MAN! It's been like forever since I updated this gem of a story. Sorry about all that. Between shuffling back to college and holiday break, I didn't have as much writing time as I thought I would. Nevertheless, I have not given up on Cross Chronicles! I present you with the newest chapter, with some very exciting developments! This took awhile to write, and a lot of thinking on my part as well. Hope you enjoy! :)

--

TIME: 2:43 PM

LOCATION: 12 MILES FROM RANDGRIZ, GALLIA

__

"No hesitation. No hesitation…"

This was it. With her finger on the trigger, Yoko could end Welkin's life at this moment. All she had to do was fire. He was in her sights. All it took was for her to actually suck away that little part of her soul and fire.

But for some reason, she couldn't.

Yoko was a little beside herself. Something was holding her back. Something was telling her that she couldn't just go ahead and lay waste to the young man in her sights. What exactly was it? Decency? Mercy? Maybe even guilt?

She knew it couldn't be guilt. What crime was she committing exactly? These men had attacked her, Kamina and Simon with an entire tank battalion before, and if it had not been for the Gurren-Lagann, they might not have made it through without a scratch like they had.

"Damn it…" the crimson-haired girl cursed to herself, pushing all those thoughts to the back of her mind and refocusing on the situation at hand. She knew there was no time for any kind of hesitation or mercy. They were in some strange new world very unlike their own. In this new and confusing situation, Yoko had no time to think about whether what she was about to do was right or wrong.

Yoko was ready once again. With her rifle sighted directly at Welkin's head, she knew in her heart that at least the shot would make his death swift and painless.

__

"…So you have no idea where those two came from?" Faldio asked Welkin, as the two commanders walked ahead of the rest of their troops. It seemed like they'd been walking for an hour by now, and found pretty much nothing of importance.

"I wish I could say I did. The whole thing is really odd, but kind of intriguing at the same time. They say they're from some other world. The problem with their story is that I can't imagine how they would have ended up in Gallia if they were." Welkin responded. Faldio's single question seemed to spark even more questions in Welkin's mind. Where exactly where Haruhi and Kyon from? How did they get here? And more importantly; just why were they here? From what Welkin could tell, it seemed like the two of them were like shipwrecked sailors.

"There's always the possibility that they're from another continent. It's not like we completely know what's beyond the entirety of Europa." Faldio suggested.

"That's possible...but I almost can't believe that. There's something about these two...something that tells me they really are from somewhere else, beyond even the rest of our world." Welkin replied, experiencing a moment of clarity when he heard himself say "our world". He could only imagine just how many other worlds like theirs were out there, and just how different each of them might be.

Welkin glanced behind him, spotting Haruhi and Kyon not too far away. It looked as if Haruhi was egging Kyon to move faster along the road, and even from this distance Welkin could still easily see the discontent written all over Kyon's face. Those two were really a bit odd, but Welkin had to admit that they seemed to be doing pretty well in their situation. Of course, there was still the mission ahead of them at hand as well. He didn't exactly know how they would handle in their first mission, but he knew he had to put his faith in them.

A loud squeal almost immediately caught Welkin's attention, causing him to break his train of thought and look down towards the source. His eyes widened, and he stopped so as not to trample the animal now sitting before him. He couldn't help but gasp in wonder at this amazing creature.

"Wow! I thought I'd never run across one of these!" he said out loud excitedly, catching the attention of everyone around him as he knelt down while eagerly observing the creature in front of him. Welkin's attention was now completely on the small porcavian pig with wings on its back. The pig seemed just as interested in Welkin as Welkin was on it, and made no effort to struggle as he picked it up to fully observe it.

"A pig? You made us stop for some pig?" Rosie said from behind Welkin, her voice obviously full of annoyance. From the look on his face, there was little doubt Largo was feeling just as enthusiastic about this new distraction as Rosie was. Behind them, the rest of Squad 7 looked pretty confused, save for Marina, who was actually watching the pig from afar with what looked like genuine interest in her eyes.

"Some pig? This is a rare species! Look at the wings on its back!" Welkin described in joy. Alicia wasn't nearly as annoyed as Rosie or Largo, but she didn't seem to get why something like this was a good excuse for them to stop their movement.

Meanwhile, Seiji Sawamura hit himself in the forehead at the sight of Welkin and the pig, while Midori tried her best to stay as hidden as possible in his sleeve so as not to attract anymore unwanted attention. It was bad enough that girls around here already had their attention on her Seiji-kun, so Midori didn't really want to make themselves get noticed even more. Kyon was kind of staring ahead, stupefied that their very commander was exposing himself like this. He was quickly brought back to the real world by Haruhi, who hit him hard on the back of the head.

"Hey! Stop staring at the commander! That's rude!"

Kyon glanced at Haruhi with an annoyed look, rubbing the back of his head and hoping the mental pain of being with Haruhi in this situation would go away soon.

"It's a bad idea to stop in the middle of the road like this, Welkin! We're sitting ducks out here!" Alicia finally stated, hoping that her words would knock Welkin out of this trance over the winged pig. He looked down at this tiny animal, and smiled. The sound of Alicia's voice had knocked just a bit of sense into him.

"You're right. I just never thought I'd encounter an animal as rare as this one. We should probably continue on." Welkin replied apologetically, but his response only made Rosie and Largo give him disapproving glares from afar. As Welkin held the pig in his arms, someone stepped forward, her eyes very focused on the winged animal.

"Can I...take him?" Marina Wulfstan stated blankly as she kept her eyes focused on the porcavian pig. Seiji Sawamura couldn't help but back away when he saw the look on her face. He thought she was just going to eat the pig.

"Why would you want some wild pig?" Rosie said nastily, crossing her arms now that she was fully annoyed with their dawdling. Welkin seemed to easily hand over the animal to Marina, who slowly smiled when she found herself holding it in her arms. She spoke quietly as she could feel the pig nuzzle against her cheek in a loving manner.

"It's...cute. I think I'll keep him."

The pig, now safely nestled in Marina's arms, squealed in joy as if responding her. Kyon just seemed to hit himself in the forehead at the whole sight, while Seiji tried to hide the blush on his face, as the cuteness of the situation had already gotten to him.

__

An intense feeling of total annoyance quickly washed over Yoko at the sight of some girl holding that pig in her arms as she walked with the rest of the squad. Yoko mentally cursed herself even more for having not fired earlier. Due to their proximity from one another, she couldn't get a shot on any of them at all without possibly injuring Simon's little friend. Yoko could already feel herself getting a headache from the bad luck she was experiencing right now.

Slowly, she got into a crouching position, making sure that she wouldn't be able to be spotted from this distance. She wondered if taking a shot at that huge blue tank would be a better course of action, since shooting at any of the soldiers was out of the question. She thought about it, gauging the damage she could cause before they might possibly spot her. Though she was some distance away, she could still easily be outnumbered in no time.

However, as Yoko began to think about what she was doing again, she remembered her own words to Kamina not long before…

"We're not attacking everyone we see, you idiot!"

She knew there was something beyond guilt that had stopped her from firing before. Yoko hit herself in the forehead out of stupidity. What was she thinking? She was doing exactly what she had told Kamina they would avoid doing. All because she had done some scouting ahead, found some soldiers, and decided that they were automatically hostile.

"Why did this have to happen now…" she said quietly to herself, once again cursing her luck by the fact that the girl just continued to hold onto that pig as if it was a treasure. Still, she knew her attack was not meant to be in the first place, a fact which made Yoko feel just a little better.

And so, Yoko just sighed as she carefully stood up, slinging her rifle on her back at the same time. For the time being, she decided that firing on these people was probably just a bad idea only Kamina would come up with.

For now, she'd just head towards this group in as non-threatening of a manner as possible. Maybe diplomacy would actually work with these people. If anything, Yoko just hoped they weren't as hostile as the soldier and tanks from before, or she'd be in serious trouble…

__

Simon felt very worried all of a sudden. Having searched everywhere, he decided to look under the nearest rock, but upon lifting the object, he found not a trace of what he was looking for. His posture became more relaxed, and he let out a deep sigh.

"…just where did he go?" Simon said quietly to himself, as he was anxious to know where his new pig friend had run off to. He'd been right by Simon's side just a minute or two ago, and now he was gone. The boy scratched his head in wonder, before his thought process was interrupted by the powerful hand of Kamina now on his shoulder.

"Something wrong, bro?" Kamina said with his eyes glinting underneath his glasses.

"I can't find my friend, Aniki…" Simon replied with a defeated voice. Kamina's smile slowly disappeared at the sight of his sad soul-brother. He put both hands on Simon's shoulders, and proceeded to look at him straight in the face as he spoke valiantly.

"Then we'll find him together, Simon! As leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade, I refuse to leave anyone, man or beast, behind!"

Simon seemed to quickly brighten up at Kamina's exclamation, but thoughts of Yoko just made him wonder where their friend had wandered off to. It had been a couple minutes since she'd left them, and Simon had recalled Yoko saying that she'd be back in a second.

"We should probably look for Yoko-san too…she said she'd be back by now…" Simon added quietly.

"Of course! We'll find them in no time, bro. We've got the Gurren and Lagann on our side." Kamina responded with even more vigor and confidence in his voice. Simon couldn't help but have his spirits lifted by Kamina's words. In the back of his mind, the boy wondered how he would make it through anything without his Aniki's leadership.

"Right." Simon said, the Core Drill hanging around his neck already glowing green with Spiral Power.

__

"I don't freaking get it! How long have we been walking on this same road? Where the hell is what we're supposed to be looking for?!?" Seiji Sawamura complained loudly, not understanding what the point of all this was. His obnoxious voice caught Haruhi's attention almost immediately, and Kyon seemed to think that this was some sort of challenge to her.

She can be the only one allowed to complain, of course…

"You shouldn't even be here. You tried to kill the commander, and now you're fighting alongside us? You're just a traitor in disguise!" Haruhi exclaimed which only seemed to madden Seiji. He glared back at Haruhi, thoroughly pissed. Around the two, bad energy was already beginning to form, and people like Susie made sure to keep their distance.

"What? I got forced into this! And you're the stupid girl who almost messed up my nose!"

"You will reference me as Brigade Chief! How many times do I have to say it!?!"

Kyon couldn't just stand by and watch this unfold into carnage. He wasn't stupid, and had noticed by now that Haruhi had been increasingly more hostile the longer they'd been here. He didn't necessarily know the reason, but he couldn't just let it lead to a bad situation. He put a hand on Haruhi's shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"I think things are getting out of hand here. Maybe we're all just a little too work-"

"Shut up, you! Mad Dog Sawamura doesn't need some weakling mediator!" Seiji barked, even as he heard Midori whispering to him from his sleeve. Haruhi gritted her teeth.

"Maybe you should heed my subordinate's words. They could save you from a lot of pain."

Seiji Sawamura grinned devilishly, not actually taking Haruhi's threat seriously. His left hand was already forming into a fist, and Midori was getting more worried by the second.

"I don't hit girls, but you just might be the exception. I'm getting sick of this high and mighty act of yours!"

"…Seiji-kun…please...we don't need to fight with our new friends…" she said quietly, but Seiji didn't seem to listen very well.

"These people aren't my friends! We're just damn prisoners he-"

The sound of a loud gunshot seemed to stop Seiji instantly, and it managed to catch the attentions of everyone else as well. Seiji looked behind him, only to see Faldio, with a smoking gun in his hand, pointed up into the sky. He did not look very happy right now.

"Do you remember who we're fighting again? I certainly hope you all do. Maybe we can actually get to the Imperials before we rip ourselves apart from the inside."

Facial expressions seemed to sink in an instant after Faldio finished his statement. Even Seiji could feel himself slowly unwinding now, though he was still a bit pissed. Haruhi also stood down, a fact which gave Kyon instant relief. He had been extremely afraid that this situation would have taken a turn for the worse.

In his own mind, Welkin felt suddenly inferior in this situation, having allowed Faldio to take command of his troops for this brief moment. Even the commander of Squad 7 wasn't oblivious enough to not realize that the glares coming from Rosie and Largo were stronger now. He hoped to himself that he wouldn't let this happen the next time.

"Hey! Look over there!" Edy exclaimed as she pointed at something in the distance. Heads turned in unison, and from where he was standing in the front, Welkin could easily see the scantily-clad figure of Yoko slowly making her way towards them. He raised an eyebrow in surprise, suddenly confused at the appearance of this stranger.

"That girl doesn't have much on…" Susie said shyly, realizing that the more she looked at Yoko, the more she herself felt inadequate. Seiji Sawamura couldn't pull his eyes away, causing Midori to put on an angry face once she realized Seiji's attention was definitely elsewhere. The green-haired girl in his sleeve roughly tugged at his collar, hoping to tear him back to reality by doing so.

Yoko couldn't help but fix her skull hairpin the closer she got to these people. She felt weird all of a sudden, and she figured it probably attributed to the fact that these humans were a lot different than any of the ones she knew in Ritona Village. All of them were dressed in the same style of military uniform, and many of them looked about her age. There was a tall man all the way in the front of them, and Yoko could see that he had an unsure look on his face. He was kind of eying her, but not really in a suspicious way, but more of a curious one.

In the back of her mind, Yoko hoped her appearance wasn't too bad or anything. She probably had dirt and sand all over her for all she knew.

"It's rude to stare, Welkin." Alicia said with a hint of jealousy in her voice. She had gotten a little fed up with the fact that many of the men in this squad suddenly had their immediate attention on the stranger in front of them, mostly due to the fact that she was only wearing a bikini top and tight-fitting shorts. If anything, Alicia didn't like seeing Welkin distracted like the others, but there was another, more subtle reason for why she wanted to break his attention away. She wasn't just a little jealous of this girl's above-average looks and her lack of clothing. She was very, very jealous. Alicia held her rifle tightly as her jealousy branched off into suspicion.

"Before you do anything, I'm not here to fight." Yoko stated loudly, and she took the time to put her rifle down on the ground before her. Marina marveled at just how long Yoko's rifle was, and even though her attention was still mainly on her new pig friend, she couldn't help but become curious over this newcomer's weapon as well.

"I take it you're not affiliated with any Imperial forces?" Welkin asked, his suspicion beginning to wear off. Alicia wasn't really trusting Yoko much yet however, and jealously could be seen on the faces of many of Squad 7's females. Yoko felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden, judging from the fact she could see a lot of male eyes staring at her as well. She just tried to ignore all the attention and answered Welkin's question.

"To be honest, I don't what any of these Imperials are. My friends and I were attacked by a group of lunatics who had allegiance to some empire though. We're kind of lost, actually."

"Lost, you say? What do you mean?" Welkin said, now even more curious than before. He immediately figured that the fact that this girl had been attacked by Imperial forces meant she definitely wasn't on their side. That was clear, but something else was bugging him now. It was like a strange feeling of deja vu.

"I'm not buying it! She's lying!" Alicia interjected, before she proceeded to point her rifle at Yoko. The amount of jealously building up in her mind was beginning to cloud her judgment. Though Kyon wasn't necessarily staring at Yoko like many of his squad mates were, Haruhi had been watching him the whole time, just to make sure. He was more worried about what he overheard from the conversation more than anything else.

"Wait! I said I wasn't here to fight. My friends and I don't even know where we are." Yoko responded quickly, raising her hands to show that she wasn't a threat. Alicia kept her aim however, and Kyon could see that many of Squad 7's female members, including Haruhi next to him, were taking Alicia's example and cautiously holding onto their rifles.

A moment of silence passed before Welkin put his hand up, signifying as a commander for his squad members to stand down.

To him, this newcomer didn't seem to be hostile towards them, nor did she have anything against them. She was in an eerily similar situation as Haruhi Suzumiya and Kyon; just another person who was "lost" in Gallia. Welkin realized then just where that feeling of deja vu was coming from. Beside Welkin, Alicia reluctantly stood down. She wondered if lust was clouding her commander's judgment, but she just figured he was way too oblivious for that.

"What's your name, and just where do you think you might be?" Faldio asked, as he too was beginning to put together puzzle pieces upon hearing this stranger's words.

"My name is Yoko, and I'm here with two friends of mine. We honestly have no idea where this place is. All I know is that we fell asleep one night in a wasteland, and woke up in this countryside."

Alicia still didn't buy Yoko's story one bit, but Welkin was already more than convinced. He suddenly could feel himself having an urge to ask more questions, and he was almost beginning to forget that they had an actual mission that they were supposed to be completing.

"You woke up in Gallia? But that doesn't make any sense. Something's wrong here." Welkin pointed out, his mind puzzled by the entire situation. Alicia's impatience had reached her limit by now, and she already had Yoko in her sights again.

"It's her story that's wrong! She's some sort of spy! We should take care of her now before she backstabs us!" Alicia exclaimed, while Yoko just stared at her like she was on crazy pills. She contemplated how long it would take to reach her rifle on the ground, but she knew she was outnumbered to a point where she would be filled with bullets in seconds. She began to realize now that this diplomatic idea of hers might have been a really bad idea.

"Look. I said it to you before. I'm just lost here with my friends. We aren't spies! We just want to figure what's going on here!" Yoko nearly shouted back to Alicia, hoping that she could possibly intimidate the girl just a little bit. Alicia stood her ground however, and she contemplated firing off a shot.

She contemplated it, but something else caught her attention. In fact, it caught the attention of just about everyone in a hundred foot radius. It was a loud rumbling noise in the distance, which was shortly followed by objects which could be seen approaching along the horizon.

Alicia was the first to spot what looked like two shapes charging fast towards them all. One of them was titanic, and the other looked the quarter the size of a standard tank. The two shapes were actually running towards them, and as they got closer, it became apparent that they were running on legs. Both were predominantly red, and they looked more like walking faces than anything else. His focus now somewhere else entirely, Welkin quickly became astounded at the sight of these two machines coming towards him, but Faldio's sense kicked in quickly. He put a rough hand around Welkin's shoulder, and whispered something into his ear.

"I think we might have found what we were looking for." he said. Welkin blinked, then deciphered what his companion had just told him before answering.

"But there are two of them. It's only supposed to be one machine..."

"Just what the hell are those?!?" Largo yelled out as the ground rumbled from the Gurren and Lagann's approach. As if responding him, the amplified voice of Kamina boomed from the mouth of the Gurren.

"We're the might of the Dai-Gurren Brigade; the soul-brother Ganmen Gurren and Lagann! Step away from our Yoko or be prepared to face our power!"

The powerful rumbling of the Gurren's feet easily startled the majority of Squad 7, and out of everyone, Largo was the first to act, his lance already in front of him. He set his aim quickly, before pressing hard on the launcher's trigger, sending a speeding rocket towards the charging Gurren. Kamina could see the rocket approaching, but he was unfazed by it, and he continued to plow forward through the dirt with his Gurren. The enemy troops were only a some feet away from them now, and Yoko was so close within reach...

Largo's single lance rocket managed to hit home, exploding above the Gurren's left knee joint. The machine's armor protected against most of the impact, but part of the force managed to cause some damage to the machine's weaker armor in the joint. Before Kamina knew it, the Gurren was forced to momentarily go down on one knee, as screens flashed in front of him, depicting red warning images of a damaged component.

"That's right!" Largo said defiantly, satisfied with his attack. Having watched this entire display, Alicia had her sights towards Yoko again, but when she looked, the girl was off running, her rifle in her hands as she sped ahead of them. Welkin's attention had been on the Gurren and Lagann at the time, so even he was surprised when he realized Yoko was gone.

Running as fast as she could, rifle armed and ready, Yoko could not help but curse Kamina multiple times under her breath. It was this kind of "shoot first and ask questions later" attitude of his that she really did not fancy.

"Aniki!" Simon exclaimed through the Lagann. He was beside the Gurren in no time, which Kamina was struggling to get up due to the knee joint being damaged. The leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade cursed under his breath, slamming against the inside of his cockpit in anger. Meanwhile, Welkin had already figured out by now that this entire situation was escalating quickly. He thought about his options, and proceeded to make a decision about what they would be doing next.

"It seems like we've found what we're on this mission for. Those machines." he addressed to his squad and pointing towards the Gurren and Lagann. By this point, Squad 7 seemed more than ready. Seiji was almost itching for a fight, and in the same token, so was Haruhi. Kyon wondered just why diplomacy had so easily failed before.

"What are we supposed to do to them?" Edy Nelson asked, and Welkin put on a serious face. They didn't have any other choice now.

"Neutralize them."

A powerful blue burst exploded some feet away from Welkin, causing the commander to be knocked backwards, part of his uniform singed from the heat. He rolled into the sand for a moment, but Alicia was already by his side, worry all over her face after witnessing the whole thing. Squad 7 was in disarray for a moment, but Faldio was already motioning for them to fire, and as Welkin got himself up, slightly dazed and shaken, a symphony of rifle fire could be heard, followed by a destructive tank shell from the Edelweiss. Welkin could feel Alicia helping him up, and he wondered just how good his luck had been those moments ago. Part of his uniform was singed, but he managed to get up without much of a scratch, save for being knocked back into the dirt.

Bullets bounced loudly against the front of the Gurren, and the Edelweiss's tank shell hit the Lagann's top shell, but it only caused intense vibrations on the inside. Kamina watched Simon shake off the shot after a few seconds, and he yelled down to his soul-brother, knowing full well that a battle lie ahead.

"Simon! We're going to need to become one if we want to win this!" he exclaimed, and the Lagann's mouth responded in his soul-brother's voice, which sounded surprisingly unafraid.

"I got it, Aniki! Let's do it!"

Kamina could feel himself smiling already, and his eyes glinted with courage inside the cockpit of the Gurren. With one hand, the Gurren grabbed the Lagann even as more bullets bounced against its tough armor. Still on one knee, the Gurren threw the smaller robot high into the air above it, waiting for a moment as the Lagann descended. A drill could be visible on the bottom of the Lagann as it came down, and in just another second, it pierced the top of the Gurren, causing a burst of green light to expand out around the Gurren and Lagann. The light was powerful enough to blind Squad 7 and Squad 1 for a moment, stopping them all from firing. Welkin's shielded his eyes, realizing quickly that their bullets had been doing nearly nothing to these machines.

The light began to dim, making the robots visible again. Armor was forming on parts of the Gurren, and a golden half-circle seemed to just materialize on the Lagann's forehead. The robot let out one more burst of green light, before it stood up fully, having repaired its knee injury with the transformation. The towering form of the Gurren-Lagann stood tall on Gallian soil, and its sight awed just about everyone. Welkin couldn't help but just wonder what kind of amazing machine this was.

"You messed with the wrong men! This is our drill, and with it, we'll break right through everything you put in our way!" Kamina shouted defiantly, and in seconds, the Gurren-Lagann was already in mid-run. Yoko, having gotten to a safe distance, wondered to herself why things had gotten out of hand so quickly. It was obvious that some of those people didn't fancy her, but she was sure that she could have handled it if Kamina and Simon didn't come waltzing in like they did. Nevertheless, she aimed her rifle for a clump of troops ahead. It didn't seem like she had any choice but to fight now.

As Yoko readied to fire, she felt something slice into her leg like a burning hot sword. She could see a spray of dark crimson, and before she knew it, she had lost control of her right leg, and thus toppled to her side. Yoko hit the dirt painfully, her mind spinning as she quickly began to lose blood.

Someone had managed to shoot her in the leg with a powerful firearm, and now all Yoko could do was watch as her rifle lay right out of reach, the pain too intense for her to move. She looked ahead, watching as the Gurren-Lagann ran towards the still firing Squad 7 and Squad 1 with determination in its charge. Yoko just sighed, cursed Kamina's stupidity, and waited.

In the distance, Marina's sniper rifle was tightly gripped in her hands, and she could see through her scope that Yoko was down, but seemingly still alive. Having been thinking about the safety of her new pig friend this entire time, the distraction had cost her accuracy. Aiming again for Yoko's head, Marina made sure that this next shot would end her suffering.

Shots bounced against the Gurren-Lagann, but it was already too late to stop the machine's advance. Another lance rocket exploded against one of it's shoulders, but the shot had hit nowhere near a weak point. As it towered above the firing troops, Welkin's eyes widened at the sight of a massive drill forming above it's right wrist. The Gurren-Lagann looked angry, and even as another shot from the Edelweiss slammed against its chest, it still came down with its drill. For that second, Welkin could feel fear, and it was a fear of losing his squad members. He suddenly felt powerless.

The Gurren-Lagann's drill pierced into the ground like a spear, causing squad members to scatter as it missed them by only some few feet. However, the powerful drill spun rapidly in the ground, emitting green flashes of light as it formed a whirling cyclone of dust and dirt. Seiji Sawamura could feel his vision become clouded, and Haruhi held onto Kyon when she realized just how much her eyes were stinging.

The spinning cyclone seemed to get faster by the second, and it soon become so strong that it knocked multiple members of Squad 7 backwards. Edy and Susie were thrown back into the dirt, and Marina's aim was completely ruined as she too was thrown by the force. Her bullet flew threw the air and hit the ground near Yoko, having missed her head by only a few feet.

"We need to find some sort of weak point!" Welkin yelled out to his squad, having already backed up towards the Edelweiss with Alicia, who was trying her best to actually damage the Gurren-Lagann with her rifle. None of her shots were successful however, and they bounced off its armor like pigeons against a glass window. The Edelweiss continued to fire at the robot with all it could muster, and inside, Isara was making sure that she kept her distance from the machine. Those standing helped anyone on the ground, and members of both Squad 7 and Squad 1 hurried to get themselves back up and fighting. Welkin worried about the possibility of casualties in this fight, but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and focused on the battle in front of him.

Nothing's working...nothing's working...nothing's working!

Kyon could feel worry wrapping around him like an anaconda. He and Haruhi were up and running again, and despite her shots not actually doing anything, Haruhi continued to fire at the Gurren-Lagann like a madwoman. Deciding that he would probably be reprimanded if he didn't, Kyon also took as many shots as he could at the robot, but knew full well that they were doing nothing.

The Gurren-Lagann continued to take bullets as if they were just bothersome insects, but the powerful impact of the Edelweiss's shell managed to make it back up just a bit. In the Gurren-Lagann's head, Simon could already tell that the tank these soldiers had could possibly be a problem to them.

"Aniki! Let's go for that big tank over there!" he said, and below, Kamina was already thinking the same thing. Acting as one, the two soul-brothers made their Gurren-Lagann charge towards the Edelweiss, forcing troops to scatter to avoid being trampled. The tank continued to fire, but its shots only slightly slowed the Gurren-Lagann. Welkin and Alicia could only watch as the robot closed in on the Edelweiss.

"You think you can mess with us? Take this!" Kamina exclaimed, and his and Simon's machine pulled one leg back, charging it chock full of Spiral Energy.

"CURB-SHATTERING KICK!!!!!" Kamina roared, and in response, the Gurren-Lagann delivered a swift and powerful kick to the lower chassis of the Edelweiss. The blow was powerful; powerful enough to send the tank rolling some twenty feet to the side like a soccer ball. Metal parts crunched violently as it did so, and inside, Isara held onto the controls as best as she could while the entire tank rocked around her. She held back an angry tear as she could literally feel her father's work being destroyed with her inside of it and powerless to do anything.

"This isn't fair! Why can't we win?!?" Haruhi exclaimed in anger, firing more shots at the Gurren-Lagann. Beside her, Kyon was about to say it was useless, until an unexpected series of explosions caused him to gape in surprise. Haruhi's shots exploded with considerable force, hitting the back of the Gurren Lagann and causing it to lean forward as if it was in pain. Alicia was even more surprised than Welkin, wondering just how Haruhi pulled off what she pulled off. A smile formed on Haruhi Suzumiya's face at the sight of smoke coming from the back of the Gurren-Lagann. She didn't know how she had done it, but she had caused some damage after all.

"What the hell?" Kamina yelled, surprised by the fact that they had taken so much damage in just a few shots. Simon easily felt the vibration as well, and acting in unison, both soul-brothers turned the Gurren-Lagann to face their attacker. Haruhi Suzumiya and Kyon stood ahead of a still recuperating Squad 7, and Haruhi was aiming at the robot again now. Fear began to envelop Kyon, as he quickly realized that the robot's attention was now on the two of them.

"That's right! I shot you! And I'll shoot you again!" Haruhi yelled in defiance towards the mighty Gurren-Lagann, which seemed to instantly scare the hell out of Kyon. Thoughts of him and Haruhi being crushed underfoot by this monstrous robot flooded into his mind, and he wondered quickly just how they were going to live through this one.

"You want to fight, eh? Do you know who we are? We're the Dai-Gurren Brigade! You'd best remember the name!" Kamina yelled back at Haruhi. Above, Simon had begun to get a little worried, as the shots Haruhi had unleashed on them had caused much more damage than he had expected. On top of that, he didn't know where Yoko or his new pig friend had gone, and this only worried him even more.

Because of this, Simon's will to fight had been slowly decreasing this entire time, and with it, so was the Spiral Energy that powered his and Kamina's Gurren-Lagann.

"Dai-Gurren Brigade? There's only room for one Brigade in this universe, and that's mine! Prepare to surrender to the one and only SOS Brigade!" Haruhi answered with equal vigor, something which actually surprised a normally solid Kamina. Next to Haruhi, Kyon silently made comments in his mind, hoping it would distract him from the severity of the situation.

What do you mean, you idiot? There's only two of us here! Try using that line when all five of us are actually present!

As Squad 7 and Squad 1 re-consolidated their numbers, Welkin became immediately concerned at the nature of the Edelweiss. The tank was fully flipped over, and he knew that the damage to it must have been considerable. They would be lucky if the tank made it to another battle, but Isara's condition worried Welkin even more.

"Surrender? Kamina-sama does not surrender!" a now pissed Kamina exclaimed from his cockpit.

His emotions now taking over, Kamina charged forward towards the figures of Haruhi Suzumiya and Kyon. Though it would normally be that Kamina's will to win would have just increased the Gurren-Lagann's Spiral Power, Simon's worry was actually decreasing it, causing the robot's power to remain at a standstill, neither going up or down. Even still, the machine continued to barrel towards Haruhi Suzumiya, drills already popped out of its wrists. Haruhi's fear had washed away by now, and she just brought the approaching machine into her sights and fired. Kyon wasn't so unafraid, closing his eyes and waiting for the Gurren-Lagann to crush them mercilessly.

The sounds of explosions could be heard as Haruhi's bullets blasted against the Gurren-Lagann's armored chest. Almost all of Squad 7, Alicia and Welkin included, were in awe at the sight of the incredibly explosive rounds Haruhi was firing. Seiji Sawamura wondered just what kind of gun she had been given, but in the back of his mind, he was glad to see that they might have a chance to make it through this in one piece.

Having taken the full brunt of these explosions, the Gurren-Lagann actually leaned to its side, many sections of its external armor sparking from damage. The shells, whatever their origin, were actually quite powerful and were causing more damage to the machine than either Kamina or Simon had expected. While Kamina tried his best to remain unfazed, Simon could see a losing battle a mile away. His fear gripped him tightly, and their machine moved forward with less speed as their Spiral Power began to actually drop.

"Damn you...this Gurren-Lagann will not fall today!" Kamina stated righteously, his own willpower barely keeping the machine's Spiral Power from going any lower. The machine barreled forward even more, kicking up sand and dust with its monstrous feet. Haruhi still didn't show a hint of fear in her eyes, and she just let out another volley of bullets. The shots hit home, slamming into the front of the Gurren-Lagann with even more explosive force than before. Kamina could feel his and Simon's precious Ganmen actually losing, as the machine went down on both knees only ten feet away from Haruhi and Kyon. Even still, Kamina refused to give up.

Haruhi could see a drill coming towards her and Kyon, as the Gurren-Lagann reached for them. She was reloading now, but she had already figured out that a couple more shots would finish this. Victory could easily be seen in her amber eyes.

"I....won't....I won't lose to you! Kamina-sama doesn't lose like this!"

Haruhi smiled up to the reaching Gurren-Lagann. She knew this was already over. She raised her rifle again, ignoring Kyon, who was in in disbelief, as she spoke only a few words.

"You're losing to the Brigade Chief. You better get used to it."

"ENOUGH!"

Someone had shouted as loud as they possibly could before Haruhi could fire off her first shot. The voice interrupted both her and the still-working Gurren-Lagann, drawing attention from both parties. Kyon looked behind him, and both Squad 7 and Squad 1's attention were fully on none other than Welkin Gunther now.

Simon's eyes lit up in fear. Kamina grimaced as he tightly gripped the Gurren-Lagann's controls. He could feel himself giving up, and Kamina insulted himself that he had allowed something like this to happen. He felt like a failure of a leader, and he could do nothing but allow the Gurren-Lagann's wrist drill to come to a stop only some four feet away from Haruhi Suzumiya. She had the machine in her sights, but there was no longer any need for her to fire.

Welkin brushed past her, a person being held up in one of his arms. A small pistol was up against Yoko's head, and in her dazed and dying state, she could do nothing but watch as the might of the Gurren-Lagann slowly dissipated in front of Welkin. Silence enveloped all of Squad 7 and Squad 1, as well as Kamina and Simon inside their respective robot. Only the pig in Marina's arms broke it momentarily with a confused squeal.

"This is over. I don't know what you are, or why you attacked us, but only your surrender will save her life. If this person is important to you, then you'll hopefully agree to my request." Welkin stated to the Gurren-Lagann and its occupants, his face as serious as ever.

Behind him, most of Squad 7 seemed in awe. Alicia could have sworn she didn't spot Welkin during this confusion, and even Seiji Sawamura couldn't help but be just a little impressed. Out of everyone, Largo and Rosie were the most surprised. Rosie couldn't believe that Welkin had actually pulled off some kind of hostage situation right under their noses, and that it was actually working. She felt very idiotic all of a sudden.

"You're a coward, you know that? You're using a member of our Dai-Gurren Brigade as a hostage to win this fight? You're not a man! You're just a spineless coward!" Kamina replied angrily from the Gurren-Lagann, but Welkin stood his ground, the pistol still against the side of Yoko's head.

"If we don't end this faster, your friend Yoko might not make it. She's already lost a considerable amount of blood. I want to avoid ending her suffering myself."

Kamina bared his teeth angrily in his cockpit. He felt powerless; unable to help his dying friend beyond surrendering to these people. Of course, Yoko was a little more than just a friend to him, but it made no difference either way. In the head of the Gurren-Lagann, Simon had already realized that this was over. His mind had given in, and with that, the last of the Gurren-Lagann's Spiral Power seemed to just drain away. Slowly, the machine leaned over, out of power and unusable. Kamina merely slammed his fist against the side of his cockpit, his glasses falling off his face and onto his feet.

Below, Welkin wondered just how long Yoko would actually last at this rate. Her bleeding was serious, and the wound would need to be treated soon if she was to survive. Even still, he felt some sort of accomplishment in the back of his mind. For now, their mission was a success.

Haruhi Suzumiya frowned, crossing her arms. She had really wanted to get those last shots off, but Welkin had ended up getting in her way. As she felt her dislike for him grow, Kyon could just feel himself becoming a lot more relieved. Once more, it seemed that they had escaped a terrible fate by inches. In the comfort of this thoughts, he thanked his luck.

Just what kind of good fortune do the those powers of yours give us, Haruhi...

__

TIME: 7:25 PM

LOCATION: RANDGRIZ, GALLIA

The sound of quiet breathing was the only thing that could be heard in the medical ward of the academy, as most of those injured in the mission today had already left the place. The Edelweiss was currently undergoing repairs down in one of the many vehicle sheds, and in all honesty, it was the only thing of Squad 7's to be considerably hurt in the battle today. In a far corner of the ward, a young girl lay unconscious, her leg wrapped up tightly from a serious bullet wound.

Yoko had been out for a couple of hours now, and the person charged with watching her, which was Susie Evans, couldn't help but get worried at her condition. Susie sat in a slightly uncomfortable chair by Yoko's side, constantly monitoring her breathing and making sure that all the bleeding had ceased.

Susie had no idea where Yoko's friends were. The last she had seen of them was an hour ago, when Welkin and Faldio had escorted them elsewhere in the academy. Both of them, a tall, loud-mouthed man and a smaller boy who looked like a junior miner, had been sufficiently restrained after they'd surrendered and exited their red fighting machine.

Memories of the battle scared Susie a little bit, but she knew that her job was to make sure this girl would be alright. So far, she seemed to be stabilizing, and from what medical knowledge Susie knew, her recovery should only take a few days. Susie couldn't help but feel just a little bit bad for this girl.

Out of luck, Seiji Sawamura had happened to be walking down the nearby hallway, and he only got a fleeting glimpse of Susie watching Yoko from the other side of the empty medical bay. In his right sleeve, Midori had been completely silent since the battle. Seiji had tried to ask her what was wrong multiple times, but Midori never answered him, and always retreated further into his sleeve. And so, Seiji got fed up with her behavior, and ceased to care.

But upon spotting Susie, Seiji's mind almost instantly clicked. He could see a chance in front of him, and he did not intend to let it pass by so easily. He didn't care what Midori thought of him for this. Slowly, Seiji proceeded to walk towards Susie, making sure that he didn't move too fast so he seemed as casual as possible.

"Um...is she doing okay?" Seiji asked awkwardly. He figured if he expressed a little concern, he might get on this girl's good side. Of course, that was just an assumption.

Not immediately recognizing the voice, Susie turned and became surprised to see Seiji Sawamura standing behind her. From the viewpoint her seated position, Seiji seemed very tall and imposing. Susie had not expected to see Seiji here of all people, and she couldn't help but feel just a little awkward herself when she answered his question.

"She's stabilizing for now. Hopefully she'll wake up in a few days...hopefully..."

Seiji could tell that their was some doubt in Susie's voice. He wasn't the most understanding guy in the world, and in all honesty, he was no ladies man, but he could figure out things like that at least. Deciding it was okay to move closer, Seiji offered a nervous smile.

"You did your best, right?" he said, causing Susie to look away for a moment. She did do her best, but she didn't exactly know if her best would have been enough. Battles in war were just as scary as she had imagined them, and the battle against that "Gurren-Lagann" would probably be forever imprinted into her thoughts.

"I think so." Susie said, sounding unsure. Seiji's face went hot as he proceeded to do something that could definitely be taken the wrong way. He put his left hand on Susie's shoulder, surprising her greatly despite how reassuring he tried to make it look.

"Um...you shouldn't worry about it. If you need to...talk to someone...I'll...listen...I guess." Seiji stated with a huge amount of nervousness in his voice. Susie could only look back at him, before turning away quickly and blushing bright red. The situation had become very awkward, but she tried her best to get through it without losing herself. She smiled a little bit, and take into account that Sawamura was just trying his best to be nice to her. Despite his attitude earlier today, it seemed to Susie that maybe he wasn't really all that scary.

Standing up, Susie gave it her best effort to look him in the face, but found herself staring at the ground instead. Her hands balled into fists, Susie quietly addressed Seiji, trying to sound grateful.

"Thank you for your thoughts...Sawamura-san. I'll make sure to come to you...if I need anything."

Seiji's mind stopped for a second, but the warmth of success quickly enveloped his brain, causing him to become a lot more relaxed along with feeling like he'd won an amazing prize. Susie glanced at him shyly, and noticed then that while she had been hating Edy's teasing this entire time, her friend was very right about Sawamura's looks. Susie had to stop herself from just staring at his face for too long in fear of embarrassing herself in his presence.

Seiji noticed that Susie was actually smiling just a little bit now. Despite the difficulties of today, he felt really good. In fact, Seiji Sawamura felt like he had won the lottery at this very moment, and the horrible emotions he had been experiencing not long before were swiftly drifting away. In his mind, he could only think about how his dream of finally ending his seventeen-year period of being without a girlfriend might actually one step closer to completion.

In his right sleeve, a very quiet and inconspicuous Midori had seen the entire thing. She could see the expression on Seiji's face, and she knew that it meant his attentions were very much on this girl more than anything else.

With jealously now filling up her little heart, Midori retreated into his sleeve and tried to stay out of the light. Her happiness was fading fast, unknown to Seiji Sawamura, whose mind was clouded by nothing less than love.