Part 18: Mission 6 - Prologue

Kazuma certainly didn't get the Earth vacation he bargained for, he tells theship's log.
Not only did he get roped into fighting the famous Mazinger Z, he saw its pilot self-destruct before his very eyes to defeat the enemy.
He only knew Kouji a short time, but he figured he was a good guy.
While his father talks with Taiga, the rest of the Valstork's crew will be getting a tour of the GGG base.
Still, Kazuma will take whatever vacation he still can before returning to space.



Akane is amazed to learn that Gai is a cyborg.
Gai explains that he got hit by a meteor in space two years ago, while piloting the space shuttle - that meteor then famously crash-landed in Tokyo.
As for the operator Mikoto, Gai tells Noal that she was a high school classmate of his, and apparently she actually followed him into the GGG – Noal assumes Gai was more than just her high-school sweetheart.



Horis is more impressed by the fact that that cybertech has advanced this far – he's heard of no other successful cases of full-conversion cyborgs before.
Gai has a bit of help: the G-Stone embedded in his body.





This green gem was bestowed on mankind by Galeon, who appeared at the same time as the meteor.
It is an infinite information circuit, and Gai's power source as his father tells it.



Said father is also on the GGG staff: Prof. Leo Shishioh, one of the world's ten Great Brains and expert in super-AI theory and robotics as Horis informs our guys.
As for what Galeon is, Horis gets Akane going with a tale of little gray men with huge red eyes and spindly limbs...



ACTUALLY, Galeon turns out to be a mechanical lion from outer space and is in fact responsible for saving Gai's life during the accident.
Horis trickery earns him yet another “stupid Horis” from Akane but he insists that he was merely joking.
At his behest, Gai continues saying that Galeon is also the skeleton around which the Gao Machines join in Final Fusion to make Gaogaigar.
Duo and Quatre had expected Gaogaigar to be of a hybrid space/earth origin due to it’s amazing power but they are curious: why does a secret organization attached to the Federation executive office have this much stuff?



The GGG's purpose is to research and deploy anti-Zondar technology, a species of living robot that's been making life in Tokyo hell of late.
The Zondar are formed by attaching a substance called Zondar Metal to a human, who then agglomerates nearby machinery to form the final giant robot.
Kazuma wonders what happens to the humans who become the cores of these Zondar, and Gai explains that the GGG's mission is to destroy the outer robot and rescue the person in the core.
Extracting the core is his job, and then it's up to a certain other person to do the rest.



Your folks then get introduced to Hyouryuu and Enryuu as they waltz into the room, returning from maintenance.
Kazuma gets startled that the robots are speaking but they explain that they are sentient, feeling, Super AI robots.



When Mikoto asks, Ushiyama Kazuo tells her that Volfogg is busy as usual with another mission, while introducing himself as the operator in charge of maintenance.
Horis guesses correctly that everyone calls the guy Usshi, making Akane doubt anew that this guy really has the makings of a Trailer.
Ushiyama is surprised to hear that they are civilians but Kazuma confirms: they are simply freedom-loving spacefarers, thankfully devoid of any governmental entanglements.



That makes it pretty amazing that they're being given a tour of the GGG along with the Preventers and Space Knights.
Speaking of whom, Gai asks about Tekkaman Blade but D-Boy is all locked in his room and Noal mentions that he’s not Blade anymore – not since his System Box broke.
Still, Noal notes that D-Boy hates the Radam as if they'd killed his own parents, but is currently out of options for fighting them.



Gai had hoped he could speak to D-Boy at least once...



Just then, in walks Leo Shishioh, musing about a certain problem that's more delicate than expected.
With him is Milly, an operator with the Space Knights, who tells a surprised Noal that she, Honda and Levin have been here for quite a while.
It seems the Space Knights' HQ has been moved to GGG and the two organizations merged... which gives Leo some hope of helping D-Boy after all.



He can't make any guarantees, but Honda and Levin's gadget is undergoing final tuning as they speak.
Kazuma runs off to tell D-Boy the good news, while Gai ponders this man, who was made a Tekkaman against his will.
Mikoto has Ushiyama guide everyone, while she goes upstairs to the Space Development Corporation to fetch Mamoru; Akane asks and Mikoto reveals that the SDC is a front for GGG, with Taiga acting as the chief of both organizations, making him one busy guy.
Ushiyama warns that she'll have to watch out that she doesn't arouse the suspicions of a certain high school field trip going on upstairs...



Bernard is wandering around with Mihiro in tow, lost and quite drunk.
The latter explains why he didn't keep up with the others – he needed to get more booze - and Mihiro isn't exactly in a position to play tour guide to somewhere she's never been before.
Bernard doesn’t feel like being lost with a kid and Mihiro says that she doesn't want to be treated like a kid but as a fully-fledged member of the Valstork Family.
Bernard advises her to say that after she's grown even the faintest amount of breasts.



Lech! Pervert! Drunk! Mihiro says she hates Bernard, and demands to know why he's not cool anymore like he was on the Orbital Ring.
Bernard smirks and says he was out of booze back then.



This is Levin's (Androgynous guy) cue to show up and chide them for being in a restricted area.
Bernard hastily apologizes to the "little lady", then quickly corrects himself to "little queer". This is not inaccurate, but is not very diplomatic either.



Before Levin can complain too long, Honda (’stache guy) shows up and tells him to get back and help with the final AI testing.
Seeing how Mihiro politely asks for help, he tells Levin to guide them back outside first, and Levin won't stand for Bernard mumbling snatches of Danny Boy along the way.



However, a certain robotic voice then starts echoing the song...



Elsewhere, Kagurazaka lets the students loose, telling them to gather info for a report on the SDC's mission and principles.
She leaves Kaname, as the Class’s Representative, to look after Sousuke, warning her lightly that any problems will reflect badly on the entire school... which would result in cancelling next month's trip to Okinawa [think, "trip to Hawaii"].



Sousuke sees Kaname feeling a bit tired, and offers her some of his lunch that's left over...beef jerky, and rather hard and oily-smelling at that.
He tells her that it's been optimized for portability and longevity and low-cost, and tells her to try some first.



She doesn't feel the need for any jaw training, but Kazama is quite taken with these African C-rations.
Gourmets (and army magazines) agree that these are the most tasteless rations ever made, but Sousuke assures him that he'll get used to the taste soon enough.
Kaname leaves the two military fanatics alone and ponders a little incident last night where Sousuke was found on her veranda, a pair of her panties in hand.



She is trying really hard to assume there was some good reason for that, and to remember how Sousuke apparently allowed her to flee the robot attack.
She starts remembering how afraid she was back then, thinking that she was going to die - Sousuke notices her getting pale, and asks if she's okay.
She tells him that if he really cares about her, he'll stay quiet today; he acknowledges this, but then runs into Mamoru.
Mamoru thanks him profusely for protecting Hana-chan and the others, but Sousuke says he needs no thanks for doing something that was effectively part of his mission.



Mamoru introduces himself to the girls, but quickly excuses himself when they ask why he's at the SDC, when his class isn’t part of the trip.
Mamoru seems responsible enough that Kaname wishes he could donate some of that responsibility to a certain other someone she knows.
Meanwhile, the girls notice that Mamoru was wandering off towards a restricted part of the base.



Sousuke, who knew from the look in Mamoru's eyes that he wasn't some random child, now suspects that Mamoru may in fact be a terrorist; which would make his contact with Kaname the other day some sort of advance recon!
Sousuke is now muttering to himself that the girl must have been a decoy, and the boy the real operative.
This time, the boy must be out to blow up GGG, wreaking immeasurable havoc and making it all the easier to eliminate Kaname in the chaos!!!



He tells a stunned Kaname to lead everybody out of the SDC to somewhere safe.
With no time to explain, he tells her to hurry while he pursues Mamoru; rather than heed his warning, she heads off after him, hoping to stop him before he causes more trouble.
Kyouko and Kazama are left alone, and from the scary look on Sousuke's face, they realize that something must be going on.



They elect to go and inform Kagurazaka, but in the process run right into Fritz.
He's on his way into the restricted area, and menaces the kids into not getting in his way.



They then run into Pizza, who is muttering to himself about how a Tekkaman is here too.
It seems more prey has presented itself, and he orders Penchinon to get moving.



Kazuma finds D-Boy to fill him in on the good news and urges D-Boy to come to the lab to see Gai's father's handiwork.
D-Boy is about to be overjoyed at being able to fight again…



When Fritz shows up and says not to get his hopes up.
As previously advertised, Dagger promises to cut D-Boy to ribbons while he's helpless and immediately Tek-sets.