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Another one of my hasty ideas turned into fic. Might be a bit long and predictable.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sakura Taisen or any of the characters.

The members of the Hanagumi assembled at the command centre in full gear in less than a minute However, General Yoneda was unpleased.

"Ohgami! Where are Reni and Sakura?"

"Sakura is still unfit for duty sir. As for Reni..." Ohgami trailed off. Not sure what to say.

Yoneda grunted disapprovingly. "I'll deal with you later. Meanwhile get to Asakusa immediately. Seems like there are 4 Koumas tearing the place apart."

Kaede stepped forward, a report from the Tsukigumi in her hand. "It seems like these Koumas have been tested on by Kyougoku before their escape so be sharp everyone. Kayama says these are quite different than the ones we've seen before."

Ohgami nodded and gave the order to move out. However things weren't meant to go smoothly that day. On their way to the Koubu hangar, Sumire collapsed.

Kanna slowed and turn towards the heir to the Kanzaki family. "Hey princess, is the fact that one of your shopping haunts is being destroyed so devastating to you?"

When no rebuttal came from Sumire, Kanna got nearer to check up on her when she noticed that Sumire was gasping in pain. "Taichou! Taichou! Sumire doesn't look good!"

Ohgami and the rest of the Hanagumi screeched to a halt and raced back to the duo. Meanwhile, Sumire struggled to get up and she looked whiter than a sheet of paper. "Don't worry about me," she gasped, "I can still fight."

"No you're not." Ohgami answered firmly. "Iris, get Kaede and take Sumire to the infirmary. The rest of you, move out!"

Maria nodded and led the team towards the hangar. Kanna lingered a bit before joining them.

To their amazement, Reni was already inside her Koubu Kai and waiting to be transported to their destination. Without time to ponder on, they hopped into their respective Koubus and set off.

The Hanagumi were still in the air when Ohgami decided to open a private channel to Reni. He was surprised when he found out that Reni had turned off her visual feed.

"Reni? Are you ok? You didn't turn up for the meeting and you've switched off your video feed."

Reni remained silent. Her eyes had swollen and she didn't want anyone to know that she was crying. Especially Ohgami..

"Reni?"

"I'm alright. Please remain focused." Reni answered in her old robotic voice.

Ohgami was taken aback by what she said and the tone she used but he decided to dismiss it. "Very well then. Good luck and be careful on the ground."

It was 10 seconds before touchdown and Reni discovered that her head felt rather heavy. She shook her head to clear it but it made her feel disoriented. What's wrong with me today?

Then they hit the ground.

"Teigoku Kakegidan sanzho!" The group chanted their before-battle slogan.

The group had landed in the now deserted streets of an utterly destroyed Asakusa, noting the various holes in the ground.

"Kohran, where are the Koumas?" Maria queried.

"I'm reading their signals but- Below us!" Kohran exclaimed.

The Hanagumi leapt upwards instinctively. And as expected, 4 huge shadows burst from the ground and tried to take a bite out of their respective targets but missed. They landed and when the cloud of dirt and dust settled, the Hanagumi was shocked at the sight of the new Koumas.

The Koumas resembled their black leathery kin but they have brownish skin, no wings, 4 sharp pointed legs like a bug and a huge long razor-sharp tail. These Koumas obviously cannot stand upright as their legs are short and close to the ground, no doubt easier for them to burrow quickly.

The hideous beasts did not stay still for long and two of them converged on Kanna and another two on Ohgami as they were the nearest.

Kanna dodged the first one but the second one latched onto her, pushing her down to the ground with its tail ready to punch through her Koubu Kai. Maria saw this and fired a shot at the Kouma's head, the blow succeeded in bending its head backwards. Orihime saw the opportunity and fired her laser beams into its gaping jaws, penetrating its soft parts and fried its brains.

Unfortunately, her victory was short-lived when the first one that Kanna dodged had suddenly appeared behind her and slashed off her Koubu Kai's arm. Startled, Orihime fired another volley of lasers into the Kouma's stomach but it was useless. The beast slashed at her again with its tail, tearing her armour and exposing the cockpit, revealing the terrified Italian inside.

Kanna came to her rescue as she tackled the monster, pulling it away from Orihime and throwing it into the sky. Maria took this chance and fired away but her shots did not even dent the creature's hide.

"Damn it! Taichou! Orihime is down and their hides are impenetrable!" Maria shouted.

Meanwhile, Ohgami was busy parrying attacks from two Koumas with Kohran supporting him with her rockets. The monsters were obviously annoyed by Kohran's constant barrage and directed their attention to her.

Kohran panicked when the two of them began charging towards her and her Koubu tripped. Just as it seems everything was over, Reni charged from behind Kohran and plunged her lance into the lead demon's mouth. The other jumped away in fright and burrowed into the ground.

Then, it was quiet.

"Orihime! Get to the evac point. Maria! Status report!" Ohgami finally gave his orders.

"Two Koumas left Taichou. All Koubu Kais except Orihime's are still operational." Maria's cool report came in.

Before Ohgami could give further orders, Kanna screamed as something pulled her Koubu down into the ground.

"Kanna!" They all yelled.

Ohgami and Reni arrived first and pulled at the sinking Kanna. Maria and Kohran fired at the ground around them, hoping the demons would let go. They did and Ohgami and Reni were able to pull Kanna's legless Koubu free.

Kanna climbed out of the top hatch of her Koubu Kai and signalled that she was all right. Ohgami ordered her to evacuate herself too.

"Kohran! Do you have any ideas on how to force these demons out onto the ground?" Ohgami asked.

"Heh heh. I knew that this would happen so I have just the equipment for the task!" answered a beaming Kohran. She adjusted a few dials in her controls and the speaker above her Koubu began to emit high pitch sound waves. "This will make these Koumas so uncomfortable, I'm sure they'll pop out of their hidey-holes soon."

In fact, Kohran's equipment was so annoying that the enraged Koumas suddenly burst out in front and behind her, wanting to tear the infernal speaker apart. The one behind her took a bite at the speaker and the rocket pack behind her Koubu, blowing itself apart. Fortunately, the explosion was contained inside the Kouma so Kohran and the demon in front of her were just blown away by the force and not killed. Nevertheless, Kohran was out of action as the explosion knocked her out.

The last demon burrowed into the ground again and the remaining members of the Hanagumi prepared for its attack.

"Everyone keep close! Keep in Delta formation!" Ohgami ordered.

The three remaining Koubu Kais formed a small triangle with Ohgami and Maria back-to-back and Reni as the third point, each of them covering one direction in their field of vision.

The wait was long as the Kouma made no move. The trio's sensors were useless so they have to rely on their instincts. The tense situation was especially hard on Reni as she was unable to keep her focus. She was sweating all over and her vision was extremely blurry. Nevertheless, her battle intuition kicked in as she felt something moving towards Maria and Ohgami.

No! Not the two of them!

In haste, Reni pushed Maria and Ohgami out of the way, exposing her left side. The demon took the chance and emerged from the ground; one of its forelegs penetrated the side of Reni's Koubu Kai and into her cockpit. The young pilot screamed in pain as the razor-like leg made a deep cut at her side.

In an act of defiance, Reni tried to swing around and stab the hungry demon but it had already leapt away.

"RENI!" Ohgami shouted frantically.

"I'm all right. Don't worry about me," Reni said through gritted teeth as she held her bloodied side with her left hand.

"Taichou! It's heading for the park!" Maria reported.

"Damn it! Reni, evacuate! Maria lets go!" Ohgami commanded.

For a quarter of an hour the duo battled the lone Kouma but neither side won. The last demon was extremely cunning and exercised its advantage under the park grounds, never staying on the surface long enough for Maria or Ohgami to attack. The duo had found out that the demon focused on attacking Ohgami and devised a simple plan. Ohgami would act as bait.

However, things went awry. When Maria positioned herself some distance away from Ohgami to ambush the demon, the ambusher became the ambushed.

The demon had crept behind Maria without her noticing it and knocked her Koubu Kai into a facedown position. As the creature approached to deliver a finishing blow into Maria's cockpit with its tail, a blue Koubu Kai darted out from a nearby bush and placed itself between the tail and Maria.

The tail severed a power cable in the blue Koubu Kai's shoulder, creating a short in the electrical circuit, shocking both pilot and demon. Reni, even though in agony, held onto the tail and screamed at Maria to open fire.

Maria didn't hesitate. Her aim was true and her shot blew a hole where right the head of the demon had been.

Ohgami, who noticed the commotion rushed over to find both Reni's and Maria's Koubu Kais on the ground. He dreaded at the sight and got out of his Koubu Kai immediately.

"Reni! Maria! Are you ok?" Ohgami shouted. He was relieved to see Maria's hatch opened up and a staggering but otherwise unhurt Maria climbed out. Nevertheless, he was still worried when there was no activity from the blue Koubu Kai.

The still-standing members of the Hanagumi rushed towards Reni and opened the hatch. The sight that greeted them was bleak.

Reni laid, unconscious, in her bloodstained chair, the left side of her uniform was soaked in an expanding patch of red.

Oh man, I should have just summarised the battle but I hate summarising something. I keep feeling something is amiss if I do that. Anyway, I hope nobody dozed off in this action part. Next up, we will be back into the wonderful world of Romance.

R&R please.