A/N: The Mobile Armor Hashmal has been awakened thanks to Iok Kujan… what an idiot…

Disclaimer: I do not own Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.


Falcon of Tekkadan

Chapter 36: Stained Wings

The Mobile Armor fired a beam weapon that made a long trench in the ground before raising itself up from its burial site. It looked like a bird with a beak and wings, but also with a tail, it then fired its beam weapon at the sky.

"Iok Kujan just killed us all..." Kenji thought as he looked on in horror at the mechanical monster, now fully awake after its 300-year slumber.

"That idiot... He has awakened it." McGillis said.

Iok was surprised. "What happened? What is that?"

The Mobile Armor then turned and attacked Iok and one of his soldiers.

"Dang it... What is that thing?" Orga asked.

"It's a monster! That's what it is!" Kenji said.

"Let's retreat while we can." McGillis said.

"Wait. The mine will be smashed to bits if we leave." Orga pointed out. "I called headquarters for backup. If they arrive..."

"It's no use. That thing can't be beat that easily." McGillis said.

"How do we stop it?" Orga asked.

"Now that it's activated, our only choice is to destroy it. That is, if we can." McGillis said.

"Wait. Are you saying you weren't planning on destroying it in the first place?" Kenji asked. "Because destroying it was my first option."

"I took precautions so this wouldn't happen." McGillis said.

"Mika, Kenji, let's go." Orga called out. Kenji and Mikazuki went to the car for the retreat.

"Iok Kujan. How foolish can you get?" McGillis asked.

The Tekkadan group fled the scene to a safe location while Iok Kujan and his team tried to fight the Mobile Armor and its sub-units, the Plumas, resulting in Iok being the only survivor.

Once they were in a safe location, with Shino and Dante arriving in their Mobile Suits, they began to assess the situation.

"Only the remains of Gjallarhorn's machines are left at the mining plant. No survivors." Dante reported.

"None? You already checked that far?" Orga asked.

"No need for that. All the cockpits were completely crushed." Shino said.

"I knew it." McGillis said.

"What do you mean?" Orga asked.

"That's how Mobile Armors work." McGillis turned to Mikazuki. "What did you think of them? Mikazuki Augus."

Mikazuki was eating a bar. "It was amazing. Really beautiful. Like one of those birds I saw on Earth."

"It's no bird. It's an angel." McGillis said. "A calamity for humanity, known as an angel. Those monsters that once antagonized humanity and killed a fourth of the population."

Orga was surprised. "A fourth?"

"That's right. Mobile Armors' sole purpose was to kill humans. They were specifically designed for that. They're the enemy of mankind that Agnika Kaieru, the founder of Gjallarhorn, fought 300 years ago. The catastrophe known as the Calamity War was brought about by those Mobile Armors." McGillis explained.

"Who the heck created those things? A bunch of crazy scientists or something?" Kenji asked.

"What's the Calamity War?" Hush asked Zack.

"You don't know?" Zack asked Hush.

"Mobile Armors... Angels that hunt humans." McGillis said. "Then demons were created to emulate and hunt down those angels... The Mobile Suits. And the Alaya-Vijnana System to control them."

Orga turned back to Shino and Dante. "Anything else?"

"Oh yeah, the warehouse with fuel and materials was destroyed." Dante said.

"But there was no one there." Orga said.

"Right..." Dante said in agreement.

"Oh, that." Zack said. "I saw that too. Some small things were ransacking the place like thieves."

Orga was confused. "What...?"

"They're resupplying." McGillis said. "Unlike Ahab reactors, which run almost indefinitely, propellant and fuel are expendable."

"I see. No matter what kind of monster it is, it's just another machine. Then it's nothing Tekkadan can't defeat. Am I wrong?" Orga said.

"If you tell me to, I'll crush anything." Mikazuki said.

"Even though Mobile Armors are scary, if humanity could beat them 300 years ago, how's today any different?" Kenji asked.

"You're right." McGillis said. "Agnika Kaieru defeated the Mobile Armors and started Gjallarhorn."

"General." Isurugi was on a Mobile Worker with a headset on. "We just got a call from Chief Arae in orbit. The Third Ground Base has been attacked by the Mobile Armor."

"Third Ground Base?" Orga asked.

"That's the place we were just at." McGillis said. "It's a big base. It must've resupplied quite a lot."

"Also, a Halfbeak class ship from Arianrhod is headed this way." Isurugi said.

"So? What do we do? Do we go back them up?" Shino asked.

"That's unnecessary. We won't make it in time. Besides, that area is flat with a wide-open view. It's not the right place to ambush the enemy." McGillis said.

"Ambush? Will you?" Orga asked.

"We will." McGillis said. "You'll help, right? Waking that monster up was Gjallarhorn's blunder. I must take responsibility for it. But it's you, Tekkadan, who dug it up in the first place."

"It's not like there was a sign that said "Warning: A weapon of mass destruction is buried here, do not dig!" anywhere in the area." Kenji said.

"Kenji, please stop!" Orga turned to McGillis. "I know. We won't run from it."

"Then..." McGillis said.

"We have no choice but to do it. Bring me the geographical data of this area." Orga said.

"Yes!" Hush and Zack went to get data.

"And find out where the Mobile Armor is now. Send Akihiro's team to go scout." Orga said.

"Roger." Shino said.

"Hey Shino, those Gjallarhorn machines you found, was there a black Graze among them?" Kenji asked.

"No, all of them were the usual dark green. Why?" Shino asked.

"You're saying Lord Dunce might still be alive, dang it, I was hoping he'd get killed." Kenji said.

"Lord Dunce?" Shino asked.

"Lord Iok Kujan of the Seven Stars, he's the idiot Gjallarhorn officer who woke that monster up in the first place. I was hoping those small sub-units would kill him as karmic justice." Kenji said.

Shino sighed. "That would've been nice to see..."

A table was set up where everyone could start planning the ambush.

Isurugi started. "The worst are those numerous Plumas that accompany the Mobile Armor. Besides attacking, they have another important role. They repair the main body."

"Repair?" Orga asked.

"They're self-repairing." McGillis said.

Orga was surprised. "What the heck?"

"Plus, the main body can produce new Plumas. With enough time and material, they can multiply indefinitely." McGillis added.

"That's crazy." Shino said.

"Yeah." Dante said.

"In this way, they endlessly continue to kill people." McGillis said.

"So those Plumas won't make it easy for us if we try to destroy the Mobile Armor first, but just taking out all the Plumas first instead won't get us anywhere since more will be produced." Kenji said.

"In that case, if we isolate it from those small ones, we can defeat them, right?" Mikazuki asked.

"Correct." McGillis said.

"Once it's done repairing, it will head to a heavily populated area. To search for humans and kill them. That's the basic protocol for Mobile Armors. It's like their instinct." Isurugi said.

"So instead of chasing after it, we should set a trap in its course. That's the best way to fight it." McGillis said.

Orga started typing on his tablet. "The closest place with a dense population..."

Shino then figured it out. "Wait! That's Chryse, of course!"

"Chryse? If that thing reaches Chryse... We can't let that happen!" Kenji then realized something. "Orga! Are there any places between that Third Ground Base and Chryse that might still have people, even if they're not as densely populated as Chryse?"

Orga checked his tablet. "Let me take look at the Mobile Armor's most likely route..." He then noticed something. "There's a pathway branching off from that route, it leads Southeast to the agricultural plant. There's people there!"

McGillis then took the tablet from Orga and looked at the location. "The number of people there is nowhere near the population of Chryse, the Mobile Armor might just ignore it."

"May I remind you that Lord Dunce, Iok Kujan, woke that mechanical beast up in the first place, and it's possible that he isn't dead yet, so who knows what his stupidity will make him do next? I'm not taking that chance." Kenji said.

"And knowing Iok..." McGillis sighed. "Point taken..."

Kenji turned to Orga. "Orga, permission to use Phoenix to go over to the plant and evacuate the people there?"

Orga nodded. "Granted. You might have to use Phoenix to carry everyone out just in case something goes wrong."

Once the ambush had been planned out. Everyone got to work to set up the ambush point and warn Chryse of the Mobile Armor. Mikazuki and Hush are on their way to the Admoss Company to warn Kudelia and Atra. Kenji was brought to the ambush point where all the Mobile Suits are being deployed. He got inside Phoenix, he started it up and headed for the agricultural plant. Once there, he spoke on Phoenix's speakerphone.

"Attention civilians of the agricultural plant. This Kenji Hayabusa of Tekkadan speaking, you might know me as the Falcon of Tekkadan." Kenji started. "A 300-year-old mechanical monster called a Mobile Armor is on its way to Chryse and will be passing by this place very soon. It only has one purpose, to search and destroy all humans. I'm here to help you evacuate this place, if you have truck large enough to fit everyone, I suggest you use it."

The civilians did find a truck big enough to just barely fit everyone. Once the last civilian got inside, the truck driver gave one of them a communicator before closing the truck door, then he ran over to the driver's seat and started the truck.

"Mr. Hayabusa." The driver said on his communicator. "Everyone is inside, I'll follow your lead."

"Everyone okay in there?" Kenji asked.

The civilian with the communicator answered. "It feels packed. And it's dark. But we're fine. Just get us out of here."

"Okay then, follow..." Kenji then heard Orga's voice.

"Kenji! That Lord Dunce guy you mentioned just fired his weapon at the Mobile Armor, bringing it to your direction! Get everyone out of there now!" Orga yelled.

"First, he woke it up, now he does this. How is that guy a Seven Star?" Kenji then saw the Mobile Armor in the distance. He contacted the people inside the truck. "Change of plans! Everyone, hold on to something!"

Phoenix lifted the truck to carry it in its arms, preparing its thruster wings for takeoff. Then Kenji saw the Mobile Armor preparing to fire its beam weapon just when Ride's Shiden appeared and got in the way. Phoenix's wings went full throttle just as the beam hit Ride, causing the beam to refract and destroy the place where Phoenix was just at. Luckily Phoenix got the truck full of civilians out of the way unharmed and onto the top of a nearby mountain.

Kenji was breathing heavily when he contacted the civilians again. "Everyone alright?" He heard crying on the other end.

"Thank you!" Everyone said at the same time, scared out of their minds, but relieved.

Ride then contacted Kenji. "Kenji? Kenji, respond."

Kenji answered. "Ride, I'm on top of the nearby mountain."

"Is everyone okay?" Ride asked. "Please, tell me you got them out."

"They're okay, Ride. They're alive..." Kenji said.

Ride started crying a little. "Thank you..."

Kenji then saw Ride fighting the Plumas in melee but was quickly getting swarmed by them. Luckily, Barbatos appeared and saved Ride from the Plumas.

"Right on time." Kenji thought.