the other Garsalan. This much was observed by the other members of the UFE, who, if not convinced they were useful, had been pushed a bit further to that. Their targets apparently picked up on their attempted pursuit, on Fiiras’ flagship, one of his officers shouted out.

"Thura Faiya Tassel neshailar esa llurruwailr ir!" - "Those Five Terran machines are following us!" Almost as soon as this fact became clear, the Garsalan attempted a counterattack. But this was only met by the Machina charging into the crowds upon crowds of enemy machines, and tearing them apart. The situation was made even worse as Andrew activated his impact boosters, destroying any Orbital decimators that go tinto his way, as he barreled toward one of the enemy cruisers… The former ship was soon reduced to an exploding mass of twisted metal, and the same could be said for the vessel that lay just above it… By that point, the rest of the fleet had begun to create more distance between themselves, and the enemy. Within the Gaojinizer’s cockpit, a smirk crawled onto Takeshi’s face. The same could be said for the other pilots. With no more words, they began their return to the Juzumaru

…

The mood after the battle’s end was Jubilant. With the kitchen equipment having finally been fixed, in no small part due to a certain Mechanic’s pride being put into question, the pilots had finally been able to consume real food again. To very little surprise, Han put himself near Kanta, and to many of their surprise, Takeshi and Kyoko sat close to each other, even if they threw the one sitting opposite to them, less than friendly looks. But it seemed that the mood within had prevented them from entering yet another verbal exchange… For the time being, at least.

“Like I said, Kanta, The great hero Han, will stop the villainous Garsalan! We’re one step closer, and we’ll only get further along from here!” Han commented, striking a pose, once again leaving his fellow pilots questioning just what he was doing. However, the other question was what the woman’s brother would do, as it was fairly obvious just what he was trying to do. Though, for the time being, he seemed to say nothing. It seemed that calm had returned for the pilots of the Juzumaru, at the least, until their next mission was passed down. The same could be said for the various soldiers stationed in Shajura… For Bangura, however, there was a bit of discontent in his mind. The fact remained that the Machina ended up doing a lot of the heavy lifting, something he didn’t exactly like. As he sat in his personal study, he thought about just what could be done. All things considered, He didn’t have all that much influence in the higher echelons of the UFE. But regardless, there had to be something he could do to remove them…

To Be Continued.