"Leader, there are so many requests coming in! It's almost too much, we can't handle all the calls…" Mara said, her voice panicked as she shuffled through stacks of papers and incoming messages on the communication device.
Goro leaned back against the railing of Gurren Lagann, his arms crossed as he surveyed the aftermath of their latest victory.
Many had lost their lives that day. Out of the 42 who fought alongside Goro, only a third made it out alive. Even though Goro knew there would be casualties, delivering the news to the families of the fallen was a burden he couldn't escape.
For every life lost, he made a vow: to build a better future for their families and ensure their sacrifice was not in vain. A mass funeral was held in their honor, and every name was etched into the annals of history, ensuring they would never be forgotten.
"Calm down, Mara," Goro said with a reassuring tone. "Take a deep breath."
"But Goro, it's endless! Requests for supplies, reinforcements, people wanting to join the fight, how are we supposed to handle all this?"
Kamina, lounging nearby with his usual grin. "That's what happens when you're a big deal, Goro. Everyone wants a piece of the action now! Means we're doing something right."
"It's good that people are rallying, but you're right, Mara. We can't stretch ourselves too thin. If we try to do everything, we'll fail everyone."
"What's the plan then, leader?"
Goro stood up straight. "We prioritize. Focus on the areas that need us most. Riggs and his team can handle reinforcement requests. Orik can help manage supply lines and tech distribution. Mara, I'll need you to sort through the messages and filter out anything that's not urgent."
"What about the new recruits?" Kamina asked, "Can't have a bunch of rookies running around without some proper training."
"Good point,"
Goro turned to Mara. "Get Riggs on the job. He has the most experience with training recruits and knows how to handle situations like this."
Mara nodded, quickly jotting down notes. "Understood, leader. I'll inform him immediately."
"Also, Mara… any news on Simon?".
Mara hesitated. "...Sorry, Leader. We haven't been able to locate him yet."
"We've checked everywhere, The Green Area, Giha Village, every place Simon could've gone to, or might've had a reason to visit. But it's like he's just... vanished."
"I see…" Goro's gaze drifted downward as he processed the news.
Simon had been missing for days, and his absence was a growing concern among the team. Reports indicated that his Gunmen was left untouched, which ruled out the possibility of him venturing off for training.
This left two unsettling possibilities: either he'd been kidnapped by a stray Beastman survivor, or he had intentionally gone somewhere without informing anyone.
It wasn't like Simon to disappear without a word, especially not to him or Kamina.
Goro as he leaned against the table, arms crossed tightly.
"Leader?" Mara ventured cautiously, noticing his silence.
"I'm just thinking, Mara,"
"You think he may have been taken by the beastmen while we were distracted with the celebration?"
"I can't rule it out," Goro said. "But there wasn't any sign of a struggle, and Simon's not someone who'd go down without a fight, even if he's feeling off."
"Then he left on his own," Kamina came to a similar conclusion.
Kamina frowned, running a hand through his hair. "That doesn't sit right with me. Simon's not the type to just up and leave. Maybe he's feeling down after the fight, he wasn't exactly shining out there."
Kamina slammed his fist into the wall
"If Simon's out there punishing himself, he's an idiot! We're a team, we don't leave anyone behind."
"Your right Kamina. Let's knock some sense into Simon when we find him."
—
Ever since Team Dai-Gurren had successfully taken over the factory, their resources had grown exponentially.
They now had a surplus of Gunmen weapons and Beastmen technology, far more than they'd ever had access to before. The factory's storerooms were filled with spare parts, ammunition, and experimental equipment, which had opened new possibilities for their growing army.
But the most intriguing discovery came from the deepest part of the factory's basement, a secured and forgotten section hidden beneath layers of debris and security codes. Riggs, leading the exploration team, had been the first to report it.
"Leader," Riggs said, stepping into the briefing room where Goro and Kamina were strategizing. "You're going to want to see this."
In the basement, they found an experimental prototype Gunmen, unlike anything they had seen before. Its design was sleeker and more advanced, with a dark metallic finish and glowing, intricate spiral engravings. The machine was massive, yet its structure suggested it was built for speed and precision rather than brute force.
"What is this…?" Goro asked, stepping closer to the towering prototype.
"It's a prototype," Riggs explained. "Looks like the Beastmen were experimenting with a more advanced model. Maybe something they planned to use against tougher opponents, like us."
Kamina whistled, running a hand along the cold metal. "This thing's a monster. If they'd had this in the last fight, we might've been toast."
Mara, who had accompanied them, inspected the nearby consoles. "The logs here are incomplete, but from what I can gather, it's called the Great Dane. It was still in development. There are notes about its systems, but no records of it ever being used in combat."
"If it's unfinished, we might be able to complete it ourselves. But can we trust it? Beastmen tech isn't exactly known for being reliable in human hands."
Goro crossed his arms and studied the gunmen.
"Send it over to the green area. Have Orik work on it, maybe he could get this thing on its feet and ready to be used."
The Green Area had transformed. Once a modest settlement in the vast wastelands, it now stood as the capital of a united human front. People from villages, underground colonies, and scattered outposts across the land journeyed to this growing metropolis.
They came to seek refuge, join the fight against the Beastmen, or simply to be part of a place where humanity's dreams of freedom were being realized.
Towering structures made from reclaimed materials rose from the heart of the city. The factory Team Dai-Gurren had conquered was now repurposed into a hub of innovation, producing weapons, Gunmen, and advanced technologies powered by spiral energy.
Humanity is improving at a steady pace, while Beastmen have significantly reduced their activity as they noticed the damages they had received.
Their once relentless assaults had dwindled to occasional skirmishes, all of which humanity had managed to fend off. Any attempts to regain land lost to the humans ended in failure.
Maybe they are strategizing their next move, waiting for the chance when the odds are in their favor, and striking down humanity when it is at its peak, delivering the ultimate despair.
But no one can tell what the Beastmen are actually thinking at the moment. For now, humanity is focused on growing and gathering strength.
Goro walked back to his personal study. As the heavy wooden door clicked shut and locked behind him, he let himself breathe freely for the first time in hours.
Slumping into the worn leather couch, Goro tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling.
'Somewhere along the way, I lost the passion I once had for being reincarnated into this world,' he thought 'now replaced by duty'
When Goro first found himself in this strange and dangerous land, he was thrilled. He had imagined himself as a carefree warrior, piloting Gunmen, living out his dream of experiencing an anime-like adventure.
He even gained two brothers. The best he could ask for.
But reality had hit hard and fast. Battles weren't glorified spectacles, they were messy and brutal. Then one of his brothers went missing and no one has heard of him since. Losses weighed heavy, and the responsibility of leading humanity wasn't something he'd ever envisioned.
"Maybe I need a break from all this... rekindle my passion for mechas," Goro muttered to himself, staring at the ever-growing pile of work on his desk.
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind blew through the open window, sending stacks of paper flying off his desk. Sheets fluttered through the air, scattering across the room. One particularly rogue piece of paper landed squarely on Goro's face.
"What the...?" Goro peeled the sheet off his face and glanced at it. It was a request for reinforcements, buried in the backlog of papers he had yet to review and approve.
He scanned the document. It was from Littner Village.
"Wait... Littner Village?" Goro's eyes widened. Wasn't that the place Yoko Littner came from?
Yoko was one of his favorite characters from the show. She had been fighting the beastmen long before Goro and his crew even emerged to the surface. She was the definition of resilience, fire, and charm.
"This could be it… the perfect excuse!" Goro thought. A trip to Littner Village, framed as a response to the request, would let him lend some aid and meet Yoko in the process. A mission that doubled as a vacation.
He stamped the request with his approval. "Time to pay Littner Village a visit."