SUPER ROBOT TAISEN S
Welcome back, at long last!
Yeah, I had kinda put this story on the backburner... between all the problem I had, and the fact that I could never find a way to get some inspiration for how to continue, this story kinda grinded to an halt, but now I'm back, and I'm willing to see it through to the end! I hope my readers can apologize my lack of updates... once again, I apologize, and I will make sure new updates come faster!
Last chapter, we have spent some time with the Nadesico crew as it slowly pulled themselves back together, with a little help from Fiona and her friends... but unfortunately, good things were not destined to last long, as the enemy, in the form of the Martian Successors' dreaded extermination squad, led by the mighty Hokushin, has zeroed in on Ruri's position, and are planning to do something really nasty! Knowing Kusakabe and his men, you can probably expect something about hooking people up to machines, and this kind of pleasant experiments...
Anyway, this chapter will deal with the struggle against the Martian Successors and their extermination squad... and we'll also get to follow the Char's Counterattack and SEED Destiny crews as they prepare for the upcoming battles! With Quess now on Char's side, the playing field tips even more dangerously on Char's side, but I wouldn't count Durandal out just yet. The guy is nothing if not resourceful, and he does know how to roll with unexpected events.
Anyway, expect a battle in the immediate future, as the Nadesico crew, along with one of their old acquaintances, rushed to rescue Akito and their friends. Furthermore, this will allow Fiona to get a long-awaited for rematch with Hokushin and his honorguards... will our heroine manage to give those monsters a run for their money?
Only one thing to do... keep reading, and let me know how you liked it!
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Chapter 12 - The Ghost of Gaizock
Asteroid of Sweetwater, one of the main Neo Zeon bases. At the moment, an important test was starting to take place just outside of a practice field, in the space surrounding the massive asteroid. A lone Yakt Doga, this one painted in red with a white faceplate and arm guards, was floating in space not too far from the practice field, and its pilot was feeling her heart beat faster as she thought that the man she admired more than anyone else in the world would be watching her test. It was very important for her to do well - if her performance had been satisfactory, she would soon become a pilot in Char Aznable's Neo Zeon, and that would be her best chance to allow the commander to realize his visionof a new and better world. A world where nobody would be alone like she had felt for her whole life...
A passing memory rose unbidden to her mind, causing her to glimpse, for just a second, an image of Hathaway Noah, the boy she had befriended on the shuttle. Quess frowned, then shook her head, trying to chase that memory away. She was not supposed to get sidetracked with that stupid, naive kid! She had her Colonel to think about... she needed to show him that he could count on her! She had to keep concentrated, and follow the Colonel's instructions to the best of her abilities. Taking a deep breath, the girl gripped her practice Yakt Doga's commands and stood ready, as a few dummy targets floated out of a nearby dock.
"Quess, those are your targets." Nanai Miguel's voice was heard from her communicators. Quess wrinkled her nose in displeasure - she didn't really know that woman, but the fact that she was always so close to Char didn't really sit well with her. "Keep your mind clear, and use your Funnels to destroy them. You should be able to guide your Funnels thanks to your own brainwaves, and order them to shoot with your thoughts. Still, keep in mind that it might not be as immediate as you think."
"Alright." Quess simply answered. A few dummy MS were now in front of her, spread out on a rather large area... Quess quickly visualized the targets and concentrated for a brief moment... and, answering to her brainwaves, a group of funnels detached for the Yakt Doga's shoulder binders and flew like bullets towards the training dummies, shooting a rain of laser beams which struck unerringly, puleverizing their targets! Needless to say, Quess was quite amazed by the fact that she was able to do that with no apparent effort... "This is amazing! I can remote-control those funnels with just my own brainwaves... so this is my Newtypes are so valued as pilots..."
Another wave of training dummies came out, and Quess, already energized by her first success, directed the remote-controlled guns towards the new targets, intending to make short work of them as well... while, in a control room not too far away from there, Char and Nanai were monitoring every single phase of the test. The Neo-Zeon commander had to say he was quite impressed with the results... apparently, Quess was a powerful enough Newtype to be able to control the Yakt Doga's funnels without needing further equipment for the scan of brainwaves... that was something one didn't see every day!
Nanai seemed to agree with the Neo-Zeon leader's thoughts. "I am convinced of it by now, Colonel... there's no doubt about it, Quess Paraya is a Newtype." she affirmed. "And a powerful one, at that... Colonel, do you think you'll put her in a real combat situation to see how she handles herself?"
"Most certainly, Nanai. Quess would be a tremendous asset to our war effort, if properly trained." Char answered. "Should she prove her worth, I already have a few plans for her... our engineers should havealmost completed the new Alpha Aziel mobile armor, and I'm sure Quess would be a great pilot for it."
"If you do say so, Colonel..." Nanai mused to herself, inwardly feeling an unwelcome twinge of jealousy as she thought of how much worth Char was placing upon that newcomer. It made her feel like she was an outsider... but she knew she couldn't think like that. Of course Char was only interested in that child because she was an asset to his plans and a great weapon to be used against his enemies... right?
oooooooooo
The situation was incredibly tense, as Akito, Ruri and Minato faced Hokushin and its minions, who were standing in a perfect formation in front of them. The leader's mismatched eyes were glaring hatefully at the trio of former Nadesico heroes, and a few concise words left its lips, in a threatening tone.
"You will come with us now." Hokushin spoke.
Akito's answer was to pull the trigger and fire three shots in rapid succession on the leader of the team of assassins... but, much to Minato's dismay, all the bullet bounced harmlessly on the monster's chest, deflected by a miniature Distortion Field surrounding Hokushin's body. His expression never faltering, Akito ceased his attack and raised his gun, advising the two women beside him to go on and save themselves.
"This is not a matter that concerns you." he said. "Run away."
Ruri and Minato didn't even budge, and while Minato was understandably terrified of the seven Martian Successor minions, Ruri calmly stood in her place. "I do not believe it is an option to run away, in such a situation." she stated matter-of-factly.
"W-well... I don't like the idea myself, but I have to agree with that..." Minato acknowledged. Undaunted, the assassins began slowly advancing on the trio of heroes, unsheating a set of vicious-looking wakizashi...
"Is that so? Then, we'll take you away by force." Hokushin stated, still smiling wickedly. "Cut off one of his limbs and bring him to the base."
"Acknowledge, leader Hokushin." one of the monk-like assassins whispered. "What about the woman and the child?"
"Slay the woman, but capture the electronic fairy alive." Hokushin instructed its underling. "She has the same golden eyes as Lapis... the eyes of a fairy created by human technology... Earth people seem to be crazy about tampering with genetics." Then, it raised its head and glared at Ruri, its blood-red left eye glistening with sadistic joy. "You, white fairy, will be a glorious experimental subject, as soon as we deliver you to leader Kusakabe. You will become the cornerstone upon which a new society based on absolute righteousness shall be founded!"
The thought of the horrible experiments the Martian Successors would have done to Ruri in case they got their hands on her disgusted Akito and Minato... but Ruri, after a barely noticeable moment of fear, simply narrowed her eyes and sustained Hokushin's nightmarish visage. "You are the ones, are you not?" she asked. "The ones who kidnapped all those A-class Jumpers all around the Earth Sphere."
"That is correct." Hokushin answered as it came closer and closer. It seemed to enjoy taking its time, just to let its enemies know how helpless they were. "We are the Six, the shadows of the Martian Successors. The devils who walk the path no one would tread upon."
"All for the glory of the new order!" the other assassins exclaimed in almost unnatural unison, their curved short swords raised and kept in front of them. They seemed to be about to dash at Akito and the two women for a decisive strike... but all of a sudden, the deafening sound of thrusters covered their voices, and as everyone raised their heads, a few familiar robots appeared from the skies! Four Aestivalis, each of them sporting a different, brilliant colour, were flying in perfect formation over the graveyard: red, orange, green and blue... there were no doubts, they were obviously the Aestivalis belonging to Ryoko, Hikaru, Izumi and, of course, Lt. Saburouta! Following them was Fiona's Excellence S, its steps shaking the ground and its claw-like right arm raised up in the air, in a threatening gesture... but there was another robot which none of them recognized, that at he moment was flying beside the Aestivalis units... a white robot just a little taller than an Aestivalis, its arms ending in hands armed with wicked claws, large shoulder pads and black highlights on its forearms, groin and ankles. Akito and the two girls with him were pretty sure that was the robot from where the laughter had come from... and it was a somewhat familiar voice too...
"To hear you speak of a new order is quite ludicrous." the white robot's pilot exclaimed, in a clear, loud male voice. "The truth is, a new order only comes after destruction and chaos. It is only natural that birth entails pain... but Kusakabe has no morals. His new order has no right to be."
"W-what?" Minato asked herself, amazed to see how quickly their friends had come to throw some mud in the Six's plans. "Where did they all come from? And... what's with that white robot, and who's piloting it?"
"Let's just say that we got ourselves an unexpected helping hand!" Fiona's voice blared from her Excellence-S's speakers. "A former soldier of the Jovian Empire who is now working for Nergal!"
Minato frowned slightly, still not too convinced, as the Aestivalis pilots descendend and aimed their weapons at the Six, immediately followed by the white robot. "Anyway, consider it luck that we managed to come here on time! We thought Ruri-chan could be running a few risks, so we asked her to carry her Nergal ID card with her at all times. Through that and Nergal's information network, we could know where you were, and intervene quickly if there was a problem... like now!" Ryoko explaied, before aiming her Rapid Rifle at Hokushin. "And now, you freaks, you've got two choices: either you leave this place, or we blast you to pieces!"
"In other words, either you cut it or we cut you." Izumi said. She then started giggling as if she had just said the most phenomenal joke ever, which caused Hikaru to sigh in defeat, and Ryoko to put an hand to her forehead in exasperation. Throwing bad puns around was an habit Izumi had never grown out of...
Fiona herself suppressed a chuckle at Izumi's wordplay, and aimed her Excellence-S's clawed arm to the Six and their leader. "Anyway, that's the ticket! We're not going to let you take Akito, Ruri-chan or Minato! Leave, or we won't show any mercy!"
However, Hokushin did not seem fazed in the least by all these threats. Instead, it kept glaring at the white robot with a smug air of superiority... and when it was low enough on the ground, it smirked and addressed the pilot by his name. "Genichiro Tsukuomi... so much time went by. How amusing, to once again see the traitor who abandoned our noble cause!" it stated, startling Minato to no end. Genichiro Tsukuomi was a former commander for the Jupiter Empire army, and the one who, under Kusakabe's orders, had shot to death Tsukumo Shiratori, Jupiter's ambassador for peace and Minato's boyfriend at the time.
Inside the white robot's cockpit, Genichiro Tsukuomi, an handsome man in his early twenties, with long, flowing black hair kept in a somewhat Chinese-looking hairstyle, and slit-like brown eyes, dressed in a pure white military uniform, smiled bitterly at Hokushin's words. "That is true... I am a man who betrayed his friend and his home country, and as of now I am nothing but a dog for Nergal. However, that might be most unfortunate for you."
"This place is reserved for the dead, and for their eternal rest!" Fiona challenged Hokushin. "Go away without causing trouble."
Unfortunately, the intimation fell on deaf ears, as Hokushin gave another one of its atrocious smirks... just one second before it and its man teleported away in a flash! Fiona's eyes widened at that, and she began looking around in an attempt to find where the Six and their leader had disappeared to. "What? Where... where have they gone? They... they just disappeared, like that!"
"Boson Jump, remember." Ryoko reminded her. "Now that they've got Yurika, these guys can jump wherever they want, whenever they want! And I would not be surprised if they had their robots around here!"
As if the heavens had heard her, a rumbling noise caused the ground to shake... and a few trees from the surrounding pine forest were brought down as Hokushin's Yatenkou and its minions' Shishikis rose from there, hovering menacingly in the air, and causing all of the members of the rescue team to turn in that direction, in an attempt to fend off the surprise attack! Fiona grit her teeth as he clenched her hands on her console... that was the moment to see if the strategy se had worked out would be effective against those freaks.
"In that case, Hokushin... Hell shall be your new residence!" Genichiro stated, as his white robot unsheated its claws. "This Alstroemeria shall be your guide."
"Is that so?" the Six's leader smirked. "Reppu!"
The assassin named Reppu dove forward and tried to impale Genichiro's Alstroemeria on the tip of its staff... but, with a speed and an agility no-one would think possible of the white robot, the Alstroemeria easily side-stepped the blow and grabbed the attacking Shishiki's face in the palm of its hand, before violently tossing it away, causing it to describe a perfect arc in the air!
"Whoa! Talk about a spectacular style!" Fiona exclaimed in wide-eyed wonder.
"This is Jovian-style yawara." Genichiro explained, as most of the bystanders looked at him in absolute awe. "No sword of perversity can prevail against my flexibility."
As Reppu's Shishiki somehow regain stability in mid-air, the Yatenkou and the other Shishikis gained altitude, and the leader of the Six grunted in annoyance. "Hmph... the style of a traitor cannot prevail against our swords. Everyone, get them!"
The Shishiki pilots dashed forward to attack, with the Aestivalis girls and Saburouta greeting them with a steady shower of bullets which forced the strange Martian Successor robots on the defensive, expanding their Distortion Field to take all their fire. Two of the small robots sped towards Fiona and Genichiro, while the Yatenkou quickly entered the fray to engage Ryoko, Hikaru and Izumi in hand-to-hand combat. Immediately, the Excellence-S and Genichiro's Alstroemeria assumed a combat stance and stood ready to counter. Fiona, recognizing that her unit's steady speed could never stand up to the agile Shishiki, opted to take a few steps back and defend herself with her clawed arm, blocking the enemy's staff thrusts.
This strategy managed to throw her opponent off the loop somewhat, as now the Shishiki was having trouble finding holes in the Excellence-S's stance, and was vainly trying to impale the mighty robot with its staff... but Fiona, making good use of the strategy she had elaborated earlier, skillfully avoided all attacks and responded with quick, distracting thrusts with her robot's arm, until finally the Shishiki pilot could wait no more. In an attempt to finish off his opponent quickly, the assassin slipped through a mighty roundhouse blow for the Excellence's claw arm, and struck the red robot in the chest, causing it to flinch and lose balance for a moment. Taking advantage of that, the Shishiki flew upwards, expecting Fiona to aim towards him and shoot... but, somewhat to his surprise, the red-haired girl stood in her place, never letting herself drop her guard. What's more, she actually retreated a few steps, resuming the defensive stance she had been taking throughout the whole fight. The assassin growled in rage, but there wasn't much he could do about it... and even his colleagues were having their hands full with the Aestivalis and Genichiro's Alstroemeria, so they could not be any help.
"Curse you..." the Shishiki pilot spat. "You're done for, girl!"
With an enraged howl, the Martian Successor assassin Boson Jumped behind the Excellence-S and swooped down, his Shishiki's right fist blazing with Distortion Field and ready to strike down the Excellence-S, as Fiona stood her ground and got ready to receive the attack. The Shishiki had already sped up to a mind-boggingly high speed, looking more like a shooting star than a robot, and it appeared that Fiona and her heavier, slower robot stood no chance of withstanding such a mighty blow...
In her cockpit, though, Fiona smiled thinly. Her defensive strategy had worked just as she had expected... and now, it was the Martian Successor's turn to be caught off guard!
"YOU are done for, scum!" Fiona exclaimed, as she quickly moved to turn around and intercept her opponent's attack. "Take this!"
Fiona pressed a series of buttons on her interface, and the Excellence-S swiftly raised its bigger arm, its huge clawed fingers opening up like an hungry maw and lighting up with a blazing golden aura as the Shishiki got closer and closer. Before the Martian Successor could strike, the clawed fingers closed upon his Shishiki's armor, piercing the Distortion Field and catching the opponent in a deadly grip, which Fiona proceeded to further strengthen. Blazing sparks of electricity erupted from the Shishiki's armor, as the small and frail robot was not strong enough to resist such pressure...
"Aaaargh!" the member of the Six screamed. "Damn you... what are you trying to..."
"Looks like the tables have turned, this time!" Fiona exclaimed. "Sorry, but I did learn something from my first battle with you guys, and I'm not about to make the same mistake twice! And now... prepare yourself! Gigant Crusher!"
Fiona raised the Excellence-S's output to the maximum and shot forward, keeping the Shishiki pressed in her claw as a bright golden light began to shine from the red robot's fingers, a deafening roaring sound accompanying the Excellence's mad dash! Then, with a warlike yell, Fiona made her robot jump, holding the captured Shishiki in the huge claw... and dove down towards the ground, holding the Shishiki in front of herself in order to cause it to crash! The member of the Six cursed, yelled and tried to force its robot to move, but there was nothing it could do.
"C-curse you... curse you!" the assassin yelled. "You cannot do this! True righteousness cannot be... denied... AAAAARGH!"
Its ramblings were cut short as the Excellence-S landed, and Fiona swung the gigantic claw around, smashing the fragile Shishiki on the cold, unfforgiving ground! The small robot could not withstand the terrifying impact, and its structure immediately broke down, causing the Martian Successor machine to detonate, along with its insane pilot, in the Excellence-S's claw! Almost everyone turned their amazed eyes to Fiona and her robot as the Shishiki went up in a ball of fire, its charred remains scattering all around... and soon after, the Excellence-S stood up, practically unscathed, and raised its claw again in a threatening gesture.
"Looks like you freaks need to have your name changed." Fiona stated, talking to the remaining members of the Six. "Does 'the Five' sound good to you? If it doesn't, I can give you a few more suggestions..."
"Ugh... damn you... that measly Earth girl killed Arashi!" another of the assassins muttered before charging at Genichiro's Alstroemeria with a maddened scream, thirsty for revenge! Unfortunately for him, in front of Genichiro's calm, methodical fighting technique, the brutality of the Martian Successors was useless, and the former Jovian commander swiftly evaded the attack before retaliating with a quick swipe of his white robot's claws, cutting off the Shishiki's arm in a brief shower of electrical sparks! The enraged Martian Successor retreated slightly, but tried again, this time attempting an overhead attack, but even that did not have better luck.
"I thought I already told you... blows coming from rage and hatred cannot overcome my technique." Genichiro said, evading the blow once again. In the proximities,, even the other surviving Six were having trouble withthe Aestivalis squad, and Hokushin's smug countenance was getting slightly marred, gradually turning in an annoyed frown. He had thought the battle would be easy enough, but that red robot and the unexpected arrival of the Alstroemeria had turned things around quite a bit... and now, Genichiro was effortlessly taking his opponent apart. Another Boson Jump attempt was countered, as the Alstroemeria turned around too quickly for the assassin to perform his attack. Two staff slashes were quickly countered by the Alstroemeria's lightning-fast claws... and one split-second later, Genichir's white robot closed the distance and plunged its claws deep in the Shishiki's cockpit, impaling the Martian Successor assassin, who expired in an unintelligible gurgle. Then, Genichiro scornfully kicked away the fatally damaged Shishiki, who exploded in midair before it could touch the ground.
Annoyed at the fact that its men were being done away with so easily, Hokushin decided that it was time to step into the fray, and its Yatenkou began moving towards the battle to engage the Excellence-S... but Ryoko and her friends, diverting their attention from their respective opponents for just a second, greeted the commander of the Six with a powerful hail of bullets that forced the monster in human guise to teleport away to avoid damage. Undaunted, Hokushin executed a nimble maneuver in mid-air and tried to gain some altitude and attack again, while Fiona, noticing the new danger, mentally braced herself for the attack. This time, she was not dealing with a two-bit thug... she was fighting an horrifically skilled killer with superhuman abilities!
"And yet... if I can take this guy out, the Martian Successors lose one of their greatest assets!" Fiona mumbled to herself. She was the Yatenkou stopping in midair and pointing its staff at her, ready to fire... but the attack never came, and Fiona blinked in confusion - was Hokushin trying to play some mind games with her?
The Aestivalis and the Alstroemeria broke contact with the remaining Shishiki units, now no more than four of them left, and turned towards the Yatenkou as well... but the red Martian Successor robot did not attack as expected, and for some strange reason, even the remaining members of the Six seemed to be somewhat afraid... which was quite remarkable, for a bunch of superhuman assassins!
"Huh? Why are they just... standing right there?" Hikaru asked herself in puzzlement. "It's like they're asking to get shot..."
"I have no idea, but we'd better be careful..." Saburouta said with a frown. "This has to be some sort of trick... Huh? Why are my radars catching a new signal coming from... from underneath the graveyard?"
"What?" Fiona asked in shock, right before the ground under the Excellence-S began shaking madly, as if an earthquake had just struck! Akito, Ruri and Minato, who until then had simply been watching the fight from the ground, inwardly impressed at Fiona and Genichiro's skills, got away to safety just in time, as a huge fissure opened up on the ground on which they had been standing, and a gargantuan, metallic monstrosity rose from who-knew-where to assault the flabbergasted Aestivalis team and the Excellence project test pilot, a deafening roar coming from its immense frame and grave dirt and tombstones scattered around like dust as they were being kicked in the air!
"What... what... what the Hell is that thing?" Fiona exclaimed, her self-control temporarily overwhelmed by the monster's sudden appearence: no less than sixty feet tall, it had a humanoid shape and was encased in a rather heavy-looking red battle armor... but it had countless thin steel tentacles, each one ending in a pincer-like claw, instead of a pair of arms, and its head and feet were reminescent of those of a demonic bird of prey, with a curved beak and light blue, pupilless eyes that shone cruelly in a face adorned with ruffled blood-red feathers! Not too far away from there, two more monstrosities of the same kind were emerging from the grund... and when Ryoko looked up, she swore under her breath as she saw a new kind of monster slowly descending upon them, casting an eerie shadow on the battlefield!
"No... no... dammit! This cannot be true!" Ryoko paled and muttered incoherently for a few seconds, apparently familiar with the sight of the floating beast - it looked like some demented cross between a jellyfish and a ghost, with a membranous bluish-green skin and a pair of thin tentacles slithering down its body from under a skirt-like membrane that made up pretty much all of its lower body. A monstrous face, perpetually contorted in an expression of murderous rage, occupied the upper part, from which a second, smaller body emerged, resembling some sort of vampire bat with overlarge ears, long crimson claws on each of its limbs, and a mouth filled with needle-like teeth, giving the thing an even more predatory look!
Fiona was not just amazed and terrified at the appearence of these new monsters... she was also asking herself where Ryoko and her friends had seen them before. "R... Ryoko, what's the matter?" the redhead spoke through her communicator. "And... and just what on Earth ARE these... these... things? They certainly don't look friendly!"
As if to emphasize her words, one of the bird-like monsters shot a barrage of missiles towards the Aestivalis group, who thankfully managed to dodge all of them before Ryoko answered Fiona's question in an enraged and at the same time sorrowful tone. "These... things... are called Mecha Bursts!" the former Lion Sickle commander shouted. "They are mechanical monsters created by an enemy we fought some three years ago... a monster who went by the name of Killer The Butcher!"
"And he was just as bad as the name implies!" Hikaru continued, almost in panic as she tried to dodge the attacks the newly-revealed Mecha Bursts were shooting at her. "We fought him alongside our allies, the Zambot Team... and we thought we had destroyed Butcher, even if Uchuuta and Keiko had to sacrifice their lives for that..."
"Apparently, someone here is still alive and punching..." Izumi murmured, taking aim towards the jellyfish-like horror and unleashing a hail of bullets. The monster was hit and reeled back, but quickly recovered and let out an ear-piercing scream that sent deadly soundwaves towards the green Aestivalis. Izumi managed to dodge the attack at the last second, before noticing that the Yatenkou and the Shishikis were Boson Jumping away, leaving them to fight their new battle.
"Tch... so the ghost of Gaizock is back..." Hokushin said. "We have no more business here! Retreat!"
With that, the Yatenkou disappeared, and the four Mecha Bursts began advancing ominously on the Aestivalis team, as Fiona quickly turned around and stood ready to fight the new menace...
"Dammit! I don't know the details, but I guess I'll have to ask later! For now, let's take out these things..." she murmured to herself, secretly hoping that those monsters did not have some forcefield of sorts - she had already had enough of Distortion Fields and the like...
oooooooooo
Meanwhile, on board the Ral Kairam...
"I never thought we could have fifteen more nuclear warheads available, other than the one present on Luna-2." Bright commented, as soon as he was finished reading the report Cameron Bloom had just handed to him, concerning the availability of tactical weaponry specific for breaking apart something as massive as Axis. "Are you sure we can make use of these, Mr. Bloom?"
"It's all old weaponry that was going to be shelfed in museums and the like... still, take care with them, as they are under the jurisdiction of the New Earth Federation." Cameron explained.
Amuro nodded. "We understand. Anyway, the important thing is, they can be used to break Axis apart, right?" he said. "We are in your debt, Mr. Bloom..."
Cameron chuckled briefly. "Don't mention it... I'm also doing this because I want Mirai to continue living on Earth!" he answered. "Rather the contrary, I should be the one thanking you and Terminal for what you're doing!"
Lacus Clyne, who was present to the discussion as well, bowed respectfully. "It is understandable... after all, you were her fiancee once, so it is only natural that you're worried about her." she commented, before turning to Bright. "By the way, Captain Bright Noa... news about the supposed surrender of the Neo Zeon forces to the New Earth Federation army are being broadcast on most Earth channels as we speak... should we take this as a warning that we should get ready to move?"
"Most certainly, Lady Lacus..." Bright answered. "Neo Zeon is only faking surrender, we cannot trust this deal the New Earth Federation has signed. Let's keep an eye out on that fleet, there could be trouble any moment now."
Lacus nodded. "Sure... I'll be going back to the Eternal now, let's keep in contact whenever there are news worth noticing." she answered. "Gentlemen, if you please..."
The Terminal leader bowed again and began heading back to the bridge of her own battleship, hoping that the new weapons and Mobile Suit they had just received would be sufficient to fight against the Neo Zeon / ZAFT alliance... and that the New Earth Federation wasn't going to take too heavy losses in what was obviously a trap...
oooooooooo
The New Earth Federation fleet about to escort the Neo Zeon fleet to their final destination was relieved to see that their hosts had been bang on time, and seemed to have respected all deals. It was a good way to get rid of a formidable opponent, and if that gave the Federation some breathing room to deal with ZAFT, that would be the ideal scenario!
"We have the Neo Zeon fleet on our radars, Ambassador Adenauer." a bridge operator said, as soon as several blips lit up on the radar. "The number of ships corresponds perfectly to the informations we have been given. Actually, there's one more than that."
Adenauer nodded, pleased with himself for making such a good call. It appeared that Terminal's worries were all about nothing, after all. "Hm. Char is an honest person, I knew he would honour our deal." he said. "Okay, now reduce speed and get ready to hail them."
"Mr. Adenauer... since one can never be too careful, shouldn't we send a few scouting units ahead, just in case this was a trap?" the ship's captain proposed. He looked like a seasoned commander, and he probably knew very well what he was talking about... and yet, Adenauer insisted in underestimating the danger.
"I'm against it! That would be a lack of respect towards Colonel Aznable!" he argued. "Now, let's begin. By the time we are done with it, we will have gained ourselves an invaluable advantage, and the tide of the war will turn against ZAFT."
"If that is what you wish..." the captain murmured, knowing that it was no use to argue with a man such as Adenauer Paraya. He had a feeling they were going to regret it soon, though... and as a few unarmed Mobile Suits left the ship's hangars to greet the supposed Neo Zeon fleet, he was starting to dread the possibility of a betrayal more and more...
A few minutes passed in silence, as the bridge crew waited for the formalities to begin... and all of a sudden, the calm was broken by a garbled message from one of the wingmen, his voice filled with alarm!
"Captain! Something isn't right here!" he exclaimed, startling everyone on the bridge. "This is not the main Neo Zeon fleet! These ships are nothing but well-crafted dummies, and... AAAAAARGH!"
The communication was abruptly cut short as an explosion suffocated it... and in a few horrific seconds, the crew of the New Earth Federation flagship realized the terrible situation they had walked in: a numerous group of Neo Zeon and ZAFT Mobile Suits swooped upon the defenceless Earth Federation fleet and started wreaking havoc upon it! Various types of Mobile Suits, from the cookie cutter Geara Dogas and Zaku Warriors, to the more specialized Yakt Dogas and Gouf Ignited, dropped upon the unsuspecting Federals, in a veritable inferno of beams and explosions! Lunamaria's Impulse Gundam and Rezun Schneider's customized blue Geara Doga were leading them, the two women cutting a swathe of destruction among the enemy.
"Strike them down! Quickly!" Rezun called to her wingmen. "Let none of them leave here alive!"
There was nothing the unarmed Earth Federation could do against such a superior enemy, and their Mobile Suits began getting shot down in rapid succession, as Adenauer and the bridge crew looked on in horror!
"What... what's the meaning of this?" Adenauer exclaimed, his previous confidence substituted by an immense fear for his life. "They're attacking us? This is impossible! This is a violation of the deal!"
"Neo Zeon never had any intention of holding up their part of the deal, Mr. Paraya!" the captain exclaimed. "We have to retreat while we can still hack it... Oh, no! Damn! We've got some Neo Zeon Mobile Suits coming from behind as well! Geara Doga and Yakt Doga models confirmed!"
"Wh... What?" Adenauer mouthed. A group of enemies, in fact, was approaching from behind at high speed... there was no time to evade them!
oooooooooo
Among the Neo Zeon fleet, two young Newtypes in customized Yakt Doga units were about to join the battle... and the more experienced of the two was instructing his new teammate on what to do and not to do during a real battle.
"Quess, you keep your distance and don't overdo it!" Gyunei exclaimed, briefly glancing at the red-and-white custom Yakt Doga piloted by Adenauer's own daughter. "This battle is just for you to experience a taste of real combat."
"Okay, Gyunei! I'll be careful!" Quess replied, as she watched Gyunei's black Yakt Doga deploy its funnels and shoot down several GM-3 Mobile Suits. A feeling of thrill and excitement washed over the young girl, as she pushed her Yakt Doga towards the main Federation fleet. "This is amazing... so, this is what a real battle feels like... huh? And just what is that huge ship doing, in a place like that? I'll shoot it down!"
Getting a glimpse of the New Earth Federation flagship, Quess let her excitement get the better of her and, disregarding Gyunei's earlier advice entirely, sped towards the largest ship in the Federation fleet, aiming her beam machine gun at it. There were no Mobile Suits to interpose between the Yakt Doga and its target... and even at that distance, a single shot to the main bridge would have spelled doom for everyone on board!
Once she was sure her aim was true, Quess squeezed the finger on her beam machine gun's trigger and unleashed a flurry of yellow laser beams upon the Federation ship...
And the last thing Adenauer Paraya saw before being vaporized along with his flagship was the Mobile Suit piloted by his own daughter bearing down upon him.
"This cannot be... I don't want to die... I don't want to die..."
An enormous fireball engulfed the bridge of the Earth Federation flagship, quickly consuming it in a veritable inferno, as Quess' Yakt Doga rapidly sped away, the girl cheering her victory in her ignorance of who her vicim really was. "Yay! I did it!" she exclaimed... just a second before a terrible sensation of nausea washed over her, forcing her to put an hand in front of her mouth and to double over in pain. "Ugh... what... what's going on? Why do I... feel so sick... all of a sudden? Ugh... help me... Colonel..."
Luckily for her, the embers of the flagship's explosion had not even died down when Gyunei's Yakt Doga came to her side, trying to sustain her, and the black-haired artificial Newtype grabbed her and tried to drag her out of the battle. "Quess, are you okay? Quess, answer me!"
"G-Gyunei... thank... you..." Quess murmured, her dreadful feeling beginning to subside already. "What happened... to me? I felt like... people were getting into my head..."
"That's because you rushed into combat, and you were unprepared for what you were about to do..." Gyunei explained. As an Artificial Newtype, he was immune to such unpleasant aftereffects, but he wasn't entirely sure whether this was a good thing or not... "Let's go back to the Rewloola, we have done our job here!"
Quess couldn't say anything else but nod in agreement...
oooooooooo
"Colonel Nanai Miguel, we have reported a complete victory!" Lunamaria's crisp voice reported over the Rewloola's communicator. "We have destroyed the Federation fleet and we have taken possession of the nuclear warhead they were transporting. At this point, I guess we can safely say that Luna-2 is in our hands."
Nanai nodded gratefully at the Impulse Gundam pilot's voice. "Very well... now our plan is halfway done! Let's retreat back to Axis and report to the Colonel..." she stated, pleased with the outcome of the attack.
oooooooooo
A Mecha Burst Domira's metal tentacles flailed against Genichiro's Alstroemeria, trying to wrap the white clawed robot in a deadly embrace, but the former Jovian commander countered by slashing the appendages apart, as his comrades aimed precise ranged attacks against the other monsters. So far, they had managed to stave off the attack, but the Mecha Bursts were nothing if not persistent, and despite the fact that they had taken quite a bit of damage, they still kept coming, harassing the Aestivalis squad and the Excellence-S.
"Dammit, don't they ever stop?" Fiona swore, after aiming a well-placed Prisma Beam at the nearest enemy. The beams bounced on the jellyfish-like Mecha Burst - whose name Fiona had caught as Garchaku from Hikaru's warnings and Izumi's puns - but they served their purpouse of delaying the monster long enough for Fiona to resume safety distance.
"These guys are programmed to fight to the death..." Saburouta answered. "We need to finish them off with a single blow. If only we could find a hole in their defense..."
"Heheheheee... I'm afraid I can't let you do that, can I?" a shrieky, high-pitched voice, filled with childish cruelty, interrupted the discussion as an even bigger shadow loomed on the devastated graveyard. With a frightened gasp, Saburouta looked up, just in time to see a gigantic spaceship soaring above their heads: somewhat spherical in shape, a yellow colour all over, it had four segmented legs, similar to those of an insect, jutting out from the sides, and its front looked like the head of a Shakkou statuine, with large inexpressive eyes and a mouth perpetually closed in what resembled a frown. It was gigantic, to the point where it dwarfed all the Mecha Bursts, and its sight caused Ryoko and the other girls to pale further.
"Ryoko! That battleship is..." Izumi exclaimed. "Isn't that the Bandock? I thought Kappei and the others had destroyed it!"
"Hahahahaaa! Your memory serves you well, girlie!" shrieked the unknown voice once again, as a comm window opened up on each pilot's console, showing Killer The Butcher's ugly, green-skinned, wart-ridden face. "Hiya, everyone! Did you miss me? I know you did! After all, how could anyone forget about me, the great Killer The Butcher? And I see you humans are still at it, making war with one another!"
"You bastard!" Ryoko practically roared. "How is this possible? How can you still be alive? We saw you die when Uchuuta and Keiko sacrificed themselves to blow up your mothership!"
"Heheheee... you talking about the Zambot 3 twerps, right?" Butcher answered. "Well, truth be told, I did die right then... but I was resurrected by the mighty Lord Gaizock, and I was given a second chance! And I am not willing to louse that one up, either! First I'm going to kill you all... then, I think I'll send my Mecha Bursts to the nearest city and enjoy some good old-fashioned slaughter of humans! Yokohama, was it? It will be a glorious sight indeed! Hyahahahahaaaa!"
Her teeth grit in anger and frustration, Ryoko pushed her Aestivalis towards the Bandock, determined to pus through the small Mecha Burst horde and finish off Butcher once and for all! "Damn you... you're not getting away, you monster!"
"Ryoko, wait!" Fiona tried calling out to her... but it was too late, and the battle had already resumed in earnest. Biting back a curse, Fiona gripped the Excellence-S's controls tight, and got ready to fight the new menace...
oooooooooo
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Note: You read that right, the Gaizock, the vicious exterminators that plagued Earth in Zambot 3, are back... and since this story takes place after the events of the anime, there is no Zambot 3 to hold them back, this time! It all falls on Fiona and the Nadesico team's shoulders. At least Fiona and Genichiro managed to take out two of the Six, which gives their side a slight advantage. They're going to need all the edge they can get...
Adenauer dies in this chapter, and while it was his daughter to unknowingly off him, I don't think any of my readers will mourn his passing. However, now that Neo Zeon and ZAFT have gotten their hands on Luna-2, their operations will go a lot more smoothly! Terminal has got a fight on their hands...
How will it go? Stay tuned, as I will try to update as soon as I can!
