DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing belonged to
Sunrise and co. I’m not making any profits out of this, so don’t sue. Oh, those
you think you’ve never heard before belong to me. And feedback is very welcome,
people!☺
TIMELINE: The story mostly takes place after Endless Waltz. To be more precise, one year after Endless Waltz. That means two years after my very own Treize’s Revenge series.
By Arayelle Lynn.
Lady Une, McGarth, Relena, and
Vincent watched in slience as the battle continued. The President and his
granddaughter left the chaotic control room after giving command to both Lady
Une and McGarth. He was being escorted away from MO V, with great reluctance,
to Earth to ensure his safety.
However, now that they found out
the aliens’ main target, Lady Une began to wonder if she had done the right
thing by persuading the President to return to Earth. If she had just send him
to his death, or worse, slavery.
“The Gundams are making a
progress,” a Preventer agent reported. Lady Une heard Relena released the
breath that she was holding as they all turned their attention on the second
screen. They could see the battle that the Gundams were in, though fierce, was
improving. Now, the battle had move further into the orbit of Uranus.
But even so, there was one thing
that bothered Lady Une. She wondered why the aliens’ mothership did not make a
move. The Gundams were making a swift approach to the mothership but still the
ship didn’t not do anything as to join in the fight and destroy the Gundams
with their cannons. Lady Une began to suspect something.
“Sally,” she said, turning to
the Chinese agent who was still trying to locate the aliens’ wormhole device.
Sally looked back at her, questioningly. “Run a thorough scan on the area where
the mothership is. The Warleader is protecting something and I want to know
what.”
>>>@@<<<
Somehow, things changed in the
battle the Gundams were in. Zechs were no longer fighting K’Rin, ever since
Con’trai and Kylie had joined them. Con’trai had tried to force Kylie to
collide with Zechs to distract her or Zechs but only to have the two exchanging
their adversary at the same time. Now, Zechs was fighting Con’trai and Kylie,
K’Rin.
Heero, meanwhile, was still
facing K’Vai. The two were equally matched ever since Heero had been released
from his worries for his friends. K’Vai, seeing that the Wing Zero pilot was
finally showing his true piloting skills, decided that he cannot spare his
attention on his men. He had to give his full focus on this human pilot they
symbolized as the perfect soldier.
Wu Fei broke away from S’Irai to
gather his breath. S’Irai studied his opponent and smiled. When he had fought
the pilot in the Gundam called Deathscythe, he could easily ensure he came on
top even when the supposedly ‘Great Destroyer’ used the Zero system. S’Irai had
trained for years to be the best in the close-range battle and knew that this
Altron pilot was just the same as the Deathscythe pilot. That he could destroy
this one as easily.
“You tire so quickly, human,” he
sneered, hearing the heavy breathing of the Altron pilot over the comm.
‘Con’trai had been wrong about this one,’ he decided, remembering his comrade’s
exaggerated story about this pilot. ‘He’s just the same as others. He’s not
worthy.’
Wu Fei panted, his hold on the
throttle were slippery from sweat. A flash on his right made his lips twisted
to a smile. “You’ve underestimated me, Telrhani,” he shot back. “And that’ll be
your death.”
“What?” S’Irai blinked,
surprised by the dangerous tone of his voice. The human was up to something.
But what?
He was about to find out, the
hard way.
“Do you think I broke away from
you because I was tired?”
Suddenly something flashed at
the corner of his eyes. He turned and saw shadow heading towards him. A Gundam,
which black armor camouflaging it well in the darkness of space, waving its
deadly scythe. “Yeaaaa…” he heard the pilot yelled as the Gundam pushed its
speed to the limit.
“No, I will not be defeated…!”
S’Irai heard himself yelled as in that split second, he spun away from the
incoming Deathscythe. He narrowly missed the arching scythe as the Gundam flew
past him. For a moment, S’Irai watched it, preparing himself for the second
attack from his former nemesis.
But just then, he realized
something. Too late. Before he could even move, he saw another beam weapon
swinging from above him. Even before he realized that he had been tricked, he
felt a searing hot pain slicing through him. And for that moment, everything
went still.
He looked at Altron, its beam
trident glowing gloriously, having taken a life of a great warrior. Then,
Deathscythe appeared next to it, looking a lot more like the God of Death now
more than ever. S’Irai’s lips move. “H… how? I thought you pilots decided not
to work together.”
“We did,” answered Wu Fei, his
face appeared on his screen. There’s something strange in his eyes. Like molten
gold, shiny and dangerous. “But we
share the same system. Who could tell what Zero is telling us to do.”
S’Irai last sight was the one of
Deathscythe pilot. The same molten gold burning in his eyes. “Zero system.” Was
his last words, then the universe was filled with blinding white light. And
S’Irai from the house of Plantis, was no more.
Duo glanced at the incoming
troopers, the one he had escaped from and then at the empty space behind Gundam
Altron. Quickly, he made his decision. “Go, Wu Fei. You’re clear. I’ll hold
these bozos off.” With that, Deathscythe flew off to meet the incoming
troopers.
Wu Fei watched Deathscythe enggaged
its battle with the troopers. With S’Irai destroyed, he was freed from the
trap. And with Duo holding off the troopers that were trying to stop him, Wu
Fei found himself free to make his way towards the mothership and rescue the
prisoners. But before he went, he spared a last look at the battle.
>>>@@<<<
Heero dodged every blow K’Vai
sent him and at the same time destroyed the troopers with his beam saber. He
purposely backed away from K’Vai as the leader of the Mican warrior tried to
destroy him. Heero’s eyes were searching for something, waiting for the moment
to strike back but that moment never seemed to arrive.
But patience had always been
Heero’s strongest virtue and he waited his moment with the patience of a wise
old man.
“Why won’t you fight back? Do
you really think you can escape from this?” asked K’Vai, his voice calm and
cold. “Do you think you could destroy all my troopers until they’ve all
diminished?” He chuckled. “Don’t hope for that, Heero Yuy. I still have a vast
number of troopers at my disposal and they will eventually be the cause of your
death by my hand.” He took a lunge at Wing Zero.
Heero backed away and spun to
destroy the troopers that were about to attack him from behind. Still, he
didn’t say a word.
“What you’re doing is
meaningless,” said K’Vai, deciding to cut to the chatter. “Do you think that I
would not notice that you’re backing away from the battle?” he asked, nodding
at the empty space that stretched far away behind Wing Zero and the surrounding
troopers. He was satisfied when he got a slight reaction from the Wing Zero
pilot.
He continued. “I know you were forcing me to lead
you away from our little trap.” Then his eyes grew cold. “But I will not allow
you to come near the Warleader’s ship. And neither will my men,” he vowed.
“You are wrong,” said the Wing
Zero, his voice held a totally different meaning to it. “Your men could do
nothing against my friends. They’re losing. Look.” He nodded at the battle on
K’Vai’s left side. The leader of the Mican warrior turned, only to see the most
impossible sight.
The Gundam Altron’s beam trident
sliced through the unsuspecting S’Irai. Time seemed to freeze at that and only
to continue when S’Irai’s suit exploded. K’Vai heard himself gasped as
realization hit him. The lowly creatures had managed to destroy a Mican
warrior! And a very well-trained one.
Heero then took that moment to
swung his beam saber, destroying the troopers around him that was staring at
the battle Wu Fei and Duo were in. Then, he flew away, spotted his buster
rifle, which he had accidentally lost during the fight and aimed at K’Vai.
And hearing the sound of
destruction of the troopers around him, K’Vai turned only to see another
shocking sight. The Wing Zero was aiming his powerful buster rifle at him. “And
you’re losing too,” said Heero as he squeezed the trigger.
A bright light sliced through the space, heading for
K’Vai at a deadly speed. But something inside him refused to give up as he
tried to dodge away from the line of fire. Too late. The blast hit him like a
nasty earthquake and everything went silent.
>>>@@<<<
“K’Vai!” K’Rin cried out,
feeling the emptiness where her twin brother had been. Her first impulse was to
go and help her brother but then again, her duty to the Warleader came first.
And she decided to make them pay by killing her opponent.
But too late. She turned her
attention back to Kylie in time to see Nova’s heel connected to her suits’
torso. K’Rin cried in pain and anguish as she was flung away. For a moment the world
around her was forgotten, and there’s only her and K’Vai.
Seeing that her opponent was
thrown off, Kylie started towards Quatre.
>>>@@<<<
“Gundam Wing Zero and Altron had
just broke away from the battle,” the Preventer agent announced. Lady Une could
hear sighs of relief coming from those standing behind her. She could almost
picture Relena’s relieved face. “Ma’am,” said the agent, turning to her.
“Gundam Sandrock is hailing us.”
Quatre’s face appeared. “Heero
and Wu Fei are already on their way to free the prisoners,” he reported, as if
they hadn’t known it already. He
continued. “But the rest of us are still trapped here. The two would need some
assistance in leading the prisoners to safety.”
Lady Une quickly understood what
he was asking from them. But with Noin and her troops busy with the battle
against the flagships, how was she suppose to send assistance to the Gundams?
And looking at the other screen, she noticed that the Telrhani was approaching
dangerously closer to Earth.
But that’s when everyone’s
prayers were answered.
>>>@@<<<
Noin blasted another alien
fighter, narrowly missed a trail of fire from an incoming fighter. She dodged
and destroyed the fighter that had taken a shot at her. Then for a second,
nothing seemed to be taking a shot at her and she used that precious second to
monitor their progress.
Not good.
Though not many of their mobile
suits were destroyed, the same could not be said about Dorothy’s mobile dolls.
They were actually being brutally slaughtered, if such word could be used for
unmanned, computer-controlled suits. Noin could almost feel Dorothy’s
frustration back on MO V’s Zero control room. But still, the mobile dolls kept
on going.
Surprisingly, Noin found herself
thankful for the mobile dolls. They had spared many lifes of the living
soldiers fighting in this battle. Since the number of MD’s were vast, topped
with their Zero system, the aliens were forced to deal with them more harshly,
giving the Earth defense force the distraction they need to destroy the aliens
fighters.
But now that the number of
mobile dolls were diminishing, the aliens had turned their attention back to
the Earth forces’ mobile suits. And more and more of them were being destroyed
as the flagships made their way towards Earth.
‘No!’ Noin found herself
thinking the worst. ‘I will not let them take Earth.’ A thought entered her
mind. ‘The colonies are all replaceable. Man-made. But Earth is not!’ Though
resolved, Noin found herself not knowing what to do. The Gundams were too far
away and trapped to help them. So, the Earth Forces troops were on their
own.
Suddenly, from the corner of her
eyes, Noin saw something emerged from Earth. Something dark and seemed to be
growing in size. To her surprise, one of the dot took a shot and something
behind her exploded.
“Do not worry about Earth,” said
a voice as a face appeared on her screen. It was a man from Middle East, though
Noin vaguely recognized him. “We were sent here to protect it by our master.”
“Master?” she echoed, confused.
The leading suit destroyed
another fighter sneaking behind her. “Yes. You must hurry now. He and his
friends are in need of your assistance,” said the man, as his men started to
join the fight.
It was then Noin realized that
someone was trying to hail her. She punched a button and Lady Une’s face
appeared. “Noin, take some of your men and go help the Gundams.” Realizing that
the Gundams needed someone to escort the prisoners to safety while they destroy
the wormhole, Noin nodded.
“Copy that, headquarters,” she
said as she began to issue orders. As she was leaving the battlefield to join
another, she glanced back at the newcomers. “Now I remember them. They’re the
Maganac corp.”
>>>@@<<<
When Noin and her men entered
the battlefield, the Gundams’ only objective was to get them through the
battlefield safely. They knew that they were the only ones capable of holding
the aliens back from returning to the mothership to defend it.
It was as easy as holding back a
tsunami from crashing on a city. The remaining Gundams worked very hard to give
safe passage to Noin and her Preventers, each working out their own strategies
but at the same time working together perfectly, under the influence of the
Zero system.
Quatre destroyed every troopers
that were blocking Noin’s way. There was only one thing in his mind and that
was to ensure Noin’s safety through the battle so she could help Heero and Wu
Fei. The battle was like a chaotic dance to him as the only music he was
hearing was, slash-cut and destroy, slash-cut and destroy over and over.
He was so lost in his
concentration that he barely saw Noin’s group flew past him, into the darkness
of space. Then, he stood there, confused. Nothing was in his way at all!
“You’re out, Quatre!” a voice
jarred him into reality. “Go help Heero,” said that voice. Duo?
He then looked back at the
battlefield. A few Mican troopers and Trec’na were making their way towards
him, to keep him in the web-like trap that they had established. To stop him
from assisting his friends to destroy the mothership.
Then like shining shadows,
Heavyarms and Nova appeared before him, cutting the Telrhani’s path towards
Sandrock. “Go, Quatre. We’ll hold them off,” said the ever-calm voice of Trowa.
Quatre looked at the second face on his screen. Her eyes was cold but there’s a
trace of warmth in them as they regarded him.
“Don’t worry, we can handle
them,” she said, shifting her hold on her twin-headed beam lance. Suddenly,
right before his eyes, he saw the lance broke in two, becoming two beam sabers
like the one Wing Zero had. Kylie gave Quatre a wink. “Cool, isn’t it?” Then,
she began to battle the incoming Telrhani as Trowa destroyed the first one.
Quatre was reassured. “Alright.
The three of us should be enough to take on the mothership,” he said, over the
channel. “But I would like to advice that some of us go and assist the defence
of Earth.”
“Got that,” said Duo as the
others acknowledged his orders their own way.
Then, Quatre flew off at maximum speed to catch up
with Heero and the others. But his eyes strayed back to the battle. He prayed
that all of them would live to see a new and brighter future.
>>>@@<<<
When Nova flung her into the
darkness, K’Rin felt as if she had entered oblivion. She felt nothing but the
dull ache inside her heart. All her life, there had only been K’Vai and her.
Both had fled from their parents since they were little after hearing that
their parents were planning to sell them off to the slavers. Selling off their
children so they could quench their thirst for money and power.
But now that a part of her was
gone, K’Rin found herself unable to continue. It shouldn’t have ended like
that. K’Vai was the mightiest warrior among them! But why had he fallen by the
hands of a low-life creature they called humans.
Distinctively, she heard someone
called her name. Putting aside her pain, she gathered all her rage and thrust
herself into the world of the living. She realized that she had stopped and
that someone was holding her, supporting her. And that someone was calling her.
“Lady K’Rin!”
She wiped the tears in her eyes
and regarded the face on her screen. “Keil’n. What is it?”
“You don’t need to grieve yet,
milady,” said her trusted comrade. “Your brother still live.”
K’Rin blinked, her heart pounded
at the news. “What? How…?” She then mentally reached out, to see if the news
was true and that her ears were not playing with her. Keil’n’s grim face
nodded. “Yes, milady. But his Mican suit is badly damaged and he’s wounded.
I’ve send out men to bring him to safety.”
There, she distinctively detect
his presence and she let out a sigh of relief. Then, her eyes grew cold as she
felt a strong determination to let the Gundams pay for hurting her twin.
“What’s the status?” she asked, seeing the battle still continuing. Now that
K’Vai was out of the action, she was the one carrying the burden of leading the
troops.
“Three Gundams have escaped our
trap. Four more are still inside.”
“Very well,” said K’Rin, making
a decision. “The two of us will go and stop the three Gundams. We must make
sure that they do not harm the Warleader or discover the wormhole device.”
“No. Let them come.” Suddenly a
new voice joined in the discussion. K’Rin looked at her screen, startled.
“Warleader!”
Warleader Varishk regarded her
calmly. “It was shocking that the Gundams managed to destroy S’Irai so easily.
That ought to teach us to be more cautious,” he said. “And all the more reason
why you are needed there.” He looked at K’Rin carefully. “You must keep the
other Gundams inside the battlefield. Let me handle the ones that are coming.”
“But…”
Varishk smiled. “Don’t worry.
Even if they manage to rescue the prisoners, they will still have to deal with
you, right?” He paused. “Your only job now is to destroy the remaining Gundams.
You must not let any more of them escape the trap to assist their comrades.”
Understanding dawned on her,
K’Rin nodded. “Your will, Warleader.”
As soon as the connection was
terminated, K’Rin surveyed the battle. Then, she found who she was looking for.
Ordering a full scale attack on the remaining Gundams, K’Rin made her way
towards the bright gold Gundam, which was bearing twin sabers.
>>>@@<<<
“Well, anyone want to blow this
joint?” Duo asked, referring to Quatre’s last order to assist the Earth forces.
Zechs kept on destroying the
Telrhanis. He knew it was dire for them to destroy the enemy now before Noin
came back with the prisoners. He knew that they have to end it now or never. A
glance at the fiercely fighting Gundam Nova told him that Kylie had arrived to
the same conclusion too.
It was time to decide.
“Kylie,” said Zechs, now acting
as the leader of the Gundams. “Help me make sure that Barton and Maxwell get
out.”
Knowing exactly what he wanted
from her, Kylie began to take on the troopers attacking Deathscythe while Zechs
added Trec’na in his list of opponents to give Trowa room. The other two pilots
looked on, startled. Then, realizing that both Zechs and Kylie wouldn’t leave
their love ones behind, they accepted their sacrifices. And besides, Duo was
itching to make sure Hilde was safe and Trowa wanted to make sure the fleet
near Earth never approach MO V, where Catherine was.
With a final look at the new
additions of their Gundam team, Heavyarms and Deathscythe left the battle. But
little did they see an angry Mican warrior heading straight towards one of the
new Gundam pilots.
>>>@@<<<
Wing Zero, Altron and Sandrock
expertly dodged the fires coming from the mothership. The second that they were
in the mothership’s firing range, they were being rained with shots that they
‘easily’ avoided. Noin’s team were busying themselves with the slaveships which
were taking the prisoners through the wormhole. At first, they were all caught
by awe at the sight of the wormhole, swirling in white and blue hue but
remembering the situation, they set their task to rescue the prisoners.
“Anyone have any idea how to
board the mothership?” Quatre asked as he sailed away from the line of fire. He
felt a tinge of desperation to end all these quickly. He wanted to make sure
that the others were safe.
Suddenly, he saw Wing Zero
darted towards the motherships, ignoring all the shots that connected. “Heero!”
Quatre called out.
“There’s your answer,” said Wu
Fei, as he too followed Heero’s example. Quatre saw the two Gundams accelerated
in a ramming maneuver that sent shivers down his spine. Kylie had done that
once, he recalled. ‘Looks like I’m gonna do the same thing too,’ he decided.
“Quatre…!!!” he heard Noin
shouted but he was too busy bracing himself for impact. Then, the world around
him shook violently as he heard a sickening crunch. Then, there was darkness.
>>>@@<<<
Heero stepped away from the
cockpit and looked around him. To his satisfaction, his Gundam was still in one
piece, having made by an alloy which was even stronger than the alien’s, by the
look at the damage their hull sustained. From the crack in the hull, he could
almost see the battle taking place between Noin’s team and the slaveships.
He leapt down, pulling out his
rifle. Then, he ran towards the exit and found himself in a hallway. Alarms
blared, caused by the collision as well as a warning to the occupants of the
intruders. Guessing his way around, Heero made his way towards the detention
area. He was determined to find the prisoners quickly so he could start hunting
for the wormhole device.
His instinct proved to be
helpful, as always. Within minutes, he found the detention area, ‘subdued’ the
guards easily and was about to release the prisoners when he heard footsteps
coming from behind him. Quickly, he whipped his rifle at the face that appeared
and then relaxed.
“What took you?” he asked,
continued to release the prisoners.
Wu Fei silenced the excited
prisoners with a wave. “I was securing some shuttles for the prisoners. I was
hoping you’d be here.”
“I thought that was
Quatre’s job,” said Heero, recalling their previous plan. The blond pilot had
volunteered to secure shuttles for the prisoners’ escape. Then he would be
escorting the prisoners to safety while Wu Fei and Heero search for the
wormhole device.
Wu Fei shook his head. “He
can’t. Sandrock was thrown off course and landed too far away from here. And so
he told me that he would search the wormhole device instead.” He then
looked at the other cells, making sure that they didn’t leave anyone behind.
“It seems like our paths crossed
again,” said a new voice. Wu Fei turned to regard the person but Heero
recognized the voice quickly. He stepped between the prisoners and the woman,
shielding the prisoners behind him, his eyes never left the deadly warrior
before them.
“You recognize me, huh?” said
the beautiful woman. “I’m pleased. The last time we battled, that red-headed
wench interrupted us. But now, I intend to finish where we left off, Heero
Yuy.”
Wu Fei nodded at the alien
woman. “You know this woman?” he asked Heero. He was already on his defensive
Kung fu stance, ready for battle. Next to him, Heero nodded. “Kylie and I met
her when we were rescuing Relena and the others. She almost killed me.”
That brought Wu Fei in full
alert. He knew that it wasn’t easy for Heero to admit that. And if this alien
woman had been able to wound the invincible Heero so badly, she must be very
deadly. So, Wu Fei watched her carefully, knowing he could not afford to be
caught off guard.
The alien woman, Sira, smirked
at Wu Fei’s reaction. She chuckled. “Don’t worry, human,” she said to Wu Fei.
“I can take you and your friend all at once. You won’t even feel a thing.” She
smiled but there was no humor in that smile. Only the dangerous look in her
eyes that Heero had seen before.
Heero addressed Wu Fei, watching
Sira. “We must get these prisoners out of here.” He nodded at the only exit,
behind Sira. “And we must find the wormhole device and destroy it before we
lose more prisoners,” he whispered to Wu Fei.
Suddenly Sira laughed. “Find the
wormhole device?” she said, again without humor. “You will never find the
device, Gundam pilots. It’s not even on the ship.” Then her eyes twinkled,
dangerously. “And as for your friend, the Warleader has another plan in store
for him.”
“Quatre,” Heero breathed,
realizing that his friend was in danger.
Then, a blur of black leapt at
Sira. Heero, seeing an opening, rushed past Sira to attack her from behind. But
the green haired woman had thrown Wu Fei off and blocked Heero’s path as quick
as lightning. She looked at Heero. “I will not let you get past me, Gundam
pilots. I intend to let my lover do as he pleases.”
She swung her fist at Heero but
he had quickly jumped back to avoid it. Realizing that the only way to get the
prisoners out was through Sira, Heero and Wu Fei were forced to battle her.
>>>@@<<<
Quatre had no idea where he was
heading. But he was glad at knowing that Heero and Wu Fei had gotten to the
prisoners. Now, if only he could find the wormhole device and destroy it.
But deep in his mind, he felt
something was amiss. As he walked along the hallway, he had yet seen a single
guard hunting for him. His first thought was that maybe the people on the ship
had been shocked after learning that the Gundams had rammed into their ship.
But by now, the aliens should be going around hunting for the intruders, or
double the guard on the prisoners.
Then, he found himself in a
large dark room, illuminated by a dim red light. Nothing was inside, not even a
rodent, if there’s any on the aliens’ ship. His mind was screaming something
and only at that time he realized what his instinct had been warning him about.
‘Trap! Get out of here.’
He started to back out into the
hallway, only to discover a shadow had dropped on him from behind. Startled,
Quatre jumped away as he turned to face the shadow. A man was standing at the
door, blocking his only exit. And he recognized that man as Warleader Varishk.
>>>@@<<<
Zechs and Kylie worked together
to draw the enemy away from Trowa and Duo. And since both Epyon and Nova were
similarly built, both worked well together. They used the two Gundams’ high
speed engines to round up the aliens and stop from any of them from going after
Heavyarms and Deathscythe. Now, the Gundams were the ones trapping them, not
the other way around and Zechs and Kylie could sense the aliens’ dismay at this
turn of event.
“They’re safely away,” Kylie
reported, seeing Deathscythe and Heavyarms had entered the battle near Earth.
“If there’s such place.”
Zechs spared a glance at his
screen. The arrival of the two Gundams in the battle near Earth had tipped the
balance to their favor. He then returned his gaze back at the darkness where
Noin had disappeared to. “Good. Now all we need to do is to deal with the
targets before us.”
Kylie parried the blow Con’trai
sent to her. She then spun as her other beam saber sliced through a Mican
trooper. She then paused to wipe the sweat that had trickled down her cheek.
“Easier said than done,” she said, knowing that the both of them still need to
handle the four remaining Mican warrior. She then grinned at Zechs. “But then
again, a Gundam pilot is used to losing battles.”
Zechs returned her grin with one
of his own. It was rare for anyone to see the girl even smile. And he wanted to
make the most of it. After all, the girl was the adopted daughter of his best
friend. “Just as long as we all come out on top.” Then he saw something
flickered on his screen. He frowned. “Kylie, watch out!”
His warning came too late. He
saw K’Rin rammed into Nova, hard. The bright gold Gundam was thrown away as
K’Rin prepared for the next assault. Zechs tried to disentangle himself from
Trec’na and some troopers but knew that he was too far away to give any
assistance to the former assassin.
Somehow, Kylie gained control of
Nova and managed to dodge K’Rin’s blow just in time. From the corner of her
eyes, she saw one of the Mican warriors left the battlefield. “Zechs, Keil’n is
going after Trowa and Duo,” she warned.
Zechs spared a glance at the
vanishing Mican warrior as he fought Trec’na. “There’s nothing we can do about
him. The two will have to handle Keil’n themselves,” he said, struggling
against the troopers.
“Keil’n will not fail as S’Irai
did,” said K’Rin. Kylie glared at her and Con’trai, the two Mican warriors that
she had to face now. “And so shall we,” K’Rin continued as she and Con’trai
dove to attack Nova at the same time.
>>>@@<<<
Quatre backed, trying to gain as
much space between himself and Warleader Varishk as possible. Seeing that the
only exit was the one behind Varishk, Quatre realized that he was lured into a
trap. And so, he kept his distance and watched Varishk’s movement carefully.
His towering appearence was
indeed intimidating and impressive at the same time. In fact, now that Quatre
was looking at him face-to-face, he felt as if he was five again and looking up
at his father, after being caught doing something wrong. For a moment, Quatre fought
the urge to lower his head in reverence. It was only by sheer will and the
memory of the prisoners that gave Quatre strength to look at him in the eye.
“Well meet, Quatre Raberba
Winner,” said the Warleader. His voice was as powerful as his appearance. “I’ve
been waiting this day to meet you Gundam pilots face to face.”
Quatre worked his numb lips to
say something. “Why have you come here?” he managed to ask, wincing as he felt
how stupid his question sounded. After all, he was on the Warleader’s
ship. The intruder in this room ought to be Quatre himself.
The Warleader raised his eyebrow in amusement. “To
lure you here, Quatre Raberba Winner.” Seeing the human’s startled look, he
continued. “Yes, I know of your plan to free the slaves. I know about your two
Gundam pilots releasing the slaves as we speak.” He smiled, crookedly. “They’re
being taken care of right now, I can assure you.”
Realizing that Heero and Wu Fei
were in danger, Quatre inched his way closer to the exit.
“You’re not going anywhere,
Winner. Not until I’m finished with you,” said the Warleader, a blade tip
snapped up and stopped inches at Quatre’s throat. Quatre flinched away from the
blade and raised his hands in surrender. He knew it would be useless to take on
an armed man.
Suddenly, the Warleader threw
the blade to the floor. It stuck in the floor, inches away from Quatre’s feet.
Quatre looked at the blade and back at the Warleader in confusion. “I heard
you’re a well trained fencer, boy. And so, now I’m challenging you to a duel.”
So familiar this scene was that
Quatre took a step back. He had been in this situation once, just a few years
ago. That time, his opponent had been a girl whose heart was seeking peace
through the sufferings in war. A girl who’s now one of the people he considered
as friends.
And looking at Varishk, Quatre
realized that he knew about that too.
>>>@@<<<
Fighting not to lose
consciousness, Heero dimly awared of Wu Fei circling his opponent. Both had
tried very hard to defeat the alien woman but it seemed to Heero that Wu Fei
was the only one doing much better than he was. And that was only because Wu
Fei was a trained martial artist.
Huddling at the far corner of
the room, the prisoners whined and held each other, frightened. Seeing their distraught
state, Heero realized that it was important for them, more than ever, to get
the prisoners to safety. Then, they could handle the aliens without
endangering the prisoners’ life.
Suddenly, as Wu Fei was leaping
away from Sira’s deadly kick, something or someone hit her from behind, like a
flash of thunder. Sira fell only to catch herself with her arms as that someone
landed between her and Wu Fei.
Both Gundam pilots and prisoners
gaped.
Standing before them was Mylin,
her face was calm but there was a determine look in her eyes. Seeing her again
reminded Wu Fei painfully of his wife, Long Meirang. Her blue black hair
shining, in her proud and cautious pose, Mylin looked like a perfect picture of
a goddess of vengeance.
She glared at Sira, triumphantly
but her words were directed to Wu Fei and Heero. “Get your people to safety,
now!”
“Mylin!” Sira growled, her fist
clenching. “I’ve always known that you’re a traitor.”
Mylin returned Sira’s angry glare with a hateful look of her own. “I am only a traitor to your Warleader, Sira but I’m a faithful servant to the emperor.” A look of realization crossed over Sira’s face. “Yes, now you know. I am the Emperor’s Eye,” Mylin revealed. “My name is Mylin Sar’ Heran and I lay my Vengeance Quest upon you, Sira Yath’ Salath. You will pay for the death of my little sister, Tsylar!”
For a moment Sira blinked. Then,
recognization hit her. “Yes, the child of the sun,” she whispered as she was
beginning to see the resemblance. Then, her eyes turned cold as she smiled her
frosty smile. “So that little girl was your sister, huh? Then I shall gladly
accept your challenge, traitor.”
“Wu Fei, get out of here now!”
said Mylin, as she began to circle around her opponent. “Mariemaia’s waiting
outside.”
Heero detached his gaze on the
two and addressed Wu Fei. “Go get Mariemaia and lead these people to their
shuttles,” he said, seeing that Sira was no longer concerned about them. Her
attention was focused wholely on Mylin.
Wu Fei gave him a glance. “What
about you?”
“I’m going to find Quatre.”
>>>@@<<<
Quatre always considered himself
a competent fencer. Those who had the privileged to fence with him or watch him
fenced always thought that he was one of the greatest young fencers ever. Even
Elleina, his sister who taught him how to fence, admitted that he was the best
she ever seen.
However, his skill was nothing
compared to the Warleader’s. When the Warleader trapped him in the hall, he had
challenged Quatre to a fencing duel for his way out. And having no other
choice, Quatre accepted it.
Now, he was beginning to regret
it.
The Warleader was a very
merciless opponent. Each advance he made was like a hungry lion. Each strike
was not only to challenge Quatre but to kill him too. Before long, Quatre was
forced to take the defensive mode, trying to parry all the Warleader’s blow and
escape from him. But each time Quatre made his move towards the exit, the
Warleader stopped him with a killer thrust that would’ve finished Quatre if it
wasn’t for his quick move.
Soon, Quatre began to wonder if
he was going to walk away from this duel alive.
>>>@@<<<
Patience was never McGarth’s
virtue. He stared at the screen, at the war that was taking place, his teeth
gritted and his fist clenched. This war was taking too long! More and more of
his people were being slaughtered by the aliens despite the additional help
from the Maganac corp. And the worst thing was, the Telrhani forces were
getting a little too close to Earth for comfort. Some even managed to enter
Earth’s atmosphere, only to be shot down by the Maganacs.
Scornfully, McGarth turned his
attention to the Gundam pilots. Even with the two assisting the Preventers,
their presence did little to tip the balance. And now that one of the Mican
warriors had joined the fight, it looked like the two Gundams might be too busy
for a while.
Turning to the remaining two
Gundams, which were trying to hold the enemy troops near Uranus, McGarth shook
his head in disgust. If he was the one in charge, he wouldn’t even asked for
their help. He would lock the pilots in and throw away the keys. After the war
in AC 195, he had worked hard to get rid of five Gundam pilots, only to find
two more appearing. But McGarth was not one easily discouraged. He will
find a way to get rid of all the Gundam pilots.
‘No!’ His thoughts screamed as
another one of his men were shot down. He turned to look at the progress the
two new Gundam pilots were making. ‘This is taking too long! If I don’t do
anything right now, my men would die!’ he thought, fists balled. He was deeply
envious that the Gundam pilots were all still alive while his men were
being killed every second.
‘I must do something!’ he
desperately thought. Then, his fingers brushed against a solid object in his
pocket. Remembering what he was carrying, he took it out and examined it. It
was a passkey. The thing that was given to him by one who design the new
Preventer headquarters on MO V. The very thing that could tip the balance of
the war.
Slowly as not to alert anyone,
especially Lady Une, McGarth made his way towards one of the deserted consoles
at the back. There, his fingers traced on a small part on the smooth surface of
the console until he heard a click. Instantly, a key slot appeared, almost
magically.
McGarth, his face twisted in an
evil smile, inserted the passkey.
That’s when the whole base was
deafened by the sound of blaring alarms. McGarth saw Une, Relena, Vincent and
the rest of the Preventer agents in the control room exchanging alarmed
glances, not knowing what was happening.
Then as one, Lady Une, Relena
and Sally turned their heads towards him and saw a hidden panel revealed
itself. But what made their eyes widened was the sight of a red button and
McGarth, pushing the button with a nasty smile on his face.
Before any of them could even
tell him to stop, the headquarters shook violently as the universe exploded!
