Tekkadan…
The Iron Flower that never wilts.
Formerly known as the Chryse Security Guard (CGS), the organization that would become known widely as Tekkadan was established on Post Disaster 323 on Mars, October 31st and led by Orga Itsuka following an unexpected employment from the Maiden of Revolution, Kudelia Aina Bernstein, and tasked with escorting her to Earth, specifically to the region of Edmonton, where she would speak her piece regarding the interdependence of Mars and the ruling body of Earth's, Gjallarhorn, tight stranglehold on it.
With nothing but their lives to lose and with so much to gain should they finish their job, the soldiers plowed through combatant after combatant, with very little remorse for those who stood in their way, earning themselves a reputation for being a brigade of scruffy yet competent troupers. However, all the while, the young soldiers had quite a few aces up their sleeves to aid them in their journey…
And these aces were their Alaya Vijnana systems and the three Mobile Suits that they were using as escorts.
Alaya Vijnana… a cruel yet incredibly useful piece of biological technology. Implanted into the spinal columns of children, the Alaya Vijnana system was a biological armament that grew alongside its host in a seemingly symbiotic relationship. Due to its installation into the spine, however, to obtain it is incredibly dangerous, and only one in five would survive the installation. The payoff, should it be successful, however, was immense, as it allowed the user to connect themselves directly with any Mobile Suit that possessed an Alaya Vijnana port.
Though quite a defining feature of their recently established group, the Alaya Vijnana system was not exactly the thing that most people thought of when the name Tekkadan became topical. No, it was their Mobile Suits that they were used that made them truly memorable to so many… and it was also the thing that made them so horrifying, as their use of their Gundam Frames whilst on the battlefield was truly something spectacular.
Gundam… the collective term for 72 Mobile Suits created nearly three centuries ago. Built to counteract a still unnamed threat prior to the start of the 'Post Disaster' timeline, the Gundams, while incredibly old, with a majority of their functions being degraded to the point that they were practically a shadow of their former selves, they were still incredibly competent, even when compared to the newer Mobile Suits used in the present day. With their use of twin Ahab Reactors as their power cores, the Gundams were capable of tremendous power outputs and with their specialised inner frames, dubbed the Gundam Frame, they could be fitted with various armaments to fit almost any situation that they could find themself in.
The Frames that were used by Tekkadan were codenamed the ASW-G-08 and the ASW-G-11/R, Gundams Barbatos and Gusion Rebake, respectively, with an additional EB-06/TC2-RG, Graze Custom 2/Ryusei Go thrown in for good measure. The latter two were deployed during Tekkadan's involvement in the Dort Colony uprising, with the Gusion Rebake being piloted by Tekkadan powerhouse, Akihiro Atland and the Ryusei Go piloted by Tekkadan's residential goofball, Norba Shino, with the two of them proving instrumental in future battles on their journey to Earth.
And yet, the unit that most focused on whilst speaking of Tekkadan was neither the Gusion or Ryusei Go. No, it was Gundam Barbatos that practically defined the organisation, with it being with them ever since its inception. Those who survived it dubbed the unit the Devil of Tekkadan, and it spearheaded the charge from Mars to Earth, crushing all who stood in their way with ruthless efficiency all the while, and its pilot, Mikazuki Augus, was relentless in his single minded pursuit to accomplish their mission.
Be it when it was in possession of its gauntleted forearm and unarmoured shoulders or with its Autocannons, heeled feet, stolen Graze Ritter shoulderpads or heavily armoured chestplate that placed its Tekkadan symbol front and center, Barbatos was always a distinctive figure that struck fear into those who recognised it, and it remained that way even after they arrived on Earth.
There, they continued to fight their way from Oceania to Edmonton, with the young men ripping through so many who stood in their way until they reached their goal, only to hit a road bump near the borders of Edmonton. For as relentless as they were, Tekkadan still abided by the laws that were set in place by Gjallarhorn, and amongst said laws were that Mobile Suits were not to be allowed into city limits. As a countermeasure, Tekkadan's Mobile Suit trio held the line against the relentless onslaught of Graze units sent at them while their Mobile Worker squadrons attempted to break through the front line of soldiers who guarded the entrance to Edmonton with little success.
This continued for several days, culminating in a desperate attack that was sprung by Tekkadan, with their Mobile Suit trio attacking the Graze units instead of defending from them for a change while the Mobile Worker squadron assaulted Gjallarhorn's frontline defence with all they had, giving a pair of Mobile Workers and a single jeep enough time to break through their defensive barrier and enter Edmonton. The Mobile Worker that spearheaded the charge through Edmonton was piloted by Tekkadan engineer, Takaki Uno and co-piloted by Orga Itsuka, who was riding on top of the Mobile Worker, with the one bringing up the rear being piloted by a Tekkadan soldier. As for the jeep, it was driven by Tekkadan chef, Atra Mixta and with Kudelia Aina Bernstein and the legendary Togonosuke Makanai acting as passengers.
Everything seemed to be going rather well, with the Mobile Workers and jeep barrelling through the mostly abandoned streets of Edmonton and barging through any obstructions in their way, though as with all good things, an unexpected factor was inevitably thrown in, and said unexpected factor came in the form of a navy blue Mobile Suit that came from the sky, with its singular red optic promising death upon all that stood in its way.
"How much further until we reach the Parliament?"
Though panicked, Kudelia Aina Bernstein kept her voice as calm as it possibly could be as she spoke, with her glancing over at Togonosuke Makanai with a worried expression as she did so. Upon acknowledging her question, Makanai frowned quite a bit and brushed a hand over his massive beard as he opened his mouth to speak, only to be briefly cut off when they hit a minor speed bump, though he replied to her not long after.
"Take a right at the next traffic light," replied Makanai calmly over the sound of the Mobile Worker that spearheaded their charge blast a Gjallarhorn owned jeep out of their way, glancing towards Atra, who nodded and relayed the information to the aforementioned Mobile Worker, who took a sharp right not long after. Likewise, the jeep took a very sharp right, with it practically drifting as it did so and unintentionally joulsteling Kudelia and Makanai in the back seats all the while. "Dear me, young chef. Your driving skills need some work."
"I-I'm sorry!" apologised Atra a little awkwardly as she squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment for a brief moment before reopening them focus on the road. During this time, the jeep noticeably veered left to right a little before it got back on track, much to everyone's relief as Makanai, despite their current situation, chuckled a little.
"But regardless, maintain this speed for the duration of the journey and we will most likely be able to reach the parliament within the next few minutes, before the election can start," continued Makanai, sounding rather content as he glanced over at Kudelia, who held both her hands close to her chest as she nodded, showing her excitement as she realized just how close she was to achieving her goal, though Makanai raised a brow when he noticed the mild shake of her hands. "You seem nervous, Miss Kudelia."
"I… I am…?" muttered Kudelia, widening her eyes as she stared at her hands, quickly acknowledging how they were shaking a little as she clenched them. "I suppose so. This just feels very… overwhelming. We're so close to the Parliament now, it's almost as though nothing can stop us…"
"M-Miss Kudelia…?" piped up Atra in the middle of Kudelia's little speech, to which Kudelia blinked and turned to stare at the brownish white haired young lady, who was still staring at the road ahead as she spoke, though she did glance up at the rearview mirror in order to briefly make eye contact with her blonde friend.
"Yes, Atra?"
"Boss, s-something's wrong!" proclaimed Takaki through his headset, to which Orga raised a brow and placed a finger against the side of his own headset and raised his brows. Though it was rather noisy, with the sound of wind rushing past his face being somewhat deafening, he was still able to hear the growing fear in Takaki's voice as he spoke, and though he was in a somewhat good mood due to how well everything seemed to be going thus far, he couldn't help but wince at Uno's tone of voice.
"H-Have you heard of the term tempting fate?"
"What is it, Takaki?" replied Orga, narrowing his eyes as he felt the general atmosphere of the area darken quite a bit as he glanced around. His instincts told him that something bad was about to happen, and though he hoped for things to go as smoothly as they were now, the sudden deactivation of all electronic devices that were not protected by LCS told him otherwise. "What is this…?!"
"Well… yes. Why did you ask…?
"Boss! All our comm links besides LCS have been cut off!" informed Takaki, the panic apparent in his voice, and at that, the sound of thrusters could be faintly heard as Orga jerked his head upwards, in turn causing his lilac hair to flutter upwards when he acknowledge the fact that something was approaching, and it was certainly not supposed to be here. "Our radar is out as well!"
"W-Well."
And mere seconds later, Orga widened his eyes to their absolute limits when he saw a massive navy blue figure approach them from the air.
"Are they serious…?!" exclaimed Orga as the figure closed in on the three vehicles, sounding somewhere between bewildered and horrified all the while as he realized just what the figure was. "They're letting Mobile Suits into the city?!"
And the moment he had finished speaking, the Mobile Suit in question came crashing down mere inches away behind the Worker that he and Takaki were on and not too far from the jeep. The ensuing shockwave sent their Mobile Worker flying forward and caused the jeep to overturn. The Mobile Worker that brought up the rear was rattled quite a bit, though outside of that, it wasn't affected too much outside of being temporarily blinded by the dust that was sent up into the air.
Coughing quite a little as he recovered from being flung into the air, Orga grimaced as he slowly pushed himself off the ground and lifted his head up to look at the thing that had landed in front of him.
'A Mobile Suit…' thought Orga, still bewildered at the very thought. To his knowledge, Mobile Suits of any kind were not allowed inside of cities, with their very presence being more than capable of bringing about a mass blackout, as shown earlier. So for a Gjallarhorn unit to be here… for Gjallarhorn to break their own rules just to get to Kudelia… it was a clear sign of their desperation at keeping her away from the parliament.
And, in spite of everything that was currently happening, Orga couldn't help but scoff a little as his lips turned up into a bitter smirk.
'That's what I get for thinking that this all goes smoothly, I guess…'
"That's it… I remember now…"
The voice of the Mobile Suit was impossibly clear, with it echoing through the near desolate streets of Edmonton as it spoke. If anything, its voice made it seem as though the Mobile Suit was the one who was speaking rather than its pilot through any external communication device.
"I… I'm sorry, Lieutenant Crank... I was supposed to obey your orders… and capture Kudelia Aina Bernstein. All this time, ever since my rebirth… I have found myself too distracted with my newfound might… my newfound strength to avenge your death… that I have forgotten my original duties!"
As it bellowed out various lines in regards to someone known as 'Crank', however, the occupants of the Mobile Worker and jeep that it had overturned upon landing began to groan and recover from the joustling of their respective vehicles. Orga had gotten up to one knee by then, though he was still recovering, while Atra moaned a little in irritation as she recovered, with Makanai groaned as his senses came back to her, with the elderly man sighing once he refocused himself.
"I suppose that was what you meant by tempting fate," bemoaned Makanai as Atra spared him a quick glance, only to widen her eyes when she realized that… Kudelia was gone!
"M-Miss Kudelia?!" proclaimed Atra, only to widen her eyes when she saw that the young woman in question had already exited the overturned jeep. Mixta gasped when she saw that the blonde was stepping towards the Mobile Suit that stood between them and the Parliament, though despite their current situation, she didn't appear fearful of the unit in the slightest.
No, despite being inwardly terrified, Kudelia Aina Bernstein refused to allow herself to succumb to fear. Her time with Tekkadan had changed her. The young men had hardened her heart and strengthened her soul, so much so that the mere sight of the unit didn't even make her flinch.
"I am Kudelia Aina Bernstein!" announced Kudelia, staring up at the unit before her with a glare that could turn a lesser man into ice, though against the Mobile Suit, it did very little as it simply turned its head unit down to glare at her as she continued speaking. "Is there something you want with me?!"
The Mobile Suit itself stayed eerily silent for a few seconds as it focused on Kudelia, with its singular red optic narrowing and widening several times as it did. Kudelia herself wasn't good at identifying specific Mobile Suits, though she was knowledgeable enough to acknowledge that this looked very similar to a Graze unit.
"So, you were here all along…" muttered the apparent pilot of the MS, his voice literally dripping with poison, venom which was biting at the chance to melt through Kudelia's throat, as it spoke, and Bernstein would be lying if she claimed to not wince a little at its tone of voice as it continued. "I went to collect you at CGS…"
And from there on, the pilot of the Mobile Suit began reminiscing the events from the past, though as it did, it failed to notice Orga pushing his body off the ground and grimacing as he stood himself upright, using the side of the Mobile Worker to keep himself upright as he did so.
"That idiot…" grumbled Itsuka, glancing over at the Mobile Worker before he knocked its side hard enough for Takaki to hear. "Takaki, be ready!"
"Y-Yes sir!" was his immediate response from the boy in question.
"If you had come with us… Lieutenant Crank would not have died…" continued the Mobile Suit's pilot, it's voice sounding even more hateful as it spoke, and Kudelia herself noted how it's manipulators seemed to tighten around it's axes as it spoke, and how its singular optic's red glow was intensifying as it continued, a clear sign of its rage building out as it spoke. "Besides…"
While it rambled on about a past experience on Crank nobility, however, the Mobile Suit didn't notice Atra was crawling out of the overturned jeep and rushed towards Kudelia. Likewise, it had also failed to notice that the Mobile Worker, the one that was behind the overturned jeep, was also aiming it's main cannon at it as it spoke.
'EB-AX2 Graze Ein…' thought the pilot, mentally reading its codename through the main cockpit monitor of his Mobile Worker. Gritting his teeth, he aimed his Worker's main cannon at it's cockpit. Even if it didn't pierce the Nanolaminated armour of the cockpit unit, the impact would hopefully provide a good enough distraction for Kudelia and his boss to escape. He knew that he would most certainly die after that, but he was willing to make the sacrifice. 'Gotta create an opening which she can use to escape!'
However, before he could lock onto the cockpit, movement on the Graze Ein's shoulderpad caught his eye. Instinctively swiveling the turret to face it, and the pilot quickly widened his eyes when he saw a chaingun fold down from its shoulderpad. It quickly revved itself up before it opened fire, trailing up towards the Mobile Worker as it spewed out a volley of bullets. Six shots were all it took to reduce the Worker into nothing but scrap metal which exploded within a few seconds. The unexpected scene made Kudelia turn back in shock, though the Mobile Suit… the Graze Ein didn't stop speaking as it continued on with even more spite in its voice.
"That's right…" said the pilot of the Mobile Suit. "Lieutenant Crank died because of you… because of you and these sinful children!"
"Because of my actions, many lives have been lost!" retorted Kudelia, effectively cutting off the Graze in spite of the difference in volume. Taking the slight shock which the Graze's pilot appeared to currently be experiencing as an opportunity to get their friend out of harm's way, both Atra and Orga dashed towards the blonde, though Kudelia didn't notice either as she continued speaking, her voice as hard as iron all the while. "But that is why I cannot stop now! These children are not to blame for the deaths of your comrades! I was the one who instigated it all! If you wish to avenge them, then strike me down, but spare the children of Tekkadan!""
After allowing it to sink in for a second, the Graze raised it's right arm unit, in turn raising one of its axes as it averted its blood red mono-optic towards her, and at that, Kudelia realized what it was attempting to do, though despite everything, she didn't move. If this was her fate, then so be it…
"That ego…" muttered the Graze, only for the red in its optic to intensify further as its voice hardened and increased in volume, so much so that it could even be heard on the outskirts of Edmonton. "I shall teach you humility and drag you down to your grave!"
Shifting its axe so that it's cutting edge was facing down, the Mobile Suit got ready to crush her beneath its blade. As it began to bring it down onto its intended target, however, Atra managed to close the gap between herself and Kudelia and tackled her friend back.
"Miss Kudelia!" she proclaimed as she sent Kudelia flying back, and right at that moment, the blonde was forcefully snapped out of her trance as she widened her eyes and realized the situation they were in. her eyes widened further when she saw the Graze Ein before them, and at that moment, she remembered why she was here… and if she were to die, the deaths of the soldiers… no, the children who had sacrificed themselves to get her this far would be for naught.
'I… I truly am a fool…' thought Kudelia as she fell back, and yet, her and concedement to her untimely death were cut short when she heard something… odd approach them from behind.
It was loud, to say the least, but even so, it sounded rather… familiar to most of the present soldiers. Even so, neither girl had enough time to turn their heads toward the source, though they did have just enough time to widen their eyes ever so slightly when a familiar looking figure came blasting past them, dragging a massive 'weapon' with both of its manipulators all the while.
And mere seconds before the axe of the Graze Ein even got halfway towards the bodies of Kudelia and Atra, the newcomer used it's weapon to block the axe, with the subsequent impact creating a shockwave which sent everyone tumbling backwards and shattered the glass of several windows that were caught up in the shockwave's aftermath.
Very slowly, the dust settled, revealing Atra holding tightly onto Kudelia as if her life depended on it. Kudelia raised her eyes in shock when she saw the small form of Atra atop her, though she was quick to feel relief when she realized that Mixta was alright… though before long, she realized that someone was beneath her as well, and she glanced back just in time to see that Orga had managed to get below her to help soften her landing as well.
"Orga…" muttered Kudelia, only to pause when she glanced away from him and stared towards the newcomer that had saved them. And all the while, the de facto leader of Tekkadan couldn't help but smirk widely as he stared at the newcomer's back, with said smirk threatening to rip his face in half should it somehow increase in size.
"Of course…" began Orga, speaking through grit teeth as he stared up at the figure that saved them. Slowly yet surely, the dust began settling as more and more of their saviour was shown, with the most striking aspect being the white armour plating atop the gunmetal inner frame.
Their saviour held a massive weapon up to block the axe of the Graze Ein, with the unit requiring quite a bit of effort to keep the axe at bay as its knees buckled just a little under the weight of its opposing unit. Even so, it remained steadfast as it held its opponent back, refusing to allow the Ein to reach its comrades all the while
"You would never let us die in a place like this, right…"
"Mika?"
And after acknowledging those words via his local comm links, the pilot of the Gundam, Mikazuki Augus, looked up from the monitor of his Gundam Frame to face his new opponent. His unit was just a little strained from the initial battle it had against the several Graze units and Gali Gali's Kimaris Trooper, though despite all that, it was still combat ready, with just enough fuel and ammo leftover to allow it to fight a small war.
Or in this case, to hold off the Graze Ein as his comrades escaped to the parliament.
"Let's go," muttered Mikazuki as he narrowed his eyes at the unit before him, licking his lips as he tightened his grip on his Gundam. "Barbatos."
And as those words were spoken, Barbatos seemed to acknowledge his words as it began feeding him more data to work with. The result was Mikazuki widening his eyes rather intensely as the sudden data surge briefly overwhelmed him, though he quickly got over it as the Mobile Suit's optics flashed a more intense shade of green, signifying a greater connection between the two via their respective Alaya Vijnana units.
"Let's finish this… and go home…"
"Mikazuki…" muttered Kudelia as she, Atra and Orga stared up at the Gundam's back, with the three smiling rather widely in thanks towards the unit's pilot appearing in the nick of time to save their skins. Even so, their brief bout of thankfulness was cut short when the Graze Ein spoke out once more, with its voice somehow sounding even more enraged as it did so.
"You! That Mobile Suit! I recognise it… you sinful child… you irredeemable devil!" exclaimed the Graze in an incredibly pissed off tone, with said tone sounding much louder all the while. "The sinful child that killed Lieutenant Crank!"
Within the cockpit of Barbatos, Mika felt very confused as he raised an eyebrow. Crank? Who the Hell was that…?
"Who's that?" thought Mika out loud, his voice showing his genuine confusion as he raised a brow. It wasn't as if he had a list of the people he had killed, and even if he did it would be way too long to keep, so for him to remember a random guy that he had shot so long ago was a bit of a stretch. When he had voiced his thoughts out, however, the Graze unit before him seemed to somehow grow even more enraged, as it raised it's left arm unit in an attempt to strike the Barbatos.
"How dare you?!" exclaimed the Graze as it raised its arm and axe up to strike at the unit, though the arm was intercepted by the Barbatos the moment it was raised, stopping it dead in its tracks, though at the cost of the Gundam sliding back about half a metre in the process.
"Stay still," grumbled Mika, sounding mildly irritated as Orga got Kudelia and Atra back onto their feet and rushed towards the overturned jeep. As the girls kept their eyes on the Gundam, Orga helped Makanai, who was still stuck in a truly unfortunate manner, out of the upturned jeep.
"Get me out…" requested Makanai, sounding politely irritated all the while, to which Orga replied that he was doing so as he got his seatbelt off and assisted him out of the jeep.
"Boss…" came a voice behind Orga, making him turn to see that Takaki got their still functional Mobile Worker to their location. As quickly as he could, the Tekkadan leader knocked the side of the Worker as he offered a small smile.
"Takaki," greeted Orga, not willing to ask how Takaki got the Mobile Worker behind them without them hearing it as he moved onto the more pressing matter. "Nevermind, we have to hurry. So long as we're still here, Mika can't fight properly."
"Yes sir!" replied Takaki as Atra tugged on Kudelia's dress in order to get her to look away from the Gundam. As much as she was reluctant to do so, she had to leave Mikazuki and his Gundam to handle this on their own. This was a fight, something she couldn't help him with… and she knew it well. She just needed to get Kudelia to realize that as well.
"Miss Kudelia… we need to go!" urged Atra, and at that, she glanced down at the little girl as she offered a reluctant nod.
"Y-Yes… let's go…" agreed Kudelia hesitantly, to which she reluctantly nodded and sprinted off towards the Mobile Worker, though not before some parting thoughts for the young man.
'Please… stay well, Mikazuki…' thought Kudelia as she mounted the Mobile Worker alongside Atra, Orga and Makanai, with her staring back at the unit all the while. 'Your big hands will grasp onto something important in the future… I know it…'
'D-Don't die… Mikazuki…' thought Atra, gently holding onto her bracelet as mentally wished her crush good luck.
'You can take that big meany… if anyone can, then it's you!'
Both Mobile Suits were stuck in a clash with their respective weapons, though it became increasingly apparent that the Graze Ein itself was slowly but surely overpowering and pushing its opponentback. Despite that, the smaller Gundam Frame stood its ground valiantly, both it and its pilot unwilling to let up as they rooted themselves to the ground beneath them and remained steadfast.
"Unbelievable… your sins…" groaned the Ein's pilot as it pushed the Gundam back, exerting more force into both its axes all the while. "... they do not stop… they keep growing… they threaten to overwhelm your very essence!"
'The Hell does that mean…?' thought Mika as he narrowed his eyes at his opposing unit, frowning as he checked his radar briefly and raised a brow when he saw the Mobile Worker driving off. Glancing off in its general direction, Mika narrowed his eyes when he saw, from the corner of his unit's optics, the Mobile Worker speeding off, and not long after, Orga's voice could be heard from his comm links.
"Sorry for the wait, Mika!" he yelled, making the pilot in question raise his brows and focus on his headset as he listened. "We're on our way to the Parliament! I'll leave the rest to you! Don't let me down, though both of us know that won't happen!"
The smirk was rather apparent in Orga's voice as he finished, and it was enough to motivate Mika as he tightened his grip on his Gundam's cockpit controllers and took in a deep intake of breath.
"Yeah, I got it," replied the boy as he narrowed his eyes and shifted Barbatos' Land Boostersuntil they were pointing backwards and blasted them at full power. The added strength of both Land Boosters allowed the Gundam to shove the Graze Ein backwards, causing it to stumble a little in the process, and allowed him to launch Barbatos' leg unit at its waist, causing it to stumble back further.
Following up on that, Mikazuki had his unit swing its Wrench Mace down at the Graze Ein as it was still falling back. Against any unit, the Wrench Mace would've ripped them apart. However, to Mikazuki's surprise, the Graze Ein, instead of falling onto its back and allowing the Mace to slam into it, placed a leg unit behind itself to stop itself from falling onto the ground before it lifted an axe up to block the swing from the Gundam.
And at that point, Mikazuki realized that this wasn't going to be as easy a fight as most others that he partook in.
"Lieutenant Crank... at this rate, your tears will not stop…" bemoaned the Graze mournfully, but that tone slowly changed into one of pure hatred as it straightened its torso and fixed its singular blood red optic at the white Gundam before it, though on the opposing end, Mika could only blink in confusion at what the Hell he was talking about.
"With this fight… I…" continued the Graze as it forced the Wrench Mace onto the ground, in turn forcing Barbatos down as well, cracking the concrete all the while. Its shear physical strength was enough to surprise the pilot, though he remained calm as he narrowed his eyes
"I will make him repent!"
"Mikazuki…" muttered Kudelia, glancing at the two titans clashed in a battle of physical strength as they sped off. To her side was Atra, who seemed rather worried as she watched the Gundam be pushed back a little, though on the opposing end, Orga stared at his friend's unit with determination.
He knew that he would win. Mika would never led him down…
"We're running out of time!" he exclaimed Makanai, causing Orga to widen his eyes as he glanced down at the Mobile Worker's closed hatch. All the while, the Worker turned a sharp left, with Orga, Atra and Kudelia holding on tightly to the rails to keep themselves from being flung off all the while. "We must make haste! The election will begin within a few minutes!"
"I know!" retorted Orga grumpily, swiftly snapping his attention towards the elderly man who was inside the Mobile Worker as he placed a hand against his headset. "But thanks to Mika and that Gjallarhorn Mobile Suit, security is lax here. They're all concentrated on the two of them, so don't worry… I'll get you there… and then I'll put an end to all of this…"
And as he finished, Orga placed a hand against his headset and switched to a private channel as he glanced over at where Barbatos was.
"...right, Mika?"
Hearing Orga's voice through the comm link of his Gundam seemed to renew Mika's energy, though if it was in a good or bad way was up for debate as he shifted back on his seat and widened his eyes to show small, dilated pupils that promised death to all who dared stand in his way.
With all its strength, Barbatos swung it's Wrench Macein an upwards motion, inadvertently breaking their tie before the Gundam, with surprising dexterity, brought the Wrench Mace down to its side and swung it towards the Graze Ein's waist.
Mika didn't account for the Graze's dexterity to match his Gundam's, however, as it was able to dodged the strike and swiftly retaliated by attempting to swing its axe at Barbatos' elbow unit, though before the swing could connect and possibly sever the Gundam's arm at the elbow, Mika jerked the unit's arm backwards and used the unit's arm shield to block the attack. The arm shield gained a large cut as a result, but it did its job, even if the Gundam did stagger a little from the impact.
Using the opening he had given himself from the block, Mika grimaced and launched the Barbatos' leg unit towards the Ein. The strike was fast enough to connect with the Graze's waist, and the hit caused it to stumble back.
The pilot followed it up by swinging the Wrench Mace at the Ein, though he didn't account for it to recover so quickly and catch the Mace's head with it's manipulator. The unexpected defensive movement caught Mika a little off guard, though not as much as when the Graze Ein launched its fist at Barbatos' waist unit. When it pulled its fist unit back, it began spinning at its wrist, increasing in speed until it became a 'drill' fist of sorts. And when it struck, the drill fist nearly busted a waist pipe as it slammed into its side, with Mika himself wincing a little thanks to the phantom pain offered to him by the Alaya Vijnana system.
Thanks to the punch, Barbatos was sent reeling back a tad, though Mika managed to keep his Gundam's footing firmly on the ground. However, once he recovered from the slight launch, the Alaya Vijnana system of the Barbatos flared up, making Mika swiftly turn the Gundam to its left, just in time to widen his eyes a little when he saw the Graze Ein swing an axe at him. Reacting swiftly, he activated one of his unit's Land Boosters, and its sudden activation propelled Barbatos backwards a little, though it wasn't fast enough to dodge the axe swing completely as the weapon still managed to cleave the left Graze Ritter shoulderpad in half.
Acting quickly, the Graze sent an axe downwards to try and strike Barbatos while it was still apparently disorientated, followed by another and another, all of which were avoided rather easily, though it had the side effect of kicking up a ton of dust which shielded both Mechanical Titans from view. To both Mobile Suits, the dust was very little issue thanks to the additional optical sensors that helped them visualise each other in harsh environments, though to a nearby group of Gjallarhorn soldiers, it was quite a sight to behold.
"...commander?" began a bazooka holding soldier after a while as the Barbatos swung it's Mace at the Graze, narrowly missing it's cockpit by less than an inch, dispelling some of the dust around it briefly and allowing them to have a quick glimpse at the battling units, though within a second the two were once again blanketed by smoke when the Graze Ein swung its axes down at Barbatos, missing the unit and slamming them into the ground, ejecting dust into the air once more. "What are our orders?"
"I… I don't know," replied the unit commander, who had his helmet's visor flipped up so that he could view the battle with his own two eyes and confirm that he wasn't hallucinating. "All I can confirm is that one of the Mobile Suits in there is ours… but it's hard to believe… it's coloration and physical attributes makes it… makes it look like the devil…"
Relentlessly, the Graze Ein threw yet another strike which narrowly missed Barbatos' head unit, though it came close enough to behead the Gundam to make Mika grimace, but not enough for him to lose focus. Quickly, he sidestepped to the right, causing another downswing to miss his unit's left arm and for the Ein's axe to be lodged into the ground.
Acting as fast as his instincts and muscles allowed, he had Barbatos to swing the Wrench Mace at the outstretched arm unit of the Graze with full intent of breaking its arm off, though theunit retaliated by letting go of it's axe and pulling its arm unit back, in turn evading the strike, and kicking the Barbatos at the waist, making it fall on it's side and lose its grip on the Wrench Mace, rattling Mika up within its cockpit a little in the process.
"This is the perfect form of the Alaya-Vijnana…" growled the Graze's pilot as he pulled his unit's axe out of the ground and pointed it towards the fallen Gundam, who stared up at it passively. Likewise, Mika simply stared at it in confusion. "It is not like your crude unit… the one that I possess is the one that holds the power to unify humans and Mobile Suits… a perfect recreation of the one used by our founder! The one who brought us victory during the Calamity War!"
"The Perfect Alaya-Vijnana?" echoed Mika, clearly not understanding what the Ein's pilot was talking about. To him, everyone's Alaya Vijnana System, regardless of how many spines they had, were about the same. Sure, more spines meant a deeper connection, but it all boiled down to the same thing, an increased reaction speed and connection to their unit. What really mattered in his eyes was the person's skill, not their tech, a mentality shared by a majority of Tekkadan, so hearing someone call his Alaya Vijnana System 'perfect' was a new experience.
"You… you and your pathetic Alaya Vijnana byproduct… are nothing… nothing…" continued the Graze as it raised its axe. And, in a swift motion, the Graze brought down its axe onto its opponent, though by then the Barbatos had dodged out of the way with a fancy backflip and landed close to its Wrench Mace. Crouching down, the unit retrieved the Mace and held it with both manipulators, though it was not quick enough to avoid the axe which the Graze tossed at it. The weapon struck its right shoulderpad, breaking off the larger part to its side and causing it to stagger a little. "Nothing but a mere defective one!"
Mika was quick to have his Gundam recover from the stagger, though the Graze used his recovery time to his advantage as he attempted to swing its axe at the Gundam, though thankfully Barbatos ducked under and retaliated with a strike with its Wrench Mace. Because of how big it's weapon was, the Ein couldn't duck under it. Instead, it leapt straight over the Wrench Mace and attempted to land on the Gundam.
Swiftly, the Gundam leapt out of the way, causing the unit to simply crash down onto the ground and kick up a ton of dust. Using the possible confusion and smokescreen to his advantage, Mika had Barbatos to perform a 'roundhouse swing' with the Wrench Mace. Unfortunately for him, however, the Graze reacted quickly, deflecting the strike with an axe and causing the Gundam to stumble back, the shockwave of the two weapons clashing against one another dissipating the cloud of smoke around them.
Gritting his teeth in uncharacteristic annoyance, Mika placed a foot of Barbatos back to steady itself. Once it was steadied, Mika grumbled silently to himself as he tightened his grip on the Gundam's arm controllers, in turn causing the Gundam itself to tighten its grip on the Wrench Mace. Though it was subtle, Mika was feeling some sort of emotion. It was called fear, if he wasn't wrong, something he has yet to feel for quite some time, and he wasn't familiar enough with it to acknowledge it.
Besides, he didn't exactly have much time to think about he kept his mind on getting through this battle.
A building close to the Edmonton Parliament
"Boss, I got a call from Miss Atra!"
As he yelled that, the boss in question Orga, turned to glance at Takaki with raised brows as the young man stared at him with a relieved smile. The young blonde was crouched in front of a computer as he spoke, and upon hearing that, Itsuka sighed in relief as he slackened his shoulders just a little.
"They made it to the assembly!" continued Takaki with a smile as he placed a hand behind his head and ruffled up his blonde hair just a little to calm himself. Opening his mouth, Orga got ready to respond to his subordinate, though before he could, the two of them heard a loud crash off in the distance, prompting them to stare out of the closest window and realize that Mika was still engaged in a battle to the death against the Graze Ein. "D-Dammit… Mika's still fighting that thing?!"
"It's no normal Mobile Suit if it can fight against Mika for that long," pointed out Orga, as he tied his Tekkadan jacket around his waist as he spoke. As he did so, Takaki stared up at the lilac haired young man as he spoke, with some form of hopefulness in his eyes all the while.
"Yeah, but now that our job's over, they'll stop attacking… right?" asked Takaki, hoping that his boss would say yes. "We got Miss Kudelia to the Parliament and they won't attack that place… so they'll recall that Mobile Suit soon… right?"
"Yes… they will, but it'll take some time," confirmed Orga, frowning as he grimaced and cracked his knuckles and neck, seeming to be psyching himself out as he spoke. "It'll take too long… and Mika's struggling out there. That Mobile Suit he's fighting seems to have a personal vendetta against him too. I doubt he'll let him off the hook, even when he's recalled."
"Boss?" muttered Takaki, only just realizing that Orga was getting ready to leave. The young blonde found it worrying, though he didn't say much more as his boss moved to kneel in front of him.
"Takaki," said Orga, cutting Takaki off as he looked his blonde friend in the eye with a gentle smile. "I need you to do me a favor…"
"A favor?" asked Takaki, sounding worried though still willing to go through with this favor as he hardened his features and nodded firmly. "What kinda favor, boss?"
"Get some LCS units in the sky," was his simple answer from his boss, who stood up and stared out the window, frowning ever so slightly as he did. Takaki nodded in response as he moved to retrieve the LCS drones he had with him, though he did turn to Orga one last time before he got on with what he was ordered to do.
"What about you, boss?" inquired Takaki, sounding worried as he spoke, to which Orga smiled a little awkwardly.
"I can't leave Mika by himself, Takaki" replied the big boss of Tekkadan, and Takaki needed a second or two to let what Orga had said sink in before he widened his eyes immensely.
"Hold on… you're going to the battlefield?!" he exclaimed. But Orga simply smiled.
"It's my job as the boss, Takaki," said Orga reassuringly, ruffling up the blonde's hair as he spoke. "It's my responsibility to see this through. Don't worry about me, Takaki. I'll be fine, same with Mika. Just focus on getting those LCS units airborne!"
And with that said, Orga rushed out to get into the Mobile Worker parked outside before Takaki could protest.
Back on the battlefield
Accompanied by a loud crash, a messy explosion of dust, and a pair of soldiers in the distance shielding their eyes, Barbatos was sent crashing into the side of a decently sized skyscraper, creating a massive hole in the structure on impact. The one who knocked the one in was none other than the Graze Ein, who stood before its badly damaged opponent, glaring down at it with its single monoeye, glowing red with pure hatred.
Barbatos was, by now, covered in multiple dents and axe shaped cuts on its chassis. Its paint had chipped off rather intensely, showing its silverish grey bare armour, and it most likely had several internally damaged components within it as well. The areas with the most visible amount of damage, not including the V-Fin, were the chest unit's extra armour plating, which had a massive gash on it's left and a massive dent which busted through its center, and the shoulder pads, though that came as no surprise as those were the most useful defensive gear the Barbatos currently had, right next to its twin arm shields.
On the polar opposite, the Graze Ein was almost spotless. The dark navy blue/grey had little to no damage on them, with a few minor ones on the waist and arm units from failed or ineffective strikes. The largest damaged area was on the left shoulderpad, which was caused by an Autocannon blast that rendered the left shoulder mounted machine gun inoperable. Aside from that, however, one could very easily assume that it was factory fresh.
"Sinful child…" grumbled the Graze, and it's tone sounded more distasteful than when it had roared at Kudelia, though there was an underlying sense of gratefulness in its tone of voice now, most likely due to the euphoria it felt while combating the Gundam. Even so, its hatred was maintained. "Lieutenant Crank never intended to fight you…"
While the Graze's pilot continued it's babbling, something his opponent found generally annoying and more than a little irritating, Mika used this slight 'downtime' to check on the systems of his MS. Unfortunately for him and Barbatos, however, most of the system specs came up in the red. Damaged areas were innumerable, and the ammunitions were running very low as time went by.
"Gas reserves are just barely above the halfway point…" he muttered as the AV system fed him most of the data on the Barbatos while he manually tapped the cockpit's monitor, grimacing as he processed more of the information. "Autocannons are almost empty. Even with the current amount of shots… I can't kill him…"
And slowly, the boy stared up at his opponent, who kept on speaking in spite of its current tactical advantage.
'A difference in the Alaya Vijnana system…' thought Mika as he narrowed his eyes at the Graze. Within a few seconds, however, he lowered his head and frowned. No… that couldn't be it. Alaya Vijnana was no replacement for skill. It was a crutch for those who were desperate, nothing more, prompting the pilot to assume that the Graze was simply a better pilot than him.
"Why do you not understand?!" cut in the Graze pilot, snapping Mika out of his thoughts as it concluded it finished it's speech that he didn't even listen to. However, deciding to reply in order to get his mind back into the battle, Mika looked back up and blank at the Ein.
"Whoever you're talking about, he was just in the way. He didn't move, so I crushed him," said Mika, frowning deeply as he spoke his mind, which didn't really help the situation as the Graze Ein tightened its grip on its axes as it spoke.
"I knew it…" it said, as it's optic blazed up intensely, so much so that the light spread out from its optic, giving it the appearance of a flaming eye, as it continued, its voice now reflecting the anger it truly felt. "You are defective!"
As he said that, the MS before the Gundam raised an axe, not noting how Barbatos' back thruster began powering up. And as soon as it was raised, the unit's booster blasted to life, kicking up a ton of dust and creating a smokescreen all the while. Despite the cloud of dust, however, the Graze saw the Wrench Mace flying towards it and caught the weapon before it could hit him.
"You rat…" cursed the Ein before activating it's remaining pile bunker, sending the spike straight into the Wrench Mace's upper half, completely destroying it and slightly crumpling the bottom before it dropped the thing onto the ground with no hesitation. As it did so, however, it opened itself up to a counterattack from the Gundam, which managed to circle around it and rush the unit from its side.
Grimacing as he boosted his unit forward, Mika attempted a simple action; to simply grab the Graze's cockpit and crush or at least try and shoot it with the Autocannon. Unfortunately, the Ein was too fast for his liking, as it whirled around and used the same arm it used to break the Wrench to catch the Gundam's manipulator, intertwining its digits with Barbatos' as it turned to face it.
"You animals know nothing about the righteous path for humans!" exclaimed the Graze. And despite the firm footing it had on the ground, Mika soon felt the feet units of his Gundam being lifted up from the ground. Widening his eyes in shock, Mika could only give a bewildered grunt as the Graze Ein quite literally threw Barbatos off to the side with just one arm.
While the MS was still in the air, Mika grimaced and activated the Land Boosters, positioning them in a way that readjusted Barbatos' position while it soared through the air. Thankfully, he managed to do so before his unit landed face first onto the ground, instead landing on its own two feet unit. To soften the Barbatos' landing, Mika stepped down on a stepper located beside the foot steppers, and the grey segments on the soles of the Gundam's feet swung down, revealing 'claws' of sorts that helped soften its landing.
Thanks to the softer landing, Barbatos recovered quickly, but not quick enough to avoid a drill kick to the waist unit, shearing off part of its waist unit and making it staggering back, followed up by a double axe downswing. Thankfully for the Gundam, the momentum which the Graze gave it thanks to the drill kick, combined with Mika leaping Barbatos backwards, the strike missed, even if it did kick up a ton of dust, once more blanketing both units in a cloud of smoke.
As it leapt backwards, the right side of the Gundam's backpack detached and swung up over the unit's shoulder via a concealed 'backpack arm', allowing Mikazuki to get Barbatos to reach back and grab the Longsword with very little issue. Gripping it with both manipulators, Mika had his unit yank the blade off the backpack unit just in time to block a strike from the Ein. Not letting up, the Ein slammed it's second axe onto the Longsword, which still held together despite the amount of force against its side.
"But you laid a hand on your savior and pulled him down to his grave…" continued the Graze, though at this point, Mika gave up listening. Why bother listening to someone who was speaking complete nonsense, anyways? Besides, he had other things to worry about, like the leg joints of Barbatos slowly giving way, making the Gundam fall to its knees. Oddly enough, however, the boy didn't seem to be too botheredby it, seeing as he was most concerned about one single thing.
"Basic speed… no… the reaction speed…" muttered Mika, his mind in shambles and feeling horribly sore from the prolonged battle. Despite this, however, his voice was calm and even, which was probably a show of how little he valued his life at that point as he racked his brain. "A difference in the Alaya-Vijnana?"
"You cannot be saved now!" continued the Ein as the Gundam's knees buckled, slowly but surely forcing it down to one knee. Mika himself paid it no mind, however, as he kept his thoughts centred on the prospect of the Alaya Vijnana system. They were all the same… right? He used to think that Alaya Vijnana systems didn't dictate the outcome of a battle, but now… he wasn't so sure… and he began wondering… if the system were truly so important when it came to winning fights, how could he kill the one who stood against him, the one that had the superior system…?
"With your bodies disgraced by sins… you can no longer be saved… not you… or that woman!"
At that, Mikazuki blinked. That woman… Kudelia?
And then he remembered… he was here to escort her to the Parliament! All that fighting against the Graze Ein had dulled his mind to the point where he had forgotten about his objective, and he had almost lost his reason for battling the opposing unit… at least until now.
"And your comrades… they shall never see the end of this day!" continued the Graze, its fury shining through even more with each word as it forced the Gundam fully onto its knees, cracking the concrete beneath the unit all the while. "I will kill you and your comrades… to purify your sins… it is the only way that you can be saved!"
If he were to say anything else, Mika would have not replied. However, this was a special occasion, as Augus didn't even hear whatever else the Graze said.
The things that he had just said… it struck a chord within him.
Anger began bubbling up in his veins as his pupils dilated down until they were nothing more than pinpricks, and at that, a single phrase began echoing in his mind.
"I will kill you and your comrades… to purify your sins!"
"I will kill you and your comrades!"
"I will kill your comrades!"
It would kill his comrades… and if it did… all their progress would be undone! Their time together as a family, the battles they've fought with one another… the memories they made. He wouldn't let it end now… not when they were so close to completing their first mission! Not when they have yet to reach the place where they belong!
He was here to open a path for Orga… no… for Tekkadan's future! And he wasn't about to let some self-righteous Graze pilot stop him!
And at that, Mika felt himself slowly raise his head up to face the Ein. And when he spoke, the boy's voice held a rather noticeable amount of anger, so subtle that it was almost paintul.
"Sins…?" muttered Mika, his pupils dilating immensely in response to his anger. "...Save? That… that is not for you to decide… hey… Barbatos," turning his attention to his Gundam, he felt a difference in the Alaya Vijnana System. An odd feeling, which one that Mika was unfamiliar with, though if he focused just enough, he noticed how the sensation could be compared to anger… and it only made the next order he gave his Gundam that much easier.
"Just give me all that you have… don't bother holding back…"
In response to his request, the Gundam's optics began to light up, flashing even brighter than it ever shone in three hundred years.
"Just give me all that you have… Barbatos!"
And he felt his Gundam's optics flare up, exploding in a flash of emerald, Mikazuki felt Barbatos being launched up into the air.
The Graze,having noted the fact that its opponent's optics were noticeably glowing, had saw it as a threat and, with a swift motion, it had forced the Barbatos' arm units upwards before launching a kick to it's armoured chest unit.
"Die and repent!" exclaimed the Ein, boosting behind the Gundam while it was still in the air and swung it's right axe wielding arm unit. Its swing would've brought about a clean cut straight through Barbatos' waist, and considering how much force it was using to swing the weapon, it would most likely be enough to slice the unit in half.
It expected this to be the end of the fight.
And yet… what it didn't expect was for the Gundam to recover so quickly whilst in the air, much less so for it to deflect the strike with a defensive swing with it's Longsword, in turn knocking the axe out of its manipulator and sending it flying into the air.
"W-What?!" proclaimed the Graze Ein, the surprise very apparent in itsvoice as the deflected axe dropped onto the ground behind Barbatos, landing on its edge and embedding itself into the ground with a loud clang. For a brief moment, the Graze stared at the Gundam in shock.
"That… that reaction speed…!"
And as it spoke, Mikazuki frowned as his right arm began spazzing out due to the sudden Alaya Vijnana overload. Within seconds, however, it calmed itself down as his body got used to the data surge, and at that, he took in a deep breath as he tightened his grips on his arm controllers.
"Not enough… not enough… that's not enough!" muttered Mika, gradually raising his voice as he spoke whilst ignoring the sensation in his back as he breathed in heavily. "More… more!"
And at that, he raised his head up to glare at the Graze Ein with tired yet resolute eyes, with his right eye completely red with blood whilst crimson began trailing down from his right nostril as he narrowed his eyes.
"Give me all you've got… Barbatos!"
Heeding his pilot's command, Barbatos granted Mikazuki an extra dose of data from its Alaya Vijnana system, externally signified by the powerful green flash its optics emitted.
Elsewhere
"Boss?"
Atop the building near the parliament, Takaki frowned as he crouched down on one knee, tapping a few buttons on the back of an LCS drone unit. Generally inexpensive on the black market, Orga had the blonde bring several of these along with them should they run into difficulties along the way to the Parliament.
It didn't take long for Takaki to get a whole flock of LCS drones up and running, and even before then, he could hear the sounds of combat echo through his headset. Yamagi seemed to be crying out in relief while Eco seemed to be breathing much heavier than usual, and Akihiro's ragged breathing signified that he was a little worse for wear, though he would live.
Nothing could be heard from Mika, however, though if the smoke that kept being ejected into the air was any indication, the kid was still fighting.
"Can you hear me?" asked the blonde as the final LCS drone was airborne. "I've got all the LCS drones we have in the air! You can now contact everyone on our team now!"
"Good job, Takaki!" thanked Orga as he drove down the desolate streets in his Mobile Worker, not caring much for his own safety all the while.
Though reckless, Orga knew that Mika couldn't keep this up. Like most others, Mika relied on morale to keep himself moving, and his morale was undoubtedly a little low after all this fighting. He needed something to help keep his head up, and Orga knew that he was that something.
'I'm the only one who can get that guy's chin up these days,' thought Orga somewhat sarcastically as he chuckled to himself, reminiscing how no one but him could get through to the kid, him and a certain other girl, at least… though he didn't dwell much on it as he turned his attention towards his now active LCS comm links.
Without any hesitation, Orga tapped on the LCS comm links, in turn linking him to every member of Tekkadan who was within range. To his relief, the Gusion Rebake was still operational on the outskirts of Edmonton, albeit with its signal a little weaker than usual, but the Ryusei Go and twin Rouei's signals were faint. Still, he held onto hope that their pilots were still alive as he spoke.
"Can you all hear me?!"
Along the outskirts of Edmonton, a single Mobile Suit stood silently among a literal graveyard of Graze units.
For the past hour or so, it had been holding its ground against waves upon waves of ED-06j,Graze Ground Types, all sent by Gjallarhorn for the sole purpose of destroying it. Evidently, they didn't do too good of a job, as almost every single Graze unit that was sent at it were either forced into retreat or overpowered by the Gundam's sheer brute strength.
ASW-G-11r, Gundam Gusion Rebake, had its heavy armour, versatility and the tenacity of its pilot to thank for this victory. Though it was severely outnumbered, with the three other Mobile Suits that were meant to back it up having been taken out of commission not long ago, it still managed to fend off the Gjallarhorn units that were thrown at it with all it had and came out victorious. A desperate last stand that it had won out of sheer willpower, the Gundam now stood proud above its defeated adversaries, a testament to its status as a Mobile Suit that helped end the Calamity War.
Within its cockpit, Akihiro Atland took in several deep breaths to calm himself while blood streamed down both his nostrils, his body still recovering from the strain of combat and the increased data that was offered to him during this desperate struggle. In spite of all the stress that came during the battle and its aftershock, however, he still managed a smile when Orga's voice came through the LCS.
"Makanai and Kudelia have reached the Parliament!"
"Our job was a success."
Standing from side to side, several heavy artillery Mobile Worker units rained Hell down on the Gjallarhorn opposition. In the battle, they lost a few of their numbers, but Gjallarhorn's side was dropping much more noticeably than theirs.
Inside his Mobile Worker, Eugene Seven Stark grit his teeth as a shot just narrowly whizzed past his unit, not even paying attention to what Orga was saying as he roared out in anger and unloaded a clip into a Gjallarhorn Mobile Worker, with the armour piercing round being enough to destroy his target.
'What's the point of being out here if I can't look cool?! I'm going all out!' thought Eugene, psyching himself out as he kept up the barrage.
"So… do not die here!"
"Don't die now!"
Laying on the ground in front of his destroyed Ryusei, Norba Shino smirked as Orga issued his commands through his Graze Frame's LCS. Though his unit was wrecked to the point of being inoperable, its cockpit remained intact, just enough to allow its LCS comm links to be operational, and it was nothing short of a blessing as it allowed him to hear the good news.
Alongside him were Lafter Frankland, Azee Gurumin, Eco Turbine, three members from Teiwaz who accompanied Tekkadan to Earth, and Yamagi Gilmerton, a mechanic of Tekkadan, with the latter currently checking on Shino's injuries, only to wince when saw Norba smirk widely and raise his fist up into the air.
"S-Shino! You shouldn't-" began Yamagi, only to be cut off by Shino, who moved his raised arm up to caress his blonde friend's cheek, causing the usually neutral young man to widen his eyes and blush just a little as Norba smirked at him.
"Who cares?! After this, let's have a party!" proclaimed Shino, sounding beyond ecstatic in spite of his current situation as Yamagi stared at his brunette friend in bewilderment, only to allow a small smile to form on his face as he placed his hands above Shino's.
"Y-Yeah… but only I'll attend only if you promise that you won't come this close to dying ever again…" muttered Yamagi, to which Shino smirked.
"Deal!" proclaimed Shino heartily, only to wince when he pulled a muscle, much to Yamagi's terror as he moved to apply some first aid. All the while, the three wives of Naze couldn't help but smile at the scene before them.
"He doesn't know, doesn't he…?" muttered Azee rather weakly as Eco tended to her wounds.
"Who knows? But it's rather cute~" quipt Eco, and at that, the three women laughed heartily as they unconsciously tuned out Orga's voice.
"Whoever dies from here on out… I'll make sure to kill you again for disobeying me!"
"So! No matter what…"
Boosting straight at Barbatos at maximum speed, the Graze attempted a downswing at the smaller MS with one of its two axes, with it having retrieved its deflected axe some time ago. It didn't account for it to dodge with speed rivaling his own, however, and the Gundam moved so swiftly that it briefly disappeared from the Ein's radar.
"What is this?!" demanded the Graze as Barbatos issued a possibly fatal strike to its arm with its Longsword, one which could have severed it. Thankfully for the Graze, it was able to pull its arm back to avoid the strike, though the Longsword did manage to slice the axe that arm was holding in two, in turn robbing the Ein of one of its weapons all the while..
"His reaction speed has tripled…" muttered the Graze's in shock as Barbatos came at it with a flurry of swings with its Longsword, most of which had missed while those that connected left decently sized slash marks on the unit's chassis, ending with the Longsword clashing loudly against the Ein's axe. "How is this possible… his Alaya Vijnana system shouldn't be able to give out that much data!"
While the Graze attempted to figure out how to pin it down, Barbatos' pilot pushed on tirelessly, focusing all his might on killing the Graze. If he failed now, they would all die. They would have gone all this way for nothing… and those who were sacrificed would be let down. He would not allow this!
"Live! Even if you have to crawl… or if you have to die trying!"
Grimacing, Mika dodged a strike aimed at his Gundam's waist unit and retaliated by swinging Barbatos' Longsword at the Graze, slicing off the unit's left antenna. The pilot of his opponent winced ever so slightly at that, though it recovered quickly and swung its axe once more at Barbatos, who simply duckedunder the strike.
In retaliation, Mikazuki swung the Longsword at it's cockpit, a strike that it narrowly dodged, though a cut did appear on the edge of the unit. In response, the Graze sent it's axe down on it, a strike which kicked up a ton of dust, though it didn't have enough time to recover and dodge a swing which knocked off a part of it's arm unit's frame.
And outside of all that chaos, the two Mobile Suits and their pilots didn't notice the Mobile Worker which stopped outside the dust.
"How is this possible…" muttered the Graze's pilot as he launched his MS' fist, spun up into a drill punch, at Barbatos, a strike that was blocked with what remained of its left Graze Ritter shoulderpad, though it was sent staggering back a little. "His movements…!"
Activating the Land Boosters and blasting his Gundam forward as soon as he recovered from the drill punch, Mika charged straight at the Graze. Seeing his opponent coming, the Graze swung its axe to stop the Gundam, only for the unit to meet it's weapon with it's Longsword. For a moment, both units remained locked in a clash until the Ein attempted to launch a kick at Barbatos, though it leapt back before it connected.
Landing on both feet units, the Barbatos raised an arm to block another drill punch with its arm gauntlet, causing a massive indent to be formed on its gauntlet. The Graze wasted no time in swinging its axe at Barbatos, thinking its pilot to be distracted by its drill punch, though before the weapon could even get close to it's target, the Barbatos swung its blocking arm to the side, sending the drill fist flying past its head unit and allowing it to launch a punch on the Graze's head unit, shattering it's monoeye and heavily denting it's head unit. The strike sent the Ein sprawling backwards and jerked it's head to the side.
Whirling back to face the Tekkadan MS, the Graze's optic seemed to glow a darker shade of red, prompting Mika to swing the Longsword at it again, and though the Graze narrowly dodged it, earning a smaller cut on it's waist frame.
Not using it's axe this time, the Graze boosted forward and sent a drill punch at Barbatos' head unit, shearing off it's left cheek armour and making Mika flinch in the cockpit. And that action sent it out of the dust cloud, allowing Orga to see the carnage before him… and to flinch at how damaged Barbatos was. He has seen the unit damaged before in the past, but never to this degree.
"Not a chance!" exclaimed the Graze pilot, and before Mika could recover, it sent a drilling kick at his Gundam's waist frame, sending Barbatos staggering back as its Additional Chest Armour Plating broke off, landing on the ground with a loud clang.
Stepping forward, the Graze slammed its clawed foot unit down onto the broken Additional Armour Plating, crushing it beneath its claws, and glared at the Gundam, whose pilot was beginning to feel the aftershock of the Alaya Vijnana surge as it breathed in heavily.
"This is the end…" said the Graze, and honestly, Mika couldn't be bothered to listen.
He was tired, dehydrated, and he wanted to just close his eyes and drift into an embrace of dreams. So, as the Graze opened it's damaged helmet, revealing its red optic that burnt a furious shade of crimson, before raising it's axe, Mika care to dodge.
His head felt… fuzzy. It was so… light. Everything was spinning. He was very tired, and it took a lot more effort than he'd like to keep his eyes open.
Perhaps if he just closed his eyes… maybe he could just… rest…
And mere moments before the axe could strike him down, however, his LCS comm links burst to life.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, MIKA?!"
And at that, Mikazuki forcefully shot his eyes open, revealing dilated pupils that had all but regained what little strength they had.
Though the aftershock of pushing the Alaya Vijnana past its preconceived limits still remained, the surge of adrenaline offered to him thanks to Orga's shout was enough to make him forcefully ignore it as he glared up at his opponents.
He wouldn't die today, it was not his time.
They had yet to reach the place where they belonged, after all!
With the aftershock mostly gone, Mika grimaced and swiftly pushed down on a button on Barbatos' arm controller, in turn ejecting the Graze Ritter shoulder pads and the backpack unit to reduce the weight on the Gundam.
And right as the Graze Ein's axe hit the ground, the Gundam was gone, prompting the Graze's optic to widen in shock.
"What…?!" proclaimed the Graze, taken aback by the sudden speed the Gundam had just demonstrated. Swiveling it's cracked monoeye from side to side, the Ein was unable to pin down the location of its opponent, not until it heard the sound of it's adversary's Land Boosters burst to life behind it. Turning back, it saw the Gundam leap into the air, Longsword raised above its head as it closed the distance between itself and its opponent.
The Graze's first instinct was to swing its axe at the Gundam, but it found itself to be too slow to do so, and as a result, it found its right arm completely severed at the elbow thanks to a single, powerful swing.
"He… he severed the Mobile Suit's inner and outer frame all together?!" proclaimed the Graze in shock as his MS' severed arm unit landed not too far behind it, going limp as soon as it struck the ground.
While it was still in shock, Mikazuki found himself feeling rather wistful inside the cockpit, smiling just a little as he glanced up a little as he stared through the heads up display of his unit and glanced over at the severed arm of the Graze.
"I finally understand how to use this…" he muttered, smiling ever so slightly as he huffed, tightening his unit's grip on the Longsword as he spoke, sounding rather affectionate as he chuckled a little. "It was so easy… and it took me this long to get it."
"You… you monster!" exclaimed the Graze, breaking Mika out of his minor trance as it launched its still intact arm towards the unit for a drill punch. Dodging to the side, the Barbatos avoided the punch before swinging it's Longsword at its elbow, severing it with a single slash all the while.
"Look who's talking," spat Mika in a rather harsh tone as he narrowed his eyes at the Graze, who backed away from its opponent. As a last resort, the Graze raised its left leg unit for a drill kick, though it's opponent's MS dodged the kick before stabbing it's weapon into the leg unit, making the Graze limp back a little, before yanking it out and damaging it rather harshly in the process.
"Lieutenant Crank!" exclaimed the Graze Ein, it's voice filled with enraged shame as it turned to glare at Barbatos, with its remaining leg unit straining under the weight of the torso unit and it's single red optic blazing red. "Specialist Major Bauduin! My righteousness… my destiny… my mission! I will not…!"
Having enough of his babbling, Mikazuki grimaced as he pulled back Barbatos' arm unit controllers before jerking them back forward, jamming the Longsword into the cockpit of the Graze. It was a clean cut, one which slashed straight into the Ein's cockpit and destroyed the pilot's life support system.
And as it went limp, Mikazuki simply glared at it, breathing heavily as he glared at the still form of the Ein, slowly slouching down as it went limp.
"Shut up…" he grumbled. "Orga's giving me orders…"
As he said that, Orga looked up to the sky, smiling happily, sighing in relief as he did so.
"Good work.. Mika…" muttered Orga, smiling as he glanced at the Gundam. He knew that his friend's eyes were on him, and at that, he smirked and gave him a two fingered salute. "You did-"
And right as he was calming himself down, the Tekkadan leader widened his eyes when his LCS comm links came on, allowing Takaki's horrified voice to be heard.
"Orga! Mr Mikazuki!" proclaimed Takaki, prompting both Tekkadan members in question to blink in confusion as they acknowledged his voice.
"What is it, Takaki?" asked Orga, his formerly calm demeanor slowly fading as thanks to Takaki's tone. Likewise, Mika grunted a little when he acknowledged Takaki's voice, and before long, he continued speaking.
"There's a large amount of Ahab energy build up near you…" said Takaki urgently, his voice sounding more and more agitated as he spoke. This confused Orga and Mika at first, though when he continued, the two of them widened their eyes intensely. "It's… it's coming from the Mobile Suit Mr Mikazuki is fighting!"
'Self destruct…!' thought Mika as he flipped the Land boosters back and activated them at full power, boosting the Gundam backwards while yanking the Longsword out. Yet, something seemed to be malfunctioning in the Barbatos. Mika would have wondered if it was because he pushed it too far, but he didn't have much time, as the Gundam seemed to just shut down completely.
Alongside that small problem, Mika noticed how Barbatos seemed to be pulled towards the Graze. Not just Barbatos, though. The remains of the Wrench Mace, Graze's arms/axes, the armour parts which the Gundam ejected, and even Orga, who was reversing his Mobile Worker at maximum power, were all being pulled towards the soon to explode Graze Ein.
And yet, when Barbatos,and by extension Mikazuki himself, came into contact with the Graze Ein's chassis, the 'vortex' abruptly stopped, ending in a small explosion that sent a rather powerful shockwave ripple across the entirety of Edmonton, in turn causing Orga's Mobile Worker to be sent back rather far, though it didn't flip over as it simply screeched backwards before coming to a stop.
Grumbling to himself, Orga slammed the hatch of his Mobile Worker open before he climbed out of it, though once he was out, the young man was quick to widen his eyes in shock.
"Boss!" came Takaki's voice again, sounding worried, horrified and just a little relieved as he spoke. "The Ahab build up is gone… but I'm not picking up the Barbatos' Ahab Wave! What's going on there?!"
But Orga didn't answer. The sight in front of him was too much.
"B-Boss?! Are you there?!"
Placing a hand against his forehead, Orga slapped it harshly as he attempted to get himself to wake up. He frowned deeply when he realized that he was awake and well, however, and at that, he couldn't help but groan a little, though after a short while, his groan became a loud yell of rage as he held both sides of his head.
"B-BOSS?!"
No response from his boss… he was too caught up in the sight before him.
There was… nothing.
Gundam Barbatos, alongside the Graze Ein… was gone. There was nothing left of either, and it was enough to make Orga lose it as he realized that his best friend… his brother… was gone.
And for one of the few times in his life, Orga allowed himself to shed some tears before letting out an anguished yell.
A yell which rang through the Edmonton sunset and reflected his sorrow the loss of a good friend, and something which would haunt Orga for many years from now.
Greetings, and welcome to Mobile Suit Gundam; Tekketsu No Kyojin! Or at least the heavily rewritten version of it!
For those wondering, what you have just read and, if you enjoy it enough, might continue to read is a heavily rewritten version of my very first story that went by the exact same name. Fair warning, as stated in the summary, this will be a slow burn story, and there will be a lot of chapters dedicated to character interactions. Because I like those.
Another thing as I wish to clarify as much as I can in the intro to avoid confusion, especially for what I consider to be my magnum opus, as embarrassing as that may sound. I will be referring to characters via their first and last names, so it will be common for me to refer to Mikazuki as 'Mikazuki' and 'Augus' in a single paragraph, or use a descriptor of him, like blue eyed teen. It's something I do to hopefully keep things from getting stale.
In this story, Mikazuki is 15 years old at present. The other characters are around his age, barring Nac Tias, who is slightly older. How much older, I'll let you guys decide. It's not really an important detail, I just thought I'd let you guys know. Oh and in this story Mika is taller than Levi as well.
Also if you guys prefer it, this story is available on Archive Of Our Own under the same name. As of the time of me posting this updated outro (7/11/2021), 15 chapters have been posted there.
Bonus things that you might want to take note of, written down as footnotes to save us time.
Manipulator = Gundam Barbatos' hand
Digit = Gundam Barbatos' fingers
Optic/optics = Gundam Barbatos' eye/eyes
That's probably enough rambling from me. Once again, I hope you enjoyed the read, and if you decide to stick around, that you'll enjoy what else I upload!
Heavily Edited on: 13/11/2020