Now, let's do some more Gundam X plot, as well as introducing...well, the chapter title says it all.
Chapter 7 - Trouble at P-Point! Great Mazinger and the Burning Lake!
"...You mean to tell me that an elite squadron and a landship were wiped out...by SCRAPPERS?!"
That was the voice that Ennil El heard as she walked down the hallways of a hidden base - she had managed to land an audience with Serge Borough, a military officer from Gilgamesh.
Ennil was a young woman in her late teens with short, dark red hair and eyes like lapis lazuli. Her figure was not unlike Yoko's, though her breasts and butt were only slightly less prominent. She wore a corset-like sleeveless shirt, tight blue pants and high-heeled boots. Even so, Ennil walked with a little sway in her hips - she wasn't afraid to take advantage of her womanly assets.
She stopped and peered through a small window in the door - there at a desk sat a large, fat, middle-aged man, oddly red skin, white hair and wearing the attire of a priest. Ennil, however, knew better - that man was Major Serge Borough himself. She saw another man in uniform standing next to the man at the desk.
"Unfortunately so, sir," the other man said; "Thankfully, they weren't far from Cuvie's location. Examining of further footage revealed the stolen Scopedog being taken onto the landships that destroyed the search team. Look."
Confidently she opened the door and strode inside.
"An Alps-class?" the man in robes said skeptically; "When scrappers get a landship like that?"
"You really shouldn't underestimate us scrappers, Serge Borough," Ennil said proudly, startling both men. "What we may lack in skill, we make up in sheer guts and know-how."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, gentlemen," the woman said with a little smile after a few moments; "Am I...interrupting something? I was told this was Serge Borough's office."
"What do you want?" Serge asked, leering contemptuously at the young woman. "If you're trying to..."
"The name's Ennil El...I heard you were looking to hire mercenaries to help you with a certain something," she replied. "And I believe I'm the one for that job. We scrappers are privy to a lot of things that no spy satellite can reveal."
"Oh...really?" the man inquired as he flipped the computer screen around; "Then tell me, little girl - what you make of this footage?" The computer began to play back the footage from the spy satellite. Ennil watched it for a few seconds, and took notice of the three Gundams - the latter of which was just barely visible.
"That's a GX-9900," Ennil answered; "It's an old Federation weapon with a Satellite Cannon...a weapon capable of blowing up a space colony in one shot; those two other mobile suits are a Gundam Airmaster and a Gundam Leopard. If those three Gundam are together at once, it means the Alps-class landship here is the Freeden...it's been making quite a few waves as of late."
"Oh? And how did you learn about them?" Serge asked, continuing to maintain his suspicion of Ennil's true motives.
"It's all about knowing the right people," the young woman said with a suggestive wink. Serge nodded, satisfied that Ennil had done her research. However, the officer next to Serge frowned, less than impressed.
"That's all very well and good, sir, but can she fight?" the officer said, leering at Ennil. "Does she have sufficient manpower? One mobile suit isn't going to be able to..."
"Of course I do!" the girl retorted confidently; "Would I have had the nerve to march straight into a Gilgamesh military base if I didn't?" She immediately turned back to the man in robes, swung herself up onto the desk and gazed seductively into the man's eyes.
"Tell you what, handsome," Ennil cooed, using her womanly charms to sway Serge; "Hire me, and I'll not only bring you that man, but I'll see if I can't get that GX-9900 for you as a...bonus?"
Something about the girl made her offer even more appealing to the old soldier. He grinned.
"Very well...I'll give you the job," he answered, rising from his chair; "And to help you, I'll be providing you with some manpower of my own."
He turned to the officer that had first shown him the footage.
"Fetch Proto-One immediately!" he ordered. The officer hesitated, causing the robed man to fume with anger.
"Did I stutter?" Serge bellowed, his face turning even redder; "Fetch her now or I'll strip you of your rank!"
"Y-y-yes, sir," the cowed officer replied with a stammer, saluting nervously before leaving with all due haste. With that, Serge sat back down again, leaned back in his chair and started drumming his fingertips together.
"Now...for the details of the mission..."
In a great chamber deep within the heart of an underwater island, an enormous being made of flames hovered just above a ruined dais. He looked down and saw a somewhat smaller (but still gigantic) humanoid being below - it had a helmet with thick, spiraled horns, sturdy dark blue armor and a great sword hanging at its hip. Finally, the face of a blue-skinned, bearded man was sticking out of its belly. It was carrying a damaged yellow and red machine that resembled a giant pair of wings.
"Ankoku Daishogun, my most trusted general!" the flaming entity called out to the armored warrior below, with a voice that crackled like a raging inferno; "Have you found that which I sent you to retrieve?"
"We have indeed, Emperor of Darkness!" Ankoku Daishogun replied proudly, raising the object up so his liege could get a better view. "Behold,The God Scrander - or rather, Zeus' arm - is now in your possession!"
"Wonderful!" the flaming being replied; "Now that troublesome Mazinger Z will surely pose no threat to my Mycenae Empire!"
"Against me, he was barely a challenge," Ankoku Daishogun said with a grin as he laid the broken wings on the ground.
"Nevertheless, I shall keep it as a trophy!" the Emperor of Darkness said decisively. "Have the Talos lock it away in the deepest section of our vault beneath the soil."
"At once!" his servant replied with a bow before drawing his sword and striking its tip on the ground with enough force to make the blade's vibration resonate through the entire complex. After a few seconds, a trio of large bronze statues that were only about three-quarters the height of Daishogun tromped into the chamber.
"Talos!" the general roared, pointing to the broken God Scrander. "Your supreme ruler has spoken...now, obey!" Without a word, the three Talos picked up the shattered wings and carried it off into a nearby passage.
After a moment of savoring the victory, the great flaming entity decided to move to another matter.
"Now that Zeus' arm is in our grasp, we can begin our campaign to crush the human race once and for all, and reclaim this planet as our own."
"Why not start with the islands of Japan?" Ankoku Daishogun suggested; "We can make Koji Kabuto watch as the land of his birth is burned to ashes...it will make our victory all the sweeter!" The flaming entity grinned wickedly and began to laugh with such gusto that the chamber shook a little.
"That is why you are my right hand, Ankoku Daishogun!" the Emperor lauded; "As much as it appeals to me, we must deal with the greatest threats first. Prepare a division of Talos and Battle Beasts to lay siege to the lands of the so-called Innocent!"
Daishogun nodded, bowed again and started out the way he came.
"One more thing, Daishogun," the flaming being said, causing the general to pause and turn back to him; "If that other one should appear, swat him out of the sky like the gadfly he is."
"All right, everyone. You're free to do whatever, but stay within the town. Once we've made our delivery and restocked, we're heading out. We don't want to wait up for any stragglers, you hear?"
Those were Elche's orders regarding the two landships' current stop - it just so happened that the newest job that Carrying Cargo had for them was to start here - and to end in an undisclosed location not far from their destination.
For Simon, Kamina, Yoko and Leeron, this was their first-ever visit to an above-ground human settlement (Littner had been below ground, so that didn't count). They walked around with looks of wonder on their faces, marveling at even the simplest of buildings. Their wanderings took them down an alleyway, where they were approached by a few unsavory-looking Breakers.
"Hey, pardner," their leader, a burly fellow with an eye-patch said as he lustfully eyed Yoko with his good one; "Nice goods ya got there."
"Excuse me?" Yoko said, baffled at who these men were. However, all she needed was to look at their faces to figure out what they were after.
"How much ya want fer a little time with her?" the Breaker asked, turning to Kamina. "She's a right purdy young thing...you're one lucky man, son."
"What do you want with Yoko?" Kamina asked, equally confused as to what the men were asking of him.
"Ya daft, boy?" the burly fellow exclaimed, looking at Kamina's cape and sunglasses; "The way yer dressed, you GOTTA be the one sellin' her!" Simon suddenly got a bad sense of just what these men wanted.
"Kamina, you don't think they're..." he began. Kamina, meanwhile, leered at them angrily, having suddenly come to a similar conclusion on his own.
"I don't like the way you're looking at my lady Yoko here," he said as he reached for his sword and started to pull it out; "I oughta wipe those pervy looks right of your faces!" In response, the leader put his fingers to his lips and whistled long and loud. About a dozen more thugs appeared from all around them - from windows, trapdoors, and from the rooftop.
"Big bro," Simon chimed in nervously as more Breakers quickly surrounded them, apparently intent on taking the red-head by force; "I don't think that's such a..." But suddenly, two of the Breakers fell face flat to the ground, having been struck from behind. Simon looked over and saw a man in an oddly-shaped red and white helmet and a red piloting suit with a popped up collar standing where the two had just been.
"You lot..." the man said stoically, pointing a broadsword that glinted in the sun at the thugs; "Clear out now."
The Breakers growled, annoyed by the appearance of this interloper, turned their attention to him and began to charge in groups. But the man was far faster than they - as each group tried to lay hand on the helmeted man, he sent them flying with a swing of his sword., much to the marvel of the three Undergrounders.
But to their further amazement, all of the Breakers got to their feet, seemingly unharmed. Before they could attack again, their clothing, weapons and gear fell to pieces all at once, leaving them only in their underpants, assuming they had any. Blushing beet red with humiliation, the thugs all turned tail and ran, yelling curses as they fled.
"Hey, thanks! That was awesome!" Simon cheered as the helmeted man sheathed his sword. Yoko smiled, having been equally impressed.
"Yeah, I guess it was," Kamina huffed, annoyed that his little bro's attention was no longer on him as he approached the helmeted man. "What's your name anyway, helmet-head?"
"...Blade," the man replied after a second, again with very little change in tone. He almost seemed like Chirico. Without another word, Blade turned around, going back in the direction he came. But when Simon tried to chase after him, he found that their savior seemed to have disappeared into thin air after exiting the alley...
As much as Garrod wanted to take Tiffa out on the town during the two ships' layover, he figured that Jamil would have none of that, so he decided to go out by himself. He sauntered into a small bar and plopped himself onto a bar stool.
He didn't notice Ennil El following him inside, even after she took the seat next to him. She had spotted him leaving the Freeden, and somehow figured that he was the Gundam X's pilot.
"Hey, handsome," the woman said, catching Garrod's attention. The young man turned around, and blushed heavily when he realized that a pretty girl was talking to him.
"Oh...uh, hi," he said hesitantly, not used to be approached like this.
"What's a little guy like you doing in a place like this, especially all alone? " Ennil asked, glancing over at the other tables. Indeed, there were a number of scrapper and Breaker couples here, enjoying each others' company.
"Oh, nothing much," Garrod said awkwardly, trying his level best to keep his gaze away from Ennil's substantial bosom; "Just wandering around, taking up odd jobs. I don't mind being alone."
Ennil, however, knew she had the boy. She had yet to run into a man who hadn't fallen for her...and she wasn't the only woman in this world who used her feminine charms to survive and prosper.
"Listen," the young woman began; "Word has it that some kid got his hands on a spiffy Gundam, and I'm gonna wager that it's you. Think you'd be willing to part with it? I'll make it worth your while."
Garrod couldn't help but be astonished - the information brokers really were at the top of their game if they were able to determine that he was its pilot. However, he also remembered that he had made a promise to use the Gundam X to protect Tiffa and help Jamil save other Newtypes.
"Sorry, but it ain't for sale," he answered.
"How does three hundred million credits sound?" Ennil then asked; "Will that change your mind, handsome?"
Garrod swallowed nervously. Three hundred million credits was more than enough to live comfortably off of for the rest of his life. Yet again, he remembered his promise to Jamil and Tiffa.
"...That's a generous offer," the young man said, regaining his composure. "But it's still not for sale."
Ennil couldn't help but be actually attracted to this kid - not only was he good-looking, but he was proving to be an actual challenge - he was like her, almost. Her heart skipped a beat as she made what she assumed would be her final offer...
"How about I throw in a little something extra on top?" Ennil then proposed as she slid her hand along Garrod's thigh, sending shivers up the young man's spine.
"Um...uh...well..."
Something in Garrod told him that this was leading straight for trouble, and he needed to clear out now before he did something he would regret. But it still took all of the young man's willpower to stand up.
"For the last time, I'm NOT gonna sell the Gundam!" the Gundam X's pilot cried out, causing everyone to turn towards them, wondering what the disturbance was about. With that, Garrod turned and left, fuming with contempt at anyone trying to weasel the Gundam out of him.
Ennil was even angrier, though. The burning attraction she had suddenly felt towards Garrod began to twist itself inside out, becoming a seething hatred.
Who does that boy think he is?! she thought; Now he's made this personal...no one gets away with rejecting Ennil El...NO ONE!
Jaan decided to go into town by himself to see what supplies he could scrounge up for maintaining the Masakados and the other machines. But as he passed by an open window, he couldn't help but overhear a conversation between two men.
"Hmmm...if what yer sayin' is true," said one of the two men, an old but tough-looking man with white hair; "Then that makes fer a fine kettle o' fish, I'd say."
"You're free to believe or not, Vickman," said the other, a man in a black cowboy outfit and hat; "But you know what's really buggin' me? That Iron Gear's paired up with some new landship that I've plumb never seen til' now." Upon hearing the name of Elche's landship, Jaan doubled back, ducked beneath the windowsill, and listened carefully to the conversation of the two men while hoping he wouldn't be noticed.
"Can't very well ignore 'em if they're gonna interfere with my business," Vickman replied, taking a swig of alcohol; "But if they're here, then we're way too close to the domes to do that."
"We've got an excuse," the man in the black hat replied; "They've got a fool who ignores the three-day-law runnin' with 'em. So, a little punishment's in order."
"Heh-heh," Vickman chuckled; "I hear ya, Timp, ma boy. Anyone who'd ignore THAT rule is just ask'n for it!"
Timp, Jaan thought; That's the man who killed Jiron's parents...
"Just to warn ya," Timp cautioned the crusty old Breaker; "They've got some fancy Walker Machines on their side, not to mention a pair of Ganmen. This lot is way too hot for regular Breakers to handle, I'd say."
"Who do y'all think yer talk'n to?" Vickman boasted; "I've got mah Dela...Delavas...Delavasgalan on my side! Criminy, what's with the Innocent and their fancy-pants names fer things?"
"All right, your point's made, Vickman," Timp groaned. Jaan, feeling that he had heard enough, quietly began to sneak away, planning to report this to Elche and Jamil as soon as he returned. Vickman and Timp continued their conversation, though the gunslinger couldn't help but get the sense that someone had been eavesdropping just now...
Among the ATs gathered inside the scrapper landship was a special, dark red Scopedog - the Brutishdog. In addition to a far more intricate control system, its right arm had been outfitted with a combination weapon - a mounted heavy gatling cannon and and iron claw hand. The hydraulic system had to be removed from the right arm to accommodate the new armament, but the left arm could still use the hydraulic punch.
Sitting inside the Brutishdog was a woman with long, straight brown hair, plump red lips and piercing brown eyes - the only one capable of piloting it: Proto-One. Meanwhile, Ennil was in the cockpit of a custom blue Jenice. Manning the helm of a Trieste-class landship was a rough-looking man with black hair and five o'clock shadow.
"Is everything ready, Zakott?" Ennil's voice came over his landship's radio.
"All set, Miss," the man replied. "Still can't believe you got us working with Gilgamesh Federation troops! This Chirico guy's that much of a deal, huh?"
But Ennil's mind wasn't on Chirico - she just wanted to make Garrod pay for rejecting her so callously. The matter of the rogue AT pilot would be left to Proto-One.
"Okay, Proto-One," she said to the female soldier; "Let's go over the plan one more time."
"The main forces will drive the Freeden and Iron Gearinto the mountains by burning the forest surrounding the Innocents' dome," Proto-One recited. "Once there, Zakott will trap them in the reservoir and destroy them with the special rounds our contact in P-Point provided. Meanwhile, the AT assault squad and I will separate Chirico Cuvie from the rest of them, disable his AT and capture him."
"Wait a sec, Ennil!" Zakott exclaimed when he realized that his partner didn't take the Gundam X into account; "Don't you wanna get that GX-9900?"
"...I never promised the client that I would," the female scrapper replied coldly. "I merely said I would try. If it gets blown to bits, then too bad for them."
"You seem troubled, Miss," Proto-One suddenly said with a surprising amount of concern in her voice.
"What? When did you become a shrink all of a sudden?" Ennil exclaimed, annoyed at being questioned so; "Just do as you're told."
In truth, Proto-One was only attempting to address Ennil El's issues to keep her mind off her own misgivings about this mission.
Try as she might, she could never bring herself to harm that man, Chirico Cuvie. The last time she had seen him, they had worked together to escape the now-wrecked city of Woodo. What was more, he had given her a proper name - Fyana.
The very thought of being his enemy again sent a sharp twinge of pain through the woman's body...
The Freeden and Iron Gear rested beside a domed city perhaps five percent of the size of Tokyo - P-Point, one of several domes that were home to the Innocent. Jamil and the others were asked to remain outside while Elche dealt with the people inside.
"You must be Elche Cargo," said a stern but handsome young man with black hair wearing a brown uniform with a beret; "I trust you have it?" Standing next to him was a homelier fellow with a bulbous, freckled nose, a brown afro and a green uniform. They were both members of the local Innocent government.
"Yes...pass number M73-106," Elche answered politely, presenting a laminated slip of paper. "I'm the proxy holder of Kyaring Cargo's pass." The first man took the pass, gave it a quick once-over, and returned it to Elche.
"I'm in charge of this payment point - Biel, Director first-class," he said before gesturing to the man next to him; "...And this is my adjutant, Dowas." The bulbous-nosed man gave a polite nod of acknowledgment, though he seemed to have an air of disdain for Elche.
"We understand you're here for that delivery job?" Biel then asked.
"Yes, sir," Elche replied dutifully.
"Good," Biel said with a nod. "We'll allow the Iron Gear into the landship dock so the cargo can be loaded."
Biel gave some sort of hand signals to several Innocent workers, which then opened up a set of giant metal doors, allowing Cotset to drive the landship into the dock. The workers guided him to the loading area, where several large blue crates sat waiting. Meanwhile, Dowas started down several flights of metal stairs so he could supervise the loading process.
"Remember...these are very fragile... SO DON'T DROP 'EM!"
After a few moments of silence, Biel turned to Elche.
"By the way," the man asked genially; "There's been rumor among your fellow Civilians that you've been traveling with a second landship from beyond this region. These people supposedly have unusual Walker Machines, and there have even been stories of humans piloting Ganmen. Is this true?"
"Yes," the young woman replied, blushing a bit. "Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Oh, nothing wrong about that at all," Biel answered amicably. "I'd actually like to meet the pilots myself, and have a look at their machines as well."
But before Elche could answer, the sounds of several explosions came from outside, followed by the crackling of flames and the smell of burning wood.
"Director!" Dowas called up. "There are Gilgamesh Armored Troopers and scrapper mobile suits outside! They've set fire to the southern part of the forest!"
"No! They would dare do such a thing?!" the Director exclaimed in shock and dismay. "Isn't there a truce between us and Gilgamesh?!"
But Elche suddenly realized that this was her chance. If she could win over Biel, who knew what she could accomplish?
"Director Biel, leave them to us!" Elche declared heroically; "I'll scramble my forces at once!" In the ensuing hubbub to get the Iron Gear going, no one realized that Dowas was more annoyed than worried.
What is Borough thinking?! he thought; I didn't provide that man with those special artillery shells just to have them burn our forest down!
As the sky turned blood red from the setting sun, the fight was on - a small army of mobile suits and ATs, several of them armed with oversized flamethrowers moved in to meet the Freeden and Iron Gear's forces. Both Xabungles, the Gallops, Gurren, Lagann, Masakados and Chirico's newly-repaired Scopedog all prepared for combat. Yoko was riding shotgun with Birume. Meanwhile, the dome used numerous fire-extinguishing cannons to work on putting out the surrounding flames.
"Where's the heck is Garrod?!" Tara said angrily.
"He's still getting ready," Jamil replied from within the Freeden; "He had just returned from town when they showed up."
"Bring it, ya goons! Team Gurren never backs down from a fight!" Kamina called out as he rushed to meet the enemy. He was immediately greeted by a barrage of machine cannon fire from a number of Jenices and Daughtresses, which he proceeded to leap over before assailing with his Ganmen's fists.
"Careful in there, big bro!" Simon called out as he hurried to Kamina's aid in spite of the danger of being swarmed. He had to carefully maneuver Lagann around the mobile suits lest he be squashed.
Meanwhile, Tara found herself exchanging blows with a pair of Daughtresses. Like before, she continued to avoid killing them, opting instead to disable them by destroying their arms, legs or heads. In this case, she used Kouzuke to stab through their heads and then cut off their ankles.
However, this tactic proved to be problematic when fighting the much smaller ATs - as she was accosted by a pair of Scopedogs, she used her machine's lightest blade, Hitachi, to try and remove the nearest one's legs. But the Masakados swung too high, causing her to instead slice both machines clean in half.
"Damn it..." she groaned as she felt her stomach turn at the thought of having killed again. But her concentration was broken when a hail of bullets struck her machine on the leg, dealing only minor damage thanks to its powerful skeleton. She turned and saw Fyana's Brutishdog zipping about, peppering the Gallops with bullets from its gatling cannon - several such bullets narrowly missed Yoko and before she could move in to help, Chirico's Scopedog zipped by her and prepared to engage the Brutishdog.
"Watch out, Chirico!" Birume called out over his radio. "That red AT's gotta be three times faster than the others!" But Chirico recognized the machine's especially ruthless and efficient combat style - it was one he had gone up against and fought alongside.
It's her, he thought; It's...
He quickly switched his radio frequency to that of the Brutishdog before calling out the name he had given her...
"...FYANA!"
Proto-One gasped when she heard Chirico call out to her over her machine's communication frequency. But then she remembered the plan - she had to separate the man from his new allies. The woman broke combat with the green Walker Machines and started off in another direction.
Normally, Chirico would know better than to pursue in this case - she was clearly trying to separate him from the others. Yet something compelled him to follow.
"I'll bail him out!" Jiron said as he started after the ATs.
"No, Jiron!" Elche cried, causing Xabungle to trip. "Stay with us! We have to get them further away from the dome before these cretins cause any more damage!"
Meanwhile, the mobile suits continued to press their attack, and the blaze began to spread faster as their flamethrowers ignited more and more trees.
"The fire's really running out of control!" Rag exclaimed as Xabungle 2 retreated toward the Iron Gear while firing her Walker Machine's rifle.
"There's a lake in the 3 o'clock direction!" Jamil called out after glancing at the radar. "We'll head there!" With that, the two landships started moving towards the lake, not realizing that it was exactly what the enemy wanted them to do...
Chirico chased Proto-One for only a few minutes, but they managed to get several miles from the battle site, where the foliage was yet to suffer from the nearby inferno. While he remained wary of any allies of hers nearby, the fugitive soldier continued to dog her with questions in an only slightly raised voice.
"Fyana, what are you doing here? Why are you still helping these men?"
Yet even though he remained rather stoic, the woman felt awful for having to trick him like this. Suddenly, she stopped and turned to face the man she couldn't bring herself to harm.
"Chirico...I..."
As if that had been some sort of signal, five Scopedogs, each with one of its shoulder painted red, started to open fire from within the surrounding woods. Several rounds managed to strike the ace's Scopedog, but he was fast enough to punch his machine into full reverse as he fired back.
Red Shoulders?! he thought; I thought us four were the only ones left...
But suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a great bellow filled the air:
"THUNDER BREEEEEEEEAK!"
A great thunderbolt crashed down from above, blasting the remaining Scopedogs to bits. Proto-One, who had been in pursuit as well, suddenly stopped and gazed up at what had created the bolt - a massive flying robot.
Something in her said that her AT was no match for this newcomer. Without another word, she fled off into the woods. After a few seconds of pause, the giant flying robot turned towards the east. Chirico quickly followed, wondering who this stranger was...
"Just a little further!" Jamil called out.
"Garrod, what's the hold-up?!" Jiron said in an extremely annoyed manner as he fired on a pair of pursuing Jenices from his position on the Iron Gear's lower body. Suddenly, one of the enemies seemed to get a lock on Xabungle and took aim.
"Gimme a sec, geez!" Garrod replied as his machine flew out of the Freeden and fired a few beam shots, destroying the two enemy mobile suits.
"Took ya long enough!" Chiru squawked.
"Geez, a word of thanks would have been nice," the Gundam X's pilot grumbled as he landed atop the Freeden, providing cover fire for his allies.
"Stay on your toes, everyone," Elche warned; "We don't know what's coming next."
"But...we'll be safe on the water, right?" Simon asked nervously, turning to Kamina for reassurance as the two ships whizzed onto the water's surface - the Freeden's built-in hover engines allowed it to skim the surface of the water. The Iron Gear seemed to have similar capabilities - it allowed the landship to move over almost any terrain.
"Of course we will!" his big bro said with a laugh. "It's not like you can set water on fire, right?"
"Incoming artillery rounds from the north!" Toniya cried. Indeed, several glowing shells soared through the air. But to everyone's surprise, all of the projectiles were completely off target, only creating large splashes as they landed in the water, covering the sides of the ships in a layer of water droplets.
"Man, they're terrible shots!" Kamina laughed. But before he could begin the counterattack, numerous green blobs formed from the droplets - in a matter of moments, the lake suddenly burst into flame, as did the droplets on the ships. It was only then that Elche remembered something.
"Oh no...this isn't an ordinary lake!" she cried out.
"What?!" Jamil exclaimed. "What do you mean?!"
"It's actually a reservoir for cleaning the Innocent's used water," the green-haired girl replied; "The chemicals used to treat it are highly flammable!"
"Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" the voice of Zakott came from across the reservoir. The group looked out to see the man standing atop his vessel. "Welcome to P-Point's Burning Lake, fools! This is where we put an end to you!" With that, he jumped back into the ship and to his captain's chair.
"Commence the attack!" he ordered. The ship fired more of the incendiary rounds, which increased the size and strength of the flames while mobile suits surrounded the reservoir and opened fire. But the inferno burning was rivaled by the blazing resolve in Garrod's heart. The Gundam X leaped into the air and began flying towards the enemy vessel.
"Garrod, get back here!" Tara yelled.
"I'm gonna take that thing out!" the Gundam's pilot replied as he took aim with his beam rifle. But suddenly, a blue Jenice burst out from the woods, beam saber drawn. Garrod just barely had enough time to block the attack with the Gundam X's shield. But it still forced him back to the shoreline.
"Well, well, fancy meeting you again," the pilot of the blue Jenice said as the machine slashed at the Gundam again. Garrod immediately recognized the voice.
"Ennil El! You're that woman from before!" he exclaimed. When he tried to counterattack, Ennil rammed him, knocking him down. She then began to bear down on Garrod, the energy from the beam saber slowly melting through the Gundam X's shield.
"Listen, kid...I really like you, so I'm willing to let bygones be bygones," the woman said, still maintaining a seductive tone in her voice in spite of being in combat. "If you hand over that Gundam, your friends can keep their lives. I might even let you join up with me."
"Damn it..." Garrod grunted as he struggled and strained against Ennil's Jenice; "I can't...I won't..."
Suddenly, and for the second time that day, a booming voice pierced the twilight.
"BREASTO BUUUUUUUUUUUURN!"
A massive red blast of intense heat tore through the air toward the lake. After only a few seconds of contact, the lake began to boil and froth like a soup pot on a stove - but more importantly, the flames quickly began to die down as their fuel source evaporated.
The group looked up to see just what had saved them - a silvery robot with black forearms and lower legs, a pointed, two-pronged crown, a grille over its mouth, and a red, winged rocket pack on its back. Just below it stood Chirico's Scopedog, none the worse for wear.
"Hear me, humans with the hearts of demons!" the larger robot's pilot boomed, the machine's finger pointing at Zakott's landship; "Begone from here!"
"Who the hell are you?" Zakott exclaimed.
"You have no right to know my real name," the pilot answered defiantly as the machine ejected a sword from its left knee. "But know this - this machine, Great Mazinger, shall be your end this day!"
"Wait a sec...could he be the guy from in town today?!" Simon exclaimed. "He sounds just like him...only a lot more...um..."
"Hot-blooded?" Yoko suggested. "Yeah, that's the word." Meanwhile, Ennil's forces, annoyed by the presence of this arrogant newcomer, turned their bullets and shells on him. The giant robot landed, providing cover for Chirico's Scopedog, who stood neatly between its legs. As a result, the bullets bounced off its incredibly strong armor, barely even leaving a scratch.
While the mobile suits stubbornly maintained their assault on Great Mazinger, the surviving AT pilots seemed to get the hint - without warning, they suddenly began to fall back.
But Ennil wasn't a fool like the other scrappers - she could tell that this flying behemoth was more than her men could handle...she had to clear out before Great Mazinger could destroy her. However, her moment of distraction made her forget the opponent she had right in front of her.
With renewed hope, Garrod managed to push the blue custom Jenice off of the Gundam, then quickly draw its beam saber and slice a chunk of its shoulder off.
"Don't make me laugh!" Garrod taunted; "I'd never join you! My home is the Freeden, and that's where it's gonna stay!"
Ennil fumed and seethed at being rejected yet again, but knew that it was time to go. Without another word, she began to follow the retreating Scopedogs, dodging the Gundam X's parting shots. But when she momentarily looked back, she saw Great Mazinger charge up a massive burst of lightning and launch it straight at Zakott's landship.
"A fool, that man," she mused as she watched the landship explode before continuing her retreat.
Back at the Gilgamesh base, Serge Borough paced back and forth as Ennil El and Proto-One stood before him. The robed man had a look of grave disapproval on his face. Finally, he paused and leered at the Brutishdog's pilot.
"Proto One, you disappoint me," he said grimly. "You've failed me yet again."
"F-forgive me, sir," the woman replied nervously. "Every time I get near him, I..."
"Your emotions are clearly still getting in the way of your combat ability," the man continued; "Even when I gave you permission to merely capture Chirico, you couldn't do that much, I have no choice - I'm sending you over to Fort Severn. It seems Pailsen has to be the one to iron your kinks out."
Iron her kinks out? Ennil wondered. Does that mean she's not a regular human? Serge then turned to the scrapper he had hired.
"Ennil El, you're to accompany Proto-One and see to it she arrives safely at Fort Severn."
"What? No 'you've failed me' speech?" the young woman quipped.
"The fault for the mission's failure does not lie with you," the Gilgamesh officer replied. "Therefore, I'm willing to give you another chance."
"You're too kind, sir," the scrapper said with a little smile.
I hope you guys liked this one. Next time, some Xabungle plot and more fun with demons! Until then, stay tuned, mecha fans!
