Disclaimer: Bandai and Sunrise are the undisputed Tyrant rulers of Gundam, RISE UP AND FIGHT THE OPPRESSORS!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Radio"

"Alter Egos"

"Jigen Haoh-Ryu techniques"

MS Girls

Hanami - Unicorn Gundam 01

Kaede - Unicorn Gundam 02 'Banshee'

Chris - Unicorn Gundam 03 'Phenex'

Katrina - Kshatriya

Lesson Two - Diplomacy Sucks


Unknown Planet, Fused Ship


Ryu kept his face blank as he strode through the halls of the fused ship, that barely an hour ago had crash landed on a completely unknown planet, slightly behind him and on his right was Katrina, still in her armored state as her boots thudded against the metal hallway. "Just remember Katrina, don't start anything, I don't want another firefight breaking out all over this ship," he warned the fiery tempered woman. "We're going to need to work together if we're to survive."

"Tch, fine, fine…" Katrina grumbled. "I still wanna punch one of their faces in. You know what it feels like, being sucked out of the ship into vacuum!?"

"Uncomfortable, I imagine," Ryu replied. "I'm just glad that whatever that radiation did to you allowed you to survive."

"I know, right!? I'm thankful too, but this thing makes me feel like I'm wearing a fucking bikini around in public!" the armoured woman complained, wringing her hands.

Ryu smirked a little in response. "Ah, so that's why all those guys were staring at you, I never noticed," he informed sarcastically. "Just hold out till the end of this meet and we'll see what we can do to get you out of it."

"… If you weren't the captain, I'd punch your lights out, too," Katrina muttered resentfully.

"I know, and I take every bit of pleasure in it," he responded proudly before settling his face into a firm line as they came up to the designated meeting room, apparently the powers-that-be saw fit to merge the conference rooms of the two ships together into a single one. "Sigurd, how many are inside right now?"

"There are 5 people in the conference room. All of them are armed, two with assault rifle type weapons, and the other three with handgun types," Sigurd reported.

"Where did you leave those other three girls in armour that you bumped into, Captain?" Katrina asked.

"With the others," Ryu informed a deep frown on his face. "And right now regretting it, as this was supposed to be the two of us and one guard each."

"Well obviously those dickless, cowardly assholes want to have a numerical advantage over us," Katrina grunted, clenching an armoured fist. "But those girls were civvies anyway, right? No military training whatsoever. Bringing them along wouldn't make a very good impression."

"No, it wouldn't," Ryu agreed as he adjusted his grip on the assault rifle he was carrying before holding it out to Katrina. "Here, it seems that your ability will morph any weapons you pick up to something more powerful, and we might need that power."

"Really?" Katrina blinked, taking the rifle into her hand with some amount of difficulty owing to the size of the trigger compared to her armour.

"Nothing's happening, Captain," Katrina deadpanned, handing the rifle back. "Thanks for making me feel like an idiot."

"Maybe there are certain conditions," Ryu speculated. "I'm just in the dark as you are with this, anyways, ladies first."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence!" the woman grumbled as she pressed the button to open the door.

"Warning, hostiles are opening fi-" Sigurd barely had time to issue a warning.

"Motherfuckers!" the woman cursed, even as her pauldrons flashed, emitting a dark green glow.

Four large teardrop-shaped armoured pods appeared, covered in dark green armour in front with two short barrels for some kind of weapon on either side. They were connected to the pauldrons by ball and gimbal joints, apparently allowing them to swivel all around Katrina. Before the energy projectiles the aggressors used could hit her, the pods converged in front of her, shielding both of them. As expected, the fire splashed across the pods harmlessly. Ryu noticed several small hatches in the undersides of the pods for something to exit as well.

Three shots rang out in response as Ryu fired through an opening in the shields, hitting the joints of three of the soldiers, causing them to cry out. "Sigurd, ask them what the meaning of this stunt was?" Ryu asked in barely contained fury. "And why I shouldn't shoot this fucker in the head here and now."

Even after Sigurd translated the question across the speakers in the conference room, the remaining two uninjured people, apparently the commanding officers judging by their different attire, kept silent, staring at Ryu and Katrina defiantly. The stare at the latter included some amount of fear.

Ryu noticed the fearful looks towards Katrina and sighed. "Sigurd, translate for me," Ryu ordered as he walked into the room and took a seat, keeping his weapon in plain sight. "I am Captain Ryu Hisanaga of the Colonization Ship Sanctuary, what are your names?"

"…I am Captain Argus Delanz of Her Majesty's Space Naval Ship Eligor," the older of the two officers finally said after about half a minute, Sigurd translating for him.

"Captain Argus, I think both of our crews got off on the wrong foot in general, which considering what happened isn't all that hard to understand," Ryu informed. "Now, I am willing to… overlook what has happened, but… that is only if you stop trying to kill us."

Argus, who was a muscular fellow for his old age, sighed as he looked down for a few seconds. "I'll see what I can do to keep hostilities to nil from now on, Captain Hisanaga," he said as he looked back up. "I take it you don't know why this happened, right?"

"We have some theories, but all we know for certain is that we passed too closely to a dying star, got hit by some strange radiation, and then caught inside of a wormhole effect," Ryu replied calmly. "As for the ships… fusing, our theory is that when we exited the wormhole, matter from both ships broke down and reformed around each other."

The younger of the two officers coughed into his hand, before speaking up. "I think the word you're looking for is 'hypothesis', not theory," he said, before throwing in a glare. "Also, thanks to something from your ship, my little sister became modified!"

Ryu raised an eyebrow in response. "Honestly, we have no idea how this happened either," he informed honestly, gesturing to Katrina. "Many of our crew members woke up from cold sleep changed, and since you started attacking the civilians they started awakening these powers."

The younger officer was about to rebut that point, but Argus held a hand out to stop him. "Lieutenant Yamato, that's enough!" Argus snapped out. "Arguing with these people won't do us any good, so please, drop it!"

"If I had answers and a way to reverse it, I would share it with you," Ryu said in conclusion. "However, we are in the dark as well," he turned his eyes to the captain. "Captain, I think we need to decide on how we proceed from here."

Argus nodded in agreement. "Right, then," he said. "What are your thoughts?"

"Since it's quite obvious those under us won't accept an order from their… opposite, joint command for the time being," Ryu informed. "We have some of the best scientists from our planet with us, and they're working around the clock with various specialists trying to figure out what happened, if it can be reversed, and if it can, how to reverse it."

Argus nodded in thought. "That makes sense," he said. "Hopefully, we won't be making civilians soldiers against their will… I've bad experience with that sort of action."

Ryu gave a smirk of acknowledgement. "I can sympathize with that," he agreed. "But, there is one thing I want to stress towards the men and women under your command, while I understand that it was combat and things happen, I will not tolerate anyone making any sort of uncalled for hostile movements towards the colonists under my care, and should it happen again… I will take lethal actions in return."

"I understand," Argus said, before he turned to face his junior officer. "Lieutenant Yamato, you will comply with their request, right?" He half asked/half ordered.

The Yamato male stiffened as he made to salute his superior. "S-Sir!" he snapped off.

"In return, I'll make sure that none of my own start any trouble," Ryu offered, extending the proverbial olive branch. "I was entrusted with the best and brightest of our planet to colonize a new one, I take that duty seriously."

Argus nodded. "Of course, Captain Hisanaga," he said. "Please… allow me to say, 'we hope to have great friendly relationships with you, and with all your crew'."

Ryu nodded, casting a small look at the injured soldiers. "Same, Captain Argus," Ryu returned. "If you'll excuse me, I have things that I need to see to."

"But of course," Argus nodded, moving with his junior officer to pick up the injured soldiers.


Fused Ship, Residential Block B


Hanami, Kaede and Chris were surveying the damage done to the ship during the crash land, while also trying to help salvage whatever cargo still remained intact from the cargo section of the block. It was quite a mess, considering that the cargo section had been displaced from its original location and apparently split into a few parts. The crash land shattering a few of the containers didn't help matters any.

"At least food storage is okay…" Hanami sighed as she yanked a fallen steel beam a few times her own size out of the way, allowing her to reach the crates behind it. In a way, she was grateful for the additional strength her armoured form allowed her.

"I know, it's amazing how much armor they put around it," Chris chimed in as she lifted a chunk of titanium twice her size above her head. "Plus, throwing all this stuff around is pretty cool!"

"Hey, don't throw around valuable stuff we can still use!" Kaede chided, pulling a crate out. "Even if it looks like junk, we can probably still recycle it at some point later on. Especially since we're not even sure what kind of resources the planet we landed on has."

"I wonder what kind of food it has?" Hanami mused absentmindedly.

"I dunno… but I hope it's sweet and juicy and yummy…" Chris began listing absently, the other two tuning her out as she continued on.

"I don't have much of a sweet tooth…" Kaede sighed, as she turned to her friend. "Hanami-chan, you want to experiment, right?"

"Of course!" the armoured silverette nodded enthusiastically. "There's no telling what new ingredients and recipes are out there waiting to be discovered on this planet!"

"You always were like that, even before we got on the ship…" Kaede smiled softly, her memories rising unbidden to the front of her mind. "Your parents are probably worried sick about you."

"Were," Hanami admitted resignedly. "We were in cold sleep for decades, Kaede-chan. They're probably… passed on by now back on Earth."

"Yeah…" Kaede sighed. "I never did understand why you came on the ship alone."

"I wanted to see the brand new world out there for myself," Hanami confessed, looking at one of the many holes in the hull at the new world beyond, rays of sunlight poking through into the crashed ship. "I thought… I needed to become independent away from my parents too. It was tough… they wanted to come along with me as well, but they weren't selected. Kaede-chan, what about your okaa-san? She was selected, right?" she quickly changed the subject, trying not to think of the home they had all left behind.

"She's here on the ship somewhere in the other residential block. I haven't run into her yet since the chaos began," Kaede sighed. "I hope she's fine…"

"Ah," Chris said as she seemed to deflate. "I had to leave my momma behind," she informed. "It's only been me and her since Daddy died, and… I didn't want to go, but… she pushed me to go, told me that I'd regret not going even more… she's… she probably already passed on…"

Hanami hugged Chris as softly as she could. "Yo-You're not alone there…" she began sniffing slightly. "I… I think I understand how much it hurt for them to push us to go too…"

"Then we ought to make them proud, right?" Kaede smiled softly. "My otou-san passed away just a few months after I was born. I barely remember him, but my okaa-san never stopped telling me stories about him and how good a husband he was."

Chris sniffed a little before shaking her head and forcing a smile onto her face. "It's sad, but… that's why I'll always smile," she informed resolutely. "Because, to do otherwise would make Momma cry."

"Well, I'm sure my okaa-san would be happy to adopt both of you in a sense," Kaede chuckled. "I… won't understand how you two feel, but at least I can try to help fill that hole in your life."

"Thank you, Kaede," Chris said, giving her a bright smile. "I'll always appreciate the friendship you two have given me."

"Hey, we're all in the same boat… well, ship together," Kaede smiled. "We gotta stick together."

"Yeah…" Hanami forced a smile, pulling Kaede into a group hug as well. "Arigatou, Kaede-chan…"

"Ah, here you three are," a familiar voice called out, bringing their attention to Ryu as he picked his way through the debris. "Listen, I know this isn't your guys' responsibility or anything like that, so this is a volunteer thing, but we need to scout the surrounding area, Sigurd says that what little sensors are still operational from the crash that there are some minor power readings to the north of here, so I'm forming a scouting party to go and take a look."

"Excuse me," an unfamiliar female voice spoke up from a distance away, prompting the four of them to look in her direction. What they saw was an officer who seemed to belong to the same military that they had fought at least an hour earlier, only a really young officer at that, with blue hair and red eyes, and a rather impressive rack for her apparent age. "I was sent here by Captain Delanz to help smooth out relations between us, and to possibly assist with scouting out the land, Captain Hisanaga." With a bow, she added, "My name is Ensign Kyou Yamato. You already met my brother, Lieutenant Kenji Yamato, so…"

Blinking several times, Hanami looked at the newcomer. "Wait... you're speaking English awfully well... and you even have a name that sounds Japanese…" she noted.

Kyou blinked a few times. "I take it those are names for languages on your home planet?" she asked.

Kaede nodded. "You're not going to attack us again, are you?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, even as she ejected her energy sword into her hand, although she didn't ignite it.

Shaking her head, Kyou answered. "No, I wouldn't attack civvies, especially since I'm under orders from Captain Delanz to assist with the scouting party that would invariably be formed."

"Captain, do you trust her?" Kaede turned towards Ryu.

Ryu took some time to mull over Kyou's words and actions since showing up. "For the time being, we have no choice but to trust her," he finally answered. "It's not that I don't want to trust her… it's my prior training talking."

"No choice, huh..." Hanami sighed, before she gave a neutral look at the newcomer. "I'm Hanami Yukikaze."

"Kaede Serizawa," Kaede spoke up, reluctantly returning her sword to its sheath on her forearm. "I'll be keeping an eye on you..."

"I'm Christina Jaeger," Chris said in an unusually subdued tone compared to what the others were used to coming from her.

Kyou moved herself into a position to offer a hand to the other girls. "It's a pleasure to meet you… and I understand the distrust."

"Are you using a translator or something?" Hanami asked curiously, raising an armoured hand to shake Kyou's.

"Actually, I don't know how it happened, but I was gifted with the ability to understand your languages…" Kyou answered. "As far as I can tell, my name itself wasn't supposed to have the meaning of Japanese Mirror, if one were to get technical about the name's translation… might have something to do with the radiation that hit the Eligor."

"That's really weird… we still can't make sense of your jumbled up version of English despite going through the same thing," Kaede sighed. "At least having a human translator around will probably be a lot more useful than relying on Sigurd all the time."

Kyou blinked a few times, before she sighed. "I'm probably the only woman that was aboard the Eligor, or rather, the only woman that qualified for this treatment," she said. "If it turns out that it's some form of telepathy that's acting as translator, that would explain it, somehow."

"You're the only woman on your ship?" Hanami gaped. "That sounds rough… Does your military have some kind of restriction against women joining or something?"

"Actually, I don't know if I'm the only woman on the Eligor," Kyou answered. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were other women from the homeland, but I'm probably the only one who met the requirements for what happened, somehow."

"Well, have you actually seen your armour yet?" Kaede gestured at her own black armour. "It seems like every one of us got a different one…"

Kyou blinked. "I… actually haven't," she answered. "I know that I used to have black hair and brown eyes, and that I wasn't as… developed as I am now."

"Most of us started out like that," Hanami nodded, blushing slightly and sneaking a few glances at the sole male nearby the group. Ryu was looking away, apparently tuning the girls out. "Our ship is… or was a colonization ship, so we have a lot of people on board that got affected."

Kyou nodded in understanding. "I see what you mean… I highly doubt that silver's a natural hair color anywhere."

"Unless you're getting old," Kaede snickered.

"Kaede-chan, you're being mean!" Hanami whined, even as she ran her armoured fingers through her hair frantically.

"It still looks nice on you, Hanami!" Chris hurriedly attempted to ease the silverette's worries.

Kyou nodded in agreement. "Yes, that's true," she said. "I think it looks nice on you, too, Miss Yukikaze."

Hanami's cheeks reddened slightly. "W-Well… if you guys say so…" she said shyly. "But shouldn't we get to work soon?" she turned to look at Ryu expectantly.

Ryu nodded in agreement. "We will," he informed. "Get whatever you think you may need and meet me at Hanger Two in… 30 minutes."

Kyou nodded, before she stopped her head in thought. "Um, would you be adverse to me borrowing a couple weapons for this mission?" she asked Ryu.

Ryu shook his head. "I don't mind, they may be needed," he informed seriously. "Don't load up too heavily though."

"Roger that, Captain Hisanaga," Kyou saluted, before she walked over to a different part of the ship.

"I'm not even sure what kind of weapons I should bring along…" Hanami muttered, looking at the rifle on her back.

"The rifles you already have should be fine," Ryu informed. "No need to overload yourselves, and Kyou, Armory Lockup is the other way on Deck Four."

Kyou stopped in mid-step, before she turned around, heading towards Deck Four. "Right… my mistake," she chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her neck.

"Everything got messed up during the fusion anyway…" Kaede sighed. "I should probably go look for my okaa-san first thing when we get back. I wonder if she's okay…"

Kyou blinked, before she said, "I hope that she didn't get injured during the hostilities… at all."

"There were several injured," Ryu informed, mentally reviewing the list of injured crewmembers. "I don't remember seeing any Serizawa's on the list."

"Thank goodness…" Kaede heaved a sigh. "Well then, shall we get going? I'm all pumped up!" she grinned, pumping an armoured fist in the air.

"Like I said, in a half hour, I need to pick up my armor and gear," Ryu informed.

Kyou simply nodded. "I hope you'll be able to show me where to go on your way there," she said to Ryu. "This is my first time in this part of the combined ship, after all."

"Follow me then," Ryu said with a nod. "Meet you three in hangar 2 in thirty."

"Er… where's hangar 2?" Hanami tentatively raised a hand to ask, before she jumped as a waypoint appeared in the HUD only she could see floating in her vision. "Oh."

"Wow… it's like a video game!" Chris declared happily. "Now I don't have to worry about getting lost!"

Kyou blinked at the display, before she sighed dejectedly. "Man… why don't I have access to such armor?" she asked in a depressed manner. "It would make my life so much easier…"

"Umm… but it's so indecent…" Hanami blushed, wrapping a hand around her exposed underbust. "It feels more like some kind of perverted cosplay instead of armour…"

"Although it does let us run through laser fire without taking much damage… your laser rifles didn't do anything to it at all," Kaede summoned her shield for a moment to make her point.

"Er… actually, they don't shoot lasers," Kyou pointed out. "They shoot plasma instead."

"…Oh," the other girls muttered in unison, amending their definition of flying green bolts of energy to plasma instead of lasers.

"We can worry about the details later," Ryu informed, not quite sternly, but definitely in a firm manner. "I'd like to get to the power source before sunset… being on an unknown planet at night, is not a good idea."

"R-Right!" the girls scrambled off towards the armoury for Kyou, and the hangar for the group of girls already in full armour.


Armory


"Kyou, going too far," Ryu called out as he came to a stop. "Armory's right here."

"Eh?" Kyou blinked, before she looked at the signs for the map. "Oh… right, sorry!"

Ryu chuckled as his iris was quickly scanned before the door unlocked, allowing them entry. "Why aren't you using your peoples' weapons?" he questioned as he moved to a locker with his name on it.

Kyou sank her head a bit. "Unfortunately, I forgot to come with my own weapons," she answered. "I didn't want to make a scene, so I left them in my quarters, and forgot to bring them with me."

Ryu hummed in response. "Rifles are over there," he informed giving a vague wave off to the right as he began to pull out his combat suit. "Side arms next to them."

Kyou nodded. "Thanks!" she called out. "Now… eh? What are civvies doing outside of the armory?"

"I'm telling you two, I don't need any guns!" one of the three girls, with bright red short spiky hair and vibrant blue eyes, and an E-Cup bust, was complaining to her two companions.

"Kimiko-chan, if we're going to ask permission to go on that recon run we were hearing about, it'd likely be easier if we had some kind of weapon," replied the second girl, with dark blue-purple waist-length hair and green eyes, with her breasts a bit smaller - around a D-Cup.

"But thanks to my skill at Jigen Haoh-Ryu, my entire body is a weapon!" the first girl, Kimiko, countered.

"That may be fine for you," the third girl, a blonde with shoulder-length hair, green eyes and a DD-Cup bust said. "But Sayane-chan and I aren't martial artists like you are - we would need weapons."

"Why are you wanting to join the recon group?" Ryu asked, not looking up from his locker as his back to the three girls.

"Part of why we joined the colony ship was to look for adventure," Kimiko said. "The chance to help forge a new history on a new world."

"That's her reason, at least," Sayane replied. "Honestly, she'd get in over her head if she went by herself - Haruka-chan and I joined up because we knew she'd need someone looking after her."

The third girl, Haruka, nodded. "That said, though, we want to help out - and when we heard people mentioning the fact you were planning a recon, Kimiko-chan was jumping at the bit to join the team and help explore."

Kyou blinked and sighed. "Should civvies even be allowed to participate in operations like this?" she asked Ryu.

"The best and brightest of all fields were selected, and before we even left, everyone underwent rigorous survival and self-defense training," he informed as he pulled on his polarized helmet before turning around. "You three can come, grab a weapon - at the very least a side arm - and follow me."

Kimiko sighed at the mention of needing a gun, but acquiesced as she walked into the room, followed by the other two. "Doubt I'll use it that much, but alright," she said as she picked up a pistol.

Sayane went over to the larger racks and grabbed a marksman's rifle, while Haruka picked up a light machine gun.

"This way," Ryu informed, stopping before a secondary lock up and entered in a passcode before pulling out an assault rifle and several clips before relocking it. "Our recon is a simple one, just locate the power source nearby and report in, if there are locals, we may initiate First Contact for assistance depending on their development stage."

"Right," Sayane replied, clearly the stoic of the group of three girls.

"And if I catch you heading off on your own," Ryu stopped walking to look back at them, his polarized faceplate flashing ominously. "You won't like the result."

Haruka nodded. "We'll do our best to stay with you," she said.

"Good," Ryu said as he turned back to walking. "And try not to shoot the locals, it tends to drag out the diplomatic process."

"Gotcha," Kimiko replied. "I'll try not to use my Jigen Haoh-Ryu on them, either, unless they strike first."

"Self defense is fine," Ryu agreed as they entered a lift. "Just remember the rules, do not eat anything until it has been tested, don't drink the water, and for the love of the goddess, do not piss off super predators."

"Wait… you people worship a goddess?" Kyou asked incredulously.

Ryu nodded. "Santis, Goddess of Life, Death, and Rebirth," he informed. "There are others, but Santis is the most prevalent, especially among military personnel, although each branch may also pay homage to another god or goddess that reflects onto their section, Colonists also pay homage to Clodis, God of the Dark Sea, what we used to call space."

Kyou blinked. "Um… o-kay," she answered. "I guess this goes to show why my people's a Monotheist group, then… having one for everything is less complicated in this case."

Ryu shrugged. "It's what works for us," he informed. "Hell, it actually helped avoid a few world wars by bringing in the Priest and Priestesses of Felra, the Goddess of War, basically, if they're brought in, shit gets fucked on an epic scale."

Kyou blinked again. "How bad are we talking about?" she asked.

"One is equivalent to a Battalion, they live and breathe war," Ryu answered. "Although they do have strict guidelines and rules they must follow. Breaking them without good reason, even the most minor one, is punishable by death, if you can prove it was necessary, they exile you instead."

Kyou gaped at that. "Er… o-kay, that's not fun," she finally said.

"Considering that each of them are equal to a Battalion?" Ryu responded. "What do you think would happen if they didn't have those rules and guidelines."

"Personally, I'd rather not think about it," Kyou answered. "I mean, the deity my people worships, Yago, has some strict rules about things like worshipping other deities, but never do we have to worry about anyone being killed or exiled for breaking even a simple rule or guideline."

Ryu shrugged. "Like I said though, they were too strong for them not to have those guidelines, although they've since then changed and became a section of the Space Marine Corps, the Felra Battalion and deployed on High Risk missions," he informed. "I think one or two are on this ship actually."

Blinking, Kyou asked, "How does one get to be too strong to not have such guidelines? Is it even humanly possible?"

"Quite so," Ryu informed. "Granted it takes a lot of time, training, discipline and a few biological augments, but yes, it is possible."

Kyou was almost about ready to faint at that part, but somehow kept her composure, oddly enough. "Is that… so?" she asked.

Ryu shrugged once again. "Our Biotech is some of the best you'll ever see, from nanobots to augmentations, we've got it all."

"Okay, I understand," Kyou held her arms up in a gesture of 'I surrender'. "Now… how soon do you think we'll be able to reach the hangar bay?"

"Now," Ryu informed as he turned left through a set of double doors and into the Hangar, smirking at Kyou's confused look. "I hope you're all ready, mission begins as soon as the other three arrive."

"Gotcha," Kimiko said. "I was born ready."

"I'll do my best!" Haruka cheered.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Sayane informed.

Hanami, Kaede and Chris were already waiting, lounging around on a set of crates as they looked around at the hangar. The place had been messed up by the crash land, with a few vehicles having broken free of their restraints lying belly up. It was quite clear that the ship hadn't been the only thing affected by the fusion - some of the vehicles featured peculiar features that could only have come about through fusion too.

In particular, the buggy they were looking at now sported a plasma gun turret on top, and had hover engines instead of normal wheels that clearly came from something from the Eligor. There was even a large drop ship that had been turned into a stubby wingless gunship instead, with high-angle gun turrets lining the sides.

"Huh… I guess that means we can get going," Kyou commented, seeing the other girls in the hangar bay before Ryu did.

"Ah, they're here…" Hanami looked up and towards the group that had entered the hangar, blinking when she saw several extra faces.

"More people joining us?" Kaede asked, raising an eyebrow as she took in the newer girls.

"Volunteers," Ryu affirmed. "Why don't you get to know each other while I find us a vehicle?"

"Kimiko Saotome, Disciple of Jigen Haoh-Ryu Martial Arts," Kimiko greeted. "These are my friends Sayane Tokiha and Haruka Takamachi. Nice to meet you - and I like the armor you three have!"

"B-But it's so indecent!" Hanami whined again, ducking behind Kaede for coverage.

"Well, not like we can do anything about it…" Kaede sighed. "I'm Kaede Serizawa, the one hiding behind me is Hanami Yukikaze."

Kyou coughed into her hand for a bit. "For the three newcomers, my name is Kyou Yamato… no, I'm not from the colony ship portion of this vessel, but I was trained not to fire on civvies, or allies in this case."

"I'm Christina Jaeger!" Chris shouted enthusiastically as she gave a small jump, doing… interesting things to her assets. "Please call me Chris!"

"Er…" Kyou blinked again. "While the man of the group is away, I wish to know… before the radiation hit, what were your sizes?" To emphasize what she meant, she lifted her hands to her own assets, saying, "I'm pretty sure I was a B-cup beforehand."

"W-Why ask that now?" Hanami blushed slightly brighter.

"Consider it a matter of curiosity…" Kyou answered. "Besides which, I noticed Chris's jumping thing, which brought the question to mind."

"W-Well… I was a C-cup before," Kaede shifted uncomfortably. "I'm pretty sure I'm around an E or F now…"

"D-D-D-cup…" Hanami spluttered. "Now… F?"

"E-Cup!" Chris informed with a small bounce. "I was an A-Cup!"

"I'm an E-Cup, too," Kimiko replied. "Think I was a D-Cup, so not too drastic a change for me… means I already know a bit about how to move around with the extra weight."

"I was an A-Cup, like Chris-san," Sayane informed. "It looks like I'm a D-Cup now."

"I was a C-Cup," Haruka replied. "I think I'm now DD."

Kyou nodded. "Well… it seems like I've gone through the biggest growth spurt here," she said. "I'm maybe… G-cup?"

"…I don't think I should be feeling jealous, but I am…" Hanami muttered.

"I could be wrong, though," Kyou admitted. "I didn't get a chance to check… sadly."

"I wonder what your armour looks like?" Kaede scratched her head, trying to change the subject. "So far the three of us have gotten similar, if differently coloured ones… Supposedly one of the bridge crew got a completely different one, although I haven't seen it yet."

"Er… I don't know how to activate the armor, either," Kyou answered awkwardly. "Sorry…"

"If it's something we can all get, I can't wait to get mine!" Kimiko said. "I bet it'll be badass!"

"Well… we awoke ours when we were cornered and about to be killed," Chris informed thoughtfully. "Life and Death trigger maybe?"

"Maybe it takes some shock to trigger it?" Hanami mused. "I'm just worried if it has a time limit or anything of the sort…"

"Well… I guess we'll find out when we hit it!" Chris informed all too cheerfully.

"Are you girls going to be okay with that?" Kaede asked the four girls who still hadn't activated their armoured forms yet.

"Yeah!" Kimiko agreed with a fist pump, while Sayane simply nodded and Haruka smiled.

"But… it's going to be dangerous," Hanami pointed out with a slight frown.

Kyou coughed into her hand a bit. "We'll be sure that we stay safe, Miss Yukikaze," she said. "After all, as I'm a soldier, I know how to help save comrades."

"And Haruka-chan and I are used to pulling Kimiko-chan out of dangerous situations, so we should be fine," Sayane said.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kimiko growled.

"That you often charge in without thinking, meaning Haruka-chan and I need to either hold you back or follow you in to clean up," Sayane replied matter-of-factly.

"Got us a vehicle," Ryu informed as he walked back. "Should have enough room for all of us," he motioned for them to follow. "It seems to be a Converse with some of your guys' tech installed," he informed as he led them to an APC that instead of having a series of wheels had what looked to be rotors at the bottom. "Based off jump jet design, this is the Rapid Response Scouting Vehicle, Converse."

Kimiko smiled as she climbed into the back through the open rear hatch and took one of the seats. "This is going to be fun!" she exclaimed, causing Sayane to facepalm, and Haruka to shake her head good-naturedly.

"I think our crash land gave me a sliiight case of acrophobia though…" Hanami made a face as she made to enter as well. Instead, her horn caught on the top of the hatch, causing her to squeak out loud as she ended up falling onto her back.

Ryu looked out from the driver's seat. "You alright?" he called out to her in concern as Chris and Kaede helped her back up.

Kyou blinked at the display. "Okay, note to self: should my armor be like that, duck before getting in a vehicle."

"C'mon Hanami, this is going to be fun!" Chris called out encouragingly. "A new planet to explore!"

"Owow… alright…" Hanami relented with a sigh, strapping herself in to one of the seats.

Kyou blinked again, remembering that she was outside of the vehicle still. "Oh, right… getting in now."

"Alright then, everyone strapped in?" Ryu called out behind him, getting a course of affirmatives. "We're heading out then."

The Converse roared to life as Ryu started it up, the rotors underneath the vehicle whirring to life as it attained lift, hovering a few feet of the ground for a few moments before Ryu kicked the jets in, launching it out of the hanger and over the small forest they had landed in. "All scanners active, taking logs anything of note," Ryu muttered. "How you ladies doing back there?"

"Pretty good, so far," Kyou answered. "Nothing wrong over here… though, I think I'm feeling something from the three with the armor, hitting me like a heatwave. Could you please turn on the air conditioning?"

"Sorry, these things aren't equipped with Air Conditioning," Ryu informed apologetically. "Our Combat Suits have atmospheric adjusted heating/cooling systems, Hanami, Kaede, Chris, you three feeling alright? Need to RTB?"

"Funnily enough, I don't feel anything," Kaede frowned. "I'm still fine."

"I'm okay as well," Hanami nodded.

"Fine here," Chris informed, tilting her head in confusion. "Wonder why we're so hot… boobs aside."

"It might be my imagination… it seemed like someone's ramping up the sheer amount of sexual desire around me," Kyou admitted, shuddering at the thought.

"You sure it's not nerves?" Ryu asked, a teasing smirk hidden by his polarized helmet.

"Positive, Captain Hisanaga," Kyou answered dryly. "I've had nerves wracked before, thank you very much, and this is not nerves."

Ryu nodded before returning to the controls. "Coming up onto the power source, hello… looks like we have a settlement people!" he warned. "Looks fairly recent, some uncompleted structures and prefabricated shelters, odd… no life signs though."

Looking out the viewports they could see a small, ten or fifteen building settlement in a rough circular fashion, surrounded by a set of walls about a dozen feet high in the air with guard towers stationed every dozen feet, obvious turret emplacements built on top of them. Inside of the walls were concrete and prefab shelters, and like Ryu said, no signs of life.

Kyou blinked as she looked around. "Nobody else around?" she questioned. "Huh… that's odd. Why do you suppose this place got abandoned?"

"We'll find out soon enough, they have a landing pad," Ryu informed. "Weapons ready girls, this may be a trap so be ready for anything."

"Hmm… this really doesn't sit right with me," Kyou murmured. Raising her voice to be at normal speaking tone, she asked, "Supposing this is a trap, would I need to have brought AP rounds to get past armor?" Checking her ammo, she said, "I seem to have both types on me… though I'm not sure which is which."

"Blue tape on the clip is standard, red is AP," Ryu informed as he expertly manipulated the controls, bringing the Converse to a mid-air halt above the landing pad, before setting it down with a feather light touch. "Ready?"

Kimiko slammed a fist into an open palm. "I'm set," she said with a grin, followed by resolute nods from Sayane and Haruka.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Kyou said, grabbing onto the firearms she was borrowing and the ammo.

"Ready~" Chris informed as she hefted her weapon.

"Ready too," Kaede nodded, drawing her rifle from her back.

"R-Right!" Hanami muttered somewhat uncertainly, gripping her rifle tight as well as summoning her shield.

"Alright then, weapons at the ready," Ryu ordered as he climbed out of the tight cockpit and into the cargo area, his hand hovering over the door release. "On my mark, Kyou, Chris, sweep left, Hanami, Kaede, sweep right, you three, on me center, understood?"

"Ryoukai desu!" Kyou answered, before she blinked. "Wait… what did I just say? I don't know what it means, sadly."

"It means roger that," Ryu informed before looking at the others, seeing their readiness. "On my mark, three… two… one… MARK!"

Kyou moved out of the Converse, heading for the left of the door, making sure to keep the guns on her person.

Chris followed shortly after, her HUD automatically scanning the area, a minimap popping up in the bottom right corner of her screen with green blips marking her friends. "Clear center," Ryu called out as he, Kimiko, Sayane, and Haruka scanned the area before them.

"Nothing on the right!" Kaede reported, even as she switched to infrared. "Nothing on infrared either!"

"Clear left!" Kyou called out.

"Sweep and clear the buildings," Ryu ordered. "Kyou, you take Kimiko, Sayane and Haruka, Hanami, Kaede and Chris, on me, check in every ten minutes."

"Right!" Kyou noded in affirmative. "Follow me!" she ordered Kimiko, Sayane, and Haruka.

"Right!" Kimiko replied as she followed, Sayane and Haruka behind her.

"I-Is it okay to have them go off by themselves without an armoured girl yet?" Hanami asked, hesitantly watching as the other group ran off.

"They should be," Ryu informed. "Besides, scanners picked up absolutely nothing within here, it's almost like this place was… sterilized or something."

"Yeah…" Kaede frowned. "I can't see any signs of life at all, not even from animals or birds. It's too quiet."

Ryu nodded. "And we're moving into the center of this compound," he informed. "If anything, that's probably where the defenders made their last stand."

"Defenders?" Chris asked in confusion. "What do you mean, what defenders?"

"Last time I saw anything like this, the Colony had been attacked," Ryu informed grimly. "Granted, there were more obvious signs, but still…"

They came up to the largest building within the compound, although it being only two stories meant it wasn't all that impressive, and it was obviously the first thing built there, made out of a smooth glimmering metal of some kind that felt oddly warm to the touch.

"There… won't be any ghosts here, right?" Hanami shivered slightly. "I mean… it all feels too eerie, even though it's the middle of the day…"

"Well, I've never encountered ghosts before, so I can't give a definitive answer," Ryu informed in slight amusement. "Stack up on the door."

"Hanami, there are no such thing as ghosts," Kaede rolled her eyes, grabbing Hanami by her shoulder and pulling her forward together with her, even as she put her back to the side of the door.

"B-But you never know!" Hanami spluttered. "I mean, there's no proof that they don't exist!"

"No proof that they do either!" Chris chipped in, in her ever so cheerful manner.

Ryu let out a small chuckle as he tested the door knob. "Unlocked, although I do find it funny that a Colonization capable civilization still uses doorknob," he informed before silently opening the door. "Reception area… and bodies…"

"EEEEEEEP!" Hanami yelped, diving behind Ryu. "So-So-So their ghosts might still be left behind!"

Ryu continued to study the entrance to the building. "Defensive positions… weapons are gone… but… still no signs of battle," he muttered in confusion. "Either there is something not right here, or we're dealing with an Hyper OCD attackers."

Kyou, who was watching her surroundings, almost missed the signs that there was something out there still… there was a strange odor in the air, one that smelt of chemicals that had been banned from use anywhere back in the Miltian Empire, though whoever used them obviously didn't know that they were not safe for human use in any way. In any case…

"Um, Captain Hisanaga?" Kyou finally asked over the comms. "Can you smell what's floating around here?"

"Affirmative, serious cleaning chemical agents," Ryu informed. "We found the Colonists, I'm searching the central building, Hanami, Kaede and Chris are securing the sole entry point."

Kyou blinked a few times, before she clarified over the comms, "The chemicals you're smelling aren't meant to be used for cleaning like what you're thinking… those things are not safe for living being use! The reason why is because it's supposed to disintegrate living matter on the molecular level! This sort of stuff is banned anywhere and everywhere, especially in the Miltian Empire, where we happen to be in the process of destroying the last of the chemicals!"

"Hmm, that would explain why the defenders set up three containment fields in here," Ryu muttered. "Raiders maybe?"

Kyou let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad nobody was killed by the chemicals…" she said, before she blinked. "Um, Captain Hisanaga, we might be dealing with more of them soon…"

"Maybe, keep your eyes open, I sent a message to base, they'll be using whatever sensors they have as an early warning," he informed. "Keep searching, I don't think this was just a random attack, they were here for a reason."

"Ryoukai desu," Kyou answered over the comms, turning hers off for a bit. Turning to her group, she asked, "Are you three doing alright?"

"Good to go!" Kimiko said with a fist pump.

"No problems," Sayane added with a nod.

"I'm alright," Haruka informed.

Kyou nodded. "Alright… here's hoping we don't run into trouble any time soon," she said, more for her own benefit than her teammates'.

Ryu hummed as he quickly scanned over the bodies before him, they were definitely alien, whatever they were, looking to be evolved from some sort of reptilian species they seem to run the gambit of greens, browns and yellows for color of the scales that covered their body, with ridges running in varying degrees of length over the eyes. Burn marks adorned them from all over, passive scans in his combat suit told him it seemed to be a particle based beam weapon from the out of place particles stuck to the wounds.

"Rest in peace with whatever god you follow," he whispered to the corpse he was studying before standing up and moving on, personally glad he told the three girls to stay behind, giving that the age of the aliens seemed to be getting younger the deeper he went into their final bastion.

Coming onto the final room, Ryu quickly entered and scanned the area before his eyes settled onto what seemed to be a container of some kind holding an odd, green glowing, rock that seemed to levitate of its own volition, giving off faint energy signals. "This is Ryu here, I think I found something," he called out as he began an in depth scan on the object. "Unknown rock that's glowing and giving off an energy signal… unknown composition, and element."

"Yamato here…" Kyou spoke up after a moment. "I hope you have some way of preventing possible contamination by foreign materials… apart from the obvious of not touching them."

"My combat suit is sealed against absolutely everything," Ryu informed. "May not seem like it, but I got three days worth of oxygen stored up in this thing, plus it seems to be in isolation already. It's encased by some kinda glass like material, but… definitely not glass."

"I see…" Kyou could be heard from the other end. "Make sure it stays encased, Captain, please."

"I plan on it, I don't know much about geology, but I know when something's glowing, let the scientists handle it," Ryu agreed grimly. "Other than that, this place is clear, the settlers are definitely alien, reptile in origin, going to bag and tag one for autopsy."

"R-R-Reptile ghosts!?" Hanami could be heard squeaking over the radio, before a loud 'thwack' rang out.

"Hanami-chan, ghosts don't exist… let alone alien reptilian ghosts…" Kaede sighed.

"Let's not worry about the deceased any time soon, girls," Kyou said over the radio in a reprimanding tone. "Also, no in-fighting, since you should know each other better than that."

"I call it more knocking some sense into Hanami-chan, not infighting," Kaede pointed out.

"Kaede-chan is being mean…" the silverette in the group complained.

"Oh, fer the love of… if you have to knock sense into anyone, don't do it literally!" Kyou snapped exasperatedly.

"Eh, that's how it usually went back on Earth. It's usually not too hard," Kaede explained. "Having some culture shock?"

"I hate to imagine what it actually is like, at this rate…" Kyou sighed exaggeratedly, even though her discomfort with the whole thing was apparent in her tone.

Ryu's secondary comm line beeped, informing him of a message from the ship. "Hisanaga here, speak to me," he said as he switched to the line.

"Captain, we've got some strange contacts approaching you guys. Our sensors are a little too banged up to be able to tell exactly what kind of contacts though," Leon called in from the fused ship they had come from.

"Understood, I think they may be responsible for the attack at this colony site," Ryu informed grimly. "Have Rapid Response Security Teams on standby, don't launch them till my signal."

"They're currently trying to figure out how their new vehicles work, might take them a while even with help from the Eligor," Leon reported back after a short pause. "Oh and Captain, I think I may have a clue as to exactly what our armoured girls are…"

"Yeah, what's that Leon?" Ryu asked as he made his way to the building entrance. "Somehow implanted Alien DNA? Secret Soldier Projects?" he asked humorously.

"I'll show you when you get back. I think the girls need to be here for this too," Leon said, a bit of humour in his tone.

"Understood," Ryu confirmed before changing back to the SQUADCOMM. "Eyes up girls!" he called out in warning. "We got bogies incoming, find a secured position and take cover."

"What are bogies?" Hanami asked in confusion.

"Enemy contact," Ryu informed as he stepped outside. "Find good cover and get ready, we are pushing them back."

"Ryoukai!" Kyou called out.

"Got it~!" Chris chirped.

"How are you so certain that they're enemies?" Kaede asked.

"Considering that their infrared signal is coming in choppy, they're operating under stealth and are not announcing their presence, does that sound friendly to you?" Ryu asked as he took cover inside of a random building.

"But then they could also be survivors trying to hide from the real attackers, right?" Hanami offered.

"Doubtful," Ryu informed. "We're taking cover so that we're not caught out in the open where they are free to rain death upon us, if they're similar in appearance to the corpses inside the building, I'll initiate First Contact."

"A-Alright…" Hanami agreed tentatively.

A loud buzzing noise was heard as something passed by overhead. Looking up at the newcomers, Kyou blinked when she saw what amounted to a horde of giant insect-riding reptile humanoids, the lizards equipped with advanced weaponry that would easily put the Miltian Empire to shame. "I spotted the bogies, Captain Hisanaga," she said over the comms. "Make sure to look up."

"I see them," Ryu informed. "Those look like sweeping patterns, keep low and quiet and maybe they'll pass on."

"Right… time to do whatever possible to—" Kyou started to say.

*SPLAT!*

"GAH! DAUGHTER OF A BASTARD!" Kyou swore, feeling like she was hit with insect dung.

Ryu couldn't help it, he knew it was important to keep his eyes on the enemy, but he still couldn't help it, in the age old tradition in response to a fuck up, he introduced his face to his palm. "By Felra, FNGs, why is it always FNGs?" he asked.

"I RESENT that statement, Captain Hisanaga!" Kyou snapped back at Ryu. "Also, for your information, I'm not a newbie!"

"Kyou-san, what just happened?" Hanami called out in a bit of a panic.

"I was hit by a piece of insect dung!" Kyou answered angrily. "I personally blame Murphy, wherever he is!"

"Wow, even people from other dimensions know about Murphy," Kaede muttered in awe.

"And I say FNG because you're shouting, yeah… that was oh so quiet and subtle I almost didn't hear on the other end of the compound," Ryu answered sarcastically. "Oh, and you might want to duck as I don't think the bogies like you very much right now."

Kyou instinctively dodged the attack launched her way, which turned out to be an acid-based weapon that ate a small bit of the earth behind her, shivering at how close to death she was.

"Confirmed hostiles, open fire!" Ryu shouted as he ducked out from cover and fired a short burst into a bug above him, the bullets exploding into bursts of energy on contact, tearing through the insectoid and cause the lizardman to fall, landing on his head.

Kyou moved to shoot the next insectoid and lizardman combo, but wasn't fast enough on the draw to hit the pair she aimed at dead in the chest, though she did cause the insect to crash land by destroying its right wings.

"Stay away!" Hanami could be heard yelling out. Moments later, a blue and red beam of compressed energy tore through the air, completely vaporizing three of the insects and their riders. "I hate bugs!"

Sayane calmly sniped one out of the air with her rifle, while Kimiko was yelling, "Why don't you come down here and fight me up close, you cowards!"

Another blue and red beam tore through the sky as Chris opened fire, a childish giggle coming out of her throat. "Wow~! These guns are so cool!"

Kyou continued to shoot the insects as close to the center as she could, only for her aim to be proven off, for one reason or another. Eventually, she had managed to kill a dozen of the bug/rider combos, before… "I'm outta ammo clips and ammo!"

Kimiko was starting to get annoyed. "We wouldn't need guns if we could just get in close!" She yelled. She tried to leap at one that passed fairly close, but something caused her to get blown into the air.

"Kimiko-chan!" Haruka yelled, before they could see a bright red aura forming around Kimiko's form.

She was now clad in a red, white and blue trimmed, chest piece that hugged her curves like a second skin, a tantalizing view of her cleavage exposed for all to see while leaving her waist area to bear with a white armored skirt and black panties, from her forearm to her knuckles was covered by white, blue trimmed gauntlets with red knuckles while from to her knees to her feet were red, blue trimmed, greaves with a white knee cap, on each shoulder rested a white pauldron, a thruster pack was now on her back and finally a golden double V crest rested upon a tiara that wrapped itself around her forehead.
(DKR: Someone can clean this up if they feel like it can be improved upon)

Kimiko began descending again, but it didn't look uncontrolled at all. In fact…

"Jigen Haoh-Ryu…"

She was actually charging downwards, mysterious particles trailing from her back, her right arm cocked back as she closed in on one of the insects.

"SEIKEN-ZUKI!" Kimiko yelled out as she finished closing, slamming her fist into the insect rider, sending insect and rider into the ground with tremendous force.

"A martial arts based armour?" Kaede blinked, even as she aimed her rifle at one of the insect riders, before bracing herself and squeezing the trigger. The resulting beam clipped the insect, sending it crashing to the ground although the rider managed to leap off safely at the very last moment.

The rider shook his head as he recovered from his rather… rough landing, and sent a growl towards the black armored girl who grounded him and fired a burst from the acidic based weapon at her.

"Geh! I don't know if that can melt through this armour or not, but I don't feel like finding out!" Kaede muttered, boosting to the side with her thrusters to dodge the acidic projectiles. They fizzled and sizzled as they struck the ground, but the black-haired girl was already moving towards the rider, one of her energy swords drawn.

Her opponent didn't seem fazed by the weapon - instead he drew an energy sword of his own, gripped it with both hands and rushed towards her. Kaede swung her sword to meet his, meeting in a match of strength that saw the insect rider being pushed back despite her only using one hand. With a guttural growl, he broke the engagement off and jumped backwards before Kaede could follow up with a swing to bisect him.

"Take this!" Kaede roared, opening up with the guns on her circlet. The creature raised his arms to block the attack, temporarily blocking his own field of vision. Seeing her chance, Kaede made a thruster-assisted forwards jump while swinging her energy sword in a downwards arc. Her opponent couldn't block it, and ended up being bisected in half vertically for his trouble.

A louder buzzing noise was heard, making the group look up into the sky to see a massive beetle like insectoid descending down upon them, on its massive back was a large number of the lizard men. "Well… fuck," Ryu cursed as the team came together. "Kyou, I blame you."

"W-What?!" Kyou turned her attention to Ryu. "What did I do?!"

Ryu looked at her with a small glare that could be felt through his polarized faceplate. "You got their attention," he informed. "They would've just moved on."

"We can do this at a different time, Captain! Right now, we need to survive!" Kyou pointed out.

"Leon, send out the Rapid Response teams, make sure they're armed with heavy weapons, we'll try to hold out until they arrive!" Ryu shouted out. "Hanami, Chris, Kaede, shoot that thing down!"

"Got it!" Hanami nodded, even as she trained whatever weapons she had on the large beetle, her face paling slightly at the sight. "Why does it have to be so big!?" she complained, squeezing her rifle's trigger as well as opening up with her head guns.

"I know you're scared of bugs, Hanami-chan, but just hang in there!" Kaede sighed, following suit.

"Umm… I think we might have a problem," Chris informed as their combined attacks were repulsed by a greenish-yellow barrier that flickered to life. "Scary Bug monster has shields!"

Kyou, in the meantime, was forced away from the rest of the group by means of a dozen enemy soldiers firing their guns at the bluenette. As she backed away from the group of lizardmen firing their weapons at her, she suddenly hit a wall, forcing her to try moving either left or right to get out of the way. Unfortunately, a pair of the soldiers brought out a pair of energy swords each, pinning her to the wall by stabbing her shirt and pants… and then deciding, upon gazing at her for a few seconds, to force her to submit to them!

"Wha-What are you…" Kyou gasped as she attempted to squeeze herself into a smaller space. "St-Stop!"

The enemy soldiers just kept advancing on her, even as one of them held her down bodily while the others used their swords to tear off her clothes.

"N-No! Do-Don't get any closer!" Kyou yelled, even as chest bindings were rent from around her breasts, revealing that her bust was larger than she said earlier. "St-Stay away! Stay awaaaaay!"

The soldiers were forced to relinquish their grip on the girl as a bright blue light engulfed her. Kyou could feel some kind of energy coursing through her body, before it expelled itself from her and formed into armour around her - she couldn't quite see it herself through the glow, although she could feel it settling and locking into position all around her.

When the glow cleared, Kyou found herself wearing a dark blue blocky chest piece with vents on it that was open at the bottom to show her underbust, with a dark grey wedge on the center. Her shoulders were covered in dark grey pauldrons, complete with what appeared to be large thrusters on top pointing out to either side. From there, her arms were bare until a set of long vambraces reaching all the way up to her elbows, although not really covering them.

Unlike the other girls, her armoured form didn't sport any skirt armour on the front, instead having a black set of spandex-like panties with a large dark grey crotch guard that almost reached her knees in length and two large plates of skirt armour covering her butt on her back. Her legs from her knee downwards were covered in thick, dark grey armour with openings in the back and feet for thrusters. A dark blue backpack with a set of dark gray wings attached to its sides and a dark gray tiara with small guns on the sides and an additional piece going over the top of her head with a green sensor on it completed her ensemble.

Kyou blinked in surprise, before she looked down at her armor. "Well… this looks good on me," she said. Looking back up, she grinned a feral grin, shouting, "Come and get me, you sons of bitches!"

As if on queue, the lizardmen started charging at Kyou, blinded by rage against her. As they did so, Kyou grabbed her discarded rifle and moved it into position to fire on the soldiers, nearly missing the change that occurred to make it able to fire beams instead of bullets. When the soldiers got closer, she opened fire, getting nearly zero recoil in the process of firing energy rounds.

The soldiers scattered from her attack, some ducking into cover as others continued to charge, letting out hissing roars of challenge as they brandished their energy swords.

"Oh, it's on!" Kyou yelled, ever ready for the challenge they would provide. As soon as she aimed her beam rifle at one of them, she pulled the trigger, coring it through the neck.

"Hey, who fired that beam? It looks different compared to ours…" Kaede asked over the radio, which Kyou realized was now coming from inside her head.

"Oh, that was me," Kyou answered. "I transformed… into something similar to you and the others like us."

"Really? Congratulations!" Kaede replied happily. "Now come help us out with these… persistent bastards!"

"I'd be more than happy to," Kyou answered. "If I wasn't already fighting a group that used to be 12 strong!"

Suddenly, one of the Lizardmen that was within cover was thrown out into the open, crashing through a wall on the other side of the 'street', Ryu stepping out shortly after, cracking his neck as he walked, his rifle currently slung across his back. "And Felra said unto her followers, 'Do not take up the sword for selfish gain, take it up to defend your comrades, for that is the difference between murderers and warriors'," he quoted almost tonelessly as he walked. "Come heathens, allow me to instruct you in the ways of Felra."

"Jigen Haoh-Ryu: SEISŌ-GERI!" Kimiko called out as she leapt high into the air, particles trailing behind her from her backpack, before descending towards the giant insect in a powerful kick.

The massive beetle seemed to have barely noticed the kick as soldiers atop of the beetle manned turrets mounted on its back and targeted Kimiko, firing waves of acid at her.

She leapt upward again, dodging the acid, before coming down once more, this time with her fist cocked back. "Jigen Haoh-Ryu: DANGAN HAGAN-KEN!" she yelled, slamming her fist into a turret, through it, then onto the back of the beetle with tremendous force.

"Damn you!" Chris shouted as she used her two beam tonfas to block a beam sword, actually straining from the force of the lizards blow. "How are these guys so strong?"

"Kaede-chan… is it just me or is it starting to feel a bit… hot?" Hanami asked over the radio, sweating slightly as she fired her rifle at the large beetle, groaning as it splashed harmlessly against whatever shield the thing had. "How did Kimiko-san get on it like that when we can't even get through the shields?"

Kyou looked at the giant beetle and thought to herself, 'If only I could get up there and help out an ally…' When she finished that thought, pieces of her armour started to separate from her and fly off, seemingly on its own accord. Her backpack shifted slightly further down her back, the sides opening up to reveal mechanical braces that locked her arms to her sides. The wings swung out to either side and opened up wide, even while a large shield materialized over her head, her circlet linking to it and locking her head into place facing downwards.

"W-What's going on?" Kyou blinked, trying to turn her head and failing. She saw the back of her leg armour open up backwards and downwards as well, widening the thruster aperture as booms extended from her backpack to link to either leg, also freezing them in place. To complete the transformation, a white plate extended from the bottom of her shield to cover the top of her head and her chest armour reassembled itself on top of her breasts facing forward, her assets' previous coverage taken over by what appeared to be a black bra that only covered the top part. In short, she looked like a hybrid between a fighter jet and a human, and the point was only proven further when her leg thrusters ignited, propelling her into the air.

"Wh-Whoa!" Kyou exclaimed, before she realized that she could help Kimiko get rid of the giant beetle. "Hang on, I'm coming in to help!"

"... Did Kyou-san just turn into a fighter jet?" Kaede looked a little taken aback, before she looked down at her own armour. "These things just keep getting weirder and weirder…"

As Kimiko continued fighting on top of the beetle, joined quickly by Kyou, Sayane and Haruka continued firing their weapons at the enemy forces.

The sound of powerful engines joined the noise of the battle as a five large high-tech looking VTOL carriers joined the fray, launching a series of missiles at the beetle, exploding harmlessly against its shields, although it did catch the attention of the beetle as five squads of five soldiers jumped from the air vehicles, a bluish bubble like aura surrounding them as they came close to the ground, slowing them down to allow them a gentle landing before they joined in on the pitched firefight. "Sir! We brought the heavy weapons you asked for," the leading soldier closest to Ryu shouted out over the roar of the crafts' large engines. "But I don't think Fusion Rockets will do much to that beast with its shield up!"

"I know, we got two girls who have that strange armor power up there, I think people can pass through the shield unharmed, it just blocks high velocity projectiles, lasers and anything else we threw at it," Ryu informed as he unslung his rifle from his back and opened fire on the Lizardmen. "Radio the Sentries to get within its shield and try to shoot then!"

Meanwhile, up in the air, Kyou fired her beam rifle at one of the Lizardmen acting as turret men, coring it in the heart and causing a minor explosion on the beetle. "Miss Kimiko, are you alright?" she asked Kimiko.

"Never better!" Kimiko called back. "This armor is incredible! I can use my Jigen Haoh-Ryu Martial Arts with much more power than I could otherwise!"

"Good," Kyou said, before she turned her attention to the enemy soldiers. Firing a few grenades from the nose of her fighter jet form at the beetle, she was surprised to see that they were actually somewhat effective, causing the creature to emit a screech in pain as it wobbled slightly in mid-air, although there wasn't much visible damage on the armoured outer shell.

This was shortly followed by a part of the beetle's armoured carapace opening up towards the rear as a swarm of small drone like, machine/insectoid hybrids were released and began to harry Kyou and the other girls, shooting off small bursts of acid.

"Whoa there!" Kyou got out, even as she inadvertently activated her armor's biosensor and started to see afterimages… no, future images of where each drone would be at some point in the future. "Huh? How did that happen?"

Hanami, Kaede, and Chris suddenly each let out small screams as they sank to their knees on the ground, clutching their heads in pain. Tiny seams were opening up in their armours, emitting soft red, gold and blue glows respectively, even as ominous creaking sounds could be heard.

"W-What's going on…? My head… it hurts…" Hanami moaned, her rifle clattering to the ground noisily. "And it feels so… hot…"

"Something… something's echoing inside my head!" Chris shouted out, not quite in pain. "GET IT OUT!"

"My… head…" Kaede groaned, even as she fumbled around trying to reach her energy sword again, since it had fallen out of her hands when the headache assaulted them.

All around them, their enemies looked at each other and nodded once before advancing on them, drawing their own energy swords.

"Get away!" Chris shouted desperately as she clutched her head. "IT'S COMING!"

"What's going on, Hanami, Kaede, Chris!?" Ryu shouted out on the radio.

"I… I don't know…" Hanami gasped out, her armour creaking even more violently as more of the material on the inside started to show through the gaps. "B-But… Ryu-san!" she shouted out loud, even as their enemies squeezed their triggers.

Meanwhile, up in the air, Kyou started firing on the drones that had emerged from the beetle's back, and was having some slight trouble considering she was a little too fast in her current form, and ended up having a tendency to overshoot the smaller, slower drones. That being said, she did catch sight of the three defenseless girls being fired upon. "Dammit! Please make it in time!" she swore as she dove towards them, intent on at least throwing herself into the way of one of the shots to protect them although she knew she wasn't quite fast enough.

She wasn't.

The acid globules converged on the three girls, just as all of them screamed out in pain once more. Instead of making contact with them, the acid struck what appeared to be an energy shield that formed around them, before it was repulsed, forcing the enemy soldiers to back off lest they get hit by their own acid.

Hanami was the first to change - her armour separated along the glowing red seams, sliding apart to show even more of the red frame within even as she let out a sensual moan. Her body visibly changed as well - she grew several inches in height, her wavy hair lengthened to match and turned red at the ends, and extra flesh filled into her hips and bust to fit the extra room her expanded armour had given her. Topping out at around a H-cup, she climbed to her feet, panting in exertion and doing interesting things to her upgraded proportions as the single horn that had been on her circlet split down the middle and swung apart, transforming into a large golden V-fin. Her backpack sides opened up to reveal extra thrusters as well, even as two extra energy swords swung out of it so they stuck out from behind her shoulders.

Kaede's own transformation was very similar, except for the golden glow from her armour's internal frame. She gasped and moaned as her own body grew, developing in all the right places and pushing her chest up to around a low H-cup as well. She looked up at the enemy humanoids surrounding her with a renewed vigor in her now glowing red eyes, causing them to back off slightly in fear. The added golden tips to her hair also helped make her presence just that more intimidating.

Chris also had a similar transformation as her internal frame glowed with a sky blue light, her figure becoming more lush as her hips expanded to match her now H-Cup breasts as the tips of her hair became sky blue, standing up she glared at the Lizard-like men with glowing golden eyes as her beam tonfas blazed to life.

"That felt good…" Hanami moaned in a more mature, seductive tone than earlier, even as she slowly drew her fingers up her sides in a sensual manner, brushing lightly over her large bust. "I really should do this more often, ufufufu~"

Chris looked down at herself, as she flexed her hands into a fist. "Another transformation…" she said musingly as she inspected her body. "Could the energy we possess be evolving us?"

"I don't care so long as I get to bash their faces in!" Kaede growled aggressively, picking up her energy sword once more.

"Chris-chan got calmer and Kaede-chan got more aggressive, huh?" Hanami noted, smirking as she noted the way her opponents were backing away from her as she picked up her beam rifle again. "Well, I do feel better than I've ever been too…"

"I suppose we're going to have to deal with these creatures before anything else," Chris speculated as she looked them over. "Hanami, do you think you can get up to that beetle?"

"Easy peasy, Chris-chan," Hanami looked up towards the flying beetle and its accompanying drones before she closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, her eyes pulsed green once, and a wave of invisible energy spread out from her, slightly buffeting the soldiers around her. "Those drones are in the way!" she roared, reaching out with one hand opened wide.

Almost instantly the drones in the air seemed to freeze in place, even the ones that were attacking Kimiko and Kyou.

"Interesting, it seems that we can own exert control over that beetle's remote weapons, useful," Chris observed before turning back to the gathered lizardmen. "Shall we, Kaede?"

"ORA ORA ORA!" Kaede was barely listening as she plowed through a group of enemy soldiers, sending more than a few flying incredible distances that they were likely never to survive. "What was that, Chris-san!?"

Chris sweatdropped slightly before shaking her head. "Nevermind," she informed with a sigh before she blocked a pair of swords with just one of her own swords, not even straining as the humanoids put every ounce of strength into the swing.

"What… in the world?" Ryu breathed out. "How… how did this happen to them?"

"Well, we're not too sure ourselves…" Hanami looked over in Ryu's direction with a shrug, even as she clenched her fist without moving from her spot. The drones that had previously been frozen swung back into action, this time bombarding the defenders on top of the beetle with their own acid weaponry. "Would you like to give us a… personal check up when we get back? I'm sure all of us would like to figure it out…" she smiled saucily at their leader.

Ryu blinked a few times in response. "I'm… not quite sure how to respond to that," Ryu answered before looking around. "But after this..."

"Then it's settled!" Hanami clapped her hands happily. "Now, how about we get these nuisances out of the way first?" she turned towards the beetle, before her thrusters ignited to send her flying into the sky. She somehow managed to add a mid-air wiggle of her butt to it as well…

"Oh my, Hanami's seemed to have developed a bit of… perverseness to herself," Chris commented as she played around the lizardmen, giving them 'light' swats that threw them into walls, before she sent a heated look towards Ryu. "Although I don't think she's the only one… she's just more… open about it."

"Ara? Chris-chan, by any chance are you being attracted to our captain as well?" Hanami smirked, punching easily through the beetle's shields and landing on its head before she drew one of the swords from her shoulder racks. "I know I'm starting to feel a little hot and bothered just… looking at him…"

"ORAAAAAAA!" Kaede yelled from the ground. One of the enemy soldiers went flying into the beetle's shields at near subsonic speeds, apparently fast enough that it vaporized him on contact.

'Okay, making note of that,' Ryu commented looking at the flickering shield. 'Wait… what?'

Chris gave a rather coy smile. "And if I am, Hanami?" she asked teasingly. "He is a rather… fine specimen for the male species."

Hanami chuckled as she began hacking away at the beetle's carapace, each swing of her sword tearing open large gashes in its carapace and causing it to scream in pain. "I have no objections to sharing, Chris-chan. He's definitely… big enough to handle both of us at once," she squeezed her chest with her arms slightly at the thought… ah, she could feel some liquid dripping from her panties. "Ara, I seem to be… excited at the idea."

Chris giggled in response, the thought of the three of them together made her shiver. "I am as well," she agreed huskily. "Mmm, that big meaty thing…"

"I can't believe they're talking about this on an open channel," Haruka remarked over the radio. The others could also hear what vaguely sounded like a hand meeting her forehead with a loud smack.

"Ara, can't handle the heat, little girl?" Hanami smirked.

"Oi, don't forget about me!" Kaede yelled, tossing another lizardman through several walls with a single punch. "I want a piece of him too!"

"Oh my, Kaede, you're more than a mass of roaring anger and hate right now?" Chris asked in fake shock.

"How can I not snap out of it when you're talking about Ryu-kun like that?" Kaede snapped. "Besides, ravaging him in bed sounds rather fun!"

Ryu let out a rather strangled choking noise at her announcement before trying to palm his face, only to be stopped by his helmet. "I… I need to go hit something…" he informed before walking over to the closest lizardmen before punching it in the jaw hard enough for the humanoid to be thrown a good dozen feet away.

"Ara, is Ryu-kun also feeling hot and bothered?" Hanami laughed, a tinkling laughter that sent chills down his spine in both a good and a not-so-good way. "Need some… relief?"

Ryu's eye twitched slightly. "I… I am not going to say anything right now," he informed in a strained manner. "Because… I am not quite sure how to respond."

"Captain, please tell me I'm dreaming and those three girls aren't doing what I think they're doing in the middle of a battlefield," Leon whispered on a private channel over the radio.

"Dear god I wish I was dreaming, then it would make sense," Ryu responded, wiping a bead of cold sweat from his brow - how had that gotten on the outside of his helmet anyway?

"I believe I may have an answer for you Captain," Dr Wilson announced as she joined the private channel. "I think I may have found what have triggers the transformation - it was a resonance effect with Estrogen. Of all the girls that have transformed, they have all had higher Estrogen levels than those who have not, and upon studying those who have transformed into their armored state, I have found that over time, the 'energy' weakens, and as it does so a recently discovered tumor of sorts is releasing an aphrodisiac-like chemical into their bloodstreams."

"English, please, doctor!" Leon groaned.

"Basically, the longer they remain transformed, the hornier they get, this effect is increased the more of this 'energy' they expend," the doctor informed.

Ryu blinked in realization. "And those three have not only been transformed for a good couple of hours, but seemed to have unlocked a secondary transformation," he muttered. "So they must be swimming in aphrodisiacs then."

"Precisely," Wilson agreed. "Which is why, as strange as this sounds for me to say this, but you should engage in coitus with those young ladies, not doing so at this point would be even more harmful."

"... Captain, you are one fucking lucky bastard," Leon muttered in awe, adding as an afterthought, "Pun completely intended."

"Well, my mother had me out of wedlock, so I am technically a bastard, and I am apparently lucky," he muttered. "Alright then, as soon as we're finished wrapping up here, I guess I'm going to need a private soundproofed room."

"I already have one set up for you, Captain," Wilson informed smugly. "Just so you know, I do have sensors set up in the room so that I can monitor any effects coitus will have on them."

"By any chance, Katrina, are you feeling any hotter than usual?" Leon asked.

"SHUT UP YOU DICK I AM NOT HAVING FANTASIES ABOUT YOU!" Katrina roared angrily over the radio.

"Hey, I was just curious! Doc, it seems like she's not getting any hornier though," Leon pointed out.

"Quite the contrary, Mr. Kho, Katrina is quite… eager shall we say, especially if the blood rushing to her face is any indication," Wilson informed, the smug grin of her face could almost be seen over the radio.

"Interesting… Hey, can I call in that favour you owe me in return for painting my room in Russian colours now?" Leon grinned cheekily.

"LEON YOU ASS!" Katrina shouted angrily before letting out an angry huff. "Fine! Besides, it's not like I like you or anything!"

"Whoah, classic tsundere response," the slight confusion in the technical officer's tone was clear. "Someone smack me, I must be dreaming if the infamous Hurricane Katrina is actually willing to do this."

"SHUT UP!" Katrina shouted, the level of her blush coming through on the radio. "I'm only doing this because that energy is making me horny!"

"Well anyway, Captain, the fight seems to be wrapping up over there if the diminishing radar contacts I'm seeing are correct," Leon said. "I'm watching from one of the dropship cams as well. By the way, one of your fiancees is approaching you with sashaying hips and swaying breasts. I'm going to look away now and give you some privacy."

"Have fun, Captain," Wilson informed smugly before closing her link as well, making Ryu sigh.

Turning, he came face to face with Hanami. "Well, got an answer on why you three are so horny right now," he informed her. "Turns out, you have a new part to your brain from the energy that pumps out aphrodisiacs when you use said energy."

"Mmmm, I don't think I… could care any less…" Hanami moaned, her cheeks flushed as she approached Ryu. "What say… we do it now…? I… can't wait… much longer…" she whispered in his ear, pressing her chest against his arm, although her softness was covered by her armour.

"Jigen Haoh-Ryu… SOTEN GUREN-KEN!" Kimiko yelled out, followed by a tearing sound as she tore through the beetle with a rising uppercut… and a few seconds later, several men could be heard wincing in sympathetic pain as that same uppercut nailed a lizardman in the crotch.

"Oi, don't do that in front of Ryu-kun!" Kaede roared, jumping up at the red-armoured girl and catching her across the cheek in a punch that sent her flying a good distance away, although she remained unharmed from the impact.

Ryu's attention wasn't on what was happening above, well… not completely anyways, as when Kimiko punched through the beetle, the interior parts of the beetle started to spill out, drenching those not under cover in… questionable bits of gore.

Hanami reached out with a smirk, summoning her shield which had also expanded sideways, and raised it above the two of them. An energy barrier formed around them, deflecting any pieces of gore that came close to them.

"Sentry-1, what happened?" Ryu asked with a sigh as Hanami took the opportunity to continue to rub her body against his.

"Umm, the girl in the red armor… yeah, she uppercutted the beetle, went right through and into the crotch of one of the bogies," the pilot of Sentry-1 informed with a pained wince.

"I dealt with her!" Kaede landed in their vicinity, slamming both her knuckles together to make her point.

Ryu let out a small groan. "Alright, Security Teams, secure this compound, and have more defenses brought out for it," he ordered. "Away Team, we're RTBing."

"What's RTBing… Ryu-kun?" Hanami asked saucily, even as the outer surface of her armour began to dissolve into white particles. "Is it yummy?"

"Return to Base, Hanami," Ryu informed as Chris and Kaede joined them, their own armor disappearing in particles of gold and black respectively. "And… I think your armor is disappearing."

Hanami looked down at her armour, before she looked back up at Ryu. "Like what you see, Ryu-kun?" she grinned, apparently not really caring for the state of her armour. "If you want to join us in the buff, I don't think Chris-chan or Kaede-chan will mind doing it in the ship once it's all gone…"

"It's not you three I'm worried about, it's everyone we come across between the hangar and the room we've been assigned," Ryu informed with a sigh as he brought his hand up to rub his forehead, only to be stopped by his helmet. "Why do I keep forgetting this thing is on?"

"Hmmm, I don't think I'll mind giving everyone else a free show…" Hanami giggled, wrapping her arms under her chest. "But… only you get to be inside me… Ryu-kun~"

Chris let out a mixture of a hum and a laugh as she wrapped herself around one of Ryu's arms. "Ooohh, that sounds… exciting." she said in agreement, trying her best to bury his arm in her cleavage. "What do you think, Kaede?"

"I'm only letting Ryu-kun see me naked!" Kaede huffed, crossing her arms under her chest.

"You're no fun, Kaede-chan," Hanami pouted.

Kaede glowered at the pair. "Ryu-kun is the only man for me!" she growled. "Anyone else is just plain unworthy!"

"I think there might be some spare jumpers on the Converse that you three can use," Ryu informed and interrupted Chris and Hanami before they could speak. "And you two are wearing them as well because we don't need the other faction we're sharing a ship with to hate us even more."

"Mou~ that's boring though," Hanami pouted.

"I know right?" Chris said in agreement as the quartet made their way to the Converse.

"Chris, I'm going to need my arm to pilot," Ryu informed as he tried to move into the cockpit. "And before you ask, no, there is only room for one."

"Aww," Chris pouted as she reluctantly let go of Ryu. "I still agree with Hanami that we should do it right here."

"Oh, think of how jealous everyone would be as we're screaming and writhing in ecstasy," Hanami purred temptingly.

"No," Ryu informed, his voice becoming strained as he entered the cockpit. "Come on you three, get in, but if you feel so strongly about it, you don't have to get dressed until we're just about back to the ship."

"Yay!" Hanami and Chris cheered out in excitement as they entered the Converse.

"I'm getting dressed now," Kaede informed as she grabbed a jumpsuit and struggled to get it on, her large bust stopping the zipper from going fully up, only stopping just past her navel and leaving her nipples barely covered.

"Kyou, I think you and the other three are going to have to get a lift on one of the Sentries," Ryu informed. "Especially with the way these three are."

"I think I agree," Kyou informed with a sweatdrop as Hanami and Chris began to… touch each other. "Good luck with them." 'And please don't let me be as bad as them.'

Ryu nodded as he let out a long suffering sigh before activating the Converse and launched the ship into the air and set course for the ship. 'We're going to need to name the ship, aren't we?' he thought to himself as his tried to distract himself from the moans coming from behind him. 'And Alcohol… lots and lots of alcohol.'


END CHAPTER