SUPER ROBOT WARS LW
CHAPTER 04
Please see: all characters in this story will be referred to with their first name preceding their family names, as to follow Western naming style.
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// Shadow Mirror Universe, 5000 feet over Bermuda //
The pink-coloured Astelion AX was outmanoeuvring the pursuing Gespenst formation. Its pilot was fighting very hard to outrun the relentless pursuers, while trying not to lose control of the Astelion. The custom-built Armoured Module zipped around the clear sky, trying to make the pursuers lost track of it, but it was to no avail as the Gespensts had it surrounded. The Astelion pilot fired smokescreens and made a quick escape.
"Get her! We must not let her run away!"
The Gespensts continued pursuing. One of the Personal Troopers fired its cannon at the Astelion AX and its pilot screamed in dismay as she brought it into a tight loop. "Stop chasing me around! You aren't my fanatical fans, are you?" Shadow-Mirror Idol Ibis Douglas yelled and brought the Astelion AX back in its flight path.
The Gespensts continued chasing after Ibis, firing all their loads at her and commanding each other to block the Astelion AX's path. Ibis panicked and tried bringing her Armoured Module into a high-speed run but slowed down after one of the Gespensts shot its Tesla engine.
"We have you cornered, Shooting Star Ibis," the Gespenst pilots spoke and surrounded the Astelion AX. "Surrender yourself and don't do anything stupid, or we'll shoot you down."
"I have nothing to do with your business!" Ibis yelled.
"Why yes we are," one of the Gespenst pilots said and pointed the M950 machinegun at the Astelion AX. "Just stay still, so that we can demand for ransom from your family. What do you say?"
An Ashsaber came out of nowhere and cut the M950 with a laser blade. It later kicked the Gespenst into the sea and cut the rest of the Gespensts' machineguns with the blade. Ibis was delighted at what she saw. "Ivan!"
"Meister Ibis!" Ivan shouted and took out the Halberd Launcher. "Stay close with me."
"Okay!"
The Ashsaber deployed the Sword Breakers and commanded them to form barricades around it and the Astelion AX. The Gespensts were blocked from their intended target, and the Ashsaber took the opportunity to fire its Halberd Launcher at the PTs, managing to shoot several them into the sea.
"What the hell are you doing? Back off! This is between us and the Shooting Star!" the Gespenst pilot screamed, their attacks failed to even leave a scratch on the Ashsaber.
"I cannot comply," Ivan replied in calm manners. "I only take orders from Meister Ibis. I suggest you to leave her alone."
The Gespenst pilots were pissed. "Then we'll have to kill you as well!" they shouted and pounced at the Ashsaber en masse. Ivan closed his eyes, not taking care of Ibis' distressed cries at his deliberate lack of awareness.
He opened his eyes. "Sword Breaker, GO!"
The Sword Breakers attacked the Gespensts. It took only a little more than 30 seconds before the Gespensts were destroyed and fell into the sea. The Sword Breakers returned to their mother host, and the Ashsaber put the Halberd Launcher back on its waist clip.
"Are you alright, Meister Ibis?" Ivan asked.
Ibis took a very deep breath of relief. "Thank you for saving me, Ivan."
"This is the fifth time you ran into the kidnappers," Ivan said and led the two mechas as they descended to Bermuda. "I can't forever keep saving you from those people. What do you really want to be? A damsel in distress?"
"But Ivan, I just wanted to fly around with this Astelion!" Ibis protested. "And don't ever call me that! I don't like it…"
Ivan chuckled. "Don't get so mad easily. I won't make you grounded."
"Promise?" Ibis mumbled.
Ivan grinned at the girl's pouting face that was displayed on the Ashsaber's video screen. "I promise."
Both their units' alarm set off. Ibis was startled to the point she accidentally pressed the ejection button. Ivan remained cool as he analyzed the alarm, not listening to Ibis' distressed call as she tried keeping the Astelion AX on course.
He snapped. "It doesn't come from the enemy!"
It was too late.
A portal mysteriously appeared over the water and sucked the Ashsaber and the Astelion AX into a wormhole. "I think this is how the people felt when they disappeared over the triangle!" Ibis cried out.
Ivan brought the Ashsaber close to Ibis. "Stay close to me!" The force of the wormhole's vortex started separating him from Ibis, and Ivan kicked in the boosters to approach Ibis with great difficulties. "Meister Ibis!"
"Ivan, save me!" The vortex pulled the Astelion AX from the Ashsaber, and Ibis was crying in distress, calling out Ivan's name before the Armoured Module disappeared. Ivan tried tracking the Astelion AX but interferences from the vortex's electromagnetic field prevented him from doing anything.
The wormhole finally tossed the Ashsaber into the open world. Ivan staggered, having temporarily lost his sense of direction before he regained control of the Ashsaber and brought it onto a safe land. "This is not the place," he spoke, referring to the Shadow-Mirror dimension, and glanced at the map. "Wait. It says "El Alamein". This means I'm still on Earth. But-"
The sand burst. Ivan quickly brought the Ashsaber out of range and saw several Barrelions and Doms approaching his location. Without warning the newcomers opened fire, and the Ashsaber dodged all the attacks. "Oh, great," he murmured. "My presence is not welcomed here."
One of the Doms charged at Ivan. The Ashsaber nimbly evaded the heat sabre and fired a burst of the Rapier Gun onto the Dom's torso. The Ashsaber used the crippled Dom as shield when a Barrelion fired its cannon, counterattacking with its Burning Daggers to keep the attackers at bay.
"Looking forward to play with me, huh?" The Ashsaber discarded the Dom and withdrew its Halberd Launcher, in time when another Dom charged at the mecha. The Ashsaber fired a shot that knocked the Dom's bazooka off its shoulder, and fired another double shot at the Dom on the chest. The Ashsaber jumped over the desert and fired multiple shots from the Halberd Launcher.
One Dom somehow dodged the Halberd Launcher's shot and fired its bazooka at the Ashsaber. The Ashsaber was knocked out of the air and crashed on the sand, its Sword Breakers launcher damaged after taking a direct hit of the 880mm rocket. "I had underestimated the enemy," Ivan mumbled. "Chances are they will regroup and return to give me double the pain." He managed to get the Ashsaber into its standing position and saw the Doms approaching him instead. "They aren't ordinary enemies. They aren't in the database. Who are they?"
"Ashsaber, we'll take it from here."
Ivan was not sure of what he was hearing, but as soon as he looked at one of the video screens he saw a red-painted Gundam with a Mobile Suit-sized katana and an Astelion AX coming at his direction. At first he thought it was Ibis but later discarded the thought when he realized the Astelion AX was painted in white rather than pink.
"Lowe-san, try keeping the terrorists as far from the Ashsaber as possible," Ivan heard a voice he recognized so much. He was startled; the voice belonged to Tsugumi! "We'll bring it out of this place," the voice continued.
The owner of the red Gundam laughed. "Don't worry about me, Tsugumi, Ibis," Lowe Guele answered and withdrew Gerbera Straight from its scabbard. "There's nothing this Astray Red cannot cut!"
The Astray Red Frame charged at the Doms, while the Astelion AX provided cover with saturation missiles. Ivan merely watched as the two mechas coordinated their attacks and swept the battlefield with their supreme firepower, giving the grunts no space for returning fire.
"Pilot of Ashsaber, can you hear us?"
It was Tsugumi, Ivan thought. Not wanting them to be aware of his doubt he answered the radio call. "This is Lucky 13. My unit is badly damaged. Requesting immediate backup," he spoke, using his call sign instead of his name as identification.
"Roger, Lucky 13," Tsugumi answered. "Can you still move your robot?"
"The Sword Breakers' launcher is damaged," Ivan answered. "But I think I can still move it-" The alarm buzzed again, and Ivan saw a Dom emerging from beneath the sand and pouncing at the Astelion AX. "Crap! She doesn't see it coming! Sword Breaker, GO!" The Sword Breakers detached and attacked the Dom, but it left the Ashsaber vulnerable and now it was a sitting duck for the grunts.
"HIYARGH!!"
The Astray Red Frame sliced the Dom that was attacking the Ashsaber. It was a close call, and Ivan was temporarily dazed after the Astray Red Frame's landing shook the ground. "That was a close call," he murmured.
"Lucky 13, we'll escort you away from the terrorist cell," Ibis spoke. "Please follow us closely."
Ivan was hesitant. The Shadow-Mirror's rules of engagement stated that a pilot should execute Code: ATA if he could not survive the battle and avoid the enemy from retrieving all vital information of his operation. Yet his inner self was telling him he should put his trust on this Ibis and Tsugumi.
"Lucky 13? Are you there?"
Ivan shrugged the thought. "This is Lucky 13," he replied. "I am in the middle of my mission but I am separated from my group. Requesting permission to use your base's communication link."
"Roger, Lucky 13," Tsugumi replied.
Ivan set the Ashsaber to follow the Astelion AX but he again saw a Dom jumping towards the Astelion AX. "I thought the threat has been eliminated!" Without even knowing what he was doing, Ivan brought the mecha directly between the Astelion AX and the Dom. He fired a shot from the Rapier Gun, but it did not stop the Dom from slashing the Ashsaber's left right with the heat sabre.
"I cannot die here! Meister Ibis is waiting for me!"
The Ashsaber caught the heat sabre and plunged it into the Dom's torso. Ivan twisted the controller, and the Ashsaber performed a series of hack and slash that turned the Dom into debris. The irregular manoeuvre caused the Ashsaber to overload and it shut down before it fell onto one knee.
"Lucky 13! Are you alright?"
Ivan shrugged. "Somehow," he murmured and opened the cockpit. The smell of desert was immediately apparent, and he had to cover his mouth when a speck of dust entered the cockpit. "This isn't the kind of day I am supposed to spend," he sighed.
The Astelion AX landed. Its pilots ran towards the damaged Ashsaber and called Ivan out loud. "Are you alright, Lucky 13?" Tsugumi asked.
Ivan could only wave his hand at the two women. "Don't worry."
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// Kowloon Island //
Ibis moaned in dismay.
As if getting separated from Ivan was not enough, her customized Astelion was damaged during the re-entry and crashed on the coastline. And now she was stranded in the middle of nowhere, facing the East China Sea without anyone in sight. "Now what am I supposed to do? I'm separated from Ivan, and now I am stranded in this… NO-MAN'S LAND!"
Ibis turned around and saw two people walking towards her. "I have to ask them for direction," she told herself and approached them. The moment she came close to them, she realized one of them was wearing black tuxedo and black hat. "You look interesting. What's your name?"
The tuxedo man looked down her. "I… I'm Van."
Forgetting her original plan, Ibis giggled and pointed to Van's face. "I like that name. And because of that boring-looking face, I shall call you Van the Slacker!" she said.
"Van… the Slacker?" Van murmured.
"Hey! Just who are you calling Van with that name?" the pony-tailed girl who was standing next to Van demanded.
"I think I should introduce myself." The seemingly cheerful girl stood up, spun on her feet and threw a wink to Wendy. "I'm Ibis Douglas, but you can call me Ibis the Shooting Star."
"Hmm… pleased to meet you, Ibis," Van replied.
Ibis was dissatisfied with the answer. "You should call me Ibis the Shooting Star, not just Ibis," she reminded. "Say this after me: Ibis the Shooting Star!"
Van shrugged. "Oh, alright, Ibis the Shooting Star."
The trio heard a noise from up the sky. They looked up and saw a group of Gespensts approaching the island. Ibis was shocked, because the newcomers reminded her of the kidnappers who had piloted the Gespensts during the escape. "Van, protect me!" she cried and jumped onto his body. "You must protect me from the grunts!"
"What… am I supposed to do?" Van asked and scratched the back of his head.
"What else? Kick and send them to pieces!" Ibis replied and clenched her hands on the flamboyant tuxedo coat. (Wendy shivered in jealousy at the deliberately flirtatious act.) "Please! They want to kidnap me for money! They know I'm a superstar! That's why I have to run away!"
"Just… what does she think she's doing?" Wendy asked in anger.
"Uh… I don't get you," Van murmured and looked up at the Gespensts. "Though… they're quite different from Armours I usually encounter."
"I've got an idea!" Ibis parted away from Van, coughed a couple of times and pointed to Van's slack face. "Until I can get my Astelion repaired and return to my home, I shall appoint you as my personal bodyguard, and I shall pay you as much as you ask! Do we have a deal, Van the Slacker?"
Wendy glowered at Ibis. "Is she trying to buy Van off? What does she think she is?" she growled.
"Well?"
Van sighed. "Oh, well." He turned to the arriving Gespensts. "But you must buy me food after this. I haven't eaten since… two days."
"Okay!" Ibis replied with a thumb's up. "And that means I shall buy you lunch as well," she said and glanced to Wendy. "Is that alright, Miss…"
"Wendy," Wendy replied.
"Let's see…" Van turned his cowboy cap 180-degree and made a V sign before him with his liquid memory metal sword. A dramatic-sounding music suddenly took place, and everybody looked up to see a gigantic sword descending from the sky to transform into an extremely human-looking mecha. Van jumped into the mecha, entered the cockpit and plunged the sword into the floor.
"Go for it, Van the Slacker!" Shooting Star Ibis cheered.
The mecha turned around to face the oncoming Gespensts. Slowly it withdrew its double sword and opened a battle stance.
Van grinned. "Wake up, Dann."