SUPER ROBOT WARS LW
CHAPTER 05
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.
In this chapter, I assume that Lamia survived in the bonus segment of Super Robot Wars Original Generations and was recovered.
-x-x-x-x-x-
// ward, Seto Inland Sea Facility //
"How is she doing?"
"Apart from extreme fatigue, she suffers no major injuries."
"Thank goodness. I thought she wouldn't make it."
"Rest assured, Excellen-san. She will be alright."
"Thanks for the help, Kusuha."
"No problem. I'm glad to be of help."
The blue-haired girl excused herself to help the nurse attending Sakura at the ward. Excellen and Kyosuke were left outside, thinking of the hectic day they had gone through. "I don't get it," Excellen spoke. "If the Green Sphere really intends to threaten the world's peace, then why attacking the facility?"
"They wanted to steal the prototype. That's what Frieda said to us," Kyosuke answered and could only sigh when he noticed the cumbersome look on Excellen's face. "Something bugging you?"
"I don't know, but the girl's screams kept ringing inside my head," she answered. "It was like she had something to protect. Something… very precious to her." She stooped her head. "You do know she was very angry when the terrorists attacked the town, don't you?"
(The Alt Eisen Riese and the Weiss Ritter made haste towards the Sylvia. "Unknown robot, allow us to assist!" Kyosuke spoke.
The caped mecha had kicked the impaled Guarlion into the ground when it confronted another group of Lion-Fs. "I don't care!" Sakura screamed and fired a barrage of Raging Heart at the robots. "Just don't let them destroy my hometown!")
"Cheer up, will you?" Kyosuke said. "Excellen I know wouldn't go slum over small matters."
Excellen chuckled. "I guess you're right." She later peeked from behind the door and saw Sakura waking up from her vegetative state after taking a little sip of Kusuha's health drink. A twisted smile emerged upon her face. "Ah, crap."
"This is delicious!"
Excellen was surprised. "What's this?"
Sakura finished the remaining health drink in one big gulp. "I feel so refreshed!" she said.
"Please enjoy it," Kusuha said and poured more of the 'beverage from hell' into the glass Sakura was holding. "I have more of them if you like it."
"This is the best day in my whole life!" Sakura exclaimed."Ittadakimasu!"
Excellen quickly hid behind the door, sweats profusely dropping off her face. "This isn't good. She actually likes that drink," she murmured. Kyosuke took no attention to her rant and left the ward. "Kyosuke, where are you headed to?"
"To the hangar," he replied. "I need to do some check-ups on Alt Eisen."
"Hey, wait up!"
-x-x-x-x-x-
"Ore wo dare datto omotte yagaru!!" Who the hell do you think I am?!
So saying Kamina pointed skywards (or rather, ceiling-ward) as he pompously displayed his trademark pose. "I am the leader of the Great Gurren Brigade, silencer of the crying children! The drill that pierces through the heavens above!! I am Kamina!!"
The news of terrorist attack on the facility prompted Team ATX and the Kurogane to leave Hokkaido in a rush, and they were in for surprise to know the Green Sphere grunts were kicked to curbs by the Great Gurren Brigade who happened to be at the scene when test pilot Nagasumi was under attack. Sensing the great potential of cooperation that lay ahead (added with the fact that Kamina had personally 'persuaded' them to join the Great Gurren Brigade) Rätsel accepted the offer made by the Spiral visitors to join force in combating the terrorists.
And the hangar was erupting in tears of hot-blooded approval as Kyosuke and Excellen arrived. "Well, look at that," Excellen spoke. "Getting all pumped by those fiery speeches. That's something we don't get to see, right Kyosuke?"
"For this once, I have to agree," Kyosuke replied with a faint grin. Excellen squealed at the frank answer and tightly squeezed his arm as she seized it. "Cool down. It's not that I made a nationwide announcement."
"But you looked so cool in that faint smile!" Excellen replied and tightened the squeeze. "Can you do it again, Kyosuke? Can you?"
The 'heaven-transcending' speech continued. Kamina's fiery words received not only approving roars from his Great Gurren Brigade comrades but also deafening applauds from the Kurogane crews. Touma, especially, was the most enthusiastic and continually cheered for the great Aniki, crying hot-blooded tears along the way. Occasionally Kamina would point to each of the people to "believe in me who believe in you" and further ignite their burning spirit with his charisma.
"Aniki!" one of the audiences asked. "How and where did you get that mecha?"
"You mean Gurren Lagann?" Kamina replied. "Are you kidding me? Who do you think I am?!" He pointed upward again and sported a very confident grin. "That! It has to be that!"
"That? What do you mean by that?" the audience asked.
Kamina grinned big. "Sore wa… GATTAI DA!" That is… UNIFICATION!
The audience gaped. "Gattai?"
Touma, Nagasumi and Irmgult were startled. "Gattai?"
The rest of the people said in unison: "Gattai?"
The females blushed at the thought of 'unification'. "Gattai…"
Leeron sighed. "Here we go again."
"That's right!" Kamina hollered. "Unification is when two fighting spirits are combined as one! There is no unification without fighting spirits! When two souls unite, we can achieve the perfect unification! This is the principle behind Gurren Lagann!"
"Aniki you rock!" Touma cheered, now unable to keep his tears from flowing. The rest of the audience agreed and cheered Kamina in unison.
Excellen and Kyosuke could only watch from a safe distance before they decided to leave their units for later maintenance. They were about to leave when they stumbled across Lamia Loveless. "Major Sanger and Rätsel would like to see you at the bow," the W-Number informed. "The Pistoleros and Amuro are already with them. Mr. Gilliam is also there."
"Looks like we have a very important matter to talk to," Excellen pondered. "Come on, Kyosuke! I bet Rätsel has prepared hot teas for us."
Team ATX left the hanger and its occupants to Kamina, who didn't show any sign of stopping his speech. "Now say this after me, Kyoudai!" he shouted. "Oretachi wo…"
"DARE DATTO OMOTTE YAGARU!!!" the people replied.
-x-x-
Rätsel and Sanger were having dessert and tea with the Pistoleros, Amuro and Gilliam when Team ATX arrived. Joining the company were Brooklyn and Yoko, the latter deciding to leave Kamina and his antics behind. It was as if the meeting was planned as a reunion of sorts rather than on-the-spot discussion on the global war on terror.
Indeed, it was. Especially since Rätsel and Frieda could not stop talking on their favourite topic: horse.
"I'm truly sorry for the loss," Frieda said and sipped the tea served by Irui. "I'm certain my El Dorado will be very sad to know her closest friend had passed away."
"Thank you for the thought, Frieda," Rätsel replied. "So I heard you're chosen as test pilot for the new Metal Gunslinger Series after you left the DC. Congratulations."
"Why, thank you, my old DC friend," Frieda replied with a giggle. "I owed Dr. Zoldark for selecting me and Takeru for the prototype testing. Truth to be told, I was not sure if we could ever make it."
"Ah, do not worry. With the superior marksmanship skills of yours, you wouldn't be called the Silent Bullet for nothing," Rätsel said.
"You and Rätsel seem to know each other very well, Major Johansen," Amuro spoke.
"Oh, no. Please don't be too formal, Amuro," Frieda replied. "Just call me Frieda. It's easier."
"After the Divine War, we separated to our own path. Frieda was absorbed into the Centaur-Hanagami Heavy Industries and became the leading test pilot for the MGS units," Rätsel continued. "Although I'm wondering of how the Centaur-Hanagami managed to keep its existence entirely out of the Neo DC's reach since it used to receive financial aid from Dr. Bian."
"They're the one who developed the caped mecha, right?" Kyosuke asked as Team ATX took their seat.
Frieda nodded. "It's one of the new super robot line-up. Dr. Zoldark's vision was to have the sister mecha to complement the Dynamic General Guardians. He knew he wouldn't be able to see them in action, so he entrusted his old friend Professor Franklin to supervise the development of the series."
"That sounds cool," Excellen cooed. "But why would the terrorists attack the facility in the first place?"
"We're instructed not to reveal the details," Frieda spoke. "But I can say here that the Sylvia serves as a test-bed for this new technology we discovered two years ago. Professor Franklin claims it to be more superior to the Extra-Over Technology."
"We can discuss about it alter if we can meet the chief director of the project," Gilliam spoke. "But first thing first: Spiral?"
Everybody turned to Yoko. Realizing she needed to say something, the red-haired female sniper quickly apologized for the stirrup her colleagues had caused. "Truth to be told, it happened too fast for anyone of us to even act. Were preparing for our battle with the Beast General Thymilph when we stumbled across this weird-looking gate. Leeron and Rossiu examined it and discovered it served as a kind of portal. We were going to activate it when we were attacked by the Beastmen, and before we knew it the portal opened and sucked everybody in." Yoko paused and took her time finishing her tea. "We got separated inside portal, but thank goodness we were alright after we're sent to this world. We didn't know what happened to the Beastmen, though."
Excellen grumbled. "What's up with the world today? First it's the terrorists. Then it's the Beastmen. Aren't we getting tired of war already?"
"Ms. Excellen, that's because human will always find a way to fight each other," Lamia spoke, and blinked when Excellen gave her a teasing smile. "Is there anything wrong on my face, Ms. Excellen?"
"You look awfully adorable when you gave me that kind of look," Excellen giggled.
"I don't understand what you're talking of," Lamia replied.
"This means we have to be extra careful," Gilliam spoke. "If we can believe the credibility of Yoko's words, then this world will be plunged into another invasion. We have to take precarious steps to prevent this crisis from spreading."
"And speaking of which, how's the patient doing, Bullet?" Sanger finally spoke after a long time of keeping his mouth shut.
"Kusuha said she should be allowed to leave tomorrow," Brooklyn answered. "But Major, are you sure we have to recruit her into the EFA? She's only a civilian."
"And Ryusei and Touma also civilians were also civilians, weren't they?" Lamia asked.
"I understand your sentiment, Bullet, but obviously you weren't there when it happened," Excellen said. "A normal girl would face extreme difficulty piloting a mecha that size, but she handled it like she had been familiar with robot before. Besides, she was very angry when the terrorists destroyed the shopping mall."
"Since the terrorists will target her as well, it's best that we keep her under the EFA's surveillance," Amuro spoke. "Or better, if she's assigned to Frieda's team. I can only hope her parents won't object the decision."
"I can assure you the Centaur-Hanagami will take care of this matter," Frieda answered and turned to Takeru. She noticed how long he was looking at Excellen and Kyosuke ever since they came. "What's the matter, Takeru?"
"I've been wondering," Takeru said. "Are Ms. Excellen and Mr. Kyosuke married?" The blatant question caused Kyosuke to suddenly choke the tea and Excellen to furiously blush. All but Sanger and Lamia laughed at the brutally straightforward question, much to the duo's chagrin. Takeru blinked at the response he was getting. "Did I… ask the wrong question?"
-x-x-x-x-x-
// later that midnight //
The night was quiet.
With the exception of nightshift workers and guards, everybody at the facility and onboard the Kurogane was fast asleep in their sleeping rooms (with the exception of the Great Gurren Brigade that chose to camp outside at the beach). Tired after spending half of the night with parties and speeches that transcended the heavens, they fell asleep with a very little idea of what would face them when the dawn broke itself free.
Only Rätsel and Sanger did not sleep.
They were standing on the bow of the Kurogane, gazing into the stars that were sparkling above the inland sea. Irui were fast asleep in her cabin, accompanied by Kusuha, leaving the Sword that Cleaved Evil to his privacy.
"I know you're thinking of taking the girl as your apprentice," Sanger spoke.
The Mysterious Gourmet grinned. "You never fail to amaze me with your deep sense of perception, my friend," he replied and sipped the coffee. He took his time observing the coastline, where the sight of the Gurren and the Lagann dominated the landscape.
"What will be your plan?" Sanger continued asking.
"First thing first," Rätsel spoke. "I'll teach her the way of the gourmet."
"The way of the gourmet, huh? Very well." He turned around, headed to the door and left the Gourmet with his future plans. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. Good night," he spoke before he entered the battleship. Rätsel continued drinking the hot coffee from the can before he discarded it and looked up into the night sky.
"Trombe…"
The midnight wind blew. Instantly the fur collar flapped, although it did nothing to make Rätsel bulge from his place.
He grinned. "Tomorrow, huh?"