SD GUNDAM FORCE X

Cory "Core" Belote

Chapter Four


"Samurai Soul"

The brown eyes of the Gundam opened in a flash as pain surged through his body; his internal sensors filled his vision with the damage report from his body and the rise in temperature. The mainly red and white Gundam transformed quickly, an armored cover on his back snapped forward over his head to cover it as the side panels that covered his shoulders snapped quickly into place to form wings. His lower body twisted around as his legs bent at the knee and lifted part of his short armored skirt to give him the sleek appearance of a fighter jet. He rolled onto his back quickly as to ride the shockwave of his reentry into the atmosphere of the blue and green planet below him, already caught in its gravity well and being dragged in against his will. He clung to the cold black scabbard that covered the ancient samurai sword tightly as he felt a deep pang of guilt and sorrow rush through him at the loss of its owner.

The Gundam became aware of something else close to him and looked at a display screen inside the cockpit like extension that covered his head. The display from his sensors showed a large colony burning through the atmosphere close to him, his advanced mind calculated quickly where it would hit based on its trajectory and felt a horrible sickness at its target. An island nation in the largest ocean of the planet Gaia, the very same island the homeland of his friend, and the owner of the sword he now held firmly. It took only a split second for him to decide what to do as he activated his thrusters and flew into the space colony; he transformed into his robotic form quickly as he slammed into the surface and pushed as hard as he could against the mass of metal and glass. He pushed as hard as he could against it with the knowledge that a small change now would cause it to miss its target and save the lives of millions on the surface of the planet, if only he could move it just a small amount with his thrusters and his will.

The slab of metal that he held onto creaked under the strain he put it under, and slowly the colony started to move as he had hoped. The Gundam continued to push against the massive colony with all his might, ignoring the warning lights that filled his optics of the damage to his body. The composite lunar titanium armor of the mechanical warrior's body glowed hot with the friction against the atmosphere, and parts melted away completely from him to sail off with other debris from the colony. The metal that he clung to finally peel away and caused him to spiral away from the colony. The Gundam held onto the piece of torn metal and moved it before him as a shield, the alarms of his sensors slowly quieted down, save one that alerted him that his transformation system was damaged beyond repair.

As he cleared the upper limits of the atmosphere he looked below him to see lights dancing in the night sky, the tell tail sign of a battle raging below him. The green background of his optics flashed as his brown eyes focused on what was ahead of him, his keen eyes picking out targets amidst the heavy fighting. He growled as he saw only a small group of transport Gaia Force transport planes, escorting civilian aircraft, under attack by more agile and better equipped robots of the Dark Cirrus. The Gundam tossed his makeshift shield down to snag on his feet, allowing him to surf the shockwave of his reentry and free his hands. He grabbed hold of the only weapon he had with him, the sword that belonged to his teacher and friend, and glared at the other machines.

"You cowards want to pick on innocent civilians! Hasn't there been enough death already today?!" The Gundam shouted as loudly as he could as he drew the sword and jumped off of the metal plate.

The Dark Cirrus robots jumped back in shock as one of their red armored comrades was taken out by the piece of metal and they heard the cries of the Gundam. The twenty some red robots with large beefy looking legs turned with their finned thrusters to face the new machine, beam and machine guns blazing. The lone Gundam continued down his apparent suicide path as he swung the sword around to smack several of the bullets out of the air and the beams from the rifles caused the blade to glow brightly. The aerial designed Gundam flashed past a group of six robots quickly before he skidded to a stop in mid-air with his thrusters, the sword held out from his body in his right hand and his head bent low to hide his eyes. As if on cue, the weapons and hands of the six robots explode or fall off of their bodies as he raised his head to look at the others.

"That's enough!" The Gundam shouted, "If you persist in fighting, then I will have no choice but to destroy you. Lay down your weapons at once! There has been enough killing today."

The Dark Cirrus robots look at one another for a moment as their disarmed comrades flailed their damaged arms, and growled for vengeance. They ignored the plea from the Gundam as they raised their weapons once more and took aim at him once more. The lone warrior's brown eyes changed slightly as he felts something similar to the burning sensation from his reentry surge through him, and the hidden orb in his chest glowed bright enough to light up the night sky. The Gundam grabbed onto the sword with both hands as he held it out in front of him, and felt a strange but familiar power surge through his body. He rushed forward quickly as he let out a cry as the colony finally struck its new target in the ocean. The deafening roar could be heard over the fighting as a massive wave of water into the air, as if a dragon had finally awakened from his long slumber…

In the wake of the war between the Dark Cirrus and the Gaia Force, the survivors on Gaia had to find a way to survive in the new world created in the wake of the colony drop. They formed new nations and governments to fill the gap left by the destroyed Gaia government. An island nation, abandoned by humans was left in the hands of machines that either were left or found their way to its shores. The new rulers of the land set aside the weapons of their generation and adopted newer older weapons to replace them, and to the surprise of others it resulted in a long standing peace. But true peace can not be had just by surrendering weapons…

"Airmaster?"

The Gundam slowly activated his optics and raised his head from his meditative state, having fallen asleep once more in his small sanctuary atop the large dojo.

"Airmaster?"

The brown eyed Gundam sighed as he remained seated on a thin cushion on the floor before a small shrine he had built. "Enter."

The rice paper and wooden door slid open slowly as a young robotic sat and bowed its helmet less head as low as it could, dark black ridges that looked like slicked back hair sat on its head and reflected the light from the open set of double doors that allowed the rays of the morning sun to fill the room. A light blue silk kimono adorned the robot as it remained still, and almost seemed unable to move.

"Airmaster, I am sorry to disturb you like this, but I thought that you would like to know that there is a visitor to see you." The robot said in an obvious female voice, and sounded like a young teenager of almost fifteen years of age. "I took them to the garden, and had them checked for weapons, but… They refused to let me disarm them, and said that will only do so for you."

"I see, thank you Burst." The Gundam replied as he stood up, his armor removed from his body and replaced instead with a black kimono under a white kataginu with a pair of golden dragons that ran parallel with one another on the front of his shoulders, as if racing each other, with a shattered star that seemed to burst between them. His lower body was covered with a red hakama, and a black belt around his waist, where he slid a short sword into in place as he turned to face the other robot. "I shall see this visitor myself and let them know of the rules of this dojo, and this land. We can't have someone breaking them now can we?"

"No. Of course not, Airmaster." The younger robot, Burst, said as she kept her head lowered.

Airmaster stared at the girl for a moment before his brown eyed display changed to a dark line with a half circle hung between them. "Burst, it is good that you practice such strictness to the teachings that I have taught you, but when we are in private like this you can be less formal."

"Y-yes, Airmaster." The younger robot replied as she stood up slowly and looked at him with vacant green optics.

Airmaster smiled as he looked at her, "You are an amazing treasure to me Burst, you are the only other Airmaster unit that I have found, and it is a wonder that you can even exist as you are with such free will and consciousness. Normally you would need a soul drive to be like you are, that just proves how special you are, my dear daughter."

"Y-yes father, thank you." Burst blushed lightly as she looked down.

"Now let us go and meet with this visitor." Airmaster said, "I want you to wait in the shadows just incase something were to happen. You are one of the better fighters here, and if this guest does mean ill intent toward us, then I would like to have you at my side to drive them away."

"As you wish father, I shall accompany you." Burst smiled behind her facemask as she nodded and started to follow the older Gundam out of the room.

She paused for a moment to look behind her at the shrine that Airmaster had been seated before, a picture young human boy in a green uniform was framed with a golden dragon as a large sword sat before it on a stand. The steps leading up to the picture were covered with white and red candles that kept burning with the care of the elder Gundam, the person in the picture of great importance to her father. Burst turned back around and walked quickly to catch up to the older Airmaster after she shut the door to his private room, and walked with him down the halls of the dojo. The sound of the other students and residents filled the crisp morning air, robots from both sides of the prior conflict had gathered and were stripped of weapons and armor to wear the garments that Airmaster had picked for them. All of them gave up the old ways of combat in order to learn from him a new style of fighting that was based solely on winning without injuring the other person and using their own power against them.

In some of the other rooms of the dojo, the sounds of wooden swords slapping against on another rang out as other students of the Gundam practiced their swordsmanship. Many of the students had never handled a sword before now and had instead relied on their machine guns and beam guns for defense. Burst paused as they neared the garden of the dojo and watched the older Gundam as he walked toward the dark heavily armored robot, the visitor unnerved her when she greeted it, and she felt more comfortable at this distance. She kept a close watch on her master as Airmaster approached the figure, the older Gundam seeming calm, but she knew that he was ready to spring into action if needed.

"I was told that you wanted to see me." Airmaster said as he stopped a fair distance from his strange visitor who stood with their back toward him.

The large black armored shell with red pylons turned around slowly to show its true form, a darkly armored robot with two small narrow gold vents on its chest. The armored shell proved to be a backpack attached to the robot that easily eclipsed it from anyone that saw it from behind. But what struck Airmaster the most was the face of the robot, an armored head and face mask that told exactly what type of robot it was that stood before him. The other robots green optics flash for a moment as they come online and a pair of ruby red eyes form in them to stare back at him.

"A Gundam!" Airmaster said finally, amazed to see the other Gundam, even if it was a strange looking one.

"My name is Ashtaron." The black Gundam said, its voice that of a woman's, with a soft refined tone to it. "I have come a very long way to meet with you, Sensei Airmaster."

"Please, forgive me. I have not seen another Gundam other then my student Burst, let alone one that looked the way you do." Airmaster explained quickly as he noticed the female Gundam staring at him.

Ashtaron seemed to smile as she posed for Airmaster, "I was designed and activated shortly before the end of the war, so I did not get to see combat. My transport was shot down and I was the only survivor, so I roamed for years to find my place in this world. It was in my travels that I heard of you and your teachings, and I thought that I should come meet with you. I would very much like to learn the knowledge that you have Sensei Airmaster. Please, allow me to become one of your students."

Airmaster stared at the Gundam for a moment, "Are you sure that you can live by my teachings?"

"Yes, I am sure that I can." Ashtaron nodded, "I have already surrendered my beam crossbow in an effort to begin my transition."

"Then why do you still have that backpack?" Airmaster asked, as he looked the heavily armored shell over.

"I-it's not just a backpack, it is a part of me." Ashtaron blushed. "I can't simply remove it."

"Oh?" Airmaster looked at her skeptically, and wondered what she meant.

"Please, allow me to show you." Ashtaron said as she took a step back and made sure that she had enough space between her and Airmaster.

She jumped up into the air and bent forward as the armored backpack seemed to wrap around her. Her arms tucked in close to her body along with her legs as a pair of large clawed arms appeared from her backpack. Ashtaron hovered in the air as a red optic appeared in a slit on the front of the armored covering. She flew around Airmaster slowly to allow him to get a view of her transformation before she changed back and landed before him once more in her robotic form, and posed for him once more.

"I see, so you can transform similar to what Burst and myself can. That is very interesting." Airmaster nodded as he looked at the black Gundam. "I think that you will make a fine student here, Ashtaron. As long as you are willing to learn what I have to teach you, you are welcome here as a fellow Gundam."

"Thank you Sensei Airmaster, sir." Ashtaron bowed, "And please, call me Ash."

Burst stared at the strange new Gundam from behind the corner of the east entrance to the garden, her green optics dimmed a bit as she kept looking at the darkly armored Ashtaron. A chill ran down Burst's spine as she saw the other Gundam turn its head away from Airmaster to look in her direction, the red eyes seemed to glare at her, stabbing into her like daggers. She took a few steps back and turned around to press her against the wall as she shivered all over, a deep fear overtook her mind for a moment as she stood there. Burst calmed herself using the practices that Airmaster had taught her and turned to look at the new arrival once more, the other Gundam being led by Airmaster into the dojo to find a room for her and talking about how happy she was to be with him.

"Sensei Airmaster…" Burst said softly as she watched the two walk away, knowing that he could not hear her. "Please be careful."

* * *

Burst sat quietly in her room, cleaning her armor as it rested on a stand in one corner of the room. The design of her armor was similar to that of her masters, only instead of being red it was replaced with blue. The large arm guards of the armor were circular to act as shields and with in them were blades that extended out to form swords. Airmaster himself had taken the time to help her with her armor in the past, changing it so that instead of rifles she could use the swords now built into it. She smiled behind her facemask as she thought of her sensei, the older Gundam always so kind to her, and protective.

"So, this is where you keep your armor." A voice stated behind her, and killed her good mood as she turned to look at Ashtaron. "I had wondered why you and Sensei Airmaster were not clad in armor, and instead wore those cloth garments."

"Sensei Airmaster says that there is no need to wear our armor all the time." Burst informed the other Gundam as she turned back to cleaning her armor. "They are used for times of battle, and in a time such as this, there is no need for them."

"Yet you keep them clean and in working order." Ashtaron said as she walked up to the suit of armor. "Ready for war even in a time of peace, doesn't that seem to contradict the teachings of Airmaster."

Burst glared at Ashtaron for a moment, "Sensei Airmaster says, 'We should be ready for anything. Even peace can be shattered by the ambitions of a few, and as defenders of the peace, we should be ready to confront those that wish to destroy it.'"

"You are very intelligent, not like a mindless drone at all. I wonder how that can be, since you have yet to be fully activated." Ashtaron said, as she looked at the green optics, "Very curious…"

Burst felt a chill run through her circuits as she met Ashtaron's gaze, "Sensei says that I'm special… that I'm not like the others."

"It makes one wonder if you are some kind of… Newtype." Ashtaron said, and almost seemed to snarl the last word.

"No… I'm not a Newtype." Burst shook her head slowly. "Sensei thinks that whatever happened to me in the final battle of the war caused a change in my program… so that I would be like this."

"I see… so you are just a product of a program glitch." Ashtaron chuckled, "You poor thing. You're nothing but a flawed and failed Gundam aren't you?"

Burst tightened her hands into fists as she tried to contain the anger that had started to boil inside of her. "I am not a failure, nor am I flawed. I am exactly how I was intended to be! And Sensei says that I am very special."

"I'm sure that he is only saying that so that he doesn't hurt your feelings… Not that you really have any." Ashtaron smiled sinisterly behind her facemask, the smile reflected in her eyes. "You can't have any real emotions, you aren't even fully activated, so you are nothing but a lowly little child program in a body meant for a true warrior. But don't feel bad, not everyone can truly be a Gundam… and we do need those that can polish armor. Maybe I will let you touch mine some day."

Burst resisted the urge to punch the other Gundam as long as she could before she finally snapped and rose to her feet, her arm drawn back and cocked to deliver a powerful blow to the darkly armored Gundam.

"That's enough!" A loud voice snapped and caused her to pause as she turned her head to see Airmaster standing in the doorway. "What do you think you are doing?"

"I-I'm sorry Sensei…" Burst said as she lowered her head and her raised fist, "Please forgive me…"

"I wasn't talking to you Burst." Airmaster said as he kept his eyes on Ashtaron, "But your apology is noted, and you are forgiven. I want to know what you think you are doing Ash. Coming into Bursts room, and saying what you did."

"I was only telling her the truth Sensei." Ashtaron replied as she walked up to the other Gundam and rested her hands on his shoulders to lean close to him. "She isn't like you or me, she didn't have a human companion to awaken her full programming and activate her. She should know the truth, or do you intend to keep her as an ignorant child forever?"

Airmaster brushed the other Gundam away from him with one hand, his brown eyes closed for a moment as he seemed to restrain himself. "Burst is not like us, that is true… but that is what makes her special. Even without a human companion, her full programming has awakened. So in truth, she is no different then you or I, or any of the others here that were programmed with emotions. And I will not have you telling her anything different, do you understand Ashtaron?"

The darkly armored Gundam let out a grunt as she turned away from Airmaster, "If you say so Sensei. I shall be in my chambers if you need me."

Airmaster waited till the other Gundam was out of earshot before he turned his attention to Burst and walked up to the young gundamess, and rested his hands on her shoulders. "It's alright Burst, you did well to resist hitting her to that point."

"I am sorry Sensei, I almost started a fight." Burst said as she looked away from him, "I almost broke the rules that you have set about fighting only being allowed in the practice rooms or in the arena for practice duels."

"Like I said Burst, it's alright." Airmaster smiled as his facemask split open with a hiss and showed his face. "You are very special to me Burst. You are like my daughter, and so I have raised you as such."

Burst nodded as her facemask opened to show a more feminine looking face then that of a standard Gundams. "T-thank you sensei."

Airmaster hugged her as he brought his lips close to her audio sensor and whispered quietly, "Don't talk… just let me hold you like this. I have something to share with you…"

Burst blushed as she dimmed her optics and wrapped her arms around Airmaster to return the hug, and listened to him.

"I don't trust Ashtaron." Airmaster whispered, "I have noticed some of the students looking at her, and sharing secret nods towards one another when they think no one else is looking. I don't know what is going on, but I can tell you that she is not a Gundam from the previous war. I don't know where she came from, or who she is working with… But something is not right, and to add to it, I am unsure how many of the students might be under her influence. Right now, you are the only one that I trust Burst, and that is why I want you to be ready. Tonight I am going to confront Ashtaron, and we must all be ready for what might happen."

Airmaster held Burst away from him to look into her face as her optics brightened, "You are indeed very special Burst, my daughter."

"Sens-" Burst blushed lightly as she looked down for a moment, and changed her mind. "Father."

Ashtaron growled low as she stood outside the room and slightly down the hall, her hand rested on the wall and picked up the conversation with her advanced hearing. "So… looks like he doesn't trust me after all."

* * *

Airmaster returned to the shrine, dressed in his armor for what he knew was to come, the aging Gundam knelt before the portrait of Ryu Sou, his companion and human brother during the war. He bowed his head as he placed two swords on his hips, the weapons attaching themselves to special clips he had installed on his armor as a small upgrade. He closed his brown eyes as he dimmed his green optics, the candles from the shrine gave the only light in the room, and allowed for many shadows to dance across the walls.

"You might as well come out, there is no need to stalk the shadows." Airmaster said calmly as he remained where he was, keenly aware of the presence of someone else in the room.

"You are a bit more skilled then I thought you were." Ashtaron said as she seemed to melt out of one of the shadows and walked to the middle of the room. "How did you know that I was here?"

"It wasn't that hard." He replied as he slowly stood up and lifted his head to look at the picture of his brother, with other pictures around the bottom of other members of the Sou family and clan. "Tell me… who is your master? Your real master."

"His name is not important. What is important is that he wants you out of the way." Ashtaron smiled as she extended a hand towards the elder Gundam. "There are two ways that this can happen. Either you surrender quietly, or you perish along with everyone else here."

"You and I both know that there is no real choice, you have already seen to that." Airmaster replied, his hand resting on the grip of his sword. "There is only one way that this night shall end."

"Very well then." Ashtaron nodded as she looked at him and raised her left arm to her mouth as a panel opened up. "All units, commence operation."

Within the rooms of the darkened palace, a number of Daughtress units stood up from their beds their sudden movement shocked the others around them. The yellow optics of the awakened units change quickly to a red color as new armored panels sprout over their bodies to give them a horned appearance, with large forearm armor split at the end like fanged prongs. The new Daughtress units turned to the others in their room and raised their arms, sending out deadly beams of energy into the unarmored units that were once their classmates. Ashtaron smiled as she heard the cries from the students of the Gundam being slaughtered by her hidden army that infiltrated the palace over the course of months.

Airmaster dashed forward quickly as he drew his sword and slashed at Ashtaron, the ancient blade cut a gash into her armor as she jumped back. The darkly armored Gundam growled as a pair of scissor like claws snapped out towards Airmaster and forced him back a bit. The aerial Gundam moved quickly to regain his balance to press the attack, and drove his assassin toward one of the exterior walls as he deflected her claws with his sword, each of his blows sent sparks flying. Ashtaron fired a pair of machine cannons hidden in the armor on her back at the wall to destroy it and allow her to fly out into the twilight sky. She pulled out her beam crossbow to fire several shots down at Airmaster, which the other Gundam easily smacked out of the way with his sword as he ran around the room.

"So, I was right!" Ashtaron smiled and laughed, "You have lost your ability to fly since the war."

"Is that what you think?" Airmaster smiled as he ran quickly toward the opening and leaped out, activating the thrusters in his body to lift him quickly towards the stunned black Gundam.

"You can fly!" Ashtaron said as she looked at him and shock and flew backwards to avoid his stabbing thrust, the point of his sword barely missing one of her vents.

"I can do more then just fly!" Airmaster smiled as he flipped in the air quickly and drove a powerful kick into Ashtaron's chest that sent her to the forest below.

Ashtaron cried out as she slammed into a tree and glared up at the aerial Gundam, "I'll make you pay for that!"

Airmaster dove at Ashtaron as she fired up at him with her cross bow, the elder Gundam knocked the shots away with ease as he drew closer. The black Gundam jetted to the side to avoid his blade, growling in rage at his power. Turning quickly he slashed one of the new Daughtress units from right shoulder to left him. The mechanical warrior fell in two pieces before exploding. Ashtaron lashed out at the other Gundam with her claws, the sound of his blade against hers echoed through the night air along with the sounds of battle in the dojo.

The battle in the dojo spilt out into the forest and surrounding area as the students fought back with all their might against the Neo Daughtress units. Burst panted as she fought in her armor for the first time in actual combat, the twin blades extending from her forearms reflected the light of small fires burning around her. She pushed her way through the thong of bodies fighting, hacking her way as she did so, till she spotted Ashtaron dueling with Airmaster.

"Sensei!" Burst shouted as she started towards Airmaster to help him.

"Burst! Get the students out of here! NOW!" Airmaster snapped as his sword sliced off a layer of paint from the claws.

"Don't worry Burst, I'll finish him quick and then you shall follow." Ashtaron chuckled as she continued her attack.

Airmaster let out grunt as one of the claws flashed past his sword and slammed into his chest. The feeling of several parts of his frame crushed under the blow caused him to wince for a slight moment as he jumped back.

"You are a lot stronger then I thought, for someone so old." Ashtaron smiled as he looked at him, her claws continued to lash out at him as Airmaster blocked with his sword.

"Sensei!" Burst cried out again, alarmed by the sound as she felt something wrong with the older unit.

Airmaster blocked the oncoming attacks of the black Gundam as he leapt into the air and spun around quickly to knock the claws back with his sword, landing a solid kick to Ashtaron's chest that sent her flying into a tree.

"Burst! I told you to get out of here." Airmaster commanded as he hovered in the air, "Get as many students as you can out of here."

Burst shuddered as she took a step back, frightened by the tone of voice from her sensei. She nodded finally as she turned and ran back towards the dojo, collecting as many students as she could find. She could still hear him fighting Ashtaron and the Neo Daughtress units that had gathered from the battle, as she led the students down a cliff passage to a group of small boats. A sickening feeling shot through her as if her chest had been pierced by a blade and her optics lit up brightly as she stared at the sky. A pair of brown eyes formed in her optics as she looked at the heavens, a distant light from the moon shot down on the horizon as she stood there.

"Burst-sama!" One of the students cried as it tugged on her arm, snapping her back to reality.

Burst shook her head for a moment before she pushed off the small dock, launching the last of the small boats from the shore and out into the open sea. She looked back to see the shadowy figure of Ashtaron standing with an army of Neo Daughtress units, the vile black Gundam cackled with glee as she rose her arms up towards the sky, the fires raging around and in the dojo consuming the remains of the once proud school. Burst lowered her head as the pain in her chest subsided, her optics dimming till they shut off. Her optics reactivated what seemed like only a moment to her to the sight of a strange metal ceiling above her. She blinked her brown eyes as she tried to figure out where she was, and heard a sound beside her that caused her to turn her head. Burst stared at the red haired girl that looked back at her and hugged a stuffed animal, the curious looking girl obviously a human.

"W-who are you?" Burst asked as she looked at the girl.

"My name is Mana, what's yours?" The girl replied as she looked at her with a smile.

Burst sat up slowly and saw a large Gundam at the foot of the bed, dressed in heavy armor, and unlike any that she had seen before. "Who are you!? Are you one of Ashtaron's people!?"

"Ashtaron?" The knight Gundam looked at her curiously, "I'm sorry, but we don't know who that is. We found you a drift at sea on a small boat, and brought you aboard. Are you alright miss?"

"I demand that you take me east, towards where the moon rises." Burst ordered as she hopped off the bed and looked at the larger Gundam, the cat eyed mecha looked at her oddly.

"Why do you want to go there?" The Gundam asked, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I was told to by my father to go to the east, to seek help to take my homeland back from evil." Burst replied, "And if you do not assist me, then I shall treat you just like I would the evil that has taken my homeland and slaughtered my father."

Mana lightly tugged on the arm of the female Gundam with a smile, "We're going east too, and you don't have to be so mean. Kitty won't hurt you, he and I helped you and I'm sure we can all be friends."

"Kitty?" Burst looked at the girl curiously before looking at the large Gundam, and tried not to laugh, only to crack up as she saw his cat like eyes stare back at her. "Kitty Gundam!"

"I am not a cat!" The large Gundam said as he stomped his foot and took a step forward, "I am Gundam Leo, a royal knight of Estar!"

"Well then, knight…" Burst said as she turned to him formally and bowed to both him and Mana, "I am Burst, of the Sou Clan."

"It's nice to meet you Burst." Mana smiled as she looked at the female Gundam, "Now, to continue going east! Toward the light of the moon!"