SD ANDREW: Well, only 23 days to get a new chapter posted! A new
personal record, so I'm feeling quite pleased with myself...
(Ranma enters)
SD RANMA: Hey, what about "My Past, My Future"? When's the next
chapter of that going to be finished?
SD ANDREW: As a matter of fact, I'm just about to start on
that...
(SDSailor Moon enters)
SD SAILOR MOON: What about "Comet Rising"? When's that gonna
start up?
SD ANDREW: Before too long (pauses) I hope.
(SD Vegeta enters)
SD VEGETA: You were talking about "Dragon Ball: Exodus" six
months ago! Why hasn't it come out yet?
SD ANDREW: You'll have to wait your turn!
SD VEGETA: Why should I, Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyajin, wait my
turn for ANYBODY?
SD ICZER-3 (Off-screen): Hey, Andrew, are these yours?
SD ANDREW: H-huh? Uh-oh...
(A pile of unfinished fic ideas lands on Andrew and crushes him)
(Andrew eventually recovers)
ANDREW: Anyway, just to clear up a point: Kawai's name is "Kawai
Kawai" in the Iczelion OVAs, and "Shizuka Kawai" in the Iczer-3
OVAs and the "Legend of Iczer" manga (I'm not sure whether
"Kawai" is spelled with one or two "i"s, but I'm only using one.
I like "Shizuka Kawai" a lot better. Also, Nagisa's family name
in the Iczelion OVAs is "Kaii". In AD Vision's sub, the second
"i" was dropped ("Kai"). Trust me, "Kaii" is correct. Finally,
I have seen two versions of Nami's surname - "Shinma" and
"Shiina". I *think* "Shiina" is correct, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, without former ado...
OPERATION: LIGHTSPHERE
An Iczelion/Teknoman crossover by Andrew Dynon
Iczer-1, Iczer-3, Iczelion, and all characters therein (c)
Toshihiro Hirano/AIC. Translations (c) U.S.Renditions, U.S.Manga
Corps, AD Vision, Antarctic Press.
Tekkaman Blade and all characters therein (c) Tatsunoko
Productions. Teknoman (c) Saban Entertainment.
All original characters (c) Andrew Dynon (if copyright exists on
such things).
PHASE 1, CHAPTER 2
OPENING THEME: "REASON"
"Where are you taking me?" asked Nagisa. She and Kawai had
flown away from Tokyo, and headed into the Mikuni Range.
"Oh, just a place I know of." Kawai smiled. She made a turn
to her right, and headed towards a mountain valley. Nagisa
followed, but stopped in surprise when she lay eyes on the
buildings in the valley.
"A military base?"
"No, not exactly. Soon after the Rhadam invasion began, a
man named Marcus Jamison decided to create a defence force
separate from the Global Military Command - the Space Knights.
There are six bases in various locations around the world, and
this is one of them. I've been working as a computer
programmer here since before I became an Iczelion. The main
command center in America came under attack from a Teknoman a
couple of weeks ago, and they haven't been able to restore
communications with us yet."
As the pair entered the base, they were greeted by a boy
about their age, with short, brown hair, wearing jeans and a
military-style jacket.
"Hi, Kawai! Who's your friend?"
"Ah! Yajin-kun! Nagisa-san, this is Yajin Hakagawa.
Yajin-kun, this is Nagisa Kaii."
Yajin grinned. "Decided you needed some help, and dragged
her into this, ne?" Kawaii slapped him in the face, and she and
Nagisa walked past him as he yelped in pain. "Don't mind him."
Kawai said casually. "He can be a bit of a jerk sometimes."
Nagisa smiled. "Yeah, but he *is* cute."
"You think so? Come on, I'll introduce you to our
commander."
The base commander was a woman in her mid-to-late twenties,
with dark blonde hair in a ponytail and green eyes. She wore a
white jumpsuit with a blue vest over it, and a slight smile was
showing on her face.
"Commander, this is Nagisa Kaii. She's an Iczelion, like
me, but she's only just become one, and she's having trouble
adjusting to it." Nagisa winced at Kawaii's understatement. She
was terrified. She was certain that she was going to be thrust
straight onto the front lines of the invasion, and torn limb from
limb.
"Nice to meet you, Nagisa. I'm Commander Candy Wakeham."
She turned to Kawai. "Kawai, we've got that sensor equipment
assembled, can you go and program it while I talk with Kaii-san?"
Nagisa and Candy talked for a while, and Nagisa eventually
admitted to herself that she liked her more than she had
initially thought she would - she seemed disciplined but not
heartless, and retained a quiet confidence that humanity would be
able to defeat the Rhadam - a confidence which Nagisa wished she
shared.
* * * * *
"Blade, you have to snap out of this!" Star pleaded. It was
now 6.00 AM, and she hadn't slept, staying by Blade's side and
trying to somehow comfort him.
"Yeah, well it's easier said than done."
The door slid open. "Hey, Blade, I know you're upset, but
you need to get your mind off this!" Ringo entered and grabbed
Blade by the arm, pulling him to his feet. "Come on, maybe doing
some sparring will help you feel better."
Ringo led Blade into a makeshift exercise area, with a few
mats on the floor that passed for a sparring area. Ringo and
Blade "fought", but Blade was obviously unenthusiastic, still
unable to stop thinking about Shara's death.
"Blade, I'm not gonna let you go on like this!" Ringo sighed
in frustration. A thought flashed into his mind. "I know! Why
don't you pretend I'm Saber?" Imitating the voice of Blade's
evil twin, he spoke. "Is my loving brother *afraid* of me? Come
on and fight, Blade!"
Blade threw a punch at Ringo. Hard. His fist hit Ringo in
the face, and the blond pilot fell to the floor, blood streaming
from an obviously broken nose. Blade stood over him, frowning.
"*Don't* *you* **EVER** pull a stunt like that again!!"
Blade growled at his fallen friend.
*
Mac plugged the last few wires into place. "All right,
we're finished!" he yelled gladly. "We've managed to restore
mid-range communications to the command centre! We can now
communicate over around one thousand kilometres!"
"Good work, Mac." Jamison said. "Tina, let's see what we can
pick up. Try to contact any military bases within range, maybe
they can update us on anything that's happened since our
communications were knocked out."
"I'm on it, sir." Tina slowly turned the dial, being careful
not to skip any frequencies which might be carrying
transmissions. Eventually the screen flickered into life,
displaying a middle-aged Asian man of medium height, solidly
built with short, curly black hair, dressed in an Allied Military
Command uniform with general's insignia. Jamison recognised him
as General David Huang - widely reputed to be one of the AMC's
best strategists. Unfortunately, Jamison knew from personal
experience, he was also completely unconcerned with any losses
taken by the men under his command, as long as objectives were
achieved - perhaps even more so than Xerxes Galt. At least he
wasn't as blatantly power-hungry as Galt had been.
"Greetings, Commander Jamison. It's been a long time."
"Let's not waste time with pleasantries. We've only just
managed to get some of our communications back up since our
Command Center was attacked by four teknomen a week ago, and
long-range communications are still out due to an attack a week
before that, so we need to be updated on any happenings since
then."
"Ah, well, at least some of your communications have been
restored now. Due to General Galt's death in the Thunderhawk
incident, I am now the supreme head of the AMC. The enemy seems
to have reduced their attacks on this region since the
Thunderhawk incident, but there's still sporadic activity which
I'll send you the data on. Also, we're planning an assault on
the enemy in seven days' time which I would be greatful for the
Space Knights' assistance with. More details on that will be
given at a later date." Jamison started, but Huang continued
speaking. "I'd like to continue talking, but I'm busy with other
work right now. Huang out."
"Commander," began Tina, "Are you going to take him up on
that "mission" thing?"
"I'll wait and see, Tina." Jamison paused, thinking. {Some
action might get Blade's spirits up a bit.}
* * * * *
"Nagisa, I know this is hard for you..." Kawai began
"Believe me, I felt the same way when this first happened to me."
She and Nagisa were no longer in their Iczelion armor - Kawaii
had lent Nagisa one of her spare sets of clothing, a tan jumpsuit
and teal-and-grey colored vest. They sat next to each other on
Kawai's bed.
"But Kawai, how do I learn not to be afraid?"
"You don't. I'm still afraid of the Rhadam, it's foolish
not to be. Nagisa, you have to learn to *face* your fears
instead of running away from them - to stand and fight."
"That's easy to say, but how can I make myself do that?"
"When you see..." Kawaii paused. "When you see something
important to you threatened, *then* you'll fight."
The conversation was cut by the alarm going off.
*
"What is it, Commander?" Kawai entered the briefing room,
with a worried Nagisa in tow. Candy turned around, a hint of
concern showing on her face as well.
"We've detected a large force of spider-crabs descending on
the area around Yokohama. It's imperative that we protect the
civilians there. Kawai, do you think Nagisa's ready to join you
in the fight?"
Nagisa started to say something, but Kawai interrupted her.
"As I said before, she's not used to fighting, but I think
the best way for her to build up her courage would be for her to
go out and face what she's afraid of. I'll do most of the
fighting, and she can hang back."
"Chotto!" Nagisa protested "Do you realise I'm gonna get
killed out there?"
"You'll be killed sooner or later anyway, unless you learn
to fight back. When this first happened to me, I was as
terrified as you are now." Despite Kawai's attempted
reassurrances, Nagisa's fears were becoming stronger than ever.
"Yajin, you and Kiri..." Candy directed Nagisa's gaze to a
young woman with tanned skin and black, ponytailed hair, dressed
in an orange sleeveless top and black pants and shirt "... will
provide suppourt in the /Sunlight/. Now, everyone, get going!"
*
The /Sunlight/ was a Meteor-class fighter, like the /Blue
Earth/, but yellow instead of blue. Kiri piloted it as it flew
toward the scene of the disturbance, with Yajin manning the laser
cannon. Kawai and a worried Nagisa sat in the seat behind them.
As a group of spider-crabs came into view, Kawai sent a
telepathic signal and her Iczel teleported inside the /Sunlight/,
followed by Nagisa's.
"Nagisa, we'd better get going!"
"But..."
"CHARGING!!!" Kawai transformed, while Nagisa's Iczel formed
Iczelion armor around her, much to the new Iczelion's distress.
"Nagisa, stick close by me, I'll do most of the fighting."
Kawai flew out of the fighter, closely followed by Nagisa - due
to Nagisa's distress, the Iczel had taken the "flight controls"
of Nagisa's armor. The brown-haired girl flew in to attack the
spider-crabs with her energy blasts and beam boomerangs, while
Nagisa mostly evaded, unable in her present mental state to fight
back. Fortunately for her, Kawai managed to quickly eliminate
the first attack wave.
"So, we meet." The pair turned to face the deep, cold voice
that was the scource of these words, a voice belonging to a
humanoid, black-and-red-armored figure. "Some of my masters'
erstwhile foes have finally arrived on this planet.
Unfortunately, you arrive only to be defeated."
"Change of plan, Nagisa - you go help the /Sunlight/, I'll
take this guy!" Anyone who had been associated with the Space
Knights for any length of time could recognise the figure before
Kawai and Nagisa - Teknoman Saber. Nagisa let out a gasp.
Although, being a civilian, didn't know his name, somehow, she
felt that he was ... familiar. Almost like she knew him...
If Saber felt the same sense of familiarity, he gave no
indication of it. He launched himself at the two Iczelions,
swinging his teklance.
"Nagisa, get going!" yelled Kawai, and Nagisa wasted no time
in doing so. Kawai dodged Saber's attack.
{Iczel, how should I handle this?}
{Use your speed and manuverability - that's your advantage
over him. Hit him from range, don't get into hand-to-hand
combat.}
Kawai followed her Iczel's instructions - keeping her
distance, dodging or teleporting to evade his attacks, firing
energy blasts or throwing her beam boomerangs when opportunities
to do so presented themselves. Eventually, her attempt to wear
down her adversary began to show signs of success - Saber had
taken a few hits, and began to become frustrated.
"You little bitch! Fight hand-to-hand, damn you!"
Something caught Saber's eye - the other Iczelion was
hanging back instead of entering the fight. For a moment after
looking at her, he wondered how his masters' foes had been so
foolish as to select a person such as her to fight for them. No
matter - if she was too afraid to fight him, it would only make
his task easier.
"TEKNO BOLT!!!" a tidal wave of scarlet energy rushed toward
Nagisa, who managed to do nothing but scream as it approached
her. In desperation, Kawai teleported, placing herself between
Nagisa and the incoming tekno bolt, and screamed as it slammed
into her.
"Kawai! Oh, no, are, you all right?" The concern in
Nagisa's voice was clear.
Saber laughed. "How predictable! And how pathetic! If you
weren't stupid enough to protect your friend, you may have had a
chance of defeating me!" Saber raised his teklance. "And now,
you die!"
A beam of purple energy slammed into Saber's back, and it
was the teknoman's turn to yell out in pain. He turned to see
another woman, dressed in black armor, with long blonde hair,
standing on top of a building.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let scum like you do as you please."
"Nami-...san..." Kawai, obviously in pain, managed to say.
Saber weighed the situation. He had already been wounded by
his first adversary, and was concerned that he would not be able
to handle another fight. Besides, there was somebody else who he
wanted to take care of - his master's other Teknomen would be
able to handle these.
"I've got no time for you right now!" Saber turned and
retreated.
Nagisa and the wounded Kawai descended to the ground, and
Nagisa sat, holding her wounded friend. The green-haired girl
looked up to see her black-clad helper standing over them.
"You're never going to be a help to Earth if you don't
fight." her rescuer berated.
"Gomen nasai..."
"Don't waste time apologising. Learn to fight instead." The
black-armored woman turned around.
"Wait!" Nagisa called out. "Who are you?"
"My name's Shiina Nami." Nami began walking away. "Or Black
Iczelion." With a flash of purple light, she disammeared.
"Kawai-san, are you all right?" Nagisa asked.
"I'll ... be ... fine. Don't worry ... about me ...
Nagisa..." Kawai collapsed into unconsciousness.
- END CHAPTER 2 -
NEXT CHAPTER: Sword and Lance attack the Space Knights' Japan
base, and Nagisa's going to have to fight or die! Plus, Blade
gets back into the action, and is out for revenge on Saber!