Aldnoah Zero: Parthian Shot chapter 8.
"Hey Doc when do you think he's gonna wake up?"
"I don't know Atsuko, it could be days, maybe weeks. Remember he was caught in a missile strike".
"I hope he does wake up. I want him to help me with my Kataphrakt".
"Ah, I just want him to wake up so I can call myself a proper doctor. Where's his Kataphrakt?"
"I took it for a stroll and it's pretty sweet, I've hidden it in the forest for when he wakes up".
Duke Statian opened his eyes but could only see through a dark slot. His limbs felt heavy and he was lying down on his back. He itched all over his body and a searing pain was constant and unending.
He groaned and lifted an arm.
"He's awake!" the girl squeaked.
"Woah woah there Mr Martian you need your rest!" the doctor said.
"W-where am I?" Statian said weakly "What...happened?"
"You're in an infirmary. You were caught in a rocket explosion when you were outside of your Kataphrakt" the doctor informed him.
"The Ophir..." he mumbled "Where is it?"
"It's ok. It's safe" the girl said.
"Why do I feel... heavy?" Statian asked and held his right hand up to his face but he could barely see it for the slit was blocking most of his vision.
The doctor sighed "You suffered third degree burns to 91% of your body and your left lung has been ruptured with heavy damage to the right and your heart".
"We saved you" the girl piped up.
"It's regrettable but we did all we could to save your life, we used all the tools on hand including some advanced medical equipment from your Kataphrakt" the doctor continued.
"Ah our patient is awake" another voice said approaching.
"Yes he just woke up" the doctor said.
Statian couldn't see anyone for he was still lying down. He only just realized that he was breathing through a tight fitting mask.
The doctor hit the switch on the hospital bed and Statian rose up slightly. He could now see around the room.
"You..." he murmured.
The girl from before was sitting right in front of him with a massive smile on her face. He painfully moved his head to see a older man in a white medical coat. The new voice was given a face as she moved into view, a bright blonde lady in her thirties smiled at him.
"Why did you save me?" he wheezed.
"I'm a doctor, it's in my job description. The Hippocratic Oath dictates that I try to help anyone no matter the circumstances" the doctor said.
"Why do I feel heavy" Statian repeated.
The girl and the doctor looked at each other and nodded in unison "You've been unconscious for almost nine days" she said.
"Because of your life threatening injuries you have been fitted with an artificial heart, respirator, bionic arm and a multitude of drug administrators. They however have apparatus such as batteries and storage tanks that would be unwieldy. My little friend here convinced us to let her experiment on you" the doctor explained.
Statian breathed in a raggedy and painful breath but remained quiet.
"The armor we found in your Kataphrakt, she tinkered with it and inlaid it with Kevlar and ceramics along with all the apparatus you will need to keep your artificial systems operational".
"I'm bound in my armor?" Statian said in shock.
"Regrettably, you will never be able to leave it. But it keeps you alive where all else would fail" the doctor said with remorse.
"Why have you not handed me over to the military?" Statian asked while finding the news hard to stomach. His voice was raspy as he spoke through the mask that was inside his helmet.
"We spoke with your friend, Inaho Kaizuka" the girl said.
"What?" Statian said in confusion.
"He said that he wants you to protect princess Asseylum. We accessed the information stored on the Ophir. Don't worry only he knows you are here, this is not a military hospital" the doctor assured him.
"The Princess?" he asked.
"We don't know, we have very little information but the Vers Moon Base has been attacked by the United Earth forces".
"Please... leave me be" Statian whispered.
[#]
Statian was sitting up in bed. His body was encased in the shell of armor, wires, Kevlar and implants. It was rough and a sore sight to look at, he was nothing short of a cyborg. His war hammer lay propped up against the corner. Statian switched on the TV and looked over his arms. His point defense gauntlet had been hardwired into his partially prosthetic left arm.
He was built like a metal monstrosity.
The Duke placed his mind elsewhere however, he was no longer concerned over his own wellbeing. He watched the declaration given out by Count Troyard, the Orbital Knights were to descend upon Earth in one final desperate assault.
Asseylum.
Princess Asseylum flashed onto the screen and Statian coughed up his last breath in shock.
A new count stood beside her, Count Cruhteo's son. Klancain. Statian had never seen this man before.
The Princess declared herself the Empress of Vers and ordered the end to all hostilities.
"The war... is over?" Statian whispered though his mask and helm "No, Troyard would never agree".
Statian pulled the covers off to reveal the cyborg knight and got out of the bed. He staggered up in agony and braced himself against the wall.
The little girl ran in to see what was the matter. She grabbed his arm to steady him but he pushed her away.
"I can manage, where is the Ophir" he rasped.
"No stop, you're not ready" she whined.
The fire inside fueled him. The rage burned away the pain and powered his body.
"Impossible..." she mouthed "Doc, he's...he's walking!"
The doctor ran into the room and gasped.
"How..."
"Where is the Ophir?" Statian said again in desperation.
"In the woods, you need to stop and think this through" the girl said and tried to take his arm but he smacked her aside and she fell against the bed. Her nose began to bleed.
Statian grabbed his war hammer and passed through the door then limped down the sterile hospital hall way. He felt his life on edge, supported by this shell of steel.
He staggered and fell to his knees from the strain "Princess..."
Statian clunked in his armor and crawled forward in determination and tried to stand back up. He fell again and dropped his hammer which skidded away.
"NO" he bellowed while facing the ground.
"I CAN NOT FAIL. I CAN NOT DIE!"
Tears ran down his burned face and stung his raw skin beneath the helmet.
"I'm not done yet..." he whispered.
Statian slammed his bionic fist into the turquoise floor and it cracked.
"PRINCESS..."
"MIIKAEL..."
"I SHALL NOT YIELD. I SHALL NOT DIE" he roared in utter fury from the bottom of his soul.
He collapsed and began to cry for the first time in his life.
"I...I'm not done yet..."
[#]
"Atsuko?" the doctor said from behind.
"Y-yes?" Atsuko replied as she wiped her nose.
"He's going to kill himself if he's not careful. We can't stop him from leaving but you can keep him alive" the doctor said as he walked though the door.
The girl was sitting on a bed and tinkered with some metal.
"I'll take him to my workshop to give him some finishing touches, then I'll do what I can to help him" she said with the biggest grin she could muster.
"His life must be torment" the doctor said glumly.
Atsuko acknowledged the comment "He fights for the Princess, does that mean we should send him back to her, she called for the end of the war didn't she?"
"Yes, even though he's a Martian and no doubt he has done terrible things to us it is right to let him complete his task before he dies".
"How long has he got?"
"A few months at best, if he lays off the strain".
Atsuko had a tear in her eye but she wiped it away "I'll do my best".
[#]
Statian sat hunched over on a large toolbox with his left arm out over a workbench. Atsuko was tinkering with it and did up the last of the screws then tightened the bolts with a ratchet.
"I'm Atsuko by the way" she said while fiddling with some wires.
Statian was silent.
"Who was the girl?" Atsuko looked up to ask. She took an oily rag and wiped the metal down.
The Duke didn't move, he just stared at the floor.
"Thank you for the spare parts by the way, I recovered something from the military compound" she continued "I brought an Aldnoah Drive down, I've waited years to get my hands on one. In fact I got three. I had to leave quickly though as the Vers came down in Sky-carriers to occupy it".
Statian slowly looked up "Miikael..."
"So that's who she was" Atsuko smiled and put the tools away.
"Those Aldnoah Drives were mine... they were from her Kataphrakt" he said in grim monotone.
"Well I think they can be payment to us for saving your life" she bubbled.
Statian looked away.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to be insensitive" she said and her smile faded "Who was she to you?"
"My last Duchess..." he whispered through his mask and helmet. It was barely audible.
"You care for the princess don't you?" Atsuko asked after an awkward silence.
"I'm one of her protectors, but I failed... I don't know where she is or if she's safe. I don't know what's happening up there on the moon" he murmured.
"Is there someone we can contact?"
"Sir Chrovian and Sir Gheriatrix. I gave them a contingency plan to flee to Marineros Station if the Moon Base was attacked, but that was before we came here" he said and stood up slowly.
Gheriatrix, he tried to kill me once but in time he would find me calling him ally, even friend.
Atsuko grabbed his arm to steady him and he motioned to slap her away but he stopped.
"I'm sorry about earlier" he said slowly and lowered his arm.
"Don't be, you were in pain" she said in sympathy.
"Have you got a long range transmitter that I can contact them with? The Ophir isn't capable of reaching the satellite belt" Statian asked.
"I do, but I want something from you first" she said.
"What?"
"Help me install an Aldnoah Drive in my Kataphrakt then activate it for me and we have a deal".
Statian considered it for a moment and turned to her, wincing in pain.
"Ok, when do we start?"
"Right now" she said and passed him a wrench. She disappeared out of the workshop then returned with her wagon and a purple shelled Aldnoah Drive sat in it.
She beckoned him over and opened the shutter doors. Light flooded the gloomy building and a Kataphrakt lay on its back in a concrete courtyard.
"This was a school once, but I appropriated it for myself" she declared proudly.
"How... old are you?" he coughed.
"Fifteen" she beamed at him and dragged the wagon outside "Get the tool box".
Statian picked it up effortlessly. The bionic arm was particularly strong. His war hammer was attached to his belt and his cape dragged behind him. He was a biomechanical knight in the colors of steel, crimson and rust.
The Kataphrakt was essentially a KG-7 Areion except it had an extended chest and housed joints for four arms. It had the head and one foot of a Sleipnir and it lacked flight gear completely. In its upper set of arms it carried a standard 90mm cannon and in the second it had a pair of dozer blades as make shift 'brass knuckles'. On its back it had twin rocket tubes that could act as mortars.
"Meet Hecaton the four armed Titan!" Atsuko said and gestured in pride to her creation.
"The ancient Greek Titan Hecatonchires had ten arms" Statian said unimpressed.
"Alright, since when were you an expert on mythology?" she said with a frown.
"It's my specialty" he murmured "You built this by yourself?"
"Yup, it's taken me forever but it was worth it" she beamed "Right, now lets fit the Aldnoah Drive".
[#]
"Sir Gheriatrix, Sir Chrovian" Statian strained his voice over the communications device.
The screen flashed up and the image of Sir Chrovian appeared "Milord Statian!" he gasped.
"Are you at Marineros Station?" Statian coughed.
"Yes, just as you planned, Gheriatrix is here too" he said and beckoned the other Knight over. Sir Gheriatrix stepped into view.
"What happened Statian?" Gheriatrix asked in confusion.
"What matters is that I'm alive and still fighting, I need you to take the Marquis' dreadnought and come and pick me up, I trust you still have it?" Statian struggled to say.
"Yes we still have it, we fled the Moon base when the Deucalion and the UE attacked. It's docked in Marineros Station. The base is far enough away from the moon not to be a target. Your four other knights are also here" Gheriatrix said.
"Very good, follow this transmission and come and get me. Where is Princess... I mean Empress Asseylum?" Statian asked.
"She is with Count Cruhteo and Count Mazuurek, they have also fled the Moon Base. They are the only Knights she can call allies in this strife" Chrovian said.
"You forget us, we will stand with her" Statian declared "Gheriatrix I must insist you leave Count Aggrellan behind".
Gheriatrix shifted on the spot awkwardly then sighed "Very well, I suppose I owe you one for not stamping me to death when you had the chance".
"You have Princess Lemrina to thank for that, but you have proved your loyalty to me and I praise you for that" Statian said as best he could despite his agony.
"We will be there as soon as possible, Count Troyard has not yet ordered us to stand down even though we are loyalists now" Chrovian said.
"Thank you, both of you" Statian wheezed and cut the transmission.
The Duke turned to face Atsuko after the screen went blank.
"Were they your knights?" Atsuko asked out of curiosity.
"One of them is, and the other I have persuaded to join me despite our differences" Statian said then coughed brutally.
Atsuko thought for a moment "I'm coming with you" she said suddenly.
Statian lifted his metal clad head to look her in the eyes.
"You need someone to maintain your body, and I've always wanted to go into space" she smiled.
"You've already done more than you should have for me..." Statian started.
"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for my pursuit of adventure" she said with a light frown while cutting him off.
Statian considered it.
"Alright... I'm not going to argue it, just keep up".
[#]
"Thank you Doctor, for saving my life so that I may complete my task" Statian said and bowed as best he could.
"That's quite alright" the Doctor chuckled "Take care, both of you".
Statian and Atsuko turned to the front doors and left the hospital.
"I'm going to get the Ophir, get Hecaton and I'll meet you at the front of your workshop" Statian said.
Atsuko nodded in delight and scampered away quickly.
Statian half walked half limped to the nearby forest and found the Ophir, it was lying down the way a horse would. He had returned to his beloved metal centaur.
The Duke activated the grav lift and got inside the cockpit, he activated the Ophir and it stood up.
"Milord you have returned" it rumbled.
"I have indeed" Statian said and trotted off towards the workshop.
[#]
The Hecaton was standing outside. It was about 15-16 meters tall because of its extended torso and its four arms lay by its side. The Aldnoah Drive was fully functional.
The Ophir trotted up and they stood side by side. He was still four meters taller than her and weighed over 2000 tons as opposed to her 300. The cube squared law dictated that a horses body was more than six times greater in Kataphrakt terms than one in a humans form, but even then the Ophir was a colossal machine even to other Martian tactical suits. Only the Dioscuria and Hellas of the deceased Orbital Knights stood taller.
"I'm sorry I won't be here to look after Miikael's grave like we agreed, but I asked the hospital staff to watch over it" Atsuko said over the speakers.
"Thank you" Statian simply replied.
Half an hour passed and the dreadnought finally landed. Gheriatrix came to the deck and watched the Ophir and Hecaton board the huge flying ship.
When they were inside and their Kataphrakts were safely stored in the loading bay, Statian and Atsuko made their way to the bridge to meet with Sir Chrovian and Sir Gheriatrix.
The Syrtis and Amenthes stood in the bay along with four other Kataphrakts of varying size, color and shape. The latter was a silver Kataphrakt about 17 meters tall, it was slim and had a pair of magna clamps in the palms of its hands just like the late Marquis Quetzelkarma's Kataphrakt, the Anseris.
In combat it would eject two dodecahedron spheres of a highly resistant magnetic alloy from its back, these were then picked up by the magnetic beams and swung like flails. They were essentially floating orbs designed to pulverize whatever they were swung at.
"Statian what the hell happened to you?" the two knights said in unison, they then looked at each other awkwardly.
"It's... difficult to explain" he wheezed "My body was ruined after I was caught in a missile strike and I am now a walking life support machine thanks to my little friend" he struggled to finish his sentence but gestured to a smiling Atsuko.
"I'm afraid... you won't see my face ever again, no one will" he continued and shook his head.
"That's terrible news Duke" Chrovian said "But... at least you're still alive and fighting".
"Correct, and I am not beaten yet. No matter what has happened to me, no matter how much torture and torment I have gone through I shall not yield until my job is done" Statian found the strength to say.
Gheriatrix powered up the dreadnought and they blasted off into the sky. The two knights were piloting the flying battleship all by themselves despite the need for at least six crew members on the bridge alone. The other four knights of the House of Statian entered the bridge and bowed before the crippled Grand Duke.
"Do you have a plan Milord? Count Troyard has the backing of almost all of the Orbital Knights and Empress Asseylum has but two, plus us" Chrovian said.
"I have an idea, but it will take time. Open communications with Count Cruhteo's ship" Statian ordered.
Onboard Cruhteo's spaceship the image of a crimson plumed great helm appeared before the Count, Empress Asseylum and Count Mazuurek.
"Statian!" Asseylum gasped suddenly.
"Your majesty, I have returned at long last. We are trailing your ship in our dreadnought as we speak, I bring six, no seven knights along with myself" he cleared his throat and looked at Atsuko who was overjoyed at being called a knight.
[#]
Duke Statian, Sir Gheriatrix and Sir Chrovian along with Atsuko stood before Empress Asseylum onboard Count Cruhteo's spaceship. The dreadnought floated nearby the much larger vessel and beyond that was Count Mazuurek's landing castle that dwarfed both of them. They were floating in the next sector away from the Earth system.
"Cousin, what has happened to you?" Asseylum asked and took his metal clad hand.
"Cousin!?" Mazuurek, Cruhteo, Gheriatrix, Chrovian, Eddelrittuo and Atsuko gasped in unison.
"Yes, we're cousins" Statian said and winced as Asseylum held his hand "I have a lot of explaining to do".
[#]
Duke Statian and his knights were back onboard their 'appropriated' dreadnought. They were to escort Cruhteo's vessel and help ensure the Empress' safety.
"Open communications with Castle Troyard" Statian commanded.
Slaine Troyard appeared on the screen and narrowed his eyes in disgust "Traitors" he snarled.
"You... you are the traitor Count, you betrayed both of your kind" Statian said slowly through his mask/helm.
"What happened to you Statian?" Slaine asked impatiently.
"I survived, my body is broken but I survive. I am now a man of metal and might" The Duke declared with inspiring power but ruined it as he almost coughed up his guts.
"Enough chit chat, what is it?" Troyard said aggressively, he was clearly having a bad day.
"Oh, you think you've had a bad day?" Statian managed a raspy chuckle.
"W-what how did..." Slaine started in surprise.
"Anyway" Statian cut him off. He moved closer to the camera so that Slaine could see the fury and malice in his eyes through the great helms eye slot.
"As you have already been told once; by the power of the Empress of Vers and now including her faithful servant I, the Grand Duke of Vers I order you to end all hostilities and submit to her highness' demands".
Slaine frowned and opened his mouth to speak but the Duke continued.
"Failure to comply will force my hand and her highness', I have notified the Grand Duchy back on Mars and they are assembling my late father's fleet. This also includes the largest battleship in existence: the heavy assault carrier Vers Ascendant".
Slaine paled slightly but his façade became impenetrable as he stared the Duke down.
"That ship rivals a landing castle in size and outweighs its weaponry by a factor of ten" Statian added.
Count Troyard narrowed his eyes "We are done here" he said and the communications were cut.
