Volume Thirteen - War of Misunderstanding

== Chapter 145 - Declaration ==
Rosenstock stood at the edge of his castle, an army at the base, in the castle, in the turrets, everywhere. Tanks, planes, the works. Beside Rosenstock were his Royal Guard, as they watched closely. They then saw it...a castle was...moving, to theirs, as Rosenstock opens the wall to allow it inside. "I hope to settle this quickly, we can't fight two wars on two fronts." Rosenstock remarks. They continue to watch, as the castle then stopped. Immediately, turrets on the turrets shot the wheels out from under the castle, making it fall.
"Ah!" Candice yelps, stumbling around as the castle shook. She then turned to Copernicus, still desperate. "Wh...why do we have to do this?!" She cries. "They killed our own, for no other reason than we were there. We must retaliate, my heir." Copernicus replies, as his eyes seemed to lock with Rosenstock's, despite the fact that it should be physically impossible for them to see each other from that distance. Then again, neither had the sight of normal humans.
"Quadell Green, are you ready?" Rosenstock asks on a communicator. "You will be the first line of defense against them." "I'm ready, Your Excellency." A dark-skinned, orange-eyed man said. He wore seemingly custom-designed military clothing among the heavily armored soldiers, but held a much more powerful rifle than they did. "The trenches are dug, and the soldiers are in position. Let's stop this invasion before it starts." "SPT7, Dione, Grimwald, Demetrius, you four will make up the second line of defense." Rosenstock says. "I will be on the frontlines, dealing with their own king."
"What about the kids?" Dione asks, as Rosenstock turns towards her. "I have the Castle Guard protecting them inside." Rosenstock answers. "Know this, we have been through many battles, won many, lost many. Friends, family, torn apart, taken away...made. We never want the violent option, but when it is necessary, we will ensure that the battle is won with as few causalities as possible. All should know, that we are humans, and we, no matter what, will not back down!"
Rosenstock then leaps down to the battlefield, rushing past and through the storm of bullets, missiles and lasers that was already in the air.
== Chapter 146 - Hard Fought Battle ==
"Everyone, get ready." Quadell says. "They're closing in, and it looks like they're all Socqreath..." He remembered hearing about their planet being destroyed. It was the only planet they inhabited, so...how did its destruction not render them extinct? They just continued to walk towards them, as Quadell knew they could be holding weapons. Guns? Swords? Spears? It didn't matter, they had to fight. So they began firing. The Socqreath used what Quadell knew now must be swords to block the bullets, as they switched to lasers to begin firing, taking some of the soldiers down, but not all.
Not to mention, they just kept coming. Quadell himself begins firing explosive rounds at them from his own rifle, the rounds, of course, exploding upon impact, taking out any Socqreath that are hit by that. "How'd you like that?" He remarks, as he keeps firing. One of the Socqreath attempts to slash him, rushing forwards, as he dodges what he thought was the sword slash, and kicks the Socqreath away, as said Socqreath is fired at enough to be shot down and killed. "Let's get this over with." Quadell says, as they keep firing.
Explosions began occurring, from the tanks and planes on both sides. Quadell had to admit, it was interesting to see the Socqreath style. It looked a bit more fancy, but not much more advanced. He fires at the turret of a tank, which destroys it and kills the Socqreath inside it. "It's easier to fight these guys because they hold their weapons..." He remarks, as he then sees multiple soldiers drop dead, knowing full-well that some of the Socqreath soldiers must not be. "Shit!" He shouts, as he fires down any Socqreath he sees.
Quadell sees that one of the soldiers had survived a slash from a Socqreath weapon, and pulls him out of range before firing said soldier's gun along with his own. "We'll get help to you soon, bud." Quadell says, as many more Socqreath were shot down. Quadell then sees the other gun be slashed, and in that time, lets go of it and leaps back, managing to dodge a Psychic Weapon before it could behead him. "This isn't good, we're not making any headway." Quadell remarks, as he saw Rosenstock rush through the battlefield, cutting apart anything in his way without a single weapon touching him.
Quadell then saw that some of the soldiers on both sides seemed to be retreating, but most weren't. "Gh...everyone, stand your ground! We have them on the run!" He shouts. They kept firing, taking down more of the invading army, and losing many themselves. After what seemed like an endless battle, they finally saw the remaining Socqreath soldiers retreat. "Finally!" Quadell shouts, as he looks over at his cut shoulder. He was lucky that this was the only injury he sustained. And he knew that there wouldn't be much time to treat it.
There was a war to fight.
== Chapter 147 - Healing ==
Quadell sat down, looking at a picture of his wife and son, as he winced a bit from the nurse disinfecting and stitching his wound. He knew every time he entered a battle that there was a good chance, a very good chance, that he would never see his family again, but it was his duty. He had to do this, for the sake of his country, his friends, his family, his world. Even though he only got a scratch from the Socqreath army, he knew very, very well not to get cocky. He wasn't invincible, he wasn't a god, he wasn't even better defended than his own soldiers. But despite all that, he had to fight, and win.
Still, he was scared, he didn't want to die. And he knew that everyone in this room, this castle, felt the same way. He turned to see the soldier who's life he saved, a blonde man with brown eyes and a bit of a pointy nose. "I can't believe we survived that." The man says. "I thought fighting aliens would have been more onesided." "Thank God they're about our level of tech. If it weren't for the scientists in the last century, we probably would be at their mercy." Quadell replies. "Yeah. Oh, I'm a new recruit. Drafted, actually." The man says. "Name's Silvio Bauernfeind."
"Nice to meet you, Silvio." Quadell responds. "There anyone you looking forward to see after this war?" "Yeah, but it's best I don't talk about it. Every war movie ever has the guy who rambles about his family die the worst death." Silvio answers. "We're not gonna' have much time to keep talking, the Socqreath are literally next door right now. Let's heal up and suit up, and go back outside, Sir." Quadell nods at this. "Don't worry, I take suggestions from subordinates, it's not like I'm really better than you at anything anyway." He says, as the then turns his head to look out the window.
"Especially when we'd count as cannon fodder right now."
== Chapter 148 - The Only Thing Feared ==
Quadell looked on at the armor, confused. "Hey, what's this?" He asks. "An exoskeleton." Demetrius answers. "The brightest minds over at Procyon made it for soldiers to wear, it's roughly ten times stronger than the strongest armors before it." "And you're showing it to me, why?" Quadell then asks. "Because we think you're skilled enough that you wearing it would be amazing." Demetrius then answers. "Why else?" "Uh, yeah no, give it to someone else, I shouldn't be wearing it." Quadell says a bit nervously. "We insist that you wear it, you're the best shot in your division." Demetrius replies coldly.
"...Alright, I'll put it on." Quadell finally says. "Uh, when you tell me how." "Don't worry about it." Demetrius responds, as he presses a button, and the armor opens at the back. "Just go in through there." Quadell does so, as he could feel the power of the suit. It was a foot taller than he was, maybe two, and felt like he was piloting a war mech. Then again, he basically was. Demetrius hands him a large gun, which looked like if a Rotary Cannon of their time was merged with a Shotgun at their time. "Go ahead, tear the enemy apart." Demetrius says.
Quadell walked out into the battlefield with his soldiers, feeling a bit weird about the armor still. He saw the next invading force coming, they seemed to have doubled the previous army in the time it took to rest. "How the Hell did..." Quadell trails off, as the soldiers get into the trenches, and aim from there. Quadell walks forwards, aiming the machine gun that still felt heavy even with the suit at the army, namely, one of their tanks. "Let's see how effective this is..." Quadell remarks.
He began firing, and it was insane. The tank was destroyed in roughly six shots, and the swords and bullets bounced off of Quadell's armor like nothing. He kicks a Socqreath soldier away to avoid them stabbing through the visor of his armor, assuming that it was the weakpoint. One of the Socqreath was sending their Psychic Weapons at him from a long range, as he fired at that general direction, believing he got the weapons, and turning that Socqreath into Swiss Cheese. He then fires more, taking down more soldiers and tanks, ripping through their army like butter.
He sees a Socqreath jet flying towards them, as it fires missiles at him. The armor seemed to automatically lock onto the missiles, and fired lasers at them to destroy them from devices on its shoulderpads. Quadell himself then fires down the jet, as another rams him on the side. "Dammit!" Quadell shouts, as he punches the jet in the nose and leaps off of it, that jet exploding as he lands. The armor wasn't yet dented, but he saw that he had already used 10% of its battery in the fight so far, that 10% went to half the army being destroyed. Add that to his soldiers' efforts, and only 1/4 remained.
However, what remained the army were the ones holding machine guns and tanks. And they fired relentlessly. Quadell thought he heard something chip off the armor, and quickly ducks behind a destroyed jet when he sees a rocket launcher aimed at him. He wasn't going to take that chance. He fires from behind the jet, taking down more of the army, as he then sees something. It was the Socqreath Lynx, who was blocking any incoming projectiles with both his shield and his sword.
Quadell leaped out from behind the jet, and began firing at Lynx and only Lynx. However, not one bullet made it past Lynx' defenses, including what looked like...a forcefield. "What the Hell...?" Quadell demands, as he throws the machine gun at Lynx, who swings his sword, cutting it clean in half. "Wh...what's that thing made of...?" Lynx breathes, as he runs at Lynx as fast as he can, which wasn't very fast. However, Lynx rushed behind him, his sword covered in blood. A few moments passed, Lynx walking away, as Lynx coughed up blood. He, the armor included, had been sliced clean in half.
"Gh...no..." Quadell chokes, as his upper half falls to the ground.
== Chapter 149 - A Soldier Falls ==
Silvio had noticed this, and roared in anger, as he began firing at any Socqreath he sees. Lynx continues to walk past, still not being hit by anything, as Silvio rushes to Quadell, who had taken his own pistol out of its holster, and continued to fire at Socqreath, even when sawed in half. He then noticed a sniper. "D...dammit..." Quadell groans weakly, knowing his strength was failing him. "I've got to...at least...deal with that sniper." "Sir!" Silvio shouts, noticing Quadell's wounds. "Gh...we have to--" "Get me to...a hospital...? They couldn't fix this...and you know it..." Quadell cuts him off.
"Just...let me get one last kill in, it'll be a major one." He aims at the sniper, and fires, right as the sniper had fired. Quadell's arm came off, as the sniper fell backwards, dead. "Heh...that's the last I can do in this battle..." Quadell remarks. "Good thing they were a little sloppy...or my head would have a hole in it right now..." "There has to be a way to get you healed!" Silvio retorts, as Quadell chuckles a little. "My family...please tell them...I love them...my wife...Elidee...my son...Rion...tell them...daddy helped win this war...with them in his mind and heart..." His eyes then glossed over, he had perished.
Silvio closes Quadell's eyes, his hands shaking in anger, and in fear, as he picks up a combat knife, and roars in fury, rushing at the only Socqreath soldier currently left. He knew that there was a good chance that he would die, that the soldier would be fired down before he could get to them. He didn't care. He saw the Socqreath notice him, and swing at him, as he dodged what had to be the sword, and thrust the knife into the Socqreath's eye. The Socqreath roars in pain, as Silvio notices the soldiers aiming, and firing...
== Chapter 150 - Lament ==
Candice looked on at the war, tears in her frightful eyes. "We...we have to stop this!" She shouts. "Too many people are dying, this war will make it impossible for us to coexist! Everyone...they see each other as the enemy...they don't see the...the families they're tearing apart!" "I am aware of this." Copernicus responds. "And yet, it was the humans who started this, by opening fire on our soldiers at the moon base. This war...is their punishment." Candice heard this, and it only hurt her more, as she crumpled to her knees, and sobbed. Copernicus looks at this, lowers his head, closes his eyes, and sighs.
"We have to do this, for the survival of our species." Copernicus finishes.
"Then we have the same goal in this war." Rosenstock's voice replies.
They turn to see him standing there, the bodies of Socqreath guards behind him, and not one scratch on him. "So, you came here." Copernicus remarks. "I've been in this castle for a while, taking out your guards, you had many." Rosenstock replies. "If there cannot be a peaceful solution, then I am left with no choice, but to eradicate you." "...I feel the same way." Copernicus replies. "You are a Bullet Ant, someone I must acknowledge, and respect." Rosenstock gives a small smile. "So, we agree on that, too." He replies, as he puts one foot back, one forward, leans his torso forwards and crosses his swords.
== Chapter 151 - Chivalry (Pt. 1) ==
Soldiers stood at the entrance to the castle, pointing their guns at Lynx, and shaking, as he walked forwards. "Are you not going to fire?" Lynx asks. "If you want to defend your castle, you must fire. Show your loyalty to your king, your country, by firing. And if you survive, if you scratch me, you will have a tale to tell your family. If you do not fire, you are cowards who I will cut down with even less hesitation." The soldiers began shaking when they hear this, as they try to pull the triggers on their guns, but were paralyzed with fear. Lynx walked past them, as they fell apart, literally, to the ground.
Lynx then, in front of him, noticed the golden knight, SPT7, standing at the true entrance door. "Hello, SPT7." Lynx says. "You are King Rosenstock's knight, are you not?" "Socqreath detected, preparing to exterminate." SPT7 responds without responding. "I am my king's knight as well." Copernicus then says, as he readies his sword. SPT7, however, rushed towards him, immediately slashing at him. Copernicus is shocked by its speed, as he swings his sword to block SPT7's, and uses his shield to block the next slash, leaping backwards to dodge the next one.
SPT7 doesn't relent, rushing forwards and slashing up. Copernicus moves his sword up to parry, but SPT7 suddenly moves its sword to Copernicus's side, Copernicus moving his shield to block, but SPT7 moves its sword still lower, Copernicus leaping up to truly dodge the actual slash SPT7 had planned. Copernicus then slashes, as SPT7 blocks with its shield and thrusts it forwards, knocking Copernicus away. "Gh!" Copernicus grunts, as he lands on his feet.
Lynx quickly uses his sword to block SPT7's next rush slash, as he swings at SPT7 to slash at the robotic knight's legs, SPT7 moving its shield down to block as it slashes at Lynx' head, Lynx blocking with his shield as he leaps back away from SPT7, who immediately closes the distance and slashes again, Lynx blocking this slash with both his sword and his shield, as he keeps his sword locked with SPT7 as he bashes SPT7 in the side with his shield, seemingly not damaging it in the slightest. Lynx quickly leaps over SPT7 to avoid SPT7 thrusting its sword at him, and slashes at its helmet, but it blocks.
"You are a skilled warrior, I respect you." Lynx remarks. "Termination must be executed." SPT7 replies, rushing at Lynx to slash at the side, Lynx barely blocking with his sword as he slashes at SPT7's leg, SPT7 pulling its leg back as it bashes its shield at Lynx, who blocks with his own shield before leaping back and holding his sword out to slash when SPT7 rushes forwards, SPT7 blocking with its shield as it thrusts its sword at Lynx, who bends backwards to dodge it and slashes at SPT7's hand, SPT7 sidestepping the slash as it swings its shield at Lynx, who ducks beneath it and slashes.
The place he slashed? SPT7's torso, as SPT7 parries this slash, and slashes at Lynx' hand, Lynx quickly pulling his hand back as his sword was still long enough to lock with SPT7's. Lynx thrusts his sword forwards to cut into SPT7's side, as SPT7 leaps away from it. Lynx notices this, and rushes at SPT7 to slash at it, SPT7 blocking with its sword as Lynx thrusts his own sword forwards again, managing to cut into SPT7's shoulderpad as SPT7 swings its shield at Lynx' head, Lynx blocking with his own shield as he then uses it to bash SPT7 in its own head, doing little damage.
Lynx then leaps back again, as he catches his breath, and looks forwards. "This...could take a while." He remarks.
== Chapter 152 - Chivalry (Pt. 2) ==
SPT7 adapted Lynx' attacks to its programming, as it waited for him to rush again. When he didn't, it saw fit to rush, and came at him to slash his head off. However, Lynx had rushed at the same time, and rushed beneath and past SPT7, who noticed damage in its side. It knew that Lynx had a longer sword to slash with, and thus always had the advantage in range, but was slower, meaning SPT7 could close the distance. It quickly does so, thrusting its sword at Lynx as it uses its shield to bash Lynx' sword out of the way. He uses his own shield at the last second to block SPT7's sword thrust.
Silently, SPT7 took this into account, and pulled its sword back, before swinging to Lynx' side, Lynx leaping to the side to avoid the slash, but not before it cuts through his sleeve and leaves a bleeding cut on his skin. "Gh!" Lynx exclaims, SPT7 noting the pain response as it rushes at Lynx and slashes at his feet. Lynx leaps to avoid it, but SPT7 bashes him with its shield, rushing forwards to slam him into a pillar, shattering it and sending Lynx nearly tumbling to the ground, as Lynx uses his sword as leverage to pull himself back up to where he was fighting SPT7, who noted this move as well.
SPT7 immediately rushes at Lynx again, slashing as he dodges, the slash hitting the wall, and cutting through it. Lynx attempts to thrusts his sword at SPT7, who knocks the sword away with its own, also leaping back and putting its shield in front of itself. Lynx ducks behind the shield to escape SPT7's vision, as SPT7 notices damage in its legs. SPT7 quickly moves them back to avoid them being slashed as it then kicks Lynx in the face to send him flying. "Gah!" Lynx shouts, as SPT7 rushes at him again. Lynx leaps over, as SPT7 slashes him there, leaving a cut in his torso. "Gh!" Lynx grunts.
Lynx lands on the ground, as SPT7 rushes at him again. Lynx just jumps out of the way, SPT7 righting itself before it could fall, and turning back towards Lynx immediately. It notices a few Socqreath soldiers running up to where they were, but decided to ignore them for now, as it just rushed at Lynx yet again, Lynx attempted to block with his shield again, but it had sustained heavy damage, as had SPT7's. SPT7 slashes as hard as it can, cutting through the shield and leaving another slash in Lynx' chest. However, SPT7 notices Lynx' sword moving towards it. It attempts to react, but its weapons were too damaged.
In a heartbeat, in a blink, SPT7 knew, in the last few moments of its version of consciousness, that it had been cut clean in half. Then, everything went static, and then faded to black.
== Chapter 153 - King to King ==
Rosenstock was using his swords to deflect Copernicus' Psychic Weapons, which took the form of, strangely, atoms, as he rushed towards to swing his swords at Copernicus, who formed a shield of these 'atoms' to block the slashes, and unleashes a shockwave that Rosenstock leaped away from until it became weak enough to be harmless, and rushed towards Copernicus again, swinging one sword at his head, and the other at his leg. Copernicus forms two different shields at these areas, as Rosenstock notices, moving his swords to the opposite sides, managing to cut Copernicus in these areas.
Copernicus, although damaged, immediately began regenerating, not seeming much bothered by the slashes, as he unleashes a storm of 'atoms' at Rosenstock, who slashes them away, and rushes to slash at Copernicus again, Copernicus pulling himself back as he forms one big shield to block them, Rosenstock moving out of the way of the shield and slashing at Copernicus again, Copernicus bending down to avoid it as the sword cuts through the wall like nothing, making dust and rubble fly through the air. Candice, meanwhile, had run out of the room.
Rosenstock then felt something grab him, knowing Copernicus had formed Psychic Weapons directly on his arms to avoid him dodging them. Copernicus then threw Rosenstock around the room, Rosenstock slashing anything he was thrown at before he could hit it. Rosenstock then slashes at Copernicus when he gets close enough, Copernicus forming a shield all around himself to block the slashes as he expands the shield as a shockwave to send Rosenstock flying, and uses the same Psychic Hands from before to grab the blades and snap them off.
"..." Rosenstock said nothing, but threw his Zweihanders, the swords he had been using, at Copernicus, as he moves his hands down towards the Rapiers on his waist.
== Chapter 154 - Hidden ==
Jack and Andromeda were sitting alone, hearing the chaos that was happening outside the castle, while the two were surrounded by soldiers. Candice had been taken by Copernicus, Kasper and Shunsuke were still missing. And come to think of it, they hadn't seen Indra in a long time, perhaps he was out there, fighting against them. It would certainly not be unexpected, Indra seemed to very, very much hate humans. He probably would have fought against them even without a war.
"Jack..." Andromeda starts, as she looked at him with a solemn expression. "...will...we survive beyond this...?" "...I...I don't know...I wish I could tell you yes...but I don't know." Jack answers. "What I can say is...I have hope, that we will get through this alive...that we will be able to survive this." "...And after this...I...want to just...rest..." Andromeda replies, as she leans into Jack, and they hug. Jack closes his eyes, and decides that he would stop thinking. He would overthink too much if he didn't...
"Hey! Stop!" One of the soldiers shouts, as they point their guns at a door. "Huh?" Jack responds, as he and Andromeda look towards the door. Pure darkness, it seemed...
...
...
...
Suddenly, blades of light rushed out, and began stabbing and slashing through the nearest soldiers.
== Chapter 155 - Sneak Attack ==
"Wh-what?!" Jack shouts, as he takes out his gun and aims at the door, Andromeda standing beside him. The soldiers began firing into the door, but no bullets seemed to hit, as the light blades slashed down these soldiers as well. They then watched, as...a Socqreath boy, looking to not be a day older than thirteen, walked through the door, wearing pure white clothing with lines on it. It seemed to be a little fancy. This boy also had white hair, and his horns looked a little like small sun flares, his eyes green.
"Wha...?" Andromeda breathes, as the boy turns towards them. "Hello, Andromeda." He says, in what sounded like two different voices speaking at once, one slightly higher than what would be normal, the other slightly lower. "Who are you?" Jack demands, as the boy smiles. "My name is Apollo, I am of the original clan of Socqreath, Green Eyes." More soldiers fire at Apollo, as they bullets are stopped by more blades of pure light. Then, Jack realized two things, the first was that the light was being formed out of actual light sources. The second was...
...he could see them!
"Wh...what the...how...?" Jack breathes, as Apollo turns towards them. "My power is simply so great that my Psychic Weapons are fully visible. And I form them from all the light around me, the actual aura only takes up part of them." He answers, before smiling. Jack didn't like that smile, it looked so innocent, but felt so sinister. Apollo then, without looking, sends the light to slash apart more soldiers like nothing, before sending it at them. The light is stopped barely, by what must have been Andromeda's Psychic Weapons. She must have put them up earlier to act as a shield.
"Let's make this clear, Andromeda." Apollo says. "You will not defeat me."
== Chapter 156 - More Battles Begin ==
"Looks like they're sending in their Royal Guard, now. I thought we'd meet 'em." Dione says. "How many exactly?" Grimwald asks. "Uh, two." Dione answers. "Count me out then." Demetrius replies, as he begins to walk away. "Coward." Dione mutters, as they continue to walk.
Dione lands in the battlefield from before, seeing that there were still corpses everywhere. "..." She is speechless as she continues to walk, until she sees the one she wanted as an opponent, Qian ZhenKang. "Hello there, it's been a long time." Dione says. "Greetings again, Dione. You have been absent for far too long." Qian replies. "Is that how you treat a cousin?" Dione demands, as Qian raises her eyebrow. "Cousin? You are far too friendly, these humans have softened you." Qian retorts. "Then I guess we'll have to do this hard way." Dione says, cracking her knuckles.
Acrux walked around the battlefield, as he saw the one he thought was his opponent, Grimwald, wearing his Guard Suit which consisted of a fancy trench coat and tuxedo and well-tailored jeans, and a fedora. "You're here...I've been waiting..." Grimwald says halfheartedly, as Acrux smiles. "Cool guns you've got there, though they don't look very similar." He says, referring to the left hand gun with its four prongs and the right hand gun with its three blast lenses. "I guess you're my opponent, then..." Grimwald says a bit quietly, as he stands up.