Disclaimer: You know the drill

Chap. 38

Sank Kingdom

"What's that? Another tekkaman?"

Yumi gasped over the communicator as Aki explained to her and Hayato about the new Tekkaman Slayer.

"She attacked us yesterday while you were in battle with the Radham. It seemed like a diversion so you'll have to be on alert."

"Roger Chief."

Aki continued, "If you encounter her, call in immediately. She's powerful and dangerous so exercize extreme caution."

"Roger." the two repeated.

The line cut off and both teens looked at each other.

"Whoa. Another tekkaman." Hayato exclaimed.

Yumi nodded, "Tell me about it. I wonder who she is."

*******

Elsewhere in the Sank...

In the far off section of the kingdom's borders, a group of Pro-Trieze soldiers were moving around working frantically. Within the camp, the group's leader was just contacted by the capital. Activating the screen, Noin's face appeared before him.

"Ms. Noin. We'll leave as soon as we can." The leader explained. "I'm sorry for the trouble we caused, but I'm afraid that Romefeller has been driving us here just to invade the kingdom."

Noin nodded over the viewscreen, "I know. I have been given permission to offer you asylum."

The soldier blinked in surprise, "What?"

Noin went on to explain, "You will be treated as refugees as long as you remain."

The soldier's face darkened a bit, as in thought. Finally, "I would like to thank you, but we can't accept. There's no need to drag you in this war."

"Hardly. This is just Romefeller's way of disruption. They wouldn't dare fight here. Many of the daughters of prominent leaders study here. That would make them nervous about waging a battle here."

"Even so, the risk is far too great." A slight smile formed on his face, "Don't worry. We'll be fine. I didn't survive the first Radham War just to die now." The smile disappeared, "Thank you for the effort though. Tell Miss Relena that we appreciate the offer, but we'll take our leave."

Noin stared at him briefly and gave a short salute, "Good luck then."

***********

Space Knight HQ

David sat in his quarters, busily working on a project the Chief had given him. After the attack of Tekkaman Slayer, she wasn't taking any chances and put the knights on high alert. Natasha was in the medical ward, recovering from the slash Slayer had given her. All they had to do now was wait.

"David."

David nearly jumped after seeing Dead enter the room, "Oh, sorry. You kind of surprised me there a bit."

Dead gave him a strange look, "Oh really?"

David gave a half-laugh after seeing his own reaction. "Yeah. You wouldn't believe how much she looked like you, Dead. It was creepy to say the least."

Beneath his hair, Dead gave a sad look, "About that. I need to talk to you."

David noticed his change of tone, "Oh, yeah. What about?"

"It's about Tekkaman Slayer. I...know who she is."

**********

Sank Kingdom...

Relena was currently on line with an OZ general who was approaching the Sank with a force of Sol-Tekkas. Relena was adamant about not allowing them to enter the borders of the Sank.

"I have been ordered to remove the rebels located in your territory." the general argued back.

Relena narrowed her gaze, "The soldiers in question are now political refugees of the Sank Kingdom."

"Refugees?" he asked in disbelief.

"That's right." she replied evenly. "And if you or any of your forces enter this air-space, I'll file a formal complaint with your superiors immediately."

The general suddenly fell into a loose smirk, "I'm afraid you may be mistaken. We only have the interest of the kingdom and have been order to stop the rebels before they attack the capital. Now, it'll be much easier to get rid of them now."

Relena's glare hardened, "I repeat. You will not enter..."

Click

The viewscreen cut off suddenly and Relena frowned. It was obvious that they were going to fight regardless. Getting up from her seat, she quickly moved for the exit. Pagan, who had been standing nearby looked at her with concern.

"Ms. Relena?"

"Take me to the area." she ordered. "I'll stop this myself."

The elderly man blinked in complete shock, "But Ms Relena, it's far too dangerous. It could become a battlefield at any moment."

"Never mind. I'll get there myself."

Before Pagan could protest, Relena strode past him out of her quarters and the exit. But when she moved down the stairs, an unusual sight awaited her.

"Ms. Dorothy?"

Dorothy was waiting before her, her gold limousine ready to go.

"Please hurry. The battle will begin soon."

Relena shook of her surprise and simply entered the limo. Dorothy smiled as she entered the driver's seat and drove off.

**********

Nearby...

"Hey, what going on?"

Yumi and Hayato looked up in the air to see the approaching objects lower down over an area a distance away. Seconds later, an explosion erupted in the same area.

"Looks like a battle." Yumi commented.

Hayato nodded, "Could it be Radham?"

"I don't know. Let's find out."

Two minutes later, Alpha ship flew off into the air.

**********

In the Trieze Faction camp, the soldiers were moving diligently. However, after finding out that Romefeller was approaching their area, the soldiers were also arming high detonation devices on their Sol-Tekkas. The chances of their escaping now was slim to impossible so rather than fight back, they would destroy themselves instead in order to prevent battle in the peaceful kingdom.

The leader continued to move the men, "Hurry up, let's go. Move it."

"Planning on dying, I see."

The soldier suddenly turned and drew his pistol at the sound of the voice. He knew for certain it wasn't one of his men. Focusing it on the figure in the forest, he cocked the trigger.

"Who are you?"

The figure approached, hands raised in the air and revealing its identity. Heero Yuy.

The leader blinked in recognition, "Wait a minute. You're...a gundam."

Heero simply strode into the camp, "It would be more sufficient for a soldier who is prepared to die to fight for something worthwhile."

The leader gave him a questioning look, "Are you suggesting that we should fight for the Sank?"

"I will fight alone if I have to. But I'm not going to disagree if you want to fight as well."

The leader considered his words and lowered the pistol. Giving him a brief smile, "Sure. Why not."

**************

Space Knight HQ

David sat in his seat while Dead stood by the window. He had been quiet for awhile and seemed lost in thought. David had never seen Dead like this before. Dead was always quiet, but he never seemed uncertain. Dead finally sighed deeply and began.

"When the Prague colony was destroyed, I survived by retracting into my primary body form. I suspect that is how she survived as well."

David blinked in surprise, "Are you saying that Tekkaman Slayer is from Prague too?"

"Yes."

David couldn't believe it. Colony 855- Prague was one of the outermost colonies and also one of the prime targets in the Radham war. All the inhabitants of the colony were captured by the tekkapods and either made into primary bodies or died by rejection. But they never reached full transformation due to the interference of Tekkaman Blade when he destroyed the pods. Though not complete, they were far stronger than normal people. Later on, they began to rebel against the Earth Sphere and the colony was destroyed. David, who had been there at the time, was saved by Aki when she arrived to try and stop the fighting. But her efforts were in vain as they destroyed the entire colony. Since then, it was assumed that no one survived, aside from Dead. And that in itself was a sheer miracle. Now Dead was telling him that another person had survived and had also become a full Tekkaman. As David contemplated this, he slowly noticed Dead's more than disturbed demeanor.

"Dead. Who is she?"

Dead slowly turned to him, emerald eyes locked onto him and answered softly.

"Aurora. My older sister."

********

Outskirts of Sank Kingdom...

Three carrier ships slowly flew in from over the horizon and toward the forest. When then came close enough, the carrier opened up and multiple objects dropped out. Virgo Sol-Tekka Dolls. The Dolls activated in the air and hovered down to the ground and into the trees. Using their sensors, they scanned the forest in search of their prey. Finally, they locked on to a Leo Sol-Tekka deep in the woods. Without waiting, the machines moved toward the machine and fired. The machine exploded and the Virgos continued their advance. But suddenly a beam fired out and destroyed the lead Virgo. As the Sol-Tekkas turned to attention, more beams fired out from the far end. From the skies over the forest, several white objects swooped in to attack. They were Taurus Sol-Tekkas, but they were colored in pearl white instead of the usual sleek black look. Also, they weren't equipped with the disruptor crystals of the previous ones, making them much faster. The machine soared over the Virgos, destroying a couple more before lowering to the ground and transforming into their humanoid states. Now grounded, the Tauruses opened fire again and caught the Dolls from behind.

"Drag them out into the open." Noin ordered from her lead Taurus suit. "We have to pull them away from the border."

"Roger." Quatre responded from another Sol-Tekka. He had preferred to fight in the Sol-Tekka in order to help out the soldiers. The Tauruses continued their fire, blasting away on the Virgos. But the Virgo were far from done as they activated there deflector shield and fired back. However, the maneuverability of the Tauruses made them difficult targets. And the Virgos were about to receive another surprise.

Shraaaannnggggggg!!!!!

A sharp object suddenly stabbed through the Virgo from behind and destroyed it. Swooping out of the woods, Wing Tekkaman emerged into the battle. With their backs turned and their disruptors inactive, Wing quickly began to decimate the enemy Dolls. He lashed out his cable cord, attached it to his fallen lance and pulled back, allowing it to swing to the side and slice more. Now pressed between the Tauruses and the gundam tekkaman, the Virgos quickly began to fall.

Meanwhile, just entering the scene, Relena and Dorothy had driven in just in time to see the battle. Dorothy smiled as the battle waged while Relena focused in her determination. Suddenly, a damaged Doll veered away from the battle and began to descend upon them. Dorothy quickly hit the brakes and swerved the car away, but it slid on the road and crash into a nearby tree. Relena groggily looked up to see Dorothy unconscious at the wheel. Relena shook her to wake her up, but stopped short when the damaged Doll focused on them. Mistaking them for target, the damaged machine aimed at them to fire, but its cannon was suddenly sliced off and the machine fell back and exploded. Relena quickly looked at the lancer and instantly realized that that wasn't Wing's

"Are you alright?"

Turning to the other window, Relena was surprised to be faced with Tekkaman Hiver.

"Yumi? What are you doing here?"

Hiver replied, Well, I thought it was Radham and well...it doesn't matter now."

Hiver looked up into the air and saw the other Virgo Dolls locking on to her. Standing before the limo, she centered her arms forward.

"Reactor Voltekka!"

The beam fired out, but before it could get any distance, it split into two beams and circled around, meeting each other and continuing on, creating an energy shield around herself and the limo. The Virgos were ready to fire, but they were taken down by two Tauruses; Noin and Quatre. Within a few minutes, the Virgo Sol-Tekka Dolls were completely destroyed. The machines land around the limo and Noin and Quatre exited theirs while Heero transformed back into his human form.

"I apologize, Miss Relena. I shouldn't have armed the Sank without your say so. But it was necessary."

Relena didn't respond and merely gazed at the white machines. Believe it or not, they had just saved her life and protected what she had worked hard to create. Turning back, her gaze traced over to Heero. Heero met her glaze.

"As total peace draws closer, battles like these will emerge. This country will need protection. Since we have a mutual goal, I will remain here to help build a defense force."

Relena considered his words and looked back at the Tauruses again. He was right about this. Every kingdom should have its knights. Even a peaceful one.

"Very well." she replied. "Do what you must."

Unknown to them, Dorothy was wide awake and listening in on the conversation with a smile.

'So I was right after all. You are quite amazing, Miss Relena. You are as strong as I thought.'

**********

Unknown...

"Report, Slayer."

The black tekkaman was kneeling on the ground, "Earth will be ours in no time. The foolish humans are too busy warring with each other and are quite vulnerable. The only thing in our way is the Space Knights and they are no match for us. I fought them all and nearly brought them to their knees."

"Nearly?"

"There was another. A tekkaman of considerable power who is aligned with them. But I can rectify that."

"Explain."

"If he joins us, then he would be a powerful ally."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

A smirk could be sensed beneath the dark armor, "Oh, just a little family reunion."

"Very well. Proceed according to your desire."

"Yes master. Well little one. It's time to play again."

---------------------

As the Space Knights prepare for another Radham attack, they are approached by Romefeller, who uses Yumi's defense of Relena to claim that they have joined forces with the Sank Kingdom. As Aki attempts to buy time, Slayer approaches Dead and challenges him one-on one. But the crafty tekkaman uses the battle to try to convince Dead into joining the Radham. David intervenes and Dead is unable to choose between his friend and his sister. Next on Gundam Tekkaman: Bonds of Blood.