Ch10
Duel of Fates
Disclaimer: Vandread nor Gundam belong to me. I wish they did, because then I could get action figures for FREE!
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After that incident Heero left the hanger deck immediately despite efforts by the crew to ask him what happened.
"I just.....alone..." His response was and walked out.
Now Heero was in one of the more remote parts of the Nirvana.
With such a big ship there were parts abandoned by the crew, left dark or untreated by the feminine crew.
And none of the three males explored up this far either.
Heero had found solitude in one of the cargo-hold rooms much similar to Hibiki's quarters.
He was slumped up against the wall, with a laptop on his lap with a flickering screen.
A word document was open with a letter of apology.
Heero had a faraway look in his eyes, trying to reason out what words he could say to any of his friends that could rectify this mistake.
But there were no words.
For the second time in his life he experienced...regret. He didn't feel this way ever since he accidentally killed that little girl and her dog.
"How many times must I kill that little girl and her dog?"
Those words from long ago rang like a bell. He had said them just after the Eve wars...just before plunging into the water near Brussels, during the Mariemea incident.
"How many more lives must I take?" He said to himself, "Before all this is over..."
He didn't count on this. This emotion.
His intentions to enforce peace with his Gundam were not without flaws. This was one of them.
Could he have handled taking on a Preventor or even one of his friends had they tried to stand in his way?
Obviously not.
At least, without killing them.
Heero's thoughts were disturbed by a shadow walking into the darkened room.
He looked up to see Meia standing there.
The two looked at each other in minutes of prolonged silence.
"Is there something the matter?" She spoke in a crisp voice as she sat next to him.
"Yes..." he said, "I killed two of my friends today. I've never killed any of my friends before."
"...I can understand what you're going through." Said Meia, "But you did it to protect someone. Heero, were they your friends?"
"What...do you...mean?"
Meia went on, "Magano taught me the value of friendship. I never accepted it...I just disregarded it as the ramblings of an old woman. But...now perhaps they are starting to make sense."
Heero blinked and continued to look at her as she continued, "Heero...do friends try to kill one another?"
"...I don't think so..." Said Heero as he looked back to another corner of the room, "At least...not in my experience."
"In your view then," She said, "Anyone targeting you for destruction...are they enemies?"
"Yes." Heero answered reflexively.
"Then..." Meia said, "If someone you thought was your friend wanted to destroy you...would you consider that person a friend anymore?"
"...no..." Heero answered, "I don't think so..."
"Then," Meia said, "Do you still think of those people as the same ones your friends are?"
"...No..." Said Heero and reasoned, "I guess...they aren't the same people I remember. Perhaps they aren't the same friends I made years ago..."
Meia moved closer to him, "Maybe you should put this aside Heero..."
She closed the laptop.
"We still have to have that dinner together."
Heero stood with her and then asked, "Meia...how did you know I was up here?"
Meia smiled, "I have my sources."
Heero was starting to wonder how she knew when he observed the surveillance camera in the corner of the room.
"...Hn..."
In the garden Heero took another spoonful of Rice into his mouth.
Then he looked up and around.
They had moved out of the galley and were now in the ship's gardens. Above them was only stars and the loneliness. They were by the river, and in sight of the entrance back to the ship. Above them somewhere was the bridge, which was located here of all places...
Off nearby and in visible sight were Parfet and the Doctor on a picnic- on Parfeit's insistence.
Heero smiled. Coupling...
He seemed relaxed now...not tense as he was during the Eve wars.
He had come a long way since then...
...Especially in coming out here.
Meia took her seat next to Heero on the grass, "Are you enjoying your lunch Heero?"
"Yes...thank you..." He answered and spooned another load of rice into his mouth.
Meia smiled, "It seems that Parfet has become quite affectionate with our doctor."
"I know." Answered Heero as he took another bite of rice.
"You arranged it?"
"...sorta. I gave Parfet some counseling."
"I envy you."
Heero looked at Meia, who was playing with her spoon in her hand, "You come from a world so different from ours...and you can understand the strange things men and women can do together when they interact..."
"...I think Dita would be more jealous."
"You're right." Laughed Meia with Heero for a moment and then relaxed, "Heero...Can you...tell me...how men and women of your world react?"
Heero put down his spoon, "Well... in the society I know...men and Women...well...they each have a partner."
"Different partners?"
"Each other." Said Heero as he explained the prospect of marriage, "These two, a man and a woman, can join together in holy matrimony and become husband and wife..."
"What are you saying?" She asked, confused.
"I'm saying that...well...a man and a woman, once joined by a ceremony...live together."
"For how long?"
"...For the rest of their lives mostly. And the two of them can mate and have children."
"Is that possible?" She asked.
"...That's the normal way I understand it." Said Heero.
"So you mean," She asked, "They arrange to have their eggs fused?"
Heero almost face vaulted, "Um...men don't have eggs."
"Well then what do you have?"
Heero looked around at the table to see no one...not even Paiway or her listening devices, were present.
"We have...um...another type of reproductive...uh...cell...yeah, that joins with a woman's egg and fertilizes it so that it becomes a fetus and grows within the mother."
"You mean like in Ezra's case?"
"...Yes," Said Heero, remembering what the Doc had told her and what Ezra told him herself, "the result is...Ezra. She is pregnant with child. That's the normal way our society reproduces."
"Must be a nuisance. Why do you do it?" She asked.
Heero tried to avoid blushing but couldn't help it, "It's the...ritual that's performed. It's highly...um...enjoyable. But normally people do not...perform this...ritual...until they're much older."
"How older?"
"Well...at least when they can sustain the child's needs. Preferably when the man of the house has a job." Said Heero.
"Ah..." She nodded, "But what about...man and man couples or woman and woman couples?"
"Such things cannot happen." Said Heero, ". That is immoral and it's very rare when I come from. A child cannot be formed with parents of the same sex, People of the same sex are generally forbidden in modern-day society."
"So you would never-"
"No. I would rather die."
"I see..." Said Meia and asked, "But what about...with me..."
"Huh?"
"Would you...join with me?" She asked.
If Heero wasn't blushing he was now.
"Would you undergo this ritual with me.?"
Heero didn't have an immediate response. "Er...such a thing has to be considered and well with the time constraints and everything going on it would be unusual and...er..."
A distant alarm sounded.
"What's that?" Asked Meia.
Heero stood and looked out at the stars.
"What is it Heero?" Meia asked as she stood beside him.
"...They're coming." He replied and looked at her, "They all decided to fight me now. There is no turning back from this battle."
Meia closed her mouth from agape.
He turned to her, "Listen, whatever happens...just promise me...."
"...Promise you what?"
Heero closed his eyes, and then opened them. In a romantic moment of loneliness, he kissed her.
Under his lips she blushed like mad before responding to his touch, joining in on this unusual sensation.
Then he parted, and she asked, "What was..."
"It's a sign of affection." He replied and reached down to grasp her hand in his, "Promise me that we will both live through this together."
"Heero..."
"Promise me!" He replied in an authoritative, if desperate tone, "Else I cannot invision living on without you..."
She blinked in astonishment, her blush deepening.
"Yes Heero...I promise." She answered crisply.
Heero nodded and then said, "We should get moving."
They started off running, his hand around hers as he lead her through the ship.
"I count five Gundam variants, and twelve Maganak Mobile Doll units," Informed an operator, "And one freighter with several unidentified."
In front of the group, Heero asked, "Can you identify the Gundams?"
The Operator worked the controls, "It's the four we fought before, plus a new one...."
"Commander!" Called another Operator, "I am identifying several cube types around the Freighter!"
"So they've consorted with the enemy have they?" Cackled Magano, "well, no matter."
In Heero's cockpit the group became visible.
In the distance and rapidly approaching was the Preventor's cruiser, with half it's missiles spent.
" Hn... two mobile suits...A Leo and a Talgeese I model. Strange, Hn...I wonder who's in those suits..." Heero said aloud.
"Does it matter?" Replied Meia beside him, "They're all targets. We should get them before they take us out."
"Roger." Replied Heero.
But still, He ran through a number of people in his mind. Zechs, Catherine, Noin, Silvia noventa...and Relena...
Two of them were-
But he was forgetting one unit.
Like a bane to light, the figure at the center of the formation was a dark lavender, with glowing red eyes and a beam saber ignited at full, glowing green.
This was the Gundam Epyon. Transformed and now dangerous as two gattling cannons sat on each shoulder, and missile packages were seen in the shield guarding the long heat whip.
There were only two people that could pilot that suit, himself included.
"That has to be Zechs."
"Who?" Asked Jura.
"The only person to use the Zero system besides me." Answered Heero, "He's Dangerous. Everyone, leave him for me-"
The communications line opened, "Heero Yuy."
"Zechs." Said Heero and raised the beam rifle, "Stay away. Return to whatever place you came from. You're not wanted or needed here."
"That's too bad." Seethed the voice, "Because we have to make sure you're dead before we can give up and go home."
Heero spoke again, "This is my Home now Zechs. If you so much as damage my home I will be forced to destroy you."
"And what do you think you can do? You and your friends are no match for us. Why do you even try?"
"Because I can." Said Heero, "And because Here I am not bound by the realities that I left behind."
Heero's heart raced as he added, "and Because this is my new home...and nothing can separate me from the people or the place. No, I will die before I can let you harm them."
"Suit yourself." Said the Epyon and halted, "This is your last chance Heero. Give up, or die."
Heero had one response.
"Go to hell."
With these words the battle begun.
The Dreads and Gundams exploded into lines of fury.
The King of the Nirvana crew for the day was Heero, with complete upgrades on his Gundam.
The long Beam sward was ignited, and unlike the previous Beam sabers had an actual blade to it- looking like a curved longsward.
He sliced the first several Mobile dolls to approach before looking on to see Sandrock approach.
Heero calmly ducked the blades and spun.
The Wing edges ignited in beam saber blades and hacked off the legs of the Sandrock before he turned and parried the beam Naginata from Nataku.
Coming up behind him was Deathsythe, but several Dreads swarmed in and made him think otherwise.
Heero shoved off the Naginata and opened fire with the head guns, scoring hits along the neck and face before the Nataku shot out an arm.
Heero turned the shield so that the head rammed full into it before slicing the head in half with the beam sward.
Nataku ejected it's left Dragon fang and rushed at the Wing, Naginata spinning as it rushed in at Heero, "YOU KILLED SALLY!!!"
Heero didn't reply as he retaliated with the blade, hacking down and dividing the Naginata in half. He spun and scarred the torso with his Wing edge, and then stabbed the blade into the torso just below the base of the neck.
The Altron Gundam sparked with yellow electricity before jerking as Heero hacked off the limbs, and then the head.
Wufei floated for a moment before saying on the Comm. "You've won Yuy. I must die."
Wufei paused for a moment, moving in his cockpit, "Nataku, I will see you soon..."
Then the Altron III shined and flashed all over it's body before exploding in self-destruction.
"Wufei..." Grumbled Heero before turning back to the battle.
He headed in and fired at the Gundam Sandrock as it tired to bisect Dita.
The Sandrock whirled and more MDs rushed in.
Heero removed them from existence with the beam blade before rushing in at Sandrock.
However Deathsythe had other ideas as it slipped in and parried the blow.
"Hello BUDDY!"
Heero told Duo to shut up and kicked back.
The Deathsythe tumbled and disappeared.
Heero looked around and found Meia.
"Meia, let's combine."
"Right."
The two raced at each other until Duo kicked Heero aside.
"Nah-ah, we fight fair this time!" Said Duo.
"You're never fair Duo." Answered Heero as he re-ignited the blade and came at the Deathsythe.
Scythe blade clashed with Saber and Duo disengaged to punch the Wing in the face.
Heero raised the saber and spun it, taking off the Deathsythe's hand before swinging the blade around again and stabbing it into the side of the Deathsythe.
"AHH!!" Screamed the pilot as the Deathsythe drifted.
Heero completed his spin and hacked the torso In half.
Duo's machine drifted momentarily, several frgaments of it sparkling.
Then Barnette's shots melted the head and part of the torso before she flew on by and fired at Trowa.
"I...once called you friend Duo." Said Heero, "This friendship ends now..."
Duo was quiet as he drifted, then said, "Yeah..."
Heero fired his head guns.
The Deathsythe tumbled under fire.
"Well...I guess that's a rap." Said Duo's voice from the cockpit.
Heero's cool eyes looked at the remains of the Deathsythe.
"Well...it's been fun Heero." Said Duo and then said, "Take care friend..."
The Deathsythe self-destructed.
Heero was silent for a moment.
"I called him friend..." He said.
But the screams from the Dreads recalled his spirit into battle.
He had to leave behind all ties from his past.
Heero, Warrior, friend, and lover, returned to the battle.
Heero screamed as he blew at maximum speed.
Quarte turned and saw the Gundam.
Heero rammed the beam blade into the center of the torso, hitting the gyroscope.
The Sandrock kicked the Wing away and rushed in with Shortles swinging.
Heero was back thrusting as he avoided the Sandrock's swings.
"Haha...you won't survive!" Laughed Quarte, "Dorothy will be avenged!"
"Listen to yourself, you're crazy!" Replied Heero, "Stop this insanity!"
"Not until YOUR DEAD!!" Screamed Quarte as he came in at Heero and swung down, then across.
Heero was lucky enough to dodge as he rolled around, and when he came back swung the saber horizontally.
The ends of the heat Shortles came off, and then palsma fire from several Dreads struck the Gundam and singed off some of the armor.
Heero rushed up and hacked, taking off the top of the torso and as he finished his spin the left arm.
The Sandrock drifted before it too blossomed in a self-destruction pedal.
"And all the Maganaks..." Said Heero, "Never came with Quarte."
He turned to look at Trowa, but the Heavyarms was nowhere to be found.
"So," Said the smooth voice, "Looks like you wanted a challenge. I'll give one."
Heero saw the long tentacle lash out and he moved the shield to block it as it slammed into the re-enforced armor and left a dent.
The shadow of the Gundam showed up, with glowing red eyes as it rushed in with the beam saber ignited.
Heero angled the blade and cut across Epyon as it rushed past.
Apparently it did no damage, as the Epyon rolled and fired missies out of the packages in the Shield.
Heero opened fire, blowing them all up before they reached up.
Zechs rolled and came around at him, saber drawn.
Heero turned to face him as he fired with his gattling guns.
Zechs came in at him but then turned as several Dreads rushed in on him.
He dodged the fire of the Dreads as they scattered away and rolled to take new vectors.
"Thanks." Said Heero as he turned back to the battle at hand.
His blade clashed with the saber of the Epyon and then dodged as it tried to spear him.
Heero spun and Zechs backthrusted to avoid getting slashed by the Wing Edge.
Heero completed his turn and raced forward with the blade angled like a lance.
Zechs batted it away with his own and shot out the Heat whip.
Heero rolled and watched the black tentacle shoot over him and then back again as he finished rolling and brought up the dented shield to absorb the spray of bullets.
Then the Thing rammed him and Heero rolled off Zechs and fired.
The swift Epyon wasn't in that space for long as it jetted up, then blasted down with it's heel extended.
Then some Dread rolled and expelled two missiles, each blowing up against the Epyon.
Heero raced forward and slashed across the neck of the distracted Epyon.
The wiring flailed for a moment before the head turned and the wires re-connected themselves.
"Wha!?"
The jaw of the Gundam dropped to expose mechanical teeth.
Heero parried the horrible enemy as it struck with the blade, then swung the heat rod out.
Heero ignored it as he swung in and kicked it.
The enemy roared as it came back at him with gattling fire.
Heero blocked it with a vibrating shield before discarding it and rushing in.
He spun the blade round and round as he approached Zechs, who tried to stab him with his heat saber but was denied by Heero.
Heero rammed the heel of his Gundam into the head of the enemy, sending it backwards.
He heard warning tones and dodged out of the way of some fire as he found it to be the Talgesse I.
He rotated and raced up towards it, delcaring, "Whoever's in the Talgeese is going to die."
"Heero?"
Heero's eyes exploded wide as he realized the voice, "....Relena?"
Relena peacecraft's face, in full uniform, appeared.
Heero was wide-eyed.
"Heero....what have you done."
Heero was starting to choke, "Rel-...but how!?"
"I came with my brother. I was hoping you could surrender, but I assume even I have to fight in one of these weapons to promote peace."
"Relena you....I..."
"Heero?" Asked Meia as she took point beside her lover, as well as the remaining dreads...minus several that were recovering Jura.
Meia's screen appeared, concern on her face.
"Meia...Relena...I...I...."
Heero's mind was going wild. His home...
His home.
It was taking point beside him.
"Heero...I..." Meia was saying, "Don't...I don't...."
"Meia...." Said Heero and looked at her tenderly.
"Heero..." Said Relena, "Heero Surrender at once."
"Over my dead body."
"What?"
Heero turned back to Relena, a death glare on his face, "I vowed to kill you, and I will fulfill that vow."
"What?" Asked an appalled Relena.
Heero raised his blade at her, "I see that my feelings didn't matter. They didn't matter at that party, and they never meant anything after the Eve wars. You abandoned me. You never searched, you never came, you never called. You threw me away."
"Heero....I..." Then she turned business, "I won't tell you again, surrender and lower your weapon."
Heero answered in so little words, "No Madam president."
Relena gasped.
This was the first time he had called her by title.
Then one of the girls shrilled, "FIRE!"
"No-NO!!!"
Every shot counted as the assembled Dreads opened fire with their particle shots, hitting the Talgeese and shuddering it until it was no more than an assembly of ever-blossoming explosions.
Heero sighed. She was gone.
Enemies now on the target list were the ship, the one stationary Leo, several Cube-types-
And Epyon.
"You killed even her." Seethed Zechs, "How low."
"So?" Asked Heero as he turned his Gundam down at Zechs, "And look what you've become."
"These allies gave us more technology then we could comprehend...until I looked at it." Said Zechs, "And now I will rule."
Missiles spiraled in and flew into the group.
The Dreads scattered and returned fire.
Zechs was ignoring them all and heading at Wing.
Heero turned the flickering blue Beam sward and Shield to face the Epyon as it raced past and flicked out the midnight heat rod.
Once again it slammed into the shield and left a sizeable dent.
-But Zechs wasn't going for him.
"Oh God...MEIA!"
The Dread was running as Zechs was shooting at it and watched as it lopped off a wing-
Untill it turned to see an enraged Heero approaching.
Heero rammed the beast and fired point-blank into it's head, not caring if his shots did nothing.
The Epyon shuddered before Heero kicked it away.
The Epyon tumbled before recovering and kicking out more missiles.
As Heero also shot those down Vandread Dita grasped a hold of Dread Meia.
"Wha...Hibiki...?"
"Let's get you back to the hanger."
The Vandread carried the damaged Dread back to the hanger bay.
Heero on the meanhand was engadging possibly the devil Gundam.
The Epyon, swift and with upgrades, could take a severe beating but still survive, as it demonstrated with it's attacks.
Heero did the best he could to block, but the damage was coming from Zech's laughter.
"Are you always going to hide behind that shield or are you going to come out and fight?!"
Heero gnashed his teeth but the comm. Beeped, "Heero!" Cried Parfet, "Get back to the hanger!"
Heero, after a second said, "I'm in the middle of something-"
"I don't care! Just get to the hanger as soon as possible!" She shrilled.
Heero was gritting his teeth as Zech's laughter tore at him-
-But then Gattling fire arced across space.
Heero turned to see Gundam Heavyarms rushing in.
"Trowa..."
Zechs hissed, "What!?"
The pannels of the Heavyarms opened and out poured clouds of Micro-missiles as they corkscrewed and slammed into the Epyon.
"Trowa..."
"Heero," Said Trowa, "Get back to your family. This battle is ours now...go to Meia."
Heero nodded silently as he jetted back to the Nirvana.
Zechs cawed, "This is treason! I'll enjoy tearing you apart!"
"My life has no meaning anymore." Replied Trowa, "Those who I would have fought with are dead. And there is only one woman I will fight for...and no one else."
"So be it." Hissed Zechs as he rushed forward.
The heavyarms returned fire and then turned the gattling barrels up and parallel next to each other to act as a shield against the heat rod.
As he glided in Hibiki was talking to him, "Okay, line up in the center."
"Wh-" Heero was starting to say when he noticed Hibiki had de-combined from Dita, "But..."
Then he, Dita, Jura, and Meia were ejected back into space with a smaller item.
"Pyroro?"
All thee Dreads unfolded and changed, some parts splitting off and others shifting around.
Pyoro flew into the mix and was lost in a new robot.
All five combined up to form what Hibiki could have in the same combination...
...Only with this Gundam at the center, it became the largest Gundread ever to be seen...
As Zechs came around he hissed, "Why do you even fight for his cause!? That boy is no more superior than you or I!"
"Not in my belif." Said Trowa as he fought with his damaged Heavyarms, "Heero is the most powerful of us all. He has grown and expanded far more than any of us ever had. He is the one who has learned the most Zechs, and he has even mastered friends that we could never have. This is his home, and if this is where he wants to live, so be it."
"What? Impossible!" Cried Zechs as he charged, "I AM SUPERIOR!!"
The Heavyarms tried to block but lost three Gattling barrels and then an arm as the beam saber flashed out with fury.
Not even Catherine in her Leo could do anything as she had to watch powerlessly.
But then arrived a hero that could.
Coming from out of the sun was a gargantuan battle fortress that was almost the size of the Nirvana.
It rammed into the scene and swatted the Epyon out of the way.
"What!? Impossible!"
The huge armor had taken form as a shield. A long pillar stood for it's legs, while four wire-guided arms stood out on the sides. An armor cloak hovered about it's back and sides, and a smaller head stood at the center of it nestled around groups of heavy turrets.
Defensor disks hovered around the assembly, as well as Jura's mirror.
The Gundread leaned forward and launched two wire-guided arms.
The Epyon was batted by one but sliced the cord of the other.
That arm tumbled for a moment before it ignited it's thrusters and re-attached itself to the mothership.
The arms lowered and Vandread Dita's particle cannons locked into place and fired.
The Epyon ducked between the two blasts and closed on the Gundread, but a slam from the two higher arms on wires made it tumble again.
Heero smirked inside the three-space cockpit at the heart of the Fortress Gundread.
On his left was a smirking Jura, on his right was a caring Meia, and below him was a curious and furious Dita in the joined cockpit. Pyoro was guiding the wire-guided arms while the women controlled the weapons of the massive fortress in space that their Dreads had become. Heero was at the command and navigation.
The battle fortress closed in on the out-powered Epyon and Jura and Meia's guns lowered down on the Gundam and fired.
The Epyon snapped up an energy shield to deflect the blasts and sent a communication to Noin in the freighter.
The Freighter turned and dumped the cargo boxes. They opened up to reveal missiles ready to fire.
The Missiles launched, sending an unbelievable amount of missiles into space.
The Fortress turned it's head, as well as the Gun clusters as they fired.
Missiles exploded in a long line of blossoms as nothing remained.
Heero turned his attention to the Freighter and orientated himself in that direction. Forming around him was the dread teams, and they provided cover fire from whatever Cubes decided to fight.
But the massive shoulder cannons from Vandread Dita charged.
The Freighter started to turn but it was too late, as massed fire covered it before the two main particle shots blew the freighter in half. Both ends tumbled for a while before being annihilated in the resounding reactor breach.
"You...you will DIE!!!"
"I've heard this all before somewhere." Said Heero as the Dreads formed up all around him, and behind him was the Nirvana....his home.
"I live here now Zechs," Said Heero, "And you should have never come to find me."
The shoulder cannons on the Superior Gundread glowed and flashed into two large columns of light.
The smaller Epyon was consumed in the flashlight-like beam and incinerated.
The beams remained on for a moment before slowly fading away, leaving the small armada in space.
There was a moment of pause.
"We did it!" Cheered Dita, "YAY!!!"
Jura was also jubulious, as cheers rose up from the crew of the Nirvana.
Heero looked up at Meia and the two exchanged smiles. His arm reached out to her leg, and she took his arm in both hands.
"We did it..." She said.
Heero, smiling, nodded.
They were free...and at last without worry from Heero's homeland.
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Meh. Twelve page battle. Whatever.
Now, let's see if I can re-arrange the Dreads and Gundam so they actually fit the description of the Super Gundread....*Meshes models together*
Now, THE ENDING CHAPTER!!!
Duel of Fates
Disclaimer: Vandread nor Gundam belong to me. I wish they did, because then I could get action figures for FREE!
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After that incident Heero left the hanger deck immediately despite efforts by the crew to ask him what happened.
"I just.....alone..." His response was and walked out.
Now Heero was in one of the more remote parts of the Nirvana.
With such a big ship there were parts abandoned by the crew, left dark or untreated by the feminine crew.
And none of the three males explored up this far either.
Heero had found solitude in one of the cargo-hold rooms much similar to Hibiki's quarters.
He was slumped up against the wall, with a laptop on his lap with a flickering screen.
A word document was open with a letter of apology.
Heero had a faraway look in his eyes, trying to reason out what words he could say to any of his friends that could rectify this mistake.
But there were no words.
For the second time in his life he experienced...regret. He didn't feel this way ever since he accidentally killed that little girl and her dog.
"How many times must I kill that little girl and her dog?"
Those words from long ago rang like a bell. He had said them just after the Eve wars...just before plunging into the water near Brussels, during the Mariemea incident.
"How many more lives must I take?" He said to himself, "Before all this is over..."
He didn't count on this. This emotion.
His intentions to enforce peace with his Gundam were not without flaws. This was one of them.
Could he have handled taking on a Preventor or even one of his friends had they tried to stand in his way?
Obviously not.
At least, without killing them.
Heero's thoughts were disturbed by a shadow walking into the darkened room.
He looked up to see Meia standing there.
The two looked at each other in minutes of prolonged silence.
"Is there something the matter?" She spoke in a crisp voice as she sat next to him.
"Yes..." he said, "I killed two of my friends today. I've never killed any of my friends before."
"...I can understand what you're going through." Said Meia, "But you did it to protect someone. Heero, were they your friends?"
"What...do you...mean?"
Meia went on, "Magano taught me the value of friendship. I never accepted it...I just disregarded it as the ramblings of an old woman. But...now perhaps they are starting to make sense."
Heero blinked and continued to look at her as she continued, "Heero...do friends try to kill one another?"
"...I don't think so..." Said Heero as he looked back to another corner of the room, "At least...not in my experience."
"In your view then," She said, "Anyone targeting you for destruction...are they enemies?"
"Yes." Heero answered reflexively.
"Then..." Meia said, "If someone you thought was your friend wanted to destroy you...would you consider that person a friend anymore?"
"...no..." Heero answered, "I don't think so..."
"Then," Meia said, "Do you still think of those people as the same ones your friends are?"
"...No..." Said Heero and reasoned, "I guess...they aren't the same people I remember. Perhaps they aren't the same friends I made years ago..."
Meia moved closer to him, "Maybe you should put this aside Heero..."
She closed the laptop.
"We still have to have that dinner together."
Heero stood with her and then asked, "Meia...how did you know I was up here?"
Meia smiled, "I have my sources."
Heero was starting to wonder how she knew when he observed the surveillance camera in the corner of the room.
"...Hn..."
In the garden Heero took another spoonful of Rice into his mouth.
Then he looked up and around.
They had moved out of the galley and were now in the ship's gardens. Above them was only stars and the loneliness. They were by the river, and in sight of the entrance back to the ship. Above them somewhere was the bridge, which was located here of all places...
Off nearby and in visible sight were Parfet and the Doctor on a picnic- on Parfeit's insistence.
Heero smiled. Coupling...
He seemed relaxed now...not tense as he was during the Eve wars.
He had come a long way since then...
...Especially in coming out here.
Meia took her seat next to Heero on the grass, "Are you enjoying your lunch Heero?"
"Yes...thank you..." He answered and spooned another load of rice into his mouth.
Meia smiled, "It seems that Parfet has become quite affectionate with our doctor."
"I know." Answered Heero as he took another bite of rice.
"You arranged it?"
"...sorta. I gave Parfet some counseling."
"I envy you."
Heero looked at Meia, who was playing with her spoon in her hand, "You come from a world so different from ours...and you can understand the strange things men and women can do together when they interact..."
"...I think Dita would be more jealous."
"You're right." Laughed Meia with Heero for a moment and then relaxed, "Heero...Can you...tell me...how men and women of your world react?"
Heero put down his spoon, "Well... in the society I know...men and Women...well...they each have a partner."
"Different partners?"
"Each other." Said Heero as he explained the prospect of marriage, "These two, a man and a woman, can join together in holy matrimony and become husband and wife..."
"What are you saying?" She asked, confused.
"I'm saying that...well...a man and a woman, once joined by a ceremony...live together."
"For how long?"
"...For the rest of their lives mostly. And the two of them can mate and have children."
"Is that possible?" She asked.
"...That's the normal way I understand it." Said Heero.
"So you mean," She asked, "They arrange to have their eggs fused?"
Heero almost face vaulted, "Um...men don't have eggs."
"Well then what do you have?"
Heero looked around at the table to see no one...not even Paiway or her listening devices, were present.
"We have...um...another type of reproductive...uh...cell...yeah, that joins with a woman's egg and fertilizes it so that it becomes a fetus and grows within the mother."
"You mean like in Ezra's case?"
"...Yes," Said Heero, remembering what the Doc had told her and what Ezra told him herself, "the result is...Ezra. She is pregnant with child. That's the normal way our society reproduces."
"Must be a nuisance. Why do you do it?" She asked.
Heero tried to avoid blushing but couldn't help it, "It's the...ritual that's performed. It's highly...um...enjoyable. But normally people do not...perform this...ritual...until they're much older."
"How older?"
"Well...at least when they can sustain the child's needs. Preferably when the man of the house has a job." Said Heero.
"Ah..." She nodded, "But what about...man and man couples or woman and woman couples?"
"Such things cannot happen." Said Heero, ". That is immoral and it's very rare when I come from. A child cannot be formed with parents of the same sex, People of the same sex are generally forbidden in modern-day society."
"So you would never-"
"No. I would rather die."
"I see..." Said Meia and asked, "But what about...with me..."
"Huh?"
"Would you...join with me?" She asked.
If Heero wasn't blushing he was now.
"Would you undergo this ritual with me.?"
Heero didn't have an immediate response. "Er...such a thing has to be considered and well with the time constraints and everything going on it would be unusual and...er..."
A distant alarm sounded.
"What's that?" Asked Meia.
Heero stood and looked out at the stars.
"What is it Heero?" Meia asked as she stood beside him.
"...They're coming." He replied and looked at her, "They all decided to fight me now. There is no turning back from this battle."
Meia closed her mouth from agape.
He turned to her, "Listen, whatever happens...just promise me...."
"...Promise you what?"
Heero closed his eyes, and then opened them. In a romantic moment of loneliness, he kissed her.
Under his lips she blushed like mad before responding to his touch, joining in on this unusual sensation.
Then he parted, and she asked, "What was..."
"It's a sign of affection." He replied and reached down to grasp her hand in his, "Promise me that we will both live through this together."
"Heero..."
"Promise me!" He replied in an authoritative, if desperate tone, "Else I cannot invision living on without you..."
She blinked in astonishment, her blush deepening.
"Yes Heero...I promise." She answered crisply.
Heero nodded and then said, "We should get moving."
They started off running, his hand around hers as he lead her through the ship.
"I count five Gundam variants, and twelve Maganak Mobile Doll units," Informed an operator, "And one freighter with several unidentified."
In front of the group, Heero asked, "Can you identify the Gundams?"
The Operator worked the controls, "It's the four we fought before, plus a new one...."
"Commander!" Called another Operator, "I am identifying several cube types around the Freighter!"
"So they've consorted with the enemy have they?" Cackled Magano, "well, no matter."
In Heero's cockpit the group became visible.
In the distance and rapidly approaching was the Preventor's cruiser, with half it's missiles spent.
" Hn... two mobile suits...A Leo and a Talgeese I model. Strange, Hn...I wonder who's in those suits..." Heero said aloud.
"Does it matter?" Replied Meia beside him, "They're all targets. We should get them before they take us out."
"Roger." Replied Heero.
But still, He ran through a number of people in his mind. Zechs, Catherine, Noin, Silvia noventa...and Relena...
Two of them were-
But he was forgetting one unit.
Like a bane to light, the figure at the center of the formation was a dark lavender, with glowing red eyes and a beam saber ignited at full, glowing green.
This was the Gundam Epyon. Transformed and now dangerous as two gattling cannons sat on each shoulder, and missile packages were seen in the shield guarding the long heat whip.
There were only two people that could pilot that suit, himself included.
"That has to be Zechs."
"Who?" Asked Jura.
"The only person to use the Zero system besides me." Answered Heero, "He's Dangerous. Everyone, leave him for me-"
The communications line opened, "Heero Yuy."
"Zechs." Said Heero and raised the beam rifle, "Stay away. Return to whatever place you came from. You're not wanted or needed here."
"That's too bad." Seethed the voice, "Because we have to make sure you're dead before we can give up and go home."
Heero spoke again, "This is my Home now Zechs. If you so much as damage my home I will be forced to destroy you."
"And what do you think you can do? You and your friends are no match for us. Why do you even try?"
"Because I can." Said Heero, "And because Here I am not bound by the realities that I left behind."
Heero's heart raced as he added, "and Because this is my new home...and nothing can separate me from the people or the place. No, I will die before I can let you harm them."
"Suit yourself." Said the Epyon and halted, "This is your last chance Heero. Give up, or die."
Heero had one response.
"Go to hell."
With these words the battle begun.
The Dreads and Gundams exploded into lines of fury.
The King of the Nirvana crew for the day was Heero, with complete upgrades on his Gundam.
The long Beam sward was ignited, and unlike the previous Beam sabers had an actual blade to it- looking like a curved longsward.
He sliced the first several Mobile dolls to approach before looking on to see Sandrock approach.
Heero calmly ducked the blades and spun.
The Wing edges ignited in beam saber blades and hacked off the legs of the Sandrock before he turned and parried the beam Naginata from Nataku.
Coming up behind him was Deathsythe, but several Dreads swarmed in and made him think otherwise.
Heero shoved off the Naginata and opened fire with the head guns, scoring hits along the neck and face before the Nataku shot out an arm.
Heero turned the shield so that the head rammed full into it before slicing the head in half with the beam sward.
Nataku ejected it's left Dragon fang and rushed at the Wing, Naginata spinning as it rushed in at Heero, "YOU KILLED SALLY!!!"
Heero didn't reply as he retaliated with the blade, hacking down and dividing the Naginata in half. He spun and scarred the torso with his Wing edge, and then stabbed the blade into the torso just below the base of the neck.
The Altron Gundam sparked with yellow electricity before jerking as Heero hacked off the limbs, and then the head.
Wufei floated for a moment before saying on the Comm. "You've won Yuy. I must die."
Wufei paused for a moment, moving in his cockpit, "Nataku, I will see you soon..."
Then the Altron III shined and flashed all over it's body before exploding in self-destruction.
"Wufei..." Grumbled Heero before turning back to the battle.
He headed in and fired at the Gundam Sandrock as it tired to bisect Dita.
The Sandrock whirled and more MDs rushed in.
Heero removed them from existence with the beam blade before rushing in at Sandrock.
However Deathsythe had other ideas as it slipped in and parried the blow.
"Hello BUDDY!"
Heero told Duo to shut up and kicked back.
The Deathsythe tumbled and disappeared.
Heero looked around and found Meia.
"Meia, let's combine."
"Right."
The two raced at each other until Duo kicked Heero aside.
"Nah-ah, we fight fair this time!" Said Duo.
"You're never fair Duo." Answered Heero as he re-ignited the blade and came at the Deathsythe.
Scythe blade clashed with Saber and Duo disengaged to punch the Wing in the face.
Heero raised the saber and spun it, taking off the Deathsythe's hand before swinging the blade around again and stabbing it into the side of the Deathsythe.
"AHH!!" Screamed the pilot as the Deathsythe drifted.
Heero completed his spin and hacked the torso In half.
Duo's machine drifted momentarily, several frgaments of it sparkling.
Then Barnette's shots melted the head and part of the torso before she flew on by and fired at Trowa.
"I...once called you friend Duo." Said Heero, "This friendship ends now..."
Duo was quiet as he drifted, then said, "Yeah..."
Heero fired his head guns.
The Deathsythe tumbled under fire.
"Well...I guess that's a rap." Said Duo's voice from the cockpit.
Heero's cool eyes looked at the remains of the Deathsythe.
"Well...it's been fun Heero." Said Duo and then said, "Take care friend..."
The Deathsythe self-destructed.
Heero was silent for a moment.
"I called him friend..." He said.
But the screams from the Dreads recalled his spirit into battle.
He had to leave behind all ties from his past.
Heero, Warrior, friend, and lover, returned to the battle.
Heero screamed as he blew at maximum speed.
Quarte turned and saw the Gundam.
Heero rammed the beam blade into the center of the torso, hitting the gyroscope.
The Sandrock kicked the Wing away and rushed in with Shortles swinging.
Heero was back thrusting as he avoided the Sandrock's swings.
"Haha...you won't survive!" Laughed Quarte, "Dorothy will be avenged!"
"Listen to yourself, you're crazy!" Replied Heero, "Stop this insanity!"
"Not until YOUR DEAD!!" Screamed Quarte as he came in at Heero and swung down, then across.
Heero was lucky enough to dodge as he rolled around, and when he came back swung the saber horizontally.
The ends of the heat Shortles came off, and then palsma fire from several Dreads struck the Gundam and singed off some of the armor.
Heero rushed up and hacked, taking off the top of the torso and as he finished his spin the left arm.
The Sandrock drifted before it too blossomed in a self-destruction pedal.
"And all the Maganaks..." Said Heero, "Never came with Quarte."
He turned to look at Trowa, but the Heavyarms was nowhere to be found.
"So," Said the smooth voice, "Looks like you wanted a challenge. I'll give one."
Heero saw the long tentacle lash out and he moved the shield to block it as it slammed into the re-enforced armor and left a dent.
The shadow of the Gundam showed up, with glowing red eyes as it rushed in with the beam saber ignited.
Heero angled the blade and cut across Epyon as it rushed past.
Apparently it did no damage, as the Epyon rolled and fired missies out of the packages in the Shield.
Heero opened fire, blowing them all up before they reached up.
Zechs rolled and came around at him, saber drawn.
Heero turned to face him as he fired with his gattling guns.
Zechs came in at him but then turned as several Dreads rushed in on him.
He dodged the fire of the Dreads as they scattered away and rolled to take new vectors.
"Thanks." Said Heero as he turned back to the battle at hand.
His blade clashed with the saber of the Epyon and then dodged as it tried to spear him.
Heero spun and Zechs backthrusted to avoid getting slashed by the Wing Edge.
Heero completed his turn and raced forward with the blade angled like a lance.
Zechs batted it away with his own and shot out the Heat whip.
Heero rolled and watched the black tentacle shoot over him and then back again as he finished rolling and brought up the dented shield to absorb the spray of bullets.
Then the Thing rammed him and Heero rolled off Zechs and fired.
The swift Epyon wasn't in that space for long as it jetted up, then blasted down with it's heel extended.
Then some Dread rolled and expelled two missiles, each blowing up against the Epyon.
Heero raced forward and slashed across the neck of the distracted Epyon.
The wiring flailed for a moment before the head turned and the wires re-connected themselves.
"Wha!?"
The jaw of the Gundam dropped to expose mechanical teeth.
Heero parried the horrible enemy as it struck with the blade, then swung the heat rod out.
Heero ignored it as he swung in and kicked it.
The enemy roared as it came back at him with gattling fire.
Heero blocked it with a vibrating shield before discarding it and rushing in.
He spun the blade round and round as he approached Zechs, who tried to stab him with his heat saber but was denied by Heero.
Heero rammed the heel of his Gundam into the head of the enemy, sending it backwards.
He heard warning tones and dodged out of the way of some fire as he found it to be the Talgesse I.
He rotated and raced up towards it, delcaring, "Whoever's in the Talgeese is going to die."
"Heero?"
Heero's eyes exploded wide as he realized the voice, "....Relena?"
Relena peacecraft's face, in full uniform, appeared.
Heero was wide-eyed.
"Heero....what have you done."
Heero was starting to choke, "Rel-...but how!?"
"I came with my brother. I was hoping you could surrender, but I assume even I have to fight in one of these weapons to promote peace."
"Relena you....I..."
"Heero?" Asked Meia as she took point beside her lover, as well as the remaining dreads...minus several that were recovering Jura.
Meia's screen appeared, concern on her face.
"Meia...Relena...I...I...."
Heero's mind was going wild. His home...
His home.
It was taking point beside him.
"Heero...I..." Meia was saying, "Don't...I don't...."
"Meia...." Said Heero and looked at her tenderly.
"Heero..." Said Relena, "Heero Surrender at once."
"Over my dead body."
"What?"
Heero turned back to Relena, a death glare on his face, "I vowed to kill you, and I will fulfill that vow."
"What?" Asked an appalled Relena.
Heero raised his blade at her, "I see that my feelings didn't matter. They didn't matter at that party, and they never meant anything after the Eve wars. You abandoned me. You never searched, you never came, you never called. You threw me away."
"Heero....I..." Then she turned business, "I won't tell you again, surrender and lower your weapon."
Heero answered in so little words, "No Madam president."
Relena gasped.
This was the first time he had called her by title.
Then one of the girls shrilled, "FIRE!"
"No-NO!!!"
Every shot counted as the assembled Dreads opened fire with their particle shots, hitting the Talgeese and shuddering it until it was no more than an assembly of ever-blossoming explosions.
Heero sighed. She was gone.
Enemies now on the target list were the ship, the one stationary Leo, several Cube-types-
And Epyon.
"You killed even her." Seethed Zechs, "How low."
"So?" Asked Heero as he turned his Gundam down at Zechs, "And look what you've become."
"These allies gave us more technology then we could comprehend...until I looked at it." Said Zechs, "And now I will rule."
Missiles spiraled in and flew into the group.
The Dreads scattered and returned fire.
Zechs was ignoring them all and heading at Wing.
Heero turned the flickering blue Beam sward and Shield to face the Epyon as it raced past and flicked out the midnight heat rod.
Once again it slammed into the shield and left a sizeable dent.
-But Zechs wasn't going for him.
"Oh God...MEIA!"
The Dread was running as Zechs was shooting at it and watched as it lopped off a wing-
Untill it turned to see an enraged Heero approaching.
Heero rammed the beast and fired point-blank into it's head, not caring if his shots did nothing.
The Epyon shuddered before Heero kicked it away.
The Epyon tumbled before recovering and kicking out more missiles.
As Heero also shot those down Vandread Dita grasped a hold of Dread Meia.
"Wha...Hibiki...?"
"Let's get you back to the hanger."
The Vandread carried the damaged Dread back to the hanger bay.
Heero on the meanhand was engadging possibly the devil Gundam.
The Epyon, swift and with upgrades, could take a severe beating but still survive, as it demonstrated with it's attacks.
Heero did the best he could to block, but the damage was coming from Zech's laughter.
"Are you always going to hide behind that shield or are you going to come out and fight?!"
Heero gnashed his teeth but the comm. Beeped, "Heero!" Cried Parfet, "Get back to the hanger!"
Heero, after a second said, "I'm in the middle of something-"
"I don't care! Just get to the hanger as soon as possible!" She shrilled.
Heero was gritting his teeth as Zech's laughter tore at him-
-But then Gattling fire arced across space.
Heero turned to see Gundam Heavyarms rushing in.
"Trowa..."
Zechs hissed, "What!?"
The pannels of the Heavyarms opened and out poured clouds of Micro-missiles as they corkscrewed and slammed into the Epyon.
"Trowa..."
"Heero," Said Trowa, "Get back to your family. This battle is ours now...go to Meia."
Heero nodded silently as he jetted back to the Nirvana.
Zechs cawed, "This is treason! I'll enjoy tearing you apart!"
"My life has no meaning anymore." Replied Trowa, "Those who I would have fought with are dead. And there is only one woman I will fight for...and no one else."
"So be it." Hissed Zechs as he rushed forward.
The heavyarms returned fire and then turned the gattling barrels up and parallel next to each other to act as a shield against the heat rod.
As he glided in Hibiki was talking to him, "Okay, line up in the center."
"Wh-" Heero was starting to say when he noticed Hibiki had de-combined from Dita, "But..."
Then he, Dita, Jura, and Meia were ejected back into space with a smaller item.
"Pyroro?"
All thee Dreads unfolded and changed, some parts splitting off and others shifting around.
Pyoro flew into the mix and was lost in a new robot.
All five combined up to form what Hibiki could have in the same combination...
...Only with this Gundam at the center, it became the largest Gundread ever to be seen...
As Zechs came around he hissed, "Why do you even fight for his cause!? That boy is no more superior than you or I!"
"Not in my belif." Said Trowa as he fought with his damaged Heavyarms, "Heero is the most powerful of us all. He has grown and expanded far more than any of us ever had. He is the one who has learned the most Zechs, and he has even mastered friends that we could never have. This is his home, and if this is where he wants to live, so be it."
"What? Impossible!" Cried Zechs as he charged, "I AM SUPERIOR!!"
The Heavyarms tried to block but lost three Gattling barrels and then an arm as the beam saber flashed out with fury.
Not even Catherine in her Leo could do anything as she had to watch powerlessly.
But then arrived a hero that could.
Coming from out of the sun was a gargantuan battle fortress that was almost the size of the Nirvana.
It rammed into the scene and swatted the Epyon out of the way.
"What!? Impossible!"
The huge armor had taken form as a shield. A long pillar stood for it's legs, while four wire-guided arms stood out on the sides. An armor cloak hovered about it's back and sides, and a smaller head stood at the center of it nestled around groups of heavy turrets.
Defensor disks hovered around the assembly, as well as Jura's mirror.
The Gundread leaned forward and launched two wire-guided arms.
The Epyon was batted by one but sliced the cord of the other.
That arm tumbled for a moment before it ignited it's thrusters and re-attached itself to the mothership.
The arms lowered and Vandread Dita's particle cannons locked into place and fired.
The Epyon ducked between the two blasts and closed on the Gundread, but a slam from the two higher arms on wires made it tumble again.
Heero smirked inside the three-space cockpit at the heart of the Fortress Gundread.
On his left was a smirking Jura, on his right was a caring Meia, and below him was a curious and furious Dita in the joined cockpit. Pyoro was guiding the wire-guided arms while the women controlled the weapons of the massive fortress in space that their Dreads had become. Heero was at the command and navigation.
The battle fortress closed in on the out-powered Epyon and Jura and Meia's guns lowered down on the Gundam and fired.
The Epyon snapped up an energy shield to deflect the blasts and sent a communication to Noin in the freighter.
The Freighter turned and dumped the cargo boxes. They opened up to reveal missiles ready to fire.
The Missiles launched, sending an unbelievable amount of missiles into space.
The Fortress turned it's head, as well as the Gun clusters as they fired.
Missiles exploded in a long line of blossoms as nothing remained.
Heero turned his attention to the Freighter and orientated himself in that direction. Forming around him was the dread teams, and they provided cover fire from whatever Cubes decided to fight.
But the massive shoulder cannons from Vandread Dita charged.
The Freighter started to turn but it was too late, as massed fire covered it before the two main particle shots blew the freighter in half. Both ends tumbled for a while before being annihilated in the resounding reactor breach.
"You...you will DIE!!!"
"I've heard this all before somewhere." Said Heero as the Dreads formed up all around him, and behind him was the Nirvana....his home.
"I live here now Zechs," Said Heero, "And you should have never come to find me."
The shoulder cannons on the Superior Gundread glowed and flashed into two large columns of light.
The smaller Epyon was consumed in the flashlight-like beam and incinerated.
The beams remained on for a moment before slowly fading away, leaving the small armada in space.
There was a moment of pause.
"We did it!" Cheered Dita, "YAY!!!"
Jura was also jubulious, as cheers rose up from the crew of the Nirvana.
Heero looked up at Meia and the two exchanged smiles. His arm reached out to her leg, and she took his arm in both hands.
"We did it..." She said.
Heero, smiling, nodded.
They were free...and at last without worry from Heero's homeland.
-------------------
Meh. Twelve page battle. Whatever.
Now, let's see if I can re-arrange the Dreads and Gundam so they actually fit the description of the Super Gundread....*Meshes models together*
Now, THE ENDING CHAPTER!!!