#Gundam Zagan

[gremoria411]

A twofer today, just some general impressions on the ASW-G-16 Gundam Zepar (left) and the AWS-G-61 Gundam Zagan. I still haven’t watched Urdr hunt unfortunately, so I’ll be mostly talking about Zagan’s design, as opposed to anything that goes on in-series.

Another reason I’m pairing these together is because they’re both Post Disaster Gundam units, that have a two-syllable name beginning with a Z and a serial number that has a 6 in it. I’ve been able to remember them by the fact that the Zepar is Zippy. And that the Zagan has nothing to do with Carl Sagan.

Moving on from naming conventions, what do I think of them? Starting with the Zagan, I like the weight it brings to the table, it feels like it could compete with other heavyweights without much difficulty, essentially functioning as a giant can-opener to the mobile armours. It should be noted that with the possible exception of Agnika Kaeru himself, the Issues were the most prolific killer of Mobile Armours during the Calamity War. Presumably some of that was by dint of its pilot, but the Zagan cannot be discounted. It’s possible the apparent focus on defence aided in its survivability, enabling it to cope with battles of attrition better, functioning as an anvil to the other Gundam Frames’ hammer. It’s also possible that it’s missing some armament, since the hands are free. I know there’s precedent for knuckledusters in IBO, but it only being armed with the shields feels a little odd.

The design specifically reminds me of the Gremory (most likely the armour) and the Abyss Gundam from Seed Destiny (colouration and bulk, though I always remember it bigger than it actually is)

The Zepar I have considerably less to say on - it’s a nice design, agile and suited to closing the distance and stabbing things, but I do want to talk about it in relation to House Kujan, Specifically Iok Kujan.

Iok is……hm. He’s essentially a perfect example of somebody you don’t want in command. He’s a twit, and furthermore, he’s a dangerous twit, since his actions have a tendency to backfire on literally everyone besides himself. But let’s walk back a little. Who is Iok in relation to the story?

Iok Kujan is the heir to House Kujan of Gjallarhorn’s Seven Stars, the Seven Noble Families that wield the most power in Gjallarhorn, as McGillis, Gaelio, Carta and Rustal are to each of their houses (and of course Nemo, Elek and Gargin, but they’re less focused on). He only ascended to the position fairly recently, but everyone has high hopes for him since his late father was beloved.

Unfortunately, he’s really bad at it. He’s reckless, callous of those he’s fighting against and is absolutely unable to recognise his own failures.

@wordsandrobots has done an excellent analysis on Iok which I’m just going to link to here, since it’s very good:

But the crux of Iok is that he represents a great many of the failings of nobility - he’s incompetent, he’s unqualified and he displays a lack of care for how his actions effect others - not out of malice, but out of stupidity. He is a walking talking, killing example of how promoting based on blood rather than ability is such a poor idea.

But then look at the Zepar. Look at how it stands, how it moves. There’s a poise to it, an elegance, a sense of nobility. It’s armed with a sword and shield - simple, yes, but something that focuses on defence, on protection. Even the way it fights seems to be in pushing the enemy away from something, protecting it. So I would say that if Iok is representative of the realities of nobility - the incompetence and disregard for others, then the Zepar is the romanticisation of it - of a noble, red-armoured knight who would protect the people. It also represents how far the Kujan family has come since the Calamity War - Once a great and loved pilot who fought at the frontlines using a Gundam Frame, to a lacking and foolish one who fights from the rear and has to be bailed out at the cost of his subordinates lives. (I know Iok’s father didn’t pilot the Zepar, but it ties in with the theme of Iok being the end result of a lineage, rather than the beginnings).

It also draws attention to the Gjallarhorn’s meritocratic roots - Embrilla Kujan was able to slay multiple mobile armours using this machine, whereas Iok is too blinded by his own self-importance to recognise the threat that they pose, to the point he severely underestimates what it will take to kill one.

[wordsandrobots]

Huh. Actually -- since I'm stuff home sick and my brain refuses to shut up and let me sleep -- apropos of reblogging @superhelltubedotsys' post citing Barbatos Lupus Rex's status as a werewolf Gundam, I'm now thinking about the significance that has within Iron-Blooded Orphans (some spoilers follow).

Because Barbatos the demon has no association with wolves in the Ars Goetia. The nearest applicable part is "He giveth understanding of the singing of Birds, and of the Voices of other creatures, such as the barking of Dogs", which is fitting for Mikazuki and plays into the comparison between mobile armour Hashmal and a bird, but pointedly does not imply 'appears as a giant fuck-off wolf monster with a knife-tail'. That description would seem more appropriately applied to Amon, the immediately prior demon, number seven: "He appeareth like a Wolf with a Serpent’s tail, vomiting out of his mouth flames of fire . . ."

But of course, Gundam Barbatos' steady revision towards the Lupus Rex form is a drift away from its initial design. Exactly how much influence the Ars Goetia descriptions had on the Gundam project and how much they were just used as a naming convention is a little up in the air. Some do seem to be applicable (Zagan being a 'bull with gryphon wings', Flauros switching between the forms of a leopard and a man, etc.). Others . . . well, Bael is supposed to appear as either a toad, a cat, or a man, or all three at once, and while that has some applicability to McGillis' whole deal, it's not really a match for Gundam Bael's angelic form. Nor do the Gundam's abilities evoke demon!Bael's power to render someone invisible. However, I think we can safely conclude that, in-universe at least, the goetic demons are only pertinent to the Gundams' initial appearances and capabilities.

Barbatos' revisions throughout Season 1 are instead a gradual cannibalisation of various different sources of technology and weapons to get it back into fighting shape (Teiwaz technically restores it to its original appearance, but that doesn't last past the Dort arc; thereafter, we're back to bolting on any spare armour going). Barbatos Lupus then represents a significant step towards redefining it in line with the Chief's goal of creating an 'ultimate' version based on Mika's battle data, with Barbatos Lupus Rex being the end-point for that progression.

Put simply, Barbatos gradually becomes more and more tailored to Mikazuki, specifically. To digress for a moment, this forms a big part of my reasoning that Mika being able to use the katana properly at the climax of Season 1 represents the influence of Barbatos' original pilot; after this, he ditches that kind of weapon entirely. Even while fighting Hashmal, he reaches for the biggest club available (technically, a broad-sword, but so ridiculously huge nobody could call it a precision weapon). It's another interesting detail that Mika can't beat Ein in their final face-off by fighting like himself, which comes back around again as the back half of Season 2 kicks into gear.

Anyway, my point is this: being a werewolf is not inherently part of Barbatos' deal. Rather it represents Mikazuki's growing influence -- as you might thematically expect for a union with a character named after the moon (crescent moon, specifically, though I can't imagine the association wasn't intended given Tekkadan are wolf-coded in the text). And that's fascinating because as I've written about before, Barbatos and Mikazuki are the most blatant example of a devil's bargain in the show. The kid literally sells and arm and a leg (and an eye) for the power Barbatos can give him. And yet, the bestial aspects Barbatos takes on are rooted in Mika.

There's an echo of Gundam Wing's 'Gundams are a curse' refrain in IBO. These machines bring bad luck to everyone who pilots them, as a function of representing humanity subsumed by war. The inherent gamble of the Alaya-Vijnana, the overwhelming nature of the conflict they were built to end, the fact Gundams are never sufficient on their own to change the world -- it forms an unspoken counter-argument to McGillis' zealous faith in their status as symbols of transformation that is actually very in keeping with the demonological tradition from which they take their names. What they offer is costly and potentially damning, while also largely illusory when it comes to anything other than utter destruction. Indeed, Mikazuki is a living testament to how 'cursed' their pilots are.

It just happens that he was able to curse Barbatos back.

Because that's what Barbatos Lupus Rex is, isn't it? Put side by side with its original form, this is a clear degradation of a proud warrior into a savage beast. The same design elements persist, of course, yet by the end, it's near impossible to picture Barbatos as an elegant fighter making precision strikes with a honed sword. It has become a true berserker, tearing into its opponents with teeth and claws (well, claws and knife tail). As Tekkadan in general tend to, Mikazuki strips away the affectations of nobility and 'honourable' warfare in favour of brutal reality.

The detail of the Lupus Rex form merging parts of a mobile armour into a Gundam only heightens this. Weapons are weapons, whoever they serve and whatever guise they wear. Mikazuki is always honest about that. His awed response to Hashmal is of a piece with how easily he fits within Barbatos. He sees himself as equivalent to them -- has, in fact, constructed his entire identity around being so.

Thus, the lycanthropy he inflicts on Barbatos is of a kind that merely reveals the truth lurking under the skin. It was always an instrument of devastation. Now it looks the part.

[ryukoishida]

LeoJi Week 2017 | Day 6: It’s okay, I’ve got you. | In which MS pilot!Guang Hong takes a hit for pilot!Leo. [Gundam AU]

Written for LeoJi Week @leojiweek​

Title: I’m Pluto and You’re the Sun Day/Prompt: Day 6 – It’s okay, I’ve got you. Author: ryukoishida Summary: He can lose a limb, lose his mind, lose his life, but Leo de la Iglesia is his and his alone, and he won’t let anyone lay claim on him — not Stella Veneris, not the higher-ups of Afanasiy, not even death itself. [Gundam (Iron-Blooded Orphans ‘Verse) AU] Rating: T Warning: Implied physical and emotional abuse. Description of violence as expected from a mecha battle. A/N: You don’t need Gundam knowledge to read this! And there are brief notes about the AU at the end of the fic. Might also help if you read the other fics in the series.

Stars in Our Blood Series (in chronological order): I. I’m Pluto and You’re the Sun | AO3 [LeoJi] II. The Space in Which We Travel | AO3 [MilaSara] III. Touch of the Martian Sun | AO3 [Otayuri] IV. Phobos and Deimos | AO3 [Otayuri]

-

There are times when he forgets where he’s from — sometimes, Guang-Hong Ji thinks it just doesn’t matter.

Earth? Mars?

He’s lost in space and he’s been lost for years now. He’s stopped counting the days once he realizes, as he stares out the window of the ship — the vast emptiness of space, speckled with distant stars and planets and galaxies that have been invaded and left to rot, and endless others that humans have yet to explore and taint — there’s no end to this.

There are times when he feels removed from everything around him: the same soulless eyes of children who wander like him, the faceless adults who take them apart and put them back together again on the surgery table, the flashing glares of his display screens when he fires one shot after another behind a well-hidden spot as he takes out nameless enemies, the meaningless praises, the angry lashes that cuts his skin, makes him bleed, and then heals and scabs and everything starts all over again…

“Guang-Hong,” a gentle call of his name and a hand on his shoulder make him jump, fuscous eyes flittering nervously until he notices Leo de la Iglesia is looking at him with a worried frown. “You all right? We should get ready. Yuri and Mila are already at the flight dock.”

Leo pulls his arm back to his side, his other hand holding onto the railing to stay in place. The ship has shut off the artificial gravity mechanism — something they always do to reserve energy before a large battle.

“Guang-Hong?” Leo drifts closer, only a few inches between them, close enough that when Leo dips his head slightly forward, he can smell the sweet, poignant scent of shampoo from the younger pilot’s messy brown hair. He sweeps the boy’s forelocks away with careful fingers.

Waves of unease toil within those expressive eyes, and Leo’s heart twists painfully for the boy who seems as lost and hapless as the first day they met all those years ago. He hates that he’s the one who has to drag him out into the chaos that neither of them wishes to take part in. He hates it but there are orders that people like them — Human Debris, space rats, worthless except to be used as tools and experiments — are forced to follow.

It’s the only way to survive, the only way to keep going.

“Leo, will you—?” Guang-Hong’s mouth clamps shut with his cheeks flushed and the constellation of freckles dotting the bridge of his nose made more prominent. He turns his head away resolutely, his knuckles whitening on the railing with how tight he’s grasping it.

He’s still afraid to ask.

Leo’s gaze softens in understanding as he releases the bannister and allows himself to drift even closer; without another word or a trace of hesitation, Leo wraps one arm around the slighter boy’s waist and the other hand placed behind his head, fingers threading into his hair as he pulls him into his embrace.

Guang-Hong burrows his face into the crook of Leo’s neck, the halo of warmth an instant comfort that calms the violent storm of thoughts in his mind, the scattering shards of glass settling like dust as he breathes him in, a scent he’s learned to trust, to depend on, to love.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Leo murmurs into his hair, his arms tightening around the other pilot.

“I know,” Guang-Hong’s whisper is muffled, but his breaths against Leo’s neck brand deeper than skin.

Another brief moment of peace, and then Guang-Hong tears himself away, his facial expression and body language much more composed than a few minutes ago.

They make their way to the flight dock in silence, the side of their arms brushing against each other’s occasionally.

-

“Leo, how do you stand listening to that shitty pop music every time we do this?” Yuri Plisetsky, one of the youngest and brightest pilots in Afanasiy’s fleet, is growling irritatingly through the LCS.

“It helps me focus!” Leo protests while Mila barks out an amused laugh.

As he listens to his comrades’ squabble, Guang-Hong can clearly spot their enemies through the powerful scope of his sniper rifle from a safe distance and well-concealed location. He has already successfully shot down eleven of Stella Veneris’ mobile suits, which are mostly the weaker mass-produced Graze and Hugo classes.

Once Afanasiy’s ace sniper sees another straggling Graze that’s creeping up behind Leo’s Shiden with its war axe raised high above its head, his fingers instantly tighten around the control levers when he realizes that Leo is still unaware of the Graze’s presence as he’s trying to fend off three other mobile suits at once. He’s currently at a tense standoff during which any party can suddenly launch into an attack.

There’s no way to warn him, so Guang-Hong readjusts his rifle’s position, eyes straining to focus on the olive-green armor that’s about to strike his best friend’s mobile suit, and when the sensor locks onto the target and beeps rapidly in response, Guang-Hong releases a long, slow breath, and pulls the trigger.

The pilot of the Graze has no time to react or escape before a streak of blinding blue light assaults his vision: the first shot takes out the sensor-cameras mounted on the mobile suit’s head, and the next one strikes directly on its chest where the cockpit hatch is. A burst of light, sparks, and smoke engulf the wrecked Graze in a ripple of intense, roiling heat as it explodes like fireworks, the dispersed fragments of debris barely scratching Leo’s Shiden as he swings his retractable partisan in a horizontal arc, sweeping his enemies into one big pile of mangled metal.

“Thanks, Guang-Hong!” Leo shouts with a breathy laugh of exhilaration.

“Anytime,” the sniper sighs with relief, but the tiniest of smile grows along his lips nevertheless.

“They still haven’t sent out their best ones yet,” Mila Babicheva comments mildly through the LCS as she stabs a Hugo unit easily into the cockpit hatch using her assault knife with such swift and casual grace that the other pilot never even sees it coming.

“I’m bored! If that’s all the mobile suits they have, then what the hell are we raiding them for?” Yuri joins in the conversation with a complaint as he, too, shoots several rounds into the closest Hugo unit and only releases an exaggerated tedious sigh as he watches it explode.

“Maybe our boss just wants to wreck some havoc and strike fear into the hearts of those poor, innocent, little bandits from Stella Veneris. Put them in their place and such?” Mila suggests with a silvery chuckle.

“Guys, if you have time to chit-chat, maybe help me out over here?” Leo says as he warily pulls out one of his rifles when he spots more oncoming mobile suits heading in his direction.

“Be there in a sec, got myself a — holy shit, is that a Gundam frame?” the timbre of Mila’s voice gets progressively higher as a new mobile suit joins the battlefront.

Standing at almost twenty feet tall, with its metallic wings tinged blood red and ivory white that serves as its dynamic booster unit spreading out majestically behind it, the Gundam Zagan, crimson eyes gleaming eerily from its black and yellow armor, makes its presence known by brandishing its heat saber, the glowing pink-red blade emitting waves of thermal heat hot enough to penetrate and cut through the toughest metal like butter.

It wastes no time, swinging its sword in a quick and efficient swipe and cutting through five of Afanasiy’s units that have been trying to surround it in a loose circle in an attempt to entrap the Gundam. A ring of explosions and pink smoke conceal the mobile suit, and for a short moment, every unit from Afanasiy’s fleet freezes in place as they can only observe in awe the fraction of the power that a Gundam frame is capable of.  

“Of course, the bastards always fail to mention the most important part of a mission,” Yuri mutters after getting over the initial shock, his tone decidedly unimpressed, and Guang-Hong can vividly picture the blond-haired pilot rolling his eyes.

Even from this distance, the sniper can see the potential threat the Gundam poses for Afanasiy. Not only is the Gundam unit larger than most of the mass-produced suits that their organization employs, but if the rumors are accurate, then they are facing one of the most powerful man-made mobile weapons designed during the Calamity War era to combat against Mobile Armors that had once terrorized humankind.

As more of the organization’s fleet gather around Zagan, including Yuri and Mila who are simply overjoyed with enthusiasm for a challenging battle and filled with a bloodthirsty glee that makes Guong-Hong shudder, they all fail to notice the smaller Hugo units that begin to congregate around the few lone Afanasiy units on the outskirts of the battle zone, including Leo who is still struggling with several of Stella Veneris’ mobile suits.

Guang-Hong doesn’t have enough concentration or firepower to focus on helping the rest of the fleet secure the Gundam unit while also eliminating the enemies to protect his teammates. He has his own priorities, and Guang-Hong’s heart holds no regret or even a hint of uncertainty as he devotes his attention solely on the blue, white, and red armor of Leo’s Shiden and the alarming amount of Hugo units that are encircling it, like a pack of ferocious wolves ready to pounce on their prey.

Leo already understands the situation he’s in — has come to terms with the impossibility of pulling himself out of this mess by himself — and there’s nothing he can do but to fight in his best abilities, hoping for a miracle, praying to a god he doesn’t believe in anymore.

With an utterly horrifying serene state of mind that he seldom finds himself in, Guang-Hong takes out his targets one by one in successive shots: one beam slices through and separates a Hugo’s head from its body, another shaft blasts a unit into pieces. Again and again, he pulls the trigger with deadly accuracy and speed, and he’s grown numb of the consecutive flashes of glare from his monitors.

But just as the nightmares that haunt him almost every night, there’s no end to this. Stella Veneris just keeps sending out more and more units as if they had an unlimited army to spare; their pilots are probably just as disposable as the ones in Afanasiy, and for a blank second, Guang-Hong wonders again what the point of all this is.

They are born into this world, and for what? Used as weapons in wars that mean nothing to them, molded and mutilated beyond recognition until they, like the machines they pilot, break beyond repair, beyond their usefulness, disposed like the debris they were born to be.

Stardust lost in space.

Except…

Except he’s not alone. He’s lost, but he’s not the only one. And while life has been brutal and merciless ever since he started anew in Afanasiy, there has been moments of light and warmth, and the source of all that (dares he think of it as hope), the anchor of his heart whenever Guang-Hong feels like he may have lost himself to the ruthless storm created in his own mind, is Leo.

So when the sniper sees Leo’s Shiden sinks deeper and deeper within the web composed of enemy mobile suits, as horror seizes his chest and squeezes the air out of his lungs, Guang-Hong does the only thing he’s capable of.

He abandons his post, a temporary safe haven, and activating his booster unit on his back and the soles of his feet by flicking on the switches on his control panel, Guang-Hong treads on both pedals and clutches the control grips, driving his Hyakuri forward in a blast of bright, white light as he speeds past foes and comrades.

“Ji, what the fuck are you doing? Get back to your position this instant!” Someone is yelling furiously through the LCS — their team leader, a middle-aged man known for his foul mouth and fouler temper as well as his Spartan training method and dishonorable battle tactics, that nobody in the team actually respects.

Guang-Hong ignores him by remaining silent as he zips past any stray units and makes his way to Leo.

The others are too preoccupied with the Gundam to pay him any mind.

As a sniper, his Hyakuri is not designed for close combat, so he’s mainly equipped with a beam rifle that’s meant to be used in a stationary position because of its length and weight, but his only 100mm rifle currently comes in handy as he shoots at mobile suits that try to block his way.

“Guang-Hong! What are you doing?” Leo’s voice, tinged with panic as he bashes another unit with his partisan before drifting close to his friend’s Hyakuri back-to-back, rings into his headset as the sniper dives into the hive of enemies from above, awkwardly shooting in all directions. The majority of the shots misses their intended targets despite the proximity; he’s never been good in melee combats, and he’s been punished for it during the arduous training sessions.

“Lending you a hand?” Guang-Hong tries with a nervous chuckle. It’s been awhile since he’s this deep in a battle field, and seeing the seemingly endless sea of olive-green and sunset orange of the Hugo units spread out before him doesn’t exactly boost up his confidence.

He hears Leo laughing softly, the smoky sound almost concealed by the catchy pop song playing in the background from the ancient Compact Disc player — an Earth relic from the 20th century — taped to the control panel of the Shiden’s cockpit.

“I really appreciate the sentiment, but you know there’s literally no way we’ll get out of this alive, right?” his tone turns somber after that laugh, his heart contorting with a sickly dread that weighs heavy. It’s a sharp, painful reminder of their reality, of what they’ve just subjected themselves into.

“It’s okay if it’s with you,” Guang-Hong says with a resolved smile though the other pilot cannot see it. His timbre is strangely tranquil, like drops of cold rain running down Leo’s back, raising goosebumps on his skin, metal bleeding along his spine.

There are so many things Leo wants to say to him: “you are a romantic fool”, or “get the hell out of here”, or even “I love you but this is not worth it because I want you to live, hell I want us to live”, and the overwhelming emotion is threatening to spill over, clumsy phrases and perplexing notion crystallizing, caught at the back of his throat.

“Here they come,” Guang-Hong warns when the few Hugos surrounding on Leo’s side begin to make their move, their guns raised in readiness as the tips of the muzzles glow an ominous blue that signifies their future demise.

Guang-Hong has removed the grenade launcher strapped to the back of his Hyakuri’s waist, and heaves the weapon onto its right shoulder as he prepares to take aim, his hands steady and fingers quickly dancing across the dashboard to ensure that he’s on target. One of these grenades, if shot at close proximity and aimed strategically, can deal a lot of damage — not enough to destroy the entire group that’s encircling the two of them right now, but just sufficient to create a smoke screen, a small exit, and precious seconds to escape from the enemy.

Leo seems to share his partner’s idea, as he himself is also adjusting the aim of his two rifles, one in each hand, to fend off anyone who hopes to interrupt Guang-Hong’s plan.

And when the first shot is fired somewhere to Leo’s left, followed by many, many others in all directions, their vision of the universe — once an endless void of darkness interspersed with flecks of nameless stars and planets and galaxies — bursts into a blaze of niveous white and iridescent smalt blue. The heat and whiplash throw Leo and Guang-Hong’s mobile suits crashing into each other in a graceless heap, metal limbs tangling, alloy armors scraping against each other and leaving scars, but they fight on: Guang-Hong launching grenades into the mass that continues to advance and Leo blindly shooting just for the off-chance that he’ll hit something.

“If we weren’t about to die, I’d say this is pretty damn fun,” Leo huffs into his headset with a forced laugh as he takes out two units at once.

“You have a warped sense of the concept of ‘fun’, don’t you?” Guang-Hong manages to bite out a chuckle, his eyes watering from the strain of having to constantly focus on the red, blinking circles that dominate his screens on all three sides inside his cockpit.

The layer of the circle seems to be thinning, or at least that’s what Guang-Hong thinks, though through the thick curtain of pink and white smoke, it’s difficult to tell left from right, or up from down. All the sniper can tell and feel reassured about is Leo’s presence close to him, the unidentified pop track playing in the background stream into his ears like a steady heartbeat that keeps them moving, breathing.

Their shields are falling apart from all the shots they manage to block, and Guang-Hong is running low on ammo. If they don’t get out of this mess soon, it’ll really be the end for them.

Guang-Hong doesn’t want this to be the end. Not yet.

When the smoke finally clears, Guang-Hong yelps excitedly, hazel eyes widening when he spots an escape route where a slew of wrangled metal and broken robotic limbs are floating aimlessly from previous explosions, “Leo! An opening — your five o’clock!”

“Got it!”

Guang-Hong begins to make his way towards the breach but halts shortly when he notices the red dot on the gridded screen that signifies the location of Leo’s Shiden remains static.

“Leo? What are you doing? Let’s go!” the pilot’s usual quiet tone is shaking with adrenaline when he turns back.

“You go ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” Leo tells him, and even as the words trickle out of his mouth, he knows it’s no use. He can shoot and shoot and shoot, but the truth is, the Hugos just continue to advance when the front-most line of defense has fallen and is replaced by the next set of units from behind.

“Liar — you’re such a terrible liar, Leo,” Guang-Hong mutters angrily, shifting his control levers so that Hyakuri’s hand is reaching out for Shiden’s upper arm and pulling him towards the direction of the gap as quickly as he can before it’s closed up by more enemy units.

“Let go, Guang-Hong!”

“No! We’re getting out of this together!” he yells into the LCS, unshed tears — from fear, frustration — blurring his vision, abolishing his logic. He refuses to leave his friend behind; he refuses to let go of the one person who can make him laugh, make him care.

It’s a selfish wish, but what’s wrong with being selfish once in a while? Lord knows he’s spent enough time hiding behind the safety of his sniper rifle, enduring insults and curses and punches thrown at him on an almost daily basis.

He can lose a limb, lose his mind, lose his life, but Leo de la Iglesia is his and his alone, and he won’t let anyone lay claim on him — not Stella Veneris, not the higher-ups of Afanasiy, not even death itself.

With only a few feet separating them from death and freedom, Guang-Hong turns pale when he hears the incessant warning beeps that wail urgently as one particular enemy unit — a customized Graze painted in obnoxious purple and yellow shades, probably a commander type — chases after them with impeccable speed and recklessness, a bazooka gun aiming for them both, now a much larger and easier target since they’re moving together.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Guang-Hong mutters in dismay, hazel irises darkening as he shoves his feet against the pedals on the floor as far as possible. The boosters on his mobile suit’s back stutter a little before flaring to life in a brighter spark of white-red light, and he projects a little swifter, but with the Shiden in tow, they are not going as fast as they hope and the Graze is gaining onto them in only a few seconds’ time.

The red circle honing in ever closer is only two feet away, and the shots that Graze’s pilot is firing is getting more accurate as the unit ventures dangerously nearer.

When at last, the Graze has also run out of ammo, the pilot pulls out a beam sword, and Guang-Hong knows, his instinct and reflex crawling from the sensors of the mobile suit to his own bloodstreams through their shared connection of the Alaya-Vijnana system implanted on his spine, that the Graze will first strike his closest target — the Shiden with Leo inside — in the hopes that the explosion will drag Guang Hong’s Hyakuri to its grave.

And he’s right. He hates it when he’s right.

The Graze raises its sword with both arms, and at the moment, with no available weapons or a dependable shield, Leo is as vulnerable as a single soldier on a wide, flat field where both sides are opening fire at the same time.

With the momentum they have, Guang-Hong maneuvers around while still being able to push Leo’s mobile suit ahead of himself, putting himself between the Graze and the Shiden like a shield. Both of them know fully well that the Hyakuri is in no condition to protect anyone either, with its armor half-way to being shattered and some of the sensors already broken and rendered useless.

His chest burns, and Guang-Hong realizes belatedly that it’s due to his heart beating so fast, the muscle thrumming viciously against his chest, biting into his ribs as his respiration becomes shallower as if he’s forgotten how to breathe and he’s choking on air.

The hot white-blue glow of the beam sword flashes across his screen, and he can hear Leo yelling his name through the crackle of his headset before his world snaps off in a violent rattle, the monitors flickering with static until they black out, the lights on the control panel glimmering for a few seconds before they, too, shut off, leaving Guang-Hong in a void of darkness.

Before Guang-Hong can even consider trying the emergency ejection system, the Graze’s next strike rips chunks of Hyakuri’s torso apart. The walls, the floor beneath him, and the ceiling of the cockpit hatch are compressing all around him, the distorted metal frames stabbing through in all directions. One twisted rod lodges itself into his upper arm, the angle narrowly missing his neck, another grazes his lower abdomen just deep enough to cut through his suit and leave behind a long gash, and he can feel the sharp snap of broken bones in one of his legs where metallic plates are crushing his limb.

Glass shards from the monitors rain all over him, and in the darkness, Guang-Hong can faintly hear the music in his headset still blaring from the Shiden — something about “growing trees” and “roses in bloom” — and he remembers, even as his mind tries to process the pain that his body is undergoing, that this is one of Leo’s favourite songs.

He has once said that the lyrics reminds him to hold onto the present, to cling to life, because only then can they witness and experience the beauty around them.

The rivulets of blood run down his arm and lower body, soaking his suit. His eyelids feel heavy, his entire frame exhausted from hours of battle; he wants nothing more than to close his eyes and let himself drift off.

And for a very short moment, it seems like he’s about to let go, but a series of vibrations shake him awake, and a huge explosion that must have happened very close to what’s left of his Hyakuri because the force is enough to knock him backwards against something sturdy.

“I can’t believe you left us out when you guys are having so much fun over here,” Yuri whines in mock annoyance, swooping in and taking down enemies on both sides with his dual swords as he nonchalantly makes for his comrades’ direction and joins them in the center.  

He has single-handedly slashes the commander-type Graze in half by the waist, and Leo is able to retrieve the torso piece of Hyakuri that contains the pilot inside the hatch.

“I thought you guys are taking down the Gundam frame. What happened?”

“Who gives a damn about that?” Mila retorts in a low mutter, and then asks, her usual blithe and playful voice filled with genuine concern, “Is Guang-Hong okay?”

She moves in synchronization with Yuri’s mobile suit to take out two more enemies with precise shots. Shaped like a crescent moon, Mila and Yuri are acting as shields for the other two, and with their added power, they are able to pull back to a safe distance far enough away from the frontline and into their own safety zone.

“I-I don’t know…” Leo is still in shock, sweat drenching the inside of his pilot suit and streaking his tanned skin, and eyes wild in panic when the reality that his best friend has taken a hit for him finally sets in.

“Guang-Hong! Guang-Hong, do you read?” Mila tries.

“Oi, Guang-Hong! Time to wakey-wakey!” Yuri’s irritation melts into a hint of unease despite his rude turn of phrase.

No answer.

“Guang Hong…” Leo is able to find his voice again after the initial shock, and when he releases the hatch, a mess of ripped wires and jagged metal, and lets it float before him, the pilot only just becomes aware of how much damage Guang-Hong must have received in that instance he’s decided to protect him from the Graze.

The mangled hatch looks just like any other piece of scrap metal found hovering eerily in past battle fields they always come across whilst travelling. Leo doesn’t want to imagine what the inside of the cockpit would look like — doesn’t want to think about the lifeless body of the boy he’s grown to care about, or the possibility he’ll never hear his voice again.

“Guang-Hong, please…”

If there was a god — if he still believes in one — Leo would pray.

The LCS is dauntingly silent on the other end as the three young pilots wait with bated breath.

A series of static crackle, and then—

“It’s…it’s okay, Leo,” a croaked whisper gasps out, breaths laborious as Guang-Hong swallows back a groan of agony, “I-I’ve got you.”

“You’re delirious,” Yuri snorts, and though he tries to laugh it off, it’s obvious to everyone that he’s relieved to hear his comrade’s voice, “we’re the ones who’ve got you, idiot.” He says it in his fondest tone of voice.

“Guess you’re right.” Laughing is having hundreds of needles simultaneously piercing his lower abdomen as blood continues to flow in a steady stream, but Guang-Hong wants to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

“Let’s get you back to the ship,” Mila comforts him, and she flies ahead to join Yuri as they lead the way, “just hang in there, sweetheart.”

Guang-Hong hums, too tired to say more.

“Just so you know, I hate you so fucking much right now,” Leo mutters, tears streaming down in hot streaks that he can’t brush away while he’s still wearing his helmet. Now that they’re away from danger and he can think clearly once more, Leo finally allows his defense to slip.

Guang-Hong’s eyes crack open with difficulty, a corner of his lips twitching into a shaky smile, “I saved you and that’s the thanks I get?”

“If you pull something like this again next time, I won’t forgive you.” There’s a hint of humor threaded within the warning, but the truth is that Leo won’t be able to forgive himself should anything happen to Guang-Hong.

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” is Guang-Hong’s snarky reply.

“I won’t let you,” he insists.

And there’s so much more Leo wants to say to him — words and sentiment he’s been afraid of expressing or acknowledging to his best friend, a glimmer of light in the dark tunnel of their future — and he’s finally found the reason to say them.

-

A/N: If you’ve read to the end, I want to thank you, because believe me, it was never my intention to write that long-ass battle scene, like. My head hurts from writing this (no regrets though, never any regrets). It’s also 1:40am after editing, so if I miss anything, please forgive me.

Definitions (within Iron-Blooded Orphans Universe):

- Gundam frames: A series of 72 mobile suit frames that were produced and developed by Gjallarhorn (an international peacekeeping force) during the Calamity War 300 years ago; the Ahab particles generated by the two Ahab Reactors within each suit give it a lot of powers, which can be burdensome on the pilot’s body since man and suit are connected through the Alaya-Vijnana system.

- Alaya-Vijnana system: A man-machine interface implant that improves a pilot’s spatial skills and reactions while piloting a mobile suit. There are two parts: one is implanted into the pilot’s spine (called “whiskers”), and the other is built into the mobile suits. The surgery to get the implants is risky and many have died during the process.

- Mobile suits: A type of mobile weapon that is a humanoid combat vehicle. I.E. Giant robots that people can pilot even in space.

Extra notes for this AU:

- Guang-Hong has 2 Alaya-Vijnana implantations done. His Hyakuri unit is painted black with magenta highlights.

- Leo has 1 implantation done. His Shiden unit is painted blue and white with red highlights.

[gremoria411]

*The following is both a spoiler for Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Urdr Hunt, and my immediate reaction while watching it*

ZAGAN NO YOU WERE SO COOL

[gremoria411]

Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Urdr Hunt Masterpost - Part 1

Alright, I’ve finally finished watching Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Urdr Hunt, however when putting together this post I didn’t quite realise the scale of it until I was almost finished. As such I’ll be splitting it into three (ish) main posts - This one will be discussing the Ending, a little bit on Londo Bron, and the Zagan. The second post will be my thoughts on Cyclase Mayer and Gjallarhorn, and the last post will be my thoughts on Wistario and the rest of the cast. I’m also planning to do both a post on the series mechanics (in which I’ll talk about the mobile suits and mobile armours) and a character piece on Londo Bron at some point in the future. It just felt a little too long to be just one post, even for me.

Overall, I enjoyed Gundam Urdr Hunt. That said I’m glad I waited to watch it until now, because I think if I’d watched it without the promise of the movie on the horizon, I would have found the ending disappointing. But we’ll get to that. I’m largely going to be referring to my prior post, but I’ll be covering a lot of the same points. Though some of these I noted down as I was watching, so it might be a little more disjointed than usual.

We’ll get to the ending Immediately, as it happens. As I said, I found it overall a good show. The ending, well, it isn’t really an ending. It’s sort of a “the adventure continues”. Katya is recovered and Wistario goes around and thanks all the other Urdr Hunt Participants (except Cyclase) then returns to Radonitsa Colony on Venus. It feels more like the culmination of an Arc than a conclusion to the series, which I guess it is. But Gundam’s never been a series that has arcs so it’s a little odd. All that said, this is where i feel Urdr Hunt’s nature as a video game works against it, since most of the story prior to this has been “gathering the party”, with the Mobile Armour (Nerimiah) functioning as the final boss. I think the movie’s a way to give it a proper conclusion that isn’t tied down to the needs of a videogame.

But the battle at Ratatoskr I do have one criticism of - Wistario races to reach the shuttle, but it’s struck by lightning and explodes. Agonising moments pass, as Wistario thinks he’s failed, then Katya appears from the explosion. Putting aside the fact that we knew damn well she was gonna survive, fuck those Gjallarhorn Pilots, am I right? Also, she survives an explosion in just a normal suit? No shrapnel or explosive force? It feels more annoying because she could have just been in a casket or escape pod or something, but no, magic explosion. I don’t know, it just seems odd, like there’s so many other ways that it could’ve gone that would’ve made more sense.

I like how we get that view into Gjallarhorn with Mcgillis, Okina Uroka and Isurugi. It’s nice to see an internal view on how that all went down (even though I’m sure Uroka is seething on the inside). It’s also very interesting how Uroka just straight up doesn’t answer Mcgillis’ direct question. Way to tip off you have something to hide, my guy.

In brief, the ending’s just alright, there’s stuff I liked (Gjallarhorn), stuff I didn’t (Magic Explosion) and stuff I’m middling on (Nerimiah). I’m glad that there’s a movie coming so it can have a proper conclusion.

However, I do have plenty of other things to say, so let’s get to those;

Londo Bron is an idiot and I love him

I’ll be doing a proper post on him at some point later, but I’m so very happy for his inclusion in the series. He’s basically one of Carta’s former subordinates, her ex-“knight” if you will and I absolutely love the character dynamic this brings to the table. If I didn’t already love the Zagan, he would have definitely made me look at it fondly.

Speaking of, the Gundam Zagan. I’ve already talked about it just from a design perspective prior, but it’s an absolute juggernaut in this. It carves through three Grazes with ease, and is the only enemy in the series to seriously give Wistario a run for his money. It does all this, with a pilot without Alaya-Vijinana. I don’t doubt that other skilled pilots like Londo Brom exist in post disaster, but the Issues certainly weren’t head of the Seven Stars for nothing. It would have been sufficient as a final boss in my mind, but I really can’t find flaw with it. (I might do a proper post on the series mechanics too)

It’s possible that it’s stored in Ratatoskr as a last resort if Nerimiah was to escape. I’m genuinely unsure as to why anyone would willingly preserve a mobile armour, especially (presumably) Arzona Issue, but at least Zagan’s inclusion as part of the prison shows some foresight.

I really hope it’s able to be salvaged though, mostly because if it appears in something else, we might get a HG kit of it. (Also it bothers me a little that Londo Bron essentially wrecked a relic of the Calamity War in its first sortie in 300 years against Wistario. Kinda feels like I’m watching someone use an antique vase to bludgeon a child to death).

[wordsandrobots]

Ah, so the Issue Gundam is another of the freaks. Excellent.

ASW-G-61 Zagan, it would seem.

A 'bull with griffon's wings'. Which in this case also turn into crab claws.

What fun.

[wordsandrobots]

Has it been two weeks already? It would seem so, because here's @trafalgarlog's next round of Urdr Hunt fansubs!

This time, Katya is thoroughly fed up with everything, Londo Bron's quest to restore the honour of the Issue Family takes a shocking turn, and Cyclase . . . ? Well, Cyclase has really done it now.

Hajiroboshi  (Part 1, Part 2)

Departure (Part 1, Part 2)

598 (Part 1, Part 2)

Corridor of Betrayal (Part 1, Part 2)

Holder of the Ring (Part 1, Part 2)  

Unexpected Encounter (Part 1, Part 2)

Venus’ Worth (Part 1, Part 2)

Brothers’ Ship (Part 1, Part 2)

Horn and Flower’s Shadow (Part 1, Part 2)

Family Bonds (Part 1, Part 2)

Beyond Outstretched Hands (Part 1, Part 2)

Flashing Sky (Part 1, Part 2)

With probably only three episodes left (in six parts), it's perhaps no wonder that we open on a rather apocalyptic scene: the giant microwave power transmission station, Ratatoskr, hanging in space surrounded by asteroids and lit by lightning. Aboard a launch moving through this extremely hazardous area, Londo Bron cheerfully informs Katya that there's something he wants to show her.

Further up the microwave beam, the Erda II is rocked by a lightning strike. Via a comm channel Mendou explains that Ratatoskr uses Ahab reactors as part of a power generation system, with Parstai noting that its still-active beam is electrifying the nearby dust and debris, hence the storm.

(I'm going to be quite grumpy later on so I want to say here that I really love this; it's exactly the kind of Calamity War leftover I like, hinting at a far more obviously 'advanced' society that once conquered the solar system. Presumably this was how a lot of space-based human settlements were powered, possibly via bouncing the beam between relay points. And now it's just . . . there, abandoned and not even turned off.)

Wistario spots lights up and ahead and Sinister zooms in to show Cyclase's Halfbeaks launching mobile suits. It's clear the gang has arrived in the very nick of time.

With Korunaru cautioning them to be careful, Wistario and Range head out to intercept their old nemesis.

Said nemesis is ostensibly here to take out Londo and retrieve Katya on Lord Okina's orders. He has a squad of standard Issue Grazes on hand, as well as Tagging's Scharfrichter -- inside which Batch has hitched a somewhat cramped ride (the Gundam Wiki still lists her as Bana but I'm switching to TrafalgarLog's version for now).

Batch is the first to spot the Afam Equipment forces approaching from the rear. Cyclase divides his forces, sending some of the Grazes to take care of Asmoday and Hajiroboshi while he continues to the station.

Range is not impressed with the mook welcoming committee and is all for cutting through them in one go, but this proves unnecessary. 598 leads Foundling's Monkey Rodis to take care of the Gjallarhorn mobile suits, freeing the other two to get a-heroing.

Aboard Ratatoskr, Londo leads Katya to a massive set of doors, explaining that with Carta's death, she is the only person who's allowed to open them. Even he has never seen inside. Mutely, Katya goes along with him and the doors slide aside to reveal. of course, Gundam Zagan -- the mobile suit used by Arzona Issue, founder of the Issue Family.

(I *think* this is the first explicit in-story statement to the effect that the Seven Star families began with the Gundam pilots. This has always been the heavy implication, but previously there was wiggle room to suppose they came out of pre-existing nobility. However, this more firmly indicates that the heraldry we've seen on the other Urdr Hunt waypoints dates from after the War was over.)

Anyway, yes, that's six of the Seven Star Gundams named and numbered, and apparently the Issues disdained to lock it away in the vault on Vingolf but rather left it stored up here. Londo asks Katya to give him permission to use Zagan to usher her into her rightful place as head of the family. She tells him to do whatever he wants, which is not really the full-throated blessing he takes it as.

His good mood is spoiled regardless as a soldier rushes up to inform him of Cyclase's unit's arrival. Moreover (the man adds, soto-voice), Wistario is right behind.

Overhearing, Katya silently implores Wistario to let her be. She's decided the blood of the Issues makes her too much trouble for her friends.

Batch informs Cyclase that Wistario and Range are approaching, while at the same time, Katya's launch is starting back for Londo's ship. He sends the remaining three Grazes to fetch Katya then heads in another direction, drawing a vengeful Range after him.

The Gjallarhorn mobile suits arrive at the exit from Ratatoskr right as the launch emerges, trapping it in the docking tunnel. Katya spots Hajiroboshi heading towards them but her craft is nearly grabbed by the lead Graze.

Just in time, however, Londo leaps into action, using Zagan to shield her and then unfolding the Gundam's wings into giant crab claws with which to utterly pulverise his unlucky enemies. It's a pretty thorough demonstration of the power of a Gundam frame, as he rapidly kills the entire squad, even spin-punching one of them clean through the wall of the tunnel before kicking it into space.

Wistario catches the disabled 'suit as it comes flying out and throws it aside. Zagan emerges from the smoke and it's a face-off, Londo offering him one last chance to withdraw, Wistario determined to rescue his would-be fiance. Naturally neither will back down. And the battle is on!

Things don't go great for our Wiz at first. But 598's mob quickly join in and their combined strength turns the tide. Plus, 598 has a cunning plan to use the environment against Londo . . .

Londo himself realises he cannot't control Zagan as well as Arzona did (because, of course, he doesn't have an Alaya-Vijnana system), but ploughs on, insisting it's Katya's will to stay with the Issues. Wistario retorts that people like him forced her to be somewhere she doesn't want to be.

Some more smack is talked and blows exchanged, and things do not look rosy for our good captain. With ye traditional 'there should not be that many electrical arcs in a cockpit' visuals, he rallies for one last effort, rushing Wistario headlong, breaking Hajiroboshi's crest with a well-aimed claw.

But Wiz has whatever operational weirdness is going on to give him A-V level moves and he drives his giant chain-sword-thingy in hard, smashing one of Zagan's wings off. Infuriated, Londo drags his Gundam directly along the blade, smashing Wistario off his feet.

As a panicked 598 rushes to help, Londo rips loose his remaining wing and prepares to impale Wistario with the claw, insisting that he'll protect Katya.

Unfortunately, that's when physics catches up to the situation and, um, you know that thing about holding up a long metal object in the middle of a thunderstorm? Yeah. Yeeeeeah.

598 is able to whisk Wistario out of danger at the last second but Zagan takes the full force of a lightning strike. While I wouldn't entirely rule out a well-timed revival later, it sure does look like Londo just got thoroughly toasted.

There's no time to dwell on his fate, however, as Katya still needs saving and, perhaps more pressingly, Cyclase is Up To Something.

Inside Ratatoskr, Batch slips out of Tagging's mobile suit to go do stuff while Cyclase turns to face the 'fly buzzing in his ear'. Range has caught up with them and is here to take revenge for Andy and Bito's deaths. Cue the soundtrack switching to 'In a Fury' and our resident would-be-godking meeting Range's anger with icy sarcasm.

As the fight ensures, Cyclase asks Range why he thinks this place was designated a sanctuary and people kept away? Range of course doesn't give a fuck, but that doesn't stop Cyclase elaborating that it is a cage. The lightning is not intended to repel intruders; rather it is meant to keep something inside.

(I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.)

Honestly, Cyclase is having a moment here and very little of what Range is shouting at him is getting through. It's like how Gaelio spends the back half of Season 2 yelling for attention only, unlike McGillis, Cyclase genuinely does not care, at all.

Just then the ground shakes. Batch, it seems, has done her work well (Tagging assures Cyclase they are very good at what they do). As Range looks on in disbelief, Cyclase declares that his freedom is about to begin.

Over on the Erda II, Dexter informs everyone that the microwave output from the station is increasing, bringing with it more violent lightning flashes. Nobody has any idea what's going on -- and to add to the confusion, the Urdr Hunt ring picks that moment to light up.

It appears to be reading data, as it has at every other waypoint. Parstai and Mendou report the same thing. This is the sixth point, despite no instructions having been received from 'N' to direct them there. Ratatoskr is the Issue's entry on this magical mystery tour and this proves the data wasn't put here by 'N' but rather, has lain there for 300 years.

If that's the case, Korunaru asks, why is the ring only responding now? Mendou's first thought is that it's because they've gotten closer -- but sadly it would seem it's nothing so mundane.

As Londo's forces hurry the launch over to their Halfbeak, ahead of Wistario and 598's pursuit, cracks start appearing in a nearby asteroid (one of those visibly tethered to Ratatoskr's core), closely followed by an absolutely gigantic blast of energy. The biggest beam weapon we've yet seen in IBO canon slams into the Halfbeak before deflecting off to slice a massive gash through the rock. Everyone scatters as something emerges from the rubble, loosing off dozens of the most adorable little guys imaginable.

Just look at them! I can only assume Dr Robotnik had a hand in designing this particular batch of plumas.

Because, oh yes, as Mendou realises to his utter horror, what's happening here is that a mobile armour has just reactivated and broken out of its prison within the Issue Family's sanctuary.

Oh, and it's the size of a battlecruiser.

OK, so first off, somebody has clearly been hitting the Gundam 79 juice. I see distinct traces of Elmeth in this thing, and in general it's aesthetics trend 'rockets and ray-guns' ala the Universal Century's Zeon stylings. Quite a departure from what we've seen before. I think I'll need to see it in action before I decide if I like it or not.

Secondly, Gundam Zagan makes quite the impression, albeit a surprisingly brief one. It's definitely in the 'freak' section of the number sequence (61) and showcases a lot of impressively brutal potential the leaves little doubt as to how the Issues ended up with the top seat at the table. Additionally, its proportions are distinctly broader compared to normal, hinting at the same adjustment of the frame that we see in Gusion's first in-series appearance. Nice to see that's not just a one-off.

Thirdly, everything has gone distinctly endgamey. Londo is off the board, Range is throwing himself bodily at his collection of death-flags, and Cyclase has begun his apotheosis (I do have a few notes regarding step #1). Even if this isn't quite the home stretch of the story, it's certainly got that 'exciting climax' feeling.

And here's the point where I grumble because bringing the Calamity War stuff this far to the forefront really doesn't do anything for me.

I feel bad for picking on this because I understand why you'd want it from a game mechanic point of view. The mobile armours are boss material, through and through, with very impressive visuals. However, this marks two activations in the months prior to Hashmal waking up on Mars (possibly two and a half, depending on how we count Mendou's encounter with plumas in the ice field), which seems excessive. Obviously this is going to be parcelled off from the main IBO plot such that nobody will look like a complete moron for being poleaxed when the world's most deadly Porygon tries to wipe Chryse off the map (except Iok who is, well, Iok). But it still feels like it should be a mite harder to trip over a mobile armour, even accounting for Gjallarhorn forgetting its original purpose.

It's also playing into my firm conviction that any hypothetical Calamity War prequel series would be 'standard Gundam fare' in ways Iron-Blooded Orphans largely eschews. Neither the show nor the Moon Steel manga deal with global wars or threats to the entirety of humanity. Hashmal is the outlier in that regard, deliberately out of context for the story. Mostly, the focus remains relatively small-scale and the mecha battles aren't solutions to the problems the story presents so much as messy, cruel consequences of an unjust system.

The mobile armours, by contrast, are robot monsters from the dawn of time that 100% need to die for the sake of the human race. I'm not opposed to that as a story hook in general, but it's less interesting compared to the things IBO has done before. Maybe it'll shake out into something engaging with Cyclase as a human component to the threat but I don't think I'll hold my breath on that: he's been a fairly straightforward sort of antagonist so far.