The crew of the Eden's Zero were getting ready to approach the planet of Delta Ridge. Not only was this a planet where another shard of the Black Moon Star waited, but it was also a planet that needed liberation from Ziggy's forces. The Eden's Zero had its work cut out for it, but the crew was ready to take this challenge head on. They were all gathered in the bridge as the ship steadily approached the planet. "We're approaching the planet Delta Ridge." Hermit reported. "Shiki, it's time to go over the plan."
"It's business as usual." Shiki said. "But we have to be careful."
"Is something about this planet different than other Ziggy controlled ones?" Rebecca asked.
"Yeah, actually." Hermit said. "For some reason…it turns out that one of the two cores on the planet have already been destroyed. I'm not picking up a signal from them."
"Wait…destroyed and not stopped?" Weisz raised a brow. There was a big difference in those words.
"Yeah." Hermit affirmed. "It's difficult to know what's going on since communication on the planet is jammed."
"Right…this is the planet that is at the center of Kaede Cosmos communication." Homura crossed her arms under her chest. "If we can liberate this planet, perhaps that will make things easier for the rest of the cosmos."
"That's the idea." Shiki said with a nod. "At the very least, we only have one target this time. Is there anything else we need to know about before we head in?"
"Hm…" Hermit was typing a bit. "I think I can zero in on where the core is located. It appears to be at the center of the planet, but there's something on top of it. I can't figure out what that is yet. Because the signals are jammed, I can't see into the planet more."
"I suppose we'll just have to work with what we can." Lagauna said. "So, what's the plan?"
"We have to scope out the area first. We're pretty much going in blind, so we have to be careful." Shiki said. "Rebecca, Homura, Weisz, and I will head out first and see what the area has for us. If they try to attack us from the sky, I want Jinn, Kleene, and Laguna to get their starships ready and fight back. We have to prepare for anything."
"Looks like you've really thought this one through." Blair made a comment from the back. She was sitting in the corner, completely uninvolved with the planning since she didn't plan to fight. But Sister made sure she would at least remain on the ship to watch over it as the last line of defensive.
"You're still welcome to help if you want." Rebecca smiled, but Blair just turned her head away. So much for that. "Aheh…"
"Look sharp, everyone. Looks like we're approaching the Delta Ridge airspace." Sister said.
"Here we go…" Kleene was steeling herself. She, Jinn, and Laguna were already in their battle suits in the event they needed to fly asap. "Where's Couchpo?"
"In the kitchen." Happy said.
"What a surprise." Blair muttered.
"We'll just stay parked right here." Hermit said. "We'll observe your progress from…" The Eden's Zero was about to stop moving after reaching a decent place near the planet, but the ship then began to rumble. "Huh!?" An alarm started blaring throughout the ship and everyone was on high alert.
"Hey, what's happening?" Weisz grunted. The Eden's Zero was starting to move without anyone's consent. "Why are we still moving!?"
Hermit quickly began typing in order to figure out what was happening. The root cause made her eyes widen. "No way! Something from Delta Ridge has us caught in a tractor beam!"
"Are you serious!?" Weisz grunted. "Can't we get out of it!?"
"I'm trying!" Hermit said. "Ugh! There's no way to pull the ship away. If we could move faster, or if Witch were here…" Once again, Witch's presence impacted the performance of the Eden's Zero. In most situations they would be fine, but in a situation like this they were struggling a bit. "We're being pulled down to the planet, and at this rate it's going to be a crash landing!"
"That's not good…" Jinn said with a sweat drop.
"I'll make sure we don't crash." Shiki said while placing his hand on the wall. His Ether Gear activated within the walls of the Eden's Zero. He did try to alter the ship's gravity in a way that it could move away from the tractor beam, but it wasn't working. So they were stuck moving in a single direction. To make matters worse…
"Uh oh…" Hermit didn't like the direction things were going. It was just one thing after another. "They're sending some forces at us! Unmanned drones!"
"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Blair asked. Everything was already going downhill and they weren't even on the planet yet!
"We're fine!" Sister narrowed her eyes. "Fire the Scorpion Missiles!" From the top of the ship, numerous missiles were fired off towards the incoming drones. The Scorpion Missiles were highly accurate and destroyed the incoming drones with ease. But those were only just the first wave, and more were coming up from the planet below. The numbers were actually getting ridiculous, and these drones were opening fire on the Eden's Zero. The ship was more than capable of withstanding these attacks, but if they were outnumbered and surrounded, it would be a different story entirely.
"We'll head to the star fighters!" Jinn said, quickly leaving the bridge along with Kleene and Laguna. With the tractor beam solely focused on the Eden's Zero, they would be able to use their star fighters to fight in space.
"Everyone else, head to the battle stations!" Shiki said. He was still trying to ensure the ship didn't crash land into the planet. Rebecca and Weisz hurried off to the battle stations, while Blair and Homura stayed behind.
"Why aren't you going?" Blair asked Homura, who began to sweat slightly.
"I am a poor markswoman." Homura admitted while scratching her cheek. "However, there is one thing I can pilot…"
"It's still needs a little debugging. It's not safe for you to use it yet!" Hermit said.
"But if things take a turn for the worse, I will not sit out of the action." Homura replied and that was a very fair statement. "Blair, can you aim?"
"Huh? Well…kinda? I don't shoot guns, though." Blair shrugged. Before she knew it, Homura was quickly pulling her off. "Hey!? Where do you think you're dragging me!?"
"I ask that you take aim in mine and Shiki's stead..!" Homura said.
"Ugh. Fine. Whatever." Blair relented. It wouldn't do her any good if she died on this ship because of a crash landing. "I'll just…" And before she could say anything else, Homura was holding up a battle suit. "What is that?"
"It is required when you are taking aim in the battle station." Homura replied. They didn't have a lot of time to hash out the details.
"Fine, just give it to me." Blair groaned and changed clothes as fast as she could. "…This thing is annoyingly tight in the chest." She said before sitting in front of the turret controls, Homura standing behind her. "This doesn't look too difficult to work…" She placed both hands on the controls, grimacing because she really had to try and force her Therion arm to not suck down ether from the ship as a result. But she began to fire and her aim wasn't too bad; unlike Homura she could at least hit some drones. "Heh…this isn't hard."
"You're better than me…" Homura said wistfully. If only she was good at aiming…
.
.
The space battle outside of Delta Ridge was growing intense. Jinn, Laguna, and Kleene were the driving force in taking out the incoming space drones. The Eden's Zero's support fire made this job a little easier. There were numerous explosions in space that could probably be seen from the planet below, but they had to get that far first. "This isn't anything troubling so far!" Jinn said to the others. "But stay on your guard!"
"I didn't know they were producing drones down there!" Kleene said, keeping her guard up.
"Don't let up for a second." Laguna replied. "We don't know what else they have in store."
"I think we're about to find out! Now they're sending android manned fighters towards us!" Hermit told the others through the communication line. "But…car….the…" Even worse, she was starting to break up.
"Radio interference?" Kleene asked. When she took a look at the Eden's Zero, the ship was well within Delta Ridge's radio zone. So it was only natural that their communication was starting to get scrambled. They didn't have the time to deal with this, as enemy fighters were coming their way. They had no choice but to fight.
These androids were somewhat skilled pilots, much to everyone's surprises. They had maneuverability techniques that shocked everyone. "These androids are pretty good…" Jinn grunted while making a sharp turn to pursue one of the fighters in his sights.
"How are all of them this skilled?" Laguna questioned. He was able to outpace most of these androids, but it was definitely worrisome that a force like this had skilled android pilots. Their skill level was all exactly the same. If they were better…
"Don't focus on that, just take them out!" Kleene said. Compared to the unmanned drones, these androids took a bit more effort to be shot down. They had no choice in this heated space battle. The Eden's Zero was soon reaching the gravitational field of Delta Ridge, and gravity, on top of the tractor beam, would pull the ship onto the planet. "Maybe we should fly down and take out that tractor beam instead!"
"It's worth a shot, if we can even get past these androids." Jinn reported. "They're coming out of the planet nonstop…are they producing more down there?" Suddenly, numerous alarms were blaring on all ships. This startled everyone since their space battle wasn't even over yet. "What the…?"
"Emergency…! Something extremely large is…coming…this way…!" Hermit was trying to report. It was hard to with the communication line being tampered with. Unfortunately, the line then went dead, communication between all ships being severed due to interference.
"Damn…" Jinn grunted. "She said something was coming? What could…" The answer to his question was made clear. Speeding from Delta Ridge was Knight Gear – however this Knight Gear had a distinct difference than any that they'd seen thus far. It was golden in appearance. "What the…!?"
"Golden Knight Gear!?" Kleene gasped.
"Watch out! Wait, damn it…I can't talk to them…" Laguna grunted.
.
.
"Uh, hey! What the hell is that thing!?" Blair shouted.
"That Knight Gear is a glorious gold…!" Homura gasped.
"Shoot it down!" Sister exclaimed. The Scorpion Missiles were fired towards the Golden Knight Gear, but everyone was surprised when the Knight Gear pulled out a golden sword, cleaving the missiles before they could reach it. "Oh shit."
"We were expecting you, Eden's Zero." A voice came from the Golden Knight Gear. The android pilots also came to a stop. It was impossible to figure out if there was a human or android inside that Knight Gear, for the voice was being altered somehow. "Your ship is only moments away from crash landing into Delta Ridge. From that point on, the Goldstones will take care of you."
"Like we'll let that happen!" Shiki shouted…but unfortunately, the Golden Knight Gear couldn't hear them. "Fire the main cannon!"
"It's no good!" Hermit shook her head. "We can't aim while being dragged down like this! All coms are cut too! We're gonna have to crash!"
"Great…" Weisz grunted.
"What do we do now?" Rebecca asked.
Homura started to rush off. "Allow me to deploy!" She asked Hermit. They were running out of options, and it looked like Jinn, Kleene, and Laguna were struggling against the Golden Knight Gear.
"We don't have a choice…" Sister said.
"Okay, go get ready!" Hermit said. Homura nodded and ran off. "It's really annoying not being able to relay information. We're only 5 minutes until collision! Shiki, are you holding up okay?"
"I won't let us crash as badly as they think we will!" Shiki was confident in this.
.
.
Outside in space, the Golden Knight Gear was giving everyone trouble. The fire from the Eden's Zero was easily dealt with by its sword, and it was a danger to Jinn, Kleene, and Laguna. They were firing off numerous shots, but the damage they dealt was nonexistent. "We're not doing any damage…" Kleene sucked her teeth.
"Is that all you can do?" The Golden Knight Gear questioned while swinging its sword. It narrowly missed the trio of star fighters. Its speed and precision was frightening. "Now." It sounded like it was speaking to someone.
"It must be able to talk to someone…?" Jinn asked. He was airing out questions to himself since nobody could hear him. But in the next instant, a bullet, all the way from Delta Ridge, managed to find a mark on him. They were in the atmosphere in the planet, but it was still a surprising shot. The bullet pierced the hull and hit his arm. "Ghk…!? All the way…down there…?" Whatever this bullet was laced with…it made Jinn weak. He could barely keep his eyes open and his star fighter drifted down to Delta Ridge against his will.
"JINN!" Kleene's eyes widened. She frantically shifted gears to save her brother. That was a mistake, as the Golden Knight Gear targeted Kleene's ship with its sword. She was able to avoid this, but the sword struck her engine. "Oh no…!" The engine was severely damaged and Kleene had no control. She was spiraling towards the planet somewhere. "I'm losing control….!"
"Damn! This is bad!" Lagauna grit his teeth. His only option was to try and retreat back to the Eden's Zero. This Knight Gear was seriously bad news.
"Where do you think you're going?" The Golden Knight Gear asked while trying to strike Laguna's ship. It raised its sword high and brought it down, a shockwave of ether rushing through space. It struck Laguna's fighter, causing him to lose altitude as well.
"Gh…" Laguna didn't like his odds at the moment. He was going to have to pull off some fancy flying if he wanted some hope in surviving this. So he had no choice but to make a crash course with the planet down below. But the Golden Knight Gear planned take him out before that even happened. It swung its sword, but it was stopped by something else entirely.
"What's this?" The Golden Knight Gear asked. Another sword clashed with its own.
"Warrior Maid 95: deployed!" Homura was manning the Knight Gear that resembled Valkyrie. She was a poor markswoman, but this was something she could handle. "That is enough."
"So the Eden's Zero has Knight Gear too?" The Golden Knight Gear sounded like they were smiling. At least the person within the cockpit was. "Do you really think you're a match for me, however? And what about your ship? It's about to crash."
"My friends will be just fine." Homura said confidently. "They tasked me with defeating you, so I will do just that. And then we will find the friends you shot down, and then liberate this planet from Ziggy's control!"
"Hah…" The person within the Golden Knight Armor laughed. "I like your confidence. Very well. Let's see what you're capable of, Warrior Maid."
.
.
Because of the tractor beam, the Eden's Zero had no choice but to crash land in Delta Ridge. Thanks to Shiki, the impact was greatly lessened, so the ship landed somewhere in a forest, crushing numerous trees in the process. Shiki, Rebecca, Happy, Pino, Weisz, Blair, Hermit, Sister, and Couchpo stumbled from the impact. Laguna, Kleene, and Jinn were unaccounted for since they were shot down. "Is everyone okay…?" Shiki asked. It was still a rough laughing despite his efforts.
"Regretting why I came here." Blair said while on the ground.
"We're alive." Rebecca shook her head slowly.
"My sandwich…." Couchpo groaned. She was fine.
"What does the damage look like? That was quite harsh landing…" Pino asked.
"We're okay…mostly." Hermit said. A quick diagnostic of the ship told her everything she needed to know. "Unfortunately, that tractor beam is still pinning us down, so the ship isn't going anywhere for a while."
"Well, isn't that just great." Sister rolled her eyes.
"I think we should step outside and see where we are." Weisz told the others. Since Homura was fighting the Golden Knight Gear in the atmosphere above them, that just meant it would be Shiki, Rebecca, and himself. "We have to find the others."
"And fast." Rebecca said while picking up Happy. "I hate that we can't communicate like normal. Even my phone isn't getting any signal."
"One step at a time." Shiki said. With this, he, Rebecca, and Weisz left the ship. Blair was going to be in charge of keeping the other safe. The exited the Eden's Zero and the moment they did, the door locked behind them. The way it closed was unnatural and the trio sharply turned around because of it. "Huh?"
"They didn't lock us out, did they?" Weisz asked. It made no sense.
"No. I just used an EMP on your ship." The unfamiliar voice caused the trio to spin around once more. An unfamiliar trio stood before them: a dark skinned woman long brown hair and green eyes was the one who spoke. She had a cigarette in her mouth and let out an annoyed huff. "So you're the crew of the Eden's Zero, huh? I can't believe we were called in for this."
"Now, Kamara…" The next one who spoke was a woman with long green hair and green eyes. She had a bit of an angelic appearance, wearing a white dress and heels. "You know smoking is bad for you! We have guests. We should greet them properly."
"Ugh." Kamara rolled her eyes. "Athena…these guys are nothing. Right, Max?"
The one she spoke to was a tall, muscular man with blonde hair and black eyes. "This guy's a Galactica, right?" Max asked while staring directly at Shiki. The tension in the air rose as he grinned madly. "Damn, so you're telling me that star fighter I shot down wasn't him? I was a little hopeful."
"You shot Jinn down!?" Shiki clenched his hand into a fist. "Who do you people think you are anyway!?" He was going to make them pay. Green lines appeared on his fist and he lunged forward, aiming to strike Max with all his might. The Demon King threw his fist forward and a shockwave boomed out as he collided…with a shield that Athena summoned. That shield didn't budge at all. He glared towards Athena, who merely smiled him. Rebecca and Weisz were on standby in the background.
"Who are we?" Athena asked as white lines were on the palm of her hand, smiling towards Shiki as the two of them were in a stalemate. "We're the Goldstones. My siblings and I are going to enjoy taking you down."