Seven mechas make their way to an old outpost of the Golden City. Once abandoned but refitted with essential supplies and ordinance. Target lock, Takeshi's Grand Titan XS prepares for evasive manoeuvres. This is all too familiar, Takeshi thinks to himself.
"Stand down." A familiar voice and a large blue mecha steps out of the shadows. It's Hikaru in a newly commissioned Silent Strike "S" mecha. "S" stood for how special the improvements were once Ryo completely refitted and redesigned the original that was damaged in the first Striking Venom attack. Only two Triple "S" mechas were constructed due to the difficulty in securing the parts for the stealth technology. Faster than the original model, with more power reserves and armaments. Sophisticated network and communications hardware, and improved accuracy and weapons systems (along with bombing attachments). The stealth capabilities of this mecha made it not only invisible from electronic detection but whisper quiet in silent mode, the new reflective field also made it difficult to see in flight as digital chameleon camouflage projection blended it in with it's surroundings.
In the background some modified Stealth Hunters could also be seen powering down their weapons. Then from the shadows an unexpected mecha comes forward. It's Ryo in his Blazing Falcon. "I've been working on this for a while in my lab, but stopped when it was decided to go with the Golden Guardians as a defensive mecha. I guess I'll be restarting this project sooner rather than later! It's good to see you, friends!" Ryo climbed down from his mecha and shook Takeshi's hand. "When I realised we couldn't go up against this new Striking Venom, I jumped into the most aerial combat mecha at hand. It's no Stealth Hunter but it flys better than a Golden Guardian and has better close combat ability thanks to some new mods. I met up with Hikaru and some of his pilots and we just made our way down the mountain out of the Striking Venom's line of sight. I know you have questions."
The friends settle in, several pilots all hidden in a retired bunker. Their mechas being repaired and weapons replenished. It seems that Meca One created a new Striking Venom with extra armour to compensate for the previous version's shortcomings. An integrated teleportation ray dealt a more devastating attack than heavy canons ever did by beaming the human's hardware away once a lock was established whereas a canon lock would cause damage but could not guarantee removing the enemy from the battlefield, which the teleporter literally did. A huge amount of power would be necessary, but the Striking Venom was a large machine.
Analysis of Takeshi's data taken from his Grand Titan XS has suggested that once the Golden City mechas were disabled with a virus sent from the Golden Tower, they were teleported away. These radiation signatures differed from those inflicted upon the Sensei Keiken and Ryo mechas which seemed to be teleported to a different location within the Golden Tower where a wormhole took them away. Ryo was troubled. Several dozen locations have been successfully activated, but there was no way of knowing from the data which location or locations were used to exile their colleagues.
Meanwhile, Ha-Ya-To was sulking away in the hanger with a envious glance over at Hikaru's Triple "S". Takeshi brings Ha-Ya-To some soup rations. "No thanks."' Ha-Ya-To says.
Takeshi's sits down next to his friend. "Humph, you're going to need your strength. If I know Ryo, he's got a plan and it's going to need you at your best.". He can see Ha-Ya-To wasn't impressed and still looking at the Triple "S" mecha, almost yearning.
"Ha-Ya-To. That's an impressive mecha, fast, stealthy and armed to the hilt. Swords and high-velocity rifles, not really your thing though. Is it?" Ha-Ya-To fidgets. Takeshi continues, "You've always loved flying fast, Ryo knows this and gave you the Aero Booster. You now command a team of interceptor pilots who fly those mechas. The fastest air combat hardware we have, hardware that also detaches into ground mechas for city defensive counter-measures. You're also lead pilot for missions involving Falcons and White Lightnings,. Reconnaissance and escort duties. You were the only pilot Sensei Keiken trusted with the River Dragon. Your skills are not just in the air, but on land and water. Your acrobatics are well known to us, and you've always favoured smaller and more manoeuvrable mechas much like Ryo does. You can fly Stealth Hunters and Silent Strikes, but you wouldn't be able to execute the kind of aerial moves you like without ripping their wings off! Ryo said he had to strengthen the Gate Defenders because even they couldn't withstand the kind of punishment you inflicted on them.".
Ha-Ya-To smiles. "I can still dream though, can't I?".
Hikaru and Ryo walks into the hanger, "I want Ha-Ya-To to fly with me.".
"No.", Ryo insists sternly. "You have pilots under your command that you've trained, you trust them to have your back.".
"It's not my back I'm worried about.". Hikaru retorts. "We're going to need teamwork but because of our limited numbers we're also going to have to work independently. Can you think of a better pilot to take on this mission?"
"I know.". Ryo says in agreement, "but we're going to need Ha-Ya-To and his Falcons to do something much more dangerous if you're going to even stand a chance of success. And Takeshi, you're going to have to provide backup from the ground by yourself. I'll try to provide support but I'll have to break off early on. We're all going to need to perform over and above if we're to succeed in this.".
"Why are you both so serious? What exactly are we planning?", Takeshi asks.
Ryo replies, "To end this war.".
To be continued...
