Disclaimer: All properties are owned by Izuru Yumizuru and Sunrise respectively.

Love and Iron: The Iron-Blooded Devil of IS Academy

Chapter 1: The Return Home

My name is Ichika Orimura and I'm a proud member of Tekkadan.

I think this whole mess started during the second Mondo Grosso. Some group, I don't know who, kidnapped me and blackmailed my sister, Chifuyu, to drop out of the finals; why that, I don't know. One of them had an Infinite Stratos, or IS for short, with them; my guess was for added security. It apparently wasn't enough as later on, I could hear someone tearing through the guards like paper; Chifuyu no doubt. The kidnapper IS was the last line of defense for my rescue. The two fought but Chifuyu was known as the 'strongest woman in the world' for a very good reason; something the kidnapper learned the hard way when sis managed to deplete her shields and gave a good size slash across the back. Unfortunately, she was also a sore loser and drew some kind of beam cannon. She got off two shots, both misses, before it happened: the spot where Chifuyu slashed was also where the core was kept. The plating fell off, allowing it to get loose and roll between me and the kidnapper; it was also there that I saw that sis had managed to slash the core, too. It sparked a few times before some kind of field burst out of it around me and the kidnapper. The last thing I saw before blacking out was Chifuyu reaching out to me.

When I came to, nothing looked familiar. The ground seemed like a desert and it had a red tint to it. Not too far away was the IS core but it seemed inoperable. I stashed it away before I saw a truck approaching; it was also around this time that kidnapper IS pilot came to and she was not happy. Luckily, without a core; her IS was useless and the people driving up could help me get home. However, once they stepped out of the truck, and the fact that they didn't look the least bit friendly; staying with the kidnapper was looking far more appealing. I tried to run away but they easily caught me before moving on to the IS pilot. They made me watch as they pulled her out of the damaged IS, rip off her clothes and violate her right there before they threw her and me in the back with other women and children, I overheard them talking about selling off the IS yet from their words, it sounded like they didn't know what it was; it wasn't until later I had come to learn I was on Mars. Not long after, I was sold off as human debris to Chryse Guard Security. I must've been the youngest among the other debris they bought. As soon as they brought us in, they put us on a table to implant the Alaya-Vijnana system; bastards didn't even give me anesthetic. Three times they put it in me, something about wanting to replicate what one kid did and how much his performance was enhanced. Out of the seven they brought in, I was the only one to survive; the others couldn't handle the pain or it simply didn't work on them.

For three years, I was forced to be an expendable child soldier; I had some friends in the other kids they had. I learned what I could about this world that was so different from what I remember. It soon became clear that I had come to another world, something normally only happens in comic books but had somehow happened to me. I did what I could not to stand out; the adults in First Corps liked to kick us around if we were "insubordinate" or just for the fun of it. They would make us do the most dangerous stuff with little protection or use us as cannon fodder. And yet in those three years, I managed to survive; whether it was out of quick thinking, sheer willpower or just plain dumb luck. It was also in those three years that I killed my first man, they say you never forget but there are times I wish I could.

It wasn't until one fateful day where everything changed, where I had newfound hope that maybe if I kept holding on, I could find a way back home… to Chifuyu….to Houki…. That day was marked when I came to know two names: Kudelia Aina Bernstein and Gundam Barbatos.

It was supposed to be a simple escort mission; take her to Earth for an assembly meeting and come back. But it became anything but simple when we were suddenly attacked by the so-called peacekeepers of the world, Gjallarhorn, who had come to assassinate Bernstein. The first wave was mobile workers, tank-like vehicles, that continuously shelled us but we managed to hold the line with our own but it all went sideways when they came out with mobile suits, machines that were ten times the size and power of an IS without the women only glitch. We lost a number of friends, including Danji, my best friend that I made in this hell. It all seemed hopeless when one of them started going after Orga, our field commander, until Mikazuki, the other kid with 3 Alaya-Vijnana implants, came back but with a mobile suit of his own; the Barbatos. He mopped the floor with them before they retreated. After which, First Corps came back after they had abandoned us to save their own skins and the company president had just disappeared with a large chunk of the CGS' money. It was at this point, we had had enough and staged a mutiny. Shortly after kicking them out and discovering a major financial issue, one of the Gjallarhorn attackers came back for a duel to the death against Mikazuki; during which Orga had given us our new name.

The Iron Flower Brigade: Tekkadan. Because the Iron Flower never wilts and dies.

We had set off on our journey to Earth and it was NOT lacking any problems. First was another run in with Gjallarhorn but we managed to give them the slip. Next was a confrontation with the Turbines, a division of a group called Teiwaz. The fight was tough but we managed to impress them that their leader, Naze Turbine, offered to take us to Teiwaz headquarters at Saisei to perform a Sakazuki, something I saw in a Yakuza movie. We were tasked to take a shipment to the Dort space colonies near Earth, during the trip, I had learned that the Turbines, save for Naze, were all women and his wives. However, en route to Dort, we were attacked by the Brewers, a group of space pirates. First being transported to another world and another planet, with giant robots no less, meeting a man with an actual harem on a spaceship and now space pirates; my life had officially become an anime.

We engaged them twice before coming out on top, I was a part of the assault force that raided their main ship. We lost a few guys and I was forced to put down some of their human debris. Akihiro, a former human debris like me, tried to get his little brother to go with him to Tekkadan but he was killed by one of the Brewers' mobile suit pilots. We took one of their ships, the surviving human debris and all their mobile suits; one of which turned out to be another Gundam Frame like the Barbatos while the others were known as Man Rodis. I had asked Orga if I could transfer to our growing mobile suit corps, if I was going to have to kill again, I'd at least prefer that I didn't see their faces when I did. He agreed and I took one of the Man Rodis we captured and modified for ground combat that is to come, bringing the number of suits we had up to four: me with the new Landman Rodi, Mika in the Barbatos, Akihiro in our new Gundam Gusion Rebake and Shino, a former member of Third Group, in a captured Graze he had customized and renamed Ryusei-Go… wow, that's a dumb name.

We managed to make it to the Dort Colony without too many problems but got caught up in another mess between workers and their leaders. It soon turned ugly when fighting started to break out but we managed to get away and make it towards Earth. When I saw it again after three years, I almost shed a tear; I wondered if this is what astronauts see whenever they're in space? Sadly, my sightseeing would have to wait as we ran into Gjallarhorn again but this seemed to be a different group than the ones we fought before; the Outer-Earth something or other, the name was too much of a mouthful. Eugene, Dante and Chad distracted them with our ships before turning around; unaware we had snuck away into a landing shuttle. Unfortunately, they caught on and we got in a fight during reentry; Akihiro, Shino and I latched on before it got too dangerous but Mika couldn't make it in time… he ended up using an enemy mobile suit as a makeshift heat shield.

We landed near the private island of Togonosuke Makanai, the man who was to meet with Kudelia. We thought this meant the job was complete but the old man pretty much blackmailed us into helping him get to Edmonton so he could try to be re-elected as Prime Minister of Arbrau. Left with little choice, we accepted. We received aid from someone named Montag who supplied us with weapons and transport off the island; good thing, too, as those Outer-Earth people showed up again in the strangest way I had ever seen.

/Remember, we're the Outer-Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet!/ The lead Graze declared, striking a pose.

/We are perseverance and fortitudinous!/ the others said in unison, also striking a pose.

BANG! Akihiro had shot one of them in the head, knocking him down.

/It was…okay to shoot, right?/ Akihiro asked.

/Of course it was./ Mika had answered.

I had tried really hard not to laugh at that.

The fight started to get intense from there, we managed to get off the island but we lost Biscuit in the process. We secured a train through Teiwaz to take us to Edmonton in secret, barring another run in with that mouthy woman from the Outer-Earth thing again; we made it with days to spare. Unfortunately, Gjallarhorn was expecting us and kept us at bay for three days; the mobile workers tried to puncture their front line while Mika, Akihiro, Azee, Lafter, Shino and I fought off their mobile suits from the rear. It was becoming a war of attrition and on the day of the election, we were getting desperate. We couldn't bring our mobile suits into the city since the Ahab Reactors would jam everything; that would send the wrong message and Makanai would surely fail to get elected.

The river had drained enough to allow a mobile worker to cross and we devised a strategy, however, Gjallarhorn dropped some kind of super-sized Graze mobile suit on us. It made short work of us, save for Akihiro and Mika; they were busy with other troops. The Graze, the two Rouei and my Landman Rodi were totaled but I managed to stab my mobile suit's katana in its back where it couldn't reach; it didn't deal any significant damage but it did give Mika a weapon to finish it off. Mika had pushed Barbatos to its limits and in turn lost feeling in his arm and vision in his right eye. Makanai managed to make it to parliament in time and win the election; bringing Tekkadan's first big job to a successful end.


Two years had passed since Edmonton. Tekkadan had grown since then with new members and a new Earth-based branch, becoming a Teiwaz subsidiary and Arbrau's Makanai had commissioned us to be military advisors, earning quite a bit of rivals. The base was attacked every now and then by the more brazen ones; one such time was the remnants of First Corps, guess they were jealous at how far Tekkadan had come after we took over. Mika was away and Akihiro was alone against their decent number of mobile suits. The only other suit we had left was the Barbatos with that sword I used in Edmonton. I wasted no time jumping in and joining Akihiro in taking them down, they used swarming tactics and did some serious damage to the Gundam Frames but we still came out on top. Barbatos and Gusion were wrecked pretty badly but Mika's reputation as the "Devil of Tekkadan" had been strengthened with that battle, even though only we knew he wasn't even in that fight. In a way; I too became the Devil of Tekkadan. Speaking of which, I had to go face him about what I did to his partner. I found Mikazuki in Barbatos' old hanger when it was just used as an oversized battery.

"Please forgive me!" I said with a bow.

Mika stared at me in confusion.

"I know I shouldn't have but I wanted to protect everyone at the base and used it without asking first; now the Barbatos looks like it got in a fight with a trash compactor because of me. I'll understand if you hate me for it."

"You don't need to apologize, Ichika."

I looked up at him, stunned.

"Orga filled me in, you took Barbatos while I was away. You weren't sure if I'd make it back in time so you decided to fight them yourself."

"Well, yeah but aren't you upset?"

He took out a Mars palm and held it for a bit, usually, he just pops it in his mouth.

"You know, I sometimes get a little uneasy when I'm away from here. If I'm not here when they might need me, I feel as though I abandoned them. It might make me feel easier if someone was here watching over them, someone who could pilot Barbatos when I can't."

I couldn't believe what he was implying. Instead of being mad for wrecking his partner, I was unofficially made Barbatos' back up pilot. Not only that, Orga, under Mika's suggestion, made me the captain of the first unit along with Akihiro's second unit and Shino's third unit with Mika as the Commando unit leader.

Because of the fight, it was sent back to Saisei for another overhaul. It wasn't until a month later, when the Dawn Horizon Corps, a pirate group, attacked the base; did Mika come back with it only now it was the Barbatos Lupus.

We started a new kind of strategy; whenever Barbatos came in to resupply, Mika and I would switch as pilots; our fighting styles had become so similar that no one could distinguish one from the other. It was particularly effective against the Dawn Horizon Corps in space; cementing the 'Devil of Tekkadan' legend further. Even Orga liked the idea, Ms. Merribet commented how it would cut down on pilot exhaustion and would make the enemy think we were tireless; psychological warfare at its finest. It was during that battle that I crossed paths with a female pilot of Gjallarhorn in a new machine I later learned was called a Reginlaze. She was good, no mistaking that. She then got backed-up by another of those new machines, someone I think she said was named 'Iok' or 'Idiot,' I don't know. What I did know about him was… He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Seriously, he couldn't land a hit on me and I wasn't even trying to dodge, he might have had better luck if I did. Anyway, after a little back and forth with the girl pilot, I managed to pin down the pirate captain and bring that job to a close.

However, things got bad on Earth when a bomb went off in parliament, putting Makanai and Chad into a coma. A potential war was on the brink between Arbrau and the SAU as a result of the bombing, Takaki had taken command and things seemed under control but there was something fishy going on. Despite all assurances from the Earth branch, we rushed out as fast as we could before it got out of hand; we managed to get there before McGillis Fareed, our ally in Gjallarhorn, could be killed but we lost Aston, Akihiro's adopted brother. We tracked down the mastermind behind this, Galan Mossa, and the one who had been feeding us false information, one of our own; Radice Riloto. Akihiro chased down Mossa but the bastard blew himself up before we could get anything. Radice, on the other hand, was easy to find and detain. We found that he was the one who planted the bomb and thought that we were too naïve to suspect him before he made off with a large sum of money. He learned the hard way of what it means to betray those who welcomed you like family; and when I didn't bat an eye at the man getting what he deserved, I wondered if I had become desensitized by all the violence now in my life.

We had folded the Earth branch and returned to Mars, along the way; I had overheard that we found another Gundam Frame in the new Half-Metal mine we're operating along with some other machine and something else still buried. Shino immediately called dibs on the new Gundam and it and the smaller mech was sent to Saisei for an overhaul and examination respectively. It wasn't until later that McGillis Fareed had informed us that we may have stumbled upon something dangerous and asked that we clear out the mine of personnel for safety. We had uncovered a powerful machine called a Mobile Armor; that's what Fareed told us before heading out with Orga and the others to the site. It and others like it were responsible for the Calamity War 300 years ago; wiping out 1/4th of the entire human population, kinda scary knowing you were right near such a monster. I was put on stand-by with the Barbatos Lupus, just in case. Sadly, some idiot, despite all the warnings, got too close and reactivated it; allowing it to resume its rampage. It attacked the Gjallarhorn base for supplies and repaired itself before heading for the nearest populated area: Chryse City.

The plan was to lure it into an enclosed area, separate it from its Pluma support units and take it down. Akihiro's unit tracked down the Mobile Armor into a canyon leading to Chryse, a perfect spot to ambush it or at least it was until it changed course when it was attacked by the dumb shit who woke it up in the first place, sending it towards the agricultural plant. I hopped into Barbatos to intercept while the second unit tried to get its attention back on course. Ride tried to block the thing's beam cannon but it splashed off the nanolaminate armor and hit anyway. The Plumas were swarming him when I arrived and took them out, much to his relief.

Now, it was my turn to take this monster on.

However, Barbatos started acting strange; like it was eager, like a hungry predator. The moment the Mobile Armor was almost in range, it felt like someone just kicked me in the face through the Alaya-Vijnana. I fought through the pain but Barbatos wouldn't move and I kept seeing [ALAYA-VIJNANA SYSTEM: SAFE MODE ACTIVATED;] something in Barbatos was fighting with it. I couldn't take much more and cut my connection. Akihiro tried to attack it but the same thing happened to him; knocking him out cold. Why was it that other mobile suits had no issue but our two Gundam Frames stalled if they got too close? I soon learned that they were made 300 years ago specifically to take down Mobile Armors through combined use of the Alaya-Vijnana and the mobile suit's power, however, to do that; the Gundams needed the two output limiters turned off to go all out to do the job, which would harm the pilot as a result. I was sent back to base with Ride, still dizzy from the system punch while Mika took Barbatos to fight the Mobile Armor… but the cost to him was…he wouldn't let anyone stop him. The Barbatos Lupus returned to Saisei for another overhaul.

After the battle, I learned Shino finally had a Gundam to call his own. He wanted to call it "Ryusei-Go IV." At this point; I couldn't take it anymore. I told him that it was a dumb name; that the Flauros was named after a demon and therefore a much cooler name. We must've argued for a good hour until Shino made a compromise, a rather loose way to put it, and called it "Gundam Flauros Ryusei-Go;" the grounds of the new name being that our other Gundams had long names. I had officially given up arguing with him.

Things had quieted down for a while but trouble soon came knocking when we heard the Turbines were accused of smuggling an illegal Dainsleif weapon. Naze told us to stay out of it but if we "just happened" to be in the area, no one could say anything if we were simply being good Samaritans and rescuing the non-combatants. We saved a good deal of the crew but we couldn't save Naze and Amida. At his funeral, one of Teiwaz's underbosses crashed it and made an asshole of himself, like he was trying to piss us off. When he had Lafter, a girl who reminded me of Chifuyu in so many ways, killed; he succeeded and he was gonna wish he hadn't!

The battle was intense, but despite the numbers disadvantage, were winning. The new Barbatos Lupus Rex was making short work of them, like swatting flies. Every time I smashed one of their mobile suits, I thought the pain would lessen…that I would feel better…when Mika and I switched and he dealt the final blow… I would be happy…but I didn't. I was once told revenge leaves you with nothing but emptiness…

They were right.

To fight our last battle, we had to sever ties with Teiwaz and join up with Fareed for his coup within Gjallarhorn; to do that, he needed to gain control of their most coveted treasure: a Gundam Frame, Bael. Though we took their headquarters, there was still one more obstacle: the Arianrhod fleet led by Rustal Elion. We took the battle to space where they hit us hard but we kept pushing. I couldn't even switch with Mika, they were pressuring him so hard; until they suddenly retreated in the middle of the fight. We soon learned why when one of Elion's had snuck over to our side and made it look like we were willing to use the illegal weapon by firing right at them. They "responded" by unleashing a barrage onto us. Things were looking grim until Shino tried one last trick on Elion with the Hotarubi and the Flauros (I am NOT calling it the Ryusei-Go.) I instantly had a bad feeling and stole one of the Shidens to go after him. His plan involved using the Flauros to fire at the flagship to take out Elion but a new mobile suit threw his aim off and he missed. The enemy ships opened fire on him but I managed to pull his ass out of that fire; the Flauros was damaged but still combat capable, which was more than I could say for the Shiden I stole. The Hotarubi soon exploded, releasing a nano-mirror chaff to cover our escape.

Now we were back on Mars, licking our wounds. Just when we thought things couldn't get worse, our assets were frozen, our communications were cut, and we found ourselves surrounded by Gjallarhorn mobile suits. Orga tried to broker a deal with Elion to hand over Fareed but that asshole was going to wipe us out anyway and make an example of us. To top it off, I overheard Mika, Atra and Kudelia talking that Atra was pregnant. Some hope came when we found an old underground tunnel that led into Chryse; it had collapsed a bit so it would take some time to dig out. Orga, Kudelia, Atra, Chad, and Ride planned to sneak in in order to get in touch with Makanai to get us new identities but the problem was getting through that blockade. Fareed volunteered to distract them with Bael while they made for the city then he took off to who knows where. It was hours later that we heard from Ride about Gjallarhorn's plans, Makanai's agreement for new identities and our escape from Mars but we also learned…. Orga was shot. His last orders were "to keep living and don't ever stop."

Everyone was hit hard, but Mika managed to rally them together to follow Orga's wishes; we had a destination, we had an escape plan, now we just needed a battle plan and I had one. I approached Old Man Yukinojo while they were working on our mobile suits.

"Yukinojo, I need you to focus on repairs and ammo to the Gundam Frames, use parts from our other mobile suits if you have to."

"What?!" the old man looked at me shocked.

"Then get everyone to the tunnel."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I must sound like I've gone insane.

"We'll use the Gundam frames to hold off the assault force while everyone escapes, they're tougher than even modern mobile suits so they alone should be enough."

"Only three against all of that? That's insane!" His shouting drew everyone's attention.

"We only have hours before the fighting starts, it'll take less time to work on three mobile suits than all of them. This'll keep casualties to a minimum. The enemy will think whatever resources we have are out."

"Ichika, you'd be outnumbered 100 to 1," Eugene added, "What makes you think you could win something like that?"

"We don't have to win, just stall them. When everyone is clear, we rush back and blow the place; make them think we went out on our own terms."

"It's still insane!"

"It may be our best bet," Mika said, Hush carrying him in before setting him down on the ground, "Orga said for all of us to keep living and to let anyone else die would be disobeying that order. Barbatos will get the job done, I know it. It's okay, old man, go along with what Ichika said."

Yukinojo looked reluctant but nodded before shouting at the maintenance crew to get to work. Everyone either helped out with the mobile suits or dug out the tunnel. Yukinojo and the crew worked through the night to get our Gundam Frames ready while we set up the charges for the base.

It was almost noon, I met up with Mikazuki, Dante, Akihiro, Shino and Eugene in the barracks; I told Hush to help out with the tunnel. Some were still there grabbing any kind of memento.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Akihiro asked me.

"It's the only idea I got."

"I still think it's insane," Eugene grumbled.

"We'll get the job done, our last job," Shino added.

"Yeah, let's get going," Mika reached out to be picked up by someone.

"You're not doing anything."

Everyone looked at me shocked and confused.

"Atra's waiting for you; her and your kid. I'll be piloting Barbatos."

"How can I do anything for them if I can't move half my body?" he asked with a rare amount of frustration.

"Mika, just being there, alive, is enough for the both of them. Take it from someone who was abandoned by their parents, a child being with his parents; in both good and hard times, is special. As for me, by all accounts; I don't exist in this world. It's better for some nobody from out of nowhere to go down fighting than someone who has loved ones waiting for them."

"That doesn't answer my question. All I know how to do well is fight. How am I supposed to take care of them if I can't even do that?" he asked me again, anger starting to boil within him.

"You'll figure something out," I responded along with a well-placed punch; knocking him out cold.

I then picked up and handed Mikazuki to Dante.

"Get him out of here."

He gave a stunned nod before carrying him off with the others following. I then told Akihiro and Shino to get ready, I'd be with them shortly.

After everyone had left the barracks to make for the tunnel, something caught my eye. The IS core that brought me here. In a way, this little black ball is the reason I'm in this mess in the first place. And yet I kept it but for what? As a memento? A good luck charm? I once thought that if it could bring me here, it could also send me home… but after five years… I realized I was fooling myself. The battle was going to begin soon, I had better get to the hanger. Maybe this will give me some good luck and we'll get through this alive.

Gjallarhorn began with a missile barrage from their mobile workers, we left decoy workers on the field to draw their attention. Akihiro and I charged forward, Shino providing some covering fire. I smashed one Graze then clawed another's head off and threw him at his comrades. It wasn't long before I lost track of how long the battle had been; I had just smashed another Graze and Akihiro just crushed one before throwing him into another. Shino took one of their axes and cleaved into the cockpit and fired another volley at two more. I smashed another two, sending them flying; I think I was getting why Mika liked to use clubbing weapons like this mace so much. I drove the tail blade into another Graze and slammed the mace down into a second, I bashed another aside and stabbed another with the tail trying to sneak up on me; I rushed up another from behind and batted him down. I then got something on the LCS then looked towards the Gusion.

"Guys, I got a message from Yukinojo saying that the tunnel is clear and they are evacuating. The first ones are about to reach Chryse."

Akihiro: /Good to hear./

I saw Akihiro cleave into another Graze before knocking another down. We soon grouped up, Gusion on my left, Flauros on my right.

"You guys should go, too."

Akihiro: /Yeah right, you honestly think we could leave you here?/

Shino: /If one of us goes, we all go./

I smiled at their tough acts.

"Then don't get in my way."

Akihiro: /Cocky little punk. I won't carry you out when this is over./

Shino: /And before we go, we'll make sure they remember who we are./

Gusion then brandished its halberd menacingly.

Akihiro: /Akihiro Altland. Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City!/

Flauros did the same with the combat knife in one hand and the machine gun in the other.

Shino: /Norba Shino. Gundam Flauros Ryusei-Go!/

I figured I should join in with a flourish of the ultra large mace.

"Ichika Orimura. Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex!"

And then as one…

"/Let's go!/"

More Grazes charged at us, I met them halfway by smashing one then another then jabbing a third with mace; I whipped around, launching the tail blade into a fourth and swung him around like a hammer throw before letting him crash into another… how many have we taken down now? However many seemed to be getting to them as one tried to escape but Akihiro put an end to that. Their numbers seemed to be endless; I just swatted another graze then back handed another. If we can hold out a little longer, we can-

/Wait, why are they suddenly retreating?/ I heard Shino ask.

I suddenly had an ominous feeling… from above?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

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.

.

.

.

Wha-what the hell was that?

.

.

.

.

.

Did they fire Dainsleif at us? From orbit?

My body was racked with pain, I could see bits of metal sticking out of my arms. My ears were ringing like nobody's business. But despite all that, I grabbed the controls and pushed Barbatos back up.

"Hey, you guys alive?" I managed to rasp out.

Akihiro: /Yeah. Somehow./

Shino: /I'm not going down that easy./

I could hear the strain in their voices, they were hardly better off than I was.

Akihiro: /Guess we have no choice. Let's live till we die… and carry out our orders!/

I saw a Graze go right for the Gusion.

Shino: /You're right. We can't stop now./

Flauros then charged at a few Grazes headed for him. I got Barbatos on his feet just as I turned off the safety limiter; no sense worrying about it now.

"C'mon Barbatos, you don't wanna stop yet, do you?

It sounded like it let out a demonic howl in response.

"Alright…let's put the fear of God into 'em!" I said with a grin. Somehow; I felt like I must've looked psychotic.

I charged at the nearest Graze, circling around him then slashing through the cockpit. After he was done, I went for a group. I knocked one into the air before I used the tail blade to impale it then took his axe and drove it into another. A third tried to back away but I caught up with him and drove Barbatos' sole arm into the chest; I ripped out and crushed the cockpit like an overripe tomato. I turned to face the next one but ended up receiving three axes right in the chest; that wasn't gonna stop me. They wanted a devil, I'll give them a devil! I used the tail to knock two of them off before I jumped down between the three that hit me with those axes and swung the tail blade around. I was suddenly blindsided by that new Gjallarhorn mobile suit, that annoying woman's voice on the LCS, telling them that she would take me. Too bad I already got those three before she hit me.

I charged again with my claws, taking her shoulder armor off, she in turn struck me with her sword to which I hit her with the tail blade and backed off as she fired her gun. She yelled at me, questioning as to why I continue to fight for no purpose. An image of her appeared in my thoughts.

"No purpose? You're wrong… I fight for the most pure and simplest purpose…"

I saw more Grazes charging in and was soon on them as if they were lambs to the slaughter. I cleaved the first in half rather easily.

"…My family is waiting for me… she's waiting for me..."

The second tried to throw his axe but I took the arm off with the tail before stomping and throwing him at a third; running them through with the tail blade.

"…Waiting for me… to come back to her…"

I was starting to get lightheaded a little as I tore out the fourth one's cockpit and crushed it; the machine's head was still attached.

"…That has always been my reason to keep on fighting…"

I turned Barbatos towards her again only to get hit by a number of shots from her cannon. I lashed out with the tail and took out her gun.

"…I won't stop until I see her again."

The new mobile suit readied her sword. She then charged forward and swung the blade, no doubt aiming at my cockpit.

Julieta: /Then I am sorry because whoever you're talking about will not get that chance. With your death, no one will ever doubt Gjallarhorn as a force of justice and peace to the world./

I caught the sword before it could slash through; her words, while seemingly sincere and apologetic at first, were nothing but hypocritical.

"Gjallarhorn a force of justice and peace? What a crock of SHIT!"

I pulled the sword out of her hand, throwing her off balance. I remembered the Edmonton battle.

"All you care about is lining your own pockets!"

I punched it across the head unit; I remembered the Dort Colony massacre.

"And keeping people under your thumb!"

Followed up with a backhand. I remembered the merciless and underhanded attack on the Turbines.

"You got no principles!"

I punched again, this time in the chest near the cockpit.

"Just like your master!"

And finished with a strong kick, sending it to the ground.

"Gjallarhorn is diseased, rotten to the core. A heap of garbage..."

The Reginlaze managed to get back on its feet yet its posture seemed to indicate the pilot was anything but calm.

"...And you're just another maggot crawling in the pile!"

That seemed to set her off when she suddenly charged forward at me.

Julieta: /You lowly dog! Die for the glory of master Rust-/

That was a mistake. A fact I made apparent to her when I drove the Gundam's claws right into the cockpit.

"And I'm sick of hearing you talk."

With a flick, I made Barbatos crush the little bitch inside. I managed to catch sight of the Grazes surrounding me to back away until one signaled the others. I think they must be preparing another orbital bombardment; they certainly had enough time.

"Akihiro? Shino?"

No response. I looked over towards their Gundams only to find they've been turned into pin cushions.

"Come on guys, don't tell me you're dead, too."

I could see the Gjallarhorn mobile suits clearing the area of the incoming attack yet Barbatos was egging me on to continue. Instead, I got as close to Gusion and Flauros as I could, something that wasn't exactly easy since Barbatos' hand was stuck inside the bitch's Reginlaze; even dead, she's a pain in my ass. My vision was getting blurry, I was starting to feel very cold, my breathing was getting shallow; signs that showed I had lost a lot of blood. The world seemed to go on in slow motion now. Everything seemed quiet despite the Dainsleif second volley about to hit. I guess this was it…

I'm gonna die here.

My mind drifted back to a handful of people as my consciousness was slipping away. And I think I was starting to hallucinate.

Dan and Ran Gotanda, the two siblings who seemed always at each other's throats.

It looked like electricity was arcing around in front of me.

Kazuma Mitarai, I wonder if he ever got it in him to approach Rin.

A light filled the cockpit.

Tabane, that genius lunatic who created the IS.

It stopped and it felt like I was falling, the Alaya-Vijnana disconnected from my back.

My big sister Chifuyu, I'm sorry. I wasn't able to come home like I promised.

Someone caught me but my vision was too blurry to make out who.

One last name passed through my mind before everything went dark; Someone I desperately wanted one last chance to see.

"Houki…"

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Beep

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Beep

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Beep

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Beep

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Beep

What is that?

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Beep

What's that sound?

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It's annoying.

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Wait

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Beep

That kinda sounds like…

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Beep

… a heart moniter!

It took a lot of effort to open my eyes, I waited until my vision could focus properly. From the looks of the ceiling, I was in some kind of high-tech facility like Gjallarhorn has. Despite the pain, I managed to turn my head to the source of the annoying beeping and found several pieces of medical equipment. However, it seemed dated compared to the equipment I had become accustomed to for the past five years: I would normally get put in a Medical Nanomachine. This place looks like a warehouse or something. The things I was hooked up to seemed out of place given the surroundings and I could actually see the battered wreck of the Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex, still missing its arm and now its chest armor and head, through a window at the far end wall; no medical facility would allow a war machine inside their- wait a minute, how'd they get Barbatos inside of here, anyway? Come to think of it, why does it look…smaller?

"Ichika"

I felt someone squeezing my hand just as I heard a very familiar voice; one I hadn't heard in a very long time. But it couldn't be. I mustered whatever strength I had left to turn to the other side but I couldn't believe what I saw.

"Chifuyu?"

She had a small smile as tears fell from her eyes, as if she was trying not to break down right then and there. Or was I the one having a breakdown?

"Am I dreaming?"

"No"

"Am I dead?"

"No"

"Then this is real….I'm back."

She ran a hand across my cheek. What she said next made the last five years all worth the hell.

"You're home."


A/N: I know it's a rehash of the second chapter with some extensions but this was originally supposed to be the first chapter in the original. It was only changed around because I wanted to go for shock and awe in the original but since a lot of you know what's coming, there's little point. However, from here on out, it is new material. I also wanted to keep this because it took SO long to make and recapping the entire IBO story from someone's POV is NOT easy.

Also, while I am aware that certain characters are different in the light novels of Infinite Stratos, I don't have any of them for reference. Nor can I get them (in English) as I have checked eBay and Amazon with no luck. Any characters or information that is, thus far, exclusive to the LNs is mostly second hand information from the Wiki. Other than that, my primary source of knowledge is from the Infinite Stratos anime.

Oh and one more little thing, please STOP asking me to give Ichika the Unicorn Gundam. I am fully aware that he and its pilot share the same Japanese voice actor but that is not valid grounds to change it; that would be the equivalent of a story mixing the soap opera General Hospital with the sci-fi show Stargate: SG-1 because Richard Dean Anderson was in both, seriously; someone did that on this site. Furthermore, half of the cast of Infinite Stratos was in a Gundam series at some point, Houki's actress was Lafter in Iron-Blooded Orphans. Lastly, I barely know anything about the Universal Century timeline, I never saw the original show or its sequels/prequels; the closest I got is three OVAs: 0080, 0083 and 08th MS Team. Sorry about that little rant.