Gurren Lagann: Second Gear

Chapter 19: Making Plans

"Rossiu City."

"Rossiu City?" I asked him.

"Yes. Rossiu City." Viral repeated himself, tapping his pencil against the map we had laid out on the table. The five of us had gathered in the ship's cafeteria, enjoying dinner that night after leaving home. For a ship that used to shelter Beastmen, I'm surprised by how much food that they have that's similar to ours. Viral and Dane had spent the day going through the ship's logs, extracting whatever data they could and trying to put together a plan of action. They had called a team meeting in the cafeteria, thus which is where we are now. (Although, between you and me, I was too busy thinking about the food to be made that they had awaken me from my nap.)

Dane pushed her purple hair from her eyes as she further explained. "According to the ship's logs, Rossiu City is another outpost of these so called 'Dark Spirals'. They weren't lying when they said that Kamina City was the last one they had to conquer before they had absolute control over the human race." Dane started making circles around the back of her hand, a small white scratch appearing on her dark skin. "They've been going around, turning each city and town into a Beastmen-dominated sections of civilization. They wanted Kamina City because that's where the uprising of humans started. Luckily, you all were there to stop them."

I swallowed my pasta. "So, what exactly is there in Rossiu City that would make it worthy of being an outpost?"

Yoko added in her knowledge. "Rossiu City is one of the biggest metal manufacturers on the planet. When the Anti-Spirals attacked many many years ago, Rossiu City was our neighbor that helped us rebuild Kamina City. They also help us build the Gunman that our law enforcers use, so it would make sense that the Dark Spirals would want to take it over as somewhat of a repair shop."

"The civilians there are under total Beastmen control." Viral added in. "They're basically treated as slaves, forced to work day in and day out just to show that they deserve to be alive. Even the children there, not that much younger than you and Sylvia, are working harder than ever before."

I leaned back in my chair, thinking. "So all we have to do is go there, bust a few skulls, and liberate the place, right?"

Viral chuckled. "Inoichi, it won't be that easy. The place is heavily guarded, and they're probably expecting us to arrive. I mean, news does travel fast. They've probably been expecting us since yesterday."

"Plus, I found something called a Mach Gunman in the files." Dane inserted. "Apparently they found the remains of a very ancient Gunman and brought it back to life. It's suppose to be all powerful, having something called the 'Copy' ability. I'm not so sure about it, but it sounds dangerous and like something they could pull out on us even if we try to attack."

I leaned forward, pushing my tray away so that I had room to think. "So what's the plan then?"

"You tell us." Viral instructed.

I raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"You're the captain of this team, as well as the ship. Whatever you say goes."

"Oh. Well then, I say that we..." I trailed off, thinking. I hate being put on the spot like this. "That we, uh, sneak in?"

"Are you asking us or are you telling us?" Sylvia teased, looking rather unimpressed.

"Give me a second!" I argued. "I'm trying to think!"

You should try leaving Dai-Gurren somewhere where your enemies can't see it. The Simon in my head directed me. Two or three of your should sneak in and gather information.

"First, we have to leave the ship somewhere where the Beastmen won't see it, maybe behind a really big rock or something." I repeated out loud. "A few of us should sneak into the city, maybe try to blend among the crowd, while the others stay on the ship as a form of backup."

"Great plan." Sylvia commented sarcastically. "Let's leave all of our weapons of defense behind in order to win."

"You know, just for that, you're coming with me inside."

"What?!" Syliva shot up, angry.  "Why?!"

"Because you can control a Gunman without me.  Viral and Yoko can stay behind, since they have more experience. Dane can come with me if she wants."

"A good crew always follows their captain!" Dane announced, saluting me.

"Good. Us three will go down there, get inside, and try not to look out of place. Viral and Yoko will stay here, preparing for us for when we need backup. If we get captured, you two come down there and raise hell."

Yoko grinned. "I can agree to that. 

Syliva slumped back down, obviously tired. "But still, if we do get in trouble, how are you gonna contact them?"

"Duh, earpieces." I responded, pointing to my ear. "Yoko's already told me that Viral and her have earpieces ready for when the video communication in the Gunman don't work. I'm sure they're fine with us using those."

"As long as you don't break them." Viral added in.

I smiled. "So it's settled then! Dane, Sylvia and I will infiltrate Rossiu City, learn their secrets, and take it down from the inside!" I shot up, pointing towards the door. "Let's go!"

"Hold on there captain." Viral stated calmly, lacing his clawed fingers together. "Rossiu City is still a whole day away, even at the pace that Dai-Gurren is walking right now. We have time to rest, flesh out a plan. We don't wanna charge in with just a few sentences of a thought, do we?"

I froze for a second before sitting back down, an embarrassed smile on my face. "Right," I chuckled, "we don't."