SUPER ROBOT WARS M: Episode 2.21
written by Darkranger12
co-written by Shanejayell
Chapter One
MAY 4th 1415 GST 2144AD
Academy City New Kyoto UN SPACY Territory
Touma Kamijou panted as he ran towards a large hangar. He had another run in with Misaka who just wouldn't leave him alone. He didn't know why she was constantly pestering him, he just wanted her to leave him alone. As he ran into the hangar, a tan skinned girl with two toned hair scowled at him.
"You're late, Kamijou," The tan girl declared at the spiky haired boy.
"Sorry..." Touma sighed then shook his head. "Had a run in with Lightning Bug again."
Erika looked amused, "You KNOW she hates being called that."
"Yeah yeah...just wish she would leave me alone." Touma frowned
"AT least you have your power cancel ability... or she'd just fry you." Erika noted.
"Well, there is that," Touma agreed then mused. "So what craziness are we up to today?"
"Test piloting time!" Erica declared then gestured to the slightly bulky and sorta rounded mech in front of them. "We want you to try out this mech."
"Is that a Jagdpenst?" Touma blinked.
"Yep." Erika nodded impressed that he recognized the unit which was flown by elite units. "Its one of the older ones. A Mark II TT, in fact."
"How'd you get it." Touma asked.
"We stole it."
"WHAT?!" Touma blinked.
"Kidding." Erika laughed then explained. "My family's company, Archangel, owns Mao industries as a subsidiary. Mao produced this mech. I simply asked if I could borrow a test type for research."
"Fair enough...so why do you want me to test this mech?" Touma asked.
"We want you to test it to see if it has any bugs..." Erika nodded then smiled. "...and who better than a pilot thats very unlucky."
"Gee thanks..." Touma sighed.
"Theres another thing we want you to test," Erika noted then smiled. "We want to see if you can channel your Imagine Breaker ability."
"You want to test that?" Touma blinked.
"We still don't fully understand how your ability works, but we think we can amplify it locally..." Erika noted
"So just like myself...this mech...channels it through its right arm?" Touma noted.
"You got it..." Erika smiled.
"Huh," Touma sighed. "All right, guess I better get in..."
Erika tossed him a standard safety undersuit, "Change first."
"Yes ma'am," Touma headed for the bathroom to change Touma changed out of his clothes and slipped on grey and black saftey undersuit. While he did so a thought occured to him.
"Did we clear this test with JUDGE?" Touma asked.
"Yeah. We'll even have a observer," Erika noted
"Who would that be?" Touma asked
"Why this person of course." The tan skinned woman grinned as she gestured to a woman with long wavy hair.
"Oh it's YOU," Kuroko said disdainfully
"Nice to see you too," Touma agreed wryly
Erika looked amused. "Still chasing the Railgun, Kuroko-chan?"
"Yes of course...I love my onee-sama." Kuroko smiled.
"Good luck! We're rooting for you," Erika nodded
"Thank you..."
"Don't I get anyone rooting for me?" Touma wondered.
"No."
"Ah."
"Now get in the mecha, Touma," Erika nodded.
"Yes ma'am," Touma nodded.
"So, I'm here to observe, correct?" Kuroko noted as they watched Touma board the mech
"And emergency rescue. Can you teleport Touma out, if needed" Erika wondered
"His power would make that... complicated. I'd try, though," Kuroko shrugged
"Fair enough..." Erika nodded.
Inside, Touma flipped on several switches on the the mechs control panel. The cockpit and the mech hummed to life as the boy put on a linking glove on his right hand. He gripped the units controls and spoke into the headset. "Jagdpenst Test Type...moving out."
"Roger!" Erika answered and opened the hangar doors.
Within moments, the mech blasted out of the hangar and emerged onto the training field.
"Wow this thing handles well." Touma noted then blinked as he saw a tank charging at him. "Hey is that a TANK?"
"Yep." Erika nodded and flipped a switch. Moments later, the tanks main cannon fired a shot at the boys mech.
"AWK! Give me some warning next time!" Touma yelped
"So what does the mech actually DO?" Kuroko wondered. She was asking both to make conversation, and for information Judgement might use. Couldn't be too prepared.
"We're going to try to test out his imagine breaker ability." Erika noted
"By shooting him with a tank? I approve!"
Erika facepalms. "Try not to be so happy we're shooting at him..."
"Eh. He'll live." Kuroko shrugged. As they watched the agile mech dodge and weaved through the attacks. "He's quite good..."
"He's getting there..." Erika agreed then gave him an order. "Touma...stand still so they can shoot at you."
"Seriously?!"
"Seriously...and try out the linker glove." Erika nodded.
"Oh I HATE this job."
"But we pay well!" Erika noted.
Touma grumbles under breath but stops. Touma activated the sensors in his flight suit, symching up his power with the mecha. "Okay," he called, "ready!"
"Fire..." Erika barked as she toggled a button on her control pannel Ironically, it was a military Railgun, not the esper. Still, it was pretty spectacular. However, his power blocked the high speed projectile as if the mech had a barrier.
In the cockpit Touma yelped as sparks flew, and he could smell a bit of electrical smoke. The system had worked... but just barely.
"UNNGHHHHHHH." Touma grunted
"Touma?!" Eirka yelped
"I'm okay..." He managed as he looked at his glove. "But it looks like the glove is fried. Don't think I can use my power with this."
"Bring it back to the dock," Erika decided.
Touma was about to reply as the drone tanks went after his mech again. "Hey hey call these off."
"Dodge, I'm trying..." Erika ordered
A few seconds later the drones shut down, everyone breathing a sigh of relief.
"Thanks ma'am..." Touma sighed.
"Your welcome...come back home." Erika nodded.
"Yes ma'am..." Touma agreed
Kuroko watched with amusement. "That didn't go too wel.."
Erika gritted her teath. "Its a new system, we're still working the bugs out."
"I have to admit, if you do it could be very useful," Kuroko conceded.
"Hmm," Erica nodded.
"Just imagine how powerful Onee-sama could be!" Kuroko beamed, throbbing hearts seamingly appearing around her.
"Okay, that's just creepy," Erika frowned. Her discomfort subsided when the slightly bulky mech returned to the hangar and walked back to the dock. Its pilot disembarked and trotted back to the observation deck where Erika and Kuroko standing.
"You smell of smoke. What happened...?" Erika observed as she took in the slightly singed test pilot.
"The cooling system caught fire. Fire exstinguisher worked tho." Touma explained
"Well at least your okay...go get cleaned up and write up a quick report." Erika grinned.
"It sucked?"
"Longer report than THAT."
"Yes ma'am," he pouted then walked off
Kuroko snickered softly
"Miss Kuroko, I wanted to request having a Judement officer here regularly while we test," Erika noted as they walked back to her office
"Oh?" Kuroko looked curious
"Both to make sure we stay legal, and for safety issues," Erika explained
"Ah I see..." Kuroku smiled knowingly. "I must admit to enjoying seeing Touma getting injured..."
Eirka rolled her eyes.
"Very well I'll pass your request to my superiors." Kuroku smiled
"Thank you, it's appreciated," Erika smiled
"Excuse me, but Oneesama will be showering right now, and I need to go," Kuroko explained cheerfully then just disappeared.
"That is a creepy, creepy girl..." Erika shuddered, hoping she won't catch Misaka-san off guard.
"Is the weird girl gone yet." Kiyomi Kishiro asked as she walked in.
"She's not weird...just..." Erika made a face.
"Obsessed with 'Railgun'" Kiyomi noted smirked.
"Yeah." Erika nodded.
"So how did the test go." Kiyomi asked changing the subject.
"His Image Breaker ability blocked the shot but something shorted out during the live fire test." Erika explained.
"Back to the drawning board?" Kiyomi asked.
"Maybe." Erika sighed then smiled wryly at Kiyomi Kishiro as she walked towards the door. "All right lets get to work. Lets check the mech's telekenitic emitters first."
"Yes ma'am," Kiyomi nodded and followed her out of the office.
oOo oOo oOo Meanwhile o0o o0o o0o
A medium sized fleet defolded before New Kyoto. It was a battered yet battle hardened flotilla commanded by a battlehardend young captain.
"We've arrived, Captain Yagami." The helmswoman reported.
"Indeed Lt Ibuki," Hayate nodded, gazed at the defense fleet before them then turned to her XO. "Anything on the radar, Commander Katsuragi."
"No signs of alien or zentradi hostility. At least now that is." Misato reported then mused as she brought up several different ship designs on a holo window. "Confirming the update we received two years ago: the New Kyoto Defense fleet has been reinforced by the remnants of two zentradi fleets, independent units from Lady Testarossa's Divine Crusaders and the remnants of Macross 20's fleet, ma'am."
"Where are the colony ships?" Hayate asked.
"The ships New Texas and New Lisbon made an emergency landing after the first wave of attacks." Misato noted then made a face as she recounted the update. "The rest were lost during a previous attack in another solar system."
"I see. Thank you Commander Katsuragi" Hayate nodded then turned to a short haired woman. "Amy contact New Kyoto command. Tell them we've returned from the Zentradi front."
"Aye aye!" Amy nodded and went to work.
"Status report?" Misato asked
"Weapons fully opperational," Nanoha replied briskly
"Remaining teams ready to deploy if anything jumps into this system." Fate reported
"Good. Lt Commander Akagi what's our status?"
"Engines ready but the fold drive will need some time to recharge incase theres an emergency within the system." Ritsuko reported
"Good." Hayate nodded then glanced at a pink haired woman. "Internal security?"
"Clear," Signum replied tersely. In addition to handling normal 'police' style jobs on the ship, she was also in charge or repelling boarders. "No further threats ma'am."
"Good." Hayate nodded then smiled. "Amy signal the fleet and space command. We're heading ashore to our home port near Academy city."
"Yes ma'am," Amy nodded and relayed the message to space command. "They say thats fine and welcome home. They'll brief us on the situation here after we arrive at Izu base, our home port."
"Very well," Hayate sighed then barked out a order. "All ships prepare for land fall. Take us down, helm."
"Yes ma'am," The helmsman nodded and pushed his throttle forward. The ships passed New Kyoto's defense fleet slowly and made their descent down to the planets surface. The flagship and a few of its escorts descended through the clouds over the city and gently splashed down into the ocean near the city.
"Flagship has arrived, Captain," Misato reported.
"Very good," Hayate nodded then smiled as she asked her XO. "Have we got a shore leave schedule prepared?"
"Yes ma'am," Misato nodded as the others relaxed in their seats. "We're rotating most of the crew through shore leave, and maintaining just a emergency watch on board ship. We will be near enough to the city we can recall crew reasonably fast."
"Make sure that goes for the rest of the fleet too." Hayate noted then smiled. "Everyone has regions around the globe assigned for docking, though I understand certain cities were considered more desirable than others."
"Indeed," Misato nodded.
"We're being hailed by the city and command," Amy reported.
"On screen..." Hayate nodded.
"Welcome home Andromeda," the slightly older, purple haired woman smiled.
"Yes, welcome home," A green haired woman smiled.
"Thank you Mayor Testarossa and you too Admiral Lindy." Hayate smiled gently back.
"You must be tired from your long journey," Mayor Precia Testarossa smiled contritely at Hayate Yagami. "...and we're glad you made it back in one piece, captain."
"We lost a few ships on the front," Hayate noted somberly giving then a short hand report. "However those men and women on those ships did fight valiantly to the bitter end in defending the border worlds."
"You sound like a press release." Misato snarked from off to one side
"Gee, thanks. Losing people hurts... we all deal with it in our own ways," Hayate sighed
Lindy gave her a sympathetic look. "At least your back at any rate..."
"Aye..." Hayate nodded.
"Since this is your home port...you're welcome to take leave and return to your dwellings on base," Lindy nodded then glanced at Nanoha and Fate. "Or in some cases within the city proper."
"Thank you ma'am," Hayate nodde.
"Lindy, the reception...?" Precia reminded her
"Ah yes..." Lindy nodded then coughed as she smiled at Hayate and the crew.
"Hmm?" Hayate looked curious
"We're having a formal reception, a few days from now. As you're back, you are of course invited," Lindy smiled
"Fate, Nanoha. You're going too," Precia jumped in to add.
"Yes mother,..." both chorused
"...and while you're at it why not bring Dustine with you." Precia grinned, eyes twinkling.
"She's on to us..." Fate sighed.
"Yes...of course," Nanoha smiled a bit nervously.
Misato did her best not to snicker. Nanoha was used to a quieter, polite parentage,... unlike Precia.
"At any rate...once again welcome home to New Kyoto." Lindy nodded "We'll se you later now."
"Can't wait to see you Fate chaaaaaaan." Precia gushed
Fate sighed as half the bridge crew tried not to laugh at her.
"Parents can be a trial," Hayate managed to say, and not giggle. She rose slowly smiling at the bridge crew. "Well done everyone. You did a fine job during a very trying time. You may all be dismissed."
"Whoo hoo! Shore leave!" Lept up.
"At least wait until the juniors leave."
"Awww..."
Across the ships of the fleet, crew left for shore leave efficiently and without too much trouble. Thanks, in part, to guidelines sent out from Misato herself. Roughly a hour later, the bridge crew left, heading for the shore on ferries.
Commander Gendo Ikari, fifth in command and usually in charge of third shift, took command.
"Enjoy your leave," he sighed.
"Ritsuko will relieve you in three days..." Hayate smiled as the others left.
"At least it's not night shift," Gendo admitted.
o0o o0o o0o Later at Lindy and Precia's Home. o0o o0o o0o
"We're back." Fate smiled contritely Nanoha and she she walked into a tastefully decorated living room. Sitting in the living room were both Lindy and Precia who looked very elated to see their daughter and daughter in law.
"FATE-CHAAN!" Precia trotted over to the blonde and gave her a fierce hug. "I've missed you so so so MUUUUUUCH!"
"Motheeeer," Fate sighed as Nanoha smiled contritely at her.
"Hey, big sister," Alicia looked amused as she joined the family in the living room.
"Save me..." Fate whispered to her twin sister.
"Hey, I have to put up with it ALL the time." Alicia noted
"My daughters are SO mean," Precia pouted. Moments later, the door bell rang. Precia perked up and smiled. "That must by Dusty chan and her guests. I'll get it."
"I'LL get it." Lindy interjected as the others sat "You'll just scare her off."
"Aww..." Precia pouted.
"There there mother..." Alicia patted her shoulder.
Moments later, Hayate, Signum and Dustine walked in with Lindy.
"Welcome." Precia beamed.
"Admiral Harlowun, Precia, Alicia-chan." Dustine bowed to them slightly.
"Dusty chan!" Precia happily.
"Eep." Dustine squeaked but then smiled in relief as Nanoha and Fate berated her.
"Mother! Don't scare her!" Fate frown
"Awww," Precia pouted. "Everyone's so mean to me today..."
"There there," Lindy patted her shoulder then smiled at Dustine. "I'm glad you made it out too, Dusty-chan. Nanoha and Fate would have been very sad if they lost you out there."
Dustine blushed abit before speaking. "Truth be told...I don't mind risking my life out there...so long as Nanoha and Fate were safe."
"Dustine..." Nanoha and Fate blushed.
"Still if you made my sister cry you wouldn't hear the end of it..." Alicia frowned.
"Oh yeah?" Dustine smirked.
"Yeah!" Alicia growled.
"Behave girls." Lindy sighed while pushing them apart. "We're waiting on another guest."
"Who?" Dustine blinked.
"Your sister of course." Lindy smiled.
"Erika?!" Dustine blinked.
"Don't look so shocked, dear," Lindy smiled. "Its been ages since she's seen you."
Moments later the door chimed.
"I've got it." Precia grinned and trotted off.
"Hope she doesn't scare her off too." Dustine sighed. Moments later, Precia walked in with a cheery grin on her face as she ushered in Erika and her friend.
"Erika Ageni. Welcome!" Lindy smiled as Precia
"Sis!" Erika smiled as she trotted up to Dustine. The pair hugged briefly and smiled. "Thank goodness you're in one piece."
"Same to you. I've heard its been crazy here." Dustine smiled wryly.
"I've...mostly been keeping my head down," Erika noted then gestured to Kiyomi as she introduced her. "I don't think you've met, this is Kiyomi Kishiro."
"Honored to be here," Kiyomi half bowed then smiled at Dustine. "Also honored to meet Erika's big sister."
"Mostly?" Dustine teased.
"She's too modest," Kiyomi smiled, "she helped mobilize Archangel's mecha forces to fight off a kaiju!"
"Among other things..." Lindy noted
"We've heard here and there what was going on here while we were away..." Hayate noted. "It must have been a bit rough for the last few years."
"We have been hit by alien invasions from time to time yes." Lindy noted then smiled at the returning group. "Buuuuut this isn't a debriefing or a briefing...so we'll save that for later. Shall we?"
"Yeah, let's gossip about what our political leaders got up too," Erika teased
"Oh?" Hayate asked
"TRhere was the nude sunbathing thing..."
"Shhh!" LIndy yelped
Precia blushed furiously
"Mothers..." Fate sighed
"I think it's cute," Nanoha winked
"And THEN there was the office quicky..."
"I thought the door was locked!" Precia defended them
"Oy..." Lindy rolled her eyes.
"Amusingly, their approval rate is higher then ever," Erika noted
"Thats New Kyoto for you..." Dustine chuckled
Moments later, a pair of maids walked into the foyer. The taller of the two bowed politely and smiled. "Excuse us. Dinner will be served shortly. Follow us to the dining hall please."
"You heard the ladies." Lindy smiled.
"Riiight." The rest replied before following the maids through the house and into the dining room.
"Where should we sit..." Erika asked politely
"Just grab a seat," Lindy gestured.
"Dibs on the seat by Lindy," Precia added
Dibs on the seat next to Fate," Nanoha grinned
"...and Dustine." Fate noted
Erika just laughed as she and her girlfriend sat together
"Your seat," Signum held out a chair for Hayate.
"Thank you," Hayate sat as Signum pushed in the chair gentlemanly
"Sit next to me...?" Hayate patted the seat next to her.
"Of course," Signum smiled
Sparkling fruit juice was brought out.
"I know you can't drink booze as you're on call," Lindy noted
"It bites but what can you do..." Dustine noted.
"I'm not on call," Erika complained
"Suffer with us," Hayate teased
"Fine..." Erika grumbled.
"There there..." Kiyomi patted her shoulder as the maids walked out to retrieve the main dish
"How bad was the Zentradi activity?" Precia asked as they poured drinks and served food
"The fighting was fierce at times..." Hayate sighed then addeded. "The Zentradi were and still are constantly launching raids, looking for weaknesses in our defensive lines."
"We have better tech and they're disorganized after we defeated their high command." Lindy noted.
"Way back in the first Intergalactic War?" Kiyomi asked.
"Indeed. Zentradi are very slow to change, as well." Lindy sighed.
"I understand they've broken into factions as well," Erika noted
"That bastard Edwards is running one group." Dustine frowned. "He was harrassing our frontlines quite a bit."
"Including several Solnoid colonies..." Nanoha nodded.
"Revenge?" Lindy guessed.
"Seems so..." Hayate shrugged
"Thought we'd killed him..." Dustine sighed then nodded. "But apparently he paid to get cyborged. We'll have to be more thorough next time."
"Isn't that being a little...blood thirsty, Big sis?" Erika noted Dustine stuck her tongue out at Erika
"She's not blood thristy, Erika-chan," Nanoha smiled contritely then sighed as she gave her a brief explination to Dustine's desire to end Edward's life. "Edwards did quite a number on us a while ago...and we've been smarting ever since."
"You're refering to the Genesis incident, yes?" Alicia inquired innocently and politely.
Dustine winced causing Precia to frown at Alicia. "Alicia-chan. Sh."
"Why?" Alicia blinked.
"We lost a lot that day," Fate explained seriously.
Nanoha, noticing dustine's demeanor, decided to change the subject. "We noticed that the defense fleet has been enforced by some zentradi ships and the remnants of macross 20s fleet."
"Aye..." Lindy nodded then smiled. "Admiral Graham is now commander of the colony's space divison."
"Uncle Gil?!" Hayate exclaimed, smiling.
"Uncle?" Dustine blinked.
"He's a old friend of the family," Hayate explained sheepishly then looked a bit sad. "When my parents died, he helped support me until I enlisted. After that he kept in touch from time to time."
"I see..." Dustine nodded.
"I'm glad he weathered that storm of Zentradi ships," Hayate nodded then smiled wryly at Alicia. "But I hear that they were given some assistance by your private military groups space forces, Alicia. Even resupplied them with new mechs."
"It was only the right thing to do." Alicia nodded then smiled wryly back at Erika. "The remainder of Macross 20s fleet were also using some some advanced mechs at the time too."
"Ours actually." Erika smiled a bit.
"I see." Dustine nodded then asked "Which Mechs?"
"The Jagdpenst Mk II and the VF 32," Erika explained then grinned at Lindy. "The Local UN SPACY brass were so impressed that they want the Jagdpenst and the 32 as one of their main combat units once when we perfect them."
"...but the brass and the local zentradi units are interested in our mechs too." Alicia grinned wryly at Erika.
"Oh please...those flimsy things?" Erika teased.
"Actually if the Zentradi do phase out the battlepods a Lion unit would be the next choice." Dustine noted.
"Hmmph!" Alicia grinned.
"Siiiiis." Erika pouted.
"Well they do say its better for a company to have competition yes?" Hayate noted.
"Indeed." Erika nodded then sighed. "If only some of our test pilot were more reliable."
"What?" Dustine blinked.
"Nothing nothing." Erika smiled at the injoke while sipping on her juice.
Moments later, the door to the dining room opened again and a pair of maids wheeled their dinner in on two carts.
"Dinner is served." One of the maids smiled.
"Oh great...I'm starved." Dustine smiled.
o0o o0o o0o Later... o0o o0o o0o
"Ahh," Fate sighed. "I am SO full."
"Sis, you're a pig," Alicia noted.
"Hey, this is the first non-preserved food we've had in months." Fate defended herself
"True true..." Dustione nodded
"I mean, ship food isn't awful," Hayate noted, "but the fresh grown stuff pretty much goes to colonists and such..."
"Unfortunately yes..." Precia smiled contritely
"At least we never had to go into the emergency MREs," Nanoha noted
"MRE?" Alicia asked
"Meals Ready to Eat," Fate offered
"Called by troops Meals Ready to Expell."
"Ouch," Preceia laughed
"So, how ARE things going with the Crusaders?" Fate asked her sister curiously
"Running it isn't easy..." Alicia smiled wryly. "We're the last line of defense against alien invasions. There's the local garrison here...but since we're so far away, its hard for UN SPACY to muster a response fleet in time."
"I have to admit, I've wanted to try a few of your mechs," Dustine admitted. "The different designs look interesting to fly."
"Et Tu Dustine..." Erika pouted.
Dustine shrugged. "That tank looks like it'd be a riot to drive on rough terrain..."
"...and they would be faster than UN SPACY'S older destroids." Alicia grinned.
"To be fair tho the Cheyenne Mk II might be a run for the Landlions money," Dustine noded then shrugged. "Though not by much."
"I'm SO glad we no longer have the original Destroids," Hayate noted. "Running on the ground in those things killed your back..."
"Tell me about it..." Dustine, Nanoha and Fate sighed.
Dustine then peered at Erika and Alicia. "...aren't the both of you trying to produce these...super robot things."
"Try to keep up," Erika teased, "we already have."
"Both of us are on the second generation designs now," Alicia agreed
"Looks like I have to brush up on what you guys have too..." Dustine smiled sheepish
"Come by to our factory while you'fre on leave," Alicia offered, "we've got several test types we're developing. I'd love to get your opinions."
"Same here..." Erika nodded.
"Me first!" Alicia snapped
"No me!"
"Ladies.. there is plenty of me to go around..." Dustine warded them off.
"Ara ara...you make it sound like your a harem lead." Precia teased.
"I do not..." Dustine blushed.
Fate groaned "Moooooon!"
To be continued
Authors notes: This fanfic is a multiple series crossover which characters from: A Certain Magical Index and railgun series, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Macross, Super Robot Wars and Neon Genesis Evangelion. And elements from A Certain Magical Index/Virtual on game and light novel