Chapter 13: Into the Fight Once More!

"NO!!!" shouted Orion in fear, as the huge S-class unit landed with force upon the glass dome of
the city. However...

"It didn't break?!" said Hiro shocked looking at the glass dome that stood still without a single
scratch. Or so it seemed until an automated voice said: "Warning! Structural damage received.
75% of integrity remaining." Everyone watched the glass in despair, fearing for what will happen if
it broke.

"It is glass but a special one…" said Elise, "It has been fused with nano-graphene cover that makes
it tougher than titanium, therefore we have a little time before anything critical happens."

"Orion!" shouted Hatake as Orion snapped out of the shock, "We need to get the people to a safe
place!"

"Y-Yeah!" said Orion, "Everyone to the underground shelters! Quickly!" he said as Hatake and
Seraphime got busy helping everyone get to safety while Nana and Hachi took care of the kids.

"This will soon spiral out of control unless we do something!" thought Orion as he took out his
phone and connected to a secure line, "This is the President to Compass Station! Code red alert!
Ordering EMP salvo over Aztlan. Authorization code: 11472A0!"

"Authorization code accepted, firing EMP shells, estimated time of impact: 30 seconds." Replied
the personnel on the phone.

In a matter of seconds, about 8 shells came flying over the glass dome and blasted in mid air right
over the center of Aztlan and near the VIRM attackers; the released shockwave disabled all the
ship shields and the defense mechanisms of the S-Class unit.

"That should hold them for about 30 minutes…" said Orion, "Elise get squad Jian to battle! I will
issue the order to scramble!"
"Sure!" replied Elise, "Squad 13 with me, quick!" she said as she ran towards the platform where
the Franxx were standing.

Everyone made a quick stop towards their children who were standing with Nana and Hachi on the
way.

"Hachi, Nana! Please take care of our children for now!" said Goro looking at their kids.

"We will!" said Nana, "Just promise all of us the you will make it back safely!"

"We will do our best!" said Mitsuru hugging Ai, "I promise, my little starfighter."

The rest of the parents of the group hugged their children, calmed them down and promised them
they will return before finally making a run towards the platform while in the background, the
sound of the defense turrets firing could be heard.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Ichigo as the whole squad 13 ran with Elise.

"Defend, of course." Replied Elise, "Defend at least until everyone gets to safety…"

"So, battle time then?" asked Zorome.

"Indeed!" said Elise as they soon were at the feet of their Franxx. "Listen!" continued Elise "Your
Franxxs are equipped with emergency foldable ladders that lead directly to the cockpit. They are
quite useful in emergency scrambles like these or when trying to abandon the Franxx!" she said as
she pulled out a keycard out of a pocket and continued, "In order to activate it, you're given
special access cards that you MUST secure in your suits or in assigned pockets at ALL TIMES!! They
are your only tickets to get inside!"

As to show an example, she inserts her keycard into a hidden slot in Guan Yin's feet, which was
brought into the platform as soon as the EMP was fired, and then a large set of stairs appeared on
the Mecha's side. The whole group soon realized why they were used only for emergency: they
exposed the pilots to exterior threats and could be deadly if one of them slipped.
"Don't worry about slipping off!" said Elise sensing their fear, "The suits have integrated magnets
in the gloves and boots that will make sure you stick to the staircases! They also have integrated
earbuds that show holographic lenses that contain the HUD so don't worry about the missing
lectors. Now GO!! HURRY!!" She started to escalate the staircases of her mecha swiftly, to the
surprise of the Jians. They soon followed her example, and used their keycards to escalate the
ladders.

"Time to fly again then!" said Ichigo looking at Delphinium with a proud grin as each pair stood in
front of the entrance of their respective Franxxs.

"Excited?" asked Goro as he lent his hand to help Ichigo get onto Delphinium.

"Fearful and curious would be the right terms, I guess?" asked Ichigo sarcastically as Goro smiled
and pulled her in.

"Alright! Let's see if this girl has some new tricks to become a "bad" girl!" said Zorome with a
devilish grin on his face.

"Hey, you better go easy on me… otherwise… you know what will happen to you after the battle,
right?" asked Miku with a devilish look that made sweat drops fall upon the face of Zorome.

"Y-Yeah…" replied Zorome scared.

"It feels a bit different, you know?" asked Mitsuru sitting inside Genista.

"What?" asked Kokoro as she sat in her seat and looked at Mitsuru with a happy face.

"N-Nothing…" replied Mitsuru with a smile as his thoughts changed looking at her happy face.

"Oh god, I'm so nervous!" said Kofuku as her hands shivered in fear.
"What's the matter?" asked Futoshi worried.

"Well," replied Kofuku, "I haven't piloted a specialized Franxx before…"

"Don't worry!" said Futoshi smiling, "Just remember what we did in the simulator and that will be
enough. Just focus with me and we will be alright."

"Yeah," said Kofuku as she calmed down, "let's do this!"

"Say, darling!" said Zero Two as both of them took their seats.

"What is it?" asked Hiro.

"I want to go to the ocean…" she said looking towards the ceiling of the cockpit.

"Why are you saying that all of a sudden?" asked Hiro with a smile.

"Well," said Zero Two with a sad face as she leaned backward and held Hiro's hand, "whenever we
think that it's all over... something…" she said as she burst into tears, "Something like this keeps
happening and we are never able to live like we always wanted to… so… so, I… I just want to stay
together again; I want to enjoy like we did that day before all of this happened…" she said as Hiro
hugged her from the back.

"Don't worry…" said Hiro with a smile, "I'm sure that no matter what happens… we will find our
way back, soon!"

"All systems are ready," said Elise over the intercom, "make sure you are all connected well with
your partners and that the ladders are stored back into the franxx. And a little tip Zero Two, next
time make sure that your comms' channel is set on "private" when you're talking personal subjects
with your darling, alright?"
To the embarrasment of the two, they soon saw that their HUD's said that their comms were in
the 'squad' channel rather than the 'private' one. To the rest of their group, it was something
funny to see them like that.

"Alright! Enough with the chit-chat. Connect your Franxx and prepare to fly!!" said Elise as
everyone connected to their Franxxs and got ready to fly.

"Jian 345 and Jian 196, stand down." Said Elise as everyone looked at her shocked.

"What?! Why?!" asked Ikuno, her face showing an angry frown in the HUD while Titus was more of
a confused one.

"The doctors have yet to give you the all clear," said Elise, "therefore, you and Titus stay here. You
two will only be called if there is an emergency."

"But…" said Ikuno with a sad expression.

"It's okay…" said Titus holding her in the right shoulder: "I don't want to risk you losing your legs
again in this battle. I promise to you, however, that I will support whatever decision you make..."
he said trying to cheer her up.

"Fine…" said Ikuno with a sigh, "But I can't promise you I will hold back, commander. As soon as
my friends need help, me and Titus will be there."

"Alright but I won't help you in the trouble you will get with Orion later." Said Elise "Alright Jians,
time to fly!!!"

"Ganbatte!" shouted Titus.

** 'Ganbatte' in Japanese translates to 'good luck' in English. **

All the Franxx except Chlorophytum took off. While in the air, they could see the rest of Aztlan's air
defenses acting up. Turrets started to point upwards along with radar stations powering up their
guidance and tracking systems, other Franxx squad were soon starting to pour out from the Space
Elevator hangars, and they saw that in a cliffside in the distance quite away from the city had its
hangar gates open, revealing that it was an Starfighter hangar. Alarms were sounding very loud
across the whole city and our pilots could see the people below proceeding into security vaults to
avoid being caught on the crossfire. They also saw big ships moving towards the dome to protect
the city.

"Oh, that's right!" said Ichigo, "Which units are going to be in the battle, Elise?"

"Before I tell you, remember that up here you need to call me by my callsign 'Origin 2'." Said Elise,
"It's protocol! And as far as I can tell, command is still assuring the situation, be on standby.
However, one thing is confirmed. Pheonix, Meteorix and one more Franxx meant for Nana and
Hachi will not be participating. Meteorix is still undergoing repairs and Pheonix upgrades on the
weapon system make her unavailable to operate."

"This is Captain Teresa from the Cruiser 'Sky Explorer' AWACS callsign 'Treehouse'." Said a voice
over the intercom, "Jian Squad, do you copy?"

"Ichigo, that's you're call." Said Elise.

"Right," said Ichigo as she turned on the intercom, "This is Ichigo callsign "Jian 15", leader of Jian
Squad along Jian 53. We read you loud and clear!"

"Excellent!" replied Captain Teresa, "Listen here, we are your assigned AWACS, the unit in charge
of communicating you with HQ and their orders along with other nearby allied squadrons. We are
just receiving their orders! Set your HUDs into 'Briefing mode'!"

Everyone did and soon their HUDS showed a 3D map of the city's airspace and a decoded voice
started to narrate: "The capital city is being under attack by a total of 4 Gutenberg category VIRM
cruisers along with their escorts and one S-class "Warhog" unit. In order to effectively counter this
attack, our forces will be divided in three groups. Group A will be mainly composed of Klaxosaurs
under command of Queen Sera and King Hatake assigned to protect at all times the civilians that
are evacuating into the Space Elevator underground tunnels. Group B will be formed by the new
"Jian Squad" and the "ACE" squadron, and their objective will be to destroy the S-class before it
destroys the glass dome that protects the city. Group C will be conformed of all of the remaining
air forces stationed to protect the capital and their work will be to contain and destroy the 4 G-
units and their escorts until the S-class is eliminated. This will be your baptism of fire, Jian Squad.
Good luck and god speed."

"I hope they will be fine…" said Hatake worried as they stood outside a room from which they
were supposed to command the Klaxosaurs.

"They have to be," said Seraphime, "they are Franxx pilots afterall…"

"That is a fact but," said Hatake, "all this time they have been fighting Klaxosaurs and now
suddenly there is a surprise attack by an enemy they don't even know correctly."

"That is true, but I'm sure everything will be alright…" said Seraphime as the light outside the door
turned green.

"Alright then," said Hatake as he got up from the waiting seat, "let's get our ancestors to work!"

"The Kalxosaurs I suppose." said Seraphime.

"Yeah, of course…" he said as both of them took their seats inside the room, the room was located
on the highest position of outer belt that gave a surprising wider view of the battlefield, other
monitors inside the room showed the current position and view of the S-class unit.

"Alright, it will be alright!" whispered Ichigo siting inside Delphinium as her body shivered in
nervousness and fear, "It is going to all ok- ahhh!!!" she shouted as someone poked her from
behind.

"Why are you so nervous?" asked Goro.

"It's just, I just remember that it was just not the two of us…" replied Ichigo, "Being the leader, I
have to take responsibility of everyone, before it didn't matter much because we all thought that
Papa would take care of everyone, but…"
"At last we are here to kill that bastard…" said Goro with a laugh, "What can be more odd?"

"You guys ready?" asked Hatake over the Intercom.

"Yes," replied Ichigo, "yes we are!"

"Alright then!" said Orion, "Let us start!" he shouted.

"Sure!" said Hatake as he and Seraphime summoned hundreds of Klaxosaurs inside the capital that
came together and formed a dome that was big enough to fit all the evacuated people, to protect
them from any incoming damage.

"Alright we are done!" said Seraphime.

"Good," said Orion, "Group C, this is your call!"

"This is commander leader for Group C," said a voice on the intercom, "engaging for combat,
over!" he said as about 14 starfighters flew off towards the four Gutenberg ships.

"Alright, now listen!" said Orion, "The defense shields of the S-class unit were disabled thanks to
those EMP shells, but still it won't be that easy to take it down, but again, the dome won't be able
to take much more damage… Therefore, it all depends on you two, that is squad Jian and the ACE
Squadron. So, do your best!"

"Don't worry general!" said Daichi as ACE squadron took their seats, "We won't let you down!"

"Let's do this!" said Zorome as both the Jian squad and the ACE squadron flew engaged towards
the S-class unit in full speed.

As they engaged it, the shape of the unit became more clear, the S class unit resemble a giant
mechanical lizard, that was smashing the dome with the nails on its paws.
"Engaging from position Delta!" said Daichi as the ACE squad flew and attacked it form different
directions as the circled around the S-Class unit. Making the unit stop attacking the dome and
rather focus of eliminating the ACE squadron first.

"Alright," said Ichigo, "it's our turn now, let's do this!" she said as all the franxxs engaged towards
the S-Class unit in full speed.

"I'm a little worried though…" said Orion looking at them fight.

"Why?" asked Elise.

"Currently, in their team Genista is the only ranged attacker, right?" asked Orion.

"Yes…" replied Elise.

"But again, her ranged attacks are very slow and are only used when u need get away from the
enemy… Therefore, I'm not sure that they will be able to perform at their full capacity…"

"That is true," said Elise, "but they are our only hope, if we are to survive this…"

"Everyone!" said Ichigo as they went towards the unit, "Maintain the closest position possible,
shoot it's leg joints to make it fall. That's our objective!"

"Roger that!" shouted all the pilots.

"Don't take it that easily," said Hatake hearing their chat, "VIRM are stupid but not in case of
strategy!"

"What do you mean?" asked Hiro as the S-Unit stopped attacking the ACE squadrons as the 4
Gutemberg class ships turned towards the squadron and started firing towards them.
"What are they doing?" asked Zorome.

"I knew it!" said Hatake, "their goal is just not Aztlan but also to destroy the franxxs!"

"What is there to be so happy about it?!" said Mitsuru as they dodged the attack of the S-Class
unit that now also started to use it's tail to attack.

"Yeah, sorry I just love stratergy!" said Hatake laughing.

"Hatake…" said Seraphime sitting beside him.

"What is it-" asked Hatake as Seraphime pinched him under his arm.

"That's not how a king should act like!" said Seraphime.

"Alright, I- I- I'm sorry! Please it hurts!" he said as he stood up in pain.

"Try shooting it's eyes!" Hatake said as Seraphime let go off his arm and he settled down.

"You all heard him!" said Ichigo, "We all will make distractions and Genista will shoot it's eye!"

"Roger that!" said everyone as all of the Franxxs flew in different directions as Genista rose to
almost the same level of the eyes of the S-Class unit.

"Um, Mitsuru?" asked Zorome.

"Yeah?" asked Mitsuru as he tried to get a clear lock on the eyes.

"Please do it fast!" shouted Zorome as Argentia dodged through both the tail and the arm of the S-
Class unit.
"Hey, go easy!" shouted Miku.

"Shut up!" said Zorome, "What's more important here? Going easy on you or surviving?!"

"What did you say?!" said Miku.

"Taget locked! Engaging shells!" said Mitsuru as the shell went straight and landed directly on one
of the eyes, but only slightly scratching the other one.

"Everyone back to formation!" said Ichigo as they all flew out of the Units target area. The Unit in
its defense swung its tail all over the place. As to take the Franxxs away from him.

"Looks like we angered it…" said Ichigo as all the movement of the S-Class unit suddenly stopped.

"What is happening?" asked Zero Two looking at the unit as the noises of different joints being
released from the back of the unit could be heard.

"So, it is a lizard indeed!" said Orion as the tail of the Unit detached and the numerous needles
that pointed outwards from the tail joined them shelves, giving the tail a very hard coat and at the
same time making it stiff and straight.

"And that's VIRM architecture for you!" said Hatake with a grin as the tail had by now turned into
a lance a weapon for the S-Class unit, "And, Seraphime?" asked Hatake.

"What is it?" Asked Seraphime. She had already got a hold of his arm by now.

"STOP PINCHING ME!!!" screamed Hatake in pain.

"I told you to behave like a king, stop being impressed by the enemy! Moreover," said Serphime
looking at her fingers, "this just might be a new weapon to control you…" said said as she looked
towards Hatake with a scary look.
"Is that what a princess supposed to be like-" Hatake asked as the S-Class unit used the lance to
smash the dome instead of attacking the Franxxs.

"WARNING: Less that 5 percent of integrity remaining!" said he computer.

"One more shot and the dome will fall for sure!" said Orion looking at the unit worried, "Do
something!" he shouted.

"But we are not in formation yet!" shouted Zorome as all the franxxs hurried towards Delphinium
to get back into formation.

"They won't make it!" said Ichigo as she turned to her intercom off, "Goro, are you thinking what
I'm thinking?" asked Ichigo looking at the distance between the lance and the dome.

"You sure about this?" asked Goro.

"Yes!" replied Ichigo as the S-Class unit raised it lance again, this time holding it like a knife as to
stab it on the dome.

"No…" whispered Elise in fear as the lance came came in full speed to break the dome as everyone
turned their eyes away from the impact.

"WARNING: 1 percent of integrity remaining!" said the computer after the impact.

"It didn't break?" asked Orion shocked, he zoomed in to the location of the impact, Delphinium
had come in between the Lance and the dome to stop the impact.

"I see," said Hatake with a grin, "Delphinium knew that other won't make it in time to complete
the formation, therefore she being in the closest position to the Unit rushed in between the zone
of impact and tried to stop the lance by holding it and turning on her boosters to stop it. Well, at
least it saved us from one impact! Wait!" shouted Hatake looking at Seraphime as he stood up in a
position trying to defend himself, "You are not going to pinch me again are you?" he asked.
"Look at your arm!" said Seraphime. She had already got a hold of his arm.

"No, wait-" he said as this time she not pinched but also twisted.

"Ah. Damn it!" said Goro, "the movement controls are not working!"

"The lance must have hit the movement circuits…" said Ichigo as the S-Class unit once again picked
up the lance to smash another blow.

"So, everything is going to go in vain?" thought Goro as he looked at the S-Class unit ready to
smash another blow.

"Ichigo…" said Goro, "Tell the kids, I love them…"

"What?!" said Ichigo as Goro ejected the pistil seat out of Delphinium.

"No wait!" shouted Ichigo with tears in her eyes as her capsule went away from her Franxx.

"Sorry for keeping you all waited!" said a voice over the intercom of the franxxs.

"That voice…" said Futoshi shocked, as shells got bombarded over the other eye of the S-Class
unit, as the unit lost control over visual, his knees got shot with high-kinetic railgun ammo, making
it fall down from the dome, onto the ground outside the Capital, making the infertile soil fly up in
the air, and through that dust she came flying.

"Delphinium…" said Goro with a smile.

"I'm sure Orion's going to go all 'wild' on us for going against his orders…" said Nana as another
franxxs landed right beside him, it was mainly white coloured with red coloured stripes running all
over it that clearly separated its different components.
"Freiturnier?" asked Goro as the the Franxx installed new circuits and completely sealed off the
opening cause due to the lance with a clear fluid that solidified within seconds.

"Get the unit!" said Orion.

"Yes, sir!" shouted all the ACE squadron pilots as they bombarded the unit with proton missiles
until the Unit exploded.

"Now, it's time for the ships!" said Hiro as Strelizia aimed her spear towards the Gutemberg class
ships to attack them with her ultimate.

"WARNING: Unidentifiable object coming through!" said the computer.

"What is that?" asked Futoshi looking at the sky as a white light could be seen coming towards
them.

"It's coming too fast!" said Ichigo over the emergency intercom of her capsule as she came out it,
"dodge it!" she shouted.

"Darling!" said Zero Two.

"Damn it!" said Hiro as Strelizia got out of the just before the impact, whatever was coming
towards them, instead of crashing, fired its boosters at full speed and flew back into the hyper
speed portal that the VIRM ships used to escape. Finally, peace came back to the battlefield, as all
the franxxs returned back to the Capital. Freiturnier carried Delphinuim back.

"How could you do that!" said Ichigo crying as Ichigo hugged Goro who was on the hospital bed
with a minor head injury, "I was so worried!"

"Um… Ichigo," said Goro, "Everyone's watching!" he said as Ichigo let go off him in
embarrassment.
"So," said Seraphime, "Looks like everyone is fine then!"

"Yeah," said Kofuku, "but what happned to Hatake?" she asked looking at Hatake as he stood near
Seraphime with a clear sign of being worn out from pain holding a pillow in between his arm and
his waist.

"Nothing," said Seraphime, "I just taught him a few manners!" she said with a smile.

"Yeah whatever!" said Hatake as he walked out. Orion stood at the balcony looking at the recovery
team repairing the dome.

"It was a lot of damage, wasn't it?" asked Hatake.

"Yeah it was…" replied Orion, "But what are you doing with that pillow?" he asked looking at it.

"Long story…" said Hatake with a sigh.

"Say Hatake," said Orion, "whatever came with that white light, you know about it, don't you?"

"I just have a guess…" replied Hatake, "Just pray that it doesn't become true…"