NOTE: The first 'true' introduction to the story. Despite this story progressing very slowly, we all getting to the actual plot this chapter. Oh, and the introduction of Saver Guardian, totally-not-inspired-by-Saber-Varion-from Brave-Saga-2. Nope, in no way, shape or form is it inspired by Saber Varion.
FINAL CHANGES TO CAST LIST VIEWABLE IN PROLOGUE!
Episode 04:
Life-Saver
"Back then, we thought we understood them. The so called 'Angels' were in reality, our own devils. We fought and we fought until we could fight no longer. As we were about be destroyed, 'it' intervened. A being of great elegance and yet absolute terrifying presence. It's name was Hyperion and its mission was to protect the Earth, no matter the cost."
"You expect me to believe that pile of junk? That's an old story designed to scare little kids." Natsuki sat alone on the line of chairs outstretching the far corner of the wall. "If you really expect me to believe it, show me proof."
Tanaka cheerfully smiled. "Ah. You see, Ms Kuga, I don't need to show you proof. You have already seen it." Tanaka clicked a button underneath his desk and an image flashed upon the large flat screen monitor behind him. "This is that so called 'Hyperion' spoke of in those fairy tales."
Natsuki's eyes darted between the monitor and the man sitting in front of the screen. "That machine..is Hyperion?" She refused to believe it. Her eyes had to be to be deceiving her. "You're telling me that kid has something to do with this after all?"
"Correct. That boy, if you would call him that, is a priority target. Kazuma Resolute. His friends and family call him Aika. It seems that unit has taken a liking to him. I guess you could say he was chosen."
Just as Natsuki was about to speak, the door slid opened. Inside walked an almost rag-tag group of individuals. Some wore military jackets while others wore some sort of 'suit,' if first glances were anything to go by.
"Hey, Tanaka!" The leader of what appeared to the military group stepped forward and threw a series of bonded papers towards the man. The throw was sharp and precise. "Mission reports. Now, if you'll excuse us…" He motioned towards the pink haired member of the 'suits' over, "Aoi and I are going out back to practice."
"Fujiwara," Tanaka stood up in surprising fashion, "This young woman here is Natsuki Kuga. She'll be accompanying your team on your next assignment. She also brought someone else who very much will be capable of assisting you."
"How did you -" Natsuki's eyes widened at the sight of a grin crossing Tanaka's face. "I never said anything about that!"
Tanaka simply pointed upwards as a small camera poked itself through the lighting pot. "We take careful preparations."
"So, you're Miss Kuga." The blue haired member of the suits spoke up, her voice soft and almost motherly. "I read up on you when I worked over at the DEA. Pretty sad story. They never found out who did it, did they?"
Natsuki bit her lip at the girl's intrusion. "When are we going on this mission? It was never in my plans to assist anyone but I'll bite."
"Shinobu, shouldn't we introduce ourselves?" It was the boy of the military group that spoke up this time. He was the youngest of the militaries upon first inspection. "I mean, if we're going to be working together, wouldn't it be easier to know who each is?"
"I guess that would that would be the smartest move. My name is Sara Yuki." The light red haired member of the military group stepped forward and reached out her hand towards Natsuki. "That's Masato Shikibu." She nodded towards the boy who had just spoken up.
"The big guy back there's Ryo Shiba. My name's Shinobu Fujiwara. We're the Cyber Beast Force, CBF for short. It's a pleasure."
"Gee, you're so up front, Shinobu.." The pink haired girl of the suits stepped forward. "The name's Hidaka. Aoi Hidaka. This here's Johnny Burnette, Sakuya Kamon and Kurara Tachibana. We're Team D."
"Okay, okay. Now that's all done and settled with," Tanaka slowly coughed under his breath, "The mission is as follows: Apprehend Hyperion. If not possible, destroy it. Leave nothing left of it. Is all of that clear? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to take care of."
Tanka turned his back and left the room, a pleasantly crooked smile crossing his face.
"We've got five minutes on the clock. Shinobu, do you mind supporting us?" Aoi called over, forcing her fighter, the Nova Eagle, into the forest. "Natsuki, you take the ground with Duran. We're going to find this thing and capture it."
Just as Aoi finished speaking, the golden flesh of a monstrous beast emerged from the forested area. In one hand, it wielded a closed metal hand. The other hand wielded a blade made of emitted plasma. The machine's golden body sent off a large, almost ethereal glow.
"That's it? That thing's huge! The actually expect us to fight that thing?"
As Aoi muttered and looked forward, stunned, the rest of Team D and the CBF took advantage of the situation. The Nova Elephant, the Land Liger and the Land Cougar, all launched their own attacks upon the golden giant. Missiles and 40mm rounds scattered amongst the giant's armor as if mere flies. Natsuki ordered Duran to launch a pincher tactic with herself positioned on the left. The Nova Eagle and Eagle Fighter charged, their own vulcans blazing up and down the beast's shell.
"Nothing's working. It's as if this armor's impenetrable! Do we have to use that?" Johnny's voice came over the com. "I recall that the only alloy in existence that can deflect attacks in Lunar Titanium mixed with Phase Shift tech. This doesn't look like any of that though. I…I don't know what it is."
"Fine!" Aoi's voice returned Johnny's own frantic voice. "We're going with that, everyone! Keep your eyes on the clock! Super Beast Divine Combination!"
Responding to Aoi's voice, Team D's units, the Nova Beasts, began combination protocol. Kurara and Sakuya's units, the Nova Liger and the Nova Rhino, connected with Johnny's unit, the Nova Elephant. Aoi's unit, the Nova Eagle, docked on top of it as well. A loud click and two large metallic hands emerged from the empty slots on the arms. The Eagle's face pulled up, revealing a face fully capable of human emotion.
"Dancougar Nova!"
Shinobu followed Aoi's lead, ordering his own team's combination. Although the combination was similar, the Big Mammoth was the key portion. Everything attached to it as if it had just put on shoes, gloves and a hat. Large cannons hunkered over the back and locked into place, forcing the unit to ground.
Designed as a specific anti-alien weapon, the CBF Dancougar for the most part was a ground based unit. While it was capable of limited flight, it wasn't worth the risk given the heavy gravity of planet Earth. The machine hunkered down and brought the cannons that littered its torso forward. It fired.
Blasts of pink, red and orange scathed the monster's shell. The beast howled as it was left fallen victim to the Dancougar's Dancou-Cannon Formation attack. Nova followed suit with its own. The hands retracted back into the large metallic palms and were swiftly by a pair of large cylindrical guns, in addition to the large cannon it also had mounted on its back.
The beast wreathed again. This time however, it turned its attention to the two Dancougars, unaware of Natsuki's presence. A large green sphere appeared between its razor-claw-equipped hands. It pushed the sphere forward with the very same hands that created as if it were a volley ball.
The green sphere landed directly between the two Dancougars. Slowly, the green forestry disappeared as the earth around the sphere began to crumble. As it did, the green sphere grew larger, and larger. The beast, with its razor-claws, turned around once again and brought its large tail –what appeared to be a large tail at least- downward. It racked the Dancougars, forcing Aoi downward.
"There's no end to this guy. What else does he have? Hey, Shinobu." Aoi eyed the green sphere, "What about using that?"
"I get it!" Sakuya nodded, manipulating Nova's arms to face the sphere. "Take this! Boost! Nova! Knuckle!" Sakuya pulled the trigger in his cockpit and the arms of Dancougar Nova fired forward, grabbing the sphere in the process. The sphere roared forward on a return trip to its sender. The knuckle and sphere impacted the beast's shell.
The beast's very existence wavered in and out of existence. Natsuki ordered an attack, directly at the creature's face. Duran fired, its cartridges smoldering. The beast had been restrained, without incident.
Natsuki panted as she came running across the field. She sent her guns away and hopped onto Duran as the mechanical four legged creature came across her. "Good job," She muttered as she gazed at the ruins of the mechanical giant.
Aika awoke to the throbbing of his head. It pounded as if he had just had fierce nightmare. Looking down, he noticed his shirt had become drenched with sweat. "
"What the hell? I was just…"
"Ahh, yes. About that, we left you as you were." A strange man entered Aika's room. His skin was slightly tanned and he wore a pair of red glasses, at least Aika thought they were glasses, over his eyes. "My name is Tanaka. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kazuma Resolute. We have much to discuss over your current situation."
Aika stared at the strange man. Who was he? "Let me ask you one thing; How do you know about me? I don't recall ever meeting you."
Tanaka grinned. "I know everything about you. It is my job after all. I understand that you have a large amount of questions. Please wait until you meet the team." The man motioned Aika threw the door.
"Something stinks here." Aika bit his lip, "I don't like it."
Aika felt himself walking down the large empty hallways alone. It was brightly lit but that didn't change the fact that he was alone. "Geez, that guy. He shows up, tells me to this command center and then ups and disappears. How the hell did I wind up here anyway? Where is here?"
Aika was in such a deep trance, staring at the ground as he walked, he didn't need the person exiting one of the multitude of doorways in front of him. The two people crashed, Aika falling face forward.
Opening his eyes, Aika met with the person's eyes directly. He moved his hand before a shriek louder than anything he ever heard scratched his ears. He felt a hand collide directly with his face.
"Don't touch me!" The person shrieked again, forcing themselves up and knocking Aika over in the process. Aika looked up. The person who he had crashed into looked at him with disgust as 'she' titled her glasses upwards. "Watch where you're going, kid. Wait a minute…" The woman looked at Aika, examining him. "It's you!" She pointed at him with her free hand! "Oh-my-god! It's you! You're the kid they found in the Hyperion! Oh my god!"
The woman took a deep breath. "My name is Kryska. I'm an intelligence officer for a certain organization. I'm assuming Tanaka asked you to come to the Command Room before vanishing? Don't worry about that. I was going there to submit a report anyway. You can tag along. Tell me though; what was like? Do you remember anything?"
Aika felt himself growing tired again, just being talked to by this strange woman. "I don't remember anything. Aside from seeing that golden giant, everything is just a blank."
"I see." Kryska muttered, "That is interesting. I have a theory that involves that actually. Mental-stress relief, actually. You purposely don't want to remember so you've locked it away. Say, how would you like to help me with a project? It's involving that golden giant of yours. Chroma, I think."
"It's not like I have a choice, do I?"
"Not really. It would be a lot safer than joining, say TAX, the EFA or even the Hadou Financial Group." Kryska shrugged her shoulders. "I'm working on a project that combines the EFA's Mobile Suit tech, the combinable aspects of Dragon Fang's Dancougars and an AI system."
"So you're stealing ideas from other people. Gotcha." Aika chuckled. "In all seriousness, I'll give it a go."
"You will? Thank you! The AI on board the unit should be familiar to you."
"Aika!"
"Yep." Kryska nodded, "It's your friend. I manage to scavenge the artificial intelligence system from the golden giant. It had your friend on board. Apparently, it was going berserk because of the transformation's stress on the main system's. I've placed limiters on board this one so that won't happen until you two can work together fully."
"Kryska, was it? Why do this? You don't even know me." Aika shuffled around the cockpit of the main component, a large fighter jet.
"It's just what I do. I was raised with the belief of helping people, even if I don't know them." Kryska loaded the machine onto the catapult deck. "The unit's name is Gaia, by the way. It's named after another term for Earth. The other unit, " Kryska pointed to the secondary unit, a large water-based craft, "is the Saver module. GUARDIAN module, if you want to get into the technicalities." she poised her glasses upward once again, as she moved her hand down her scarlet red hair.
"Okay. Let's see. The two can dock into two forms?" Aika flipped through the manual inside the cockpit, until he found the unit names. 'What the hell is this? Saver Guardian? Eruption Saber? Chest Blazer? Mazer Blaster? Holy hell! Even Trinity Impact? The hell are these names from?" Aika couldn't believe it. "This naming scheme is like something out of a children's comic!"
Kryska smirked at the mention of a children's comic. "That's because this is no mere robot!" She clicked her glasses again, "That is because this is…a SUPER ROBOT!"
"Oh dear lord." Aika slouched back into his seat. "What have I gotten myself into?" He couldn't believe it. "I have only one thing to say: Nerd."
"Oh, yeah. One last thing! About the controls….they're voice activated!" Kryska yelled over the loud grinding off the catapult's movement, "Just be sure to yell as loud as you can like in Super Robot anime! You have to make it authentic!"
The small platoon of various AI controlled Hizacks and Jegans marched forward, their rifles and beam sabers pointed toward's Aika's duo of units.
"Let's see. How do I do this again? Let's try this!" He pressed a button located on the front dash and shouted, "Scrambler Shot!" The large fighter jet responded by releasing a trio of small-scale missiles tipped with a needle-like object. Only one of the tree missiles, sending the target it hit tumbling downwards. "Scrambler Shot apparently damages electronics. That's good to know."
The Hizack began to fire it's rifle at the Gaia. "Crap!" Aika muttered as he manoeuvred the fighter into an aerial ascent to dodge the rifle's barrage. "Chroma, let's try the Saver Guardian configuration!"
"All systems operating normally. Releasing limiters 1 through 3. Saver Guardian configuration, all green. Give the orders." The artificial intelligence based on Chroma spoke with the same attitude as Aika's once-companion.
"Saver Guardian! Configuration!"
Responding to Aika's voices, the Saver module deployed its jump jets. The Gaia zoomed over to where the Saver module was located and connected the central clamps located underneath the main fighter. Aika's chair pulled back and moved downwards into the Saver module's own cockpit. Just as it did, the sound of clicking gears signalled the beginning of the transformation. The Gaia's nose snapped downwards so that it lay on the Saver's underbelly. Slowly, it began to prop open. The Saver module snapped out exterior modules, which soon purged themselves into arm-like components and leg components, which began to dock.
The Gaia finally concluded the transformation by sliding open a small component to reveal an almost demon-like face. Facial vents littered the monstrous head. The hands were beast like, almost as if razor sharp claws of a cat.
"This is…Saver Guardian?"
"Saver Guardian Mode Arc, to be precise." The AI spoke up once again. "It's been a while, Aika. I'm sorry I can't see you with my own eyes at the moment but for now, this will have to do. I am sincerely sorry."
"Chroma, is that you? I guess you're okay after all. I'm glad because it would feel weird otherwise, having an AI talk with your voice and all. So, how about it? You ready for this, partner?"
"Partner?" Chroma paused. "I like the sound of that. Let's go, partner."
Saver Guardian dashed forward, the rear thrusters created by Gaia igniting. Each step the monstrous machine took shook the ground and left an imprint within the earth. "Let's try…Eruption! Saber!"
The chest piece opened up, releasing the hilt of a sword. Saver Guardian's massive steel hands clutched the sword's hilt and pulled the sword out. The hilt of the sword emitted a blade made of solid pure energy. It hummed as the giant super robot dashed forward. With one the swipe of the sword of the sword, the Hizack and Jegan fell as the fuselage was slashed completely through, leaving nothing but malfunctioning circuitry.
"Aika! I'm getting a reading on the long range radar!" Kryska's voice came over the communicator. Her voice was frantic and almost scared. "I've already contacted Tanaka and asked for reinforcements but you might have to fend it off of yourself!"
"Can't this wait?" Aika responded as he stared at his hands in the cockpit. "I'm sort of tired right now."
"No! It can't! It just destroyed New Tokyo-2 and its coming here at high speeds! Oh my god! This has to be some kind of joke!"
"Kryska? You all right?" Aika slowly reached his hand out to the controls again. "What is it?"
Kryska's voice came back on. "It's…It's emitting some sort of weird particle. I can't get a clear reading. Hey, Aika. You still there? I'm getting static on my end. Hey, you there?"
The signal was cut. Aika sat stunned as he returned his attention towards his front, placing his hands on the controls once again. "Whatever it is, it ain't friendly."
"I can try and re-establish connections with the base if you want." Chroma lit up again. "I do believe the girl's prediction may have been correct. It is not emitting any friendly signals nor is it emitting an enemy signals."
"Whatever it is, it is big."
The white haired man stood alongside the young girl on the giant of darkness.
"It as is foretold. The coming end will be swift and painless for these days are the coming of a dark god."
"Yes, my master."
"Etheldreda, stay by my side until this is over."
"As you wish, my Master."