Gaojinizer- Stage 21

A Cold Reception

As the occupants of the Juzumaru took off from the base, bringing with them their new CO. Currently, the Pilots of the Juzumaru, their resident engineer, as well as Pierre stood within the newly installed situation room. The room was dim, blue lites dotting it providing the only light, as well as the holographic table, The fair-skinned visage of a local commander appeared on screen.

“The Juzumaru has arrived, then.. I see the rumors of Moreau The Swift having been assigned are true as well…”

“That they are. What’s the situation?” The commander nodded, and soon enough, a display of the battlefield came into existence as the data was fed between the ship and fortess below. The position of independent enemies and allies alike were noted

“A garsalan attack has begun. We don’t know what they intend to do with Atlanta, but those new units they’re beginning to use are causing all sorts of issues.” As the situation was explained, Pierre began to stand from his seat.

“Right, then… We’ll launch immediately.” Though there was something in the heads of two in particular that said to comment upon this, they decided against it, especially given the situation that was undoubtedly going on outside. As they rushed to put on their pilot suits, Kyoko had already made her way to the bridge, as per usual, and the catapults which facilitated their launch slid out of the ship, as the metal doors parted. Preceding the launch of the machina, and the Chevalier Custom. Within the machina’s cockpits, Pierre’s visage came into sight as he opened a line.

“Alright… Han, you’ll stay behind and serve as far range support, as usual. How many enemies do we have?”

Han paused for a moment, as his eyes moved across his display, and the Danzaman’s eyes moved in turn…

“I’m spotting 120 Humanoid Vanguard armors in total, 10 of those non-humanoid fighters, and 5 warships… 4 Cruisers, and one battleship. There seem to be smaller transport ships as well.” He explained. For a moment, the elder pilot paused, placing his hand upon his chin as he thought, running through the possible outcomes in his head. The warships themselves were in a line behind their units assigned to attack. Which themselves seemed to be taking a wedge shape… At the least, their forces were not completely unprepared this time around, even if one considered the origin of most of earth’s warships, even prior to the war, and the subsequent scraping of the barrel. But their intent was clear, they were attempting to shatter their lines and mop up what was left, but he had no doubt in his mind they already recognized this… But even so, they couldn’t do anything about it, not at this moment..

“Hohenzollern, Inoue, I’ll send you two after those ships. That alone should draw some of their troops back to keep their flagship and leadership safe. When that takes place, Han, begin to pick them off from afar, and cut down their numbers. Howard, use the Kaizenbuster and advance into their lines as this takes place. When those swarming the hive have been cut down to a sufficient level, Han will support you in relieving pressure for our allies. Florakis, you will watch his back.” The first two mentioned worked at this. To think they’d be stuck working exclusively with Him… No matter, they’d have to deal with it. Beating back their annoyance, the two rushed toward their enemy, though, at first keeping pace with one another, the two machines responded to the head movement their respective pilots did, glancing at the other. In a short time, the two had sped up, to a much quicker extent.

“...As if you’ll get to one of those ships before I do…” As the two thought this in sync, following behind them, was Pierre. Though there was peace for the time being, even he understood how their clashing personalities could possibly lead to issues, if they were not reigned in.. The others, if they listened to his lessons, and followed the strategy as he’d told them, they could eventually develop their own strategic thinking… Brute force would not work forever. Though, he supposed their encounter with the general could have taught them that. Elsewhere, the situation on the battlefield became clear to Han as his sensors began to take in the sounds, and sights. Yelled orders and the clanging of metal, the sound of fired lances of particles rippling through armor, the rushing winds which resulted from the lightning-fast light of enemy and allied machines alike. His attention went toward a force which semed to be forming the head of this formation breaking spear, and his target was set then and there.

“Fly, Stingers!” With that command uttered, they began to weave through the sky, flying toward their opponents in short order. His mind began to take control of them, as he focused upon the same drone-carrying machine, which was larger than its humanoid counterparts, that they’d encountered over the sahara. And he took action almost immediately, the beams fired from the barrels pierced the machine from multiple directions, as it combusted within momnets.l By the time its allies noticed what was happening, the stingers began moving once more, slicing through their armor like butter. There was no respite to come anytime soon, as the Kaizenbuster destroyed one of the machines with a impact-booster enhanced kick, which broke through it almost instantly.

“I hope you didn’t think you’d be getting easy pickings!” With Andrew's shout came five more destroyed machines, as the Kaizenbuster charged through all of them in an instant. And, as such, the tag team had begun, the fearsome machine continued to destroy their OD’s as time went on. Yet, calls of confusion drowned out any comprehensive commands, as a sound which they all recognized, the sound of anti-air cannons from the surface of their warships, were noted, and the two others were recognized as well, the other “Machina” as the terrans called them. There was little time to waste, The fact that this action was expected, however, was not something they realized, not at this very moment, that only happened as the two machina changed their targets, from those fighting against the rest of the terrans, to those attempting to support the flagship and the rest. Before long, many of them exploded into balls of flames as the bursts of energy hit them, or the form of the Kaizenbuster slammed into them. Before long, they’d recognized what was happening here, but at that point, it was already too late. The weapons from the primitive terran warships had begun to fire, and their equivalent to their orbital decimators had begun to strike, specifically, those armed with heavy enough weaponry.

This much was made especially bad by the machina which wielded those detestable drones continuing to tear into their forces, creating more opportunity for them to attack. The fleet apparently did not have a much better time, as Takeshi and Diederick alike seemed to put extra effort in, the swift Valegoagant continuing to run the two blades in its manipulators through the armor of the ship, Executing a spin as it came toward the bridge, and cutting the superstructure within moments. The Gaojinizer did so as well, tore through with similar ferocity, the beams of the comet pulse cannon shaking the ship’s frame, and throwing around its occupants, exploding upon impact each time. An unlucky HAU which attempted to get in its way, was kicked into the ship’s bridge, and sliced down the middle alongside it, as Takeashi heaved the Gaojinizer scythe above its head, and brought it down. Before long, both were behind the now exploding ships. Pierre watched this with a hand on his chin.

“They didn’t actively fight each other, but there was no teamwork either… It would seem there is still a gulf between them, one that I'll need to address before it becomes an issue.” He thought, either way, it seemed like the Garsalan had decided it was better to cut their losses, their forces had quickly rescinded their attack order, and the ships left were flying off to parts unknown. The battle was over

…

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Hours passed, and after a small stint of rest, the 5 Machina, and Chevalier custom landed onto the tarmac of the base. Which, for the most part, consisted of downright gigantic hangar bays, no doubt meant for the holding of ships. At the least, order had been kept, even with the unexpected attack… Well, relatively, unexpectedly, one never knew when the Garslaan were going to strike, one could only try to predict. It took some time for the pilots to exit their machines, the wires deployed from their cockpits slowly lowering them down. Pierre removed the helmet to his pilot’s suit as they touched solid ground again, revealing his face to all.

“Now then… Let’s find the base commander and discuss what led up to this attack. It could give us some insight on whether we need to watch for more.” That much wasn’t something they’d thought to do before, something Pierre knew from reading their records, and what took place after they left. It seemed like the UFE,for a while, intended on just dragging them place to place, and making them prove their utility more than anything else. They may have indeed been more effective in staying in these places in helping in cleaning out remnants. It seemed as if they wouldn’t have to find the commander, as, before long, entering brought them into a harshly lit hallway, where they took note of a man in the standard white officer’s dress. His skin pale, and his from stout, the man had a short head of black hair, and eyes of green. A smile on his visage.

“So you are the all-famous machina team that I've heard of. I’m Heath Nicols, commander of this base. You’ve all done good work. Moreau the swift is one of our best, you should listen to him well… The Valgeogant executed its blade swipes especially well, The Sanvolner certainly did its job in keeping any harm from befalling the Danzaman, who controlled the battlefield well. Not to mention the Kaizenbuster’s charge.” The fact that one of them had not been mentioned at all did not go unnoticed, noir did the change in the man's demeanor once he eyed the original machina, and its pilot. A clenched fist, and a frown. Eventually, Takeshi stepped forward, an eyebrow raised. Never one to shy from asking any such questions.

“Why, exactly, are you staring at the Gao like that?” For some time silence had fallen upon them, outside of the sounds one would expect from the base… Before a glare fell upon Takeshi, aimed directly at him.

“That traitorous machine should have been dismantled years ago! The fact that you pilot it is reason enough for me to suspect your true leanings! You all who work only to increase your own power!” This left even Takeshi Inoue in a stunned silence, true leanings? Increase his own power? Before the situation could escalate much further, Pierre stepped in front of Takeshi, looking down upon the man.

“I suggest you watch your tone, Nicohls… That affair was long before he could have possibly been involved, and you know it…” The threatening edge in the man’s tone seemed to be enough to make the commander walk off, though his expression had not changed from what it had been before.

“Moreau… What was that all about?” Takeshi questioned. Though some part of him said to correct the pilot on how he’d addressed him, that didn’t seem anywhere near as important, especially now.

“How could the machine itself be traitorous? Just what happened that we didn’t know of?” Haemon queried. As similar questions came from the other machina pilots, he felt that they were given an answer.

“In order to give you the full story, we’ll start from the beginning. Around the time where professor Okita, the Discoverer of Aether, and the father of the machina disappeared…”

2075 - 15 years ago

The war against the Garsalan could hardly be called such, after the initial invasion, when the swarm of ebon ships descended upon the solar systems, destroying the space colonies, burning through the ice caps, and purposely causing the great flood, which itself destroyed many of their population, and industrial centers. The pan pacific federation shattered into pieces some time ago, and Russia had broken off from the USE, after internal friction had continued to build. Yet, even in this adversity, there seemed to be a single light of hope, a brilliant scientist who’s knowledge stretched into what was seemingly impossible, a force of energy drawn from the pilot's mind, one which could perform physics defying feats. How would this source be used? In the form of the form of weaponry that had become dominant in humanity’s war doctrines, even before first contact, the vanguard armor.

The harshly lit lab had a number of research apparatus, computers to monitor performance, with projected holographic displays, researchers scrambling between them, and a number of tools to help in taking measurements, and anything else required. But the most notable change in the room had come with the accompaniment of a newly constructed machine, the black armor had only just recently been grafted on, and the core of it, the aether reactor, added in only a few weeks before, but regardless, it was finished. The machine’s creator was a somewhat strange sight. One of his eyes had clearly been replaced by some sort of Bionics. How that eye was lost was anyone’s guess. His face was filled with wrinkles, a sign of his aging status. Bushy brows, snow white, just like his wild mane of hair. He stood atop one of the catwalks, his cane keeping him standing.

“So, here we are… After years of trial and prototypes, the Gaojinizer is complete.” He, himself, was flanked by two of his fellow researchers.

“Professor. Do you think this will be what allows us to turn the tables?” The woman to his left questioned.

“We can only hope it does, especially with the time, effort, and funding put into it.” The man to his right responded. Yet, the old man did not respond, it was not so uncommon for him to be silent, perhaps that much was just within his nature. But the glint of hope which remained in his eyes, perhaps, that much was enough to see what his stance was

Nearby to the chamber where the research, and construction of this machine was being conducted, a man held a holographic phone in his palm, observant orbs moving across the space to probe it for any prying eyes, or ears…

“The machina is complete… We may move to the next stage of the plan.” The ones on the other end sat within a traditional room, tatami mats, and sliding paper doors. 15 people in total sat around a table.

“Is that so…. Then we need to take action to seize it immediately, before the Liaisons from the rest of the UFE’s member states arrive. If we cover it up well enough, this will look like aGarsalan Attack, or a random accident.” One of the women sitting stated.

“Indeed… Blanket that area in Covalons so their communications are down, we can’t let them spread the news of this success just yet… In the meanwhile, hide yourself, Kurihara. We’ll be clearing out the complex… As for the rest of you, once we capture the Gaojinizer, removing the old emperor and establishing a new imperial dynasty will be a simple task.” A man stated. Eventually, a man of black hair, and eyes heterochromatic. One a normal black, and the other, crimson, began to stand up, and the rest followed as he did.

“Then all that remains will be getting the other UFE member states to submit. Once we have achieved that, the world will be united under the imperial banner. The garsalan will have a lot more to worry about then… Teikoku chikyū rengōkaigi(Imperial Earth Union Congress) - Move out!”

…

As Pierre trailed off, the pilots stood there in stunned silence, Imperial Earth Union Congress? An attempted Coup? The question in all of their minds was asked by Takeshi, who stepped forward.

“You mean to tell me that’s why that Heath guy said all that?! And if all this stuff happened, why didn’t any of us know about it. It should’ve at least been in the history books!”

“The reason is simple… The congress tried to keep things under wraps so as to not cause a panic during their takeover. And the UFE’s high command decided to do the same when the affair was over, both to keep any mistrust from forming between the states, and to avoid the embarrassment of the Gaojinzier disappearing after being used against them. Some say that Okita was the one who ended up getting it away from the congress and hiding it, before his disappearance, but that much is unknown…”

Seeing that with what he’d said, they were still in a stunned silence, he only began to walk away. The response was not something he didn’t expect. After all, the July 12th incident, as the few who had knowledge called it. Later that night, the unrest, the confusion, had not disappeared even as they returned to the common room…

“So that's the case… Who was involved in that coup? Could those two be involved, Watanabe, Ryou?” All things considered, he didn’t have much of a reason to suspect them, but, who knew, at this point…

“At any time, somebody could take an act like that again, but who would it be?” Andrew questioned, a hand on his chin.

“Who knows… I’ve heard whispers of such a thing being planned back home. Looks like even when the threat of extinction is right there, some people will always find a way to try to grab power…” Han answers. What laid in the future for humanity, if the Garasalan were ejected. They pondered this, and the conversation the ship’s resident engineer, Koyo, was hearing was just a bit too paranoid for her ears…

“Enough of that… While I can't speak for what was going on back then, I know that humanity has been brought closer since then. If anyone tried to do something like that again, it’d be a few…” That seemed enough to silence them, for the time being, before diederick cut in.

“Indeed. They would have to stay their hand, or feel the weight of the rest of the forces coming down upon them. I believe you’re overthinking this…” Wll, that was a departure from his usual arrogance, at least… Given there was no words of disagreement, that looked to have been enough, for the time being.