[Mogtaki] TTGL: Continuous Spiral [EbonWings]

[EbonWings]

The timer fell to zero, triggering a large explosion that was mostly an eruption of rocks into the air in a violent cloud of dust. The dust settled across the barren and steep terrain slowly, a veil that obscured everything from view and concealed the enemies in their mobile units. It was almost like trying to shoot in a dark room. Frantic orders were issued to protect the village and the base being attacked by the bandits of the sky but once again another explosion went off and the squad fending the southern entrance to the underground village fell silent.
"Damn it!" Xanieth growled, throwing off his headset to avoid the deafening blow. "Lost all communications with Team Falcon. This isn't good." They were stuck in a narrow valley where the only directions of a possible assault could come from was from above, in front of them and from the southern entrance now with a few units less. He wiped the sweat from his brow and slid down to the ground with his back against the cold wall of the cave. Just to his left, the path hidden by a large boulder rolled into place, was the trail that led down to the village hiding underground. Nonoki Village, he believed it was called. The lizard-based Beastman was only given a brief outline of what he was required to do and of course the main priority was the safety of the occupants.
"Sir....Three Beastmen and four humans in that group." His messenger reported. Xanieth sighed, looking down at the pebbles dislodged from the last impact fall to his feet. This had gone on for too long now. Their mobile units were on the surface fending off enemy Ganmen while they had to go without the machines and try to find any rogues that may try to sneak by on foot. It was pretty even at the moment but the men lost would be hard to replace.
"I know..." The Beastmen shook his head grimly and ducked as a round of bullets flew by, one managing to graze his cheek. He hissed in pain and drew back for a few seconds before peering around his cover to return the fire, a few figures falling lifelessly to the ground. They had lost two teams with only three untis remaining. It was no good and Xanieth's heart sank at the thought of losing this battle. They needed to buy enough time for the villagers to evacuate and sometimes, it meant sacrifices had to be made. He raised a trembling hand and signalled for his squad to secure the area once no more shots had been fired before warily standing with his hand over his holster. The ground would often shake and rocks would fall due to the battle above them, showering them with dirt like cats unfortunate enough to be treated to a spray of water. Such was the position he had landed himself in. Even then, Xanieth knew well that victory was near. He could feel it prickling at his skin and it filled him with renewed hope and enthusiasm in finding the last of the enemy scouts on foot.
"Sir...There are still three enemy Ganmen standing above us...What are your orders?" The messenger anxiously followed the commander through the uneven surface, scrambling over rocks whenever the ground rocked from the weight of the giant fighters.
"We need to regroup. Transmit a signal to base and report our status."
"Yes, sir." Like a mouse, the messenger darted off, happy to finally get away from the danger Xanieth was closing in on.
"Just hope he gets that across in time...otherwise, we're all goners." He chuckled lightly, trying to push away the dark thoughts of despair.

***

The slow, contemplative sound of pen against paper could be heard mixed with the peal of laughter coming from behind the doors to General Basoon's main office. It was a large, circular room with reinforced windows looking out to the right where the orange rays of the dying sun filtered through. Pinned to the wall behind Basoon's desk were many papers that had the names of all the human and Beastmen ranks within the brigade. Some names had a large red cross striking through them, marking who had passed during battle or who had disappeared. Lately, more names were being stroked off the list than usual and that pointed to a serious matter at hand. What that matter was, Nera did not know: She was never allowed in on this information, nor was anyone else save for the captains. Even then, she did not care too much. She was enjoying herself as she was. Nera was leaning back against the far wall with a gloved hand over her mouth, giggling like a mad woman at what she had just seen. The young woman was in her formal dress that hugged her torso was but the dress itself was loose and flowed well with her movements. It was a mixture of light blue and grey and had a left sleeve with the brigade's insignia embroidered proudly on the shoulder. It was odd, she knew, but she was proud to wear it and be seen as General Aaron's daughter. However, she did not like being called by that title and preferred to be called by her name.

She had never known General Basoon to be clumsy but there was always a first for everything. Up until now, the Beastmen General held himself in a very well dignified manner, always walking around with a tense expression like there was a large burden heavily weighing down on him. Basoon had quite a broad build but was only half that width in length. His appearance was that of a dark blue ape with heavy vambraces over his muscular arms. The formal blue coat with the Gurren Brigade insignia was pulled close around him, giving him an unintentional imposing figure. He had been too occupied with staring at the ceiling as he paced around the office did he fail to notice the new plant the assistant had placed near the window. The results were destructive but did prove to be an interesting sight to see. Nera could have sworn she felt a slight tremor from that impact. Regaining her composure as soon as a sharp glare was shot in her direction, she stopped laughing but the glimmer of amusement in her eyes and the subtle smirk on her features did not fade.
"Oh, grow up." He grumbled, pulling himself up and stomping towards his large chair behind a wide mahogony desk. On each end of the desk were two towers of paper, problems and pending requests that needed his seeing to; some of which her father had been looking into earlier, she noticed.

At the thought of her father, Nera sighed. There had been some growing tension between them lately but she had figured he was stressed by a difficult matter plaguing him. General Aaron paid no mind to Basoon's scolding and did not look up until Nera had approached him by the mat of papers stuck to the wall behind Basoon. Nera noticed he had been silently gazing at the names for quite some time. She looked out at the sunset quietly, expecting her father to say something but after a while, when no acknowledgement of her presence was given, she took in a deep breath and rocked on her feet, arms folded.
"This has now been the third report we have had today." Aaron said in no louder than a whisper. Nera frowned as he continued, "Two more of our Beastmen Commanders have not returned from their missions....."
"T'is a loss." Basoon added, slowly shaking his head at the papers before him before gathering them up in a pile. "And just this morning, an attack was reported on one of our bases...minimum damage sustained but the attacks have been steadily closing the distance we have placed between us and....them." Nera grew concerned, not for the dead Beastmen but for the base itself. She disliked Beastmen and despised the very idea of working with one but in the past she had found some exceptions. Some being two; Basoon and Xanieth. How would they defend against a mass scale attack? With so little numbers, deploying a small group out to defend what grounds they had while some stayed behind was a huge risk they were taking. There was only so much the scouts could do.
"Wait...Isn't that where-"
"Yes." Aaron interjected, staring harshly at her. He knew his daughter well enough to predict what she had been about to say and was not in the mood to hear any of it.
"Aren't you going to send reinforcements?" He did not reply as she clenched her fists in frustration, "But Xanieth is there!"
"There is nothing we can do with so few in our ranks. He knows the consequences. If he returns, he returns. If he doesn't...then....." Neither dared to finish that sentence and left it hanging in the silence as Basoon watched on. He learnt his lesson when trying to break the two up from their small disagreements and now that Nera was older, she was capable of finding her own ways to bypass what rules they had set up. Basoon swore she was as tolerable as an imp.
"You're kidding...."
"No..." Nera thought hard about confronting her father with this issue but decided against it and started to stare at the ground. Aaron's face eased slightly but the lines of his frown still remained. He trusted her enough to hold her own but sending her out into battle to protect the village was too much. Losing the only family he had, he would not know how to deal with the loss.
"Allow me to go. I promise I won't do anything you won't and I will stay close to Xanieth. Besides," Nera added with a sly grin, raising her right index finger to put emphasis to the point she was about to make, "Having the general's daughter would make for a great morale booster, no?"
"Won't be much if you're dead..." Basoon chided, looking about to rise from his seat,"Their morale may drop instead."
"I will go but not as a fighter...An...observer. I'll take a small group and see what can be done around the village." Nera gave them a pleading stare to hide the plan slowly forming in her mind. It was a while before they replied and she was very pleased with the result even if she did have to have a small group with her. Good transport.

[Mogtaki]

This was going to be a bumpy ride, falling from space in a Grapearl that was supposed to be suited for a re-entry into the atmosphere; of course, things wouldn't had ended so badly if it wasn't shot out of the sky first. The Grapearl had come from the fabled Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren, returning from a voyage that lasted longer than the average human adult life. The voyage had been to visit other Spiral Beings that exited in other galaxies, with the captain and the Super Galaxy representing Earth in various conferences and peace acts; however, it was soon called back with its immortal captain, a signal that could only spell a threat for his home world.

For whatever reason the captain had been shot down for remains a mystery to the captain, but even though he was immortal, this was going to hurt like hell if he didn't fix the landing. The captain's name was Viral, a Beastman and last survivor of the true Team Dai-Gurren. If Viral didn't know better of the people on this planet, he would suspect that he had been shot down on purpose. Grapearls were durable, but they were no Gurren Lagann due to the absence of Spiral Energy needed to control them.

Viral was falling as quite a speed, the boosters on the Grapearl only at 30% capacity with one wing shot out. This was going to be a killer of a landing, but it wasn't like Viral wasn't used to worse outcomes. Even if he messed up the landing and the Grapearl exploded, Viral would still live; after all, being immortal came with handy perks, even if it was going to hurt like hell for a long time if he messed it up.

The machine was diving head first, spinning constantly as Viral tried to correct it. The weight of the damage was causing the Grapearl to tilt, as if the shot had been intended for him to land in a way that would disable him. A fall like this was going to require precision, but he couldn't panic and lose focus. The ground was coming in fast, a decision had to be made before there would be a world of pain to experience.

With one sudden swing around, the Grapearl was back right side up. Viral held onto that position as much as he could as he watched the ground, straining as he forced the twisted wing to keep him up right. He forced the boosters to ignite, slowing down his descent until he finally crashed. It was the Grapearl's legs that were the first to suffer, but they were essential to cushioning the impact as the once great mecha crumbled under the force of impact. The massive echoed throughout the landscape, the shockwaves sending an earthquake throughout the region as the mass of metal met the ground. The crash site sent a dust cloud up into the sky, masking the mass of machine that could had been spared from a crash landing.

[EbonWings]

If not for the loud, booming noise and the trembling ground to announce the arrival of something new and perhaps threatening, the combatants above the village would have continued their fight unheeded but instead, they stopped and focused their attention on the massive wave of dust kicked up by the unidentified object. Li threw his head back and let out a sigh laced with relief. Welcoming the break from his opponent, he turned his head slightly to the side as the monitor of his Standard Soldier Unit Ganmen (S.S U) zoomed in on a small area belching the odd cloud. Earlier, his Ganmen had lit up with small sirens that signalled something falling in quickly with a stream of black smoke trailing it in its wake. Of course Li's first instinct was to deem it as a distraction set up by the opposing side and had done his best to ignore what had missed the zone he was defending by at least seven kilometres; way into the raised cliffs but even then, it rekindled his interest. That was all very fine for Li. Whatever it was, he should not bother with it until after the battle had been won.

Communications buzzed for a second before a frantic voice was heard requesting a status report. The dark haired young man leaned back in his seat and squinted at the image, trying to catch a glimpse of what might have caused such a tremor while the cloud began to settle. Again, the image on his monitor zoomed in but a figure had yet to be confirmed. It seemed to have been similar to the past mobile units he had seen here and there and there was no doubt that from that landing, a survivor would not emerge. "Nothing to worry about too much....I guess...This hunk of metal just...fell from the sky...Must have been shot down and don't count on there being any survivors, Commander Xanieth." He stated, nonchalantly cracking his knuckles as another reply came. "Yes, sir...Two left, sir. Status of the village? ......I see.." Li turned his attention back to his enemy and pushed the controls of his Ganmen forward, running with his cleaver hefted over his shoulder. It was clear that both were as confused as the other by what had fallen from the sky but neither would give up the taste of victory. Li swung his cleaver but at the last moment, the enemy deflected the blow and jumped high into the air with its heavy axe raised above its head and the fading sun at its back, blinding Li. Without much hope, he got into a defensive stance and was knocked off his feat from the force of it. He cursed and scanned the area once more, knowing full well that beneath them all was a thriving village and anymore of these tremors, from the last big impact especially, would cause the place to collapse in on itself and trap everyone inside. An idea came to mind then, almost like a fish getting caught in a net, this idea was snatched up instantly and Li feigned exhaustion, loosening his grip on his large weapon and not moving his controls until he was enveloped in his enemy's shadow.
"Haha! Humans are weak no matter how many of them there are." The gruff voice rang out, "Now I'll squish you like the puny bug you are. Squish." The axe slowly rose, the other pilot clearly taking pleasure in seeing Li's despair yet as this happened, Li tightened his grip on the controls carefully, keeping a steady watch on the movements while planning his own moment of attack carefully. Just one slip up and the enemy would notice his trick, just one mistake and he would be in for a drawn out battle he could not afford. Already the sustained damage was playing an effect on how his machine's arms worked and just how well the torso would hold up was something Li did not want to make an estimation of. Three long seconds later, the axe fell towards him and as it was coming down, Li felt his opponent's guard slip and he swept his weapon at the other's feet, landing the last blow thereafter.
"Looks who's the bug, now. Sure took a beating from that one." The young man released his grip on the controls and ran a hand through his hair with a grin. "That takes care of most of them. That thing, though, is another story." He stared at what the dust cloud had revealed like curtains parting for the grand finale and what he saw next surprised him. Li got in contact with the commander quickly, "All clear, sir. Returning to base. I don't think I can take another direct hit."
"Well done. I will be leading the unit now but I need you at the village to help keep things under control." Li frowned but obeyed, leaving his Ganmen at the mouth of the village before climbing out of the giant machine.
***

"Must have been some battle going on there." Nera muttered, standing in the palm of the S.S.U Ganmen a Beastman was piloting, looking through her bincoulars at a strange structure embedded in the ground. She had left the brigade's base too late to have seen what caused the tremor but receiving reports from Xanieth, she and her 'guardians' were best suited to have a quick look. There was reluctance in the Beastman's voice as he spoke about the news but the most he had said was they would rendezvous at the crash site. Nera just wished he had been more specific about the location insted of leaving them to wander the rough terrain at this time but it did donate an air of mystery to it all. Nera looked like a true official, maintaining her image within the Gurren Brigade as more of a direct messenger than a battle participant which may or may not have been a good thing. Why not look the part? She was disgruntled with having a Beastman pilot the Ganmen she was standing on but once she caught up with Xanieth, she would be sure to stick with him.

It was a while before they arrived at the site, a large crater with a pile of junk sitting right in the middle of it. It might have been a pretty image once, but not anymore. Nera stepped off the hand of the Ganmen that was carrying her once it was near enough to the ground and stepped to the edge of the crater carefully, looking down at it in awe. She had not been expecting to see one of the old models stuck in such a state. It was a waste of a Ganmen, really. It looked familiar, something Nera was sure she had seen during one of her history lessons but the name eluded her. Must have fallen a long way to end up in this state....I wonder who was the pilot.... As Nera contemplated this, she failed to hear a set of footsteps approach her.
"It is damaged beyond repair." A dark voice whispered in her ear. The poor girl jumped in fright, almost sliding down the crater if not for his steadying grip on her arm. "I could try to fix it myself but...the outcomes are very unlikely."
"And...the pilot?" Nera asked, recovering from her embarrassment. She knew he would not allow her to fall so easily but it still scared her. As if the ghostly scene before her was not enough.
"Dead, most likely. No one could have survived THAT." Xanieth let her go and folded his arms, his eyes scanning the scene as he spoke, "Li reported that this was the cause of that tremor."
"Some battle." Nera concluded, bending down to pick up a pebble and throwing it into the air to catch it out of boredom. "I think it is irrelevant to what my father is looking for. Maybe this could be one of them but I don't remember seeing any of these types under their control. This could all very well be a trap set up for us." Trying to check if it would suddenly move despite its state, Nera threw the stone down at the metal parts and listened as the anticipated tapping of pebble against metal sounded from below.
"That is very disrespectful." Xanieth chided with a disapproving look. He knew well her dislike for his kind but there was a part of him that hoped she would listen to him. He was wrong.
"What? You can't blame me for being too careful out here, y'know. You said it yourself: The pilot is dead...unless it doesn't have a pilot but then...that isn't possible, is it?"
"Hmm....I suppose so...but even then..." The Commander trailed off. The small unit he had with him consisted of two humans and a Beastmen adding to the two Beastmen Nera had with her. He could see why she was unhappy but knew her father was partnering her with them on purpose but with good intentions. The scouts they had scattered but remained near them, searching for any remaining traces of the rogues.
"Commander, I suggest we have a proper look around the site. We might miss something important." As long as they were here, they might as well have something to report back to General Aaron and Basoon. They would not want their trip to be all for naught.

[Mogtaki]

Everything was white, the only sound reaching his ears was a painful ringing noise from the force of the explosion. Viral definitely would had surely had been dead if he was anybody normal, his body in incredible pain nonetheless. If the Grapearl had been undamaged and functional, even with the boosters not working properly, he could had easily used the ejection system built in; however, when he was shot down was when the system failed terribly. Just as he expected from human-made Gunmen models, even if they technically were better than older Gunman models in the past. He was almost crushed by the wreckage, his body bleeding but almost already healed, all apart from his impaled arms and the thick glass sticking through his body.

Slowly, everything began to come together in Viral's mind, his eyes slowly beginning to focus and his ears picking up the noises of the outside. It sounded as if there was people somewhere outside, but from the position he was facing, he couldn't see who it was. He slowly looked to his sides, his gaze eyeing up the injuries sustained that kept him pinned down. He couldn't let something like this force him down and prevent him from completing his mission, unlike last time, he had something to live for. With his honour on the line, he had to release himself from the twisted wreckage.

If he hadn't acted before, he would had surely been in a worse state, but even if he wasn't immortal, he would had been able to live through something like this as a Beastman. Pulling himself forward, he slowly shifted out of the metal, blood splattering everywhere for only a few seconds before he healed fairly quickly. The injury to his gut would require a different method, one that would require him to tear his way out. He moved his feet carefully, pushing at the glass in front as he pushed at the metal behind him. No matter how durable something like a Grapearl was, once wrecked there was no way for it to resist his raw strength.

The metal was beginning to strain as he continued to push, the glass slowly began to exit his body at the same time. He growled, glaring back at the metal as it slowly began to bend in his favour. Just as the metal couldn't seem to take it anymore, the glass fully emerged from his body before he violently kicked it, shattering it and finally giving him space to pull the hatchet of the pilot pod apart. The glass was for the adaptation to space and water pressure in these models, providing extra pressure support in bad times. The Grapearl models were nothing like the Space Gunman models, but now he was finally going to be able to get out.

He rammed his fingers into the centre of the hatchet of the Grapearl, the hatchet slowly being pulled apart before it finally snapped open with a terrible screech of metal. The light of the sky was a welcoming sight as he crawled out from the wreckage, slowly shifting the metal away from his body.

[EbonWings]

The groan was like someone scraping across a blackboard with their nails, the sound as grating and irritating as it was terrifying. If it had been night time with the branches scratching against the windows during a stormy night, it would have caused any child to hide beneath their blankets and hope that nothing would emerge from beneath their bed and drag them down under it but luckily, it was not yet dark. Nera and Xanieth both stopped and looked at each other, trying to confirm what they had heard was not their imagination through a brief glance but neither was sure if they had heard anything or not.
"Looks like you may have angered the pilot's spirit." Xanieth stated with a subtle curve of his lips, revealing the tips of his sharp fangs.
"N-no, what are you talking about? It's broad daylight. Besides," The girl said, folding her arms stubbornly, "Spirits don't exist..." She cursed at how unconvincing she sounded to herself, daring a look back over her shoulder. Angry spirits can't hurt me...Not if I leave now. She thought but abdandoning her post for something like a few phantoms was unlike her. It had probably been a bad idea to throw that one pebble, too.
"You're shaking." The commander was already walking away, leaving her by herself but she was quick to scramble to his side under the pretence of being unfazed by what he had just said.
"A-anyway, how's the project going?" He knew what she meant and regarded her with bright reptilian eyes that glanced back and forth for a moment, making sure no one else was listening in before he decided to speak.
"Ah...The Ancient from the desert? I must admit that I have been too busy to take an actual look at it. I do believe it's the original model the various mobile units are based off on....Though...Its previous owner looked to have given it a hard time." The Beastman Commander said in a low tone, unhappy with the state it had been found in. Such a wonderful model left for the scrap. "Enough talk of this. Perhaps another time. I shall search near the remains of this area while you stay here and keep watch. Contact me if you see anything suspicious as I will do the same with you and one more thing: Do not threaten the others while I'm gone." Nera made no promises there but nodded, watching his retreating form with an impish grin. Why he would want to return to the wreckage was beyond her. She never did understand Beastmen and did not plan to, either. Nera thought it was a bad idea to have him go with a small group after that loud explosion but she felt she could trust his instincts-even if he was one of those Beastmen.

Many years ago, the Gurren Brigade had retrieved an odd, wrecked machine in the desert and had brought it to their base. An old model but a good one nonetheless. They had tried to replicate its programming into their own models in hopes of gaining the same skills it had but for some reason, only Beastmen were able to pilot it while it seemed to reject human pilots. They had still to unlock its secrets and had placed that project on hold in favour of other models that were easy to have their weapons based on. The white Gunman was all they had been able to salvage and to entertain the kids, they based stories of what battles it might have had to overcome to end up in such a state. Nera thought back to those stories, the ones her father used to tell her, ones that made her dream of the many adventures Kamina and Simon had to go through before they were well known. She almost had half a mind to tell Xanieth to have the Gunman fixed so she could see the real thing. It would then be a part of the display in memory of the Dai-Gurren Brigade heroes.

A Beastman and human stood behind her on either side and she turned back to the human with a slight nod, "Send a message to the Generals that it is nothing to worry about. However, since we could be returning a little later than intended, we may have to stop by Nonoki Village." The woman nodded at Nera and quickly got to what was requested of her. "And you..." Nera addressed the Beastman, "Stay close and don't you dare let your guard down." Angry spirits? Yeah right. No such thing. Despite her ignorant tone, the young woman could not help but warily look around. There were scouts surveying the area around her and if there was something wrong, they would be quick to signal to her. I wonder what could've happened back there...I bet Xani's seen the whole thing and he won't tell me! Nera looked around for something that would elevate her and give her a better view of the area, mumbling to herself until she found a large boulder she would be able to climb. At least there, she would be able to get a better view and mentally map out the area. Behind her, the woman and Beastman conversed about what they had just seen and how best to split their job of protecting the general's daughter evenly. Nera sighed. There it was again: That annoying title she had been given. She ignored them as she found a foothold and hoisted herself up on the warm stone. Once again, her binoculars were out. Not a sign of the bandits that had attacked but there was still a chance one of them could be hiding near. She certainly hoped not as she was not properly equipped for battle on foot or in a Gunman. Nera had two handguns on her but from experience, it was not her weapon of choice and members of the squad have found it much safer to stand behind her when she is aiming them. The heat radiating off the oval-shaped rock warmed her as she perched on top of the stone like a gargoyle on a building ledge. In her formal dress, she would have been dying in this heat but the sun was on its way down, taking with it the heat.

[Mogtaki]

The air had changed since Viral had last been on Earth and for some reason it was unsettling, for who knew what that could possibly mean. As he finally found freedom in his body movement as he crawled out of the little hovel that was once the cockpit, kicking the lid of it away as he managed to get his legs free. Without so much as a second thought, he reached back into the cockpit and pulled out a communication device. The device was in quite a state, it wouldn't switch on either and was generally very broken. Growling at his misfortune, he slowly stood up and stretched himself, making his spine crack back into place.

He looked a mess, his clothes generally tattered and soiled with his own blood and dust. It was hardly going to be a welcoming sight if the residents of the planet weren't as hostile as his entrance proved to be. He couldn't identify the area where he was with the dust barely settled down quite yet, but even with his keen eye sight, he couldn't spot any nearby liveable settlement. It was a good thing he had come prepared to defend himself, but now all he had to do was just that. He reached into the cockpit again, pulling out his cleaver with his belts and strapped them around his waist.

If there was going to be any hostile humans out here, then they might be the people who he could hear earlier. He quickly looked out for them for only a moment before he tried to repair the communications device.

[EbonWings]

The sound was too eerie to have been ignored so easily and Xanieth was curious. Just as you would be if you heard a noise coming from an otherwise dark room devoid of human life. It was just like that and that noise confirmed the possibility of there being an enemy within range. The Beastman recognised that particular model that had crashed from images and lessons taught around the Dai-Gurren Brigade, quite surprised that Nera had not identified it after she had been going on so much about how she adored the ancient Gunmen. This was not exactly one of the famous ancients but still played an important part in the final battle for peace. If only they could gain the peace from all those years ago. As soon as he had set Nera with an area, he had decided to take this time to properly examine the wreckage himself. Xanieth had a tendency to be more vigilant and thorough than the General's daughter and that trait had not come with a loss. Loss of time, maybe, but there was always a chance something could be gained out of it be it trouble or no.

The Gunman was starting to look like an ancient ruin already with part of it being buried in the sand and its paint looking to have been scratched off during whatever rough ride it had to go through. He felt sorry for the pilot to have been downed with such a cruel fate even if it was an enemy. No matter. Their life did not matter to him now that it was lost. Yet even then, Xanieth couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment tugging at the back of his mind. He wanted to gather proper information and ask of the bandit's inentions of positioning their attacks closer to the base each time. They had nothing of value but then again, the ancients would be even if they were scrapped for parts of not. The commander came to the edge once more and though it was vague, he thought he picked up a bit of movement through the fading cloud of dust. It was easier to see than it had been at first and that was the reason why he had ordered Nera to stay as far from the site as possible as if anything, her harm would mean his judgement. After a few more minutes of waiting, Xanieth smirked as his vision cleared but at what he saw, his reptilian eyes widened and his mouh dropped open slightly. Someone down there? Impossible! Maybe he might've snuck in when we were scouting the site but then....the scouts would've signalled if they saw anything. Nera...How could you miss this? He was completely dumbstruck and that did not happen often for him. None of the reasoning he came up with could explain this.

The figure amongst the crumpled Gunman looked to be fiddling with something Xanieth could not see from his vantage point, so engrossed in what he was doing that he did not seem to notice the commander yet. Unless this is a trap...well...safety in numbers. The commander crouched down and reached for one of the many pistols he kept with him from the holster strapped to his side while signalling for his small squad to fan out and keep careful aim at the figure. He was not planning on taking any chances so carefully aiming, he fired a warning shot, intentionally missing the target's head by three metres. "I'm not sure how you got past my squad or who you are but trust that there will be no more mistakes from this point on." Xaneith announced in a loud and clear voice, "Cease what you are doing and surrender or we will have to resort to force. There is no point in fighting when you are surrounded." At that, the nearby scouts stepped into view, some wielding blades while some had the same weapon the commander had. The whole time Xanieth was speaking, he was warily looking at the figure's clothes and mentally noting the state it was in. In fact, the other looked to be of much better state than his clothing portrayed.

[Mogtaki]

Viral couldn't care much for the people around the area, but it didn't seem as if the dust cloud provided the cover he needed to sort things out. While he didn't flinch at the sound of the shot, he did cease what he was going and glance back in the direction of the shot with brief annoyance. The situation must be an awfully hostile one if that was how people treated strangers, but at least he didn't shoot him down immediately. He couldn't attack the people other these conditions either, his mind wandering slightly as he tried to think of the best solution.

After a few seconds, Viral dropped the broken device back into the cockpit. Raising his arms ever so slightly up to his sides, he tried to show them he meant no harm and packed no close weapons other than his claws. He looked back at the commander slightly again, speaking calmly in response to the man's words, "Don't shoot, although if you did...I won't hesitate to kill you and your squad", he said, shifting his head back to facing front as he looked down at his Grapearl, "After all, this is mine...or was, before I was shot down".

For the type of situation, he was strangely calm about everything. He had to be calm, but his usual passive-aggressive threatening only seemed to be a little threat. He didn't want to have to kill anybody pointlessly; after all, there was no honour in that, even if they held little honour amongst themselves. If they were going to play it cool, then he was going to as well.

((Nnhh, short post before sleep...))

[EbonWings]

((Do whatever suits ))

Xanieth did not deter. He did not understand why he would have to take orders from the enemy. This one must think he was some kind of big shot but really, he was an insolent fool to make threats considering the predicament he had landed himself in. Xanieth kept careful watch over the other's movements -little as they were- and slowly lowered his own weapon, putting it back in its rightful resting place while his squad still kept theirs locked onto Viral. He can fight either on foot or in a Gunman no matter the circumstances and just because he was on foot did not mean it was going to make much of a difference. Xanieth glanced at the sky to see how much time they had before it was time to head back to the village and help tidy things up as best they can. After all, it looked like chances of heading to base before the sun went down was slim and during the night, all sorts of nasty opponents came out and they never did play fair. Living out in the desert far from civilisation came with its own perks but safety was not one of them. Life out here was like a game of chess; you make the wrong move and you die, no second chances so you had to stay on your toes. Xanieth's wariness of the other Beastman was understandable with the attacks nearing the base everyday and it was almost about time they relocate the base. After the attack on the village, the Beastman Commander had every right to be cautious of the stranger.

It seems that people these days just did not know what to believe in anymore: Simon and Kamina's ideas for building a brighter future, or the old belief of Gunmen being evil machines and that living on the surface was just asking to be shot on the spot. It seemed the latter had reared its ugly head and was now making many people think differently. Yet however, there was some hospitality found amongst some of the cities and villages no matter what faith they believed in. Some believed in the old faith but lived in cities and vice-versa. Getting them to set aside their differences, however, was a different matter, the very thing that had caused restlessness between the two parties. Where they were now was far from World's Edge, the section of the planet where all the largest cities are found. There were some surface and underground villages there, too, but only the most stubborn stayed away from that area. Every now and then, the generals would send a few people out to the cities to gather various supplies be it medicine or Gunmen repair materials and had since established a trade with the second largest city, Totoheim.

Xanieth sometimes wondered what it would have been like if Simon and Kamina were still alive. He shook his head and returned his attention to Viral, not knowing he had been in thought for quite some time and had left an empty silence lingering between them. "Then you, yourself, must give your word not to attack." Xanieth grunted in response. He frowned. Something Viral said did not make much sense to him. Shot down? Then that must mean he is the pilot of the destroyed Gunman. Surviving that crash was a great stunt but that stunt may have landed him in for better or for worse. "Shot down, you say..." He said quietly to himself as he contemplated on what was best to be done and one of the choices was to take this Beastman in for questioning. Whether he would come willingly without fuss or not was a gamble. The commander's gaze hardened on Viral, scrutinising the bloodstained fabric he was wearing. "There is no way to tell that you are friend or foe." Agh...He may very well be a spy...Killing him is out of the question and we can't let him go, either. His gaze swept over the soldiers with him, debating on whether or not to issue a command to act by force. The threat from earlier only managed to irritate him and could play a part in his decisions. "I'm afraid I cannot let this slide. Talking out here would expose us to an attack." Xanieth informed, his tone stiff as he stepped to the side to make a gap, breaking the outline of the circle his squad had formed around the edge of the crater. "Would you be willing to come with us quietly or must we act?" His tone faded into a more patient one as he swept his hand in the direction of where the rest of their group was waiting. "I'm going to deeply regret this in the near future..." The last sentence was more to himself while he locked gazes with one of the soliders and in reply, the soldier shrugged in a way that told Xanieth it was him who would have to deal with it and not them.

[Mogtaki]

The commander wasn't being all that unreasonable in his eyes, at least he didn't outright shoot him only to figure out he couldn't die; that would mean Viral would had needed to kill him and the rest. It would be dishonourable to shoot a surrendering target, even if Viral's intentions were not to attack them in the first place. If he was to get them to trust him or for him to assess their purpose, he was going to have to show them he wasn't a hostile enemy; of course, he was going to have to get them to trust him enough with his true identity too. If they were going to demand questions out of him, he wasn't going to answer truthfully if they didn't recognise him from anything until he could assess whether they were the enemy or not.

Giving the commander a long, hard stare, he watched him carefully and listened to every word he said before he straightened himself up a bit, "Just don't shoot me and you will not be brought to harm", he spoke confidently, knowing his abilities were far superior just by looking at this man. They didn't look suspicious from first looks, but Viral knew not to judge someone by their appearance straight away. They appeared to just be a minor faction of these deserts.

Turning to face the commander properly, he lowered his arms slowly and stared at him carefully. If it truly was these people who were the ones that shot him down, then the commander wouldn't had sounded contemplative in that muttering of his. If he was to say who he was immediately, he didn't know whether they would capture him outright, know him and calm themselves down or completely forget everything in history involving the last few decades ago. Staring at the man, he slowly turned his gaze towards the squadron before he lightly jumped off the remaining wreckage and calmly made his way over to the other soldiers, "I don't need much, I don't need to attack you and I don't need the attention! I just need a working communicator that has an extremely large range".