Valkyrie's Flight

Chapter 6: Zeta's Flight

"A good MS. My father's still got it."

"He never lost it."

"Tell that to the billions he's murdered."

Maria sighed.

"I was talking about the hi-v, Setsuna, not my father's sanity."

"Or lack thereof."

"That's enough! We all have a bone to pick with Commander Avalonia's father-from his corpse-but she was talking about the suit."

Setsuna looked at the hi-v.

"Alright, you've got a point. If it had a GN drive, I'd call it a Gundam."

"My father wanted to make a pure UC Mobile Suit: there's not a trace of Anno Domini or Cosmic Era tech in this thing."

She took off her work shirt, as it was ripped to hell.

The five men in the room fainted.

"What?"

"This is a Colonial Battlestar, Maria, not Morgenroete. That, and you're very attractive."

Maria put on her flight suit.

"All hands, prep for jump. Our target is the Universal Century. Repeat, all hands, prep for jump."

"Shit. And the Morgan's being serviced. Do we have any other MSs on board?"

"None you can fly."

She looked at the Zeta Gundam.

She hated the 360 screen system, saying that it was 'expensive, useless and not worth it'.

Still, it was the only suit on board besides the countless Darts and Arrows.

"I'll take the Zeta. Londo Bell won't need it for a while."

"Maria!"

She hopped in, as the gravity generators weren't installed in the hanger bays so pilots could get in without using ladders.

"Someone wake the men up. The Admiral's needed on the bridge and Ryu needs to get in the Impulse." She was lifted up to the flight pod, and put into the launch catapults.

There were four of them: one on the two upper trusses and two on the wider lower deck.

The Zeta and Susanowo V3 were on the lower catapults, ready for launch.

"Who the hell?"

"It's, me, Marina."

"Maria? Where the Morgan?"

"Being serviced. I'll pilot the Zeta."

"Jump in 5, 4, 3-"

"Launch in 5-"

"2, 1, Jump!"

"3-"

The Psycho jumped into the Universal Century.

"2, 1, launch!"

The Zeta, Susanowo, Strike and Impulse launched from the Psycho into a hail storm of fire.

The Titans, unshaken from their loss of Anno Domini Earth, tightened their grip on the Earth of the Universal Century, the one destroyed by Ron on December 31st, UC 0079.

They were outnumbered 10 to one, but Titans commanders suffered from megalomania, so it was an even fight.

The Psycho opened fire with her MAC guns and Lohengrin cannons.

"Admiral, I've spotted the Legacy! It's coming right for you!"

"Got it. We're launching a Marine strike team to recapture the Legacy. Cover them."

"Not possible! We're engaged with three squadrons of Braves! These guys are Vipers!"

Viper Squadron was a CCE Dart squadron, which defected to the Titans 3 years before.

They were the elite of the Colonial Fleet Mobile Suit Corps.

And Maria was fighting the best pilot they had.

The Zeta couldn't turn as fast as the Braves, so she was ready to die.

Then DRAGOON fire saved her.

"Hello, Maria. It's good to see you again."

It was the A4 Morgan, piloted by her father.

"Helping us again?"

"The Titans were based on my stupid idea of making a new home for the Colonies on a nuked planet. I'm more open minded now."

"Tell that to the billions who died at your hands!"

"I was insane. Spending 2344 years in suspended animation cured me of that."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"My diary explains perfectly. Look out!"

The DRAGOONs shielded Maria from cannon fire from the Legacy.

"No one touches my daughter! Now you all die!"

The DRAGOONs surrounded the Legacy.

Maria read about the attack Ron was about to do.

Thalaron radiation, created by emitters on the DRAGOONs, would kill everyone on board the Legacy. It was used once before: on a Neo-Zeon vessel called the Endra.

It wasn't pretty.

The shield created by the DRAGOONs would do three things: keep the ship in one place, hold the radiation in, and keep everything out.

The burst fired, killing everything on board.

Losing Anno Domini Earth was a blow, but the loss of the Legacy was worse.

The Titans were about to lose.

But they weren't done.

Five ships, all White Base-Class, fired a nuclear barrage at the Psycho.

Lightwave shields or not, the warheads were Mk VII Christ's Rebirth nukes, created by combining Colonial Mk V Caprica's Revenge warheads with Mk III GN drives and the Trans-Am System. (AN: All of the original Mk VIIs were made on AD Earth, hence the name)

They would punch though and kill everyone on board.

"Damn it all to hell!"

Not even the DRAGOONs could catch them.

Then just in time, what looked like an oversized GN Bazooka destroyed the nukes without detonating them.

No MS, not even the METEOR, could do that.

Then they saw two Zeus-Class Battlestars approach.

Both were armed with standard Colonial railguns, GN and plasma weapons, which the original three couldn't use.

Galactica was lucky enough to have the CCE, under Maria's father, equip the ship with MS launchers and plasma weapons.

"Someone's been toying with the Zeus."

"Those aren't Zeus-Class Battlestars. They're too big."

"My daughter's right. It's 100 kilometers long." They zoomed in on the names.

They were Pegasus...and Galactica.

Maria knew that design: the Zeus-based Pegasus-Class Battlestar.

They were built in Mars orbit, over Utopia Plantia.

And they carried production CDF-06A Susanowos and newer CDF-05 Caprica Flags.

The battery-operated Flags opened fire on Titans MSs and ships, while the Susanowos supported Morgan Squadron.

"It seems I'm no longer needed. I'll be going now. Goodbye, Maria."

Battlestar Galactica: 8 hours later

"How long have you kept this from me, Lee?"

"Galactica's construction was finished only a few months ago. Pegasus was first."

Maria got out of the Zeta and made it to the deck.

"Morgan Squadron will transfer over to Galactica, along with my flag. The Psycho is under your command, Lee."

"I'm thinking of regretting giving you command of the Fleet."

"Come on, Lee. I'm no Zarek."

"Don't mention that name."

Maria walked over to Kira.

"The Nahel Argama and Ra-Cailum will be joining our task force. Commander, read through your father's diary. I need to know what he's been doing for the past 25 years, stasis or not."

"Understood, Admiral. According to it, he got involved with something called the First Neo-Zeon War after the Gryps Conflict. I haven't finished the Gryps Conflict yet."

"Keep going. We'll need all the intel we can get."

Maria turned toward the briefing room.

"I'll need a projector."

"The pilots can use the secondary briefing room for now. All yours, Commander."

Morgan Squadron Briefing Room, local time: 0600 Zulu

Maria sat down with enough food to handle 80 hungry pilots.

She would need it, as she would be watching what Marina jokingly called 'The Life and Times of Ronald Pinkerton, the Ultimate Asshole'.

"So, how long are you going to be watching these little home movies?"

"A while. Blue and Legacy Squadrons are going to be mopping up Titans survivors on the surface, so I've got enough time. Ok, time for a massive marathon."

She started it up, and thus four weeks of movie watching had begun.

25 years earlier: near Zeon asteroid base Axis

Ron and Char, in the Morgan and Chaos 0 Raiser respectively, were heading to the asteroid Axis to speak with Haman Karn and Mineva Lao Zabi.

Ron hated the Zabis more then Char for one reason: they kept throwing pilots at him, and none survived.

It was a waste of life and udderly pointless.

'If you want to kill me, send your elite pilots after me, not grunts!'

"Colonel, we're close to Axis."

"Dock with the Morgan. Let's get this over with."

"Haro, docking mode!"

"0 Raiser, docking mode! 0 Raiser, docking mode!"

The two Mobile Weapons docked, becoming the GNADF-X01A4 Raiser Morgan.

"ADF-X01A4 Morgan, dock at port 5. CDF/GNR-010 Chaos 0 Raiser, port 4."

"We've docked, dumbass. Docking at port 5. GNADF-X01A4 Raiser Morgan, out."

They landed at the fifth port and got out of the suit and fighter.

"We're here to see Mineva Zabi."

"Show respect for her, you bitch!"

Ron pulled out a modified FN 5-7.

"Three things, fucker. One, I'm a man. Two, never call me that. Three, this gun's been modified to fire tiny bolts of plasma. So, fuck off, or I'll fire."

"That thing fires bullets."

Char sighed.

"This man's a genius. Don't think about it."

"You ever smell cauterized flesh? It's not pretty."

The man raised his weapon, but the Colonel fired first, a green blob of white-hot plasma hitting the idiot in the head.

He was killed within 30 seconds, as the bolt fried his brain and everything connected to it.

"Whoops. Wasn't expecting that."

He holstered the weapon and walked off.

Char followed closely.

They soon got to a throne room.

"Who are you?"

"Colonel Ronald Pinkerton, Colonial Corps of Engineers and Char Aznable of the AEUG. You must be Haman Karn."

"Show some respect for her highness!"

"Sorry, but I was expecting someone that wasn't 7 years old, so screw you. After all, isn't it an unwritten rule that you have to be 20 or older to be a ruler?"

'At least she gets it.'

Ron sighed.

"Ms. Zabi, my body was destroyed in combat and this was the only one on hand. And before you ask, yes, I'm a telepath and male."

Haman reached for a weapon, but Ron pulled out his overpowered S&W M500 magnum.

"Don't make me shoot you."

"Don't make me shoot you."

"I'm bulletproof, Karn, you're not."

"No, you're not."

"I've got a Gundanium/E-Carbon/titanium-A composite skeleton. You don't."

"Touche, Colonel. Now, shall we start our negotiations?"

"Let's get this over with. Personally, and this has nothing to do with the AEUG, I'd rather shoot all of you assholes."

As always, the people who review are nice guys in my book.

Mobile Suits seen this chapter:

CDF-05A Caprica Flag: As the name suggests, the Caprica Flag was designed on Caprica, fourth planet in the Colonial home system and is a variant of the Graham Aker Union Flag Custom. It uses both the Colonial near-nuclear battery and Mk I GN drive, but transforms, like most Colonial MSs.

CDF-06 Susanowo: The production version of the V1 through V3 prototypes, the Susanowo is a variation of the ADF-X (or Morgan) Series of Mobile Suits, specifically the ADF-X01A2 Morgan. Although inferior to the A2 Morgan and even the V3 Susanowo, (as prototypes are always superior to production models) they are still armed to the teeth and it would take 20 GN Hizacks to destroy one Susanowo...by ramming into it.

GNR-010 Chaos 0 Raiser: The 00 Gundam's support fighter proved that the Trans-Am System needed refinement, and so Ron created the Chaos 0 Raiser to upgrade the Morgan A1-4. Unlike the 0 Raiser, this MS carries two Mk V GN drives, which swing under the wings after docking with the ADF-X01A4 Morgan. When the Morgan is in fighter mode, the Chaos 0 Raiser attaches to the top of the MS, adding to the already deadly firepower of the Morgan A4.

GNADF-X01A4 Morgan Raiser: With the A3 Morgan upgraded to A4 standard, the Morgan Raiser got more powerful: Trans-Am now goes well beyond 300%, straight to over 600%. And that was the top of the charts; levels are unknown. However, the Morgan A4 is not without weaknesses: if one of the Mk V GN drives were damaged, the Triple Drive would malfunction, and all GN particle-based weapons would shut down: as the Morgan uses a large number of GN particle-based weapons, along with the Ultra-Fang weapon, Colonel Pinkerton would be hard-pressed to defend himself.

Pegasus-Class Battlestar: The Pegasus was designed in concert with Morgenroete Incorporated and the Colonial Corps of Engineers, with Maria Avalonia-Pinkerton as chief designer after the death of her grandfather, Zeus Avalonia. As the smaller Pegasus-Class Assault Carrier is widely used throughout the Colonial Fleet, but introduced after the name was chosen, the smaller ACs use the name Pegasus II-Class, while the 100 kilometer-long Battlestars use Pegasus I-Class. Three kilometers wider and longer then the closely-sized Zeus-Class, which they were developed from, they use both 2500mm KEWs, GN particle and plasma weapons; the latter which the Zeus couldn't mount. They carry the CDF-01G Dragon Dart and CDF-06A Susanowo MSs and older Vipers, although the Vipers are being replaced with newer Mk I Diamondbacks.

CDF-01G Dragon Dart: The 8th version of the useful Dart series, (9th if you include the CDF-X01 Proto Dart piloted by Colonel Ronald Pinkerton) the Dragon Dart is developed from three MSs: the CDF-01D GN Dart, (It's a Dart; what did you expect?) the GAT-X303 Aegis and the ZGMF-X88S Gaia. The Dart's basic form was used for the fighter and MS modes, and the Aegis gave it the option of a third: the Gaia's BCue-like form, although modified to look like a dragon, hence the name. The head mounts two high-powered flamethrowers and a high energy beam cannon.

Mk I Diamondback: When the Viper-a 85-year old design-fought against GN Hizacks, entire squadrons were destroyed in minutes. A new fighter was needed, as small, one man fighters like the Viper outnumbered Mobile Suits 20 to one. Out of 80 designs, it came to the Proto Cobra and the Proto Diamondback. The Diamondback, with it's Viper-like design, won, but the Cobra was produced in smaller numbers. The three engines of the Viper were replaced with a small Mk III GN drive, and the two small beam cannons were replaced with one beam rifle-type cannon and two GN Vulcans. The Cobra, which looks more like the destroyed prototype Blackbird, has higher speed and similar armament, but has a wider turn.

Neo-Zeon:

Haman Karn

Glemy Toto

Mashymre Cello

Chara Soon

Gottn Goh

Elpeo Ple

Puru Two

Rakan Dahkaran

Cue the mass destruction!

Next Time: Titans vs. Neo-Zeon vs. AEUG! Only one will win, and the one is Ron.

Ja Ne!