More and more bullets further debilitated the Savage, which was unable to change the magazine in its rifle with only one arm.
As the attacking AS came near, Sousuke swung the rifle like a club, but the enemy deflected it and pushed its carbine against the Savage's chest. Just one shot into the cockpit…
The gun fired.
If Sousuke took a fraction of a second longer to turn the mech's hips, he doubtless would have ended up splattered on the wall; the blast ripped through the Savage's armor plating, destroying most of the instruments in the chest cavity and plowing through the generator in the head.
Its control system completely destroyed, the Savage fell like a marionette cut loose. Crashing face first, it splashed into the water, throwing its arms toward the bank.
The night air reached Sousuke, and blood trickled down his forehead into his eyes. A sharp pain twitched in his back. When he tried to move the mech's levers, he confirmed its complete demise.
Swimming toward the wreckage, Kaname grabbed its arm.
"Sagara?" she called.
"No, stay back!" shouted Sousuke, ignoring his pain.
The silver AS stepped in front of Sousuke. It was unlike any other Sousuke had ever seen—its stylish design suggested it was Western. But where did it come from?
"You handled that thing very well until you got to the river," Gauron called through the speaker. "Did you really think I'd set off a grenade? We want the girl alive."
"It wouldn't shock me if you did," answered Sousuke. He could see two Arm Slaves and some kind of armored truck en route from the base. His number really was up this time.
"Hey, you're that student from the plane. I never expected an agent to be in high school. Fooled me! You with Mithril?"
"I don't have to answer that."
"Fine. Then die."
"Wait! What are you doing?" shouted Kaname.
Ignoring her, Gauron's AS leveled its carbine rifle at Sousuke's chest. For a moment, everything was silent.
Then, there was a low rumbling as the shoulders of the silver AS shook, and the left hand slapped its head, which shook as a sign of its operator's disbelief. The huge machine was, in effect,
Sousuke winced at his former name.
"I barely recognized you. So, you've stuck with Mithril, eh? How's that coward,
"I thought you were dead," answered Sousuke.
The silver AS pointed to its forehead, right where Gauron's scar would be.
"Ha! Fortunately, I had a titanium plate in my skull from an old wound. The angle was just right, so here I am! Wow. I'm so glad we got to meet again this way. It's great, don't you think?" Gauron laughed.
"You're awfully glib these days," quipped Sousuke.
"A lot's happened since then," he chuckled. "I'd have a lot to tell you, but there isn't time. I need to get on with tinkering around in that girl's brain. So exciting—it's like a treasure hunt."
"What are you talking about?"
"Her head's packed with Black Technology, such as the applied theory of the Lambda Driver. Once it's complete, nuclear weapons will be obsolete."
"What?"
"Guess you're out of the loop. Sorry, no time to fill you in. Tell the boatman at the river Styx to expect a big group soon, okay? Buh-bye!"
Again, Gauron lowered the gun.
Just as Kaname opened her mouth to shout, there was an explosion and a splash of water. Gauron's rifle split into two pieces.
Leaping back, Gauron narrowly avoided three incoming shots—each ruthless and dangerous.
A loud roar passed overhead, marking the arrival of a gray AS, which was descending from the sky at full speed. It cut its chute and plummeted.
"Yahoo!"
The plummeting Gernsback fired its rifle wildly before landing roughly in the water, sending a miniature tidal wave over Sousuke and Kaname.
"Urzu Six, landing successful. And I've got a visual on Seven and Angel, too."
Immediately, the M9 squeezed off a quick burst of shots, destroying the incoming enemy Arm Slaves. Gauron's mech seized the opportunity to hide behind a hill.
"Kurz!"
Upon hearing the familiar name, Kaname frowned. "Kurz? Does that mean…"
"In the flesh. How goes it, Kaname?"
"What is going on here?"
Temporarily confused, Sousuke suddenly remembered that Kaname and Kurz had met the previous Sunday.
"Hey, Sousuke," called Kurz, "can you move?"
"I'll manage." Battling intense pain, Sousuke heaved open the bent frame and crawled out of the cockpit.
Sparks flew every which way through the sky above them as the multi-warhead rockets that were launched from the Tuatha de Danaan scattered small bombs. Explosions preceded the eruption of many small flames.
Now, Kurz's AS was not alone—five more M9s detached their urgent deployment boosters and plunged onto the base. Simultaneously, rotor sounds announced the arrival of attack and transport helicopters rushing toward the base. It was the de Danaan's rescue squad!
"Listen, Sousuke. Take Kaname and get back to the base. Head for the south side of the runway," Kurz instructed as he snapped a magazine into his rifle and turned to chase the silver AS.
"The base?"
