Who the Hell do You Think we are? (40K/?)

[Alex12]

Out of curiosity, where's Boota during all this?

[SAMAS]

Originally Posted by Draveziovas

Most likely, whatever property of the Ganmen and Lagaan(how the hell do you spell that?) that allows them to better channel Spiral power is mising in the Grapearls.

Or the graperls pilots really suck at generating spiral power, but it's more likely my first idea.

I think it's the fact that maybe Graparls aren't built to generate/use Spiral Power as well as Ganmen do. They're superior mechanically, but since Ganmen channel Spiral Power, they perform better against Anti-Spirals and Daemons.

[ttestagr]

Originally Posted by SAMAS

I think it's the fact that maybe Graparls aren't built to generate/use Spiral Power as well as Ganmen do. They're superior mechanically, but since Ganmen channel Spiral Power, they perform better against Anti-Spirals and Daemons.

This. It was made pretty clear during the show when the old guard came out in their new space ganmen. Leeron should already know this. Unless you're making this a brand spanking new model of graparl that was produced after the Anti-Spiral.

[condonzack]

I really think its because they don't have face on their chests. It doesn't make much sense, but that only makes it more likely. Also, the fact that their mass produced and considered cannon fodder might be fucking with the pilots morale, a, big issue in TTLG.

If each Grapearl squad was incouraged to develop a unique identity and made to compete with each other, I imagine a great boost in Spiral Energy.

[Talos]

The explosive sound of bolter fire roared in his ears as Brother Illiu's plasma pistol spat a the screaming tide of green death. One of the smaller Xenos fell, blood spraying from the wound, but the others came on even faster. Like the cold hand of Death himself, come to claim the brave soldiers of the Immortal Emperor.

A shot pinged off Illu's skull-helm, he growled, returned fire, more of the creatures died but it didn't halt the flood. The Chaplain looked death in the face and not for the first time, wondered if his life might have turned out differently had he not been selected to join the Chapter.

Behind him, the others had set up the defensive position, but in the face of the oncoming storm, it seemed pitiful and inadequate. Illu stood between the cover of the hastily erected walls that guarded the exit of the ancient corridor and the tide of savage Xenos. His Arcanum held tight in his hand, his pistol in the other. He roared, feeling the rush of strength it granted him, the Emperor was with him, always with him. He might win this battle, he might die, this entire ship might be overrun and destroyed but there was one fact certain in the mind of the Space Marine. He would not be defeated -- killed yes, but never humbled. Never humbled before the Xenos. He would fight to his last, for it was his sacred duty, not only as a Lost Warrior, but also as a Chaplain of the Astartes.

Brothers Tye and Davum opened up with heavy bolters, ripping through the Ork lines with bloody glee, Illu vaulted over the barriers, coming to rest between his brothers. The three marines had fought side by side more than he cared to remember. Illu found it hard to trust people -- even his own battle-brothers -- but both of them had truly earned his faith in them.

Bracing himself, Illu opened fire again, his shots burning with the Emperor's rightful wrath. One died, two, but more, always more. The smaller weaker ones, ''Boyz'' were losing numbers but there were bigger ones behind them. These were giants, fully as big as an Astartes, they carried heavy weapons and were more accurate than their smaller brothers. So far, only the ''Boyz'' had taken pot-shots at the small force, but that would change any minute. Soon, they would be blitzed by a barrage of sustained fire that would chip away at the barricades and even their own sacred power-armour. This was a hopeless fight, of that there was no mistake. A fight with no possibility of victory, a fight with death as the outcome no matter what. Despite this, Illu was glad that he held this gate. Glad because this kind of fight -- a hopeless stand, a last ditch effort, was exactly what the Astartes were made for. Glad because, though he would die, he would die in the service of the God Emperor of Mankind, and there was no greater honour.

" Rejoice brothers!" He called through the hellstorm of battle, " For we kill in His name!"

Tye, who of them all, had known Illu the longest and was possibly his only true friend in the Chapter nodded to himself. Tye was strange for a Space Marine. There were rumours, dark rumours, of a tainted Geneseed. Tye, of course, ignored them. His exemplary service to the Chapter seemed to condemn such rumours to insignificance save that his appearance was such a deviation from the norm. He was tall aye, but wiry, still a giant to a human, Tye seemed weaker than a marine should be. Hand to hand, most brothers could overpower him. But a lifetime of being the smallest had taught Tye long ago, losers play fair. Winners win by any method. He was fast as a snake, he knew all the weak-points and pain-spots of the human body, as well as several Xenos varieties. When he struck, it was always first, always unexpected. An ideal fight, he considered. should consist of a blur of motion, followed by the opponent's corpse hitting the ground. He was master of firearms. Capable of hitting the smallest target. Unfortunately, he thought, that was a skill he hardly needed for this fight.

It took no skill to hit the Orks, for they came in a single brutal mob, he could fire blind and still be sure of hitting them. Their own primitive weapons roared and flared and belched thick smoke, but they seemed to miss most of the time, and Tye had long since ceased to worry about the state of his armour if they did. A few chips showed where he had taken numerous close calls.

Another Ork died, crushed under the feet of its comrades. now the bigger ones led, rushing to the fight, eager for battle, their war cries resounded through the deck and even Illu paused for a second to appreciate the bestial power of the Orks.

The Chaplain knew they were as good as dead, the marines knew it too. If they were quick and deadly, they could take some Orks with them but that was as good as it got. The roaring was more felt than heard now, the deck vibrated and it seemed that for the Majesty this was the end of the line. The final burning death that awaited all of the Emperor's servants.

Illu dug his armoured feet into the ground, a shot clipping his shoulders and a brief flash of agony before he blocked it with an ease born of decades of war. The Orks were almost upon them now, their fire was like rain. A furious rain of death, impossible to dodge or avoid. You had to wade in, to take it and have faith. Faith that your armour would hold, faith in the Emperor. Needless to say, Illu dared them to hit him, his massive form, his Power-Armour a real target for the on-coming horde.

Illu looked death in the face, saw it in the eyes of the roaring, hulking brutes. These were the Xenos that dared think themselves the equal of man. These were the enemies he had been created to defeat, and though death beckoned. Illu refused to let himself suffer defeat even now.

" With me, brothers!" He roared, rushing into the storm of fire. It was a risk but not much of one. His armour could probably handle the turbulent storm of heavy fire and if it didn't, it wasn't like staying behind cover would keep him alive much longer. Better to die with a weapon in hand than to face his demise cowering behind a feeble barrier.

Tye leapt the barricade, landing gracefully with hardly a pause in his firing. The former veteran sergeant was welding a pair of bolt-pistols, their lethal barks echoed even through the thunderous sounds of the Orks. Davum took a little longer, but he too saw death and like a true Astartes, he faced it head on rather than running or hiding.

" WAAAGGHH!" The Orks roared almost as one, their bestial voices joined together in a cacophony of savage power and death. The marines charged them, running through the roaring fire of their guns, armour chips flew and sparks flared. Illu felt pain time and again as lucky shots penetrated, his primary heart was pierced by a rogue shell. Falling to his knees, his vision dimmed for a split second.

Tye and Davum didn't stop, they knew he wouldn't have wanted them to. They were committed now, their fire answered the Orks' hellstorm. But it seemed weak and lack-lustre. Illu righted himself in time to see the biggest Ork he had ever witnessed rear out of the crowd. The brute lugged a massive gun -- it looked like it had been looted from an Ogryn, and was already aiming. Illu realized with a start of his remaining heart that it was targeted at him!

The weapon spat the inferno of death, and Illu leapt awkwardly sideways, he felt a thousand tiny bumps and scraps as his armour bore the brunt of the attack. The air was knocked from his lungs, smacking into the bulkhead, he saw that an Ork was towering above him. The sounds of battle informed the Chaplain that the others had also engaged the greenskins.

His arcanum's power-field hissed as he used it to rip through the Ork's rib-cage, the beast staggered back, losing blood quickly. Two more rushed him, but Illu was on his feet now, he swung his weapon again, caving in the skull of one Ork, shooting another in the face. A savage fist tore into his chest and the armour broke -- it actually broke! Turning to face his attacker, Illu saw the another Ork had picked up the beast's deadly looted weapon.

___________________________________________________________

Griskill was havin' a great time. What with all the killin', and lootin' and fightin'. He roared, his best roar. The 'umie before him, with the skull face, seemed unperturbed by Griskill's clear superiority so it looked like 'e'd have to beat it into 'im.

The WAAGGHH was strong in the massive Nob, it flowed through him and augmented his already considerable muscle power. He felt it like it was lightin' crackling through him, it was a power, it was the ultimate power. It was what Orks the bestest fighters around!

Grisskill was so pumped up on WAAGHH energy by this point, that when he pointed his stolen and highly modified ripper gun, it did not explode in his face due to the nature of the highly suspect changes, did not spray him with deadly lances of burning metal. It spewed forth a stream of shots as he expected it to, in fact it did so because he expected it to.

The humie tried to dodge, but even an Astartes advanced reaction times seemed laughably slow to an Ork so submerged in WAAGHH energy. The armoured humie seemed to dance as the shots slammed into him, the cracks on his torso from Grisskill's first blow widened and blew apart, blood splashed and in only served to drive Grisskill deeper into the WAAGHH.

The humie said something, but Grisskill wasn't listening, he watched as one o' the Boyz picked up 'is own arm and backhanded a humie across the 'ead

_______________________________________________________________________


Alice Katsikumi sat at her station stiffly. It had been some time since they set out, and after the brief excitement of the teleportation, it seemed things had reached a dull normality. First Officer Viral practically ran the ship on his own, Admiral Simon seemed to differ to him in most things and to a few of the crew, it projected a weak image but Alice thought she knew the truth. Simon was a smart man, he knew that Viral was a far better captain than he -- Simon's worth was in combat, was in Gurren Lagann! She still experienced a thrill of excitement even picturing that giant mech that they now carried. Gurren Lagann was a legend! A real mythical figure, a defender of humanity.

The door to small walled off section of the bridge opened and in walked the man she sat waiting for, Coll, Coll was a bit of a mystery even to her, in fact especially to her -- Alice may have been a pretty face but she always tried to be more than just that. She made it her job to know the ins and outs and whys of everyone of note on board. She knew about Viral, his stint in the navy, his past as a Beastman leader, she even knew a little bit about Simon post Spiral War. What she didn't know about, was Coll. She had called upon all her contacts, followed up all leads and she could only manage to reaffirm a few facts about him. He was a pilot, qualified to fly a Grapearl but also theoretically capable of piloting most military vehicles. He had been put on board the ship -- exiled might be a better word, in fact, because he had made enemies back home. But who those enemies were, or what he'd done to gain them was anyone's guess. She knew his type, the worms, the snakes. Back home, she'd dealt with them all the time, but that was before she went straight... Now, she would use the knowledge she'd gained by less legal means and try to put a stop to Coll before anything got started.

Coll saluted her, her superior rank as Bridge Officer meant that there were few people she could not give orders and Coll was certainly not one of them. She hit a tiny smirk as she saw his unwilling features, though he tried to hide them. Just as she recognised Coll, he recognised her. They were alike, as distasteful as she found him, she also knew they probably had more in common than anyone else on ship.

" Reporting as ordered," said Coll simply, still playing his ''good soldier'' act.

" Cut it, Coll," she snarled, in no mood to deal with this kind of game, " I know what you're planning."

He raised an eyebrow, " Oh? And what if I said I was but a loyal and trust-worthy member of the crew who is having his life's dream fulfilled serving with the legendary Dai-Gurren Brigade?"

" I'd call you a liar, in fact, I'd call you a bad liar. Some ''loyal and trustworthy member of the crew'' you filed no less than twenty appeals against your placement here. Doesn't sound like your dream job to me."

Coll smirked for the first time, and she realized he was more than she had expected. She'd expected a liar, a cheat, a man with impossibly high goals but with little real ability. What she had instead was a liar, a cheat true, but also a man with total confidence in himself, she had a mental word for this type, shark. They'd take any opening they could get and damn the innocents that got hurt by their rise to power. She'd played ball with a fair few of them in her time, but she had also not liked it one bit.

" I would say," Coll spoke slowly, his grin that of a predator facing a cornered victim, "that anyone who had access to that level of information was ether very highly placed -- which you evidently are not, or gained access to those files in a less than legal manner. I wonder then, how captain Simon would react if he found out a member of the crew had gained access to confidential government information illegally? Not in a happy way, I would imagine."

" Are you threatening me, Coll?"

" No, I am merely drawing the line in the sand, I shall be blunt with you, deck-officer. I don't care about ''captain'' Simon, or first officer ''shark-teeth'' Viral. I don't really give a shit about the success of this entire mission, to be frank. Most of these crew are sheep, loyal, protective sheeple. Not you or me, no I see it in your eyes. You may deny it, fight against it, but at heart you're like me, a predator. A predator amongst a flock of sheep. Wanna know the difference between you and me? You're fighting against it, I'm embracing it. You're not the only one who's done their research, I know all about you -- and something tells me you know less than all about myself."

Alice was finding herself hemmed in, she had not counted on Coll reacting like this, nor having so much knowledge, and the look in his eyes! Bravely, she gathered herself.

" I hardly think you are in a higher position than me."

" Oh really? Lets take a look at the positions then. On one hand we have you -- a deck-officer on a ship currently in a dangerous mission that has a good chance it being attacked and possibly being destroyed. You are in, what amounts to, exile, in a job with no promotion prospects. You're as high as you can be without someone actually dying and once we get back, what's the chances Simon and Viral steal all the glory and we get left out in the cold, hmm? Me, on the other hand? I got prospects, I got plans. So what, I didn't wanna be here, I am now and I'm going to make the best of it -- the one sure way to power is the one I'm taking, now if you'll excuse me, ''first officer'' Viral sent out a request for able-bodied men with combat training to meet in the central mess-hall and arm up in case we need to pull a boarding action, apparently Rossiu didn't send enough soldiers so we pilots are gonna have to double as fighters. Now if you'll excuse me, girly, I need to be on my way so listen up! I've got my plans, and I'm sure you've got yours. I wont mess up yours if you don't foil mine. Simple."

With that, he turned and left the room. Alice was speechless for a few seconds -- she could have him punished for disrespecting a superior but part of her knew that it wasn't worth it. Coll clearly held no respect for those in command... he was a danger, she decided, a loose cannon. And what plans? She didn't trust this man an inch. Though she couldn't shake the feeling Coll had won this round, she decided that he would not be allowed to win the war. This wasn't over between them, she knew it and so did he. There would eventually be a reckoning between them and until then, she would do her damnedest to ruin his plans.

_____________________________________________________________________

The captain's room was a luxurious left-over from the days of the Arc-Gurren's construction. It was decorated in emerald green, spirals covered the walls, the furniture was deep red and there were works of art on stands dotted here and there. The bed itself was a thing of beauty, if you sat in it, it almost felt like you were sinking into water.

Simon was currently reclining in one of the armchairs. Ill at home in this luxury, he spent much of his waking time up and about. The ship, he had quickly learned, did not particularly need him in its day to day running since the background Spiral energy was more than enough to keep it working. Viral was sitting in the seat before him, the Beastman seemed to have come alive on the ship, Simon thought. He was born to command, made for it. Simon normally just sat back and let him do what he needed to do.

"
-and finally, the turbines have been fluctuating slightly since we left the tainted space, but they should be repaired in no time."

Simon smiled-- not smirked, nor even smiled the way his bro would have. This was a typical smile from Simon, happy. He inclined his head to his friend/rival.

" It seems you're doing a good job running the ship then."

" Maybe but we have a possible problem."

Simon nodded, he had been thinking about this all day, their first transmission from the natives and it had been a strange, primal scream. Simon had no clue what it meant -- if anything -- but he did know it could herald nothing good. Still, what could they do but follow the sounds and see what kind of universe they had found themselves in? The crew had been rather split on the manner, but Simon had vetoed them. They were going to find out what was causing this sound. Simon was no fool, if they left it now, it may well stab them in the back later. Better to get it out of the way now, when everyone was ready.

" At current speed we have fifteen minutes before we reach the origination point. Any plans on what we do once we get there?"
Simon simply smiled, he did have a plan, but it was always much better to hear out those of the people around him before announcing his own. Viral, who knew Simon well, launched straight into his own.

" When we arrive, I'll have the Com-techs transmit a greeting and a request for information. If they're friendly, we proceed via diplomatic channels to discover more about this place and how we ended up here."

" Sounds good," said Simon, the Spiral Matrix in his hand, he was playing with it, his fingers wrapping around it, releasing it, tossing it into the air and catching it. It was like a magnet for him -- since his time on-board, Simon had come to the conclusion that the Matrix absorbed Spiral Energy -- not much, not enough to even be noticeable to anyone who hadn't been working with it for all of their lives. But it did, this had been enough to rouse Simon's curiosity and he had explored it as best he could -- what he discovered was little, it seemed to channel the energy it took but what it did with it was unknown. He mentally shrugged and turned back to the conversation.

" Here's the part I don't like," continued Viral, " we're gonna be arriving with weapons off-line in order to give the appearance of a peaceful ship -- first impressions are vital and we don't need to look like war-mongers."

" It sounds logical," said Simon. Though he too felt the slight tinge of unease that was born of sending their only ship in undefended, then, an idea struck him.

" Why not have an escort force of Grapearls follow the Arc in? That way we still retain some defensibility."

Viral's turn to smirk now, his needle teeth shone in the light and Simon was forced to remember when they had first met --- his bro had been hunting with Yoko, Viral had been hunting as well and the two parties met. It had quickly turned dangerous, what with Viral and Kamina duelling in the middle of a field of tall grass. Simon recalled how Yoko had fired and Viral had actually managed to block the shot with his blade! Even more amazing was that despite the massive advantages Viral had over him, Kamina had managed to wound the beastman before the battle came down to ganmen.

" And I suppose that Gurren Lagann would be taking the place of honour in this guard?"

" Exactly, unless they've run into the Spirals before, any aliens we encounter wont likely know just how powerful Gurren Lagann is -- we'll be able to keep it as a hidden strength."

" Crafty," commented Viral, " very crafty. I've ordered the pilots to congregate in the mess hall -- it seemed a wise decision at the time. Do you want to hand-pick the guard or shall I send the best?"

" The best, I think, we have no idea what these beings' reaction will be, best to be ready for anything."

" Excellent." Simon stood up as quickly as if he had been shocked. Truth be told, he was glad to have a real job to do rather than sitting around watching other people do theirs.

Someone knocked at the door, both of them turned and Simon said," Enter."

The door opened quickly and Simon recognised one of the Bridge-Officers. She was the one who had greeted him when he first came aboard -- Alice, wasn't it? In any case, she looked shaken.
Viral nodded to her, " What is it? I assume you had a reason for disturbing us."

" Yes, sir," she said, still pale.

" Don't start all that ''sir'' stuff!" said Simon, " I got enough of that from the rest of the crew, and I don't need it from the bridge as well! Just call me Simon."]

" Y-yes Simon."

" Well," growled Viral, " what is it?"

" We're getting our first look at the battle now, our sensors are picking up... well it would be easier just to show you."

" Very well," Simon said, " you coming, Viral?"

" Sure, I wont miss out on this."

Together, the trio made their way to the bridge, Alice led them quickly, as if secretly wishing they could be running rather than just briskly walking. As he entered the bridge, Simon noticed that it was on power-saver mode again. He strode through the darkness as the officers worked hurriedly, their faces bent over the controls. This time, his arrival didn't even cause a stir. And he could see why, the main screen showed them what they were heading towards. It was clearly an ambush of some kind -- there were four ships involved, two of them looked crude. As if they'd been cobbled together and really shouldn't be able to fly. The other two looked something like ship-board churches. They had spires and towers and looked almost like floating cathedrals -- at the same time, they had clearly been built for war, weapons emplacements were clear as day and Simon had to wonder at the civilization that would build a ship like this and what it said about them. One of the ships was lurching drunkenly, fire streamed from its side where it had been rammed by some kind of boarding device, smaller ones had touched down all over it and they now coated it. They shared the cobbled-together look of the other craft. The last ship was rocking and juddering under the impact as the guns of the two aggressors pelted it mercilessly. It was badly damaged, massive chunks of metal had been ripped from its hull, but it fought on, and it moved, darting through space more rapidly than Simon ever would have expected. It returned fire, and the enemy craft fell back, but whoever was driving them ether couldn't drive worth a damn, or simply didn't care. They blazed away wildly into space and it was safe to say that ninety-percent of the ammo was wasted, but the other ten percent struck and it did great damage. Around the battle, debris floated, Simon counted the gutted corpses of several of the cobbled-ships. it looked like a large group of them had ambushed the church-ships in force.

Far off in the distance, at the very limits of their sensors, a planet. More of the ships surrounded it and Simon thought grimly of a world at war. Only one thing could be done now, Simon knew. They couldn't just turn back, it seemed that the church-ships had been caught trying to escape from the planet, or trying to get to the planet -- the world itself was clearly under siege and from the flashes and flares, under orbital bombardment. Millions of beings dying even as he watched.... Simon had learned long ago, there was a time for logical thought, and for hot-bloodedness, now it was time for the latter.

" Everyone! Listen up!" His voice resounded throughout the room, the officers turning to look at him.

" That world's under attack, and they are getting bombarded! Now, I'm sure you all don't wanna get involved in a war, but it doesn't matter. Innocent people are dying and we have to find out why. Bring weapons to full power, we're going to war!"

He turned to Viral, " I'm taking Gurren Lagann out with the first wave, we'll obliterate the ships attacking those two church-ship-things and then continue on to the fleet that's attacking the planet. Keep the Arc back, but launch all Grapearls."

The beastman nodded, " Very well, but be careful, we have no idea how powerful those weapons are, and despite what you said, getting involved in a way we didn't start is not a good way to announce our arrival."

Simon gestured at the planet, fire raining from the heavens, " We don't have a choice, we can't just leave them to die."

" The planet might not even have any civilians." Countered Viral.

" I'm not taking that risk," replied Simon simply. " Besides, if this works out, we'll get some allies."

The siren rang clear through the ship, " Grapearl pilots to stations, first launch in two minutes."

Viral watched as Simon jogged out of the bridge, and could not help but feel worried, " I hope you know what you're doing, Simon."

__________________________________________________________________

With a final flash of multi-coloured light, a heaving of the superstructure and a blast of invisible Warp-energy, the Black Heart arrived, like a monster appearing from red-tainted mist, it hung above the planet like an angry God.

In the control room, surrounded by the gory trophies he had taken, Chapter Master Irinian briefed his Captains.

" We could kill them from here, but the Gods demand far more than mere killing -- not one, but two Greater Daemons have fallen there, nether have been returned. They died on that planet."

Several of the captains cursed or whispered something in the blessed language of Chaos They kneeled in rows before their Master, Irinian's skull-coated armour seemed to glisten and his weapons were by his side.

" This is a personal matter, Chapter honour. We lost our own here, and weaklings though they were, undeserving as they were of life, we must avenge them. Here's how it will go, the Black Heart will wait in orbit and provide support when needed, we don't bombard anything but a major threat. The rest we do up close and personal. Drop-pods will launch to the capital and the biggest cities. Massacre them, no survivors, take them unprepared and spill their blood for your Gods! Heavy support will be landed later, their military, if not destroyed in the first onslaught, will try to regroup. We crush them then and there."

He looked into the eyes of each of the captains one by one, " after that is done, we turn this world into what it should be. Rivers of blood, dedicated to the Gods United! We will not fail! Glory to Chaos! Glory to the Dark Gods!"

The cry was taken up by the assembled captains and soon the room seemed to throb with Warp energy. In the back, the Liberian, Demos, watched with interested eyes,

This was what he had been waiting for, after he had purged the Spiral Energy from his form, he had offered his very soul to the Change God if only he had a chance for vengeance. Now, it would be his and he looked forward to claiming the head of the one called ''Simon.''

Fifteen minutes later, the Blackj Heart heaved and spat out a rain of Drop-Pods. They sailed down through the upper atmosphere and passed the Spiral Shield. By now, only a few people below had noticed, but the alarm was being raised. The drop-pot contained Demos, the Chapter Master and his honour guard sailed straight for Kamina city.

[Mastigo]

Um, is there going to be a planet to come back to?

[Barricade]

If they can revive Lazangann, yeah, there will be a planet left.

That and they didn't take Cathedral Terra/Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren either. Simon & Viral are off in the Arc Gurren.

So Cathedral Terra/SGDG is still likely in orbit of Spiral Earth.

And on that note, Abaddon's Planetkiller PALES in comparison to the SGDG. Entire Tyranid Hive fleets (the core fleets at that) pale in comparison to the SGDG.

[condonzack]

With Simon on board, that was true. right now... we'll haveto wait and see.

[Stormwind]

Well, we have this alternative superweapon Roissu is cooking up in Arc Gurrens hangar.

[al103]

Originally Posted by Mastigo

Um, is there going to be a planet to come back to?

Who the hell do you think they are??!!

[Valiran]

Originally Posted by condonzack

With Simon on board, that was true. right now... we'll haveto wait and see.

There are still several Brigade members back on Earth, and little ol' Beamspam McMuppet is pretty hot-blooded when he gets behind a set of firing controls.

[condonzack]

But he doesn't bring everybody together. Thats Simon's gift.

[PsyckoSama]

They still have pony-tail kid. He's good at organization, just don't let him write your battleplans.

[PsyckoSama]

Most awesome thing that could ever be... Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann floating in the warp staring down the 4 gods of Chaos with Libera Me from Hell blasting in the background.

Followed by an exceedingly badass and hot blooded speech.

[Talos]

Originally Posted by PsyckoSama

Most awesome thing that could ever be... Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann floating in the warp staring down the 4 gods of Chaos with Libera Me from Hell blasting in the background.

Followed by an exceedingly badass and hot blooded speech.

Hmmm * Makes note for later in the story*

Did you ever see the TTGL movie?

[Mastigo]

You know, I just had a thought that I think explains the weirdness of the sizing factors with the final TTGL. It stems from the fact that they're able to do things like hit every single possible point in space-time and such. I think that like the Elder God Demonbane it has reached the point where size is not applicable. Bent and twisted space and time and all of that. The size literally changes based on perspective and asking for the true size is like asking for the area of a cube. (not surface area, area)

[PsyckoSama]

Originally Posted by Talos

Hmmm * Makes note for later in the story*

Did you ever see the TTGL movie?

Only the first one... I'd personally like Yoko's Ganman to be declared canon...

If you've seen the second, I'd love a link to the Torrent.

[Talos]

Originally Posted by PsyckoSama

Only the first one... I'd personally like Yoko's Ganman to be declared canon...

If you've seen the second, I'd love a link to the Torrent.

I may have the link to the second, give me a second and I'll see if I can find it in my favourites list.

[PsyckoSama]

Originally Posted by Talos

I may have the link to the second, give me a second and I'll see if I can find it in my favourites list.

You sir are a prince amongst men.

[ttestagr]

Originally Posted by PsyckoSama

You sir are a prince amongst men.

I'll take it too if its available. I still can't believe this has been so hard to find.

[Talos]

Originally Posted by ttestagr

I'll take it too if its available. I still can't believe this has been so hard to find.

Sorry to disapoint, but turns out the place doesn't have it/ had it and it was removed.

They have the first movie, but not the second if that'll do.

[condonzack]

Originally Posted by PsyckoSama

They still have pony-tail kid. He's good at organization, just don't let him write your battleplans.

But he does not inspire like Simon does. Simon, or at least the way I see him, is in many ways a messiah. His presence makes the people around him more. At the end of the series, its implied that he could raise the dead but had the wisdom not to. He's more then human. His The Digger, Hallowed Be His Drill.

EDIT: Forgot to ask, Fanfiction.net just sent me chap 7 again. did you edit?

[Talos]

Originally Posted by condonzack

But he does not inspire like Simon does. Simon, or at least the way I see him, is in many ways a messiah. His presence makes the people around him more. At the end of the series, its implied that he could raise the dead but had the wisdom not to. He's more then human. His The Digger, Hallowed Be His Drill.

EDIT: Forgot to ask, Fanfiction.net just sent me chap 7 again. did you edit?

No, I didn't, I was changing the name of the chapter and had to reupload -- I deleted it by pressing the wrong button and then being absant minded.

[condonzack]

well thanks for getting my hopes up!

*poutpoutpout*

[Talos]

Chapter 8: Siege of Kamina City


The first time Rossiu realized something was terribly wrong was when he got a call from Leeron.
The engineer had been working hard on his newest pet-project – the second generation of Grapearls. Though he still didn't know exactly what was downgrading their performance, even Rossiu agreed that to have sub-pair units was simply unacceptable.

It was a cool night – the sun had finished setting around fifteen minutes ago and already, the night-time was leeching the warmth from the city like a strange parasite, the vivid red of the sky was lie a rash, intruding upon the otherwise peaceful night. Rossiu had been working hard since the Dai-Gurren Brigade left, the populace needed to be soothed and calmed, and it looked like he'd have to be the one to do it, though truth be told, he could entrust the job to no other.

He had been forced to calm the citizens, even as he had the military install multiple new defences in and around the city. The foremost of these had been nicknamed the ''spider's web''. They were a master piece of Leeron's work. They were also, a very monumental piece of engineering, as they were the new Spiral civilizations first weapon to run on Spiral energy. They were incredibly primitive next to the Spiral Cannons on the Citadel of Terra, or even the weapons of Gurren Lagann. Compared to their ancestors made by the original Spirals, they were wasteful, inaccurate and prone to overheating. They were also, the most destructive none bomb-type weapon the human race had in their arsenal. Each node was a small turret built on top of a bunker just large enough for two to four people. The turret could move and while it was possible to use for ground-combat, it was highly discouraged as they could cause massive damage to anything be it friend or foe and a misfire would be... bad.

There were fifty one individual nodes scattered throughout Kamina city, they were networked together with their power-supply and auto-aiming systems, one node, the master node, was able to redirect and control all others, though they had sufficiently advanced computers that they could put up a fight on their own. Most of them were garrisoned with trust-worthy soldiers to defend them, and to direct the computers. This was important, because they drew their energy from those inside the bunker. When active, they would force a massive interconnecting field of fire above the city. From above, it would look like a searing emerald web of connecting pulses of Spiral Energy – hence the name.

It was undoubtedly primitive when one looked at the weapons developed and deployed in Gurren Lagann and the few surviving war-machines from that era. But it marked a momentous point in the history of the human race – the day they reclaimed Spiral Power to use for the good of the majority. It was the first step – the first step in a long, hard road – that would eventually lead to the likes of Lagann and Lazengann walking the Earth again.

A yawn escaped his lips and Rossiu realized just how tired he was, it seemed an eternity since he last slept, and the development of the ''spider's web'' had been highly public, inviting reporters everywhere to view the sites and take photos of him posing next them. He was looking forward to finally getting some well-deserved sleep. He laughed to himself, remembering his early youth, the village elder who had taught him so much. How impossible it would seem back then, that the human race could overthrow the beastmen and return to its dominant position, that the big cities could grow and prosper, that so many people could live together in unity. That they could on day reach into the stars. But now, now it seemed all that was threatened, pulled into a hostile place, where the sky was red and blood-soaked raiders descended from the sky with demons, cut off from all aid and possible allies. Rossiu swore he would not let it end this way, though it often didn't appear as such, he felt just as strongly on the mater as Simon or even Kamina would have.
Let Simon go off gallivanting across the stars on the word of a dying demon, he would just have to be the one to defend mankind. Not from the front, like the Dai-Gurren Brigade would have, but with his personality, with the armies of mankind, with the government, the soldier. The way of the Dai-Gurren Brigade was the past, his way, the way of politicians, and diplomats and plans and cunning schemes, that was the way of the future.

Suddenly, his heart leapt as the lights in his room flashed red – a sign that there was an emergency – he turned to the computer-screen embedded in the wall just as it flashed on. The screen was in high resolution. Leeron looked out at him, the usual fashionable man was wearing what looked like his night-clothes, his eyes were wild and a a sudden voice in the back of Rossiu's head whispered one word: danger.

“ Rossiu!” Cried Leeron in a relived tone, “ I was worried we wouldn't be able to make contact with you. Something just appeared above the earth.”

His heart thudded in his chest, a bad taste in his mouth, Rosiu forced his dry lips to speak, “ what is it?”

The answer, unfortunately, was exactly what he expected. The set of Leeron's face made it almost impossible not to. The grim look in his eyes vanquished any lingering doubt.

“ Its them.”

Suddenly, a dead calm descended upon Rossiu's troubled mind. This was it, what he had been planning for since they first arrived and the original raid had coated their streets in blood. Now they were back, and Simon wasn't going to be saving the day this time around. It was up to them, Rossiu nodded, but inside, he was a tangled ball of doubt and fears. What if the defences failed? What if they landed overwhelming force? What if he wasn't good enough to save everyone? But outwards, he was as ever in total control.

“ Go to red alert,” he ordered, “have the military deploy to their pre-selected positions, order the Grapearl flights to launch. Have the Spiral-Turrets active and target them as soon as they come within optimal range.”

The ''spider's web'' could probably have hit them from where they were, but the punch would have been massively reduced, and the element of surprise lost. So, Rossiu ordered them to hold their fire until the enemy was descending.

“ We've got a lock on them,” said Leeron, and the image was replaced by that of the corrupted space. Rossiu saw a massive, bloated ship. It looked to have been a recognisable construct originally, but something had grown over it like a shell of gore. The cannons protruded threateningly and even as he looked, the ship discharged a storm of what turned out to be drop-pods.

The screen zoomed in on them as they shot downwards at a staggering speed, starting to glow cherry red as they came. It was hard to connect them with the deadly warriors who had attacked Earth the last time, but now Rossiu held the terrible knowledge that this was no simple raid, the ship was holding position above the planet, a hulking brute ready to bombard them at the at the first chance it got. The first wave was speeding towards them faster than thought, ready to spill into his city like a cancer. A cancer that needed to be cut out. No, this was no simple raid, this was a full blown invasion.

Even as he stood watching, the pods shoot into the range of the turret-system. Almost at once, all over the city, Spiral-Turrets turned, adjusting their cross-hairs. Their computer systems adjusting for atmospheric pressure. The turrets gleamed in the red light of the tainted sky, and then, they fired. Each turret belched a steady stream of emerald coloured energy. The concentrated Spiral Power of those inside.

The sky became a killing zone as the Drop-Pods fell into the unexpected resistance becoming tiny blossoms of fire against the backdrop of the crimson heavens. But more came, and more, the interlocking beams of emerald light seared the eyes as they knifed up at the oncoming attackers, but if there was one drawback of the marvellous Spiral-Cannons, it was that the beams had a difference in strength. Some Spirals had more strength than others, and the beams reflected this, the combined energy of the more hot-blooded of the soldiers speared through drop-pods, one-shooting many of the heavily armoured transports. But on the other hand, the less hot-blooded had trouble penetrating the defensive armour, and many pods only listed to the side, or lost their trajectory. Of course, even amongst the most powerful Spirals, there were a few who's cannons fired especially powerfully.


__

“ FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!” Attenborough's hand slammed down on the fire button again and again, discharging more Spiral energy than his two nearest neighbours combined. He laughed maniacally as another drop-pod burst into flames, was impaled by his weapon and exploded in a fiery shower of metal.

It was what he always dreamed, a powerful weapon firing at his command, and it did all the aiming for him! All he had to do was to press the button and watch as the computer did all the rest! It was like he was in love! He felt the power surge through the machine in the same instant it surged in his body, it was a feeling he'd gottten only one other place: The bridge of the Tanga Toppa Gurren Lagann


The screen locked on to another target and a massive grin grew on his face, “ FIRE!” He screamed, again, the burning flames alight in his eyes enough to impressive even the late Kamina. The beam of energy lanced from the hastily constructed turret and impaled the drop-pod.

“ I'll show them to mess with me! FIRE!”

__

Rossiu burst into the control room of the central node in the Spiral Cannon network, it had been set up on the roof of the government building. The two occupants turned to regard him, there was Leeron and... Kittan?! No, he must have been mistaken. The blonde-haired Dai-Gurren Brigadier vanished as soon as he tried to focus on him. He shook his head to clear the vision, it must have been the stress of his station.

“ Are you all right? You look a pit peaky, but then again you haven't been getting much beauty sleep.

Rossiu looked up at the screen, it had zoomed out, demonstrating the battle at large. So far, it looked good. The first wave of drop-pods had been heavily depleted, burning wreckage littered the streets, several buildings had been damaged when a rogue pod smashed into them, or crested them too closely.
But, it wasn't all good, the first few that had landed touched down safely, emptying of their contents. Cameras dotted around the city showed him grisly pictures of red-clad giants, the military had set up blockades on his order with heavy weapons, but he personally doubted they would hold long. His plan involved using the Grapearls as mobile fortresses, their speed meant their superior fire-power could be brought to bear with little trouble, combined with the military's preprepared defences, it ought to be enough to hold out.

He wasn't even thinking about the massive cost in lives, of civilians caught in the cross-fire between the invading forces and the defenders, now Rossiu was all business. The Spiral-Turrets roared and spat death at the oncoming enemies, but he knew they alone could not win the battle,. He had been fearing this since the last raid by these unknowns, that the might return, in greater numbers with their goal being more than simple slaughter. This time, it looked like they had come for conquest, and if they shared the bloodthirsty nature of their late brothers, he didn't even want to think what they might do if they won.

A part of him wished that Simon and co were still here, though the two of them might have disagreed sometimes, Simon was just the kind of man you wanted to help you in this kind of situation. Not the best for subtlety though.

The computer gave a beep and a red rectangle flashed on screen, mapping the projected path of a new flight of drop-pods, along with a timer rapidly counting down to zero. Rossiu knew what this meant, it was a sign he'd been waiting for since the attack began. It meant that the flight – six drop-pods in all --- was heading directly for the administrative centre of the city – this very building.

Leeron noticed it as well, his face scrounged up for a second and then he said, “ Even if we redirect every turret in range, odds are at least three pods will hit us, they're moving at a much greater speed than any of the others. Looks like they guessed we're directing the counter attack.”

“ They want a short fight,” Rossiu guessed, working quickly, the rapidly approaching pods seemed to take up the whole screen. His eyes were drawn to them like a moth might be to a flame, they had to work quickly now, before they were , “ Is the building evacuated?”

“ Almost, security is in full force, essential personnel are all down stairs overseeing city-wide communication and Grapearl linkings. We have a of soldiers standing ready to repel an enemy attack.”

“ Soldiers wont be enough, Leeron, we've seen these guys fight. They'll tear through normal men like wet tissue-paper.”

The timer was getting much lower now, and Rossiu counted only a few seconds before impact, the blazing green light of the defensive turrets sliced into their formation, one pod skewed to the side, tumbling as it struck ground and exploded. Red armoured forms rushing out of the blazing wreck.

“ Soldiers ready!” Barked Rossiu into the com-link with the duty-officers, “ Prepare for assault on the buildings. Whatever happens, we must hold the lower levels if the communication between forces is to be maintained.”

And that, was all they had time for. The soldiers had been warned, they could set up chock-points throughout the building, but it seemed a pitiful resistance compared to what the invaders could bring. Rossiu had spent a long time worrying over their superior abilities in hand to hand combat since the last raid, he had fretted and planned and eventually come to the conclusion that the only way they could win was with overwhelming force. Something they should have in this instance, since the building was practically swarming with their own soldiers. Unfortunately, judging by the last battle, the enemy had far more advanced armour and weaponry, and while attempts were being made to reverse-engineer captured technology, it was considerably setback by the fact that the head scientist in charge of dissecting the strange machinery had gone made and had to be killed before he shot dead the rest of the team. What they did learn was grim; the invaders could hit harder and take far more damage than any infantry they had. So, Rossiu had formulated the strategy that they should be engaged from range, and never up-close. He had stressed that any man fighting within arm's reach of the invaders was already dead.

He only hoped he had prepared sufficiently, but as another two of the pods were shot down, he realized that this was something he could never truly prepare for. More Spiral beams slashed through the air, but they were too little, not enough time. The building shook violently as the pods impacted and for a brief moment, Rossiu thought that the administrative building wouldn't be able to put up with the stress, but it proved false. The building was strong, it was one of the first that had been put up after the erection of the Kamina statue. It had been made well, more floors than even he could remember, it included unnumbered below ground levels where Leeron and the best of his ilk practised their craft.

The building held, and the cannons returned their fire to the sky, but the pods were getting farther apart now, and fewer, those that had landed were discharging their troops, and now, his city would fight for its life.

There was a scrambled report from the radio, “ Contact! Hostiles in the building, second floor, G-section!” There was the sounds of gun-fire then a louder, more destructive weapon of unknown make, and then, nothing but static.

Leeron and Rossiu shared a look, the first stage of the battle was over, now the enemy would strike back. And they could only hope Kamina City could take after the one who it was named for, and prove strong enough to endure the coming hours of Hell.

__


The doors of the drop-pod blew open with a hiss and a shriek, the fleshy web spun between the struts fell away and Irinian let loose, his mighty armour flaming in the Chaotic magic of his very presence, he roared, like a monster from a long forgotten fable, brandishing the power-axe he took from the dead hands of the former Chapter Master – the one who tired to prevent their fall to Chaos – and bellowed.

“ For the Dark Gods! Kill for Chaos, my brothers! Kill for Chaos!”

The six marines that accompanied him, a five-marine honour guard and Chief Liberian Demos, spilled out from the pod, weapons discharging into the enemy soldiers already arriving.

Half of them died in the first few seconds, totally unprepared for the brute power of Astartes, the others were the ones who were lucky enough to find cover after the initial barrage., then it was into hand to hand. Bloody Fist Chapter had made this its speciality, even before the Fall. And since they gained the blessing of the Dark Gods, it had become their primary focus in combat.

Since the other five members of the honour guard were suited in Terminator Armour, they made quick work of the defenders, ripping them to shreds even as Demos struck at their minds and souls with his warp-magic. He had been worried that his powers would be compromised were he under the protective field of emerald energy that surrounded the planet, but he need not have. While it was true, his abilities were diminished, they were still far more than required in order to finish these lowly humans.

In mere seconds, the hall was cleared, the gaping hole behind them through which they had entered howled in the wind, but for Demos, it sounded like a Daemon summoned into this world, and he found it a fitting backdrop for their conquest of this pathetic planet.

“ Demos!” Barked Irinian, the Liberian nodded, knowing what had to be done.

His brothers moved quickly to secure the hall, checking their weapons and boasting of their exploits. Demos closed his eyes, focused his mind and called upon the Changer of Ways to grant him the knowledge he sought.

Almost at once, Demos ''soul'' floated free, unhindered by mortal bounds, he looked beyond the hall, immediately , he felt the glorious presence of his brothers around him, their powerful bodies infused with a Chaotic presence that he would recognise it at any distance. Beyond them, there was the vague, shadowy half-lights in the Warp case by human souls. These, he could safely ignore, they were dim, as the soul of an unenlightened human ought to be. But here and there, he could feel the glows of those gifted - -with a blazing mind, or a commanding presence or even a primitive talent with the Warp held in check by that strange Spiral Energy. These, he marked out with a mind for later extermination to throw the enemy into confusion. Higher, he climbed, searching the surface thoughts of those nearest his avatar, mental voices assailed him in waves, but with a skill born of years of practice, a mental shield formed from tireless practice and an iron mind with which he had seen off many attack, he scanned them and moved on.

He was looking for something, a powerful mind, a leader. He had done this a thousand times before, and each time, brought his Chapter victory. He was close now, the minds growing stronger in their glow. A few of them might have been worthy to became Astartes were this world held in the decaying grasp of the Corpse-Emperor. He skimped from mind to mind, stealing thoughts and words, looking, searching, feeling, fitting it all together like a jigsaw. A single word, he found in every mind echoing with a strange kind of respect, Rossiu There! A mind that burned with an emerald flame. It was much like that of the pilot Simon, but where Simon's burned with a passion, Rossiu held his flames in a cage of chilly ice. It was a strange contradiction, enough to bring a smile to his face. Now, he had located his target, he could kill him in an instant, could boil his blood, fill his bones with liquid metal, smash his brain against the inside of his skull. He could end the life of Rossiu and everyone in the room with Rossiu. But this was not his mission.

He opened his eyes and snapped back to the present, Irinian watched over him, and Demos spoke, “ I found him, Chapter Master. I can kill him now if you wish, if you order it, I can obliterate the mind of every soldier of rank”

Irinian smiled at his bloodlust, “ No, Chief Liberian. You're worship of the Gods is certainly commendable, but I want this leader to suffer. I want him to see, as his soldiers die, I want him to know he has been defeated by someone who is in every way, superior.”

“ Yes, Chapter Master.”

“ You know where he is?”

“ Yes, Lord.”

Irinian roared his next words, “ Move out! We'll bleed them dry as we fight our way to their leader. Don't call him, I wish him to live for now!”

Privatively , the Chapter Master grinned behind his Chaos-blessed helmet, the vox-link to the ship was intact though a bit blurry, “ Come in.”

“ We hear you, Chapter Master,”

“ Phase two is go.”

“ Roger! Launching second wave.”

The in orbit spat another flurry of metal, but this time it was not drop-pods, it as made up of slower, more heavily armoured transports. Now the battle in the city was under-way, they would be able to land under lesser fire, assuming their brothers could disable the Spiral Turrets.

Satisfied that the invasion was well under way, Irinian ordered the squad to move out, they would have to link up with their brothers who had landed nearby in the building. Then, they would make their way through the building and capture this ''Rossiu'' then, they would capture the city and make it the seat of what would soon be a new Daemonworld.

Turning into a new corridor, he saw the humans had built up what looked like a chock-point. Pathetic fools, didn't they know what the true power of Chaos could do to a being?

“ Demos,” he barked roughly, “ enlighten them!”

The Liberian obliged with a storm of Warp-spawned lightening, searing the body and the soul. The humans screamed in agony and it was music to the Chaos Marine's ears.

“ Press on! Kill for your patrons! Fight for Chaos Undivided!”
__


The burning landscape of the street light up the sky like a scene from hell. The overturned, molten remains of several armoured vehicles, the scattered bodies of the majority of the defending soldiers. In the midst of the battle, a few surviving warriors huddled against the blazing wreck of their command vehicle.

“ we cannot hold this street!” Shouted sergeant Jimson into the radio, over the sound of explosive gunfire, the screams of the dying as the strange weapons tore into what remained of his men.

“ Catch them in a field of fire!” Corporal Divids cried, gesturing with his rifle, “ surround them and take them down. Aim for the joins where the limbs meet the body, and the neck! That armour must have some sort of weakness, find it!”

But, the corporal had to admit, as the thunder of rifle-fire sounded again, the bullets impacted harmlessly against the strange red armour, it was looking more and more like if they had a weakness, it was not something their current weapons could exploit. The eight giants, hefted strange weapons – Bolters, he'd heard them called. Whatever they were, they could pierce any armour, he'd seen one of them penetrated an armoured truck to impale and kill one of his men before they could shout a warning.
Sweat mixed with blood on his forehead as he waited for a reply from command. At last, that smug, self-centred voice got back to him, “ Orders are for you to hold that street.”

“ Listen to me!” He shouted, over the screams as one of his men was picked off his feet and bodily torn apart, “ This fight is lost! We're down to less than fifteen percent of our original numbers, the red-bastards have lost one man. One! And that was because we hit him with a rocket-launcher, and quite frankly, we got lucky! I've seen these guys walk off machine gun fire. Our armoured support is in shreds. Command, we ether pull out now or die here, but ether way they take the street.”

“ Hold position, we have reinforcements on the way – Grapearl wing Thirty-four A, and multiple infantry squads. You can still win this.”

Jimson felt like reaching down the line and pulling that worthless man's heart out via his throat. How dare this guy tell him to hold the line, didn't he know his men were fighting? Dying? For a miserable street, an empty, deserted street with buildings that had been constantly patched up. The life-blood of his men ran like a river, only a few left now, each death cost something more, each death was the end for a man he had trained with, had lived with.

He poked his head over the cover, saw the eight men spread out, seven of them hoisting Bolters and the eighth was carrying a massive contraption spitting flames like a dragon of ancient legend. He took aim, his rifle sitting comfortably in his grip, eyes focused on his target. The one who seemed to be leading them, the one without a helmet. His teeth filed to a point, his breath like mist. He seemed so inhuman, and yet... no, no time to think... he had his shot, he could take it, drop another one of the bastards and even the odds even a little for his side.

Is this how it mist have felt? He wondered, at the start of the revolution, when the beastmen seemed so huge and invincible, is this what it must have felt like to be one of the few capable of taking a stand against them? Everyone knew who had done it first, it was the great man this city was named after. He'd always been one of Jimson's favourite historical characters. If he was here, Jimson had no doubt he'd be able to pull off some kind of victory, he'd do something and it would result in a victory, Jimson didn't know what he'd do, nor how it'd work, but he damn well know what he'd say.

Jimson felt his heart sinking, how could they possibly win this? It was a nightmare! These giants were invincible gods of battle, how could a mere mortal like him defeat such as them? There had to be something, some how, some way. He wanted to take the shot, but his hand was frozen, fear had taken a cold grip on his soul.

He had to take the shot! Had to, before another of his men paid the price for it. But his hands were frozen.

A sudden intense sense of hot-bloodedness overcame him. How dare these aliens come to his world? How dare they threaten his people? He may not have been Kamina, or even a member of the fabled Dai-Gurren Brigade, but by all that was holy, he could still fire a gun!

“ Who, the hell,” he shouted, as he pulled the trigger, feeling his blood rush through his system, “ do you think I a-”

His head snapped back before he could finish talking, the bolter round exploded and ripped his upper torso to shreds even as he toppled backwards in a rain of his own blood and gore. The rifle tumbled as it hit the ground, and came to a halt even as his lifeless remains cooled and the thunder of battle died down, the marines cleaning up the other survivors.

__


“ Grapearl Wing Thirty-Four A! Status report.”

Gimmy turned his Grapearl to avoid the missile as it roared past the head of the mech, he imagined he could feel it as it whisked past him. In turn, he spun his mech around, carefully adjusting altitude, the weapon in his hand spitting death and practically demolishing the building they enemy had barricaded themselves in.

“ Enemy position destroyed, command!” He reported, sweat running down his forehead as he scanned the immediate area for more of the armour-clad superhuman warriors. Seeing none, he flipped a switch.

“ Grapearl Wing, report!”

His twin's voice, as calm as she had been since the Daemon's attack. It had become impossible to elicit an emotional reaction from her, it really worried him. He spent most of his waking hours trying to get her to talk, but it was like she'd locked him out. A deep anger burned in him like a fire, an anger to get those who had done this to her. And now, now he had his chance! His Grapearl, it seemed, agreed with him. It was moving faster, responding far better and generally, his computer clocked a 56% improvement in overall combat-effectiveness.

“ Command, this is Thirty-Four, what's the mission?”

“ Good to hear from you! Last we heard you were under heavy assault.”

“ Causalities were medium, we're still an effective fighting force. What do you need us for?”

“ Perfect, because you're badly needed. Listen up, we have a scattered force of soldiers pinned down under heavy fire, they're heavily deleted and we need to maintain control of the area. We have infannrtry and heavy armour on route but you're the closest. Get over there, it doesn't matter how many of you get shoot down, hold that street.”

“ Affirmative!” Barked Gimmy. Once, he might have been bothered that the lives of his men were secondary to the mission, but now all he cared for was to inflict death on the invaders.

“ Listen up, Grapearl Wing, we're need on 67th Street. We'll show these alien invaders just who the hell we are! Follow me, provide cover, flight pattern beta!”

He banked to the right, rapidly climbing and content that his soldiers were doing the same. He silently willed his mech to go faster, to reach them sooner. He would make them pay for what happened to his Darry, he would make them pay for what they were doing to the city!”

__

The battle had only been raging for a short while, but already the outer regions of the city had fallen into enemy hands. He'd lost contact with multiple Spiral Turrets, and the computer was detecting a second wave following up on the first attack.

In short, the battle was being lost. And one look at Leeron's face ensured Rossiu that he knew it as well.

The engineer shrugged, “ They're just better equipped, our infantry weapons can hardly even harm them... the moral is lacking and our men just can't put up the strength required to hold ground against them.”

Rossiu nodded grimly, yes, moral, that was the trouble. Seeing a blood-soaked giant, clothed in red power-armour covered in skulls and welding a strange weapon capable of punching through tank armour in one hand, a a fricking Chainsaw-sword in the other was enough to make even the bravest man think twice. The majority of their losses had been when people broke and ran from the oncoming invaders.

“ If we hurry, we can still evacuate the city,” said Leeron, “ and we can try to fight back.”

“ No,” said Rossiu, “ we have to make our stand here. If we run now, how many people will die before we reach safety? And more importantly, the chances of us making it out now are slim to none.”

“ I guess you're right,” Said Leeron sadly, “ So we fight to the last man, huh?”

“ No,”replied Rossiu, “ there must be some way to turn this battle around, some trick I've not used, some plan... I know there is, but I can't think of what there could be.”

“ Its no use,” insisted Leeron, “ I've thought it through again and again, the only way we could turn this around is if the moral of the men were restored and the only one who could do that would be Simon... Simon or Gurren Lagann and we have nether. What we would need is a symbol of the revolution that brought the human race to power, something that the men could rally behind.”

“ A symbol, a symbol.... I could pull out the old flag we used in the Spiral War?”

“ No, we'd need something bigger, a real living reminder of what we 're fighting for, of what we're dying for. Only Gurren Lagann or its ilk could possibly turn this around now.”

“ Only Gurren Lagann?” A thought struck Simon , and it seemed to have taken the inventor as well, they looked at each other.”

“ It couldn't work,” said Leeron, “ we haven't got it fixed yet, never mind operational!”

“ We saw Gurren Lagann fix itself via Spiral Power, why can't this do the same?”

Leeron gestured helplessly, “ We don't have the pilots.”

“ I can pilot it,” answered Rossiu, “ I flew Gurren Lagann.” Of couse, what he neglected to mention was that he had been pretty bad at it... still, needs must, and it wasn't like he could count on anyone else.

Leeron gave him one last look, “ are you sure you can do this?”

“ No,” answered Rossiu at once, “ No, I'm trembleing, I don't know if I can even get it to move, never mind fight... But this city... this world is under siege.... and I am here to protect it.”
His eyes shone suddenly, “ I may not act like the others, but I am a member of the Dai-Gurren Brigade! If I don't defend this city, who will? I thought I could do it with soldiers and Grapearls but that's failed.. . I guess it comes down to this.. we need to inspire our men and only Gurren Lagann or its kin will do. Well we don't have Gurren Lagann.”

Here, Rossiu withdrew something small from the safe in the wall, it was the highest security and Leeron gasped seeing it. It was cracked and blunted but there was no mistaking it, a core-drill.

“ We don't have Gurren Lagann,” Rossiu repeated, his eyes alight, “ But we do have Lazengann.”

___________________________

Fifteen minutes later:

Chaos, dark powers swept through the spiritual realm just as the fallen Marines attacked the ''real'' one. Here, the name of the game was to currupt the mindss and souls of the people, who even with the natural protection provided by their Spiral energy, would soon be overrun and turned to worship the Dark Gods.

If, that is, they were not defended. Someone was defending them.

Lord Genome would have been gasping for breath, had he a body. He would have been beaten and bloody and tired, sweat pouring off him like a river. One did not stand up to the full force of a Chaotic assault on a whole city without taking the brunt of the damage, for a lesser Spiral it would have meant death, or worse, curruption. Even he, Lord Genome, was finding it hard to hold his own in the wretched sea of darkness that now invaded the Spiral Shield.

But he couldn't give up, couldn't let it win, if it did, the Spiral Shield would shatter and that would be very bad. If those people thought it was bad now, just let them see what it would turn in to if he let it. An army of Daemons rising from the Earth itself, he could feel them clawing at the shield, waiting, watching. He was getting tired, and when you are a creature subsiting solely on Spiral Energy, getting tired is not a good sign. For the first time, he was starting to doubt he'd be able to hold the Shield together, and because he doubted it, his energy levels fell, making it all the harder to continue the fight.

Then, a flickering light in the darkness, a torch of searing emerald light cutting through the evil blackness of Chaos to reveal... to reveal... No, it could not be... Genome would have shook his head, if he had one, but rather, he found the words said themselves in his mind. It was impossible, improbable, it could never happen, and yet, if that flash of power was anything to go by, it had.

Like an old friend, returned one last time to fight beside him, like a mechanical guardian of the Spiral Race, like the last hope of Kamina city, he felt the surging of power that could only be made by one being in all of creation.

"Lazegann."