The Fateless One (Gear)

December 30, 2880
11:37 a.m.
Antilia Colony, Jupiter


In a hangar somewhere within the massive colony, the remains of what was once the Neith Kai was set hanging from an Orbital Frame docking port, most of its body ripped to shreds by the Metatron induced explosion from the League’s failed attempt at war in Jovian space. Seeing as they had already gained much from the Neith in the past, there was little need to extract the weapon data of the modified Orbital Frame. There was something that did interest BAHRAM however, more specifically Mons. He was partaking in more of his twisted experiments under his partner’s nose. But what could he do with a broken and battered piece of machinery. The answer? To harvest from it the very essence of the one who inhabited it days before.

“Status report. I want us to be ready by Hellas’ late arrival.” Mons barked as he oversaw the process, watching as the machinery in the lab was hooked up to the sundered Frame’s cockpit. While most of his experiments were important, this one was more of a curiousity since they had the opportunity. Rarely does he find any candidate suitable enough for such a task, but Neith? Lovely Neith had all he could ever ask for and more, though he can do without the unprivileged roach that once sat in its seat. “We will be ready in but a few moments.” One of the masked scientists replied, their body fully covered by a white closed off suit, accompanied by a green glowing gas mask. “Good… I want him to see this.”

Suddenly as if on que, the door behind the mad scientist opened, bearing his sickly friend into the room with his cheerful escort. “Mons! What are you doing this time?“ Hellas walked towards his “friend”, with Happy there to assist him. “Ah, there you are my friend. I was wondering how long it would be before you caught wind of my exploits this time, but it seems that this time you’ve caught me in the act. Though you need not worry, I made sure not to harm your… little pet.” Happy gave Mons a slightly uncharacteristic glare of anger, he planned for this. She never did like it when he hid things from her and Hellas. “She’s much more than a pet, father number 2. I know that much.“

“Was she not enough for you? Now you need to play god once more!?” Mons let out a dry chuckle towards Hellas’ remarks on the situation. “Oh my friend… at the very least I won’t burn the candle of their life, for it has already gone out. If anything, you can have your vermin infested dog back if you like or would you rather they remain naught more than malformed space debris. Besides, you wished for her to be free of the shackles that kept her from purpose did you not?” Even Hellas cannot deny this… second chance that Mons proposed. He preferred if he can let them rest in peace, but if this failed, it will be nothing more than a failed experiment. But if she can be brought back, he can right some of his wrongs. Possibly give BAHRAM it’s saving hope. So he remained silent, his face still with a stern expression. “A wise decision my friend.”

Mons walked towards the console in front of his as he pressed a button to initiate his little attempt at necromancy. The covered cockpit of the Neith Kai glowed with green, its blue green veins brimming with energy, all of it traveling towards a humanoid figure inside of the machine.

At first, there was nothing.

No reaction.

Not even a spark of life to indicate the husk before him was anything but scrap metal.

But, right as it seemed he was too late-

A pulse of light quivered through the Neith's frame. Bolts of energy crackled from one shattered chip of the machine to another. Slowly but surely, the veins across the surface of the machine lit up.

There was no movement. Not yet, at least. But there was, almost imperceptibly, the gentle fluttering of a pale eyelid, as the figure stirred.

Perhaps that too, would take time. The science of Metatron was, after all, far from established.

Regardless, Mons' observation and period of self-congratulation would both be short lived.

Somewhere within the Colony - somewhere close - there was a distant boom... and the room shuddered, cracks of dust and metal raining down on his shoulders.

Almost immediately, the alarms would begin to blare, and the man's attention would be focused elsewhere, as a new threat emerged.

Intruders.

“Yes… YES! IT’S ALIVE! That vermin bitch, or at least part of her… Oh what an amazing asset you have gifted our cause, my lords!“

Mons raised his hands high above his head, praising the gift of holy Metatron. A sublime substance, the one whose miracles he served to propagate. Oh how ecstatic he felt, he would jump for joy were he not beginning to become so elderly in his 50s. Though that air of singular celebration soon ended as the delayed sound of an explosion rumbled the foundations of the building they were in, causing Mons’ expression to sour greatly as his hands dropped back down to his sides like deadweights.

“And what now… don’t tell me those flies playing hero have come to claim the wreckage for themselves. Oh how little they understand.”

Hellas recoiled slightly as the explosion rocked the building, so too did Happy. Though it seemed many of the scientists reacted, simply continuing to monitor the now slumbering body inside of Neith’s cockpit. Mons then turned to his “friend” once again.

“Well, are you simply going to stand there, Hellas? It’s still a threat to us, is it not? Who or whatever it is, you should be scrambling our defenses, shouldn’t you? Perhaps, finally take Anubis to its proper place on the battlefield?” Hellas simply shook his head, he refused. Not after what he saw when he stepped into that thing. The horrific vision it had in mind for humanity. “Only as a last resort. For now, Tyrant and our usual defenses will have to serve.” Hellas then turned to Happy, nodding at her, a signal to prepare for whatever it was. With that, she returned the gesture with a nod of her own, before running out of the room with a determined look on her face. ”I won’t let you down this time.”

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

At the location of the explosion, a squad of about 10 autonomous Raptors, 5 Mummyheads, and 5 Cyclopses gathered at the location. Each Raptor unit seemed to have additional beam cannons attached to its vertebrae-like sections, more heavily armed then the usual Raptors sent on deployments.

At the head of them, a Alterneith command unit manned by an officer. Ready to order all the units when to attack the enemy. They could not risk any form of damage to the rest of the colony. Thankfully, reinforcements would arrive soon in under a minute’s time. Whatever was coming through wouldn’t last long.

”Hold for my signal…” The commander said, waiting for the enemies to come out into the open.

They didn't have long to wait.

Small bursts in the distance, on the opposite side of the Colony. Miniscule as they appeared, each represented a hole being punched in the island's exterior, almost a dozen in number. Each formed a tiny plume of flame, shooting down like a star, crashing in perfect formation before the Alterneith in a cloud of smoke.

"This... place."

The form at the head of the group rose to its feet. Barely taller than a man, yet clad in an ornate silver and gold armor unlike anything they had seen before. At first glance, it could have been mistaken for a Tekkaman, but...



"Do you feel it, my brethren...?"

The ten forms behind it partially rose. Some remain hunched over, and as the smoke cleared, the cracks and rivulents on their armor were apparent. Wounded, it seemed - but their leader was unperturbed.

He spread his arms wide, raising them. Drinking in the majesty of the divine. Fate had guided them there. The Getter Rays would not abandon them. He seemed oblivious, even, to the Orbital Frames behind him, even as his men gave them weary glances.

"It is one with the cosmic pulse...! Yes! This... is a temple."

The Colony exterior rumbled treacherously once again. There was something else on the approach, now appearing on sensors - from nowhere, as if it had just blinked into existence in their vicinity. Something big, easily the size of a warship from its heat signature alone...

And closing.

---

Neutral Unit:
Head Detonator Lang
10x Evoluder

As the 11 armored men landed before the Alterneith, it quickly raised one of its arms, aiming its weapon should they begin to pose an immediate threat. As the dust settled, it realized what they were. As what seemed to be their leader began to look about as if it had finally made a pilgrimage to a holy site, the Alterneith slowly lowered its arm.

“What? These things? The same ones from the Saotome Lab reports, but why are they here?”

As Antilia shuddered once again, the Alterneith promptly raised its arm again, with the Raptors and Mummyheads following suit with their own ranged armaments. They were not sure why they appeared injured, were they being followed? The commander decided to try and get an answer to his question over the loudspeaker.

”What the hell did you do? Identify yourselves!”

——————————————————————————————————————

As this was occurring, flocks of Raptor units began scrambling to the location of the possible Evoluder threat, mobilizing to contend with their unwanted visitors. The Naritas were being prepped for launch as well alongside the massive Tempest for support. Kord, one of the members of the team that accompanied Happy as well as Kleine was sortieing this time. Whatever the threat, he’d be the battering ram to shatter their defenses.

“Well, if it isn’t one of the three goofballs from my escort. How are you doing?” Happy said in her more usual cheerful tone. Now she was suited up in a white pilot suit, having just entered the cockpit of her Nephtis. She was readying to assist the squad contending with the potential Evoluder threat inside of the colony, it was her priority to ensure minimal structural damage.

“You again? Yeah, and for the record just call us the Great Pyramids. Uh, tentative name pendin’ approval.” The man was clearly being a bit full of himself, referring to him and his squad as Great. Given their combat record, it makes sense so far, James already wracking up a name for the big ones. Though he isn’t here, so Kord was going to have to fill those successful shoes.

“Hahaha… Right, just try not to collapse in on yourselves, you’re already down one member after all.” As the rumbling continued, Nephtis’ features lit up with a green pulse. It was soon disengaged from its docking chamber, the powerful thrusters kicking into overdrive as it rapidly flew out of the hangar towards the crater made by the Evoluders. “I’m entrusting our people to you.”

————————
Units on Site:
1x Alterneith
10x Raptors w/additional cannons
5x Mummyheads
5x Cyclops

Reinforcing Units:
1x Nephtis
1x Tyrant
3x Naritas
5x Raptors w/additional cannons

"I...?"

The Head Detonator finally turned to address the BAHRAM forces. Despite being vastly outnumbered, he alone seemed unafraid... and unharmed from whatever disaster had befallen his fellows. He gave a humble half bow, a metallic chuckle in his voice as he spoke:

"I am a mere pilgrim... an acolyte. A student of the cosmos. A warrior of the great truth. Are we not the same?"

His head turned slightly towards his compatriots, who hurried to mimic his body language. At the very least, there seemed no question of who was in charge.

"Our pilgrimage to this system was rudely interrupted-"

An eerie wailing noise caused him to pause... and look skyward. An enormous window of sorts was expanding in the center of the colony - a wall of light that crackled, hurting the eye to look upon, the howl of vacuum filling the air as the Evoluders flinched - all but Lang, who remained still.

An ES Window.

In mere moments, a vast shadow fell on those below. An enormous shape emerging, long and winged, a massive slab of silver and black metal with a dark viridian trim that seemed to block out the light.

The air was filled with a mighty shout:

With inexorable, yet inevitable slowness, the flying mountain of metal began to shift. Legs that could crush buildings swung down; arms tipped with gun-barrels for fingers unfolded, and a gleaming head crested with a pulsating, jeweled light emerged from the vessel as it straightened into its true form.


The herald of the Red Planet had arrived.

---

Enemy Units:
J-Ark Class "J-Guardian"
Neutral Units:
Head Detonator Lang
10x Evoluder

"Pilgrim? Do I look like a priest or monk to you, and does my home look like a holy site? This place is filled with civilians, so if you think I'm letting you bring a fight in here, then you are dead wro-"

Before the BAHRAM squad leader was able to finish his sentence the crackle of the ES Window opening into the colony's interior caused his OF's vision to shift, now seeing the gleaming silver ark that had found itself inside. A warship? No, something even worse. As the cry announcing its name was made, the squad commander knew that the time for diplomacy had long since past. If something this big was sent to their colony to chase 11 aliens, it was a statement, a declaration if you would. A declaration, to leave NO SURVIVORS. And given BAHRAM's disposition as survivors of a war, there was only one response the former Martians were able to give to a threat such as this.

"All units, focus fire on that Super Robot!"

The commanding Orbital Frame readied itself, aiming at the large skyscraper before them, their arm raised towards it as began to fire shot after shot at the towering being. The Raptors and Mummyheads followed suit, firing their ranged ordnance as they slowly began to advance on the alien juggernaut.

"You guys on the ground better pull your weight because this is your problem you brought on us!"

----------------------

En route to the location, the reinforcements which were scrambled managed to spot the towering ark from a distance, this was going to require a good plan. But just what type of plan, Happy nor Kord were able to say. It was ginormous compared to anything they were able to use, quite obviously just using their surplus of OFs was only going to kill it in a thousand cuts, but it was clearly packing weapons large enough to level multiple colony blocs to smithereens.

"Happy, do you read me? Get those intruders and our forces towards the central structure, we're going to use the Urenbeck Catapult on that thing."

This statement baffled the young woman quite a bit, not exactly sure what her father was thinking. The catapult that they used to launch cargo and transports? How exactly would it help in dealing with this threat?

"What are you thinking, old man? If it gets close to that, it could bring the structure down and crush people." Kord interjected, not really seeing the sense of the plan either. It sounded nonsensical from his perspective, but he was no scientist. Not one who has explored every avenue of using Metatron in the most beneficial ways possible. Someone like Hellas knew how things worked during peacetime, and how they can be turned to become weapons of war.

"If we get that monster into the Urenbeck Catapult's line of fire, we can amplify the space compression field and crush it. Use our guests as a bit of bait and we should have no problems destroying it."

Happy's face lit up with realization. Of course! Her father truly was a genius when it came to situations like this. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get them there, and out of harm's way. This also depended heavily on the reactions of their guests, who she was not particularly keen on to begin with. "Right! Leave it to us!"

Once Hellas said his piece, Happy quickly began issuing orders to the BAHRAM ace currently squaring off against the behemoth, orders to begin luring it away. They would lead it over the industrial sector of Antillia, where many people have already evacuated from, meaning less lives would be lost should collateral damage occur. Now all they needed was the little men to follow along.

"All of you, follow me! We need to gain distance from this thing!"

It said as it referred to the Evoluders, hoping they did not blindly rush to their deaths immediately. The Alterneith and its accompanying units soon began flying away, still keeping up their fire on the J-Ark, making sure they had the ability to avoid anything it had to throw at them.

---------------

Reinforcement Intercept in 1 turn

J-Guardian, Bridge

"The enemy is retreating. What are your orders, Lambda?"

Slender fingers drummed out a steady beat on an old, dusty chair at the center of the J-Ark's bridge. A pair of grey eyes watched the battle unfold on the monitors, disinterestedly. It was no different from watching ants retreating before the first drops of a coming storm.

Still. They would make for a good warm-up.



The young man closed his eyes in thought.

"You've only just awakened, 013. There's no need to over-exert yourself." He said, gently.

A dry laugh reverberated through the room, as the Soldat responded, full of indignation:

"...I can still fight. If I can't handle this much, then..."

A finger tapped his chin, thoughtfully.

"Suit yourself. I suppose we can humor them a little while longer. Pursue them to your heart's content."

He propped a hand under his chin, and returned to his observation. Power reverberated through the Super Robot's frame, the hum of weapons coming online, as he closed his eyes.

"Humans... Do you even understand the powers you're playing with?"

---

The shadow of the enormous J-Guardian loomed large over the BAHRAM forces, gunfire peppering its vast body. A blood-red vapor peeled off its surface, the Generating Armor stopping the lion's share of the assault cold.

Two arms like steel tree trunks swept forward, barrels swiveling into position as it drew a bead on the retreating forces. The barrels glowed threateningly, energy gathering in their depths as minute adjustments were made.



"All guns! Fire!"

A thunderous barrage roared forth, the battleship pouring light and death into the retreating forces. Laser cannons raked the frontal row of Raptors, while a hail of missiles assailed the Mummyheads and Alterneith - the only saving grace, it seemed, was the lack of focus as it saturated the area, turning the Colony interior into a sea of flames.

The Evoluders hardly needed any further prompting in their retreat. With a flurry of movement, they began to move in the direction specified - all but Lang, who trailed behind, bringing up the rear.