Ghost of the blood sky

R22 – Western Obsidian Plains

The planet was quiet.

Not peaceful—never peaceful. But the air hung heavy with anticipation, like the world itself held its breath. Kael moved forward in Ravager, each stride thudding like a funeral drum across the scorched plains of R22.

The Origin Kaiju stood amidst the ruins of what once might've been a crater—but now resembled the shattered ribcage of a god. Its massive form pulsed with radiation. Its back heaved, armored with jagged obsidian plating that reflected crimson light. Scars ran across its arms and jaw from the battles that birthed it—some fresh, some aged like a map of conquest.

Kael wasn't blinking anymore. Not once since he spotted it.

"This is it," he muttered, fingers twitching over controls. "One more dance."

Inside Ravager, the cockpit lights dimmed as Kael enabled Redline Sync—a dangerous state of mental and neural link pushing both him and Ravager beyond safe limits. If his body gave up during the sync, Ravager would fight on.

Kael didn't care.

But just as he took a breath, something buzzed.

A proximity alert.

Kael's eyes darted to the radar.

Incoming: Mecha ID – Brawler Mk IV

He didn't need to look. He already knew.

Tyren.

"Dammit…" Kael hissed, slamming his fist into the console. "You reckless—"

Brawler came flying in low across the horizon, kicking up trails of radiation ash and molten debris. The roar of its modified boosters echoed like thunder, and behind the plated glass cockpit, Tyren's eyes gleamed with that familiar wildfire grin.

"Hope you didn't think I was letting you hog the spotlight," Tyren's voice buzzed into Kael's comms, casual, cocky—exactly the way Kael remembered it.

Kael didn't reply for a moment. He exhaled long and slow. "You're an idiot."

"Best one you've got."

The two mechas now stood side-by-side, watching as the Origin Kaiju slowly turned to face them. Its massive mouth opened—no sound came, but the vibration of its breath alone rippled across the land. Its chest began to glow with a molten pulse.

Kael's voice went low.

"Neural sync. Engage."

Tyren's hands already flew across controls.

"Ready when you are."

The battlefield shifted.

Battleship Vortex – Mecha Hangar

Chaos.

The hangar was ablaze with noise. Pilots scrambling, alarms screaming, and tech crews shouting warnings. But amidst the chaos, Ziya and Ryssa stood at the edge of the launch corridor, fully geared, helmets in hand.

Ziya's eyes scanned the flight screen, knuckles white. She hadn't stopped pacing for the last ten minutes.

"They're both out there alone," she whispered. "What if we're too late?"

Ryssa, despite her calm posture, was trembling. She'd heard the last transmission. The Origin Kaiju. The readings. And now, her worst fear had come true.

Kael had gone without her.

"Not this time," she said, voice thick with resolve. "I won't be the one left behind."

Both women took their positions inside the compact recon-transport. The moment the doors sealed, Ryssa looked over her shoulder.

"Punch it," she ordered the pilot.

Ziya reached for the comms, whispering: "Please hold on."

R22 – Battlefield

The world exploded.

The Origin Kaiju lunged forward like a mountain learning to move. Kael and Tyren broke in opposite directions, Ravager dodging with brutal finesse while Brawler slid under the creature's swipe with twin blades flashing.

They'd trained for years, fought together in more wars than either wanted to remember—but this was different.

This Kaiju wasn't a beast.

It was a monster that understood.

Kael landed a strike with Ravager's pulse spear, but the Kaiju reacted—twisting, avoiding a direct hit and slamming a plated tail into Ravager's side. The cockpit rocked violently.

"Kael, you good?!"

"Fine!" Kael shouted, blood trickling from his temple. "This thing—it's learning as it fights."

Tyren grunted, vaulting Brawler over a spire of stone as one of the Kaiju's arms snapped up, nearly crushing him. "You say that like we're not the same."

Kael grinned despite the blood. "Then let's show it why we're different."

They moved like ghosts in sync—every step, every dodge, a mirror of each other. Ravager and Brawler split the terrain, forcing the Kaiju to divide its attention. For every attack it learned to counter, they gave it something new—Tyren's unpredictable flanking, Kael's precise lethality.

But even as they gained ground, the Kaiju adapted again.

Suddenly, it planted its fists into the earth.

Boom.

The ground cracked. An energy shockwave rippled out, throwing both mechas off-balance. Tyren shouted, spinning mid-air and using boosters to stabilize.

Kael wasn't so lucky. Ravager crashed into a jagged wall of stone.

"Kael!!" Tyren shouted.

The Kaiju didn't wait. It lunged again, this time toward the downed Ravager.

Kael saw it coming. His fingers scrambled for the backup lance, and just before the Kaiju's maw closed in—

Brawler crashed into it from the side, twin blades screaming through the creature's armored flank.

Tyren yelled, "You don't get to touch him, ugly!"

Kael pulled Ravager up, systems glitching. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Just buy me drinks for the rest of our lives."

Together, they launched into the next wave. Smoke, blood, and fire began to coat the landscape. And yet… neither stopped.

They'd promised once:

If the world falls, it'll fall on our dead bodies.

Above R22 – Dropship Incoming

Ryssa's nails dug into her seat's harness.

They could hear the static from the fight. The echoes of something massive roaring. Explosions. Distorted, maddening sound.

"They're down there," Ziya said, voice trembling. "They're fighting that… thing. Alone."

Ryssa closed her eyes.

"Not for long."

Back on R22

The Kaiju shrieked—its first real sound. And it was angry now.

Its body split at the sides, revealing plasma ducts and a second set of limbs. It wasn't at full power before.

Kael and Tyren barely had time to register before beams of energy began firing in every direction.

Kael ducked low. "This just got worse."

Tyren's laughter came ragged through the comm. "I live for worse."

But both knew they were reaching the edge.

Weapons overheating. Sync stress nearing collapse. Systems failing.

But they held the line.

Together.