Summary:
It's the day of Goh and Anna's wedding but when mimetic beasts strike again, the ceremony is interrupted and Goh leaves to pilot the Dannar once more, leaving Anna with his friends and family. But Anna would not just (close her eyes and think of Britannia) let her husband do all the fighting so she decides to join in on the action, too.
"Tan-tan-tadan, tan-tan-tadan, tan-tan-tadadan-dadadadadanan~," Hajime hummed to herself as she looked out the car's window. "Here comes the bride; here comes the bride, tan-tan-tadadan-dadadadadanan~." She leaned her head towards the seaside's direction and with her smartphone, took a selfie.
"Don't stick your head out like that!" The man driving beside her worriedly reminded. "I just can't catch up with this girl's energy." Why did she even have to go with us? He thought.
"Sorry~," she complied, re-occupying her seat as she uploaded the image in her GALAX account with the status, "Off to my friend's secret wedding :." As soon as she's done, she posed again but towards the driver and then another shot for the two at the backseat. She uploaded the new photos and updated the status, "with Aiba Academy's student council president, chairman, and her boyfriend. Makoto-senpai, ruri & arma … V~!"
"Please don't move around too much, Hajime," Makoto reminded with a slightly softer tone of voice. "Have some respect for the school chairman, too."
"That's okay, Makoto," Ruri Aiba said with a smile. "I'm just as excited as Hajime. This will be the first time I'll be a guest in a wedding."
"Really, Ruri?" Hajime inquired with eyes blinking in surprise. "I thought that for someone so rich you'd be in a lot and all kinds of parties."
"Unfortunately, I've been too busy with…" She was about to say "hunting Darkstones" but she held back before letting it slip, "managing the foundation. I could let someone else take care of the official stuff but I don't want to. My mom and dad fought tooth and nail to maintain it even at the midst of Britannian rule." She paused as if reminded of something, "Come to think of it, the only celebrations I've been to have been business-related." Ruri slumped a little when such thought sunk in. Since five years ago, buying the school, formerly known as Gakazono, is the only decision that seems to be in favor of her youth and happiness. Though it is just a front, it is a convenient cover beyond its tactical purposes.
"That's no good, Ruri," Hajime said playfully. She followed it with an English proverb, "All work and no play made Jack a shining boy. Wait, is that correct?"
"Not shining, the correct word is dull." Makoto corrected. "How would Jack even shine?"
"Dunno. Maybe his hair fell out because of stress and his head shines because he became bald?" The odd girl explained without hint of jesting in her tone. The implications disturbed Makoto who decided to forbid himself from attempting to follow her logic. "Baldness won't look good on you, Ruri."
"Stop it, Hajime," pretending to be annoyed, Ruri puffed her cheeks and burst out laughing like a noblewoman. She noticed that Arma Tandoji has been as silent as Onigawara, who was forbidden from speaking or materializing floating stones because of Hajime's presence, all this time. Attempting to strike a conversation, she picked up from the earlier subject, "Hey, Tandoji, do you like weddings?"
"W-what?" Caught by the question off-guard, he pretended that he wasn't listening. "D-didn't hear you. What was it again?"
"D-do you like weddings?" Ruri asked a second time, seemingly flustered. "B-but it's okay if you don't…"
"N-no! It's not that I don't like weddings. I just don't think about things like that so I don't have an opinion." Feeling embarrassed, he looked away from Ruri and towards the window beside him. Why did I even have to go with them?
"Oh, I see." Before Ruri could speak more, Hajime interrupted. Kneeling on her seat, Hajime buried her elbows in the headrest and showed her smartphone. "I just added you as a friend, Miss Ruri. Go check my latest status!"
Curious, Ruri took out her smartphone. After it recognized her fingerprint to unlock, she opened the GALAX app. To her surprise, several GALAX avatars were gathered around hers. The floating speech bubbles flooding the screen clued her in. She wasn't able to read most of it but skimming through, she got the gist of the situation.
"Tandoji and the chairman are an item?"
"Why a secret wedding? Don't have to be shy about it :P"
"Long live the newlyweds!"
"Will the school be on holidays during your honeymoon? #NoClassesJustMarried"
"They got it all wrong! T-that's..." Ruri blushed then her face turned pale. Drawing short of breath, she fainted and fell on an unprepared Arma as Hajime snaps another shot.
Cosmo Base, Earth Orbit
"Emergency call! Emergency call!"
"Mimetic beast detected in the Pacific, designating it as Type 12." A young (outwardly preadolescent) female bridge operator informed.
"What is its course?" A middle-aged man inquired. So they weren't gone for good after all. We stopped the clock too soon. He thought.
"It's heading for Area 11."
Dannar Base, Kantou Region, Area 11
"Mimetic beast has already entered Area 11's area of responsibility." Konami reported as she focuses on her holographic monitor.
"Send out Fujimura and Kouji." Kagemaru, the commander, ordered.
"Roger!" Another girl, Momoko, replied. She then broadcasted the orders, "Fujimura, Kouji, please proceed to Deck 3. I repeat, please proceed to Deck 3. Prepare to sortie."
"Sir, there's an incoming call request." Konami relayed to the commander.
"Who is it from?"
"It's General Asprius, sir." Konami replied with lesser enthusiasm. Commander Kagemaru clenched his teeth and grunted silently, indicating a similar sentiment.
"Put him on one of the large monitors."
The monitor directly in front flashed on and displayed a bald man with a monocle. "What can we do for you, gene…?" Before he can finish, the general shot down Kagemaru's attempt at a respectful conversation.
"If you're thinking about launching an attack on the Mimetic Beast, I'd advise you to not bother anymore. Britannian Knightmare Frames and mobile suits are far superior compared to your impractical, showy robots. Now that we have all your data on how to fight these things, your assistance is no longer required. The proposal to decommission your base is being processed as we speak. However, I'm not stopping you Elevens if you wish to be outdone in our little test run." The rude general immediately disconnected, leaving a short pause among the three persons in the command room and the people in the hangar.
"Ignore him." Commander Kagemaru directed, unfazed by Astrius's words. "Initiate launch sequence."
"Gate Open. Gate Open."
"G-Gunner is docked at Deck 3."
"Jet Boy has cleared the hangar."
"Open the launch hatch."
"Roger."
"Catapult, check. All clear."
"Beginning to slide exit door."
"Saruwatari isn't on the sub list." Tetsuya Kouji noted as he pressed some buttons in his G-Gunner's cockpit.
"That's okay. It's not like we need him to sub for us today." Shizuru Fujimura replied as she configured her own mecha, the Core Gunner, which is inside Tetsuya's. "Besides, the Britannians said they got this." She sarcastically added without changing her serious tone.
"This can't be happening!" Angrily, his grasp on the control sticks tightened. "After fighting for their sake, they're just throwing us out like that? Damn Britannians!"
"Runway clear."
"Ready for take-off!"
"G-Gunner, move out!"
In the coastal waters near Dannar base…
"Please excuse me, sir, but are we really suited for this battle, First Lieutenant?" A mobile suit pilot asked an officer over their communications channel as he flew over the sea littered with derelict buildings, "Not that I doubt our Flags, sir, but we're literally fighting against monsters."
"Just stand your ground firmly, soldier," The officer encouraged. "Everything will be fine." Despite that, he also had his doubts about the situation, knowing that the decision to deploy mobile suits and Knightmare Frames was dictated by propaganda instead of tactics. With the Elevens' autonomous forces and their robots gaining popularity, the Union refuses to be outdone, fearing that they will inspire more rebellions. With just four Flags and twelve Sutherlands for this mission, they could only do so much.
"Roger that."
Meanwhile in a cemetery…
A bespectacled man walks alone, his white wedding tuxedo and red bouquet of roses complementing the cemetery's melancholic aura. He stopped, then knelt as he reached a solitary grave marked "Mira Ackerman 322-345". As it is in a cape by the sea, it is a quiet place only disturbed by the squawking of seagulls and swooshing of the wind.
"Have you forgiven me?" Gently, he spoke to her lost love. He already accepted her death but he felt that there are still a few lingering regrets here and there. This is no good. I should only be thinking about my marriage to Anna right now. He was too deep in thought that he didn't immediately notice another person approaching. That other person was already standing beside him by the time he did.
"It's been a long time, Goh. Did you find what you were looking for?" The other person greeted. Goh looked up upon hearing the familiar voice. It's Ryu Tendo, a Jetman and his comrade in the battles five years ago. Ryu knelt, too, and offered a few words of prayers. After praying, he stood up and reached out an arm to Goh and with a firm grip, he pulled him up in a flexing manner. "I had a hunch that you'd come here." Ryu said as they both stood up.
"They never found her body," The towering man spoke gloomily. "Max's too." He added.
"I think five years is more than long enough to make atonement." Ryu assured him. "It's time to face what's ahead of you. Our friends who fell in those battles fought bravely for us to have a future."
"Atonement, huh?" He looked back at Mira's grave and whispered words of farewell to her in his mind. I feel like I've finally found the piece of my heart that I've been searching for since that day. I can finally say it. Thank you, I'll never forget you.
Ryu smiled approvingly, lightly tapped his shoulder, and reminded, "Don't keep them waiting for the groom. Let's go!" Goh faced away from Mira's grave and nodded with a newfound determination. Goh walked away while Ryu followed. The latter put his arms over his friend's shoulders. "Hang in there, buddy. I've been there before."
In the church's dressing room...
"The stomach's starting to show. Is that all right?" A voluptuous woman asked in between puffs of her cigarette.
"I'm really surprised about the pregnancy." The bride, a teenage girl, replied. "Actually, I'm surprised Pinpin is a girl." She's been stroking the cat, an orange meatball with stripes, in its belly's side.
"Well, I'm more surprised it took five years for you to notice."
"It's okay. It just means our family will be even bigger now. The more the merrier!"
"Excuse me, ma'am, my brother's here…" Seeing the bride in the beautiful white gown stopped the young man in his tracks. Entranced, he slowly approached her, held her hands, and said, "Anna… will you marry me?"
"That's funny." The bride replied.
"Anna~!" Hajime forced herself into the room and rushed in to hug her friend.
The woman interceded then told them, "Hey, both of you, wait outside."
"G-Gunner, you are now entering firing range."
"Okay! I'm gonna give 'em a good one!" Tetsuya affirmed eagerly.
"Jet Boy, gear down." The flight pack carrying them detached immediately as soon as Shizuru spoke.
"All right!" Tetsuya yelled again. "Hey, aren't those supposed to be our Britannian backups? By the looks of it, they got trampled by the bug they're supposed to exterminate."
An image of a helmeted pilot appeared on his screen and spoke, "Can you hear me? I'm First Lieutenant Graham Aker. We need help extracting our surviving pilots from the battlefield but the VTOLs need a few minutes to get all of them. Can you help me stall the mimetic beast?"
"What? No! You just told us to stay out of the way a while ago!" Tetsuya hastily complained, rising from his seat as he shouted into the screen. "Where's all that Britannian superiority now, huh?"
"I understand your sentiments but there are lives in trouble here." 1st Lt. Aker insisted. "You're heroes; you can't just let them die, can you?"
"Guilt-tripping us into doing what you want… damn it!" The G-Gunner pilot looked down and quietly assessed the situation then looked back up. "Shizuru, Commander, did you hear that? What's the plan?"
"We should help them for now." The command room approved.
"At this moment, we have to do as they ask of us." Shizuru agreed.
"Thank you very much. I'll put in a good word for you in my report." Suddenly, a Flag in its mobile suit mode flew from among the debris. "I can still fight. I'll provide air support."
"We're counting on you." Shizuru responded as her hot-blooded partner quieted down. "We'll fire an opening shot to stun him for a while. First Lieutenant, please keep it busy while we scoop up the survivors."
"Roger."
"Type 12 on sight. Strong Buster, set up!"
"Okay! Strong Buster, set up!" Or so she thought. Tetsuya is back to his normal pep by time for combat.
Cling-clang-cling-clang-cling.
The mellow wedding bells chimed as the ceremony began in a small church not far from the base.
"We are gathered here today to join Goh Saruwatari and Anna Aoi in holy matrimony." The priest began.
In the front rows are the couple's kin, Goh's brother Shinobu and Anna's mother Kiriko with the bride's pet cat, Pinpin, curled up in the former's lap. The guests are few and at first glance, ordinary but those gathered that day are heroes.
Among them are Ryu Tendo and the other Jetmen with their commander, Aya Odagiri. Ryu and his wife, Kaori, took turns babysitting their child named after their commander while the two other Jetmen, Raita and Ako, made faces to amuse her. As they became more rowdy, the commander irately reminded them of the occurring ceremony; babysitting the babysitters indeed.
Ruri and her friends behaved better, except for Hajime who can't stay still. Since the wedding is a secret, they made her promise not to take any picture. Unfortunately, she diverted her displaced energy on explaining the rite to Ruri. "Hey, Ruri! Look, look! The final marriage vows! Look at them k-," The young mistress knew where it was going so she took the matter to her own hands… that is, by covering Hajime up.
"Do you, Anna Aoi, take Goh Saruwatari to be your husband and swear your unwavering love to him, until death do you part?"
"Yes, I do."
"And do you, Goh Saruwatari, take Anna Aoi to be your wife and swear your unwavering love to her, until death do you part?"
"Yes, I d-aaugh!" Before he can finish, Goh suddenly panicked and ran off to the side, leaving his bride and the guests confused. "Excuse me." A phone's vibration was heard afterwards and to the guests' surprise, Kiriko Aoi took it out from her… chest compartment.
"The hell?!" Onigawara interjected as he materialized an exclamation point. Ruri quickly covered the startled talking brick's mouth, leaving Hajime's, while Arma grabbed the floating punctuation mark.
"Shizuru. Sorry, but get back to me later. I'm in the middle of something important right now…" Goh received the call through his glasses, actually an optical head-mounted display, and the other end of the line appeared in his view.
"Get over here quick! We have a situation!"
"I'm in a situation right now, too." Goh said softly.
Goh was about to disconnect when Shizuru switched the display to a stream of their current battle. "Once you see this, you'll fly over here whether you want to or not." The live footage zoomed into the view of the mimetic beast's torso, revealing a blue mechanical figure embedded into it. "You can barely recognize what it is."
"Club Mariner!" The image took him aback. How could he not recognize; it was Max's robot, supposedly destroyed in the battle five years ago. But why? At that moment, his heart set on their wedding was overridden by a desire to find closure. A part of his friend is out there, rampaging, trying to hurt people, and it's up to him to stop it. "Sorry!" He ran down the aisle toward the door.
"What about the wedding?" Anna ran after then latched onto him, a surreal scene with the scrawny bride holding back the groom almost twice her size. "You're not done saying, 'Yes, I DO!'"
Her mother followed them, "Please understand. It's an old friend of his." It was the distraction he needed to run to the bridal car and start up the engine. Kiriko soon ran after and got in the car, too.
"Mom? Not you, too."
"You better be ready for anything. You'll spend a life with a robot pilot and your mother is his boss."
"I'll be right back! Wait for me!" Goh shouted as they rode off, tied cans clanking along the ground.
Graham Aker diligently pestered the beast while the G-Gunner assisted the rescuers and survivors. He flew a little lower than the determined safe altitude to provoke it to chase after him, occasionally firing the linear rifle to catch its attention. On the other hand, the pair of Elevens' cordiality wasn't exactly appreciated. As they offered to raise them into the VTOLs through their robot's hand, several pilots violently refused. They didn't bother to insist; at least, no one could say they never tried.
"All surviving pilots have been evacuated." Aker relayed to the Gunner team after the last VTOL lifted off.
"Great! Now I don't need to hold back." Uninhibited no longer, the G-Gunner joined the Flag which was saturating the monster with air-to-surface missiles at that moment.
"Thank you." The officer politely expressed his gratitude through the channel. "There's nothing much I can do now. I'm almost out of ammo and our close-ranged weapons didn't do much a while ago. I'll escort the VTOLs back to base and officially call retreat. Can you handle it by yourself?"
"You bet I do!" Tetsuya replied confidently. "Better scram now before it gets you!"
Graham smirked and posed his Flag's arm to resemble a salute and flew away.
"Kouji, Fujimura! Stay alert! We're detecting a large group approaching from two o'clock!" Momoko reported.
"What?" Shizuru answered while Tetsuya focused on firing the Strong Buster. "More mimetic beasts?"
"We don't think so. They're smaller. Please assume that these are hostiles for now."
"I'm using the Gatling arm, Shizuru. It's getting way too close for the Strong Buster!" Tetsuya interrupted. "It's using the Club Mariner's shield. Do something about it!"
"Roger! Jet Boy, go!" The unmanned aircraft descended and emitted a disruptive shock wave that shut down its shield. It was too late though; the mimetic beast has lunged to the G-Gunner, pinning it down.
"G-Gunner is unable to fight!" Momoko reported.
"I'm unable to contact the pilot." Konami added.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! I'm heading out!" Goh ran towards the hangar as he fumbled his arms into his pilot suit.
"Saruwatari? A-are you sure? Why are you in tuxedo? I mean, Roger!" Momoko granted him permission to launch.
"What's the situation?" Dr. Aoi rushed into the control room.
Kagemaru replied, "They were drawn into close combat where they're at disadvantage. We've lost communication."
"Okay. Get Godannar ready to move out."
"Don't die! Kouji, Shizuru! Wait for me, Club Mariner!"
"1st Lt. Aker! What's the meaning of this?" General Bartley Asprius fumingly demanded an explanation. "You've been briefed thoroughly! How did this mission fail?"
"With all due respect, 'shackling the mimetic beast with slash harkens and bombarding it from four directions' isn't as easy it sounds, General." Aker replied dryly.
"Not only you failed, you even sought help from Elevens! You're an embarrassment to Britannia!"
Having had enough, Aker adjusted the communicator's frequency and intentionally garbled the conversation. "You'r— bre—ing up, ge—n—al. I'll con—nue wi— my rep—t later." Not having flown too far, he zoomed in his monitor's view and took one more look at the battle. He saw the mimetic beast subdue the robot. A feminine robot leapt out of the dismantled gunner but the pilot in the torn cockpit looked like he's been badly injured. "All personnel go ahead without me. I have one more rescue to perform."
"Shizuru, the Core Gunner's armor won't withstand #12's attack!" Konami warned.
"I'll hold on..." Shizuru replied as she fired a missile despite their dangerously closed distance but it was blocked by the beast's restored shield and she too was forced into a corner by the feedback. "Until Goh gets here!" The beast leaped, dropping towards her, until a newcomer kicked it out of the way. It was the Godannar.
The guests looked on from the cape as the battle rages. While Shinobu, Hajime, and the officiating priest comfort Anna, the others talked among their own groups on dealing with the attack.
"Mistress, shall we deploy, too?" Kagami asked.
"No, not yet, but have the Engagement Suit be delivered just in case." She then called Arma's attention. "Arma, please get ready, too. We'll assist if the situation calls for it."
"Huh? Ah, yes."
"If only we can fight back like before," Ryu stated as he witnesses a familiar scene but as a bystander instead of a combatant. His fists tightened as he's reminded that the Sky Force and the Jetmen have been shut down; powerful robots in their old base just left to rot even though they are a crucial part of defense against alien enemies.
"Even with the Vyram gone, the Earth feels barely a little more peaceful," Kaori mused. She averted her baby's eyes from the battle, keeping her closer to her bosom. "I fear for my Aya and the other children that will be raised in this age."
"I'll be a parent soon, too. I understand how you feel," Raita agreed as he thought about his pregnant wife back home.
"Was giving in to the Britannians' demands really the right thing to do?" Ako pondered aloud. "It's never been the same since we lost our Birdonic Wave enhancements."
"We're all still fighting," Commander Aya corrected. "Even outside the battlefield, the things we do mean something to this world."
"Goh-chin..." Anna sighed as she worriedly watched her groom's robot clash with the mimetic beast.
"Wow, you have a really amazing groom right there," Awestruck by the battle, eyes almost aglow, Hajime tried to encourage her friend. "I usually don't trust older men who go after young girls but I can see why you fell for him."
"Hey, don't talk about my brother like that!" Though Shinobu reacted, he didn't really take offense. Anna laughed a little at her friend's frankness.
"How's Kouji?" Goh asked as he shielded the Core Gunner from the mimetic beast's energy blasts.
"He's dead." Shizuru responded with false grief.
"I'm not dead yet." The cockpit has been stripped from the rest of the robot but its communication is still working.
"The large group is coming!" Momoko reported. "We've confirmed visuals that they're Jovian Lizards, batta-types to be exact."
"What? C'mon! They're annoyingly nimble."
"You focus on the mimetic beast while I try to shoot them." The Core Gunner stood up and ran off behind another building. "Go on, Jovians, make my day."
The people by the cape also saw the incoming insectoid machines and they began to run to take cover. "Mistress, the engagement suit is here." Makoto informed Ruri. "Arma, take care of the Mistress." He then ran off towards the automated Engagement Suit then leaped into its hatch to take control.
"Okay." Arma confirmed. He looked at Ruri then said, "Let me transform."
Ruri nodded then took out a lightstone and recited the invocation. "I will take your memories and give you this stone as my will." She kissed the shimmering lightstone and drew it close to Arma. It shattered into floating pieces and surrounded him with a spinning prism that reformed into an armor, covering everything but his hair and face.
Arma called on his power, "Something that will let me fly," and a hoverboard materialized beneath his feet. He flew then called forth another, "Something to blast stuff with," creating a muzzle in the middle of his knuckle.
"Whoa, a henshin hero," Ryu said with mild surprise. "Haven't seen anyone like him since… us. Who are you guys exactly?" He directed the question to Ruri, the guests were introduced to each other before the wedding, while they ran as Arma and Makoto fended off the attackers.
Shinobu hauled Hajime, who has been distracted by the spectacle. "The base is not far from here. Let's go!"
"Okay, Mr. Saruwatari." Ruri got back to Ryu's question, "I'll explain later but let's keep running for now."
"How are Anna and the others?" Goh asked through the channel in between the Godannar's jabs against the beast.
"They're fine. They're on their way to the base." Kiriko replied. "They're about to pass through the graveyard at the moment. The people from Aiba Foundation are defending them."
"That's good to hear." Goh breathed out with relief.
"Focus, Goh!" Shizuru interrupted with voice slightly raised. "Our hands are kinda full here. Any chance of backup?" She viewed her robot's system monitors and declared, "I'll soon run out of ammo, too."
"We've contacted the other bases but they're also currently busy with attacks around the world." Kagemaru explained. "But the Vigilance Corps promised assistance with their Jin-rai units. They'll be dropping off soon."
Not what she was hoping for but it was better than nothing, she thought; the Jin-rai units are even more cumbersome than their robots and she feared they might do worse than the mobile suits and Knightmare Frames against the mimetic beast. "As long as they get here in time..."
"Drill Anchor?" The mimetic beast surprised Goh with its attack, originally the Club Mariner's, and he was knocked back towards several buildings until hitting the cliff where the escaping guests are. The ground gave in and they fell to whatever was under the graveyard. Arma caught Ruri but everyone else fell on their buttocks, except for Kaori who fell on her back and Ryu who embraced her in a clamp to protect their baby.
"Is everyone all right?" Ryu asked upon helping himself and Kaori get up.
"We're okay." Commander Aya confirmed, also speaking in behalf of Raita and Ako.
"I'm going back there." Arma said to Ruri as he carefully helped her land. The young lady responded with a simple nod.
Shinobu, with Pinpin in his arms, and Hajime stood up, too, leaving only one who hasn't. Shinobu looked for Anna and not far from where they stood, he saw the bride in her partly torn gown. "A-anna!" He gave the cat to Hajime then rushed to her and everybody else followed.
The impact left Goh in a daze. When he came to, he saw the damage it did and the guests struggling in the crevice. When his sight veered to Anna's unconscious body, he froze in shock for a moment. It's like it's happening all over again for him… the same hopelessness he felt five years ago. "Why you…" Goh and the Godannar furiously rose and ran back to the fray.
"Guys, I'm still out here." Tetsuya calmly reminded his comrades in spite of the situation. As soon as he spoke, half a dozen battas were on their way to him. "Oh, crap." He closed his eyes to resign himself to his fate and just when he thought that he'll be ripped to shreds, he heard a deafening vibration and explosions partially muffled by the former. After the noise died away, he opened his eyes to the giant that bailed him out of sure death; the Flag.
It faced his ripped cockpit and landed. "Perfect timing, wasn't it?" Aker greeted through the channel but Tetsuya's only reply was a whispered grunt. "Hang on. We're gonna scram." The Flag grasped the cockpit with its hands and flew away.
"The graveyard caved in," Konami reported. "Wait… Doctor! The old Dannar base's Emergency Intercept System is coming online." Her eyes widened at the incredulity of her readings. "The Godannar's impact might have accidentally triggered the old base's emergency power."
"What?" Kiriko had a gut feeling on what happened. "Anna!" She rushed to the bridge's panels and fidgeted with the controls, "I hope the old base's transceivers are still working."
Meanwhile, Momoko received a message. "Chief, it's the Flag. It's requesting to dock at our base. It says that it brought Tetsuya."
"Let it in."
"Anna! Anna!" Shinobu was screaming at her to wake her up. When it didn't work, he almost resorted to shaking her but Hajime stopped him.
"Ah! No! Don't do that!" Hajime yelled at him. "I've just consulted some experts on GALAX. They said that that's a big no-no."
"She's right," Ako concurred. "Please help me tilt her head back, Shinobu." She instructed and the young man did as he was told. She took out a short, thin paper sachet from her purse and cracked it close to Anna's nose. "I often get dizzy in my concerts so I always bring some smelling salts with me."
Anna groaned and her eyes gradually opened. "W-what happened? Where am I?" She asked the people around her as she breathed heavily, already conscious but still recovering.
"Anna!" Shinobu was overjoyed and had almost glomped the bride if it wasn't for Ryu and Raita immediately holding him back. He came to his senses soon after and properly responded. "We fell down here when we were running. You fainted… but I'm just glad you're okay now!" Finally relieved of worrying, he wiped some tears in his eyes as he explained.
"This is the old base." Ryu revealed. "It looks rundown now but we were here a lot of times before. There really are no bodies interred in those graves; they're mere markers for those weren't found after the war five years ago but considered dead."
"Can anyone hear me? Please respond!" Kiriko's voice crackled over the base's PA System.
"Mom!" Anna was back on her feet. "We're here. Everyone's okay."
"Thank goodness," Kiriko's voice became a bit calmer. "Stay there for a while. It will be safer than running off to the base at this moment. We'll send people to get you."
However, Anna wasn't paying attention to her mother as she was drawn to the sounds of explosions and flashes of lights coming from a large hole in the broken wall. She intuitively climbed towards it and took a peek. From there, she saw the back of a blue giant, as big and strong as it had been when she first saw it five years ago. That's right… I wanted to know what was hidden inside that big back. But something's different… he might be just as strong but the enemy is stronger than before. The Godannar, clearly overpowered, is on its knees. The ground shook once more and her worry grew.
"The activation program at the Eternal seal dock is... on?" Momoko reported. "What should we do? Doctor? Chief?"
The chief was about to give instructions when the doctor interrupted, "Never mind, this is inevitable." I don't want to put you through this, Anna, but how will you handle a situation like this?
"Releasing seal. Releasing seal." A pre-recorded voice announced.
"Goh-Chin's gonna die!" It was only then that she noticed the elephant in the living room, a gigantic, pink, metallic, woman. The others tried to stop her but she objected, "I have to go! I have to help him!"
"Neo-Okusaer ready for take-off."
She ran to the robot's holding bay and mashed some buttons on a device resembling a parking meter. "Hey! Please let me on! I know you can move, robot! Neo-Okusaer, right? Please, open up! It say's you're ready for takeoff."
"Do you really want to get in that badly?" Her mother asked.
"Yes! Goh needs my help!" The chief instructed the bridge operators to give her permission, at which point Neo-Okusaer's hatch opened and Anna leaped into it
"Everyone else, get back!" The chief ordered. The platform rose up until the robot is out of the crevice, the chains binding it breaking apart.
"The basic controls look the same to the ones we use at school. I can pilot it." Anna assured.
"We'll do our best to support you." Chief Kagemaru assured back.
Her mom also expressed support, "I've drilled you hard in the basics. The rest is up to you."
"Understood."
"Get lost!" Arma yelled as he dissected a batta laterally with his scarf-blade. "Just how many of these are there?"
"Just hold on!" Makoto replied, not realizing it was rhetorical. "We shouldn't let them reach the Mistress and the others." Using the next to last missile of his engagement suit's rocket launcher, he destroyed a cluster of the automatons. Afterwards, he sliced a leaping attacker with his suit's vibro-blades.
"Sir, there's another unidentified aircraft approaching!" Momoko said.
"Another hostile? Or is it the Vigilance Corps?" On edge, the Chief asked for clarification.
"Unable to confirm," She displayed the image into one of the monitors, showing a red, oddly designed aircraft. "We're observing really high energy readings… sir, I'm sorry, but I don't think we're getting it right. Our equipment might be broken or something." Her expression of worry turned to astonishment.
"Could that be…" But I thought it was discontinued? He recognized the basic design though some things have changed from the prototype he once saw years ago.
"We're probably thinking the same thing right now." Kiriko likewise recognized it. Kagemaru looked back to her and they both nodded.
"It's a friendly." He confidently told the bridge operators. "Please also inform our pilots."
"Roger!"
"Goh-chin, I'm coming to save you! Okusaer Wing!" Anna yelled as the Neo-Okusaer ran, flipped, and landed in front of the Godannar, "Angel Wall!" The pink robot put up a barrier, blocking a blast from the mimetic beast.
"The Okusaer? I thought we sealed it!" The thought of having survived the attack hasn't even sunk in when Goh asked franticly.
"Goh-chin, it's me," Anna replied as Neo-Okusaer fired a blast of Gravity Bomber.
"Save it for later. Merge, you two," Kiriko commanded.
"Merge?" Goh didn't immediately believe what he heard.
"The Godannar has hardly any power left. The only chance you have is to merge and finish him off quickly."
"But…"
"I'll fight with you!"
"Idiot!" Goh hastily scolded his wife. "What can an amateur do? Hurry up and run!"
"Who are you calling an idiot?! I might not be able to fight like you but at least I can protect you."
"No! Go back!"
"No! We're together in sickness and in health! We're married, aren't we?"
"MA… MARRIED?!" The news startled the Dannar Base crew far more than the problem at hand.
"Oh, by the way, let me introduce her. She's my daughter. Treat her nicely." Kiriko stated matter-of-factly while the rest struggles with the slew of revelations.
"I mean it! I didn't marry you just to get you involved in a battle."
"Well, I'm not watching you get beat up even more!"
"Please understand. I don't want to lose the one I love again!"
"This isn't just about us. If we lose here, even more people will lose something important to them."
"No… No! I don't want that!"
"You call yourself a man? Stop whining! What is that robot for? Isn't it to protect people you care about?"
Goh was between a rock and a hard place but knew that his wife has a point. I don't like this… but we need to get this over with. Mustering his resolve, he initiated the combination sequence. "Drive change! Go!"
"Drive change! Go!" Anna echoed, relieved that her husband finally made up his mind. As the Neo-Okusaer folded itself, the Godannar opened its chest, engulfing the former.
"Dannar on!" Anna's seat rose to underneath Goh's cockpit, bringing her in front of him.
"Revolver, open! Godannar, Twin Drive!" The Dannar bulked up; it spread its mane, its forelimbs expanded, and eventually turned red. With their combination completed, they have become Godannar Twin Drive Mode; together as one... man, woman, and machine.
"What's that?" Makoto expressed his surprise upon seeing the red jet flying overhead. He almost readied himself to fire his rocket launcher to it, too, if it didn't fire missiles first into the battas. Is that Saotome Labs' secret weapon? He finally recognized it with a better view. He retracted the rocket launcher and resumed fighting the Jovian machines with the suit's Twin SMG. "Looks like we'll be done soon."
From between Anna's thighs, a gun-like joystick sprouted from her seat. "Eek! What's this?"
"I'll explain later, Anna. Just grab that." The girl moved her still-gloved hand to grasp the gun. "When I give the signal, pull the trigger."
"Roger!" Temporarily, their bond as spouses was supplanted by that of being co-pilots, with a trainee taking orders from a veteran.
"We don't have much power left. I'm putting everything into this attack." The Godannar leaped gloriously, radiating a hair of flames. "Spiral Fire!" It spun and deflected the shockwave the mimetic beast released. Godannar gracefully landed on its feet and as soon as it did, the mimetic beast fired its drill anchor, meeting the robot's flaming fist. The drill anchor crumbled and the residual force from the counterpunch thrown the beast off balance. "Let's go, Anna!"
"Right!" The words Limiter Release and ENGAGE! FINAL MODE occupied their screen.
As the turbine engines on its chest overclocked, the Godannar propelled itself into the enemy. "Heart… Breaker!" Its burning right fist thrust and buried into its left chest. "Now! Fire!" With a battle cry not befitting a soft-spoken girl, Anna fired the gun-like controller. The pumping pistons on its forearm exerted compressed energy. With a release of focused bursting energy into the beast's body, the latter's shell was softened. Its color's transition from brown to gray indicated that it's peeling off.
"Farewell, Club Mariner!" Almost as if eulogizing, Goh called out to it. "This city and its people you protected… I won't let you destroy them!" They leaped again with ease as if gravity didn't have an effect. "Soul Breaker!" With a flying kick, Godannar sliced through the mimetic beast from its head to its tail. Landing behind the mimetic beast collapsing into a heap, smoke oozed from the robot as it reached its limit.
"Woohoo!" "Way to go, Goh!" The people at both the current and abandoned bases rejoiced, finally free of the pressure. Arma, Makoto, Shizuru, and whoever the pilot of the strange jet was were done on their end, too. Arma's transformation was undone just in time and a lot of parts of Makoto's suit were purged by the end of the battle. With everything clear, they helped Ruri and the rest who were climbing out. The Core Gunner sustained few more damages and the jet was relatively unharmed.
"What a bother," The red jet's pilot indifferently confirmed his accomplishment. "Don't get used to this too much, old man. I'm not your errand boy. Tch." The red jet flew away with neither an introduction nor acknowledgment but no one seemed to care much.
"Type 12, destroyed!"
"Club Mariner, neutralized!" The two bridge operators simultaneously reported. In the midst of celebration, it didn't matter which.
"Waking up giants takes a lot of work, doesn't it?" Dr. Aoi said with relief. Her phone rang again and she took it out from where she usually keeps it. She flipped it open and played a video message. It was the Club Mariner, though the mimetic beast that infested it was already mostly detached. Zooming in, she saw a naked, blond woman ejected from its cockpit. "Impossible… It can't be… It's YOU!" Her eyes widened and she mildly trembled.
"The cavalry has arrived…" Konami proclaimed aridly when visuals from the Godannar's perspective showed three blocky robots being lifted by aircrafts. At least, the Vigilance Corps was true to its word. "Better late than never."
"Uh… please tell them that we appreciate their effort," Kagemaru instructed as he took a look at the large monitors. "And... that we can take it from here."
Meanwhile in the infirmary...
"I guess I'm done here." First Lieutenant Aker picked up his helmet. Hearing news that the threat has been defeated made him feel at ease. "Got a demonstration to attend."
"You're not too bad... for a Britannian," Tetsuya remarked with the same agitated voice he displayed earlier.
"Thanks," Aker has opened the door when he turned around.
"Don't get cocky. Not much of my opinion has changed." His voice has softened a little, probably because the medicines were starting to take effect.
Aker smirked lightly and retorted before leaving for good, "You're not too bad yourself... for a Japanese."
