A/N: Wow. this one is so much shorter than my other fics. Hmmm. Anywho, enjoy the ending, and it's now open for a sequel, whenever I get around to it. hee-hee...
Chapter 3: I call it Uplink
For a moment Ryo could do nothing but watch in frozen horror as the Grand Titan ran out of the hangar leaking joint fluid like water leaked from the pipes under the kitchen sink. Behind it, the Stealth hunter took to the air, leaving most of its armor behind. The Gate Guardian still looked pretty good… until you noticed it's lack of backup power cells and boosters on the back-- these lay on the floor where it had previously been standing. With a shriek that could have deafened a bat, Ryo dropped to his knees. It was just a prank! He thought. This wasn't supposed to happen!
Ryo stood slowly, then turned in the direction of the communicator station located across the hangar. Quickly he dashed across the cement floor, activated his communicator and tried to contact Hikaru. "Hikaru! You need to get out ot there!" He yelled desperately. "It's not fixed yet!"
"We don't all have time to lollygag like you Ryo," Hikaru snapped. "The Stealth Hunter's fine!"
"No!! No, you don't under--" Ryo stared in shock. "He cut me off!" He exclaimed. Frowning, he quickly switched the channel and tried to inform Takeshi of his imminent disaster. "You need to come in now or you never will!" Ryo shouted. "You're leaking joint fluid all over the place!"
"What?!" Takeshi shouted, "I can't hear you over these Thunder Furies' attack. In a minute, Okay?"
"You don't have a minute!" Ryo screamed, only to be cut off a second time. Frantically, Ryo tried to contact Ha-Ya-To. Before he could even speak, the Pilot cut him off with horrible news.
"Ryo, please! I need your help! The Gate Guardian's out of power and I'm practically surrounded by sentries!"
"I know!" Ryo wailed. "Give me a minute to think!"
"I don't have a minute!!" Ha-Ya-To screamed back. "I've got Iron Drones practically crawling all over me! I need something now!!
Panting, Ryo stumbled away from the communicator station in a daze. Well, what am I supposed to do? He thought angrily. Sensei won't let me leave here, he thinks I'm to valuable back here, and… Ryo frowned. But what if he didn't know it was me?
Ryo backed up, examining the huge battle machines. He knew the controls of most machines, but they were all so huge… Frowning, the Engineer stepped back and bumped into the leg of another battle machine, hidden under a tarp. Turning, Ryo glanced up at it, a smile spreading across his face…
By the time Ryo had gotten into the small, orange armor-plated battle machine the situation outside was messier than one of his labs when he was putting together a new project. Exo-Force battle machines were dropping from the sky like flies over Takeshi's cooking. Not that it's bad, but Ryo actually preferred slop to anything Takeshi had been close to with a stove and a spatula.
Ha-ya-to was crouched behind the remains of the Stealth hunter, desperately firing a hand laser and cringing with every step closer the sentries took. Takeshi's Grand Titan could barely move because of its loss of joint fluid, and the green-Haired pilot was shouting at the control board. As if that could possibly improve his situation! Ryo thought. Glancing around to see where the Stealth Hunter's pilot was, he grimace when he finally located Hikaru trying to fix his Battle Machine.
Shaking his head, Ryo turned to face the Thunder Fury headed in his direction. With a burst of energy, the Battle Machine exploded. Grinning, Ryo turned to face the sentries, ignoring the call for retreat echoing in every Exo-force Pilot's communicator. After all, he was beginning to enjoy this…with a few blasts of his laser cannon, the sentries were no longer something to worry about. Ignoring the steady stream of pilots heading back to Sentai fortress, Ryo moved forward.
With an explosion rivaled only by the temper tantrum he'd had earlier in the day, a Fire Vulture plummeted to the ground, never to fly again. Ryo couldn't help shouting in excitement. This was awesome! After taking down several large machines, Ryo once again turned to the Sentries, not realizing he was the only pilot still outside. However, within minutes, the tide had turned. The robots began to retreat and the Exo-Force pilots returned to the battlefield with vigor.
Together with a few other pilots, Ryo pursued the robots until they were far, far away from Sentai fortress. Then, along with Several other Pilots, he slowly returned to the Hangar, positive he was going to be stuck in the brig for a year, thanks to his shenanigan. Shaking his head, Ryo grinned. It was worth it, He thought.
Back in the hanger, Dozens of Exo-Force pilots speculated on who had led them to victory.
"It must have been Hikaru. Only he could use a strategy like that without being afraid of losing," one pilot said.
"No, only Takeshi would bust in like that," another argued.
"It can't be either of them," an engineer said from behind them, pointing. "Look, that's both of them over there, isn't it?"
The pilots stared in amazement. "Then it must have been Ha-Ya-To," one finally stammered.
"What must have been me?" Ha-Ya-To asked. Then, turning to the engineer, he frowned. "Where's Ryo? I thought he was coming to help me with the Gate guardian. Instead, I had to be saved by Hikaru. Do you know what that does to my self esteem?!"
One of the pilots glared at him before replying. "Nothing. Your self esteem is indestructible in it's magnificence."
Just then, the orange Battle Machine walked into the hangar, smoking and leaking joint fluid.
Hikaru and Takeshi Joined Ha-Ya-To to stare. "Do you think it's Shinji?" Hikaru asked after a moment. "He's pretty good."
Ha-Ya-To shrugged. "Maybe it's someone else."
Everyone watched as the cockpit shield lowered and Ryo jumped out.
Hikaru nearly fell over. "No way!" he gasped.
"No way!!" Ryo shouted to himself from across the hangar. Because of the absolute silence when he'd gotten out, his voice carried throughout the entire room. "I just finished it today, and it already needs fixing!!"
After a moment, a few engineers began to applaud, followed by Most of the pilots, with three exceptions. "He sabotaged us," Hikaru whispered. Ha-Ya-To and Takeshi nodded. Mark my words, Techie, Hikaru thought angrily, this isn't the end of the story…
Through the applause, cries of "Great work!" and "Nice job!" could be heard through the crowd. Ryo had never felt better. He grinned, then frowned anxiously. "Hey, why aren't you telling me what's wrong with your machines?!" he demanded, "Kenji, your poor machine looks like it lost a few anti-combustion nacelles. That's really dangerous," he scolded, dashing across the room to fetch his tools. "I'll be right back!" he cried.
As the crowd slowly dispersed, Sensei Keiken stepped into the room, and watched Ryo work on a Battle Machine for a few minutes before walking over. "Ryo," he said softly, "Care to explain what happened?"
Ryo glanced up, sighed and looked at the floor. "After I had to go back and fix Hikaru, Takeshi and Ha-Ya-To's battle machines, I was so frustrated I decided to play a prank on them. Training was in an hour, so I mixed up a few processes…" Ryo sighed. "It was nothing life threatening-- unless you're fighting robots," Ryo admitted.
Sensei Keiken nodded. "I think you owe them a heartfelt apology, don't you?"
Ryo nodded. "Yeah."
Smiling, Sensei Keiken sat down beside the engineer. "Now, if you wouldn't mind answering a few questions?"
Ryo looked at him. "Sure," he said. "What?"
"Where did you get the new battle machine?" Sensei asked.
"Oh, I've been working on it for awhile," Ryo said, "to maybe show you so I could… you know, pilot a battle machine?"
Sensei nodded. "I see. What are you planning on calling it?"
"Oh, I already named it," Ryo said proudly, "I call it Uplink."