Welcome back again! Previously on…After the successful takeover of the cargo hauler and escaping the inevitable pursuit, the Unbreakable Ore went quickly to work to refit the vessel with weapons taken from the destroyed drone. Artisan and Tiller also present to the goddesses their plan of regaining control of the system. They need to unite all resistance groups of the systems under one banner if they wish to have any chances. They decide to start with the Veterans Alliance and for this, they set course for Everques, a moon of Sonius. There, they plan to meet with their contact and in turn, find a way to contact the VA.
Now, before we start, reviews.
To end5: Thanks, as always.
Alright then, let us begin.
Chapter 9
February 10
16:07
New Lastation, Everques
"Brr, it's pretty cold here."Neptune said.
"And you just noticed that?"Noire asked.
"It may be like Gamindustri, but it's further proximity to the sun makes it colder."Blanc explained.
The five of them walked through the streets of New Lastation, trying to look as little suspicious as possible. Fortunately, none of the people they passed even looked at them. Not only that, but many of them simply hung their heads, not even daring to look up. And that wasn't surprising, considering, that they could see many Imperial patrols on the streets. What they noticed, however, was the fact, that they could see not only human soldiers of the Empire, but also numerous robots.
"I forgot Machine Union partially controlled this moon."Noire admitted.
"And now, they co-occupy it with the Imperials."Tashima said."Eh, so much has changed since I last visited…"
"Yeah, if the entire system looks like it, then I'm more determined to kick the Imperials out."Vert said.
"But maybe don't say it so loudly, will you?"Blanc hissed, as they passed by another patrol.
Right then, they saw another machine rounding the corner. It was a crab-like, four legged robot with a turret on it's back. Many people immediately stepped out of it's way and watched it walk away, before starting to walk again.
"What was that?"Neptune asked.
"That was a Centurion."Tashima replied."Imperials use them to 'keep order' in bigger population centers."
"It sure looked intimidating."Noire admitted.
"I heard of what these things can do. And it's not pretty."
Right then, Marine sergeant stopped. Goddesses looked at the building he stopped before and saw, that it was a restaurant.
"We will wait for our contact here."Tashima said."They said they often come here during noon. So let's go and get a table."
"Right behind you, sarge."Neptune said.
The five of them entered the restaurant. They found someone working here and asked if they could have a table for six, as they were supposed to meet with a friend here. Waiter looked at his list and saw, that there is one table for hat amount of people left. He showed them to it and gave them the menus, but Tashima politely declined. Fortunately, waiter wasn't too brazen and honored his request.
"I'm surprised he didn't say anything about our looks."Neptune stated.
"Why would he?"Blanc asked.
"Look around."
They did as she said. Goddesses took a quick look around the place and saw, that most people were wearing suits and dresses. Also, that they spoke a different language than them. But none paid attention to the group of five people dressed in a mix of military-civilian style clothes.
"Yeah, seems like this is a place for elegant people."Vert said.
"More likely, Imperial nobility."Tashima said."I heard there is a lot of it."
"You mean, they brought some rich guys here?"Neptune asked."Why?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't they stay in their home system of…Wherever that is."Noire said.
"Actually, it's not as stupid as it seems."Blanc said."Back in the day, nobility usually took care of most of businesses, be it political, administrative or economical. Not everything was owned and controlled by kings or emperors. But it was long ago, even before first CPUs existed."
Tashima rubbed his chin.
"Hm. And does turning a city of conquered enemy into your capital is a normal occurrence?"
All eyes turned on him.
"What do you mean?"Blanc asked.
"Apparently, Keya and most of Imperial government reside in Planeptune. Since The Day, they didn't move out of there. You would think they would simply leave some governor and leave, going back to their homeworld."sergeant explained.
Lowee's goddess rubbed her chin.
"It certainly is not a common practice. Normally, such thing happened in situations, when, let's say, one empire retook it's ancestral homeland and reinstalled the government at it's old capital. But in this situation, that doesn't make sense."
"Probably another way Keya likes to show us middle finger."Neptune pouted.
"Whatever might be the case, we can ask her when we finally throw her off of her throne."Vert said.
"If she didn't take a bullet by accident."Tashima whispered.
"Maybe let's not talk about stuff like that now, when we're in a place full of Imperials?"Noire said.
Everyone looked around once more, but fortunately, nobody still payed attention to them.
"I think you're right. For now, let's just wait for our contact to come."Tashima said.
CPUs nodded in agreement and sat silently, waiting for their contact.
February 10
17:04
Administration Building, New Lastation
Following the takeover of the system by the Empire, Everques saw a rather quick transition of power, which nobody expected. When news of what happened to goddesses and governments on Gamindustri reached the moon, it stirred up the representatives of many groups. One of such groups was the Machine Union. Led by charismatic Affimojas after the sudden death of their former leader, they didn't wait long to take the action. In fact, since Affimojas took over, Machine Union was preparing for another possible uprising against the Organics, as many in the leadership of the MU called non-mechanical inhabitants of the system.
Affimojas was always an ambitious one, ever since he left the production line. In fact, his ambition was so big, that once he became a known businessman and his revenue passed trillions of credits, he started creating armed militia units under his leadership. Arming them with black market weaponry, he quickly led to a silent coup in the Machine Union, personally ripping the head off of previous leader's body and throwing his body to drift in space, on course to leave the system. The next step in his plan, was to stir up the tension between machines and Organics. This also worked. Clashes with Organic miners in mines. Riots in the streets of various cities and numerous clashes with authorities. Occasional terrorist attacks on the colonial worlds and once in a while even on Gamindustri itself. All the while Affimojas and his crew counted profits and bought new weapons for their militias in preparation for the takeover of the system. Under his rule, machines would rule over Organics and nobody would ever try challenging that.
And then, The One Day War happened.
At first, Affimojas didn't want to believe in the reports of invasion from beyond the Gamindustrian System and simply thought it's some kind of joke made by the governments to scare the populace into submission. He changed his views, when first Imperial warships appeared in the skies of Everuqes, with new occupiers declaring, that CPUs were gone and moon became he new domain of the Empire. Seeing this as an excelled business opportunity, he quickly gathered his supporters and marched on the Administration Building. Local police forces tried to oppose it, but due to the chaos, they were not good at it. Robots stormed the building and took the governor into custody. Then, they given him to the Imperials, as a sign of willingness to cooperate.
News of these events quickly reached Keya, which wanted to meet with the one who made subjugation of the moon so easy. And when the meeting concluded, Machine Union was effectively an autonomous part of the Empire.
Currently, Affimojas was sitting in his office. The whole room went through a thorough reconstruction to suit the new occupant. Firstly, it was enlarged, so that Affimojas wouldn't wreck it with his size. Also, now, instead of bookshelves, there were several servers, which allowed Affimojas to access all networks immediately, without a need for reaching a book. All photos and everything that belonged to the previous owner also vanished, probably thrown into trash or burned. Not like that was of any concern.
Leader of the Machine Union was engaged in one of his favorite past-time activities. Pages rustled as he moved them, giggling from time to time.
As he indulged in this act, sudden knock on the door almost made his massive robotic form fall over.
"Ugh, who is it!?"he exclaimed.
"It's me, Astrel, sir."the voice on the other side replied.
Astrel, his personal bodyguard. One of many, in fact. Affimojas quickly hid his literature and cleared his robotic throat.
"Come in!"he ordered.
The door opened and a sleek, combat ready robot walked in. It was funny to Affimojas, actually. Before The Day, there were only utility machines in the systems. Some were miners, some were ship crews, some did other mundane tasks. The treaty signed after the original Machine Rebellion prohibited machines from creating military-grade frames for themselves. Only after agreements were signed with the Empire did they start giving MU technology to create more efficient, combat focused machines. There weren't many of them yet, but with each day, more and more machines converted their bodies into these upgraded versions.
Astrel was one of the first to do so, due to the fact he was part of Affimojas' personal guard.
"What is it?"Affimojas asked, sitting in perfectly calm position, as if he didn't almost fall over seconds before.
"Sir, we've received some reports from security at the spaceport."
Affimojas rolled his robotic eyes.
"Why should it concern us?"
"It's…because of this."
Astrel's eyes then shined, as he sent the information to Affimojas' main computer. Leader of the Machine Union accepted the sent data and opened it. In front of his eyes, on his HUD, he saw a photo from cameras at the spaceport. It mainly focused on a group of five people currently standing at the checkpoint. Their faces were perfectly visible. They were dressed in what appeared to be a mix of civilian and military clothes. After looking a bit closer, he noticed, that they had ASIC badges on their jackets.
"What's wrong with it?"Affimojas asked.
"One of the guards at the spaceport reported to us, that he's seen them before. He wanted us to take a look at it with our facial recognition systems. And…Well…"
Astrel fell silent.
"Well? Spit it out!'Affimojas ordered.
"There are some changed to their look, but there is no doubting it."Astrel replied.
Right then, photos of four women appeared on Affimojas' HUD.
"It's them."
Affimojas looked at the four women at the checkpoint and the four women on the photos. Astrel was right, there were many changed, notably the hair color and some accessories. Other than that, there was no mistake.
CPUs. Goddesses. They finally showed up.
And they were in New Lastation. Just under his mechanical nose.
"Do we know where are they now?"Affimojas asked.
"We looked through the surveillance cameras across the city. We researched their whole path and last recording shows them entering one of the restaurants. They are still in there."Astrel replied obediently.
Affimojas' eyes lit up even more than normally. This was his chance to get some points of favor from Keya. Who knew, maybe it will be a start of his journey to become even more high ranking official in the Empire? He liked his current position, but there always could be more, right?
"Send someone to track them. Also, inform our security forces. I want them to be ready to enter action."
"Understood, sir."
"Good. You can leave now."
Astrel nodded, turned around and quickly left the office.
When he was gone, Affimojas reached for his 'literature'. He opened it on the page he ended on and enjoyed the views.
"Ah, there is nothing better for a man than some scandalous magazines."he said as he sank back into the lecture.
February 10
18:02
Restaurant
"Ugh, how much longer do we have to wait?!"Noire exclaimed, but silently enough for nobody to hear it.
"Calm down, Noire, if the guy said he'll come, he'll come."Neptune said, trying to calm her down.
Noire gave her 'the look'.
"Unless he sold us out."she said.
"Alright, let's not make assumptions here."Tashima said.
"Yeah, how do you know it's a 'he', not a 'she'?"Vert asked.
"I think he meant the part about selling us out."Blanc said.
Neptune looked around. They sat there, waiting and doing nothing, while more and more people started looking in their direction, clearly feeling suspicious of them. If it continued like that, things could get bad and go South real fast.
"Tash, I think we need to hurry."Planeptune's CPU said.
"Alright, let's wait faster, then."Tashima replied."You think I'm not starting to get irritated by all this? I also want them to finally come here."
"Maybe they were caught?"Blanc asked.
He shook his head.
"If yes, then we would have enemy security services on our asses right about…already."corporal stated.
"I guess you're right."Noire sighed.
"Is there a free seat?"
All five pairs of eyes quickly turned around to see a man, dressed in a standard clothes typical for the moon's climate, so slightly warmer, but not super warm. He stood there, next to their table, looking at them.
"Where did he come from?"Noire asked.
"I see you didn't get bored by waiting for me."the man said, sitting between Tashima and Neptune.
"So you are our contact?"Vert whispered.
"Yes."Man nodded."Jon Letry. One of only few operators of our cell in the system."
"What took you so long?"Tashima asked.
"Long? I'm actually on time. Before time, even."Jon replied. He looked at the four goddesses."And I see you weren't lying."He brought his voice to a whisper only they could hear."You actually busted them out of prison."
"Yeah, and they've been a great help since."
Jon nodded and looked at the goddesses.
"I's great to see you back."he said.
"Well, the feeling is mutual."Neptune said.
"Let's get straight down to business. You want to meet with a representative of Veterans Alliance?"Jon asked.
The five nodded.
"Done."
A moment of silence.
"What done?"Blanc asked.
"The meeting is scheduled. We will meet with MY contact in the VA in my apartment."Jon replied.
Goddesses and Tashima looked at each other.
"That was quick."Tashima stated.
"What? You thought I pull information out of my ass?"contact asked."I have my own contacts. So when HQ called and told me to somehow arrange a meeting with VA representative, I called my contact in the Alliance and BOOM! All done."
"You're better than expected."
Jon simply smiled with a typical womanizer smile.
"I can easily get to people."he giggled.
He stood up.
"Alright, let's go to my place. The meeting is scheduled in two hours."
"Right behind you."Tashima said.
With that, goddesses and Marine stood up and followed the man out of the restaurant. Jon quickly looked around to make sure there was no danger and they quickly went after him in the direction of his apartment.
Twenty meters away…
Hidden behind a turn, just enough to not seem suspicious, but at the same time enough to observe the street, stood an SUV. And inside that SUV, sat two robots, observing everything that was happening.
"They left the restaurant."one of the robots said in his comms.
"Do you see where they're going?"Astrel asked on the other side.
"Yes, sir."second robot replied.
In the Administration Building, Astrel nodded.
"Keep a close eye on them. Follow them, but as covertly as possible."he ordered."Capturing them is very important for lord Affimojas."
"You know us, boss. We never fail."
"Exactly, efficiency is our second name."
They did a high five.
"The hunt for Maskovitz?"Astrel asked.
The high five stopped before it ended.
"Elimination of VA terrorist cells?"
Both robots put their hands down.
"Lord Affimojas' birthday last year?"
"That wasn't our fault!"
"Yeah, the baker didn't do a great job!"
"But you dropped the cake."
The two had nothing else to say.
"The only reason"Astrel continued"why I sent you there is because we're understaffed for now. If I could, I would simply send a coffee machine. Even it could do better job than you! But now, if you want to get your paycheck, go and fucking do your job, morons! And when you track down their hideout, you have to call the Security Force, no playing heroes! Is that clear?"
"Clear."they both replied.
"Good. Astrel out."He disconnected.
One of the robots scoffed.
"Boor."he said.
"But he's our boss."the second one said."And he's actually kinda right…"
"Just follow them."
"On it."
The robot turned the engine on and soon, the car was trailing goddesses, Tashima and Jon, trying to act as normal as possible.
February 10
20:20
Jon's apartment
"Sorry for the mess, guys."Jon said, closing the door."Been kind of busy lately."
"Yeah, we can tell…"Noire said.
All around, they could see clothes, boxes after food and some other stuff thrown around on the floor. Sink in the kitchen was full of plates and bowls and other utensils. Wardrobes were open, as well as the cupboards. Door to the bathroom were open, too, showing a shower with barely hanging curtain.
As goddesses and Tashima took it in, Jon took off his jacket and put it on a hanger.
"Now that's a pigsty, if I ever seen one."Neptune said."And I saw many."
"As I said, busy lately."Jon said, going to the living room.
The five followed. There, Jon laid down on the sofa and took the TV remote.
"Busy with what?"Tashima asked, as Jon turned on the TV and picked a channel with some show on it.
"With work."Jon replied."Being your contact on the moon doesn't really help me with paying rent…"
"Not my fault."Corporal lifted his hands in defensive gesture.
"Anyway, find yourself some places to sit. The VA contact I told you about should be here in about half an hour."
"Thanks…"Blanc said.
The five quickly found themselves some places to sit on, be it chairs, piles of clothes (which were, surprisingly, not as dirty as they thought) or some boxes, and settled in. They decided to watch the show Jon was watching.
On the screen, the five could see soldiers in Imperial uniforms fighting someone. Or rather, something. At one point, the camera moved to show a giant, insect-like creature charging through the battlefield, ramming a tank and throwing it in the air, after which the vehicle fell, crushing some soldiers.
"What even is this?"Noire asked.
"Some Imperial show they started producing not a few months ago."Jon replied."Nothing but some propaganda and action. Still, pretty enjoyable to watch."
"Especially when you like seeing Imps being squashed."Neptune said.
Contact nodded.
"My words exactly."
They then proceeded to sit and watch the episode as it went. In it, they could see more fighting between Imperial soldiers and the bug aliens. As the episode progressed, situation of the Imperial became more and more dire, with losses mounting on their side, while bugs constantly pushed forward, ultimately storming the center of the capital city of the planet they were on. At the end, they were ordered to evacuate from the planet and the episode ended with Imperials leaving the planet and dropping nukes on it, completely rendering it uninhabitable.
"That was an explosive ending."Vert stated.
"Yeah, didn't see that one coming."Neptune agreed.
Jon looked at his watch.
"Didn't you say the VA contact of yours was supposed to be here within half an hour? Because they're fifteen minutes late."Tashima said.
"Yeah, they should be here."Jon replied."What in the…"
Someone knocked at the door. All heads quickly turned in that direction and Jon jumped off of his sofa. He ran out of the room and unlocked the door.
"Oh, you're here!"he said.
"Sorry for being late."a female voice said."Traffic is terrible today."
"Completely understandable."
"Are they here?"
"Waiting for the past forty five minutes."
Steps were heard and soon, Jon stood in the room, accompanied by a young woman.
"Guys, this is…"Jon started.
But before he could end, Tashima stood up, his eyes wide.
"Yuko?!"he exclaimed.
"Shinzo?!"the woman exclaimed back.
Before anyone could say anything, the two of them ran up to each other and embraced.
"I can't believe it!"Tashima said.
"Me too! It's been three years!"Yuko said, smiling.
The two of them laughed and continued hugging.
"Uhhh, hey? We're here?"Neptune said.
Tashima looked back at the goddesses and saw them looking at this with awkward looks. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he cleared his throat.
"Sorry. Allow me to introduce."he said."Yuko Tashima. My younger sister."
Yuko bowed.
"Alright, I didn't see that one coming."Jon said."You didn't tell me you were his sister."
"Honestly, I didn't see it as important."Yuko replied."Shinzo went missing not long after The Day. And because we couldn't search for him, we had to focus on something else. No offense?"
Tashima shook his head.
"None taken, sis."he said."I'm just surprised. You're our contact with the Veterans Alliance?"
"Yes."She nodded."To give a bit of context, I signed up with a resistance group belonging to the VA. Soon, I became their main contact on the moon. I'm basically the go-to person when you want to contact the Alliance."
Neptune whistled.
"You go girl."she smiled.
Yuko looked at her and the other three goddesses in disguise. They all stood up and lined up before her.
"And you are…?"she asked.
"The people that might help us end the Imperial occupation."Tashima said."Meet…the goddesses Noire, Neptune, Blanc and Vert."
Yuko looked at her brother, wide-eyed, then back at the goddesses.
"Goddesses…?"she asked.
"Yes."Neptune said, materializing her katana in her hand."Through and through."
"But…how…?"
"The group I'm part of managed to locate the place they were held and sent a team there. We broke them out and since then, we've been working on plans to overthrow the Imps."Tashima explained.
"You certainly look different…"Yuko said, tilting her head.
"We couldn't just go around looking like we always do."Blanc said."If we wanted to get caught again, we could as well scream from the top of the tallest building on the moon."
Girl nodded.
"I understand…But now that you're here…This might change everything!"she exclaimed."I must inform the General!"
"That would be good, because we hoped to meet him."Vert said, nodding.
"I'm sure he would be willing to meet with you. It's probably the best thing that happened to us since all of this started!"
"Uh, guys…?"Jon said.
As the talk continued, he came up to grab the TV remote and check other channels. Hearing his words, everyone turned around. There was a news broadcast on the TV. The headline was saying: 'TERRORISTS FOUND IN NEW LASTATION'.
The building shown on the news was clearly the building they were in. It was surrounded by police vehicles, as well as military ones.
"How come we didn't hear that?"Neptune asked.
"Soundproof windows and walls."Jon explained."I like to have at least a bit of peace, so I installed these."
"Turn it up."Noire said.
Jon did just that and everyone could hear the voice of a human reporter saying:
"Shocking news have reached us. According to our source within the Administration Building, a terrorist cell, probably belonging to terrorist organization known as the Veterans Alliance, was located at 47th Avenue Park. In the building you see behind me, hide a group dangerous and armed people."
Right then, the camera shifted to show a purple-clad robot standing next to the reported.
"I'm here with Commandant Steamax, commander of the Machine Union Security Force."the reporter said, as the name plate appeared on the screen."Commandant, please tell us, do you know, how many terrorists hide in the building?"
Robot, much to everyone's surprise, seemed a bit tense and nervous, but spoke nonetheless.
"A-According to our inform…information, there-re are at least s-six terrorists."he said, trying to keep his composure, but didn't do the best job.
"Who made him the commander of the such a force?"Blanc asked."He doesn't seem fit for the job."
"That's your concern?"Vert asked.
"Are they armed?"reported continued asking.
"We as-assume that y-yes."Steamax replied."T-This is why w-we're here. Normal police couldn't d-deal with them by them-themselves."
Woman nodded.
"Are you going to negotiate?"
"N-No."Steamax replied, still nervously, but with a note of sternness."We do not negotiate with terrorists. But, we will still give t-them a chance to su-surrender."
"Isn't that a negotiation?"
"No. There will be n-no terms. E-Either they surrender or…or we eliminate them with extreme prejudice."
Reporter nodded and again turned to camera.
"As you can see, citizens, authorities have everything under control."she said."You can rest peacefully, knowing that Aristian Empire and Machine Union have everything under control."
"Now that's bullshit."Blanc spat out.
"You heard how much that whole Commandant was stuttering?"Neptune asked."Due must really be stressed when he talks to women."
"Maybe he simply got some short circuit?"Noire guessed.
"That's not important right now."Jon said.
He approached the wardrobe that was built into the wall of the living room and opened the door. Next, he started throwing various pieces of clothing out.
"I don't think that fashion is one of our concerns now."Tashima said.
"It isn't."contact confirmed.
When all clothes were out, he started kicking the back wall of the wardrobe. Much to everyone's surprise, it gave up very easily. Their surprise only deepened, when behind the torn down wall, they saw a weapons rack with several assault riffles and handguns. There were also several boxes of ammo. Jon grabbed a riffle and loaded a fresh magazine into it. Next, he looked at the surprised others.
"What?"he asked."I've been preparing for such an opportunity."
"You motherfu…"Tashima said, but was stopped by a voice from the TV.
It was Commandant Steamax, holding a megaphone and speaking into it.
"Terrorists of the Veterans Alliance!"he exclaimed."This is Commandant Steamax of Machine Union's Security Force! You are to surrender immediately! In case of hostilities from your side, we will not hesitate to open fire! You have five minutes to respond!"
Jon reached into his pocked.
"Here, have these."he said, pulling a bunch of keys.
"What are they for?"Vert asked.
"Emergency stairs and my car, standing in the garage behind the building."contact explained, approaching the window."I'll buy you some time. You, in the meantime, get the hell out of here."
"But wait, what about…?"Tashima started.
"…me?"Jon finished."I'm not important. The most important thing is to get the goddesses out of here ASAP. Now go! And take some weapons and ammo!"
Tashima nodded, approaching the weapons rack. He grabbed a riffle and several spare mags. He was surprised to see Yuko also take a weapon, a handgun, as well as ammo.
"You can use it?"Tashima asked.
"I didn't sit idly in the VA."she replied, loading the first mag."Also, some government-supported courses."
"This is my little sis."corporal said, smiling.
His sister smiled back. Next, the six of them, goddesses included, quickly went to the door leading out of the apartment.
Down on the street, Steamax looked up towards the building, waiting for any reaction from the terrorists. His fingers were tightly shut around the hilt of his sword. Truth be told, he was stressed. It was first such a responsible action in his career. Actually, he never even wanted this job, but Lord Affimojas said, that he needed his most loyal supporter to take care of this, just to make sure there would be no open revolt against him. Steamax, being said most loyal supporter, ever since Affimojas took him in, agreed.
One of the human police officers approached.
"Five minutes?"he asked.
"I decided that it's the optimal time."Steamax replied.
"I guess that checks out. But how can you be sure that they will agree to come out?"
Steamax shrugged.
"I can't."he stated."This is why…"
Before he could finish, one of the windows on the upper floor was shattered when a spray of bullets flew out of the building, hitting the ground beside Steamax and the officer.
"Crap!"Steamax exclaimed, jumping behind an armored vehicle with the officer."Return fire, now!"he ordered.
Without waiting, numerous barrels were directed at the apartment and opened fire. Autocannons on the vehicles, riffles and handguns, all opened at the same time, showering the building with a rain of steel and lead. Steamax observed all of this and knew that if anyone could survive this wave of fire, then it could only be someone who invested in some body or frame upgrades. Normal humans were simply not strong enough.
After nearly two minutes of constant firing, Steamax came out of his hiding and lifted his hand up, showing everyone to cease fire.
"Get me a squad, we'll go investigate. And send someone to secure the area inside and around the building."he ordered.
"Yes, sir!"officers and soldiers replied.
At the same time, in the building, goddesses and the Tashima siblings were making their way down the emergency stairs towards the garage under the building. But even from here, they were able to hear the cannonade above.
They all looked at each other.
"Let's go."Tashima stated."We can't help him now."
With aching heart, they had to agree and followed him.
After few more minutes, they reached the door leading into the underground hangar. Tashima was first to enter and quickly swept the area with his riffle. There were numerous cars waiting there, but except that, nothing seemed out of place. He waved at the girls to follow him. They quickly complied. CPUs additionally summoned their weapons, just to make sure.
"Okay, which one is it?"Neptune asked.
Tashima pulled out the keys given to him by Jon and started pressing the button. He directed it towards several cars, but not responded. And right as he started losing hope, a beep came from a mini-van standing near the corner of the garage. Seeing this, they quickly ran towards it.
"I drive."Tashima said.
"Sure thing, Tash."Neptune said."None of us can drive anyway."
Yuko frowned.
"Really?"she asked.
"Yeah."Noire said, already strapping in."We don't have much time to learn how to drive."
"Directing nations and such takes a lot of time."Vert added.
"And I simply don't want to drive."Blanc admitted."It's too frustrating."
"Fair enough."Tashima's sister said.
All of them got into the vehicle, while Tashima plugged the key into the ignition and turned it. Soon, the mini-van was driving towards the exit from the garage. There, they saw a barrier blocking their way. However, instead of stopping and paying, Tashima simply rammed through it, not paying attention to such details.
The vehicle quickly left the garage. But then, a new problem appeared.
A black SUV suddenly came around the corner and stopped in front of them, blocking their way. It's doors opened, allowing two robots to come out.
"This is officer Geron and officer Dastra!"one of them said.
"And you have just been busted!"the other added.
Next, they gave each other high-five.
"Are they serious?"Blanc asked.
"There is no time for this."Neptune stated."Blanc, let's go."
Lowee's goddess didn't need to be told twice, she already knew what Neptune meant. They summoned their weapons. Next, they opened the doors and stepped out of the vehicles, approaching the two robots aiming at them.
"I see that at least some came to their senses."Geron said.
"Sure did."Dastra said."Now, you will lay down your arms and…"
There was a flash of purple and white light. One robot fell on the ground, cut in half, while other had his head smashed.
Neptune and Blanc dismissed their weapons and quickly returned to the mini-van.
"Move!"Blanc said.
Tashima didn't need to be told twice. He stepped on it and before long, vehicle ran over the bodies of two robots and rammed their SUV, pushing it out of the way. This allowed them to quickly get on the street and go towards the spaceport.
"Now probably every security service in the city will be searching for us."Tashima said."So it won't be easy to get on the ship."
"Still we have to try."Yuko stated.
"True that."
As the six of them was making their way towards the ship, back at Jon's place, the door was blown out of it's hinges. Soon after, Steamax and a group of five anti-terrorists and soldiers ran inside, quickly scanning the whole area. Most of the rooms were empty. It was the living room, where they found him.
He was sitting with his back against the wall, one arm holding his side. He was covered in blood and bruises. Next to him laid a broken assault riffle and one of his hands was behind his back. Soldiers aimed their weapons at him.
Steamax stepped in front of them and knelt in front of Jon.
"Where are they?"he asked.
Jon only smiled with his bloodied lips.
"Screw you."he said.
In response, Steamax grabbed him by the neck. Smile didn't disappear from Jon's face.
"I'm asking, where are the CPUs?"
"In heaven."
"Don't play games with me."Steamax growled."Lord Affimojas wants them. And they are danger to both the MU and Empire."
"Oh, did you get scared of some four goddesses?"Jon laughed."Well, then you can kiss my ass."
"Listen! Either you tell when where they are, or I will make sure you will suffer before death as much as possible!"
"Let me help you with that."
Steamax tilted his head in confusion. But everything was answered, when Jon pulled out the hand from behind his back and showed…a grenade and pulled out cotter. If robots could widen their eyes, Steamax would.
"Step back!"he exclaimed, jolting away from Jon.
Soldiers and anti-terrorists quickly ran out of the room and Steamax after them, while Jon let the grenade fall on the floor. Everyone quickly ran to the kitchen, where after a few seconds, they heard the explosion in the living room.
Steamax decided to take a quick peek at what was there now and quickly retreated, seeing what was left of the man.
"Clear this mess."he ordered.
Soldiers and policemen nodded and quickly went to work.
Right then, his hug showed that one of his soldiers was connecting to him.
"Commandant Steamax?"he said.
"What is it?"
"We've found officers Geron and Dastra."
These were the two intelligence officers tasked with following the CPUs and reported where they were. Then, they were left on standby and had to react if something was happening.
"What about them?"Steamax asked.
"They're dead."
That was unexpected.
"How?"he asked again.
"One got cut in half, other smashed."came the answer."And something rammed their car out of the way. But there is a front bumper left…"
Sudden idea appeared in Steamax's robotic mind.
"Officer?"he said.
"Yes?"
"Tell the surveillance to search for signs of a car without frontal bumper."
February 11
01:32
Spaceport
Originally, Tashima wanted to go to the spaceport immediately. However, after a debate with Yuko, he agreed to stop and hide for a bit. After a few more hours, they quickly made their way towards the spaceport. But instead of going through the main gate, VA's contact showed them to go through the other side, where various vehicles, from vans to trucks, were entering.
As they neared the guards' booth, everyone was on edge. They really didn't want to make a fuss. Spaceport was open and operating 24/7, so there was a chance if they started shooting or slashing, there would be someone who would take notice.
Fortunately for them, Yuko already had a story prepared. Once they approached the back gate, she quickly got to talking. She sold the guards a story, that they were a repair team called in by one of the ships, because they heard they were good at their job. When asked about the missing bumper, she said that it was an old case which her stupid brother constantly forgets to solve. And when asked about any lack of advertisement on the vehicle, she said, that their company doesn't like to boast.
Guards seemed to buy it and soon, they were driving through the spaceport, among various landing or taking off ships. They already informed their men aboard Beacon of Hope and the crew was getting the ship ready to take off.
"That was easier than expected."Neptune said.
"Please don't say that."Noire said."Anytime anyone says that, something wrong happens."
"She's not wrong."Blanc said."You should limit your remarks like these."
"Pff, whatever."CPU of Planeptune replied, crossing her arms.
Tashima pointed something to Yuko.
"That's our ship."he said.
"A Gozanti?"his sister asked."How did you get it?"
"We boarded it and stole it. There is even the corvette I served on hidden inside."
Her eyes widened.
"You're lucky nobody checked your cargo."
"Indeed we are."
"Okay, so once we're aboard, I will contact the General."Yuko stated."I'm sure he will agree for a meeting."
"Tell him that the fate of the whole system depends on it."Tashima advised.
"I will."
Mini-van approached the ship and came to a stop right near it. The gangplank was already lowered and a group of armed sailors was already waiting there. They watched the mini-van approach with their weapons at ready, but when the vehicle stopped and they saw who came out of it, they relaxed.
"I see you're alive."one of the sailors said.
"Yeah, although it was close."Tashima replied."But we managed to make a contact with the VA."He pointed at Yuko.
Sailor looked at her and nodded.
"Glad to know the whole ordeal wasn't for nothing."he said."We…"
"Incoming!"another sailor exclaimed.
Sailors lifted their weapons and aimed them in the direction pointed by the previous one. Goddesses and Tashima siblings turned and looked in that direction, too. There, they saw a column of three black SUVs and one APC approaching them.
"Shit, how did they find us?!"Noire exclaimed, allowing herself for less appropriate wording.
"I guess that driving around with a torn off front bumper was a bad idea."Blanc said.
"I guess you're right."Vert agreed.
"What do we do?"Yuko asked.
Tashima didn't think long:
"We're not giving ourselves to them easily."
Goddesses nodded their heads and quickly summoned their weapons, as SUVs and APC continued to approach them.
Blanc was the first to act. She grabbed her hammer with both her hands and slammed it into the ground, sending a shockwave towards the approaching column. Said shockwave made the distance to the vehicles and once it hit, all of their tires exploded. Vehicles skidded forward a bit, leaving behind sparks from their wheels. Finally, they stopped.
Doors of the SUVs opened and robots started coming out. Soldiers also started leaving the APC and preparing to open fire. However, sailors and Tashima were first to open fire and wave of bullets flew towards the approaching soldiers and robots. Some of them were hit and fell, some dead and some injured. Imperials quickly started gathering the dead and wounded and pulling them behind the APC for cover.
Said APC turned it's turret towards the group, when suddenly, it was pierced by a green spire of energy. Vert smiled, seeing how the turret was torn off from it's place and flew back a few meters.
"Good that we have enough Share Energy for this."she said.
"But we still have to be careful."Noire said."We can't use it all up, or regenerating it will take a while."
Robots, as it turned out, were mostly armed with melee weapons. They were fast and nimble and started evading the fire, even though some of them have fallen, while a small number stayed in the back and fired with the soldiers.
One of the melee robots got close enough and was ready to take a swing at one of the sailors, but Neptune blocked him. She then kicked another robot with force strong enough to break it's leg, while one of sailors finished him off. She then pushed the robot she was blocking back and hit him with a series of strikes he parried. Robot was backing off, but at one point, he stuck his feet in the ground and stopped retreating.
Finally, Neptune noticed his purple armor color and smirked, as she recognized him.
"Commandant Steamax, I presume?"she asked through the sound of weapons around them.
"Y-Yes."Steamax replied."By the order o-of Lord Affimojas…you…you are to be a-a-arrested."
Neptune pouted.
"Man, how did you come so far with this stuttering of yours?"
"I'm Lord Affimojas' t-t-trusted liu-liutenant."
"Sounds about right."
She then kicked him in his metallic stomach and pushed him back again. He staggered backwards, but still managed to parry her attack when she went to offensive once more.
While Neptune dueled Sreamax, others were still hard at work. Sailors and Tashima siblings still fired at the soldiers and long-range robots, pinning them down and slowly started falling back onto the ship. Vert, Noire and Blanc also were fighting the melee robots and finishing them off one by one. Machines had numerical advantage, but goddesses, for now, were able to hold them at bay.
"We're certainly popular."Vert stated, impaling another robot on her spear."But I guess it should be expected."
"If you want to use this situation to boast about how popular you are"Blanc said, swinging an upper cut with her hammer, tearing another robot's head off"then shut it and focus on fighting!"
Vert scoffed.
"I'd never do that."she stated.
Even among the chaos of the fight, other goddesses were able to send her a glance that explained what they thought about it.
"Let's just finish this."Vert stated.
"Agreed."Neptune said.
Right then, she deflected Steamax's strike and before he realized what was happening, she elbowed him in his metallic face. Next, she cut his hand, easily detaching it from his arm and ridding him of his weapon.
"Whoa!"he exclaimed.
"Sorry for this."Planeptune's CPU said."Or not."
She hit him in the face with the bottom of her hilt. He fell backwards, but she grabbed him and now, started dragging him towards the ship. He tried to get out of her grasp, but her strength surprised him.
"W-What a-a-are you…?"he asked.
"We're taking you on a trip."she stated.
Around, Noire, Blanc and Vert were already finishing off the remaining robots. Sailors still continued to fire, pinning down the remaining soldiers and long-range robots. This allowed the goddesses to also fall back towards the ship.
And at this moment, the hauler's PDCs came to life, with deafening roar. Two of them, placed on the sides of the ship, spewed fire, which immediately demolished the SUVs and forced the remaining soldiers to flee. APC was also hit, with bullets ripping through the lightly armored vehicle and killing the crew and wounded soldiers hidden inside.
"Well, that was explosive."Neptune stated."Put him somewhere, where he won't make trouble."she added, giving Steamax to some sailors, which quickly rushed inside with him.
Others followed and soon, the gangplank started lifting, just like the ship. Engines were turned on and machine started slowly ascending towards the atmosphere, setting itself in the vertical position for the atmospheric flight.
"It's gonna get bumpy!"Matty said on the PA.
Main engines were lit up, incinerating what was behind them, as giant vessel started burning into the night sky, leaving behind a pile of smoke. When it left, only thing it left behind was charred ground and melted vehicles and bodies.
The ship continued to climb and climb, passing by some other ships, which were either doing the same or coming to landing. Their crews were both surprised and shocked to see the cargo hauler going full out on it's main drive instead of VTOL engines. There were even some close calls, with ships barely going out of the way for the vessel.
"Sir!"the radar operator on Beacon's bridge said.
"What is it?"Matty asked,
"Detecting a destroyer class vessel in front of us!"he replied."They are trying to block our way!"
"They were fast."captain thought.
"What do we do?"
Matty didn't think long.
"Continue on this path, full speed ahead!"he ordered.
"Aye, aye, captain!"main engineer replied.
Aboard the Imperial destroyer, crew and the captain observed the cargo hauler approaching on the radar and through the bridge's windows.
"Are they slowing down?"captain asked.
"No, sir!"radar operator replied."Quite the contrary! They are picking up speed!"
He then realized.
"They are going to ram us!"
Captain, upon hearing this, widened his eyes in shock. He didn't see it coming. He quickly turned to the weapons operator.
"Open fire!"he ordered.
Missile tubes of the destroyer immediately came to life, but so did the PDCs of the cargo hauler. They immediately went to work, taking out missile after missile. Even though the crew of the ship didn't have a lot of experience in actual combat, they managed to integrate the turrets with the ship spectacularly and now, missiles were being destroyed one by one, led by the targeting computer, leaving behind tracers of laser fire. Soon, all missiles were eliminated and the destroyer was no open.
"Shiiiiiiiit!"the captain exclaimed.
"Get ready, it's gonna get bumpy!"Matty exclaimed in the PA."Hang on!"
Hauler slammed into the destroyer at full speed. The speed and mass combined, even the well armored warship was unable to withstand the meeting. It gracefully broke in two, it's wreck pushed aside by the Beacon. Cargo hauler sped away from the moon, leaving behind death, destroyed vessel and hundreds of astonished, amazed and terrified people.
Soon, it departed the moon's vicinity, managing to leave behind the crew of another patrolling destroyer, which was too shocked to act.
Later…
When all danger was deemed gone, goddesses, Tashima and Yuko made their way to the bridge. There, Matty stepped off of his captain's chair and looked at them, smiling.
"What can I say?"he started."That was fun."
"Not for everyone…"Noire said, tying her hair.
Goddesses already got rid of their disguises and were again looking like before.
"Oh, come on. Getting rid of some bad guys is always fun."Neptune said, smiling brightly.
"I swear, sometimes you scare me."Lastation's CPU stated.
Matty then looked at Yuko.
"Let me guess. VA contact?"he asked.
"Indeed."Yuko replied, extending her hand."Yuko Tashima, pleased to meet you."
Captain shook her hand and looked at the corporal.
"She's my sister."Tashima replied.
"Well, seems like resistance fighting is a family business now, haha."Matty stated.
"Indeed."Yuko smiled."Now, I already contacted the main leadership of the Veterans Alliance. They agreed to meet with you."
One, giant, shared sigh of relief filled the room.
"Phew."Planeptune's CPU said."We already started thinking there will be none of that."
"At the start, they didn't want to agree. But when I told them that there are goddesses involved, they stated that they have to see with their own eyes to believe this."
Everyone nodded.
"Good for us. Now, do you know, where their main HQ is?"Tashima asked.
"Of course."Yuko said, already approaching the navigational console."In my line of job, I do know the current coordinates. Excuse me…"
Navigator nodded and moved aside, allowing Yuko to write the coordinates into the console. When she ended, the navigator looked at them and whistled.
"According to these coordinates"she started"the VA's HQ is on the other side of Sonius currently. Hidden in the asteroid belt."
"Exactly. They were supposed to move soon, but due to the fact they have to meet you, they agreed to stay and wait a little longer."VA's contact explained.
"How considerate."Blanc stated.
"Oh, don't be so grumpy."Vert said."If we manage to secure the support of the Veterans Alliance, we'll have the strongest resistance group when it comes to military power on our side. Did I get it right?"She turned to Yuko.
Tashima's sister nodded.
"You did."VA's contact replied.
"Alright, now, that we have the coordinates, full speed ahead!"Matty ordered.
"Aye, aye, captain!"the main engineer said.
"After this mission, we must hunker down for a bit."Tashima stated."News of what happened on Everques will surely reach Gamindustri sooner or later."
"Agreed on that."captain nodded."But for now, let us finish the mission."
And with that, the ship started making it's way towards the meeting point.
At the same time…
New Lastation, Spaceport
Affimojas stood on the charred ground. In this place, just several hours ago, stood the ship on which the goddesses came. There were also the burned wrecks of what used to be several SUVs and APC. All around him, soldiers and police officers were securing the area and gathering what was left of the team sent to apprehend the escapees. This certainly would hit his pocket hard…
He shuddered at the very thought.
"My Lord."One of the officers said, approaching him.
"What is it?"Affimojas asked, not even looking at him.
"We have confirmed that the enemy ship left the vicinity of the planet."
Machine leader growled, annoyed.
"That, I know."he said."Tell me something new."
"Well, uhh…Survivors from the apprehension team said, that Commandant Steamax was taken prisoner by the enemy."
"That would explain why he isn't here or why didn't he report back."Affimojas thought.
Then, a thought appeared in his mechanical mind. But before he could do anything with it, an incoming call appeared on his HUD.
Keya was calling. It seemed, that Gamindustri already knew about everything.
"Of course they did…"he thought and accepted the call."My Empress! Is something the matter?"
"You're an idiot."she said.
"Wait, why starting with the unpleasant talk? How about we…"
"No."Empress stated firmly."You had goddesses right under your noses. You had whatever we could afford to send to you. You could easily catch them. And it seems that it wasn't enough and now you have dead robots and one destroyed destroyer. How will you explain this?"
Affimojas thought for a moment. And he decided to simply go with what came up in his mind.
"We still can catch them."he stated.
"Are you really asking for a visit from Tacoma? After all, she's your de-facto sovereign. And it so happens, that she's on her way."
"That's great! Because she will make it easier for us."
"Are you playing dumb, Affimojas?"
"No, how could I. It's just…they kidnapped by right-hand man…"
"What does it have in common?"
"The fact, that I can always check where he is, whenever I want."
"Wherever he is?"
"Yes."
There was a moment of silence as she considered what he had told her.
"Go on."Keya finally answered.
"Oh, I will."Affimojas stated, as on his HUD, he saw a map of the system, with Steamax's exact location on it.
XXX
This is where we're gonna end for today. As always, leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!
Goodbye!