Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Ronin Warriors: Hell Back on Earth ❯ Island Assault ( Chapter 26 )

As Teisei's time manipulation took effect, the dropships wasted no time firing up their engines and began making their way closer and closer to shore, as the faster mechanized fliers covered more water as well, jetting past the Seishi and She-Ronin, which appeared to be frozen in place.

"How close are the dropships now?" Tenma asked.
"Not very. We've still got a long way to go until we reach the beach." Houji explained.
"You need not worry. Gentassai's clan has finished their transformations." Ceiphied replied, pointing to the rocky Nether Dragons flying nearby. "I will provide the means to land your craft." Ceiphied explained.

With the dropships managing to move from out of the maximum range of the cannon to well within its firing radius, but still far from the island, Teisei's mental concentration broke, as the time manipulation broke, causing everything to happen almost instantaneously. The dropships went from outside firing range, where the good guys thought they were, to well within in an instant. The flying units they were engaging were now far behind them, approaching the beach itself.

"What the hell just happened?" Yuri shouted in anger and disbelief. "We were just holding them off and now they've slipped by us!"
"I'm not sure, but something tells me we should make a beeline back for the beach since there's pretty much nothing stopping them." Sage said.
"Except for those three." Kento said, pointing out that as the units landed on shore and made their way up the beach, either the cannons turned on them or they were sliced and diced by Saber Strike, Yuriko, and Navcase.
"We've also got another problem." Sakura explained, pointing to Gentassai's clan, which was also advancing. "Kento, Sage, Suiren, Ran, get back to the beach as fast as you can and try and keep them from taking too much ground. Rowen, Yuri, Temia, and I will try and stop the Nether Dragons." Sakura replied.

The four nodded and raced back towards the beach, where Navcase and the others clearly needed help.

"What about us?" Ryo asked.
"Stay here with me, those wings of yours and your skills can try and keep Houji from launching any more mechs." Sakura said.

Temia soared through the sky, firing energy blast after energy blast at Gekidoku's still undragoned clan, trying to keep them from adding to the problem like a swarm of scaled mosquitoes, but they were also backed up by Rakurai's clan of warriors, many of which were flying around in the Blitz armors, which continued to fire their beam rifles at the opposition as they streaked through the sky like black ninja knights. Sakura's twin cannons tore into the tough skin of Gentassai's clan, but only left bleeding wounds which soon healed up. She and Kanesada strafed again and again, as she brought her gun pods to bear on the monsters, which were a bit more effective. Meanwhile, Yuri was driving railgun spike after railgun spike into other dragons, as she fired away with her Dober Gun, slicing through many of the dragons, and managing to take some of them down.

"Ceiphied, if you are planning anything, you had better enact it now." Tenma said.
"The success of our attack begins now." Ceiphied said confidently. "Rakurai, have your Blitz soldiers fly cover for Gentassai's clan and initiate Phase Shift!" he ordered.

"Phase Shift?" Sakura wondered.
"That doesn't sound too good." Ryo said.
"Ryo, we should try and get ahead of them and pummel them with everything we have!" Anubis said, rocketing off in front, as the large Draconai shield in front of Gentassai's advancing clan began to form.
"Let them have it!" Anubis said, as he and Ryo let loose with their machinecannons and vulcans, which failed to cause any kind of damage to the Blitz armors!
"Something is wrong here..." Anubis said fearfully, as Sakura flew into position in between them and let fly with her own weapons, which had about the same effect; none. Gentassai took a deep breath and exhaled a flurry of large stones at the three, most of which Sakura was able to shoot down with her mini-missiles, the rest were taken care of by Anubis' scythe. A few shots later, and they were effective again, but still running low on ammo. Leave it to Yuri to show up ready to kick more ass.

"Let's see, there's a new weapon I've been meaning to try out." Yuri said, placing her cannon on her back again and holding her hands out to the side, as a small black sphere of crackling energy formed in between her hands. "PRESSURE CANNON!" she shouted as she let the bolt fly into one, as it's chest armor was cracked and dug into the Draconai underneath.
"Anyone else want some?" Yuri asked.

The members of Rakurai's group scattered.

"Guess not."
"Brilliant, Lord Ceiphied. Simply brilliant." Tenma said, not too enthusiastic about Ceiphied's big comeback so far.
"I'm only warming up." Ceiphied replied as Rakurai handed him a strange horn that looked like a dragon.
"That looks like a Flute of Summon Dragon in a ways." Ayako observed.
"A what?" Temia asked.
"Nevermind. It lets you call dragons, but Ceiphied's got hundreds of them here. Wonder what he means to do with that thing." Ayako wondered.
"We've got to head for the beach as fast as we can." Sakura said.
"Why?" Ryo asked.
"NOW!" Sakura shouted, a tinge of fear in her voice.

The group broke off their attack and raced towards the beach, where the others were having a better time fending off the mechs that managed to land than they had with just three. A few good shots from Kanesada's weapons and a path was clear for the group to land.

"Hey, what are you guys doing back here? We've got everything under control." Kento said, as he jabbed another mech in the chest with his blade.
"Okay, what's so bad about whatever Ceiphied just brought out that we had to fall back?" Ryo asked.
"The Horn of Dragons' Wrath." Sakura answered.

Navcase gasped in surprise.

"ARMOR OF HOPE!!!!!!!!!!" he shouted, calling on his Mecha Armor quickly and racing out towards Ceiphied, knocking away Draconai as fast as he could as Ceiphied took a deep breath and blew the horn, whose airy and deep tone echoed across the island. The assembled Draconai's eyes began to glow red and roared with anger as they raced towards Navcase, who attempted to fire back at the rapidly charging units, which only closed in faster around him.

"We've got to try and help him, Horn or no Horn!" Sakura said as she took off to the rescue, firing her weapons back as the Draconai now swarmed at her, getting torn to pieces by her weapons as they charged forward, taking every hit without a single thought of evasion, many coming within inches of her before dying. In desperation Kento sent an Iron Rock Crusher out in an attempt to stave off Gekidoku's clan, but despite their weakness, they either shook it off or did not care.

"This is bad." Kento said.

Suddenly, the sound of missiles was heard flying from a distance, as they slammed into the advancing Draconai and blew them clear to kingdom come!

"Where did those come from?" Ryo wondered.
"They weren't mine." Sakura replied. "Mine don't have that much power."
"Look!" Sage pointed.

Rising out of the water, and wading there, was Dark Inferno!

"HARIEL!!!!" Ceiphied roared. "Because of you, I lost my chance to rule all Nether Dragons! DESTROY HIM!!!!!"
"Okay Dark Inferno, now it's our turn. Let's get 'em." Hariel said.
"Acknowledged." Dark Inferno replied.

Weapons came out of hiding all over the machine and wasted no time unloading on the blindly charging Draconai. More of Gekidoku's clan and even some of the dragons from Gentassai's clan were wasted by the barrage before the effects of the Horn seemed to fade.

"I take it that thing is an inspirational thing to the Draconai?" Ryo asked.
*"More than that. Any Draconai that hear its sound are driven into a berserker rage, causing them to ignore even that which hurts them the most to tear their enemy apart." Navcase explained. "And now for you Ceiphied."

Navcase began to power up, and in doing so it opened up the panels on his armor as he charged forward with his beam saber ready, which was glowing bright purple.

"A futile attempt. Do you really think that Kuzu Ryu Sen of yours can stop me?" Ceiphied said, as he raised the sword high above his head and began to chant something in an odd language.
"Oh no. The second great ability!" Navcase said, breaking out of his charge. "KAI JIN!!!!!" he shouted, deploying his two cannons and proceeded to target Ceiphied.

As Navcase prepared, Sakura fired a few more shots at the other unberserker Draconai trying to attack her, only to find her ammo had dipped dangerously low as she headed back to the beach to give Kanesada a chance to reload.

As Ceiphied began chanting a verse in what seemed to be the language of the Nether Dragons, the sword began to glow with power as the dragons on the battlefield also began to glow.

"Now what?" Kento asked.
"The second great ability of Ryuujin. By chanting a verse in the ancient language of the Nether Dragons, a true Draconai, one born and not cursed, can draw power from all the dragons assembled and dead on the field and unleash a powerful attack, one that Navcase may not be able to fend off." Sakura explained, as Ryo and Anubis charged forward to try and help.

Energy began to flow in bolts of lightning to Ceiphied's Sword of Ryuujin, from each dragon there, and from the remains of the those that had fallen in the battle, until the sword glowed and crackled with energy. Ceiphied then pointed the sword directly at Navcase, just as a bolt of energy came down from the Heavens and surrounded Navcase, charging his panels and giving him the power he needed.

"See what a true heir to the Nether Dragons can do with this armor!" Ceiphied said, unleashing the stored energy, which snaked out from the tip of the sword, forming into a large dragon's neck which opened its mouth and roared, as it flew towards Navcase, who fired his own blast back at it, which was only swallowed up by the energy dragon as the force pushed him backwards as he held up his shield in an attempt to stop him, which only began to melt under the intense energy as he was pushed back further and further. He drove his beam sabers into the ground in an attempt to slow himself down as Ryo and Anubis flew up behind him and placed a wing each over him, only to be unrelentlessly pushed back towards the other side of the island, as Ceiphied shouted something in Nether Dragon which the energy dragon seemed to understand, as it snaked downward and slammed into the other side with incredible force, as energy erupted everywhere from the impact, shaking the entire island as the attack finished.

"RYO! ANUBIS!!!" Kento shouted.
"SHINTA-CHAN!!!!" Yuriko cried.
"Do not worry. I can still feel them. They're alive, but they should survive." Temia answered.
"I can still feel Shinta-chan too." Yuriko said. "I can feel all three still."
"Thought that was impressive? Now for the rest of you!" Ceiphied roared, holding his sword up again for another go.
"Don't count on it, you scaly bastard!" Sakura shouted, as she unleashed the last of her ammo towards Ceiphied, which was only absorbed by Gentassai's clan, who took the hits.
"Great, now she's out of am..." Kento replied as Sakura reached down to her leg, removed and brandished her VTS gun, locked on target just as Ceiphied began to charge again, and fired a shell straight at the armored monster, which canceled out his actions, and knocked him to his knees.
"mo." Kento finished.
"That was for my boyfriend." Sakura replied, as she disengaged the Armor pack and sent it back inside the APC to be rearmed.
"We've got to try and get to those dropships if we can." Rowen said.
"How? There's Draconai between us and them, too many for even Dark Inferno to wipe out. We're in deep trouble." Sage observed.
*"How quickly you all give up!" a came a voice over their radios.

The roof of the Slave Bay opened up as Himeihoshi was raised up and into the center, before spreading his wings.

"HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!!!!" Himeihoshi replied in a sing-song voice as he blasted off and rushed towards the Draconai forces with a cheer from the other good guys.
"Oh great, it's that accursed jet again!" Houji shouted in anger. "All remaining mecha, launch immediately! Show that reject from a badly made Macross movie who rules the skies!"

Droves after droves of other DINN units spread their wings and took to the sky to challenge Himeihoshi, firing their weapons at the jet as he flew past them. Members of Rakurai's own clan also began to chase after the Metal Siren.

"Seems like I'm quite the popular guy, eh? Well then, in the esteemed words of Gene Starwind, allow me to blow some hot kisses to my devoted fans!" Himeihoshi said, opening up his leg-based missile launchers and let fly with two volleys of nine missiles each, some of which turned out to be MarxFaxes, which began to open fire on the approaching Draconai and shooed them off, while others slammed into Rakurai's warriors, blowing them away, while the remaining homed in on the DINNs and blew many of them away, as Houji proceeded to tear his hair out as the plane continued forward towards the dropships.

"This Hand of Mine Glows Burning Red..." Tenma said reluctantly as he brought his arm back for a long range God Finger.
"Uh uh, I don't think so!" Himeihoshi shouted, aiming his autocannons downward and letting them rip with a hail of bullets down the top of the craft Tenma was standing on, forcing him to call off his attack and dive for cover.
"Let's see, divide this, carry the one..." Himeihoshi calculated on his combat computer as he sent a single missile backwards towards Tenma, who had gotten up to try his machinecannons as well. However, the missile exploded early, turning out to be a Krakken shell, the edge of which tore into the chest of the mech and sent Tenma flying off the top of the dropship!
"JACKPOT!" Himeihoshi exclaimed as he banked into a turn and headed back towards the island before circling around and flying back into the fray, spraying many of the Gekidoku clan with autocannon fire while a few well-placed Krakkens took down more of Rakurai's boys.
"AFTER HIM!!!!" Houji shouted in frustration.
"Sorry boys, you can't catch me, I'm faster than the gingerbread man, I have better rockets than the Coyote, and, unlike some other aircraft I know, I can do THIS!!!!!" Himeihoshi shouted, pointing straight up and rocketing skyward at almost Mach 4, with the DINN units struggling to keep up.

"Tired yet? I am a true air superiority fighter, because there's nothin' in the sky that can hold a candle to me. Not even a tiny one, so all of you can pucker up, and KISS MY AFTERBURNERS!!!!!" Himeihoshi added, cranking out everything he had bringing him up to Mach 5 as he raced into the upper atmosphere with the DINNs right behind him.
"Are all of you still confused on who the greatest air superiority fighter is? It's not the Baron of Wings. It's not the Sword of Storms. Forget about it being a group of old shuttle ships refitted to look like Earth fighter planes. It's me baby. I am the greatest. I am invincible. Most importantly, I can TRANSFORM!!!!" Himeihoshi shouted, breaking his speech for a moment to achieve soldier configuration and hang over the approaching DINNs. "AND I HAVE TWO REALLY POWERFUL CANNONS POINTED DIRECTLY AT YOUR SORRY ASSES! NULL LASER CANNONS, FIRE!!!!!" Himeihoshi shouted.

Moments later the tail end of his blast ripped through the clouds and hit the surface of the water before dissipating.

"Well, that wasn't too hard. Didn't even break a sweat. Now to do what Ayame really designed me for. Time to go to work." Himeihoshi said, bringing his head shield into position.

"Hey! Gentassai's clan! I'm gonna give you to the count of ten to all scatter, so I can play my favorite game, Dive and SEEK! One...Two...Three...Four...Five...TEN!!! Ready or Not, HERE I COME!!!!!" he shouted, diving at extreme speed with his plasma spear ready for action, using his targeting systems to guide himself into one of the dragons, driving his spear into it with his own strength plus the dive, impaling it faster than the others could blink. Pulling it out, and setting foot in the shallower water, with it barely covering his knees, Himeihoshi readied himself for his next challenge.
"All right, who's next?" he asked.

The rest of Gentassai's clan proceeded to get ready for the next round, now that their target was on the ground.

"Take a number and get in line..." he said as he suddenly lowered his head shield and detached his gun pods, "my line of fire that is! SUCK BEAM CANNON!" he said as he proceeded to open fire with his MS-50s, tearing into the ranks of the Gentassai clan yet again. Their confidence bolstered by Himeihoshi's arrival, the other warriors stepped forward and began firing as well, Sakura firing her twin beam cannons, which were kicked up by being attached to Kanesada; Yuri fired her dober gun again and again, those lacking heavier firepower charged forward to take care of what annoyances the auto-cannons and Dark Inferno were unable to handle. Dragons proceeded to drop like flies as the transformation of Gentassai's clan began to wear off and they fell back.

"Now what, Ceiphied?! Your plan appears to be failing! Your troops are getting slaughtered! What do you intend to do NOW???!" Tenma shouted angrily.
"THIS!!!" Ceiphied shouted, standing with his sword's blade facing towards the ground, as if he was getting ready to go off to battle. He began another verse of Nether Dragon, as energies began to surge around him.
"Um, pardon me for asking, but what's he doing now?" Himeihoshi asked.
"Activating the third and final ability of the Ryuujin armor." Navcase replied, as he, Ryo, and Anubis trudged up the beach in their badly battered armor. While most of the group was shocked to see them back, only Himeihoshi seemed to want to know more.

"That's really helpful, WHAT DOES IT DO?!!!" Himeihoshi shouted over the reports of his own guns.
"The armor can invoke the power of the Horn of Dragons' Wrath to spur the warriors on, sending them into a berserk fury attack. The second power draws power from all the dragons in the area, dead or alive and focuses their power into a powerful blast of energy unleashed from the sword's tip. The third ability, the one he is using now, will temporarily protect all of his warriors from attacks by magic, along with attacks initiated directly by our forces."

Sure enough, as he had spoken, any attacks brought upon any Draconai were blocked by a transparent shield that looked like a flattened dragon's head. Any physical attacks brought on them by the warriors in Ronin Mecha Armor were repelled in this way, while the attacks from the technical based weapons passed through the shields, doing considerably less damage.

"I wish Ayame was here, she could tell us how ineffective our weapons are against this attack." Sakura said.
"Question Navcase, how come you couldn't use them when you had the armor?" Ryo asked.
"I am not a true blooded Draconai. I am not, nor descended from Nether Dragons. I learned much about the Armor in my time with Ceiphied, but I had never seen the three secret abilities of the armor until now. Only one who is true blood, and can recite the special incantations, can full utilize the armor as Ceiphied has." Navcase explains.
"In other words, we're in deep shit, aren't we?" Yuri asked.
"To put it bluntly, yes." Navcase replied.
"I was hoping you wouldn't say that." Yuri answered.

Meanwhile, back at Otoantou...

The sounds of tanks rolling along the street were heard around the facility as Houji's defense units patrolled the city, holding down the fort until Tenma and the others returned, hopefully triumphantly. Inside Otoantou's walls, a small contingent of mechs patrolled the perimeter while searchlights scanned the ground, some coming from the mechs themselves.

Within the facility, boredom as usual had set in. The boys over in R&D had recently told Shou that the suit had finally finished testing and everything was green, which would have caused Shou to celebrate exuberantly, if it was not for the fact that all his systems were black and blue for the most part. The speed demon, with most of his wind exorcised out of him, had spent most of his time with Karen, who was spending most of her time with him. Most of that involved lots of making out in either of their rooms, something that, in addition to setting off a few dozen red flags in Naru's brains as Japanese no-no's, she was at least happy that the two of them were doing it in private and had the courtesy to lock the door. Down in the depths of the base, the only sounds heard lately were Shou and Karen making out and Naru grumbling about being cooped up and ready to use her powers to blast her way out. She had been training with Kazu in the art of throwing objects, but by now she was so good she could do it almost effortlessly or not even concentrate and manage to hit on target.

The confinement was getting to her, severely. It felt like being grounded, except that she was not. She would settle for getting caught in the rain if anything, recalling one time when she and Yuuji were walking along one day when it suddenly started to pour and the two had to dive for shelter the best they could, she got soaked for the most part, Yuuji for the most part tried to hide the fact that his best friend who happened to be a girl had decided to wear a white shirt, which was now soaked...well, you get the idea. Yuuji was pretty mature about things like this for a guy his age, part of the reason she liked him so much. Most guys would run off or panic if a girl put her head in his lap, fell asleep on the couch next to him, but then again, the two were very close friends to begin with, and furthermore, were now on the same page regarding feelings for each other. But that was another story. Naru would kill for one more minute outside, after she was basically told not to go outside. She thought coming Toyama was going to be a total bust until she met Ayako and had someone to hang out with, now she was practically trapped in this underground prison and only succeeded in getting Ayako's voice mail. What could she possibly be up to that was so important that she could not pick up her cellphone and call her? Right now her only choices was watch two college-age kids make out with each other or hang out with a hermitish person who meditated in front of burning incense for half the day and drank tea out of little teacups. It had taken a while for Naru to feel comfortable about a wolf and a falcon being in her room, once she got past the the fact that Saitou and Arataka were actually quite docile when there were no battles to be fought. At the moment, the wolf was lying at her bedside fast asleep while the bird sat perched on her headboard while Naru lay on her back staring at the ceiling with one hand folded behind her head, while her Mini-Disc player sat in the palm of her other hand constantly shuffling tracks as the cord for her earbuds headed up to her ears like some sort of umbilical. Arataka also stared up at the ceiling, as if trying to figure out what Naru found so fascinating about it. Over in the corner of Naru's "cell" as she had come to call it, was a TV perched up on a dresser with a series of gaming systems strewn across the floor with stacks of game CDs stacked neatly over in a corner by system. Her clothes were half hanging in the closet, half strewn along the floor, although Naru had taken care not to leave any unmentionables lying around. The other bedposts had all sorts of hats hanging on them, from baseball-style caps to bucket hats. Her skates and other gear were over in another corner, all set to go, if Naru ever got the chance. Currently Naru's outlook for the day consisted of, get up, go shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, game until she got bored, train with Kazuhiko, back to gaming, eat lunch, and attempt to find other things to do until hopefully the word would come that she could go outside again. She was running out of games to play, challenges to conquer, endings and things to unlock, besides, Naru did not live on gaming alone. A good portion of her free time was occupied with hanging out with the guys and Yuuji and of course, skating. As her mind wandered more she had to fight to keep her eyes open, stifling off a yawn that could go either way, as her eyelids began to droop as she began to dream of the sun on her back, the wind blowing through her hair, hanging with her friends, and all those other great things that had been taken away from her, ever since Tenma showed up on her doorstep.

As Karen and Shou made out and Naru snoozed, Kazuhiko was seated with his legs crossed, mediating in front of burning incense, hoping for some sort of guidance from the spirits or otherwise. His mind replayed his confrontation with Navcase over and over again, attempting to ready himself for the next encounter with the Sword of Heaven, where he would unleash the full fury of his ninja and samurai training, holding back the use of the secret power of his swords until absolutely necessary, when, and only when, he had exhausted all of his skills to defeat Navcase and there was no other way to win. But his thoughts also drifted to that of the other four that had been left behind as Tenma went off to conquer the world with Houji. He could feel their frustration in being part of this cause, but apparently not necessary for it after all, as he suspected this was probably also part of Tenma's plans, keep them trapped within the facility until they went stir-crazy, then let them out on the city, explain it was all Amaterasu's fault, and sit back and watch the fun. Tenma cared nothing for Karen, Shou, or Naru; even Midori was simply a vessel for Drakka to consume when the time was right. He had to try and do something, attempt to break them out while the others were out, and keep Tenma from carrying out his plans.

Kazuhiko came out of his trance and rose to his feet, heading towards the door and down the hall, carefully opening the door to Naru's room and tiptoeing in. Saitou awoke for a second and looked up at his master, as he slipped by the comfortably snoozing but uncomfortably looking Naru as he eyed the phone on her dresser.

"Ms. Naru, please forgive me for trespassing into your room and touching one of your personal belongings." Kazuhiko said softly to himself as he left as quietly as he had entered, going back to his own room. He dialed a number and waited patiently for the other side to pick up.

"Joe? It's Kazu. Can you gather up some help and head over to Otoantou Industries in Toyama as fast as you can?
Thank you. See you soon, old friend."

After hanging up, he dialed yet another number.

"Ryu, it's Kazuhiko. Get Hayate and come over to Otoantou Industries in Toyama as fast as you can. I don't know how much time we'll have. Yes, it's important. Hope to see you soon."

After returning the phone to Naru's room once again and apologizing again for his intrusion, the warrior headed back to his room, removing his hakama and his gi, revealing the ninja nightsuit underneath. He put on his obi and slipped his daisho through it, as he slipped his hood over his head, which had a small piece of metal sewn in at his forehead to protect against bullets, as he tied a long red scarf around his neck and slipped it over his already covered mouth. His forearms were protected by padded gauntlets, as were his shins, and his nightsuit had padded shoulder guards sewn into it as well. He slipped shuriken into his forearm gauntlets as well as stuffing a few into his shin guards as he slipped smoke grenades into his obi. All that was left to do, was wait.

As Kazuhiko prepared, the side of Amaterasu continued to get pummeled. Under the protection of Ceiphied's latest brainstorm, the dropships had used the protection of the Draconai as a diversion to bring themselves closer to shore and thereby closer to unloading their ground units to take the island.

"Great. Those things are getting closer, our ammo's getting lower, Ayame's still not here, CAN THIS GET ANY WORSE?" Yuri shouted as she fired more shots from her Dober gun.
"And it'll still be a while before the A-Type will be reloaded." Sakura complained as she fired yet another charged shot. "Ammo or no ammo, we've still got to put a dent in those dropships! If they can't land, they're sunk!" *"Rowen, get C-Type ready to go!" Sakura said as Kanesada switched back to bike mode and took off for the APC's trailer.
*"Will do!" Rowen replied.

Rowen opened the back door and Sakura drove the bike in and locked into position as the door closed behind her.

"Now what are they doing? Their attacks are hopeless!" Houji said in response to what seemed like a last ditch effort to preserve their hold of the island.

Inside, Sakura waited patiently as various clip-ons with retracted blades were attached to Kanesada's body, until her visor confirmed the transformation was complete. That turned a light green in the front of the APC, as Rowen pushed a button to deploy his half of the launch ramp as the top of the trailer opened up and Sakura was lifted into launching position.

"Let's cut them down to size, Kanesada." Sakura said as the catapult she was on fired her straight off the ramp as Kanesada switched into robot mode again as he soared towards the Draconai.

"Deploy blades!" Sakura shouted, as two blades on either of his legs protracted outward and pivoted so the cutting edge was facing forward, as the two on his arms also locked out into position, the two now on his chest forming a v extended outward and also pivoted, as two on his back like Xion the Unborn from Bloody Roar deployed out to the side and extended outward, as the mech flew forward, slicing cleanly through the waists of two Draconai, as he proceeded onward to the dropships.

"Okay, drop down to the deck and roll sideways when I tell you to." Sakura said as Kanesada descended to water level and continued to make his way towards the enemy dropships.
"Oh no!" Houji shouted, grabbing a radio. "EVASIVE ACTION, EVASIVE ACTION!
"Shields up..." Sakura said as a blue sheen appeared inches above Kanesada's armor, "and turn!"

Kanesada gave his thrusters an added boost as he rolled onto his side and used his multiple blades to slice vertically as he flew through the hull of the dropship, splitting it in two as he climbed upward and out of danger.

"There's still a great deal to go." Kanesada observed.
"Yeah, but at least we've bought us some more time." Sakura said. "Ready for another go?"
"I think not!" Houji's voice shouted as a shot from a beam rifle flew past Kanesada.

Down below, using Kanesada's scanners, Sakura was able to make out the form of something flying up towards them. After zooming in, she confirmed it was a Mecha armor.

"Analysis complete. RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam Full Vernian "Zephyanthes". Prototype mobile suit released 4 November UC 0083. The suit has advanced movement capabilities due to the numerous vernier thrusters installed throughout its body." Kanesada reported as other vital statistics about the unit's specs came up in her HUD. "Universal Century eh? Gee, I wonder who's piloting this thing..." Sakura said sarcastically.
"How dare you insult the one and only true timeline!" Houji shot back as he shot yet another blast at Sakura as she dodged again. "Really, if the Universal Century is the only true timeline, then how come so many of your suits come from shows OUTSIDE the UC timeline, hmm?"

As Houji contemplated this blatantly true statement, Sakura took the opportunity to dive towards him, which he, mostly thanks to the suit, was able to dodge out of the way of.

"Well?" Sakura asked.

Houji's response was to continue to fire at her blindly as he attempted to figure out why he used non-UC mecha designs for Tenma, Teisei, Karen, even Naru for the most part, as Sakura zigged and zagged through the sky, continually trying to get in and slice him up as he fired back. Everyone down below was watching this little aerial ballet, and getting bored or even sick from it shortly, as Sakura flew high up in the sky, standing in front of the sun and making it harder for Houji to aim properly, and then dove straight down, keeping the sun behind her at all times as Houji fired madly in an attempt to hit her, as she flew straight past him, coming only inches of hitting him before pulling out of her dive at the last second and skidding back to shore in bike mode as she came up the beach.

"Ha ha! I got you!" Houji exclaimed.
*Wrong." Sakura said as she suddenly appeared in his own HUD. "I got you. Bye Bye."

At that moment, the verniers on his back slid down and off it, falling into the water below, only to have Houji animaically suspended in midair for a few more seconds before he too plummeted to the ground below, hitting the water with a large splash, cursing as he flailed in the water and was pulled out and back aboard his dropship. Angry, Houji ordered all the remaining ships to fly towards the shore as fast as they could, as the heroes fought back desperately, only to hit the Draconai instead, as even Himeihoshi was forced back to the beach as he continued to fire back with his beam gun pods, soon expending the ammo and forced to fight back with only his autocannons and shots from his plasma spear as the members of Gentassai's clan landed on the beach as the dropships touched down in shallower water and began opening up in back.

"HOLY SHIT! They're unloading. We're all screwed now!" Yuri swore in anger.
"Something must be wrong. The Draconai should have changed back by now!"
"I fear that Drakka's forces may have tipped the scales in their favor." Navcase replied.
"Great, they made a wish. WHAT ELSE CAN GO WRONG?" Yuri shouted.
"They're unloading Siege Tanks!" came Kashin's voice, one they had not heard in quite a while, as he came running up the beach, pointing to the dropships.
"And more of those gatling-toting, missile launching two-legged walker things." Yuri observed.
"They're called Goliaths, and I don't think they're Houji's design to begin with." Kashin explained.
"What about the yellow things that are waddling out of the dropships?" Ran asked.
"Those would be Wolverines."
"Do they have claws?" Sage asked.
"No, but their machine-guns will get you just as bad."

The situation worsened as the two legged, cycloptic fat yellow mechs with huge cannons on them known as Titans came stomping out of the back of the dropships.

"Um, Sakura, is that armor of yours reloaded yet?" Kento asked, hoping the situation could get brightened.
"Not yet."
"All right, nobody panic!" Sai shouted.
"HOLY GOD FRICKIN' DAMMIT ALL TO MECHANICAL HELL!!!! I'm down to my plasma spear!" Himeihoshi shouted angrily.
"Can we start panicking yet?" Kento asked.

The Siege Tanks rolled up the beach and locked themselves in, as their large artillery cannons deployed from the back, aimed towards the now very doomed good guys, as Mia in a last ditch effort began to fire the defensive weapons from the CCC at the enemy units in an attempt to buy them some more time.

"She's been sitting there the whole time and NOW she decides to fire the weapons on that thing? Okay, I nominate that we resign Mia to researching the existence of some sort of long lost, ancient and legendary, hidden in a undisclosed except for one important document that's written in an ancient language location, super duper, blow everything to hell, light our darkest hour überweapon." Kento said.

The group prepared to withdraw. If they tried to hide in the forests the Siege Tanks would blast them and the woods to smithereens in at least two shots. If they could run close to the tanks as fast as they can, they could bypass its long firing range and strike while it changed back, of course only to be cut down by the weapons on the other mechs, which as far as they could see, if Houji had managed to build stuff out of Gundanium, he had most certainly learned how to pierce it. Their armor would buy them some time, but only a short while to save them from very painful deaths. Houji jumped for joy as his began to bring his weapons to bear on the enemy forces, not even noticing the rumbling sound coming from a distance from behind his intended targets. Houji began the countdown to destruction as the rumbling began to get louder.

*"Get down!" came a voice in all their helmets.
*"Ayame?" Sakura asked.
*"Yes! Get down, I'll be right there!" Ayame said.
*"Okay..." Sakura said.

Everyone dove to the ground as the rumbling got closer and closer, Houji finished his countdown and in that exact moment the shots fired, as something big and heavy passed overhead as they pressed themselves to the ground, as they heard the shots slam into said something, but no loud explosion. As they got to their feet they stared up at a gigantic ore hauling dump truck that had clearly been modified for purposes other than its intended one.

"Son of a BITCH...I didn't know they stacked shit that high..." Yuri said as she gazed up at the machine.
*"They do, and this bitch has enough armor plating to stave them off for a while." Ayame said.
"So, what is this thing?" Ran asked.
*"Think of it as a huge toybox with new playthings for you, and Yuri."
"What about me?" Suiren asked.
*"I'm...Working on one for you."
*"I'm waiting Flower Girl, are you going to unload us or not?" came a drill sargenty voice. "I'm Ready to Roll out!"
*"I am also standing by." came another, calmer voice.
"All right, let's take back this island." Ayame said, pushing two buttons. A ramp slid down from one side as a tank came charging down with a cry of "OOHRAGH!!!", while a boat was shot outward towards the water which Ran guessed was hers and headed over to retrieve it.

"This was not in the perceived plan, Houji..." Tenma said.
"This is very bad...that jet of theirs took out most of my air units because they weren't strong enough to stand up to him, now they have a tank! My ground mecha! Do whatever you can to stop them!" Houji said, practically panicking.

"All right Lilly Girl, climb in and let's get this show on the road! Move move move!" the tank shouted.
"I'm coming!" Yuri shouted, disengaging her additional weaponry and climbing inside through the hatch, finding herself in some sort of cockpit, which was quite weird for a tank. A small monitor was over in the corner and had a metallic face on it, wearing a tank commander's helmet.
"Welcome aboard. I. J. Arclite, at your service. Now let's show these Maggots how we do things!" I. J. shouted.
"Then lead on."
"Proceeding!" the tank said as he shifted into first gear and began rolling towards the enemy tanks.
"Target verified. Fire in the Hole!" I. J. shouted as he fired off his first shot, sending a particle blast into one of the Siege Tanks, severely crippling it. "Who else wants some?" he continued, firing shot after shot, forcing the tank brigades back. The Siege tanks fired back with their artillery pieces, shaking Yuri up inside.
"This is not good!" Yuri shouted.
"Don't you worry, my armor's so thick it'll take all day for them to put a dent in it! However, it'll only take a few minutes for me to put a serious one into theirs! Push that little red button, we'll give them something to complain about!

As Yuri pressed the button, several polygonal hatches opened on top of the front treads of the tank, sending a salvo of mini-missiles into the enemy tanks, crippling them even more. "OOHRAGH!!!! How do you like that, you metal-plated Maggots!? By the time I'm done with you, you will be unrecognizable as machines! That's because you'll all be disfigured, mangled, smoldering piles of metallic shit!"

I.J. proceeded to fire his main cannon several more times, crippling the Siege Tanks as the rest of their allies proceeded to finish off what was left. Missile launchers on the sides of his turret were aimed at Rakurai's clan, doing serious damage to them as well. The Wolverines proceeded to fire their machine-guns at I.J. who did not take kindly to it.

"Who gave you permission to scratch my new paint job? I certainly did not! Prepare to suffer particle death, maggot!" I.J. shouted, firing off more shots from his main cannon.

Meanwhile, as Ran made a break for the water, some of the Titans changed course to lumber after her, as she shot back at them with her hydroplasma cannon, doing some damage, but not enough to significantly deter them. She threw one of her remote mines at its leg, and detonated it, which took one of them down with a crash, slowing down the others, as she managed to climb aboard and turn the boat around long enough to return fire with her lasers, which went from doing little damage to doing greater amounts of damage as she sped off to try and get into deeper water.

"Houji, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and assume that you didn't bring any sea-based mechs with you." Tenma replied.
"Don't worry boss! I'll take her on!" Teisei said, flying out over the ocean, engaging his Launcher pack.
"Great. The time psycho's back." Ran sighed.
"Don't worry. The sea will conceal us from his vision." a voice said.
"Who's there?" Ran asked.
"I am Bakurai, your Aquaslave. As in answer to my previous response, observe." he said, as the boat began to submerge.

Concealed beneath the waves, the boat moved quickly but quietly, as Teisei flew overhead, trying to find them.

"So, what do you have for weapons?" Ran asked.
"I have four variable-pulse variable range lasers at my disposal, two before you and two internal, in addition to more torpedoes than you'll ever need. Shall we take them on?" Bakurai asked.
"Let's." Ran replied.

As the Titans moved further and further into the water, Ran let them have it with her torpedoes, taking out their legs and sending them toppling into the water. Teisei could not locate her, but she continued to cripple their forces from her location, moving around as she fired again and again. Teisei fired his huge Agni cannon towards the water, missing her each time, as the good guys continued to return fire, with I.J. doing most of the firing, taking out Siege tank after Siege tank faster than Houji could unload.

"This is going too slowly!" Yuri shouted.
"My sentiments exactly. See that port there? Plug that Knuckle Bomber in there, hang on tight, we're gonna up the ante on this gun!" I.J. said. "You think you're the only artillery pieces out there? SAY HELLO TO MY BOOM STICK MAGGOTS!"

Two panels on either side of his front turrets folded upward as two large things which appeared to be arms with large articulated claw fingers, dug into the beach on either side, as a fan-like structure opened up from under a panel on the turret, as energy began to be drawn in and the cannon started glowing, as I.J. targeted one of the other dropships.

"Everybody take cover!" Sakura shouted as the group hit the deck as I.J. fired his main gun, which instead of sending out a simple particle shot, sent out a wide beam of death that vaporized one of the dropships.

"AHH!!! Move the lead ship out of here, FAST!!!" Houji shouted to his pilots frantically, as their dropship slowly began to move farther out to sea after lifting off. A group of Titans stood in its way, and began moving towards the tank, their huge guns aimed at him, shaking him up a bit.

"This is bad!" Yuri shouted. "Any other bright ideas?"
"You will remain calm! Since it'll take time for my gun to be ready to fire again, it's time to get up close and personal with these sons of bitches! TRANSFORM!!!!" I.J. shouted, as his rear treads unfolded outward, his waist twisted around, his arms moved into position, as a face shield lowered, revealing the rest of his head, which looked like the portrait inside with Yuri. In addition, Yuri's chair had relocated itself so she was in a control frame similar to the one in a Valkyrie. One of his leg compartments opened as he reached down and pulled out a mech-sized shotgun, and began opening fire on them, doing heavy damage to the approaching mechs.

"BRING IT ON MAGGOTS!!!!! This here shotgun will blow your sorry heads right off if you had them!"
"Ayame, we need to drag you out of your lab." Surien replied as she and the others watched I.J. fire back at the enemy mechs with his shotgun.
"I also think that head reptile over there needs to say hello to this thing too!" I.J. declared, sending a blast into Ceiphied, which may have absorbed the shot with the shielding, but was also strong enough to knock him off balance, disrupting his concentration.

*"Armor pack is reloaded Sakura." Rowen reported, as Sakura took Kanesada back inside and switched armors again, bringing out all of her many guns again and opening fire on the newly vulnerable Draconai forces. The rest of the numerous heroes on the beach also began firing back with their mecha weapons, tearing into them anew.

Out at sea, Teisei was still trying to locate Ran and Bakurai.

"Find, find, find, the boat, as it hides beneath the waves, when I find your sorry ass you'll have seen some better days!" Teisei sang as he fired blast after blast into the ocean as he searched for Ran.
"You know, that S.O.B. is seriously beginning to tick me off..." I. J. said as he put away his beam shotgun. "Cover me while I get my other baby.", he declared as he reached into his other leg compartment and pulled out a SAW, equipped with a grenade launcher and sniper sight. The barrel extended outward as he brought his crosshairs in on the psycho and fired a burst at his backpack, canceling out the weapons systems and causing him to fall into the water.
"Now that he's out of the way, I can concentrate on these dragons here!" he said, as he put his weapons away again and detached the treads from his shoulders, which reattached themselves over his hands, almost like boxing gloves, as he wasted no time punching and kneeing the enemy dragons and forcing them to limp off. Ran and Bakurai emerged from the water and began firing back with their lasers but to no avail.

"Although I. J. seems to have the situation under control, I suggest we give him some backup whether he likes it or not. TRANSFORM!" Bakurai shouted as he shot upward, detaching the underside as his legs deployed out from behind, his engine moved over where Ran was now in a similar predicament as Yuri, as his arms folded out from his belly and locked into place on either side, as the bow folded downward 90 degrees and then split outward on both sides to form shoulder guards, as Bakurai's head emerged from the center of the structure, looking like a scuba diver's, complete with mask and regulator where his mouth would be. He landed on the underside, which was now some sort of surfboard as he shot towards land, using the two guns mounted near Ran akimbo style as he fired on the dropships, shooting down any Draconai that got in his way, reaching land and kicking up the underside which he slung onto his arm as a shield, as he reached to his side and deployed a strange cylinder which deployed into a staff of some sort, as he held up the staff and the three prongs of a trident were formed as water flew up and wrapped around it, and he also began to skillfully take down the Draconai forces.
"I did not give you permission to come over here and help me out!" I. J. bellowed as he continued to fight back with his treaded fists. "No-ammo boy's bad enough.", glancing over at Himeihoshi, who was using his beam spear to fend off the opposing Draconai.

*"Mr. Otoantou sir! We've got some problems back at the base! The Sword of Hell is staging a breakout! Two groups of ninjas arrived without warning and snuck in! Our forces aren't enough to take them on! We need reinforcements!"
"Tenma! We must withdraw at once, or we will loose the rest of our hopes to rule the world!" Houji said.
"Yes! We must do the same!" Ceiphied declared. "Gather as many energists as you can and retreat!"

The badly crippled forces, and smoking dropships slowly turned out to sea and began to make their way out, as an anchor claw fired out of the ocean and pulled Teisei up and aboard, as what was left was quickly abandoned and began to withdraw back to the mainland.

"Da da da dum da dum dum da da! Take that you metallic maggots, and don't come back!" I. J. shouted.

Everyone erupted in cheering as they shed their armors the second the bad guys were close to the horizon, as they breathed a sigh of relief.

Back at Otoantou...

As Houji's forces headed further and further into the distance, the good guys began to prepare for their next big step, which would mostly involve keeping the Drakka Shischisei from using any more of their two remaining wishes. They may have staved off one assault of the island, but there were sure to be more eventually. That, and the big problem; they still had not located their priestess. Without her, they could not possibly defeat Tenma and the rest of his evil. Amaterasu had Leng pouring though every ancient text in the palace (unfortunately for Yoko, Amaterasu asked her to help him, hoping that the girl could learn a thing or two). In the interim, I. J. was whipping into shape the numerous mechs Kinjiro had sent over to help fortify the island further, since the Seishi would be needed most guarding the palace from attack. If Tenma's forces took the palace of the heavens, there was no chance for hope at all. Without Amaterasu, their powers were as good as gone, and the world would be screwed beyond belief.

If only they could find the Priestess soon. But they had no clue what she looked like. That answer they hoped that Leng and Yoko could reveal for them.

Amaterasu was in her chambers when Leng suddenly dashed in excitedly, with a less than enthusiastic Yoko following him.

"We've got good news!" Leng reported.
"You've found the Priestess?" Amaterasu asked.
"Even better, I've found the Priest!"
"Priest?" Amaterasu asked, confused at this.
"Yes, in order for the ritual to work properly, a young male has to cast the spell to bring you and your power to Earth."
"And this is because?" Amaterasu asked.
"Well, all the deities in the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho took male forms, and Drakka is male, so it makes sense to have a male perform the rites for a female goddess." Leng further explained.
"Good. I was thinking that the Priestess was going to have to put on a strip show for the ritual to work."
"No, it's a similar incantation to the one the Drakka Seishi used."

"I'll ask Kinjiro to start tracking for the Priest. Yoko, I need to borrow your staff." Amaterasu explained.
"Whatever..." Yoko said unenthusiastically.

Back on Earth, Houji's remaining dropships were quickly making their way towards the main facility at Otoantou after they had received word that something was going wrong. As they neared the facility, most of the lights were flickering on and off and men in black suits were everywhere. Houji quickly ordered his jump troops to head down and deal with the situation, firing their machinecannons in an attempt to drive them off or kill them. The soldiers were fine during their decent, but once on the ground, they were nailed quickly by energy bolts from a familiar pair of blades.

"Kazuhiko! I knew he would be trouble sir! I warned you!" Houji explained in a I-told-you-I-was-right tone.
"Yes, I see that now. Something must be done." Tenma said, motioning to a Ghost operative on board who took aim at Kazuhiko, as he ordered his animals to take down some of the troops Houji sent down, while he attacked others with his swords. The shot went flying, which struck him, and caused all sorts of electrical energy to surge out and force him to his knees.

"That should hold him until we can get on the ground. Houji, hurry up and land these things, we must deny Kazuhiko what he desires most, and soon."

After Karen, Shou, Naru, and Midori were safely tucked away inside their base, Houji turned his attention to the shackled form of Kazuhiko.

"What did you do to me...?" the warrior asked.
"A Chi Lockdown projectile. It'll drag your Chi so far down that you won't be able to resist, and good luck to anyone who tries to sense you."
"Why have you done this...?"
"It's simple. No one tries to oppose Tenma." Houji explained.

Snapping his fingers, A mobile trace ring descended around Kazuhiko, pulling at him and slipping past the binders attached to him as he shouted in pain.

"Begin armor up sequence." Houji continued.

An armor resembling VR Raiden locked in from all sides, encasing Kazuhiko within it.

"You're our weapon now." Houji said simply, as he began to laugh maniacally.

Next Episode:

AYAME: Ayame here! At long last, we've found out where our Priestess, er, Priest is located, and with the help of Yoko's staff, we're led through the city again in an attempt to locate him! But things get worse when Houji and Tenma attack the palace and the island the island for the second time! Can we carry out the ritual before they completely take us out? It's next time on Ronin Warriors, Hell Back on Earth: Blasting Down Heaven's Door. And oh yeah, I break out a new invention again!