garde723 | Entries tagged with battle for planet nine

Izana woke, slowly, into a hazy world of pain. The blankets felt odd against them until they remembered the combat and realized they'd lost their right arm and left leg to the damage their garde had sustained in both the physical attack on their unit and when Tsumugi deflected the massive Heigus particle blast that had been aimed at Sidonia. Running their tongue around their dry mouth, they blinked a few times before being able to fully open their eyes and look around. A hospital room.

And someone was holding their remaining hand.

Daisuki: Best bud

They looked up to find Daisuki, their old friend, smiling at them with tears in their eyes. "Your grandmother had to return to duty. She just left."

"I'm..." Izana croaked before trying to swallow, prompting Daisuki to get them a glass of water. Sipping from the straw and working the moisture around, Izana finally managed, "I'm sorry I missed her. And I'm sorry I haven't called you." As she spoke, Izana looked around, hoping to find Nagate waiting as well, but the room was empty.

"He's outside with your other friend," Daisuki said, seeing Izana searching. They shifted to the side so Izana could see Nagate asleep in the chair out in the hallway, with Yuhata asleep beside him...and leaning onto his shoulder. Izana's jealousy must have scowled, for Daisuki continued. "They've been here for 12 hours now. I see why you like him, though he is rather narrow minded."

Blushing, Izana looked away, which made Daisuki laugh. "You are too proper, Izana. You need to relax and have a little fun. Look me up once you're on your feet and we'll go singing. With or without your Nagate."

"Daisuki!" Izana blushed even more, scandalized by her friend.

The next week was one of relative peace aboard Sidonia. Gauna engagements were few and so Izana had a fair amount of time to themself, which they decided to spend with Tsumugi to help socialize the chimera. Often Nagate would join Izana--he took any chance he could to spend time with Tsumugi as well--and even Yuhata took time to meet the newest member of the crew, ostensibly to evaluate Tsumugi as a combat resource.

(Since becoming Sub-commander, Yuhata has become even more serious and demanding.)

It was during Izana's times alone with Tsumugi that they came to a startling realization; Tsumugi sounded an awful lot like Hoshijiro used to. In fact, now that Izana had noticed, an unnerving amount of Tsumugi's mannerisms reminded Izana of Hoshijiro. Could there be some link between Tsumugi and the ena clone of Hoshijiro?

Izana did not know what to make of this new information and so kept it to themself.

At the end of the week it was announced that Sidonia would be changing course to the Lem star system, towards the planet the colonist who were feed up with the war with the gauna had set off for. Officially, it was to check up on them. Unofficially it was to intercept a large gauna cluster that was making its way towards the planet. All of which was passing through Izana's mind as they floated in space with Nagate, Tsumugi, and Kunato during a break from drills to assess how well Tsumugi might interact or fight with garde units.

"That must be the Lem Star System," Tsumugi said through the comm systems.

"Wow! You can see it from here?" Izana asked. Izana knew which direction the System was, and even which of the stars it was, but that was only because they had looked at the navigational charts. To them it was a star only slightly larger and brighter than those around it. "Can you see the colonists?"

"No, sorry. Even I can't see that far."

Izana watches for a few more moments, their suit automatically venting jets of gas to maintain their position. "I hear the guana cluster is slowly making its way to the Lem Star System. I hope the colonists are okay.”

Kunato scoffs. “We need to worry about that gauna cluster more than we do the colonists.”

Izana repositions themself to turn towards Kunato, who floats over Tsumugi’s other shoulder. “Huh?”

“We have no way to defeat it, not with the weapons we currently have in Sidonia.”

“Ah, but there’s still a chance the we don’t even need to fight it, right?” A slim hope Izana realizes but a worthy one.

"That’s absurd.," Kunato replies scornfully. "Is that your view as a member of Sidonia’s military force? That we should just try to sneak past it, praying that the enemy doesn’t do anything? That is nothing more than a nest of evil creatures. We have no other choice but to fight. We need to arm ourselves with the weapons needed, to destroy our enemies as soon as possible."

"I want to eliminate the gauna threat just as much as you do,” Nagate argued, coming to Izana’s defense. “And I agree we have no choice but to fight. It’s just that there are different types of gauna. Who knows? We still could negotiate and have peace one day.”

"That sentiment may get you killed, Tanikaze. Have you forgotten how many times the Crimson Hawk Moth nearly killed you?"

Exasperated, Izana exclaimed, ”Why are you always so condescending, Kunato? I mean, we’re all the same age.”

Before he can reply, Tsumugi, nervous by the fighting, interrupts. "Say, Izana, can I see that picture of a cat?"

The possible friendly gauna, Tsumugi Shiraui, turned out to be a chimera; a gauna-human hybrid, or at least that is how Kunato explained it when he introduced her to all acting pilots and pilot cadets after the battle. It seemed that after failing as a combat pilot, he'd taken over his family's company and had somehow developed the chimera as well as a new form of the artificial kabi Sidonia needed so badly to have a fighting chance against the gauna.

The meeting to introduce her had gone as well as one might expect, fear was a hard thing to overcome, and just as Nagate and Izana had entered, someone had thrown a pipe at the garde-sized* humanoid and chants of "Get ride of the gauna!" had begun, as well as shouts of the infamous mad scientist Ochiai's corrupt experiments and the great disaster they caused a century before.

Amidst the growing unease of the crowd, the chimera--Izana had a hard time thinking of it by a name--had spotted Nagate and had addressed him directly, which had mollified the mob somewhat. The peace, such as it was, didn't last very long as the chimera grew agitated when she saw Nagate's wounds, worried he'd gained them when he had protected her during the combat.

The meeting had ended quickly after, which was likely for the best. A creature so large being so agitated in an enclosed space with small and fragile humans could not have ended well.

Now, a day later, Nagate had decided to visit the chimera because he was worried she was lonely. Izana, being a good friend had come along, though they had their doubts. First, that Kunato would allow them entry to Kunato Industries' labs, presumably where the chimera now lived, and whether the chimera had such things to worry about as being lonely.

Izana was wrong all both accounts. Kunato, in an unusual show of benevolence, had allowed them entry...which Izana quickly regretted. The lab was odd. Not the sterile environments of her grandmother's domain, but more like field labs that had been overgrown with simple organisms, like molds or lichens. The air felt humid and musky, and was clogged with enough motes, Izana wished they'd thought to bring face masks.

Seeing beyond a few meters was proving a challenge as well and both Nagate and Izana were startled when the chimera suddenly appeared and enthusiastically greeted them. The walkway they'd entered on proved to be above a cavity of some kind and they were at chest level with the hybrid, which was way too close for Izana's comfort. Both Nagate and Izana fell back, Izana instinctively pushing themself back away from the giant creature. It continued talking but Izana couldn't focus on the words, fighting their fear as they were.

Then the strangest thing happened. A shape appeared and Izana almost burst into giggles for it was nearly penis shaped.

"Please, call me Tsumugi," the shape said. The shape it turned out was a sort of probe the chimera could form, though Izana couldn't fathom why it would wish to do such a thing. Perhaps so that it may speak to humans on a level more to their scale? "I am over-joyed you came to visit me, Tanikaze-san! I was just thinking how I'd like to learn more about humans."

Nagate smiled and replied, "Please, call me Nagate. And this is Izana."

The probe turned to face Izana and they bowed quickly before the giggles could escape them. Tsumigi's enthusiasm reminded Izana so much of the Honoko sisters when they'd first come to the academy. It was almost child-like.

"It is a pleasure to met you, Izana-san." Tsumugi turned back to Nagate, and tapped its two feelers together. "Umm...umm...May I touch you?"

"Touch me? I don't really mind, but..." was as far as Nagate got before a dozen more feelers sprouted along Tsumugi's probe and picked him up into the air and running along his body.

Izana could feel a hysteria bubbling within them, which burst as Tsumugi then picked them up into the air for the same treatment she was still giving Nagate.

"Put me down!" Izana yelled and was promptly let go, though only after Tsumugi had lowered them closer to the walkway. "It was good you asked Nagate, but you didn't ask my permission." Tsumugi bowed the head of her probe, clearly shamed. "I am not angry at you. I understand your enthusiasm got the better of you, but you must strive to be better!"

"I will Izana-san, and please forgive me. May I touch you?"

Izana didn't see that they had a choice. How else was Tsumugi to learn of humans of they didn't offer to help?

*About 16-18 meters

Izana climbed the stairs that ringed the core of the Residential district with some effort, their only company the hollow creak of their sandals (someday they really needed to get a pair that made a less obnoxious sound) and the rustle of the camphor trees in the gentle breeze the atmospheric generators caused. The air was cool but still breath able, despite their having already climbed over two kilometers 'up' towards the height of the Residential district, and their baggy sweat jacket kept them warm, despite the shorts they wore.

This was supposed to be a day spent with Nagate but, of course, command had need of him and so here Izana was, climbing all by themself towards the shrine to pray and take in sights. They'd discovered the shrine in their studies of Buddhism, as inspired by Abe no Seimei, and was happy to discover this one shrine aboard Sidonia. Though not exclusively Buddhist, the trip would still be educational and intriguing...or would have if Izana hadn't had to do it alone.

Sighing, they paused to look up towards the path yet to come and then back towards the way they'd already come. "This is no fun," they allowed but then again, they'd already climbed far enough that turning back would be a longer walk. And there was likely an elevator up past the shire they could use to go back down after the visit.

They day had started so well, too. Izana had been woken by a call to meet with Yuhata, now sub-commander of Sidonia, and Sasaki, the chief engineer of Toha Heavy Industries; the company who made and maintained the garde units of Sidonia. Izana had no idea why they'd been called to such a meeting, but it turned out their idea of using secondary computer systems to search for needed resources while on duty had caught the attention of the Captain and she'd authorized an update to the sensors and computer system to Izana's garde unit. The meeting was merely to formalize the change and to get Izana's feedback on how the sensors and new computer system could function without interfering with the garde's primary purpose.

To say Izana had been stunned and honored would be to understate the event.

Later in the day, they'd meet up with Nagate to share the news but as usual, his mind was on the ena-clone of Hoshijiro. Or rather its absence. Admittedly, Nagate's single mindedness could be trying, but he was her friend and so Izana put the matter from their mind and kept their friend company is his grief. It had gotten so bad he barely ate!

Speaking of food, Izana was feeling a little like a snack, and so they stopped at the nearest bench to rest. Opening the bento and looking at all the rice balls Hiyama had made for them, Izana knew they couldn't eat all of them.

Izana had hoped the climb to the shrine might cheer Nagate up, but then Yuhata had to call with some urgent business. Izana couldn't help the surge of frustration and, yes, they may as well admit it to themself, jealousy. They'd made plans days ago, and why did it always seem that plans with Izana were the ones that got changed? And why did it always be due to Yuhata? It was enough to make Izana think there was something beyond chance at work.

Catching the faint sound of a whine, Izana looked up just as the sound reached a louder pitch and Nagate flew up to her level, some sort of propulsion unit on his back. "Oh good, there's still rice balls left!" he called out in much of his old cheer. Had something happened?

"Of course there are!" Izana called back. "I couldn't eat these all by myself."

Far down below, Yuhata looked up; though she could only see the blue glow of the emergency evacuation unit she'd loaned Nagate so that he might make his date with Izana. Sighing and shaking her head, she said, "I don't know why I help those two," before turning to go back to work.

Izana made it to the ready room just as they see the Tsugumori, Nagate’s grade unit, blast off to catch up with the other squads that had already launched. Like the other pilots already there, Izana looked over the situation monitors, quickly evaluating the threat and ways to face it. The lose of their time with Nagate, having been interrupted by the guana alarm, suddenly seemed not so great a thing. It was a single guana, but one of great mass; or perhaps several linked together. The spectral analysis hadn’t come in yet and so there was only a guess to the one core.

Startled, Izana realized Nagate had now caught up and passed the other squads that had launched, which should have been impossible in the older grade unit he piloted.

“Tanikaze is getting the new toys again,” one of the other pilots quiped with a smile, and Izana saw he is likely right. How else would his one ship over come the thrust of four gardes in clasp formation?

On the screen, Nagate reversed trust and was taking aim with his ballistic acceleration device and fired at the guana's core. Every one held their breath as they waited for the shot to hit, and hit it did…but it failed to pierce the outer ena and strike the core. Nagate fired twice more and then the final analysis came over the speakers from the Command room.

"The guana has a layered composition; ordinary ena and ena composed into psuedo-core penetration rounds in alternating layers!"

“They’ve already adapted to our core penetration rounds,” Izana whispered just as Yuhata said the same over the intercom.

“All pilots, form a wedge formation to support Tanikaze. Keep firing to break down the ena and expose the core!”

A new alarm blared then, and one of the technicians called out, “New guana contact, coming from between the grade squads and Sidonia! New guana is advancing towards the combat zone at tremendous speed.”

"The new guana contact has passed the garde squad and is approaching Tanikaze!"

"Tanikaze, get out of there!" Yuhata orders, but it's too late. The guana is already at Tanikaze's position. On the screens, the pilots can see the new guana now and it is strange; though garde sized, it is not like the Crimson Hawkmoth that took the guarde units as its template. This new guana was almost humanoid, with arms and hands, a head (though seemingly helmeted), legs (though partially hidden beneath a bell shape that reminded Izana of ballgowns they'd seen in old historical files), and a tail. It also carried something in its right hand, something that could only be a weapon.

"Reading a massive surge in Heiges particles from the new guana!"

The entirety of the ready room and the command staff held their breaths as all knew they were about to watch Tanikaze die. There was no way the new guana could miss at this range. The guana fired the weapon and struck the original guana, attacking one of its own!

Shocked silence reigned, until a new voice, feminine in tone, could be heard over the comms. “Hello, I am Tsumugi Shiraui. I look forward to meeting you.”