The battle at the warehouse was reaching its climax. Sarisse and Stella managed to rescue Jinn and were about to destroy the generator that would lead to the completion of their first operation, and lead right into the second one. However, none of that would matter if they couldn't break through Athena Goldstone and the android Yeti Blizzard. The Blue Bomber arrived on the s scene to help Asuka, much to the girl's chagrin. As far as she was concerned, he was just some uncooperative glory hog. "I don't need your help!" Asuka exclaimed, using her Raijin Tempo to zip around Yeti Blizzard.
"Too bad." The Blue Bomber replied. He was flying around and their combined efforts were confusing the snow ape, who struggled in keeping up with them. The Blue Bomber pointed left arm forward, turning it into a cannon. "Air Shot!" From his arm, pressurized blasts of air struck Yeti Blizzard from various angles. The force of the air did cause the large ape to stumble here and there. He was about to fire again, but Asuka got in his line of sight, forcing him to not fire in that moment.
"I got you!" Asuka yelled, diving down. She was aiming for the back of Yeti Blizzard's neck as Pino instructed, but Yeti Blizzard whipped his arm and struck her, and because of the Blue Bomber's hesitation, she slammed right into him and they fell into the ground. "Agh, damn it! Stop getting in my way!"
"You got in my way, Asuka!" The Blue Bomber exclaimed, annoyed.
"Huh-?" Asuka blinked. How did he know her name? He never stuck around long enough to catch anyone's…
"Incoming!" Pino shouted, snapping the two of them out of their argument. Yeti Blizzard slammed his fist down on the ground, sending a shockwave towards the two of them that ripped the ground apart. Asuka grabbed Pino and flew into the air with Raijin Tempo, while the Blue Bomber just jumped. "Mr. Blue Bomber. There is a weak point on the back of this android's neck!" Pino reported. "I'd use my EMP on this android, but the power of the Black Moon Star it's fueled with its preventing me from doing so!"
"Understood." The Blue Bomber nodded.
"Yukidama Rush!" Yeti Blizzard formed and threw multiple snowballs towards the Blue Bomber and Asuka, attempting to crush them with the heavy density of the snow. The Blue Bomber created a blazing sword that briefly became his left hand, while Asuka wrapped herself in flames to protect herself and Pino.
The Blue Bomber slashed through the snowballs with ease, approaching Yeti Blizzard. He landed a blazing slash against the android's chest, causing it to howl and stagger back. That blazing sword then turned into a fiery knuckle. "Heat Knuckle!
"RAH!" Yeti Blizzard swung his own fist forward, the two of them colliding and recoiling back from each other. Any skeleton army android that tried to intervene was immediately blown back from the shockwave. But Yeti Blizzard immediately brought his other fist down on the Blue Bomber, seemingly crushing him. "Heh…"
But instead, the Blue Bomber just fazed through his arm, moving in to close the distance. "Million Kick!" The Blue Bomber began kicking at Yeti Blizzard's chest in rapid succession with a single leg. Each strike occurred so quickly, it was near impossible to count how many kicks he actually released in such a short time span.
This left Yeti Blizzard open to Asuka, who dropped down on him from above with an axe kick to his skull. This impact made Yeti Blizzard recoil and crane his neck up…and then down. That was the opening Asuka needed to zip around and aim a dive kick at his weak spot! It was a direct hit and Yeti Blizzard collapsed to the ground on his stomach. "Gotcha, you big bastard! How's that!"
"Heavy damage confirmed!" Pino exclaimed.
"…" The Blue Bomber was a bit cautious. Suddenly, a black aura wavered around Yeti Blizzard and he sprang back up with a roar, snow shooting from his person in all directions. This thick snow pushed Asuka, Pino, and the Blue Bomber back, keeping them stuck in it. "What the…!?"
"It's still not down!?" Asuka gasped. Yeti Blizzard didn't say anything, but lifted his hands up to create a gigantic snowball. One that could easily crush and kill a person if it landed.
"No choice…" The Blue Bomber said while phasing out of the snow and dove directly…into Yeti Blizzard. He vanished for a second, confusing everyone. Now long after, the aura around Yeti Blizzard faded and the android completely shut down. The Blue Bomber appeared once again.
"What…was that?" Asuka asked. The snow began to melt with the android being downed.
"I went inside of his neural network and shut him down from the inside." The Blue Bomber responded.
"What the…you can just do that to androids!?" Asuka gasped. "Why didn't you do that from the start!?"
"Because that's a last ditch effort thing. His security network was tight until he lost control there, So if I tried earlier, you might not be alive…" The Blue Bomber said.
"Hah, yeah."
"What'd you say…!?" Asuka snarled.
"Wait, please!" Pino pointed to the barrier of light that Athena conjured. "We're not done yet…!"
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"Gh…!" Lluvi was being thrown around by Athena. She had to make sure she didn't hit the edge of that light barrier either. She was in a crouched position, staring at the eldest Goldstone who sauntered towards her slowly. "How can someone be this strong…? I know the Captain is plenty strong in his own right, but this is…"
"What's the matter? What happened to all that big talk?" Athena said while rushing Lluvi down. She clapped her hands in front of Lluvi's face, a blinding light emitting in the process. It was that same stunner clap she used against Rebecca, but with an added effect of blindness. So now Lluvi couldn't see on top of her eyesight being robbed from her.
"AH!" Lluvi cried out, eyes closed instinctively, but her body also just froze on the spot. She was then struck by Athena's shield, causing her to tumble. "Ngh…"
"This battle of yours is already lost." Athena said with a smug grin. In that instant, she had to lean her head back. Rebecca, while not in her overdrive, still did try to attack her with her speed. If that was any faster, Athena would've gotten kicked in the head. "Oh, you still have gusto?"
Rebecca was breathing heavily, but she wasn't down for the count just yet. "I'm not finished yet…."
"It's cute how much you want to try." Athena snickered. "As long as you're in this barrier, you don't have a chance at beating me."
"Rebecca!" Pino rushed over to the edge of the barrier. "I can shut this down with an EMP! But it might catch you in the blast as well."
"Excuse me?" Athena turned her attention to Pino. "You should know my shield can absorb an EMP blast so it doesn't effect me."
Lluvi's eyes lit up at this golden opportunity. "Do it. I have a plan!" She cast a barrier over Rebecca and Happy, forcing them out of the light barrier before they had the chance to object.
"Wha…!?" Rebecca's eyes went wide.
"EMP activate!" Pino acted, using her EMP to shut down the light barrier. Athena's shield did absorb any of that EMP that was going to shut down her Ether Gear, while Lluvi was fully caught in the blast, her ether lines fading.
"Now that?" Athena smirked at Lluvi. "You were already struggling, so what do you expect to…" Before Athena could finish, Lluvi was rushing her down with her index and middle fingers pointed outwards. Those two fingers struck Athena in the chest, pushing her backwards with a grunt of pain. "Ngh! How dare you!" She moved her hand out to attack, but noticed that the ether lines on her arms were gone. "…Huh?"
Lluvi immediately gave chase, pushing her advantage to strike the confused Athena a few more times. Her two fingered strikes struck along Athena's body, and she finished with a kick to the woman's chest that pushed her back. "Heh. Ether flows within the body. If you know where to strike, you can temporarily cut off that flow. Similar to how being bound by the wrists can stop one's ether. It's not as permanent, but let's see how good you are without your power! Because I'm just fine!" Lluvi went to attack again, but Athena sidestepped her attack and held her foot out, causing Lluvi to trip and stumble.
Athena then kicked her leg out, striking Lluvi in the back. Lluvi tumbled a bit, but she caught herself and attacked again. Athena was better at close combat than expected. Now that she knew what Lluvi's aims were, she could easily avoid her strikes with precision. She then managed to grab one of Lluvi's arms and twist it, causing the bluenette great pain. She could see Asuka flying in to help her, so with a vicious twist, she broke Lluvi's arm with a sickening SNAP and then threw her into Asuka.
Lluvi didn't even have time to register what happened. Her arm was broken, but she couldn't even let out a cry of pain before she hurled into Asuka, the two of them crashing into the ground. "…" Her eyes were wide from the shock, and it took all she had to remain conscious from that.
"You're all starting to get on my nerves. Luckily this farce will be over soon." Athena said with an annoyed huff. Looking around, a number of the skeleton army androids were defeated, and she could see Yeti Blizzard was downed as well. "This ambush will have been worth it in just a moment."
"What are you talking about…" Rebecca said while holding her arm.
Athena's lips curled up into a sinister grin. "Now, why would I spoil the surprise?"
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"It looks pretty bad down there…" Stella said. Athena had everyone cornered.
"I should get down there…" Jinn thought about intervening.
"And do what? You're still wounded. She'll destroy you and make things harder for everyone." Stella didn't want to say it, but it needed to be put out there. "Our best bet is destroying this generator and fleeing as quickly as we can. That's all we need to do to win."
"Tch…" Jinn knew she was right. He wouldn't be any help in his condition, but he couldn't just stand there was Athena was beating everyone.
"I'm destroying this thing right now." Sarisse said while pointing her gun at it. She wasn't taking any chances. Little did they know that one of the skeleton androids was slowly picking itself up, looking at Stella's turned back.
The Blue Bomber appeared in front of them with his arm cannon trained. "…."
"Oh, what do you want now?" Sarisse said, narrowing her eyes at what she deemed to be an intruder. "If you're not going to help me destroy this thing, then I suggest you point that gun somewhere else."
He pointed it at Stella, then fired…behind her. Everyone was shocked at first, but they turned and saw the target. The android that attempted a sneak attack was destroyed. "…." And without saying anything else, he left.
"Wh…" Jinn was just confused. "Who the hell was that…!?"
"Why didn't you react!?" Sarisse exclaimed at her sister.
"…." Stella stared at the remains of the android that almost attacked her. "…I knew he wasn't aiming at me."
"How?" Sarisse asked. Sure, the Blue Bomber ultimately helped them from time to time, but without any clear motive on his end, he was just a wild variable they couldn't trust.
"…I just did." Stella replied. "But stop dallying…!"
'Right, right…" Sarisse nodded and pointed her gun at the generator, shooting at it to destroy it. There was a small explosion, but their job was complete. "We're not out of the woods yet. Now we just need to…" From the window, she could spot something white in the distance. She tilted her head, only for her eyes to widen when she realized what it was. A bullet…that was seconds away from hitting her right between the eyes….
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"Why would I spoil the surprise?" Athena told Rebecca.
Rebecca suddenly acted. She lived through this moment just a few seconds ago, intentionally. She knew what the surprise was, and now, thanks to Cat Leaper, she could act accordingly. "SARISSE, DUCK!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Huh!?" Athena's eyes went wide. She could see a bullet fly through the window, followed by a scream. All fell silent…but then Sarisse poked her head out.
"…Thanks, Lucy. That was close. We're getting out of here now, the generator is destroyed!" Before Max could fire again, the trio inside of the warehouse quickly made their exit.
"WHAT?!" Athena's eyes were wide. "That's impossible! You couldn't have known about that!" She turned to Rebecca, who just gave a smirk.
"Didn't I tell you? Even if I lost the battle, I'd make sure we win this war!" She sprang forward with Cat Leaper, slamming her foot into Athena's chest. Normally Athena could've blocked this, but she was so flustered from the failed assassination attempt that she was left wide open. Athena tumbled along the ground before coming to a halt on her hands and knees, scowling.
"This isn't right! This can't be happening! We were supposed to end things right here and now!" Athena growled, slamming her fist into the ground. "No, this is fine. I'll simply kill her myself and get things moving again."
"She can't still be wanting to fight…" Asuka said with a nervous gulp.
"Sis. It's time to pull back." Max spoke to her via their communications link. "You're getting flustered. You know what happens when you do."
"But that woman knew about your shot, that's impossible! I don't know how she did it, but…!" Athena objected. As long as the Goldstones plagued Delta Ridge and the Resistance, they were starting to see a crack in the infallible Eldest Goldstone. When plans went awry, Athena got flustered.
"I'm shocked too, but I told you this would be fun! Come on, pull back. There's nothing more than can be done. As long as we stop them, we win. Don't forget that." Max said.
"Ngh….." Athena conceded. She walked over to the downed Yeti Blizzard and opened his head up forcibly. The Blue Bomber only shut him down, but what Athena was doing was ripping his brain out afterwards.
"Hey! What are you doing!?" Rebecca exclaimed.
"Salvaging what I can from this annoying blunder." Athena asked, pulling out Yeti Blizzard's memory chip. "You win this round, Resistance. But next time, I promise you won't be so lucky. Heh…and don't forget. We will know your every move, whether that's something you want ot accept or not." Pino's EMP wore off by this point, so she emitted a blinding flash of light that forced everyone nearby to cover their eyes. When that light faded, Athena was gone.
"…." Asuka let out a heavy breath. She and Rebecca decided to support Lluvi, who was teetering in and out of consciousness with her broken arm. "…D-Did we do it…?"
Stella, Jinn, and Sarisse came out of the warehouse. Rebecca was happy to see Jinn alive and well. Stella gave their small squadron a big smile and a thumbs up. "We did it, everyone! The first operation to take back our planet was a success! Now let's head back and report this to everyone else. You've all fought hard and need medical attention."
"I'm glad things worked out with no losses…" That was Sarisse's biggest concern. But there was something that still lingered in her head. First, the Blue Bomber, appearing and disappearing just as quickly; and second: the possible traitor that lied within the Resistance. How else could Athena have known when they'd strike? "No…she's just trying to psyche us out. I won't let her get to me. I believe in everyone who's fighting for the same cause. We won't be defeated. This was just step one…now we can finally start taking back our home…"