Disclaimer: See initial chapter

"Just don't get in my way, Third." Asuka quickly snapped at him.

"Airlock depressurizing." Misato announced over the intercom. This caused Shinji to blink in attention and summon his own crystal. As the light in the chamber went out, a new source of illumination came, in the glow of their crystals that soon engulfed the two Children.

"Tekkaman Niigoki! Tekkaman Shogoki! Engage!"

"Teksetta!"

Chapter 9

Pride of a Knight

In the depths of space, the Blue Earth soared toward the invading Radham horde. The alien monsters shrieked upon its approach, only to be met with two streaks of light that soared out from the rear of the vessel. The lead streak, a flaring crimson, shot right into the center of the horde and ripped through them in a flash of light. When the light faded away, all there was were the body parts of the aliens and a sole humanoid figure, decked in red armor and cloth with long hair waving about in the vacuum of space.

Tekkaman Niigoki...

The rest of the horde roared at her and charged. Arching her body forward, the boosters of the crimson tekkaman spat out a burst, jetting her toward the first Radham. The monster launched on of its pincer claws forward, but another burst caused Niigoki to whirl around the attack. Her lancer went into motion soon after, slicing the claw off and causing the beast to roar in pain. Grabbing hold of it underside, Niigoki whirled upward and onto the creature's back, where she proceeded to stab her lancer deep within, killing the beast. As it gave its final cry, Niigoki pressed on, kicking off the monster and making her way to the next one in swift procession.

"Who's next?"

Meanwhile, Tekkaman Shogoki watched all of this from behind. Typically, he was to back her up, but he stayed behind, watching in awe at Niigoki's movements and attacks. Just like when she was practicing before, moved effortlessly and confidently as she slew the Radham one by one. Again, the boy within felt doubt; he was nowhere near the tekkaman she was. He was still trying to get used to battling in the zero-G environment. Initially, he thought he would panic, but for some reason, he was calm in open space. However, fighting was another story; he was still in wonder as to many of his movements, but it didn't seem to matter as Niigoki was doing just fine without him. She didn't even seem to need his help.

"Don't just stand there, Shinji!" Misato shouted from the Blue Earth. "Get in there and help her!"

"Uh, right."

With that, Shogoki flew in toward the carnage created by the fiery tekkaman...

"She sure can leave a trail of destruction in her wake, I can tell you that."

Kaji shrugged at the comment made by Misato as she maneuvered the Blue Earth about, firing on any Radham that left from the outer fringes of the battlefield. After a round of laser fire took down a stray Radham, Kaji replied.

"Well, at least she's getting the job done."

"Yeah but she's going to burn herself out if she keeps this up." she said with a hint of worry. "What is she trying to do, take them all down by herself?"

Again, the unshaven man shrugged. "Probably. It's not like it's impossible. She did it once before." Despite his casual reply however, he was a little worried as well. He knew well enough that Asuka was a proud person. It was her strength; it allowed her to take on the training and the battles she had been in so far. But, as it was beginning to show in the current battle, it was also her weakness. Still, he had to hope that she would be able to work through that.

After all, she couldn't do this alone...

"And if anything goes wrong, Shinji's out there with her."

"I suppose so." she sighed. Although Shinji hadn't been as much into the fight as Asuka was, still, he was supporting her at least. "Well, I guess that'll be something for them to work on later."

Kaji's lips then twisted lecherously. "And there are things we can work on later too."

Misato snarled. "I'd sooner kiss the Radham. And since I'm currently shooting them down..."

As the Blue Earth soared on, in the core of the battle, Niigoki and Shogoki continued to fight. Actually, Niigoki was doing most of the fighting, tearing through the Radham in rapid fashion. She was moving so much in fact Shogoki couldn't even properly engage the Radham himself and was only able to take out the few Radham that were scattered away from the Niigoki's assault.

Although it seemed more like a massacre...

"Raaahhhh!"

As the lancer of crimson tekkaman finished severing through yet another of the Radham, Niigoki looked about for her next target. Before, the Radham had packed around her so thickly that she only had to take half a glance to lock in on her next target or targets. But now that wasn't the case as the bulk of the Radham had now moved away from her. Beneath her armored face, she felt herself grin.

'That's right. You should be afraid.'

The shriek of a Radham from far behind caught her attention for a moment, but upon seeing that it was the cry of death from being slain by Shogoki, she turned away. So far, he was doing as she had told him and letting her do the job. And she was just fine with that. 'No sense in leaving this to amateurs.' Refocusing her attention on the main horde, she watched as they continued to move away. Adrenaline urged her to pursue them and continue, but a dark object caused her to pause

"What the...?"

Riding on a single-eyed craft of some kind, a Radham tekkaman descended onto the battlefield and straight toward her. Hearing her, Shogoki turned and too gazed at the approaching enemy, worry and panic coming over him in full force. 'A Radham tekkaman...' His last two battles with the alien tekkamen weren't pleasant to say the least and he knew this encounter was bound to be no different.

"Alright." Niigoki smiled. "Finally, a real fight."

Shogoki gasped. As skilled as she was, Shogoki knew that she couldn't possibly match the brute strength of an alien tekkaman head-to-head. 'Was she serious?' That question was soon answered when he saw her boosters ignite and her crimson form rushing straight at it.

"Asuka, wait!"

"I'll handle this!" she spat back. "Remember what I said, Third! Don't get in my way!"

Indecision and shock kept Shogoki from going any further. He knew what his feelings told him, but he had also seen Niigoki in action. Perhaps she could take it down by herself; she had amazed him already by her single-handed efforts against the Radham horde. Maybe she was strong enough to beat it.

And yet, that didn't make him worry less...

The two tekkamen continued to fly toward each other, lancers in hand and ready for battle. Due to its craft, the Radham tekkaman fly faster and would reach Niigoki before she could reach him. But that didn't matter to her. As the two came within a foot and a half away and seeming to crash into each other, Niigoki rotated, soaring about and coming up underneath the alien craft the tekkaman was on. Her lancer plunged into the craft and sliced it neatly down the middle. When it passed over her completely, Niigoki leveled herself out and watched as the craft exploded, seemingly taking the tekkaman with it.

Seemingly...

From within the explosion, a thin whip lashed out, catching the female tekkaman by surprise as it tagged her. Niigoki flew back for a moment, but managed to stop herself from going too far. Shaking her head, she looked up to see the alien tekkaman now rushing at her full speed. Niigoki gasped, surprised by the speed of the bulky creature, but managed to lift her lancer up in defense. However, it made no difference as the Radham tekkaman punched through, knocking her backward into a near spiral.

"Asuka!"

Shogoki shot toward the drifting tekkaman and grabbed her from behind before she could sail away further. He heard a low moan come from the crimson tekkaman as she shook her head in recovery.

"Are you...?"

But before he could finish, Niigoki boosted herself out of his grasp and rushed right at the Radham tekkaman. The alien warrior responded by charging at her as well, stretching out its arm and producing a short blade lancer of its own. The two clashed against each other greatly and flew on by, where they wheeled around and struck at each other again and then a third time. On the fourth round, they wound up locking together, trying to push one another. But the strength of the Radham proved superior as it effortlessly tossed Niigoki aside and sent her hurtling through space once again.

"Guahh!"

While she continued flying, the Radham tekkaman crossed its arms, causing the voltekka cells on its shoulders to flash alight and fire a voltekka blast at the disabled tekkaman. With her body still spiraling about, the female tekkaman wouldn't be able to dodge the attack before it hit her.

"No!"

Before the beam came close, Shogoki flew in and placed himself between Niigoki and the beam, appearing to take the shot meant for her. But the plates of his shoulder armor had swiveled open and immediately launched a voltekka of its own. The two beams clashed and, to the alien tekkaman's surprise, Shogoki beam had dispersed it completely and continued on toward it. Engulfed by the power of the Third Child tekkaman, the Radham could only scream out as it was vaporized by the wave of energy.

When the beam ceased, Shogoki turned and moved toward Niigoki, who had finally managed to stop spinning and was shaking her head. He was about to ask again if she was okay or not when she cut him off before he could utter a word this time.

"Are you an idiot?"

"Huh?"

"What were you thinking?" Niigoki grounded out. "You wasted your voltekka on a single enemy?"

"But..."

Shogoki was beyond confused. There was no way she could have dodged or avoided the attack, as she had been incapacitated. Had he not used his voltekka, Niigoki would have been injured or worse. He might have very well saved her life right then and there, all the while dealing with an enemy that had her outmatched. Seeing he was stunned in silence, the crimson tekkaman snorted and turned about.

"Guah. That's just the kind of action I'd expect from an amateur." Her gaze locked on the few remnants of the Radham, who were now returning to try and finish them off. She let out an exasperated sigh as her voltekka cells began to charge with energy.

"This is how it's done, Third."

With a flash, the beam of the Second Child tekkaman soared out toward the incoming horde, blowing through and vaporizing any in it path. Niigoki then moved her body to the side slowly while continuing to fire, causing the beam to spread out and decimating more of the Radham until finally, there were none left to destroy.

"Enemy forces destroyed." Misato called in to them. "Mission complete. Sit tight; we're coming in to pick you up. And good job, you two."

As the Blue Earth converged on them, the two tekkamen floated simply in space, exhausted and worn from the battle. Yet, Niigoki couldn't help but throw in a few more of her two cents to her purple-armored compatriot.

"I don't see why she thanked you. You didn't really do anything."

Shogoki, for his part, remained quiet. He knew that he saved her life, but perhaps she was right about his use of the voltekka. Watching her use of it showed him that he still had quite a ways to go to be a capable tekkaman.

'If only she wasn't such a b...'

Meanwhile, Niigoki was into her own thoughts. She was a bit upset that her first official battle as a tekkaman of NERV turned out the way it did. True, she started well enough, with her skill being dominant over the Radham. But it had gotten hectic when that alien tekkaman showed up. It was stronger than her, but she felt with some more time, she could have defeated it. But instead, that dork of a tekkaman had gotten in the way of that, using up his voltekka to kill it.

To her, it was ridiculous.

Still, all things considered, it went well enough. The Radham were gone for now and the majority of the kills had been hers. Shogoki -Shinji- was a minus, but it was one she was able to deal with. She just hoped the First Child would be better support that this guy was. But in the end, she would be the one to bring down the Radham, all of them, once and for all. It was a part of her dream after all.

'I will be the strongest tekkaman... Just like Blade was...'