So, if you didn't know. My hard drive had died. And that meant I sorta lost all my progress in both my Space Whale playthrough and this...
So, this took quite a while to get back into. But here it is.
PACT main production facility, PACT Inner Planet
Several blazing lights fell from the sky in a beautiful array. One could only assume it was an unexpected small meteor shower as each object left behind a long trail of glowing hot gas, all originating from the same spot. The outer layer of rocks slowly burnt away, leaving its core relatively cool. Little did the garrison know that this was no ordinary meteor shower.
As the giant boulders burned away in the atmosphere, they suddenly exploded just under a kilometer from the surface. Four jets pulled out of the steep nosedive with over 400 Gs tugging at their tails, flattening out their trajectories just a couple dozen meters away from the surface. On radar it was as if all four meteors had impacted into the sea and disappeared.
The four jets continued on their course, flying at hypersonic speeds just below the radar altitude. Within an hour their target was within sight, one of PACT's primary chemical plants that produced the volatile substances used to supply PACT's war machines and ammunition. The AI controlled atmospheric jets had mere seconds to make their flight adjustments to dodge the sudden burst of lasers from the facility's AA defense system.
One down.
Two down.
The wing of the third one was clipped and it went spiraling into the ocean.
The fourth crashed into the plant and detonated its payload. A blinding light consumed the entire facility as a dark mushroom cloud slowly rose into the air. Any trace of the facility and the surrounding structures was gone, replaced by a blackened crater filled with radiation.
Far away on the dark side of the moon, the explosion of the facility was confirmed via optical relay satellite 1 second later due to time lag. As a response the fully charged Macross Engine dispensed the massive stored up energy in its containment fields, creating extreme curvatures in the surrounding space-time before finally stabilizing it with a field of negative energy. The massive ship then vanished as it sped off into the unknown depths of space.
The destruction of the chemical plant could be said to not impact even one percent of PACT's total war capacity however with an unending string of similar events occurring all over PACT space, it was starting to take its toll. At first, blame was placed on the Alliance but when there was an absence of any information regarding these attacks in Alliance space and the strikes seemingly to appear in the most impossible of reaches... For the first time in a long time, something else besides infiltrating Alliance took priority.
PACT Mining Facility, Brutwurst Asteroid Field
The asteroid field left behind by the destruction of planet Brutwurst due to impacting a stray moon was filled with rich amounts of rare metals and heavy elements. Realizing the potential of the system, a mining facility was quickly set up by PACT to harvest its resources. Harvesting these minerals was crucial in the construction of PACT's war machine, especially with the newly revitalized Legionnaire program underway.
The station's radar lit up when it detected 10 small stray asteroids headed in its direction. A mining ship was sent out to survey and if deemed resourceful enough, towed back to the station.
Upon nearing the asteroids, the scanners started picking up traces of rare metals, plutonium, uranium, and many other minerals critical in the construction of a Ryder. Excited, the pilot quickly lashed the asteroids together and began tugging them back to the station. Meanwhile from somewhere on one of the asteroids…
Meifeng: "Pst.. Pssst. Tsukiko. Tsk, she's on the other side isn't she?"
The Qiang was plastered onto the side of the meteor painted in a camouflage not only acted as an optical camouflage but an electromagnetic one too, hiding it from most sensors as long as it did not power up any major systems. Her Ryder was on backup batteries and running in stealth mode. Aside from basic life support and laser communications, there wasn't much else that was on. Five other Ryders were plastered onto the sides of the other asteroids as well, all in the same predicament. Stealth being a key factor in this mission, they could not use radio or comms and could only use laser relays. Laser relays were virtually impossible to pick up unless one happened to pass an optical receiver in front of its path. There was however a few disadvantages to using lasers with one being it had to have a direct line of sight between receivers and could easily be disrupted by gaseous substances. At the moment, the Katana was facing the other side while its asteroid was being dragged by the miner.
Meifeng: "Psssst. Pssssssssst. Anybody there?"
Minjung: "Oh shush would you?"
Meifeng: "But I get nervous when I don't hear anybody's voice."
Minjung: "You should've stayed back at the ship then."
Meifeng: "But the admiral said for everybody to go."
Minjung: "Did he really?"
Meifeng: "Well… I mean. He sort of- just… Kinda, said to us. And-"
Minjung: "So he didn't explicitly say for all of us right?"
Meifeng: "… Yeah… But it's not like I was excluded from the briefings or launch either! Ahh, we've been in here for days! I want a shoooweeeer."
Izumi: "I-it can't be helped. We don't have as much intel on PACT space as we did in Alliance…"
Meifeng: "They could have given us towe-"
Tsukiko: "Silence. We're nearing the station."
The miner slowed to halt and detached the cables, flinging the asteroids into a giant net filled with many other small asteroids. On the far end closest to the station, many small mining frigates and unarmed Ryders could be seen blasting apart the asteroids with lasers and gathering the smaller bits and pieces into a chute on the station, presumably to be taken to a sorter and processor.
This was their que, the six Ryders powered up and crawled off the asteroids. Every alarm in the facility blared on when six unregistered Ryders suddenly appear on radar in such close proximity to the station.
Kyungsoon: "Looks like they're onto us! Hwacha!"
Minjung: "Just leave it to me, let's go Hwacha!"
Xue: "This is Pae, assisting with targeting."
The Hwacha anchored itself upright onto the asteroid it was just on and lowered itself until the rocket pods on its back faced the station. The rocket pods were attached onto the unit's back with aiming was to be conducted through moving the entire Ryder itself. Meanwhile the Pae scanned the mining facility for its critical points before compiling it and sending the data to Hwacha. Inside the cockpit, the reticle lit up green indicating to Minjung that the Hwacha was in her most optimal positioning.
Minjung: "This is Hwacha, firing!"
The hatch on the rocket pods flung open, revealing dozens of low-yield nuclear rockets. The Hwacha had four individual rocket pods carrying five layers of 24 rockets each, each rocket was electromagnetically launched out of the pod with charged coils before its engine kicked into effect. This launching method revolutionized rocket pods in Tianxia, allowing for multiple layers of rockets per pod instead of the usual one layer of rockets per pod. Swarms of tiny flares of light sped toward the mining station, exploding upon impact covering the facility with dozens of explosions. While its original intent and purpose was as an area of denial weapon, if it was close enough to accurately empty all its rockets into the target, no single target could stand withstand its terrifying force and power. Several of the PACT Grunts and Elites on guard were already regrouping and sortieing to intercept them.
Tsukiko: "Katana, intercepting."
Meifeng: "Qiang right behind you!"
The two dark brown Ryders charged into the Grunts at blinding speeds. The Qiang stabbed its spear right through the cockpit of the Elite in its way, grabbing the spear tip on the other end and pulled it out, continuing on without ever lowering her speed. The Elite shut off, crystalized blood slowly floating out from the hole as the powered down Ryder drifted away. In the meantime the Katana was making short work of anything that entered its range, Tsukiko skillfully slashing apart Grunts without rupturing their fuel lines or causing critical meltdown. They were after all, good salvage. The Ryder was worth more than keeping the Ryder's pilot alive.
Kyungsoon: "Pyeonjeon providing cover fire! Pae, spot for me!"
Xue: "Received, calculating order of destruction."
The Pae was in essence, the battlefield commander of the team. Its supercomputer calculated the positioning of enemy units and the order at which each target was to be destroyed before sending the data to their respective Ryders. This not only helped with targeting, but made sure no two Ryders would accidentally collide or overkill the same target.
Izumi: "Awawawa, th-there's so many!"
Bolts of plasma and tungsten slugs flew across the battlefield from Pyeonjeon and Tanegashima, laying down precision fire support for the two charging melee Ryders. The last of the rockets escaped the Hwacha's pods and the Ryder repositioned itself. The station was now in flames fueled by the leaking oxygen; the hailstorm of rockets rendering it damaged beyond recognition.
Minjung: "This is Hwacha, I have emptied my payload. They won't be mining here anytime soon!"
Xue: "Facility is confirmed to be damaged beyond repair. Let's finish off the rest of these grunts so the Yamato can come pick us up."
Everyone: "Yes ma'am!"
18 hours later…
Yamato, Hanger
Meifeng: "Hnnnnnnnng, ahh that was exhausting. I can't wait to take a shower~"
Meifeng stretched out her arms high above her head. The Hua girl was of small stature and medium height, being the third tallest of the group. Her slightly tanned yellowish skin set her as an outdoors type who loves sports. She has black hair with two long braided pigtails that end at her waist. Her eyes were dark brown, though she insists her eyes were black. Her body is extremely flexible due to the rather extreme moves and maneuvers her Ryder goes through in combat. This aptitude carried over into her personal life, showing off her skill for acrobatics whenever she gets the chance.
Izumi: "A shower does sound nice doesn't it?"
The soft spoken Zebben girl was the shortest of the group, even more petite than Meifeng. She looked a little stiff, as if trying to appear taller than she was. Her light skin and the dark bags under her eyes defined her as an indoor's type who didn't like to go out in the sun. Izumi had a hime-cut where her bangs were flatly trimmed across, hair that ended just above the base of her neck. Her eyes were light blue, mostly due to the aftereffects of laser eye surgery implants that assisted her in targeting.
Xue walked on over and slid a hand underneath Minjung's bodysuit.
Xue: "Ahh, that battle tired me out. And I wasn't able to hear commander Yayoi's soothing words at debriefing today, but for now I'll have to do with you as an appetizer."
Xue could only be defined as a pale beauty. The young woman was the fourth tallest of the group, taller than Meifeng by a few centimeter but shorter than Tsukiko by at least a dozen. She had ample breasts and a curvy figure, walking with a tall proud stature. Her hair extended past her shoulders and ended at just above her waist, she often drew the stares of many men until they found out just how venomous she was to their kind.
Minjung: "W-what are you doing?! Le-let go!"
Xue: "Aww, don't be so stingy. Hm? Hm? Did you finally grow a little?"
Minjung: "That is none of your concern! This- aahn~ Th-this is sexual harassment!"
Xue: "It's fine isn't it? We're both women…"
The poor soul that was being molested with Minjung, a Hangul woman. She was of medium height on the shorter side; shorter than Meifeng by half a dozen centimeters and taller than Izumi by a handful. Her hair was artificially colored to a light brownish color with the back of her hair ironed into many curls. Her face was usually adorned with jewelry and makeup when off duty as was her nails too. The only thing she managed to get away with was colored contact lens, which according to her was the latest in Hangul fashion trends. True to her behavior, she was the daughter of a rich family and could often afford to flaunt her status amongst others.
Kyungsoon: "Please, your behavior is an insult to womanhood. It is precisely that because of that vulgarity that you have not been able to find a suitor."
Kyungsoon, some people say she was Tsukiko's long lost sister. The two were identical in many ways, from their fashion sense to their behavior and to an extent their hairstyles. The Hangul woman, like her Zebben counterpart, seemed to embody traditional values. They carried themselves with the elegance of a courtesan and the pride of a noblewoman. Every move they made, every step they took seemed to be the result of years of dedicated practice. The two being tallest of the group, they stood at least a dozen centimeters above the others. Their silky hair were kept long, reaching far past their waist however this was where the differences began. Kyuongsoon had a stronger cheekbone and smaller chin while Tsukiko had a thinner chin and more slanted eyes emphasized by the red eyeliner. Tsukiko's face was much paler due to white makeup and her hair artificially died white. Minjung had initially protested the difference in treatment, not buying that Tsukiko's makeup was due to the traditions of her village. The situation was finally put to rest when Minjung learned of the ingredients used in the making of the makeup. A few other differences were that Kyungsoon's eyes are light brown while Tsukiko's are a disturbing yellowish color. Kyungsoon wore a mature aura around her that made her somewhat daunting to approach at first, but her respectful speech and mannerisms quickly puts anyone to ease. While it was not in Tsukiko's intent to appear hostile, her cold and silent demeanor usually discourages people from prolonged interaction.
The group left the Ryder hanger and were at a crossing point that separated the Ryder hanger from the Northern and Southern hangers. On the right was a ramp that lead to the Northern hanger with no change in axis, on the left was a giant hole in the ground that was over 5 meters across. The ground leading to the hole gradually slanted downwards with the official stance being to provide ease of access to wheeled objects. The real reason was to help with the sudden shift in gravity as one shifted from one plane of gravity to the other; this theory was further supported by the railing supports on the side and a sign saying, "Please do not jump in."
Izumi: "A-ahh…. Why are living quarters located on the Southern Hemisphere…"
The timid girl was hugging herself to the wall, grasping onto the railings with both hands as she inched closer and closer to the descending curve.
Meifeng: "Hehee, need help? "et's goo!"
Meifeng crouched down and sprinted forward, grabbing onto Izumi's arm and pulling her along.
Izumi: "AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Meifeng sprinted through two different planes of gravity at once: the vertical downward pull when they were still at the Northern Hemisphere, the horizontal outer pull when they crossed onto the trans-hemisphere hallways, and back onto the vertical 'upper' pull now that they were on the Southern Hemisphere. Izumi, who was visibly shaken, stood there with trembling legs before collapsing onto the floor.
Meifeng: "Ah ha ha ha, did I go too far?"
When the rest of the group arrived, Meifeng received an earful from Kyungsoon.
Kyungsoon: "-precisely why you do not force those who are uneasy with sudden gravitational changes through the trans-hemisphere hallways like that! You know how Izumi is, reflect on your actions!"
Meifeng: "Yes ma'am…."
Kyungsoon: "Geez… I can't believe you- hm?"
It seemed there was some sort of riot amongst the marines. The captain of one of the squads seemed to be infuriated about something, grabbing the collar of mechanic and yelling at him.
Taejong: "-at do you mean the commander is being held hostage!"
2 days ago
PACT Battleship, Leviathan
Diplomatic Gathering between Tianxia and PACT
Yayoi listened to the meeting and jolted down notes despite her mind being elsewhere. It was a handy skill she had picked up over the years as she was commonly dragged to diplomatic meetings where her duties as an observer and chronicler required her to jolt down critical details. She was the human checker in a world of cameras and voice recorders, which sort of annoyed her. Speaking of which, the camera and relay drones the PACT delegates had placed onto the table looked awfully similar to the ones they used aboard the Yamato. Stifling a yawn, she wrote down the next set of words the man in the red uniform was saying.
PACT Delegate: "-as you can hear… These were the transmissions we've pieced together from the Legios."
Yayoi's Voice: "G-*static* ork *static*… Al- *static* -turn *static* ship- *static*."
Her mind instantly snapped back into reality. That transmission, where did he get it? It came from one of the raiding operations they conducted in Alliance space. But they made sure to destroy all the evidence, that they predicted would be there…
The PACT delegate glanced at Yayoi and smirked. Catching his stare, there was only one thing she could do. In one swift move, Yayoi slid off her chair and swung it at the nearest PACT security guard. Reaching into the holster of a nearby Tianxia security guard, she drew it and shot two Tianxia delegates and a PACT delegate before several stun bolts slammed into her and knocked her unconscious.
Present Time
Yamato, First Bridge
Disaster, a word that Hongxi did not want to be familiar with. It was an old friend with cloven hooves, the pungent smell of brimstone clung to it wherever it went. The diplomatic gathering between Tianxia and PACT had gone wrong, PACT intelligence managed to corner the Tianxia delegates with pieced together transmissions from the Legios, PACT's codename for the Yamato, gathered by PACT intelligence in Alliance Space. Hongxi knew it was strange as to why PACT specifically requested Yayoi to act as a chronicler for the meeting. PACT had significant evidence to suggest that Tianxia was either working with the pirates or backing the resistance fighters that was wreaking havoc to PACT infrastructure. And that there were sympathizers within Tianxia command and/or certain extreme groups within Tianxia was carrying out these attacks. A galactic-wide message was broadcasted with a warning stating that if any more raids were carried out, Yayoi and several other suspected sympathizers would be executed.
Tianxia and PACT relations were strained. Tianxia denied any and all claims to the Legios and demanded that PACT return their delegates else they risk souring further relations. PACT insisted the delegates stay in their custody until investigations were complete.
Every day that passes without Hongxi making a raid would only raise further suspicions, however making a raid risked the lives of the Tianxia delegates and ultimately Yayoi. It did not matter to PACT whether or not they lost a potential galactic core ally, it was a hostile place where few venture anyway. With war looming at the front, they simply did not have the resources to mine the hazardous galactic core. The Jinyiwei denied to assist in a rescue as they were busy enough trying to keep PACT intelligence from reaching out to Alliance intelligence with information regarding their little crusade. With the odds stacked against him, Hongxi felt something he had long since forgotten.
Irritation.
A small tiny emotion that nibbled on the tip of his heart that threatened the fragile stability he had built up to protect his ego. And sanity… He had to do something about it. Hongxi already put in a request to doctor Sado for a higher dosage of hormonal suppressants but even he knew it was only a temporary fix.
Dealing with the loss of his brother was easy… Losing someone significantly close to him, all he had to do was find another to fill its place. Even if it required befriending multiple people to fill up all the roles his brother played, he managed to find the sufficient personalities from the ship's roster. His brother was gone, dead. There was no chance of him coming back, Yayoi on the other hand was still alive. If she had died, he could have rested easy and found a replacement. This faint sliver of hope however was not something he had prepared for. It gnawed at him, charged at the thick fortifications he had built around his heart, recklessly assaulted the walls of reason and cold logic. It poured through the breaches of hope and pursued him, haunted him. He had to do something, his indoctrination did not prepare him for this.
Hongxi: "Helmsman, chart a course for Thracia."
Helmsman: "Aye captain!"
Sun-Sin: "If I may ask sir, are we turning ourselves in or getting rid of the evidence?"
Hongxi: "A rescue operation."
The bridge crew froze for a brief second before continuing their work, this time with an ear open on the conversation.
Sun-Sin: "Rescue? Protocol calls for killing the delegates to clear up any affiliation we have with Tianxia. Putting off raids into PACT territory for so long is al-"
Hongxi: "Sun-Sin, how are you holding up?"
The Hangul immediately fell silent, he could feel tears welling up at the edges of his eyes. Sun-Sin directed his gaze to the floor and tried to calm himself, distracting his mind with other thoughts. He barely registered the captain's footsteps and the gentle pat on his shoulder.
Hongxi: "I promised you didn't I? I take care of those who I consider close to me."
Recreation Room, Southern Hemisphere, Yamato
Taejong: "Haa! Hya!"
Taejong punched the sand filled punching bag; a rip and a tear followed by an avalanche of sand pouring onto the gymnasium's floor. His breath was ragged, evidence from the hours of workout he had just poured in. He could barely keep his arm from twitching, the artificial heart in his arm rapidly pumping oxygen rich blood substitutes into his muscles.
Manager: "Taejong! That's the third this day, you're cleaning that one up!"
Taejong: "I- sorry sir."
He shook his head and headed for the janitor closet. Ever since the capture of the ship's XO, Taejong had trouble focusing. The artificial hearts implanted into his limbs were going haywire, pumping at rates meant for combat only every time the thought came up. The waiting was killing him, the dreaded moment when the orders are given for them to destroy the station carrying the delegates. He hated it, feared it. Why did he have to feel this way? Was this love? How can the fate of someone who has no physical influence on him affect him so? Perhaps he should visit the doctor and ask for hormonal suppressa-
With his mind deep in thought, he accidently walked into the ryder pilot Xue, sending her sprawling onto the ground. She shot a death glare at him as she picked herself up, refusing the outreached hand from Taejong.
Taejong: "Ah, sorr-"
Xue slapped him across the face, leaving a red hand mark and a faint ringing in his ear.
Xue: "Filthy, absolutely filthy. I can't believe I even slapped you, my hand is covered in your sweat."
She wiped the palm of her hand on the sleeve of his shirt.
Taejong: "I apologize ma'am, it won't happen again."
Xue: "Marines, you're all the same. Are you even human? How many extra hearts and organs did they shove in there?"
Xue stabbed a finger into his chest repeatedly.
Taejong: "Four artificial hearts, one extra lung, one extra stomach, 3 extra meters of intestinal tracts, an extra jo-"
She drew her hand back sharply and stared at him with repulsion.
Xue: "Monster."
Meifeng: "Now now, leave the poor marine alone Xue... That's not nice."
Xue: "Men don't deserve any better."
Taejong: "Apologies, it was my fault. If it pleases you, please pun-"
Taejong barely had enough time to react to the swift high kick aimed at his temple. Instinctively, he raised his arm to parry the kick however he was too slow. Taejong ended up only blocking with repercussions as he could feel his bones fracturing slightly more the force. These Ryder pilots, they weren't normal.
Xue: "Hmph, not even a wince. Very well, that is satisfactory."
She withdrew her leg, a look of disappointment on her face when she couldn't draw a reaction from Taejong.
Meifeng: "Geez, you didn't have to kick that hard… Marine, are you alright?"
Taejong: "I am fine, ma'am. Our pain receptors are modified to no longer overwhelm the brain, however there is a slight decrease in reactio-"
Xue: "Basically he's a monster."
Meifeng: "Now now, don't be so mean. They get themselves in more perilous situations than we do you know? Forgive her, she doesn't really like men."
Manager: "Taejong! Quit flirtin! If you don't get that cleaned up, I'll be deducting it from your pay!"
Meifeng: "Ahh, we shouldn't keep bothering him. Come on, Xue. We better leave him to it."
Xue: "Hmph."
Xue shot him one last look of contempt before leaving. Meifeng mouthed an 'I'm sorry!' before following close behind her. Taejong let out a sigh and went back to cleaning up the spilled sand. Hearing that the commander was taken hostage, almost being court-martialed for manhandling a mechanic, and now this? It was going to be a long day.
Later that day…
Taejong mentally let out a sigh of relief. The impossible had happened, the admiral gave them the orders to conduct a rescue and destroy operation. Thracia station was to be attacked and destroyed as the Legios' "Response" to PACT's warning, not before rescuing said officers and officials. The briefing did not go into what Fleet would be doing, but his own squad was given the honor and privilege of going in armed to the teeth to extract commander Yayoi and possibly the delegates. Was it because of his personal affection for the commander? He had heard of the Jinyiwei conducting internal investigations on the military, but to think they were able to find out about his personal life as well? He shook his head to clear such disturbing thoughts and refocused on what was truly important. He had just been given the chance to save someone he cherishes and this time, he wouldn't fail.