"Leader, you can't leave all this work to meee!" Mara whined as Goro shoved a towering stack of paperwork her way while preparing to embark on his vaca–reinforcement mission to Littner Village.
"I trust you, Mara. I need you to take care of everything while I'm gone for a bit," Goro said with a confident grin.
"You don't have to go personally! I can assign another team to handle it," Mara protested
"NO" Goro said
He quickly cleared his throat. "I mean… there's something I need to check out personally. It's a task only I can handle. So, yeah, I have to go, alone."
"...If you say so, Leader."
Whew, that was close! Goro thought
She almost ruined my well deserved vacation. Sorry, Mara, but you'll have to handle the paperwork while I get to relax.
"Yes, it's something very important, so I'll be back in about a week or so. See ya later!" Goro waved casually as he made his way out.
"Wait, Leader- you haven't.." Mara tried to call out, but Goro was already gone
The factory had been rebuilt from the aftermath of the battle into a stronghold. fortified with thick barricades and guarded by an elite force of soldiers who patrolled the perimeter with vigilance.
Riggs had been reassigned to the capital, where he was now training new recruits, shaping them into the next generation of warriors. Kamina spent his time chasing beastmen on the outskirts and pursuing women when he could.
"Damn Kamina," Goro muttered to himself as he made his way through the factory. "He's out there living it up while I'm stuck here drowning in paperwork."
As Goro passed by squads of soldiers, they stopped to salute him with unwavering respect. He still wasn't used to it.
Finally, he arrived at the hangar where his personal mecha, Lagann, was stationed. The compact yet mighty machine stood on the maintenance platform, its gleaming surface reflecting the overhead lights. The engineers had done an excellent job keeping it in pristine condition, ready for action at a moment's notice.
"Let's go, Lagann," Goro said, placing a hand on the mecha.
The cockpit hatch opened, and Goro climbed inside. Settling into the pilot's seat, he felt a surge of relief.
Here, in Lagann's cockpit, was where he felt most alive, free from the burdens of leadership and paperwork, where his instincts could take over.
"Littner village here i come"
The mecha moved almost instinctively, reacting to Goro's thoughts before he could even fully process them.
he soared across the open terrain
Now that he thought about it, this was his first solo journey.
Before it was always Kamina, Simon, and Goro. The three of them had always been a team, inseparable, their bond forged through countless battles and shared dreams of a better world.
But things had changed since Simon went off on his own.
Sure, Kamina was still around, but even he had drifted in his own way. Kamina wasn't the type to stay confined within walls or shackled by paperwork. He thrived on the battlefield, where he could throw himself into the action without any thought.
And then there was Goro. He had stepped into the role of leader, carrying the weight of the capital and the factory on his shoulders. It wasn't a task he'd chosen, but one he had accepted because no one else could handle it.
Kamina, for all his charisma and natural leadership, was too impulsive, too wild. He was a force of nature on the battlefield, but managing politics wasn't his strength.
"I guess we all found our own paths," Goro muttered, his hand resting lightly on Lagann's controls. "But it's hard not to miss the old days."
The landscape blurred beneath Lagann as it moved effortlessly across the terrain. Goro had managed to master lagann's ability to transform. Now it looked like a giant face flying in the sky.
"It's ridiculous, but I kinda love it. Who would've thought my ultimate ride would look like this?"
While Goro was leisurely taking in the view, he spotted a Gunmen on the ground. It didn't take long for the enemy to notice him too.
Without hesitation, the Gunmen began firing missiles in Lagann's direction.
"Hey, watch it!" Goro yelled, quickly maneuvering Lagann to dodge the incoming barrage. However, the relentless assault left him no choice but to descend and confront the enemy head-on.
Transforming mid-air, Lagann shifted its jet engine into a massive, spiraling drill. Goro aimed directly at the enemy Gunmen and initiated a bold new move he'd been working on.
"Lagann Falling Meteorite Drill!" Goro shouted as the drill began to glow, its surface heating up and igniting in fire.
The enemy Gunmen pilot panicked, trying desperately to flee as Goro and Lagann plummeted toward them like a meteor.
"You're not getting away!" Goro growled, gripping the controls tightly. He adjusted Lagann's trajectory mid-dive to follow the Gunmen's movements.
But just as Goro was about to land a direct hit, the enemy Gunmen veered sharply to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Lagann crashed into the ground with explosive force, the impact leaving a massive crater that shook the area.
The sheer power of the strike sent the enemy Gunmen flying from the shockwave, tumbling and skidding across the terrain.
Climbing out of the crater, Lagann stood short, its drills still spinning and glowing with residual heat.
"Damn, I need to work on the aim for that one," he muttered. The move had been flashy, sure, but not as precise as he'd hoped.
Goro glanced at the battered enemy Gunmen as it struggled to recover.
"Not bad," Goro muttered with a smirk,
"I knew it, a human. And piloting a stolen Gunmen, no less." a voice came from the gunmen "I'm with the Human Eradication Forces, Far East Theater Commander Viral."
"With the power given to me by General Thymilph, I order you to surrender your gunmen and your life!"
Goro paused for a moment. Viral? Isn't he one of the major characters in Gurren Lagann?
Viral wasn't just some throwaway villain, he was a key figure in the story, known for being one of the saviors of humanity with the fight against the anti spiral.
Still, Goro thought, if this is Viral, then things just got a whole lot more interesting.
"Well, Commander Viral," Goro said, tightening his grip on Lagann's controls. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not the kind of guy who surrenders."
He smirked, leaning forward as Lagann's drill began to spin. "If you want my Gunmen and my life, you're gonna have to come and take them!"