As his heart began to beat faster, feeling like it was pounding in comparison to the slow, steady rate that he'd experienced during his time in his tekkapod thus far, Spear began to feel the life slowly coming back to his body. He'd all but forgotten that he'd even had a body over all this time; so much of Omega-sama's attention had been focused on his mind. Now, feeling sensation spreading downward from his neck to his shoulders, waking up the rest of his body as his blood began to circulate faster, Spear smiled and began to breathe more deeply.
His body was starting to feel warmer as his blood circulated faster, though really, it was just going back to its normal rate; but after so long in stasis – both inside his tekkapod and inside the hyper-sleep chamber onboard the Argos – even his normal heart-rate felt like the result of running a marathon.
As his body slowly returned to full functionality, skin and muscles tingling in the wake of fresh blood flowing into them once again, Spear wiggled his fingers in the fluid that still held him suspended. As more life returned to his limbs, Spear began to unfold from the fetal position that all Tekkamen were kept in while they were undergoing the Tekkaprocess. His body still tingled something fierce, but the feeling was just like the times that one of his limbs had fallen asleep, so Spear welcomed the sensation as a prelude to his true awakening.
His fingers and toes brushed against the boundaries of the tekkapod holding him, and Spear began to explore the boundaries of what had been his entire world ever since he had awakened as a Tekkaman. The walls of the tekkapod were soft, almost fleshy in the way they yielded to his touch; it was almost exactly like what he remembered of his infant siblings' skin, all those years ago when they were young. These walls even had that same warmth; almost like a womb, which was really appropriate when you thought about it.
The just-awakened-from-a-long-sleep tingling in his body was beginning to subside now, allowing Spear to settle back down without feeling the need to pinch any nerves in an effort to make the sensation go away. Concentrating on his breathing, both to revive himself faster and to banish the last of the tingling in his limbs and body, Spear opened his eyes and looked out ahead; the healthy green glow of a viable tekkapod greeted him.
Miyuki and Sasuke were still safe, still alive and waiting to take their respective places within Omega's ranks; he was glad to see that his youngest siblings were all right.
Then, just as he was beginning to settle back down, Spear began to notice a change in the fluid surrounding him. It was starting to thicken, becoming almost like jello that had been put in the refrigerator to set; strange, how such an esoteric place could serve to remind him of happy times back at home. As his body began to curl back up, almost of its own volition, Spear began to feel a strange warmth on his skin; it wasn't the warmth of his own body, he knew, and as he opened his eyes to get a look at what might be happening to him, Spear saw strange, glowing, red lines tracing themselves onto his arms.
They moved up toward his shoulders, but even as they did, Spear found his eyes drifting closed once again; it felt like someone was putting a large, warm, heavy blanket over him, nice, but strange all the same.
I
When he met with D-Boy and D-Two, explaining the specifics of their mission as it had been laid out to him during the briefing that he had attended during the end of the twins' last mission, he could see a slight difference in the way the young men held themselves. They seemed to be more settled, more dedicated and sure of their purpose. Still, they also appeared as if they could have used a bit more sleep.
There wasn't anything he could do about that, however, aside from to offer the two of them what support he could, and to hope that it would be enough.
"Though your task will be to distract the enemy with the attack on the Cobweb, I expect nothing less than your best performance," he informed them, in response to D-Boy's expression of annoyance.
"Yeah. I understand," the young man said, still appearing less than pleased with his appointed role.
He didn't say anything more, nor did D-Two, and so he dismissed them with orders to prepare themselves in whatever way they felt was best for them; whatever way would ensure that they were not only physically prepared for their roles in the upcoming operation, but mentally so as well. When D-Boy and his brother had left Comm. One, Freeman returned to perusing the files on the operation they were about to undertake.
He needed to know everything that this latest mission that his Space Knights had been assigned, both for his own peace of mind, and so that he would be able to give his people the most complete and hence useful information that he could. They would all need it, if they were to complete this mission successfully. He did not honestly believe that this alone would defeat the Radam, but it would be an important first step.
II
It looks like we're not going to be working too closely with the Military, Shinya said, and Takaya watched as his brother folded his arms behind his head and stretched his back. Good.
Chuckling softly, Takaya slung his left arm around his younger brother's shoulders as Shinya dropped his own arms back to his sides. He felt his brother leaning into him, then wrapping his right arm around him in turn. You want to spar, Shin-chan?
I wouldn't say no, Ta-kun.
Answering Shinya's grin with one of his own, Takaya unwrapped his arm from Shinya's shoulders as his brother did likewise, clasping his younger twin's hand as the two of them made for the cafeteria. They quickly settled down at their usual table, with their usual plates piled high with food, and began methodically to eat.
Once they were finished, Takaya took their trays and dishes over to the storage area so they could be washed and used again. Then, he and Shinya left in the direction of the gym. Bumping his brother's left shoulder as they fell into step with one another, Takaya smiled as Shinya clasped his hand again. They made it to the gym without running into anyone who was in their small circle of close friends, something that he was pleased with since he wanted to get in at least some sparring with his brother before the two of them were lead off somewhere by one or more of their fellow Space Knights.
Stripping to his under-shirt while Shinya did the same, Takaya folded his shirt and vest and hung them over the side of the waist-high wall that bordered the sparring area on one side. Removing his boots, since this was just a friendly spar between brothers, Takaya waited until Shinya had gotten his own boots neatly outside of the sparring area, Shinya took his stance and waited for his brother to make the first move.
Wearing a slight, amused smirk, Shinya did just that.
III
When she had gone to look for the twins, Aki hadn't quite known what she would find them doing, but when she began to hear their voices drifting down the corridors, Aki quickly turned to follow them back to their source. She quickly found that the twins had gone to the gym, and when she looked inside she found that the two of them were sparring.
D-Boy seemed to favor a more aggressive style, attacking his brother head-on and trying to strike him; by contrast, D-Two seemed content to wait for his brother to come to him, using D-Boy's own momentum to slam him into the ground, or just cause him to trip and go sprawling across the floor. It was kind of interesting, she reflected, how their fighting-styles reflected their personalities so well.
D-Boy was really the more straightforward of the twins, while D-Two always seemed to be looking for ways to work around whatever problems he faced.
Finally, the two of them finished their sparring, and Aki walked into the gym; she hadn't wanted to distract either of the twins while they were engaged in even this kind of tame, friendly sparring. Waiting until the twins had returned from cleaning themselves up, both of them wearing a new tank-top, D-Two with his hands in his pockets and D-Boy with his left arm around his brother's shoulders, she smiled as she walked over to meet them.
They were talking quietly, their voices low enough that she could only pick up a subdued mutter from their direction. She wasn't going to try listening in, though, since the conversation was more than likely to be private. Waiting again, this time for one of the twins to take notice of her, Aki smiled slightly as D-Two looked her way.
"Oh, hey Aki-chan," he said, smiling at her in that rakish way he sometimes did; she was never quite sure if he was flirting with her or not, but she didn't think he was serious.
D-Two wasn't really serious about anything; at least not when it didn't involve the Radam, or someone trying to threaten his brother.
"Good morning, D-Two," she said, smiling at him and then shifting her gaze to his brother. "Good morning, D-Boy." She smiled a bit wider when she said that part, but she didn't think D-Boy noticed.
Although, if the sly look in his eyes was any indication, D-Two noticed it.
"Come on," she said, before D-Two could start to think too much about the way she had looked at his brother. "There's something I want you to hear."
"All right," she heard D-Boy say, after she had turned to lead the twins to the secondary briefing room; the one that was used by the Outer Space Development Group in general rather than just Chief Freeman in particular.
They reached the room just as Noal took the podium at the front of the room.
"Listen up, there's just one thing you have to keep in mind during this operation: the emergency escape rout. Take a look at the big board now."
"He's pretty good as an instructor," D-Boy muttered.
"That's because he's from the military academy, but he didn't like how rigid they were over there," she said, ignoring the expression on D-Boy's face and the way that D-Two flicked his eyes over to her. "So, he decided to join up with this organization, under the Chief."
"The difficulty with the Orbital Ring is in the terrestrial gravitation area. When the axis rotates in reverse-"
"I haven't been in space for twenty years!" an old man sitting toward the front of the room said, loudly enough that the entire room was able to hear him clearly; even her and the twins, standing just outside the doorway.
"Hey, you! You need to pay attention!" Noal said, pointing the man out so there couldn't be any doubt about who he was talking to.
"You fall to the ground because of the loss of centrifugal force, right?" the old man said, looking up at Noal as he spoke.
"Uh, yeah," Noal said; he looked sheepish, scratching his head briefly the way he did when he'd been caught off guard.
"I wasn't summoned from the Reserve Corps for nothing," the old man said, rising quickly from his seat to make for the podium; Noal's dumbfounded expression was obviously amusing the twins, or at least D-Two, since he was snickering. D-Boy's slightly amused told her that D-Two wasn't the only one.
"Ha!" Noal said, still sounding a bit sheepish. "I thought I'd spotted an old rookie, but it turned out to be a real geezer!" The old man said something in a low tone to Noal, but she didn't quite catch it.
"Listen up, you fledglings! What's the most important thing for a space pilot to have?" the old man asked, pointing at one of the pilots.
"Uh, yes sir!" one of the youngest of the pilots in the room said, rising out of his seat and standing stiffly at attention. "I believe it's the will to show the Radam what we humans are made of!"
Most of the troopers in the room laughed at him; she thought that it was brave, for someone that young to put himself forward in front of so many people who weren't likely to take him entirely seriously precisely because of the age difference between them.
"What's so funny?" the boy – young man, really – demanded, raising his fists and staring down the people who were laughing at him. "I'm going to help our Tekkamen, and succeed in the mission!"
Aki could still hear some of the disparaging remarks of the older pilots around him, and apparently she wasn't the only one who wasn't entirely pleased: D-Two looked annoyed, and D-Boy had his eyes closed in what she suspected was the same emotion. Both twins sighed, D-Boy opening his eyes as she glanced back up at Noal. He was speaking to the old man, smiling slightly as he did, though the words themselves were too quiet for her to hear.
"Well, listen," the old man said, his hand on the young man's right shoulder. "This time it's going to be a real space battle… little boy." The old man pushed the young pilot gently back into his chair as he finished speaking.
"Excuse me," the young pilot said forcefully, standing back up. "I'm not a child! I'm a co-pilot in Four Cards!"
"Good. I like your attitude."
"Yes, sir," the young pilot said, saluting.
"Listen up, the most important thing to have is a strong will! To be able to make clear-headed decisions, and carry out your mission no matter the cost!" the old man went on, now clearly speaking to the room at large. "Now, kids, speak up! Are you ready?"
The room erupted in cheers from the pilots, while Noal turned away, a hand to his head in obvious exasperation. Both of the twins seemed to find Noal's predicament funny, though as usual D-Two was laughing more openly than D-Boy.
"We'll eliminate the Radam with our own power, and take back space! And look, here's the young men who are going to be watching our backs today," the old man said; she and the twins looked up, surprised. "Well, don't just stand there, boys! Come on up."
Looking at the twins, Aki saw them glance at each other, shrug, and head into the briefing room. All of the pilots were clapping for them now; D-Two was starting to grin, as he waved to them on his way to the front of the room. D-Boy was, as always, more reserved than his brother, but Aki thought she could see a hint of a smile on his otherwise impassive face.
"All right?" D-Boy asked, smiling wryly at the man in question.
"I've been better," Noal said, giving D-Boy's brother a companionable shove; D-Two smirked at him.
"Now," the old man said, drawing the attention of the occupants of the room back to himself. "Just because we're going to have their protection, that's no call for recklessness; I'm sure we all have people we care about here on Earth, and I think that I speak for everyone here when I say that all of them would be devastated if anything happened to you up there. Whether the mission is completed or not, I won't consider it a victory unless every one of us comes back safe and sound!"
There was a rousing cheer in response to that statement, and even D-Two joined in with the applause; D-Boy just smiled and briefly squeezed his brother around the waist.
When D-Two stepped up to the podium, the old man stepping back with an expression of interest on his face, Aki wondered just what he was going to say. D-Two had never seemed to be the type to make speeches; of course, D-Boy didn't either, since he was always so quiet.
"Just do your best out there," D-Two said, his gaze sweeping over the assembled pilots. "Brother and I will deal with the Radam."
"Well said, D-Two."
Aki turned, watching as Chief Freeman came striding into the room.
"I certainly hope I'm not interrupting anything," the Chief said, in a tone that indicated he would be genuinely remorseful and apologize if he were, but that he also had important things to do.
"Of course not, Chief," the old man said, stepping back from the podium to allow the Chief to speak if he wanted.
The Chief stopped just short of the podium, however, taking in her, the twins, and Noal with a single, sweeping look. "If the four of you are finished here, it's time for us to leave."
"Right, sir," she said
They'd come to this part of OSDG Headquarters to check up on their other pilots, and now that that was done with, it was time for them to return to the main hub of OSDG Headquarters and see to their own preparations. Even though they were going to be just one part of a larger campaign, that didn't mean that they could ignore their own preparations. They may not have been fighting alone this time, but that didn't mean they could afford to be careless.
Too many people depended on them for that.
IV
Opening the door and watching the Gemini Boys climb into the back of the Chief's Jeep, Noal wasn't surprised to see Aki settle herself into the seat next to D-Boy. She was clearly starting to have feelings for the big lug, something that D-Two had also clearly noticed, if the sly, under-the-eyelashes looks he'd been shooting his brother whenever D-Boy and Aki were together and neither of them were looking in his direction were any indication. Settling into the passenger seat as the Chief himself sat down in the driver's seat, Noal decided that he would have a few words with the kid when they had a few moments alone.
It was probably going to have to wait until after the mission, though; the Gemini Boys were going to have to load up on calories if they were going to be any good in the coming fight, and they always sat together when they ate.
"The military wants you to take part in the diversionary attack," the Chief informed them all. "Needless to say, it will be dangerous beyond compare."
"I've got no problem with that," he said, turning to wink over his left shoulder at D-Two; the kid grinned back at him. "It'll be easy, with all of us."
"The success of the operation depends on the diversion, right?" Aki said, clearly thinking hard about what was going to be happening today.
"It's like a magician," D-Two said, with a rueful sort of chuckle. "We get the Radam to look our way, and the trick works."
Laughing, Noal almost missed the beginning of what D-Boy had started saying. "I'd rather focus on fighting the Radam than be part of some cheap trick," the kid grumbled.
Noal resisted the urge to reach back and give D-Two's brother a good smack upside the head. "Easy for you to say. Don't forget about us… we're the ones who have to back you up!"
D-Two's laugh and Aki's soft chuckle pretty much drowned out the annoyed noise that D-Boy made, and he grinned. There wasn't anymore conversation as the Chief's Jeep continued on its way back to the main hub of OSDG Headquarters, so Noal just continued to watch the elevated road as it passed by beneath them. It was really kind of ingenious, he thought, the way the group of mesas that made up OSDG Headquarters had been linked together by these elevated roadways.
He didn't get much of a chance to see them, not with having to spend so much time in OSDG Headquarters' main hub, but every time he did he was struck again by just how much work it must have taken to lay out the roadways that connected each of the headquarters' individual hubs. Not something that could have been done in a day, or even a few weeks; even with the level of technology that humanity had possessed back when OSDG Headquarters was being built, it still couldn't have been easy. There wasn't much of a chance of them building something like it again anytime soon; not with all of the damage that the Radam and their army of monsters had done to their infrastructure.
Not to mention the sharp reduction that the Earth's population had been going through ever since the invasion had begun, seven months of near-constant attacks: lasers, Radam monsters, and Tekkamen raining down from the sky had not been good for the general public; what was left of it, anyway.
Sighing at the morbid turn his thoughts had taken, the one they always seemed to take lately, Noal looked ahead to OSDG Headquarters' main hub. They were nearly there, and that meant that this new mission of theirs was just about to get underway. Right after the Gemini Boys got the sustenance they needed to fight at their best, of course.
V
Within the confines of Omega's damaged ship, under the debris from his crash-landing on the dark side of the Moon, one of the tekkapods rippled and bulged outward. Within this tekkapod, the Tekkaman who had been named Spear opened his covered eyes as his pod burst upon the floor of Omega's ship. The thickened fluid that had sustained him while he had been undergoing the transformation process evaporated even as it fell to the deck in a sodden mass.
His armor dripping with still-evaporating pseudo-amniotic fluid, Spear rose slowly to his armored, pointed feet. Tilting his head back as his eyes adjusted to the level of light, or rather the lack of it, within this chamber of Omega-sama's ship, Tekkaman Spear took his first deep, full breaths of oxygen. True, it was not the oxygen of the outside world, but it served to clear his lungs of the last of the fluid that had once accumulated within them all the same.
"Spear," the deep, powerful voice of his Warlord echoed through the room.
It was the first time that Spear had heard it in the waking world, and yet the voice was already intimately familiar to him. "Yes, Omega-sama," he said, his lungs clear of the fluid at last. "I am awake."
"It's good to be awake again, isn't it?" the Warlord- his Warlord, asked calmly.
"Yes, my Lord," Spear said, bowing his head. Don't worry, little brothers, I'll come for you soon. I won't abandon you on Earth, he hissed through his teeth, bowing low one last time before he left the chamber where he'd been reborn. Not like our father did.
VI
They were all gathered together inside the Blue Earth again, running through the preliminary checks that they always did when they were about to leave the planet. Shinya's hand was on his shoulder, and Takaya smiled slightly as he worked. He and Aki both reported to Noal that their systems were green and they were all ready to go.
Here we go again, brother, he said, leaning back in his seat and smiling slightly as Shinya reached forward to clasp his hand.
Yeah, brother, Shinya said; he turned to share a grin with his younger brother.
He was glad that their father had managed to get Shinya out; he didn't want to imagine what it would have been like to have his own twin brother fighting for the Radam.
Letting go of Shinya's hand as the Blue Earth began to coast up the launch-ramp, Takaya closed his eyes as the ship's acceleration pressed him into his seat. He could still feel his younger twin's right hand on his left shoulder, and he smiled. Even the fact that they were going into battle against more of Omega's forces, and the fact that he had sort of a niggling, weird feeling about today, couldn't get him down. That was good, since there were a lot of people that were directly depending on him and Shinya today.
Moreso than usual, at least; both squads, the Space Knights' "Queen Squad" and the ADF's "King Squad", were depending on them to not only keep most of the Radam monsters off their backs, but to deal with whatever else the Radam in general and Omega in particular saw fit to throw at them. Takaya knew that the warlord still had the rest of his and Shinya's family captive inside that ship of his, wherever it had ultimately ended up after Father had shoved him and Shinya into that escape pod and blasted them out into deep space, and he also knew that it was only a matter of time before they were forced to face one of their family members in combat. Dealing with Tekkaman Dagger had been hard enough, though, so Takaya tried to keep hoping that this relative quiet would last just a bit longer.
It had been almost like a vacation, only having to fight Radam monsters; anyone with any experience knew that Tekkamen were several orders of magnitude more dangerous.
As the Orbital Ring was thrown into stark relief against the backdrop of interplanetary space, Takaya took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now wasn't the time to think about the past, and he wouldn't have wanted to think about it even if there was time. The past was pain, or at least theirs was; best if it stayed forgotten.
"This scenery always makes me sick," Noal said, drawing Takaya's focus away from thoughts about his and Shinya's shared past.
They were now staring at the Radam hive that had been made aboard the Ring, the place where pretty much all of the power that Omega's forces had been bringing to bear against the people of Earth was coming from. It looked like some kind of hideous, oversized hornet's nest; Takaya thought it was appropriate.
"Right," he said, rising from his seat as he heard Shinya doing the same. "Come on."
"Yeah, big brother," Shinya said with a soft, subdued laugh.
Passing his younger twin as the both of them made for the main air lock, Takaya put aside all of the misgivings and dark musings he'd been mulling over. Now wasn't the time for them; he and Shinya had work to do. He could hear the sounds of the machinery whirring as Pegas was brought up into the upper area of the air lock.
"Pegas, Teksetta!"
"Teksetta!"
Leaping into Pegas' interlock-chamber even as Shinya was surrounded by the bright blue light of his own transformation, Takaya felt the familiar rush of energy as he was transformed into Tekkaman Blade, as well as the muted sensation of movement as Pegas was launched into space. Fully transformed, he waited a few seconds for Pegas to eject him, then quickly caught up with Tekkaman Varis as his brother landed on Pegas' back behind him.
I'll meet you on the Ring, Ta-kun, Varis said.
Not if I beat you there, he teased.
Oh? Varis shot back.
Yeah; I'll meet you on the Ring, Shin-chan.
Laughing as Varis gave a brotherly shove, Blade turned his attention back to the job that he and Varis had been assigned. It might have been just a diversionary tactic this time, but the Chief had said that their part was just as important as any of the others; maybe not in so many words, but he'd long since learned that he could trust the man to have their best interests at heart. Unlike that bastard General Colbert, Chief Freeman wasn't the type to send the Space Knights into danger unless he had to.
As if on cue, a large swarm of Radam monsters came racing out of the Orbital Ring, moving quickly to intercept them.
Meet up with you in a bit, brother, Varis said; Blade looked back over his shoulder as Varis jumped off of Pegas and darted off at a right-angle to the swarm.
Right; see you then, brother, he said, spinning his lance to deflect a spray of venom that had been aimed at his head.
Slaughtering his way through the Radam monsters that were trying to hem him and Pegas in, Blade growled deep in his throat. He knew what their plan was now, but the infuriating thing was how well it could work. Still, that didn't mean he had to play along; not when he understood Omega's plan.
Shinya, they're trying to slow us down, he called, as his younger twin swept past the now-much-diminished swarm, his tekkalance almost a blur as he hacked, slashed, and carved his way through them. Meet back up with me and Pegas; we have to get into the Orbital Ring now.
Right, brother, Varis said, breaking off from the remaining Radam monsters and flying back to land on Pegas with him.
"Pegas, fire!" he ordered, then he had an idea. Shinya, stand back-to-back with me; hold your lancer at an angle to mine, he said, trying to project a mental image of what he had in mind while he listened with half an ear to Pegas' acknowledgement.
Got it, brother; good idea.
They plowed through the remaining Radam monsters like a lethal wedge of whirling, high-speed steel, but unfortunately new ones came to replace the ones that had died almost immediately. Grumbling slightly as Varis sighed, Blade decided on their next course of action quickly.
"Pegas, Crash Intrude!" he ordered, leaping off the back of the back of the mecha and tugging Varis off with him.
"Crash Intrude!" he and Varis shouted together, and he felt his armor begin to fold down into its more streamlined, dynamic configuration.
As the energies almost exploded out of him, forming a corona of bright, green light around him, he landed on Pegas as the mech swept under him. Varis' own livid blue energy blended with what was being put out by him and Pegas, and the Radam monsters were obliterated in their wake. The space in front of them was clear, but since he didn't know how long that was going to last, he ordered Pegas to move faster.
The Orbital Ring loomed ever closer as he, Pegas, and Varis cleared the remaining distance, and Blade could already see the Radam monsters that were beginning to mass into another swarm to try to keep them outside. Checking both sides, and taking a moment to calculate their respective speeds, Blade realized that it was going to come down to a matter of a couple of feet between the three of them and that new swarm.
Hold on tight, little brother. "Pegas, full-throttle!"
"Roger."
Laying his hand on both of Varis', since his younger twin had wrapped both of his arms around his waist, Blade prepared to move. There wasn't really anywhere he could get inside, at least not without being a little creative about things. Still, it wasn't like that was any bad thing.
"Pegas!" Pegas' lasers ripped into the armored wall of the Radam's hive-construct, and Blade smiled thinly. "All right!"
They flew inside the Radam's hive, and Blade was only mildly surprised to find that the inside of it was festooned with growths that actually made it look like a hive. From the information that the Radam had forced into his mind, he knew that this was most likely some kind of a breeding chamber for the Radam monsters. He wondered, for a brief, fleeting moment, just where the new Tekkamen that the Radam would try to create would come from.
Then the swarm of Radam monsters that had been chasing them caught up then, and they were quickly joined by another, smaller swarm from inside the hive itself.
"Well, we've got them," Varis said cheerfully, and Blade felt his younger brother moving slightly back and away from him.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "let's move on."
"Yeah," Varis said, and out of the corner of his eye Blade saw his younger brother go charging into battle with the swarm of Radam monsters that had just showed up from within the Orbital Ring.
Looks like you missed some, he teased, raising his tekkalance as he turned Pegas to confront the larger swarm of Radam monsters that were beginning to come in through the hole that he had just made in their hive.
Are you sure it wasn't you, Ta-kun?
Rolling his eyes, Blade headed into the midst of the swarm to deal with them.
VII
Watching the monitors that had been trained on the twins, Aki continued to pray quietly for their safety. She knew that they were both incredibly powerful fighters, and probably the only ones who had any real chance against the Radam and their horrible monsters, but she still couldn't help worrying about them. Blade and Varis were still both very human under that armor of theirs; they could be hurt not only physically but emotionally, though neither of them was quite the type to let anyone know about the latter.
That was why she made it a point to watch them carefully; well, that was why she made it a point to watch out for D-Two, at least.
The transmission from Allied Defense Command brought her awareness sharply back to the present; back to the operation that all of them were a part of. However, she couldn't obey the order that she had just been given; not without leaving the twins in more danger than they already were facing from the Radam monsters.
"This is Queen Leader, Joker's Wild has almost come to the end of their time limit," she transmitted back. "Please advise me of the current situation!" Sighing as General Colbert tried to order her to pick them up, she cut the transmission and contacted the people she knew would be able to do something about the trouble that King Squad was so obviously in.
There was a yell transmitted over the comm., one that sounded like Varis was going through a particularly thick knot of Radam monsters headfirst, and then Blade called out to his brother and the both of their voices began to overlap. There was another half-minute of battlecries from the twins, and then the channel fell silent except for the sound of their heavy breathing.
"Hurry up, you two," Aki said, though she was starting to suspect that neither of them would be able to. "Come back soon!"
With the comm. un-muted, she clearly heard the shouts and battlecries of the twins as they engaged the latest swarm of Radam monsters that were trying to attack them. When the latest batch of Radam monsters were as dead as the last one, Aki sighed. She couldn't ask either of the twins to abandon their own sibling to this kind of horror; they were all in danger here, and the situation couldn't be helped.
She would just have to hope that King Squad could hold out on their own.
Deactivating the comm., she spared a hope that King Squad would be all right when they all pulled back to return to Earth.
"Dammit, what's going on with this operation?" Noal said, sounding more than a bit worked up by now.
"I just told them that the time limit is almost up," she said, bracing herself against the bucking and jolting of the Blue Earth as they maneuvered out of the way of more of the Radam monsters that had been sent out to attack them.
Another person, this one transmitting on another channel, cut her off from Military Command, and Aki was left to wonder just what was going on. Noal was doing a good job of keeping the Radam monsters off their backs, but the clock was still running. Three clocks, really: one for Operation Joker itself, and the two counting down over Blade and Varis' heads.
Even the twins were being overwhelmed by these odds, there was no way that she and Noal would be able to make it to King Squad.
Her heart was pounding, and it was all Aki could do to make herself sit back down and breathe deeply. She'd be no good to anyone if she lost consciousness here and now. Still, everything was just so tense.
VIII
Shinya!
Right, brother! he called back, slamming his tekkalance into the head of the last Radam's creature in his way and jetting off to meet with Blade on top of Pegas.
"Come on!" he heard Blade shout, and wrapped his arms around Blade's waist as Pegas' rocket-boosters kicked them back out through the hole that he'd blown in the Orbital Ring.
Sure enough, once they'd managed to clear the last stretch between them and open space, he saw the far-off flares of the exploding generators nearest to them. Breathing a sigh of relief, Varis squeezed his brother gently. Looks like they did it.
Yeah, Blade said, chuckling softly as he guided Pegas back toward their rendezvous point with their fellow Space Knights. A beautiful sunset.
He was spent, and as he rested his head on Blade's back and let his brother's giant robot carry them back to their spaceship, he reflected that it was a good thing only twenty-two minutes had passed since they'd set out on this mission of theirs. He and Blade had discussed it, during the lulls in combat where they could exchange more than just a few, hurried shouts with one another, and they had eventually come to the conclusion that, while Takaya couldn't risk staying transformed for more than thirty minutes or he would end up going over to the Radam, he himself couldn't even stay transformed for that long. He thought it might have had something to do with the crack in his tekkaset from back when Dagger had set that little trap of his.
Takaya had been worried about what the long-term effects of the damage to his crystal could be, and Shinya had ended up promising to at least let his brother take a look at his crystal before he used it in combat as Tekkaman Varis again. He wasn't really worried, since the only effect that the damage seemed to have on him was the fact that he couldn't maintain his transformation for more than twenty-five minutes. Still, if it would make Takaya feel better to check the damage for himself, then he would let his Blessed Protector do what came naturally to him.
When they came back into sight of the Blue Earth at last, he smiled tiredly and felt Blade gently pat the side of his helmet.
Shinya, Blade said calmly, his tone kind. You all right?
I'm all right, he said, closing his eyes briefly; it was good to be here, safe with his brother by his side.
IX
The insects had flown into his protectorate, attacking Omega-sama's creatures the way they always seemed to be doing, and he had been dispatched to deal with them. While he honestly would have preferred to be searching for his wayward little brothers, to bring them back into Omega-sama's fold where they belonged, he had his duties like any loyal servant of the Empire. And he was a loyal servant of the Empire, of course.
Strange, he mused, as he threw his lancer into and through one of the human's spacecraft, detonating it in his wake. I would have thought they would still be here; I sensed them in this area. Could they have left so soon?
The answer to that question seemed to be yes, and as he hunted down the remaining human spacecraft and dealt with them, Spear felt a swell of disappointment. He had been so hoping that he would be able to meet up with Takaya and Shinya again, to speak to them and to be able to take them back to Omega-sama's ship where they would have been able to complete the transformations that they had not been able to. I suppose I have father to thank for that, Spear thought, hissing between his teeth.
Throwing his lancer at the last ship with a bit more force than was strictly necessary, he directed the mount that Omega-sama had bred for him as a counter to the combat mech that the humans had built for Takaya to make another sweep of the area. It wouldn't do, after all, to leave any of the humans alive to cause trouble. Catching his lancer with his retrieval-line, Spear opened his mind and tried to sense where his little brothers were.
After all, humans didn't require much of his attention; his little brothers, on the other hand, were precious to him.
X
When they'd gotten settled aboard the Blue Earth, with Shinya a bit groggy but still awake enough to walk back into the cockpit with a bit of help, Takaya breathed more easily. He'd actually felt safe for a few moments, right up until the sense of someone trying to search for them telepathically washed over him. Someone familiar.
"What is it?" Noal asked, in response to his fist slamming into the controls for the comm. unit.
"Another enemy Tekkaman," he growled, then slumped back into his seat; he'd actually been stupid enough to hope that that damned Radam Warlord wouldn't be sending out another of them. "He's here."
To hope that he and Shinya wouldn't have to face any more of the people who had once meant so much to them. Damn it, he snarled mentally, walling his mind off from Shinya so that he wouldn't disturb his brother. Shinya had fallen asleep in his seat, and Takaya wasn't going to be the one to wake him up.
"Another enemy Tekkaman?" Aki asked, her tone curious but kind.
"Another one," Noal said, cutting into his thoughts before he could say anything harsh in response to Aki's query. "Damn it, just after we got rid of the last one."
He didn't respond; merely turned around to look at the slumbering form of his younger twin.
XI
I suppose I'll meet up with you back on Earth, Takaya, Shinya, Spear mused, as he watched the planet itself, hanging placidly "below" him. All of the humans in the spacecraft he had encountered were dead, their spacecraft shredded almost beyond recognition by the detonation of their engines, and he knew that he should really return to Omega-sama's ship to make his report, but he stayed for a few more moments to make a final promise.
I'll come for you soon; you won't be alone on Earth forever. He smiled slightly.