As the pair of them made their way out into the vast snowfield surrounding the Alaskan Headquarters, Noal sighed softly. It'd been his idea in the first place, sure, but he was starting to think that Balzac wasn't the one he should have asked to help with this particular job. Sure, the two of them were the only ones who made use of the two Sol-Tekkamen that they had gotten from the ADF, but…

"Noal, are you sure this is where that Radam brat ended up?" Balzac asked, as the pair of them continued following the trail of destruction that had been left by D-Boy and D-Two while their kids had been fighting against those brainwashed brothers of theirs.

"He'll be somewhere in this area," Noal muttered, as the pair of them continued on their way through the snowfield.

Even as they did, however, Noal found himself wondering just how things were going to turn out in the end. Not just for the Earth, and not only for the Space Knights, but for the Gemini Boys. He knew that the both of them were forgetting more and more, each time they were forced to use those new forms of theirs, but he still couldn't stop wondering what was going to happen at the end of all this.

What the end was even going to be, after everything that had already happened.

Still, this was at least one thing he could do for his little brothers, even if they were starting to forget the promise they'd all made.

I

When the three of them had been called out for a scouting mission with the Blue Earth, Aki couldn't help noticing that Noal and Balzac both seemed to be more than a little preoccupied by something; something more than just what had been happening to Takaya and Shinya. Still, the both of them were professional enough to remember what it was that they'd been sent out to do.

"Aki, let's get this data analyzed right away," Balzac said, as the three of them made their way out of the Blue Earth and back into the main hangar.

"This is the first time we've been able to gather a comprehensive data-set from all over the world. It's good that we have the Blue Earth back," Aki said, finding herself more and more relieved, considering everything that was still going on in the world; everything that the Radam were still trying to do.

"Hold on a minute, Aki," Noal said, smiling as he took the folder she'd been carrying from her. "Why don't you let me take care of this? Especially since you have somewhere else to be," Noal continued, a knowing smile on his face.

Making a sound that fell somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle, Aki turned to make her way to the infirmary. Takaya and Shinya had been spending more and more time there, as the Radam forced them to use the Blaster transformations that had originally been intended to save the twins' lives, but had only ended up costing them their memories as the Radam closed in around them. Forcing those thoughts out of her mind, Aki sighed softly.

More than anything, Aki wished that she could have done something; something more than just supporting the twins from Headquarters, like Chief Freeman and the rest of the Space Knights.

Still, by the time she'd made it to the infirmary, Aki had managed to regain at least some of her composure; at least enough that she wouldn't worry either of the twins, or anyone else in the room, either.

II

(Shinya, do you think- I mean, are you doing all right?) Takaya asked, not sure if he wanted to reassure his younger twin more than he wanted to be reassured, himself.

(I don't know, Ta-kun,) Shinya said, the unease his younger twin was feeling projected over their mental link in a way that Takaya couldn't have ignored even if he wanted to. (I don't know how much we've lost, or how much we have left.)

Forcing himself not to shudder – since Chief Freeman had asked him and Shinya to allow the Space Knights' medical technicians to scan them with their MRI machines – Takaya found that he couldn't quite keep himself from chewing his lower lip. Even as he heard the sounds of the MRI machines at work, Takaya couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next.

He couldn't help wondering just how much he and Shinya were going to be forced to give up, before this battle of theirs had ended.

III

"They're going to be all right, aren't they, Chief?" Levin asked, forcing herself to look away from the medical room where the twins were laid out on the medical beds as they were scanned, one after the other, by the MRI machine. "I mean, they're not going to forget anything else, are they?"

"Unfortunately, we can't halt the paralysis of their nerve cells' nuclei," Chief Freeman said, looking more worried than she'd ever seen him look before. "There are limits to even the most cutting-edge medical techniques, when it comes to treating living tissue."

"So, in other words, you're only doing this to settle their minds," old man Honda said, and Levin sighed as she wiped a tear from her eye.

She'd been crying a lot more, lately; for D-Two and the life they might have had together, for D-Boy and Aki's romance that might never be, and even for the Aiba family as a whole and everything that had happened to them.

The sound of the doors opening drew her attention to Aki as the other woman made her way into the observation room.

"Oh, you're back already," Honda said, before Levin could say a word.

"They'll be done with the last of the tests, soon," Levin said, smiling and trying to be as reassuring as she could. "So, you really got here just in time."

Aki didn't say anything in response, but Levin could see at least some of the worry that the other woman had clearly been weighed down by being lifted away; it was less than Levin had wanted to do, but it seemed like the best anyone could manage, under the circumstances. Sighing, wishing that things could have been different but knowing that as long as the Radam were attacking them nothing would change, Levin tried to smile as best she could as Aki turned a worried expression on her.

IV

Panting, leaning more on Shinya than he'd have ever done if things had been normal, Takaya forged his way down the corridor to the Main Room of the Alaskan Headquarters.

(The Chief isn't going to be happy to see us, Ta-kun,) Shinya said, though Takaya could tell that his younger twin wasn't about to stop him.

The pair of them had supported each other for so long already, and that was hardly about to change simply because the Chief wasn't going to be pleased with them.

(I know. But, we're a part of this, too,) Takaya said, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to carry more of his own weight, even though he knew that Shinya would always support him; Takaya didn't want to be any more of a burden than circumstances forced him to be.

Even as their circumstances got worse and worse.

He could hear the Chief himself having a discussion with what seemed to be some other group of people, and as he and Shinya continued on their way to the Main Room, Takaya began to hear just what it was that the Chief was discussing. And who he was talking to. It seemed like more soldiers were still trying to fight against the Radam, though the fact that all of them had been up on the Orbital Ring was an unsettling reminder of… something.

Something that Takaya couldn't quite grasp.

Still, while the fact that they had been running into fewer and fewer Radam monsters up in the Orbital Ring might have been good for them, Takaya wasn't about to count that as a victory; not after everything that Miyuki had told them.

Apparently, the soldiers had come to tell the Chief about what was happening up in the Orbital Ring, and it was starting to sound like the Chief had worked with these soldiers before. Takaya wondered if that had been before he and Shinya had joined up with the Space Knights, or if that was one more of the memories that he and Shinya had started to lose as their Blaster transformations wore away at them.

He wondered if the Chief had told the soldiers what was happening to him and Shinya, or if he hadn't bothered because he'd been expecting the both of them to stay back in their quarters while the people all around them fought the Radam for them.

Sighing as he and Shinya continued on their way to the Main Room, Takaya heard Aki and Balzac talking, too. It was starting to sound like all the rest of his and Shinya's fellow Space Knights were gathered in the Main Room together. Shinya would have probably made a joke about how that just meant that there was more people to be mad at them, if the pair of them hadn't already been concentrating so hard on just getting to the Main Room to begin with.

When the Chief told the rest of the Space Knights that he wanted them to cooperate with the soldiers – who he and Shinya may or may not have met before – Takaya smiled slightly as he heard Shinya chuckle.

(Chief Freeman might not be happy with us, Ta-kun, but this almost seems like a perfect time to come in.)

(Yeah, I guess it would be,) Takaya said, though he knew as well as Shinya that it was best that the both of them conserved their energy as best as they could.

So, even though Chief Freeman's request for the rest of their fellow Space Knights to cooperate with the soldiers they were meeting would have been the perfect time for him and Shinya to make their own entrance, Takaya knew that he and Shinya would make it to the Main Room in their own time. Leaning a bit more heavily on Shinya, as the pair of them continued on their way down the corridor, Takaya forced himself upright again.

Chief Freeman was already going to be angry with them, so it was best that neither of them made it worse by looking like they were too weak to even walk on their own.

As he and Shinya closed in on the doors, each of them working to stand on their own as well as they could, Takaya kept an ear out for anything that the rest of the Space Knights might say. Noal talked about getting revenge for everything that had happened, a sentiment that Takaya could fully agree with, but when the Chief asked Levin to accompany the soldiers and his and Shinya's fellow Space Knights, Takaya found himself curious. Levin seemed to have at least some kind of feelings for Shinya, if the look on the redhead's face when she and Shinya were in the same room was any indication.

Takaya had talked about it with Shinya, and the both of them had agreed to wait to see how Levin wanted to handle things.

Finally making it up to the double-doors that would lead them into the Main Room, Takaya squeezed Shinya's hand briefly, before opening the doors so that the both of them could make their way into the Alaska Headquarters' Main Room at last. Noal and Aki were the first ones to notice them, naturally, but it was Chief Freeman that Takaya was focused on. Kind as the rest of the Space Knights were, Chief Freeman was the one who would determine if he and Shinya would be able to officially go on this mission.

Or if they were going to have to find a way to sneak out of the Headquarters.

"Chief, please let Shinya and me take part in this mission," Takaya said, as soon as he'd managed to catch his breath and regain his composure.

He even tried not to lean too hard on Shinya, knowing that that wouldn't have done either of them any favors, considering what he was asking for.

"D-Boy, you and D-Two-"

Cheering from the soldiers all gathered in the Main Room alongside them interrupted whatever the Chief had been about to say, and Takaya found his attention drawn to their group, and the man who seemed to be speaking for all of them.

"If even one Tekkaman comes with us, our job is as good as done," the soldier said, grinning widely at him and Shinya. "Having the both of you means that we're all sure to make it back home all right."

"Aki," Takaya said, in response to his fellow Space Knight's worried exclamation. "If we're going to be suffering anyway, Shinya and I want the chance to fight."

"Yeah," Shinya said, gripping Takaya's arm tighter, showing what solidarity he could when the both of them were in the same situation. "Even after everything, the Radam are still our responsibility, Chief."

The cheering from the soldiers drowned out whatever else Chief Freeman might have said, but Takaya could tell from the look on the man's face that he was still worried. Chief Freeman didn't order him or Shinya to stop or come back. Takaya could be glad for that, at least.

V

Finding herself standing before the Radam Mother, passing on the orders that Takkonniku-sama had given her to relay, Sword couldn't help feeling uneasy. Even though Takkonniku-sama had said that he'd prepared the ship so that he and her beloved Kengo would be able to undergo their respective transformations, he had also informed her that it would be extremely taxing in Kengo's case. Takkonniku-sama had also informed her that he himself would be nearly comatose while his body merged with the ship that had brought him into contact with the Argos to begin with.

Apparently, the vessel was called a Deep Scout, the off-handed way that Takkonniku-sama had referred to it telling Sword without words just how commonplace such an appellation was among the rest of the Empire.

Sword almost wished she could have spoken to Takkonniku-sama longer, but their own duties had pulled each of them away, and so Sword contented herself with the knowledge that she would have more time to speak – if not all the time that she might wish to – once she'd finished with her current tasks. Once she had finished destroying the eight space ports that the Orbital Ring held, then she could go back and see if Takkonniku-sama had regained the ability to speak with her.

VI

After they'd flown the Blue Earth out to the nearest of the Orbital Elevators, Shinya had found himself feeling the same, bittersweet nostalgia that he could feel over the mental link that he shared with Takaya.

(It's not the same one,) Takaya said, and Shinya could tell that his older twin wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

(No, it isn't,) Shinya said, narrowing his eyes. (It'd only be harder if it was, Ta-kun.)

(You're probably right,) Takaya said, sighing softly.

The pair of them moved to catch up with Noal, Aki, Balzac, and the soldiers accompanying them, even as one of the soldiers said that even they didn't know if there were still Radam monsters up on the Orbital Ring. Given how many of them had been coming down to Earth, Shinya couldn't say that he knew, either. He heard Levin asking Pegas to look after them, which he thought was nice of her.

He also thought it was more than a little cute, too.

Still, as he and Takaya made their way into the Orbital Elevator, Shinya sighed as he heard Aki trying to comfort him and Takaya by telling them that they wouldn't have to fight since Noal and Balzac were going to be right there with them.

"We'll be fine as long as we only run into Radam's monsters," Shinya said, narrowing his eyes as they all continued on their way. "But, if any other Tekkamen show up, Takaya and I are going to have to fight them."

"Yeah," Takaya said, not sounding any more pleased about the idea than Shinya himself felt.

As they all made their way onto the Orbital Elevator platform, Shinya shuddered and felt Takaya reach out for his hand.

(It almost feels the same,) he mused.

(Yeah, I know,) Takaya said, letting Shinya know that he hadn't actually managed to keep that thought to himself. (All we need is the car, and it would be too much like back then.)

(Yeah,) Shinya said.

(So, you both did decide to come,) Sword – the woman who'd once been Feng Li, but was now nothing more than the same kind of evil Tekkaman that Kengo had become – said, cutting into the conversation that Shinya hadn't really intended to start in the first place. (I'm glad. It will make killing the both of you much easier!)

(We're not going to die here!) Takaya snapped, before cutting Sword off from their part of the mental link Tekkamen all shared with one another.

Biting back a laugh as he suddenly found their small group of Space Knights – along with the large group of soldiers surrounding them – all climbing into a trio of what looked more than a little like the car that Father and Kengo had once taken turns driving, both before and after the Aiba family had arrived at the Orbital Elevator. Since the Elevator itself had been designed to transport cargo up to the Ring itself, whoever had been driving the family car when they had reached the base of the Orbital Elevator had probably figured that there was no sense leaving the car behind before they had to.

Shinya wondered, with more than a little morbid curiosity, if the car was still in Spaceport Eight, waiting for the family that had left it behind.

Radam's monsters tearing through the ceiling, and then being killed by the soldiers even before Noal and Balzac could attack them with their Sol-Tekkamen distracted Shinya from his musings for a moment, but the short battle that actually ensued meant that he didn't have much to think about besides the morbid reflections that were preying more and more on his mind the further they traveled into the Ring.

(Shinya, we're heading for the main Control Room,) Takaya said, nudging him softly, both with his right hand and with their telepathy.

(Right, Ta-kun,) Shinya said, smiling as well as he could under the circumstances, even though he knew that Takaya wouldn't be able to see it under the oxygen masks all of them wore.

As they all continued on their way, leaving the vehicles behind since they'd have a better chance of evading Radam's monsters if they were on foot, Shinya sighed as he saw the destroyed banks of screens and controls all around the room they had just entered. Levin, who'd come with them seemingly for just this sort of thing, made her way over to one of the few semi-intact consoles inside the room and began trying to salvage something from the situation they had all found themselves in.

VII

"Which of the viable spaceports is closest?" Takaya demanded, turning away from Levin and Shinya as the pair of them attempted to do something with the wrecked control console they'd all been faced with.

"Umm, Spaceport Number Eight," Levin said, and Takaya saw Shinya tense up at nearly the same moment as he felt his own heart all but stopping in his chest.

(It really is just like before,) Shinya said, and Takaya found himself wondering for a moment if his younger twin had meant to share that particular thought.

They'd been keeping their mental walls lowered so that they'd be able to track Tekkaman Sword through their respective mental links, so there was always the chance of picking up on thoughts that weren't really meant to be shared. Grabbing Shinya's right wrist, knowing that his younger twin was just as eager as he was to be done with this hunt of theirs, Takaya pulled him along as he ran to Spaceport Eight.

(It really is just like before,) Takaya found himself musing, even as he heard the rest of the Space Knights – and even some of the soldiers who'd come with them – calling out in their wake.

Still, Shinya had just seemed to be offering moral support – and potentially another pair of hands – while he'd been standing beside Levin, and it wasn't like the redhead didn't have plenty of other people willing to help her with what she'd been trying to do. Leaping back into the lead vehicle, Takaya found one of the soldiers moving to sit behind him. For a moment it'd actually looked like the soldier had wanted to sit next to him, but since he was driving and Shinya had naturally taken the passenger seat, that kind of thing hadn't been possible.

VIII

"Did you want to ask me something?" were the first words out of D-Boy's mouth, as she settled in behind the lad and his young brother.

"Please, would one of you tell me about his last moments?" she asked, looking between the twins for a long moment, thinking of all the kind things that Bernard had had to say about them.

"Whose last moments?" D-Boy asked, and Angela found herself almost jumping in her seat as D-Two turned to look back at her.

His eyes held the same, guileless curiosity that had been in D-Boy's voice when he spoke, and Angela found herself smiling sadly at the thought of how many people those two – the boys Bernard had thought of as his own sons for so long – would have had to watch die to ask a question like that.

"Bernard O'Toole," she said, soft smile remaining on her face; she hoped it would be comforting for D-Two, at least. "The man who always called you two 'my boys'."

D-Boy muttered Bernard's name in response, and D-Two turned slightly to look at his older brother. Angela caught sight of a brief flicker on D-Two's forehead, and found herself wondering how and what the pair of them were doing. Bernard had said that D-Boy and D-Two shared a deeper bond than any pair of brothers he'd seen – even the rare set of twins he'd encountered – but she hadn't been expecting there to be any kind of physical differences.

Aside from the obvious, of course.

"When he met you boys, he was so happy," Angela continued, deciding to ignore the flicker she'd seen until or unless it became some kind of issue; or one of the twins themselves brought it up. "He said that he'd met a fine pair of brothers, and the truest warriors he'd worked with in a long time. He looked so pleased, when he was telling me all about you two," she continued, relaxing in her seat as she looked back on the life that she and Bernard had shared.

IX

(Shinya, do you know what she's talking about?) Takaya asked, finding himself more and more unsettled as the soldier continued talking to them.

(No, Ta-kun. I don't know who she's talking about, but…) his younger twin paused for a moment, and Takaya found the unease he'd been feeling the longer this conversation of theirs had gone on reflected right back at him. (I… I almost feel like I should.)

(Yeah,) he said, almost wishing that he could have turned to look back at the woman sitting behind him, rather than just seeing her second-hand through Shinya's eyes.

"Bernard meant everything to me," the woman continued, and Takaya wondered for a moment if she was talking to herself, the way Aiba Takaya had sometimes done when there was something he was thinking particularly hard about; or just something he couldn't keep inside anymore. "When he returned to the battlefield, he'd leave home before I woke up, putting this gun on the table," she continued, holding up the same gun she'd presumably been speaking about. "We couldn't spend much time together, but he always told me he could fight because he had someone to come home to. He would say 'Think of this gun as me while I'm gone'. But, he's not coming back anymore," she continued, and Takaya could sense Shinya's morbid amusement, suspecting where it was directed but also glad that his younger twin hadn't been crass enough to laugh in a situation like this.

"Bernard O'Toole," Takaya muttered, wishing for a moment that he could have remembered, if only so he didn't end up hurting someone else who had been nothing but kind to him and Shinya.

"Please, one of you must have been there for Bernard's last moments," the woman said, starting to sound more than a little desperate. "Will one of you tell me about what happened? How did he die?"

(I can't answer that,) Takaya kept behind his teeth, shuddering as he found himself reaching for a memory that didn't seem to exist.

Even as he heard Shinya trying to calm her down – calling her Angela, a name he'd probably overheard from one of the other soldiers – Takaya found himself struggling to calm himself down. He hadn't had such a visceral reminder of what he and Shinya had been losing – how much they might have already lost – in long enough that he'd been able to focus past it. Sure, he'd still been aware on at least some level of what he and his younger twin stood to lose, the longer their war with the Radam continued, but this…

This was the first, concrete reminder of what that really meant.

"Then, you're saying that you and D-Boy might eventually forget everything?" Angela asked, her worried expression seeming to encompass both him and Shinya.

"That's what the rest of the Space Knights have been saying," Shinya said, sounding about as uncomfortable with the situation as Takaya was finding himself.

"It's… not something I like to think about, but sometimes," Takaya paused, forcing himself to breathe for a long moment. "Sometimes, I worry that Shinya and I might end up forgetting our hatred for the Radam. That, even after all they've done to us, Shinya and I might forget why we're fighting them at all."

"They took the rest of the people that you boys loved, right?" Angela asked, though she almost sounded like she was talking more to herself than to him and Shinya. "Then you boys have nothing to worry about," she continued, sounding more sure than Takaya had been feeling since he'd found out just how much he and Shinya had lost; how much more they could lose, by the time their battle ended. "A human heart isn't as weak as you think it is, D-Boy. The both of you lost your loved ones, neither of you will ever forget that grudge, even if you die. There's no way you could forget."

(It kind of sounds like Angela is talking about herself, too, Ta-kun,) Shinya said.

(Yeah,) he responded, nodding even as he continued to drive through the empty, ravaged expanse of the Orbital Ring.

Even as he, Shinya, and Angela all made their way back to Spaceport Eight; the same Spaceport that the Argos had departed from, what felt like a lifetime ago.

When Angela started singing, Takaya didn't quite know what to make of it, but when Shinya joined in…

(I've never heard you sing before, Shin-chan,) Takaya said, not quite sure if he was teasing or not.

(I just… It kind of felt right, Ta-kun,) his younger twin said, as Pegas started singing along with the three of them.

"How do you know this song, Pegas?" Takaya asked, craning his neck to look up at his and Shinya's combat partner.

"The song has been saved in my memory bank," Pegas said.

"Bernard must have taught it to him," Angela said, sounding more cheerful than she had since their conversation had started. "He might have even taught you both at the same time, D-Two."

Before anyone could say anything else, the sound of an alarm drew the attention of one of the other soldiers, and Takaya tensed as a Radam monster burst through the floor. Sharing a speaking glance with Shinya, Takaya made for Pegas, even as he felt the familiar, muted surge of energy from his younger twin's tekkaset as it reappeared again.

"Wait!" Noal shouted, just as Takaya had called for Pegas. "Just let us handle this! You boys stay with the car!"

Pausing for a long moment, Takaya turned slightly to watch as Shinya settled back in his seat. Then he turned back towards the Radam monster as it trampled its way down the corridor, drawing steadily closer to the line of soldiers, as well as Noal and Balzac in their Sol-Tekkamen. This particular monster seemed different than the others he'd seen.

Even Shinya didn't seem to know what to make of the creature.

Noal's exclamation about the sheer size of it let Takaya know that he and Shinya hadn't been the only ones surprised to see this new Radam monster as it charged inexorably down the corridor at them. As the soldiers formed a defensive-line with Noal and Balzac, Takaya chewed his lower lip. There was something about this particular breed of monster…

Not something he actually recognized, but almost something that he felt like he should… It was probably more Radam instincts, which he sometimes thought were getting stronger now that his memories of being human were fading so fast, so Takaya tried to ignore it. When the Radam monster spat its venom at the soldiers shooting it, Takaya tensed.

The bad feeling he'd gotten when he'd seen the darker shade of the venom was vindicated in the worst way when – in stark contrast to the sticky venom that he'd seen every other Radam monster use to trap anyone who tried attacking them – the huge Radam monster's venom dissolved through the soldiers attacking it like some kind of fast-acting acid.

"Pegas, Teksetta!" Takaya screamed, leaping from his seat even as he saw Shinya doing just the same beside him.

The pair of them soon stood together as Tekkaman Blade and Tekkaman Varis, and while he knew that none of the Space Knights were going to be particularly happy with them, Takaya also knew that neither he nor Shinya could have left their comrades to face that strong a Radam monster on their own.

Leaping onto the monster's back, Takaya rammed his tekkalance into the Radam monster's head, even as Noal and Balzac started firing bolts of Fermion at it. Letting his mental link to Shinya guide him to his younger twin, Takaya noted with some relief that Shinya was guarding the soldiers even as they kept firing the guns they'd brought on this mission. He didn't have much time to feel relieved, however, since the Radam monster he'd been standing on thrashed with its entire body, throwing him and Balzac free from its broad back as it slammed the pair of them into a nearby wall hard enough to leave dents in the wall shaped vaguely like their armored bodies.

Takaya barely had to turn his head before Shinya was at his side, cutting through the thicker tendrils that the attacking Radam monster possessed, and helping Takaya back to his feet.

(Thanks, Shin-chan.)

(Always, Ta-kun.)

Bracing himself as the monster turned its full attention to the pair of them, Takaya caught his tekkalance as Shinya tossed it back to him, and the pair of them losed with the Radam monster again.

X

He'd been keeping an eye on Balzac and Takaya, but the sight of Angela stepping forward, the gun that Bernard O'Toole had given her aimed firmly at the Radam monster threatening all of them, drew Shinya's attention faster than almost anything else could have.

"Wait, Angela!"

"I have to do this, D-Two," she said firmly.

"Get on my back, then," he said, knowing that he'd worn the same look he was seeing on Angela's face when Takaya had tried to tell him to stay behind. "I can protect you while you shoot."

"Right, thanks lad," Angela said, climbing up on his back the way he'd suggested to her.

Pausing for a moment as Angela made herself as comfortable as anyone could be when they were pressed against the sharp edges of his armor, Shinya leaped forward as Angela took aim.

"Hold as steady as you can, D-Two! I need to hit those needle bombs in its head!"

"Roger!" Shinya said, narrowing his eyes as he considered just where he could position the pair of them so that Angela could take her shot.

The Radam monster was tall enough that Shinya ruled out anywhere on the ground almost immediately, the walls would be too vulnerable, so that really only left one place…

"Angela, wrap your legs as tight around my waist as you can, and hold on tight," he said.

"Right," she said.

Once Angela had fully settled herself, Shinya leaped up to the ceiling, burying his tekkalance in the metal to anchor himself while Angela took aim. Once she'd blown up the bombs imbedded in the Radam monster's head, however, the monster exploded with more force than Shinya had ever seen from any of Radam's monsters before. And, as he threw himself on top of Angela to protect her from the explosion, Shinya could sense Takaya transforming again…

XI

Pleased – at least as much as she could be, under the circumstances – to know that her trap had been so successful, Sword allowed herself a moment to breathe. True, she'd not felt the sudden severing of a mental link that that would herald the death of one or both of the traitors, but considering what she was being forced to work with, Sword could content herself with holding them off. I will give you as long as you need, or as long as I can, my Lord.

And you as well, my love, Sword vowed to herself, closing an armored fist in front of her heart as she did so.

She'd sensed the discharge of energy that indicated that at least one of the traitors had fired their Voltekka, and the resulting explosion from the Radam Mother would have irreparably damaged whatever section of the Orbital Ring that the traitors had finally been cornered in. And, while it was rather troublesome that neither of them had died, the fact remained that she had destroyed Spaceport Number Seven.

Now, only Spaceport Eight – sentimental place that it was, and yet remained – was left unscathed.

XII

Finding herself staring up at the armored face of Tekkaman Varis, Angela was just about to try either lifting him off or else wriggling out from under him, when the Tekkaman's armor started to glow the same, bright blue as his eyes. The sharp lines of Tekkaman Varis' armor shifted back into the softer lines of D-Two in his EVA suit, and Angela shifted to catch the young man as he slumped into her arms.

Cradling D-Two as she stood back up again, Angela hurried toward the sound of D-Boy calling out.

"D-Boy," she said, once she and D-Two were close enough for D-Boy to see them.

"Angela," D-Boy said, turning to meet her as she carried D-Two over to him. "Shinya," he muttered, reaching down to touch the right side of D-Two's helmeted head.

"Come on," she said, smiling gently at one of the young men Bernard had loved like a pair of sons. "We should find any survivors."

"Yeah," D-Boy said, and though she saw him nodding, he seemed more focused on his young brother.

Angela smiled softly.