The Goldstones proved to be extremely powerful adversaries. The crew of the Eden's Zero were already in a poor situation due to their forced crash landing, and they had to retreat. With the help of an unnamed woman, Shiki, Rebecca, Homura, Weisz, Blair, Hermit, Happy, Pino, Sister, and Couchpo were able to elude and escape the mercenaries. The woman was a brunette with her hair tied back into a pony tail. She was wearing some kind of military grade suit. They had no choice but to trust her for now, since she was the only person who had yet to attack them.
"Okay, since no one else is gonna ask…" Blair began. "Who the hell are you?"
"We were getting to that…!" Rebecca shot a glare at Blair. With her injured leg, she was leaning against Homura for support while Shiki was carrying Weisz. Weisz was in arguably worse shape since he was shot. "Thank you for getting us out of there…but, um…who are you?"
"My name is Stella Star." Stella replied, glancing back at the crew of the Eden's Zero with a smile. "I don't want to go into details just yet, but you can trust me. I have no intentions of hurting you."
"That's reassuring." Blair rolled her eyes. She was pretty doubtful about the whole situation.
"And where exactly are you leading us?" Sister asked, arms folded under her chest. She didn't like the idea of leaving the Eden's Zero behind, but there was nothing they could do. It was better they left the ship. Who knows what the Goldstones would've done otherwise.
"I can't say just yet. They might be listening." Stella replied, her green eyes focused on the jungle path ahead of them. "After a few minutes, we should be clear. The signal begins to weaken close to this point…"
"I don't understand a word coming out of our savior's mouth." Homura looked at the others. They didn't have any ideas either. "…Did you happen to see several star fighters fall from the sky? Please. It's urgent."
"Our friends were in them. We're worried." Shiki said. Jinn, Kleene, and Laguna were all shot down by that mysterious Golden Knight Gear and onto the planet's surface. They knew nothing about Delta Ridge, so it was only natural that they were concerned for them.
"Please give me just a few minutes." Stella said. She could understand their impatience. Everyone fell silent for a few moments and Stella eventually stopped and looked around. She pulled out some kind of device and waited to hear some kind of sound. She heard nothing, so she took a few steps forward and her foot pressed on a switch, causing the ground to open up. A secret pathway appeared. "Follow me."
"…C'mon, guys." Shiki told the others. Their only option was to trust Stella for now, since she knew the planet far better than they did. The secret path closed once everyone stepped inside, and they were in a lit, mechanical path. "What is this place?"
"This leads to our base of operations." Stella explained. Now that they were out of enemy sight, her voice relaxed. "This is a secret path that the enemy doesn't know about. We have a secret underground network to traverse the area and slip away from the androids."
"We?" Hermit finally spoke. She was quiet the whole time.
"Mhm. I'll explain everything once we arrive. It won't be much longer. We can also get your friends medical attention." Stella did feel a little bad about keeping them in the dark, but it would be easier to explain then.
"I am a medic." Sister grunted. But try as she might, she could not fix Weisz and Rebecca's bullet injuries. The anti-ether bullets prevented her powers from working. "And if it turns out you're leading us into some kind of trap, I'll be sure to make you squeal the truth nice and loud." She brought the riding crop.
"Aha…" Stella let out a nervous laugh. She then glanced back at Sister, blinking at the sadistic smile on the android's face. "…Is that a riding crop?"
"I don't go anywhere without it." Sister's smile somehow turned more explicit. She was very serious about her threat.
Stella proceeded to sweat more. "Good to know…" They couldn't reach home base fast enough…
.
.
The base that Stella led the crew to was the interior of a somewhat large building. This building had three levels to it and a ceiling. The base was crawling with numerous people, most of them wearing the same military grade armor as Stella. "Okay, we're here." She told the others.
"What is this place…?" Rebecca asked while looking around.
"One moment please." Stella said, turning and clapping her hands, capturing everyone's attention. "Everyone, listen up! I think I've found us some valuable allies!" Everyone turned to face Stella. "This is the crew of the Eden's Zero! I think they'll be able to help us in our fight against Prometheus and Pandora!"
"Whoa, whoa! Slow the hell down." Sister said. "You still haven't explained anything to us yet!"
"Forgive my sister." A female voice spoke out. A woman who looked like Stella soon appeared. She had brown hair, green eyes, and a beauty mark on her right cheek. Whereas Stella had her hair tied into a pony tail, this woman had her hair down and it reached to the middle of her back. "This is the first glimmer of hope we've had in two years since the androids took the planet over."
"And you are…?" Sister stared at the woman who appeared.
"Oh, right." The woman flashed a slight smile. "My name is Sarisse Hibiki. This is my younger twin sister, Stella Star." Sarisse gestured to Stella, who waved. "I am the leader of the rebellion force of Delta Ridge known as the Resistance. Together, with Stella and our friend, Aiden, we lead the Resistance in hopes of taking back our planet from Ziggy's forces."
"The resistance, huh…?" Shiki repeated. "Look, before we can continue this conversation, can you please help Weisz and Rebecca?"
"Of course." Sarisse replied with a nod. "Medic. Take them to the infirmary." Two medical professionals appeared, gently guiding Rebecca and Weisz to the nearby infirmary so they could get their wounds treated. Happy and Pino went along with them, in case.
"Thank you." Shiki crossed his arms. "We can't agree to help you yet, even if our goals are the same. We have a few questions that we need to be answered."
"Of course." Sarisse nodded firmly. "Come with me. Stella and I will explain everything. Aiden went out on a survey mission, so he should be back soon." Sarisse guided the remaining crew of Eden's to a meeting room. They sat around a circular table. "Now, what do you want to know?"
"Can you start from the beginning?" Homura placed her hands in her lap.
"Mhm." Sarisse replied, crossing one leg over the other. "Delta Ridge is the central communication hub for the Kaede Cosmos. Humans and androids worked together to ensure that things ran smoothly and we all lived together in harmony. At least, that was until two years ago…"
"Two years ago, android forces swarmed our planet and quickly took control." Stella let out a heavy sigh, glancing away. "We had no chance of fighting back at first. We didn't understand what was happening. Two android leaders by the name of Prometheus and Pandora suddenly descended and claimed our planet was under their control. Before we knew it…that was the case."
"What happened to the androids on this planet?" Hermit asked, although she already had an idea. She just wanted to hear it herself. That would also affect their decision to aid the resistance.
Stella looked down. "They offered to help us at first, but then…something strange happened. The androids native to our planet began to turn on us and followed Prometheus and Pandora's orders. Sarisse and I barely escaped the initial assault…it was thanks to my husband that we were able to escape…"
"Your…husband…?" Homura placed her sleeve over her mouth.
"Yes…" Stella closed her eyes, letting out a shaky sigh. Sarisse looked over to her sister, worried. But Stella shook her head, simply feeling the concerned gaze on her. "Richard Star. He was the man responsible for keeping the communications towers in service. He played a large role in the communication of this cosmos…and he was swarmed by androids in an effort to keep my sister, our son, and I, safe…"
This story was a little grim. Shiki let out a sigh. "I'm sorry for your loss…we do want to help you. But before we do…I can only assume you've been fighting back against Prometheus and Pandora this whole time. How have you…been dealing with the androids you fight? The androids that are under Ziggy's control."
"We have little choice but to fight them." Sarisse replied. "We only use force on the androids that are strictly from Ziggy's faction. We try to disable the androids that are from our planet, but sometimes it's just not possible. We want to restore our planet to a place where androids and humans can live together in harmony. But we can't do that on our own…"
.
.
Weisz and Rebecca were brought to the Resistance's infirmary. Their bullet wounds were being treated. "Ngh…" Weisz was in the most pain. But at the very least, the medic taking care of him was cute. She was a woman with black hair tied in a bun, and orange eyes. The nurse's outfit was a plus too. "You know…this isn't so bad."
"Keep your eyes, up…" Rebecca scolded Weisz.
"My name is Medi." The woman replied with a sweet smile. "I'll be treating your injuries. Based on these wounds, I can only assume you encountered the Goldstones?"
"How did you know?" Rebecca asked.
"We've received a lot of wounded. The Goldstones arrived six months after the androids took over." Medi explained. "The Goldstones are scary. They stand in the way of our major operations and kill a lot of our people. We've only recently begun finding ways to survive against them, but the wounds they leave are difficult to treat." Pink lines appeared along Medi's cheeks.
"You have an Ether Gear?" Weisz was shocked.
"Yes, but it's nothing special." Medi scratched her cheek bashfully. "All I can do is zero-in on an injury and figure out the best way to treat it. It's more of an analysis Ether Gear. I do specialize in making medicine, though! Typical healing Ether Gear or anything of the sort is ineffective with the bullets Max uses."
"You really know your stuff, huh?" Happy asked with a smile.
"Mhm! Luckily for you, I already have the medicine required. We have…a few Ether Gear users in the Resistance. They're the driving force for our offensive. When they got hit with those bullets we panicked and lacked the ability to make a move for weeks." Medi smiled sweetly before pulling out two small capsules, handing them to Weisz and Rebecca, along with two cups of water. "Take these. These pills will stabilize your ether flow and get it back on track. After that, I'll treat your injuries, and with some rest, you'll be as good as new!"
"Medi is an invaluable asset to our cause." A medic said in the background. "If it weren't for her, we would have lost so many people already."
"I'm just doing my best as a doctor." Medi scratched the back of her neck. "I want this world to return to the way it was…and we can't do that so long as Prometheus and Pandora are around…as well as the Goldstones."
It was then that a young man walked into the room. He wore a red jacket, had green visor glasses, blue shorts, and red boots. His hair was brown and spiky, while he also had green eyes. "…Have any of you seen my mom around?"
"Oh, Stella's in the meeting room." Medi told him. "She's meeting with the crew of the Eden's Zero. Hopefully they'll agree to help us."
"…I see…" The male nodded and simply walked off.
"…Who was that guy?" Rebecca asked.
.
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Blair placed her feet on the table, crossing one leg over the other. She was being a little disrespectful, and this was fixed by Couchpo politely nudging her feet off. Blair let out a slightly annoyed sigh before leaning back in her seat. "Ugh…"
"We apologize for her. She's new." Hermit shot Blair a look, but Blair just shrugged. "So if we understand the situation correctly…your planet was targeted first because of its communication properties. Because of this, you haven't been able to call for any help at all and have been fighting this battle on your own for the past two years."
"That's correct. And prior to today, we weren't even able to communicate with each other due to the control of the airwaves the androids have." Stella replied. "In fact, we just finished an operation when you guys crashed on the planet. I was tasked with checking out the situation, and what do I see when I get there? An off planet crew facing off against the Goldstones…teaming with the Blue Bomber of all people?"
"That's another question I had!" Blair suddenly spoke up. "Who the hell is that guy in the suit?! I'll kick his ass."
"He did come at the right time." Shiki told Blair. "He showed up out of nowhere and fought off the Goldstones long enough for me to recover and push them back. Seeing as how there's a whole resistance dedicated to fighting back, I assumed he was with you guys?"
Sarisse shook her head. "We know of the Blue Bomber, but, um…it's hard to discern if he's on our side or not. We don't actually know who he is. He just showed up about a year ago. He doesn't appear to be our enemy, since he fights against the androids and the Goldstones…but it's hard to trust him."
"So a masked vigilante, allied with no one, fights against the oppression of the planet…" Homura said aloud. She didn't mean to.
"That's not exactly it…" Hermit said with a sweat drop. "There's something weird about him, but I don't know what it is. Can we trust him to not get in our way?"
"Who knows." Stella let out a sigh. "He doesn't get in our way, but he doesn't stick around to talk either. I can't even tell if he's human or not, or where he came from. I don't even know if he wants the planet to be liberated or not. We don't know anything about him."
"Maybe we can catch him." Blair suggested.
"We tried that. We thought we could snag him with an ether net, but he just phased right out of it." Sarisse replied. "So we know that conventional means of capturing him don't work. It wouldn't be so difficult if he just talked to us, but he refuses."
Shiki pondered this information for a little bit before coming to a consensus. "I think he can be trusted."
"Huh?" Sister looked at Shiki.
"He might be against working with you all, but he's been helping, right? I think his interest lie in saving the planet, but I guess in his own way?" Shiki suggested. "Regardless, I know I'd like to thank him the next time I see him. But moving topics, we did come here for two reasons…one of the reasons being that it's our job to liberate planets under Ziggy's control and restore peace to the cosmos, one planet at a time."
"That's quite a job you've undertaken…" Sarisse said with a small giggle. "But if you're willing to help us, we will help you as well. If we put our forces together, we should be able to muster the force to see our operations carried out. So, as leader of the Delta Ridge Resistance, I humbly ask you…will you help us?" She walked over to Shiki and extended her hand. "Oh…you have to forgive my manners. I completely forgot to ask all of your names…"
"I'm Shiki Granbell. I'm the captain of the Eden's Zero." Shiki replied with a smile. "And we'd be happy to help you." He then shook Sarisse's hand, establishing the partnership between the Eden's Zero and the Delta Ridge Resistance.
"That's a huge relief." Sarisse said with a gentle smile. "We've been fighting for so long…it didn't seem like there would be an end in sight. But with all of you, we just might be able to mount our counterattack!"
"Cool." Blair then shrugged and stood up. "You guys do whatever you want. I already said I didn't have any plans to get involved with this Ziggy business. So I'm gonna bounce."
"And where the hell do you think you'll be going? We can't go back to the ship yet." Sister pointed out. "The Goldstones are probably still lurking there. Furthermore, I seem to remember you not wanting to deal with them."
Blair sucked her teeth. "I'll deal with them if I have to. But I'm just hungry, so I'm going to feed on some wildlife. Don't wait up for me." And with that, she left.
"…She's, uh…" Stella was looking for the right words.
"She's a work in progress…" Couchpo said with a weary smile. That's when her stomach growled. "Oh, I haven't eaten in a bit. We have a lot of questions too…can we break or something?"
"I think that's a good idea." Stella stood up from her seat. "I want to bring our core members of the Resistance here, and I'm sure you want to explain the situation to your wounded friends. Once we're all gathered together, we can discuss our next plan of action. We already have an idea of what we want to do, and with your help, it should be much easier." When Stella turned around, she spotted the boy from the infirmary. "Oh, Geno…did you need me?"
"…Just checking on you." The boy named Geno replied.
"…Who's that?" Couchpo asked.
Stella motioned for Geno to come into the room. With a sigh, the young man reluctantly stepped into the room. "…I'm Geno Star."
"This is my son." Stella said with a gentle smile.
"Nice to meet you, Geno!" Shiki held a friendly smile and approached Geno with his hand extended. "…Do you want to be my friend?"
"He's still doing that…" Sister shook her head. But it was precisely moments like this why she liked Shiki. Even as times changed and they had to go stronger, he didn't change too much on the inside.
Geno blinked, staring at Shiki…then Hermit, Sister, Couchpo, and Homura. "Humans and androids? …I wonder how long that'll last. Sorry, but no thanks." Geno turned around and walked off, leaving Shiki hanging.
"…Uh…" Shiki glanced towards Stella.
"What was that about?" Sister said. "I expected Stella's kid to be a bit more behaved."
"…" Hermit stared at Geno as he walked off. Something about him…
"I'm so sorry for him…" Stella placed her hands on her chest, staring down at the ground. "He's a nice boy, I swear. But ever since Richard swarmed by the androids and reported d-dead…he's been distant. I understand why…they were extremely close…" She pulled out her phone, staring at her lockscreen. It was her, Geno, and a man with short brown hair smiling. That man was Richard and his eyes were closed. The three of them were embraced in a family hug.
"Stella…" Sarisse frowned.
"It's alright." Stella wiped the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. "I'll go get him and make him apologize. Sarisse, can I ask you to gather…."
"I'm the leader, it's my job. Don't worry." Sarisse replied. That's when her phone buzzed – prove of a successful operation to restore some of the airwaves. "Oh, Aiden…" The third, unseen commander of the resistance. Sarisse decided to place this video call up for everyone to see. Aiden was a man with black hair and red eyes, dressed in some sort of lab coat. His right arm was covered in a bandage from what could assumed to be a fresh wound. "Are you okay?!"
"Just fine." Aiden's voice was deep. "I had an encounter with some of the Ziggy androids, but I was able to shake them off. Actually, I had a little help. I explained our situation to some people who landed on our planet, shortly after another ship crash landed."
"Some people…?" Shiki suddenly had a bad feeling about this…
Aiden turned the camera to the person that saved his life. To Shiki's surprise… "Allow me to introduce you to the captain of the crew that has offered to aid us in our time of need." That's when he appeared on the screen. Shiki remembered the picture that Weisz showed him after that incident on Iceburg. And here was Aiden, introducing that very same man to them once again…
"Casey Aster. Leader of the Eclipse Ark."