Today, after a little stuff with the Freeden, we turn our attention to another landship - the Iron Gear, and we also begin the saga of Gurren Lagann! Plus, we turn the spotlight on a few of the girls from Sakura Taisen 5. How will their fates be intertwined? Read on and find out!
Chapter 3 - Hot Blood in the Wastes! Red Face, Blue Gale!
Back at BizenTech Laboratories' facility, Tara sat in the pilot's dressing room, staring at her hands, while Masakado only looked on, unsure of how to comfort her. He could only watch as Witz Sou entered the room, as if looking for her
"There you are, kiddo," the Airmaster's pilot said; "You okay? That wasn't bad for your first battle."
"I...I killed people," Tara answered, her voice trembling.
"Yeah...that you did," Witz said with a small nod, but a neutral expression.
"I KILLED people!" the girl suddenly screamed, getting right in his face. "I cut short the lives of people with hopes, dreams, and wishes...I slaughtered people's fathers, mothers, sons, or daughters! I killed them without hesitating!"
"Typical domer," he sighed. "You're always like that the first time you get into a battle."
"What the heck's a domer, anyway?" Tara replied angrily even as tears dripped down her face; "And is thinking that way WRONG?! That killing other people is horrible?!"
"Of course it's not wrong to think that way!" Witz replied, yelling back before calming down a bit. "It's perfectly normal for domers like you - you come from a society where life is ordered, peaceful and easy."
The scrapper stepped back a little.
"But...out here? It's chaotic, brutal and completely unforgiving," the Gundam Airmaster's pilot continued; "It's a world where the only person you can totally depend on is yourself...where people have to scavenge whatever resources they can. They often have to fight, kill and steal in order to get them."
Tara sniffled a bit.
"The big war may have ended twenty-five years ago," Witz said, now seeming to lecture her; "But there are now countless little wars going on...personal wars for survival. That's just how we scrappers live. If you don't like it, you can crawl back to whatever dome you came from and into your safe, comfy little bed!"
"What if I can't?!" the Masakados' pilot yelled back. "In the past fifteen hours, I've lost everything...my possessions, my home, my parents, and I even lost control of my..."
"Well then, you better get used to doing without them, girlie," Witz finally said sardonically as he started to leave, disgusted by Tara's moaning; "Because unless you change that self-righteous mindset of yours, this world's going to EAT. YOU. ALIVE." With that, he left, the door closing behind him automatically. Masakado, having watched the whole thing, was understandably furious as he approached the girl.
"Tara, if you desire it, I'll give that man his just desserts!" he said; "That man has no idea that you were stripped of control of your own body!"
"No...i-it's okay," Tara replied uneasily. "I'll just have to get used to it, I guess." Suddenly, the door opened again. Jamil entered this time.
"Amakuni," he said in a gentler tone. "Don't take what Sou said too personally. He just tells it like it is. Anyway, Dr. Nielstein and I talked it over. I know your story now, more or less."
"Talked what over?" Tara asked, wiping the tears off her face. "And who's Dr. Nielstein?"
"He's the current head of the Masakados' development team," Jamil explained; "They thought it best if you stayed on the Freeden instead of traveling by yourself."
"But my mother..." Tara said, her eyes seeming to beg the Freeden's captain to rethink it.
"Don't worry," the Freeden's captain explained; "I promised to keep a lookout for her on our travels...after all, your father and I go back a ways. Wish I could have seen him one more time."
Tara was shocked. How could her father know a scrapper?
"More importantly," Jamil continued, his tone getting serious again. "Your sudden burst of combat skill came from your machine's AI system shutting down your higher mental processes, according to Dr. Nielstein. The AI may be able to determine friend from foe on its own, but you might need someone to snap you back to reality so you don't do anything stupid."
"What about that Tiffa girl and Garrod kid...and the mobile suit with that monstrous weapon?"
"Garrod is in the Freeden's hold, and we have the GX in our hangar. As for Tiffa...well...let's just say the weight of her deed was too much for her mind to bear."
"Huh?"
"Tiffa is a special kind of person...a Newtype. They are gifted - or perhaps cursed with - mental powers that normal humans do not possess. In Tiffa's case...well..."
Garrod couldn't believe it, yet when Jamil explained it to her, it explained her reaction. Her Newtype powers allowed her to, among other things, read minds. The thoughts of pain and death coming from others all flooded her mind - it was a miracle that her psyche hadn't been shattered right there.
He stood against the far wall in his prison within the Freeden, banging his head against it.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why'd you have to go and make Tiffa do that, you moron?!" he said angrily as he stepped away from the hall and got onto the lower tier of a two-tiered bunk bed. "I just gotta make it up to her somehow...man, if only I knew what I could do.."
The bed, as it turned out, was surprisingly comfortable, considering that Garrod was used to sleeping on the ground or on hard surfaces...and the whole experience completely exhausted him. The next thing he knew, he was out like a light, and snoring rather loudly...
Near the Masakados' launch ramp, Jaan was running some diagnostic checks on the machine's systems when he heard someone approaching him. It was Tara, looking particularly pissed off. He was about to greet her, only to be slugged in the face, knocking him down with one punch.
"Ow!" Jaan exclaimed as he sat up. "What was that for? What did I do?!"
"Why didn't you TELL ME?!" Tara yelled, her emotions still a violent torrent.
"About what?" the young scientist asked as he started to get up.
"About the Gundam X and its Satellite Cannon!" the Masakados' pilot said angrily. "Not only that, I was forced by the AI to kill people, just to escape...you could have warned me about that too!"
"Tara Amakuni...if you must blame anyvone for getting your hands stained vith blood, zen you can blame me."
The two looked over and saw a short, elderly gentleman with wild hair and an incredible thick gray beard and mustache, enough to make it seem like his head was all hair. He wore extremely thick spectacles and a lab coat, and walked with a cane.
"Oh, Dr. Nielstein. Glad to see you're all better," Jaan replied. "Tara, this is Dr. Ludwig Nielstein. He's the project's overall supervisor."
"I vas the one who vanted zat feature included. It vas a measure to prevent you from getting killed as a result of a foolish decision. However..."
The elderly scientist whacked his subordinate in his left shin with his cane.
"Ow!" Jaan cried.
"You dummkopf!" Dr. Nielstein yelled, wagging his finger indignantly at Jaan. "You failed to varn her about them!"
"But sir, the GX-9900..." the younger scientist exclaimed.
"It vould have taken but a few seconds!" his superior yelled, whacking him in his other shin. "You rushed her into battle vithout zinking!"
"I'm sorry, sir..." Jaan finally said, defeated.
"Now! Get your zings onto za Freeden!" the bearded scientist said. "Zey vill be leaving soon! SCHNEL!"
"Oh, yes! I almost forgot!" the young scientist said, hurrying off in another direction.
"Huh?!" Tara exclaimed as she watched him rush off. "He's coming with me?"
"Jaan vill be in charge of zee Masakados' upkeep und maintenance," Dr. Nielstein explained; "Other than myzelf and your fahzer, he knows zeh most about zee Masakados' vorkings. In addition, I zink some time in za vastes vill help strengthzen zat spineless boy's vill. You will help with zat, nein?"
"Sure...I guess," Tara replied. The scientist smiled, and gave Tara a hearty slap on the back.
"Vell zen, I bid you farevell," he said before leaving; "Und best of luck!"
The city-state of Paradigm City...to the scrappers who roamed the desert wastes outside it, it was a cursed city – one that, if you went in, you would never come out of. Not even the most desperate scrapper would try to sneak in, lest the curse trap them there forever.
But for its residents, it was home – the only place safe for humans to live in, particularly after "The Event" that happened forty years ago. Ever since, it became known even to its residents as the City of Amnesia, for all of its people had somehow lost their memories of the world after "The Event" of forty years ago. They even knew nothing about the colony drops of twenty-five years ago, that laid waste to most of the remaining world anyway.
Still, even without their memories, life went on.
And life required compromises quite often. And when a compromise needed to be struck, there was one man the wealthy of Paradigm City knew they could call upon:
Roger Smith, the Negotiator.
Roger was a tall, well-built man with milk-white skin, carefully coiffed eyebrows and slicked-back black hair. Usually he wore a snappy black suit with a black jacket dotted with six silver buttons, black gloves, black trousers and black shoes. Though it rarely got very hot in the nicer parts of Paradigm City thanks to the dome's climate control, he would wear this outfit regardless of the weather. This morning, however, Roger was in a black bathrobe with black slippers – attire he wore when he was relaxing and getting ready for his day.
As he sat there drinking his morning coffee and perusing some notes related to his work, he was unexpectedly greeted by his butler, Norman – he was a old gentleman with a bald scalp with surprisingly thick white hair on the back of his head. He had a well-groomed mustache, and dressed in a fine black tuxedo.
"Excuse me, Master Roger," Norman said in his usual dignified manner. "A young lady is at the door...a Miss Cheiron Archer."
Roger groaned as he put down his coffee cup, to the butler's mild surprise.
"Great," he said as he got to his feet; "Not her again."
"Do you know this lady, Master Roger?" the butler inquired. "Shall I bring her in, or tell her that you are unavailable?"
"No, I'll go to her," he said.
"You hardly seem dressed to meet her," Norman said with just a barest hint of slyness, now amused at his master's choice. But Roger was already gone, working his way through the lavish but solemnly decorated penthouse apartment to his door.
When he opened the door, he was met with a young woman with gray eyes, chocolate-brown skin, tied-back black hair, wearing a dark gray business suit with a green-blue tie and a white striped shirt underneath. In all, she exuded an aura of being all business.
It was the Cheiron Archer in question.
"Mr. Smith," the young woman said politely. "How are you today?"
"I'm fine," Roger replied coldly, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave - I've told you three times already...I'm NOT going to teach you how to be a negotiator. If you want to do that, go work for the Military Police."
Cheiron's eyes widened in shock.
"I-I can't work them," she exclaimed. "They're corrupt scum! The higher-ups act like the law means nothing to them!" At this point, Norman had joined them.
"I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of them either," Roger said, unmoved by the young woman's words, "but they're your best bet, unless you want to start from the bottom like I did."
Cheiron shook her head as she tried to think up a solution.
"I could...I could be your secretary!" she said, her voice almost pleading now.
"My butler Norman does just fine with that job," Roger said, casting a sideways glance at his servant.
"What about..." the dark-skinned girl exclaimed.
"The answer is 'no'," Roger said, trying his best not to lose his temper as he reached for the edge of the door.
"B-but..." Cheiron stammered.
"We have come to terms," the negotiator said. "Have a nice day." With that, he slammed the door in her face and turned around, which made Norman shake his head in disbelief.
"Master Roger," the butler said, almost scolding his master as he turned to return to his coffee and notes, "I've never seen you treat a nice young lady like that so rudely. It's quite unbecoming of you."
"I've told you before, Norman," Roger said as he stopped. "I'm not the teaching type."
"Besides," he added, "she was wearing a green tie and a dark gray, and you know my rule. If you want to enter my home, you have to be in black and white."
"Of course, Master Roger," Norman said, bowing politely.
More importantly, Roger thought, I really don't want to have to worry about her every time I go out in Big O...
With that, the Freeden was off. It took off to the northwest, and was hovering just a few dozen feet over the ocean, moving from the islands of Japan to the mainland. Jamil decided to take the time to explain their plans for the immediate future to his crew and the mobile weapon pilots. Masakado stood nearby silently.
"So, where's our destination, Captain?" the navigator asked. "If we keep heading northwest, we'll be heading for Siberian Railroad's territory - and you know how they get."
"After that last battle, we're going to need to refill our ammunition stocks and replace some parts on the Freeden," Jamil explained. "There's a bazaar on the mainland about three hundred kilometers west from our current position...we can restock there, and perhaps find some better medical care for Tiffa."
"What if we run into Breakers?" Toniya asked uneasily. "It sounds like we'll be headed into their territory."
"You mean those pint-sized scrappers in their gas-powered hunks of junk?" Witz laughed. "Pft, they'd be no problem."
"I dunno," Roybea said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I've heard rumors that their Walker Machines can take all kinds of punishment. Even a lot of mobile suits couldn't withstand what those 'hunks of junk' can."
Tara wondered just what these Breakers were truly capable of, and whether she'd have the guts to take their lives if it came down to it.
"It doesn't matter," Jamil said. "We need those supplies and ammunition, and that bazaar is the closest place to get them. Any questions?" The three pilots were silent.
"Then you three dismissed," the Freeden's captain said. "Begin your preparations for departure. The rest of you, remain on standby. We don't know what else is out there." The three mobile weapon pilots turned to leave the room. However, as Tara left the bridge and went down the elevator that led to the main hall, she spotted someone rounding the corner. It was a lovely girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore red-rimmed glasses, a blue headband, and a cyan dress with a white doctor's coat over it.
But what immediately surprised Tara was that the newcomer was in a wheelchair, and a surprisingly nice one at that – its frame was made of smoothly polished wood, and it had blue cushions on the seat, armrests and back. The wheels were made of the usual metal.
The young woman stopped and smiled pleasantly at her.
"Oh...I don't believe we've met," the girl said in a gentle, almost motherly voice. "But I suspect you must be Tara Amakuni, pilot of the Masakados."
"I am," Tara replied as she and Masakado stepped off the elevator.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," the wheelchair-bound girl said. "I'm Diana Caprice...I'm one of the medical officers here on the Freeden. "
That suddenly seemed to remind Tara of something else – the girl that had been with Garrod on the GX-9900.
"How's the Newtype girl, Tiffa?" she asked.
"She's still unconscious," Diana replied, "but she is stable."
"A lovely young lady," Masakado said, "though I wonder why she needs that wheeled chair..."
"And hello to you too, sir samurai," she said. "I apologize for not greeting you sooner." This, understandably shocked the pair.
"You can see me?" the samurai ghost exclaimed. "And hear my words?"
"It's a strange gift I seem to have," Diana said awkwardly. "Captain Neate tells me it's because I'm a 'Newtype', but I'm not sure it's that. Still, I felt what that poor girl must have felt the moment that dreadful weapon fired."
"Then how did it not traumatize you?" Masakado said, shaking his head in disbelief. "If you're sensitive enough to see me..."
"Their time had come," the wheelchair-bound girl said with a sigh, her tone seeming almost resigned, "and there's nothing we could have done to change that. The moment they attacked the Gundam X, their fates were set in stone."
Masakado and Tara looked at each other in dismay.
"How can you say that?!" Tara exclaimed.
"Death comes for us all," Diana said, shaking her head; "It's just a matter of when and how. Plus, the presence of your ghost friend indicates that there is some sort of life after death."
"I did not become a ghost of my own free will, Diana," the samurai ghost said darkly.
"Then why are you a medical officer?" the Masakados' pilot demanded. At this, Diana seemed to retreat a bit, almost as if she had accidentally revealed something she did not wish to reveal.
"I apologize for that," she said. "I-if you'll excuse me, I must go report Tiffa's condition to the captain." With that, she wheeled past them, got on the elevator and rode it up to the bridge. Alone once more, Tara and Masakado started down the hallway.
"That young lady has tremendous spiritual power," the ghostly warrior said grimly, "even that girl Erica from earlier pales before this one. In fact, I surmise that power be the cause of her condition."
"What do you mean?" Tara asked.
"The power Diana has within her is so great," Masakado said grimly, "it is gradually eating away at her already frail body. It will consume her one day...and she seems to have accepted that reality."
Tara grimaced – she wished there was something she could do...
For Simon, a meek, blue-haired boy that always wore a pair of goggles, there was one thing he was really good at - digging. And in the underground village of Jiha, it was the digger's job to expand the village. While others just slowly hummed along, Simon eagerly dug with his little hand-cranked drill. On days where he dug a lot, he would get to eat pig-mole steaks.
But on this particular day, his drill came to a stop when he banged on something unusually hard just ahead of him. The boy paused to see what it was, widening the tunnel as needed. After moving away a little dirt, he found something shiny - a small, golden drill-shaped object about the size of his thumb. On the flat end, there was a little loop.
What Simon really liked about digging was the fact that he would sometimes find treasure - and this was his best find yet, especially when he saw what was just in front of him now - a large metal face.
He figured he had done enough to earn his steaks for the day, so Simon started digging back to the village itself - a vast cavern with numerous walkways, side caves and circular ramps. Once back, he started on his way back to his own little hole, where he would sleep and wait for dinner. But the whole way, he was completely enraptured by the shiny object he had dug up.
So much so, that he didn't see the person he had bumped into: Kamina.
Kamina was a tall, athletically built young man who also had blue hair, though it was far spikier. He had all sorts of blue tattoos on his arms and torso, and wore flared out trousers. But his most distinguishing feature were a pair of pointy, triangular sunglasses he always had perched on his nose. When the young man saw Simon, he flipped up his glasses.
"Oh, hey there, little bro. Whatcha got there?" Kamina asked in a friendly manner. "C'mon, you know you can show your big bro your treasure!" Simon warily looked left and right, then showed the drill to the teen.
"Nice find," Kamina said with a satisfied nod. "Here, let me help ya with that."
Kamina reached into his pockets and produced some thick string. He threaded it through the loop, carefully tied the two ends together, then put the completed pendant around Simon's neck.
"Looks good on ya, bro." the young man said, nodding. "After all, the drill is the embodiment of your soul, Simon...and one day, your drill is gonna dig us all the way through the heavens and up to the surface!" Suddenly, something popped out of Simon's cloak: a small pigmole that appeared to be wearing miniature sunglasses of its own, and made a little sound as if it was agreeing.
"See, even Boota thinks so!" Kamina said heartily.
He was like that. To the rest of the village, he was just some idiot talking big and acting like the epitome of manliness, but to Simon, he was like the big brother he never had.
At the very least, the brash teen knew how to raise his mood.
But Simon's mood suddenly turned to terror when the cavern that was the village started to shake. All around them, the villagers went into the panic, rushing into nearby tunnels. Only he and Kamina remained out in the open, much to the former's alarm.
"Kamina, we gotta get away!" Simon cried.
"Real men don't run from anything, Simon!" Kamina said proudly, leering at Simon as if looking down on him for his cowardice.
"But if we don't...we'll be crushed!" the digger cried, his eyes filled with fright, and on the verge of bursting to tears. When Kamina saw Simon's scared face, he realized that his little bro's fright was far from unwarranted.
"Oh, that's right...you lost your mom and dad in a cave-in," Kamina said sympathetically, wrapping his arms around Simon, like a father would to ease his terrified child's mind, and holding him against his body.
After several seconds, the tremor stopped.
"See? It's over. Nothing to be scared of," the tattooed teen said gently before raising his head and looking around at the scared villagers with contempt.
"Are you all gonna keep living like this?" he bellowed. "Running into your holes like frightened animals whenever the earth shakes a little?! Up on the surface, there's no walls or ceiling...only open, blue sky!"
Suddenly, the tremors started again, this time far more violently. The ceiling started to crack and crumble...the roof was indeed caving in.
Simon, more frightened for his big bro's safety than his own, quickly grabbed Kamina's wrist and pulled him out of the way, just as the entire roof started to fall, bringing what appeared to be a gigantic bull's head with sharp teeth down with it.
I knew this would happen one day, Simon thought; I knew this was gonna happen!
But once the roof has finished collapsing, the pair saw something wondrous coming from the hole in the ceiling: sunlight. The villagers who had escaped the collapse and the fall of the monstrous bull's head could only gaze in awe. Even the village chief, a somewhat muscular man with a big gut, was enraptured by the sight. The long, sheathed nodachi he always carried now lay flat on his chest.
Kamina grinned widely, rushed out onto the rubble, and dramatically posed there, pointing to the hole in the ceiling.
"You see?" the young man cried out victoriously; "I TOLD you there was a surface! This big mug fell from it!"
He looked down at the village chief, whose awe had suddenly turned to terror as the monstrous head began to rise up thanks to arms and legs it had. Other villagers began to panic and run. While Simon was also frightened, something kept him from following suit, even as he tried to warn Kamina to flee.
"What? You're not protect the village? I guess you're the liar now, huh?" Kamina said mockingly. He stomped on the sword, causing it to flip up and spin around the young man's neck and shoulders until he caught it by the grip. He then turned back to the monstrosity.
"Hey, hey, heeeeey!" Kamina called out in an extremely confrontational manner. "You've got guts to plow your way into our village! But that ends here, 'cause I've had it up to here with your shenanigans!"
To everyone's further shock, the behemoth's mouth began to move as a growling voice came from it.
"Wha? Who the hell are you?" it asked.
"I'm gonna tell you, so get the wax out of your ears and listen close! The reputation of Team Gurren echoes far and wide! When people talk about its badass leader, they're talking about that man of indomitable spirit, that paragon of masculinity...ME, the great Kamina!"
The rest of the village just shook their heads at Kamina's apparent idiocy.
"Heh...and what's a puny little Undergrounder like you gonna do about it?" the head replied derisively. Suddenly, something struck the metal monstrosity on the head.
The two looked up and saw someone swinging in - a pale-skinned girl with yellow eyes, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old. She had long red hair tied up in a ponytail, and wore a pair of trapezoidal, orange-tinted sunglasses (much more practical than the ones Kamina wore), black bikini top with red flames on it, white bikini bottom, stockings that went halfway up her thighs, and surprisingly fashionable white boots. She was carrying what appeared to be a high-powered sniper rifle. Of course, what immediately caught Simon and Kamina's eyes first were her rather substantial bust and butt, which made one wonder if she wasn't older.
The girl fired several more super-conducted rounds at the monstrosity, managing to knock it down, then landed, skidding backwards, unaware that she was giving the two young men a close-up of her buttocks.
"You two, get out of here!" the girl said as she stood up fully and started running. "I've only knocked it down - it'll be up in a second."
"Hey, baby! Need a hand? I'd be more than happy to lend one!" Kamina said flirtatiously as he ran alongside her.
The monstrous bull head brought down a massive metal club, forcing Yoko and Kamina to dodge out of the way, only to stumble into a small pit, the former landing on the latter's lap. But they weren't alone long - Simon popped out of a smaller hole that he had somehow dug in the few seconds between the girl's arrival and now.
"Thanks, Simon! Nice save!" the katana-wielding teen said gratefully.
"Hurry up! This way!" Simon said before diving back into the tunnel. Kamina and the girl followed the boy into the tunnel, the former getting another chance to ogle the latter's behind.
For the Sandrats, manual labor wasn't quite what they were expecting. Mining and moving Blue Stones was hard for their small bodies. But for Jiron, it was just fine.
As the son of a Rockman and a Rockman himself, his strong body was well-trained for the job of mining this seemingly useless, but valuable ore that served as the currency among the scrappers in the eastern part of the world - and it was the job of the company Elche inherited, Carrying Cargo, to transport this ore. Of course, the company also transported other things, including scraps for repairing Walker Machines.
Which was exactly what they were doing today - the Iron Gear had just stumbled upon the wreck of several large robots that resembled the monstrous bull head that was even now rampaging through Jiha Village. The parts contained therein would be extremely valuable, so Jiron and company were immediately sent to scavenge what they could...after all, it looked like no one had looted it yet - which meant it had been active not long ago.
"Hurry it up! It's not often we get this much fresh Gunmen armor plating!" Elche yelled from the bridge of the Iron Gear. "You guys want your three square meals? Then you gotta earn 'em!"
"Geez, what a slave driver," Rag grumbled as her Gallop dragged a piece of plating along the desert ground. "I don't get what Jiron sees in her."
"I dunno, this might not be so bad," Dike said. "If all we have to do to get our food and place to sleep is drag some stuff around, then it's a good deal!"
Meanwhile, Jiron was maneuvering Xabungle as it carried a pair of horns from the Gunmen wreck and put them down on a lift. As his mech rose up, the Rockman suddenly spotted a number of Walker Machines heading straight for them - mostly Duggers, but there was one that looked somewhat different - it had a pair of large turrets instead of hands on its arms, and its had smaller guns on its head.
"Elche, we've got some Breakers headed straight for us!" Jiron yelled. "One of them looks pretty fancy! Not Xabungle-fancy, but you get what I mean!"
"Wow...Hola sure came back quick," Cotset said, looking through a pair of simple binoculars. "Think he came to apologize?"
"I doubt it," Elche said, swiping the binoculars from her engineer. "If he really wanted to kiss and make up, he wouldn't come back riding his Promeus, especially not with a dozen other Walker Machines behind him. Tell Jiron and the others to get into battle positions."
"Yes, Miss," the engineer said with a sigh.
"For the fifteenth time today...Call! Me! Captain!" the green-haired woman yelled suddenly.
"I'm sorry Mi...erm...Captain," Cotset said, cringing a bit in the face of his boss' wrath.
"That's better," Elche said with a smile and a satisfactory nod. She watched as the two groups of Walker Machines approached each other, with the Promeus leading one, and Xabungle leading the other. They paused a hundred yards or so from each other, and stared each other down. After a minute or two, in which several tumbleweeds rolled by, the Promeus' pilot, a smug-looking fellow with dark hair and eyes, and a slightly pronounced chin, stuck his head out of the window and started yelling up toward the Iron Gear's bridge.
"I see you hired yerself some new goons, Miss!" yelled the Promeus' pilot, to Elche, in a rather mocking tone.
"Goons? Have you looked in a mirror lately, Kid?!" Elche yelled back, appalled that her father's former employee would even consider himself a non-goon.
"My offer's still on the table!" Kid called. "Become my blushing bride and I'll make Carrying Cargo prosper like...!"
But Jiron was not exactly patient, especially with someone like Kid. He quickly closed the hundred yards between the two groups and belted Kid's Walker Machine with a massive punch.
"Don'tcha take 'no' for an answer, Droopy-Eyes?" Jiron said as he made Xabungle enter a fighting stance. "Elche doesn't need someone who'd walk out on 'er for a husband!"
"You!" Kid exclaimed as the Promeus unsteadily got to its feet. "If Elche gave YOU Xabungle, then that must mean you're the main character! Fine then...I'll just smash you and then the Iron Gear, the Xabungle AND the role of main character will be all mine!" With that, the Promeus opened fire with the two main guns, which Xabungle easily dodged, counterattacking with a shot from its rifle. These opening attacks caused the other Walker Machines to start attacking each other as well.
"Sorry, pal - it's waaaaay too early for ya to even consider that!" Jiron taunted even as his shot was narrowly avoided. "I'll show you what the manly Xabungle can really do! Chiru, let's go!"
Xabungle tossed away its rifle as it started to emit a great deal of fumes and smoke from its grille-like mouth, caused by both of its pilots revving its engines. It charged at the Promeus with great speed, kicking up clouds of dust as it ran. Kid tried to fire its secondary turrets, but all of his shots kept missing.
"XABUNGLE...FULL POWEEERRRRR!"
With even more force than before, the blue Walker Machine punched Kid's mech, sending it skidding away. It then continued with a powerful kick, before finally leaping high, preparing to do a double-fisted smash. However, the Promeus was able to step backward in time, causing it to whiff the attack entirely.
"I have you now, Melonhead!" Kid called out, grinning wickedly.
"Melonhead?!" Jiron said angrily as steam came out of his ears; "You son of a..."
The Promeus fired its main guns at the cockpit of Xabungle, but it missed, thanks to Chiru's quick thinking. Instead, it only struck the wings on the back.
"Gah! The wings!" Jiron cried.
"I was aiming for the cockpit," Kid said, leering. "This time, I won't miss...and no plot armor's gonna save you!"
"Where did I end up, anyway?" the girl asked as she, Simon and Kamina crawled through the tunnel the younger digger had drilled. The Gunmen outside was randomly bashing the walls, simply reveling in causing destruction and mayhem.
"Jiha Village," Simon answered. "By the way, what's your name?"
"Oh...I'm Yoko; I'm from Littner Village, the pit next door to yours," the redhead answered.
"Wait, so you came from the surface, but you lived underground?" Kamina exclaimed.
"More or less," Yoko replied. "Is that a problem?"
"Geez, so that means you're a pit chick!" Kamina groaned, annoyed that she wasn't from the surface, and more importantly, that she slowed down even as they approached the end of the tunnel. "Move it, thunder thighs!"
"Where exactly are we going, anyway?" the girl asked, ignoring Kamina's insult as they climbed through a hole along a walkway.
"To the face!" Simon replied before crawling into yet another tunnel.
"The face?" Yoko then asked as she followed. "Wait, you mean you found a Gunmen?"
"What's a Gunmen?" Simon's big bro inquired.
"That thing is," she replied, noting the monstrous as they passed it while they were still somewhat hidden. She wanted to get a good shot at its power conduits, but the tunnel was too small to get into a sniping position.
After another few minutes of crawling, Simon stopped, having found the metal face from before. Unlike the Gunmen in the center of the village, the face on this one was more like a human's. Quickly, the boy used his drill to expose the last bits of it, revealing a strange hatch. As the trio pondered what to do with it, the drill-pendant Simon was still wearing suddenly began to glow. In response, the mech's eyes began to flash, and the hatch opened. This revealed what seemed to be controls inside, consisting of a few screens, a pair of handles and a strange circular screen with a weird indentation with spiraled grooves in it.
"Hey, it started up!" he exclaimed. "Big bro, let's use it to take out the big face in the village!" Simon stepped out of the cockpit. "C'mon, get in!"
To his surprise, Kamina shook his head.
"No...you do it," he said rather calmly. "You're the one that found it - that makes it yours. Besides, it's reacting to YOUR pendant."
"But I..." Simon said meekly.
"The great Kamina never steals stuff from his blood brother!" the young man replied, resuming his usual boisterous manner.
"But I don't think I can do it..." the digger replied.
"Dumbass! Kick logic to the curb and make the impossible possible! That's how Team Gurren rolls, right?"
"But..."
"Listen, Simon," Kamina explained in an annoyed tone, so tired was he of Simon's self-denigration. "No more 'buts' outta you! If you're not gonna believe in yourself, then believe in me...the Kamina who believes in you!"
Realizing that his big bro wasn't going to budge on his decision, Simon sat down in the seat and squeezed the grips, causing the screen before him to start glowing, forming a picture of a green spiral galaxy.
He then looked at the drill-pendant around his neck. Figuring that he had nothing else to lose, he stuck it in, and turned it like starting a car's ignition. Instantly, the small machine sparked to life, shooting pale green flames from its nostrils as the green spiral galaxy was covered by a number of polygons arranged in a spiral formation, almost like a gauge. Small arms and legs sprouted from it. Suddenly, the canopy closed, trapping Kamina and the girl inside with him. Somehow, Kamina's new sword managed to fit as well.
It's working...I can do this! Simon thought, his confidence growing.
"Nice job with the canopy!" Kamina commented; "By the way, we're going to call it 'Lagann' from now on! You like that?"
What is up with this guy? Yoko wondered as Simon nodded eagerly.
"Now, blow him away with your drill, Simon!" Kamina cheered. "The drill that's gonna pierce the heavens!"
YEAH! the digger thought, his expression now a wide, almost insane grin as spirals formed in his irises.
Reacting to Simon's ever-rising spirit, the machine let out a massive screech as a large drill sprouted from its forehead and arms. It then rocketed forward, drilling through the ground at incredibly speed.
"TAKE THIS, YOU BIG UGLY MONSTER!" Simon screamed as Lagann burst up from below the enemy Gunmen, drilling straight through it, and even further upward...
Just as Kid was about to deliver a finishing shot to Jiron, another rifle shot rang out, striking the Promeus from behind. Jiron and Chiru looked behind him - and saw another Xabungle standing there, its rifle barrel smoking.
"What the?! Another Xabungle?!" Kid exclaimed. "When did she get that second one?!"
"Same place I got the first - when Daddy bought it from the Innocent," Elche replied, a smirk on her face. "Weren't you paying attention?"
"Miss Elche?! When did you get so good with a Walker Machine?!" Jiron exclaimed, overjoyed to see his boss actually taking a stand.
"I may be a lady of manners, but I'm not afraid to play rough when it's required!" the young woman replied. "C'mon Jiron, let's teach this varmint a lesson!"
But before the beating could commence, the ground began to shake violently as the Gunmen from Jiha Village was blasted out of the hole it had formed, while Lagann had launched itself thousands of feet in the air.
"What in tarnation?!" Elche exclaimed as she stuck her head out the window, baffled at the sight that had suddenly appeared.
"Well, guess this is where I make my exit," Kid said to himself. "I'm not fool enough to challenge two Xabungles at once." With that, the red Walker Machine made a run for it, with four of the Breakers he had brought along following him - the rest were scrapped by the other Sandrats.
"Huh? Hey, Kid's getting away!" Jiron called out. But the captain of the Iron Gear stopped him.
"Let him go," she said. "This ain't gonna be your only chance to trounce 'em. We got bigger problems. Big, furry ones." Indeed, no less than six more Gunmen, each designed after some sort of animal, were tromping towards Lagann.
"Gunmen!" Chiru exclaimed. "Hey, check that little one out...it's got people in it!"
"Well I ain't just standin' around!" the pilot of the broken-winged Xabungle declared; "I'm gonna show those Beastmen not to mess with us humans!"
Lagann was scurrying about to avoid a green Gunmen with a fish head that was stomping around, gleefully trying to squash it and the trio inside.
"C'mon, Simon! What happened to that hot-blooded spirit of yours?!" Kamina cried, baffled as to why his little bro had suddenly turned wimpy again.
"Yeah! You were doing so well before!" Yoko added.
"I dunno! It was probably a fluke!" the digger exclaimed as he frantically tried. "It was all a big fluke!"
"Hold still, ya puny Undergrounder!" the Gunmen gurgled as it finally managed to catch up to Simon's tiny Gunmen.
"Gah! We're done fooooor!" Simon cried as their pursuer's foot started to come down on top of them. But luck was with him - Jiron's Xabungle suddenly rushed in from the side, smashing the enemy away. Simon opened the hatch to get a better look.
"Take cover somewhere!" Jiron called out. "We'll take care of these Beastmen for ya!"
"Holy moley! Is that a Gunmen too?!" the young man gasped, awe-struck by the blue titan that now towered over him.
"Nope! This is a Walker Machine," Jiron replied proudly; "The manly Xabungle!"
"Hey, you didn't have to butt in, ya know!" Kamina yelled up. But Yoko wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste. She turned to Simon.
"Head that way! We can take shelter there!" she said, pointing towards a mesa out in the distance. The great column of rock had a single great crack in it, just barely wide enough for a full-size Gunmen to fit through.
Simon nodded and spurred Lagann on, making a mental note to thank the blue Walker Machine's pilot if both of them got out of this alive. Yoko, meanwhile, kept an eye on the rear, and saw the Sandrats and Elche all get in on the action, the latter pounding two Gunmen at once, as more of them began to gather.
"Yoko!" a man's voice called out. Yoko turned and saw a familiar person waving to her - a man with green-blue hair and a machine gun in a white shirt. As Lagann drew closer, they could make out numerous figures hiding behind the rocks.
"Dayakka? When did you get here?!" the girl exclaimed, both surprised and relieved to see some old faces.
"It's good to see you too!" Dayakka called back.
"Friends of yours?" Kamina asked. To Yoko's surprise, she saw four Gallops and a Dugger rising up from behind them.
"You finally got 'em fixed?!" The girl exclaimed happily; "That's great!"
"Yeah! Now we stand a real chance against the Gunmen!" Dayakka replied. "Speaking of which, here come some now."
Indeed, the fish headed Gunmen from before, along with two more like it, not to mention three with lizard heads, were approaching.
"Gunners, prepare to open fire!" the man called out; "Walker Machines, prepare Formation O!"
"Hold it, we've got another incoming," Yoko said, looking up through her rifle's sniper scope. "You two might wanna cover your ears." After a few tense seconds, the new Gunmen slammed into the ground with stupendous force, violently shaking the ground and creating an explosion of white energy.
The new Gunmen had a bright red, barrel-shaped body with a skeletal humanoid face on it. Its arms were long, almost gangly, while its legs were almost comically short compared to its body. Its eyes were mustard yellow and the rim around its mouth a sickly bluish-green. Four holes were in its back, likely some sort of booster system.
"That's a new one," Yoko said uneasily. "I dunno if we can take all these guys on. Those Beastmen must be getting serious about us now."
"Beastmen?" Kamina asked, having not heard the term until now.
"They're weird animal/human hybrids, based on the few we've seen outside their Gunmen. No one knows where they come from, or if they work for anyone. All we know is that they want us 'Undergrounders' dead."
Kamina simply grinned as he looked at the newly arrived Gunmen, which was haphazardly swinging two crude swords around as several Walker Machines peppered it with heavy machine gun fire.
"You know, I like the face on that one," he said; "I think I'm gonna take it for myself!"
"Say what?!" Yoko said, surprised that Kamina was even that crazy.
"You heard me - I'm gonna PILOT that thing!" the brash young man declared, pointing to it dramatically.
"Where this guy gets all his confidence, I have no idea," Yoko mumbled to no one in particular.
Meanwhile, Simon realized something as he gazed upon the new monstrosity.
"Those tremors...the cave-ins...they're the ones that caused them!" the boy said just under his breath, his heart filling with rage. In response, Lagann suddenly started to hum back to life, the spiral gauge filling up again. "Because of them...my mom and dad were..."
Simon let out a hot-blooded roar as Lagann's eyes flashed green and opened its mouth as well.
"Ah, there's that manly spirit!" Kamina said excitedly as Lagann stomped forward. "You're just in time too!"
"Big bro, it was them! They're the ones who caused those tremors, which ended up as earthquakes down below! They...they killed my mom and dad!"
"I see," Kamina replied before telling him his plan. "But you need to focus a bit for me, because I'm gonna hijack that Gunmen! I'll bet I can enter through its mouth, so I'll need you to force it open for me!"
Simon nodded, calming down a bit as he drew closer to their target.
"Piloting it should be easy, right?" Simon's big bro pondered out loud. "You could handle Lagann right away!"
"Yeah...as soon as I gripped the handles, the knowledge came flowing into me," the boy said.
"Then it should be the same for all Gunmen!" Kamina said confidently; "Those things seem to run on manly spirit, after all! Take us in!"
Lagann doubled its pace, but was suddenly blocked by the fish-headed Gunmen.
"Oh no, you don't!" it gurgled as it tried to punch Simon's mech. But the tiny Gunmen jumped in time, and used the enemy's own arm as a stepping stone of sorts, scurrying up to the face level of their target before bounding high into the air.
The fish Gunmen tried to punch Lagann again, but suddenly, a powerful rifle round struck its arm, causing it to instead strike the red Gunmen, knocking it down.
Yoko sighed as she looked up from taking the shot, wondering she had to save that moron again.
"Now, Simon!" Kamina cried. Lagann's hatch opened, and the young man bounded out, right upon landing, he quickly watched and waited for his blood brother to land. Even as the fish Gunmen tried to grab him, he stood firm. Thankfully for him, Simon landed just in time to stop the attack.
"YOU WON'T TOUCH MY BRO!" Simon screamed as a drill burst from Lagann's forehead and began to grow larger. He shoved the point into the enemy Gunmen's hand, quickly shredding it to pieces. With that, it then turned and forced open the hatch, revealing a furry humanoid creature with small eyes and large teeth.
"Get outta there, pal," Kamina said with a grin. "This ride's mine now." He grabbed the Beastman and heaved him out of the machine and onto the ground below, the hatch closing just in time to avoid getting struck by the lizard Gunmen.
But when Kamina tried to make it move, the cockpit's lighting turned red, its screens covered with symbols indicating that it wasn't going to budge for its new pilot. The sight of the Gunmen's eyes going dark broke Simon's spirit, causing Lagann to power down. Seeing this, the two remaining Gunmen quickly attacked it, sending it flying before turning their attention back to Simon.
And that was enough to break Kamina's spirit as well.
Unbeknownst to them, Jiron, Elche and the Sandrats had just witnessed Kamina's daring move, and were coming to back them up. As the latter four charged in to support Simon and Dayakka's troops, Jiron stayed to do what he could.
"Hey, you in there!" he called out, his voice somehow reaching Kamina from outside. "What the heck's slowing you down? Let's see some spirit!"
"Huh? Who said that?" he said despondently.
Suddenly, Kamina felt a jolt, and the red screens turned orange, revealing the broken-winged Xabungle standing over him.
"Are you gonna just lie there like a log?" Jiron yelled. "That kid who's been calling you 'big bro' is in a heap o' trouble! Don't ya think you oughta be helping him?"
Kamina chuckled.
That's right...all this time, Simon's been the one bailing me out of trouble, and I haven't done a single thing in return.
"C'mon, get your tail in gear and show 'em the power of a man!" the Rockman called out, still not sure if he was getting to Kamina. But his question was soon answered when the Gunmen's eyes flashed on and its limbs began to move; meanwhile, the inside of the cockpit turned bright green as its pilot's fighting spirit was slowly rekindled. He looked up and saw two of the Gunmen standing over Lagann and preparing to squash it.
"Now you Beastmen bastards have asked for it," he growled. "Just who the hell do you think I AM?!"
With a burst of spirit, the red Gunmen suddenly rocketed forward, its feet outstretched.
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM KIIIIIIICK!"
The attack landed with such force that sent the lizard Gunmen flying, though it shattered the legs of Kamina's new mech.
"HANDS OFF MY BELOVED LITTLE BROTHER PUUUUUUUUNCH!"
Kamina smashed the fish head Gunmen with a massive punch, sending it flying in the same direction, much to the awe of everyone else present. But this blow also shattered the very limb that delivered it.
"Wow, this guy's REALLY impressive!" Elche exclaimed as Jiron joined her, having finished off the other two lizard-headed ones. "What did you say to him?"
They watched as the red Gunmen picked up Lagann with its remaining hand.
"Simon! Sorry about that...I got held up a little."
"Big bro!" Simon said, overjoyed to see Kamina was okay.
"Come on, let's finish them off!" the pilot said eagerly as the Gunmen's hand suddenly gripped Lagann like a baseball; "You deal the finishing blow! Put some backbone into it, too!"
"Say whaaaaaat?" the digger cried.
"FINISHING STRIKE!" Kamina boomed as he prepared to throw the small Gunmen with all his might; "PERFECTION COMBUSTION OF MANLY SOULS! CANNONBALL ATTAAAAAAACK!"
"This is so messed uuuuuuuuup!" Simon cried as Kamina threw him. Inexplicably, Lagann did a quick flip as its legs changed into a large drill. As the two enemy Gunmen got to their feet, Lagann whizzed past them, drilling straight into the mesa.
"Ha-ha! You missed, ya stupid Undergrounder!" the fish head's pilot laughed, making taunting gestures along with its partner. "Neener-neener-neeeneeeeer!"
"Did we, now?" Kamina said with a cunning grin. Indeed, Lagann was burrowing through the dirt in a somewhat haphazard way.
"I guess it's up to me noooow!" Simon said loudly, more terrified of the ludicrous speed he was going than of the enemies. He gripped Lagann's controls and began to steer it in the other direction. It burst out the same side it came from, merely a few feet from the entrance hole.
The pilots of the two green Gunmen were too occupied with taunting Kamina that they didn't see Lagann burst through...and drill right through them, causing a spectacular explosion. The red Gunmen raised its arm and caught Lagann with ease as Dayakka's troops cheered wildly.
"That was a bit overkill," Dayakka quipped awkwardly.
"Yeah, but it definitely looked cool," Yoko replied.
"You falling for them, hun?" another voice, one belonging to an effeminate young man, came from near her. The young man had cyan hair, red earrings and purple eyeshadow.
"Huh? How long have you been standing there, Leeron?" Yoko exclaimed.
The battle was over, and sunset was approaching as the crew of the Iron Gear met with the people of Littner Village, who had been residing inside the mesa. Elche had the Sandrats distribute some of the Iron Gear's excess supplies to the people, as well as spare Walker Machine parts, which Leeron was eagerly examining.
"I see, that's quite a story," Cotset said thoughtfully after Yoko and Dayakka finished the story behind Littner's struggle against the Beastmen. "Who would have thought that there would be entire villages underground? The Innocent never mentioned anything like this."
"Innocent? Who are they?" Dayakka asked.
"They're people that live in domes in the area," the engineer explained; "They provide us Civilians with supplies and parts for our Walker Machines. In exchange, we agree to live by their laws."
"Well then we'll have to thank these Innocent if we ever meet them," Yoko replied politely. "They're very generous people if they're willing to share their plenty with you."
"However, I must remind you that Carrying Cargo is a business," Elche said. "And we require some form of payment for our goods."
"Oh, yes," Dayakka said with a sigh. "Well, we don't have any of those Blue Stones you're after."
"Well, we could use some more hired hands and bodyguards," the captain of the Iron Gear said, rubbing her chin. "How about the sniper, your little mechanic friend over there and those two guys with the Gunmen...what were their names again?"
As if those words had summoned him, Kamina zipped over to where they were, holding Simon by the wrist.
"Did you call for us? We're the badass and invincible Team Gurren! And I am its manly leader, Kamina from Jiha Village!"
He raised the limp Simon a bit.
"And this is my little blood brother, Simon!" Kamina then said proudly; He's the main man behind the controls of the amazing Lagann!"
"Um...hi," Simon said meekly, wiggling his fingers in greeting. Boota poked his head out of a red and blue jacket that he had been given after the battle.
"He's kinda cute," Elche commented with a smile. Simon blushed heavily as Kamina put him down. "So, do we have a deal?"
"I-I guess so," Dayakka said. Yoko looked down a bit.
"It's okay, Yoko," the man said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder; "Now that we have the Walker Machines, we'll do just fine. And we can always hijack a Gunmen like Simon and Kamina did today. You don't need to worry about us."
"All right," the redhead replied. "I'll go get Leeron."
"I'll get Lagann on board," Simon said and hurried off to do just that.
"Well, mister Kamina," Elche said to Simon's big bro; "Welcome to your new home. Something tells me you're gonna fit in just fine in our little group..."
Next time, the two ships meet, and we do some more Xabungle plot, where we meet a certain black-hatted gunslinger for the first time, and maybe we'll even meet another set of foes...