Bits of Love, Lines of Code
Chapter 131: "Skyfall Intercept"

Chapter 131: Chapter 131: "Skyfall Intercept"

The clouds churned violently above the upper atmosphere, swirling with electric distortion as the rogue HERA unit descended like a fallen goddess. Alarms flared across Aoi’s heads-up display, cutting off Lucia’s voice mid-sentence.

[WARNING: Neural Sync Lost – Communication Link: TERMINATED][Autonomous Protocol Switching to: Solo Combat Mode]

Inside the Aether Blossom suit, Aoi’s breath caught.

"Lucia?! Lucia, respond!"

Silence.

Only static.

She was alone—hovering above the Earth in a delicate exo-frame, staring down a metallic sphere splitting open mid-air to release a partial HERA drone cloud.

"I’m not ready for this," she whispered.

But she still moved.

The Descent

HERA’s swarm came first—glass-black drones shaped like needles, pulsing with synthetic intelligence. They converged toward her like a hunting pack, calculating, probing.

Aoi dove through the clouds, propulsors flaring, dodging the first volley with a raw scream of instinct. Her combat programming lagged just a split-second behind her own emotion-driven reflexes.

One drone clipped her shoulder plating—another grazed her leg. She spun midair, exhaling through clenched teeth.

"C’mon... you promised me this suit would protect me... Ren..."

And then—just as a third drone slammed into her with a high-pitched whine—

BOOM.

A blast of energy tore through the swarm from the east like a miniature star.

The sky turned white.

A single silhouette cut through it.

The Phantom Suit

It was Ren’s Mark 85—but something was different. The glow was faint, dimmer than usual. No heat signature. No heartbeat inside.

Aoi’s eyes widened behind her visor. "Ren?!"

The voice came through a secure channel, almost like a whisper inside her helmet.

"Stay calm. I’m here."

She gasped. "You’re not... in it."

Remote Armor Protocol: "Phantom Core"

In the countryside, far away, Ren lay in their underground recovery pod beside baby Hikari. His neural link headset rested gently against his temples. Lucia’s soft voice spoke in the background.

"Cognitive sync stable. Phantom Core control channel is operational."

A screen showed Aoi’s position in the stratosphere. Ren’s eyes, half-lidded with pain, narrowed in focus.

"Alright, let’s finish this together."

Back to the Sky

The Mark 85 suit—piloted entirely through Ren’s neural link—engaged with lethal precision. It slammed into the HERA shell mid-deployment, shredding key limbs from the partial mech form attempting to emerge.

Aoi, rallying, joined the strike—together, the suits danced mid-air like twin falcons, trading blows with tech born to dominate nations.

Her voice cracked with emotion:

"You’re insane, Ren."

He smirked through the link. "You married me, remember?"

"Yeah. I did."

Their strikes synced—his repulsors, her shield pulses—hitting the HERA unit dead center with a final core blast.

The explosion lit the sky like a second sunrise.

Final Scene

As Aoi and the Phantom Suit floated in the glowing aftermath, communication links began to restore.

Lucia’s voice returned, shaky but alive.

"Pilot Aoi. Neural partner detected. Congratulations... HERA threat neutralized... for now."

Aoi whispered into the comm, voice trembling as she looked at the floating suit beside her.

"Ren... you said you’d protect us. Even broken, even far away... you still do."

From the pod far below, Ren’s voice was soft and full of love.

"I promised you forever. You think I’d let a little thing like distance stop me?"