Ayashi no Yuugi II: The Final Sunrise

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.

Chapter 10: Crescendo

The big dog's eye jerked wide open as his breath was suddenly cut off. He tried to twist free of the noose, but Teri stood straight up, lifting the Labrador half off the ground, his forequarters suspended helplessly from the knotted belt. His legs lashed out, kicking wildly as he searched for something to brace himself against, and then his lips curled back as he bared his fangs. His hind legs, still touching the ground, clawed hopelessly at the lawn as he tried to free himself from his tormentor, but as Teri began jerking on the belt, yanking it first one way and then the other, he lost what little traction he had.

The struggle went on, eerily silent in the darkness of the foggy night, and for a moment Teri thought she might lose her grip on the belt.

But then, with a sharp snap, the battle came to an abrupt end.

Blackie's body, sixty pounds of violently thrashing bone and muscle, suddenly went limp as his neck broke, severing his spinal cord.

Teri held on to the belt for a few more seconds, until she was certain the dog was dead. Then, half carrying Blackie's corpse and half dragging it, she went back into the house and started up the servant's stairs.

--Second Child by John Saul--

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

April 5, 200 AC; 3:34 AM

CSA L2 Orbital Base, Remliel

Admiral Lucrezia Noin, Second Class, Type Two Unlimited, Pilot 04 of Gundam Team Hamied, and Commander of the CSA Orbital Base, Remliel, felt her lips twitch in amusement as her On-Duty Officers rattled off conditions and orders. Her eyes were fixed on the ninety nine monitors, flitting from one screen to the other, her eyes never lingering longer than thirty seconds at a time on a single screen. Quickly, she made her decision to use the Siegfried Units.

She rose to her feet, drawing her saber as she did so, and swung it, pointing the tip at the 17x23 inch screen in the very center of the mass.

"Prepare the Siegfried Units!" she cried, her voice clear, "We'll blast them out of our Sector!"

Her bold declaration was followed by a moment of silence as all the officers stared at their superior in shock.

The Siegfried Units were highly destructive, and could only be fired off once every 48 hours. To fire all the Siegfried Units at once also meant drastically weakening the outer wall of the G-ring, where the Units had been placed. It also meant that the outermost hull of the G and J-rings, their main defense, would require repairs if they wanted to survive the next wave of attacks, which would inevitably come.

Then, they came back to life, and the CCC of the CSA L2 Orbital Base was once more filled with the voices of the officers and the clacking of keys and the bleeping of signals and sensors.

All along the outer wall of the G-ring of the Base, a series of hexagonal portions of the hull, spaced twenty meters apart, pulled in and moved up, and large energy cannons moved outwards through the openings.

The enemy faltered for a moment, surprised by the sudden appearance of the weapons, and surged forward once more.

"Powering up Siegfried Units!"

"All Mobile Suit Teams and Gundam Teams, Retreat to the Carriers," an officer said into her headset. "Repeat, all Mobile Suit Teams and Gundam Teams, Retreat to the Carriers."

The CSA pilots maneuvered their suits back toward the carriers.

"Carriers, please set up fission shields!" another officer called into his headset. "Repeat, Carriers, please set up fission shields!"

Each CSA Carrier was instantly surrounded by opaque shields of crackling green energy. The last CSA MS entered the fission shields.

"Fire Siegfried Units!" Noin commanded.

Energy collected at the mouth of the cannons, and the enemy drew back in dismay.

"Firing Siegfried Units!"

Each cannon fired off a single blast of sparkling silver and grey energy, and the enemy MS fled. It was too late, however, and all the enemy suits and carriers in range of the Siegfried Units were destroyed. The hull of the G-ring groaned and base floated away several dozen yards before the thrusters along the J-ring fired to life, stabilizing the Base.

"Sensors show that about thirty percent of the enemy is left, Admiral!"

Noin's lips turned upwards in a cool smile and she sat back in her chair, and her saber flashed to her side and up to shoulder level before swishing to point at the third screen on the right in the fifth row. "Weasel Unit," her voice was ominously soft, and her lips twitched before her voice rose into a shout, "TOTAL ASSAULT!"

"Pulling back Siegfried Units!"

"Weasel Unit, system wide link up confirmed!"

In the G-ring, the Siegfried Units were pulled back into the Ring's outer walls, and the walls slid down, and forward, closing off the cannons seamlessly. Along all the other Rings along the Orbital base, more guns, energy cannons, and missile launchers emerged from the outer walls. The remaining enemy, after witnessing the Siegfried Units' destructive power, was wary of the large arsenal that had emerged from the walls of the CSA Base, increasing the Remliel's destructive power.

"Weasel Unit, target acquired!"

"Fire Weasel Unit!"

The guns and energy cannons opened fire, and the covers of the missile launchers opened and each missile was launched. The area around the Orbital Base in a thirty kilometer radius was a myriad of destruction as carriers, battleships, and MS went up in flames and spectacular explosions. No enemy forces survived the Weasel Unit's onslaught.

The Orbital Base shuddered and everything fell still.

In the CCC, Admiral Lucrezia Noin smiled coldly as she watched the panoramic view of the Nautilus forces' destruction. Her saber slid silently back into its sheath, and the officers watched their superior warily.

Admiral Lucrezia Noin, Second Class, Type Two Unlimited, Pilot 04 of Gundam Team Hamied, and Commander of the CSA Orbital Base, Remliel, had just shown her enemies and officers that there was a part of her personality that was brutal beyond measure.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

April 5, 200 AC; 3:34 AM

CSA L4 Orbital Base, Futune

Admiral Kaze Haruka, Second Class, Type Two Unlimited, Commander of the CSA L4 Orbital Base, Futune, and Pilot 06 of GTK, better known to many as Zechs Marquise of the Oz Military or Milliardo Peacecraft of the Sanq Kingdom, allowed himself the luxury of a relieved sigh as his chin dropped to his chest. The last of the Nautilus forces had been beaten off, and he had managed to win with few casualties and damages.

Vaguely, he wondered if Noin's Base had been attacked yet, and if it had been, was she alright?

"It's been a long fight, Admiral," his aide, Marsten said, from the console beside him.

Zechs nodded tiredly. The normally uncomfortable Commander's Seat, which had irked him no end throughout the battle, now seemed very comfortable.

"You should get some rest, Admiral," Marsten continued, a knowing smirk on her lips, "You can write the report when you wake later on."

Zechs nodded in agreement as he heaved himself out of the Commander's Chair, and left the CCC to stagger to bed.

Goodness only knew he deserved it.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

April 5, 200 AC; 3:43 AM

CSA L5 Orbital Base, Ambriel

Admiral Dorothy Catalonia, Third Class, Type Four Unlimited, Pilot 02 of Gundam Team Hamied (GTH), Commander of CSA L5 Orbital Base, Ambriel, was by no means a happy woman. She was once more under attack, and there was another breach in the base's outer wall, this time, in the D-ring.

"Prepare the Faulkner Units!" she snapped.

"But Admiral," her aide, Elise Conners, said, "If we use the Faulkner Units, The blasts will damage the C-ring to the point where we'll have to jettison the entire Ring itself!"

Dorothy closed her eyes and said, "We only have two choices, Elise, use the Faulkner Units, and live to fight another day, or don't use the Units and die. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to back down simply because we'll be one Ring short of a full defense if we fire the Faulkner Units."

"But, Admiral--"

Dorothy's eyes snapped open, and she snarled, "I don't have time for this, Elise! Fire the Faulkner Units!"

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

April 5, 200 AC; 3:53 AM

Colony L2, Asuka Residence

Quatre Raberba Winner woke to the sensation of a pair of lips pressing to his forehead, and the warmth he had come to associate with the Deathscythe Hell pilot moved away. Instinctively, his hand shot out, and he felt his finger close around…

…Rubber, polyester, and plastic?

His eyes shot open and widened at the sight of Shinn dressed in his protective suit, helmet in hand, looking at him with sad violet eyes, his face impassive. He sat up quickly, if Shinn was dressed for a MS battle, which meant only one thing…

"Duo…"

Shinn set his helmet down on the bed and ghosted a gloved hand lightly down the Arabian's face.

"I'll come back," Shinn whispered, "Yakusoku da!" (It's a promise!)

He bent down and brushed the blonde's lips in a quick kiss and gently pulled out of his grip. Quatre watched as Shinn grabbed his helmet off the bed and vanished out the bedroom door with determined strides, his chestnut braid swinging behind him, with only a slight limp to show that his leg was broken.

XoXoXoXoXoXoX

Heero opened the door at the sound of an uneven stride, and got the shock of his life when he saw Duo walk down the hall with a slight limp to show that he'd ever been injured, dressed in a protective suit.

"Duo?" the Japanese pilot winced at the uncertainty in his voice.

Shinn paused and said quietly, "I have to go, Heero. There isn't much time left. You'll have to study on your own. I was hoping we won't need your Magami power, but it looks like we might need your power after all."

Hero blinked and Shinn sighed.

"Take care of the others, and my previous instructions still stand."

And he limped down the stairs and out the door.