Chapter 20: Conflicting Ideals

An electromagnetically charged slug flashed past Markov. Romanov's Luftpanzer accelerated at tremendous speed, its linear rifle firing slug after slug. Markov dodged these slugs with minimal movement. He returned fire with his beam rifle, only to find the beam bounce of the reflective surface of the Luftpanzer's shield. Markov clicked his tongue in frustration. He let fly a large number of multi-lock missiles, all of which were shot down by Romanov.

"Why!?" Romanov exclaimed, firing an arm mounted slash harken as he does so (due to the non-variable nature of the AIU, it could mount heavy weapons such as these).

"This was not the war you spoke of! Indiscriminate use of nuclear weapons, using civilians as biological weapons, even dragging other worlds into this war! This is not the war you spoke of, Markov! LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!"

Markov slashed the wire that was connected to the slash harken and returned fire with more missiles.

"I want a war to end all war, Romanov! And my men and I have agreed to become the scapegoat for such a cause! IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT!?"

Sparks flew as the two machines slashed beam sabres at each other, the blades producing so much heat and energy as they collided some of the paint on the machines melted off.

"All the hate and fear from my actions are focused on one point! ME! The world will be united against me and they will not have the freedom to fight amongst themselves! Only then will the world be at peace!"

Markov fired a volley from his beam rifle, one of which struck one of the legs on the Luftpanzer, melting it off. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a beam shot past the two machines, making them scatter. A red VF dived down on Markov from the heavens, transformed, drew a beam sabre, and slashed.

"WHAT SORT OF BULLSHIT LOGIC IS THAT!?"

XXXXX

Andrew landed on the USS Nimitz II to refuel and rearm. The battle was pretty much at a stalemate right now, both sides regrouping their remaining forces. The aerial fortress's storm cloud-like barrier was disabled, revealing the obvious man-made structure floating in midair.

Not a single Neuroi was to be seen.

Erica was busy talking to her squad mates. Due to the lack of a Neuroi presence, they had seen little to no action for the whole duration of the battle. Most had little to no battle damage. Trude was still wrapped in bandages (after getting hit by 20mm rounds it's incredible on its own that she survived, let alone being able to walk).

Andrew looked on with a gentle smile. Everything was all right. All he had to do was get rid of one little obstacle.

"How is the resupply?" he asked. The mechanic bolted up and saluted.

"All ready to go, sir!" Andrew nodded.

"Ask the captain to clear the catapult deck. I'm heading out."

There were footsteps behind him.

"Count us in too," a voice said. Andrew turned around and found Alex and Amy, both on their way to their respective fighters. Andrew smiled.

"Don't get too reckless, sir," he teased. Alex laughed.

"Never thought those words would come out of your mouth!"

XXXXX

"WHAT SORT OF BULLSHIT LOGIC IS THAT!?" Andrew's beam sabre made contact with Markov's sabre. The two fired at each other, their beams missing each other by millimeters, paint flaking of parts of the machine ever so slightly. A pair of Kirov flight types, these ones equipped with a sort of high-mobility pack, received fire from Alex and Amy, both thoroughly aware they would get wrecked if they fought Markov himself.

"Hatred is not the way! Hatred breeds war! What you want is not a war to end all wars, IT IS A WAR THAT WILL NEVER END!" Andrew launched a barrage of multi-locks at Markov, one of them managing to land a hit on Markov's shield.

"The Soviet Union and the United States could have annihilated each other with their nuclear weapons! Yet they did not! Why? Fear! They hate each other, yet fear of annihilation kept them at bay! This is why the world was at peace during the Cold War!" Markov's VF flew rings around Andrew before kicking him in the back.

"You're wrong!" Romanov's Luftpanzer fired another slash harken at Markov, this time managing to knock a beam sabre out of Markov's hand.

"Korea! Vietnam! The Middle East! Afghanistan! Rhodesia! Hungary! These happened during the Cold War! If these are not wars then WHAT ARE THEY!?" Romanov's reply seemed to cut into Markov's logic like a sledgehammer into a block of poorly made glass.

Romanov's machine stopped moving for a moment.

"…" Romanov's machine began to shake a little.

"SHUT UP!" The machine began spitting out beams, missiles, and bullets indiscriminately. Some of the shots hit the Kirov flight-types, one of them melting in half, the other simply exploding. A shot struck Alex's SV-51, the beam melting through, but narrowly missing, the cockpit.

"Fuck! I'm hit!" Alex dropped in altitude until Amy managed to catch his machine.

The machine guns on the ships below had to shoot down a number of stray missiles that flew a little bit too close for comfort.

Markov's MiG continuously slashed at Andrew, completely ignoring his machine's ability to transform and do Markov's favorite hit and run tactics. He was using brute force now. The way he kept on slashing seemed like he had finally lost it or something.

Was it just Andrew's imagination or was Markov actually not fighting him.

True, Markov was currently fighting Andrew physically via their machines, but something was off. The Russian ace pilot seemed like he was possessed. A powerful slash of his beam axe knocked Andrew's beam sabre away.

Markov's beam rifle made a clunking noise as the muzzle made contact with Andrew's cockpit. He tried to get away, but Markov shot a length of what looked like wire at Andrew, electrocuting him in place.

As he withered and cried out in pain, Andrew could only see the inside of the rifle's barrel slowly glowing brighter and brighter.

So this was the end. Andrew had only beat Markov once in a 1v1. He knew he couldn't win.

Yet he had to try.

But as the memories of everything he went through, everything he fought for, rushed across his vision, he could not help but have a tiny shard of regret about not finishing what he had started.

That was when a Luftpanzer crashed into him and the beam rifle fired.

Author's notes: The end is finally approaching this series. I've been feeling kind of depressed for the past few days so I am feeling a little sadistic about my characters. I could honestly kill off all of them if I want to, but this is not Zeta Gundam. I won't kill off characters just because I'm depressed ;)

Anyway, remember how in chapter four or five it is stated that Markov and Andrew's dad used to be friends? Guess what we get to see next chapter (hopefully) :)

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. As always, don't forget to leave a review and such as well as constructive criticism. Don't forget to apply for participation in Operation Dimension Tide as well. Shit could get interesting XD

See you in the next chapter. Thanks for reading and Panzer Vor!