Part 14: Mission 5 - Prologue

Kazuma notes in the log that his father's iron fist is as effective as ever and, although he was 100% in the wrong, the second blow was entirely unnecessary.
However, he can convince himself that it's part of his Trailer training and return his attention to the impending Earthfall.



From what Duo told him, there’s a lot of trouble brewing on the surface and it sounds like a perfect time for the Trailers to show their mettle.
Hopefully, they'll have a big fat bonus or two to take back to space once they're done.
But before that, the klaxons sound a scramble - it seems a new job has presented itself in the form of a battle raging right inside the atmosphere.



Somewhere off the coast of Japan, in Hell Island, Dr. Hell is holding audience and addressing Baron Ashura.
He starts by praising Ashura's sound thrashing of the Devils the previous day, including putting Getter Robo permanently out of action.
Ashura wants no praise for doing only what is natural to secure the eminent scientist's place as ruler of the world.
Can he really obtain the world, asks Dr. Hell, and Ashura says that the world might as well have been created solely for his sake.



In any event, with Mazinger and the others down for repairs, the time is ripe to vanquish the one remaining obstacle: the Lion of GGG.
He bestows a new army of mechanical beasts on Ashura, and orders him to turn Tokyo into a sea of fire, thereby proving to the ignorant once and for all whose world this is.



At the unsuspecting Amano household, near Tokyo, Mamoru's dad has elected to spend a nice quiet morning at home.
Which, due to Mamoru oversleeping, hasn't been worth that much, since breakfast has been held up.
The real reason Isamu(That’s the dad’s name, mind) stayed home is to inquire about Mamoru's after-school activities, which have resulted in him coming home late, often dropped off by people from the Space Development Corporation.



Mamoru insists that everything's okay, that he simply got mixed up in the panic during the attack of a certain mystery robot that appeared in Tokyo.
Said attacker was fended off by a second mystery robot, with a lion's head on its chest.



Mamoru realizes that most people, including his parents, have no idea the GGG even exists, and his mother Ai cautions him anew.
With all the Mecha-Beasts, Radam and whatnot going on these days, things just aren't safe.



Even the parents realize that Mazinger got hammered the last time it fought, and are rightfully concerned about who will defend them now.
Mamoru assures them that the mighty Mazinger won't be beaten, and thinks that GGG's no slouch either, especially with him helping Gai and the others fight the Zondar.
After Mamoru leaves for school, Isamu assures Ai that Mamoru's a smart kid - smart enough to heed their warnings and take care of himself.



But she wonders what if Mamoru gets whisked away somewhere, just like he was delivered to them eight years ago by that arctic lion?
Well, muses Isamu, he'll still be their kid no matter what.



At school, Kaname (blue-haired girl) is staking out the front gate in her capacity as Vice- President of the Student Council.
The plan is to nip any nonsense in the bud, and to do it without scaring the perpetrators into hiding the way a teacher's presence would.
Well, all except for one weirdo, who hasn't given up his fascination for model guns even at high school; not that Kaname can't understand a fascination with military stuff in this day and age, but there's no sense in hauling that kind of paraphernalia to a house of learning!



Given how this guy just showed up out of the blue, off-season, Kaname's convinced that he's some kind of problem kid who got booted out of his previous school.



Once everyone's made it to their class, Kagurazaka (the teacher lady) has a transfer student to introduce: it's Sousuke (Guy with the scar on his cheek), the model gun fanatic from this morning.
He cuts a handsome figure impressing Kyouko (that’s the girl with the glasses that was speaking with Kaname), but has that unfriendliness aura thing going full blast that keeps Kaname on edge.



At the teacher's urging, he introduces himself formally as Sergeant Sagara Sousuke - and Kaname resigns herself to the fact that "Sergeant" can't be Sousuke's given name.
He's also too young to be a military man, leaving Kaname to think that he is a fanatic for sure, but Sousuke then asks everyone to forget the "sergeant" part and concludes his self-introduction.



Kyouko asks where he's from, and he starts rattling off places like Africa, Lebanon, Luxembourg, the Sank Kingdom, resource satellite MO-II; in short, he moves around a lot.
As for his hobbies, he surprisingly (to Kyouko, who expected him to say “model guns”) answers "fishing and reading", though the stuff he reads (Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Arm Slave Monthly, Mobile Suit Monthly, Arm Slave Fan and, for TV, he watches the Super Robot Channel) is hardcore military.
He rather enthusiastically begins ticking off other valuable publications, but as the class starts gaping, he trails off and asks them to forget it again.


It should be noted, Soldier of Fortune is an actual military magazine.




As for his favorite musician, he quickly recollects Kurz's recommendation and says Lacus Klein... which no one here has heard of.
He once again tells everyone to forget it...



By the end of the day, Kaname is now convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's a weirdo.
This is bad, because he's just disordered her perfectly ordered day.
Well, perfectly ordered if you ignore the Mecha-Beasts, and the Radam's creepy plants, but Kaname is concerned mostly with her immediate vicinity.
It seems Sousuke's been causing trouble by doing stuff like popping up in the ladies' changing room while claiming to be protecting her safety, or throwing her down when she tried to open the furnace door to burn some trash.
He even pointed his “model gun” at a teacher who dared lay a hand on Kaname's shoulder, harbinger of Kaname getting drawn into some kind of action-thriller universe she wants no part of.



Kyouko, ever the bright girl, notes that Sousuke seems to be trying awfully hard to protect Kaname from something, though neither of them know from what, or what's motivating him to do so.
Maybe love at first sight, for the girl voted Least Desirable Girlfriend #1?
The two head off for some ice cream, hoping for some breathing room while Kagurazaka gives Sousuke a thorough talking-to.



But no sooner do they set off than they run into Hana, Mamoru and the massive, fluffy dog Joseph.
Joseph quickly takes a liking to Kaname, who tells Mamoru that she likes all creatures and-



But Sousuke pops out of the woodwork, gun blazing and yelling at Kaname to get away from the fearsome dog.
When everyone else is aghast at this, Sousuke states flatly that military dogs can be trained to get close to an enemy, then end their life with a single bite to the throat.
Joseph isn't one of the standard military breeds, and Sousuke isn't in any hurry to holster his trusty Glock 19, despite Kaname's say-so.



Even these apparently harmless little kids could be working for the terrorists without even realizing it...
Kaname slaps him as hard as she can and runs off, as Sousuke grapples with the fact he can't tell her what his mission for protecting her is and dashes off in pursuit...



Kaname is still furious, though she hadn't realized that "model guns" had gotten so powerful.
Thank god Joseph hadn't been hit, or it would have been ugly... she then manages to run smack into, of all people, Penchinon.



He thinks he's found in Mamoru the person who controls the G-Stone's power: the greatest obstacle to his people's plans.
Kaname doesn't like the feel of this "suspicious looking" person and demands he explain what he's talking about, but Penchinon doesn't care to answer and is more intent on eradicating Mamoru...
That is, until Kaname demands he explain what he’s talking about “destroying” the kid and Penchinon opts to eradicate her first.


He does some purple mumbo-jumbo and summons a Zondar.