Hiro sat in the library, thinking. He felt slightly lopsided as he stared down at one of his sapphire horns lying on the table. Luckily, cutting it off hadn't been painful, which he was extremely grateful for, although it had been a very long and tedious process. But after all that, it still left him with the question of; How did he make a ring out of this? As he continued to stare at it, he realized that there was no easy way to start making a ring shape.
He sighed and absentmindedly picked up one of the files that he'd "borrowed" from Zero Two's collection. Mentally he flicked through designs he'd come up within his head, not entirely sure which one he wanted to go with. He wanted to create the most perfect ring he could for his wife... Well… Future wife. He thought with a smile. He hadn't exactly asked her yet, but he doubted that she'd say no.
Shaking his head, he picked up his horn and the meanest looking file he could find, and with a fervor just began shaving down his horn. After all, if he messed up, he had another one he could cut off and use.
An hour later, he sat back and looked at his horn, which, to be honest, hadn't changed much. His horns were a lot harder than he'd anticipated, and files didn't do a great job at shaving them down. Sure they were good for fine adjustments(which is what Zero Two used them for) but for getting rid of large amounts at a time... Mmm not so much.
Doggedly, however, he picked up the file again and got to work again, just letting his mind wander. It wasn't long before his mind stopped again on the subject that had been bothering him for the last couple of days. Where were Ichigo and Goro?
He knew they had gone on a stealth mission, but it was agonizing not knowing what was going on, and he couldn't help but worry that something had gone wrong. Something felt off about this whole situation, and he had the funny feeling that something hadn't gone to plan. Dr. Franxx and the caretakers seemed nervous whenever the squad asked about them; he could tell that they were uneasy from the lack of contact too. Something told him that the mission was taking too long, and the fact that Ichigo and Goro hadn't reported back might mean something bad had happened. He desperately did his best to have faith in his friend's abilities, and to assure himself that everything was okay, but still… He couldn't help but worry.
Taking a deep breath, he did his best to focus on his task and to think happier thoughts. But still not quite managing to completely remove the feeling. A while later, his communicator beeped, signifying that it was 7 o'clock, and with a small start his realized that Zero Two was probably going to start waking up soon. Quickly putting his tools away, he hid them and his horn on an upper bookshelf in the corner of the room. Hoping that it was a good enough hiding place.
Quietly he made his way back upstairs and gently opened the door to their room, Zero Two soft snores addible from the moment he entered the room. Closing the door, he chuckled softly. She always denied that she snored in her sleep, so he was amused when he caught her at it. Walking quietly, he sat down on the edge of the bed and watched as the sun's rays gently tickled her face, and her horns sent sparkling light dancing around the room. He smiled as he watched her slowly awaken the muscles in her face twitching as she started to become conscious. Yawning as her eyes fluttered open and sleepily, she looked around.
"Morning, Darling." She said, still half asleep.
He smiled. "Morning. You sleep well?"
She yawned. "Mostly."
Stretching, she sat up, the covers falling away to reveal her naked form, the bulge of her pregnant belly clearly visible in the morning sun. With another yawn, she stretched and gently place a hand on her belly, the other one brushing loose hair out of her eyes.
Just then she stiffened and stared directly at him, shaking her head, she rubbed her eyes and stared at him again. "Darling!" She said, shocked. "What happened to your horn!?"
He blushed. "Oh, nothing… I… Um… I accidentally tripped and fell, and it broke off. I.. I decided to smooth out the broken edges this morning."
She gave him a skeptical look and was about to say something when she grimaced and looked down at her belly.
"What's wrong." He asked, glad of the distraction.
"I have no idea…" She said, puzzled. "The only way I could think of describing it would be like having butterflies in my stomach. It's that weird sensation you get when you're having problems digesting something, and you just feel gassy."
"You eat something bad?"
"Not that I remember." She said, shaking her head.
His time was up, however.
"Anyway, back to you." She said straightening and looking stern. "Don't think you can get away with that lazy excuse. Tell me. Why did you cut your horn off?"
He sighed and getting up sat down next to her. "I… I promise I'll tell you later, okay."
She pouted. "Why can't you just tell me now? This isn't the first time you've said this to me, and I don't like it when people hide things from me."
He sighed. "I know. Just know that everything I do, I do for you." He smiled and placed a hand on her belly. "And our family… I can't forget about our little one."
Zero Two gently caressed his hand as it stroked her belly. "Okay… Just… Just promise you'll tell me soon. I hate being kept in the dark."
"I promise." He said, "And trust me, you'll love it when I do."
"That doesn't help." She said, fidgeting.
He chuckled softly. "I know."
They were all sitting in the living room chatting when Nana came in, and from the grim look on her face, they instantly knew something was wrong. Instantly conversations died unfinished, and everyone's attention was focused solely on Nana.
"Everyone," Nana said, taking a deep breath. "I'm afraid I have bad news."
Hiro could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He knew what she was about to say but desperately didn't want to hear the words.
"Ichigo and Goro have gone missing."
Silence hung in the air, like a foreboding cloud, fear, and confusion paralyzing all of them.
"Where did you send them." He asked calmly.
Nana sighed. "We sent them to Papa Archives. We... We needed to retrieve what remains of human history, but the Archives are too heavily fortified for us to just smash our way through. Trust me, we debated sending the whole squad in for a while, but we determined that even if we did win, they'd just erase the files before we could retrieve them. We elected to send Ichigo and Goro in solely so that they could sneak in undetected."
"Have they been captured?" Miku said fearfully.
"We don't know. This mission should have taken less than 24 hours. We've given them a few extra days hoping that maybe they'd had to take a detour and would contact us… But nothing…"
Nana let out another sigh, and sat down in an unoccupied seat. "We have no idea what happened to them. I… I only hope that they are not…."
He stood up. "We're going to go look for them." He stated firmly.
The rest of the squad shouted their agreement and stood.
Nana sighed. "We… We knew you would. But I have to warn you that you will be facing incredible odds. Steeper odds then you've ever had to face before."
"That won't stop us." Zero Two said, standing next to him. "It's only an excuse to put our skills to the test."
Nana nodded. "We understand. However, we' ed like to do this right. If you'd be willing to wait, Plantation 13 will escort you to the Archives. It's our fault that we sent them there. At least allow us to assist in their return. Or.. Or help you avenge them."
"How long will it take the Plantation to get there," Hiro demanded.
"We're already on the move, We'll be in the red combat zone within 4 hours."
Hiro looked at the squad, and they all nodded.
"Fine." He said, "But not a moment longer."
Nana nodded. "I'll have Hachi begin briefing you on the details. Hiro… Until Ichigo's safe return, we are promoting you to Squad-leader."
He took a deep breath and nodded. "Understood. But I'm afraid my command will be short-lived. Because I'm going to bring Ichigo and Goro back safely."
"We all are," Mitsuru said, slipping a hand into Kokoro's. "If its last thing I do, we're bringing them back."
Nana smiled. "Well, then. Squad 13, the briefing starts in 20 minutes please find your way down to the briefing room before that time."
Hiro stood in front of Strelizia, thinking about the mission he was about to lead. Hachi had briefed the squad on all the details that they had, but he knew that in the end, this all came down to him. He had to get this right because if he didn't…..
Zero Two gently squeezed his hand as Strelizia's faceplate descended. "We got this, Darling." She said almost as if reading his thoughts. "We'll do this together. Like always."
He smiled and gently returned the squeeze, then starting forward, they entered into Strelizia's cockpit. Taking a deep breath, he sat down in the Stamen seat and watched as Zero Two positioned herself in front of him, the bulge of her belly visible even at this angle. She deployed the controls for him and tried to make herself comfortable.
"Alright Darling, let's do this." She said, determined.
He smiled and reached forward and grabbed the controls watching as the sync rates soared to the max, and he felt himself merging with his partner. Instantly he felt Strelizia come alive around him, feeling the energy coursing through her. Then a moment later, he felt the familiar presence of their baby nestled in his hips, the weight that Zero Two carried now shared between them. More than ever, though, it felt more potent. More alive. It was more difficult to ignore this pulsating warmth inside him.
Mentally though he did his best to shut it out, he had to keep his mind on being squad leader. Everyone was counting on him, and if he was to do his duty as a leader, and as a father, he had to stay focused.
"You got this." Zero Two whispered to him.
"Thanks." He whispered back.
He took a deep breath and pulled up the mission data, then quickly running over the plan one last time prepared for the mission.
"Everyone report in!" He called over the comms.
"Chlorophytum is ready," Futoshi called.
"Argentea ready." Zorome echoed.
"Genista is ready," Mitsuru said calmly.
He paused and took a deep breath.
"I'm ready, Darling." Zero Two whispered.
He nodded. "Plantation 13, everyone is good to go. We're ready for the final report."
"Roger that Hiro," Hachi said. "Things are developing more rapidly than we thought. But we'll give you what we have. The forces around the Archives are more numerous than we thought, and 10 squads have already amassed in the valley itself, with more guarding the facility."
"Any signs of Ichigo and Goro?" He said hopefully.
"None," Hachi said sadly. "I'm sorry we can't provide more, but I can't find them anywhere."
He took a deep breath. "That's alright, we'll find them. Just tell us when it's okay to launch."
"Roger that Squad 13, prepare for launch, the plantation is making its final approach."
The plantation drove forward and they waited barely breathing, listening to the sound of the FRANXXs in the hangar, thrusters humming softly ready to spring into action. Suddenly the hangar door opened, and he looked out over the landscape before them, the clusters of FRANXX mere silver dots on the horizon, heat burring the picture even more.
"Squad 13 launch!" Hachi shouted.
They all accelerated forward and dashed out unto the plane, Strelizia soaring into the sky. They climbed higher and higher a stream of orange fire trailing behind them. Looking out, he observed the battlefield and watched as the Enemy FRANXXs began to form their defensive line. Watching as they formed an impassable perimeter across the valley floor, only ending at the massive cliff that plunged down deep into the Earth. Suddenly he saw a flash and just in the nick of time managed to dodge out of the way as a bolt of magma energy whizzed by Strelizia. Hurriedly he scanned the Archives and saw two FRANXX equipped with massive magma cannons perched just behind the walls. A moment later, another bolt whizzed passed, and he was forced to dodge again.
"Alright, squad." He said, thinking fast. "I've got a plan." Quickly he illustrated his intended plan of attack.
"You sure this is going to work, Hiro?" Zorome asked, doubtfully.
"We'll find out." He said. "Alright, squad be ready to engage on my mark."
"Roger that."
He watched patiently waiting for the right moment, knowing that they wouldn't get a second chance at this.
"Now!" He shouted.
The squad broke, Genista screaming to a halt her magma cannon already casting bolts at the enemy. Argentea and Chlorophytum breaking off towards the right and left of the defensive line, hoping to punch through their perimeter. Finding his own opportunity, he dived towards the center, the wind howling past them as they dove. Another magma bolt whizzed past him, but a second later the FRANXX was impaled on his lance, and tossed aside, as he landed in the center of the chaos. Immediately a magma blade flashed towards him, and he was forced to duck. Hurriedly he ran one of the FRANXX through with the lance, spun to kick the other one in the face as he whipped his lance around and severed its head. Without respite, two lance points flashed at his, and he forced to parry and block their thrusts, magma bolts whizzing past his head. Suddenly he felt a searing pain as one of the bolts hit his side. He felt Zero Two wince and horrified he kicked off into the air, hurriedly doing his best to get out of reach.
"Zero Two!" He shouted. "Are you okay!?"
"Yeah," She said, slightly breathless. "We're doing fine."
"Are you sure?" He said, his heart pounding in his chest.
She nodded. "We'll be fine. I'll keep the baby safe Darling, just focus on the mission."
He nodded hesitantly. "Okay…"
"I could use a little help," Zorome shouted.
Hurriedly he glanced towards the left and saw Argentea in retreat serval FRANXXs chasing after him as the rest did their best to reform the line after Zorome's assault.
"We could too!" Futoshi shouted, "Chlorophytum diving for cover as magma bolts whizzed by them.
"Genista, go help Chlorophytum!" He shouted as he dived towards Argentea.
He barely heard Mitsuru's reply as he smashed into one of the chasing FRANXXs, the two of them sent flying by the force of the blow. Encouraged Argentea turned and dodging a magma whip's strike delivered a brutal combo of quick jabs to their foe, magma claws punching dozens of holes through the enemy FRANXX. Together they turned and fought off the remaining pursuers, only to have to dash away as magma bolts rained down on them.
"This isn't looking good!" Zorome shouted as they dived into cover.
"I know!" He shouted back the rock they hid behind, starting to crumble from the hammering the enemy was raining down upon them.
"Squad 13!" Hachi shouted, "The Plantation is moving to assist you! Can you hold out a bit longer!?"
He checked the radar map and saw a portion of the enemy line break away to come pursue them.
"We'll do our best." He replied.
"What are we going to do, Hiro?" Miku said nervously as they huddled behind their crumbling rock.
Hurriedly he scanned the map and was relieved to see that Genista and Chlorophytum were managing to hold their position. Quickly he devised a plan.
"Alright." He said. "Zorome, I need you to fly."
Argentea stared at him. "But we can't do that." Zorome protested. "You're the only one who's managed to do it."
"Never mind that." He said, "Nows your time to shine." Part of the rock that they hide behind collapsed, and they were forced to huddle closer together. "Zorome, you can do this." He said. "You wanna know the secret to flying? You need to really bond with your partner. Feel her and desire to really connect with her. Let your desire to bond with her fill up your entire being."
"Will that really work," Zorome said, sounding nervous.
"Absolutely." He said with a smile.
"Miku." Zero Two said, "You can help him as well. I want you to really feel Zorome. Accept him inside you and allow him to go deeper than ever before. Make him a part of you and intertwine yourself in his presence. You're partners. The closer the two of you get, the more powerful you'll become."
More of the rock crumbled, and he felt the magma bolts whizzed past them.
"I'll hold them off." He said, "I need the two of you to get around them and attack them from behind. You got that?"
Argentea nodded hesitantly.
"Alright." He said. "Zero Two, let's do this."
Zorome stared at Miku in her pistol seat, feeling the pressure to perform now that Hiro and Zero Two were counting on him.
"You got this buddy," Miku whispered. "I trust you…"
He stared at her feeling his heart racing. His fears and doubts sabotaging his efforts to go where he'd been asked to go.
He felt Miku detach herself from Argentea, she and turned around to look at him. "What's wrong, Zorome? She asked, her voice soft and gentle.
"I don't know if I can do it." He said dejectedly. "I don't know how…."
Miku smiled and walked over to him. "I do." She stood up and walked over to him, sitting down in his lap and bringing her face just inches away from his. "Look at me." She commanded softly.
He did and stared into her beautiful sea-blue eyes.
Then without warning, she gently leaned forward and kissed him, her soft, tender lips the most wonderful sensation he'd ever felt.
"I love you, Zorome," She whispered softly. "I know we fight a lot… But I still… That's never changed how I feel about you."
"Miku…" He said faintly.
Gently she put a finger to his lips. "Not now… We can do this later. Hiro and Zero Two are counting on us."
Gently she separated from him and climbed back into the pistol seat, deploying the controls for him as she settled into position.
"You got this, Zorome…" She said encouragingly,
"Okay…" He breathed as he grabbed the controls. "Deeper than ever before.. Deeper than ever before.."
He gripped the controls and watched as their sync rates climbed, feeling himself connecting to his partner.
"Deeper than ever before." He whispered.
Gently he dove deeper into the feeling and felt Miku's presence give allowing him entry. He dove deeper into her than ever before, feeling less of himself and more of her, it was becoming harder and harder to distinguish between the two of them, and as he did so, Argentea became more alive around him. Everything felt less like piloting and more like movement.
"Let's do this Zorome," Miku said, her soothing presence intertwining with his. "Let's go kick some ass."
He nodded and dashed out from behind cover, making for the cliff, Argentea moving like he'd never piloted before, everything seemed to be seamless, Argentea wasn't just responding to his instructions, he was Argentea.
Magma bolts whizzed by his head and he turned to look at the battlefield watching as Strelizia battled viscously with the enemy.
"Zorome make for the cliff." Miku said, "That be the best way to get around them."
He gulped but did as he was bid Argentea charging straight towards the cliff, as he ran, he focused on Miku, keeping his concentration on her. The cliff was rushing towards them and his heart pounding he continued the charge. They were only feet away now!
"We got this!" Miku shouted.
Argentea leaped off the cliff, and for a moment, everything seemed to freeze, and they slowly began to fall.
"Fly…" He thought. "Fly!"
Argentea's thrusters roared to life, jets of orange fire blazing into the air.
"Fly!"
And Argentea flew. She accelerated into the air, soaring higher and higher. Zorome gapped. They'd did it.. They'd really did it. They were flying!
"We got this, Zorome!" Miku shouted.
Invigorated, they dived for the enemy line, their magma claws ablaze with fiery energy, they crashed into the enemy lines, claws tearing open a FRANXX, and with one brutal jab, they dismantled the core. They leaped away as the FRANXX exploded behind them, Zorome already searching for his next victim.
One by one he danced around the enemy jabbing and tearing, the confused enemy in disarray as they turned to find him already gone, as Strelizia steadily carved her way forward, making her way towards them.
Suddenly their part of the line collapsed, and the enemy retreated away from them, doubling back to regroup with the other half of the line.
"Press the attack!" Hiro shouted, Strelizia rocketing forward to pursue the enemy. Suddenly, however, the ground around them exploded, and they were both forced to retreat into the air. Looking around, he saw two FRANXX with massive magma cannons hidden behind the Archive walls and watched as the began charging again, aiming right at him.
"Make for Mitsuru and Futoshi!" Hiro said, diving down towards them. "They need our support, and the cannons won't fire on their own."
He nodded and dove, the magma bolts from the cannons cleaving through the air where he had just been a few seconds ago. Hurriedly he dived for the enemy FRANXXs picking a target and zeroing in on it. But before he got there, hundreds of magma bolts began to rain down upon the enemy.
Plantation 13 had arrived.
He watched as the enemy shuddered and broke, all beating a haphazard retreat towards the Archives. The enemy magma cannons fired at the plantation, but the bolts spent themselves against the energy shield dissipating in a fizzle of energy.
"Squad 13 regroup!" Hiro called.
Looking back down from his place in the sky, he made his way down to rejoin the rest of the squad.
Hiro came to a stop behind a small hill in the valley and waited for the squad to regroup. Taking his time, he began to scan the map assessing the situation. The enemy was in retreat, making for the protection of the Archives. Inwardly he sighed. They' ed made it past the first line of defense. Barely… The enemy's resistance was bound to get a lot steeper from here on out. Still... They'd made it this far.
A few moments later, everyone arrived at their meeting place, Argentea landing with a slightly ungraceful thud. He smiled and turned to the squad.
"Good work, everybody." He said, "We managed to get past their first line of defense now its time to press the assault."
"Do we know what they're doing," Mitsuru said.
He glanced at the map again before answering. "To be honest, I don't know. They're regrouping, but I have no idea what they plan to do next."
"Do we have any signs of Ichigo and Goro yet." Ikuno chimed in.
"No, unfortunately, we still can't find them," Hachi said. "We're still continuing our search, but the Archives have given nothing away so far."
He nodded. "Understood, let us know if you find anything."
"We will."
He turned back to the squad, "Well, I'll start coming up with the next stage of the plan, but first I'd like to congratulate Miku and Zorome and flying together."
"Congratulations!" Futoshi said ecstatically.
Mitsuru, too, offered his approval, and he waited patiently as the rest of the girls offered their congratulations as well.
When they were done, they all turned to look at him, awaiting his new orders.
He sighed. "Well, I think we need to press the assault before they can fully regroup. This next stage is going to be hard, but if we're to save Ichigo and Goro, we gotta win this."
They all nodded.
"Alright this time, we stick together. Futoshi, Misturu stay slightly at a distance and just keep firing, and support Zorome and I while we get in close. Zorome, you and I are going to fly over and wreck havoc."
Argentea nodded.
"Alright squad," He said commandingly, "Move out!"
Igniting his thrusters, Strelizia flew off Argentea not too far behind him. They soared towards the amassing enemy The FRANXXs with the magma cannons already trying to shoot them out of the sky. He scanned the enemy lines and dived for a group of unorganized FRANXXs.
Strelizia landed with a shuddered the shockwave staggering everyone around him, his heart racing; he turned and slashed at the closest enemy, splitting it in half. Seemingly out of nowhere, however, blades slashed at him, and he was forced to backpedal only to have his leg caught by a snare, and he was yanked to the ground. Strelizia was forced to the ground, and again he rolled to avoid another thrust from a spear.
"Darling!" Zero Two said fearfully.
He gritted his teeth and kicked out, gaining enough space for him to blast away. The FRANXX that had him caught was dragged along up into the sky. He looked down in disgust at the FRANXX that had dared to threaten the life of Zero Two and his child. Without one regret in his heart, he severed the cord tied around his leg and watched as the FRANXX fell and shattered into a million pieces on the ground below him.
"Are you alright, Zero Two?" He said after a moment.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, her southing presence a welcome relief. "I've got your back Darling, let's get back into the fight."
He nodded and found Argentea dodging and weaving the deadly attacks of their enemy. He dived and flattened an unprepared enemy, turning he battled against their foes, doing their best to keep the onslaught at bay. Dodging a thrust, he speared the enemy through the core but was forced to roll as still more spears stabbed at him, Before he had a chance to retaliate Chlorophytum's magma bolts slammed into the enemy's and they exploded in a ball of fire.
Without missing a beat, he dived back into the fray, his heart hammering in his chest, as Strelizia twisted and turned, always a second away from utter disaster.
He heard a scream of pain and saw Argrentea collapse to one knee, the spear that had taken her in the leg, leaving a glowing golden hole. He watched horrified as a blade flashed towards Argentea's exposed head. Zorome barley blocked it, but the action forced Argentea to collapse to the ground.
Horrified, he barreled through the intervening enemy's is magma lance melting through his enemies like butter as he speared the FRANXX poised to finish off Agrentea. Magma bolts flew over his head as he grabbed Agrentea with one hand and boosted into the air, just managing to come to a tumbling crash, a dozen feet from the cliff edge. With the split second that he had, he checked the map and realized just how dire their situation was. The enemy was closing in on his location as still more FRANXXs poured out the Archives main-gate. He checked Mitsuru and Futoshi and realized a sinking feeling in his gut that they were in no position to help.
Gritting his teeth, he through his magma spear, a line of FRANXX disintegrating, before they had a chance to react. Boosting forward, he dived into the fray, retrieving his lance and barring into still more of the enemy, sweeping it around at clearing a group of gunmen in front of him as they tried to bring their guns to bear. More determined than ever, he fought off the enemy determined to save his friends, and keep his family alive.
Out of nowhere, a blade flashed at him, and before he could react, Zero Two rolled Strelizia out of danger, allowing him the time to impale their foe.
"Darling!" Zero Two screamed suddenly, "Argentea!"
He whipped around and saw horrified that he had been outflanked and that the defenseless Argentea, as now desperately trying to retreat. He watched helplessly as Argentea boosted into the air but then came crashing down, the connection required to fly to fragile, to support Argentea in her time of need. Argentea crashed to the ground, her head dangling over the cliff face.
Triumphant an enemy FRANXX leaped into the air, its spear aimed right for the helpless Argentea.
"NO!" He screamed, tears streaming down his face as he hurled his spear at the attacker, knowing that it was useless.
From out of nowhere a beam of golden energy, took the enemy FRANXX in the chest and it exploded, dumbfound he watched as something black with glowing blue accents blasted out of the crevasse, and striking with two glowing golden swords slashed at the enemies surrounding Argentea. In a blur, it slashed at its enemies golden swords, dancing in streams of golden light.
Hurriedly he rushed forward to assist whatever this thing was, and together they managed to win themselves a respite, as the enemy retreated away from them.
Turning to see who their savior was he saw, a Klaxosaur hovering in the air. It looked strangely like a FRANXX, and in its hands, it weilded, two glowing towards that shone with magma energy. As he continued to stare at it, something else seemed vaguely familiar. This Klaxosaur looked an awful lot like…..
"Delphinium!" He shouted. "ICHIGO! GORO! Are you guys in there?!"
There was a static sound, and then he heard a voice. "Hey Hiro, can you hear me!" Came Ichigo's voice.
"Ichigo!" He cried. "You're alive!"
"Yep." She said with a laugh. "And guess who I've got with me."
"No need to guess." Came Goro's voice, "I'm here to."
"Goro!" He shouted.
Goro's faced popped up on the screen, and sure enough, it was him.
"You're alive!" The rest of the squad cried, dashing over to them.
Ichigo chuckled, "Yep."
Delphinium descended, and reaching a hand out, pulled Argentea to her feet.
"You guys made it!" Miku cried Argentea, flinging herself into the arms of Delphinium.
Delphinium staggered back, but gently returned the hug. "It's good to see you too, Miku."
The rest of the squad arrived, and everyone managed to exchange a brief greeting before the ground exploded a few feet away from them, leaving behind nothing but a glowing crater.
"Alright, squad!" He yelled. "We have a mission to finish, let's finish this battle so we can go home!"
"Roger that!" Everyone yelled.
Leaping up into the air, he soared off towards the enemy and was pleasantly surprised when Delphinium soared up after him, streams of blue energy streaming out behind her as she soared alongside Strelizia.
"It's good to have you guys back." Zero Two said as they soared along together.
"It's good to be back." Ichigo said with a smile. "Baby still hanging in there?"
"Yep."
"I'm ready when you are, Hiro." Goro said, mid-conversation.
He nodded and spotted his target. "Let's go."
They both dived towards the enemy, trails of blue and orange the only thing marking their passage. Together they landed, instantly eliminating two of the enemy. From their carnage rained. Strelizia and Delphinium, seemed to be dancing as they lunged and slash, their untrained enemy unable to muster any meaningful resistance now that their formation had been broken.
A new addition to Delphinium that he found very useful was the magma beam that she could fire. Every time she did it, four points on her face would glow, and a deadly beam would decimate whatever Delphinium pointed it at.
A blade flashed by Strelizia's face, and he ducked as a tethering cord was shot at him. Missing him, it wrapped around it's ally and seizing the advantage he ran both of them through with his lance.
It was then that the enemy lines truly broke. Helpless, they retreated towards the Archives, making for the safety of the high walls. Genista and Chlorophytum's magma bolts followed them as they retreated, leaving behind a trail of broken corpses.
Both he and Goro looked at each other, and they both nodded. Accelerating forward, they pursued the fleeing enemy. Encountering little resistance, they carved a path through the main gate and into the courtyard. The looked around but were instantly forced to leap to the side as two massive magma bolts slammed into the ground, everything exploding in a cloud of metal and dust. Strelizia was flung against the wall, and they crashed to the ground. Groaning, he got to his feet and saw the magma cannons charging again. Knowing what was about to happen, he flew at it, his lance raised for the kill. The FRANXX tried to swing to aim at him, but... Too late… His lance took the FRANXX in the side, and it collapsed under the weight of its massive cannon. Slashing at the cannon, he jumped away and rolled as a massive explosion rent the air around them, fire igniting half the courtyard. He looked over and watched as Delphinium sliced off the head of the other FRANXX, its body collapsing to the ground. Delphinium turned to face him, and they both stood looking around at the carnage they had caused. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one more FRANXX bravely stand for a final attempt, but before it could even move one step, one of Chlorophytum's magma bolts ended any attempt it was trying to make.
A few moments later, the rest of the squad arrived in the courtyard of the captured Archives. Taking a moment, he let out a long sigh. His mind was racing as he recovered, the excitement of the last few hours or so… Everything had happened so fast, and for the moment they'd won. This battle was there's. Ichigo and Goro were back safe and sound, and they'd successfully managed to defeat Papa's forces. All that remained was capturing the Archives themselves, and this would be a decisive victory.
"Everyone doing alright," Goro said, as the squad came to a rest.
They all nodded.
Just then, Hachi's voice came over the comms. "Good work, Squad 13. Ichigo, Goro, its good to have you guys back again."
Goro smiled. "Glad we could be here. Its been quite the ride."
"We look forward to hearing all about it." Hachi said, "But first we have one more objective. We need to capture the Archives themselves. Upon entering the hangar, you'll probably encounter some resistance. The Archives themselves have minimum internal guards, and they'll probably amass in the hangar to eliminate you when you try and disembark. Eliminate as many of them as possible and hold the hanger until we can get a transport over there with some ground equipment."
"Roger that," Goro said. "Tell us when you're ready for us to breach the hangar."
"Standby…." Hachi said, his voice trailing off.
In the background, they heard a faint beaping.
"Squad 13, get out of there!" Hachi yelled.
Stunned, he and Goro looked at each other, and a split second later, everyone was dashing away from the Archives Strelizia taking to the air to escape whatever was about to happen.
A few moments later, it did.
A colossal explosion leveled the Archives in a single stroke, the shockwave sending the squad flying, as a fireball billowed into the sky. He felt the wave of heat washing over him almost unbearably hot, as they soared away. Serval moments later, he stopped and came to a halt, turning back he gazed at the remains of the Archives, the skeleton of this once great structure decimated, magma energy running like spilled blood, all over the ruins.
"Is everyone alright!" He shouted into the comms.
"I'm here!" Goro said, his face appearing on the monitor.
"We made it," Futoshi said.
"Same." Mitsuru chimed in.
There was a long silence.
"Zorome?" He called his heart clenching.
There was static, and then a voice chimed in. "Yeah, we're okay."
He breathed a sigh of relief, all of a sudden, he heard a loud crack, and he saw a large section of rock break away from the cliff. As he watched still more, fall into the abyss, and he realized that the whole mountainside was about to go.
"Everyone, you need to move!" He shouted, "The Archives are about to fall into the crevasse!"
Below him, he watched as the squad scrambled to get away, the rumbling of the collapsing cliff deafening behind them. They dashed like madmen across the valley floor, barely outrunning the cloud of dust that pursued them.
He hovered and watched as the Archives collapsed, tons of rock and metal tumbling end over end, as it plummeted downs, this once great structure reduced to nothing more than rubble. For a while, he stood thinking, watching as the entire thing slid into the darkness, never to be seen again. Inwardly he wondered that information had been stored in its vaults. What secrets had been hidden away, and were so valuable, that Papa's forces would rather destroy themselves then let them be taken.
"Darling, let's go meet up with the others." Zero Two said, gently jerking him out of his thoughts.
"Yes... Yes, of course."
Turning, he brought Strelizia down to the rest of the squad as they gathered around Plantation 13. Landing, he listened as the squad chatted quietly, all together again for the first time in days. Now that the battle was over, he allowed himself to relax, and gently indulged in the feeling of Zero Two, and their baby.
Hachi came on over the comms. "Nice work, everybody. We're glad to see that you all made it out okay. Plantation 13 is ready for your return. We schedule a full debrief once you're all ready."
"Roger that." Goro said, "Squad 13 let's get the heck outta here."
Author's Note: Thank you for reading Chapter 24 of The Jian Bird.
I hope you enjoyed and I'll try to have the next one out as soon as I can.
Stay tuned for the next chapter of The Jian Bird: Proposed