Edmonton

Edmonton, the capital of Canada's Alberta province, sitting on the North Saskatchewan River. As of P.D 312, it was known as the second largest city in Alberta and Canada's fifth-largest municipality, tipping the citizen scale at 932,546. As of now, PD323, it crushed the scale with a total population of 1,321,426, more or less, making it the sixth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada.

With a population as large as that, it'd be hard to believe that the entire place would be abandoned up to the point where one could compare it to a scene in a horror movie, if it wasn't for the fact that the streets were quite literally deserted, with the notable exception of the hundreds of armed Gjallarhorn guards around the city, keeping guard of a ghost metropolis. Each were wearing the standard Gjallarhorn special operations armour and armed with standard issue assault rifles. Their orders were simple, to secure the city, of course, and deal with any unauthorized personnel in the area with extreme prejudice. And for some extra security, multiple Gjallarhorn humvees were situated in the middle of the roads to block vehicles which did not have authorised access to the city.

Their reasoning for having such tight security was simple. An election was currently taking place in Edmonton's parliament, and they wished to keep it secure… or at least that was the official statement. The proper reason was that Gjallarhorn wished to keep a certain group of soldiers and their rather popular 'speaker' from entering.

With their extremely tight security, most could assume that those whom they were trying to keep out would never dare enter the city. However, one could also rather confidently assume that they never expected a pair of TK-53 Mobile Workers, both of which were escorting a jeep, to come roaring through the desolate streets of Edmonton.

One of the soldier groups in the city attempted to stop the two Mobile Workers and their convoy when it headed towards their blockade, though they didn't account for the Worker up front to simply respond byblasting his humvee, acting as a makeshift barricade, with a 30mm high powered round The impact of the shot sent the Gjallarhorn humvee flying back. If that wasn't bad enough the Worker had crashed into it, knocking the destroyed vehicle out of the way and allowing it to continue its journey to the parliament.

While they roared through the streets of Edmonton, the people inside the jeep began riling up, specifically a blonde teen with long, blonde hair, dressed in a red shirt with a white line through her shoulders and some sort of navy blue ribbon in her neck. This was none other than Kudelia Aina Bernstein, or the Maiden of Revolution, as most identified her as. On the back seat was the ever awesome and wise looking Togonosuke Makanai, sporting a bitchin fine black robe and wooden staff, looking as cool as ever with his white beard and eyebrows.

Up front at the driver's seat of the jeep was the ever adorable Atra Mixta. She was a petite little fourteen (more or less) year old with an adorable light blue sweater and pink hair done up like a neko.

As for the Mobile Workers, the leading Worker held Tekkadan leader, Orga Itsuka, a boy/teen with tan skin, lilac hair and an ugly scar running along his body, and Takaki Uno, a blonde shota who was the one piloting the Mobile Worker up back, a stolen Union Worker of sorts. The pilot of the Worker who guarded their flank was unnamed.

Inside the jeep, Kudelia turned to face Makanai, looking a little distressed. "How much further until we reach the Parliament?" she asked, sounding a little anxious, which was rather justified as she was supposed to convince the people there to vote for the man she was speaking with, that and she was rather justifiably worried that Gjallarhorn Mobile Workers would come for them at any moment. She had little to no doubt in her mind that with their current numbers, they would have little to no chance to defend themselves.

"Take a right at the next traffic light…" replied Makanai calmly, glancing towards Atra. However, before he could finish his sentence, the lights of Edmonton began to act up, and after a few seconds, they blank out completely. The group was left wondering at first, not sure what was happening, though Takaki, Atra and the Mobile Worker that brought up the rear were busy driving to pay it any mind.

"What is this…" asked Orga anxiously as his hair flowed with the wind, looking around at all the blanked advertisements of Edmonton, not noting the subtle sound of incoming thrusters. It wasn't until when Takaki spoke up that he realized what was going on.

"Boss! All our comm links besides LCS have been cut off!" informed Takaki, the panic apparent in his voice. "Our radar is out as well!"

Narrowing his eyes rather intensely, Orga stood confused for a moment, only to widen them beyond belief when he finally heard a somewhat familiar sound. Though by then, he knew what was going on. Turning back, he looked into the sky as a figure approached their current position, looking particularly menacing with its navy blue/grey colour scheme and armed with Twin Axes that were definitely made for Anti-Mobile Suit combat.

"Are they serious…?!" exclaimed Orga, sounding somewhere between bewildered and horrified. "They're letting Mobile Suits into the city?!"

Before the words 'Mobile Suits' even managed to leave his mouth, the unit in question came crashing down mere inches away behind their Worker and a not too far from the jeep. The impact sent the Worker up front fly forward a tad and caused the jeep to overturn. Oddly, the Mobile Worker up at the rear was unaffected, though the amount of dust which was kicked up on impact was strong enough to blind it momentarily.

"That's it… I remember now…" was the only comprehensible thing Orga could make out as he recovered from the shockwave created by the newly arrived Mobile suit. If he had to guess, the pilot of the unit was currently speaking via it's public comm links as it turned its head up to the sky. "I… I'm sorry, Lieutenant Crank(nee)... I was supposed to obey your orders… and capture Kudelia Aina Bernstein…"

In front of the MS, in the driver's seat of the overturned jeep, Atra 'sat' there, slowly recovering from the impact. Once she recovered, however, she quickly noticed that someone was missing. "Miss Kudelia?" she muttered, wondering where she was.

Shockingly, Kudelia herself was already out of the jeep. Stepping towards the new Mobile Suit, she faced it bravely, with an unfaltering stoic look on her young face. "I am Kudelia Aina Bernstein!" she spoke up to it, her voice harder than the alloy harder of Mobile Suit Frames. "Is there something you want with me?"

The Mobile Suit itself stayed eerily silent for a few seconds before lowering its head unit to face Kudelia. From where she stood, Bernstein thought that it looked like a Graze unit's head, only somewhat more demonic. Rather abruptly, a unit on its head unit swiveled down, revealing a blood red mono-optic.

"So, you were here all along…" muttered the apparent pilot of the MS, his voice literally dripping with poison, venom which was biting at the chance to melt Kudelia's throat. "I went to collect you at CGS…"

While the MS kept speaking of events of the past, it failed to notice Orga getting out of his Worker, grumbling about the rash decision Kudelia made. "That idiot…" grumbled Itsuka, climbing out of the MW. "Takaki, be ready."

"Hai!" was his immediate response from the boy in quesition.

"If you had come with us… Lieutenant Crank(nee) would not have died…" continued the Mobile Suit's pilot, it's voice sounding even more hateful as it spoke, and Kudelia herself noted how it's manipulators seemed to tighten around it's axes. "Besides…"

As it rambled on about a past experience on Crank(nee)'s nobility, it didn't notice little Atra racing out of the overturned jeep. And it also, somehow, failed to notice the Union Mobile Worker aim it's cannon at it.

'EB-AX2 Graze Ein…' thought the pilot, mentally reading its serial number and 'codename' through the on screen data. Gritting his teeth, he aimed his Worker's main cannon at it's cockpit. Even if it didn't pierce the Nanolaminated armour of the cockpit unit, the impact would hopefully provide a good enough distraction for Kudelia and his boss to escape. He knew that he would most certainly die after that, but he was willing to make the sacrifice. 'Gotta create an opening which she can use to escape!'

However, before he could lock onto the cockpit, movement on the Graze Ein's shoulderpad caught his eye. Instinctively swiveling the turret to face it, the pilot widened his eyes when he saw a chaingun fold down from its shoulderpad. It quickly revved itself up before blasting his Worker. Six shots was all it took to reduce the Worker into nothing but scrap metal which exploded within a few seconds. The unexpected scene made Kudelia turn back in shock, but the Graze didn't stop it's yapping.

"That's right…" said the pilot of the Mobile Suit. "Lieutenant Crank(nee) died because of you…"

"Because of my actions, many lives have been lost!" retorted Kudelia, effectively cutting off the Graze in spite of the difference in volume. Taking the slight shock which the Graze's pilot appeared to currently be experiencing as an opportunity to get their friend out of harm's way, both Atra and Orga dashed towards the blonde. "But that is why I cannot stop now!"

After allowing it to sink in for a second, the Graze raised it's right arm unit, in turn raising one of its axes as it averted its blood red mono-optic towards her. "That ego…" it muttered. "I shall teach you!"

Shifting its axe so that it's cutting edge was pointing down, the Mobile Suit promptly got ready to crush her beneath the blade. As it was halfway down to its intended target, however, Atra managed to close the gap between herself and Kudelia and tackled her friend back.

"Miss Kudelia!" she proclaimed as she sent Kudelia onto her back. Yet, while they flew back, a rather loud noise was heard. It sounded… familiar to both of them. Neither girl had enough time to turn their heads toward the source, however, but they did have time to widen their eyes ever so slightly when a familiar looking figure came blasting past them, dragging a massive 'weapon' with both of its manipulators. And right before the axe of the Graze Ein even got halfway towards from reaching her, the newcomer used it's weapon to block the axe, the subsequent impact creating a shockwave which sent everyone tumbling backwards.

Very slowly, the dust settled, revealing Atra holding onto Kudelia, who did likewise, and with Orga somehow below Kudelia. Once the trio recovered, and after the dust had settled, the three of them were able to see what had come to their rescue, though Orga himself already knew what it was.

As a smirk formed on Orga's face, the dust began settling down just enough to allow Atra and Kudelia to see the now familiar and rather reassuring back of the ever familiar Ace Tekkadan Mobile Suit, the ASW-g-08/F6, or more widely known as Gundam Barbatos Form Six. It looked just as the three of them remembered it, with its white Nanolaminated armour, grey inner frame and Wrench Mace held tightly in its grip, blocking the twin axes of the Graze Ein from striking them. The only noticeable difference was that the left V-fin of the unit was broken off.

"Of course…" began Orga, speaking through grit teeth as he stared up at his pal's Mobile Suit. "You would never let us die in a place like this, eh, Mika?"

And as soon as those words via his local comm links, the pilot of the Gundam, Mikazuki Augus, looked up from the monitor of his Gundam Frame to face his new opponent.

"Let's go," was all he said as he gripped his unit's arm controllers tighter. "Barbatos."

As he said that, the data in the Barbatos' Alaya Vijnana acknowledged his command, giving him a little more data to work with, causing the Mobile Suit's optics to flash green. However, even though the Mika kept the Barbatos' leg units locked firmly to try and keep the Graze from advancing, the knee units were slowly but surely giving way to the pressure that was placed on the Gundam.

"Mikazuki…" muttered Kudelia thankfully, though she was still shocked, a feeling which was drowned out by the feeling of thankfulness she had towards the Gundam's pilot. If the kid had never existed, she'd be dead multiple times over. However, the Graze Ein's pilotseemed to feel opposite feelings towards the Gundam, as it's single cycloptic optic almost immediately let out a darker, more menacing shade of red as it put more strength into both axes, attempting to push the Gundam back, but it's opponent held its ground.

"You!" exclaimed the Graze in a pissed off tone. "The sinful child that killed Lieutenant Crank(nee)!"

In the cockpit of the Barbatos, Mika himself simply felt confused as he raised an eyebrow. He vaguely remembered the name, very vaguely, though not enough to remember Crank Zent, the Barbatos' second kill ever since the end of the Calamity War. "Who's that?" he promptly asked, genuinely confused. And it seemed to enrage the Graze, who raised it's left arm unit in an attempt to strike the Barbatos.

"How dare you?!" exclaimed the Graze, ready to strike, though the arm was intercepted by the Barbatos when it was raised, stopping it dead in its tracks, though at the cost of the Gundam sliding back about two metres.

"Stay still," grumbled Mika, sounding mildly irritated as Orga got Kudelia and Atra back towards the jeep. As the girls kept their eyes on the Gundam, Orga helped Makanai, who was still stuck in a truly unfortunate manner, out of the upturned jeep.

"Get me out…" requested Makanai, in which Orga replied that he was doing so.

"Boss…" came a voice behind Orga, making him turn to see that Takaki got their still functional Mobile Worker to their location.

"Takaki?" questioned Orga, but he simply shook his head, not willing to ask how Takaki got the Worker behind him without him hearing it as he moved onto the more pressing matter. "Nevermind, we have to hurry. So long as we're still here, Mika can't fight properly."

"Hai!" replied Takaki as Orga finally freed Makanai from his slight dilemma. As he did, Atra tugged on Kudelia's dress in order to get her to look away from the Gundam. As much as she was reluctant to do so, she had to leave Augus. This was something she couldn't help him with… and she knew it well. She just needed to get Kudelia to realize that as well.

"Miss Kudelia… we need to go!"

Both Mobile Suits were stuck in a clash with their respective weapons, though the Graze Ein itself was slowly but surely overpowering and pushing the Barbatos back. Despite that, the smaller Gundam Frame stood its ground valiantly, both it and its pilot unwilling to let up.

"Unbelievable… your sins…" groaned the Ein's pilot as it pushed the Gundam back. "... they do not stop… they keep growing…"

Mika didn't really pay much attention to that, mainly because he was wondering how he'd get out of this situation without harming Orga or the others. Though his answer came in just a few seconds when his comm-links came to life, with Orga's voice coming through it.

"Sorry for the wait, Mika!" he yelled, making Mika turn back to glance at the now moving Mobile Worker and spot Orga, Kudelia and Atra atop it. The girls were sitting on the top of the Worker while Orga hung onto a railing on its back. "We're on our way to the Parliament! I'll leave the rest to you!"

With his new 'orders' given to him, Mika couldn't resist a smile. After all, Orga's orders were everything to him.

"Yeah, I got it," replied the boy as he swiveled Barbatos' Land Boostersback and blasted them at full power, or at least enough to send the Ein stumbling back just enough to create an opening and land a kick on it's waist unit. However, to Mika's slight shock, the Graze kept itself upright, though not enough to stop him from swinging the Wrench Maceat it. The real surprise, however, came when it had blocked the Mace with both its axes, with it's torso still bent back. "Darn it…" muttered Mika, thinking he slipped up.

"Lieutenant Crank(nee)... at this rate, your tears will not stop…" said the Graze mournfully, but that tone slowly changed into one of pure hatred as it got itself back upright, though Mika only blank in confusion at what the Hell he was talking about. "With this fight… I…" continued the Graze as it forced the Wrench Mace onto the ground, cracking the concrete. "I will make him repent!"

"Mikazuki…" muttered Kudelia, still stunned that Mika got there in time to save them, though Makanai's manly voice pulled her back to reality.

"We're running out of time!" he exclaimed Makanai, something which Orga didn't really like as they turned on a tight curve with their Mobile Worker,which thankfully didn't overturn and/or fling Atra, Kudelia and himself off it.

"I know!" retorted Orga grumpily. "But thanks to Mika, security is lax here. They're all concentrated on him and that Mobile Suit he's facing off against… so don't worry… I'll get you there… and then I'll put an end to all of this…

"...right, Mika?"

Hearing Orga's voice through the comm link of his Gundam seemed to renew Mika's energy, though if it was in a good or bad way was up for debate as he shifted back on his seat and widened his eyes to show small, dilated pupils.

Blasting right towards its opponent, Barbatos swung it's Wrench Macetowards it in an upwards motion. Surprisingly, the Graze dodged the strike and retaliated with an axe to the chest unit, only stopped by the Barbatos' blue arm guard. The arm guard gained a large cut as a result, but it effectively stopped the axe in the air, even if the Gundam did stagger a little from the impact. Using the opening he had given himself, Mika launched the Barbatos' leg unit towards the Ein, kicking it harshly and making it stumble back.

The boy followed it up by swinging the Wrench Mace At the Ein, but he didn't account for it to recover so quickly and catch the Mace's head with it's manipulator. The unexpected defensive movement caught Mika a little off guard, though not as much as when the Ein launched it's fist at the Barbatos' waist unit. When it pulled its fist unit back, it began spinning at its wrist, increasing in speed until it became a 'drill' fist of sorts. And when it struck, the drill fist nearly busted a waist pipe.

Thanks to the punch, the Barbatos was sent back a tad, though Mika managed to keep his Gundam's footing on the ground. However, once he recovered from the slight launch, the AV system of the Barbatos flared up, making Mika swiftly turn the Gundam to its side, just in time to block an axe swing from the Graze with its left Graze Ritter shoulderpad. The shoulderpad managed to stop the strike at the cost of being sliced in half.

Acting quickly, the Graze sent an axe downwards to try and down Barbatos, followed by another and another, all of which were avoided rather easily, though it had the side effect of kicking up a ton of dust which shielded both Mechanical Titans from view. To both Mobile Suits, the dust was very little issue thanks to the optical sensors, though to a nearby group of Gjallarhorn soldiers, it was quite a sight to behold.

"...commander?" began a bazooka holding soldier after a while as the Barbatos swung it's Mace at the Graze, narrowly missing it's cockpit by less than an inch, dispelling some of the dust around it and allowing them to have a quick glimpse at the battling units, though within a second the two were once again blanketed by smoke when the Graze Ein swung its axes down at Barbatos, missing the unit and slamming them into the ground, ejecting dust into the air. "What are our orders?"

"I… I don't know," replied the unit commander, who had his helmet's visor flipped up so that he could view the battle with his own two eyes to confirm that he wasn't hallucinating. "All I can confirm is that one of the Mobile Suits in there is ours… but it's hard to believe… it's colouration and physical attributes makes it… makes it look like the devil…"

Relentlessly, the Graze Ein landed yet another strike which narrowly missed Barbatos' head unit, close enough to make Mika grimace but not enough for him to lose focus. Quickly, he sidestepped to the right, causing another downswing to miss his unit's left arm and for the Ein's axe to be lodged into the ground. Acting as fast as his instincts and muscles allowed, he got Barbatos to swing the Wrench Mace at the outstretched arm unit of the Graze, though the EB unit retaliated by letting go of it's axe, in turn evading the strike, and kicking the Barbatos at the waist, making it fall on it's side and lose its grip on the Wrench, rattling Mika up within its cockpit a little in the process.

"This is the perfect form of the Alaya-Vijnana…" growled the Graze's pilot as he pulled his unit's axe out of the ground and pointing its tip towards the fallen Gundam. "It is not like your crude unit… the one that I possess is the one that holds the power to unify humans and Mobile Suits…"

"The Perfect Alaya-Vijnana?" echoed Mika, clearly not understanding what the Ein's pilot was talking about. To him, everyone's AV System, regardless of how many spines they had, were about the same. What really mattered in his eyes was the person's skill, not their tech, a mentality shared by a majority of Tekkadan, so hearing someone call his AV System 'perfect' was a new experience.

"You… you and your pathetic Alaya-Vijnana byproduct… are nothing… nothing…" continued the Graze as it raised its axe. And, in a swift motion, the Graze brought down its axe onto its opponent, though by then the Barbatos had dodged out of the way with a fancy backflip and landed close to its Wrench Mace. Crouching down ever so slightly, the unit quickly picked the Mace up and held it with both manipulators, though it was not quick enough to avoid the axe which the Graze tossed at it. The weapon struck its right shoulderpad, breaking off the larger part on its side. "But a mere defective one!"

The sudden strike made the Barbatos lose its footing for a split second, though Mika quickly recovered. Using the slight confusion to his advantage, the pilot of the Ein performed a side swing, which the Barbatos ducked under and retaliate with a strike with its Wrench Mace. Because of how big it's weapon was, the Ein couldn't duck under it. Instead, it leapt straight over the Wrench Mace and attempted to land on the Gundam. Swiftly, the Sixth Form leapt out of the way, causing the unit to simply crash down onto the ground and kick up a ton of dust. Using the possible confusion and smokescreen to his advantage, Mika got Barbatos to perform a 'roundhouse swing' with the Wrench Mace. Unfortunately for Mika, the Graze reacted quickly, deflecting the strike with an axe and causing the Gundam to stumble back, the shockwave of the two weapons clashing against one another dissipating the cloud of smoke around them.

Gritting his teeth in uncharacteristic annoyance, Mika placed a foot of Barbatos back to steady itself. Once it was steadied, Mika grumbled silently to himself as he tightened his grip on the Gundam arm controllers, in turn causing the Gundam itself to tighten its grip on the Wrench Mace. Though it was subtle, Mika was feeling some sort of emotion. It was called fear, if he wasn't wrong, something he has yet to feel for quite some time, and he wasn't familiar enough with it to acknowledge it.

Besides, he didn't exactly have much time to think about he kept his mind on getting through this battle.

Somewhere near the Parliament

"Boss, I got a call from Miss Atra!" informed Takaki as he crouched in front of a computer within a small building situated not too far from the Parliament of Edmonton. "They made it to the assembly!"

"I see," replied Orga, tying his Tekkadan jacket around his waist as he spoke As he did, Takaki looked up at him hopefully.

"That means that our job's over, right?" asked Takaki, hoping that his boss would say yes.

"Yes… it will be… soon," assured Orga, looking downcast. "I'll end it…"

"Boss?"

"Takaki," said Orga, cutting Takaki off as he moved to kneel in front of his blonde comrade to look him in the eye. "I need you to do me a favor…"

"A favor?" asked Takaki, sounding worried. "What kinda favor?"

"Get some LCS units in the sky," was his simple answer from his boss, who stood up and stared out the window, frowning ever so slightly as he did. Takaki nodded in response as he moved to retrieve the LCS drones he had with him, though he did turn to Orga one last time before he got on with what he was ordered to do.

"What about you, boss?" inquired Takaki.

"I can't leave Mika by himself," replied the big boss. And Takaki let that quote sink in for a second.

"Hold on… you're going to the battlefield?!" he exclaimed. But Orga simply smiled.

"It's my job as the boss, Takaki," said Orga reassuringly. "It's my responsibility to see this

through…"

And with that said, Orga rushed out to get into the Mobile Worker parked outside before Takaki could protest.

Back on the battlefield

Accompanied by a loud crash, a messy explosion of dust, and a pair of soldiers shielding their eyes, the Barbatos was sent crashing into the side of a building, creating a massive hole in the structure on impact. The one who knocked the one in was none other than the Graze Ein, who stood before its badly damaged opponent, glaring down at it with its single monoeye.

The Barbatos was, by now, covered in multiple dents and axe shaped cuts on its chassis. Its paint had chipped off rather immensely, and it most likely had several internally damaged components within it as well. The areas with the most visible amount of damage were, not including the V-Fin, the chest unit's extra armour plating, which had a massive gash on it's left and a massive dent which busted through its center, and the shoulder pads, though that came as no surprise as those were the most useful defensive gear the Barbatos currently had.

On the polar opposite, the Graze Ein was almost spotless. The dark navy blue/grey had little to no damage on them, with a few minor ones on the waist and arm units from failed or ineffective strikes. The largest damaged area was on the left shoulderpad, which was caused by an Autocannon blast. Aside from that, one could simply assume that it was factory fresh.

"Sinful child…" grumbled the Graze, and it's tone sounded more distasteful than when it had roared at Kudelia. "Lieutenant Crank(nee) never intended to fight you…"

While the Graze's pilot continued it's babbling, something his opponent found generally annoying in combat as he kept talking about some sort of crank, Mika used this slight 'downtime' to check on the systems of his MS. Unfortunately for him and Barbatos, most of his results came up in the red.

"Only a little gas left in the thrusters…" he muttered as the AV system fed him most of the data on the Barbatos. "And even with the remaining Autocannon rounds… I can't kill him…"

And slowly, the boy stared up at his opponent, who kept on speaking in spite of its current tactical advantage.

'A difference in the Alaya Vijnana system…' thought Mika as he narrowed his eyes at the Graze. Within a few seconds, however, he lowered his head and frowned. No… that couldn't be it. The Alaya Vijnana was no replacement for skill. It was a crutch for those who were desperate, nothing more, prompting the pilot to assume that the Graze was simply a better pilot than him.

"Why do you not understand?" cut in the Graze pilot, snapping Mika out of his thoughts as it concluded it finished it's speech that he didn't even listen to. However, deciding to reply in order to get his mind back into the battle, Mika looked back up and blank at the Ein.

"That old man was wanting to die himself," he said, which didn't really help the situation.

"I knew it…" it said, as it's optic blazed up intensely, releasing what could be called 'illusionary flames', orange in colour and looking as though they could start a forest fire. "You are defective!"

As he said that, the MS raised an axe, not noting the Barbatos' back thruster powering up. And as soon as it was raised, the booster blasted to life, kicking up a ton of dust and creating a smokescreen. Despite the cloud of dust, however, the Graze saw the Wrench Mace flying at it, and caught the weapon before it struck the MS.

"You rat…" he cursed before driving it's last remaining pile bunker into the Wrench Mace's upper half, completely destroying it and slightly crumpling the bottom. Though what it didn't predict was the Barbatos coming at it from behind to strike.

Mika attempted a simple action, grab the Graze's cockpit and crushing it, or at least try and shoot it with the Autocannon. Unfortunately, the Graze was too fast for his liking, as it whirled around, using the same arm it used to break the Wrench to catch the manipulator Gundam's manipulator.

"You animals know nothing about the righteous path for humans!" exclaimed the Graze. And despite the firm footing it had on the ground, Mika soon felt the feet units of his Gundam be lifted up from the ground. Widening his eyes in shock, Mika could only give a grunt as the Graze Ein quite literally threw Barbatos off to the side with just one arm

While the MS was still in the air, Mika quickly recovered and activated the Land Boosters, positioning them in a way that readjusted Barbatos' position. Thankfully, he managed to do so before his unit landed face first onto the ground, instead landing on its own two feet unit. To soften the Barbatos' landing, Mika stepped down on a unit beside the feet thrusters, and the grey segments on the soles of the Gundam's feet swung down, revealing 'claws' of sorts. And once he landed, the claws dug deep into the concrete of the ground, softening the Barbatos' landing by a considerable amount.

Thanks to the softer landing, Barbatos recovered quickly, but not quick enough to avoid a drill kick to the waist unit, shearing off part of its waist unit and making it staggering back, followed up by a double axe downswing. Thankfully for the ASW unit, the momentum which the Graze gave it thanks to the drill kick, combined with Mika leaping Barbatos backwards, the strike missed, even if it did kick up a ton of dust, once more blanketing both units in a cloud of smoke.

As it leapt back, the right side of the Gundam's backpack detached and swung up over the unit's shoulder via a 'backpack arm', allowing Mikazuki to get Barbatos to reach back and grab the Longsword with very little issue. Gripping it with both manipulators, Mika had his unit yank the blade off the backpack unit just in time to block a strike from the Ein. Not letting up, the Ein slammed it's second axe onto the Longsword, which still held together despite the amount of force against its side.

"But you laid a hand on your savior and pulled him down into his grave…" continued the Graze. And at this point, Mika gave up listening. Why bother listening to someone who was speaking complete nonsense, anyways? Besides, he had other things to worry about, like the leg joints of Barbatos slowly giving way, making the Gundam fall to its knees. Oddly enough, however, the boy didn't seem to be too botheredby it, seeing as he was most concerned about one single thing.

"Basic speed… no… the reaction speed…" muttered Mika, his mind in shambles and feeling horribly sore from the prolonged battle. Despite that, his voice was calm, which was probably a show of how little he valued his life at that point. "A difference in the Alaya-Vijnana?"

"You cannot be saved now!" continued the Ein as it's/his opponent's sunk into the ground, slowly but surely moving into a kneeling position. Mika himself paid it no mind, however, as he kept his thoughts centres on the prospect of the Alaya Vijnana system. They were all the same… right? How could this person's unit be different… and more importantly… how could he defeat him if it were truly superior to his…?

"With your bodies disgrace by sins… you can no longer be saved… not you… or that woman!"

Mikazuki blank. That woman… Kudelia? And he remembered… he was here to escort her to the Parliament! All that fighting against the Graze Ein had dulled his mind to the point where he had forgotten about his objective, and he had almost lost his reason for battling the opposing unit… at least until now.

"And your comrades… never!" continued the Graze, enraged as it pushed the Sixth Form fully onto its knees. "I will kill you and your comrades… to purify your sins…"

If he were to say anything else, Mika would have not replied. However, this was a special occasion, as Augus didn't even hear whatever else the Graze said. He was just focused on one thing.

"I will kill you and your comrades… to purify your sins!"

That was what made him snap. No one threatened his friends and got away unscathed. If they were to die today, all of them, then that would mean that all their work, all those rigorous hours traveling from Mars to Earth… and all those lives lost for this mission, would be for nothing. Yes… that was why he was here…

He was here to open a path for Orga, for Tekkadan's future! And he wasn't about to allow some righteous Graze pilot stop him!

Slowly, Mika raised his head up to face the Ein. And when he spoke, the boy's voice held a rather noticeable amount of anger.

"Sins…?" muttered Mika, his pupils dilating immensely in response to his anger. "...Save? That… is not for you to decide… hey… Barbatos," turning his attention to his Gundam, he felt a difference in the AV System. An oddly familiar feeling which reflected his anger. And it made his order to his MS that much easier. "Just give me all that you have… don't bother holding back…"

In response to his request, the Gundam's optics began to light up, flashing even brighter than it ever shone in three hundred years, shining much brighter than ever before.

"Just give me all that you have… Barbatos!" exclaimed Mika, and right at that moment, he felt an immense jolt of pain go up his spine. Leaning back as it shot through his back, Augus felt his left arm tighten up immensely and for something wet to slide down his left cheek. He felt it… all that data that was coming in from his unit…

And he felt his Gundam's optics flare up, exploding in a flash of green, before it was launched up into the air.

The Graze had noted the fact that its opponent's optics were noticeably glowing and had took it as a threat. With a swift motion, it had forced the Barbatos' arm units upwards before launching a kick to it's armoured chest unit.

"Die and repent!" exclaimed the Ein, boosting behind it while it was still in the air and swung it's right axe wielding arm unit. A clean cut to the waist, most likely enough to slice the unit in half. It expected this to be the end of the fight.

Yet, it didn't expect the Gundam to recover so quickly in the air, much less so for it to deflect the strike with a defensive swing with it's Longsword.

The surprise was apparent in the Ein's voice as the deflected axe dropped behind the Barbatos, landing on its edge with a loud clang.

"What?!" it/he exclaimed as the Barbatos kept its stance. "That… that reaction speed!"

While it was true that Mika had just done that, deflect an axe strike of a wielder of the supposedly 'perfect' Alaya Vijnana, that newfound reaction speed came at a price. Currently, Mika's right arm spazzed out as though he was on an electrical chair, though that had only lasted for less than a second before stopping completely, allowing Augus to grip the arm unit controller properly. However, the most visible 'wound' was his right eye and nostril.

His entire right eye was now red and bloody, though he was able to see out of it just fine, and his right nostril was leaking blood like a busted drain pipe thanks to the info dump the Barbatos gave him. However, he didn't seem to notice these 'injuries' of his, and if he did, he didn't care. And, shockingly enough, in spite of the larger amount of information he was getting from Barbatos, the pilot still felt that this was not enough.

"Not enough… not enough…" he muttered, ignoring the sensation in his back as he breathed in heavily. "More… more! Give me all you've got… Barbatos!"

Heeding his pilot's command, Barbatos poured on the power, signified by the powerful green flash it emitted.

With Takaki

"Boss?"

Atop the building near the parliament, Takaki contacted Orga with through the newly established LCS comm links. As he did, Takaki set down the final LCS drone so that his leader could contact the other Tekkadan members with maximum output.

"Can you hear me?" asked the blonde. "I've put up all the LCS drones we have. You can now contact everyone on our team now!"

Over with Orga

"Good job, Takaki," thanked Orga as he drove down the desolate streets in his MW. As he did, he tapped the LCS comm link button to contact every member of Tekkadan who was still up. To his relief, the Gusion Rebake was still operational on the outskirts of Edmonton, but the Ryusei Go and twin Rouei's signals were faint. Still, he held onto hope that their pilots were still alive as he spoke.

"Can you all hear me?!"

The outskirts of Edmonton

Along the outskirts of Edmonton, a single Mobile Suit stood silently among a literal graveyard of Graze units.

For the past hour or so, it had been holding its ground against waves upon waves of ED-06j,Graze Ground Types, all sent by Gjallarhorn for the sole purpose of defeating. And it did it's job pretty well, considering how it was still standing tall, injured but still operational as it overlooked the carnage, with a single sub arm gripping the sword of a Graze and its Halberd held tightly in its regular manipulator.

Within its cockpit, Akihiro Atland took in several deep breaths to calm himself while blood streamed down both his nostrils, his body still recovering from the strain of combat. In spite of all the stress that came during the battle and its aftershock, however, he still managed a smile when Orga's voice came through the LSC.

"Makanai and Kudelia have reached the Parliament!"

A little closer to Edmonton

"Our job was a success."

Standing from side to side, the heavy artillery Mobile Worker units rained Hell down on the Gjallarhorn opposition. In the battle, they lost a few of their numbers, but Gjallarhorn's side were dropping much more noticeable than theirs.

Inside his Mobile Worker, Eugene Seven Stark grit his teeth as a shot just narrowly whizzed past his unit, not even paying attention to what Orga was saying.

"So… do not die here!"

The outer rim of Edmonton

"Don't die now!"

Laying on the ground in front of his destroyed Ryusei, Norba Shino smirked as Orga issued his commands through his Graze Frame's LCS.

Alongside him were Lafter Frankland, Azee Gurumin, Eco Turbine, three members from Teiwaz who accompanied Tekkadan to Earth, and Yamagi Gilmerton, a mechanic of Tekkadan.

All three of them were very recently taken out of commision by the Graze Ein thanks to its more advanced A-V system. Thankfully, none of them could be labeled as KIA as of now, as the worse they received were several scars, ones which they would wear with pride.

"Whoever dies from here on out… I'll make sure to kill you again for disobeying me!"

Edmonton

"So! No matter what…"

Boosting straight at Barbatos with all the speed it could gain via its boosters, the Graze attempted a downswing at the smaller MS with one of its two axes. It didn't account for it to dodge with speed rivaling his own, however.

"What is this?!" exclaimed the Graze as the Barbatos issued a possibly fatal strike to its arm, one which could have severed it. Thankfully for the Graze, it was able to pull its arm back to avoid the strike, though the Longsword did manage to slice the axe that arm was holding in two.

"His reaction speed has tripled…" muttered the Graze's pilot in shock as the Barbatos came at it with a flurry of swings with its Longsword, most of which had missed while those that connected left decently sized slash marks on the unit's chassis. "How is this possible… his Alaya Vijnana system shouldn't be able to give out that much data!"

While the Graze attempted to figure out how to pin it down, the Barbatos' pilot pushed on tirelessly, focusing all his might on killing the Graze. If he failed now, they would all die. They would have gone all this way for nothing… and those who were sacrificed would be let down. He would not allow this.

"Live! Even if you have to crawl… or if you have to die trying!"

Grimacing, Mika dodged strike aimed at his Gundam's waist unit and retaliated by swinging Barbatos' Longsword at the Graze, slicing off the unit's left antenna. The pilot of his opponent winced ever so slightly at that, though it recovered quickly and swung its axe once more at Barbatos, who simply duckedunder the strike.

In retaliation, Mikazuki swung the Longsword at it's cockpit, a strike that it narrowly dodged, though a cut did appear on the edge of the unit. In response, the Graze sent it's axe down on it, a strike which kicked up a ton of dust, though it didn't have enough time to recover and dodge a swing which knocked off a part of it's arm unit's frame.

And outside of all that chaos, the two Mobile Suits and their pilots didn't notice the Mobile Worker which stopped outside the dust.

"How is this possible…" muttered the Graze's pilot as he launched his MS' fist, spun up into a drill punch, at the Barbatos, a strike that it blocked with what remained of its left Graze Ritter shoulderpad, though it was sent staggering back a little. "His movements…!"

Activating the Land Boosters and blasting his Gundam forward as soon as he recovered from the drill punch, Mika charged straight at the Ein. Seeing his opponent coming, the Graze swung its axe to stop the Gundam, only for the unit to meet it's weapon with it's Longsword. For a moment, both units remained locked in a clash until the Ein attempted to launch a kick at the Barbatos, though it leapt back before it connected.

Landing on both feet units, the Barbatos raised an arm to block another drill punch with its arm gauntlet, causing a massive indent to be formed on its gauntlet. The Graze wasted no time in swinging its axe at Barbatos, thinking its pilot to be distracted by its drill punch, though before the weapon could even get close to it's target, the Barbatos swung its blocking arm to the side, sending the drill fist flying past its head unit and allowing it to launch a punch on the Graze's head unit, shattering it's monoeye and heavily denting it's head unit. The strike sent the Ein sprawling backwards and jerk it's head to the side.

Whirling back to face the Tekkadan MS, the Graze's optic seemed to glow a darker shade of red, prompting Mika to swing the Longsword at it again, and though the Graze narrowly dodged it, earning a smaller cut on it's waist frame.

Not using it's axe this time, the Graze boosted forward and sent a drill punch at the Barbatos' head unit, shearing off it's left cheek armour and making Mika flinch in the cockpit. And that action sent it out of the dust cloud, allowing Orga to see what was happening, and to flinch at how damaged the Barbatos was. He has seen the unit damaged before in the past, but never to this degree.

"Not a chance!" exclaimed the Graze pilot, and before Mika could recover, it sent a drilling kick at his Gundam's waist frame, sending Barbatos staggering back as its Additional Chest Armour Plating broke off.

Stepping forward, the Graze slammed its clawed foot unit down onto the Additional Armour Plating and gave the Barbatos a death glare, or at least as close to one which a Mobile Suit could get.

"This is the end…" said the Graze, and honestly, Mika couldn't be bothered to listen.

He was tired, dehydrated, and he wanted to just close his eyes and drift into an embrace of dreams. So, as the Graze opened it's damaged helmet and glared at the Barbatos with it's single red monoeye before raising it's axe, Mika didn't dodge.

Why bother fighting this thing? He had no goal, at least nothing he could remember… fighting this thing had made his brain feel mushy. He just wanted to rest… perhaps if he simply closed his eyes for a moment, this would all be over…

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, MIKA?!"

That voice… it belonged to… Orga… Orga!

Blasting his eyes open, revealing dilated pupils, Mika remembered his mission.

To ensure Tekkadan was successful.

And he was going to be there when it happened. So dying was not on his list, not now. Not ever.

With his mind cleared, Mika pushed down on a button on the Barbatos' arm controller, ejecting the Ritter shoulder pads and the backpack unit to reduce the weight on the Gundam.

And, once the axe had landed, all the Graze had struck was the armour Barbatos purged.

"What…?!" proclaimed the Graze, shocked by the sudden speed the Gundam had just demonstrated. Swiveling it's cracked monoeye from side to side, the Ein was unable to pin down the location of its opponent, not until it heard the sound of it's adversary's Land Boosters burst to life. Turning back, it saw the Gundam Frame leap into the air, Longsword raised above its head as Barbatos lunged at it.

The Graze's first instinct was to swing its axe at the Gundam, but it found itself to be too slow to do so, as, when the arm unit was nearly at the Gundam's chest, Barbatos' Longswordcompletely severed the unit with one swift slice.

"He… he severed the Mobile Suit's inner and outer frame all together?!" proclaimed the pilot of the Graze in shock as his MS' severed arm unit landed not too far behind the Ein, going limp as soon as it struck the ground.

While it was still in shock, Mikazuki found himself feeling rather wistful inside the cockpit, partly because he remembered what he was supposed to do, but mainly because he learnt how to use this weapon correctly.

"I finally understand how to use this…" he muttered, smiling ever so slightly as he huffed. "It was so easy… and it took me this long to get it."

"You… you monster!" exclaimed the Graze, launching its still intact arm towards the unit for a drill punch. Dodging to the side, the Barbatos avoided the strike before severing that arm unit with it's sword.

"Look who's talking," grumbled Mika in a rather harsh tone as he narrowed his eyes at the Graze, who backed away from its opponent. As a last resort, the Graze raised its left leg unit for a drill kick, though it's opponent's MS dodged the kick before stabbing it's weapon into the leg unit, making the Graze limp back.

"Lieutenant Crank(nee)!" it exclaimed, it's voice filled with shame as it turned to the Barbatos, it's remaining leg unit straining under the weight of the torso unit and it's single red optic blazing red. "Specialist Major Bauduin! My righteousness…"

Having enough of his babbling, Mikazuki pulled back the Barbatos' arm unit controllers before shooting them forward, jamming the Longsword into the cockpit of the Graze. It was a clean cut, one which went right in and destroyed the pilot's life support system.

And as it went limp, Mika simply glared at it, breathing heavily as he glared at the form of the Ein, slowly slouching down as it went limp.

"Shut up…" he grumbled. "Orga's giving me orders…"

As he said that, Orga looked up to the sky, smiling happily.

A smile which faded when his LCS comm links went on.

"Orga!" came Takaki's voice. And he seemed alarmed.

"What is it, Takaki?" asked Orga, his happiness fading thanks to Takaki's tone.

"There's a large amount of Ahab energy build up near you…" said Takaki urgently. "It's… it's coming from the Mobile Suit Mr Mikazuki is fighting!"

Widening his eyes, Orga whirled back to face the Barbatos and activated his comm links which connected to the Gundam.

"Mikazuki!" exclaimed Orga. "Fall back, now!"

Hearing this, Mika simply felt confused, before the on screen alert came up, alerting him to an Ahab energy build up coming from within the Graze. And if he remembered what Old Man Yuki said… it meant…

'Self destruct!' thought Mika as he flipped the Land boosters back and activating them, blasting the Gundam back while yanking the Longsword out. Yet, something seemed to be malfunctioning in the Barbatos. Mika would have wondered if it was because he pushed it too far, but he didn't have much time, as the Barbatos seemed to just shut down.

Alongside that small problem, the Barbatos was being pulled towards the Graze. Not just the Barbatos, though. The Wrench Mace, Graze's arms/axes, the armour parts which the Gundam ejected, and even Orga, who was reversing his MW were all being pulled towards the soon to explode Graze Ein.

Yet, when the Barbatos and Mika came into contact with the Graze, the 'vortex' stopped, causing Orga's MW to be sent back slightly. Grumbling, he climbed out of his Mobile Worker, before widening his eyes.

"Orga!" came Takaki's voice again. "The Ahab build up is gone. But I'm not picking up the Barbatos' Ahab Wave! What's wrong?!"

But Orga didn't answer. The sight in front of him was too much.

Mika… Mika and the Barbatos… both gone. Nothing was even left, not even any of the weapons.

And for one of the few times in his life, Orga allowed himself to shed some tears before letting out an anguished yell.

A yell which rang through the Edmonton sunset and represented the loss of a friend, and something which would haunt Orga for many years from now.

Yet… the Tekkadan leader was wrong to assume that Augus was dead.

In fact, he was alive and well, now living a life that was certainly very different from what any of them were used to…

Of all the monsters I've encountered in my 17 years of life, I am probably the worst of them all.

As you have read, this story is a Remastered version of the original Tekketsu No Kyojin that I really wanna delete but can't bring myself to do so. I doubt it'll be any better, but one can hope.

If you've read the original story, which you probably shouldn't because spoilers and because it's genuinely terrible, you'll know how the first few chapters go. But if you're new to this, then you're in for a ride.

The way the original idea fo the original version of this story came about when I was really bored, honestly. Then it went downhill real fast as soon as I really got into writing. So, frankly speaking, Tekketsu No Kyojin is the thing that kicked off my entire fanfiction career. I both hate and love it for that.

But I'm babbling now. I'll see you guys in the next few chapters.

Edited on: 4/8/2019