Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of the Beast and the Girl. Enjoy the 2000-word chapter. I don't own Gurren Lagann. A few others do.
If it was so easy to make a shot? There'd be a million rebel sharpshooters in their army. Yoko was well aware of the training which was part of why the imperial military was smashing the rebels to pieces any single time they tried to fight back. There was only so much you could do to stop a well-equipped and well-trained army in war.
That, and the imperial army had kept tabs on their army. This base was one of the few that the rebels held without someone destroying it… And that was also partly because they didn't make a single move.
"See anything?" Yoko heard over her radio as she turned towards it. "We're still looking around here; the supply train is moving slowly," Magnus stated while he cleared his throat.
She sighed to herself while she waited for Magnus to speak.
"Not a patrol yet. I've not seen a gunman either." Yoko reported while she checked her scope. "Did they spot the convoy?" Yoko asked before Magnus spoke.
"They should be in range sooner or later." Yoko heard while she readied her rifle. "Why? Eager for some sort of action? There are more soldiers in this part of the world. Command stated they're trying to find where this base is. It's why we're slowly moving the weapons in." Magnus added and let out a sigh as he did so.
Yoko was aware that the rebels were still able to fight. Her rifle for example? It was still able to destroy a gunman if it was able to hit in the right area. She was well aware of what happened next if there was indeed a battle.
"Don't forget that I'm one of the best snipers in the rebels," Yoko stated to which her friend was silent. "You still one of them, don't you?" Yoko questioned while Magnus hummed.
"It helps," Magnus responded while he started to talk to the others in the unit. "Just think about it. We'd be able to attack rather than constantly wait for them and hope we get lucky." Magnus added.
She didn't refute said comment. The idea that they could attack the empire rather than hideaway? It wasn't something that the rebels weren't considering. There were simply problems with this as were any action they took.
"And how exactly do you plan on powering it? Arming it in battle?" Yoko asked while she started to think. "How do we repair it? The empire has an entire army of them because they can afford them. We don't have anything on that scale." Yoko stated while she cleared her throat.
'There's too much on our plates to make a move like this. We'd be throwing countless soldiers away simply for a chance to possibly defeat the empire.' Yoko thought.
She didn't want to throw what happened next. There was well aware of what happened next. Yoko was well aware of what happened if they failed or anyone got captured. The empire was going to come down on them with the force of a thousand hammers it would shatter them into pieces.
"What happens next?" Yoko heard as she frowned to herself. "There's going to be more raids and more attacks either way at the moment," Yoko added while she sighed to herself.
That was true there were going to be more battles in this life. She wanted nothing more than to be able to tell him it was a lie. She knew it wasn't and there were going to be more battles and losses for them and the empire.
"We take it then?" Yoko asked which was greeted by silence. "What is a gunman even going to do? Their throw all they got if it means we don't keep even a single one." Yoko said which was also met with nothing.
It wasn't a lie at the end of the day. If they managed to capture one? They'd also learn how to disable and combat them far better than they were now. Any advantage the rebels had that the empire didn't have? That needed to be destroyed before it did any real damage to them.
"Help draw fire from the empire we can't afford to take." Yoko heard as she frowned. "I know they want to destroy the gunman if we manage to steal one. It means their try harder to break it and they'd be unable to hit the cells that can take that power. It's not a bad idea considering we'd be more mobile and do more damage to the empire." Yoko heard before her frown widened more than anything else.
She hung her head but said nothing to stop him or change his path.
Still? There were plenty of factors that went into the idea at the end of the day. Yoko sighed as she realized there was something else in the way of that mission that he didn't see as well as he should have.
She nodded to do so. There was plenty of damage in the world they could still inflict on the empire without one. If there were to be a single problem that they had with this mission?
Then again? There was also the fact that neither of them wanted to do it at the end of the day. There was plenty of damage the empire was capable of doing to the rest of the world. There was no possible way to deal with this.
If the empire wanted a war this badly at the moment? She'd find a way to give it to them rather than anything else. She had become more bored at the time and it seemed as if they had been pushed to the limits when it came down to it. There was more time to devote to other plans when it came down to it.
"We need to focus on trying to move onto other parts of the war," Yoko stated to which her friend slowly seemed to lose control of his ideas.
He sighed and leaned back in his spot. Tactics weren't going to own the war. The sooner she accepted that? The better. She had to handle operations. She needed to properly learn the war was screwed without more support.
Perhaps she did know that and didn't wish to acknowledge it. She was a soldier and he was an idealistic thinker. They planned to fight this war properly, not right. If it had been anyone else? He'd have yelled at them, screamed at them for not being willing to take a single risk with the chances that they had. They would lose the war at this rate if not for the fact that they had so many enemies. The fact that they had more on their plate at the moment than this? It only meant that they needed to try.
"And what happens when raids turn into massacres, hmm? They will come back with more reinforcements than this. We will not stop them; we might not even hold them off." Magnus stated while he frowned and seemed to consider his options. "They will come down harder on us than anyone else. We both know what will happen if they don't find us. The Beastmen will just destroy all of the villages they can find until we come out to stop them. What then? Do we act all big and tough? We need to start trying to win." Magnus said before he sighed.
"And what happens if they find out we have one of their best weapons with us? Their send soldiers to burn it to the ground." Yoko said as Magnus sighed to himself.
He had no real arguments at the second. This wasn't going to be easy when it came down to it. There was a lot more between them than just some bad blood.
"And if we just hide? We're never going to do something when it comes down to it." Magnus stated before he seemed to fall silent. "There will be nowhere to hide sooner or later. They control the entire planet. It's only a matter of time before they find something and then start burning it to the ground. We both know they have more manpower than the planet." Magnus added at the second.
The problems would end sooner than expected. If she kept this up? The entire war effort was going to collapse sooner or later. There were only so many problems when it came down to it.
If you tried to trap them in a corner? They'd simply come out snapping more and more horridly. There was only much that could be done to prevent it.
This was going to end sooner or later. It'd be a lot odder on him when it came down to it. There were more problems than could be fixed with mere raids like this. Yes, more problems he'd need to fix because she wished only too much to handle things by trying to play it safe.
'Our numbers might be small, but that's not going to matter. She's still going to ignore how little morale we have and how much a victory matters. Any victory will do something and show that we're capable of holding our own. She acts like it's annoying anything to want to hit back and show some teeth, this is so damn annoying, but I don't see her caring much.' Magnus stated before he sighed to himself.
Typical. There was always a moment when he could do nothing more than scream at her ability to make this all about.
"She's going to be the death of me, I just know it. I'm going to get myself killed following her sooner or later, I'm going to complain as well. Going to make her feel so much remorse for this when it comes down to it." Magnus said while he sighed and rubbed at the back of his hands.
He sighed and prepared for more raids on the enemy. If she wanted to constantly commit to this insane path? He'd let her see the fruits of her labor and the parasites that would come as a result of this, a parasite that would threaten every single thing and all that came with it. This would end either way and he'd be able to push his idea when it was over… Provided neither the war ended nor were they barely hanging onto the thread that connected their battles. It'd end sooner or later and it needed to end.
There would simply be a lot more on the line than this, a lot more than this had to be done to stop them, though, a lot more than he expected or wanted at the moment.
He sighed and leaped down before heading more deeply into the cave. He placed a hand on his throat before he shook his head. There was a pause before he hummed to himself.
'If she wants to play the game this way? I'll play, but only if it means winning the battle at odds.' Magnus stated before he sighed to himself as he hummed to himself as he sighed and slowly started to march forward with annoyance as he rolled his eyes to himself, an annoyance written across his face.
There was the moving of dirt above them. No doubt the machines he coveted so gladly. He wished they'd have that power sooner or later.
He crossed his arms to himself once more.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed and will show more of Magnus and Yoko and their past. I also want to point out that this story won't is updated often. The next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will show more of Yoko and Magnus talking and bonding with each other and such. Until the 900-6500 words.