Disclaimer: I don't really own anything here, just my OCs.
Super Robot Wars: LUX/UMBRA
Chapter 1A
The Light of Earth
A young boy with silver blonde hair and blue eyes found himself at a place that looked to have been filled with refugees on Earth. He was wearing a white jacket with a white shirt underneath it, some pants, and shoes. The boy looked around as the refugees were sitting down, tired from presumably all the running and such to get here. This was an Earth Federation base located in Yamanote, Japan. The boy could only look at how wrecked the place was. It looked as if an attack had just occurred.
The boy was Jay Maverick.
He had been lost for quite some time before making his way here.
"So this place has been attacked as well..." Jay said to himself.
"Are you a refugee like everyone else is?" The voice of a little boy reached his ears.
Jay turned to look at the boy.
"Yeah, I guess," Jay said. "It's like nowhere is safe, even in... Japan..."
"I know," a little girl said. "Now bad people are running around the world doing bad things to other people..."
"It's because the EFF (Earth Federation Forces) failed us," A disgruntled man said. "There's been nothing but nonstop fighting since the Second Impact and the One Year War."
"Even after the Hell Uprising, the Mycenae War, the Lunar Conflict, the Primeval War, and the Jovian War ended, the conflicts around the Earth and space continued to go on..." A depressed woman states.
"And then the Garmillas had to show up in our solar system and tried to take the Earth by force..." another man said. "They could have destroyed the Earth if the Yamato hadn't returned with the Cosmo Reverse System the Iscandarians built..."
"We thought we could finally have some peace with the death of Emperor Lelouch," A troubled woman said. "We were promised a miraculous future where we could go back to living in peace..."
"Now we have to deal with Char's Neo Zeon, Haman's Axis Zeon, and the Zanscare Empire..." Another man said. "Char Aznable and Haman Karn... damn those two! The Wulgaru might as well just take planet Earth!"
"The Earth Federation lost all faith it had in the people," An old man said. "Even after Dr. Hell died, the Kikaiju are everywhere. There are Space Monsters out at the outer rim of our solar system."
The old man looked to the sky.
"Has God forsaken us? Is this our punishment for our arrogance? Oh, God, please have mercy on us all..."
Jay could feel the hopelessness in the air. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a pendant with a cross on it. He looked at the charm, feeling worried.
'Mom... Dad... are you alright up there? In space?'
"Hey, you there."
Jay looked around to see a girl in a blue and white uniform. She looked too young to be an officer. She looked more like a student from a military academy. She had light red hair and big brown eyes.
"You must be new around here," The girl said. "We've been getting a lot of refugees here lately. So uh, who are you?"
"H-Huh?" Jay pointed to himself. "Me?"
"Yes," The girl said. "Let me introduce myself. The name's Mia Packard."
"Um... Jay," He said. "Jay Maverick."
"Jay Maverick, I'll remember that name," Mia said. "So, where are you from?"
"Huh? Well, uh, I don't know," Jay said. "I used to live in an orphanage, but now I'm lost and I ended up here."
The boy sighed, "It's a miracle that I got here in one piece..."
"I see..." Mia said. "Well, you're welcome to stay here for the time being."
"R-Right! Thank you!" Jay said, nodding his head frantically.
He looked at the girl, who was giggling.
"You're cute when you act like that," Mia said. "I haven't seen kids like you since middle school."
"But I'm 16," Jay said, blushing slightly.
"Huh?!" The girl looked flabbergasted. "You're 16 years old?! I thought you were old enough to be in middle school!"
"What gave you that idea?" Jay asked, tilting his head to the side.
Mia recomposed herself, clearing her throat.
"Let's change the subject..." She said, feeling embarrassed.
"Hey, Mia,"
The girl turned around. Jay and Mia saw a tanned young man wearing a turquoise jumpsuit with black gloves on. He had hair that looked to have been spiked towards the back.
"Tyree? What are you doing up here?" Mia asked.
"You didn't get the message from up here? Our student council president needs you downstairs below the academy," The man said before he began to notice Jay. "I'll show you the way and... who is he?"
"Jay, Jay Maverick," Jay said. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Tyree Corsica," the tanned man said. "I've been studying engineering here at the academy. I guess you've met Mia, who's been studying to be an operator aboard a spaceship."
"Wait, President Juria wants me?" Mia asked.
"She wants all the students and instructors down there, and she means all, so we gotta get moving," Tyree said. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something here."
Mia's face turned red as she looked flustered, waving her hands and shaking her head.
"It's not like that! It's not like that! I swear it's not like that!" Mia said.
Tyree laughed with his hands behind his head.
"I was just messing with you," Tyree said.
"Hmph!" Mia looked away from him, looking grumpy at him for teasing her like that. Jay, however, became intrigued by the conversation.
"Juria?" Jay asked.
"Juria Anderson, daughter of THE commodore Walter Anderson," Tyree said. "He's got lots of power in the Earth Federation Forces. Our student council president is no slouch when things get serious. If it weren't for all this chaos, she'd have graduated by now."
"And she has one heck of a philosophy," Mia said. "'Though we are young and inexperienced, we must help those in need, for that is our sworn duty to society and to all who cry out for help!' Like that."
"Now, Mia, if you're done with your boyfriend there—"
"He's not my boyfriend!" Mia said before slapping him in the face. "Jeez! You're such a jerk!"
"Ow! I'm sorry! I'll stop!" Tyree said, wincing as a hand mark was visible on his face.
The two walked off, leaving Jay alone. He sighed.
"They seem like good friends to each other..." Jay said.
Military Academy 32, Unknown Underground Dock
Mia and Tyree arrived at the specified location, seeing many of their schoolmates looking at an impressive ship. The ship was incredibly big and long. The underground hangar was built to fit this behemoth of a vessel. The ship looked about the size of a 630m class ship, or even slightly bigger than that. The ship had nine cannons, three on the top deck, two next to the conning tower, and four below the ship. There was a bridge on top and an observation post down below. Eight rocket thrusters were surrounding a huge cone-shaped device to the stern. The bow had three catapults, and at the front of the bow was some kind of hole that was filled in with a smaller cone-shaped device.
Mia spotted her classmates Megumi Momoe and Amelia Trombe, both training to be operators along with Mia. Tyree saw Nahida Rahaja and Karl Hoenngrahm, his fellow engineering students. Megumi was a Japanese girl, Amelia is a girl from Britain, Nahida is a young woman from India, and Karl is a young man from Germany.
"This thing is big," Tyree said.
"You're telling me," Nahida said. "I have never seen anything this big before."
"I can't even imagine just how long this thing has been sitting here," Karl said.
"Yeah, I can't believe it myself," Tyree said. "To think the Federation could have something like this..."
"It must have months to build this ship," Megumi said. "It's only about twice the size of the Yamato."
"Even so, I'm impressed," Amelia said. "But that doesn't explain why we are all here."
"Yeah, I wonder what our student council president brought us here for," Mia said.
"It probably has something to do with this ship,"
The group looked to see a girl in a lab coat. The girl had short, dark brown hair, a fair skin complexion, a pair of glasses, and green eyes. They all knew who she is. She is none other than Lisa Cunningham, a student studying technology and science, hoping to become a researcher. She is an eccentric young lady from Britannia. She was about 22 years old. She stared at the ship with a devious smile, laughing.
"Yes... this ship is the center of this conundrum. Why would the Federation hide it here of all places? Was it all planned out from the beginning? Was it by random chance that we are now just seeing this thing for the first time?" Lisa asked.
"Uh... Lisa?" Mia spoke to her, albeit hesitantly.
"Huh?" Lisa stopped and looked at Mia. "Yes? What do you want, Mia?"
"You said that this ship has something to do with why we are here, right?" Mia asked.
Lisa puts a hand on Mia's shoulder.
"Of course I did," Lisa said. "But I bet you were wondering how important this all is, right?"
Mia nodded her head just before Lisa grabbed Mia's face with both hands.
"If you ask me, I believe it is fate that has brought us here," Lisa said. "The odds of us being in this situation are a million to one, yet here we are. Here, underground like all of humanity was during the Earth-Garmillas War, staring at what could be considered a technological marvel. Coincidence? I think not!"
"Alright, that's enough, Lisa," a feminine voice reached from behind Lisa.
She turned around to see a girl with black hair and blue eyes staring into Lisa's eyes. She was wearing a custom-made uniform that had a white cape. Her hair was tied in a single braid and she wore white gloves. She had an impressive bust size for someone who was 19 years old. Standing next to her was a 28-year-old man with dark blue hair that has grown out towards the back.
That girl was Juria Anderson. She was at the top of her class, a young prodigy when it came to leadership and tactics. As for the man, he is an instructor by the name of Martin Miller, the instructor for Juria and her classmates.
"Prez!" Mia said. "Instructor Miller!"
"Juri!" Tyree said. "Teach!"
"Ah... I was wondering when you showed up, Juria," Lisa said. "Mr. Miller."
"I was just making sure everyone was here," Juria said, turning to Martin. "Are they all accounted for?"
"This should be everyone in the academy," Martin said. "All the students and the instructors are accounted for."
"Good," Juria said.
The intercom suddenly cracked to life, getting everyone's attention.
"Hello, this is Commodore Walter Anderson here, speaking to all personnel gathered at this location," The intercom said. "The ship you see before you is a state-of-the-art vessel that has been developed in secret, stored here below the academy. This is the first Noah-Class All Purpose Combat Mothership, Hikari. As of now, all who are present are now crewmen of this new ship."
Everyone gasped and looked at each other.
"We're going to be the crew of that thing?" Tyree asked.
"I... I can't believe it..." Mia said.
"Hikari, huh?" Lisa asked. "Interesting..."
"So it's all been leading up to this," Juria said. "I guess we'll have to board the ship."
"Juria, are you sure about this?" Martin asked. "This isn't going to be like in the simulations and the crew is mostly comprised of students like yourselves. They have no actual combat experience—"
"Then we'll use what we've learned and improvise from there," Juria said. "It's what my father would do at a time like this."
"Your roles have been automatically assigned based on all your experiences here in the academy," Commodore Anderson said. "Once you board the ship, you will all report to your stations and prepare for takeoff. After you have taken off, you are to stand by for further orders. That is all."
Juria looked at the ship.
'Father must have planned all this,' she thought. 'But if that's the case, what about my brother, Kenny? Does he have something planned for him?'
Jay was wandering around the base. Things looked worse than he thought it was. There were many wrecked tanks and mechs that were so severely damaged that they couldn't be repaired or salvaged. He sensed a horrible chill in his spine.
'So much death and destruction happened here...' Jay thought. 'Is no place safe from all this chaos?'
Jay kept looking around the base, hoping to find something that could help alleviate the sense of dread that has washed over him. He continued to walk around a bit. He needed to take his mind off of all this. He kept walking and walking before he spotted something that caught his attention.
There was a blood smear on a door.
He went over to the door and looked at the blood. It seemed to have dried up. The smear was close to the door. He had his hand on the doorknob and gave it a twist. The knob turned and Jay pushed the door open. The place was dark. He couldn't see anything except the light coming through the doorway. He went inside the entrance. Floor lights on the ground suddenly lit up.
"W-Whoa..." Jay gasped.
He saw what looked to be a white mobile suit or at least something that looked like one. It looked somewhat like a Gundam-type. It had the v-shaped antennae and the iconic pair of eyes and the iconic faceplate. The machine was colored white throughout most of its body, with red on the feet and the chin. The shoulders seemed more like the shoulder pads of a football player, albeit with more edge at the ends. The knees were covered in armor. The forearms had thick armor plating. The chest was covered in armor. He noticed a pair of wings on the back. Golden streaks could be seen in between the gaps of the armored sections. The eyes were tinted emerald green. The supposed cockpit section was colored red. He looked at the forehead to see a silver block where the antennae connect. He could see a single word inscribed on the block.
'LUX?' Jay thought.
Bridge, Hikari
Juria was on the bridge, sitting in the captain's chair with Martin standing beside her. Mia, Amelia, and Megumi were at their posts, working as operators on the ship, with Mia being the Chief Operator of the ship. Juria couldn't believe it herself. She was made captain of the ship while her instructor, Martin, was her XO. She felt honored to be the captain of her own vessel, albeit a purely experimental one. According to the technical readouts and specifications on the ship, it was most certainly built to house an entire corps of Super Robots (SRs) alongside mobile suits and other Real Robots (RRs). The ship was practically a fortress with all its weapons and anti-air defenses.
Juria was comfortable sitting in the chair, watching while everyone is working to get the ship in order. It was going to take some time to get the ship ready for takeoff as the crew was familiarizing themselves with the ship.
But through all of this, she couldn't help but feel bitter. She didn't seem as enthusiastic about all of this as everyone else is.
"Is there something wrong, Captain?" Martin asked.
"What do you mean, instruct—I mean—commander Miller?" Juria corrected herself.
"You seem bothered, is all," Martin said. "And you don't have to call me commander all the time when we are on the bridge."
Juria sighed.
"I'm sorry, it's just... it's all too sudden," Juria said. "I was only a cadet, and yet now, I'm a captain, despite you being older and more experienced than I am."
Martin shakes his head. "With all due respect Captain Juria, out of all the students here, you have the highest grades possible. Your academic scores—"
"Grades are just statistics, commander Miller," Juria said. "But they don't hide the fact that I am a little too young to be sitting in the captain's chair. The commodore should have known that before assigning me as captain of this vessel."
Martin sighed. "I can agree with you there. I am more experienced than most of the students here, but I cannot deny that you have far more potential as a captain than anyone else here."
"..."
"..."
"It's just not fair..." Juria said.
"Not fair?" Martin asked.
"I've worked so hard when I first got here, hoping to prove that I am capable of being a captain," Juria said. "Then, when all hell breaks out, and my father names me the captain of a ship that hasn't been tested before and I don't know everything about it. Plus, I haven't seen him in years and he does this."
Martin sighed as he pats her shoulder.
"Don't worry, we'll see what she is fully capable of soon enough," Martin said.
"Hey, Prez!"
She got up to see Tyree on the bridge. He was made chief engineer of the ship. He looked excited more than ever when he first got onto the ship.
"I took a good look at the ship's main reactor and it was nothing like any other reactor I've seen before!" Tyree said. "It's got the shape of an hourglass! An hourglass! Mostly, you'd just get a block of metal or some kind of rotating cylinder, but an hourglass—"
"How soon can we take off?" Juria asked.
Tyree stopped and cleared his throat. "We're done with all the preliminary checks as instructed by the ship's computer. Lisa is still going over the schematics of the ship while we are making our final checks—"
An explosion could be heard and the ship began to shake.
"What the hell was that?" Tyree asked.
The alarms began to sound off in the dock.
"An enemy attack?!" Martin exclaimed.
"C-Captain!" Mia said, turning to Juria, who in turn, looked at Mia. "We have radar contact with unknown bogies!"
"Can you ID them?" Juria asked, keeping a calm composure. "And do try to stay calm. Remember your training and we'll make it through this."
"R-Right! I-I'll get on it!" Mia said, "Megumi, Amelia, let's get to it!"
"Right," the two other girls said.
"Tyree, I need you down at the engineering console," Juria said. "Prepare for takeoff."
"But we still haven't—"
"That's an order, chief engineer Corsica," Juria said.
"R-Right!" Tyree went straight to the engineering console that was off to the left side of the bridge, near the back.
"Captain, we've ID'd the bogies!" Mia said. "They're...! Oh my god... they're..."
"Mia, tell me what's going on."
"Radar confirms multiple Kikaiju, moving straight at us!" Mia said.
"Another wave of Kikaiju?!" Martin exclaimed.
"So they're back again..." Juria said. "All hands prepare for emergency takeoff."
"But captain, we don't have any protection!" Martin said.
"Yeah, we lost our entire commitment of Jegans, Ichinanas, and Getter D2s!" Tyree said. "We have nothing left to cover us or protect the civilians!"
"We have one machine that might just do it," Juria said.
"Wait... you don't mean that, right?" Tyree asked. "The pilot died in the last attack."
"Which is why I need you to pilot it," Juria said.
"Say what?!" Tyree exclaimed. "I trained to be an engineer, not a pilot! Besides—!"
"We can get another pilot later, just get over to the hangar where it is being stored and provide cover fire," Juria said. 'This is bad... if we don't get out of here, we're all dead...'
An army of Garasect V2s was attacking the base, firing energy blasts from the axes on their right arms, blasting everything around them as people were trying to flee from the Kikaiju. The machines were heartless as they continued to spread destruction.
Jay could hear the cries of so many people. He could feel their terror and it was horrifying. He looked at the machine before him.
'Those people need help...' Jay thought. 'I... I have to get inside that machine and use it!'
He shook his head and ran straight towards the machine. He saw a gantry leading towards the cockpit. He went up the gantry and went over to the cockpit. He looked around the front of the canopy for a way to open it up. There had to be some kind of emergency release switch that he could use to force the cockpit open.
He found a handle and pulled on it, lifting it up. He twisted it to the side before pushing it in. A hissing sound could be heard as he backs away. The cockpit hatch opens up. He got inside the cockpit and saw a seat with two control sticks standing up. He got over to the seat and hopped in before flicking a switch. The cockpit door began to close. The cockpit door was closed and the cockpit became sealed.
'Where's the ignition on this thing?' Jay thought. 'It's gotta be here somewhere!'
Juria could feel the ship shaking as the explosions begin to intensify.
"Bridge to Engine Room, how much longer can we wait until takeoff?" Juria asked.
"The engine is warming up, we should have ignition in less than 30 minutes," she heard Nahida's voice.
"We may not have 30 minutes," Juria said. "Can't you start her up at full power?"
"A full power start? We can't do that! We'll risk imploding the core!" Nahida said. "We'd be a huge fireball if that happens!"
"People are dying out there and we're just sitting ducks," Juria said. "It's no wonder the Kikaiju haven't noticed us yet. They don't know that the ship is here. Juria out."
She turns off the intercom to the engine room.
"They are after the ship?" Martin asked. "What makes you think the ship is what they want?"
"They came here looking for this ship under the orders of someone or something that wants this ship gone," Juria said. "It can't be a coincidence that the same group of Kikaiju would come at us again."
She waited, biding her time, hoping that the Kikaiju would not catch onto the ship slowly powering up.
Engine Room, Hikari
Nahida watched as the engine was cycling. She could hear the engine growling to life. She had never seen a real engine coming to life. She felt worried about what was going on. Everyone in the engine room was doing their best to get the engine going as fast as possible.
'Can we make it?' Nahida thought. 'You better not die, Tyree!'
The ship began to shake.
"Damnit, girl... wake up or we are all gonna die in here!"
Jay kept looking and looking before finding the switch he needed to flip.
"There!" Jay said as he flipped the switch.
He flipped the switch. The screen on the console came to life as well. There was some text that showed up. It reads off as:
PTX-032-LUX
Personal Trooper
Huckebein Lux
"Huckebein Lux?" Jay asked. "Is that your name?"
He looked around the console and saw some switches with lights that were blinking, almost as if they were indicating which switch needed to be flipped on. He flipped the switches and he heard what sounded like a reactor slowly coming to life. The main screen turned on and the screen on the console lit up. He saw the image of a flower on the screen. There was some text located below the flower icon.
"Luminous Universal Xeno-Factor?" Jay asked. "What is all of this?"
The main screen turned on and he had a full view of everything outside the cockpit thanks to the cameras. He looked at the pedals his feet were standing on. He took a deep breath.
"Here goes..." Jay said.
Tyree watched as the vents on the machine opened up and let out steam. He could hear the machine's power reactor activating. He had never gotten to see a machine go through its startup process before, but he was glad that he was seeing it for the first time.
"My God..." Tyree said. "I never thought I'd—"
He heard a mechanical roar. He made for the corner of the hangar bay as a Kikaiju tore right through the hangar bay door.
"Come on, baby, get up..."
The machine tilts its head up slightly.
BRRRRRRRRTTTTTTT!
Vulcans mounted on the head of the machine began firing at the Kikaiju. 60mm bullets fly at the Kikaiju. The burst of rounds knocks out one of its eyes, prompting it to back away.
The machine broke out of the gantry with brute force, pushing the gantry aside with its arms. It took one step forward and a pair of green eyes glowed from its Gundam-esque face.
'So that's the thing those guys defending the base we're talking about...' Tyree thought. 'The Huckebein Lux!'
"This thing handles differently from the current generation of mobile suits..." Jay said. "With this Huckebein Lux, I'll..."
He saw the Kikaiju point its axe at him. The axe glowed with blue energy surrounding it. A beam was fired at the machine. He didn't have time to react!
The beam hits, triggering an explosion.
"Uaaaaagggghhh!" Jay cried.
"No!" Tyree shouted. "That thing was our only shot..."
The Kikaiju held its position.
Just then, the Huckebein came dashing out with its boosters pushing it toward the Kikaiju. The Huckebein grabbed the Garasect by the head. It responded by swinging its arm up. The Huckebein grabbed the arm before the Garasect could swing it down.
"N-No way! It's a super robot?!" Tyree asked.
"Go down, Kikaiju!" He heard a certain voice coming from the Huckebein's speaker.
Tyree became more baffled as he recognized that voice.
"It can't be-!"
Jay roared as he pulled on the sticks, using the Huckebein's arms to rip the Kikaiju's axe arm off before crushing the head and throwing it back out. He fired the head vulcans again, shredding the Kikaiju with bullets. The burst of bullets causes it to explode. Jay looked upon his stricken adversary before noticing someone standing in the hangar bay. He looked down from his seat to see that mechanic he met before.
"What is he doing here?" Jay asked.
He brings his arm down so the young man could jump on. He brought the guy over to where the cockpit was and opened it. The young man came inside, looking at Jay with amazement.
"Aha! I knew it was you!" The young man said. "Jay was it?"
"You... Tyree..." Jay said. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah... it's nothing really," Tyree said. "You really know how to pilot this thing, don't ya?"
"Actually, it's my first time piloting this thing," Jay admitted.
He looked to his right.
"They're coming," Jay said. "The Kikaiju are headed this way. Move, I'm closing the hatch."
"A-Ah! Right away!" Tyree said, moving so he wouldn't be in Jay's line of sight as he closed the hatch.
The Huckebein walks out of the hangar as multiple Garasects began to move toward the Huckebein. Juria saw it on the monitor of the bridge, along with all the people on the bridge.
"Huckebein Lux!" Juria said. "Is this thing a mobile suit?"
"No, even better," Martin said. "According to the data logs on the ship, this is a highly-advanced type of unit called a Personal Trooper. It's a high-performance unit equipped with an advanced artificial intelligence."
"Get in touch with it, Mia," Juria said. "Tie me into the cockpit."
"Roger, tying us in," Mia said.
"On screen."
A window opened showing a young boy wearing a shirt and a jacket and jeans. Mia gasped.
"J-Jay?! What are you doing in that thing?!" Mia asked.
"Huh? Mia? Is that you?" The boy responded. "Where have you—?"
"Operator Mia, you care to explain how you know this civilian and why he's sitting in the cockpit of a mobile weapon?" Martin asked.
"Actually, that's my bad..." Tyree appeared on the screen, brushing the civilian aside. "He got to it before I did..."
"Tyree! You're alive!" Juria said. "You had us all worried."
"I almost died..." Tyree said. "Jay Maverick here has been handling the Huckebein fine despite being a newbie!"
"It's nothing really..." Jay said.
Juria felt relieved. Though she didn't expect to see a civilian piloting the Huckebein. It reminded her of something she learned when she was being taught the history of the Federation.
"I want to help as much as I can!" Jay said, pushing Tyree off to the side.
"Don't be absurd!" Martin exclaimed. "You're a civilian, not a soldier! How do you expect us to entrust our lives to you when you've never piloted a machine like that in your life?!"
"H-Hey! I just want to help!" Jay yelled. "Quit acting like a jerk and just—!"
"Watch that tone, young man!" Juria cuts in.
"Gah!" Jay flinched. "I-I'm sorry!"
"Uh n-no... you're not in trouble or anything Jay, it's just..." Juria looked at him in shock at his reaction. "I-I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just..."
"Hey, Cap, I've seen him take a Kikaiju down with his bare hands! I think we can trust him," Tyree said. "Don't you think so too, commander Isarabi?"
Martin sighed. "Even so..."
"Very well then," Juria said. "Jay Maverick, this is Captain Juria Anderson of the Earth Federation Forces. You are to hold the Kikaiju off until the All Purpose Combat Mothership Hikaru takes off. Afterward, we will launch a full-on counterattack."
"C-Captain Juria, I protest—!"
"I will accept full responsibility for this decision," Juria said.
"But Juria, he's—!"
"I've made my point, commander, do not make me relieve you from duty," Juria said.
Martin backed down, hanging his head low.
"Yes... Captain... but I will have to write this down in the report..." Martin said. "Assuming we ever get out this alive that is."
"And we will," Juria said. "You have your orders, Jay. Take out the enemy and buy us as much time as possible."
"R-Right!" Jay said.
"End transmission," Juria said.
Mia ends the transmission, closing the window. All Juria could do now was wait and hope this miracle lasts.
"Does this thing have any other weapons?" Jay asked.
"Yeah, I think it does," Tyree said. "Cycle through your weapon selection using—"
"This knob here?" Jay asked as he moved the knob, causing a weapon wheel to show up on the console monitor.
"Huh... you're already getting the hang of it..." Tyree said.
He rotated the knob and stopped to see a rifle. He selected the weapon. The Huckebein's forearm opened for a split second as a device came out of it. The Huckebein grabbed it and it began to fold out into the shape of a rifle. The Garasects took aim and started firing their axe beams at Jay. Jay activated the thrusters and began to dodge the incoming beams. He took aim at one of them and pulled the trigger. A pink energy bolt shot out and struck the Garasect. The shot lands dead center, causing it to explode. The other Garasects began to scatter, with some of them charging straight towards the Huckebein. The Huckebein pulled out a beam sword from the waist and swings it with a quick motion. The Garasect that got up close to him gets slashed in half. He dodged a Garasect charging right at him and dodged an energy beam from another. He took aim at the shooter and fired two blasts, one striking the head and the other hitting the torso, destroying it. Jay lands back on the ground and looks at the army of Kikaiju coming towards him.
"There are so many of them!" Tyree said. "Doesn't this thing have any other weapons?!"
Jay saw schematics of a weapon that was placed on the back of the Huckebein. It looked like it was split into eight pieces that could combine into one weapon.
"Leap Slasher..." Jay said. "Alright then, this will do!"
Four pieces on each of the two "wings" came off and floated on thrusters. They combined and formed an energy blade around it. The slasher began to fly around the Huckebein. It then shoots straight for the Kikaiju, cutting them down.
Everyone on the bridge watched as the battle raged on. The way Jay was handling the Huckebein left them amazed. Juria was impressed by the way it was being smoothly operated.
"He's handling it way better than I thought he would," Juria said. "And that Leap Slasher... is it using a psycommu system? Or is it using a quasi-psycommu system?"
"That must be the T-Link system," A voice spoke from behind.
Juria got up and turned around, only to see Lisa. Juria was almost about to give Lisa a roundhouse kick to the face for scaring her like that.
"There is an intercom at your station that you can use," Juria said.
"Sorry, I got bored," Lisa said. "Now where was I? Oh yes, I was talking about the Telekinesis Link System."
She cleared her throat.
"It's not the same as a psycommu system you'd find on a Newtype-use machine, but it uses the same principles of said system," Lisa said. "It essentially senses and amplifies the brainwaves being emitted from the pilot's brain. Then it just transmits the waves back to the machine's computer, allowing the pilot to practically control it as though it were an extension of the human body."
"Like an extension of the human body?" Juria asked.
"Yes, control over the Huckebein's movement and all its defensive and offensive systems are managed by the T-Link system," Lisa said. "It's a very interesting concept since it allows the pilot to do anything through sheer will. With the right pilot, the Huckebein would be nearly unstoppable. There's just this one problem."
"One problem?" Mia asked.
"Yes and it's pilot," Lisa said. "Remember when I said that the system allows the pilot to operate it with just their thoughts? Well, that's where the problem comes in."
Jay backs away from the Garasect as it swings its axe at him. Tyree was already freaking out in the cockpit.
"Dude! We're gonna die if you don't hit them back!" Tyree said.
"There's too many of them! At this rate, we'll be overrun!" Jay said. "And I can feel it... the Huckebein... it's shaking."
"Maybe because you're the one shaking in your own boots!" Tyree said.
"It also reacts to the pilot's instincts and emotions?" Juria asked.
"Yup," Lisa said. "The key to controlling it so effectively is to control and keep it together. You need to be in complete control of yourself at all times, or the machine won't function the way you want it to function."
"Captain, the Huckebein is being overrun!" Mia said.
"Tch!" Juria grits her teeth. "Have him pull back!"
Jay flew up and looked to his left as the Leap Slasher came back and reattached itself to the Huckebein. He saw the Kikaiju closing in on him.
"Is there no end to them?!" Tyree exclaimed. "We are so dead if Juria doesn't hurry the hell up!"
Jay felt powerless. These are just too many Kikaiju to fight all at once.
"Juria, I don't know if we can hold out," Jay said. "If we keep fighting like this, we'll..."
"Don't think about it!" Juria said. "We can't give up just yet! We have to keep going for a little longer. If we falter now, Earth's last hope will be lost! And if that happens..."
"Damnit! That commodore should have sent reinforcements to get us out of this situation!" Tyree said.
"Wait, I'm getting an additional contact... this time, it's coming from the south," Mia said. "It's coming in at high speed!"
"I got it! I'm... I'm getting a Federation IFF signal!" Megumi said.
Jay heard a warning go off and looked up to see a Kikaiju ready to attack. Jay knew it was too late to react as the Kikaiju swung its axe down.
Just then, a black blur came and severed the Kikaiju's arm.
'Now!' Jay thought.
He pulled his photon rifle on it and blasted it, destroying it one shot.
"Forgive me if I was late," A voice said. "I caught your distress call and came all the way here."
Jay looked to his right and saw a single Ichinana.
"An Ichinana?" Jay asked. "W-Who are you?"
"Wait... that voice... I... I know that voice!" Tyree exclaimed. "But it can't be him... he retired ten years ago, so there's no way it could be him..."
Just then, a window opened, revealing a 27-year-old Japanese man with black spiked hair and black eyes. The hair was combed towards the back. He had forward-facing sideburns. He was wearing a red-dark brown pilot suit.
"The name is Koji Kabuto, from the Photon Power Laboratory," The man says. "As I said, I came to help."
"OH MY GOD! IT IS HIM!" Tyree said. "It's THE Koji Kabuto! The former pilot of Mazinger Z!"
"The hero of the Hell Uprising and the Mycenae War?" Jay asked.
"Koji Kabuto, this is Captain Juria Anderson," Juria's voice was heard. "Thank you for coming to our assistance. We appreciate it."
"No problem," Koji said. "Now who's the kid sitting in the cockpit?"
"Jay Maverick," Jay said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kabuto."
"Well then, Jay Maverick, follow my lead," Koji said. "We're gonna drive these Kikaiju back!"
"R-Right!" Jay said.
The Ichinana pulled out a blade from its calf and charged in. Jay followed Koji in. Koji swings his sword at a Garasect. The sword swipes to the left, cutting the Kikaiju across the chest. The Kikaiju is left wide open for Koji to slash it again. He slashes it from the right, cutting the machine again. The Kikaiju falls apart before exploding. Jay takes aim at another Garasect and fires a beam shot. The Kikaiju puts its shield up, blocking the beam.
"It blocked it?" Jay asked.
"Don't worry about it!" Koji said. "The Ichinana was based on Mazinger Z, so it has one other weapon!"
Koji flew up and the Ichinana's red chest plates began to light up orange. The machine cleared its arms from its chest.
"Breast Fire!" Koji said as a red heatwave was fired from the machine.
The heatwave hits the Kikaiju, causing their bodies to melt into molten slag. The beam began to move up towards the rest of them, making them melt. The beam cuts off and a Garasect got in close to Koji. The Kikaiju uses its shield to knock the sword out of the Ichinana's hand. Koji moves away from the Kikaiju, holding his machine gun. He flew below the Kikaiju and started shooting at it. The Kikaiju gets pelted with bullets that were punching holes in the weak armor. The Garasect explodes. Koji turns to see another Garasect coming straight at him. He kicks the Kikaiju in the head before pulling out another blade. He slices the head off and shoved the gun into its neck. He pulled the trigger, letting the bullets tear into the Garasect's body. He kicks the Kikaiju away before it explodes.
"Incredible..." Jay said.
"He's one of the best pilots in Federation history, right up there with Amuro Ray and Ryoma Nagare," Tyree said. "Those Kikaiju never stood a chance."
Jay looked at the Ichinana in astonishment. He never thought he would meet a war hero up until now. The Ichinana came down from the air.
"That should be all of them," Koji said. "You alright over there, Jay?"
"Y-Yes, Mr Kabuto," Jay said.
"Hey now, you don't need to lay down the formalities on me," Koji said. "Just call me Koji."
"Sure, Mr. Koji," Jay said.
Koji chuckled for a moment before an explosion caught their attention. It was over to the east. Koji flew up and looked to see more Kikaiju focusing on a small dock.
"Tch! Damn it! Those Kikaiju we were fighting earlier was a complete diversion!" Koji said. "Jay, we got to hurry before it's too late!"
"Right!" Jay said as he followed Koji towards the dock.
Koji couldn't believe it. Those Kikaiju weren't mindlessly attacking this place. They were looking for something. It was then that he began to remember something that he had overlooked.
'That's right... that call from a while ago...' Koji thought. 'Commodore Anderson said something about a ship that was to be mankind's last hope. Could that be what the Kikaiju are after? If so, that only leads to one question.'
He gripped the sticks tightly at the question.
'Who is behind this?' Koji thought.
More Kikaiju began to appear in front of him and Jay. They had them blocked off.
"I knew it! It's the Hikari that they're after!" Koji said. "Captain Juria, you have to launch the ship now!"
"The engine is almost ready," Juria said. "We just need a little more time!"
"But—!"
A big explosion was seen and the comms went silent. He and Jay looked at the huge cloud of smoke.
"They... they didn't make it..." Tyree said.
Jay looked at the cloud and saw something moving in it.
"No... I see something moving!" Jay said.
"What?" Koji asked. "You can see something in there?"
Just then, streaks of white-blue energy beams came out of the cloud. The beams hit the Kikaiju, destroying them in one go. The Kikaiju scattered as a white ship came out of the cloud.
"There it is!" Jay said.
"The Hikari! Mankind's last hope!" Koji said. "They managed to launch it!"
"Way to go guys!" Tyree said.
"We did it." Martin said. "We've successfully got this ship off the ground."
"Now we bare our fangs at the enemy," Juria said, pressing the ship-wide intercom. "All hands! Combat status one! Battle stations! Battle stations!"
"All hands, assume general quarters!" Martin said.
Alarms went off.
"Prepare the Twin Shock Impact Cannons and the missile pods!" Juria ordered. "Aim for the Kikaiju off to our starboard side!"
"Prepare cannons 1 through 3 and load the missile pods into the vertical launch silos!" Martin said. "Lock bearings and prepare to fire!"
"Loading missile pods into the silos, data uplink working at optimal levels. Cannons 1 through 3 are synched up," Mia said. "Taking aim!"
The three gun turrets on the top deck began to swivel to the right. They stopped and the barrels moved around a bit before stopping.
"Ready to fire!" Mia said. "On your command, Captain!"
Juria took a deep breath.
"Launch pods and commence firing!" Juria ordered.
"Fire!" Martin said.
The cannons fired, shooting white-blue beams at the Kikaiju. Four missile pods came flying out and went to the right. The beams hit the Kikaiju, destroying them.
"Pods away!" Mia said. "Arming missiles!"
"Missiles are within range!" Megumi said.
"Fire!" Juria said.
The missiles came out of the pods, rocketing toward the Kikaiju standing against Jay and Koji. The missiles hit the Kikaiju, destroying them. The two looked at the smoldering remains of the enemy and looked at the ship.
"Incredible..." Koji said. "So this is what the Commodore meant all along..."
"So much firepower..." Jay said. "It's even bigger than every other ship the Earth Federation has..."
"Koji, Jay, you're cleared for landing. Make use of runway one." Juria said. "Oh, and Tyree, you're still alive, are you?"
"Absolutely..." Tyree said.
"Come on, all of you, we have a lot to do in here before we do anything else," Juria said.
The two mechs flew up towards the ship, making use of one of the ship's runways to land on before entering the hangar.
Hangar 1, Hikari
Jay got out to see everyone gathered here, Koji included. He saw Juria approaching him and looked at her.
"You did surprisingly well, for a civilian," Juria said. "Though, I must inform you that while you did save us, you still broke a law."
"H-Huh?!" Jay asked.
"Civilians are not authorized to use military equipment under any circumstances," Martin said. "Doing so is a criminal offense. You could end up with a life sentence."
"Now hold on a minute Commander Miller," Koji said. "This isn't the first time a civilian operated military equipment."
"Oh really, Professor Kabuto?" Martin asked. "You mean to say you've seen something like this before?"
"As a matter of fact, I did see or hear something like that ten years ago," Koji said. "It all happened on Side 7 when a certain civilian hopped into the Earth Federation's first completed mobile suit. I know that man because I met him myself."
"Amuro Ray," Juria said. "That's who you are referring to."
"HUH?!" Tyree and Mia exclaimed.
"T-THE Amuro Ray?! The White Meteor himself?!" Tyree said.
"You actually met him in person?!" Mia asked.
"Heck yeah, I did!" Koji said. "We were kids back then before the war ever happened!"
"So you two are friends..." Jay said. "But what does that have to do with me?"
Koji turned to Jay and had his hands on the boy's shoulders before getting his knees.
"Because you remind me of him," Koji said. "You saved plenty of lives here, so it would be a crying shame to just have you put in the brig for doing what anyone else would have done in that situation."
"On that, I can agree," Juria said.
Koji got up and looked at Juria.
"Captain..."
"Wha—?! Captain! You cannot be serious!" Martin said. "The Huckebein was a top-secret project! You can't let him off the hook just because he saved our lives!"
"I will speak of this to the Commodore at once," Juria said. "For now, I want maintenance crews working on those two machines at once."
"Juria!"
"But—!"
"Tyree, get to work," Juria said. "Mia, get these two situated in their quarters."
"Y-Yes, Captain!" Mia said. "Follow me, you two."
The two walked with Mia as Martin watched the two. Tyree and his fellow mechanics began to work on the Huckebein and the Ichinana.
"She's right about one thing," he heard Lisa standing next to him. "He did one hell of a job. I would like to see the Huckebein's combat data for myself and do a little experimenting with its pilot."
"Watch it, Lisa, you're starting to sound like a genuine mad scientist," Martin said.
Captain's Quarters
Juria was looking at a hologram of her father. The man was about 40 years old and had a strong build. He was wearing a navy blue uniform. He had a stalwart look in his green eyes. This was Commodore Walter Anderson. Juria had never seen her father for many years. Now she stood before him not as his daughter, but as captain of her own ship. She had sent her report to him and explained her current situation.
"So you wish to let a civilian off the hook for piloting a military-grade robot because he saved the lives of you and your crew?" Walter asked. "Is that why you've called me?"
"Yes, Commodore," Juria said. "Is there a problem?"
"As a matter of fact, there is one problem," Walter said. "That is to say, a full pardon is absolutely out of the question."
Juria bit her lip. She felt frustrated at her father.
"The Huckebein Lux is top secret Federation property. The fact that a civilian was allowed to pilot it presents a possible security risk," Walter said. "In case you have forgotten, the security of the Federation is vital in these turbulent times. We are at war with multiple enemies of the Federation on multiple fronts. We cannot allow our enemies to know anymore of our secrets."
Juria takes a deep breath.
"Then in that case, I will request that I have Jay put under my custody," Juria said. "Will that suffice?"
The man looked at Juria, showing no emotion.
"Very well then, I shall grant it," Walter said. "But remember, you have bigger duties as captain of the Hikari."
"Thank you, Commodore," Juria said. "Just answer one last question for me."
"Hm?"
"My brother... Kenny... is he alright?" Juria asked.
"..."
"Father, answer me."
"..."
"Father!"
"Your brother is alright," Walter said. "He is now the captain of the Yami and is now operating out in the Earth Sphere."
Juria sighed in relief.
"So... you made him captain of the Hikari's sister ship," Juria said. "I guess he qualified for such a role..."
"That is irrelevant," Walter said. "You have your orders."
The hologram fades out. She heard the door open and saw Martin walking in.
"Inform Jay he is to serve as a member of this ship as of today," Juria said.
"So you convinced him," Martin said. "You are a stubborn girl."
"My father is just as stubborn," Juria said. "But at least I still have my own soul."