Intermission: Around 30 Years Ago…
Sitting in the cockpit Hayato usually sat in was a young girl, barely even old enough to graduate from a huntsman academy. In the pilot seats of the other two machines were Hayato's companions, who she hardly had to convince to bring her along.
"Are you sure you want this fight, kid?" Ryoma asked, his usual hot blooded tenacity absent as he looked at her through a screen. The pilot of Aura-1 did not wear his helmet, letting his long and wild hair free.
"This is my final wish… my final battle," was the girl's response. She winced, gripping the controls as if they were a source of strength for her. The machine around her rumbled, as if growling like an untamed beast. "With Buster Machine #1 out of commission… this is all I can do to save Atlas… No, the world!"
"Hm… We aren't too fond of lettin' a kid die with us," Benkei began, crossing his arms in his seat. His twin brother, Musashi, nodded before speaking, "But you're gonna die either way… We can respect that this is how you want to go out. 'Specially after what we all learned from The Getter…" The pilots of Aura-3 were both kitted out in their piloting suits that resembled armor.
From an outsider's perspective, the trio of flying machines would suddenly take off without anyone's interference, the flight hatches suddenly opening of their own volition.
"No! You plan on leaving me alive?!" Hayato shouted, gripping his helmet tightly as he watched the machine he had piloted for years take off without him. Just who the hell was piloting in his stead?
"Jin!" He heard a woman's voice call out from behind him, "Noriko is missing!"
His eyes widened at that, and his gaze snapped to the trail left in the sky by the flying machine, Aura-2.
"Colonel! We are receiving a transmission for you!" Michiru called out to him. He rushed to the control room, his eyes falling on a trio of screens depicting the pilots of Aura Robo sitting in each cockpit, with Benkei and Musashi sharing one screen.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Hayato and the woman both cried out. The face of Noriko remained impassive, except for a few drops of sweat, as she stared directly into the camera recording her. Her silver eyes were glinting in the light of the cockpit.
"I'm doing what is necessary, Kazumi," She started, seeming to look directly at the woman, "We both know my condition is terminal… especially after that Aura donation I made. If I didn't sneak into this seat, either you or Jin would be in this seat, destined to die. Fate has different destinies planned for you."
"She's right," Piped up Ryoma from his screen, his own silver eyes glinting like Noriko's. A grim smile was on his face as he gripped his controls, and he gave Hayato a slow nod. "Your fate is not to die with us, Hayato… The Getter says so."
"What is Getter?!" Was Hayato's frustrated response, slamming his hands on the console. Kazumi Amano was beginning to tear up, accepting the inevitable death of her best friend. "You say that word, yet we do not know what it is!"
"Life," began Musashi.
"And death," finished Benkei.
"Someday, humanity will need to know what The Getter is if they want to survive," Noriko said, looking at Hayato this time. "Jin… It is up to you to find out just what it is, and make use of it. You won't fail, we know you won't, because The Getter has already revealed it all to us."
The screens faded to static, and went blank. Hayato and Kizumi soberly looked on in silence.
"Let's go!" Noriko shouted, activating her semblance and accelerating further to the team's demise, "Our destination is the Atlesian Warfront!
North of Atlas
The city in the sky, The Kingdom of Atlas, was under attack.
A horde of gargantuan Grimm numbering at least in the hundreds were steadily approaching, barely held back by a combination of the Kingdom's defenses and an alliance of Machines.
"Big Blast… Divider!"
A large missile flew through the air before separating into dozens of cluster missiles, the projectiles exploding and sending multiple Giant Grimm and many regular ones to whatever afterlife they experienced.
The stomach of Combattler V closed as it had run out of missile ammunition. The head pilot, Hyoma Aoi, growled as he saw the growing numbers of Grimm. Him and his team had been battling for hours, and were beginning to tire as Combattler V also began to creak and shake from the overwhelmed components. Partially from Hyoma's own dangerous maneuvers, but mostly from battling Grimm nonstop.
"We didn't come all the way from Mistral just to die here!" Hyoma shouted out, his team letting loose a battle cry in agreeance as Combattler V held its fist to the sky.
"Neither did I!" Came a voice as a Rocket Punch slammed into a Giant Grimm that was getting ready to pounce on Combattler V. The fist flew back and reattached itself to its owner, Energer Z. "Which is why we all need to look out for each other!"
"Kenzo! Took a while for you to fight off those nasties with that mech prototype, eh?!"
"I might've designed the controls, but that doesn't mean I'm proficient at them!" Was Kenzo Kabuto's quick response as he shoved a massive Creep away and stunned it with a Photon Beam.
"Breast Fire!" Came a feminine shout, followed by an inferno that consumed the Creep.
"Tsubasa! Nice of you to catch up to us!" The leader of Combattler's pilots called out. "And look, you're piloting a prototype, too! What'd you call it, Iron Z?"
"That would be correct." Was the quick response, followed by a status report. "The Sizzler units are overwhelmed, and we've lost most of them. We can't keep fighting like this!"
"No matter what, we have to keep fighting!" Came the reply over the communications. It was an atlesian pilot in a black Sizzler unit, her eyes determined as she fought like an expert. "I, Jung Freud, will not surrender in the face of the darkness! Atlas will not fall!"
"So long as you guys don't drop that Gravity Dust bomb, I'm inclined to agree." Another voice chimed , this one belonging to Sho Zama, commander of Vacuo's Mechanized Forces: The Aura Battlers. "Our machines may not have been built for the tundra, but we still have time before our wings freeze. Every single one of my men have volunteered to stay until we can guarantee Atlas' safety."
Everyone put on brave faces… It's no secret that they've been experiencing losses left and right as the battle has gone on. The Grimm were steadily encroaching now, and there wasn't enough ammo or energy to get rid of them all… especially not that giant flying whale-like Grimm.
Then, there was a burst of static from every comm device as a new voice rang out.
"Everyone get back, the cavalry has arrived!"
"Is that…?" Hyoma started, recognizing the voice immediately.
"Nagare Ryoma! But how?! Aura Robo can't fly that fast!" Jung Freud called out, surprised but relieved that there was some backup. "They'd have had to fly all the way from Vale to here in minutes!"
"My semblance." Noriko's voice, quieter than usual, sounded out from the communication devices. "You know it, Jung. Time Dilation."
Three machines flew overhead at incredibly high speeds, and those who were familiar with the machines would notice that they looked… different now, compared to what they were merely days ago. The trio of machines were shrouded in energy, and their designs were even changing in real time.
"Everyone, get back!" Musashi called out, "We will take care of this! Ryoma, let us go first!"
"CHANGE, AURA THREE!"
The flying machines combined, a storm of energy forming around the combination before exploding outwards. Aura Robo was outputting a far higher energy than it should be able to, and as a result was constantly on the verge of overloading. The blast sent Grimm and ally alike flying back, and what was left standing was the strong and stout form of Aura Three.
The machine threw its arms forwards, the twin brothers grunting with only a slight effort as it the arms extended and grabbed an absolutely massive Megoliath and swung it through the air, slamming it into other Giant Grimm as Aura Three spun in a circle and threw it overhead.
"DAISESTUZAN OROSHI!" The twin brothers, Benkei and Musashi, shouted together as the Giant Megoliath was sent flying into the air. It fell down directly onto the back spikes of an Alpha Leviathan, killing both Grimm instantly.
"Nice work, Benkei, Musashi," Came the voice of Noriko, "Just one thing to correct…"
"We aren't powered by just Dust and Aura anymore!" Ryoma cut in, just as Aura Three split into its machines, "We are powered by The Getter!"
"CHANGE, GETTER ONE!"
The new combination took on the silhouette of a Devil, its horns jutting out from its head oddly still giving it a heroic look. Strangely, its usual blank yellow eyes seemed to have pupils. A cape extended from its shoulders and fell to its shins, and sharp blades extended from its forearms.
"This is our new power!" Benkei and Musashi cried out together, their eyes locked on the horde of Giant Grimm.
"This is our belief in The Getter!" Noriko managed to yell, slowly losing strength in her body from her condition. Lastly, came Ryoma's cry.
"This is Getter Robo!"
Noriko's eyes looked up into the sky, finding the flying whale that seemed to lead the Grimm to Atlas.
"Ryoma."
"I see it. We've got one thing powerful enough to end all of this… but that means you guys will be the first to go, Benkei, Musashi…" Was the older man's reply as he followed Noriko's gaze.
"We've got no problems with that," Was Benkei's reply, to which Musashi gave a confident nod. "It's Getter's will."
"Very well… let's do this, Noriko!"
What followed was Ryoma letting out a fierce battle cry, his silver eyes glowing intensely before completely filling his cockpit with a brightness to rival the sun. Noriko followed suit, her own battle cry seemingly revived by the energy that flowed from her eyes.
Getter Robo cupped its hands at its right side, its own eyes shiny as well. A fierce silver aura reminiscent of an inferno burst to life around the machine, and it melted the ice around it from the heat. At first, there was nothing, but then a spark formed between its palms, and that spark rapidly grew in size and became a spherical shape.
The machine itself was not built to withstand the energy it was outputting, and was seemingly melting in certain places. The outer plating of the robot began to seemingly evaporate, exposing the wiring and metal frame below to the world. The energy itself was too intense, Musashi and Benkei fell silent as it seemed like the machine itself completely drained them of their aura and souls to feed itself.
In reality, they simply became one with The Getter.
For the enemies that were close enough, the encroaching Grimm turned to stone in the presence of the building energy. Those who were too close simply evaporated in an instant, and the danger zone looked to be slowly increasing in size with the sphere of energy.
Ryoma and Noriko grit their teeth, their eyes shining in tandem as they both manipulate the controls of the machine. In fact, parts of their bodies seemed to meld with the machine. Eventually, they built up enough energy to form a sphere the size of Getter Robo's torso, and deemed that to be enough. Taking a breath, Ryoma let out a single word.
"SILVEEEEERRR…"
Noriko finished his battle cry.
"SUNSHIIIIINNNE!"
Throwing forth the sphere of energy, it carved a path through the horde before suddenly turning upwards. The silver light emitted by the attack turned any Grimm caught in it to stone before crumbling to dust. The recoil of releasing so much energy destroyed Getter Robo's left arm due to the already damaged frame, and the machine continued to release energy regardless. Getter Robo seemed to guide which direction the attack moved with the wave of its remaining hand, guiding the attack towards the flying whale.
"THIS IS THE END!" Ryoma shouted out, his body beginning to succumb to the radiation given off by the machine. Getter Robo clenched its fist when the energy attack was close enough to its target, triggering a massive explosion that temporarily blinded all who looked directly at it. When the light died down, there was nothing left of the Grimm horde or the whale.
However, Getter Robo continued to expel energy as it broke down.
The machine's cape burned away with green flames, and its horns melted away into slag as it collapsed to its knees. Getter's energy levels continued to rise, and more of the tundra began to melt.
"This is it," The other pilots could hear Noriko muttering, "We will be one with The Getter…"
Before any more could be said, the remains of Getter Robo disintegrated into the air, taking the wild energy with it. Chizuru, Combattler V's fourth pilot, was the one to break the silence that followed.
"This is Lieutenant Nanbara of the Mistral Robotics Corps… all enemy forces eliminated. Atlas survives another day!"
Saotome Labs, 2 Days Later
Having received word of Aura Robo's victory, and subsequent disappearance, Jin Hayato was slumped in his chair. He slowly rubbed a hand down his face, thoughts running through his head at lightspeed. The first and most prominent: with Aura Robo gone, Vale will need a new machine and new pilots as fast as possible.
The project would not be finished for years, so he had quite some time to figure out the pilots.
"Hey, Hayato! Sis says to not let you stay in here all day!" Came a young voice at his office door, one which he recognized immediately before the door was even opened.
"I will be out soon, Genki," was Hayato's response, "I swear, Michiru acts more and more like a mother than a scientist by the day…"
His eyes met the amused gaze of a child around the age of ten years old, Michiru's younger sibling. His dark brown eyes met the child's silver eyes, and a thought crossed his mind. Ryoma and Noriko both had silver eyes, and both were incredible pilots that seemed to push their machines past their limits when piloting… and both seemed to have a strong connection to whatever it was that they called 'Getter'.
"Genki… go, I will be out in a few minutes."
"Okay!"
After Genki left, Hayato steepled his fingers in thought. The possible repercussions of the path he predicted weighed heavily on his mind, and he began to understand just what kind of pressure Old Man Saotome was under whenever he weighed the good of humanity against his own humanity when faced with the eternal threat of The Grimm.
Turning to his computer, he brought up a file that included medical records, and nodded with some satisfaction of his curiosity when he found what he was looking for. Getting up from his seat, Hayato swiftly exited the room with a new sense of purpose. He always found it strange that the younger daughter of Saotome was given a masculine name, but learning that it was really her middle name made a bit more sense.
The name on the file read "Saotome, Summer Genki".
Author's Note:
Something to fill the space while I work on the actual next chapter and finish planning some things out.