The Falcon's Strike

Super Robot Wars. Flesh and steel collided. A deafening roar as if the world itself had been torn asunder, followed by a shockwave that swallowed everything in its path.

Visible shockwaves ripped through already-collapsed buildings as Galrm, a mere mass of protein and fat, caught the steel fist with his bare hands. A smirk tugged at his lips before he swung back with a thunderous counter.

“Show me everything you’ve got-!”

As if responding to his challenge, Steel Titan unleashed every war weapon it had held in reserve. An 800mm cannon—large enough to reduce a tank to scrap in a single shot—belched fire.

The barrel was impossibly wide, launching shells several times larger than Galrm himself. The projectiles tore forward, obliterating everything in their path.

Any ordinary creature would have been helpless against such speed, but Galrm was no ordinary creature.

The pinnacle of humanity’s biological engineering. A being that had consumed Leviathan’s genetic material and evolved into the strongest lifeform on the planet.

‘Pretty big… Never saw anything like this even back in my prime-!’

Galrm tracked the incoming shell with his eyes and reached out. The moment his hand brushed against it, the massive projectile ricocheted away into the distance.

The price of deflecting something several times his own size and weight was steep. Veins and tendons in his right arm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠burst, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blood began to seep from his forearm.

Galrm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠glanced at his trembling arm and grinned.

“Is that all? For something that supposedly destroyed an entire city, it’s a little underwhelming.”

Steel Titan regarded the taunting Galrm and raised both hands. Dozens of gun barrels emerged across its entire frame, each one as massive as the previous cannon, all trained on him.

BOOM-! A cataclysmic roar shook the world as dozens of shells rained down on Galrm.

Galrm drew a sharp breath and raised both hands, deflecting the barrage. Some shells detonated prematurely, engulfing him in fireballs, yet he endured.

“Uwahaha, hahahaha-! This is fun! This is great!”

Just as he prepared to press the attack, his body suddenly locked up. He had pushed his movements beyond their limits, and now his muscles refused to obey.

Galrm instinctively realized this was the side effect the scientist had warned him about. Forcing movements impossible with only a single genetic sample had finally broken his body.

‘—Damn it. Is this the end…?’

As he stood frozen, staring blankly at Steel Titan, a song drifted across the battlefield. A melody all too familiar in E City—the kind you heard whenever boredom struck.

—Listen to my song-!

Explosive guitar, bass, and drums flooded the battlefield alongside the vocals. Even Steel Titan paused for a moment.

In that instant, Levitan came sprinting from somewhere, scooped Galrm under her arm, and bolted away.

“You idiot! That’s why I told you not to go alone, you know!?”

“……Levi, tan.”

“Aww! Seriously~! Eight said he’d come, so let’s get out of here~!”

“The scientist, here?”

“Right!”

Galrm couldn’t make sense of it. How could the scientist possibly be here? Then he looked up at the sky and understood.

Far above, something was streaking toward them, trailing contrails. Far too large and far too fast to be any ordinary plane or fighter jet…

The moment Steel Titan raised its cannons toward the sky, the approaching figure accelerated faster than the shells could fire and slammed a kick straight into Steel Titan’s face.

The impact was so violent that the massive frame staggered backward. While Steel Titan struggled to regain balance, another robot landed on the ground and extended a fist toward it.

Falcon offered a light bow.

Something inside Steel Titan shattered with a sharp crack.

“Uwaaaaargh-!”

The body accelerated. The crushing g-forces made blood rush to one side of his body for a brief moment before Steel Falcon touched down on the surface, already poised in front of Steel Titan.

I snapped back to my senses and shouted at Steelstone, who was gripping the controls.

“Steelstone! We’re here! Get it together!”

“Ugh, uuurgh……! A-already?”

“Yes! It’s your turn now, Steelstone!”

Unlike the fully automated Steel Titan, Steel Falcon was equipped with manual controls. Steelstone had insisted that he couldn’t entrust the task of disciplining his child solely to another child, and I had agreed because I liked that stubbornness. Now, sitting in the cockpit together, I was starting to regret it slightly…

‘How the hell do you even pilot a robot like this?’

I didn’t expect Steelstone to actually defeat Titan by piloting Falcon himself. Even if he moved the controls, Falcon wouldn’t follow him at 100%. Just like assist features in fighting games for beginners, the AI built into Falcon would calculate the optimal response on its own.

The controls existed to share responsibility. Responsibility for creating the monster called Steel Titan. Responsibility for punishing him with his own hands.

The responsibility of a father.

Steel Falcon swung her leg as she spoke. Unlike the bulky Steel Titan, her frame was sleek and agile. Her fierce kick slammed into Titan’s side, caving it inward.

Satisfied that her attack had landed, Falcon smiled and bounced on her toes, readying her next punch.

“……Falcon. I’m counting on you.”

Steel Titan’s eyes flashed as it rejected Falcon’s words.

In the next instant, every cannon on Steel Titan’s body revealed itself. Steel Titan was a war machine—a decisive weapon built to triumph even if it had to fight the entire world alone.

Inside it were enough bombs and shells to reduce an entire nation to ashes.

Steel Titan began firing every remaining shell. A barrage that would endanger even Steel Falcon if taken head-on.

“Falcon! Form change!”

Falcon resolved it with a single booster and form change. Her body transformed into something resembling a fighter jet, accelerating instantly to dodge the missiles and shells with ease.

Unlike Titan, loaded with every conceivable war implement, Falcon carried not a single weapon inside her frame.

What Falcon pursued was speed alone. She had abandoned everything else for it.

After circling above Titan’s head to evade the shells, Falcon spotted an opening and dove straight down like a hunting bird. She relentlessly targeted Titan’s head from the sky.

However, Titan’s destruction of W City had not been mere luck. Titan adapted to Falcon’s movements in an instant and seized her leg, hurling her away.

Falcon crashed into building debris with a shriek and tumbled across the ground. She quickly transformed and escaped just before a storm of shells obliterated the spot where she had landed.

Falcon glared at Titan, who continued its long-range bombardment, and shouted indignantly.

Whining, Falcon executed another impossible aerial maneuver, dodging every shell before darting to Titan’s side and grabbing both its legs. Her engines began to overheat, glowing red-hot.

Falcon’s turbo engines overheated to the point of melting. The boosters, now blazing, lifted Titan’s massive body into the air.

Soaring high, Falcon flipped Titan upside down and drove it headfirst into the ground.

BOOM-! The impact shook the earth like an earthquake. Titan, head buried in the ground, flailed helplessly.

Falcon let out a long sigh as she looked down at the scene.

Steelstone trembled slightly as he watched the siblings fight. It was understandable. Even I, watching from the side, felt a chill from the killing intent she directed at her own brother.